Oass 
 
u 
 
 TTJ^E 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 
 
 OGLE COUNTY, 
 
 ILLINOIS. 
 
 I i^L.ijrsTFe^^T:^E:iD 
 
 .1 people thai telle lie: pride ill tJie iiehle ae/iieveiiieitts ef reiiiole a m e.-^lers ivill never aelii 
 till vt hi Hi; icort/iy to l>e reiiieiiiliereil with pride In' remote oe/ierntioii.s ." — Macaulev. 
 
 CHICAGO: 
 
 The S. I. CLAHKE Publishing company, 
 
 ISQQ. 
 
"hiofir(i|)hii is the oiilv true hi,srorv.''--l:mci\son. 
 
 i; ^1 1 
 
PRBF'ACK. 
 
 IIE L^rcatcst of Enj:jlisli historians, MAfAUi.AV, and one of the most 
 biiUiant writers of the present century, has said ; " Tiie history of a 
 country- is best tokl in a record of the lives of its people." In con- 
 formity with this idea, the Hi(h;kai>i[icai. KicidRi) has been [)repared. 
 Instead of tijoinn' lo musty records, and takiuLC tliercfrom ihy statistical 
 mailer that can br ap[)reciated by but few, our corps of writers have 
 ^iinc to the ]ieople. the men and W()men who have, \)\ their enterprise 
 and induslrv, brous^ht this countv to a rank second to none LUiiong 
 those compri-^ni^ this ifreal ami noble Stale, ani.1 from their lips ha\'e the story of their life 
 struf^i^les. Xo more interestini^ or instructixe matter could be presented to an intelli^rcnt 
 public. In this Miknne will be found a record of man\- wdiose lives are worthy the imitation 
 of coming s^eneratioiis. It tells how -^ome, commencinpr life in poverty, by industry and 
 eiainomy have accumulated weallh. ll tells how others, with limitetl aiUantages for securing 
 an education, have become K'arned men and wiimen, with an inlluence extending throughout 
 the length and breiullh of tin- land. ll lells of men who have risen from the lower walks of 
 life to eminence as statesmen, and whose names luue become famous. It tells ol those in 
 e\er\ walk in life wlm lia\'e striven to succeed, anil records how that success lias usuallv 
 crowned their etforl--. It UlU also of many, very many, who, not seeking the applause of the 
 world, have pui^ued the ■■i'\en tenor of iheir way.'' content to base it said of them, as Christ 
 s.iid of the woman perfomnng a deed of mercy — "They ha\e done what they coulil." It 
 tells how manv, in the pride and strength of young manhood, left the plow and Ihe anvil, the 
 
 lawyer's ollice and the counting-r n, left e\ery tratle and prolession, and at their country's 
 
 call went forth valiantly " to do or die," and ho\s' througli their elTorts the Union was 
 restored and peace once more reigned in the land. In the life of CNcrj- man and ot every 
 woman is a lesS(jn that should not be lost upon those who follow after. 
 
 Coming generations will appn-ciale this \(dume and preserve it as a sacicd treasure, trom 
 the fact that it contains so much that would never llnd its way into puldic records, and which 
 would otherwise be inaccessible, (ireat care has been taken in the compilation of the work, 
 ami every op[)ortunity possible' given to those represented to insure correctness in what has 
 been written ; and the publisln'rs llalter themselves that they give to their readers a work with 
 few errors of consequence. In aiUlilion to biographical sketches, portraits of a number of 
 representative citizens are given. 
 
 The faces of some, and biographical sketches of many, will be missed in this volume. 
 For this the publishers are not to blame. Not having a proper conception of the work, some 
 reluseil to give the inlormation necessary to compile a sketch, while otlieis were imlitVerent. 
 Occasionally some niendjer ol the lamily woidd oppose the enterprise, and on account of such 
 opposition the support of the interested one woidd be withheld. In a few instances men 
 never could be found. I hough repealed calls were made at their residence or [)lace ot business. 
 
 May, 1899. 
 
 The S. T- CLAHivii I'nsi.isniNC Co. 
 
HON. R. R. HITT. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL. 
 
 HON. ROBERT R. HITT, who has so 
 ably represented his district as a mem- 
 ber of congress, since 1882, is without 
 doubt the most distinguished of the citizens 
 of Ogle county. It is not an easy matter to 
 briefly write the record of such a man, 
 especially for perusal by his old friends and 
 acquaintances, many of whom have known 
 him from early childhood, and to whom his 
 record is like an open book. For him they 
 have the greatest admiration, and to them 
 no honors bestowed upon him could be 
 thought undeserved. He belongs to them, 
 and while they know him he also knows 
 them, and few there be of the old settlers 
 of Ogle county that he cannot call by name. 
 Robert Roberts Hitt was born in Urbana, 
 Champaign county, Ohio, January 16, 1834, 
 and is the second son of Rev. Thomas S. 
 Hitt, who drove across the country from his 
 Ohio home in 1837 and made himself and 
 family a home in Ogle county, where the 
 remainder of his life was spent. He located 
 in Maryland colony, so called because of 
 the number of settlers from that state who 
 had migrated to northern Illinois, led by 
 Samuel Merritt Hitt, an elder brother of 
 Rev. Thomas, and a man of remarkable 
 mental attainments and strong personality. 
 One of the pioneers of Ogle county, he 
 brought with him from Maryland a well- 
 filled purse in addition to a fine college 
 education, two attributes that commanded 
 the deepest respect in that struggling com- 
 
 munity, where ready cash in particular was 
 all too scarce. By entry and purchase 
 Squire Hitt secured thousands of acres of 
 the best farming lands for his brothers and 
 sisters, who hastened westward to occupy 
 the choice sites thus selected, so that in a 
 short time the "tribe of Hittites," as an 
 old circuit-rider jokingly dubbed the colony, 
 was a powerful factor in that new country. 
 
 Some of the old settlers who have not 
 forgotten the characteristics of the Hitt 
 tribe say the family was noted for its fine 
 physical appearance, whose six feet of man- 
 hood and womanhood did full credit to its 
 Kentucky origin. Rev. Thomas Smith Hitt, 
 who was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky, 
 at the close of the last century, was a trifle 
 over six feet tall, and, like his father before 
 him, was apronounced anti-slavery man. It 
 was this predilection which led old Martin 
 Hitt, grandfather of the present congress- 
 man, to move acrossto Ohio in 1816, where 
 his first act was to free his slaves. Twenty- 
 one years later his son Thomas, with his 
 young family, moved to Illinois, attracted 
 thither by the glowing accounts of the coun- 
 try as reported by Squire Hitt, who left 
 Maryland for Illinois in 1S36, one year in 
 advance of his relations. 
 
 A warm adherent of the Methodist 
 church, of which he was an ordained min- 
 ister, as was also his father. Rev. Martin 
 Hitt, Rev. Thomas S. Hitt was well fitted 
 by education and temperament to promote 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the interests of Methodism in the newly 
 settled country to which he had migrated, 
 and when the name of Mt. Morris, in honor 
 of the Methodist bishop, was given to the 
 Maryland colony. Rev. Thomas Hitt was 
 one of the first to suggest the founding of a 
 seminary by the conference. Through his 
 efforts, ably seconded by his brother, Squire 
 Hitt, Rock River Seminary was called into 
 existence, in whose historical walls many of 
 the most illustrious sons of Illinois — men 
 famous in the forum and on the battlefield 
 — received their education. 
 
 Here young Robert Hitt early went to 
 school, and here, too, contemporary with 
 him, only in older classes, were Senator 
 Cullom, Governor Beveridge, State Senator 
 Beveridge, John Rawlins, secretary of war 
 under Grant; Judge Cothran, of the supreme 
 court of Wisconsin; Congressman Magoon, 
 and many other students who later rose to 
 eminence in their respective professions. 
 Of a genial disposition and remarkably pro- 
 ficient in his studies, Robert Hitt, although 
 much younger than the majority of the lads 
 with whom he associated, was a great fav- 
 orite with all, and when he left Mt. Morris, 
 to complete his education at Asbury Uni- 
 versity, in Greencastle, Indiana, no one in 
 the circle was missed more than he. 
 
 The fact that he outstripped his com- 
 panions in the race for college honors and 
 graduated while but a youth attests his love 
 for knowledge and early discipline of mind 
 and determined application to which he 
 owes his success in life. While but a lad he 
 developed a fondness for phonography, and 
 giving to the art all his leisure hours became 
 an expert, and upon the completion of his 
 education went forth into the world well 
 equipped to enter what was then a com- 
 parativcl}' new field of usefulness, and to- 
 
 day he is one of the most remarkable men 
 in the public life of America of this gen- 
 eration. 
 
 The commencement of his public career 
 is contemporaneous with the agitation of the 
 question of the perpetuation or over- 
 throw of the institution of slavery in 
 the United States. He was the pio- 
 neer newspaper reporter of the west and 
 through the instrumentality of his skill, tact, 
 quick intelligence and a capacity that lay in 
 many directions, coupled with a breadth of 
 mind capable of comprehending and appre- 
 ciating all the phases of that humane and 
 magnificent enterprise in which his great 
 party had its birth, the world was given the 
 merits of the memorable Lincoln and Doug- 
 las debate of 1858, upon which the glorious 
 battle of liberty was fought and won. 
 
 In one of his published reminiscences, 
 Albert Woodcock, an old citizen of the 
 state, speaks of the debate at Freeport, 
 and the part taken in it by Mr. Hitt: 
 
 "A stand was erected in the field adja- 
 cent to the city. Thousands of people 
 gathered about the platform. The speakers 
 were ready. The throng was impatient. 
 The tall form of Lincoln arose. He looked 
 anxiously over the crowd. He called out: 
 ■Where's Hitt.' Is Hitt present.' ' Hitt, 
 from the extreme outskirts of the living 
 mass, answered, ' Here I am, but I cannot 
 get to the platform.' The good-natured 
 people understood the situation. They 
 seized the slender youth and passed him 
 over their heads to the stand." 
 
 The story became current that Lincoln 
 was always asking, " Where is Bob Hitt.'" 
 And " 13ob " found himself famous. He 
 happened in this connection to do an im- 
 portant historical service. All civilized peo- 
 ple know now how excellent was Lincoln's 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 command of language, and how admirable 
 his literary form. He was a master of 
 speech; but during the I^incoln-Douglas 
 campaign the Douglas party assailed him as 
 illiterate, and charged that Hitt touched up 
 all his speeches so as to make theni pre- 
 sentable. This Mr. Hitt always denied, 
 stating that frequently his phonographic 
 notes were written out by an assistant, and 
 he did not see the transcription from his 
 notes until it was printed. 
 
 During the legislative sessions of the as- 
 sembly of Illinois, in 1S5S, '59 and '60, Mr. 
 Hitt was the official reporter employed by 
 the state. In i860, when the trouble arose 
 in the department of the Missouri, under 
 General Fremont, calling for immediate ex- 
 amination, Mr. Lincoln sent the Holt-Davis 
 commission to St. Louis, and Mr. Hitt was 
 there laboriously engaged for many months 
 as its secretary in that memorable investi- 
 gation. This duty called for the exercise of 
 abilities of no common order, and the work 
 was one of immediate importance and his- 
 torical value. Its voluminous reports, which 
 detailed the disorders of the unfortunate 
 Fremont rcgiii/c in Missouri, led to many 
 and important changes and improvements 
 in the efficiency of that department. 
 
 Judge Holt, ex-secretary of war, in the 
 account of their labors, which he submitted 
 to the president, paid a high tribute to the 
 value of Mr. Hitt's services. The severity 
 of the labors attendant upon this duty 
 brought on a long illness, and after his re- 
 covery he reported in person to Secretary 
 Stanton, who requested him to remain at 
 the war department for important confiden- 
 tial work and duties in the department of 
 military justice. In 1863 he was engaged 
 in the senate of the United States as secre- 
 tary of a committee examining into the 
 
 naval expeditions of Burnside and Banks. 
 In 1865 he accompanied a boaril of treaty 
 commissioners to the northwest, ascending 
 the Missouri river a distance of one thou- 
 sand five hundred miles, for the purpose of 
 negotiating with the Indian tribes in what 
 was then a wilderness, which he described 
 in letters to the Chicago Tribune as the 
 "abomination of desolation," a lonely 
 desert, scourged by ferocious savages. It 
 has now thousands of homesteads scattered 
 over it and is increasing every month in 
 population. He returned home in the fall 
 of the same \-ear. Most of the following 
 year he passed at Washington and at Ral- 
 eigh, North Carolina, as recorder of military 
 courts, spending the summer mouths at 
 home. 
 
 In 1867-8 he visited Scotland, Switzer- 
 land, Greece, Egypt, and Palestine, spend- 
 ing five weeks in Jerusalem. He visited the 
 famous plain of Marathon, though warned 
 against robbers, and told he certainly would 
 be taken by bandits and probably killed. 
 He dressed in a wretched old suit borrowed 
 from a peasant, mounted the worst horse 
 to be had, and took a Greek history and a 
 wallet with a few coppers. He had hardly 
 opened his book on the ancient battle-field 
 when robbers came sure enough and seized 
 him. He begged for food, and they gave 
 him black bread, which he ate with avidity, 
 though it was a horror, and gave each of 
 them a copper. That was too much, and 
 they let him go. 
 
 In 1 87 1 he went to Santo Domingo, 
 with the three commissioners — Senator Ben 
 Wade, of Ohio; President White, of Cor- 
 nell University; and Dr. Samuel G. Howe, 
 the Boston philanthropist, who were sent 
 to that island by President Grant to inquire 
 into its resources and affairs, with a view to 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 its annexation to the United States. Mr. 
 Hitt prepared their report, an interesting 
 and valuable work, of which fifty thousand 
 copies were printed. 
 
 In the latter part of this year and in 
 1872 he was busily engaged as reporter of 
 the noted Kuklux committee of the two 
 houses, and wrote a large portion of their 
 enormously extensive report, in thirteen 
 volumes, exhibiting in great detail the po- 
 litical condition of the southern states, 
 nearly every one of which he visited with 
 the committee. For some time after this 
 he acted as private secretary of Senator O. 
 P. Morton, who was one of the great lead- 
 ers of the Republican party. 
 
 In 1873 the Rock River Seminary had 
 become so embarrassed that the school 
 stopped and the creditors sold it out. Mr. 
 Hitt, not forgetful of the deep interest taken 
 in it long ago by his father, bought it, put it 
 in repair, and it was started again with a 
 corps of excellent teachers. It became 
 again a good school, though it brought no 
 money profit to repay his liberality. After 
 six years he transferred it to the Brethren, 
 or Dunkards, who are carrying it on with 
 continuous efficiency. 
 
 On the 28th of October, 1874, Mr. Hitt 
 was united in marriage with Miss Sallie Rey- 
 nolds, of Lafayette, Indiana, of whom it 
 has been beautifully and truly said, "Gifted 
 and highly educated, she is a charming and 
 sweet-spirited woman, and her heart is in 
 the work of her husband." Immediately 
 after their marriage, they sailed for Europe, 
 and while on their wedding tour, in Decem- 
 ber, 1874, Mr. Hitt was appointed by Presi- 
 dent Grant secretary of the legation at Paris, 
 in which position he was continued under 
 President Hayes. During their official resi- 
 dence of six years in Paris the hprne of th^ 
 
 secretary of the legation and his charming 
 wife was the center of a distinguished co- 
 terie of Americans and foreigners who were 
 no less captivated by the intellect, courtli- 
 ness and tact of Secretary Hitt than bj' his 
 wife's brilliant conversational powers and 
 her talents as a most entertaining hostess. 
 
 Two sons were born during their resi- 
 dence abroad, Robert Reynolds and Will- 
 iam Floyd. 
 
 Returning to this country, in 1880, and 
 while at his home in Mount Morris, Mr. 
 Hitt one day received an urgent telegram 
 from Mr. Blaine, secretary of state under 
 President Garfield, asking him to come to 
 Washington immediately. Supposing the 
 secretary wished to consult him regarding 
 French affairs, the late secretary of lega- 
 tion hastened to the capital, and to his great 
 surprise was there asked to fill the post of 
 assistant secretary of state. After a brief 
 consideration Mr. Hitt accepted the honor, 
 and it is noteworthy that from that time 
 until the hour of his death the brilliant sec- 
 retary and his able assistant remained on 
 terms of intimate relationship with each 
 other. When Blaine resigned the state 
 portfolio after President Garfield's death, 
 Mr. Hitt went out with his chief the same 
 day. President Arthur had a high opinion 
 of Assistant Secretary Hitt, and would glad- 
 ly have given him a responsible mission 
 abroad, but, wisely enough, the proiTered 
 honor was declined, Mr. Hitt believing he 
 had been away from home too long already. 
 
 The sudden death of Congressman 
 Hawk, of the sixth Illinois district, June 29, 
 1882, two days before the convention to 
 nominate a candidate, upset all precon- 
 ceived plans, and a committee asked Mr. 
 Hitt if it might present his name. The con- 
 vention approved the choice and Mr. Hitt 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was nominated, elected, and has since been 
 continued in congress. Writing of Mr. 
 Hitt's personality in a recent number of 
 Harper's Weekly, the veteran Washington 
 correspondent, Murat Halstead, after com- 
 menting on Mr. Hitt's useful career in con- 
 gress, where his habits of industry and his 
 information, knowledge of men and nations, 
 history and languages and the varied phases 
 of public life at home and abroad have 
 given him high distinction, continuing, says: 
 
 "His congressional work has been chiefly 
 done in the committee on foreign relations. 
 He is a positive and systematic protectionist, 
 was an early advocate of removing the duty 
 on sugar and strongly against reducing the 
 ta.x on whisky. He has attempted to regu- 
 late the jurisdiction of consuls, as he well 
 knew their deficiencies, and he strongly 
 urged, when he had little company, the 
 observance of treaty stipulations with the 
 Chinese. The vigilance and experience of 
 Mr. Hitt on the committee on foreign rela- 
 tions have been of general and marked 
 value. In the Cutting case he saved con- 
 gress from making a mistaken menace 
 against Mexico. On the Hawaiian inter- 
 vention he delivered a speech of extraordi- 
 nary energy and acumen and thoroughness. 
 Perhaps the strongest of all .his speeches 
 was on ' Commercial Union with Canada.' 
 Mr. Hitt wears well and is a satisfactory 
 example of the value of the training of jour- 
 nalism for public life." 
 
 From 1883 until 1890 his party were in 
 minority in congress, but Mr. Hitt advanced 
 in grade, step by step, till he became the lead- 
 ing member of the Republican minority in the 
 committee on foreign affairs and its repre- 
 sentative on the floor of the house, which 
 gave opportunity for important services to 
 the country. For example, in 1888, when 
 
 a measure was brought in by the adminis- 
 tration authorizing an immediate threaten- 
 ing demand upon Mexico for the instant 
 liberation of Cutting, which the committee 
 on the previous day had endorsed, and the 
 whole house was about to adopt, Mr. Hitt, 
 having in the interval made sure of the real 
 facts, that Cutting was not held oppressively 
 and that the Mexican government was most 
 anxious to do anything we requested, and 
 that the inflamed state of feeling in Mexico 
 would be fanned into an attack upon Mex- 
 ico and another disagraceful Mexican war, 
 if such a resolution were passed, in a short, 
 clean speech, reversed opinion in the house, 
 defeated the resolution and prevented infin- 
 ite mischief, or war. 
 
 He was an advocate of wider commerce 
 with our neighbors on the south and north. 
 He introduced and secured the unanimous 
 adoption by the house in March, 1889, of a 
 resolution contemplating complete com- 
 mercial union with Canada, which, once in 
 operation, would ultimately result in peace- 
 ful annexation. His speech on this measure, 
 Murat Halstead said, "was a thorough and 
 logical presentation of a great, far-reaching 
 proposition. " 
 
 In the previous session, in September, 
 1888, when President Cleveland's Canadian 
 retaliation message came suddenly in, right 
 in the midst of the presidential campaign, 
 he exposed the mischievous character of 
 this electioneering device to catch Irish 
 votes, and discussed the whole question 
 searchingly. A long debate ensued. Hon. 
 Bourke Cockran replied to the arguinent, 
 but saying of his opponent; 
 
 "Mr. Speaker: The distinguishing ad- 
 dress on the other side, the one that has 
 furnished the key-note to this discussion, 
 was the very able and eloquent speech of 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Hitt), to 
 whom, and to whom alone, is due the credit 
 of lifting the debate to a high plane of par- 
 liamentary procedure. But I regret to say 
 that while the speech was eloquent, it lacked 
 those elements of candor and fairness that 
 would have made it the greatest speech of 
 the session." 
 
 In 1887 and afterwards he supported the 
 interstate commerce law, taking exception 
 only to the long-and-short-haul clause as in- 
 jurious to his constituents. 
 
 In 1 890, when the Republicans came into 
 power and the memorable struggle of the 
 Reed congress began, he was at last made 
 chairman of the committee on foreign affairs, 
 and has since held that position whenever 
 his party was in power, and when they were 
 in minority leading the minority on ques- 
 tions of foreign policy. 
 
 He has been an active member of con- 
 gress on all current legislation. He effi- 
 ciently supported the oleomargarine bill to 
 protect genuine butter from bogus butter 
 being sold under the same name, the bill to 
 check counterfeitmg lard and other meat 
 products, and to promote and facilitate their 
 exportation on favorable terms. He urged 
 the law passed to foil the subtle attack on 
 the moral sense of the people by the liquor 
 interest sheltering itself under a provision of 
 the interstate commerce act as construed by 
 a decision of the supreme court. The orig- 
 inal package law abrogated that decision, 
 and left the state free to regulate the sale 
 of liquors, whether imported into the state 
 in original packages or not. He attacked 
 the Louisiana lottery swindle, which was 
 usingthe postal system until a bill was passed 
 prohibiting the United States mails from 
 being made the instrument of their nefarious 
 business. 
 
 When in 1890, provision was to be 
 made for a World's fair in 1893, he sup- 
 ported the claims of Chicago as the best 
 site; and he and Mr. Springer were appoint- 
 ed the two Illinois members of the special 
 committee to which the subject was en- 
 trusted. He had charge of the bill when 
 it came before the house; and as the result 
 of long, hard labor, Chicago was victorious. 
 His speech in advocacy of Chicago, Feb- 
 ruary 20, 1890, presented the claims of that 
 city in the strongest light. On the seventh 
 vote, Chicago received one hundred and 
 fifty-seven votes — exactly a majority. 
 
 He was during the eighties returned in 
 "off years" by about three thousand five 
 hundred majority, in presidential years by 
 about six thousand five hundred majority, 
 until 1890, when, in the tempest of dissatis- 
 faction after the passage of the McKinley 
 bill, just before election, he was well nigh 
 defeated, receiving only five hundred and 
 eleven majority. In subsequent elections, 
 with the great popularity of the same mea- 
 sure after it had been in operation, the old 
 time majorities were renewed. After the 
 Wilson tariff bill passed in 1894, his ma- 
 jority rose to twelve thousand, and in 1896, 
 with increased dissatisfaction over the re- 
 sults of that bill, his majority was nearly 
 eighteen thousand; and again in 1898 it 
 was over fifteen thousand, though it was an 
 ' ' off year." 
 
 By watching and urging local interests 
 in his own district, Mr. Hitt obtained an 
 appropriation of one hundred thousand dol- 
 lars for the improvement of Galena river, 
 one hundred thousand dollars for a public 
 building at Rockford, and in 1899, seventy- 
 five thousand dollars for a public building at 
 Freeport. 
 
 He has advocated and secured the pass- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 age of various measures to promote recipro- 
 city and increase trade with the other 
 American republics; and each year has 
 watched that hberal provision be made for 
 this cause and for the Bureau of American 
 Republics in the consular and diplomatic 
 appropriation bill, of which the chairman of 
 foreign affairs has charge in its framing and 
 in its passage through the house and 
 through the conference committee with the 
 senate. 
 
 In I S90 he brought in a resolution recog- 
 nizing the Republic of Brazil, which was 
 soon unanimously passed. His conservative 
 counsel and course contributed to the 
 prompt and peaceful settlement of the 
 difficulties with Chili in 1S92. 
 
 In the same year, when a proposition 
 was made by the majority to reduce our 
 mission to Venezuela in grade, he seized 
 the*opportunity, in opposing it, to call pub- 
 lic attention to the encroachment of Eng- 
 land upon that feeble republic, in violation 
 of our Monroe doctrine. When, in Decem- 
 ber, 1S95, President Cleveland sent in his 
 Venezuelan message demanding a just set- 
 tlement of this question between Great 
 Britain and the helpless republic, which was 
 being gradually swallowed, Mr. Hitt im- 
 mediately prepared and offered a bill pro- 
 viding for a commission to investigate and 
 report the true divisional line, which he 
 urged in such a patriotic spirit upon all par- 
 ties that it was at once unanimously adopt- 
 ed; by thus referring the question to a calm 
 tribunal, the public alarm was quieted. 
 The unanimity of the American congress 
 led Lord Salisbury to yield to investigation 
 and arbitration, which the British govern- 
 ment had twice before refused. 
 
 Mr. Hitt has labored to improve the 
 efficiency of our consular service. He de- 
 
 livered an address on the subject before the 
 Boston Merchants' Association in 1S93. I" 
 a speech in the house April 17, 1894, he 
 discussed the general subject and merciless- 
 ly exposed the recent scandals in the sale of 
 public office and the degradation of the serv- 
 ice. He has been for many years an agent 
 of the Smithsonian institution. In 1895 he 
 was appointed by Speaker Crisp, one of 
 the delegates to the expected international 
 monetary conference. 
 
 He endeavored, successfully, in 1893 to 
 secure the passage of a bill to check the 
 abuses and violations of the interstate com- 
 merce act by Canadian railways. He moved 
 an amendment to the Wilson tariff bill, Jan- 
 uary 20, 1894, to secure reciprocity with 
 Canada in coal, instead of granting the free 
 admission of Canadian coal without com- 
 pensation. He again tried to amend the 
 Wilson tariff act, January 29, 1895, by 
 striking out the extra duty on refined sugar, 
 which was there solely to protect the sugar 
 trust. 
 
 Several limes he has advocated and 
 urged the construction of a cable to Ha- 
 waii, in 1890, and again in 1S95, when 
 he discussed the matter at length and thor- 
 oughly. 
 
 In 1894 he arraigned in a strenuous 
 speech the policy of President Cleveland in 
 trying to overthrow the republican govern- 
 ment in Hawaii and restore the ex-queen; 
 and in 189S he brought in the measure for 
 the annexation of the Hawaiian islands, 
 which passed the house June 5. Very soon 
 afterwards he was appointed by the Presi- 
 dent one of the commissioners to visit the 
 islands, examine the government and re- 
 commend necessary legislation to congress. 
 With Senators Cullom and Morgan, he went 
 to the islands, and when congress met in- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 troduced in the house a bill, the result of 
 their labors, to organize the territory of 
 Hawaii. 
 
 In 1896 when the struggle in Cuba 
 seemed to be regarded by President Cleve- 
 land with indifference, he brought in and 
 advocated a resolution expressing the opin- 
 ion of the house that a state of war ex- 
 isted, the parties to which were entitled to 
 belligerent rights. It passed, but no heed 
 was paid to it. 
 
 President McKinley desired to appoint 
 Mr. Hitt minister to Spain when the gravest 
 questions were pending, but he did not ac- 
 cept. 
 
 In the spring of 1898, when, with the 
 the change of administration, there was ex- 
 pectation of change in events, and great im- 
 patience for some immediate action by the 
 house, he made a speech or statement 
 which, by its conservative tone and assur- 
 ances, did much to satisfy opinion and pre- 
 vent hasty action upon a resolution which 
 the senate had passed, recognizing the 
 Cuban republic, and which would have 
 brought embarrassing complications in the 
 war. 
 
 In 1895 Mr. Hitt suffered a long and 
 severe illness, from which he did not re- 
 cover full health for nearly two years. In 
 January, 1897, when the election of United 
 States senator was impending, Mr. Hitt was 
 supported in an animated and agreeable 
 contest by the members of the legislature 
 from his part of the state, but was not 
 elected. He is a member of the fifty- 
 sixth congress, which meets December 4, 
 1899. 
 
 In his own district Mr. Hitt is very popu- 
 lar. There is an entire absence of the dic- 
 tator in his political composition. He never 
 meddles with the local campaigns, has no 
 
 desire to "boss" any town or county con- 
 vention and is proud of the fact that no 
 " machine" prevails in his district. In Ogle 
 county, for example, there are often five or 
 six different candidates running for the same 
 office, and the people usually have the voice 
 and vote to say which is their choice. In 
 all his campaigns his personality counts 
 much. He is the same " Bob " Hitt to-day 
 that he was a score of years ago, with a 
 kindly word for all his constituents, and 
 ready to give his advice and the benefit of 
 his experience to Republican or Democrat 
 alike. 
 
 On the platform he maintains the fair 
 ground of debate, never makes the Demo- 
 crats angry by innuendos or vituperation, 
 but tries to score his points by a clear, in- 
 cisive presentation of his case that is well 
 calculated to carry conviction to the hearts 
 and minds of his hearers. Animated in tone, 
 he assumes a conversational style of address, 
 and is never dull. He pronounces distinctly, 
 leaves no doubt about the meaning he in- 
 tends to convey, and has a vocabulary that 
 is large and particularly well chosen. He 
 has a most retentive memory, and it is said 
 of him that he knows the personal history 
 of every family living in his district, most 
 of the voters of which he can call by their 
 given names. 
 
 It is an entertainment in itself to watch 
 Mr. Hitt on the platform just prior to a 
 political gathering or an old settlers' meet- 
 ing where he is to deliver an address. Easy 
 and natural in manner, he is at once the 
 master of ceremonies as well as the distin- 
 guished guest. 
 
 "Now, Uncle Daniel," he will say, 
 "you can't see anything over there; just 
 step forward and take this seat," at the same 
 time placing a chair in a convenient spot 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 where the old gentleman addressed may 
 best see and hear everything. In this way 
 Mr. Hitt gets close to the people, chats with 
 them about their personal affairs and drop- 
 ping politics folds his hands and discusses 
 those simple, every-day occurrences that, 
 after all, are nearest the heart. The Dunk- 
 ards, of which denomination there is a 
 strong following in his district, and who, 
 allied to no particular party, vote according 
 to the dictates of conscience, have an abid- 
 ing respect for Mr. Hitt, whom they greatly 
 admire for his squareness and high purpose. 
 That they stand by him in every election is 
 proof "strong as holy writ " of the sterling 
 character of the man whom the sixth dis- 
 trict delights to honor. 
 
 As already intimated, Mr. Hitt is a mod- 
 est man and is rarely heard on the platform 
 outside his district. He has repeatedly 
 been invited to deliver addresses in Chicago 
 and elsewhere before social and semi- 
 political bodies, but has invariably asked to 
 be excused, although, it is safe to say, 
 fewer public speakers are better qualified 
 by nature to interest an audience than he. 
 An omnivorous reader, his entire house at 
 Mount Morris might be termed a library, 
 for every room teems with "man's best 
 gift to man." Notwithstanding his strong 
 practical sense, there is a fine undercurrent 
 of sentiment in his composition which soft- 
 ens and at the same time elevates the man. 
 The death of his beloved mother on his re- 
 turn from Paris in 1880 was a severe blow 
 to one who fairly idolized the woman who 
 bore him, and to whom for years he had 
 carried every confidence and with whom he 
 had discussed every move of his life. His 
 father having died many years before, the 
 bond between the mother and son was 
 more strongly cemented, although for the 
 
 memory of his father Mr. Hitt has the most 
 tender regard. It is his wish that his two 
 sons may forever keep intact the homestead 
 farm which their grandfather received from 
 the government in 1837, and which, curious 
 to relate, is the only landed property held 
 by the Hitts in Ogle county, where once 
 their forefathers were possessed of thou- 
 sands of acres. 
 
 Mr. Hitt is just as popular in Washing- 
 ton as he is at home, and some of the best 
 and brainiest people of the country are 
 proud to claim his friendship, as he is theirs. 
 The late James G. Blaine, William Walter 
 Phelps and James Russell Lowell were 
 among his warmest friends, and between 
 him and big brainy Tom Reed, of Maine, 
 there is a deep and long-standing attach- 
 ment. Mrs. Hitt is justly regarded as one 
 of the best entertainers at Washington, and 
 during the season their beautiful home is 
 in a constant state of receptivity. Viva- 
 cious, beautiful, full of tact and gracious- 
 ness, she is an ideal wife of a public man, 
 and both in his official and home life the 
 able congressman is rarely blessed in this 
 respect. Murat Halstead, in an interesting 
 article in Harper's Weekly, says: "Mr. 
 Hitt's knowledge of Europe enhances his 
 estimation of America. He has known two 
 generations of our foremost men of affairs, 
 from Lincoln and Douglas to Blaine, Har- 
 rison and Cleveland; and in the rare scope 
 of his recollections and the invaluable edu- 
 cation of his personal services he has re- 
 tained and refined, and holds with unaf- 
 fected dignity, the simple modesty of his 
 laborious early manhood; and there is no 
 more attractive household than in the hap- 
 py, hospitable homes his wife and sons 
 grace and enliven at Mt. Morris and in 
 Washington." 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 PETER B. WRAGG, whose farm lies in 
 sections 5 and 6, Grand Detour town- 
 ship, is a native of Ogle county, born De- 
 cember 22, 1852, and is the son of Peter 
 and Nancy Jane (Thompson) Wragg, the 
 former a native of England, born October 
 4, 1814, and the latter of Washington coun- 
 ty, Maryland, born April 23, 1825. They 
 were the parents of the following named 
 children: William H., born February 13, 
 1846; Sarah, October 3, 1847, and who is 
 now the wife of William Hoffman; Ann E.. 
 January 17, 1850; Mary I., August 10, 
 1851; Peter B., December 22, 1852; Dan- 
 iel S., April 18, 1854; Edward F., June 3, 
 1857, and who died April 6, i860; John 
 M., April 7, 1S61; and Martha E., wife of 
 John Nettz, April 11, 1863. 
 
 Peter Wragg was the son of Peter F. 
 and Hannah (Smith) Wragg, also natives of 
 England. Being put out to service on a 
 farm, at which he was displeased, at the 
 age of fourteen he ran away, and joined his 
 brother, Thomas, who came to America a 
 short time previously. The two brothers 
 engaged at work in a saw and planing mill 
 in Troy for about si.\ years, and then deter- 
 mined to come west, having heard of the 
 great opportunities afforded the poor man 
 in what was known as the Prairie state. On 
 coming to Ogle county, Peter Wragg found 
 employment in a sawmill at Grand Detour, 
 where he remained two years, saving his 
 earnings and investing the same in govern- 
 ment land. He later engaged in breaking 
 prairie and freighting to and from Chicago, 
 to Peoria and the Galena lead mines. He 
 was married June 17, 1845, to Mi.ss Nancy 
 JancThompson,daughterof James and Judith 
 (Funck) Thompson, and soon after located 
 on a farm on section 32, Pine Creek town- 
 ship, which was his home for about eight- 
 
 een months, when he moved to the farm in 
 Grand Detour township now owned by our 
 subject. Commencing life in this country 
 with a capital of two shillings, which he had 
 on landing, by his industry and good man- 
 agement, assisted by his faithful wife, he 
 succeeded in accumulating much property, 
 having at the time of his death, in January, 
 1S92, some fifteen hundred acres of good 
 land, besides his personal property. Polit- 
 ically he was a Democrat. While he could 
 neither read nor write, he was a man of great 
 natural ability, and a good business man. 
 
 Peter B. Wragg was reared on the old 
 home farm on which he still resides. He 
 was early learned to know the meaning of 
 hard work, and when quite young was ex- 
 pected to do his full share of farm labor. 
 He never shirked his duty and toiled early 
 and late, assisting in the cultivation of the 
 farm. On the 12th of January, 1875, he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Margaret 
 Ellen Nettz, who was born March 8, 1856, 
 in Pine Creek township, and a daughter of 
 Jacob and Ruann (Drenner) Netts, both of 
 whom were natives of Washington county, 
 Maryland, and who came to Ogle county in 
 1855. The former was born May 24, 1813, 
 and the latter September 27, 1819. They 
 were the parents of twelve children, four of 
 whom died in infancy or early childhood. 
 The living are: Mary E. , born December 
 28, 1836; Joseph H., December 19, 1840; 
 Amanda Caroline, September 17, 1847; 
 Jacob F., January 18, 1854; Margaret Ellen, 
 March 8, 1856; Lyida A., Februarys, 18 58; 
 Alice Amelia, July 14, 1862, and Clara, 
 March 30, 1850. By trade Jacob Nettz 
 v;as a blacksmith, but on coming to Ogle 
 county he followed farming in connection 
 with his trade. He died November iS, 
 1898. To Mr. and Mrs. Wragg one child 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 has been born, Lura May, born July 3, 
 1885, and who is now attending the district 
 school. 
 
 The subject of this sketch has made his 
 home on the farm where he now resides 
 with the exception of tliree years. In addi- 
 tion to the cultivation of his farm he has 
 been raising red and black polled Angus 
 cattle, Morgan and Norman horses, and 
 Poland-China hogs. He is meeting with 
 success in his chosen calling and has the 
 confidence of the community in which he 
 resides. In politics he is a Democrat, and 
 for nine years has served as sciiool director. 
 Religiously, he and his wife are members 
 of the Christian church. 
 
 MICHAEL MILLER, now living a re- 
 tired life in the village of Haldane, 
 was for years numbered among the active 
 farmers and business men of Ogle county. 
 He is a native of Germany, born in Hessen 
 Darmstadt, February 10, 1831, and is a son 
 of John and Amelia Carlotte Miller, both 
 of whom were natives of the same country. 
 In early lile the father engaged in farming, 
 and in later life was in the hotel business. 
 He died in his native land in 1840. His 
 wife survived him about ten years. Our 
 subject is the youngest of their family of 
 thirteen children who grew to mature years. 
 He and his brother Nicholas, now residing 
 in Adair county, Missouri, are the only sur- 
 vivors. 
 
 Michael Miller grew to manhood in his 
 native land and received a good education 
 in the German and French languages. His 
 knowledge of English was acquired after 
 his removal to this country. In his youth 
 he learned the blacksmith trade, at which 
 he became quite proficient before his emi- 
 
 gration to the United States. His native 
 land afforded little inducements to the poor 
 man to acquire either wealth or position, 
 and so he determined to come to a country 
 where an equal chance was given to all 
 alike. Accordingly he set sail for New York, 
 by way of Rotterdam and London. His 
 vessel was a slow sailing one and he was 
 thirty-five days on the Atlantic ocean, a voy- 
 age which can now be made in six days. 
 While on the voyage they encountered but 
 one severe storm. 
 
 Mr. Miller arrived in New York the week 
 before Christmas in 1853, and at once set 
 out for Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, where 
 he went to work at his trade, and continued 
 there nearly two }'ears. He then came to 
 Illinois and located at Freeport. The first 
 Sunday at that place he saw what to him 
 was a strange sight, a wagon loaded with 
 people coming into church, the wagon be- 
 ing drawn by oxen. For about one year he 
 remained at Freeport, working at his trade, 
 and then moved to Mt. Morris, where he 
 continued at his trade for a year and a half. 
 He then returned to Pennsylvania, and was 
 married at Chambersburg, August 16, 1857, 
 to Miss Margaret Florig, a native of Hes- 
 sen Darmstadt, Germany, but reared in 
 Baden. Her father, Leonholt Florig, also 
 a native of Germany, was a miller and baker 
 by trade. In 1852 he removed with his 
 family to the United States and settled in 
 Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and there 
 spent the remainder of his life. Mrs. Miller 
 is the oldest of a family of eight children, of 
 whom three only survive, the others being 
 Mrs. Catherine I5owersand Mrs. EvaBurket, 
 both residing in Chambersburg, Pennsyl- 
 vania. 
 
 After marriage, Miller returned with his 
 bride to Illinois and located at Polo, where 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he worked at his trade about nine months, 
 and March 12, 1858, removed to Haldane, 
 where he built a shop and began working at 
 his trade, at which he continued to work 
 for thirty-five years. For many years he 
 had the only shop in the place, and in con- 
 nection had a wagon repair shop. In 1861 
 he built a residence and located on the lots 
 where he now resides. He also bought a 
 a tract of sixty-two acres near the village, 
 which later his sons began to cultivate. He 
 also bought eight acres adjoining the village 
 which he had platted as an addition to the 
 village. He still owns the farm, which lies 
 about one mile west of the village, and 
 which is a well improved place. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the parents of 
 nine children, all of whom have reached ma- 
 turity. Benjamin P., a farmer, is married, 
 and resides in Wright county, Iowa. Anna 
 is the wife of Frank Forney, a farmer of 
 Ogle county. John resides in Logan, Mon- 
 tana, where he is engaged in the hotel busi- 
 ness. Kate married Lewis Carman, a 
 farmer of Wright county, Iowa, where they 
 now live. Emma is the wife of A. Hedwick, 
 of Haldane. Mary now makes her home 
 in Polo. William, Ida and Charles yet re- 
 side at home. 
 
 Politically Mr. Miller is a Republican, 
 and during the war was the only Republican 
 and stanch supporter of the administration 
 in Haldane. He cast his first presidential 
 vote for Abraham Lincoln, in i860, and has 
 never missed casting his vote for the nomi- 
 nee of the Republican party for president 
 from that time to the present. The only 
 official position that he has ever held was 
 that of school director, an office that he 
 held for nine years. He and his wife are 
 members of the Evangelical church and as- 
 sisted in the organization of the church and 
 
 in the erection of the church building. He 
 was for years one of the official board of 
 the church, and also superintendent of the 
 Sunday-school. 
 
 Mr. Miller has been a resident of Ogle 
 county for more than forty-three years, and 
 one of the two of the original settlers of Hal- 
 dane that are now left. He is well known, and 
 by whom known is held in the highest re- 
 spect. He has been an industrious man, 
 and all that he possesses has been secured 
 by hard work, his good wife rendering that 
 assistance which the true wife always gives. 
 
 GEORGE DREXLER, a retired farmer 
 living in the village of Creston, came 
 to Ogle county in 1869, and in the thirty 
 years of his residence here has become a 
 well-known citizen, one in whom the com- 
 munity has implicit confidence. He was 
 born in Wildenberg, Bavaria, Germany, 
 April 5, 1834, and is the son of Nicholas 
 and Catherine (Himler) Drexler, both of 
 whom were natives of Gerriiany, where 
 their entire lives were spent. The father, 
 who was a farmer by occupation, died in 
 1864, his wife surviving him many years, 
 dying in 1887. 
 
 The subject of this sketch remained in 
 his native country until he was in his 
 eighteenth year. He received a good edu- 
 cation in the schools of Bavaria, and in the 
 meantime assisted his father in the cultiva- 
 tion of the farm. Friends of his youth had 
 already emigrated to the United States, and 
 the desire came into his heart to also go to 
 that favored land, where even the lowliest 
 had the opportunity of making a name and 
 acquiring wealth. With his sister, Anna, he 
 set sail for the new world in a slow sailing 
 vessel, and after a long and tedious voyage 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 13 
 
 of twenty-eight days they landed in New 
 York in March, 1852. They located at 
 Palatine, New York, where his sister later 
 married Henry Wagner. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Wagner, who yet remain in Palatine, where 
 he owns a valuable and well improved farm, 
 have a family of five living children, one of 
 whom is married. 
 
 On his arrival in Palatine, Mr. Drexler 
 hired to a farmer for the sum of forty dol- 
 lars per year and a pair of boots. After some 
 seven months had passed, he was convinced 
 that the farmer was about to beat him out 
 of the forty dollars promised. He settled 
 with him, however, for twenty-eight dollars 
 for the seven months and quit his service. 
 The ne.xt year he worked for sixty dollars 
 per year, and continued to be thus employed 
 at a slight advance until the beginning of 
 the war, receiving thirteen dollars per month 
 in i860. In the fall of 1S61 he returned to 
 his native land and there remained until 
 1866, assisting his parents on the home 
 farm. Returning to Palatine, New York, 
 he went to work on a farm for twenty-five 
 dollars per month, and continued there un- 
 til 1S69. 
 
 Mr. Drexler was married in Schenec- 
 tady, New York, December 8, 1868, to 
 Miss Eliza Bauder, a native of the town of 
 Palatine, New York, and a daughter of 
 Christopher and Lana (Nellis) Bauder, early 
 settlers of the Mohawk valley, of German 
 parentage. Mrs. Bauder died in 1854, but 
 he lived until 1898, and died at the ripe old 
 age of eighty-seven years. They had a 
 family of nine children, all of whom are yet 
 living, as follows: Simon P., of Amster- 
 dam, New York; Rufus, of Palatine, New 
 York; Ervin, of Sterling, Illinois; Henry, of 
 Malta, Illinois; George, of Montgomery 
 county. New York; Eliza C. , wife of our 
 
 subject; Ella, wife of Josiah Nestle, of Pal- 
 atine, New York; Mrs. Amanda Miller, of 
 Palatine, New York; Lana, wife of Jeremiah 
 Van Wie, of Palatine, New York. 
 
 In March, 1869, Mr. Drexler came with 
 his bride to Ogle county, where for one year 
 he worked by the month. In January, 
 1870, he purchased eighty acres of partially 
 improved land in Lynnville township, and 
 commenced life in earnest. Industrious as 
 the day was long, and with a wife who was 
 likewise industrious, one who believed the 
 interests of her husband was that of her 
 own, he went to work with a determination 
 to more than make an ordinary living. In 
 1875 he purchased eighty acres of land ad- 
 joining his farm, erected a new barn, and 
 made many other improvements. In 1888 
 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres, 
 giving him a half-section of good land, all of 
 which was well improved. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Drexler have two children 
 living. Libbie J. is now the wife of David 
 Deily, whose parents reside in the same 
 township, and they have one child. Alia 
 Blanche. They reside in the township of 
 Malta, DeKalb county, Illinois. Ervin mar- 
 ried Mary Kempson, in 1896, and is now 
 successfully carrying on the home farm. 
 His wife's parents reside in Creston. 
 
 Mr. Drexler came to Ogle county with 
 little else than a stout heart and willing 
 hands. He had always before worked for 
 wages, and of course could not lay by very 
 much of this world's goods. He knew how 
 to work and was a practical farmer. Day 
 in and day out he toiled on and the result is 
 shown by his fine farm and large quantity 
 of personal property. He had no special 
 fad in farming, but in addition to the crops 
 annually raised on the farm, he was also en- 
 gaged in stock raising, feeding a large num- 
 
14 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ber of head of cattle and hogs for the gen- 
 eral markets. He was successful in all that 
 he did, and his success has come from in- 
 dustry, economy, wise management, assist- 
 ed in part by his good wife. 
 
 Politically Mr. Dre.xler is a Republican, 
 his first presidential ballot having been cast 
 for General Grant. From that time to the 
 present he has voted the party ticket, but 
 has never wanted or cared for public office. 
 However he was elected, finally qualified, 
 and served as road commissioner. Inter- 
 ested in the cause of education, he served 
 for fifteen years on the school board. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Dre.xler have on several occasions 
 visited the home of her parents in New 
 York state. They were reared in the Luth- 
 eran faith, and while now they are mem- 
 bers of no church, they attend the Methodist 
 Episcopal church at Creston. 
 
 WILLIAM BIRD, deceased, was a rep- 
 resentative of the sturdy English 
 race that have done so much in the civiliza- 
 tion of the world, and whose influence will 
 be felt in all time to come. He was born 
 in the parish of Chawleigh, Devonshire, 
 England, February i i, 1806, and in his na- 
 tive land grew to manhood. In his youth 
 he learned the trade of wool comber, which 
 he followed in Devonshire. After his re- 
 moval to the United States he learned the 
 trade of harnessmaker, which he followed 
 for a number of years. His educational ad- 
 vantages were not of the best, but by read- 
 ing and observation he became a well in- 
 formed man. 
 
 The countries of Europe, with their 
 pride of aristocracy, give but little opportun- 
 ity to the poor man to advance in life, and 
 for that reason many are compelled to 
 
 sunder home ties and emigrate to a land 
 where all are equal in the eyes of the law, 
 and all have the opportunity to seek and 
 secure a higher position in life. Because of 
 this fact William Bird left his native land 
 in 1S34, and after a long and tedious voy- 
 age in the slow sailing vessels of that time 
 finally landed in this country and located in 
 Ohio, which was his home for twenty-three 
 years and where he made a fairly good 
 start in life. Still farther west the oppor- 
 tunities were even greater, and in 1857 he 
 came with his family to Ogle county and 
 located in Lynnville township, which con- 
 tinued to be his home until his death. 
 
 Mr. Bird was married in Norwalk, Ohio, 
 in 1835, to Miss Elizabeth Ford, also a na- 
 tive of Devonshire, England. Her father. 
 Rev. James Ford, was born near Cornwall, 
 Devonshire, England, in 1787. He was a 
 well educated man, and was a distinguished 
 minister of the Non-Conformists, He mar- 
 ried Mary Webber, of his native shire, and 
 to them were born eight children, five 
 daughters and three sons — Elizabeth, Ann, 
 Mary, Susanna, Betsy, James, John W. 
 and George. They came to the United 
 States in 1833, and also located in Ohio, 
 where the father died shortly after their ar- 
 rival. The mother survived him many 
 years, dying in 1866. 
 
 To William Bird and wife six children 
 were born, five sons and one daughter. 
 James F. married Jeannette Payne, and 
 they have one daughter, Nellie. They re- 
 side in Rochelle, where he is in the produce 
 business. John W. was twice married, 
 first to Martha Nashold, who died, and he 
 later married Martha Reasoner, by whom 
 he has two children, F. Ernest and Clara 
 E. They reside in Iowa, where he has at- 
 tained considerable prominence as a stock 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 15 
 
 raiser and a politician, having served two 
 terms in the legislature of that state. W. 
 Reed died of an accident in a runaway, De- 
 cember 26, 1S96, at the age of fifty-six 
 years. Clara E. married John A. McCrea, 
 now of Creston, and they have two daugh- 
 ters, Ella B. and Florence. (See sketch 
 elsewhere in this work.) George E. mar- 
 ried Margaret Starrett, of Jasper county, 
 Iowa, and they have one daughter, Mary L. 
 They reside in Rockford, Iowa, where he is 
 engaged in the farm implement business. 
 Frank F. is managing the home farm for his 
 mother. He received a good education in 
 the schools of Rochelle, and later attended 
 one year in the normal schijol at Valpa- 
 raiso, Indiana. He has taught several 
 terms in the public schools of Ogle county, 
 and has given good satisfaction as a teacher. 
 William Bird departed this life Febru- 
 ary 23, 1875. He was a believer in the 
 Christian religion, and died in the full 
 assurance of faith in a glorious resurrection. 
 Mrs. Bird, who still survives him, is a mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and 
 is a firm believer in the religion of Christ. 
 She is well known in the township in which 
 she lias made her home for more than forty- 
 two years, and wiierevcr known she is 
 greatly esteemed. 
 
 HOMER W. MULNIX, who resides on 
 section 30, Buffalo township, is a 
 worthy representative of the younger gener- 
 ation of farmers and stock raisers of Ogle 
 county. He is a native of the county, and 
 was born in Eagle Point township, Septem- 
 ber 2, 1858. His father, John Muhiix, was 
 born in Delaware county, New York, in 
 1897, and there grew to manhood. lie 
 was twice married, first in his native coun- 
 
 ty, and with his wife and family came to 
 Illinois in 1850, locating in Lee county, 
 where his first wife died, leaving a family of 
 six children, three sons and three daugh- 
 ters. He later married Mrs. Lydia San- 
 ford, luc Sweet, also a native of Delaware 
 county. New York. After the death of his 
 first wife and his second marriage he re- 
 moved to Eagle Point township, where he 
 spent the remainder of his life. He was a 
 successful farmer and acquired a comfortable 
 competence. His death occurred in Febru- 
 ary, 1 89 1. His wife survived him, and 
 passed away in 1S97. They were the par- 
 ents of three children: Louisa, who died a 
 >oung lady; Homer W., our subject, and 
 Corydon, a farmer of Ogle county. 
 
 Homer W. Mulnix spent his boyhood 
 and youth on his father's farm, and received 
 his education in the home school and in the 
 Polo high school. He continued on the 
 home farm, and assisted his father in the 
 management of the farm until the latter's 
 death. He was married in Cedar county, 
 Iowa, March iS, 1885,10 Miss Nellie E. Will- 
 iams, a native of Ohio, who was reared and 
 educated in Cedar county, Iowa, and daugh- 
 ter of James Williams, a well known citizen of 
 that county. After his marriage he rented 
 one season and then moved to his place of 
 residence, having succeeded to sixty acres 
 of his father's estate. He later bought an 
 adjoining eighty acres, giving him one hun- 
 dred and forty acres in the home farm. 
 Subsequently he bought another farm of one 
 hundred and forty-six acres in the same 
 neighborhood, and is now cultivating both 
 farms. For some years he made a specialty 
 raising, buying and selling horses, but of 
 late he has turned his attention more espe- 
 cially to breeding, raising and dealing in cat- 
 tle, and is counted among the successful 
 
i6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 stock raisers and farmers of Ogle county. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Mulnix have been born 
 two sons: Forest Robert and John T. , the 
 former a student of the home school. 
 
 Mr. Mulnix cast his first presidential vote 
 for James A. Garfield, in 1880, since which 
 time he has been an earnest advocate of the 
 principles of the Republican party. He has 
 never sought or wanted public office, but 
 having at heart the interest of the public 
 schools, he has served on the school board 
 for nine years, and is now township trustee 
 of schools. Fraternally he is a member of 
 the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of 
 Polo, and also of the Ivnights of the Globe. 
 It is as a farmer and stock raiser that he is 
 best known throughout Ogle and adjoining 
 counties. He has shown himself well qual- 
 ified for the business, and is a thoroughly 
 practical man. A man of strict integrity of 
 character he makes friends and ever retains 
 that friendship. 
 
 CHARLES M. HALLER, an old and 
 highly-esteemed citizen of Forreston, 
 traces his ancestry back to colonial days. 
 His maternal grandfather, Captain Meach, 
 who was in command of a vessel, took part 
 in the Revolutionary war. His daughter, 
 Abigail Meach, married Robert Hewitt, who 
 was of English and French ancestry, and 
 who also took part in the Revolutionary 
 war, having many narrow escapes in several 
 engagements. Robert Hewitt was a native 
 of Connecticut, but with his wife and family 
 he emigrated to Maryland in 1815. They 
 were the parents of twelve children, of 
 whom the mother of our subject was fifth 
 in order of birth. He died in 1830, and 
 his remains were buried at Middlebury, 
 Franklin county, Pennsylvania. His wife 
 
 survived him many years, and came with 
 her family to Illinois in 1840. She lived to 
 a ripe old age, dying in November, 1855, 
 in her ninety-fourth year, having been born 
 August 10, 1 76 1. Her remains were in- 
 terred in the Hewitt cemetery, at Forres- 
 ton. She used to cook for the Indians, 
 and had many interesting stories to relate 
 of her Revolutionary experiences. 
 
 The mother of our subject, Abigail 
 (Hewitt) Haller, was the daughter of Rob- 
 ert and Abigail (Meach) Hewitt. She was 
 born in 1800, at Tolland, Windham county, 
 Connecticut. She was married in January, 
 1 8 19, to Charles A. Haller, who, by his first 
 wife, Catherine Bruner, daughter of John 
 Bruner, a farmer of Frederick county, 
 Maryland, had four children: John, a 
 farmer, who lived and died in Attica, Indi- 
 ana; Henry, a wagonmaker, who also died 
 at Attica, Indiana; Katherine, wife of Jacob 
 Dovenbarger, of Washington county, Mary- 
 land, but who came to Ogle county, and 
 lived near Adeline ; and Samuel, who 
 lived and died at Attica, Indiana. To 
 Charles A. and wife seven children were 
 born. Charles M. is the subject of this 
 sketch. Jane Abigail married Francis Ham- 
 ilton, of Maryland, who removed to Ogle 
 county, Illinois, where he engaged in farm- 
 ing. He later removed to Keokuk, Iowa. 
 Sarah Ann is the widow of Jacob Flaut. 
 She resides in Lanark, Illinois. James 
 Robert died when about eleven months old. 
 Louis lived to be twenty-two years old, and 
 died in Pine Creek township, and was buried 
 at Mt. Morris. George William, who had 
 been a successful school teacher and insur- 
 ance agent, died at Decatur, Illinois. Jo- 
 seph is a physician engaged in practice at 
 Lanark, Illinois. The mother of these 
 children died at the home of her daughter, 
 
CHARLES M. HALLER. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 19 
 
 Sarah, at Lanark, Illinois, in 1882, and was 
 buried in the cemetery at that place. 
 
 Charles Haller, the grandfather of our 
 subject, came to America from Germany in 
 colonial days, paying for his passage by 
 his labor. He landed in Baltimore, and 
 from there went to Washington, and later 
 to Loudoun county, Virginia, where Charles 
 A. Haller, the father of our subject, was 
 born. By occupation he was a farmer. He 
 died and was buried at New Market, Mary- 
 land. When a young man, Charles A. Hal- 
 ler moved with his parents to Frederick 
 county, Maryland, where he learned the 
 wogon-maker's trade and conducted a shop. 
 I^ater he moved to Boonesborough, Mary- 
 land, on the National road. With his wife 
 and four children, in May, 1846, he came to 
 Ogle county, Illinois, and settled five and 
 a half miles south of Mt. Morris, on the 
 Grand Detour road, where he purchased 
 one hundred and twenty acres of land. He 
 lived there, however, only six^months, and 
 died December 7, 1848, at the age of sev- 
 enty years. ^ 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born in 
 Boonesborough, Washington county, Mary- 
 land, November 15, 1819, and there re- 
 ceived his education in the subscription 
 schools, in the meantime assisting his father 
 in the cultivation of the thirty-three- 
 acre tract of land which he owned, and 
 in the manufacture of brick, in which 
 he was engaged. After attaining his major- 
 ity, he aided his old school-master, James 
 Brown, in the management of his school, 
 which had an attendance of one hundred 
 scholars, and engaged in their instruction. 
 
 In April, 1846, when twenty-seven years 
 old, he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Elizabeth Nikirk, daughter of Samuel 
 Nikirk, a carpet weaver in the town of 
 
 Boonesborough, Maryland, where she was 
 born, educated, and grew to womanhood. 
 The month after his marriage, in company 
 with his parents and brothers and sisters, he 
 brought his young bride to Ogle county. 
 They left Boonesborough May 21, 1846, 
 their household goods in a two-horse wagon, 
 and a light wagon with accommodation for 
 six persons, the younger children finding 
 place in the wagon with the furniture. 
 Their trip overland took just six weeks, and 
 they arrived near Mt. Morris, their destina- 
 tion, July 3, 1846, and immediately set 
 about erecting a house of four rooms, two 
 stories high, the lumber for the construction 
 of which our subject had to get in Chicago. 
 He set out on Monday morning for Chicago 
 and arrived home the following Monday. 
 Those were the days of "ox team transpor- 
 tation," when the traveler cooked for him- 
 self along the roadside, slept in his wagon, 
 and whistled a song along the lonesome 
 roads to keep himself company. 
 
 Their little home erected, young Haller 
 helped his mother and brothers the next 
 year, but during the years 1847 and 1848 
 he took charge of a school at Phelps' Grove, 
 and in 1848-9 taught the school on the 
 Grand Detour road, near Mt. Morris. In 
 the fall of 1850 he moved to West Grove 
 and settled on eighty acres of land given 
 him by his uncle, George W. Hewitt. He 
 built a frame house and set about improv- 
 ing the place, dividing his time, however, 
 between school teaching and farming. He 
 remained on that place until 1859, when he 
 went to Forreston and engaged in general 
 merchandising. Later he purchased a stock 
 of drugs .from Frank Barker, now of Ro- 
 chelle, and a former resident of Forreston, 
 and still conducts the establishment under 
 the management of his son, E. E. Haller. 
 
50 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Haller seven children 
 were born. Samuel Henry died when seven 
 years old. Susan married John Mullen, but 
 is now deceased. Charles Louis died at 
 the age of three years. Theodore F. is the 
 editor and proprietor of the Forreston Her- 
 ald. George Louis is now deceased. 
 Charles M. is now living at Portland, Ore- 
 gon. Edward Everett is in the drug busi- 
 ness at Forreston. The mother of these 
 children died December 23, 1893, at the 
 age of sixty-five years, and her remains were 
 interred in the Hewitt cemetery at Forres- 
 ton. 
 
 Mr. Haller sawed the log and split the 
 stakes used in laying out the town of For- 
 reston in 1855, the town being laid out on 
 the land of his uncle, George W. Hewitt, 
 who had located a claim of eight hundred 
 acres. The first house built in the place 
 was a rude frame structure built by the rail- 
 road company for a boarding house. Dr. 
 Kingsbury was the first physician in Forres- 
 ton. The first school teacher was Thomas 
 J. Hewitt. Mr. Haller was selected as the 
 first teacher, but having so much to do on 
 his farm at the time, he secured the place 
 for his cousin, Mr. Hewitt. The latter mar- 
 ried Miss Fannie Rockwood, who was his 
 assistant in the school. The first school 
 building was just west of where the present 
 school building now stands. It was a large 
 frame structure and built under the super- 
 vision of George W. Hewitt at a cost of 
 about two thousand dollars. 
 
 Mr. Haller cast his first vote at a special 
 election in his native state, and his first 
 presidential vote was cast in 1848 for Zach- 
 ary Taylor, the Whig candidate. With the 
 Whig party he continued to act until the 
 organization of the Republican party, since 
 which time he has given his support to the 
 
 men and measures of that party. Relig- 
 iously he is a Lutheran, and assisted in or- 
 ganizing the Lutheran church in Forreston 
 in 1858, and has since been an elder in the 
 same. He aided and supervised the build- 
 ing of the church which was dedicated July 
 10, 1864. By the county court Mr. Haller 
 was appointed justice of the peace, was 
 then elected and served one year. He was 
 later appointed notary public by the gov- 
 ernor and filled the position twenty years. 
 He was also township school treasurer si.x 
 years. All in all, Mr. Haller has led an 
 active life. He is well known throughout 
 the county, and all who know him esteem 
 him for his many excellent qualities of head 
 and heart. 
 
 ZIBA A. LANDERS, senior editor and 
 proprietor of the Ogle County Repub- 
 lican, Oregon, Illinois, was born March 21, 
 1857, at Waukegan, Illinois, and is the son 
 of Hezekiah M. and Permelia (Ketchum) 
 Landers, the former being a native of 
 Canada, but who came to the United States 
 in the 'forties, locating in Lake county, 
 Illinois, where he engaged in farming. In 
 1858 he removed to Dade county, Missouri, 
 where he likewise engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits. He remained in Missouri until 
 1864, when he was driven out by the Con- 
 federates, entailing on him a great loss of 
 property. Leaving Missouri, he returned 
 to Illinois in June, 1865, and located in 
 Ogle county, in the town of Dement. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was about 
 eight years old when his parents left Mis- 
 souri and he has a vivid recollection of that 
 time and the conditions which compelled 
 the family to leave. In the district schools 
 of Ogle county he obtained his education, 
 attending the same until he was fourteen 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 years old, when he went out to earn his 
 own living. Choosing the printer's trade, 
 he commenced to learn the business with an 
 Oregon mechanic, and after completing the 
 trade he worked as a journeyman, in all 
 a period of twelve years, when he engaged 
 in merchandising, at which he continued for 
 eight years, when he sold out and purchased 
 the Creston Observer. This was in 1S91, 
 and he continued the publication of the 
 paper until July, 1894, when he sold 
 the establishment, and January i, 1895, he 
 purchased the Ogle County Republican, in 
 connection with E. L. Reed, which partner- 
 ship continued until October, 1898, when 
 Mr. Reed retired from the business and Mr. 
 Frank C. Sorrel was duly installed in his 
 position upon the Republican. 
 
 Mr. Landers was married November 30, 
 1 88 1 , to Miss Harriet P. Spickerman, daugh- 
 ter of William and Sarah (Sherman) Spick- 
 erman, both of whom were natives of 
 Wayne county. New York, where Mrs. 
 Landers was also born. Her parents came 
 to Ogle county in 1870, her father engaging 
 in farming. By this union four children 
 have been born — Ernest D., Chester, Clif- 
 ford and Sherman. Clifford died when one 
 year old. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Landers are members of 
 the Methodist Episcopal church. Frater- 
 nally, he is a member of Creston Lodge, 
 No. 320, A. F. & A. M., and Rock River 
 Chapter, No. 151, R. A. M. In politics he 
 is a Republican, with which party he has 
 been identified since attaining his majority, 
 and served in the forty-first general assem- 
 bly as sergeant-at-arms of the senate in a 
 very creditable manner. He is at present a 
 member of the Republican town committee 
 of Oregon, and aids with voice and pen in 
 promulgating the principles of his party. 
 
 While residing at Creston he served as a 
 member of the school board, and also held 
 other official positions. 
 
 The Ogle County Republican was founded 
 in 1888 by Bemis & Wagoner, and is now 
 conducted by Landers & Sorrel, who are 
 first-class newspaper men, good writers and 
 men of unimpeachable integrity. The pa- 
 per is a six-column quarto, and in politics is 
 uncompromisingly Republican. 
 
 MILTON BURI 
 residing in O 
 
 lRIGHT. a retired farmer 
 ig in Oregon, is one of the old- 
 est living settlers in Ogle county, having 
 taken up his residence here shortly after he 
 attained his majority. He was born near 
 Schenectady, New York, December 25, 
 1815, and is the son of Cornelius Burright, 
 and the grandson of John Burright, of whom 
 little is known. Cornelius Burright was 
 born in the Mohawk Valley, New York, and 
 was by occupation a farmer, a calling that 
 he pursued during his entire life. He mar- 
 ried Olive Messenger, also a native of New 
 York. She died in Licking oounty, Ohio, 
 in 1827, when about forty-five years old. 
 Her father and mother lived to be one hun- 
 dred and one hundred and three years, re- 
 spectively. Some years after the death of 
 his wife Cornelius Burright came to Ogle 
 county and for twenty-five years prior to his 
 death made his home with our subject. He 
 died in August, 1875, at the age of ninety- 
 eight years and seven months. 
 
 While he was yet an infant our subject's 
 parents moved to Cuyahoga county, Ohio, 
 and about 1823 moved to Licking county, 
 in the same state. He was but twelve years 
 old when his mother died, and the follow- 
 ing year his father remarried, and from that 
 time he had to make his own way in the 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 world. For one season he worked on the 
 Ohio canal, driving an ox team at twenty- 
 five cents per day. For three seasons he 
 worked in a brick yard in Franklin county, 
 Ohio, and during the winter cut cord wood 
 for use in the brick yard in the summer. 
 He saved his money and in 1836 he walked 
 one hundred miles to Van Wert county, 
 Ohio, and entered eighty acres of timber 
 land, which he held until after he came to 
 Illinois. About this time he spent two 
 winters in Mississippi and Louisiana, cutting 
 wood for steamboats. He was an unusually 
 good chopper, and on one occasion, with 
 the assistance of three companions, cut 
 twelve cords of wood in one day. On a 
 wager, alone, he cut four and a half cords 
 in a half day, a record which has probably 
 never been beaten. His first summer in Illi- 
 nois was spent in Grand Detour, and his 
 second one in Dixon. 
 
 In April, 1838, Mr. Burright bought a 
 claim to three quarter-sections of land in 
 Pine Rock township, and after remaining on 
 the claim until the following August he went 
 to Missouri to spend the winter, fearing the 
 cold of northern Illinois. He went on 
 south to Natchez, Mississippi, and later to 
 Louisiana. In the spring of 1839 he re- 
 turned to Ogle county, and has never felt 
 the necessity of again leaving it. His farm 
 he at once began to improve and from time 
 to time he added to his original purchase 
 until he once owned over one thousand acres 
 of choice land. Much of this he disposed 
 of to his children, retaining only two hun- 
 dred and fifty-four acres. After living upon 
 the farm for nearly a half century, he pur- 
 chased a house and lot in Oregon and has 
 since lived a retired life. 
 
 Since coming to Ogle county, Mr. Bur- 
 right has never lived under any but his own 
 
 roof. The first log house built upon his 
 claim was a very rude affair. No stove was 
 ever used, all cooking being done in the fire- 
 place. The chimney was made of sticks, 
 and his bedstead was of his own construc- 
 tion and had but one leg. It was built in 
 the corner of the cabin, two sides being 
 fastened into the logs, one post or leg hold- 
 ing up the other sides. Its springs were 
 slats or " shakes " split out of oak logs, and 
 were thin and elastic, taking the place of 
 the modern woven wire springs. He later 
 built a more commodious log house, and 
 finally a fine brick house, which is the farm 
 residence to-day. It was one of the first 
 of its kind between St. Charles, Kane county, 
 and Dixon, Lee county. 
 
 With but little schooling in early life, 
 Mr. Burright has made up for lost time by 
 being an extensive reader. After marriage, 
 his wife, who had a good education for that 
 day, taught him, and his own natural ability 
 and perseverance did the rest. His first 
 two crops of grain he hauled to Chicago 
 with ox teams, being several days on the 
 road. Produce was then very low and pro- 
 visions very high. 
 
 Mr. Burright was first married October 
 24, 1839, in Lafayette township. Ogle 
 county, to Miss Susanna Drummond, born 
 in Allegheny county, Pennsylvania, Decem- 
 ber 18, 1 8 19, and a daughter of Andrew and 
 Elizabeth (Loutzenheiser) Drummond. The 
 latter, who attained the age of seventy-three 
 years, was a daughter of Henry Loutzen- 
 heiser, whose parents emigrated to the 
 United States when he was but two years 
 old. He married Judith Merchant, whose 
 brother. Dr. David Merchant, was a sur- 
 geon in the Revolutionary war. Two other 
 brothers were also surgeons, but were not 
 in the Continental service. Andrew Drum- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 23 
 
 mood was born in New York state, and 
 came west in the fall of 1838. He was by 
 occupation a farmer, and was quite promi- 
 nent in the early days of the county. He 
 was instrumental in organizing every school 
 district between Ashton, Lee county, and 
 Polo. Being a man of superior education, 
 he was of great service in that connection. 
 For some years he served as postmaster of 
 Ashton. His death occurred at the age of 
 eighty-seven years. Of the eleven children 
 born to Andrew and Elizabeth Drummond, 
 four are yet living in Ogle county. Levi 
 and Lewis are living in Pine Rock town- 
 ship; Jackson resides in Lafayette township; 
 and the present Mrs. Burright in Oregon. 
 
 To our subject and his first wife nine 
 children were born, two of whom died in in- 
 fancy. Thomas Sheldon married Margaret 
 Bailey, and they now reside in Dixon, Illi- 
 nois, with their family of seven children. 
 Sarah Olive married Jacob Acker, and with 
 their five children they live in Pine Rock 
 township. John married Emma Ashbaugh, 
 by whom he has had thirteen children. 
 They reside in Iowa. Thornton lives in 
 Ghana. He first married Christine Dug- 
 dale, by whom he had four children. His 
 second wife was Miss Addle Lee, by whom 
 he has one child. Albert lives in Pine Rock 
 township, near the old home farm. He 
 first married Armista Thurber, by whom he 
 has two sons. He next married Mrs. Julia 
 Grimes, lu'c Haymaker. Jeannette mar- 
 ried Oscar Dugdale, and with their four 
 children they live in Pine Rock township, 
 adjoining the village of Ghana. Mary mar- 
 ried Charles Dailey, and they reside in Pine 
 Rock township. They have had five chil- 
 dren, three of whom are living. The 
 mother of these children died August 24, 
 i«73- 
 
 Mr. Burright's second marriage was sol- 
 emnized February 10, 1875, when he wed- 
 ded Mrs. Judith Rinker, a sister of his first 
 wife, who was born in Licking county, 
 Ohio. She was the widow of Alhanen Rink- 
 er, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and 
 who died near Oregon, October 2, 1855, at 
 the age of thirty years. He was the father 
 of four children who lived to maturity. 
 Wallace E. married Margaret Sutter, by 
 whom he had seven children. He served 
 in the Union army, during the Civil war, 
 but was drowned in a river in Kansas in 
 1878. Ellen married Robert Garrison, of 
 Portland, Oregon, and they have four chil- 
 dren. Frank married Annie Wicks, who 
 died leaving three children. He lives in 
 Clearfield, Iowa. Loretta A. married Henry 
 Yates, who is engaged in the grocery trade 
 at Ghana, Illinois. They have one child. 
 
 In politics Mr. Burright is a Republican. 
 He has not been an office seeker, but has 
 held several local offices, including school 
 director, road commissioner, and township 
 trustee. Fraternally he is a Mason, and re- 
 ligiously he is identified with the Christian 
 church, but there being no service held by 
 that church in Oregon he attends the 
 Methodist Episcopal church. His wife has 
 been a church member since the age of fif- 
 teen years, and is one of the only two orig- 
 inal members of the first church organized 
 in Pine Rock township. She has been an 
 efficient teacher in the Sunday school for 
 many years. At the age of sixteen she 
 taught school at Lafayette Grove. She has 
 now a bed of violets, the sprouts of which 
 grew at the door of the first school which 
 she attended when a girl. 
 
 Mr. Burright has not only reared his 
 own children in comfort, giving them good 
 educations, but has reared several of his 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 kindred who were left homeless, and is now 
 educating his wife's grandson, a son of 
 Frank Rinker. He is a man highly es- 
 teemed for his works' sake. 
 
 WILLIAM C. BUNN.— In this enlight- 
 ened age when men of energy, indus- 
 try and merit are rapidly pushing their way 
 to the front, those who, by their own indi- 
 vidual efforts, have won favor and fortune 
 may properly claim recognition. Years ago, 
 when the west was entering upon an era of 
 growth and Ogle county was laying its foun- 
 dation for future prosperity, there came 
 thither from all parts of the country men 
 poor but honest, and with sturdy independ- 
 ence and a determination to succeed that 
 justly entitled them to representation in the 
 history of the great west. Among this now 
 is Mr. Bunn, who has met with remarkable 
 success in his business undertakings, and is 
 now practically living retired in Byron. 
 
 He was born on the loth of February, 
 1837, in Hunterdon county. New Jersey, of 
 which county his father, John E. Bunn, was 
 also a native. On attaining to man's es- 
 tate the latter married Sarah Conover, who 
 was born in New Jersey, in 18 17. He con- 
 tinued to successfully engage in farming in 
 his native county until 1855, when he 
 brought his family to Illinois, where he 
 joined some New Jersey friends. For a few 
 years he resided in Byron township. Ogle 
 county, and then purchased land in Winne- 
 bago county, where he developed a fine 
 farm of two hundred and thirty acres, oper- 
 ating the same for many years. He finally 
 sold and in 1882 returned to Byron town- 
 ship. Ogle county, where he died in 1892, 
 at the ripe old age of eighty-two years. His 
 wife had passed away in 1872 and both were 
 
 laid to rest in the Stillman Valley cemetery. 
 In the family of this worthy couple were 
 thirteen children, four sons and nine daugh- 
 ters, all of whom reached years of maturity. 
 William C. , of this review, is the oldest; 
 Mary wedded Wesley Yard and is now de- 
 ceased; A. M. resides on a farm in Byron 
 township; Mrs. Sarah Powell is a widow; 
 Anna is deceased; Henry died at the age of 
 eighteen; Mrs. Lucinda Wells resides in 
 Rockford, Illinois; Hannah is the wife of 
 William Van Valzy, of Ogle county; Caro- 
 line is the wife of Benjamin Anderson, who 
 owns and occupies the old Bunn homestead; 
 Jane married but is now deceased; Garrett 
 is a farmer of Winnebago county; and Mar- 
 tha is the wife of Henry Liggett, of Marcus, 
 Iowa. 
 
 William C. Bunn was reared in New 
 Jersey and educated in its common schools. 
 He came with the family to this state and 
 assisted his father in opening up the farm, 
 remaining with him until twenty-five years 
 of age. In 1861 he was married, in Ogle 
 county, to Miss Julia Jarver, a native of 
 New York, who was brought to the county 
 at the age of twelve years by her father, 
 Anthony Jarver, a worthy pioneer of Byron 
 township, where he reared his family. Four 
 children have been born of their union: 
 John, who is married and conducts the ele- 
 vator and buys grain in Byron; Alma, wife 
 of Homer Long, a business man of Mt. Car- 
 roll, Carroll county, Illinois; Arthur, a busi- 
 ness man of Myrtle, Ogle county; and 
 George, who is employed in the F"armers & 
 Merchants Bank, of Byron. 
 
 For eight years after his marriage Mr. 
 Bunn engaged in farming on rented land, 
 but two years before the close of that period 
 he purchased a half interest in a farm of 
 two hundred acres, which he operated in 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 25 
 
 connection with the rented farm. In the 
 spring of 1870 he located upon his place, 
 but sold his interest in the same two years 
 later and again became a renter. In 1872 
 he bought an improved farm of two hun- 
 dred acres in Marion township, to the fur- 
 ther development and cultivation of which 
 he devoted his energies for four years. He 
 remodeled the house, enlarged the barn and 
 made many other improvements which 
 added to its value and attractive appearance. 
 On account of impaired health he removed 
 to Byron in the spring of 1876, but three 
 years later returned to the farm and con- 
 tinued to follow agricultural pursuits until 
 1886, when he rented his place and pur- 
 chased residence property in the village 
 where he still resides. He became inter- 
 ested in the grain business, and four years 
 later bought the elevator at Byron. He 
 also began buying and shipping cattle and 
 hogs on an extensive scale, and became a 
 large dealer in flour, feed, salt, coal, etc. 
 At one time Mr. Bunn was one of the 
 heaviest depositors in the Byron Bank, but 
 owing to a change of ownership and man- 
 agement he became dissatisfied and decided 
 to establish a bank of his own. Later the 
 bank closed and a number of the depositors 
 lost heavily. Since then the present Byron 
 Bank has been started. Withdrawing from 
 the former institution Mr. Bunn established, 
 in 1 89 1, the Farmers & Merchants Bank, 
 which has since done a large and profitable 
 business, and is one of the solid financial 
 institutions of the county. Although our 
 subject started out in life for himself in lim- 
 ited circumstances he is now one of the 
 most successful business men of the com- 
 munity, and is the owner of much valuable 
 real estate besides his business property, all 
 of which has been acquired through his own 
 
 well-directed efforts. At all times he sup- 
 ports the principles of the Republican party 
 by his ballot, and though he served as col- 
 lector of Marion township at one time, he 
 has never cared for political preferment. 
 He is public-spirited and enterprising, giv- 
 ing a liberal support to all measures which 
 he believes calculated to advance the moral, 
 intellectual or material welfare of his own 
 town or county. 
 
 FW. HOWE, an enterprising business 
 man and postmaster of Monroe Center, 
 was born in Cherry Valley, Winnebago 
 county, Illinois, November 28, 1865, and is 
 the son of Maynard and Susan (Foster) 
 Howe, both of whom were natives of New 
 York state, but who came west in an early 
 day and settled in Cherry Valley, where the 
 father engaged in the grain business, having a 
 large elevator, and building up an extensive 
 trade, there spent the remainder of his life. 
 He was also engaged in the hardware trade 
 for a time. His death occurred at Cherry 
 \'alley some years since, and his widow later 
 married T. M. Lee, a lumber merchant of 
 Cherry Valley. Maynard and Susan (Fos- 
 ter) Howe were the parents of two chil- 
 dren, — Fannie, residing in Cherry Valley, 
 and our subject. 
 
 In his native village our subject grew to 
 manhood and attended the district school 
 until sixteen years of age, when he found 
 employment in the lumber-yard of his step- 
 father, continuing with him for three years. 
 While thus employed he learned telegraphy, 
 and later secured a position with the Chi- 
 cago & Northwestern railway, where he 
 was employed about six months. He then 
 purchased an interest in the lumber-yard 
 with his stepfather, at Monroe Center, and 
 
26 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 later they purchased the hardware store of 
 Hildebrand & Eychaner, since which time 
 they have continued both lines of trade. In 
 addition to his mercantile interests, Mr. 
 Howe has an interest in a farm of two hun- 
 dred acres near Cherry Valley, and has 
 also considerable town property in Monroe 
 Center. 
 
 On the 1 2th of March, 1889, Mr. Howe 
 was united in marriage with Miss Cora Alex- 
 ander, of Monroe Center, and daughter of 
 J. Alexander, and by this union two chil- 
 dren have been born, — Maynard A. and 
 Vera May. 
 
 In politics Mr. Howe has always been a 
 Republican and an earnest advocate of the 
 principles of the party. For three years he 
 served as town clerk of Monroe, and in 
 1 896 and 1897 was assessor of the township. 
 In April, 1897, he received his appointment 
 as postmaster of Monroe, which position he 
 fills in a most satisfactory manner. Frater- 
 nally, he is a Mason, and also a member of 
 the Modern Woodmen of America. In his 
 local camp he has served as clerk for three 
 years. He is also a member of the Home 
 Forum and Knights of Pythias. Always 
 interested in the public schools, he has given 
 of his time to advance their interests, serv- 
 ing three years as a school director. Re- 
 ligiously, Mrs. Howe is a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of 
 which she is deeply interested. As a busi- 
 ness man Mr. Howe is thoroughly progress- 
 ive and always up with the times. 
 
 NOAH SPEAKER.— One of the busi- 
 est, most energetic and most enter- 
 prising citizens of Ogle county is Noah 
 Speaker — the founder of Egan City. It 
 
 was through his influence and determination 
 that a station was established at that time 
 and the people of the community owe to 
 him a debt of gratitude which can never 
 be repaid for it has proved of inestimable 
 value to neighboring farmers. For over 
 half a century he has taken a most promi- 
 nent and active part in the development 
 and upbuilding of the county, and has 
 advanced its interests in every possible 
 way. 
 
 Mr. Speaker was born in Washington 
 county, Maryland, December 24, 1820, and 
 on the paternal side is of German extrac- 
 tion. His father, Samuel Speaker, was 
 born about 1791, in Ohio, where the grand- 
 father resided for a few years prior to lo- 
 cating in Pennsylvania, but later in life he 
 became a resident of Washington county, 
 Maryland. Samuel Speaker was reared in 
 Pennsylvania, and there married Miss Mar- 
 garet Kretsinger. He was a carpenter and 
 joiner by trade and followed contracting 
 and building throughout his active life. He 
 was a soldier of the war of 1812 and 
 received a land warrant for his serv- 
 ices. In 1855 he joined his children in Ogle 
 county, Illinois, and here spent his last 
 years, dying in 1864. The death of his 
 wife occurred in 1862. Their family, con- 
 sisting of four sons and two daughters, were 
 reared in Maryland. William, the eldest, 
 came west in 1855 and settled in Stephen- 
 son county, Illinois, where he died. Noah 
 is the next in order of. birth. Washington 
 also came to Illinois in 1855, but afterward 
 settled in Ohio, where his death occurred, 
 but his remains were interred in Egan cem- 
 etery, this county. Isaiah, a carpenter and 
 joiner, resides in Toledo, Iowa. Eliza re- 
 mained in Maryland, where she married and 
 reared a family, but is now deceased. Mary 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 27 
 
 Ann, also deceased, married and settled in 
 Mt. Morris, Illinois. 
 
 Noah Speaker is wholly a self-educated 
 man as he had no school advantages. In 
 Ma)-, 1S44, he came to Ogle county, driving 
 a team across the country for Samuel Rine- 
 hart, who settled in Adeline. Here our 
 subject worked by the month for William 
 Hopwood for four years on his farm near 
 Oregon, and in 1849 returned to his native 
 county, where he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Catherine Ann Garvin. The fol- 
 lowing year he again came to Ogle county 
 and made a permanent location. He had 
 previously entered a tract of forty acres, 
 where he now resides and after his marriage 
 rented a little house near his land. While 
 breaking and improving his property he 
 worked at anything by which he could earn 
 a livelihood and in this way secured a start 
 in life. In 1853 he built a house upon his 
 place, and afterwards bought an adjoining 
 forty acres. He now has a large, neat and 
 substantial residence, good outbuildings, and, 
 in fact, all of the conveniences and acces- 
 sories of a model farm of the nineteenth 
 century. Two years after the railroad was 
 laid out he made an effort to get a station 
 established, and, after a hard struggle, suc- 
 ceeded. It was located near the northeast 
 corner of his place by J. M. Egan, a railroad 
 official, and was named in honor of that 
 gentleman. Mr. Speaker laid out the town 
 and has since sold many lots and has suc- 
 ceeded in founding a thriving little village 
 which is a credit to him. 
 
 He has been called upon to mourn the 
 loss of his estimable wife, who died April 6, 
 1895, and was laid to rest in Egan ceme- 
 tery. To them were born four children, 
 namely: William, a successful physician of 
 Manson, Iowa; Alice, wife of John Harmon, 
 
 of Haldane, Illinois; Rosa, wife of W. W. 
 Williams, of Des Moines, Iowa; and Marian, 
 deceased wife of Newton Harmon. 
 
 In his political affiliations Mr. Speaker 
 has been a life-long Democrat, casting his 
 first presidential vote for Martin Van Buren 
 in 1836. For sixteen years he was an effi- 
 cient member of the school board of Egan, 
 but has never sought nor desired official 
 honors, preferring to give his entire atten- 
 tion to his business interests. As a public- 
 spirited, enterprising citizen, he certainly 
 deserves honorable mention in a work of 
 this kind, and his many friends in Ogle 
 county will read with interest this brief 
 sketch of his life. 
 
 SAMUEL S. McGUFFIN.— Among the 
 prominent and enterprising men who 
 are identified with Ogle county and its ad- 
 vancement, belongs the subject of this re- 
 view. His birth occurred in Canada on the 
 23d of December, 1832, where he lived un- 
 til his tenth year. He is a son of John 
 and Margaret (Howard) McGuffin, who came 
 to Illinois in 1843 and purchased one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres in Ogle county. They 
 were the parents of seven children, five of 
 whom are living. Andrew is the second old- 
 est. The second son, John, is a Method- 
 ist minister in Chicago. Annie is the wife 
 of Benjamin Canfield, a farmer in Ogle 
 county. Sarah married Solomon VVhitaker, 
 also a farmer in Ogle county. Katie is the 
 wife of Joseph Mossit and resides in Can- 
 ada. The sixth child is the subject of this 
 sketch. 
 
 Samuel S. McGuffin worked for his fa- 
 ther until i860, when he accepted a con- 
 tract to clear and break a tract of farm land 
 in Rockvale township, and received in pay- 
 
28 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ment one hundred and sixty acres on sec- 
 tion 21, where he now resides, and the 
 present fine residence, outbuildings, or- 
 chards, fences, ornamental trees and general 
 thrifty appearance, all bespeak the owner's 
 enterprise and energy. In 1865 Mr. Mc- 
 Gufifin married Frances Elizabeth Griswold, 
 who was born February 3, 1845, in Rock- 
 vale township, which place has always been 
 her home. Nine children have blessed this 
 union and are here named in order of birth: 
 Ida married Isaac Price, who is in the em- 
 ploy of one of the Chicago railroad com- 
 panies. Maud is living at home. May is 
 the wife of R. L. Thomas, a farmer of Ogle 
 county. Nellie, the fourth child, died in 
 infancy. Maggie is the wife of Martin Ash- 
 baugh, of Oregon. Blanch married George 
 Crowell, of Pocahontas county, Iowa. Cath- 
 erine is deceased. Talbot is at home aid- 
 ing in the management of the home farm, 
 and Edith Frances, the youngest, is also 
 living at home. 
 
 Mrs. McGuffiin is a daughter of George 
 and Hannah (Jackson) Griswold, who came 
 to Ogle county, in 1838, and settled in Or- 
 egon. Her father is an Englishman and 
 her mother a native of Boston. She is one 
 of six chidren, namely: William, now de- 
 ceased; Henry, a well-to-do banker of Man- 
 son, Iowa, now deceased; Mary, who died 
 in infancy; Harvey, a farmer and stock- 
 dealer of Rockvale township; Alice, the wife 
 of A. W. Price, a dental surgeon and a 
 large property-owner of Pine Creek town- 
 ship. Mrs. McGuffin's brother enlisted with 
 the Seventy-fourth Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry and was wounded in the battle of 
 of Shiloh. Her uncle, Charles H. Jackson, 
 served with distinction throughout the Civil 
 war. 
 
 Mr. McGuffin cast his first vote for Abra- 
 
 ham Lincoln, but is an independent voter 
 rather than a party man, voting his convic- 
 tions without reference to the politics of 
 the candidate. He has at all times been an 
 advocate of good roads, and his ideas, which 
 he put into practice during his term of town- 
 ship trustee, did not receive the endorse- 
 ment of his fellow citizens. The wisdom of 
 his opinions in this particular is now every- 
 where apparent, and his ideas and sugges- 
 tions, while in "advance of his time," are 
 now being rapidly carried out. Mr. and 
 Mrs. McGuffin are surrounded by a bright 
 and intelligent family, each member of 
 which has displayed marked taste for edu- 
 cational pursuits, all the girls adopting the 
 profession of school teaching. They are 
 active members of the Methodist church, 
 and the high esteem in which they have 
 always been held, is the reward for upright- 
 ness, integrity and sociability in their rela- 
 tions to all. 
 
 DENNIS SULLIVAN, the agreeable, 
 accommodating and efficient agent and 
 telegraph operator for the Milwaukee & St. 
 Paul railroad at Harper, is a native son of 
 Illinois, born in Winnebago county, Decem- 
 ber 3r, 1857, a son of Dennis Sullivan, Sr., 
 who died just prior to the birth of our sub- 
 ject. The mother later removed to Mt. 
 Carroll, Illinois, where her son grew to man- 
 hood, and completed his education in the 
 Mt. Carroll high school. He then worked 
 on a farm for a short time, and subsequently 
 entered the service of the Milwaukee & 
 St. Paul railroad as brakeman for a few 
 months. He next entered the Mt. Carroll 
 office, where he assisted the agent and 
 learned telegraphy, remaining there about 
 three years, during which time he became 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 29 
 
 an expert operator. On the ist of August, 
 1S87, he was given the position of night 
 operator at Harper, and after three years 
 and three months spent here, he went to 
 Galewood, where he was agent and operator 
 for two years. On the 28th of July, 1892, 
 he was again transferred to Harper, where 
 he has since served as operator and agent 
 to the entire satisfaction of the company 
 and the general pubHc. 
 
 At Freeport, lUinois, July 2, 1889, was 
 celebrated the marriage of Mr. Sullivan and 
 Miss Catherine Lang, who was born, reared 
 and educated in Forreston, and they have be- 
 come the parents of three children, namely: 
 Daniel H., Floyd D. and Helen S. Since 
 attaining his majority, Mr. Sullivan has been 
 an ardent supporter of the Republican party, 
 having cast his first presidential vote for 
 James A. Garfield, but he has never been 
 an aspirant for office. He is a wide-awake, 
 energetic business man and since coming to 
 Harper has bought lots and erected two 
 neat and substantial residences thereon. In 
 social as well as business circles he stands 
 deservedly high, as he is pleasant, genial 
 and affable and makes friends readily. 
 
 JOHN WATERBURY CLINTON, editor 
 and proprietor of the Ogle County 
 Press, Polo, was born in Andes, Delaware 
 county, New York, and is the son of George 
 N. and Jane A. (Gibbs) Clinton. On his 
 father's side he traces his ancestry to Jo- 
 seph Clinton, his great-grandfather, of New 
 Canaan, Connecticut, who married Phctbe 
 Benedict. Their son, Joseph Benedict Clin- 
 ton, married Abigail Camp, and they were 
 the parents of George Nelson Clinton, the 
 father of our subject. On his mother's 
 side he goes back to his grandfather, Phineas 
 
 Gibbs, of Andes, New York, who was a na- 
 tive of Massachusetts, and who married 
 Anna Thompson, daughter of John Thomp- 
 son, of Andes, New York, who was in re- 
 ligion, a Quaker. Joseph Benedict Clinton 
 was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, in 
 the First Connecticut Line, under Colonel 
 Webb. He died in 1828. 
 
 George N. Clinton was a shoemaker by 
 trade, but in his native city engaged in the 
 general mercantile trade, having a small 
 general store. He was for a time postmas- 
 ter of the place. In the winter of 1839- 
 40, he came to Ogle county and purchased a 
 settlers' claim of one hundred and sixty acres 
 of prairie land and forty acres of timber, then 
 returned east, with a view of returning and 
 making the claim his permanent home. On 
 account of the failing health of his wife, he 
 abandoned the idea, losing the amount paid 
 for the claim. In 1870, he came once more 
 to the county, but only on a visit to his 
 son. The changes wrought in the country 
 in the thirty years he could scarcely real- 
 ize. His death occurred in his home at 
 Andes, New York, in June, 1883. His 
 good wife preceded him many years, dying 
 in 1847. 
 
 The subject of this sketch received an 
 academic education in his native state, 
 where he engaged in teaching until October, 
 1857, when he came to Polo. During the 
 ensuing winter he taught the school in Buf- 
 falo Grove, and the next summer taught a 
 select school in the old seminary. He was 
 afterward employed as a teacher in the 
 Buffalo, Forreston and Polo schools until 
 1865, when he became editor and proprie- 
 tor of the Polo Press, of which he is sole 
 proprieter. He was also publisher and pro- 
 prietor of the Poultry Argus, and the Fores- 
 ton Journal, the predecessor of the Herald, 
 
30 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of the former during 1875-6, and the latter 
 1 87 1-4. He has held the position of town 
 clerk and assistant supervisor of Buffalo 
 township, and was postmaster at Polo for 
 eight years, from 1875 to 1883. 
 
 Mr. Clinton is known throughout the 
 state as a newspaper man, and has been con- 
 nected with the Illinois Press Association 
 since 1869. He has been one of its active 
 members, serving it as treasurer from 1873 
 to 1875, and from 1876 to 1881. In 
 February, 1883, he was elected president 
 of the Association and served one year. 
 He has been elected several times a dele- 
 gate from the Illinois Press Association to 
 the National Association. 
 
 On the 24th of January, 1S61, Mr. Clin- 
 ton was united in marriage with Miss Carrie 
 A. Perkins, a native of Delhi, Delaware 
 county, New York, and a daughter of Dea- 
 con Timothy and Sarah (Veghte) Perkins. 
 Timothy Perkins was the son of Rufus, and 
 grandson of Timothy Perkins, who were 
 natives of Massachusetts. Timothy Per- 
 kins, the father of Mrs. Clinton, served in 
 the war of 181 2, in Colonel Farrington's 
 regiment, light infantry, and with his regi- 
 ment was stationed near Fort Gainesworth. 
 He married Sarah Veghte, daughter of John 
 Veghte, of Johnstown, New York. In 1 840 he 
 came to Ogle county, where they spent the 
 remainder of their lives, the mother dying 
 in the spring of 1876, when about seventy- 
 five years of age. The father died Novem- 
 ber 23, 1884, aged ninety years. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Clinton seven children 
 were born, of whom five are yet living — 
 Evangeline, George P., John D., Edgar M. 
 and Anna Lucile; Georgiana, the. eldest, 
 and Bertie F. died in infancy. The living 
 children are all graduates of the Polo high 
 school. George P. and John D. are gradu- 
 
 ates of the University of Illinois, the former 
 now serving as assistant botanist in the Illi- 
 nois Experiment Station connected with 
 the University of Illinois. Edgar M. is a 
 student in Stanford University, California. 
 In politics Mr. Clinton is a Republican, 
 the Press being an advocate of Republican 
 principles. He was initiated in the I. O. 
 O. F., April 26, 1858. 
 
 MARTIN L. ETTINGER, 
 gentleman who has retair 
 
 retired, is a 
 gentleman wno nas retained a person- 
 al association with the affairs of Rochelle 
 and Oregon foralmosthalf a century. His life 
 has been one of honest endeavor, and due suc- 
 cess has not been denied him. A man of un- 
 swerving integrity and honor, who has a 
 perfect appreciation of the higher ethics of 
 life, he has gained the respect of his asso- 
 ciates, and is distinctively one of the lead- 
 ing citizens of Rochelle. He is a native of 
 Pennsylvania, having been born in the vil- 
 lage of Dover, York county, on the 23rd of 
 December, 1832, where he was reared and 
 educated, attending the common schools 
 until his seventeenth year. After leaving 
 school he worked at his trade, that of car- 
 penter, for three years and in 1854 left the 
 parental roof for the west, going direct to 
 Oregon, Illinois, where he worked at his 
 trade for four years. At this time he was 
 appointed to a clerkship in the recorder's 
 office, where he soon made himself at the 
 necessary official, so much so, that at the 
 breaking out of the Civil war, it was a most 
 earnest request of the recorder that he re- 
 frained from enlisting, which he had fully 
 intended doing. He served as deputy clerk 
 of the Circuit court until 1864, when he was 
 elected county treasurer, serving four years. 
 At the expiration of this term he opened a 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 music store dealing in pianos, organs, etc. 
 Two years later he was appointed account- 
 ant at Chicago, for the Chicago & Iowa 
 Railroad Company, and in 1877 he was 
 appointed general ticket agent and auditor 
 at Rochelle. He filled these two positions 
 with great credit to himself, until 1887, 
 since which time he has lived a retired life. 
 
 Mr. Ettinger is the second of six chil- 
 dren, three of whom are living. His fa- 
 ther was Daniel M. Ettinger, who was 
 born in Rossville, York county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and attained the age of eighty-five 
 years. Mr. Ettinger, Sr. , taught school for 
 thirty-five years, a record few could equal, 
 and daring that time acted as local surveyor 
 and engineer. In 1S52 he came to Chicago 
 and had charge of the engineering depart- 
 ment of the Wisconsin division of the 
 Chicago & Northwestern railroad. The 
 following year he returned to York county, 
 Pennsylvania, where he made his home un- 
 til his death. In politics he was a Whig, 
 and during the war was in charge of one of 
 the underground railroads. He attended 
 the Methodist Episcopal church, where he 
 was a highly respected member. The 
 mother of our subject was Lavina (Toomy) 
 Ettinger, a daughter of Peter Toomy, a res- 
 ident of Perry county, Pennsylvania, formerly 
 of York county. 
 
 In March, 1855, there occurred in P'ree- 
 port, Illinois, the marriage of our subject 
 to Miss Eleanor Cregier, of New Jersey, and 
 they are the parents of seven children, three 
 of whom are living: Frank, an engineer on 
 the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, 
 is married, and has three children; Carrie, 
 Charles and Blanche. The second chhld 
 Banche, is the wife of B. W. Eraser, a 
 merchant of Polo, Ilinois. Carrie, the 
 youngest living child, is attending school at 
 
 Rochelle. The paternal grandparents of 
 our subject were Adam and Abbie (Miller) 
 Ettinger. The former was born in York 
 county, Pennsylvania, dying at the age of 
 ninety-si.x, and was a minister of a denom- 
 ination known as the Albrights. 
 
 Martin L. Ettinger is an independent 
 Democrat, and is serving as chairman of 
 the county central committee. For a num- 
 ber of years he was a justice of the peace. 
 He was for two years a member of the city 
 council of Rochelle and is a member of the 
 Masonic fraternity. When the Ogle & Car- 
 roll county railroad was projected he was 
 instrumental in aiding the enterprise 
 through, and was a stockholder and secre- 
 tary of said company until it was absorbed 
 by the Chicago, Burlington cS: CJuincy Rail- 
 road Company. Most of his mature years 
 have been spent in active railroad life, and 
 he has that genial bearing common to rail- 
 road officials. He has served as president 
 of the Rochelle Whist club, and is voted 
 by his friends as an all around good fellow. 
 
 JOHN SMALL, a retired farmer living on 
 section 20, Lincoln township, came to 
 Ogle county in March, 1864, when in his 
 eighteenth year. He was born in Washing- 
 ton county, Maryland, July 28, 1846, and 
 is the son of John and Elizabeth (Wenrick) 
 Small, the former a native of Maryland and 
 the latter of Pennsylvania. The parents 
 never came west, but both passed to their 
 reward in Maryland, the father dying in 
 1853, the mother surviving him a number 
 of years, rearing and caring for their chil- 
 dren. They were the parents of three sons 
 and four daughters, who grew to mature 
 years, but of the number our subject and 
 his sister, Sarah J., wife of Henry A. Long, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of Scott county, Kansas, are the only sur- 
 vivors. 
 
 In his native county John Small re- 
 mained until in his eighteenth year. His 
 educational advantages were very limited, 
 but he has made use of the opportunities he 
 has had in mingling with the world until 
 to-day he is a well-informed man. He came 
 to Ogle county and here joined his sister, 
 Mrs. Long, who, with her husband, had set- 
 tled here some time previously. On his ar- 
 rival he commenced farm work by the month 
 and continued to be thus employed during 
 the summer and fall of 1864. The war for 
 the Union had now been in progress for 
 nearly four years, and although not eighteen 
 years old he determined to offer his services 
 to his country. He enlisted March 8, 1865, 
 "for one year or during the war," becom- 
 ing a member of Company K, Fifteenth Illi- 
 nois Volunteer Infantry, and joined his regi- 
 ment, which was then at Raleigh, North 
 Carolina. With his regiment he was en- 
 gaged in doing guard duty along the rail- 
 roads, and continued to be thus actively em- 
 ployed until near the close of the war. He 
 was later taken sick and was in Harewood 
 hospital, at Washington City, for about three 
 weeks. He received an honorable discharge 
 July 13, 1865. 
 
 Being within a few miles of his old home 
 when discharged he concluded to visit rela- 
 tives and friends in Maryland and Pennsyl- 
 vania, and so spent delightfully a couple of 
 weeks. He then returned to Ogle county 
 and the following season worked by the 
 month. He then purchased a threshing 
 machine and for several years engaged in 
 threshing grain, a business which was then 
 fairly remunerative. On the 13th of Jan- 
 uary, 1876, he was united in marriage with 
 Miss Susanna Tschopp, who was born and 
 
 reared in Ogle county, and daughter of 
 Philip Tschopp, a native of Northumberland 
 county, Pennsylvania, who there grew to 
 manhood and married Susanna Heckart, 
 also a native of Pennsylvania. They had a 
 family of five daughters and one son who 
 grew to mature years: Helen, who married 
 John Rebuck, and died about 1881; Mrs. 
 Catherine Weaver, of Mt. Morris township; 
 Anna, wife of John Fagan, of Lincoln town- 
 ship; Charles Henry, who resides at Hal- 
 dane. Ogle county; Sarah, wife of Fred 
 Martz, of Lincoln township; and Susanna, 
 wife of our subject. Mr. Tschopp came 
 with his family to Ogle county in 1854, and 
 settled in Leaf River township and afterward 
 moved to Mt. Morris township, that part 
 which is now Lincoln township, and here 
 spent the remainder of his life, dying in the 
 fall of 1 891. His wife survives him and is 
 now living in Forreston. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Small rented a 
 farm in Mt. Morris township, and continued 
 fo rent for several years. In 1883 he pur- 
 chased a farm of one hundred and twenty 
 acres in Lincoln township, to which he re- 
 moved with his family, and on which they 
 lived for nine years, in the meantime put- 
 ting some substantial improvements upon 
 the place. Selling that farm, he bought the 
 place on which they now reside, which lies 
 about three-fourths of a mile west of Hal- 
 dane, and where he has since lived retired. 
 
 Politically Mr. Small is a Republican, 
 although he was reared a Democrat. He 
 never, however, voted the Democratic 
 ticket, but cast his first presidential ballot 
 for General Grant in 1868. He has taken 
 quite an active part in local politics and has 
 been a delegate to various conventions of 
 his party. He is at present a member of 
 the Lincoln township central committee of 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 33 
 
 his party, and of the county central com- 
 mittee. For seven consecutive years he 
 served as assessor of his township, and 
 for nine years was a member of the school 
 board, and president of the same for years. 
 In all local afiairs he has been quite active. 
 Since 1S90 he has been secretary of the 
 Lincoln Township Insurance Company. 
 He is also secretary and treasurer of the 
 Ogle County Farmers' Institute, and was a 
 delegate to the Farmers' National Congress, 
 which met at Fort Worth, Texas, Decem- 
 ber 6, 1898. While gone he visited Galves- 
 ton, Houston, Waco, San Antonio, and a 
 number of other important points in the 
 "Lone Star state." Fraternally he is a 
 member of the G. A. R. , of Mt. Morris. In 
 the thirty-five years he has been a resident 
 of Ogle county he has made many friends, 
 who esteem him as one worthy of their con- 
 fidence. 
 
 GEORGE H. ANDREW, one of the 
 leading citizens of Ogle county, was 
 born in Paine's Point, Pine Rock township. 
 Ogle county, July 16, 1855. Heisasonof 
 Nicholas and Margaret (Eychaner) Andrew, 
 who were married in [840. Nicholas An- 
 drew was born in 1S18, on the Mohawk 
 river. New York, where he was reared and 
 educated, and followed the occupation of 
 farming. Mrs. Andrew was born in 1824, 
 in the state of New York, and is the daugh- 
 ter of Conrad Eychaner, a farmer of New 
 York state. Mr. Eychaner took an active 
 part in the Mexican war, and served with 
 much distinction. Shortly after his mar- 
 riage he came to Illinois and was among 
 the first settlers of the county. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Andrew had five children. Daniel, 
 the eldest and a prominent farmer of Ogle 
 county, was born in 1845 and died in 1898. 
 
 Franklin, born in March, 1847, is at present 
 road commissioner of Pine Rock township. 
 Nathan, born in 1850, is a prominent mer- 
 chant in the town of Oregon. Amanda was 
 born in 1852 and died in 1865. Mr. An- 
 drew died in 1856, in the prime of life, be- 
 ing only thirty-eight years of age. His wife 
 is still living at Paine's Point, and enjoys 
 a comfortable old age. 
 
 The gentleman whose name heads this 
 review, received his education in the com- 
 mon school, and after completing his edu- 
 cation took up the pursuit of farming, which 
 he followed until 1879, when he removed 
 to Ghana. On the nineteenth of Septem- 
 ber, 1878, he was united in marriage to Ida 
 M. Eddy, a daughter of Horace and Jane 
 (Woodward) Eddy, natives of De Kalb 
 county, where Mr. Eddy is a prominent 
 farmer. To Mr. and Mrs. Andrew two 
 children have been born: Eddy Glenn, at- 
 tending school at Oregon; and Edith Lyle 
 at home with her parents. At various 
 times Mr. Andrew's popularity has been 
 evinced bj' his election to office in township 
 and county. He has for thirteen years ful- 
 filled the office of township assessor, and in 
 December, 1894, he was appointed deputy 
 sheriff. In this capacity he served with 
 great distinction, which led up to his elec- 
 tion, in 1898, to the office of sheriff of Ogle 
 county. After election he removed to Ore- 
 gon, where he now resides. Mr. Andrew 
 is a prominent member of the Masonic fra- 
 ternity, Oregon Lodge, No. 420, Knights 
 of Pythias, and the Modern Woodmen of 
 America. He attained his majority in 1876 
 and cast his first vote for Rutherford B. 
 Hayes, and each succeeding election, town, 
 county, state or national he has given his 
 support and ballot to the princijiles of the 
 Republican platform. 
 
34 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 BENJAMIN T. HEDRICK, deceased, 
 who was numbered among the early 
 settlers of Ogle county, was a true repre- 
 sentative of that class of men who enter into 
 a new country, where hardships must be 
 experienced, and by the sweat of their face, 
 prepare the way, rendering the paths 
 smooth for those who shall come after 
 them. He was a native of Washington 
 county, Maryland, and was born November 
 I, 1 812, in Sharpsburg. His father, George 
 Hedrick, was a native of Pennsylvania, and 
 was born February 3, 1779, while his 
 mother was born in Washington county, 
 Maryland, April 12, 1785. George Hed- 
 rick was a mechanic, but on going to Mary- 
 land engaged in agricultural pursuits on a 
 large scale, owning several slaves. During 
 the war of 181 2 he served as a recruiting 
 officer. He never came west, but died in 
 \\'ashington county, Maryland, April 21, 
 1 83 1, his wife surviving him some eighteen 
 years, dying January 10, 1859. They had 
 a large family. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in his native county, and after passing 
 through the common schools, entered Will- 
 iamstown College, Virginia. On the 19th 
 of October, 1841, he was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Anna Shryock, who was 
 born October 21, 1808, in Hagerstown, 
 Maryland. She was the daughter of George 
 Shryock, born February 24, 1783, and 
 Elizabeth (Lewis) Shryock, born August 5, 
 1784. He was an officer, with the rank of 
 captain, in the war of 18 12, under General 
 Ringold. He was the son of John Shryock, 
 a representative of one of the old Maryland 
 families. Elizabeth Lewis was the daugh- 
 ter of Captain William Lewis, who served 
 in the Revolutionary war, under Gen- 
 eral Wayne. Anna Shryock was the old- 
 
 est of a family of eight children born to 
 George and Elizabeth Shryock. John Shry- 
 ock was the son of Leonard Shryock, one of 
 two brothers who emigrated to the colonies 
 from one of the German states, probablj' 
 about the year 1720, settling in York coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania. 
 
 To B. T. and Anna Hedrick five chil- 
 dren were born, one of whom died in in- 
 fancy. George M. is married, and is en- 
 gaged in farming in Lincoln township. Ogle 
 county. He has five children. Lucy T. 
 resides in Polo, where she is well known 
 and universally esteemed. She is a mem- 
 ber and an active worker in the Lutheran 
 church. Walter K. is married and has four 
 children. He also lives in Lincoln town- 
 ship, where he is engaged in farming. Al- 
 len M. is married and has had five children. 
 He is now living in Santa Paula, California. 
 
 In 1845 Mr. Hedrick came with his fam- 
 ily to Ogle county and settled on a tract of 
 land consisting of one hundred and twenty 
 acres, in Mt. Morris township, which he 
 had previously purchased. He at once 
 commenced its improvement, and in due 
 time had a farm of which he had just rea- 
 son to be proud. After living upon that 
 farm for thirty-one years, and there rearing 
 his children, he went to California for a stay 
 of one year, and in 1879 moved to Polo, in 
 order that he might live a retired life. He 
 was quite a traveller, and thoroughly en- 
 joyed visiting various parts of his native 
 land and associating with people of whom 
 he had heard but had not seen. Success 
 had crowned his efforts and he felt that he 
 could take some enjoyment in life. At the 
 time of his death he was the owner of sev- 
 eral farms in Ogle county, and was consid- 
 ered one of the county's best and most pros- 
 perous citizens. 
 
B. T. HEDRICK. 
 
thp: biographical record. 
 
 3; 
 
 In politics Mr. Hedrick was a Repub- 
 lican, after the organization of the party. 
 His experience with slavery made him a 
 warm advocate of Republican principles, 
 and he did not hesitate to express his con- 
 victions. During the Civil war he was a 
 strong Union man, and on one occasion 
 when a draft was imminent, in company 
 with Prof. Williamson, of Mt. Morris Col- 
 lege, and the pastor of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church at Mt. Morris, went to Dixon 
 and secured enough men to save the town- 
 ship from a draft. He was a very capable 
 and influential man and served the county 
 well during that trying period. His death 
 occurred July 19, 1886, his faithful wife 
 having preceded him to their heavenly home 
 some thirty years, having died July 27, 
 1866. They were both devoted members 
 of the Lutheran church, and died in the 
 faith of a blessed resurrection. He was 
 well known in every part of the county, and 
 those knowing him had for him the greatest 
 respect. He served his township as a mem- 
 ber of the county board of supervisors, and 
 in various local positions, and in whatever 
 position he was asked to fill, he was ever 
 faithful. 
 
 EZRA H. EVANS.— In the respect that 
 is accorded to men who have fought 
 their own way to success through unfavor- 
 able environments we find an unconscious 
 recognition of the intrinsic worth of a char- 
 acter which can not only endure so rough a 
 test, but gain new strength through the dis- 
 cipline. The following history sets forth 
 briefly the steps by which our subject, now 
 one of the substantial citizens of Byron, 
 overcame the disadvantages of his early life. 
 This worthy pioneer of Ogle county, was 
 
 born in Oneida county, New York, Novem- 
 ber 22, 1829, and is a representative of an 
 old New York family of Welsh descent. 
 His father, Ozias Evans, and his grandfa- 
 ther, Hugh Evans, were both natives of 
 Oneida county. The former wedded Miss 
 Mary Jeffords, who was born in Herkimer 
 county. New York and was left an orphan 
 in childhood. In Oneida county they reared 
 their family, but finally removed to New 
 Milford, Illinois, where they spent their last 
 years. The father died, however, in Wis- 
 consin, while on a visit, but was laid to rest 
 by the side of his wife in Byron cemetery, 
 her death having occurred several years pre- 
 viously. To them were born six children, 
 two sons and six daughters, of whom all are 
 still living with the exception of the eldest, 
 Mary, wife of Thomas Cook, and Sally and 
 Sally 2d; Ezra H., of this sketch; Mrs. 
 Nancy Soper is a widow living in California; 
 Caroline is the wife of Robert Andrews, of 
 Rockford. Illinois; Mrs. Martha Fisher is 
 a widow living at Black River Falls, Wis- 
 consin; and Erastus C. is living retired in 
 Denver, Colorado. 
 
 Ezra H. Evans was reared on a farm 
 and received a good common-school educa- 
 tion which well fitted him for the practical 
 duties of life. He was eighteen years of 
 age on coming to Ogle county in the fall of 
 1848, but the following year was spent on a 
 farm in Wisconsin. Returning to this 
 county in 1849, he secured one hundred 
 and sixty acres of land in Marion township 
 with a land warrant. He located in New 
 Milford and engaged in teaming for five 
 years, hauling flour to Rockford. 
 
 In August, 1850, Mr. Evans was married 
 in Winnebago county, Illinois, to Miss Phebe 
 Ann Osborn, a native of Northamptonshire, 
 England, and a daughter of George Osborn, 
 
38 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 who was born in the same shire and emi- 
 grated to the new world about 1831, locat- 
 ing at Hudson, New York, where he spent 
 four or five years. At the end of that time 
 he bought a farm in Oneida county, where 
 he made his home for eleven years, and on 
 coming west, in 1846, settled in Winnebago 
 county, Illinois, ten miles west of Rockford, 
 where he purchased a partially improved 
 farm and there spent his remaining days in 
 agricultural pursuits. In his native land he 
 married Hannah Webster, who died in 
 Oneida county, New York, and he subse- 
 quently married again. Mrs. Evans was 
 the only daughter by the first marriage, but 
 there were three sons, all of whom were 
 born in England and are now deceased. All 
 married and lived for a time in Illinois, but 
 Joseph died in Texas, and William died in 
 Ogle county, Illinois, and George died in 
 California. Mrs. Evans was principally 
 reared and educated in Oneida county, New 
 York, being a young lady when the family 
 removed to this state. By her marriage to 
 our subject she has become the mother of 
 three children: Fransula M. , wife of David 
 Creager, a farmer of Byron township. Ogle 
 county; Arthur A. died at the age of nine- 
 teen months; and Earnest E., who has been 
 in the drug business in Los Gatos, Cali- 
 fornia, for the last three years. For about 
 ten years he was engaged in Byron, Illinois, 
 in drug business. In 1885 he married Miss 
 Elizabeth Spalding, daughter of Phineas 
 Spalding, of Beloit, Wisconsin. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Evans spent the first year 
 of their married life with her father, our 
 subject assisting in the operation of the 
 farm, and then removed to New Milford, 
 where he engaged in teaming for five years. 
 In 1857 they located on the land he had 
 purchased in Marion township, moving down 
 
 the river in a ferry boat in the spring of that 
 year, when the streams were very high and 
 the roads almost impassable. Mr. Evans 
 built a frame house, fenced his land and 
 began the development of his farm, which 
 he successfully operated for about twelve 
 years. He then sold the place and bought 
 a residence in Byron, where he still resides. 
 Three years after locating here he purchased 
 a farm of fifty-five acres in Byron township, 
 adjoining the village, and has since added 
 to it a thirty-acre tract, all of which he op- 
 erates. He also owns a well-improved and 
 valuable farm of eighty acres on the north- 
 ern line of the county in Byron township, 
 and is to-day one of the most prosperous 
 and successful citizens of the community, 
 the result of his own industry, enterprise 
 and good management. 
 
 Politically Mr. Evans has been a sup- 
 porter of the men and measures of the Re- 
 publican party since casting his first vote for 
 John C. Fremont in 1856, but he has never 
 sought or cared for official honors, though 
 he served as commissioner of highways in 
 Byron township and as township trustee. 
 Religiously his wife is a faithful member of 
 the Congregational church of Byron, and 
 socially he is one of the oldest members of 
 the Masonic lodge at that place, in which 
 he has served as senior warden and also be- 
 longs to Rockford chapter, R. A. M. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Evans spent the winter of 1896- 
 97 on the Pacific slope, visiting their son 
 and other relatives, including Mrs. Evans' 
 brother's wife and family, and an uncle of 
 Mr. Evans. They thoroughly enjoyed the 
 trip and returned home by way of the 
 Southern Pacific route, stopping in Texas 
 for a time. They brought home with them 
 a fine collection of mosses, shells, pebbles 
 and other curios gathered on the beach of 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 39 
 
 the Pacific. In 1876 they spent four months 
 in visiting the Centennial exposition at 
 Philadelphia, and old friends in New York. 
 They receive and merit the high regard of 
 the entire community in which they live 
 and have a host of warm friends throughout 
 Ogle county, who will read with interest 
 this short sketch of so worthy a couple. 
 
 TIMOTHY W. ALDEN. — There are few 
 men more worthy of representation in 
 a work of this character than the subject of 
 this sketch, who is now passing his declin- 
 ing years in retirement from active labor on 
 his farm on section 8, Leaf River township. 
 His has been a long and busy career, rich 
 with experience, and in which he has es- 
 tablished himself in the esteem and confi- 
 dence of all who know him. Since 1S37 
 he has been a resident of the county, and 
 has taken an active part in its growth and 
 development. 
 
 This worthy pioneer was born in Brad- 
 ford county, Pennsylvania, March 13, 1821, 
 and is of the eighth generation from John 
 Alden, clerk of Captain Miles Standish. 
 The family is of English origin, and its first 
 representative in this country was brought 
 to our shores by the Mayflower. Timothy 
 Alden, our subject's grandfather, was a na- 
 tive of Massachusetts, and in 1801 removed 
 with his family to Bradford county, Penn- 
 sylvania, becoming one of its first settlers. 
 The father of our subject, Adonijah Alden, 
 was then about two years old, his birth hav- 
 ing occurred in Massachusetts, in 1799, and 
 in Bradford county he grew to manhood. 
 He married Vesta York, a native of Penn- 
 sylvania, and a daughter of Rev. Minor 
 York, one of its pioneers. She was living 
 in Wyoming at the time of the massacre 
 
 and was a child of twelve years. Her fa- 
 ther was away with the army, and her 
 mother, with her children, got into a canoe 
 and succeeded in slipping down the river 
 unseen by the Indians. Mr. Alden settled 
 at Durell, on the Susquehanna river, and 
 continued to engage in farming in Bradford 
 county for a number of years, but in 1837 
 came by team to Ogle county, Illinois, and 
 took up a claim in Marion township, two 
 miles below Byron. He did not long en- 
 joy his new home, however, for he died in 
 the prime of life, in 1839, at the age of 
 forty-eight years. His wife had passed 
 away a few months previous, and a son and 
 two daughters died the same year, all be- 
 tween March and August, of 1839. The 
 other seven children all reached years of 
 maturity, and remained together on the 
 farm for a few years. 
 
 In his native state Timothy W. Alden 
 had received fair school advantages. He 
 aided in the development of the new farm 
 in Ogle county, pre-empted the land and 
 devoted his time to its cultivation and im- 
 provement for five years. He then sold the 
 claim and engaged in teaming and thresh- 
 ing, having purchased a thresher, which he 
 operated in season for ten years. At the 
 end of that time he bought eighty acres of 
 raw land in Leaf River township, and dur- 
 ing the six years he resided thereon he 
 placed it under cultivation and made many 
 improvements. On selling the place in 1856 
 he bought another tract of eighty acres of 
 unimproved land, on which he has since 
 made his home. To the original purchase 
 he added one hundred and sixty acres, but 
 has since sold forty acres, so that he now 
 has two hundred acres, which he has placed 
 under excellent cultivation, but now leaves 
 the active management of the farm tg 
 
40 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 younger hands. His first home here he has 
 enlarged and improved and there is spend- 
 ing his decHning days in ease and quiet. 
 
 In Byron township, Ogle county, in 1852, 
 Mr. Alden married Miss Orpha Coolbaugh, 
 also a native of Bradford county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and a daughter of Moses Coolbaugh, 
 who was born in the same state. She came 
 to this state with her parents when a young 
 girl and died July 9, 1891, and was laid to 
 rest in Byron cemetery. Thirteen children 
 were born of this union and eleven are still 
 living, namely: Professor Martin M., prin- 
 cipal of the Kirkland, Illinois, schools; C. 
 A., editor and proprietor of a paper pub- 
 lished in Fulton, Illinois; Vista, wife of 
 Frank Lindley, a farmer of Winnebago 
 county, Illinois; Rev. David, minister of 
 the Congregational church at Prophetstown, 
 Illinois; Fred Grant, a resident of Winne- 
 bago county; James, a farmer of Leaf River 
 township; Nancy E. , wife of Joseph Curtis, 
 of Winnebago county; John and Emmett, 
 both farmers of that county; and Lilly M., 
 who is attending the nurses training school 
 in Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Alden cast his first presidential vote 
 for the Whig candidate in 1844, and con- 
 tinued to support that party until 1856, 
 when he joined the ranks of the Republican 
 party, voting for John C. Fremont, and has 
 since fought under its banner. He has 
 always taken an active and commendable 
 interest in politics, but has never been a 
 politician in the sense of office-seeking. 
 When the Great Western railroad was built 
 through the county, he took stock and 
 helped to establish the elevator at Egan 
 City, and at all times has been prominently 
 identified with those interests calculated to 
 promote the general welfare of the com- 
 munity. In 1845 be united with the Con- 
 
 gregational church at Byron, and assisted 
 in building the house of worship, getting 
 out the timber and hauling it to Byron, 
 He has since transferred his membership to 
 the church at Seward. The wonderful 
 changes which have taken place in this 
 region since his arrival here can scarcely be 
 realized; the country at that time was wild 
 and unimproved, but now are seen on every 
 hand churches, schoolhouses, fine farms, 
 thriving villages and cities, while the county 
 is crossed and re-crossed by railroads and 
 telegraphs. 
 
 GEORGE W. GARNHART, who is liv- 
 ing a retired life on his farm about two 
 miles from Polo, on section 14, Buffalo 
 township, is a well-known citizen of Ogle 
 county, of which he has been a resident 
 since 1849. He was born in Northumber- 
 land county, Pennsylvania, December 13, 
 1839, and is the son of John Garnhart, and 
 a brother of Charles W. Garnhart, of Ogle 
 county, whose family sketch appears else- 
 where in this work. 
 
 From his native county in Pennsylvania, 
 Mr. Garnhart accompanied his parents to 
 Ogle county, Illinois, the father locating in 
 Marion township. In the public schools of 
 Marion and White Rock townships, Ogle 
 county, he received his primary education. 
 Later he attended Franklin College, in In- 
 diana, where he spent one year and a half 
 in obtaining a higher education. Subse- 
 quently he attended Parson Bros. Commer- 
 cial College, at LaPorte, Indiana, for one 
 year. In his youth he learned the carpen- 
 ter's trade, which he followed some three 
 or four years in LaPorte, but the greater 
 part of his life has been spent in teaching 
 in the public schools and in farming. While 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 41 
 
 in Indiana, he spent some three years as a 
 teacher in the schools of that state. Re- 
 turning to Illinois, he here engaged in teach- 
 ing in the public schools, and as a profes- 
 sional teacher continued to be eniplojed for 
 some years. He then purchased an im- 
 proved farm in White Rock township. Ogle 
 county, and there engaged in farming for a 
 few years, then sold out and purchased the 
 farm where he now resides in Buffalo town- 
 ship. This farm was also improved, but 
 on coming into possession he made further 
 improvements to the place, and has it now 
 under a high state of cultivation. The 
 house was remodeled by him, good barns 
 and outbuildings were erected, shade and 
 ornamental trees set out, and the whole 
 place transformed. 
 
 Mr. Garnhart was married about 1S63, 
 and is the father of three children, two sons 
 and a daughter, Walter W. , Alwilda E. and 
 Dewitt C. (deceased). Walter W. is a well 
 educated young man, a graduate of Brown 
 University, while the latter is also well ed- 
 ucated, and is a teacher of music. 
 
 Mr. Garnhart has been an earnest ad- 
 vocate of the principles of the Republican 
 party since its organization. His first pres- 
 idential vote was cast for our first martyr 
 president, Abraham Lincoln, and he has 
 since voted for every presidential nominee 
 of the party, including William McKinley. 
 He has never asked or desired public office, 
 having no inclinations in that respect. His 
 interest in the cause of education has always 
 been great, and some eighteen or twenty- 
 years of his life were passed as a teacher in 
 the public schools, and about the same 
 length of time as a member of the school 
 board, and clerk of the school district. For 
 a half century he has been a resident of the 
 county and he has always been interested in 
 
 its advancement. As a professional teach- 
 er, as a farmer, and as a citizen, he has 
 contributed his share to make the county 
 one of the best in the great prairie state. 
 He is well known as a man of sterling char- 
 acter, and has the confidence and esteem of 
 a large circle of friends. 
 
 JACOB STEFFA is one of the old and 
 honored citizens of Ogle county who 
 has aided so materially in the development 
 of this region from pioneer days. He is the 
 owner of a fine farm of one hundred and 
 twenty acres on section 8, Rockvale town- 
 ship, on which he has successfully engaged 
 in agricultural pursuits for many years. 
 
 Mr. Steffa is a native of Maryland, born 
 in Washington county, February 21, 1818, 
 and a son of William and Elizabeth (Oto- 
 alt) Steffa, the former born in Washington 
 county, and the latter in Hagerstown, 
 Maryland. The father was a farmer by oc- 
 cupation. In their family were ten children, 
 of whom our subject is the eldest, the others 
 being John, a resident of Pomona, Califor- 
 nia; Joseph, of Mt. Morris, Illinois; David, 
 who is living with his son, William Steffa, 
 in Rockvale township, Ogle county; Solo- 
 mon; William; Elizabeth, Matilda and Mary, 
 deceased; and Hannah, who is novv living in 
 Iowa. 
 
 During his boyhood and youth Jacob 
 Steffa attended the district schools during 
 the winter months, while during the summer 
 season he assisted his father in the labors 
 of the farm until eighteen years of age 
 when he left school and began working for 
 Christly Hershe, with whom he remained 
 for two years. The following two years 
 were spent on a farm near Sharpsburg, 
 Maryland, on the Potomac river, at the end 
 
42 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of which time he came west by team, ar- 
 riving in Ogle county, October 6, 1844, 
 after being a month upon the road. His 
 brother had located here the spring previous 
 and was then working for John Phelps. 
 When our subject and his father arrived, 
 they rented the Phelps farm of three hun- 
 dred and twenty acres, which they operated 
 for three years and then the son leased the 
 Washington Phelps farm of one hundred 
 and sixty acres for two years. At the end 
 of that time he made his first purchase, con- 
 sisting of eighty acres, but subsequently sold 
 that place and bought his present farm of 
 one hundred and twenty acres in Rockvale 
 township, upon which he has made many 
 valuable and useful improvements which 
 add greatly to its value and attractive appear- 
 ance. As a citizen he has the respect and 
 confidence of all who know him, and his 
 friends are many throughout the communtiy 
 in which he makes his home. 
 
 On the 31st of January, 183 1, occurred 
 the marriage of Mr. Steffa and Miss Mary 
 Houze, who was born in Maryland, Sep- 
 tember 28, 1822, a daughter of Edward and 
 Lydia (Funk) Houze, also natives of that 
 state. The children born of this union are 
 as follows: Daniel, born March 31, 1841, 
 was one of the boys in blue during the Civil 
 war, a member of the Thirty-fourth Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, and is now living in 
 Colorado. He married first Elizabeth Ran- 
 dall, and for his second wife wedded Mrs. 
 Browning, by whom he has three children. 
 Sarah Margaret, born March 11, 1843, mar- 
 ried Jacob Bolembaugh, who was killed 
 during the Civil war, and she later married 
 a Mr. Morse, by whom she has two chil- 
 dren. She is also living in Colorado. Sam- 
 uel, born January 7, 1845, enlisted in the 
 Thirty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry 
 
 during the Rebellion and served until hos- 
 tilities ceased, taking part in many impor- 
 tant battles and the celebrated march to 
 the sea. He married Charlotte McDonald, 
 by whom he has two children, and they live 
 at Rockford, Illinois. Reuben Jonathan, 
 born March 25, 1847, married Mrs. Thema 
 Myers, by whom he has one child, and they 
 live in Redwing, Minnesota. Ann Celesta, 
 born September 28, 1850, married Thomas 
 Mallory and lives in Chicago. William 
 Arthur, born July 8, 1852, married Lorina 
 Waite, by whom he has two children, and 
 they live in Oregon, Ogle county. Mary 
 Alice, born August 31, 1854, married Jacob 
 Hemmer. She has two children: Harry 
 Wilbur, born July 12, 1882; and Wilfred, 
 born October 27, 1884. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Steffa is a Re- 
 publican, and he has ever taken an active 
 and commendable interest in political af- 
 fairs, serving as school director several 
 terms and as road commissioner for one 
 term of three years, to the entire satisfac- 
 tion of all concerned. 
 
 DANIEL H. TOBIAS, who resides on 
 section 2, Lincoln township, has been 
 a resident of Ogle county almost a third of 
 a century, coming here in March, 1866. 
 The farm which he owns and operates con- 
 tains two hundred and eighty acres of well 
 improved land and is one of the best in Lin- 
 coln township. He is a native of Dauphin 
 county, Pennsylvania, about thirty-four 
 miles from Harrisburg, and was born April 
 30, 1843, and is a spn of John Tobias, 
 a native of the same county and state, and 
 the grandson of Daniel Tobias. 
 
 John Tobias grew to manhood in his na- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tive county and in his youth learned the 
 stone mason's trade, and followed that oc- 
 cupation, in connection with mining during 
 his entire life. He was twice married, his 
 first wife being Miss Nancy Rowe, also a na- 
 tive of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, and 
 daughter of Wendell Rowe, of the same 
 county. She became the mother of five 
 sons, four of whom grew to manhood, and 
 three now living: Daniel H., our subject; 
 Henry, residing in Schuylkill county, Penn- 
 sylvania; and John, a resident of Northum- 
 berland county, in the same state. A few 
 years after his marriage, John Tobias re- 
 moved with his family to Schuylkill county, 
 Pennsylvania, where he engaged at his trade 
 and also at mining. His first wife, the 
 mother of the children named, died in 1850, 
 but he survived her many years, dying in 
 1896 when about seventy-hve years old. 
 
 In his native county our subject spent 
 his boyhood and youth, and in its common 
 schools obtained his education, attending 
 usually in the winter months and farming 
 in the summer. He attained his majority 
 during the trying period of the Civil war, 
 and on the 19th of September, 1864, at 
 Harrisburg, he enlisted in Company H, 
 Two Hundred and Tenth Pennsylvania Vol- 
 unteer Infantry, and served until the close 
 of the war, his regiment forming a part of 
 the Fifth Corps, army of the Potomac. He 
 participated in the two battles at Hatches 
 Run, Gravelly Run, Five Forks, Appomat- 
 tox Court House, and was present at the 
 time of Lee's surrender, April 9, 1865. In 
 addition to the engagements mentioned he 
 was in several minor ones, and participat- 
 ed in the grand review at Washington at 
 the close of the war. The regiment went 
 out with nine hundred and sixty men and 
 returned with four hundred and ninety- 
 
 three. Of the remainder, some were killed 
 in battle, and some wounded or otherwise 
 disabled. Mr. Tobias received several 
 shots through his clothing, but was never 
 wounded. 
 
 On receiving his discharge, Mr. Tobias 
 returned to his old home and engaged in 
 teaming until the spring of 1866, when he 
 came to Ogle county in company with 
 Aaron Meyers, who is a substantial farmer 
 of Lincoln township. After coming here, 
 for two years he worked by the month for 
 various persons. He was married in Lin- 
 coln township. Ogle county, December 26, 
 1867, to Margaret Meyers, daughter of 
 Jacob M. Meyers, who was an Ogle county 
 pioneer, coming here, in 1837, from Boons- 
 borough, Maryland. He was, however, a 
 native of Berks county, Pennsylvania, born 
 in 1799, but reared in Dauphin county, go- 
 ing to Maryland a young man of nineteen. 
 He was a stonemason by trade, an occupa- 
 tion that he followed while residing in Mary- 
 land. He married Elizabeth Gloss, a native 
 of Washington county, Maryland, and daugh- 
 ter of Lewis Gloss, a German ancestry. On 
 coming to Ogle county, Jacob Meyers lo- 
 cated in that part of Mt. Morris township 
 which has since been organized under the 
 name of Lincoln, where he bought a claim 
 of eight hundred acres, entered the land 
 when it came into market, and became one 
 of the most substantial farmers of the 
 county. He died in Lincoln township Au- 
 gust 26, 1877, at the age of seventy-eight 
 years. His wife passed away April 6, of 
 the same year. Their remains were interred 
 in the West Grove cemetery. They were 
 the parents of eleven children, of whom one 
 son and six daughters grew to mature years, 
 though but three are now living, — Sarah, 
 wife of Daniel Eager, of Forreston; Ellen, 
 
44 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 wife of John Mace, a farmer of Lincoln 
 township; and Margaret, wife of our sub- 
 ject. Jacob S. Meyers, the son, who grew 
 to manhood, enlisted in the One Hundred 
 and Forty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
 was taken sick while in the service, brought 
 home and died October 4, 1864. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. To- 
 bias commenced life on the old Myers home- 
 stead, where Mrs. Myers was born and 
 reared. They lived on that farm until the 
 spring of 1897, when Mr. Tobias purchased 
 his present farm to which they at once re- 
 moved. They are the parents of three 
 daughters. Emma Luella is the wife of 
 Samuel W. Hamilton, a farmer of Lincoln 
 township. Ella Viola, who was well edu- 
 cated in the schools of Forreston and Ore- 
 gon, is now a successful teacher in the 
 schools of Ogle county for about four years. 
 Edna Agnes is a student in the home school. 
 Politically, Mr. Tobias is a stanch Repub- 
 lican, and has voted for ten presidential 
 candidates of that party. He has never 
 cared for public office, but for the reason 
 that he has always taken a deep interest in 
 the public schools, he has served on the 
 school board for eighteen years, a portion 
 of which time he has been president of the 
 board. He has also served as district clerk 
 and one term as road commissioner. He 
 and his wife are members of the Reformed 
 church at West Grove, and take a lively 
 interest in the work of the church. Both 
 are highly esteemed wherever known. Mrs. 
 Tobias has been a life-long resident of the 
 township, while Mr. Tobias has given some 
 thirty-three years of his life to the building 
 up and development of his adopted county. 
 Fraternally, he is a member of the G. A. R. 
 Post, No. 116, of Oregon, and of White 
 Oak Camp, No. 667, M. W. A., of Forreston. 
 
 ASAPH M. TRUMBULL.— The subject 
 of this review is one whose history 
 touches the pioneer epoch in the annals of 
 the state of Illinois and whose days have 
 been an integral part of that indissoluble 
 chain which links the early formative period 
 with that of later-day progress and prosper- 
 ity. Not alone is there particular interest 
 attaching to his career as one of the pio- 
 neers of Ogle county, but in reviewing his 
 genealogical record we find his lineage trac- 
 ing back to the colonial history of the na- 
 tion and to that period which marked the 
 inception of the grandest republic the world 
 has ever known. 
 
 Mr. Trumbull was born near Hartford, 
 Connecticut, September 13, 18 13, and is a 
 worthy representative of an old and hon- 
 ored New England family, which was founded 
 in this country by three brothers of English 
 birth. One of these, Governor Jonathan 
 Trumbull, of Connecticut, was a great friend 
 of General Washington, who always made 
 his home headquarters when in that region, 
 and it is believed that the term " Brother 
 Jonathan " originated from this friendship. 
 Four generations of the family, including 
 our subject, were born in the same house on 
 the old Trumbull homestead in Connecticut. 
 Among these was the grandfather, David 
 Trumbull, and the father, James Trumbull, 
 who spent their entire life there engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits. He served as a ser- 
 geant in the war of 1812, and died at the 
 age of forty-two years, honored and re- 
 spected by all who knew him. In early life 
 he married Jane Watson also a native of 
 the Nutmeg state, who survived him a num- 
 ber of years and died on the old homestead. 
 To them were born nine children, but only 
 two are now living: Mrs. Fanny Weller, a 
 widow, now ninety-three years of age, who 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 45 
 
 resides in Waterbury, Connecticut; and 
 Asaph M., our subject. 
 
 Until he attained his majority Asaph M. 
 Trumbull remained with his mother and 
 aided in the operation of the home farm. 
 His educational advantages were good for 
 those days, as he attended both the com- 
 mon schools and academies, and for two 
 winter terms he engaged in teaching. When 
 a young man he went to Milton, Union 
 county, Pennsylvania, where he engaged in 
 the manufacture of brooms for two years. 
 While there he was married in 1838 to Miss 
 Sarah Gotshall, a native of Milton. The 
 following year he purchased a team and 
 wagon, which he loaded with his effects, 
 and in May started for Illinois, being four 
 weeks in making the journey. He joined 
 two brothers, David and Joseph, who had 
 settled in Ogle county early that spring, and 
 he secured a claim of one hundred and forty 
 acres near Byron. He spent the first win- 
 ter in a log cabin on the banks of a creek, 
 but in the spring that stream overflowed its 
 banks, and as they were threatened with 
 drowning they were forced to leave, moving 
 out of their little home in a boat. Mr. 
 Trumbull then erected a house and barn on 
 higher ground and proceeded to break his 
 land preparatory to planting crops. Two 
 years later he traded that place for a farm 
 in Marion township, of one hundred and 
 ninety acres, which were slightly improved. 
 He planted an orchard, erected a comforta- 
 ble residence and good outbuildings, and for 
 forty years devoted his energies to the culti- 
 vation of his land, making it one of the 
 best and most desirable farms of the town- 
 ship. In 1 88 1 he rented the place and 
 moved to Stillman Valley, where he built a 
 good home and has since lived retired from 
 active labor, though he still looks after his 
 
 farm and other interests. He has given his 
 support to a number of business enterprises 
 that have done much for the development 
 and prosperity of this part of the county. 
 
 Soon after coming to Illinois Mr. Trum- 
 bull's first wife died, and he subsequently 
 wedded Mary Patrick, who was a native of 
 Massachusetts, and when young came west 
 with her father, Samuel Patrick, an early 
 settler of Ogle county. She died on the 
 farm in Marion township, and of the three 
 children born to them one died at the age 
 of eleven years and one at the age of two. 
 The only one now living, George Trumbull, 
 a farmer of Marion township, is married and 
 has two children. On the 6th of August, 
 1 86 1, in Camden, Oneida county, New 
 York, Mr. Trumbull was united in marriage 
 with Miss Honor Preston, who was born, 
 reared and educated at that place, and is a 
 daughter of Rossiter and Orril (Curtis) 
 Preston, both natives of Connecticut. They 
 later lived for a number of years in Cam- 
 den, New York, finally removing to Rock- 
 ford, Illinois. 
 
 Politically Mr. Trumbull was an old- 
 line Whig and cast his first presidential 
 ballot for Martin Van Buren, but on the or- 
 ganization of the Republican party he joined 
 its ranks, voting for John C. Fremont in 
 1856, and has never failed to support each 
 presidential candidate of that party since 
 then. He has ever used his influence to- 
 ward securing good schools and for a num- 
 ber of years was a most efficient member of 
 the school board. He has also served his 
 fellow citizens in a most creditable and sat- 
 isfactory manner as supervisor, township 
 clerk and assessor for a few years each. In 
 early life he joined the Presbyterian church, 
 but after coming to this county he united 
 with the Congregational church at Byron. 
 
46 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 On his removal to Stillman Valley he be- 
 came connected with the Congregational 
 church at that place, has taken an active 
 part in church and Sabbath school work, 
 and for thirty years has been a member of 
 the official board, being a deacon at the 
 present time. His life is exemplary in 
 many respects and he has ever supported 
 those interests which are calculated to up- 
 lift and benefit humanity, while his own 
 high moral worth is deserving of the high- 
 est commendation. 
 
 GEORGE W. SHAFER, who resides on 
 section lo, Buffalo township, has been 
 a resident of Ogle county since October, 
 1867. He was born in Delaware county, 
 New York, September 2, 1843, ^nd is of 
 German ancestry, the family being early 
 settlers, however, of Duchess county. New 
 York, from which county the grandfather 
 of our subject removed to Delaware coun- 
 ty, in the same state, becoming one of the 
 pioneers of that county. Strange as it may 
 seem to those who think of the east as old 
 settled country, when Henry Shafer moved 
 to Delaware county they were compelled 
 to go to Kingston, a distance of sixty miles, 
 on horseback, to get their milling done. 
 
 Henry S. Shafer, the son of Henry 
 Shafer and the father of our subject, was 
 born in Delaware county, March 19, 18 14, 
 and on his father's farm grew to manhood 
 and there married Deborah Shafer, daugh- 
 ter of Adam Shafer, also a pioneer of that 
 county. They were the parents of three sons 
 and four daughters, as follows: Adam H., 
 of Binghamton, New York; George W., of 
 this review; Juliana, wife of Daniel Water- 
 bury, of Polo; Ransom, a business man of 
 Chicago; Eliff, wife of Henry C. Wood, of 
 
 Binghamton, New York; Elizabeth, wife of 
 D. Kelley, of Walton, New York; and Celia, 
 who died in 1876. Both parents are now 
 deceased, the mother dying in May, 1896, 
 and the father in March, 1897. 
 
 George W. Shafer grew to manhood in 
 Delaware county. New York, and was edu- 
 cated in the common schools of his native 
 county. He remained at home, assisting 
 in the cultivation of the home farm until 
 after he attained his majority, but with that 
 desire to better himself in life, he came to 
 Ogle county in 1867, where he joined his 
 sister, Mrs. Waterbury, who had preceded 
 him. Soon after his arrival he purchased 
 the farm where he now resides, a place 
 which was fairly well improved. Taking 
 possession of the place he put in a crop in 
 the spring of 1868 and attended to its cul- 
 tivation. He came here, however, alone, 
 and believing the scriptural statement ' ' that 
 it was not good for man to be alone," he 
 returned to his old home, and on the 21st 
 of September, 1868, was united in marriage 
 with Miss Sarah Shafer, also a native of 
 Delaware county, New York, and daughter 
 of Townsend and Adeline (Van Gaasbeek) 
 Shafer, the former a native of Delaware 
 county and the latter of Ulster county, New 
 York, of Holland ancestry. Townsend 
 Shafer spent his entire life in his native 
 state, where his death occurred, March 18, 
 1873. His wife survived him many years, 
 and for about twenty years prior to her 
 death made her home with our subject, dy- 
 ing, however, in Middletown, Orange coun- 
 ty. New York, April 29, 1896, while on a 
 visit to that city. Mrs. Shafer was one of 
 two daughters born to her parents, her sis- 
 ter, Josephine, now being the wife of J. A. 
 Frasier, of California. In the common 
 schools of her native county, and in Delphi 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 47 
 
 Academy, Mrs. Shafer was educated, and 
 for a time prior to her marriage engaged in 
 teaching in the public schools. 
 
 Immediately after his marriage Mr. 
 Shafer returned to Ogle county and took 
 care of his crop, subsequently joining his 
 wife in Delaware county, where they re- 
 mained until February, 1868, when they came 
 to their new home near Polo, where he re- 
 sumed farming, and where they have since 
 continued to reside. Soon after taking 
 possession of his farm, Mr. Shafer erected 
 a small frame house, and four years later 
 built an addition to, and there they lived 
 until 1882, when he built a larger and more 
 pretentious dwelling. From time to time 
 he has made improvements on his place, 
 setting out shade and ornamental trees, till- 
 ing the land, and erecting the necessary out- 
 buildings. His farm is very conveniently 
 located, being within one mile of the cor- 
 porate limits of the city of Polo. 
 
 In 18G4 Mr. Shafer attained his major- 
 ity, and in November following he cast his 
 first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, 
 since which time he has continued to sup- 
 port the candidates of the Republican party. 
 He and his wife are members of the Bap- 
 tist church of Polo, and he is one of its 
 official board. In the work of the church 
 they are both greatly interested, and do 
 what they can to advance the Master's king- 
 dom. They believe in enjoying life and to 
 that end have made a number of visits back 
 to their old home in Delaware county. New 
 York, and in November, 1896, went to 
 California, where they remained until Feb- 
 ruary, 1897, during which time they visited 
 San Francisco, Sacramento, and other noted 
 places on the Pacific slope. Their trip was 
 a most enjoyable one. Both are well 
 known in Polo and vicinity and their friends 
 
 are many throughout the western part of 
 the county. As a farmer, he thoroughly 
 understands his business. 
 
 DAVID THOMSON.— Quite a number of 
 the leading and prominent citizens of 
 Ogle county are of alien birth, and have 
 transported to this land of fertility and 
 plenty the thrifty habits of their native 
 country. Among these there is none that 
 is better known or more widely respected 
 than the gentleman whose name introduces 
 this sketch. He now owns and operates a 
 valuable farm of about two hundred and 
 fifty acres on section 5, Leaf River town- 
 ship. 
 
 Mr. Thomson is a native of Scotland, 
 born in Renfrewshire, January 8, 1829, and 
 is a son of James and Eughemia (St. Clare) 
 Thomson, also natives of that country. 
 The father, who was born in Ayrshire, was 
 a baker by trade, and in 18 10 embarked in 
 that business at Johnstown, Scotland, where 
 he carried on operations until his death in 
 1841. His wife survived him twenty years, 
 departing this life in 1861. In the family 
 were twelve children, eight sons and four 
 daughters, of whom eleven reached years of 
 maturity, but only three are now living, 
 namely: Mrs. Jane Caldwell, who was born 
 in 1807, and now resides near Glasgow, 
 Scotland; Nesbit, who was born in 181 r, 
 and is also living in that country; and Da- 
 vid, our subject. 
 
 In early life David Thomson learned 
 the baker's trade with his father, and con- 
 tinued to work at the same until coming 
 to the new world in 1848. He first locat- 
 ed in Troy, New York, where he had two 
 sisters living, Mrs. Euphemia Turner and 
 Mrs. Mary Ann Craig, \vho later became 
 
48 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 residents of Ogle county, Illinois. Each 
 had but one child. In Troy, Mr. Thom- 
 son worked at his trade for about three 
 years, and the following year was spent 
 in a bakery in Newark, New Jersey. He 
 went to California in 1852, taking passage 
 on a steamer at New York City. He 
 crossed the Isthmus and proceeded up the 
 Pacific to San Francisco, where he worked 
 in a bakery for two months. He then went 
 to the mines and spent about ten years in 
 search for the yellow metal. In 1862 he 
 returned to New York and shortly afterward 
 came to Ogle county, Illinois, where his 
 sisters had located in the meantime. The 
 same year he purchased seventy-five acres 
 of prairie land and ten acres of timber land, 
 and at once turned his attention to the im- 
 provement and cultivation of his place. He 
 bought more land from time to time and 
 now has about two hundred and fifty acres, 
 which he has placed under a high state of 
 cultivation, and improved with good and 
 substantial buildings. Although this was 
 his first experience in farming, he met with 
 success almost from the start, and is now 
 numbered among the most successful farm- 
 ers and stock raisers of Leaf River town- 
 ship. 
 
 On the 20th of February, 1863, in Ogle 
 county, Mr. Thomson was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Mary Ballaugh, who was 
 born in Albany, New York, and reared in 
 that state. Her father, John Ballaugh, was 
 a molder and foundryman, and was engaged 
 in business in Williamsburg, New York, for 
 some years. There were thirteen children 
 born to Mr. and Mrs. Thomson and all are 
 living with the exception of two, one of 
 whom died in infancy, and the other, Mary, 
 at the age of ten years. William is a 
 farmer of Washington county, Illinois; Jane 
 
 is the wife of William McCartney, a farmer 
 of Winnebago county, Illinois; Euphemia 
 is the wife of Chris Kilker, a farmer of 
 Leaf River township. Ogle county; John 
 is a farmer of Jackson county, Minnesota; 
 Dr. Stewart is a physician of Washington 
 county, Illinois. The above are all mar- 
 ried, while the others are still single, name- 
 ly: David A., who is clerking in a grocery 
 store in Steward, Illinois; Mattie, who is 
 teaching in Winnebago county; Nesbit,who 
 assists in the farm work; and Edward, 
 Robert and George, all at home. 
 
 Mr. Thomson cast his first presidential 
 vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864, and has 
 since been an ardent supporter of the Re- 
 publican party. He has ever used his in- 
 fluence for the good of the public schools, 
 and for a number of years was a member of 
 the school board. He was also clerk of his 
 district for several years and township 
 trustee for three years. He and his wife 
 are leading members of the Middle Creek 
 Presbyterian church, and their sterling worth 
 and many excellencies of character have 
 endeared them to all with whom they have 
 come in contact. 
 
 JAMES C. WOODBURN has for a quar- 
 ter of a century been prominently iden- 
 tified with the business and political inter- 
 ests of Byron and is distinctively a man of 
 affairs, one who wields a wide influence. 
 He is actively engaged in the practice of law 
 and is also interested in the real-estate and 
 insurance business. His intellectual energy, 
 professional integrity, prudent business 
 methods, and reliable sagacity have all com- 
 bined to make him one of the ablest busi- 
 ness men of the community. 
 
 A native of Ogle county, Mr. W'oodburn 
 
JAMES C. WOODBURN. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 51 
 
 was born on the old homestead in Byron 
 township, October 13, 1846, and belongs to 
 a family of English extraction, whose repre- 
 sentatives were among the first settlers of 
 Connecticut. His grandfather, John Wood- 
 burn, was born in that state, and was among 
 the pioneers of Bradford county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, where the father, Allen Woodburn, 
 first opened his eyes to the light in 18 10, 
 and where he grew to manhood. The year 
 1836 witneissed his arrival in Ogle county, 
 Illinois, and in Byron township, near the 
 present village of Byron, he took a claim of 
 one hundred and si.xty acres, on which he 
 erected a log house and raised three or four 
 small crops. Returning to his native coun- 
 ty, he was there married, in 1840, to Miss 
 Mary A. Whitney, who was born in Luzerne 
 county, Pennsylvania, and was a daughter 
 of William Whitney, Esq., a representative 
 of an old Pennsylvanian family. Mr. Wood- 
 burn brought his bride to the home he had 
 prepared for her in Ogle county and resumed 
 his farming operations here. He was one 
 of the most active, enterprising and success- 
 ful farmers of this region and soon had his 
 land under excellent cultivation. His little 
 pioneer home was replaced by a large, neat 
 and substantial residence, good outbuildings 
 were erected, and fruit, forest and orna- 
 mental trees set out. From time to time 
 he purchased more land until he owned one 
 thousand acres, all in one body, on which 
 were three sets of farm buildings besides 
 those on his own homestead, it being one 
 of the improved and most highly cultivated 
 places in the county. Mr. Woodburn was 
 quite prominent and influential and was 
 elected to a number of local offices of trust 
 and honor. He was also one of the fore- 
 most to aid by his influence or support any 
 object which he believed calculated to pro- 
 
 mote the upbuilding or advancement of 
 Ogle county. He died at his home Decem- 
 ber 22, 1887, at the ripe old age of seventy- 
 eight years, and his wife passed away in 
 1879. Both were laid to rest in the Byron 
 cemetery, where has been erected to their 
 memory a neat and substantial monument. 
 They were the parents of three children: 
 Fred C, the eldest, is now living retired in 
 Rockford, Illinois; James C. is next in or- 
 der of birth; and Carrie E. is the wife of 
 Charles H. Patrick, of Rockford. 
 
 James C. Woodburn completed his lit- 
 erary education in Wheaton College, and 
 later entered the law department of the 
 Michigan University at Ann Arbor, graduat- 
 ing at that noted institution with the class 
 of 1870. He then successfully engaged in 
 teaching in Ogle county for two years, and 
 at the end of that time opened an office in 
 Byron for the practice of law. Being an 
 able lawyer, and a man of sound judgment, 
 he manages his cases with masterly skill 
 and tact, and practices in all of the courts. 
 As a business man he has also met with 
 marked success and still carries on a large 
 real estate and insurance business. In 1882 
 he became interested in banking, in which 
 he also succeeded, but at the end of five 
 years he sold out. 
 
 On the loth of November, 1880, in Ogle 
 county, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. 
 Woodburn and Miss Ada M. Patrick, a 
 daughter of George T. Patrick, one of the 
 first settlers of the county. She was born, 
 reared and educated here, and for some 
 years prior to her marriage successfully en- 
 gaged in teaching. Four children bless 
 this union: Mary A., Roy M., Adelbert and 
 Grace E. 
 
 Politically Mr. Woodburn is a life-long 
 Republican, having cast his first presidential 
 
52 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ballot for U. S. Grant in 1868. He has 
 ever taken an active and prominent part in 
 local politics and campaign work, has been 
 a delegate to many county, congressional 
 and state conventions, and has rendered his 
 party efficient service. He was elected and 
 served as the only temperance mayor of 
 Byron, was a leading member of the town 
 board for several years, treasurer of Byron 
 township twenty years, and for twenty-four 
 years has been justice of the peace in the 
 township, a position he is still most credit- 
 ably and satisfactorily filling. He is also 
 notary public, and in whatever position he 
 has been called upon to fill he has proved 
 a most faithful trustworthy official. So- 
 cially he is a Master Mason, and has served 
 as secretary of Byron lodge for the past 
 fifteen years. He was largely instrumental 
 in organizing the Eastern Star at that place, 
 of which he and his wife are charter mem- 
 bers, and Mrs. Woodburn is now worthy 
 matron of the order. Both hold member- 
 ship in the Congregational church, and in 
 social circles occupy an enviable position. 
 
 HON. ALBERT F. BROWN. — More 
 than sixty years have passed since this 
 gentleman arrived in Ogle county, and he is 
 justly numbered among her honored pioneers 
 and leading citizens. As an agriculturist he 
 has been prominently identified with her 
 business interests and in early life took quite 
 an infiuential part in the political affairs of 
 this section. His is an honorable record of 
 a conscientious man, who by his upright life 
 has won the confidence of all with whom he 
 has come in contact. 
 
 Mr. Brown was born September 4, 18 19, 
 in Brimfield, Hampden county, Massachu- 
 setts, near Springfield, and belongs to an old 
 
 and distinguished family of that state. The 
 first to come to America was Jonathan 
 Brown, a native of England, who settled in 
 Massachusetts in 1736 and received a grant 
 of land from King George. His homestead 
 remained in the family for several genera- 
 tions. He not only aided the colonies in their 
 struggle for independence during the Revo- 
 lution, but also bore an active part in the 
 early Indian wars. At a meeting of the 
 citizens of the colony he was appointed to 
 visit each house to ascertain whether the 
 inmates were using imported tea and if so 
 to report the same that such families might 
 be ostracised, this being just prior to the 
 famous Boston tea party. His son, Bar- 
 tholomew Brown, our subject's grandfather, 
 was born in Brimfield, Massachusetts, and 
 spent his entire life there, his remains being 
 interred in the village cemetery. He was a 
 farmer by occupation and served with dis- 
 tinction as a lieutenant in the Continental 
 army during the Revolutionary war. 
 
 Colonel Dauphin Brown, father of our 
 subject, was also a native of Brimfield, born 
 November 9, 1792, and was reared on his 
 father's farm. He was married December 
 I, 1 8 14, to Miss Sila Patrick, who was 
 born in Brimfield, February 9, 1792, a 
 daughter of Samuel and Persis (Smith) Pat- 
 rick. The Patrick family is also of English 
 origin and was founded in Massachusetts 
 in 1716. The Colonel and his wife lived 
 on the old Brown homestead until April, 
 1837, when, accompanied by their sons, 
 Albert F., Samuel Patrick and J. M. Clay- 
 ton, he started for Illinois, taking the route 
 -i'ia Hartford, New York city, Philadelphia 
 and Pittsburg, thence down the Ohio and 
 up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers to Pe- 
 oria, where they procured teams and drove 
 to Di.xon. There they rented land about a 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RPICORD. 
 
 53 
 
 mile and a half from the village for one 
 summer. Colonel Brown and Mr. Patrick 
 visited Ogle county and the former pur- 
 chased eighty acres at Black Walnut Grove, 
 on section 9, Marion township. In the fall 
 of that year, 1887, in company with Jared 
 and J. F. Sanford, he built a sawmill on 
 Mill creek, in what is now Byron township, 
 and in December returned to Massachusetts. 
 The following spring he sold his farm at 
 Brimfield, settled up all business claims, 
 and shipped his goods from Boston by way 
 of New Orleans, to Savanna, Carroll county, 
 Illinois, while his family came west by the 
 the same route that he had previously taken, 
 with the exception that they landed at Sa- 
 vanna instead of Peoria, and from there 
 came to Ogle county. Colonel Brown 
 bought a claim of eighty acres in the im- 
 mediate vicinity of Byron and built a frame 
 house in the village, where the family re- 
 sided for seven years while he opened up 
 and developed his farm. As soon as the 
 land came into market, he entered his claim 
 on section 9, Marion township, and also 
 purchased the southeast quarter of section 
 35, townships 25 and 11, on which he 
 erected a residence that was ever afterward 
 his home. There his death occurred No- 
 vember 15, 1 87 1. His first wife had passed 
 away in 1840, and in 1854 he wedded Miss 
 Lucia Homer, who was also born in Brim- 
 field, Massachusetts, in May, 1793, and died 
 in 1 88 1. He was commissioned colonel 
 in the Massachusetts state militia by Gov- 
 ernor Levi Lincoln, but entered the service 
 as a private. He was also one of the most 
 prominent men in the early settlement of 
 Ogle county, was one of the first commis- 
 sioners elected and was serving in that 
 office at the time of the erection of the 
 first court house. In 1849 he ably repre- 
 
 sented his district in the Sixteenth General 
 Assembly of Illinois. With his first wife 
 he joined the Congregational church at 
 Brimfield in early life, and after coming to 
 this state was an active and prominent 
 member of that denomination, assisting in 
 the organization of the churches at Byron 
 and Stillman Valley and serving as deacon 
 for many years. 
 
 To Colonel Dauphin and Sila (Patrick) 
 Brown were born eight children, who in 
 order of birth are as follows: Persis P. 
 married Dr. Arnold E. Hurd, a pioneer and 
 prominent citizen of Ogle county, and both 
 are now deceased, Mrs. Hurd departing this 
 life at Stillman Valley in August, 1861. 
 Lucy A. married Hon. Joshua White, a 
 leading citizen of Ogle county, now de- 
 ceased, who served for sixteen years as a 
 member of the county board and also served 
 in the Twenty-first General Assembly of 
 Illinois, and she died October 13, 1S85. 
 Albert F., our subject, is the next in the 
 family. Henry F. died at Byron, July 30, 
 1839, at the age of eighteen years. Sarah 
 S. is the wife of Frank A. Smith and resides 
 near Byron. Harriet L. married William 
 J. Mix and died November 24, 1849. 
 George F. died at Stillman Valley, Novem- 
 ber 24, 1850. Julia A. married Hon. 
 James G. White, a prominent man of Ogle 
 county, now deceased, and she is now living 
 in Stillman Valley. 
 
 Albert F. Brown was sixteen years of 
 age when he accompanied his father on his 
 first trip to Illinois and amid pioneer scenes 
 in Ogle county he grew to manhood, early 
 becoming familiar with the arduous task of 
 transforming the wild land into rich and 
 productive fields. His education was prin- 
 cipally obtained in the common schools, 
 supplemented by one year's attendance at 
 
54 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Wesleyan Academy, in Massachusetts. For 
 a few years he operated a ferry at Byron, 
 but throughout life has given the greater 
 part of his attention to agricultural pursuits. 
 In 1845 he and his brother-in-law. Dr. 
 Hurd, came to Stillman Valley and entered 
 between eight and nine hundred acres of 
 land and each opened up a fine farm. Mr. 
 Brown owned five hundred acres, and of 
 this he placed three hundred acres under 
 the plow. For two years after his marriage 
 he continued to reside in Byron and then 
 removed to Stillman Valley, owning the 
 first frame house in that place. Later he 
 built a more commodious and substantial 
 residence, and is still successfully engaged 
 in farming upon one of the best improved 
 and most valuable farms in the county. 
 
 On the 8th of December, 1842, at By- 
 ron, Mr. Brown was united in marriage 
 with Miss Eunice Cordelia Cothren, who 
 was born in Cayuga county. New York, 
 May 8, 1823, a daughter of Nathaniel 
 Cothren, also a pioneer of Ogle county. 
 She was called to her final rest November 
 10, 1892. The children born of this union 
 were as follows: Henrietta C, at home; 
 Charles F., a farmer of Marion township; 
 George H., a prominent business man of 
 Stillman Valley, and a stanch Republican, 
 who is president of the village school board 
 and supervisor of Marion township; Esther 
 J., wife of Harvey Rood, of Chicago; Cora 
 C. , wife of William F. Hannum, of Still- 
 man Valley; A. Chester, a stockholder and 
 cashier of the Stillman Valley Bank; Sila 
 Persis, wife of Joseph G. Pratt, an attorney 
 of Hilo, Hawaiian Islands; and PIdwin, who 
 died in infancy. 
 
 Origmally Mr. Brown was an old-line 
 Whig in politics, and cast his first ballot in 
 1840 for Tippecanoe and Tyler, too; but in 
 
 1859 he joined the newly organized Repub- 
 lican party, and has since fought under its 
 banner. He assisted in the formation of 
 the party in his congressional district, and 
 has since been an active and influential 
 worker in its ranks. He has been called 
 upon to fill many local offices of honor and 
 trust, such as assessor and supervisor, and 
 was chairman of the board a number of 
 terms. In 1878 he was elected to the 
 thirty-second general assembly of Illinois, 
 and so acceptably did he fill the office that 
 he was twice re-elected, proving a most 
 popular and capable official. He was a 
 member of several important committees, 
 and was chairman of the committees on 
 county and township organizations and on 
 roads, and state buildings. Since his re- 
 tirement from that office he has declined all 
 political honors. For thirty-eight years he 
 has been an active member of the Congre- 
 gational church, and has served as its trus- 
 tee for forty years. As a citizen he stands 
 ready to discharge every duty devolving 
 upon him; over his life record there falls no 
 shadow of wrong; his public service was 
 most exemplary, and his private life has 
 been marked by the utmost fidelity to duty. 
 
 JF. SNYDER. M. D.. who resides at 
 Monroe Center, Illinois, where he is en- 
 gaged in the practice of his profession with 
 gratifying success, is a native of Schoharie 
 county, New York, and was born May 26, 
 i860. He is the son of Nelson and Henri- 
 etta (Hale) Snyder, both of whom were na- 
 tives of New York, the father being a farmer 
 by occupation and following that vocation 
 during his entire life. The paternal grand- 
 father, Daniel Snyder, married Mary Ecker- 
 son, both l)eing New York people, and both 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 55 
 
 living and dying in that state. For many 
 years he engaged in hotel keeping in Mid- 
 dleburg, New York, at the same time en- 
 gaging in agricultural pursuits. 
 
 In the family of Nelson and Henrietta 
 Snyder were six children, four sons and two 
 daughters, all of whom are yet living. 
 Daniel is married and is now a prosperous 
 farmer residing in Stillman Valley. Charles 
 S. married Mary Bly, and is also a substan- 
 tial farmer living at Stillman Valley. Henry 
 H., a portrait artist, is married and makes 
 his home in Rockford, Illinois. J. F. is 
 the subject of this sketch. Julia married 
 J. Huff, and they live at Byron, where he 
 is employed at his trade, that of a carpen- 
 ter. Helen married A. J. Woodcock, M. 
 D., and they reside in Byron, where he is 
 engaged in active practice. In his native 
 state, Nelson Snyder owned and operated 
 a farm of one hundred and si.xty acres, 
 which he sold in 18GS, and coming to Ogle 
 county, purchased a farm of one hundred 
 and si.xty acres in Marion township, where 
 he yet resides. Many improvements have 
 been made upon the place since it came 
 into his possession, the farm being well 
 tilled, with good barns and other outbuild- 
 ings which show that it is owned by one 
 who thoroughly understands his business. 
 The good wife and mother passed to her re- 
 ward May 26, 1896, leaving not only the 
 family, but many friends to mourn her loss. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but eight 
 years old when he accompanied his parents 
 to Ogle county. His education, which was 
 begun in the common schools of his native 
 state, was continued in the schools of Ogle 
 county. He was an apt scholar, and at the 
 early age of sixteen years passed an exami- 
 nation and commenced teaching in the pub- 
 lic schools of his adopted county. Teach- 
 
 ing in the winter months, and working upon 
 the farm in summer, he continued until he 
 was eighteen years old, when he entered 
 the medical department of Michigan Uni- 
 versity, at Ann Arbor, where he remained 
 one year, and then entered Rush Medical 
 College, Chicago, from which he graduated 
 in 1882, at the age of twenty-two years, be- 
 ing the youngest man in his class. 
 
 Immediately after receiving his diploma, 
 Dr. Snyder located at Kings, Ogle county, 
 and at once engaged in the practice of his 
 profession, but in September of the same 
 year moved to Monroe Center, and has here 
 continued in active practice to the present 
 time. That his choice of a location was a 
 good one is evidenced by his large practice 
 and the estimation in which he is held in 
 the community. In 1884 he was nominated 
 on the Republican ticket for the office of 
 county coroner, was duly elected, and 
 served the full term of four years. In 1890 
 he was elected township treasurer, a posi- 
 tion which he still continues to hold. 
 Reared a Republican, he has since contin- 
 ued to advocate the principles of the Re- 
 publican party, and is now with his party 
 in favor of the retention of all gained by the 
 late war with Spain. 
 
 Dr. Snyder was married September 4, 
 1889, to Miss Hattie Swett, a daughter of 
 Riley and Mary (Hickox) Swett, who were 
 early settlers of Ogle county. By this union 
 there is one son, Clarendon Swett Snyder, 
 now a lad of seven years. 
 
 Fraternally Dr. Snyder is a member of 
 the Masonic order and of the Modern Wood- 
 men of America, in the latter body being 
 examining physician in his local camp. So- 
 cially he is a member of the Alumni As- 
 sociation of Rush Medical College and 
 professionally a member of the Fox 
 
56 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 River Medical Society. He is a liberal 
 supporter of the various churches and the 
 public schools, and gives aid and en- 
 couragement to every enterprise of value 
 to his town and county. In the estimation 
 of his fellow citizens he is held in the high- 
 est esteem. 
 
 J CHESTER STIRES is a worthy rep- 
 resentative of the business interests of 
 Byron, where he is extensively engaged in 
 buying and shipping stock. Of excellent 
 business ability and broad resources, he has 
 attained a prominent place among the sub- 
 stantial citizens of this part of the county, 
 and is a recognized leader in public affairs. 
 He has won success by his well-directed, 
 energetic efforts, and the prosperity that 
 has come to him is certainly well deserved. 
 Mr. Stires was born February 6, 1852, 
 in Hunterdon county. New Jersey, and be- 
 longs to one of the pioneer families of that 
 state, of which his parents, Thomas and 
 Jane (Conover) Stires, were also natives. 
 The father, whose birth occurred in Hunt- 
 erdon county, in 1808, engaged in farming 
 there until 1854 or 1855, when he removed 
 to Ohio, but in 1856 he became a resident 
 of Byron township, Ogle county, Illinois, 
 where he purchased an improved farm of 
 one hundred and sixty acres. To its culti- 
 vation he devoted his energies until called 
 from this life July i, 1864, and his wife, 
 who survived him some years, passed away 
 in February, 1878. In their family were 
 five sons and five daughters, all of whom 
 reached man and womanhood, with the ex- 
 ception of one son. H. C, the eldest, re- 
 sides in Byron; Ira owns and occupies the 
 old homestead farm; Mrs. N. J. Hewitt is 
 a resident of Byron; Mrs. Maggie Swack- 
 
 hamer lives in Hunterdon county, New Jer- 
 sey; Carrie N. died unmarried; Mrs. Han- 
 nah Noyes makes her home in Byron; 
 Garret and J. Chester are both residents of 
 that place; and Mrs. Alice Court lives in 
 Creston, Iowa. 
 
 Reared on the home farm, J. Chester 
 Stires early became familiar with all the 
 duties which fall to the lot of the agricult- 
 urist, aiding in the work of the farm dur- 
 ing the summer season and attending the 
 district school during the winter months. 
 He was married in Marion township. Ogle 
 county, December 29, 1875, to Miss Hattie 
 N. \\'ilbur, who was born in Byron town- 
 ship and was reared and educated in this 
 county. Her father, Charles Wilbur, lo- 
 cated here in 1845 ^n^ took up a tract of 
 government land in Byron township, which 
 he transformed into a good farm. After his 
 marriage Mr. Stires operated this place, 
 consisting of one hundred and forty acres, 
 until 1890, and also owned and operated 
 another farm of two hundred and thirty 
 acres, being actively and successfully en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits for fifteen 
 years. In 1890 he removed to the village 
 of Byron, where he bought residence prop- 
 erty, which he has greatly improved, and 
 now has a very pleasant and commodious 
 home. Here he engages in buying and 
 shipping stock and is one of the most suc- 
 cessful dealers in the county. In 1892 he 
 also bought an interest in the Byron bank, 
 and is now one of the four stockholders of 
 that reliable institution. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Stires are the parents of 
 four children: Mabel, who died at the age 
 of thirteen years; Elva Jane, a well edu- 
 cated young lady who is now successfully 
 engaged in teaching school in Ogle county; 
 Anna E., who is also well educated and is 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 57 
 
 now at home, and Margaret Grace, who 
 completes the family. 
 
 Politically Mr. Stires has affiliated with 
 the Democracy since casting his first presiden- 
 tial ballot for Samuel J. Tilden in 1876, and 
 he has taken an active and prominent part in 
 local politics, serving as a delegate to numer- 
 ous county, congressional and state conven- 
 tions. In the spring of 1898 he was elected 
 supervisor of Byron township, defeating the 
 Republican candidate who had served for 
 ten years in that office and had always 
 been elected by a large majority. This fact 
 plainly indicates the popularity of our sub- 
 ject, as the township has always been 
 strongly Republican, and his many friends 
 in Byron rejoiced in his triumph, manifest- 
 ing their enthusiasm by a big rally. He is 
 now serving on the poor farm committee. 
 In 1897 he was elected president of the 
 town board. Mr. Stires is acknowledged to 
 be one of the most enterprising and public 
 spirited citizens of Byron, and for eight 
 years advocated the building of a bridge 
 across the river at that place and was in- 
 strumental in at last securing it. He con- 
 tributed two hundred dollars toward its 
 construction, and was also identified with 
 the building of both elevators at this place. 
 
 HORATIO WALES.— Fortunate is he 
 who has back of him an ancestry hon- 
 orable and distinguished, and happy is he if 
 his lines of life are cast in harmony there- 
 with. Our subject is blessed in this respect, 
 for he springs from a prominent New Eng- 
 land family. He was born near Polo, Ogle 
 county, Illinois, November 27, 1852, and is 
 a son of Horatio Wales, Sr, whose birth oc- 
 curred January 22, 18 10, in the town of 
 
 Wales, Massachusetts, where after clerking 
 for a time he went into business. On coming 
 to Ogle county in 1 836, the father located in 
 Buffalo Grove, and having brought with 
 him a stock of goods, he opened a store at 
 that place, which he conducted for a few 
 years. On selling out he bought a tract of 
 government land and engaged in farming 
 until 1876, when he retired from active 
 business cares and spent his last days in 
 Polo, where his death occurred May 5, 
 1890. At an early day in the history of 
 the county, he took quite an active and 
 prominent part in public affairs and served 
 as sheriff from 1838 until 1840. He at- 
 tended the Congregational church, and 
 was highly respected by all who knew 
 him. 
 
 Royal Wales, the paternal grandfather 
 of our subject, was also a native of Wales, 
 Massachusetts, born in 1773, and died in 
 1857. For his second wife he married 
 Mrs. Ruby (Porter) Bliss, and Horatio 
 Wales, Sr. , was one of the children born 
 of this union. Royal Wales was a son 
 of Oliver and Elizabeth Wales and a 
 grandson of Ebenezer Wales, whose fa- 
 ther was Deacon Nathaniel Wales, a son of 
 Timothy Wales. Nathaniel Wales, the fa- 
 ther of Timothy, was born in Ide, York- 
 shire, England, in 1586, and on his emigra- 
 tion to America in 1662, located at Dor- 
 chester, Massachusetts. His father, John 
 Wales, spent his entire life in England. 
 
 The mother of our subject bore the 
 maiden name of Mary E. Williams, and 
 was born in Brimfield, Massachusetts, a 
 daughter of Ebenezer and Eliza (Whitwell) 
 Williams. The Williams family was found- 
 ed in America by Robert Williams, who 
 crossed the Atlantic in 1638, and his de- 
 scendants down to the grandfather of our 
 
58 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 subject are as follows: Samuel, probably 
 born in England in 1632, died in 1698; 
 Samuel, born in 1655, died in 1735; Rev. 
 Ebenezer, who graduated from Cambridge 
 in 1709, was born in 1690 and died in 1753; 
 Rev. Chester, born in 1720, died in 1755; 
 Rev. Nehemiah, who graduated from Har- 
 vard College in 1769 and was a Congrega- 
 tional preacher at Brimfield, Massachusetts, 
 for over twenty-one years, was born in 
 1749 and died in 1800; and Ebenezer, 
 grandfather of our subject, was born in 
 1777, and died in 1856. Mrs. Wales died 
 December 14, 1892. 
 
 Horatio Wales, of this review, was edu- 
 cated in the district schools near his boy- 
 hood home and in the public schools of 
 Polo, continuing his studies in those insti- 
 tutions until eighteen years of age. On 
 attaining his majority he rented land from 
 his father and continued to engage in agri- 
 cultural pursuits until 1882. Removing to 
 Polo, he embarked in business at that place 
 in 1885, as a dealer in farm machinery, and 
 from year to year as his business has grad- 
 ually increased he has enlarged his store 
 room until he now occupies a commodious 
 warehouse and office on the principal busi- 
 ness street. He deals in all kinds of agri- 
 cultural implements, buggies, wagons, wind 
 mills and steam heating apparatus, and has 
 built up a most excellent trade. 
 
 In Polo, January 12, 1S93, Mr. Wales 
 was united in marriage with Miss Emma 
 Spear. Her father. Captain Joseph \^. 
 Spear, was born in Martickville, Pennsyl- 
 vania, February i, 1831, and is a son of 
 Rev. John Spear, a minister of the Meth- 
 odist church, of the New Jersey conference, 
 and his wife, Matilda Wentz, daughter of 
 Joseph and Sarah (Smith) Wentz. On 
 coming to Illinois in 1859, Captain. Spear 
 
 first located in Brookville, and later in For- 
 reston. Ogle county, where he taught 
 school until the outbreak of the Civil war. 
 In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company 
 E, Ninety-second Illinois Volunteer Infan- 
 try, was elected first lieutenant of his com- 
 pan}- and was soon afterward promoted to 
 the rank of captain. He participated in the 
 battles of Lookout Mountain and Chicka- 
 mauga, was with Sherman on the famous 
 march to the sea, and witnessed Johnston's 
 surrender a few days after Lee's capitula- 
 tion. On his return from the war he en- 
 tered in the drug business in Polo, which he 
 successfully carried on until 1896, when he 
 sold out to his son. Just before going to 
 the front Captain Spear was married, in 
 Polo, August 24, 1862, to Miss Mary Car- 
 penter, a native of Delhi, New York, and a 
 daughter of David and Olive (Vegte) Car- 
 penter. Her maternal grandparents were 
 John and Catherine (Shaw) Vegte, and 
 great-grandparents were John and Cathar- 
 ine (Vanderbilt) Vegte. Captain Spear 
 died July 11, 1898. Mr. and Mrs. Wales 
 have an interesting family of three children, 
 namely: Horatio, Frank and Helen. 
 
 Politically Mr. Wales is an ardent sup- 
 porter of the Republican party, takes quite 
 an active interest in political affairs, and 
 has served as chairman of the township 
 Republican committee. Socially he is a 
 member of the Independent Order of Odd 
 Fellows and the Knights of the Globe, while 
 religiously he attends the Presbyterian 
 church, his wife being a member. As a 
 business man he ranks among the foremost 
 in his section of the county and his inter- 
 ests have ever been so managed as to gain 
 him the confidence of the public and the suc- 
 cess that should always attend honorable 
 effort. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL KECOKD. 
 
 59 
 
 WILLIAM CAMLING has for many 
 years been one of the most highly 
 esteemed and valued citizens of Ogle coun- 
 ty, his home being on section 9, Rockvale 
 township. He is of foreign birth but his 
 duties of citizenship have been performed 
 with a loyalty equal to that of any native 
 son of America, and when the nation was 
 imperiled by rebellion, he went to the de- 
 fense of the Union and protected the cause 
 of his adopted country on many a southern 
 battle field. 
 
 Mr. Camling is a native of Holland, born 
 near Zealand, August 10, 1842, but was 
 only two years and a half old when brought 
 to America by his father, Cyrus Camling, 
 who was probably a farmer in the old world 
 and served for several years in the army of 
 the Netherlands. In the United States he 
 was employed as a day laborer and made 
 his home near Grand Rapids, Michigan, 
 where his death occurred about 1876. He 
 held membership in the Lutheran church in 
 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and in political senti- 
 ment was a Republican. He had by his 
 first wife one child, a son, and by his sec- 
 ond had three children: Lane, who mar- 
 ried a Miss Van Horn and is engaged in 
 fruit farming in Michigan; Katie, who died 
 at the age of seven years; and William, our 
 subject. For his second wife he wedded 
 Miss Jane Van Heltz; by his third wife had 
 no children. 
 
 On first crossing the Atlantic the family 
 located in Buffalo, New York, where they 
 made their home until William Camling was 
 six years of age, and then removed to Mil- 
 waukee, Wisconsin, where he was reared 
 and educated in the public schools. At the 
 age of fourteen years he left home and be- 
 gan the battle of life for himself, his first 
 employment being in the hay field, where 
 
 he worked with a hand rake for three 
 months. He was only seventeen when he 
 joined the boys in blue, enlisting in January, 
 1862, at Cold Springs, Wisconsin, in Com- 
 pany F, Second Wisconsin Cavalry. The 
 regiment first went to St. Louis, Missouri, 
 where it remained for about three months 
 while being equipped, and then proceeded 
 to Springfield, that state, under command 
 of Colonel C. C. Washburn, while Com- 
 pany F was under the command of Captain 
 Forrest. The summer was spent in fight- 
 ing bushwhackers on the road from Spring- 
 field to Helena, Arkansas. Arriving in the 
 latter place in the fall of that year they 
 there spent the winter, and during 1863 
 were engaged in many skirmishes and also 
 participated in the siege of Vicksburg and 
 in the battle of Jackson, Mississippi. Re- 
 turning to Vicksburg they were on garrison 
 duty there during the winter of 1863-4, and 
 in the spring of the latter year went up the 
 Red river, finally landing at Austin, Te.xas, 
 where they were kept on the lookout for 
 hostile Mexicans until the fall of 1865, when 
 they were mustered out at that place and 
 sent to Madison, Wisconsin. In that city 
 Mr. Camling received his discharge papers 
 and arrived home on Christmas. 
 
 During the following winter he worked 
 as a day laborer, and then hired out to a 
 farmer for a couple of years. He continued 
 to make his home in Wisconsin until 1869, 
 when he came to Illinois and located at 
 Rochelle, where, as a teamster, he entered 
 the employ of the Chicago and Iowa Rail- 
 road, then in course of construction. For 
 seven years he followed teaming, three 
 years of which time he was in the employ 
 of Joseph Strom in delivering coal, and for 
 the same length of time was with Miles 
 Braiden, who was in the coal, lumber and 
 
6o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ice business. In 1876 he purchased eighty 
 acres of his present farm in Rockvale town- 
 ship, to which he has added from time to 
 time as his financial resources have in- 
 creased, including tracts of forty, forty- 
 eight and eighty acres, until he now has a 
 valuable farm of two hundred and forty- 
 eight and a half acres, which he has placed 
 under excellent cultivation and improved 
 with good and substantial buildings, that 
 stand as monuments to his thrift and in- 
 dustry. 
 
 On the 23d of April, 1864, Mr. Camling 
 was united in marriage with Miss Mary 
 Colditz, who was born May 6, 1846, a 
 daughter of William and Mina (Shmutzler) 
 Colditz, in whose family were five children, 
 the others being Minnie, who is now the 
 widow of Frederick Troeger and lives near 
 Elida; F. W. , who married Clara Boeswet- 
 ter, but both are now deceased, his death 
 occurring in 1886; Augusta, wife of William 
 Schroeder, of West Bend, Wisconsin; and 
 Lizzie, wife of Charles Wilke, of West 
 Bend. The father of these children brought 
 his family to America in 1854 and located 
 in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, where he died 
 about three months after his arrival, at the 
 age of forty-six years. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Camling have been born seven children, 
 namely: William, at home; Clara, who 
 died at the age of six years; Cyrus, at home; 
 Charles, who died at the age of sixteen; 
 James and Belle, both at home; and Har- 
 rison, who is still attending the district 
 schools. All of the children have been pro- 
 vided with fair common-school educations. 
 
 In his political affiliations Mr. Camling 
 is a Republican, and he has most accept- 
 ably served his fellow-citizens as road com- 
 missioner three years and school director 
 twelve years. Socially he is an honored 
 
 member of Oregon Post, No. 116, G. A. R., 
 and religiously was at one time identified 
 with the Lutheran church, but since com- 
 ing to Ogle county has not united with any 
 church organization. Brave and fearless, 
 and of a rather venturesome disposition, he 
 was always the first to volunteer for any 
 perilous undertaking during the Civil war, 
 and has ever shown the same spirit when 
 occasion demands in days of peace, and is 
 therefore justly numbered among the valued 
 and useful citizens of the community. 
 
 JOHN BISTLINE.— Among the repre- 
 sentative and prosperous farmers of 
 Ogle county, the record of whose lives fills 
 an important place in this volume, it gives 
 us pleasure to commemorate the name of 
 this gentleman, who now owns and oper- 
 ates a well improved and valuable farm of 
 two hundred acres on section 14, Forreston 
 township. Like many of our best citizens, 
 he comes from the old Keystone state, his 
 birth occurring in Perry county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, September 6, 1831. His father, Joseph 
 Bistline, was a native of Schuylkill coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania, and there married Miss 
 Mary Reipseimer. For a number of years 
 he followed farming in r...rry county, and 
 there died in 1849. 
 
 In the county of his nativity John Bist- 
 line passed his boyhood and youth, and the 
 limited education he received in its public 
 schools has been greatly supplemented by 
 reading and study in later years, so that 
 he is almost wholly a self-educated man. 
 Before coming west he spent four years in 
 Center county, Pennsylvania, but in 1857 
 we find him en route for Illinois. From 
 Chicago he rode horseback to Stephenson 
 county, swimming his horses across the 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 6i 
 
 streams as no bridges had then been built 
 in this region. During the two years he 
 remained in that county he worked for thir- 
 teen dollars per month. Coming to Ogle 
 county in 1859, he rented land in Forreston 
 township for two years and in the meantime 
 did his own housekeeping. In 1861 he 
 made his first purchase of one hundred and 
 sixty acres of land in the same township 
 and to the work of improvement and culti- 
 vation at once turned his attention. He 
 led one of the steers used in breaking the 
 first furrow upon the land, and soon had 
 one hundred acres under cultivation. In 
 the spring of 1862 he built a small house 
 upon the place, the lumber for which he 
 hauled from Freeport. Later he bought 
 more land, and now has a fine farm of two 
 hundred acres under excellent cultivation 
 and well improved with good and substan- 
 tial buildings, including a commodious and 
 comfortable residence. 
 
 Returning to Perry county, Pennsylvania, 
 Mr. Bistline was married there, in 1871, to 
 Miss Mary M. Ewing, who was born in 
 Dauphin county, that state, and when 
 a child of thirteen removed with her 
 family to Perry county. Later she spent 
 six years with an uncle in Baltimore, Mary- 
 land, but was mostly educated in Middle- 
 town, Dauphin county. 
 
 Mr. Bistline uses his right of franchise 
 in support of the men and measures of the 
 Republican party, but has never cared for 
 political preferment, though he was elected 
 and most acceptably served as township 
 trustee for two terms. His estimable wife 
 is a member of the Lutheran church of 
 Forreston. Although Mr. Bistline came to 
 this state as a young man with no capital, 
 he has by untiring labor, perseverance and 
 good management succeeded in accumulat- 
 
 ing a handsome property, and has also won 
 the confidence and high regard of all with 
 whom he has come in contact by his 
 straightforward way of doing business and 
 by his pleasant, genial manner. 
 
 M 
 
 ALCOLM C. ROE, M. D.— Among 
 the prominent practitioners and lead- 
 ing citizens of Ogle county, and a gentle- 
 man who has for over a quarter of a cen- 
 tury been actively identified with its prog- 
 ress and development, the subject of this 
 sketch deserves special mention. He is a 
 native of Ogle county, born at Light House 
 Point, October 31, 1842. His father, John 
 Roe, was born in Pennsylvania, near Phila- 
 delphia, in 1800. He grew to manhood in 
 his native state and there received a fairly 
 good education. At the age of twenty-one 
 years he removed to Kentucky, and at Ed- 
 dyville, Lyon county, engaged in teaching 
 a private school. While residing in that 
 state he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Elizabeth A. Lyon, a native of that state 
 and daughter of Colonel Matthew Lyon. 
 Colonel Matthew Lyon was born in Wick- 
 low county, Ireland, and in boyhood emi- 
 grated to America, and stopping in Halifax, 
 Nova Scotia, worked in a printing oiflce 
 some years. He then removed to Vermont 
 where he published the Scourge of Aristoc- 
 racy, and in 1776 became a lieutenant in a 
 company of the "Green Mountain Boys." 
 He became a very prominent man in that 
 state, married a daughter of Governor 
 Thomas Chittenden, was fined $1,000, and 
 imprisoned four months in Vergennes, Ver- 
 mont, under the alien and sedition law. 
 After his death congress returned to his 
 heirs the fine of $1 ,000 with compound inter- 
 est. While in jail he was elected to con- 
 
62 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 gress, was in congress eight years from Ver- 
 mont, twelve years from Kentucky, and was 
 territorial delegate from Arkansas at the 
 time of his death, was paymaster during 
 the Revolution, colonel of militia, member 
 of the legislature, judge, and founded the 
 town of Fairhaven, in 1783. He there 
 built a saw and gristmill, established a 
 forge, and engaged in other manufacturing 
 enterprises. (For a more extended account 
 of the Lyon family see Johnson's Universal 
 Encyclopedia.) 
 
 To John and Elizabeth A. Roe nine chil- 
 dren were born. Matthew Humphrey, born 
 in Kentucky, died in infancy. Uriah C, 
 born in Kentucky, now lives in Franklin 
 Grove, Illinois, where he is engaged in the 
 practice of medicine. Dr. Franklin M. Roe, 
 of Downers Grove, Illinois. Giles Boliver, 
 born in Sangamon county, Illinois, died in 
 Ghana, Illinois. Matthew Cartwright, born 
 in Sangamon county, is a farmer living near 
 Grand Junction, Iowa. John H., born in 
 Sangamon county, spent the years from 
 1853 to 1893 in Kentucky, but is now liv- 
 ing in Ghana. While residing in Kentucky 
 he was engaged in the practice of law, and 
 was also in the life insurance business, be- 
 ing general agent of the Equitable Life In- 
 surance Company of New York, l^uelah 
 Minerva, born at Light House, Ogle coun- 
 ty, is now the wife of J. C. Mayberry, and 
 they reside in Chattanooga, Tennessee. 
 Frances Maria is the wife of John Conlon, 
 a farmer and stock-raiser, residing in Milan 
 township, De Kalb county, Illinois, now 
 dead. Malcolm C. is the subject of this 
 sketch. 
 
 Leaving Kentucky, Dr. John Roe moved 
 to Sangamon county, Illinois, where he 
 engaged in the practice of medicine for a 
 few years, and then came to Ogle county 
 
 and located at Light House Point, where he 
 resumed practice. From Light House he 
 went to Chicago, but did not long remain 
 there, going from there to Rockford, Illi- 
 nois, and then to White Rock township. 
 Ogle county, and later to Malta, DeKalb 
 county, finally going to Nebraska, locating 
 at Beatrice, Gage county, where he died in 
 1871. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but two 
 years old when his father moved to Chicago. 
 He accompanied his parents to the several 
 places in which they located, in the mean- 
 time gaining such knowledge as was possi- 
 ble in the common schools. It was his aim 
 and intention, however, to obtain a higher 
 education, thus fitting himself for a pro- 
 fessional life. To that end he entered Mt. 
 Morris Seminary, and later Western Union 
 College and Military Academy at Fulton, 
 Illinois. This was in 1861, and the war for 
 the union commencing, the school was 
 badly broken up, and he therefore remained 
 there but one year. Later he took up the 
 study of medicine, and entering Bennett 
 Medical College, Chicago, he pursued the 
 regular course and was graduated from that 
 institution. In 1871 he took up a post- 
 graduate course in the Physio-Medical Col- 
 lege at Cincinnati, and graduated from it in 
 1872. He commenced the practice of his 
 profession in 1869 in Ogle county, and in 
 1875 removed to Ghana, where he has 
 since continued to reside, building up a 
 practice of which be may well be proud. 
 
 Dr. Roe was united in marriage with 
 Miss Sarah P. Sturtevant, a native of Cleve- 
 land, Ohio, and daughter of Benjamin D. 
 and Annie (Martin) Sturtevant. In 1857 
 the family came to Ogle county, and located 
 in White Rock township, where the father 
 carried on farming in connection with con- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 63 
 
 tracting and building. He was born in 
 Barton, Vermont, while his wife was born 
 in Cheshire county. New Hampshire. They 
 had a family of six children, two of whom 
 died in infancy. The four yet living are 
 George N., who lives one-half mile west of 
 Ghana; Milton E., a farmer of White Rock 
 township, living on the old homestead; 
 Sarah P., wife of our subject; and Emma 
 L. , wife of James M. Miller, of Rockford, 
 Illinois. 
 
 To Dr. and Mrs. Roe five children have 
 been born: Effie A. is deceased; Milton 
 H. is a farmer living on the north side ol 
 Ghana; Dr. John B. is engaged in the 
 practice of his profession at Ghana, Illinois; 
 Ada M. is the wife of Rev. S. D. Bartle, of 
 Oasis, Iowa; S. Maud is living at home; 
 Malcolm R. is living at home and attending 
 the village school. 
 
 In politics Dr. Roe is a Democrat. In 
 1885 he was elected a member of the board 
 of supervisors and served two years. After 
 an intermission he was again elected in 
 1896. During the Cleveland administra- 
 tions he was a member of the pension 
 board. Fraternally he is a Mason, a mem- 
 ber of the blue lodge at Oregon and the 
 commandery at Dixon, Illinois. In educa- 
 tional matters he is especially interested, 
 his aim being to have the schools of his 
 place of residence on a par with the best of 
 those in larger places. In fact there is no 
 enterprise of a public nature but finds in 
 him an earnest advocate. He is popular 
 not only as a physician, but as a citizen as 
 well. 
 
 JUDSON AGARD WAITE. a prominent 
 representative of the farming and stock 
 raising interests of Ogle county, owns and 
 
 operates a valuable farm on section 15, 
 Rockvale township, whose neat and thrifty 
 appearance well indicates his careful super- 
 vision. Substantial improvements are sur- 
 rounded by well-tilled fields, and all of the 
 accessories and conveniences of a model 
 farm are there found. 
 
 Mr. Waite was born upon that place, 
 January 6, 1862, a son of Adoniram Judson 
 and Amelia (Agard) Waite. The father was 
 a native of Washington county, New York, 
 born July 5, 1821, and was a son of Clarke 
 G. and Abigail (Phillips) Waite, the former 
 born April 3, 1787, the latter May 14, 1791. 
 The great-grandfather of our subject was 
 Peleg Waite. Adoniram J. Waite, the father, 
 was reared in the county of his nativity and 
 received a common-school education. Un- 
 til twenty-eight or thirty years of age he re- 
 mained there and was married December 8, 
 1842, to Miss Caroline Bull, by whom he 
 had three children, namely : Missouri Lorina, 
 who married William A. Stei^a and lives in 
 Oregon; Alton Perry, who married Annie 
 Greenawalt and is now deceased; and Alzina, 
 who married John Allen and resides in 
 Oregon. The mother of these children de- 
 parted this life in July, i860. The father 
 continued to engage in agricultural pursuits 
 in Washington county. New York, until 
 about 1850, when he removed to Erie 
 county, that state, making his home there 
 until April 8, 1853. He then joined his 
 two brothers, Clarke G. and Elverton I. 
 Waite, who had located in Ogle county, 
 Illinois, in 1837. Here he purchased one 
 hundred and ninety acres of wild land, to 
 the cultivation and improvement of which 
 he at once turned his attention. 
 
 On the 29th of June, 1861, Adoniram 
 J. Waite was again married, his second 
 union being with Mrs. Amelia (Agard) Lan- 
 
64 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 don, who was born November 9, 1822. 
 Her parents, Joshua and Lucy (Sible}') 
 Agard, were natives of Wilmington, Con- 
 necticut, the former born April 16, 1789, 
 the latter June 18, 1792. In the fam- 
 ily were five children, as follows: Maria, 
 Mary, Amelia, Austin and Hannah, also 
 a half sister. Malissa Ann, all now de- 
 ceased with the exception of Mrs. Waite, 
 who has been twice married, his first hus- 
 band being Horace Landon, Jr., a son of 
 Horace Landon, of Collins, Erie county. 
 New York. By that union she had two 
 children: Newton, who married Annie 
 Lyons, and is engaged in farming in Ten- 
 nessee; and Sarah Maria, wife of Charles 
 Rathbun, who is engaged in the coal busi- 
 ness in Streator, Illinois, and is secretary 
 and assistant manager of the Star Coal 
 Company. Judson A. Waite, of this review, 
 was the only child born of the second mar- 
 riage. Joshua Agard served in the Revolu- 
 tionary war, was in the battle of Monmouth, 
 New Jersey. The father died January 22, 
 1897, honored and respected by all who 
 knew him. He had had several light strokes 
 of paralysis, but on the morning of the day 
 of his death was feeling quite well at break- 
 fast, but twenty minutes after leaving the 
 table he had another stroke and was un- 
 conscious until he passed away at two 
 o'clock in the afternoon. He was one of 
 the prominent and inlluential citizens of his 
 community, was a supporter of the Repub- 
 lican party, and took quite an active part in 
 local politics. He served as supervisor and 
 school trustee, holding both offices for a 
 number of years. In early life he was a 
 member of the Baptist church, but after 
 coming to this state never united with any 
 congregation. 
 
 Mr. Waite, whose name introduces this 
 
 sketch, attended the district schools near 
 his home and supplemented his early edu- 
 cation by two years' attendance at the Mt. 
 Morris Academy, leaving here in 1882. 
 Thus well fitted for life's responsible duties 
 he returned to the old homestead and has 
 since devoted his attention to general farm- 
 ing and stock raising with most gratify- 
 ing results. He is the owner of four hun- 
 dred and thirty acres of arable land in the 
 home place, besides one hundred and forty- 
 five acres elsewhere, all under the highest 
 cultivation and well improved. Upon the 
 farm are three large barns and other out- 
 buildings besides a neat and comfortable 
 residence. For a number of years he has 
 been interested in stock-raising, making a 
 specialty of shorthorn and Durham cattle 
 and Chester white hogs, and at one time 
 also raised Morgan horses. However, he 
 still has upon his place thirteen good horses. 
 Mr. Waite is an ardent supporter of the 
 Republican party and its principles and for 
 si.\ years has most capably and satisfactorily 
 represented his township on the board of 
 supervisors, during which time he has 
 served on the committees on equalization, 
 bridges, public buildings, printing and edu- 
 cation. He has also been town clerk for 
 seven years and in all of the relations of life 
 has been found true and faithful to every 
 trust reposed in him. 
 
 PETER R. MEYERS, who resides on 
 section 11, Lincoln township, is a 
 native of Ogle county, and was born on the 
 farm whprc he now resides, December 23, 
 1843, and is the son of Jonathan and Eliza- 
 beth (Redman) Meyers, the former a native 
 of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, born 
 January 23, 1812, and the latter of Baden, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 65 
 
 Germany, and who came to the new world 
 a young lady, locating first in Pennsylvania, 
 and later coming to Ogle county, where she 
 was united in marriage with Mr. Meyers. 
 In early life Jonathan Meyers learned the 
 trade of stone mason, following that occu- 
 pation in Hagarstown, Maryland, to which 
 place he removed. From Maryland he 
 came to Ogle county, being one of the pio- 
 neers of 1837. On coming to this county he 
 took up a claim in what is now Lincoln 
 township, a portion of which is now com- 
 prised in the farm of our subject. He was 
 accompanied to this county by his brother, 
 Jacob Meyers, who was well known to the 
 early settlers, and whose descendants are 
 yet residing in the county. When the land 
 came into market, Jonathan Meyers entered 
 and purchased four hundred and forty acres, 
 and later eighty acres additional. He died 
 on the farm which was his home for more 
 than a half century, his death taking place 
 July 16, 1893, at the age of eighty-one 
 years. His wife passed away in 1877, and 
 their remains lie interred in the cemetery at 
 West Grove. 
 
 Peter R. Meyers is the eldest of a family 
 of seven children, of whom six lived to 
 mature years and have families of their own. 
 He grew to manhood on the home farm, 
 and from the time old enough to render any 
 assistance, made himself useful in the culti- 
 vation of the farm. His education was 
 limited to the common-schools of the early 
 days of the county. 
 
 Mr. Meyers was married in Forreston, 
 Ogle county, January 17, 1867, to Miss 
 Sarah Jane McLane, a native of Ogle coun- 
 ty, and daughter of Richard McLane, a na- 
 tive of Maryland, but an early settler of 
 Ogle county. By this union four children 
 were born. Lewis F. is a farmer of Lin- 
 
 coln township. Edwin H. is a farmer of 
 Maryland township, on the old McLane 
 farm. Charles A. makes his home with his 
 brother Lewis, while Ettie May is a young 
 lady residing at home. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Meyers moved 
 to the McLane homestead, which he occu- 
 pied and cultivated the farm for twenty- 
 seven years, during which time he made 
 some permanent improvements to the place. 
 In 1894 he succeeded to a part of the old 
 Meyers homestead and removed to the old 
 place. In addition to the two hundred and 
 thirty-seven acres of the Meyers homestead, 
 he owns one hundred and sixty acres of the 
 old McLane homestead. Both tracts are 
 well improved, and the farm presents a very 
 neat and attractive appearance. 
 
 Politically Mr. Meyers is a stanch Re- 
 publican, and has supported that party 
 ticket since casting his first presidential vote 
 for Abraham Lincoln in 1864. He has been 
 somewhat active in local politics, but not 
 as an office seeker. He has, however, 
 served as township trustee, school director, 
 and such minor offices. In the fifty-five 
 years that he has resided in the county — 
 his entire life — he has been brought in con- 
 tact with many of the best people, and 
 wherever known he is regarded as a man of 
 exemplary habits, a good citizen, one will- 
 ing to do all he can for his native county 
 and state. 
 
 EDWARD E. PRICE, who is now living 
 retired in the village of Byron, is a 
 self-made man, who at an early age started 
 out to make his own way in the world. He 
 now represents a valuable property, all of 
 which he has accumulated by his own per- 
 severance and industry. A, native of Wales, 
 
66 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he was born in Montgomeryshire, January 
 I, 1836, and there remained until fourteen 
 years of age. In 1849 he crossed the broad 
 Atlantic to join his brother, David Price, 
 who was then living in Utica, New York. 
 There he worked on a farm during the sum- 
 mer season for a year or two, also engaged 
 in teaming one summer, and spent one 
 winter working in a tanyard, remaining there 
 for about four years. In the meantime his 
 brother had come west to Illinois and set- 
 tled in Winnebago, where he has since made 
 his home, residing in Rockford at the pres- 
 ent time retired from active business. 
 
 In 1 85 5 Edward E. Price also removed 
 to Winnebago county, where he worked on 
 a farm by the month for some time. There 
 he married Miss Sarah Goodhue, a most es- 
 timable lady, vvho is said to have been the 
 first child born in Winnebago county. Her 
 father. Squire Goodhue, was numbered 
 among its first settlers and opened up a 
 farm at Kishwaukee. After his marriage 
 Mr. Price took charge of the Goodhue 
 homestead and he and his wife cared for 
 her parents until they were called to their 
 final rest, and then succeeded to the place, 
 which Mr. Price operated for twenty-five or 
 thirty years. In 1890 he removed from 
 Kishwaukee to Byron, Ogle county, where 
 he bought residence property and has since 
 lived retired. In 1898 he purchased lots 
 and erected a good, neat and substantial 
 residence which is now his home. 
 
 Mr. Price has a family of seven children, 
 two sons and five daughters, namely: Ed- 
 ward J., a resident of Byron; Thomas C, 
 of David Junction; Mrs. Leora L. Helson, 
 of Byron; Mrs. Lillian Poole, of Rockford; 
 Mrs. Alberta Blakesley, of Wisconsin; and 
 Lizzie, of Beloit, Wisconsin, and Lenora 
 E. lives in Beloit. 
 
 Politically Mr. Price has been identified 
 with the Republican party since its organi- 
 zation, casting his first vote for John C. 
 Fremont in 1856, and has supported 
 every candidate of the party for the presi- 
 dency since that time. He is enterprising 
 and progressive, and through his own un- 
 aided efforts has attained success in life and 
 won the respect and esteem of a large cir- 
 cle of friends and acquaintances. 
 
 JAMES PANKHURST, M. D., of Grand 
 Detour, one of the leading physicians of 
 Ogle county, was born in Westfield, Sussex 
 county, England, January 18, 1845, and is 
 the son of John and Mary (Welfare) Pank- 
 hurst, the former a native of Sussex county, 
 England, born in 181 i, and the latter of 
 Hastings, England, born in 1805. The pa- 
 ternal grandfather, John Pankhurst, Sr., 
 who was a wheelwright by trade, was also 
 a native of England, where his entire life 
 was spent. 
 
 John Pankhurst, the father of our sub- 
 ject, was also a wheelwright by trade, which 
 occupation he followed until coming to 
 America, in 1850. Convinced that in his 
 native land he could never rise higher than 
 a common wheelwright, with no opportunity 
 to provide for the future, he determined on 
 coming to the United Slates. With his 
 family he took passage on a sailing vessel, 
 and after a voyage of five weeks he landed 
 in New York. Our subject has but a faint 
 recollection of the voyage, but as a reminder 
 he still retains in his possession the box in 
 which the provisions of the family were 
 stored during the voyage. 
 
 After spending a few weeks in Alexan- 
 dria, Pennsylvania, the family came west to 
 Carroll county, Illinois. Leaving there his 
 
JAMES PANKHURST, M. D. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 69 
 
 family, John Pankhurst trudged on foot to 
 Grand Detour, where he obtained a respon- 
 sible position with the Grand Detour Plow 
 Company, and here brouj;ht the family. 
 He did not, however, remain but one year, 
 when he went to Jackson county, Iowa, 
 where he also remained one year. Being 
 offered the foremanship in the wood depart- 
 ment of the plow company, he returned to 
 Grand Detour, and here spent the remain- 
 der of his days. He remained with the 
 company for ten years after its removal to 
 Di.xon, but still retained his home in Grand 
 Detour. His death, the result of an acci- 
 dent, occurred July 14, 1896. His good 
 wife passed away September 26, 1894, at 
 the age of eighty-nine years. Both were 
 devoted members of the Church of England, 
 and were firm in the faith. They were the 
 parents of eight children, — Stephen, John, 
 William, Sarah, Edward, Selina, James and 
 Jane. Of these, John died in infancy, and 
 Sarah in early childhood. In politics, John 
 Pankhurst was a stanch Republican. He 
 was a highly respected citizen of the village, 
 esteemed for his many excellent qualities of 
 head and heart. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but six 
 years of age when he came to Ogle county, 
 and in the district schools of Grand Detour 
 township he received his primary education. 
 When the Civil war broke out he was but 
 sixteen, and one year later, on the 2nd of 
 June, 1862, he enlisted in Company H, 
 Sixty-ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, un- 
 der Colonel Tucker, and was mustered into 
 the service at Chicago. He was stationed 
 at Camp Douglas, Chicago, doing guard 
 duty, and was continued there the term of 
 his service, being discharged September 27, 
 1862. 
 
 Returning home after receiving his dis- 
 
 charge, our young soldier commenced work 
 in the plow factory, and until June, 1865, 
 worked in the summer and attended school 
 in the winter. In the meantime, as the op- 
 portunity was afforded him, he read medi- 
 cine under the instruction of Dr. C. E. 
 Loomis, of Grand Detour, and in the fall 
 of 1865, entered the medical department of 
 the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, 
 where he remained until the following spring. 
 He then entered the office of Dr. J. B. Sny- 
 der, then practicing in Grand Detour, but 
 now of Polo, Illinois. In 1867 he went to 
 Rush Medical College, Chicago, and finish- 
 ing the prescribed course, was graduated 
 from that institution in February, 1868. 
 After receiving his diploma, the Doctor re- 
 turned to Grand Detour and formed a part- 
 nership with his former preceptor, Dr. Sny- 
 der, which continued one year. He then 
 purchased his partner's interest, since which 
 time he has been alone in practice 
 
 Dr. Pankhurst has been thrice married, 
 and by his first union there was one daugh- 
 ter, Bessie C. , who is now in Chicago, and 
 is a student in the Armour Institute. His 
 second union was with Miss Frances Foxley, 
 a native of England, and their marriage was 
 celebrated May 17, 1884. She departed 
 this life November 24, 1894. The Doctor 
 was again married, January 22, 1896, his 
 third union being with Miss May U. Shef- 
 field, who was born January 28, 1861, and 
 daughter of Amos A. and Elizabeth (Sco- 
 field) Sheffield, of whom mention is made 
 elsewhere in this work. 
 
 Politically Dr. Pankhurst is a Repub- 
 lican, and is at present a member of the 
 Republican central committee of Ogle coun- 
 ty. He has always taken a commendable 
 interest in politics, but never in a sense of 
 being an office seeker. Believing it the 
 
70 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 duty of every citizen to exercise the rights 
 of franchise, he endeavors to keep posted 
 in the political issues of the day that he may 
 intelhgently do his duty. It is, however, 
 as a physician that he is best known, and 
 his professional duties require the greater 
 part of his time. He is a member of the 
 Ogle County Medical Society and the North- 
 ern Illinois Medical Association, in the meet- 
 ings of which he takes an active part. He 
 is medical examiner for the New York Life 
 Insurance Company, of New York, the New 
 York Mutual and the Union Central Life 
 Insurance Company, of Cincinnati, and 
 others. Religiously, he and his daughter 
 are members of the Episcopal church. The 
 Doctor is a good physician, a loyal citizen, 
 a kind neighbor, and steadfast friend of 
 those with whom he has so long been asso- 
 ciated, and he and his wife are held in high 
 esteem. 
 
 mz 
 
 ICHAEL N. SWINGLEY is one of 
 Ogle county's honored pioneers and 
 most highly esteemed citizens, having made 
 his home here almost continuously since 
 September, 1845. As an agriculturist he 
 has taken an active and prominent part in 
 its growth and development, and given his 
 support to those enterprises which he be- 
 lieved calculated to advance the general 
 welfare. He now owns and operates a well 
 improved farm of seventy acres on section 
 15, Leaf River township. 
 
 Mr. Swingley was born in Washington 
 county, Maryland, March 19, 1822, a son 
 of Hon. Michael Swingley, also a native of 
 that state and a grandson of Nicholas 
 Swingley, a native of Pennsylvania. His 
 great-grandfather was born in Switzerland 
 and was among the first settlers of Lancas- 
 
 ter county, Pennsylvania. At an early day 
 Nicholas Swingley removed to Washington 
 county, Marj'land, where his son Michael 
 was reared. The latter, on attaining to 
 man's estate, wedded Miss Mary Newcomer, 
 also a native of Maryland. He owned and 
 operated the old Swingley homestead and 
 reared his family there, but in 1845 emi- 
 grated to Ogle county, Illinois, taking up 
 his residence in Mt. Morris township, where 
 he bought a claim and entered land amount- 
 ing to about eight hundred acres. Here he 
 opened up and improved a large farm, sup- 
 plied with good buildings. He was one of 
 the honest yeomanry and successful business 
 men of the county. He was a soldier of 
 the war of 18 12, and held a number of of- 
 ficial positions of honor and trust in Mary- 
 land, representing his district one or more 
 terms in the state legislature. He died in 
 Ogle county in 1852, and his wife, who sur- 
 vived him many years, passed away in Feb- 
 ruary, 1870. To them were born eight 
 children, five sons and three daughters, all 
 of whom are still living with the exception 
 of our son. Benjamin, the eldest, is now 
 living retired in Mt. Morris; Samuel is a 
 resident of Kansas City, Missouri; George 
 died in St. Louis; Michael N., of this re- 
 view, is the next in order of birth; Mrs. 
 Elizabeth Allen resides in Mt. Morris; Mrs. 
 Mary Baker lives in Polo; Mrs. Martha 
 Highbarger makes her home in Montana; 
 and William lives in Oregon, Illinois. 
 
 Michael N. Swingley is indebted to the 
 common schools of his native state for his 
 educational privileges, and there he grew to 
 manhood. Coming with the family to Ogle 
 county in 1845, he was put to work at driv- 
 ing an ox team used in breaking prairie and 
 soon became familiar with all the arduous 
 duties which fall to the lot of the pioneer. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 In the fall of 1846 he returned to Maryland 
 where he spent the winter, and on again 
 coming to this state resumed work on the 
 home farm. About the ist of April, 1S49, 
 he started overland for California, overtook 
 a train in Nebraska, and reached his desti- 
 nation in August of that year. He engaged 
 in prospecting and mining until the spring 
 of 1850, when he started for home by way 
 of the Nicaraugua route. He was obliged 
 to spend the whole winter on the Isthmus, 
 finally in the spring secured passage on a 
 vessel bound for Cuba, where he was again 
 delayed until a vessel arrived which would 
 take him to New Orleans. However, he 
 at length reached home in 1851 and resumed 
 farming in Mt. Morris township, where 
 he carried on operations until i860. 
 
 In August, 1854, in that township, Mr. 
 Swingley married Miss Susan Welty, who 
 was born in the same neighborhood as our 
 subject. Her father, John Welty, was also 
 a native of Washington county, Maryland, 
 and in 1846 came to Illinois. He improved 
 a farm in Mt. Morris township, on which 
 he reared his family. His wife, who bore 
 the maiden name of Mary Wolff, departed 
 this life in 1875. Mrs. Swingley was reared 
 and educated in Mt. Morris township. Our 
 subject and his wife have two children: 
 Mary is the wife of Leroy Her, of Leaf Riv- 
 er township, and has two children: Verna, 
 who is a student in the Leaf River schools; 
 and Ray, who is attending the home school. 
 Cora is the wife of James Wilson, of 
 Winnebago county, Illinois, and they have 
 four children: Lottie, Altha and Nellie, who 
 are attending the home school; and Harry, 
 at home. 
 
 In 1855 Mr. Swingley removed to Polo, 
 where he made his home until 1859, and 
 then again made an overland trip to Cali- 
 
 fornia. This time he located in Sacra- 
 mento City, where he engaged in the livery 
 business for about two years, returning to 
 Ogle county in February, 1861. For several 
 years thereafter he followed farming in Mt. 
 Morris township, and in 1869 removed to 
 Stephenson county, Illinois, where he op- 
 erated rented land for about three years. 
 On his return to Ogle county, in 1873, he 
 purchased his present place in Leaf River 
 township, on which a fairly good house was 
 standing and which was slightly improved. 
 To its further development and cultivation 
 he has since devoted his energies with 
 marked success, and now has a well-im- 
 proved farm pleasantly situated three miles 
 northwest of Leaf River. 
 
 Mr. Swingley cast his first presidential 
 vote for James R. Polk in 1844, and has 
 never wavered in his allegiance to the De- 
 mocracy. In religious faith he is a Lutheran, 
 while his wife holds membership in the 
 Christian church, and they stand high in 
 the community where they have so long 
 made their home. Those who know them 
 best are numbered among their warmest 
 friends, and no citizens in Leaf River town- 
 ship are more honored or highly respected. 
 
 JACOB RICE, deceased, was numbered 
 among the pioneers of 1837, and, like all 
 others who came at that early day, he ex- 
 perienced the privations incidental to the 
 settlement of a new country. He was born 
 in Washington county, Maryland, and was 
 the son of Jacob and Mary (Roland) Rice, 
 both of whom were natives of the same 
 county and state, and of whom special men- 
 tion is made in the sketch of Isaac Rice, on 
 another page of this work. 
 
 In his native state our subject com- 
 
72 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 menced his education in the common 
 schools, and on coming to Ogle county he 
 attended a pioneer school taught by his older 
 brother, Joshua, who engaged in teaching 
 soon after their arrival. He was a well ed- 
 ucated young man and gave his younger 
 brothers excellent instruction. In 1843 he 
 left school and assisted his father on the 
 farm in Mt. Morris township, continuing with 
 him until he was twenty-seven years old, 
 when he rented one hundred acres of land 
 in Maryland township and commenced life 
 for himself. 
 
 On the 1 1 th of December, 1S51, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth 
 Zeigler, a native of Jefferson county, Vir- 
 ginia, born September 7, 1833, and daugh- 
 ter of Jacob and Margaret (Stanger) Zeigler, 
 the former born in Washington county, 
 Maryland, January 15, 1795, and the latter 
 in Alsace Loraine, at that time in the 
 kingdom of France, but which is now a part 
 of Germany, September 12, 1796. She 
 came to this country with her parents when 
 but eight years old. They came to America 
 in 1830 and first located in Jefferson coun- 
 ty, Virginia, but four years later moved to 
 Clark county, Ohio, where he engaged in 
 farming in connection with his trade as 
 cooper. In 1841 he came to Ogle county 
 and settled in Leaf River township, where 
 he took up three hundred acres of govern- 
 ment land, paying the regular price of one 
 dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for the 
 greater part of it. A portion of the land 
 had been staked as a claim by another party 
 on which he had erected a small cabin. 
 For this he had to give a small bonus. He 
 was permitted to enjoy his new possessions 
 but a very short time, his death occurring 
 in 1843. Jacob Zeigler and wife were the 
 parents of eight children, as follows: Mary 
 
 Ann, born July 22, 18 18; Lavina, January 
 I, 1821; Caroline, October 16, 1823; Mar- 
 garet A., March 4, 1826; Samuel C. , Jan- 
 uary 23, 1828; John D., March 27, 1830, 
 Elizabeth, September 7, 1833; Jane C, 
 June II, 1840. Mrs. Zeigler died October 
 29, 1874. In politics Jacob Zeigler was a 
 Whig, and, religiously, a Methodist. The 
 family were of some note in the old world, a 
 granduncle of Mrs. Rice being an officer 
 under the first Napoleon, serving with him 
 in many of his wars. 
 
 To Jacob and Elizabeth Rice three sons 
 were born — William A., August 4, 1854; 
 Frederick N., August 5, 1859; and Eldridge 
 E., December 3, 1S63. All<are residing at 
 home. 
 
 On the death of his father our subject 
 moved to the home place, which comprised 
 one hundred and sixty acres of choice land. 
 There he continued to farm during the re- 
 mainder of his life. In addition to general 
 farming he was engaged somewhat exten- 
 sively in stock raising, in which he was 
 quite successful. About 1884 he was strick- 
 en with creeping paralysis, and after linger- 
 ing along for ten years passed peacefully 
 away, February 2, 1894. In politics he 
 was for many years a Republican, but in 
 1884 he voted for St. John, the Prohibition 
 candidate for president, and continued to 
 vote with the Prohibition party until the 
 end of his life. He never aspired to any 
 official position, but served as school di- 
 rector for years. Religiously he was a 
 Methodist, holding membership with the 
 church in Mt. Morris. He was a firm be- 
 liever in Christ, and died in the full assur- 
 ance of faith. 
 
 Mrs. Rice still lives upon the old home 
 place, and like her husband is respected by 
 all who know her. She is also a member 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 73 
 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church, and has 
 a lively interest in all that concerns her fel- 
 lowmen. She well remembers hearing 
 her mother tell of crossing the ocean in a 
 sail vessel, being three months upon the 
 water. She has also a vivid recollection of 
 the journey made by the family to Illinois. 
 They started from their Ohio home with 
 some stock and barnyard fowls, and in com- 
 ing into the state were stuck fast in a snow 
 drift. Her mother brought the first turkeys 
 that were ever brought into northern Illi- 
 nois. When they came to the county 
 wild game was very plentiful. Wolves 
 were in great numbers, and often when 
 Mrs. Rice was sent after the cows she 
 could hear the wolves on all sides. Her 
 father dying so soon after their arrival, 
 her mother was compelled to attend to all 
 the farm duties, and often hired her grain 
 hauled to Chicago, where it was disposed of. 
 Those were days of trial and hardships 
 which those of the present generation can 
 have no conception, but they had to be en- 
 dured. Out of it all has grown the finest 
 country on the face of the globe, and to 
 such men and women as Jacob Rice and his 
 wife the credit is due. 
 
 HENRYCOFFMAN. — Prominent among 
 the energetic, progressive and success- 
 ful business men of Ogle county are the 
 gentlemen composing the firm of C©ffman 
 Brothers, extensive breeders and dealers in 
 pure blooded shorthorn cattle, in which 
 business they have been engaged for the 
 past eight years. They are representatives 
 of one of the old and prominent families of 
 the 'County, being sons of Abraham Coff- 
 man, who was born in Washington county, 
 Maryland, May 5, 18 18. John Coffman, 
 
 the grandfather, was also a native of that 
 state, and in 1840 came to Ogle county, 
 where he pre-empted a large tract of land, 
 and, in company with several families, the 
 Coffman family drove across the country 
 with teams. 
 
 Abraham Coffman, our subject's father, 
 located on a tract of eighty acres in Mary- 
 land township, to which he added by subse- 
 quent purchase until he had a valuable 
 farm of two hundred and eighty acres. 
 This he broke and improved with good 
 buildings, making it one of the most desir- 
 able places in the locality. In this county 
 he married Miss Caroline Wagner, also a 
 native of Washington county, Maryland, 
 and a daughter of Henry Wagner, who set- 
 tled in Ogle county as early as 1838, but 
 died a few years later at the age of forty- 
 five. For several years Mr. Coffman con- 
 tinued to operate his farm in Maryland 
 township, becoming one of its most sub- 
 stantial and well-to-do citizens, but his last 
 days were spent in retirement in the village 
 of Forreston, where he bought residence 
 property. There he passed away July 11, 
 1895, at the age of seventy-seven years, 
 honored and respected by all who knew 
 him. His estimable wife is still living in 
 Forreston at the age of seventy-three. To 
 this worthy couple were born eight children, 
 all of whom reached years of maturity, but 
 only two are now living: Henry, of this 
 review, and Isaiah T., the junior member 
 of the firm of Coffman Brothers, who was 
 born on the old homestead and like his 
 brother was educated in the local schools. 
 Those deceased are as follows: Elizabeth, 
 who married William A. Harris, a business 
 man of Adeline, Ogle county, and died 
 there leaving one daughter; Mary A. ; 
 Amanda; Ada Alice; Joseph N., who died 
 
74 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 at about the age of nineteen years, and 
 Charles Eugene, who resided in Iowa with 
 his brother, Henry W., and died in Illinois 
 at the age of twenty-seven years. 
 
 Henry W. Coffman was born January 
 3,1849, on the old homestead on section 5, 
 Maryland township, where he now resides, 
 and is the second in order of birth in his 
 father's family. After reaching man's es- 
 tate he went to Grundy county, Iowa, where 
 he bought land, but in 1883 became a resi- 
 dent of Ackley, that state, where for sev- 
 en years he successfully engaged in the ag- 
 ricultural implement business. He built up 
 an excellent trade, but finally sold out to 
 an advantage and returned to Ogle county. 
 In partnership with his brother he took 
 charge of the home farm, and in connection 
 with general farming have engaged in the 
 breeding of shorthorn cattle since 1891, 
 having upon their place a f:ne herd of fifty 
 thoroughbreds, with Cruickshank, a regis- 
 tered bull, at the head. As upright, relia- 
 ble business men, the brothers have become 
 widely known, and in all their undertakings 
 have been unusually successful. 
 
 On the 27th of October, 1887, in Har- 
 din county, Iowa, Henry W. Coffman was 
 united in marriage with Miss Carrie Walker, 
 a daughter of Jacob Walker. She was born 
 in Clinton county, Pennsylvania, but was 
 mostly reared and educated in Hardin coun- 
 ty, Iowa. Her father removed from the 
 latter state to Illinois in March, 1S96, and 
 is now engaged in business in Freeport. He 
 is a carpenter by trade and formerly fol- 
 lowed contracting and building. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Coffman have been born four 
 children, namely: Raymond A., Merritt J. 
 and Hazel Ruth, all living; and Wava Glco, 
 deceased. The home of this family is one 
 of the most hospitable in Ogle county; the 
 
 stranger within its doors are made to feel at 
 ease; and their many friends and acquaint- 
 ances are always sure of a hearty welcome. 
 In politics Mr. Coffman is independent. 
 
 ELIAS G. BOWERS, an energetic and 
 progressive farmer residing on section 
 10, Brookville township, has spent almost 
 his entire life in Ogle county, and as one of 
 its public-spirited citizens uses his influence 
 in advancing its welfare, materially aiding 
 all beneficial schemes for promoting its 
 prosperity. Mr. Bowers was born in North- 
 umberland county, Pennsylvania, March 15, 
 1844, but in June of that year was brought 
 to this county, where amid frontier scenes 
 he grew to manhood. 
 
 His father, Henry Bowers, was also a 
 native of Northumberland county, Penn- 
 sylvania, born in October, 1808, and was a 
 son of Jacob Bowers, a farmer by occupa- 
 tion, who reared his family in that county, 
 but spent the last years of his life in Stark 
 county, Ohio. Henry Bowers wedded Miss 
 Mary Magdalene Garman, a native of 
 Northumberland county and a daughter of 
 Martin Garman. During his early life Mr. 
 Bowers was employed on public works, 
 principally canal and bridge building, but in 
 May, 1844, started by team, with several 
 other Pennsylvania families, for Ogle county, 
 Illinois, and on his arrival here bought a 
 claim of one hundred and sixty acres and 
 turned his attention to farming. He de- 
 veloped a fine farm from the unbroken 
 prairie, in 1850 erected thereon a large 
 brick residence and later a large barn, and 
 was acknowledged to be one of the most 
 skillful and successful agriculturists of the 
 locality. Having prospered in his new home 
 he was able to spend his last years in re- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 75 
 
 tirement from active labor and in 1865 re- 
 moved from the farm to Forreston, where 
 he passed away February 4, 1882. The 
 mother of our subject had died in August, 
 1850, and he subsequently married again, 
 his second wife dying in April, 1872. 
 
 Elias G. Bowers, the only child born to his 
 parents, was reared on the home farm where 
 he now lives and acquired his education in 
 the district schools of the neighborhood. 
 On the 1st of April, 1864, he enlisted for 
 three months in Company D, One Hundred 
 and Forty-second Illinois Volunteer Infan- 
 try, which was assigned to the Army of the 
 Tennessee. He was on guard duty most of 
 the time, along railroads, and was honor- 
 ably discharged on the expiration of his term 
 of enlistment, but he later joined Company 
 I, Ninety-second Illinois Mounted Infantry, 
 which became a part of Kilpatrick's cav- 
 alry. The regiment proceeded to North 
 Carolina, where they remained until the war 
 was over. Mr. Bowers was mostly on de- 
 tailed duty with a wagon train, and when 
 hostilities ceased and his services were no 
 longer needed he was discharged at Chicago 
 in August, 1865, and returned home. 
 
 After the war Mr. Bowers ran a thresh- 
 ing machine and engaged in other labors 
 until the fall of 1867, when he went to 
 Pennsylvania, spending five years in North- 
 umberland and Dauphin counties. He was 
 first employed by a company engaged in 
 manufacturing lumber, but the last two 
 years was interested in the hotel business 
 with his brother-in-law, at Lykens, Dauphin 
 county. Disposing of his property in the 
 east, he returned to Ogle county in 1873 
 and took charge of the old home farm. 
 He has since remodeled the residence and 
 outbuildings and now has one of the best 
 improved places in the locality. 
 
 While in Northumberland county, Penn- 
 sylvania, Mr. Bowers was married, Decem- 
 ber 26, 1869, to Miss Sarah Engle, who was 
 born, reared and educated in that county, 
 and is a daughter of Abram Engle. Five 
 children were born of this union: Alice, wife 
 of Harvey C. Good, of Carroll county, Illi- 
 nois; Henry W., who is now a member of 
 the First South Dakota Volunteer Infantry, 
 and is one of the brave boys now stationed 
 at Manila; and Agnes, William A. and John 
 J., all at home. 
 
 Mr. Bowers cast his first presidential 
 ballot for Samuel J. Tilden, in 1876, and 
 has always supported the Democratic party. 
 For the past twenty years he has taken quite 
 an active and prominent part in local politics, 
 and has most creditably served his fellow 
 citizens as constable, justice of the peace, 
 township assessor, treasurer, and as super- 
 visor for four years, during which time he 
 was a member of several important com- 
 mittees. He was also a member of the 
 school board for several years, and served 
 as clerk of the district eight years. Socially 
 he is a prominent member of Brookville 
 Lodge, I. O. O, F. , which he has repre- 
 sented in the Grand Lodge eight years, and 
 in which he has passed through all the 
 chairs and is now past grand. He also 
 belongs to the Grand Army post at For- 
 reston, and is one of the most popular and 
 influential citizens of his community. 
 
 EDWARD C. BUTERBAUGH, who re- 
 sides upon his fine farm of two hundred 
 and forty acres on section 11, Mt. Morris 
 township, is a native of Ogle county, and was 
 born in this county July 8, 1863. He is 
 the son of Henry and Catherine (Hershey) 
 Buterbaugh, the former born July 22, 1819, 
 
76 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, and the 
 latter of Washington county, Maryland, 
 born June 25, 1821. Henry Buterbaugh 
 was the son of Stephen and Susan Buter- 
 baugh, who were natives of Pennsylvania 
 and Maryland, respectively. 
 
 Henry Buterbaugh received but a lim- 
 ited education in the common schools of his 
 native county and was reared to farm life. 
 After his marriage with Catherine Hershey, 
 November 18, 1844, he removed with his 
 bride to Ogle county, Illinois, coming west 
 with a team in 1847. On his arrival he 
 purchased a farm of two hundred and forty 
 acres of land in Mt. Morris township, to 
 which he later added two hundred and forty 
 acres more, giving him an estate of four 
 hundred and eighty acres. He was an act- 
 ive and prosperous farmer, a member of 
 the German Baptist church, and was a good 
 friend and neighbor. In politics he was a 
 Democrat, and for many years served as 
 school director of his district. He died 
 March 22, 1883, and his remains were laid 
 to rest in Silver Creek cemetery. His wife 
 is yet living and makes her home in the 
 village of Mt. Morris. Like her husband, 
 she is a member of the German Baptist 
 church, a true Christian woman, and one 
 deserving the love and esteem in which she 
 is held. They were the parents of eight 
 children. Emma married William Thomas, 
 but is now deceased. Alice married Wil- 
 loughby Felter and resides on the old home- 
 stead. John, Joseph, Mary, Ella and Mar- 
 tin are deceased. Mary married George 
 Thomas and became the mother of three 
 children. 
 
 Edward C. Buterbaugh, the subject of 
 this sketch, is the youngest member of the 
 family. He was reared on the home farm 
 and in the district school received his edu- 
 
 cation. At the age of seventeen he com- 
 menced life for himself, renting the home 
 farm and engaging in its cultivation. Two 
 years later he became sole proprietor of 
 the place. On the 14th of December, 1882, 
 he was united in marriage with Miss Mary 
 Bopp, who was born in Washington county, 
 Maryland, December 21, 1862, and daugh- 
 ter of John and Matilda (Secore) Bopp, the 
 former born in Dauphin county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, October 16, 1829, and the latter in 
 Adams county, Pennsylvania, September 14, 
 1828. They were the parents of six chil- 
 dren, as follows: John H., born September 
 2, 1856; Benjamin F., January 26, 1858; 
 William T., August 13, 1859; Mary E., 
 December 2, 1862; Emma J., December 2, 
 1866; and Ida M., September 26, 1871. 
 The three sons and the mother are now de- 
 ceased, the latter dying October 31, 1896. 
 
 After residing in Washington county, 
 Maryland, until 1864, John Bobb removed 
 with his family to Montgomery county, 
 Ohio, where they resided eleven years, Mr. 
 Bopp engaging in farming. In 1876 they 
 came to Ogle county, Illinois, to make a 
 permanent home. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Buterbaugh four chil- 
 dren have been born: Edith, December 
 18, 1883; Clinton, June 23, 1885; Pearl, 
 October 21, 1886, and Chester, December 
 II, 1887. The latter died Septembers, 
 1888, after an illness of two weeks. The 
 remaining children are all attending the 
 public school, and it is the design of the par- 
 ents to give them good education. 
 
 After giving his entire time and atten- 
 tion to the cultivation of his farm until 
 1893, Mr. Buterbaugh rented the same, but 
 still remained upon the place, and has given 
 his attention to stock raising exclusively. 
 He makes a specialty of the red polled cat- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 n 
 
 tie and Poland-China hogs. He has also a 
 number of draught and road horses, but in 
 all probability give his attention to road- 
 sters. He thoroughly understands the 
 stock business, and in that line has met with 
 good success. Since coming into full pos- 
 session of the farm, he has made upon it 
 many valuable improvements, and keeps it 
 at all times under a high state of cultivation. 
 In politics he is a Democrat, and a stanch 
 advocate of the principles of the party, but 
 he is not a politician in the common accep- 
 tation of the term. As a farmer he has 
 thoroughly demonstrated his abilities. As 
 a citizen he enjoys the respect of all who 
 know him. 
 
 SAMUEL W. POWELL, residing on sec- 
 tion I, Buffalo township, a prosperous 
 farmer and stock raiser, has been a resident 
 of Ogle county since May 2, 1854. He was 
 born in Washington county, Maryland, De- 
 cember 3, 1834, and is a son of Upton Pow- 
 ell, a native of the same county and state, 
 who was born in 1 80 1 . The paternal grand- 
 father, Jonathan Powell, was a native of 
 Wales, a seafaring man in early life, but 
 who settled in Washington county, Mary- 
 land, at an early day. 
 
 Upton Powell grew to manhood in his 
 native county and received a limited educa- 
 tion in the common schools of that early 
 day. In his youth he learned the miller's 
 trade, an occupation he followed until he 
 went to farming, while yet residing in Mary- 
 land. He there married Miss Anna Smith, 
 a native of Maryland, of German ancestry, 
 and they became the parents of seven chil- 
 dren, all of whom grew to mature years. 
 Mary Ann died a single lady. Susan mar- 
 ried John N. Winders, and is now a widow, 
 
 residing in Polo, Illinois. Samuel W. is 
 third in order of birth. John A. is residing 
 in Polo. Jacob H. is also living in Polo. 
 Catherine is the wife of John M. Davis, a 
 substantial farmer of Buffalo township, of 
 whom mention is made elsewhere in this 
 work. William is a farmer of Pine Creek 
 township. 
 
 Fully convinced that better opportuni- 
 ties were open before him in the great Prai- 
 rie state, and having in Ogle county a num- 
 ber of old friends and neighbors, Upton Pow- 
 ell determined here to find for himself and 
 family a new home. In the fall of 1853, 
 he came out and selected a location in Pine 
 Creek township, purchasing a partially im- 
 proved place of four hundred and fifty-one 
 acres, and in April, 1854, left his old home 
 with his family and arrived here May 2, 
 1854. With characteristic energy, he com- 
 menced to improve the place, in due time 
 erecting a good residence, barn, and various 
 outbuildings. From time to time he added 
 to his possessions until he became the owner 
 of over eight hundred acres of good farming 
 land. He was quite prosperous and became 
 a well-known citizen of the county. He 
 lived upon the old place for some years, and 
 then moved to a farm near Polo, where his 
 death occurred about 1 883. His wife passed 
 away some years previously. 
 
 In his native county our subject spent 
 his boyhood and youth, assisting his father 
 upon the farm and in the mill, in the mean- 
 time attending the common school as the 
 opportunity was given him. He came with 
 the family to Ogle county and continued to 
 assist his father for some years, dividing his 
 time between the saw mill and the farm. 
 He was married January 20, 1S60, to Miss 
 Sarah Hays, a native of Washington coun- 
 ty, Maryland, and daughter of Henry Hays, 
 
78 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 also a native of the same county and state, 
 and who likewise came to Ogle county in 
 May, 1854, locating in Pine Creek town- 
 ship. By this union three sons were born. 
 William H. is married and is engaged in 
 farming in Black Hawk county, Iowa. John 
 Upton and George W. yet reside at home, 
 assisting in the farm work, and with their 
 father are making a business of fattening 
 cattle and hogs for the markets. They are 
 also interested in a meat market at Mt. 
 Morris, and also furnish dressed meat for a 
 market in Oregon. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Powell located 
 on the sawmill place, and carried on the 
 mill and engaged in farming for three years. 
 In 1864 he purchased the farm where he 
 now resides, consisting of but one hundred 
 and sixty acres at that time. He later added 
 one hundred and sixty acres more, and still 
 later fifteen acres, making the home farm 
 contain three hundred and thirty-five acres. 
 He has also three hundred and sixteen 
 acres in Pine Creek township, divided into 
 four small farms, and has fifty acres in 
 Grand Detour township. The home farm 
 presents a very neat and attractive appear- 
 ance with its fine residence and barn, nu- 
 merous outbuildings, fruit and ornamental 
 trees. Everything about the place denotes 
 the energy and thrift of the owner. In 
 addition to the cultivation of grain, he has 
 given much attention to stock raising, mak- 
 ing a specialty of Poland-China hogs. 
 
 Politically Mr. Powell is a Democrat, 
 having voted the ticket since casting his 
 first presidential vote for James Buchanan 
 in 1856. He has been honored by his 
 friends and neighbors with various local 
 offices, serving as highway commissioner 
 some eighteen or twenty years and as su- 
 pervisor one term, in 1894-5. After an in- 
 
 terval of two years he was again elected 
 in 1898 and is now serving in that capac- 
 ity. During his first term he was on 
 several important committees, and is now 
 a member of the equalization and of the 
 finance committee. Interested in the pub- 
 lic schools, he has served as school director 
 for some twenty-five or thirty years. 
 
 An active and enterprising man, Mr. 
 Powell is highly regarded by all who know 
 him, and his friends are not confined to 
 those of his own party. Broad-minded and 
 liberal, he commands the respect of all. 
 In the forty-five years of his residence in 
 Ogle county he has been an active factor in 
 its progress and has done his full share 
 in its development. Success has crowned 
 his efforts, but no one envies him for that 
 he has, knowing that it has been gained by 
 honest efforts. 
 
 CHARLES AYRES, deceased, was a 
 prominent farmer of Woosung town- 
 ship, one well known in Lee and Ogle 
 counties. He was born in Huntingdon 
 county, Pennsylvania, September 13, 1824, 
 and was the son of Ludlum and Susanna 
 (Sharer) Ayres, who emigrated from Penn- 
 sylvania to Illinois in 1845, locating in 
 Franklin Grove, Lee county, where they 
 remained until i860, when they moved to 
 the southern part of the state, where they 
 spent about one year, and then returned to 
 Lee county, where the remainder of their 
 lives were spent. They had a family of 
 eight children, two of whom died in child- 
 hood. Those growing to maturity were 
 Charles H., Matthew, John, William, 
 Thomas and Ludlum Smith. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in his native state, and in 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the schools of that state received his educa- 
 tion. This was, however, supplemented by 
 attendance in the schools of Dixon, after 
 the removal of the family to this state. He 
 remained with his parents until twenty-two 
 years old, when he began life for himself, 
 cultivating a farm and operating two thresh- 
 ing machines during the seasons. He was 
 united in marriage June i, 1S55, with Miss 
 Mary J. Grush, who was born March 7, 
 1834, and daughter of Isaac and Catherine 
 (Burns) Grush, the former a native of Lan- 
 caster county, Pennsylvania, and the latter 
 of Huntingdon county, in the same state. 
 Isaac Grush was the son of Isaac Grush, 
 Sr. , a native of Germany, and a farmer by 
 occupation, who died in Lancaster county, 
 Pennsylvania. Isaac Grush was by trade a 
 miller, and also followed the trade of cooper. 
 In 1846 he came with his family to Ogle 
 county, and located in Pine Creek township, 
 where he purchased a farm of one hundred 
 and si.xty acres, which he operated until 
 within a few years before his death, when 
 he retired from active life, and died at the 
 residence of his son in Paul City, Nebraska. 
 
 Isaac and Catherine Grush were the 
 parents of ten children, eight of whom grew 
 to maturity — Philip, John, William, James, 
 Mary J., Elizabeth, Emma and Catherine. 
 Two died in infancy. Mrs. Catherine Grush 
 passed to her reward in 185 1, and later Mr. 
 Grush married Mrs. Catherine (Lutz) Eshel- 
 man, a widow, and by this marriage there 
 was one daughter, Vernie. 
 
 To Charles and Mary J. Ayres eight 
 children were born. Elsie M., born June 
 17, 1856, died June 2, 1892. Samuel R., 
 born December 28, 1S57, is now living in 
 Hardin county, Iowa; he married Miss Delia 
 Miller, of Washington county, Maryland, 
 and they have a son, Charles L. Johnnie 
 
 E., born December 28, 1859, died January 
 15. 1861. Alma S., born January I 5, 1861, 
 is now the wife of C. E. Parks, and they 
 have one child, Clarence C. , born January 
 I, 1 888; they reside on the old homestead. 
 Lillie S., born December 31, 1863, married 
 John Lampen, and they live in Pine Creek 
 township. Henry P., born August 15, 1869, 
 died June 6, 1895. Charles, born August 
 5, 1866, died March 17, 1867. Lena May, 
 born June 28, 1872, died February 6, 1875. 
 
 Mr. Ayres purchased the farm on which 
 his widow now resides, on section 8, Woo- 
 sung township, from his brother William, 
 wiio entered the land from the government. 
 In 1855, soon after his marriage, he built a 
 small house, which is now used as an ice 
 house. The second house in which the 
 family lived was erected a few years after, 
 and is now used as a shop. In 1874 he 
 erected the house in which the family now 
 live, and which is a commodious and com- 
 fortable structure. As his means would per- 
 mit, Mr. Ayers added to the improvements 
 of the place, erecting a large barn, and put- 
 ting up other outbuildings, setting out fruit 
 and ornamental trees, and otherwise adding 
 to the attractive appearance of the farm. 
 He was a practical farmer and endeavored 
 to keep up with the times in the way of im- 
 provements. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Ayres was a Republican, 
 and a stanch advocate of the principles of 
 the party. He served his neighborhood as 
 school director for a number of years, as he 
 always felt an interest in the public schools. 
 He was also road commissioner a number of 
 years. Religiously he was a member of the 
 United Brethren church, in which he took 
 great interest, being a firm believer in the 
 Christian religion. His wife is also a mem- 
 ber of that church. Mr. Ayres passed from 
 
8o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 this life November i, 1880, his death being 
 from asthma and consumption. He was a 
 good man, and his death was a sad loss not 
 only to his faithful wife, who was always a 
 comfort and stay to him, but to the com- 
 munity as well. His friends were numer- 
 ous in both Lee and Ogle counties. 
 
 THOMAS DIXON is one of the retired 
 farmers who are living at their ease in 
 the village of Byron, and who know right 
 well how to take care of the property they 
 accumulated in their younger years by un- 
 tiring industry and economy. For a period 
 of over forty years he was actively and suc- 
 cessfully engaged in agricultural pursuits in 
 Ogle county, but has now laid aside busi- 
 ness cares to spend his remaining years in 
 ease and retirement. 
 
 Mr. Dixon comes from across the sea, 
 being a native of England, born in Cum- 
 berland county, February 10, 1834. His 
 father, John Dixon, was ^ native of the 
 same county and a son of Thomas Dixon, 
 a farmer of that region. There the former 
 grew to manhood and married Miss Ann 
 Thompson, an English lady, who died in 
 her native land about 1841. He was again 
 married, but his second wife also died in 
 England. In 1855 he and his family emi- 
 grated to the United States, and on reach- 
 ing the shores of this country proceeded at 
 once to Ogle county, Illinois, arriving here 
 in the fall of that year. He purchased a 
 farm in Marion township and to its further 
 improvement and cultivation devoted his 
 energies until failing health caused his re- 
 tirement. Although he was not well for 
 some years, he lived to the ripe old age of 
 seventy-eight, dying July 19, 1873. 
 
 In his family were four children, two 
 
 sons and two daughters, but the latter are 
 both deceased. Sarah died unmarried, and 
 Anna married Joshua Chain, of Byron, and 
 died leaving three children. Our subject 
 is the older son. Paul, born in England, 
 in 1838, came with the family to the new 
 world in 1855, and was married here to 
 Miss Addie Millis, a native of Ogle county, 
 and a daughter of John Millis, who was a 
 pioneer of southern Illinois, and from this 
 state went to California during the '50s. 
 On his return he bought a farm in Marion 
 township. Ogle county, where he success- 
 fully engaged in agricultural pursuits for a 
 number of years. Later he rented his farm 
 and bought residence property in Byron, 
 where he spent the last years of his life. 
 After his marriage Paul Dixon engaged in 
 farming for a number of years in Marion 
 township, where he owned and occupied a 
 farm of over one hundred acres, which he 
 placed under a high state of cultivation. 
 After the death of his wife he removed to 
 Dixon, Illinois, where he now resides. He 
 has two daughters, Eva and Sarah, both 
 well educated young ladies. The latter at- 
 tended the public schools of Byron and also 
 the Rockford Commercial College, and is 
 now successfully engaged in teaching in 
 Ogle county. 
 
 Thomas Dixon, of this review, was a 
 young man of twenty years on the emigra- 
 tion of the family to America, and he was 
 of great assistance to his father in develop- 
 ing and carrying on the home farm. After 
 arriving at mature years he took charge of 
 the place and business, remaining with his 
 father until the latter's death, and caring 
 for him during his declining years. Subse- 
 quently he purchased the interests of the 
 other heirs and succeeded to the old home- 
 stead, on which he made many substantial 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and useful improvements. After operating 
 it for some years he sold and purchased a 
 farm of one hundred and fifty acres in Scott 
 township, near Stillman Valley. He lo- 
 cated thereon, and for a year was engaged 
 in building and improving the place, erect- 
 ing a good residence, barn, cribs and other 
 outbuildings, and converting it into one of 
 the best improved farms of the township. 
 This work completed he rented it, and in 
 1897 removed to Byron, where he now 
 lives, enjoying the rest he has so well earned 
 and so truly deserves. The Republican 
 party has found in him an earnest advocate 
 of its principles since he cast his first vote 
 for General U. S. Grant in 1S68, and he 
 has never missed a presidential election 
 since that time. Although not a member 
 of any religious denomination he attends 
 and gives liberally toward the support of 
 the Methodist Episcopal church. He and 
 his brother are well known in Byron and 
 Ogle county as men of exemplary habits 
 and sterling worth, and this brief sketch of 
 their lives will be read with interest by their 
 many friends. 
 
 WILLIAM STAHLHUT, an enterpris- 
 ing farmer residing on section 9, Mt. 
 Morris township, is a native of the town- 
 ship, born August 7, 1855, butis of German 
 descent, his parents, August and Frederika 
 (Bruns) Stahlhut, being natives of Hano\'er, 
 Germany, the former born April 28, 1809, 
 and the latter January 4, 18 18. They were 
 reared and married in their native land, and 
 in 1849 came to the United States with a 
 party of immigrants, coming direct to Mt. 
 Morris township, some of the party having 
 relatives in this county. The father of 
 Mrs. Stahlhut, the maternal grandfather of 
 
 our subject, was an officer of high rank in 
 the German army, and commanded a por- 
 tion of the German troops at the battle of 
 Waterloo. 
 
 August Stahlhut was a stonemason by 
 trade. On his arrival in Mt. Morris, he 
 found himself a stranger in a strange land, 
 the language of the people being unfamiliar 
 to him. He came, however, with the in- 
 tention of becoming an American citizen, 
 and to that end assimilated himself to his 
 new surroundings. He at once found em- 
 ployment at his trade, working on the new 
 building of the Rock River Seminary, and 
 on various private dwellings in course of 
 erection. He continued to work at his trade 
 and saving his earnings until he had accu- 
 mulated sufficient to buy a farm, after which 
 he turned his attention to agricultural pur- 
 suits, and only occasionally working at his 
 trade. August and Frederika Stahlhut 
 were the parents of four children, the last 
 born dying in infancy. August, born in No- 
 vember, 1 84 1, in Germany, came with his 
 parents to this country when in his eighth 
 year. Here he grew to manhood, and dur- 
 ing the dark days of the rebellion, when the 
 president issued his call for more men, he 
 offered his services to his adopted country 
 and took his place within the ranks in Com- 
 pany K, Ninety-second Illinois Volunteer 
 Infantry. With his regiment he went to 
 the front, and after being wounded in a 
 skirmish near Jonesboro, Tennessee, he was 
 taken prisoner and later confined in the 
 dreaded Andersonville prison, where he re- 
 covered from his wound, but was starved to 
 death. Henry, born November 19, 1850, 
 married Laura Feidt, and they have two 
 children. He is a farmer in Mt. Morris 
 township. William, our subject, was next 
 in order of birth. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 William Stahlhut, our subject, was 
 reared on the home farm in Mt. Morris 
 township, and until eighteen years old at- 
 tended the district school, receiving a fair 
 common-school education. He was early 
 learned the meaning of work and was required 
 to do his share of the farm work. Leav- 
 ing school at the age of eighteen years, in 
 partnership with his brother, he purchased 
 eighty acres of land and they conmienced 
 farming for themselves. 
 
 On the 23d of December, 1875, Mr. 
 Stahlhut was united in marriage with Miss 
 Lydia C. Thomas, born October 19, 1850, 
 in Mt. Morris township, and daughter of 
 Ezra and Elizabeth (Rice) Thomas, both of 
 whom were natives of Washington county, 
 Maryland, and who were among the early 
 settlers of Ogle county. They were the 
 parents of six children: William R., Jacob 
 O., Martha J., Mary E., Lydia C. and Ben- 
 jamin F. Mr. Thomas died at his home in 
 Mt. Morris, of blood poisoning, March 20, 
 1880. His wife survived him, dying March 
 22, 1888. In politics he was a Republican. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Stahlhut seven chil- 
 dren have been born, the first dying in in- 
 fancy. Olive C. , born March 14, 1878; 
 Charles A., born November 29, 1881, died 
 December 13, 1882; Benjamin A., born 
 April 26, 1884; William H., May 22, 1886; 
 Edward Earl, December 23, 1888; and 
 Jesse T., born July 23, 1894. Those living 
 are all yet residing with their parents, and 
 all are being given good education. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Stahlhut contin- 
 ued to farm with his brother, and in Febru- 
 ary, 1887, he purchased forty acres more 
 and has now a fine farm of one hundred and 
 sixty acres, which is under a high state of 
 cultivation. He has confined himself to no 
 special fads, but has engaged in general 
 
 farming. He has been raising mostly road 
 horses, but has raised some Norman draft. 
 Of cattle he has raised Hereford, but is now 
 mostly engaged with Durhams. 
 
 In politics Mr. Stahlhut is a Republican. 
 He cast his first presidential vote for Ruth- 
 erford B. Hayes in 1776, and has since con- 
 tinued to vote the party ticket. He has 
 held several local offices, including school 
 director, school trustee and supervisor. In 
 the latter office he served two terms and 
 was a member of the board during the rail- 
 road bond trouble, which run for a number 
 of years. His wife is a member of the Lu- 
 theran church, as is also his daughter, 
 Olive. Active and enterprising, Mr. Stahl- 
 hut keeps abreast with the times, lending 
 aid and encouragement to all worthy enter- 
 prises. With his family, he is held in the 
 highest esteem, having many friends in all 
 parts of the county. 
 
 FREDERICK H. LEWIS. — Prominent 
 among the more intelligent, active and 
 enterprising citizens of Marion township is 
 the gentleman whose name introduces this 
 biography. His reputation for integrity and 
 industry is second to none in the county, 
 and being a man of rare intellectual attain- 
 ments, he is authority on many questions 
 with the people of the community. He 
 owns and occupies a fine farm of two hun- 
 dred acres on section 15, Marion township, 
 and is successfully engaged in its operation. 
 Mr. Lewis is a native son of Ogle coun- 
 ty, his birth occurring on the farm where he 
 now resides December 22, 1849. His 
 father. Homer D. Lewis, was born near 
 Ware, Massachusetts, in January, 1822, and 
 was a son of David Lewis, also a native of 
 Massachusetts, who with his family came to 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Illinois in 1S37. His sons drove across the 
 country with wagons and the family settled 
 in Marion township, Ogle county, where he 
 cleared and developed a farm, one mile west 
 of the home of our subject. Here Homer 
 D. Lewis grew to manhood and married 
 Miss Adaline Bacon, also a native of the old 
 Bay state and a daughter of Squire Bacon, 
 who came west and died in Illinois. Mr. 
 Lewis entered one hundred and sixty acres 
 where his son is now living and soon trans- 
 formed the wild land into highly cultivated 
 and productive fields. To his original farm 
 he later added two adjoining tracts of forty 
 acres each, making a fine farm of two hun- 
 dred and forty acres, which he improved 
 with good buildings. He was one of the 
 most active and successful farmers of the 
 township and at one time owned seven hun- 
 dred acres of valuable land, all of which 
 property was acquired through his own in- 
 dustry, enterprise and good management. 
 He was honored with a number of responsi- 
 ble official positions. From his farm he re- 
 moved to Stillman Valley, but subsequently 
 took up his residence in Rockford, where he 
 passed away November 29, 1S97, at the age 
 of seventy-five years. His wife survives 
 him and still resides in that city. 
 
 Frederick H. Lewis is the only son liv- 
 ing in a family of five children. Loura M., 
 his oldest sister, is the wife of H. H. Hurd, 
 of Stillman Valley; Mary is the wife of Na- 
 than James, of the same place; Carrie A. is 
 the wife of William S. Ives, of Byron town- 
 ship. Ogle county; and Lucy is the wife of 
 John L. Keep and resides with her mother 
 in Rockford. 
 
 The subject of this review was reared in 
 much the usual manner of farmer boys, and 
 the knowledge he acquired in the district 
 schools has been supplemented by a course 
 
 in the Rockford High School and also in the 
 Commercial College of that place. During 
 his youth he assisted his father in the opera- 
 tion of the home farm and then purchased 
 eighty acres adjoining, on which he resided 
 for ten years. At the end of that time he 
 bought the old homestead, which he had 
 previously rented, and in its skillful man- 
 agement he is acknowledged to be one of 
 the most progressive and systematic farmers 
 of the community. 
 
 On the 37th of December, 1871, in 
 Marion township, Mr. Lewis was united in 
 marriage with Miss Lucy A. Johnson, a 
 daughter of Rev. G. S. Johnson, who served 
 as postmaster of Stillman Valley continu- 
 ously for about a quarter of a century. He 
 was a native of Massachusetts, an early set- 
 tler of Illinois, and was a direct descendant 
 of John Alden, who came to America on the 
 Mayflower, and for some time engaged in 
 merchandising in Rockford, but spent the 
 last years of his life in Stillman Valley. 
 Mrs. Lewis was born in Ohio, but was 
 reared in Ogle county, and being well edu- 
 cated she became a successful and popular 
 teacher. Our subject and his wife have a 
 family of six children, all at home, namely: 
 Charles, Harry, Julia, Fred and Frank, 
 twins, and George. The daughter is a 
 graduate of the Stillman Valley High School 
 and is quite proficient in music, and the 
 youngest t son is now attending the high 
 school at that place. 
 
 Mr. Lewis is a member of the G. O. P., 
 being an ardent Republican since casting 
 his first vote for General U. S. Grant in 
 1872. He is a director of the Scott & Mar- 
 ion Township Mutual Fire Insurance Com- 
 pany, has been an active member of the 
 school board for twenty years, and has 
 served as its president and also clerk of the 
 
84 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 district most of the time. He is now serv- 
 ing his second term as township trustee, 
 and he has most capably and faithfully dis- 
 charged the duties of every position he has 
 been called upon to fill, whether in public 
 or private life. He is one of the official 
 members of the Congregational church of 
 Stillman Valley, to which his family also 
 belong, and in the best social circles of the 
 community they occupy an enviable po- 
 sition. 
 
 FREDERICK ZICK, Ph. D., teacher 
 and lawyer, is a prominent citizen of 
 Polo, and one of the ablest lawyers practic- 
 ing at the bar of Ogle county, having the 
 mental grasp which enables him to discover 
 the best points in a case. A man of sound 
 judgment, he manages his cases with mas- 
 terly skill and tact, and is regarded as one 
 of the ablest jury advocates in this section 
 of the state. He is a logical reasoner, able 
 debater and forcible in argument, uniting a 
 rare gift of oratory with the most convinc- 
 ing logic that arouses the emotion and con- 
 vinces the judgment. 
 
 A native of Illinois, Mr. Zick was born 
 in Thompson township, Jo Daviess county, 
 October 20, 1858, and is a son of Frederick 
 and Mary (Deuchman) Zick, both natives of 
 the province of Waldec, Germany, the for- 
 mer born about 1816 and the latter about 
 1832. They were married in their native 
 land and came to America in 1852, landing 
 at New York after a long and tedious voy- 
 age. After a short time spent in the me- 
 tropolis they proceeded westward and lo- 
 cated in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, where 
 the father engaged in farming until 1877, 
 when he laid aside all busmess cares. He 
 then spent one year in Galena and his last 
 
 days in the country near that city, where he 
 passed away in 1879. His wife died in Jo 
 Daviess county in 1866. To them were 
 born two sons: John, who lives on a farm 
 in Jo Daviess county; and Frederick, of this 
 review. The paternal grandfather of our 
 subject, John Zick, spent his entire life in 
 Germany. 
 
 Frederick Zick, our subject, is indebted 
 to the district schools of Jo Daviess county 
 for his early educational privileges, and he 
 received his early training at farm work. 
 When he arrived at his majority he decided 
 to change his occupation, and took a pre- 
 paratory course for teaching at the German- 
 English College, then located at Galena, 
 Illinois. He taught school two terms 
 and graduated from the Northern Illinois 
 College, Fulton, Illinois, in 1884. He 
 read law one year with Judge McCoy, 
 at Fulton, and then read one year in 
 the law office of John J. Cole, Esq., at La 
 Crosse, Wisconsin. He was admitted to 
 the bar in the territory (now state) of North 
 Dakota in 18S6, and there entered upon the 
 practice of his profession. He was state's 
 attorney two years for Cavalier county. 
 North Dakota, and in 1891 located at Seat- 
 tle, \N'ashington, where he remained for two 
 years and a half, during which time he 
 gained an enviable reputation as a criminal 
 lawyer. While at Seattle he tried many 
 criminal cases, and appeared for the de- 
 fense in two noted murder trials. He tried 
 the case of S. N. Saddler, who was charged 
 with murder in the first degree for stabbing 
 a Greek fisherman on West street in Seattle, 
 and secured his acquittal on the theory of 
 self-defense. He tried the case of Mattia 
 Leoni and Joseph Puccia, two Italians 
 charged with murdering George Richards, 
 on Mercer island, in Lake Washington. 
 
FRED ZICK. 
 
GERTRUDE M. ZICK. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 89 
 
 They buried the body in the lake and Leoni 
 then went to Canada, where he was arrested 
 and brought back for trial. Mr. Zick de- 
 fended them on the theory of self-defense, 
 and Leoni was convicted of manslaughter 
 and sentenced to eighteen months in the 
 penitentiary, and Puccia to three months in 
 the county jail as accessory after the fact. 
 In August, 1893, he came to Polo, Illinois, 
 where his wife's parents reside, and here 
 he has since been engaged in practice, 
 meeting with a well-deserved success. 
 
 In Polo, on the 29th day of April, 1890, 
 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Zick 
 and Miss Gertrude M. Sanborn, a native of 
 Ogle county, a graduate of the Northern 
 Illinois College, of Fulton, a successful 
 teacher in our public schools, and a daugh- 
 ter of Ambrose and Elizabeth (Good) San- 
 born. In his political affiliations our sub- 
 ject is a Republican. He is city attorney 
 of Polo, has one of the largest law libraries 
 in the county, has a large office and probate 
 practice and is well versed in all and every- 
 thing necessary to make him a successful 
 practitioner. Socially, he joined the Knights 
 of Pythias while at Seattle and was elected 
 a representative to the Grand Lodge in 
 1893. He is a member of the Knights of 
 the Globe and also of the Mystic Workers 
 of the World, and is one of the supreme 
 directors of the Mystic Workers. Person- 
 ally Mr. Zick is a little over medium height, 
 well proportioned, with black hair, grey 
 eyes and strong features that indicate force 
 and determination. 
 
 HENRY LANDIS THOMAS.— Among 
 the leading and representative agricult- 
 urists of Ogle county, none stands higher 
 in the estimation of his fellow men than the 
 
 subject of this review, who owns and oper- 
 ates a fine farm of two hundred acres on 
 section 18, Rockvale township. He was 
 born in Maryland, October 24, 1838, a son 
 of Joshua and Salina (Landis) Thomas, na- 
 tives of Washington county, that state, the 
 former born March 8, 181 1, the latter 
 March 7, 1812, The paternal grandpa- 
 rents were Henry and Catherine Thomas, 
 in whose family were the following children: 
 Mrs. Susan Hoffan, deceased; Mrs. Ruan 
 Newcomer, a resident of Washington coun- 
 ty, Maryland; Joshua, father of our subject; 
 Elias and Elizabeth. Our subject is the 
 third in order of birth in a family of seven 
 children, the others being: Permelia M., 
 widow of Robert Hitt, of Polo, Illinois; 
 Mary Catherine, wife of H. M. Funk, a 
 hardware merchant of Polo, Illinois; L. F., 
 who married Olga Smith, and conducts a 
 paint, oil and sash store at Polo; Jacob 
 Oskie, deceased; John, who married Martha 
 Seyster and operated the old home farm; 
 Lewis Ferdinand; and John Edwin. The 
 mother of these children departed this life 
 September 22, 1854, at the age of forty- 
 two years, six months and fifteen days, and 
 the father was again married, his second 
 union being with Susan Felker, by whom he 
 had five children: Ettie. deceased; Robert 
 Lee, who married May McGuffin and lives 
 on the old home farm; Frank F. and Olin 
 M., who are also living with their mother on 
 the home place; and one who died in in- 
 fancy. 
 
 Joshua Thomas, our subject's father, 
 was educated in the common schools of 
 Maryland and throughout life followed agri- 
 cultural pursuits. He first came to Ogle 
 county in the fall of 1839, and purchased 
 two hundred acres of government land for 
 himself and father, who came here in 1840, 
 
90 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 it being bought at the land office in Dixon 
 at one dollar and a quarter per acre when it 
 came into market. After securing his land, 
 Joshua Thomas returned east, but the fol- 
 lowing year brought his family to their new 
 home, making the trip overland. All of his 
 land was unbroken with the exception of 
 about three or four acres, which had been 
 placed under cultivation, and the only 
 building upon the place was a log house, 
 but to its further improvement and cultiva- 
 tion he at once turned his attention and 
 soon converted the wild tract into a most 
 desirable farm. In 1850 he made a trip to 
 the gold fields of California by way of the 
 overland route, in company with Mr. Pitzer 
 and Captain Swingley, of Brodie's Grove. 
 He met with fair success on the Pacific 
 slope and returned to Illinois in 1852 by 
 way of the Isthmus of Panama and settled 
 down to farming again. In politics he was 
 a pronounced Democrat, and being one of 
 the most prominent and influential men of 
 the community, he was often called to pub- 
 lic office, serving as school director fifteen 
 years, school trustee three years, and direct- 
 or of the Ogle County Agricultural Society 
 from 1853 until i860. He also served as 
 president of that organization for a time. 
 He departed this life March 18, 1884. 
 
 Henry L. Thomas, of this review, was 
 only two years old when brought by his 
 parents to Ogle county, and he was reared 
 about two miles south of his present home, 
 his early education being acquired in a little 
 log school-house a half mile from his boy- 
 hood home. He continued to assist his 
 father in the operation of the home farm 
 until his marriage, which was celebrated 
 December 20, 1866, Miss Mary Ellen 
 Felker becoming his wife. He then rented a 
 farm of one hundred and thirty acres in 
 
 Pine Creek township, on which he lived for 
 three years, and for the same length of 
 time rented his present farm, which then 
 belonged to George W. Phelps. The fol- 
 lowing two years were spent on a farm of 
 two hundred acres in Mt. Morris township, 
 and at the end of that time he purchased 
 one hundred and sixty acres of his present 
 farm. Before moving to this place, how- 
 ever, he rented the A. F. Weaver farm, of 
 eighty acres, for one year, and then located 
 upon his own farm, to which he has added 
 a tract of forty acres, making a valuable 
 farm of two hundred acres, which he has 
 placed under excellent cultivation and im- 
 proved with good and substantial buildings. 
 He is interested in stock raising to some 
 extent. 
 
 Mrs. Thomas is a daughter of Abraham 
 and Catherine Felker, the former born in 
 Washington county, Maryland, July 6, 
 1802, the latter in Franklin county, Penn- 
 sylvania, April 24, iSii. Her grandfather 
 was a tanner, but her father followed farm- 
 ing in the east, and on coming to Illinois in 
 1855, settled in the town of Mt. Morris, 
 where he spent three years and then moved 
 to a farm in Ogle county, which he had 
 previously purchased. Mrs. Thomas' edu- 
 cation was begun in the schools of Mary- 
 land, and after coming to this state attend- 
 ed the public schools and academy at Mt. 
 Morris. Nine children have been born to 
 our subject and his wife, namely: Lillie 
 May, born January 15, 1868, died January 
 6, 1876; Edgar Felker, born July 29, 1869, 
 is a dentist by profession and is now at 
 home. While serving as a member of the 
 committee on the Fourth of July celebra- 
 tion, he had his finger inujred by a skyrocket 
 and had to have it amputated; Florence 
 Edna, born April 11, 1871, is the wife of 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 91 
 
 Charles Zoller, manager of the Union Tea 
 Company at Omaha, Nebraska; Noble Fill- 
 more, born December 12, 1872, married 
 Susan Young, by whom he has a little son, 
 and they live in Mt. Morris township, where 
 he is engaged in farming; Ada Ellen, born 
 December 19, 1875, died in infancy; Charles 
 Henry, born April 3, 1877; Freddie Hen- 
 derson, born December 15, 1879, and 
 Catherine, born March 26, 1882, are all at 
 home; Nellie Maude, born February 19, 
 1885, is attending the district school. 
 
 Mr. Thomas has always affiliated with 
 the Democratic party, and is to-day a strong 
 advocate of the free coinage of silver. He 
 has served as school director for nine years, 
 and is at present school trustee. His wife 
 and three daughters are members of the 
 Lutheran church and he gives to its sup- 
 port. He is widely and favorably known 
 throughout the community in which he has 
 so long made his home, and he has a host 
 of warm friends. 
 
 HON. CHARLES SCHNEIDER, mayor 
 of Oregon, and cashier of the First 
 National Bank, of that city, is a native of 
 the city, and was born October 19, 1843, 
 and is the son of John M. and Rebecca 
 (Etnyre) Schneider, the former a native of 
 Bavaria, and the latter of Washington 
 county, Maryland. John M. Schneider was 
 born June 8, 1808, and in his native country 
 grew to manhood. He came to the United 
 States in 1834, locating first in Baltimore, 
 Maryland, where he remained for a time, 
 removing from there to St. Louis, and later 
 to Galena, Illinois. In 1836 he settled in 
 Oregon, which at that time contained two 
 log houses. He was a tailor by trade, but 
 at Oregon opened first a grocery store and 
 
 engaged in the grocery business, later estab- 
 lishing a clothing store and continued in the 
 clothing business up to the time of his death, 
 which occurred September 30, 1893. He 
 was a successful business man and accumu- 
 lated a good estate. In politics he was a 
 Democrat, and religiously a Catholic. His 
 wife, who was born at Smithsburg, Wash- 
 ington county, Maryland, August 20, 1808, 
 was the eldest child of John and Catherine 
 Etnyre, and came with her parents to Ogle 
 county in 1839. In religious belief she was 
 a Lutheran. She died in the spring of 1895. 
 They were the parents of three children, 
 Charles, Mary and Ellen. Both daughters 
 died in young womanhood. 
 
 Charles Schneider was reared in Oregon, 
 and after obtaining his primary education in 
 the public schools, entered the University of 
 Notre Dame, at South Bend, Indiana, where 
 he completed his course. After leaving that 
 institution he returned to Oregon and clerked 
 for a time in a store, and in 1870 entered 
 the banking house of Bayard & Company, 
 as bookkeeper. One year later this bank 
 was converted into the First National Bank 
 of Oregon, Illinois, and in 1874 Mr. Schnei- 
 der was elected cashier, which position he 
 has since held. He was a little later elected 
 one of the directors of the bank, and is still 
 serving as such. The bank was chartered in 
 1 87 1 with a capital of fifty thousand dollars.' 
 The present officers are George A. Mix, pres- 
 ident; J. L. Rice, vice-president; and 
 Charles Schneider, cashier. In addition to 
 those named the directors are William H. 
 Guilford and John Matmiller. 
 
 Mr. Schneider was married September 
 14, 1 87 1, to Miss Fannie Weller, a native 
 of Martinsburg, Virginia, and daughter of 
 Daniel and Mary (Timmons) Weller. At 
 an early day her parents located in Pine 
 
$2 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Creek township, Ogle county, where she 
 grew to womanhood. Her father was born 
 in Baltimore, Maryland, December i, 1805, 
 and died in Ogle county, December 26, 
 1890. Her mother, who was a daughter of 
 John Timmons, was born in Martinsburg, 
 Virginia, and died November 11, 1886. 
 With the exception of her brother Charles, 
 now living in Pine Creek township, Mrs. 
 Schneider is the only one of her family now 
 living. To Mr. and Mrs. Schneider eight 
 children have been born — Frank B. , Charles 
 J., William D., Leo, Mary, Bert A., Ellen 
 and George E., all of whom are living but 
 Mary, who died in infancy. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Schneider are members of 
 the Catholic church. In politics he is a 
 Republican. In 1885 he was elected alder- 
 man and was re-elected three times. In 
 1893 he was elected mayor of the city, re- 
 elected in 1895, and again in 1897, and is 
 yet serving in that office. No other mayor 
 ever served such a length of time. He is a 
 public-spirited citizen, and believes in push- 
 ing things, desiring his city to take a posi- 
 tion which it is entitled by its natural ad- 
 vantages. He is keenly alive to the de- 
 mands of the age, and under his administra- 
 tion the city of his birth will not suffer in 
 comparison with others. He is treasurer of 
 the Rock River Electric railroad, a new 
 enterprise of which he is one of the pro- 
 moters. 
 
 JOSIAH A. HAYS, a well-to-do farmer 
 of Buffalo township, resides on a well 
 improved farm on section 1 1, lying near the 
 city of Polo. He has been a resident of 
 the county since the spring of 1854, com- 
 ing here from Washington county, Mary- 
 land, where he was born March 17, 1843. 
 
 He is a son of Henry Hays, a native of the 
 same county and state, who was born in 
 1808, and who grew to manhood in his na- 
 tive county and married Miss Sarah Eakle, 
 who was likewise a native of Washington 
 county. The good reports from Ogle coun- 
 ty, sent by friends who had settled here, 
 made him determine to follow their exam- 
 ple, and accordingly, in the spring of 1854, 
 accompanied by his family, he came to the 
 county and located in Pine Creek township, 
 where he purchased one hundred and sixty- 
 three acres of choice land and engaged in 
 farming, an occupation in which he was en- 
 gaged in his native state. On that farm he 
 resided a number of years, and then moved 
 to Polo, and there spent the last years of 
 his life, dying there in 1889, his death being 
 the result of an accident, having been run 
 over by a railroad train. 
 
 The boyhood of our subject was spent in 
 his native state, and in the common schools 
 he commenced to obtain an education. He 
 was but eleven years old when he accom- 
 panied his parents to Ogle county. He is 
 one of a family of eight children, all living 
 but one. On his arrival in Ogle county he 
 assisted his father in the cultivation of the 
 home farm, and usually in the winter 
 months attended the public schools. He 
 remained with his parents until after he 
 attained his majority, and was of great as- 
 sistance to them in developing the farm. In 
 March, 1865, he enlisted under the last call 
 of the president for men to fill up the 
 depleted regiments. He became a member 
 of Company F, Eighteenth Illinois Volun- 
 teer Infantry, joining his regiment at Little 
 Rock, Arkansas. While the war was soon 
 afterwards ended, his regiment was retained 
 in the service, doing guard duty through 
 Arkansas, until in December, 1865, when it 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 93 
 
 was mustered out of service at Pine Bluff, 
 Arkansas, the men receiving their discharj^e 
 at Springfield, Illinois. 
 
 On receiving his discharge Mr. Hays re- 
 turned to his old home and again engaged 
 in agricultural pursuits. On the 28th of 
 December, 1866, he was united in marriage, 
 at Freeport, Illinois, with Miss Louisa Ann 
 Martha Fox, a native of Albany, New York, 
 and daughter of John Fo.x, an Englishman, 
 who later came to Illinois and settled in 
 Macoupin county, where Mrs. Hays was 
 reared, and where he died in 1856. His 
 widow later married John Greenfield, and 
 now resides in Grundy Center, Iowa. She 
 is also English born, and is now about 
 eighty-four years old. Mrs. Hays is one of 
 a family of three children, and the sole sur- 
 vivor. One brother, John A. T. , was a 
 soldier in the Southern army, while the 
 other, F. B. , was a soldier in the Union 
 army, and died while in the service of his 
 country. 
 
 The spring after his marriage Mr. Hays 
 moved to Harden county, Iowa, where he 
 purchased eighty acres of land and opened 
 up a farm. He remained on that farm two 
 years, then sold out and rented for two 
 years, then moved to Grundy county, in the 
 state, and purchased one hundred and si.xty 
 acres and commenced the development of a 
 new farm. After remaining there ten years 
 and putting the farm under a high state of 
 cultivation, he sold out, and in 1883 returned 
 to Ogle county and purchased the farm 
 where he now resides, on which he has made 
 some permanent and valuable improvements, 
 including the remodeling of the house. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hays have two daughters. 
 Martha Ellen is now the wife of James 
 Woolsey, and they have three children — 
 Frank E., Eugene Hays and Murial May. 
 
 They reside on a farm in Buffalo township. 
 Fanny Belle is the wife of William Dew, of 
 Buffalo township, and they have four chil- 
 dren — Perry W., Elmer, Mary Lavina and 
 Josie Louise. 
 
 Politically Mr. Hays has been a Repub- 
 lican since attaining his majority. His first 
 presidential ballot was for Abraham Lincoln 
 in 1863, a time when the votes of every true 
 unionist counted for something. He has 
 never cared for office, but while residing in 
 Iowa he served as justice of the peace, 
 township treasurer and secretary of the 
 school board . He is a member of the Method- 
 ist Episcopal church at Polo, of which body 
 his wife is also a member. In whatever 
 concerns the church they take an active in- 
 terest, having at heart a love for the cause. 
 Although absent from the county for some 
 years he never lost interest in his old home, 
 and is happy to be again numbered among 
 its representative citizens. 
 
 CORNELIUS BOWMAN is the posses- 
 sor of a handsome property which now 
 enables him to spend his declining years in 
 the pleasurable enjoyment of his accumula- 
 tions Until recently the record of his life 
 was that of an active, enterprising, method- 
 ical and sagacious business man and farmer, 
 who bent his energies to the honorable ac- 
 quirement of a comfortable competence for 
 himself and family, but he is now living re- 
 tired in the village of Harper. 
 
 Mr. Bowman was born near Berlin, 
 Somerset county, Pennsylvania, August 13, 
 183 1, and is a son of John Bowman, who 
 was born on the same farm in 1792. His 
 paternal grandfather was a native of Ger- 
 many and was one of the first settlers of 
 Somerset count}', where he opened up the 
 
94 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 (arm on which both our subject and his 
 father were born. The latter married Eliza- 
 beth Marteen}', who was born near Somer- 
 set, Somerset county, of English ancestry. 
 He spent his entire life upon the old home- 
 stead engaged in agricultural pursuits, and 
 there died in 1844 at the age of fifty-two 
 years. His wife long survived him, dying 
 in 1890 at the advanced age of eighty-four 
 year. To them were born thirteen children, 
 but only six reached years of maturity and 
 four are now living, namely: Uriah, who 
 owns and operates the old homestead; John 
 J., a farmer of Somerset county; Chauncy, 
 also a farmer of Somerset county, who 
 served through the war of the Rebellion 
 and was wounded at the battle of Gettys- 
 burg, and Cornelius, of this review. Cyrus, 
 the oldest of the family, was a farmer by 
 occupation and spent his entire life in Som- 
 erset county. Levina married Aaron Gei- 
 ger and also died in that county. 
 
 Upon the old homestead Cornelius Bow- 
 man grew to manhood, and in the schools 
 of the neighborhood obtained a limited ed- 
 ucation, which has been greatly supple- 
 mented by reading and study at home. 
 During early life he successfully engaged in 
 teaching for several terms. On the 27th 
 of February, 1852, he was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Theresa Hauger, also a 
 native of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, 
 and a daughter of Jacob Hauger, who was 
 born there and belonged to an old family of 
 the county. Of the twelve children born 
 of this union three died in infancy and John 
 died from an accident at the age of nine 
 years. Those living are Harvey, who re- 
 sides on the home farm in Ogle county, 
 Illinois; Norman, who is married and en- 
 gaged in business in Webster City, Iowa; 
 Grant, at home; Rebecca, wife of Fred F. 
 
 Nicodemus, of Forreston, Illinois; Mrs. 
 Rosanna E. Costello, who is now keeping 
 house for her brother Harvey; Agnes M.. 
 wife of Henry Fisher, who lives near For- 
 reston; Mary, wife of Jacob Piper, a farmer 
 of Forreston, and Verna, at home. 
 
 During the first year of his married life 
 Mr. Bowman operated a rented farm in 
 Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and then 
 in connection with his brother he bought a 
 tract of land which they developed into a 
 good farm and cultivated for thirteen years. 
 In the meantime he served as school direct- 
 or and township assessor. Coming west 
 in 1865 he first located in Lee county, Illi- 
 nois, where he rented the Colonel Dement 
 farm for one year, but at the end of that 
 time he became a resident of Ogle county, 
 where he has since made his home. He 
 rented a farm in Forreston township for one 
 year and then bought a tract of eighty acres, 
 to the cultivation of which he devoted his 
 time for several years. On selling that 
 place he bought the old David Raisinger 
 farm of two hundred acres in Forreston 
 township, and located thereon. When the 
 railroad was laid out across his land, he 
 divided some of his property into town lots 
 and started the village of Harper. He 
 built a store room and embarked in mer- 
 chandising at that place, leaving his sons to 
 operate the farm, and continued to actively 
 engage in business there for seventeen years. 
 In the meantime he served as assistant post- 
 master, and later as postmaster being con- 
 nected with that office for si.xteen or 
 seventeen years. Besides his village pro- 
 perty and the farm already mentioned he 
 owns a well improved and valuable farm 
 in Carroll county, Illinois, comprising 
 one hundred and si.xty acres, and has 
 four hundred and eighty acres of improved 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 95 
 
 land in Cheyenne county, Nebraska. He 
 was one of the organizers of the Forreston 
 Fire Insurance Company, of which he has 
 been a stockholder, director and secretary 
 for seven years, and he has been actively 
 identified with all enterprises which he be- 
 lieved calculated to advance the interests of 
 the community in which he lives and pro- 
 mote general prosperity. 
 
 Originally Mr. Bowman was a Whig in 
 politics, casting his first vote for General 
 Winfield Scott, and since the formation of 
 the Republican party he has been one of its 
 stanch supporters. He has taken quite an 
 active and prominent part in local politics, 
 and has filled a number of township offices, 
 being commissioner of highways si.x years, 
 school director for a number of years, and 
 supervisor two terms, during which time he 
 served on some important committees. He 
 and his wife are among the original members 
 of the Reformed church of Forreston, con- 
 tribute liberally to its support and assisted 
 in the erection of the house of worship. 
 For the success he has achieved in life Mr. 
 Bowman deserves great credit, for he started 
 out in life with but little capital, and the 
 prosperity that has come to him is due to 
 his own industry, enterprise, perseverance 
 and good management. He is to-day one 
 of the substantial men of the county, as 
 well as one of its honored and highly es- 
 teemed citizens. 
 
 JOHN J. LEBO is a wide-awake and 
 energetic farmer of Forreston township 
 who owns and operates a well-improved and 
 valuable farm of one hundred and twenty 
 acres conveniently situated within a mile of 
 the village of Forreston. He is a native of 
 Pennsylvania, born near Harrisburg, in 
 
 Dauphin county, September i8, 1847, and 
 is a son of Phillip Lebo, a native of the 
 same county. The grandfather, John Lebo, 
 who was born of French parentage, was a 
 pioneer of Dauphin county, where he open- 
 ed up a farm and reared his family. On 
 reaching man's estate Philip Lebo married 
 Miss Barbara Meyers, also a native of 
 Dauphin county and a daughter of Jacob 
 Meyers, who was a represntative of one of 
 its honored pioneer families. Mr. Leboowned 
 and operated a fine farm of one hundred 
 and fifty acres near Elizabethville, Penn- 
 sylvania, was one of the prominent and in- 
 fluential citizens of his county, and was 
 called upon to serve in a number of local 
 offices of honor and trust. In the county 
 of his nativity he died in April, 1S86, at 
 about the age of eighty-four, having sur- 
 vived his wife for some years. 
 
 In the family of this worthy couple were 
 twelve children, of whom ten reached years 
 of maturity, namely: Philip, a prominent 
 business man, who is now engaged in the 
 manufacture of lumber in the state of 
 Washington; John J., our subject; Eliza A., 
 twin sister of John J., and the wife of C. S. 
 Hartman, of Dauphin county, Pennsylvania; 
 Mrs. Sarah M. Herner, a widow residing in 
 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Aaron S., who is 
 married and engaged in blacksmithing in 
 the state of Washington; William, who 
 married but is now deceased; Mrs. Ann 
 Reams, a widow living in Harrisburg; Re- 
 becca J., wife of John Mayer, of Washing- 
 ton; Mary D., wife of John D. Hartman, of 
 Dauphin county, Pennsylvania; and Eman- 
 uel N., a contractor and builder of Harris- 
 burg. 
 
 John J. Lebo passed his boyhood and 
 youth in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania and 
 received a good common-school education, 
 
96 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 which has been greatly supplemented by 
 reading and observation in later years. He 
 remained under the parental roof until reach- 
 ing man's estate and in Dauphin county was 
 married, June 2, 1870, to Miss Sarah Lark, 
 who was also born, reared and educated in 
 that county, and is a daughter of Daniel 
 and Susan Lark, natives of Pennsylvania. 
 Two children have been born of their union, 
 namely: Cora E. , now the wife of Rev. D. 
 N. Frantz, a minister of the Reformed 
 church now located at Stonington, Illinois; 
 and Harry E., who is attending school in 
 Dixon. 
 
 For several years after his marriage Mr. 
 Lebo operated rented land in his native 
 county, but in 1877 he came west, joining 
 old Pennsylvania friends in Ogle count}', 
 Illinois. After renting for about four years 
 he bought eighty acres in Forreston town- 
 ship on which he now resides, and erected 
 thereon a good house and substantial out- 
 buildings, but in 1890 his residence was 
 destroyed by fire, together with a large part 
 of the household goods. Later in the sea- 
 son he built his present comfortable home 
 and barn, and now has one of the best 
 improved farms of the locality. To the 
 original purchase he added a forty-acre tract 
 adjoining and now has one hundred and 
 twenty acres, which he has placed under ex- 
 cellent cultivation. In connection with 
 general farming he is also interested in stock 
 raising and has upon his place a good grade 
 of horses, cattle and hogs. 
 
 Politically Mr. Lebo is a lifelong Re- 
 publican, having cast his first presidential 
 vote for U. S. Grant in the fall of 1868, and 
 as a delegate to the county conventions of 
 his party he has done much to advance its 
 interest in this section of the state. For 
 eighteen years he has been a member of the 
 
 school board and secretary of the district for 
 about the same length of time, but has never 
 sought nor desired office, preferring to give 
 his undivided attention to his business in- 
 terests. Socially he is a member of the 
 Knights of the Globe and the Mystic Order,- 
 and religiously both he and his wife are 
 members of the English Lutheran church. 
 They are widely and favorably known and 
 their friends are many in Ogle county. 
 
 WILLIAM C. DIEFFENBAUGH.— 
 Among the successful and enterpris- 
 ing farmers of Ogle county, who have ac- 
 cumulated a competency through their 
 own exertions and economy, and who thor- 
 oughly understand their chosen calling, is 
 the subject of this biographical notice, who 
 resides in section 14, Forreston township. 
 He was born in Montour county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, February 6, 1840, a son of Conrad 
 Dieffenbaugh, a native of Columbia county, 
 Pennsylvania, where he grew to manhood 
 and married Catherine Stamm, also a native 
 of the Keystone state. The father, who 
 was a farmer by occupation, spent his en- 
 tire life in Pennsylvania, dying there in 
 1882. In the family were the following 
 children: Benjamin, a farmer of Pennsyl- 
 vania; William C, our subject; David E., a 
 resident of Sandusky county, Ohio; Frank- 
 lin, a resident of Wood county, Ohio; 
 Charles, who lives in Kansas, twenty-five 
 miles west of Wichita; Mrs. Mary Ellen 
 Brown, a widow residing in Cheney, Kan- 
 sas; and Sarah Ann, who died at the age of 
 ten \ears. 
 
 During his boyhood and youth William 
 C. Dieffenbaugh received a good common- 
 school education and was reared on the 
 home farm, remaining with his father until 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 97 
 
 he attained his majority, and assisting him 
 in carrying on the place. He continued to 
 wori< for his father for one year and then 
 went to Cohimbia county, Pennsylvania, 
 where for two years he was engaged in rais- 
 ing broom corn during the summer and 
 manufacturing it into brooms during the 
 winter months at Bloomsburg. In the 
 spring of 1864, he came to Ogle county, 
 Illinois, but after working on a farm in For- 
 reston township for one summer, he went 
 to Carroll county, where he remained for 
 four years. 
 
 Returning to Ogle county, Mr. Dieffen- 
 baugh married Miss Anna Heitman, a 
 native of Maryland, who died here in 1871, 
 and of the two children born of that union 
 one died in infancy and the other at the age 
 of thirteen months. He was again married 
 in Ogle county, September 25, 1873, his sec- 
 ond union being with Miss Margaret Timmer, 
 a native of the county, who was reared amidst 
 scenes incident to pioneer life. As a child 
 she remembers seeing deer approach the 
 house in search of food, and the wolves 
 often made the night hideous by their howls. 
 Her father, Frederick Timmer, was a native 
 of Germany, but was reared in Maryland, 
 where he married Miss Margaret Jane Fry, 
 who was born in that state, but whose 
 father was an Englishman, her mother a 
 German. Mr. and Mrs. Timmer were hon- 
 ored pioneers of Ogle county, and here 
 reared their family of ten children, all of 
 whom reached man and womanhood, and 
 with but one exception all are still living. 
 They are as follows: John F. , a farmer of 
 Forreston township; Elias A., a farmer of 
 Maryland township; Margaret, wife of our 
 subject; >Mary Ellen, deceased; Sophia, 
 wife of John Rahman, a farmer of Ogle 
 county; Helen E., wife of Chris Zumdahl, 
 
 of Ogle county; Henry, a resident of For- 
 reston; Frank, who owns and operates the 
 old home farm; Emma, a resident of For- 
 reston; and Charles, a farmer of this 
 county. Mr. and Mrs. Dieffenbaugh have a 
 family of seven children, namely: Anna, 
 who was educated in the schools of the 
 home district of Forreston, and is now the 
 wife of Harry Acker, a farmer of Brook- 
 ville, Illinois; John and Jesse, who assist 
 their father in the operation of the home farm ; 
 Frances Luella, at home; Benjamin C, a 
 student of the Forreston high school; 
 Harvey F. , at home; Walter F., who died 
 at the age of fifteen months; and Emma 
 May, who is attending the home school. 
 
 For a number of years after his mar- 
 riage, Mr. Dieffenbaugh rented land and 
 engaged in farming and raising broom corn 
 during the summer, while through the win- 
 ter he continued to engage in the manufac- 
 ture of brooms. In 18S4 he purchased his 
 present farm of one hundred and si.xty acres 
 on section 14, Forreston township, and the 
 following year located thereon, since which 
 time he has devoted his energies to general 
 farming and stock raising with most grati- 
 fying results. He has remodeled the house 
 and made other improvements upon the 
 place which add to its value and attractive 
 appearance. 
 
 Politically Mr. Dieffenbaugh is identi- 
 fied with the Democratic party, but aside 
 from voting has never taken a very active 
 part in political affairs. He is a warm 
 friend of our public school system, and is 
 now most capably and satisfactorily serving 
 his fourteenth year as president of the dis- 
 trict school board. Religiously both he and 
 his wife are earnest and faithful members 
 of the Zion Reformed church at Forreston. 
 His sterling integrity, inflexible honesty, 
 
98 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and general high principles, have won him 
 the respect of every community in which he 
 has resided, and he is to-da'y one of the 
 most esteemed and valued citizens of his 
 portion of the county. 
 
 JOHN REYNOLDS, one of the leading 
 U and representative farmers and stock 
 raisers of Woosung township, and who re- 
 sides on his fine farm on section 9, was born 
 June 24, 1844, in county Roscommon, Ire- 
 land, and is the son of Thomas and Mary 
 (Graham) Reynolds, both natives of the 
 same county in Ireland. 
 
 In 1849 Thomas Reynolds came to the 
 United States, taking passage in a slow sail- 
 ing vessel, and landing in New York. He 
 remained in that city but a very short time, 
 going from there into Pennsylvania, where 
 he secured work on a railroad. He remained 
 in Pennsylvania about two years, and then 
 went to Dayton, Ohio. He had now ac- 
 cumulated sufficient funds to send for his 
 family, which he accordingly did, and in 
 due time they joined him at Dayton. After 
 remaining in that city until 1865, he con- 
 cluded to come to Illinois. Locating in 
 Woosung township, Ogle county, he pur- 
 chased a farm and engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits. Industrious as the day was long, 
 he made a success in life, becoming a thor- 
 ough and practical farmer. He continued 
 farming until within a few years of his death, 
 when he retired from active life and lived 
 retired, still, however, remaining on his 
 farm. His death occurred December 16, 
 
 1 89 1, at the age of ninety years. He was 
 a fine type of the Irish gentleman, and was 
 a hale and hearty old man, retaining his 
 mental faculties until the last. His good 
 wife died February 15, 1881. They were 
 
 the parents of five children, of whom our 
 subject is the oldest. Winifred, who is the 
 wife of John Donavan, is living in Dayton, 
 Ohio. Martin, who was in the Fourth Ohio 
 Cavalry and served through the entire Civil 
 war, is now making his home with our sub- 
 ject. Patrick, who married Bridget Dalton, 
 is living on the old home place in Woosung 
 township. Mary died in infancy. In poli- 
 tics Thomas Reynolds was a Democrat, and 
 religiously was a Roman Catholic. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in Dayton, Ohio, and in the 
 public schools of that city received his edu- 
 cation. At the age of fifteen, he quit school 
 and commenced working in a furniture fac- 
 tory. He remained in that employment 
 but a short time and then ran a stationary 
 engine in a foundry for several years. In 
 1865, he came to Ogle county, joining his 
 father, who had come about one month pre- 
 viously. On his arrival he took the man- 
 agement of his father's farm, although he 
 had no previous experience in farming. His 
 success has been wonderful in this respect, 
 as it is not often that one takes up the life 
 of a farmer after having spent years in other 
 employment and makes of farming a suc- 
 cess. 
 
 Mr. Reynolds continued to manage his 
 father's farm until his marriage, November 
 28, 1882, to Miss Mary Doyle, who was 
 born August 29, 1857, in Livingston county. 
 New York, and daughter of Darby and 
 Mary (Dalton) Doyle, her father being a 
 farmer by occupation. Both parents were 
 natives of Tipperary county, Ireland. They 
 left their native land in 1852, and crossing 
 the Atlantic, made their way to Livingston 
 county. New York, where they were mar- 
 ried, and resided about five years. From 
 that county they moved to Lexington, Ken- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 99 
 
 tiicky, where they remained four years, 
 coming from there to Ogle county and 
 locating on a farm on section 12, Woosung 
 township, where the family has since con- 
 tinued to reside. Mr. and Mrs. Doyle had 
 a family of six children: Mary, wife of our 
 subject; James, living in Lexington, Ken- 
 tucky; Catherine, deceased; Lizzie, wife of 
 William Callahan, who is living on the farm 
 of Mr. Doyle; two daughters, who died in 
 infancy. Mrs. Doyle died September 23, 
 1897. Mr. Doyle is yet living on the old 
 homestead. Religiously he is a Roman 
 Catholic, and politically a Democrat. 
 
 Four children have come to bless the 
 union of Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds. Mary 
 Winifred, born March 17, 1885, is now at- 
 tending school at St. Clara Academy, Sin- 
 sinawa, Wisconsin; Catherine Frances, born 
 February 15, 1888; James Martin, born 
 July 4, 1889, and Elizabeth Lauretta, born 
 February 21, 1893, are attending the dis- 
 trict school. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Reynolds moved 
 to his present farm, which he had previously 
 purchased and which comprises two hun- 
 dred acres of excellent land. The farm has 
 been placed under a high state of cultiva- 
 tion, and everything about the place denotes 
 the master mind of its owner. He raises 
 Durham short-horn cattle, Poland-China 
 hogs and Morgan horses. Each year he 
 markets about one hundred head of hogs. 
 Commencing life with but little else than a 
 stout heart and willing hands, he has been 
 quite successful in life, and has no reason 
 to regret making Ogle county his permanent 
 home. 
 
 lUj politics Mr. Reynolds is a Democrat, 
 but in local affairs he votes for the man and 
 not party. For thirteen years he has served 
 as school director, and for five years was 
 
 road commissioner. He was also a member 
 of the board of supervisors for four years, 
 during which time he was on several im- 
 portant committees, including the commit- 
 tee on education and the building com- 
 mittee. A public spirited man, he has the 
 confidence of his friends and neighbors in 
 a remarkable degree. Religiously he is 
 connected with the Catholic church, of 
 which his wife is also a devoted member. 
 
 JOHNSON LAWRENCE, a well-known 
 and prominent farmer residing on sec- 
 tion I, Eagle Point township, is a represent- 
 ative of one of the old and honored pioneer 
 families of Ogle county — one who has borne 
 its part in her development and prosperity 
 for over sixty years. He was born on the 
 old homestead where he still resides, June 
 17,1844, and is a son of John Lawrence, 
 whose birth occurred in Kent county, Eng- 
 land, in 1 80 1. Leaving home in 1817, he 
 crossed the broad Atlantic and after spend- 
 ing one year in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
 went to Ontario, Canada, locating north of 
 Toronto, where he engaged in farming. 
 There he married Miss Lydia Johnson, a 
 native of that country, where they continued 
 to make their home until 1838, which year 
 witnessed their arrival in Ogle county, being 
 among its first settlers. In Eagle Point 
 township the father bought a claim of one 
 hundred and eighty-three acres, of which 
 only a few acres had been broken and a log 
 cabin erected thereon. To the further im- 
 provement and cultivation of the place heat 
 once turned his attention, and when the land 
 came into market he entered it from the 
 government. He was one of the represent- 
 ative and most active farmers in the coun- 
 ty and from the raw land soon developed a 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 fine farm. He met with a well-deserved 
 success in his operations and by an upright, 
 honorable life commanded the respect and 
 esteem of all who knew him. He was one 
 of the original members of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church of Buffalon Grove, gave 
 liberally of his means to its support, and al- 
 ways took an active and prominent part in 
 church work. He died on October 31, 
 1 886, and his estimable wife passed away in 
 November, 1888, the remains of both being 
 interred in the Polo cemetery, where a sub- 
 stantia] monument marks their last resting 
 place. 
 
 Johnson Lawrence, of this review, is the 
 youngest in a family of seven children, two 
 sons and five daughters, namely: Nancy, 
 who married Philetus Peck and settled in 
 Nebraska, where she died in 1867; Susana, 
 who married Albert Slater and resides in Jef- 
 ferson, Marion county, Oregon ; Mary, wife 
 of J. C. Williams, of Denver, Colorado Jor- 
 dan who is now living retired in Polo;Cath- 
 erine, who married Moses Culver and died 
 in Nebraska; Maria, wife of Isaac Appleford, 
 of Di.xon, Illinois; and Johnson. 
 
 Our subject was reared in much the 
 usual manner of a farmer of his day, and 
 his early education, acquired in the com- 
 mon schools near his boyhood home, was 
 supplemented by a year's course in Mt. 
 Morris College, then known as the Rock 
 River Seminary. On the 4th of September, 
 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company 
 D, Ninety-second Illinois Volunteer Infan- 
 try, which was assigned to the Army of the 
 Cumberland, and with which he participated 
 in the battles of Franklin and Tryune, Ten- 
 nessee. In August, 1863, he was trans- 
 ferred to the mounted infantry, and later 
 took part in the engagements at Hoover's 
 Gap, Shelbyviile and a series of skirmishes. 
 
 With his regiment he was the first at Look- 
 out Mountain and Chattanooga, and be- 
 sides taking an active part in the battles 
 there, he also bore his part in the en- 
 gagements at Chickamauga and Ringgold, 
 Georgia, and in the Atlanta campaign, where 
 the regiment was almost constantly under 
 fire. During this time he was changed 
 from Wilder's brigade to Kilkpatrick's cav- 
 alry division, with which he remained until 
 the close of the war. He was with Sher- 
 man on his memorable march to the sea, 
 and later took part in the battles of Ben- 
 tonville, Waynesborough, Georgia, and 
 Aiken, South Carolina. The regiment was 
 then left in the south and was finally mus- 
 tered out at Concord, North Carolina, after 
 which he went to Chicago, where he was 
 discharged in July, 1865. On his return 
 home he resumed his farming operations 
 and continued to aid in the work on the old 
 homestead until 1875, when he took com- 
 plete charge of the same. He is a thor- 
 ough and systematic farmer and has met 
 with excellent success in his life-work. Be- 
 sides the home farm, comprising one hun- 
 dred and eighty-three acres, he also owns a 
 farm of one hundred and sixty acres, three 
 miles south of the former. For over twenty 
 years he has been engaged in feeding and 
 dealing in stock and annually ships from 
 three to five car loads of cattle and one or 
 two car loads of hogs. He has also found 
 this business quite profitable, and is to-day 
 one of the most substantial and reliable 
 citizens of his community. 
 
 In Polo, April 8, 1879, Mr. Lawrence 
 married Miss Julia E. Read, a native of 
 Ogle county and a daughter of George D. 
 Read, an early settler of Ogle county from 
 New York, who came here when a young 
 man, in 1836, and served as postmaster of 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 101 
 
 Buffalo for a number of years. Here he 
 wedded Mary Wamsley, also a native of 
 New York. His death occurred in 1882, 
 and she passed away in 1884. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Lawrence have one daughter, Lillis, 
 now a student in the home school. 
 
 Politically Mr. Lawrence has been a 
 lifelong Republican, casting his first presi- 
 dential ballot for General U. S. Grant, in 
 1868, and supporting every Republican can- 
 didate for that office since then. He has 
 taken quite an active and influential part in 
 local politics, and has served five or si.\ 
 years as assessor of Eagle Point township, 
 and has been a delegate to a number of 
 county and congressional conventions of his 
 party. In 1893 he was elected supervisor, 
 and so acceptably did he fill that office that 
 he has been continually reelected, being the 
 present incumbent. In 1898 he was elect- 
 ed chairman of the county board and is now 
 filling that position with credit to himself 
 and to the entire satisfaction of his constitu- 
 ents. In whatever position he has been 
 called upon to serve he has discharged the 
 duties in a most efficient and creditable 
 manner. He is an honored member of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic, and his wife 
 is a member of the Independent Presby- 
 terian church of Polo. They stand high in 
 the community where they have so long 
 made their home and those who know them 
 best are numbered among their warmest 
 friends. 
 
 JOHN S. ROSIER is a well-known con- 
 tractor and builder of Byron, of whose 
 skill many notable examples are to be seen 
 in Ogle county. Thoroughly reliable in all 
 things, the quality of his work is a convinc- 
 ing test of his own personal worth and the 
 
 same admirable trait is shown in his consci- 
 entious discharge of the duties of different 
 positions of trust and responsibility to which 
 he has been chosen. 
 
 Mr. Rosier was born in Perry county, 
 Pennsylvania, June 29, 1830. His ances- 
 tors originally made their home in Wurtem- 
 burg, Germany, but during the seventeenth 
 century they were driven out by the French 
 and sought a home on this side of the Atlan- 
 tic, becoming pioneers of Berks county, 
 Pennsylvania. The great-grandfather of our 
 subject, Jonathan Rosier, removed from 
 that county to what is now Perry county 
 and there reared his family, including George 
 Rosier, our subject's grandfather, who was 
 born in Berks county. The father, John 
 Rosier, spent his entire life in Perry county, 
 was a prosperous farmer and a highly re- 
 spected citizen of his community. He mar- 
 ried Maria Rice, a native of Juniata county, 
 Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Henry and 
 Margaret (Thomas) Rice. Her father was 
 one of a family of twenty-one children, 
 twelve sons and nine daughters, whose par- 
 ents, Zachariah Rice and wife, lived to ad- 
 vanced ages. The Rice family is also of 
 German descent and was founded near 
 Bradywine, Pennsylvania, during the seven- 
 teenth century. 
 
 In the county of his nativity John S. 
 Rosier spent his boyhood and youth, attend- 
 ing the common schools to a limited extent, 
 but he is mostly self-educated since reach- 
 ing man's estate. There he also learned 
 the carpenter's and joiner's trade, which he 
 followed in Pittsburg in 1851. Coming to 
 Illinois in 1852, he worked at his trade in 
 Rockford for one year, and in the spring of 
 1853 came to Byron, where he has since 
 carried on operations as a contractor and 
 builder with marked success. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 In January, 1854, Mr. Rosier was united 
 in marriage with Miss Rebecca N. Bull, a 
 daughter of John Bull, one of the pioneers 
 of the county, and they began their domes- 
 tic life in the village of Byron, where he 
 purchased an unfinished residence the fol- 
 lowing year. That place continued to be his 
 home until 1890, when it, with its entire con- 
 tents, was destroyed by fire. Subsequently 
 he erected his present residence, which is 
 heated by a furnace and supplied with all 
 modern conveniences, being one of the best 
 in the village. He is now one of the oldest 
 contractors in the state, having carried on 
 operations in Ogle county for forty-five 
 years and on all sides are seen many evi- 
 dences of his skill and handiwork. He has 
 not only erected most of the buildings in 
 Byron, but has also built many houses and 
 barns throughout the surrounding country. 
 
 Mr. Kosier's first wife died in October, 
 1858, leaving two children: Frances M., 
 now deceased, was a well-educated lady, 
 who was one of the successful and popular 
 teachers of Ogle county; and Charles B., a 
 carpenter and joiner, is married and resides 
 in Byron. Mr. Rosier was again married, 
 December 27, 1859, his second union being 
 with Miss Elizabeth Titus, of Rockford,who 
 was a native of New York, but when a child 
 went to Michigan and later came to Illinois. 
 Her father, Jarvis Titus, was an early set- 
 tler of Winnebago county, this state, where 
 Mrs. Rosier was principally reared and edu- 
 cated. By the second marriage there are 
 four children: Lucy Adella, wife of C. C. 
 Rennedy, of Hinckley, Illinois; Rebecca 
 E. , wife of Captain H. C. Newcomer, of 
 the engineering corps of the United States 
 army, who is now located at Memphis, 
 Tennessee, and has charge of the levees on 
 the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers; Belle 
 
 L. , a well-educated young lady now en- 
 gaged in teaching; and Albert, who is a 
 first-class carpenter and is now with his 
 father. 
 
 In his political affiliations, Mr. Rosier 
 was first an old-line Whig, but in 1856 
 joined the Republican party, and has since 
 been one of its stanch supporters. He takes 
 an active part in local politics and cam- 
 paign work, and as alternate delegate to 
 the national convention of 1880, he assisted 
 in the nomination of James A. Garfield for 
 the presidency. For nearly fort}' years he 
 has served continuously as a delegate to the 
 county and congressional conventions of his 
 party and has done some very effective 
 work in promoting its interests. He has 
 never sought office, but has served as village 
 trustee, commissioner of highways and 
 member of the school board, in a most 
 capable and satisfactory manner. In 1858 
 he became identified with the Masonic fra- 
 ternity and to-day is one of the most prom- 
 inent members of Byron Lodge, No. 274, 
 F. & A. M., of which he has been master 
 twenty-two years and uninterruptedly for 
 eighteen years, while for the same length 
 of time he has represented the lodge in the 
 Grand Lodge. He also belongs to Winne- 
 bago Chapter, No. 24, R. A. M., at Rock- 
 ford. For forty-five years he has been a 
 resident of Ogle county, has taken an active 
 interest in its growth and development, and 
 is to-day an honored member of the Old 
 Settler Association, serving as its president. 
 He has attended its meetings and taken 
 part in its proceedings for many years, and 
 in 1897 made a speech in reply to the ad- 
 dress of welcome. He is one of the best 
 known men in the county, and it is safe to 
 say that none are held in higher regard or 
 have more friends than John S. Rosier. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 103 
 
 ADAM BUTTELL, the founder of the 
 Buttell Piano Manufacturing Company, 
 Oregon, Illinois, was born in New York 
 city, April 21, 1855, and is the son of 
 Philip and Margaret (Lieb) Buttell, the 
 former a native of Alsace, France, but who 
 in early life removed to Bavaria, and later 
 to the United States, locating in New York 
 city. He was a cabinet and piano maker 
 by trade, and was an expert in that line. 
 His death occurred in New York city some 
 years ago. In politics he was a Republican, 
 and religiously a Catholic. His wife was 
 also a member of the Catholic church. 
 They were the parents of four children: 
 Adam, the subject of this sketch; George, 
 residing in New York city, where he is en- 
 gaged in the grocery trade; John, also of 
 New York, engaged in general merchandis- 
 ing; and Margaret, living in New York. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared in 
 New York city, where his education was 
 obtained. He began when of sufficient age 
 to learn the trade of piano niaking, work- 
 ing with his father, who, as already stated, 
 was an expert in that line, understanding 
 the manufacture of pianos in all its branches. 
 He there perfected his knowledge of the 
 trade, and later was employed in the best 
 establishments of the east. In April, 1889, 
 he left for the west, locating at Des Moines, 
 Iowa, where he started a factory for him- 
 self, under the name of Adam Buttell Piano 
 Company, which was later changed to 
 Adam Buttell & Sons. The excellence of 
 this piano, and the purity of its tone, soon 
 commanded attention, and it was not long 
 before the Buttell piano was placed in the 
 best homes in Des Moines, and was the de- 
 light of the lovers of good music. He was 
 able to compete with the oldest piano 
 factories in the country in placing his instru- 
 
 ments. In 1895, he removed his factory to 
 Oregon, under the auspices of the National 
 Piano Company, of which company he took 
 the superintendency. This move was made 
 to get a good water power and to be near 
 the great centers of trade. This arrange- 
 ment lasted until June i, 1897, when 
 he resigned his position with the National 
 Piano Company, and re-established the 
 Adam Buttell & Sons Piano Company. 
 The latter company has been increasing its 
 trade, and has met with flattering success in 
 the sale of its pianos. As in Des Moines, 
 they are able to compete with the oldest 
 piano makers, and have a bright future be- 
 fore them. As with all new work, it takes 
 time for the people to learn of its merits, 
 but the Buttell piano has met with success 
 far beyond the company's fondest hopes, 
 which demonstrates beyond a doubt the ex- 
 cellence of this instrument, its rich, pure 
 tone, its durability, and also that people 
 appreciate a perfect piano. They have been 
 placed in Chicago, throughout the state of 
 Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, Wis- 
 consin, Missouri, and other states. 
 
 The Buttell piano is an upright, embrac- 
 ing all the modern improvements, and is an 
 artistic and beautiful piece of workmanship. 
 From the special and superior construction 
 of its sounding board, the tone enhances 
 with age. The evenness of the scale holds 
 it longer in tune than other pianos. All 
 the material in these pianos is of the high- 
 est grade and selected with great care, al- 
 ways with the aim of producing the best 
 and most harmonious effects in tone. An- 
 other feature of this piano is that Mr. But- 
 tell is ever present, and supervises in the 
 minutest detail the putting together of every 
 part of his instruments. This feature, with 
 his long experience, is. pf the highest im- 
 
I04 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 portance. Mr. Buttell sells direct to the 
 people in this section of the country, and 
 his son John looks after its sale in Des 
 Moines, Iowa. 
 
 Mr. Buttell was married in New York 
 city, August 14, 1876, to Miss Anna Marie 
 Geis, daughter of Jacob Geis. She is a 
 native of Germany, born at Budeskeim on 
 the Rhine. Her parents, who are both de- 
 ceased, came to the United States in 1872, 
 locating in New York, where they both died. 
 By this union there were si.\ children — John 
 Jacob, George Joseph, Frank Adam, Cath- 
 erine, Richard Arthur, and Harold Stanton. 
 Of these, Catherine died in childhood, while 
 the two oldest are in business with their 
 father. In politics Mr. Buttell is a Repub- 
 lican, and fraternally he is a member of 
 Oregon Lodge, No. 420, A. F. & A. M., 
 and of Des Moines Lodge, No. 18, A. O. 
 U. W. , of Des Moines, Iowa. 
 
 It is very fortunate for the city of Ore- 
 gon that the Buttell Piano Company has 
 been located there. In addition to its just- 
 ly acquired fame of being the most beauti- 
 ful located town on the far-famed Rock 
 river, it will have the distinction of being the 
 home of one of the best piano manufactor- 
 ies in this country. 
 
 CHARLES P. CHEESEMAN, a leading 
 and representative farmer of Eagle 
 Point township, residing on section 34, was 
 born near Toronto, Canada, July 17, 1837. 
 His father, Alfred Cheeseman, was a native 
 of England, born near London, in Kent 
 county. May 8, 18 12, and there grew to 
 manhood, learning the shoemaker's trade, 
 which he followed for some years. In 
 early manhood he married Miss Susan Law- 
 rence, also a native of England and a daugh- 
 
 ter of John Lawrence. In 1836 they emi- 
 grated to Canada and took up their resi- 
 dence near Toronto, but three years later 
 came to Ogle county, Illinois. • At Buffalo 
 Grove, Mr. Cheeseman took up a claim, 
 erected thereon a log house and began to 
 break, fence and improve his little farm, 
 but in the spring of 1842 he sold the place 
 and removed to Chambers Grove, Carroll 
 county, where he purchased Michael Ayers' 
 claim to two hundred and forty acres. A 
 few acres had been broken and a log house 
 built, in which the family lived while the fa- 
 ther opened up his farm. In 1857 he 
 built a comfortable brick residence, a good 
 barn, set out a fine orchard and made a 
 fairly well improved farm of his place. 
 There he spent his remaining years, dying 
 December 26, 1894. His first wife, the 
 mother of our subject, passed away Febru- 
 ary 2, 1854, and he subsequently married 
 Miss Frances P. Buck, who died seven 
 weeks previous to her husband's death. 
 
 Our subject is the oldest of the children 
 born of the first union; Robert D. is a 
 farmer residing near Shannon, Illinois; Eliz- 
 abeth A. is the wife of Christopher L. 
 Shirk, of Richland Citj-, Richland county, 
 Wisconsin; Mrs. Mary Saterly is a widow 
 residing near Shannon, Illinois; Rachel is 
 the wife of Charles Gross, of Sumner\ille, 
 Tennessee; Nancy Jane is the wife of Will- 
 iam J. Grisvvold, of Milledgeville, Illinois; 
 Rhoda died in infancy; lantha, deceased, 
 was the wife of Jabez Todd, of Milledge- 
 ville; E,mma married Dr. Robert McPherso, 
 of Carroll county, and died in California. 
 There were four children by the second 
 marriage, namely: George W., a resident 
 of Daggett, Illinois; Josephine, of Chicago; 
 Samuel B., of South Dakota; and Lafayette, 
 pf Chicago. 
 
C. p. CHEESEMAN. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 107 
 
 On the home farm in Carroll county 
 Charles P. Cheeseman passed his boyhood 
 and youth, attending the district schools a 
 few months during the winter, and aiding 
 in the farm work during the remainder of 
 the year. He remained with his father un- 
 til reaching man's estate and on leaving 
 home went to Nodaway county, Missouri, 
 where he worked for one year on a farm 
 four miles south of Maryville. The follow- 
 ing year was passed in Doniphan county, 
 Kansas, where he engaged in farming and 
 staging. In the spring of i860 he went to 
 Denver and from there to the Rocky mount- 
 ains, and engaged in freighting across the 
 plains for a year. 
 
 On the 14th of November, 1861, Mr. 
 Cheeseman manifested his patriotism and 
 love of country by enlisting in Company H, 
 Second Kansas Cavalry, under Captain Gun- 
 ther and Colonel W. F. Cloud, the regiment 
 being assigned to the Seventh Army Corps. 
 He participated in numerous skirmishes, in- 
 cluding those at Lone Jack, Missouri; Cane 
 Hill, Arkansas; Prairie Grove and Coon 
 Creek, Missouri. He had some ribs broken 
 and sustained a rupture by being thrown 
 from his horse and for a short time was con- 
 fined in the hospital at Fort Scott. Later 
 he was on duty with a scouting detachment 
 made up of soldiers from the hospital and 
 thus spent four months in Kansas and Mis- 
 souri. After rejoining his regiment at 
 Springfield, Missouri, he participated in the 
 capture of Fort Smith, .Arkansas, and on a 
 scouting expedition took Dardanelles. He 
 took part in the Shreveport campaign un- 
 der Steele, and from there went to Hot 
 Springs, participating in number of battles 
 and skirmishes, including the battle of Prai- 
 rie Deann, the taking of F"ort Camden and 
 the engagement of Poison Springs, where 
 
 fourteen hundred Union men were engaged 
 in battle with seven thousand rebels, and 
 where the former lost their artillery and the 
 latter lost about twenty-two hundred men 
 in killed and wounded. After the battle of 
 Jenks Ferry, Mr. Cheeseman was transferred 
 to the ambulance corps and while taking 
 wounded to Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was cap- 
 tured, hut wassoon released. He then pro- 
 ceeded with his charges to Little Rock, 
 where he remained for si.x months, and later 
 rejoined the command at P'ort Smith, re- 
 maining there until mustered out on the ex- 
 piration of his term of service, March 7, 
 1865, at Little Rock. 
 
 Mr. Cheeseman then returned to his 
 home in Elwood, Kansas, but a few weeks 
 later came to the old homestead at Cham- 
 bers Grove, Carroll county, Illinois, and for 
 two years assisted his father in carrying on 
 the farm. In that county he was married, 
 December 25, 1867, to Miss Hannah M. 
 Hyzer, a native of Delaware county. New 
 York, and a daughter of Peter and Eliza- 
 beth (Hoyt) Hyzer, who settled in Carroll 
 county, Illinois, in 1855, and there spent 
 their remaining years. The father died in 
 1 891, the mother a few years previous. 
 The children born to Mr. an(J Mrs. Cheese- 
 man are as follows: Tina, who married 
 David Buchanan, and died leaving one son, 
 Robert Grant, who is now living with our 
 subject; Harvey ]., who carries on the home 
 farm; Lemi\', who died in infancy; Susie, 
 wife of \'ernon h''inkle, of SanfordvUlc, Illi- 
 nois; James, Albert and May, all at home. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Cheeseman lo- 
 cated on a farm in Lee county, Illinois, 
 where he operated rented land for three 
 years, and then removed to Story county, 
 Iowa, where he was engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits for two years. On returning to 
 
io8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 this state he purchased the farm of eighty 
 acres in Eagle Point township, Ogle coun- 
 ty, where he still resides, and to its im- 
 provement and cultivation he has since de- 
 voted his energies with marked success. He 
 is a natural mechanic, very handy with 
 tools, and has conducted a wagon and re- 
 pair shop since locating here. He cast his 
 first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, 
 in 1864, and has since been a stanch sup- 
 porter of the Republican party and its prin- 
 ciples. Socially he is a charter member of 
 George Crider Post, No. 575, G. A. R., of 
 Milledgeville, and is one of the most highly 
 respected and honored citizens of the com- 
 munity in which he lives. 
 
 REUBEN S. MARSHALL.— If one de- 
 sires to gain a vivid realization of the 
 rapid advance in civilization which the last 
 few decades have brought about, he can lis- 
 ten to the stories of the men who are still 
 living among us, and by no means overbur- 
 dened with years, can tell of their boy- 
 hood. The log cabin iiome, the still ruder 
 school-house with its rough seats made of 
 slabs, its limited range of studies and its 
 brief terms, arranged on the subscription 
 plan, the routine of work at home, unre- 
 lieved by any of the modern devices by 
 which machinery is made to do in a short 
 time what formerly occupied the entire 
 year — these and man}' similiar descriptions 
 will bring up in sharp contrast the advan- 
 tages of to-day. The subject of thissketch, 
 a highly respected citizen of Mt. Morris 
 township, residing on section 1 1, has many 
 interesting reminiscences of this sort. 
 
 Reuben S. Marshall was born in Clinton 
 county. New York, October 4, 1827, and is 
 the son of Caleb and Louisa (Sanburn) Mar- 
 
 shall, both of whom were natives of Stowe, 
 Vermont, the former born November 5, 
 1778, and the latter July 15, 1798. Her 
 father later served in the war of 1812. 
 Soon after their marriage Caleb Marshall 
 and wife removed to Clinton county, New 
 York, where all their children were born. 
 They were numbered among the early set- 
 tlers of that county, which was their home 
 for many years. They were the parents of 
 si.\ children, as follows: Caleb S., born 
 January 21, 1819; Almira E., August 21, 
 1820; Lucien, May 14, 1822; Phila, July 21, 
 1824; Mary K., September 23, 1825; and 
 Reuben S., our subject. 
 
 Caleb Marshall served in the same regi- 
 ment, under Colonel Baker, in which was 
 his father-in-law, Mr. Sanburn. By trade 
 he was a dyer and puller, and in his day the 
 cloth was all dyed and pulled by hand. He 
 also learned the trade of a cooper, which he 
 followed to some extent while yet residing 
 in the east, but never after coming west. 
 
 In November, 1834^ the Marshall family 
 started for Illinois, but on arriving at Cleve- 
 land, Ohio, they heard alarming reports 
 about the Indians and concluded to stop for 
 a time until there should be no further 
 trouble from hostile Indians. They re- 
 mained in Ohio about two years. In Octo- 
 ber, 1836, Caleb Marshall left his family in 
 Cleveland and came to Ogle county, Illi- 
 nois, and made claim to a half section of 
 land in Mt. Morris township, the present 
 home farm of our subject. Lake naviga- 
 tion having suspended when he was ready 
 to return to Cleveland, he walked the entire 
 distance back to that city. 
 
 On the 22d of February, 1837, the fam- 
 ily left Cleveland for their new home, coin- 
 ing by team arriving at Oregon, on the 19th 
 of March, being about four weeks on the 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 109 
 
 road. After remaining in Oregon about 
 three weeks, they crossed the river, pro- 
 ceeding to their claim, where a small log 
 house, 12 X 14, was erected, into which the 
 family moved. An addition was subsequent- 
 ly built of about twelve feet, and that 
 cabin was the family home for some years. 
 For a time there was nothing but a dirt 
 Hoor, but finally a lloor of punchsons was 
 laid. The roof was made of "shakes," 
 held down by weight poles. It was a rude 
 structure, but it was the abode of hospitaity. 
 As soon as the frost was out of the ground 
 some five acres were broken and their first 
 crop planted, consisting of two acres of 
 wheat, one acre of oats, an acre and a half 
 of sod corn, and a half acre of potatoes. 
 
 On arriving in Ogle county, Caleb Mar- 
 shall found himself the possessor of sixteen 
 dollars and a half, and a two-horse team; 
 with that capital he had to provide for his 
 family until he could so improve his farm 
 as to make it productive. This was no 
 easy thing to do in a new country where 
 there was no markets nearer than Chicago, 
 save Galena, which in many respects was 
 not as good. Often has our subject gone 
 to the former place with a load of wheat 
 and without a cent to defray expenses. In 
 those trips he was usually commissioned to 
 buy something for neighbors. In Chicago 
 payment was made in paper currency, but 
 in Galena only gold and silver were used. 
 It was difficult to carry out a neighbor's 
 commission at the latter place when no one 
 in this vicinity had gold or silver to pay. 
 Taxes, however, had to be paid in gold or 
 silver and it was fortunate that such a town 
 as Galena was convenient. When one did 
 not have produce to sell at that point, the}- 
 would go to the lead mines at that place 
 and work long enough to get sufficient gold 
 
 or silver for taxes. The first trip our sub- 
 ject made to Chicago with wheat was when 
 he was fifteen years old, and it required 
 seven days in going and coming with a team 
 of horses. 
 
 Caleb Marshall was twice married. By 
 his first union there was one daughter that 
 grew to womanhood, married and went still 
 farther west. After a wedded life of about 
 two years, his first wife died, and he subse- 
 quently married Louisa Sanburn, as already 
 stated. His death occurred May 17, i860, 
 his wife having passed away August I3, 1858. 
 In politics he was an old-line Whig until 
 the birth of the Republican party, when he 
 voted for its first presidential candidate, 
 John C. Fremont. Fraternally he was a 
 Mason of high standing in the east. Relig- 
 iously he was a Congregationalist, as was 
 also his wife. He was a man of strong char- 
 acter, a kind husband and father, and a 
 good neighbor. 
 
 Reuben S. Marshall was in his tenth year 
 when he accompanied his parents to Ogle 
 county. His educational advantages were 
 very limited and confined strictly to the 
 common school, attending a few days each 
 winter term until he was seventeen years 
 old. The longest that time he continuously 
 attended was for twenty-one days. He was 
 one of the first pupils to attend a school 
 taught by John A. Wagner, there being but 
 nine enrolled during the term. The school 
 house was the typical one of logs, with pun- 
 cheon floor and slab seats. On leaving 
 school he settled down to a life of hard 
 work, and in the sixty-two years that he has 
 resided in Ogle county, he has certainly 
 done his full share of the work necessar}* to 
 its development. 
 
 Mr. Marshall was married January 13, 
 1850, to Miss Matilda Steffa, a native of 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Washington county, Maryland, born July 
 29, 1 83 1 , and daughter of William and Eliz- 
 abeth Steffa, both of whom were natives of 
 the same county and state, and who came 
 to Ogle county in 1844. By this union" 
 twelve children were born. William C. , 
 born March 6, 1853, married Mary Rowe, 
 and they have two children. He is living 
 in the town of Mount Morris. Mary E., 
 born May 25, 1854, died September 19, of 
 the same year. Emma May, born May 25, 
 1855, married Dr. H. C. Clements, and 
 they reside in Chicago. They have one 
 child. Ira W., born August 24, 1857, mar- 
 ried Delia Smith, and they have two chil- 
 dren. They are living in Mount Morris 
 township. Charles E., born January 30, 
 1S59, died September 2, 1859. Albertus S., 
 born July 27, 1861, married Martha Price, 
 and they reside in Oregon, where he is in 
 the hotel business, as proprietor of the Sin- 
 issippi House. Francis E., born June 12, 
 1863, married Anna Smith, and they reside 
 in Mount Morris township. Ida E., born 
 February 3, 1866, is living at Oregon. John 
 C, born September 10, 1867, married Grace 
 Koont/2, and with their two children they 
 are living in Mount Morris township. Grace 
 A., born April 24, 1869, married John M. 
 Rinehart, and they have one child. They 
 are living in Iowa Falls, Iowa. Viola, 
 born December 11, 1870, married David 
 Bock, and they have three children. They 
 make their home with our subject. Oliver 
 E. , born March 2i, 1873, is living in Iowa 
 Falls, Iowa, where he is engaged in the drug 
 business. Mrs. Marshall died February 24, 
 1875. She was a devoted wife and mother, 
 and her place in the home circle left a void 
 that could not be filled. 
 
 Mr. Marshall has in his possession some 
 rare old papers that he prizes very highly. 
 
 among them the Ulster County Gazette, 
 under date January 4, 1800, containing the 
 notice of the death of George Washington, 
 which occurred on the 14th of December, 
 1799, some twenty days previously. To 
 realize something of the progress made in 
 means of communication, one has but to 
 think of the death of the most noted man 
 in the country, and yet it required nearly 
 three weeks to carry the news a few hundred 
 miles. Now the death of a man in any part 
 of the civilized world is known everywhere 
 within a few minutes after the occurrence. 
 Another one of the papers in Mr. Marshall's 
 possession is the New England Weekly 
 Journal, of Monday, April 3, 1728. He has 
 also the New York Morning Post, of Friday, 
 November 7, 1783. The last named con- 
 tains notices of several slave sales. Think 
 of slave sales in New York! 
 
 In politics Mr. Marshall is a Republican, 
 with which party he has acted since the 
 "Pathfinder," John C. Fremont, was nomi- 
 nated for the presidency in i860. He has 
 always manifested an interest in politics and 
 local affairs. He has held the office of 
 school director for thirty years and that of 
 road commissioner for thirty-three years. 
 He served two terms as a member of the 
 board of superviscns, and was one of the 
 building committee for the erection of the 
 present court house in Oregon. While a 
 member of the board he served as chairman 
 of the claim committee for two years, and 
 chairman of the salary committee one year. 
 Fraternally he was for many years con- 
 nected with the Odd Fellows, but is not 
 at present in fellowship, his age and the 
 distance from the lodge preventing. Re- 
 ligiously he is identified with the Lutherans, 
 holding membership with the church in Mt. 
 Morris. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 In the sixty-two years in which Mr. Mar- 
 shall has lived in Ogle county what wonder- 
 ful changes have been made! Then a thinly 
 settled country, with neighbors few and far 
 between. Now, a perfect hive of industry, 
 the country thickly settled with a prosper- 
 ous people. When he came to the county 
 there were but three log cabins in Oregon 
 and but three in the vicinity, and not one 
 between Oregon and Freeport, and only 
 seven in the latter place. He was here 
 when the notorious Driscolls were executed 
 and when they committed their worst crimes. 
 In the early days it was not always easy to 
 even get enough to eat. He remembers that 
 on one occasion his father went to Ottawa for 
 provisions, soon after their arrival here, and 
 while he was gone the famil)' ate up every- 
 thing but some dried beans. On those beans 
 and some gophers that the bo)s killed the 
 family lived for several days. 
 
 Notwithstanding the hardships endured, 
 it was not always dark and gloomy. There 
 was a bright side to pioneer life. People 
 were as hospitable as the day was long. 
 There was little conventiality. Bojs and 
 girls used to go barefooted until they were 
 quite large. The couritr\' dance was a source 
 of amusement. The boys would go for their 
 girls on horseback, and taking them on behind 
 away they would go, and "dance till broad 
 daylight." Spelling-schools and husking- 
 bees were another source of amusement often 
 indulged in. All in all they had a good time, 
 and few pioneers would be willing to ex- 
 change their experience for those of a later 
 day. Mr. Marshall has no cause to regret 
 becoming a pioneer of Ogle county. He 
 has been blessed " in basket and store," and 
 has to-day more than a section of as fine 
 land as one would care to see, and ''the 
 wolf has ahva}-s been kept from the door." 
 
 TAMES H. DONALDSON, an active 
 *J and enterprising farmer residing on sec- 
 tion I, Buffalo township, about three miles 
 from Polo, is a native of Ogle county, and 
 was born in Brookville township, November 
 30, 1S54. His father, Walter Donaldson, 
 was a native of England, born on the line 
 between England and Scotland, but on the 
 English side, in 18 19. William Donaldson, 
 the grandfather, was of Scottish birth, as 
 was also his wife. 
 
 In 1821 William Donaldson came with 
 his family to the United States, landed in 
 Vermont and afterward settled in New 
 York. Later he moved to Canada, where 
 he lived some years, and in 1839 came to 
 Ogle county and settled in Eagle Point 
 township, being among the first settlers of 
 that township. Taking up a claim in Buf- 
 falo Grove, he opened up a farm, purchas- 
 ing the land when it came into the market. 
 Walter Donaldson came with his parents to 
 the county and took up a claim in Brook- 
 ville township and at once began its im- 
 provement. He later went to Canada, and 
 near Toronto married Miss Sarah Sylvester, 
 a native of Canada, but of Scotch and Irish 
 parentage. After his marriage he returned 
 with his bride to his farm in Ogle county 
 and here spent the remainder of his life, be- 
 coming one of the enterprising and success- 
 ful farmers, and a highly honored citizen. 
 He served his township as a member of the 
 board of supervisors, and in other official 
 positions. He died on his old farm Novem- 
 ber 28, 1888, while his wife passed away 
 about six years previously. They were the 
 parents of three children, the others being 
 William, a farmer of Lincoln township, and 
 Ellen, wife of Arthur McMaster, of Fowler, 
 Colorado. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 hood on the old home farm and was edu- 
 cated in the schools of the neighborhood. 
 He remained with his father till his death 
 and carried on the old place for several 
 years after. He was married in Whiteside 
 county, Illinois, January 15, 1889, to Miss 
 Agnes McNeil, a native of Whiteside coun- 
 ty, where she was reared. In the schools 
 of Sterling, that county, she finished her 
 education, and for some years prior to her 
 marriage engaged in teaching in the public 
 schools. She is a daughter of Robert Mc- 
 Neil, a native of Scotland who came to the 
 United States when a young man, located 
 in Whiteside county, and there engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits. He married Jean 
 Lyle, also a native of Scotland, and daugh- 
 ter of James Ljle, a pioneer of Ogle coun- 
 ty. To Mr. and Mrs. Donaldson three 
 children have been born — Robert W., Har- 
 old J. and Mildred. 
 
 Mr. Donaldson continued to live on the 
 family homestead until 1893, when he re- 
 moved to Rock Falls, Whiteside county, 
 Illinois, where he rented a place for a few 
 months while looking for a new farm. In 
 the fall of 1893 he decided on his present 
 place and immediately made the purchase. 
 On the 1st of March, 1894, he moved to 
 the farm and has no cause to regret his 
 choice of location. He is now engaged in 
 general farming and stock raising and is 
 meeting with a fair degree of success. 
 
 The first presidential vote cast by Mr. 
 Donaldson was in 1876, when he voted for 
 Samuel J. Tilden, since which time he has 
 voted the Democratic ticket, his last presi- 
 dential vote being for John M. Palmer, in 
 1896. He was not with the majority of 
 his party on the financial question, and is 
 yet proud to be classed among the so-called 
 "gold Democrats" of his party. Relig- 
 
 iously he and his wife are identified with 
 the Presbyterian church at Polo. Frater- 
 nally he is a Mason and is a member of the 
 lodge at Polo. He has passed through all 
 the chairs, and was worshipful master of 
 the lodge in 1897 and in 1898, during which 
 time he represented the lodge in the grand 
 lodge of the state. A lifelong resident of 
 the county, his interests are here, and he is 
 always willing to do all he can to make the 
 county occupy an exalted rank among the 
 counties of the state. 
 
 CAPTAIN WILLIAM T. DODDS, who 
 is now living retired in Byron, is one 
 of the veterans of the Civil war, and bears 
 an honorable record for brave service in 
 the cause of freedom and union, and in the 
 paths of peace he has also won an envia- 
 ble reputation through the sterling quali- 
 ties which go to the making of a good cit- 
 izen. 
 
 The Captain is a native of Ohio, born 
 in Nile township, Scioto county, August 7, 
 1 83 1, and is of Irish descent, his grand- 
 father, James Dodds, being a native of the 
 Emerald Isle. He was reared and educated 
 on the Isle of Man and on crossing the At- 
 lantic to America became a resident of 
 Pennsylvania. Major John B. Dodds, the 
 Captain's father, was born in the Keystone 
 state in 1797 or 1798, and there passed 
 his boyhood and youth, acquiring a good 
 practical education for that early day. He 
 was a second cousin of General Scott, and 
 a first cousin of Governor Samuel Black, 
 one of the most prominent men of Penn- 
 sylvania in his day. When a young man 
 Major Dodds went to Scioto county, Ohio, 
 where he engaged in school teaching for 
 several years with marked success. He 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 113 
 
 married Ann Tucker, a native of that state 
 and a daughter of John Tucker, and they 
 began housekeeping upon a farm in Scioto 
 county. He became one of the most prom- 
 inent and influential men of the county, was 
 honored with a number of official positions, 
 and served as sheriff for one or more terms. 
 During the Mexican war he was commis- 
 sioned major and detailed as recruiting offi- 
 cer. In 1855 he determined to try his 
 fortune farther west and moved to Ellis- 
 ville, Fulton county, Illinois, where he 
 spent his last years in retirement, dying 
 there in 1883. His first wife, the tnother 
 of our subject, had died in Ohio, at the age 
 of fifty-one. Later he was again married 
 and had by the second union three chil- 
 dren. Harvey, the oldest child of the first 
 marriage, died at the age of eleven years. 
 David T. came to Illinois in 1853, and for 
 a number of years engaged in merchandis- 
 ing at Ellisville, but finally located on a 
 farm in Fulton county. From there he 
 went to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he 
 engaged in the real estate business and was 
 very successful. He died there about 1892. 
 Martha married Nelson Moore and died soon 
 afterward. Sarah J. married Samuel Ed- 
 ward, a farmer in Fulton county and is 
 now deceased. William T. , our subject, is 
 the next of the family. J. W. served as 
 first lieutenant of Company B, Forty- 
 seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry during 
 the Civil war, and is now treasurer of Ful- 
 ton county, making his home in Lewiston. 
 Captain Dodds grew to manhood in 
 Scioto county, Ohio, and received a com- 
 mon-school education, which has been 
 greatly supplemented by reading and study 
 in subsequent years. In 1853 he went 
 with his brother David to Fulton county, 
 Illinois, and spent nearly a year with his 
 
 uncle, James Schearer. Later he engaged 
 in farming with his brother-in-law, Samuel 
 Edwards, for a year or two, and in 1859 
 crossed the plains with ox teams to Pikes 
 Peak, being about eight weeks on the way. 
 Prospects not being good, he and one com- 
 rade went to Kansas and in Brown county 
 he took a quarter section of land. Return- 
 ing to Fulton county, Illinois, he built a 
 boat and run a ferry across Spoon river at 
 Ellisville, in i860, and did a profitable 
 business. 
 
 Feeling his country needed his services 
 Captain Dodds laid aside all personal inter- 
 ests in 1 86 1, and joined the boys in blue as 
 a private of Company C, Seventeenth Illi- 
 nois Volunteer Infantry, but was soon pro- 
 moted to the rank of sergeant. With his 
 regiment he went to Missouri, and after his 
 first engagement at Fredericktown, Missouri, 
 was commissioned first lieutenant. Later he 
 participated in the battles of Belmont, 
 Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh and 
 Corinth. At the battle of Fort Donelson 
 he received a gunshot wcund and at Shiloh 
 was again wounded. He commanded his 
 company at Shiloh and Corinth and was 
 called captain though never commissioned 
 such. When he entered the service he 
 weighed one hundred and sixty-five pounds, 
 but on resigning, in 1863, his weight had 
 been reduced to one hundred ten and a half. 
 
 On the 14th of September, 1863, in Ogle 
 county, Captain Dodds was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Ellen W. Ercanbrack, a na- 
 tive of Little Falls, New York, and a daugh- 
 ter of William S. Ercanbrack, who located 
 herein 181 5. The children born of this union 
 are Albert R. ; Charles A., a traveling sales- 
 man, who is married and resides in Joliet, 
 Illinois; Jessie B., wife of Fred Nott, a 
 merchant of Byron, O^le county; Grace 
 
114 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Ellen, wife of W. E. Cort, a successful law- 
 yer of Lewiston, Montana; and William B., 
 who was drowned in the Rock river at the 
 age of seventeen years. 
 
 After his marriage Captain Dodds locat- 
 ed at Byron, and for one year carried the 
 mail, one day to Oregon and the next to 
 Rockford, but at the end of that time sold 
 his route. In 1865 he removed to Peoria, 
 where he engaged in the grocery business 
 six or seven years, and from there went to 
 ■ Canton, Fulton county, where he was in- 
 terested in the grain business for two years. 
 On selling out in 1873, he returned to By- 
 ron and assisted his father-in-law on the 
 farm for a year. He then went on the road 
 as salesman for a Chicago house, and during 
 the thirteen years he traveled was with 
 three different firms, his route being in this 
 state the entire time. He had a large trade 
 and built up a good business for each house. 
 He was very successful in this line. On 
 leaving the road, he bought an established 
 hardware business at Byron, which he suc- 
 cessfully carried on for eleven years, selling 
 out in September, 1892. He was one of 
 the most enterprising and progressive busi- 
 ness men of the county, and seemed to 
 prosper in ail his undertakings so that he is 
 now quite well-to-do, while he lives retired 
 from active business. 
 
 In 1852 the Captain cast liis first presi- 
 dential ballot for General Winfield Scott, 
 and in 1856 supported John C. F"remont, 
 since which time he has been an uncompro- 
 mising Republican, but he has never cared 
 for official honors, preferring to give his un- 
 divided attention to his business interests. 
 He has always been a strong supporter of 
 temperance. He is a Knight Templar Ma- 
 son, belonging to the blue lodge No. i 5 of 
 Peoria, and the chapter and commanderyof 
 
 Peoria, and is a thirty-third degree Mason, 
 and he is also a prominent member of the 
 Grand Army Post of Byron. A man of 
 strong individuality and indubitable probity, 
 one who has attained to a due measure of 
 success in the affairs of life, and whose in- 
 fluence has always been exerted for the 
 good of the community, this honored veter- 
 an assuredly demands representation in this 
 volume. 
 
 PETERS. MEYERS.— While " the race 
 is not always to the swift nor the bat- 
 tle to the strong," the invariable law of 
 destiny accords to tireless energj', industry 
 and ability a successful career. The truth 
 of this assertion is abundantly verified in the 
 life of Mr. Meyers, a well-known and highly 
 respected citizen of Forreston township, re- 
 siding on section 28. 
 
 He was born near Harrisburg, Dauphin 
 county, Pennsylvania, January 7, 1831, and 
 is of French descent, his great-grandfather 
 having come from France and settled in Berks 
 county, Pennsylvania. The grandfather, 
 Jacob Meyers, was a native of that county, 
 and the father, Peter Meyers, was born at 
 the same place September 11, 1805. The 
 family was established in Dauphin county 
 when the latter was a lad of nine 
 years, and as a pioneer of that region Jacob 
 Meyers materially aided in its development 
 and upbuilding. There his son Peter grew 
 to manhood and married Hannah Thoff- 
 stall, also a native of Pennsylvania. He 
 continued to carr}' on the old home farm for 
 a number of years, but in 1852, with his 
 family, he came to Ogle county, Illinois. 
 With his three sons and one son-in-law, he 
 purchased eight hundred acres of land in 
 Forreston township, adjoining the present 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 village of that name, and he, himself, locat- 
 ed on the farm where our subject now re- 
 sides, making his home there until called 
 from this life in 1891, at the age of eighty- 
 six years, eleven months and twenty-two 
 days. His wife preceded him a number of 
 years, dying in 1870. Our subject is the 
 youngest of their four children, the others 
 being as follows: Eliza, who married 
 Joseph Fisher and died in Ogle county; 
 Jacob P., who at one time was a harness- 
 maker in Mt. Carroll, Illinois, and later at 
 at Fort Dodge, Iowa, for some years, but is 
 now living retired at Waterloo, that state; 
 and John, who is engaged in the real estate 
 business at Spokane Falls, Washington. 
 
 Peter S. Meyers grew to manhood in 
 Pottsville, Pennsylvania, where he learned 
 the cabinetmaker's trade, and also painting 
 and fancy graining, at which he worked for 
 a number of years. In 1852 he accompanied 
 the family on their removal to Ogle count\-, 
 and in addition to helping his father on the 
 home farm, he worked at cabinetmaking 
 for neighboring farmers and in West Grove. 
 In October, 1857, at White Oak Grove, 
 Ogle county, he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Sarah Adams, who was born in 
 Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, in 
 1830, and was reared there, coming to Illi- 
 nois when a young lady, and they began 
 their domestic life upon his farm in For- 
 reston township. In 1853 and 1854 he had 
 hauled stone and erected the only stone 
 house in the township. This neat and sub. 
 stantial structure is still standing, making a 
 pleasant home for the family. Mr. Meyers 
 now gives his entire time and attention to 
 agricultural pursuits and is the owner of two 
 fine farms of one hundred and si.\ty acres in 
 Forreston township. He is a charter mem- 
 ber of the Forreston Fire Insurance Com- 
 
 pany and gives a cheerful support to all en- 
 terprises which he believes calculated to 
 prove of public benefit. 
 
 Mrs. Meyers died in 1S71, leaving three 
 children, namely: Millmon Riley, who was 
 an engineer on the Illinois Central railroad 
 for several years; Alfred Alexander, who 
 owns and operates a farm of one hundred 
 and si.xty acres near Polo, Ogle county; and 
 Louisa Jane, wife of Henry Tice, a business 
 man of Polo. In Forreston township, Feb- 
 ruary 8, 1872, Mr. Meyers was again mar- 
 ried, his second union being with Miss Me- 
 linda Hoffa, a daughter of Jacob Hoffa. 
 She was born in Northumberland county, 
 Pennsylvania, but was reared in Ogle coun- 
 ty. Of the eight children born of this 
 union seven are now living, namely: Sarah 
 Ann, wife of Edward E. Haller, whose 
 sketch appears elsewhere in this work; 
 William H., a farmer of I'orreston town- 
 ship; Hannah H,, wife of Frank Diehl, a 
 farmer of the same township; MelindaA., 
 at home; Daniel P., a student in the For- 
 reston school; Jacob C, at home; Edith 
 E., who died at the age of si.K years; and 
 Lucien G. , who is attending the home 
 school. 
 
 Mr. Meyers manifested his patriotism 
 and loyalty to country during the Civil war 
 by enlisting at Di.xon, in February, 1864, in 
 Company F, Fifteenth Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry, and entered the service as corporal. 
 With the .Army of the Cumberland, the reg- 
 iment participated in many skirmishes, and 
 later joined General Sherman's command at 
 Morehead City, and with him marched to 
 the sea. They Look part in the grand re- 
 view at Washington, District of Columbia, 
 then went to Louisville, Iventucky, Leaven- 
 worth, Kansas, and later to Smoky Hill, 
 and were finally discharged at Leavenworth 
 
m6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in August, 1865. Mr. Meyers first united 
 in Oregon Post, but is now a member of the 
 Grand Army Post at Forreston. He cast 
 his first presidential vote for General Win- 
 field Scott, the Whig candidate, but since 
 the organization of the Republican party in 
 1856, he has fought under its banner. He 
 has been honored with various official posi- 
 tions, serving as highway commissioner over 
 fifteen years, township treasurer twelve 
 years, and school director twenty-two years, 
 being president of the board most of the 
 time. He was made a Mason in Pennsyl- 
 vania, and is now a member of Mt. Alorris 
 Lodge, F. & A. M. At the age of fourteen 
 years he joined the Reformed church, and is 
 now a member of the church of that denom- 
 ination at Forreston, while his wife holds 
 membership in the English Lutheran 
 church. Upright and honorable in all the 
 relations of life, he has the esteem and con- 
 fidence of all who know him and this brief 
 sketch of his life will be read with interest 
 by his many friends in Ogle county. 
 
 GEORC.i: WI.NDLF,, a thoroughly pro- 
 gressive farmer and stock raiser, resid- 
 ing on section 15, Mt. Morris township, was 
 born in Shenandoah county, Virginia, No- 
 vember 18, 1841, and is the son of W'illiain 
 and Mary (Kretsinger) Windle, the former 
 a native of the same county and state, born 
 in 1807, and the latter in 1806. His father 
 was the son of George Windle, a wagon 
 manufacturer, also a native of Shenandoah 
 county, Virginia. His father, the great- 
 grandfather of our subject, was a native of 
 Germany, who emigrated to this country, 
 located in the Shenandoah valley, and there 
 spent the remainder of his life. George 
 
 Windle died at the age of eighty-nine years 
 in Shenandoah county. He was the father 
 of nine children — ^^'illiam, Samuel, Joseph, 
 Amos, Richard, Branson, George, Eliza- 
 beth and Margaret. 
 
 William Windle received his education 
 in the common schools of his native county, 
 and after leaving school took his regular 
 place upon his father's farm and assisted in 
 its cultivation. Later he became the pos- 
 sessor of a farm known as the " Cedar Creek 
 farm," which he continued to cultivate un- 
 til his removal to Ogle county in 1855. On 
 coming to this county he rented land for 
 about nine j'ears, and in 1864 purchased 
 two hundred acres of Mrs. Hess, in Pine 
 Creek township, and there resided until his 
 death in 1879. To William and Mary Win- 
 dle ten children were born, all of whom are 
 yet living — John, Cornelius, Lydia, Maggie, 
 George, William, Joseph, L. W., Jackson 
 and Isaiah. The father died in July, 1879, 
 and the mother in 1875. They were both 
 members of the Lutheran church. In poli- 
 tics he was a Jacksonian Democrat. 
 
 In his native state the subject of this 
 sketch began his education in the common 
 schools, attending during the winter terms. 
 He accompanied the family to Ogle county, 
 arriving here at the age of fourteen years. 
 Here he also attended the district schools 
 during the winter and in the summer giving 
 iiis entire time to his father in the cultiva- 
 tion of the farm. After attaining his ma- 
 jority, he entered Rock River Seminary, 
 which he attended three terms, closing his 
 school life in that institution. At the age 
 of eighteen years he commenced to learn 
 the carpenter's trade under Isaiah Speaker, 
 and served an apprenticeship of two years. 
 He then worked at the trade as a journey- 
 man until 186C. In 1863, in company with 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 117 
 
 twelve others, he started from Mt. Morris 
 for Pike's Peak, Colorado, going overland 
 with a team, being thirty days cii route 
 Arriving at Denver, he commenced work at 
 his trade and continued there about ten 
 months. He then concluded to return home, 
 and started back with a mule team. Arriv- 
 ing at the Missouri river, he took the stage 
 for State Center, Iowa, and from the latter 
 place he came as far as Polo by railroad, 
 and from there to his home in Mt. Morris 
 township in a buggy. During the winter of 
 1865-6 he taught school in Mt. Morris town- 
 ship, and in the fall of 1866 he purchased 
 eighty acres of Mrs. Annie Rine, and to that 
 farm he removed and there lived until 1872, 
 when he went into the mercantile business 
 at Mt. Morris, in which he continued two 
 years. He then traded his stock of goods 
 and his eighty-acre farm for his present 
 farm of two hundred and forty acres, on 
 which he has since continued to live. 
 
 On the 20th of September, 18G5, Mr. 
 Windle was united in marriage with Miss 
 Mary E. Sprecher, born in Ogle county, 
 Illinois, June 6, 1843, snd the daughter of 
 Philip and Catherine (Houk) Sprecher, 
 natives of Washington county, Maryland. 
 Her father was a farmer by occupation, and 
 came by teams to Ogle county, Illinois, in 
 1839, settling on section 25, Mt. Morris 
 township, where he purchased three hun- 
 dred and sixty acres of land, to which he 
 later added one hundred and sixty acres, 
 giving him a valuable farm of five hundred 
 and twenty acres. Philip and Catherine 
 Sprecher were the parents of eleven chil- 
 dren, five of whom died in early childhood, 
 the remainder reaching years of maturity — 
 Daniel, George, John, Adasale, Ann and 
 Mary E. Both parents are now deceased. 
 In politics he was a Democrat. Both were 
 
 reared in the Lutheran faith, but later 
 united with the Advent church. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Windle six children 
 have been born; Charles Elmer died Au- 
 gust 24, 1881, his death resulting from an 
 accident, being injured by a traction engine, 
 and only living thirty-six hours after the ac- 
 cident occurred. Mary Catherine married 
 J. H. Harnly, of Auburn, Illinois, and they 
 are now living in Eldora, Iowa, where both 
 are employed as teachers in the Industrial 
 school; Addie married Prof. Ira R. Hend- 
 rickson, by whom she had two children, 
 one, Ruth Mary, now living. He is engaged 
 in teaching in Lamar, Missiouri; Orpha 
 Irene is teaching in Mt. Morris township; 
 William, teaching in Mt. Morris township; 
 Philip W. is living at home; Thurlow died 
 at the age of sixteen days. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Windle have adopted a little boy, taking, 
 when but five months old, Clifford Neff 
 Windle. They have also made a home for 
 a young miss from Chicago, Clara Fallask- 
 son, thirteen years old. These deeds speak 
 well for the kindly disposition of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Windle. 
 
 In politics Mr. Windle is a Democrat, 
 and as a member of the Democratic party 
 he has taken an active interest in its well 
 being, attending the various local conven- 
 tions and giving of his time to advance the 
 cause. He has served as a delegate to the 
 state convention of his party, and is now 
 serving as a member of the congressional 
 committee. Interested in educational af- 
 fairs, he served for twelve years as a mem- 
 ber of the school board. Religiously he is 
 identified with the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, being one of the trustees. He takes 
 an active interest in the work of the church, 
 and does his full duty in maintaining its 
 services. 
 
n8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 In his business relations Mr. Windle has 
 been quite successful, and in addition to 
 the home farm he owns one hundred and 
 seven acres southwest of Mt. Morris, and 
 also three hundred and twenty acres in 
 Buena \'ista county, Iowa. His farm is 
 well stocked and is kept in excellent condi- 
 tion and under a high state of cultivation. 
 In 1 8/6 he set out a large number of shade and 
 ornamental trees which add to the attractive 
 appearance of the place. His dwelling 
 house has been remodeled, making it a fine 
 country residence. In stock he is making 
 a specialty of Durham short-horn cattle, 
 Chester white hogs and Norman horses. 
 In addition to his farm work, he is agent 
 for the Aultman & Taylor Company, and 
 the Rumely Company, manufacturers of 
 steam engines and threshers, and is also 
 dealing to some extent in real estate. He 
 is a very busy man, very industrious, and it 
 is no wonder that success has crowned his 
 efforts. While he is not numbered among 
 those who claim to be pioneers, he has yet 
 resided in Ogle county for about forty-four 
 years, and it is but just to say that in that 
 time he has done what he could to advance 
 the business and commercial interests of the 
 county, and is deserving of the high honor 
 and respect in which he is held. 
 
 JOHN L. SMITH, one of the honored 
 pioneers and highly esteemed citizens 
 of Ogle county, who now makes his home in 
 Leaf River, was born at Sharpsburg, W'ash- 
 ingt<jn county, Maryland, April 2, 1832, 
 and is a son of Abram Smith, who spent 
 his entire life there. Qur subject, with his 
 mother and maternal grandfather, came to 
 Ogle county, Illinois, in 1839, and here he 
 grew to manhood amid scenes common to 
 
 frontier life, early becoming familiar with 
 every department of farm work. When 
 quite young he began to earn his own liveli- 
 hood and the success that he has achieved 
 is due entirely to his own unaided efforts. 
 
 On the 3d of October, 1854, Mr. Smith 
 was united in marriage with Miss Susan A. 
 Myers, a native of Washington county, 
 Maryland, and a daughter of Jacob Myers, 
 who came to this county in 1837, entered 
 government land and developed a farm, on 
 which he died in 1876. Here Mrs. Smith 
 was reared as one of a large family of chil- 
 dren. Five children were born to our sub- 
 ject and his wife, namely: Mary E., who 
 died at the age of four 3'ears; Harriet C. , 
 wife of John Palmer, a farmer of Ogle 
 county; Lydia H., wife of Jacob Palmer, 
 also a substantial farmer of Leaf River 
 township; and Elmer G. and Jacob M., who 
 assist their father in carrying on the home 
 farm. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Smith operated 
 the Myers homestead for six years and then 
 made his first purchase of land, consisting 
 of one hundred and twenty-seven and a 
 half acres in Leaf River township, which he 
 soon transformed into a fine farm, placing 
 the land under a high state of cultivation 
 and erecting thereon good and substantial 
 buildings that stand as monuments to his 
 thrift and enterprise. As his financial 
 resources increased, he added to the original 
 purchase until he has three hundred and 
 twenty acres all in one body, and he has 
 also bought one hundred and twenty acres 
 of the Myers homestead. All the property 
 is well improved and quite valuable. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Smith commenced their married 
 life in limited circumstances, but prosperity 
 has crowned their combined efforts and 
 they are now numbered among the sub- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 iiy 
 
 stantial and well-to-do citizens of the com- 
 munity. Besides their farm propertj' they 
 own a good home in Leaf River, where 
 they are now living retired, surrounded by 
 all of the comforts and many of the luxuries 
 of life. They and their family hold mem- 
 bership in the Christian church at that place 
 and are held in high regard by all who have 
 witnessed their successful struggle with ad- 
 versity. In his political views Mr. Smith 
 is a pronounced Republican, but has never 
 cared for of^cial honors, preferring to give 
 his undivided attention to his business in- 
 terests. He takes considerable interest in 
 educational affairs, and for twelve years 
 most acceptably served as township trustee. 
 For almost sixty years he has watched with 
 interest the growth and development of this 
 region, and has been no unimportant factor 
 in its upbuilding and prosperity. 
 
 AMOS F. MOORE, who resides on sec- 
 tion 34, Woosung township, is not only 
 a prominent agriculturist, but is an up-to- 
 date business man and stock raiser, with a 
 reputation which is confined not alone to 
 the state of Illinois, but he is well and fav- 
 orably known in almost every part of the 
 country, especially where the people are in- 
 terested in fine thoroughbred horses. He 
 was born March ii, 1832, in Ackworth, 
 Sullivan county, New Hampshire, and is 
 the son of John and Mehitable (Foster) 
 Moore, the former born December 31, 1795, 
 in Petersborough, New Hampshire, and the 
 latter October 9, 1798, in Hillsborough, 
 New Hampshire. 
 
 John Moore was the son of Samuel and 
 Jennie (Thompson) Moore, also natives of 
 New Hampshire. Samuel Moore was the 
 son of Deacon Samuel Moore, who moved 
 
 from Londonderry, New Hampshire, to 
 Petersborough, in the same state, in 175 1. 
 The ancestor of Deacon Samuel Moore was 
 John Moore, who was murdered February 
 I, 1692, in the massacre of Glencoe. His 
 wife escaped and that night a boy baby was 
 born, John Moore, who moved to London- 
 derry, New Hampshire, in 17 18, and who is 
 the progenitor of the Moores in America. 
 This John Moore married Janet Cochrane, 
 and to them were born seven children, of 
 whom Deacon Samuel Moore was second 
 in order of birth. Deacon Samuel Moore 
 married Margaret Morrison, and they be- 
 came the parents of six children, of whom 
 Samuel, the grandfather of our subject, was 
 third in order of birth. Samuel Moore 
 served in the Revolutionary war, and was 
 mustered in at the time of the alarm at 
 Lexington, April 19, 1775. He also served 
 in the war of 1812. He married Jennie 
 Thompson, July 24, 1784, and by this mar- 
 riage were eleven children, of whom John 
 Moore, the father of our subject, was the 
 sixth. Samuel Moore died February 5, 
 1844, at the age of eighty-seven years. He 
 was a farmer by occupation, a very stoutly 
 built and robust man, and our subject well 
 remembers him breaking a colt when well 
 past eighty years old. 
 
 John Moore grew to manhood in New 
 Hampshire, and was a mechanic and farm- 
 er. In the winter he engaged in the manu- 
 facture of spinning wheels and reels, and in 
 the summer engaged in farm work. He 
 was united in marriage with Mehitable 
 Foster, on the 13th of April, 1824. She 
 was a daughter of Aaron and Mehitable 
 (Nichols) Foster, who were the parents of 
 ten children, eight sons and two daughters. 
 One of their sons, Rev. Aaron Fos- 
 ter, was a minister and was the father 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of the Home Missionary Society, hav- 
 ing given public utterance to the first words 
 spoken in favor of the enterprise. Another 
 son, Lieutenant Amos Foster, was stationed 
 at Fort Dearborn, Chicago, for a few years. 
 He purchased twenty-five lots on the sec- 
 tion where the depot of the Chicago & 
 Northwestern railway is now located, and 
 located there in the 'twenties. He was 
 killed in 1832, at Fort Howard, Green Bay, 
 Michigan, by an insubordinate soldier, whom 
 he had ordered under arrest. Another son. 
 Dr. John H. Foster, later removed to Chi- 
 cago, where he looked after his deceased 
 brother's property. He also became inter- 
 ested in Chicago real estate, purchasing 
 what is now known as Lincoln Park, for 
 which he paid thirty-five dollars per acre. 
 In after years his heirs sold portions of it 
 for twenty thousand dollars an acre for 
 park purposes. Our subject built the first 
 fence put up in that vicinity, while he was 
 living with the Doctor. The Doctor died in 
 1874, leaving an estate estimated at several 
 million dollars. Another one of the sons, 
 Sewell Foster, founded the town of Musca- 
 tine, Iowa. He was a prominent horticult- 
 uralist, and was the father of the Agricult- 
 ural College at Ames, Iowa. To John 
 Moore and wife six children were born, two 
 of whom died in infancy. Of those who 
 lived, Philenia is living in Malone, New 
 York; J. Leavitt is living in Polo, Illinois; 
 Amos F. is our subject; and Sarah E. is 
 living in Seattle, Washington. John Moore 
 died in Ackworth, New Hampshire, August 
 II, 1834. His wife survived him fifty-two 
 years, dying at the age of eighty-eight years. 
 Amos F. Moore received his primary 
 education in the schools of Malone, New 
 York, but his real education was received in 
 the school of experience, or "hard knocks," 
 
 as he expresses it. He began to work for 
 himself at a very early age. When eleven 
 years old he was put out to work for neigh- 
 boring farmers, and when fifteen years old 
 he came west to Chicago, where his uncle. 
 Dr. John Foster, was then living. He as- 
 sisted his uncle for a time in collecting his 
 rents, and in various ways. In 1849 he 
 unloaded the first rail from the vessel to be 
 used in the construction of the Galena Union 
 railroad, his uncle being a director in the 
 company. In that same year, when out 
 horseback riding, he was favorably impressed 
 with the land, and his uncle purchased him 
 a farm, which comprises now the city of 
 Evanston, for which he paid fifteen hundred 
 dollars. Having an attack of the ague, Mr. 
 Moore returned east in the fall of 1849, and 
 the next year his uncle wrote him that a 
 lot of fanatics wanted to buy the farm for 
 twenty-five thousand dollars. He sold the 
 land, but now thinks that instead of being 
 fanatics, those desiring to purchase were 
 very far-seeing men. 
 
 In the latter part of 1851, Mr. Moore 
 returned to Chicago, where he engaged in 
 the foundry business, having built the larg- 
 est foundry in the city. In 1853 he came 
 to Ogle county and purchased land, but 
 continued in business in Chicago until 1856, 
 when he took up his permanent residence 
 in the county. On the 6th of October, 
 1856, he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Marcia A. Cutts, who was born November 
 13, 1838, in York county, Maine, and 
 daughter of Captain Hiram and Eunice 
 (Brown) Cutts, the former a native of Ports- 
 mouth, New Hampshire, born in 
 
 and the latter a native of the same city, 
 born February 4, 1802. Captain Hiram 
 Cutts was the son of Thomas Donald Cutts, 
 who was probably a merchant in Ports- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 mouth. Hiram Cutts followed the sea for 
 many years, in the merchant service, trad- 
 ing all over the world. In his family were 
 nine children, — Joseph B., Alzira, Hiram, 
 Thomas, Emily, Harriet, Elizabeth, Mar- 
 cia and George. In politics he was an old- 
 line Whig. In September, 1S46, with his 
 wife and family, he came to Ogle county, 
 and located on a farm in Buffalo township, 
 where the city of Polo is now located. For 
 the erection of his house, barns and fences, 
 he hauled all the lumber from Chicago. He 
 died on his farm April 5, 1850, at the age 
 of fifty-two years. His wife survived him, 
 and died November 28, 1884. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Moore seven children 
 have been born: John died at the age of 
 four months; Albert C. is a graduate of the 
 State University, Champaign, and is now in 
 the employ of the Oregon Short Line rail- 
 road. He is the owner of several ranches 
 in that state. A. Foster is a practicing 
 physician and surgeon, of Dixon, Illinois. 
 George H. is now attending the University 
 of Wisconsin, at Madison. Fred L. is at 
 home. Stata M. is also at home, and is 
 her father's stenographer. Frank is attend- 
 ing the high school in Polo. 
 
 Mr. Moore erected his dwelling house 
 upon his farm in 1856, but did not com- 
 mence active farming operations until the 
 spring of 1857. To his original purchase 
 of one hundred and twenty acres, he has 
 added from time to time until his home 
 farm now comprises si.x hundred acres of 
 fine land, which is kept under the highest 
 state of cultivation. Before moving to his 
 farm, in 1856, he planted a large apple 
 orchard, and has since been adding to it un- 
 til it is now one of the largest in the north- 
 ern part of the state. In i860 he made an 
 artificial pond on his farm, the water from 
 
 which he used for stock purposes until wind 
 mills came into general use, since which 
 time it has been used as a skating pond. 
 
 In 1S65 Mr. Moore purchased three 
 Morgan horses of pure blood and has since 
 been engaged in breeding the same. He is 
 now the largest breeder of that stock in the 
 United States, and has continually upon his 
 place more than sixty head of thorough- 
 breds. During the World's Fair in Chi- 
 cago, there was formed a National Morgan 
 Horse Breeders' Association, and he be- 
 came one of its charter members. He is 
 now president of the state of Illinois Asso- 
 ciation of Breeders of Morgan Horses. In 
 everything calculated to advance the inter- 
 ests of the farming community he takes a 
 lively and commendable interest. In 1892 
 he became a member of the Farmers' In- 
 stitute, and in 1893 was appointed di- 
 rector in the same, a position which 
 he still holds. In 1897 he was elected 
 president of the Institute and is still fill- 
 ing that position. He is also a member of 
 the executive committee of the Pure Food 
 Association of the state of Illinois, and is a 
 member of the executive committee of the 
 Stock Breeders' Association of Illinois. 
 
 In politics Mr. Moore is an earnest and 
 stanch Republican, and has been identified 
 with the party since its organization. Be- 
 fore the division of the township he was su- 
 pervisor of Buffalo township one term. He 
 has also served as road commissioner for 
 fifteen years, and been president of the 
 board of school trustees of township 23, 
 range 8, for the same length of time. For 
 three years he was a member of the board 
 of commissioners from Woosung township. 
 He was the man that made the test case 
 and carried it to the supreme court, to as- 
 certain whether the Illinois Central railroad 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 could take land when and where it pleased. 
 In all that he did the rights of the people 
 were always in view, and it is a pleasure to 
 him to think that he has secured their 
 rights at times when they might have been 
 irrevocably lost. He is a man of the peo- 
 ple, and believes the people have rights 
 which corporations are bound to respect. 
 While not a politician in the common ac- 
 ceptation of the term, he has on more than 
 one occasion made his influence felt 
 with politicians. In the winter of 1898-9 
 1898-9 he assisted in securing an appropri- 
 ation of one hundred thousand dollars to- 
 ward the formation of a new agricultural 
 college to be located somewhere in the mil- 
 itary tract. His ideas on the subject were 
 such as to command the respect of the 
 members of the assembly, resulting in the 
 appropriation as stated. As president of 
 the Farmers' Institute he has given the 
 subject of agricultural instruction much 
 thought, and he can clearly express what 
 he thinks. As a citizen of Ogle county he 
 at all times has its best interest at heart, 
 and freely gives of his time and means to 
 advance its interests. To such men great 
 credit is due for the proud position which 
 the county occupies among the one hun- 
 dred and two counties of the state. 
 
 JOSHUA THOMAS.— Among the pio- 
 neer settlers of Ogle county tljis gentle- 
 man is especially worthy of notice in a work 
 of this kind for he was prominently identi- 
 fied with the development and prosperity of 
 this section of the state for many years, and 
 being possessed of a rare amount of energy, 
 proved a valued member of the young and 
 rapidly growing community. 
 
 Mr. Thomas was born in Washington 
 
 county, Maryland, March 8, 181 1, a son of 
 Henry and Catherine (Schecter) Thomas. 
 In their family were eleven children, whose 
 names and dates of birth are as follows: 
 Susanna, February 19, 1809; Joshua, March 
 8, 181 1 ; Elias, January 27, 1813; Ezra, 
 July 21, 1815; Ruanna, March 23, 1817; 
 Abraham, April 17, 1819; Lydia, March 12, 
 1821; Julian, June 4, 1823; Samuel, August 
 26, 1825; Elizabeth, February 10, 1827; 
 and Wilhelmina, February 27, 1829. 
 
 In the county of his nativity, Joshua 
 Thomas grew to manhood, receiving a com- 
 mon-school education and obtaining an ex- 
 cellent knowledge of every department of 
 farm work. There he was first married, 
 February 7, 1833, to Miss Salina Landis, 
 who was born March 7, 1S12, and they be- 
 came the parents of the following children: 
 Permelia Margaret, born November 30, 
 1833; Mary Catherine, October 24, 1836; 
 Henry L. , October 24, 1838; William How- 
 ard, June 19, 1842, died October 28, 1843; 
 Jacob Oscar, born March 3, 1845, died Oc- 
 tober 21, 1845; Lewis Ferdinand, born 
 September 25, 1S46; and John Edwin, born 
 January 23, 1849. The wife and mother 
 was called to her final rest September 22, 
 1854, at the age of forty-two years, six 
 months and fifteen days. 
 
 For his second wife, Mr. Thomas mar- 
 ried Susan Felker, who was born in Wash- 
 ington county, Maryland, August 11, 1832, 
 a daughter of Abraham and Susan (Win- 
 gert) Felker. Her father was born in 
 Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 1802, 
 and was a son of John Felker, a native of 
 Germany, who came to America at the age 
 of twelve years and was bound out to pay his 
 passage. He was a tanner by trade, but 
 most of his life was devoted to farming, 
 his home being in Franklin county, Penn- 
 
JOSHUA THOMAS. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1^5 
 
 sylvania. He became a loyal and devoted 
 citizen of his adopted country and as a sol- 
 dier took an active part in the Revolution- 
 ary war and the war of 1812. In Lancas- 
 ter county, Pennsylvania, he married Cath- 
 erine Wilt, and to them were born five 
 children: Barbara, Catherine, Abraham, 
 Henry and Elizabeth. John Felker was a 
 self-made man in every sense of the word 
 and in business affairs was remarkably suc- 
 cessful, giving all his children one hundred 
 and sixty acres of land before his death. 
 Ai one time he traveled from Franklin 
 county, Pennsylvania, to Washington coun- 
 ty, Maryland, where he purchased between 
 twelve and fifteen hundred acres of land, 
 carrying the money in silver and gold in the 
 pockets of his saddle, and was unmolested. 
 In addition to his landed property, he also 
 owned many slaves. He died suddenly of 
 cholera morbus and his wife survived him 
 less than a year. During his youth Abra- 
 ham Felker. father of Mrs. Thomas, re- 
 moved with his family to Maryland, and in 
 the subscription schools of that state ob- 
 tained his education, and when not in school 
 aided his father on the farm. At the age 
 of twenty-one he married Susan Wingert, 
 by whom he had two children: Catherine, 
 widow of F. M. Tice, of Mt. Morris, lUi- 
 inois; and Susan, wife of our subject. The 
 mother of these children died August 16, 
 1832, when Mrs. Thomas was only five days 
 old. In 1833, the father married Catherine 
 Wingert, a sister of his first wife, and a 
 daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Binkley) 
 Wingert, farming people, in whose family 
 were eleven children; John, Henry, Han- 
 nah, Susan, Elizabeth, Catherine, Jacob, 
 Joseph, David, Adam and Daniel. Mr. 
 Wingert died near Greencastle, Pennsyl- 
 vania, about i860, having visited Mrs. 
 
 Thomas a short time before his death. Mr. 
 Felker had eleven children by his second 
 marriage, namely: Sarah married Theo- 
 dore Hewitt, of Washington county, Mary- 
 land, and after his death wedded Henry 
 Sharer, a retired merchant, by whom she 
 had one child, Charles H. Her death oc- 
 curred in 1892. Hiram married Sabina 
 Sprong and lives in Kansas City, Missouri. 
 David married Delilah Taylor and lives in 
 Nebraska. John B., a prominent physician 
 of Amboy, Illinois, married Jennie Miller, of 
 Pennsylvania, and died in 188S, Samuel 
 died at the age of four years. Willoughby 
 married Alice Buterbaugh and lives in Leaf 
 River township. Ogle county. Mary Ellen 
 is the wife of Henry Thomas, a sketch of 
 whom appears elsewhere in this volume. 
 Noble F. married Alice Fox and is engaged 
 in the practice of medicine in Amboy, Illi- 
 nois. Jennie is the wife of J. O. Thomas, 
 of Mt. Morris township. Ogle county. Alice 
 Louisa is the wife of Almon King, and lives 
 in Redwood, Minnesota. Hannah Joseph- 
 ine died at the age of fourteen years. The 
 mother of these children died in 18S0 
 
 The children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Thomas are as follows: Ettie, born August 
 17, 1863, died at the age of fourteen months, 
 being scalded to death by pulling over a cup 
 of coffee on her face and breast. Robert 
 Lee, born August 3, 186';, married May Mc- 
 Guffin and has two children: Joshua Sam- 
 uel, born September 27, 1893, and Ralph 
 L. , born August 17, 1896. He and his 
 brother, Frank Felker, born May 12, 1867, 
 carry on the home farm for their mother. 
 Olin Madison, born October 27, 1872, was 
 paralyzed at the age of four years by being 
 given the wrong medicine, the druggist hav- 
 ing made a mistake in the prescription. At 
 the age of twelve he received another stroke 
 
126 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and at sixteen could not speak for a time. 
 The youngest child died in infancy. 
 
 In 1840, Mr. Thomas brought his family 
 to Ogle county, Illinois, where the fall pre- 
 vious he had purchased a tract of govern- 
 ment land, and here amid pioneer scenes he 
 began life anew, carrying on operations as 
 an agriculturist until his death, which oc- 
 curred March 18, 1884. In 1850 he went 
 to California and spent two years in the 
 gold fields of that state, meeting with fair 
 success. He was one of the leading and 
 prominent citizens of his community, was 
 an ardent supporter of the Democratic party, 
 and was held in high regard by all who had 
 the pleasure of his acquaintance. He was 
 a director of the Ogle County Agricultural 
 Society for seven years, and served as its 
 president for a time. He was also officially 
 connected with the schools of his district 
 and in all the relations of life was found 
 true and faithful to every trust reposed in 
 him. 
 
 On the 1st of May, 1898, a cyclone 
 struck the Thomas farm, tearing down the 
 barn, but did not injure any of the horses. 
 It also took the roof off the house and Mrs. 
 Thomas was unaware of what had occurred 
 until she looked out and saw the storm dis- 
 appearing. The farm consists of two hun- 
 dred and fifty acres of valuable land under 
 a high state of cultivation, and is most capa- 
 bly managed by the sons. Mrs. Thomas, 
 who is a most estimable lady, is 'a member 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a 
 sincere and earnest Christian, beloved by 
 all who know her. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON CARR, one 
 of the foremost and enterprising agri- 
 culturists of Rockvale township, is a native 
 
 of Pennsylvania, being born in Fulton 
 county, February 10, 1849. He is the son 
 of George \V. and Margaret (McLean) Carr, 
 natives of Center and Huntington counties, 
 respectively. The former was born in 
 September, 1819, and the latter in 1823. 
 Mr. Carr was a farmer in Center county, 
 where he resided until his twenty-third 
 year, when he removed to Fulton county, 
 where he was united in marriage to the 
 mother of our subject. In 1884 Mr. and 
 Mrs. Carr moved to Ogle county, but being 
 dissatisfied with the country, they went still 
 further west to Wichita county, Kansas, 
 where Mr. Carr purchased three hundred 
 acres. Ten children have blessed this mar- 
 riage. James married Elizabeth Row, who 
 died in 1876. He afterward married Katie 
 Angel, and they reside in Ogle county; El- 
 len is the wife of James Stevens. Their 
 home is in Mt. Morris township; George 
 W. is the third child; Erven married Sadie 
 Angel, a sister of Mrs. James Carr; W'ill- 
 iam died at the age of thirty, of brain fever, 
 the result of typhoid pneumonia. He was 
 unmarried; McClure resides in Wichita 
 county, Kansas; Mary died when si.\ years 
 of age, of diphtheria; Silvester, the eighth 
 child, died when eighteen months old; E. 
 D. is foreman of an electric car line in 
 Omaha, Nebraska, and the j'oungest child, 
 Amanda, is the wife of Furd Avey. Mr. 
 Carr died July 18, 1898, and his wife is re- 
 siding with Mrs. Avey. 
 
 Our subject bent all his energies toward 
 a good education, and helped his father un- 
 til his twentieth year, when having finished 
 his schooling, he farmed with his father for 
 two years, and then came west and settled 
 in Ogle county. He rented eighty acres in 
 Mt. Morris township for a term of three 
 years, and then rented the farm of the Rev- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 erend Robert Hitt, also for three years. 
 After the expiration of this lease, he re- 
 rented the land in Mt. Morris township for 
 a period of four years, which place he left 
 for his present property in Rockvale, giving 
 in part payment eighty acres in Mt. Morris 
 township. 
 
 Mr. Carr's first wife was Miss Ella 
 Moats, who was born in Ogle county, and 
 who was the daughter of Daniel and Mar- 
 garet Moats. By her he had three chil- 
 dren: Margaret, born February 17, 1877, 
 died in infancy. Albert, born April 27, 
 1878, is living with his maternal grandfa- 
 ther. He receiveTl his earlier schooling at 
 the district school, and is now attending the 
 normal school at Valparaiso, Indiana, 
 where he is taking a commercial course, and 
 where he expects to remain for the next 
 two years. In the summer he assists his 
 father about the home farm. Maudie, born 
 March 4, 18S2, died June 3, 1S82, at the 
 age of three months. The mother of this 
 familj' died January 17, 1884, of consump- 
 tion, in her twenty-eighth year. She was a 
 highly respected member of the German 
 Baptist church. 
 
 February 8, 18S7, Mr. Carr married 
 Miss Martha Alexander, who was born in 
 Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, Septem- 
 ber 19, 1867. She was the daughter of 
 Randall Alexander, a farmer of Huntingdon 
 county, and his wife, Martha Kuntzman, 
 and was one of twelve children, namely: 
 George W., William, Colter, John, Mary, 
 Rosy, Katie, Rachel, Martha, Sadie, Mag- 
 gie and Rosa. To Mr. and Mrs. Carr have 
 been born two children, namely: Nora, 
 born April 9, 1886, and Herbert, born April 
 17, 1887. Both are attending the district 
 school. Our subject carries on, in addition 
 to general farming, the breeding of fancy 
 
 stock. He has at the present writing about 
 one hundred and fifty Berkshire pigs, sixty 
 head of Durham cattle, and fourteen head 
 of Norman draft horses, from which he fre- 
 quently sells at handsome prices to the 
 Chicago market. 
 
 Mr. Carr is a Republican in politics, and 
 stoutly upholds the party to which he be- 
 longs. He has served as school director for 
 several years with great credit to himself 
 and much benefit to the community. He 
 is a prominent and representative citizen of 
 Rockvale, and is held in high esteem by all 
 who know him. 
 
 JAMES H. JUDSON, M. D., who resides 
 upon a fine farm in section 14, Buffalo 
 township, has been a resident of Ogle coun- 
 ty a half century, coming here in May, 
 1848, in company with his parents. Bos- 
 well and Lois (Perkins) Judson. The fam- 
 ily trace their ancestry back to William Jud- 
 son, a native of England, who emigrated to 
 this country in 1634, settled in Massachu- 
 setts, and lived four years near Concord, and 
 then moved to Stratford, Connecticut. 
 Some of the family later returned to Mas- 
 sachusetts, and there Samuel Judson, the 
 grandfather of our subject, was born and 
 reared. His son,Roswell Judson, was born 
 in Massachusetts, October 6, 1795. He 
 grew to manhood in his native country and 
 then moved to Delaware county, New 
 York, where he married Lois Perkins, a na- 
 tive of that state. They lived for some 
 years on a farm in Delaware county, about 
 four miles from Delhi, but with that lauda- 
 ble desire to better himself, he determined 
 to make a home on the broad prairies of Illi- 
 nois. Accordingly, in 1848, he came to 
 Ogle county and entered a tract of three 
 
128 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 hundred and twenty acres of land in Buf- 
 falo township, where our subject now re- 
 sides. Erecting a good substantial dwelling, 
 he commenced to otherwise improve the 
 place, setting out an orchard, shade and 
 ornamental trees, and placing the land un- 
 der cultivation; in due time he had one of 
 the best farms in the county. On that 
 place he continued to reside until called 
 from this life. He died in 1883, his good 
 wife preceding him some nine years, having 
 died in 1874. Their remains were laid to 
 rest in the cemetery at Polo, where a neat 
 and substantial monument has been erected 
 to their memory. They were the parents 
 of three children, of whom our subject is 
 the youngest, the others being Emily M., 
 wife of Benjamin Pierce, of Franklin coun- 
 ty, Iowa, and Ann C. , wife of John Malone, 
 of Dane county, Wisconsin. 
 
 James H. Judson was born near Delhi, 
 Delaware county. New York, August 20, 
 1S39, and was but nine years of age when 
 he accompanied his parents to Ogle county, 
 which has since been his home. His edu- 
 cation was begun in the common schools of 
 his native state, and on his arrival here he 
 entered the public schools of Ogle county. 
 Later he entered Rock River Seminary, at 
 Mt. Morris, where his literary education 
 was completed. Commencing the stqdy of 
 medicine, in 1863 he entered Rush Medical 
 College, and finished his medical education 
 in the session of 1864 and 1865. Imme- 
 diately after taking the degree he enlisted 
 as a private in Company D, One Hundred 
 and Forty-second Illinois Volunteer Infant- 
 ry, for one hundred days. He was almost 
 immediately transferred to hospital duty 
 and made assistant surgeon, and as such 
 served during his term of enlistment. 
 
 Mustered out of service in October, 
 
 1864, Dr. Judson returned to his home and 
 commenced the practice of his profession 
 in connection with farming. For a number 
 of years he gave personal attention to every 
 detail of farm work, but finally rented the 
 place and gave more of his attention to 
 his practice. He still, however, looks after 
 his farming interests, and professionally 
 visits Polo every afternoon. His farm has 
 increased in area until he now owns over 
 four hundred acres of as fine land as there 
 is in Buffalo township. 
 
 Dr. Judson was married in Ogle county, 
 June 5, 1866, to Miss Margaret R. Myerly, 
 a native of Maryland, born near Baltimore, 
 and daughter of John Myerly, also a native 
 of Maryland, who came to Ogle county in 
 1844 and engaged in farming. He later 
 moved to Powesheik county, Iowa, where 
 his last days were spent. To Dr. and Mrs. 
 Judson four children have been born. Frank 
 E. now resides in Hancock county, Iowa, 
 where he is engaged in farming in connec- 
 tion with the practice of veterinary surgery. 
 Emma L. is the wife of Charles Hildebrand, 
 a farmer of Buffalo township. George D. 
 is a veterinary surgeon, residing in Polo. 
 He was a soldier in the Spanish-American 
 war, being a member of Company D, Sixth 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He was de- 
 tailed as brigade veterinary surgeon, and as 
 such served until the close of the war, be- 
 ing with his regiment in Porto Rico. When 
 the war ended and he received his discharge 
 he resumed the practice of his profession at 
 Polo. Grace L. , the remaining member of 
 the family, resides at home. 
 
 Politically Dr. Judson is a stanch Re- 
 publican. His first experience was in the 
 exciting campaign of i860, resulting in the 
 election of Abraham Lincoln, and followed 
 by the Civil war. His ballot has ever since 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 129 
 
 been cast for the presidential nominees of 
 his party. While he is strong in the advo- 
 cacy of the principles of his party, he has 
 never been an office seeker, although he has 
 served in some local official positions. He 
 has been a member of the board of super- 
 visors, held the office of road commissioner, 
 and for about twenty-five years was on the 
 school board, a part of which time he was 
 president of the district. He and his wife 
 are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church at Polo. F"raternally he is a mem- 
 ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
 lows at Polo, and also a member of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic at Polo, being 
 surgeon of the post. As a citizen he is pro- 
 gressive, ever ready to assist every worthy 
 object. Well known throughout the coun- 
 ty, he is held in the highest respect by all. 
 
 JACOB H. PRICE, who resides on sec- 
 tion 13, Buffalo township, is a well 
 known farmer and stock-raiser, and has the 
 reputation of being one of the best farmers 
 in the township, which is evident from the 
 neat appearance of his place. He is a na- 
 tive of Ogle county, and was born in Pine 
 Greek township, June 26, 1854. His father, 
 John W. Price, was born in Berkeley county. 
 West Virginia, in 1824. The family are of 
 Welch descent, and settled in Pennsylvania, 
 from which state John Price, the grand- 
 father of our subject, removed to Berkeley 
 county, West Virginia. After residing in 
 that county for some years, he removed 
 with his family to Ogle county, Illinois, and 
 took up a claim in Pine Creek township, 
 where he opened up a farm and spent the 
 last years of his life. 
 
 John W. Price came with his father to 
 Ogle county. He was then in his sixteenth 
 
 year, strong and active, and assisted in the 
 work of transforming the place from its na- 
 tive wilderness to a most productive farm. 
 His primary education was received in 
 the schools of his native state, but on 
 coming to this county he entered Rock River 
 Seminary at Mt. Morris, completing his 
 school life in that institution. He then en- 
 gaged in teaching and was therefore one of 
 the pioneer teachers in the county. He 
 married Nancy Rowland, a native of Jeffer- 
 son township. West Virginia, and a daugh- 
 ter of Henry Rowland, another one of the 
 early settlers of the county. Purchasing a 
 farm of two hundred acres in Pine Creek 
 township, he commenced its cultivation and 
 there reared his family. On reaching his 
 three score years and ten he was called to 
 his reward, his death occurring June 7, 
 1894. His wife survived him some two 
 years, passing away November S, 1895. 
 They were both devout members of the 
 German Baptist church and active work- 
 ers in the same. Their family comprised 
 eight children. Clara E. is now the wife 
 of O. B. Ringer, of Pine Creek township. 
 Jacob H. is second in order of birth. L. C. 
 is now a resident of Marshall county, Iowa. 
 Hattie E. is the wife of John Heckman, a 
 minister of the Brethren church, residing in 
 Buffalo township. Oliver L. is engaged in 
 the mercantile business in Oregon, Illinois. 
 Gussie is the wife of William Lampin, a 
 farmer of Pine Creek township. Collin C. 
 is also a farmer of Pine Creek township, and 
 a minister of the Brethren church. Henry 
 died when one year old. 
 
 On his father's farm in Pine Creek town- 
 ship, Jacob H. Price grew to manhood, and 
 in the district school of the neighborhood 
 received his education. He remained under 
 the parental roof until after he attained his 
 
t3o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 majority, assisting in the work of tlie home 
 farm. He then rented a farm and began 
 life for himself. A Httle later he purchased 
 one hundred acres of his present farm, 
 which was then partially improved, and at 
 once commenced its further improvement. 
 Subsequently he purchased sixty acres more, 
 giving him a fine farm of one hundred and 
 sixty acres. He has lately erected a large 
 and substantial residence with all the mod- 
 ern improvements, including furnace heat, 
 bath rooms, hot and cold water throughout 
 the house. It is one of the best country 
 residences in the county. His barn, gran- 
 aries, and other outbuildings are also of the 
 best, thus showing him to be a very practi- 
 cal man in all things, one who believes that 
 a farmer should enjoy some of the blessings 
 of this life as well as others. 
 
 Mr. Price was married in Ogle county, 
 February 24, 1881, to Miss Lillie M. Spick- 
 ler, a native of Washington county, Mary- 
 land, who came to Ogle county in infancy 
 with her parents. Her father, C. B. Spick- 
 ler, was also born in Washington county, 
 Maryland, in 1830. He was twice mar- 
 ried, his first wife dying in Maryland, leav- 
 ing one daughter, Maggie, now the wife of 
 Daniel Stauffer, a farmer of Pine Creek 
 township. He later married Miss Ellen 
 Newcomer, a native of Maryland, and Mrs. 
 Price is second in their family of four chil- 
 dren. The others are Emma, residing with 
 her parents; Henry, a minister in the Ger- 
 man Baptist church; and Eddie, a student 
 at Polo. To Mr. and Mrs. Price one daugh- 
 ter has been born — Rhoda Ellen, born 
 October 8, 1898. 
 
 Mr. Price was reared in the faith of the 
 German Baptist church, and has adhered to 
 its teachings, believing them to be in con- 
 formity with the sacred scriptures. He 
 
 holds membership with the church in Pine 
 Creek township, and has for some years 
 been a deacon in the same. His wife is also 
 a member of the same church. 
 
 In addition to general farming, Mr. Price 
 has made a specialty for some years of rais- 
 ing stock for the markets, annually feeding 
 and shipping from one to six car loads of 
 cattle and about three car loads of hogs. In 
 this branch of his business he has been quite 
 successful. 
 
 CHARLES HIRAM BETEBENNER, of 
 Oregon, Illinois, a descendant of one 
 of the old families of Ogle county, was 
 born in Pine Creek township, March 9, 
 1851, and is the son of Samuel and Re- 
 becca (^Strauss) Betebenner, and the grand- 
 son of John Betebenner, a native of Mary- 
 land of German ancestry. Samuel Bete- 
 benner was born December 15, 1805, in 
 Washington county, Maryland, where his 
 youth and early manhood were spent. He 
 was united in marriage September 15, 1831, 
 to Rebecca Strauss, of Hagerstown, Mary- 
 land. While reared to farm work, at the 
 age of twenty-two he apprenticed himself 
 to a plasterer, and in two years' time he had 
 become so proficient at the trade that he 
 was recognized as a journeyman. He had 
 learned to play the fife, and play it well, 
 and when General LaFayette visited this 
 country, in 1825, he had the high honor of 
 playing the fife at a reception given to the 
 noble French patriot when he passed 
 through Frederick City, Maryland. In 
 1 861, though too old to be admitted into 
 the army of the Union, yet he was young 
 enough to play the fife and its shrill notes 
 were heard at Polo, Illinois, when the 
 muster roll was open to help raise the P"if- 
 teenth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 In 1S42, having heard so much of the 
 beauty and richness of the Rock river coun- 
 try, Samuel Betebenner concluded to visit 
 it. He spent the summer in Ogle county, 
 and was so much pleased with the country 
 that he concluded to locate here and made 
 some preparations to that end, after which 
 he returned to Maryland. On the 15th of 
 May, 1844, with his wife and three children, 
 he started for his new home, making the jour- 
 ney overland with teams, being seven weeks 
 on the road. On the way they endured 
 many hardships, but were never discour- 
 aged. Arriving here Mr. Betebenner took 
 up a claim in Pine Creek township of three 
 hundred and twenty acres, which he im- 
 mediately began to improve. A part of 
 this tract he owned through life, selling the 
 remainder to his son John. In addition to 
 this tract, he later purchased forty acres in 
 Mt. Morris township. His trade was of 
 great assistance to him in the new country 
 and naturally aided him in supplying his 
 family wants and advancing his farm inter- 
 ests. Deer and other wild game were in 
 abundance when he began to build up a new 
 home and these luxuries were almost daily 
 served at his table. He was among the 
 workmen who plastered the first state house 
 at Springfield. What a record was his life, 
 connecting as it did two generations! His 
 youth was spent with the soldiers of the 
 Revolution and the compatriots of Wash- 
 ington, and his eyes greeted the great La- 
 Fayette, and the clear notes of his fife 
 resounded in his ears. He lived to see and 
 help build up a new civilization in the great 
 west and become one of its factors. He set 
 a noble e.xample to the rising generations, 
 and may they emulate his virtues. He de- 
 parted this life December 12, 1895, in his 
 ninetieth year, and the funeral services took 
 
 place at the opera-house in Oregon the fol- 
 lowing Sunday. 
 
 Rebecca (Strauss) Betebenner was the 
 daughter of Hiram and Christy A. (Glos- 
 brenner) Strauss, and was born in Hagers- 
 town, Maryland, July 4, 1808. Her father 
 was by profession a physician. Both of her 
 parents lived and died in Maryland. Sam- 
 uel and Rebecca Betebenner were the par- 
 ents of eight children. Thomas H. is a 
 farmer and land speculator residing in Car- 
 thage, Missouri. Robert V. resides in Cal 
 ifornia, where he is engaged in contracting 
 and building. Samuel G., a mason by 
 trade, resides in Polo, Illinois. Narcissa, 
 now the wife of Benjamin Hanna, is living 
 in Polo. Ella, wife of Abner Newcomer, is 
 living near Polo. John resides on the old 
 homestead. Eliza, who married Thomas 
 Emmert, now lives in Tarkio, Missouri. 
 The subject of this sketch completes the 
 family. Mrs. Rebecca Betebenner survives 
 her husband, and resides at Polo, Illinois, 
 patiently waiting the day when she, too, shall 
 be called up higher. 
 
 Charles H. Betebenner was reared on 
 the home farm, and in the home school re- 
 ceived his primary education. After spend- 
 ing some time in Rock River Seminary, he 
 entered Beloit College, where he spent two 
 seasons in study. Later he engaged in 
 merchandizing at Dysart, Iowa, for about 
 a year and a half, and then returned to 
 Oregon and clerked for Artz & Ray for four 
 years. He then engaged in the mail serv- 
 ice, running from Chicago to Dubuque, 
 Iowa. This took up about four years. 
 Later he was nominated on the Independ- 
 ent ticket for sheriff of Ogle county, and 
 was elected by twenty-six majority, running 
 against John Bailey, the regular Republican 
 nominee. This was one of the hottest ca^m- 
 
132 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 paigns in the history of Ogle county. After 
 his term of four years he engaged in tile 
 manufacturing and contracting, as a mem- 
 ber of the firm of Sammis & Co. 
 
 Mr. Betebenner was married March 20, 
 1879, at Polo, Illinois, to Miss Inez Sam- 
 mis, daughter of C. \\'. & Emily A. (Helm) 
 Sammis. She was born LaSalle, Illinois, 
 but came with her parents to Ogle county 
 when she was a child. Her parents were 
 natives of New York, coming to Illinois in 
 1841, locating at what was then known as 
 Buffalo Grove, LaSalle county. They had 
 si.\ children — Fred H., Inez, Grace, J. 
 Uriah, E. Payson and Stata. Grace mar- 
 ried Seward Woodruff, and they are living 
 in Oregon. Stata is the wife of A. F. 
 Matthews, of Chicago. Mr. and Mrs. Bet- 
 ebenner are the parents of three children — 
 E. Payson, Ruth W. and Charles Sammis. 
 E. Payson died in 1883. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Betebenner attend the 
 Presbyterian church. In politics he is a 
 Democrat. Fraternally he is a member 
 of the Masons and the Independent Or- 
 der of Odd Fellows. In 1898 he was ap- 
 pointed superintendent of the Ogle county 
 almshouse and is now in charge of that in- 
 stitution. 
 
 JAMES DONALDSON, an honored pio- 
 neer and highly respected citizen of 
 Ogle county, has resided here since May, 
 1839, and for many years was prominently 
 and actively identified with its agricultural 
 interests. He bore his part in the early 
 development and prosperity of this region, 
 but is now living retired upon his farm on 
 section 12, Eagle Point township, only 
 three miles northwest of Polo. 
 
 A native of New York, Mr. Donaldson 
 
 was born on the shores of Lake Champlain, 
 Washington county, January 4, 1821, and 
 is a son of William Donaldson, who was 
 born m Northumberland county, England, 
 May 5, 1795, of Scotch ancestry, and there 
 grew to manhood. There he was also 
 married to Miss Isabella McDonald, who 
 was born at Berwick on the Tweed, Eng- 
 land, of Scotch ancestry. Being reared on 
 a farm, the father early became familiar 
 with all the duties which fall to the lot of 
 the agriculturist, and engaged in farm work 
 in his native land until 1820, when he emi- 
 grated to America and first located in 
 Washington county. New York, where he 
 continued to engage in agricultural pursuits 
 for four years, during which time two of his 
 children were born. His next home was at 
 Little York, Ontario, Canada, and there he 
 engaged in his chosen occupation for fifteen 
 years. Coming to Ogle county, Illinois, in 
 1839, he bought a claim of three hundred 
 and twenty acres in what is now Eagle 
 Point township, forty acres of which had 
 been placed under cultivation and a log 
 house erected thereon. In that primitive 
 residence the family lived while the farm 
 was being developed and improved. Later 
 a good frame house was built, also a good barn 
 and outbuildings, and an orchard set out. 
 The father was one of the most enterprising 
 and successful early farmers, and having 
 prospered in his life work, he was at length 
 able to lay aside all business cares and 
 spend his last years in ease and retirement. 
 He sold the farm to his youngest son, and 
 ui)on a part of the place erected a residence 
 where he lived until called from this life in 
 March, 1870, at the age of seventy-five 
 years. His wife survived him for some 
 time, passing away in November, 1884, and 
 both were buried in Fairmont cemetery, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ^3?: 
 
 where a substantial monument marks their 
 last resting place. 
 
 In the family of this worthy couple were 
 nine children, four sons and five daughters, 
 all of whom reached years of maturity. 
 Walter, the eldest, was born in England 
 and spent his last days in Brookville town- 
 ship, Ogle county; James, our subject, is 
 the next in order of birth; John is now liv- 
 ing retired in Morengo, Illinois; Margaret is 
 the wife of John S. Miller, an old settler 
 and substantial farmer of Eagle Point town- 
 ship, Ogle county; Isabella is the wife of 
 Patterson Pringle, of Morengo; William 
 was a resident of Ogle county, but is now 
 deceased; Elizabeth is the wife of Eber 
 Smith, of Buffalo township, thiscounty;Jane 
 is the wife of Alexander Hawver, of Ded- 
 ham, Carroll county, Iowa; and Flora W. 
 is the wife of John Bruce, of Dedham, 
 Iowa. 
 
 James Donaldson, of this review, was 
 about eighteen years of age when he accom- 
 panied the family on their removal to Ogle 
 county, and he was of great assistance to 
 his father in opening up and developing 
 the farm from wild land. When his serv- 
 ices were not needed at home he would 
 work for others at farm labor. He and his 
 brother Walter were experts in the use of 
 the ax and in the groves of this region were 
 employed in getting out the timbers for 
 many of the houses and barns of the early 
 settlers. Until twenty-five years of age he 
 continued to aid in the operation of the 
 home farm and then located upon a one- 
 hundred-acre tract in Eagle Point township 
 which his father gave him. To its improve- 
 ment and cultivation he devoted his atten- 
 tion with most gratifying results and made 
 his home thereon for a quarter of a century, 
 during which time he bought more land ad- 
 
 joining, making a valuable tract of four 
 hundred and eighteen acres. Later he 
 built on the farm where he now resides and 
 now has one of the best improved farms of 
 the township. There is a large and sub- 
 stantial residence and good outbuildings. 
 Mr. Donaldson met with most excellent suc- 
 cess in his farming operations but for the 
 past ten years has lived retired, enjoying a 
 well earned rest. 
 
 On the 31st of May, 1848, was cele- 
 brated the marriage of Mr. Donaldson and 
 Miss Locada J. Seavey, who was born in 
 Sandwich, New Hampshire, January S, 
 1 83 1. Her father, Joshua Seavey, was a 
 native of Rye Beach, the same state, and 
 there grew to manhood and married Miss 
 Betsy Webster, a cousin of the great states- 
 man, Daniel Webster. In 1840 Mr. Seavey 
 came to Illinois and settled near Dixon, in 
 Lee county, where Mrs. Donaldson was 
 reared. To our subject and his wife were 
 born nine children, namely: Elizabeth 
 Isabel, who died at the age of sixteen years; 
 Mary Josephine, who died at the age of 
 fourteen; Walter Atwood, who died at the 
 age of fifteen; John James, who died at the 
 age of six; Alice, who married M. P. Strall 
 and lived in Iowa, where she died in Sep- 
 tember, 1891, leaving ten children; Emma 
 Frances, who married Zelus L. Shafer and 
 also lived in Iowa, where she died in Octo- 
 ber, 1 89 1, leaving an infant daughter, Emma 
 Frances, who now lives with our subject and 
 is attending the home school; William, who 
 is married, and he and his brother carry on 
 the home farm ; Gertie, wife of Nelson B. 
 Sweet, a farmer of Eagle Point township; 
 and Sherman B., who owns and operates a 
 farm in Buffalo township, this count)'. 
 There are now fourteen grandchildren and 
 two great-grandchildren. On the 31st of 
 
'34 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 May, 1898, Mr. and Mrs. Donaldson cele- 
 brated their golden wedding, at which time 
 all of their living children and grandchildren 
 in this vicinity were present, and a most 
 enjoyable time was passed. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Donaldson is a Jeffer- 
 sonian Democrat, having cast his first presi- 
 nential ballot for James K. Polk in 1844, 
 and for each succeeding candidate of his 
 party but two. In 1896 he supported 
 Palmer and Buckner on the gold Demo- 
 cratic ticket. He has never desired office, 
 preferring to give his attention to his own 
 interests. For sixty years he has been a 
 resident of Ogle county and has watched 
 with interest almost its entire growth and 
 development. He has seen the wolves and 
 deer disappear, town and villages spring up, 
 the railroads and telegraphs introduced, and 
 the wild land transformed into fine farms 
 and good homes. He has borne his part in 
 the work, and has ever been recognized as 
 one of the valued and useful citizens of his 
 community, one honored and respected by 
 all who know him. 
 
 TAMES WESLEY CARR, a skillful and 
 kJ thorough farmer residing on section ig, 
 Rockvale township, is a native of Pennsyl- 
 vania, born in Fulton county, September 4, 
 1845, and is a representative of an old fam- 
 ily of that state. His grandfather, George 
 Carr, was probably a native of Center coun- 
 ty, that state, as it svas there he made his 
 home from early life, his time and attention 
 being devoted to agricultural pursuits. He 
 married Louise Sanders and to them were 
 born three children: Samuel, a laborer, 
 resided in Blair county, Pennsylvania, until 
 his death in 1846; George W. , our subject's 
 father; and William, a carpenter, who was 
 
 residing in Fulton county, Illinois, at the 
 time of his death. 
 
 George W. Carr was born in Center 
 county, Pennsylvania, and remained there 
 until he attained the age of twenty-two, at- 
 tending the common schools during the 
 winter months and aiding his father in the 
 work of the farm through the summer sea- 
 son. On leaving home he came to Fulton 
 count}', Pennsylvania, where he continued 
 to engage in the occupation to which he had 
 been reared. He wedded Miss Margaret 
 McLean, who was born in Huntingdon 
 county, Pennsylvania, in 1823, a daughter 
 of Eli McLean, and to them were born 
 eleven children, of whom our subject is the 
 eldest. Ella, the ne.xt in order of birth, is 
 now the wife of James H. Stevens, a farmer 
 of Mt. Morris township, Oglecounty; George 
 W. is represented on another page of this 
 work; John Ervin married Sarah Angel and 
 lives in Rockvale township. Ogle county; 
 William died at the age of thirty-eight years; 
 McClure married Annie Beard and lives in 
 Wichita county, Kansas; Elliot Duffield 
 married, and is foreman for an elec- 
 tric line at Omaha, Nebraska; Mary Jane 
 died at the age of five years; Sylvester died 
 at the age of two years; and Amanda and 
 Ferdinand Avery, of Rockvale township, 
 Ogle county. 
 
 During his boyhood and jouth James 
 W. Carr pursued his studies in the district 
 schools near the old home farm in Fulton 
 county, and aided in the labors of the fields. 
 After leaving school at the age of nineteen, 
 he devoted his entire time to the work of 
 the farm until attaining his majorit}'. Dur- 
 ing the following two years he was employed 
 by Reuben Faust in Franklin county, Penn- 
 sylvania. He then came west and settled 
 in Mt. Morris township, Ogle county, Illi- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 135 
 
 nois, where he worked by the month for a 
 year, but in 1870 located upon a farm of 
 one hundred and fifty acres, which he rented 
 for three years. The following three years 
 were spent on Mr. Phelps' farm of two hun- 
 dred and seventy-nine acres, and for the 
 same length of time he lived on the David 
 Gloss farm of one hundred and si.xty acres. 
 In 1876 he bought one hundred and eight 
 acres, lying partly in Mt. Morris and partly in 
 Rockvale townships. As his financial re- 
 sources have increased he has kept adding 
 to his property, purchasing eighty acres in 
 
 1878, and since then two tracts of forty 
 acres, one of which was timber land, and 
 in 1894 purchased one hundred and thirty 
 acres in Mt. Morris township, making three 
 hundred and ninety-eight acres in all. This 
 property he has placed under a high state 
 of cultivation and improved until it is now 
 one of the best farms in the community. 
 
 On the 15th of November, 1868, Mr. 
 Carr was united in marriage with Miss Liz- 
 zie Rowe, a daughter of Henry Rowe, of 
 Franklin county, Pennsylvania. She was 
 born in Maryland, in 1840, and died Octo- 
 ber 10, 1877. Four children were born of 
 that union: Alice, born July 10, 18G9, 
 died September 4, 1889, from dropsy 
 brought on by catching cold while attend- 
 ing college. Charlie, born October 6, 1871, 
 was married, in June, 1894, to Belle Good- 
 rich, a daughter of George and Fidelia 
 Goodrich, and they now have one child, 
 Charlie Guy, born in March, 1S98. Char- 
 lotte, born November 4, 1S73, died with 
 measles in April, 1877. Harvey, born Sep- 
 tember 4, 1876, was educated in the district 
 schools and Mount Morris College, and now 
 assists his father on the farm. 
 
 Mr. Carr was again married, March 4, 
 
 1879, his second union being with Miss 
 
 Katie S. Angel, who was born in Maryland, 
 October 19, 1855, and is the second child 
 in the family of Uriah and Mahala (Koontz) 
 Angel, who brought their family to Illinois 
 in 1878. By the second marriage six chil- 
 dren have been born, namely: Orville B. , 
 born December 23, 1879, died February 20, 
 1880; Elmer B., born July 20, 1881, died 
 January 29, 1882; Mina Pearl, born Sep- 
 tember 12, 1883, is at present attending the 
 home school; Wilbur J., born September 
 12, 1885, died of diphtheria September 19, 
 1894; Alva Harrison, born February 13, 
 1887, died August 25, 1889; and Vernie 
 May, born May 2. 1890, is attending the 
 district school. The wife and mother is a 
 consistent member of the Lutheran church. 
 The Republican party always finds in 
 Mr. Carr a stanch supporter of its princi- 
 ples, but he has never cared for the honors 
 or emoluments of public office, preferring to 
 devote his entire time and attention to his 
 business interests. He has, however, served 
 as school director for three years. On com- 
 ing to Ogle county he had but one hundred 
 and ninety dollars, and the success that he 
 has achieved in life has been due to his own 
 industry and well-directed efforts. 
 
 SQUIRE ROLFE.— Prominent among 
 the successful and energetic farmers of 
 Marion township may be found the subject 
 of this biographical notice, whose home is 
 pleasantly located on section 15, and who 
 is considered one of the most industrious 
 and worthy citizens of Ogle county. Be- 
 sides his home farm of one hundred and 
 sixty acres, he owns another valuable place 
 of one hundred and thirty acres in the same 
 township, known as the old Blye homestead. 
 
136 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 This he purchased in 1895, has made some 
 substantial improvements upon it, and now 
 has two valuable and desirable farms. 
 
 Mr. Rolfe was born in Tompkins coun- 
 ty, New York, September 21, 1829, and is 
 a son of Chester Rolfe, a native of New Jer- 
 sey, and a grandson of Samuel Rolfe, also 
 a native of New Jersey and a pioneer settler 
 of Tompkins county, New York, where the 
 father grew to manhood. There he mar- 
 ried Matilda Kirkendall, a native of New 
 York, and in Tompkins county they made 
 their home throughout the remainder of 
 their lives. He died in Rockford, Illinois, 
 at the home of his son, Henry, while on a 
 visit to his son, but his remains were taken 
 back to New York and interred by the side 
 of his wife, who had passed away several 
 years previously. Their family consisted 
 of five sons and four daughters, all of whom 
 grew to man and womanhood, but only our 
 subject and three sisters are now living. 
 Henry came west and located in Ogle coun- 
 ty, but later removed to Rockford, where 
 he spent his last years. Levi, the oldest 
 son, was a pioneer of \\'aukesha county, 
 Wisconsin, where he opened up a farm and 
 continued to live until his death. Edgar 
 and Frank both died on the old homestead 
 in New York in early manhood. 
 
 Squire Rolfe obtained a good common- 
 school education and remained under the 
 parental roof until eighteen years of age, 
 when he went to Enfield Center, New York, 
 to learn the carriagemaker's trade, serving 
 a three-years' apprenticeship. For a year 
 or two he worked as a journeyman, but in 
 the fall of 1854 he and his brother Henry 
 came to Illinois and settled in Ogle coun- 
 ty, where he continued to follow his trade 
 for four years. The brothers purchased 
 eighty acres of land in Marion township, in 
 
 1855, which they at once commenced to im- 
 prove and cultivate, it being operated by 
 Henry for two or three years, when he went 
 to California. During the war Squire Rolfe 
 engaged in carriage making and also had 
 charge of the farm, and when his brother 
 returned they carried it on together for a 
 few years. They finally sold and bought a 
 farm of three hundred and twenty acres in 
 Scott township, to the further development 
 and cultivation of which they devoted their 
 time and attention for five years. They 
 erected thereon a good house and barn and 
 made many other useful and valuable im- 
 provements. Selling out at the end of that 
 time Squire Rolfe purchased his present 
 home farm in 1873, ^""^ has converted it 
 into one of the best and most attractive 
 places in Marion township. In connection 
 with general farming he is also interested in 
 breeding and dealing in a good grade of 
 horses, cattle and hogs. 
 
 On the iith of March, 1874, in Marion 
 township, Mr. Rolfe was united in marriage 
 with Miss Mary A. Comstock, daughter of Hi- 
 ram and Jane (Lamphier) Comstock. She is 
 a native of Herkimer county. New York, born 
 November 22, 1847, '^'id came west with 
 her step-father, Nathan Bly, in 1854, and 
 located in that township, where she was 
 principally reared and educated. Mr. Rolfe 
 cast his first presidential ballot for General 
 Winfield Scott, four years later supported 
 John C. Fremont, and for many years was 
 identified with the Republican party, but in 
 1896 supported the Democratic nominee. 
 For forty-four years he has been identified 
 with the interests of this county, and in all 
 enterprises tending to benefit the people of 
 the community, morally, socially or finan- 
 cially, he has been an earnest and cheerful 
 worker, and now while traveling down the 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 137 
 
 sunset hill of life he has reason to be com- 
 forted that his years and labors have not 
 been in vain. 
 
 DAVID NEWCOMER, M. D., formore 
 than a quarter of a century has been a 
 resident of Mount Morris, where he has been 
 actively engaged in the practice of his pro- 
 fession. He is a native of Franklin county, 
 Pennsylvania, born near Greencastle, July 
 26, 1830, and is the son of Daniel and Bar- 
 bara (Stoner) Newcomer, both of whom 
 were natives of Maryland, the former born 
 in November, 1800, near Hagerstown, Wash- 
 ington county, and the latter in June, iSoi, 
 near Lightersburg, inthesamecounty. Dan- 
 iel Newcomer was the son of Peter New- 
 comer, also a native of Maryland and a farm- 
 er and miller by occupation. On both the 
 paternal and maternal sides the family trace 
 their ancestry to Switzerland. 
 
 At the age of twenty-four Daniel New- 
 comer married Barbara Stoner, and they 
 became the parents of seven children, as 
 follows: Elizabeth, born in 1822, married 
 John Brandt and they had seven children. 
 They removed to this county at an early 
 day, but both are now deceased. John, 
 born in 1826, married Catherine Middour, 
 and they had five children, two of whom are 
 living. He died October 2, 1872, but his 
 widow is yet living and makes her home in 
 Chicago. Cyrus B., born in 1828, married 
 Elizabeth Haws, and to them were born 
 seven children. He died in 1896, but his 
 widow is yet living in Mount Morris town- 
 ship. David, next in order of birth, is the 
 subject of this sketch. Daniel W. , born in 
 1832, married Margaret Walter, and to 
 them were born five children. They now 
 
 reside in Polo, where he is living a retired 
 life. Martin S., born in 1838, married 
 Anna C. Funk, and six children were born 
 of this union. His wife dying, he later 
 married Miss Bergstrum. They now reside 
 in Decatur, Illinois. He is a minister of the 
 Church of God. Barbara, born in 1835, 
 married Abram Miller, and they became the 
 parents of eleven children. Mr. Miller is 
 deceased, and his widow now resides near 
 Freeport, Illinois. 
 
 Shortly after his marriage, Daniel New- 
 comer moved to Franklin county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, where he engaged in agricultural pur- 
 suits, reared his family, and there continued 
 to reside until 1865, when he came to Ogle 
 county and located in Buffalo township, 
 where the remainder of his life was passed. 
 He died in 1875, his wife preceding him 
 some years, dying in 1873. In early life he 
 was an old two line Whig, with which party 
 he continued to act until it ceased to e.xist. 
 Having a dislike for slavery, he naturally be- 
 came a Republican on the organization of 
 that party. He lived to see slavery abol- 
 ished and the union of states restored. With 
 the Republican party he continued to affil- 
 iate until his death. Religiously, he was 
 identified with the River Brethren, as was 
 also his wife. He was a man of deep re- 
 ligious convictions and endeavored to walk 
 in the footsteps of the Master. 
 
 The subject of this sketch remained 
 at home until he attained his majority. 
 His primary education was obtained in the 
 common schools of the neighborhood, which 
 was supplemented by attending Shady Grove 
 Academy, in Perry county, Pennsylvania, 
 where he remained one year. He then en- 
 gaged in farming, continuing in that line for 
 three years. At the age of twenty-four he 
 entered the office of Dr. James Brotherton, 
 
138 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, and read 
 medicine under his instruction for a time, 
 and later entered Jefferson Medical College, 
 Philadelphia, taking the regular course, and 
 graduating therefrom in 1859. On receiv- 
 ing his diploma, he went to Upton, in his 
 native state, opened an office and com- 
 menced the practice of his profession. He 
 was building up a good practice at that 
 place when the war for tiie union com- 
 menced. Offering his services to his coun- 
 try, he was commissioned assistant surgeon 
 of the Twenty-sixth Regiment Pennsylvania 
 Volunteer Infantry, and immediately went 
 to the front. His service began in May, 
 1862, being mustered in at Camp Curtin, 
 near Harrisburg. From Camp Curtin he 
 was sent to St. Joseph hospital, a military 
 hospital in Philadelphia, where he remained 
 two months, and then joined the Army of 
 the Potomac under McClellan, taking part in 
 the campaign in the Chickahominy valley, 
 being in the seven days' fight in the Wilder- 
 ness. While in this campaign he was taken 
 quite sick and resigned his commission. Re- 
 turning home he resumed his practice as 
 soon as his health would admit. He re- 
 mained at home about a year and a half 
 and again went into the service as acting 
 assistant surgeon, being stationed at Bever- 
 ly hospital, in New Jerse}', where he re- 
 mained until about the close of the war, 
 when he again returned to Upton. Erom 
 that place he later removed to Martinsburg, 
 West Virginia, where he remained four and 
 a half years, in the meantime building up a 
 fair practice. In March, 1871, he came to 
 Mt. Morris, and for twenty-eight years has 
 attended to the ills of the people of that 
 city and vicinity, meeting with very grati- 
 fying success. 
 
 On the 1 8th of November, 1851, Dr. 
 
 Newcomer was united in marriage with Miss 
 Mary Shelley Funk, a native of Franklin 
 county, Pennsylvania, born April 30, 1831, 
 and the daughter of Jacob and Catherine 
 (Shelley) Funk, both of whom were also 
 natives of Pennsylvania, the former born in 
 1803, and the latter in 1806. By occupa- 
 tion Jacob Funk was a farmer. He never 
 came west, but died in his native state 
 February 6, 1850. His wife survived him 
 many years, dying March 27, 1891. They 
 were the parents of twelve children — Henry, 
 Elizabeth, Rebecca, David, Mary, Christian, 
 Cyrus, Susan, Joseph, Annie C. , Martin S. 
 and Jacob. Catherine Funk was the daugh- 
 ter of Christian and Madeline (Hershey) 
 Shelley, both natives of Pennsylvania, and 
 both born in 1769. 
 
 To Dr. and Mrs. Newcomer six children 
 were born, two of whom died in infancy. 
 The living are: (i) Catherine, born May 30, 
 1855, married N. W. Sollenberger, and they 
 have three children — Harry C, Hugh Hale 
 and Earl. Mr. Sollenberger is engaged in 
 farming in North Dakota. (2) Barbara 
 Alice, born June 18, 1856, married Rev. J. 
 W. Thomas, a minister of the general synod 
 of the Lutheran church, recently located at 
 Lanark, but now residing at Mt. Morris. 
 (3) David W., born November 20, 1858, 
 married Nellie McFadden, and they have 
 six children — Henry, Edward, David, Frank, 
 Minnie and Earl. They reside in Kansas 
 City, Missouri, where he is engaged in the 
 undertaking and livery business. (4) H. C, 
 born April 30, 1861, married Rebecca 
 Rosier, and they have two children — Sidney 
 and Francis. They reside in Memphis, 
 Tennessee, where he has charge of an engin- 
 eering corps. He is a graduate of West 
 Point, in the class of 1886, graduating at 
 the head of his class. He holds the com- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 139 
 
 mission of captain in the regular army, but 
 is now attached to the engineering corps. 
 
 Politically Dr. Newcomer is a Republic- 
 an, but his professional duties have always 
 been such as to prevent him from taking a 
 very active part in political affairs. While 
 preferring to give his time to his profession 
 he served as president of the village board 
 in a commendable manner. For years he 
 has been connected with the Ogle County 
 Medical Society and for several years was 
 its president. Fraternally he is a member 
 of the Masonic Order, Knights of Pythias, 
 and John Smith Post, G. A. R., of Mt. 
 Morris. He is a member of the Lutheran 
 church, and for two years served as deacon. 
 He is very popular in the county of his 
 adoption, not only as a physician, but as 
 a citizen, and his friends are numerous in- 
 deed. 
 
 JAMES MYERS is one of the repre- 
 sentative pioneers and honored citizens 
 of Ogle county, where he first located in 
 the spring of 1S37. For many years he 
 was actively identified with the agricultural 
 interests of this section of the state, but 
 is now living retired in the village of Leaf 
 River, enjoying the rest which should al- 
 ways follow a long and busy career. 
 
 Mr. Myers is a native of Maryland, 
 born in Washington county, July 22, 1829, 
 and is a son of Jacob Muers, whose birth 
 occurred in the same state in 1800. On 
 reaching manhood the latter married Miss 
 Elizabeth Her, also a native of Maryland. 
 The father, who was a farmer by occupa- 
 tion, emigrated to Illinois in 1837, driving 
 to Wheeling, West Virginia, and thence 
 proceeding down the Ohio and up the Mis- 
 sissippi and Illinois rivers to Peru, this 
 
 state. From that place he drove across 
 the country to Ogle county and in Leaf 
 River township laid claim to four hundred 
 and twenty-four acres, which he later en- 
 tered from the government. At that time 
 the country was all wild and unimproved, 
 no roads constructed or bridges built. Mr. 
 Myers was compelled to go to Peru to mill, 
 and would haul part of his grain and pork 
 to Chicago, where he bought most of his 
 supplies, while at times he did his market- 
 ing at Mt. Carroll and Grand Detour. In 
 crossing sloughs his wagon would often 
 stick fast in the mud and he was obliged to 
 take the load off and carry it to firmer 
 ground. On hills or elevations he put up 
 stakes as land marks to guide him across 
 the open prairies. He had two plows with 
 wooden moll board, and his harrows had 
 wooden teeth, and with these rude imple- 
 ments he managed, however, to break and 
 cultivate his place. He located first in 
 Maryland township, where he built a log 
 house with a mud and stick chimney, but 
 after living there two or three years he 
 elected a more substantial residence of 
 hewed logs upon his claim in Leaf River 
 township. He also built a separate kitchen 
 and good outbuildings, which in later years 
 were replaced by modern frame structures. 
 Upon his farm he passed away in the 
 spring of 1876 at the age of seventy-si.x 
 years, and his wife died in 1892, at the age 
 of eighty-two. 
 
 Fifteen children were born to this worthy 
 couple, and with the exception of one all 
 reached man and womanhood, and five 
 sons and five daughters are now living. 
 William, who married and settled in Winne- 
 bago county, Illinois, is now deceased; 
 James is the second eldest son; Henry is a 
 farmer of Linn county, Iowa; Jacob is a 
 
140 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 farmer of Stephenson county, Illinois; and 
 John and David are both farmers in Ogle 
 county. The sisters are Amanda, wife of 
 Silas Snyder, both now deceased; Mary, 
 deceased wife of John Piper; Susan, wife of 
 John L. Smith; Adaline, wife of Joseph 
 Kendall, a farmer of Ogle county; Sarah, 
 wife of Joseph Folder, of Ogle county; 
 Catherine, wife of Jacob Shriver, of Ogle 
 county; and Martha, wife of George Grove, 
 of Ogle county. 
 
 James Myers was a lad of eight years 
 when he came with the family to Ogle 
 county, and here he grew to manhood, 
 assisting in opening up and developing the 
 home farm. After attaining his majority he 
 operated the place for four years, and then 
 bought eighty acres of land in Ridott town- 
 ship, Stephenson county, which he con- 
 verted into a fine farm, it being one of the 
 best improved places in the township. He 
 erected thereon a commodious frame resi- 
 dence, a good barn, granary and other out- 
 buildings, and placed the land under a high 
 state of cultivation. For twenty-four years 
 he was actively and successfully engaged in 
 farming upon that place, but now rents the 
 farm and lives retired in Leaf River, where 
 he bought a lot and built a comfortable 
 residence. 
 
 At Freeport, Illinois, September 30, 
 1857, Mr. Myers was united in marriage with 
 Miss Caroline Matilda Allen, who was born 
 in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, April 12, 
 1838. Her parents, Peter and Sarah Allen, 
 also natives of that county, came to Illinois 
 in 1854, and bought an improved farm in 
 Ogle county, where they spent their last 
 years. 
 
 On national issues, Mr. Myers is a sup- 
 porter of the Democratic party, but at local 
 elections he votes independently, supporting 
 
 the man whom he believes best qualified 
 to fill the office. He and his wife are 
 earnest and faithful members of the Christian 
 church, assisted in its organization, and he 
 has served as deacon and trustee since it 
 was started, while Mrs. Myers gave the lot, 
 adjoining their own home, on which the 
 church was built. Their many sterling 
 traits of character have endeared them to 
 all, and it is safe to say that no couple in 
 the community have more or warmer friends 
 than Mr. and Mrs. Myers. 
 
 AMOS A. SHEFFIELD, deceased, was 
 a well-known farmer of Grand Detour 
 township, and the proprietor of the Sheffield 
 House, in the village of Grand Detour. He 
 was born September 5, 1828, in North 
 Stonington, Connecticut, and was the son 
 of Amos and Nancy (Baldwin) Sheffield, both 
 of whom were also natives of the Nutmeg 
 state. In his native state he remained until 
 he was seventeen years old, when he ac- 
 companied his parents to Otsego county. 
 New York, where they made a permaneht 
 home. His father was a wheelwright by 
 trade, and followed that occupation almost 
 exclusively in Connecticut, but on his re- 
 moval to New York he engaged in farming, 
 only occasionally working at his trade. 
 His last days were spent in Otsego county, 
 his death occurring many years ago. 
 
 In his native state our subject received 
 a limited education, but his native shrewd- 
 ness served him instead of the thorough 
 school training that he would have been 
 pleased to have had. He remained at home 
 and assisted his father until after attaining 
 his majority. His marriage was celebrated 
 October 9, 1852, when Miss Elizabeth Sco- 
 field became his wife. She was born in 
 
AMOS A. SHEFFIELD. 
 
MRS. A. A. SHEFFIELD. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 145 
 
 Otsego county, New York, March 5, 1833, 
 and is the daughter of Hezekiah and Vashti 
 (Cole) Scofield, both of whom were natives 
 of New York. Before leaving New York, 
 one son, William Eugene, was born. In 
 mfancy he accompanied his parents to Illi- 
 nois, and here grew to manhood, and March 
 6, 1879, married Miss Elizabeth M. J. Fox- 
 ley, born January 15, 1855, and a daughter 
 of John and Jane (Reynolds) Foxley, her 
 father being a farmer in Grand Detour town- 
 ship. By this union two sons were born — 
 Arthur E., born April 9, 1887, and Nelson 
 F. , born January 30, 1S90. In politics 
 William E. Sheffield is a Republican, and 
 has served as supervisor of his township one 
 term, six terms as township clerk, three years 
 as school director, twelve years as notary 
 public, and is at present justice of the peace. 
 He is a member of Grand Detour Camp, 
 No. 3683, M. W. A., Ulysses Grant Garri- 
 son, No. II, K. G. Forsome years he has 
 been engaged in the general mercantile busi- 
 ness in Grand Detour, and has a very 
 satisfactory trade. All four of the brothers 
 belong to the same camp of M. W. A. 3683. 
 Upon coming to Illinois about 1855, Mr. 
 Sheffield first located in Lee county, near 
 Dixon, where he purchased a farm of one 
 hundred acres, which was their home for 
 two years. Selling that farm, he moved 
 into D xon, where he remained two years. 
 In November, 1861, he moved to Grand 
 Detour, and for two or three years culti- 
 vated a rented farm, and then bought a farm 
 in the township, about two miles north of 
 the village, of six hundred and seventeen 
 acres. However, he made his home in the 
 village where the family still reside. In 
 1864, he purchased the present home of the 
 family in the village, and soon after remod- 
 eled the house, adding to its dimensions, 
 
 making it the commodious house as it now 
 exists. When the repairs on the house 
 were all completed, it was opened as a hotel, 
 which he named after himself, the Sheffield 
 House. His attention ever after was divided 
 between his hotel and farm, and on the 
 latter he raised a good grade of stock in 
 which he took considerable pride. 
 
 After coming to Illinois, four more chil- 
 dren were born: May U., now the wife of 
 Dr. James Parkhurst, of Grand Detour; 
 Charles A. , of whom mention is made further 
 along in this sketch; Mark S. and Amos H., 
 who are carrying on the home farm. 
 
 Charles A. Sheffield was born October 
 !■;, 1862, in the village of Grand Detour, 
 and was educated in its public schools. His 
 life has mainly been spent on the home 
 farm, but he has on occasions engaged in 
 other lines of business. In 1888 he took 
 charge of the butter making in the cream- 
 ery of Buell Brothers, Rock Falls, Illinois. 
 In 1882 he took a position with an engin- 
 eering corps at Sioux City, Iowa, engaged 
 in surveying a road through Iowa, and was 
 with the corps for some time. In politics 
 he is independent in local elections, but on 
 general issues he affiliates with the Democ- 
 racy. In 1894 he was elected constable of 
 his township and served four years. In 
 1896 he was elected highway commissioner, 
 which position he yet fills. On the 20th of 
 June, 1895, at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Lottie 
 Burhyte, daughter of John and Matilda 
 (Mclntyre) Burhyte, of Fond du Lac, Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 Amos A. Sheffield departed this life Jan- 
 uary 22, 1898. Three brothers and one 
 sister yet survive him, as follows: George 
 H., a merchant of Holley, New York; Rev. 
 Charles A., a minister of the Baptist church. 
 
146 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of Topeka, Kansas; Dr. D. A., an old prac- 
 titioner, of Dixon, Illinois; and Mrs. Julia 
 Lyon, of Gilbertsville, New York. 
 
 Mr. Sheffield was reared in the Baptist 
 faith, in which in early life he was a mem- 
 ber. Fraternally he was a member of Grand 
 Detour lodge, A. F. & A. M. In politics 
 he was a Democrat of the old school, a 
 stanch advocate of the principles of the 
 party. He filled a number of local positions 
 of honor and trust, including commissioner 
 of highways, constable, school director, 
 and was also postmaster of Grand Detour 
 for two terms under Cleveland, and was re- 
 appointed by McKinley. After his death 
 Mrs. Sheffield received the appointment, 
 and is now discharging the duties of the 
 office. He was a man of sterling character 
 and worth, thoroughly honest, of good busi- 
 ness ability, and his death was mourned not 
 alone by his faithful, wife and family, but 
 by a large circle of friends and acquaint- 
 ances. 
 
 STEPHEN B. SHUART, president of 
 the Byron Bank, of Byron, Illinois, has 
 a wide reputation as a most capable finan- 
 cier and occupies a position of no little 
 prominence in business circles in Ogle 
 county. His life demonstrates what can 
 be accomplished through energy, careful 
 management, keen foresight and the utili- 
 zation of powers with which nature has en- 
 dowed one, and the opportunities with 
 which the times surround him. 
 
 A native of Ohio, Mr. Shuart was born 
 in Ashtabula county. May 15, 1837, ^"^^ 's 
 a son of Stephen Shuart, who was born in 
 New Jersey, of German ancestry, the fam- 
 ily having been founded in that state at an 
 early day. The father was reared, how- 
 
 ever, in New York and there married Miss 
 Mary Beckwith, a native of Allegany coun- 
 ty. New York. About 1836 he removed to 
 Ashtabula county, Ohio, but spent his last 
 years in Gerard, Pennsylvania, where his 
 death occurred. 
 
 When a lad of thirteen years Stephen 
 B. Shuart left home to begin the battle of 
 life for himself as a farm hand. His early 
 school privileges were limited and he is 
 mainly self-educated, having devoted con- 
 siderable time to reading and study in later 
 years. Coming west in 1857, he spent the 
 first winter in work upon a farm near Rock- 
 ford, Illinois, but the following spring wit- 
 nessed his arrival in Ogle county, where he 
 has since made his home. Here he also 
 worked on a farm during the summer season 
 and the first winter attended a country 
 school, but during the winter of i860 pur- 
 sued his studies in the high school at Mt. 
 Morris. 
 
 His patriotism and loyalty to country 
 were manifest May 24, 1861, by his enlist- 
 ment in Company H, Fifteenth Illinois Vol- 
 unteer Infantry, as a private. The regiment 
 was assigned to the Western Arm}', and was 
 first under General P'remont in Missouri. 
 Later they participated in the battles of 
 Shiloh, Corinth, Hatchic's Run, the second 
 battle of Corinth; was in a number of en- 
 gagements around V'icksburg, and helped to 
 take that stronghold. Then followed the 
 battles of Big Black and Jackson, after 
 which they returned to Vicksburg, and from 
 there went to Natchez, Mississippi. Mr. 
 Shuart veteranized and returned home on a 
 sixty days' furlough, rejoining his regiment 
 at Nashville, Tennessee. ,He was then 
 with Sherman on the memorable march to 
 the sea. While his company was acting as 
 rear guard at Ackworth, Georgia, about 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 147 
 
 two hundred and fifty of the regiment, in- 
 cluding our subject, were taken prisoners 
 by Hood and sent to Andersonville, where 
 they were incarcerated until the spring of 
 1865. They were then taken to Vicksburg, 
 where they were deserted by their guard 
 after hearing of the assassination of Presi- 
 dent Lincoln. Mr. Shuart soon returned 
 north, and at Springfield was honorably 
 discharged in May, 1865, and reached 
 home on the 4th of July. 
 
 The following year he engaged in farm- 
 ing in Marion township, Ogle county, where 
 he first purchased forty acres of wild land, 
 which he soon converted into highly culti- 
 vated fields. He bought more land from 
 time to time until he had one hundred 
 and seventy-five acres, on which he erected 
 a good residence and made many other im- 
 provements which added to its value and 
 attractive appearance. Renting his farm 
 in 1887, he removed to Byron, where he 
 was first engaged in buying, selling and 
 shipping stock, and also conducted a 
 butcher shop for a few years and then sold. 
 In 1892, in partnership with other gentle- 
 men, he purchased the Byron Bank, was 
 elected president and isstillfillingth.it posi- 
 tion. They do a general banking business 
 and their patronage extends throughout the 
 county. Besides his own comfortable home 
 in East Byron, Mr. Stewart has other resi- 
 dence property, and is to-day one of the 
 substantial and prosperous citizens of the 
 community. 
 
 In Ogle county, Mr. Shuart was married 
 in 1866, to Miss Julia A. Whittaker, a na- 
 tive of the county and a daughter of John 
 Whiitaker, one of its first settlers. She 
 died in 1887, leaving one daughter, Emily, 
 now the wife of Albert Rosier, of Byron. 
 Mr. Shuart was again married, in Allegany 
 
 county. New York, in 1888, his second 
 union being with Miss Cynthia Londesberry, 
 who was born, reared and educated in that 
 state. 
 
 In political sentiment, Mr. Shuart is a 
 pronunced Republican, casting his first pres- 
 idential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1S60, 
 and he has rendered his party effective ser- 
 vice as a delegate to state and county con- 
 ventions. Socially he is a member of 
 Byron Lodge, F. & A. M. , with which he 
 has been officially connected for several 
 years, and both he and his wife are mem- 
 bers of the Eastern Star, in which she is 
 serving as treasurer and Mr. Shuart as 
 worthy patron. He is a courteous, affable 
 gentleman, and, abo\'e all, wherever he is 
 found, whether in public or private life, his 
 mtegrity is above question and his honor 
 above reproach. Byron owes much to him 
 and numbers him among her valued citizens. 
 
 HON. FRANCIS BACON, one of the 
 leading attorneys of Oregon, Illinois, 
 is well known, not only throughout the 
 county of Ogle, but throughout the state. 
 He is a native of the city, and was born 
 August 21, 1858, his parents being Cap- 
 tain Bowman W. and Almira M. (Robert- 
 son) Bacon. His father was a native of 
 Huntington Mills, Luzerne county, Penn- 
 sylvania, born October 5, 1823, and came 
 with his parents to Illinois in 1839, locating 
 in Sterling, Whiteside county. His educa- 
 tion, begun in the public schools of his na- 
 tive state, and continued in the schools of 
 Sterling, was completed in Rock River 
 Seminary, quite a noted institution in the 
 early days, and which he entered in 1846. 
 After completing his literary studies he went 
 
148 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to Oregon, and entered the office of Henry 
 A. Mix and commenced the study of law. 
 
 A strong union man, B. W. Bacon of- 
 fered his services to his country in the hour 
 of its peril, and on the isth of August, 
 1862, entered the army, receiving a com- 
 mission as captain of Company C, Seventy- 
 fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. His regi- 
 ment was assigned to the Army of the Cum- 
 berland under General Buell. With his 
 regiment and company. Captain Bacon took 
 part in the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, 
 and was in various skirmishes in pursuit of 
 Bragg. He was also in the battles of Stone 
 River, Liberty Gap, and was in the Tulla- 
 homa expedition. Following this he was 
 in the fight at Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, 
 Buzzard Roost, Calhoun, Adairsville, Dal- 
 las, Lost Mountain, and the battle of Ken- 
 saw Mountain, in which he was severely 
 wounded in the right and left arms, causing 
 the amputation of the right arm July 12, 
 and of the left a week later. Too weak 
 to stand these operations he died July 21, 
 at Nashville, Tennessee, with his devoted 
 wife at his side. He was a brave and gal- 
 lant officer, cool and self-possessed in the 
 hottest of battle, and always at his post of 
 duty. He was patient and cheerful through- 
 out his severe sufferings to the end. For gal- 
 lant and meritorious service a commission as 
 colonel was sent him from the war depart- 
 ment, but his death occurred before it was 
 received. 
 
 Captain Bacon was married February i, 
 1852, to Mrs. Almira M. Fuller, wcV Robert- 
 son, widow of William W. Fuller, in his day 
 one of the most prominent attorneys of 
 Oregon, and an uncle of Margaret Fuller. 
 She was born in Ripley, Chautauqua county, 
 New York, November 27, 1824, and came 
 to Illinois in 1840 in company with her pa- 
 
 rents. In 1 84 1 she entered Rock River 
 Seminary, from which she was later gradu- 
 ated. She then became preceptress in that 
 institution, a position she held until her 
 marriage with Mr. Fuller, which took place 
 March 3, 1847. Mr. Fuller died August 17, 
 1849. After the death of her husband, 
 Mrs. Fuller lived in widowhood about two 
 and a half years and then married Captain 
 Bacon, with whom she spent twelve happy 
 years. Partly to divert her mind and to be 
 the better fitted to superintend the educa- 
 tion of her only son, Francis, she entered 
 the Illinois Normal University in 1866, from 
 which she was graduated in 1870. She died 
 in May, 1896, at Oregon, where she was 
 held in high esteem for her mental at- 
 tainments as well as for her estimable quali- 
 ties as a Christian woman. 
 
 Francis Bacon, the subject of this 
 sketch, grew to manhood in his native city, 
 and after attending the public schools en- 
 tered the Highland Military Academy, at 
 Worcester, Massachusetts, from which he 
 was graduated in June, 1877. He then took a 
 regular law course in the Columbian Law 
 School, Washington, District of Columbia, 
 and was admitted to the district bar in 
 April, 1879, being the youngest person ad- 
 mitted at that time, not yet having reached 
 his twenty-first year. From the law school 
 he graduated the following June. In Janu- 
 ary, i88o, he entered upon the practice of 
 his profession at Oregon, and soon acquired 
 a prominent position and recognition as an 
 able attorney. In 188 1 he was elected city 
 attorney of Oregon, and re-elected in 1883, 
 but later resigned. In 1887 he was elected 
 mayor of Oregon, and re-elected in 1889. 
 During his last term as mayor, the city was 
 run and maintained, and various improve- 
 ments made, without levying any city tax. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 149 
 
 This was probably the only case of the kind 
 in a city the size of Oregon. 
 
 Mr. Bacon was married at Dixon, Illi- 
 nois, June 23, 1881, to Kizzie H. Kennedy, 
 a daughter of William Kennedy, and niece 
 of Mr. Oliver Ernest. Two children have 
 been born to them — Francis Everett and 
 Marion Eugene. 
 
 In addition to carrying on a very lucra- 
 tive law practice, Mr. Bacon conducts a 
 large stock farm of nearly four hundred 
 acres near the city limits, giving it his per- 
 sonal superintendence. He makes a spec- 
 ialty of breeding Aberdeen-Angus cattle, in 
 which he has been quite successful. He is 
 also a large feeder, and ships annually sev- 
 eral car loads of cattle. For some years 
 he has taken considerable interest in mili- 
 tary affairs, and is now captain of Company 
 C, Sons of Veterans Regiment Illinois State 
 Militia. The services of his company were 
 offered to the general government during 
 the war with Spain, but were not accepted, 
 but the company was afterwards on duty 
 at Virden, Illinois, during the coal strike of 
 1898. 
 
 Mr. Bacon has an established reputa- 
 tion as a trial lawyer, and is engaged in 
 nearly all of the jury cases. Perhaps his grea- 
 test successes have been in criminal cases, 
 and but two or three criminals defended by 
 him have been committed to Joliet. While 
 serving as mayor all indebtedness against 
 the city was cancelled and many material 
 improvements were made, among which 
 was the extension of the city water works, 
 and beneficial changes at the pumping sta- 
 tion and in the fire department. The 
 streets were carefully attended to, stone 
 crossings being laid upon all the principal 
 thoroughfares, and the streets of the city 
 were lit by electricity. Mr. Bacon has al- 
 
 ways affiliated with the Republican party 
 and his services have been in demand in the 
 various campaigns in the discussion of the 
 principles of the party. Mr. Bacon is a 
 man of fine physique, with a corresponding 
 heart, and either as a private citizen, in a 
 professional capacity, or in his officialduties, 
 is one of the most approachable and genial 
 of gentlemen, and well deserves the high 
 honor bestowed upon him by his fellow 
 citizens. 
 
 JOHN H. DAVIS, a retired farmer, resid- 
 ing on section 14, Buffalo township, one 
 mile east of the city of Polo, has been a 
 resident of Ogle county since 1864. He 
 was born in Washington county, Maryland, 
 May 18, 1846. His father, William Davis, 
 was a native of the same county and state, 
 born about 1824. He there married Mar- 
 garet Rohrer, likewise of Washington coun- 
 ty, Maryland, and they became the parents 
 of five children, as follows: John H., the 
 subject of this sketch; William, a farmer of 
 Pine Creek township; Martha, wife of Hugh 
 L. Henry, of Johnson county, Kansas; 
 James, living in Buffalo township; and Mary 
 L. , wife of Columbus Sheeley, of Pine 
 Creek township. The father died in 1856, 
 a young man of thirty-two years, leaving a 
 widow and five children. With true moth- 
 erly devotion she determined to do the best 
 she could by the fatherless ones. In 1864 
 she came with the family to Ogle county 
 and made a permanent location in Pine 
 Creek township, and there she still resides, 
 making her home with her daughter. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but ten 
 years old when his father died, and but 
 eighteen when he accompanied his mother 
 to Ogle county. The oldest born, much 
 
ISO 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 depended upon him in the care and improve- 
 ment of the farm, and his opportunities for 
 obtaining an education were very limited. 
 It maybe said that he is almost wholly self- 
 educated, the knowledge acquired being 
 principally obtained in the school of experi- 
 ence. Soon after his coming to the county 
 he bought an interest in a threshing ma- 
 chine, and for several seasons engaged in 
 threshing grain for farmers throughout the 
 county. 
 
 Mr. Davis was married in Pine Creek 
 township in February, 1870, to Miss Maria 
 C. Powell, also a native of Washington 
 county, Maryland, but who came to Ogle 
 county in childhood. In the public schools 
 of this county she received the greater part 
 of her education. She is a sister of Sam- 
 uel C. Powell, a sketch of whom appears on 
 another page of this work. By this union 
 si.x children were born, two of whom are 
 now living — Gertie B., a young lady, at 
 home; and C. O., a student of Eureka Col- 
 lege, of the class of 1899. The deceased 
 are Carrie, who died at the age of five years; 
 Anna, who died when eighteen years old; 
 Ray, at eight months; and Minnie Lee, when 
 about five months old. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Davis rented a 
 farm in Pine Creek township a few years, 
 and then bought a farm of one hundred 
 and si.xty acres in the same township, on 
 which he resided for twenty-seven years. 
 In 1885 he purchased the farm where he 
 now resides and which he rented until the 
 spring of 1897. He then came to the place 
 and has since made it his home, although he 
 rents out the land and is practically living 
 retired. Since coming to this farm he has 
 built a good house and barn, and otherwise 
 improved the place. He still owns the 
 Pine Creek farm, and in addition has seventy- 
 
 eight acres in another locality, and sixty-two 
 acres in still another locality. Success has 
 crowned his efforts, having commenced life 
 almost empty-handed, but he has been in- 
 dustrious and persevering, and the result is 
 seen in the property which he has accum- 
 mulated and his well-tilled fields. 
 
 Politically Mr. Davis is a Republican, 
 and he has been identified with that party 
 since casting his first presidential vote for 
 General Grant in 1868. From that time 
 to the present he has supported every presi- 
 dential nominee of the party. While resid- 
 ing in Pine Creek township, he served as 
 road commissioner for several years, was a 
 member of the board of supervisors two 
 terms, and for years was a member of the 
 school board. Both he and his family are 
 members of the Pennsylvania Corners 
 Christian church in Pine Creek township, 
 and are earnest Christian people. 
 
 For thirty-five years Mr. Davis has been 
 a resident of Ogle county, coming here in 
 his early manhood. He has been an active 
 factor in the development of the county, 
 especially of Pine Creek township. Modest 
 in his bearing, he has calmly gone on his 
 way doing that which seemed to him best, 
 and enjoying the respect and esteem of those 
 with whom he was brought in contact. 
 While still in his prime he has accumulat- 
 ed a competency and believes in enjoying 
 life while he can. 
 
 LEWIS MORING is one of the progress- 
 ive and enterprising farmers of For- 
 reston township, where he owns a fine farm 
 of one hundred and sixty-three acres on 
 section i, which has been transformed into 
 one of the best and most desirable home- 
 steads of the locality. The land has been 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 151 
 
 brought to an excellent state of cultivation, 
 and is embellished by a good and substan- 
 tial set of farm buildings. A flourishing or- 
 chard serves to add to the comfortable ap- 
 pearance of the premises, and supplies the 
 household with the luxuries of the season. 
 
 Mr. Moring was born in Forreston town- 
 ship, November 27, 1857, and is a son of 
 Frederick Moring, who was born in Ger- 
 many in 181 1, and there married Dorothea 
 Foshea, also of German birth. In 1S48 
 they emigrated to America and joined some 
 friends from their native land who had 
 previously located in Ogle county. In 
 Maryland township the father bought a 
 tract of eighty acres, built a little house 
 thereon, and continued the improvement 
 and cultivation of the land for several years. 
 He finally sold the place and came to For- 
 reston township, where he purchased about 
 six hundred acres in three different tracts. 
 He located on section 18, when he opened up 
 a farm of two hundred and forty acres, 
 which he improved with good buildings. 
 Upon that place he died January 19, 1889, 
 and his wife passed away December 23, 
 1S90, the remains of both being interred in 
 the Prairie Dell cemetery. Lewis is the 
 youngest in their family of eight children, 
 three sons and five daughters, all of whom 
 are still living and are heads of families. 
 The others are Mrs. Dorothea Bower, of 
 Ogle county; Mrs. Mary Timmer; Mrs. 
 Louisa Dorman; Mrs. Lizzie Hodger; Fred- 
 erick; Mrs. Ella Garles; and Henry. 
 
 Lewis Moring was reared in much the 
 usual manner of farmer boys, attending 
 school in winter, and assisting in the work 
 of the farm during the summer months, and 
 he remained with his father until he reached 
 man's estate. He then rented a part of the 
 farm, which he operated for a number of 
 
 years. He was married in Forreston town- 
 ship, March 8, 1883, to Miss Caroline Zun- 
 dahl, a native of Maryland township. Ogle 
 county, and a daughter of Christopher Zun- 
 dahl, one of the early settlers of the county. 
 Nine children bless this union, namely: 
 Lizzie, Alvin, Anna, Ida, Clara, Mabel, Es- 
 ther, Ruth and Laura. 
 
 In the spring of 1883, Mr. Moring locat- 
 ed upon his present farm, to the further de- 
 velopment and improvement of which he 
 has since devoted his energies with most 
 gratifying results, converting it into one of 
 the most desirable farms of the township. 
 He has been a life-long Republican, casting 
 his first vote for James A. Garfield, and he 
 is now serving his third term as school di- 
 rector. He and his wife are active and 
 prominent members of the Prairie Dell 
 Presbyterian church, with which he is offi- 
 cially connected, serving as deacon, and 
 both are workers in the Sunday school. So- 
 cially he is a member of Florence Lodge, 
 M. W. A. He is well known in his part of 
 the county as a man of exemplary habits, 
 of upright character and sterling worth, and 
 he and his estimable wife have the respect 
 of the entire community. 
 
 PROF. JOHN G. ROYER, president of 
 Mt. Morris College, has an excellent 
 reputation as an educator, and is well 
 known throughout the United States. He 
 was born in Hartleton, Union county, Penn- 
 sylvania, April 22, 183S, and is the son of 
 Jacob and Susan (Myers) Royer, both of 
 whom were natives of Pennsylvania, the 
 former born in October, 1797, and the lat- 
 ter in 1 801. The paternal grandfather, 
 John Royer, was born in Lancaster, Penn- 
 sylvania. He married Anna Grove, a na- 
 
152 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tive of the same state. He was a minister 
 of the German Baptist church, preaching 
 the gospel as the opportunity was afforded 
 him, and also attending to the duties of his 
 farm. Jacob Royer also engaged in agri- 
 cultural pursuits, following that vocation 
 during his entire life. He was an earnest 
 and devoted member of the German Baptist 
 church, of which body his wife was also a 
 member. They were the parents of seven 
 children. Isaac, born October 25, 1821, 
 married Anna Shellenberger, and they be- 
 came the parents of four children. Both 
 are now deceased. Abraham, born October 
 11,1824, married Sarah Kleckner, and three 
 children blessed their union. He was a sol- 
 dier in the One Hundred and Forty-eighth 
 Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and lost 
 his life in the battle of Petersburg, in May, 
 1864. His widow is yet living in Wiscon- 
 sin. Jacob, born October 17, 1827, mar- 
 ried Elizabeth Strickler, and to them were 
 born seven children. Both are living in 
 Union county, Pennsylvania, where he is 
 engaged in farming. Elizabeth, born Oc- 
 tober 17,1829, married William Royer, and 
 they also reside in Union county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, where he is farming. Mary, born 
 February 19, 1832, died April 18, 1858. 
 John G., our subject, was next in order of 
 birth. Samuel, born June 3,1840, married 
 Mary Mumert, and they have one child. 
 They reside in Miami county, Ohio, where 
 he is engaged in farming. The mother of 
 these children died in August, 1868. In 
 early life Jacob Royer was a Whig, but 
 voted for Buchanan in 1856, on account of 
 the fact that he was a former schoolmate of 
 Buchanan. After that he voted the Repub- 
 lican ticket until his death, which occurred 
 in April, 1876. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was roared on 
 
 a farm, and received his primary education 
 in the common schools. He later attended 
 the academy at Mifflinsburg, Pennsylvania, 
 but completed his literary course at Union 
 Seminary, New Berlin, Pennsylvania. Be- 
 fore completing his education, however, he 
 taught several terms of school, commencing 
 at the age of sixteen years. He was but 
 twenty years old when he left the seminary. 
 He then determined to make teaching his 
 life work, and in connection with the preach- 
 ing of the gospel, has since engaged in that 
 profession. Commencing in the graded 
 schools of his native state, he taught for 
 about five years, and then, at the age of 
 twenty-five, went to Darke county, Ohio, 
 and engaged in teaching in the graded 
 schools until 1871, the last six years of 
 which time he was principal of the schools 
 at Webster and Versailles. In 1871 he 
 went to Burnettsville, \\'hite county, Indi- 
 ana, and for four years was principal of the 
 high school at that place. He then ac- 
 cepted the superintendency of the high 
 school at Monticello, Indiana, and was 
 there eight years. From Monticello he 
 came to Mt. Morris and was assigned the 
 chair of English literature in Mt. Morris 
 College. One year later he was elected 
 president ot the college, since which time it 
 has been under his control. Since taking 
 active charge the college has met with a 
 fair degree of success and gained in popu- 
 larity with the people. 
 
 On the 8th of December, i860. Prof. 
 Royer was united in marriage with Miss 
 Lizzie Reiff, born November 30, 1838, a 
 native of Union county, Pennsylvania, and 
 a daughter of Christian H. and Susan (Tit- 
 low) Reiff, both of whom were natives of 
 Pennsylvania. Both are now deceased, 
 the latter dying in 1870, and the former in 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 153 
 
 1896 He was a manufacturer of agricult- 
 ural machines, including threshers and hol- 
 lers, being the inventor of a clover sep- 
 arator. They were the parents of ten chil- 
 dren, of whom Mrs. Royer was sixth in or- 
 der of birth. Religiously they were members 
 of the German Baptist church. Politically 
 he was first a Whig and then a Republican. 
 To Prof, and Mrs. Royer eight children 
 were born, (i) Galen, born September 8, 
 1862, married Anna Miller, of Mt. Morris, 
 and to them have been born five children — 
 Bessie, Daniel, Catherine, Ruth and Anna. 
 They reside in Mt. Morris, and he is secre- 
 tary of the General Mission Board of the 
 Brethren church. He is also connected 
 with the Brethren Publishing Company. (2) 
 Susan, born July 10, 1865, married Prof. 
 E. S. Young, of Canton, Ohio, and they 
 have five children — Katie, Vinna, Marguer- 
 ite, Ida May and Paul. Prof. Young is 
 now president of Manchester College, North 
 Manchester, Indiana. (3) Mary, born June 
 16, 1867, is at home. (4) Ida, born Octo- 
 ber 27, 1 868, married J. M. Myers, and 
 they have one child. Galena. They reside 
 at Cando, North Dakota, where he is en- 
 gaged in the mercantile business. (5) Net- 
 tie, born March 31, 1870, married J. A. 
 Brubaker, and they have four children — 
 Madge, Ralph, Bernice and Nellie. He is 
 secretary and general manager of the Chain 
 Stay Fence Company, of Sterling, Illinois. 
 (6) Lillie, born November 18, 1872, is a 
 teacher in the high school at Cando, North 
 Dakota, and she owns one-half section of 
 land near that place. (7) Josephine, born 
 October 9, 1875, 's also residing at Cando, 
 North Dakota, where she is the owner of a 
 quarter section of land. (8) Myrtle, born 
 July 18, 1880, is a student in Mt. Morris 
 College. All but Mary are graduates of Mt. 
 
 Morris College. Galen is also a graduate 
 of Juniata College, of Huntingdon, Penn- 
 sylvania. 
 
 Politically Prof. Royer is a Republican, 
 but gives little time to political affairs, his 
 college work commanding his entire time, 
 e.xcept that given to ministerial labors. He 
 is a logical and convincing speaker, a thor- 
 ough student of the word of God, and a 
 firm believer in the inspiration of the Bible. 
 For forty years he has given his time to 
 teaching the youth of the land, and his in- 
 struction has always been of a nature to 
 make better citizens, to fit them not only 
 for their proper station in this life, but pre- 
 pare them for the life to come. The world 
 is always the better for such men. 
 
 JAMES CAMPBELL, a retired farmer 
 who now makes his home in Byron, 
 Illinois, is ot sturdy Scotch ancestry, and 
 has inherited the traits of industry, thrift 
 and economy peculiar to that people, that 
 always bring to them success in their vari- 
 ous occupations. He was born in the city 
 of Forfar, near Dundee, Scotland, Novem- 
 ber 4, 1829, a son of John and Jane (Fair- 
 weather) Campbell, also natives of that 
 country. The father, wh ) was a tobacconist 
 by trade, emigrated to the New World in 
 1 83 1 and first settled in Philadelphia, but 
 later removed to Miami county, Ohio. He 
 sent for his family who joined him in Phila- 
 delphia. In Miami county, he first lived on 
 a farm but later removed to the city of 
 Piqua. In his family were five children, 
 four sons and one daughter, all of whom 
 reached years of maturity. In order of 
 birth they were as follows: Robert and 
 William, now deceased; James, our subject; 
 David Angus, who was a soldier of the 
 
'54 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Civil war and is now a resident of Pickaway, 
 Ohio; and Ann, deceased. 
 
 The subject of this review was reared 
 on a farm in his native land and had good 
 common-school advantages in early life. 
 Coming to America in 1853, he joined his 
 parents in Ohio, and remained with them 
 a few years, assisting in' the operation of 
 the home farm. He was married in Miami 
 county, August 22, i860, to Miss Margaret 
 A. Linn, a native of that county, and a 
 daughter of William Linn, who removed 
 from Pennsylvania to Ohio in an early day, 
 settling in Pickaway about 1822. Mrs. 
 Campbell was provided with excellent 
 school privileges, supplementing the edu- 
 cation acquired in the common schools by 
 a course in the Troy high school and the 
 O.xford Female College, and for six years 
 she successfully engaged in teaching. By 
 her marriage to our subject she has become 
 the mother of seven children, namely: John, 
 a resident of Storm Lake, Iowa; Jane A., 
 wife of C. E. Johnson, who lives near 
 Bridgewater, South Dakota; Margaret M., 
 wife of Charles Bowie, ofTacoma, Washing- 
 ton; Mary G., a trained nurse of Chicago; 
 Belle, wife of William Kelly, of Chicago; 
 William L. , a druggist and business man of 
 Byron; and Elizabeth Ada, who is now a 
 student in a business college in Rockford, 
 Illinois. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Campbell en- 
 gaged in farming in Ohio for five years, but 
 in 1865 came to Ogle county, Illinois, and 
 purchased an improved farm of eighty acres 
 in Byron township about five miles from 
 the village of Byron. As his financial re- 
 sources increased he added to the original 
 purchase until he had two hundred and 
 eighty acres of valuable land, on which he 
 made many e.xcellent improvements, includ- 
 
 ing the erection of a pleasant residence and 
 good barns and outbuildings. He success- 
 fully engaged in the operation of his farm 
 until 1897, when he rented the place and 
 removed to Byron, where he has since 
 lived retired from active labor in a comfort- 
 able home of his own. 
 
 Politically Mr. Campbell has been identi- 
 fied with the Republican party since casting 
 his first presidential vote for Abraham Lin- 
 coln in i860, and he has been honored with 
 a number of responsible positions in his 
 township, being treasurer for the long 
 period of twenty-si.x years, supervisor for 
 four consecutive years, during which time 
 he was a member of several important com- 
 mittees. He has also served as highway 
 commissioner and a member of the board 
 of education, besides being a delegate to a 
 number of county conventions of his party. 
 He and his wife are now connected with 
 the Congregational church of Byron, and 
 previously were for thirty-two years active 
 and prominent members of the Middle Creek 
 Presbyterian church. They are esteemed 
 residents of Byron and taken an active in- 
 terest in the welfare of the community, aid- 
 ing all beneficial schemes tending to im- 
 prove its moral, educational or social status. 
 
 JOHN BECK, a retired farmer living on 
 section 33, Woosung township, is a 
 well-known German farmer who has made 
 a success in life. He was born in Hessen, 
 Darmstadt, German}', in 1822, and is the 
 son of John and Elizabeth Beck, both na- 
 tives of the same country. They were the 
 parents of one son, our subject, and one 
 daughter, Katherine, who is now deceased. 
 The wife and mother dying, he was again 
 married, and by the second union there 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 155 
 
 were five children, of whom two are yet 
 living — Leonard, on the old home farm in 
 Tazewell county, Illinois, and Elizabeth, 
 now the wife of Jacob Meyers, a retired 
 farmer of Pekin, Illinois. 
 
 John Beck, Sr., was a shoemaker by 
 trade, which occupation he followed in his 
 native land. In 1832 he came to the 
 United States and first located in P'ranklin 
 county, Pennsylvania, where he remained 
 until 1845, working at his trade. Saving 
 some money, he came to Illinois and settled 
 in Tazewell county, where he secured one 
 hundred and sixty acres of land and spent 
 the remainder of his life as a farmer. He 
 died in 1881 at the age of eighty-five years. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but ten 
 years of age when he accompanied his la- 
 ther to the United States. In his native 
 land he commenced to acquire an education 
 in the parochial schools, but on coming to 
 this country the opportunity was not given 
 him to attend the public schools here but a 
 comparatively short time. As soon as he 
 was old and large enough he engaged in 
 farm work in Pennsylvania, at which he 
 continued until he was eighteen years old, 
 when he took up the tanner's trade, at 
 which he worked until he came to Illinois 
 in 1856. Four years previous to his com- 
 ing he had purchased eighty acres of land 
 through the agency of his father in Taze- 
 well county. On his arrival he settled on 
 his farm and at once commenced its im- 
 provement. He there remained until 1867, 
 when he sold the place and came to Ogle 
 county and purchased his present farm in 
 Woosung township, comprising two hun- 
 dred acres. 
 
 Mr. Beck was married in Pennsylvania 
 to Margaret Hanstein, and to them have 
 been born five children: John P., who 
 
 married Margaret Coon, of Frederick 
 county, Maryland; William, who is in the 
 we.st; Alfred, a prosperous farmer of Buffa- 
 lo township, now residing in Polo; Clara, 
 who remains at home with her father, and 
 Amos, a farmer of Nemaha county, Kan- 
 sas. 
 
 Mr. Beck has followed general farming, the 
 raising of grain and stock, and is one of the 
 highly esteemed citizens of the county. All 
 that he has has been acquired by his own 
 industry and good management. Com- 
 mencing life a poor boy, working for small 
 wages, he has persevered, toiling early and 
 late, and success has come to him, and he 
 is now enabled to lay aside business cares 
 and take life easy during the remainder of 
 his days. His good wife died in 1873. 
 
 ANDREW F. LONG, who resides on sec- 
 tion 15, Lincoln township, owns and 
 operates a fine farm of one hundred and 
 si.xty acres, two miles from Haldane. He 
 has been a resident of the county since 
 1845, a period of fifty-four years, coming 
 here a lad of eleven years. He was born 
 near Hagerstown, Washington county, Mary- 
 land, June 20, 1834, and is the son of Rev. 
 Jacob Long, a native of Washington county, 
 Maryland, born in 1784, and who was the 
 son of Isaac Long, a native of Pennsylvania, 
 of German ancestry. Isaac Long removed 
 from Franklin county, Pennsylvania, to 
 Washington county, Maryland, at a very 
 early day. Jacob Long grew to manhood 
 in his native county and there married 
 Catherine Friedley, a native of Franklin 
 county, Pennsylvania, and daughter of 
 Andrew Friedley, born in Pennsylvania of 
 Swiss descent. 
 
156 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Jacob Long was a minister in the Ger- 
 man Baptist church, but as a means of Hve- 
 lihood engaged in farming during his entire 
 life. In 1845, in company with about a 
 dozen families, he left his native state and 
 came to Ogle county, Illinois, being about 
 five weeks in route. He settled on the 
 farm where our subject now lives, entermg 
 a tract of six hundred and forty acres, and 
 at once commencing its improvement. He 
 was very prosperous, being as industrious as 
 the day was long. As a minister of the 
 Brethren he established what is known as 
 the west branch of the Brethren church, 
 and during his life was very active in its 
 work. He was a good man and accom- 
 plished much good in the community in 
 which he lived. His death occurred Feb- 
 ruary 17, 1868. His wife survived him 
 some years, dying May 3, 1879, when nearly 
 ninety years old. They were the parents 
 of twelve children, ten of whom grew to 
 mature years, and four yet surviving. Han- 
 nah is the wife of Daniel Singer, of Mary- 
 land Station, Ogle county. Samuel is a 
 retired farmer of Gove county, Kansas. 
 Rebecca is the widow of Jonathan Smith, 
 of Pawnee county, Nebraska. Andrew F. 
 is the subject of this review. 
 
 Andrew F. Long came with his parents 
 to Ogle county, and on the home farm grew 
 to manhood, in the meantime attending the 
 common schools and assisting in the work 
 of the farm. He remained with his parents 
 until the father's death, when he succeeded 
 to the home place. He was married in Lin- 
 coln township, February 26, 1857, to Miss 
 Ann Maria Wallace, a native of Washing- 
 ton county, Maryland, and daughter of 
 James Wallace, a native of the same coun- 
 ty and state, who moved west with his fam- 
 ily in 1845, settling in Lincoln township. 
 
 where he opened up a farm and reared 
 his family. By this union nine children 
 have been born. Isadora died at the age 
 of nine years and six months. Laura Alice 
 grew to womanhood, married Hiram Goode, 
 and after his decease she wedded Henry 
 Davidson. She died in July, 1896, leaving 
 four children, of whom one was by the first 
 marriage, and three by the last one. The 
 youngest born, Vinna P. Davidson, is now 
 an inmate of our subject's home. Grace A. 
 is the wife of B. F. Miller, of Wright coun- 
 ty, Iowa. Cora Edna is the wife of D. H. 
 Newcomer, a farmer of Mt. Morris town- 
 ship. Mary Esther is the wife of J. C. 
 Muller, a carpenter by trade, but who owns 
 a nice farm in Mt. Morris township. O. C. 
 A. is a farmer in Lincoln township. Ro- 
 sella L. P. is living at home. Arthur J., a 
 well educated young man, is a successful 
 teacher in his native county. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Long commenced their 
 domestic life on the farm where they yet 
 reside, and which has been their home for 
 forty-two years, and his home for fifty-four 
 years. They are well known, especially in 
 the western part of the county, and by all 
 who know them are held in the highest es- 
 teem. The only official position held by 
 him has been in connection with the public 
 schools, serving as a member of the school 
 board and clerk of the same. His first po- 
 litical views were those held by the Whig 
 party, the party with which his father was 
 identified. He attained his majority at the 
 time of the birth of the Republican party, to 
 which he has since gave adhesion. Both 
 he and his wife are earnest and devoted 
 members of the west branch of the German 
 Baptist church, and in the simple and Ap- 
 ostolic teachings have the utmost faith. As 
 a citizen he has always endeavored to be 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 IS7 
 
 true and loyal, doing his duty faithfully and 
 well. In the development of the county he 
 has done his part. 
 
 HENRY J. SCHRADER is one of Ogle 
 county's honored sons and most active 
 and progressive business men. Through- 
 out his career of continued and far-reaching 
 usefulness his duties have been performed 
 with the greatest care, and business inter- 
 ests have been so managed as to win him 
 the confidence of the public and the pros- 
 perity which should always attend honor- 
 able effort. 
 
 Mr. Schrader was born in Leaf River 
 township, January ii, 1844, a son of Will- 
 iam Schrader, who was born in Ohio in 
 1812, and came to Ogle county about 1842. 
 He took up land in Leaf River township 
 and developed a fine farm of one hundred 
 and twenty acres, upon which he success- 
 fully engaged in agricultural pursuits until 
 life's labors were ended, passing away in 
 1875. Here he married Mrs. Mary Myers, 
 //('(■ Her, a native of Maryland, who came to 
 this state with her father, David Iler, a pio- 
 neer of Ogle county of 1837. She first 
 married Peter Myers, by whom she had two 
 children, and by the second union there 
 were three children, of whom Henry J., our 
 subject, is the eldest; Samuel is a farmer of 
 Ogle county; and Sarah is the wife of Will- 
 iam Beebe, also of this county. The chil- 
 dren by the first marriage were Peter L. 
 Myers, of Ogle county, and Hettie, wife of 
 Wilson Hubble, both now deceased. The 
 mother died some years before her second 
 husband. 
 
 On the home farm Henry J. Schrader 
 passed his boyhood and youth in much the 
 usual manner of farmer boys, assisting in 
 
 the labors of the fields during the summer 
 season and attending the district schools 
 during the winter months. He remained 
 with his father and operated a part of the 
 farm until twenty-four years of age. On 
 the 13th of February, 1868, in Ogle county, 
 was celebrated his marriage with Miss Tena 
 Light, a daughter of John Light, whose 
 sketch appears elsewhere in this work. 
 Three children bless this union: Joseph, 
 who died February 15, 1875, ^t the age of 
 eighteen months; Mary, who was well edu- 
 cated in the schools of Leaf River and 
 Mt. Morris, November 2, 1898, married 
 Charles T. Schelling, of Leaf River; and 
 Lewis M., a graduate of the Leaf River 
 schools, also attended the United Breth- 
 ren College at Huntington, Indiana, for one 
 year, and is now learning telegraphy at Still- 
 man Valley. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Schrader located 
 on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres 
 near Egan, to the further improvement and 
 cultivation of which he devoted his ener- 
 gies with marked success. He built a good 
 residence, barn, granary, cribs and other 
 outbuildings, and later bought another farm 
 of one hundred and sixty acres in the same 
 locality, making his home there for three 
 or four years. He then bought seventy- 
 seven acres on the northern line of the 
 county in Leaf River township, and to-day 
 owns three valuable farms aggregating four 
 hundred acres, which he has placed under 
 excellent cultivation. In March, 1889, he 
 rented his farms and moved to the village 
 of Leaf River, where he bought a lot and 
 built a pleasant residence that is now his 
 home. His time is now devoted to the 
 management of his estate, and he is still 
 one of the most active, energetic and en- 
 terprising men of the community. 
 
t5§ 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. Schrader cast his first presidential 
 ballot for General U. S. Grant in 1868, and 
 continued to affiliate with the Republican 
 party for some years, but now gives his sup- 
 port to the men and measures of the Pro- 
 hibition party, and is an earnest advocate 
 of the cause of temperance. At the pres- 
 ent time he is acceptably serving as a mem- 
 ber of the town board, but has never been 
 an aspirant for political honors. The family 
 are members of the United Brethren church 
 and hold an enviable position in the social 
 circle of the community in which they make 
 their home. 
 
 JAMES I. MASON, residing on section 
 22, Buffalo township, is one of the sub- 
 stantial farmers of Ogle county. He is a 
 native of the county, and was born in Buf- 
 falo township, November 12, 1843. He 
 traces his ancestry back to Sampson Mason, 
 who was an officer in Cromwell's army, and 
 who emigrated to America in 1650, locating 
 in Massachusetts. James Mason, the grand- 
 father of our subject, was a native of Rhode 
 Island, and his son, Edward Mason, was a 
 native of the same state, born November 12, 
 1 8 10. The family emigrated to New York, 
 settling in Cayuga county, when Edward 
 was a lad of ten years. In that county 
 James Mason engaged in agricultural pur- 
 suits and there spent the remainder of his 
 life. 
 
 Edward Mason grew to manhood in 
 Cayuga county, and received a limited edu- 
 cation in its common schools. When he 
 arrived at man's estate he determined to 
 come west with a view oi bettering his con- 
 dition in life. In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Debra 
 Van Wormcr, a native of Onondaga county. 
 
 New York, and daughter of Isaac Van 
 Wormer, and immediately after he came 
 with his bride to Ogle county and located 
 in Buffalo Grove, where he had previously 
 made a claim. This was in 1S37, and he, 
 therefore, became one of the pioneers of 
 the county. 
 
 On making the county his permanent 
 home, Edward Mason immediately com- 
 menced to improve his claim, and as soon 
 as the land came into market he purchased 
 the same from the government. He be- 
 came a very prosperous farmer and opened 
 up three different farms, among which was 
 the one now occupied by our subject. On 
 this farm he later located and spent the last 
 years of his life. He died September 3, 
 1886, while his wife preceded him, passing 
 away in October, 1881. Their remains 
 were laid to rest in the Fairmont cemetery, 
 where a neat monument has been erected 
 to their memory. 
 
 James I. Mason is the only child living 
 of Edward and Debra Mason. He grew to 
 manhood on the home farm, and in the 
 common schools received his primary edu- 
 cation. He later entered Mt. Carroll Sem- 
 inar)-, which he attended for a time, and 
 then went to Aurora, completing his school 
 life in Jennings Seminary, at that place. 
 Choosing farming as his life calling, he re- 
 mained with his father until the latter's 
 death, when he succeeded to the old home- 
 stead, and has since been successfully en- 
 gaged in general farming. In addition he 
 has for about twenty years engaged in feed- 
 ing and dealing in pure blood shorthorn 
 cattle, and also a good grade of horses. In 
 all that he has done he has met with a fair 
 degree of success. His fine farm of three 
 hundred and ten acres, lying two and a half 
 miles southeast of Polo, is always kept un- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 159 
 
 der a high state of cultivation and always 
 attractive to the eye. By birth and train- 
 ing a farmer, everything about the place 
 gives evidence of the fact. 
 
 On national issues Mr. Mason always 
 votes the Republican ticket, but on local 
 issues, he votes for the man he considers 
 the best qualified for the office. For him- 
 self he never cared for, nor would he accept 
 any office. Born in Ogle county before it 
 had taken any advanced steps in general 
 progress, his growth has been cotemporane- 
 ous, and he has been an eye witness of 
 nearly everything that has changed for the 
 better, and he takes a just pride in the 
 achievements of the past while having a 
 lively hope for the future. 
 
 SOLOMON DAVIS, deceased, was one 
 of the large number of persons to come 
 to Ogle county from Washington county, 
 Maryland, and who became the most sub- 
 stantial citizens, making of the county of 
 their adoption one of the best in the great 
 state of Illinois. He was born in Boones- 
 borough, Washington county, Maryland, 
 December 28, 1S25, and in his native county 
 grew to manhood and received a common- 
 school education. In his youth he learned 
 the trade of tailor, and followed that occu- 
 pation for some years. He was the son of 
 Edward and Mary (Smith) Davis, both of 
 whom were natives of Pennsylvania. 
 
 On the loth of August, 1848, our sub- 
 ject was united in marriage with Miss Re- 
 becca Fletcher, daughter of Louis and Dela 
 (Shafer) Fletcher, who were natives of 
 Maryland, of v/hich state she was also a na- 
 tive. In the fall of 1855 he came with his 
 family to Ogle county, where he worked at 
 his trade until 1861, when he opened a 
 
 restaurant and grocery store in Mt. Morris, 
 in which line he was fairly successful. He 
 continued in that trade until his death, 
 October 3, 1897. In politics he was a 
 Democrat, and while a strong union man he 
 did not enter the service in the Civil war, 
 but had one brother, John Davis, killed at 
 the battle of Gettysburg. His father and 
 mother came to Ogle county in the same 
 year that he made settlement, in 1855. 
 The father served as postmaster of Mt. 
 Morris for a time, as did our subject. 
 
 To Solomon and Rebecca Davis twelve 
 children were born. Laura J., born July 
 22, 1849, married Thomas Avey, and they 
 made their home in Mt. Morris. She died 
 leaving two sons. Louis D. married Miss 
 Ella While, and was living at Marshall- 
 town, Iowa, when he met his death by ac- 
 cident. He left a wife and six children. 
 Otho F. married Kittie McMullen, of Lin- 
 coln, Illinois, where they now reside, and 
 where he follows his trade of carpentering. 
 Anna F., born February 22, 1855, married 
 December 28, 1873, James H. Depue, and 
 they live in Chicago, where he is employed 
 as car inspector. Mary D., born April 12, 
 1857, married Albert Lookabaugh, a black- 
 smith of Mt. Morris, where they now reside. 
 Charles V., born August 27, 185S, died of 
 paralysis at the age of twenty-nine years. 
 He was a printer by trade. Eva C, born 
 October 30, i860, married Fred Petrie, and 
 they live in Clinton, Iowa, where he is em- 
 ployed on the police force. Ida E., born 
 October 31, 1862, died in childhood. Hat- 
 tie M., born May 9, 1864, married James 
 Miller, and they now reside in Clinton, 
 Iowa, where he has a position with a whole- 
 sale drug house. Benjamin S., born May 
 24, 1866, married Annie Sharp, and they 
 live in Washington, District of Colurnbia, 
 
i6o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 where he has a position in the war depart- 
 ment, a position that he has held since 
 1888. Seymour S., born May 29, 1868, 
 married Elizabeth O'Leary, and they reside 
 in Chicago, where he is engaged in the milk 
 business. Florence R., is living at home. 
 Mrs. Davis has been a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church since she was 
 ten years old, and has always taken an act- 
 ive interest in the work of the church, en- 
 deavoring to do her full duty in the Master's 
 service. She was born in Boonsborough, 
 Washington county, Maryland, April 9, 
 1830. Of her seven brothers, two were 
 killed in the war for the union, Robert be- 
 ing killed at the battle of Bull's Run, and 
 Charles at the battle of Liberty Gap. Her 
 parents also came to Mt. Morris in 1855, 
 her father following the calling of an auc- 
 tioneer. He served in the war of 18 12, and 
 the sword that he carried in that war is yet 
 in the possession of Mrs. Davis. When the 
 Masons of Mt. Morris have a gathering or a 
 funeral to attend they borrow that sword, 
 Mr. Fletcher having been a prominent 
 Mason. He was also a m.ember of the Odd 
 Fellows and the Sons of Temperance. In 
 the latter organization he was quite promi- 
 nent, being a stanch temperance advocate. 
 He was a member of the M. E. church for 
 many years in Maryland and served as Sun- 
 day school superintendent for about thirty 
 years, also served as magistrate in Mary- 
 land for a number of years. Politically he 
 was a Whig. He died in Mt. Morris in 
 1857. 
 
 WILLIAM L. PALMER.— The world 
 instinctively pays deference to the 
 man whose success has been worthily 
 achieved, and who has fought his way un- 
 
 aided from an humble to an exalted position 
 in the business and social world. Self- 
 reliance, conscientiousness, energy, hon- 
 esty — these are the traits of character which 
 insure the highest emoluments and greatest 
 success, and to these maj' be attributed the 
 success that has crowned the efforts of Mr. 
 Palmer. For many years he has been 
 prominently identified with the business 
 interests of Ogle county, carrying on opera- 
 tions as an agriculturist on section 17, Leaf 
 River township, and as a merchant, grain 
 dealer, etc., at Myrtle. 
 
 Like many of the most enterprising and 
 progressive citizens of thecounty, Mr. Palmer 
 is a native of Maryland, born in Washington 
 county, October 22, 1832, and is a son of 
 John and Elizabeth (Wetty) Palmer, who 
 were born, reared and married in the same 
 county. In 1847 the family started for 
 Illinois by team, and finally arrived in Ogle 
 county on the 2d of June, of that year. 
 The father bought a farm in Mt. Morris 
 township, opened up a claim, and continued 
 its further improvement and cultivation 
 until called from this life in the fall of 1865. 
 His estimable wife died two years later. 
 In their family were ten children, five sons 
 and five daughters, of whom only four are 
 now living. 
 
 Being a lad of thirteen years when he 
 came to the county with his parents, William 
 L. Palmer was of great assistance to his 
 father in the development and improvement 
 of the farm. After reaching man's estate 
 he continued its operation for some years, 
 but in 1864 removed to Leaf River town- 
 ship, where he bought four hundred acres, 
 the only improvements on the same being 
 an old house and frame barn. He has 
 added to the original purchase until he now 
 has five hundred acres of valuable land in 
 
W. L. PALMER. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 l6: 
 
 the home place, has erected thereon a com- 
 modious brick residence, a large and sub- 
 stantial barn with a basement, and other 
 buildings, making it one of the best improved 
 farms of the locality. Mr. Palmer has not 
 confined his attention alone to agricultural 
 pursuits, but has branched out into other 
 lines of business. As the Great Western 
 railroad runs through his land near his 
 home, he secured the establishment of a 
 station upon his place, and to it was given 
 the name of Myrtle. He has been a most 
 prominent and active factor in the growth 
 and development of the village, built an 
 elevator there, established a store and also 
 a creamery. The first and last of these are 
 carried on by a stock company, of which he 
 is president and the largest shareholder. 
 He erected the store building, donated a lot 
 for the church, and in every possible way 
 has advanced the interests of the village. 
 Besides the property already mentioned he 
 owns eighty acres of good timber land in 
 Byron township. 
 
 On September 20, 1S60, in Rockford, 
 Illinois, Mr. Palmer married Delana Kate 
 Hammond, who was also born and reared 
 in Washington county, Maryland, and they 
 have become the parents of eight children, 
 of whom six are now living, namely: Al- 
 fred, who runs the elevator at Myrtle and 
 is engaged in the grain and stock business 
 at that place; Anna E., wile of David Rowe, 
 a farmer of Leaf River township; Louisa, 
 wife of W. H. Wagoner, of the same town- 
 ship; Ella, wife of Daniel Emory, of Byron 
 township; Kate, wife of Alva Stine, of Leaf 
 River township; Quimby, who is married 
 and engaged in farming on the home place; 
 Elson and Bertha May, both at home. 
 
 Mr. Palmer has been a life-long sup- 
 porter of the Republican party, casting his 
 
 first presidential ballot for John C. Fremont 
 in 1856, and for every nominee of the party 
 since that time. Being a warm friend of 
 our public school system he has efficiently 
 served as a member of the school board for 
 a number of years, but has never cared for 
 the honors or emoluments of political office, 
 preferring to give his undivided attention to 
 his extensive business interests. As a pub- 
 lic spirited and enterprising citizen, how- 
 ever, he gives his support to all objects 
 tending to advance the welfare of the com- 
 munity along any line, and is recognized as 
 one of the most useful and valued residents 
 of the county. 
 
 CLARK K. MATTESON, a representa- 
 tive and prominent farmer of Ogle 
 county, owns and operates a fine farm of 
 one hundred and forty-four acres on sec- 
 tions 21 and 22, Rockvale township. He 
 was born in Green Island, Schenectady 
 county. New York, September 29, 1836, 
 and is descended from good old colonial 
 stock. His parents, Spink and Tabitha 
 (Waite) Matteson, were both natives of 
 Rensselaer county. New York, the former 
 born June 27, 1S02, the latter April 18, 
 1797. The paternal grandparents, Moses 
 and Amy (Matteson) Matteson, were both 
 born in the town of Westerly, Rhode Isl- 
 and, but were not related prior to their 
 marriage. The grandfather was a sleigh- 
 maker by trade, but after his removal to 
 Rensselaer county. New York, was engaged 
 in farming. In his family were twelve 
 children, of whom nine reached years of 
 maturity, namely; Spink, Laura, Gorah, 
 William, Abel, Almeron, Horatio and Dan- 
 iel. Amy Matteson was a daughter of 
 David and Sarah Matteson, who removed 
 
164 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 from Rhode Island to Rensselaer county, 
 New York, in 1789, and settled in the town 
 of Berlin. Their children were Lydia, 
 Gideon, Ishmiel, Deborah, Titus, Job, 
 Phebe, Sarah, Daniel and Amy. 
 
 Spink Matteson grew to manhood in 
 Berlin and Petersburg, Rensselaer county, 
 but never went to school only three days in 
 his life, the teacher having struck him with 
 a whip over the eye, producing a scar which 
 he carried to his grave. At the age of 
 twenty-two, he learned the blacksmith's 
 trade, which he followed for three years, 
 then followed market gardening for fifteen 
 years, and subsequently engaged in general 
 farming on rented land. He married Tabi- 
 tha Waite, who was born April 18, 1797, a 
 daughter of Peleg G. and Mary (Greene) 
 Waite, the former born October 23. 1761, 
 the latter March 24, 1766. Mrs. Waite 
 was a niece of General Greene, of Revolu- 
 tionary fame. She and her husband also 
 removed from Rhode Island to Rensselaer 
 county. New York, at an early day, going 
 by way of the marked trees along the regu- 
 lar Indian trail. In their family were ten 
 children, whose names and dates of birth 
 were as follows: Greene, September 26, 
 1784; Clark G., April 3. 1787; Marcey, 
 April 4, 1789; Thomas, May i, 1791; 
 Benjamin, April 27, 1793; Alice, July 6, 
 1795; Tabitha, April 18, 1797; Mary, April 
 30, 1799; Lois, December 8, 1801; and 
 Laura, November 4, 1804. All reached 
 years of maturity, and in their younger 
 days were dressed in clothes spun and 
 woven by the mother. The subject of this 
 sketch is the older of the two children born 
 to Spink and Tabitha (Waite) Matteson. 
 The other, Harlow L. Matteson, was born 
 in Petersburg, Rensselaer county, August 
 2, 1840, and is now living in Clark county, 
 
 Illinois. He wedded Mary Etta Odell, who 
 was born in the same place and died in 
 1879, leaving two children, Giles B. and 
 Oren. Subsequently he married Henrietta 
 Eager, of Forreston, Ogle county, Illinois, 
 by whom he has three children: Laura 
 Winnifred, Harrison Eager and Glenn Har- 
 low. He owns a good farm of one hundred 
 and sixty acres in Clark county. 
 
 Our subject spent the first twenty-two 
 years of his life in the county of his nativity, 
 attending school in winter until seventeen 
 and assisting in the farm work during the 
 summer. When fourteen his parents moved 
 to the town of Petersburg, where he was 
 sent to school. Under the old rate bill at 
 that time those who paid the school tax on 
 all taxable property were allowed to send 
 their children to school during the winter, 
 while those who refused were not. In the 
 summer there was generally enough public 
 monej' to carry on the schools without the 
 special tax. After leaving school he worked 
 at odd jobs of various kinds, but principally 
 farming. At the age of twenty-two he went 
 to Granville township, Washington county. 
 New York, where he worked bj' the month • 
 for two years. There he was married and 
 subsequently engaged in farming on rented 
 land for eight years. Coming to Illinois in 
 March, 1868, he purchased his present farm 
 in Rockvale township. Ogle county, of E. J. 
 Waite, of South Oregon, and here has since 
 made his home while engaged in agricultural 
 pursuits. 
 
 On the 20th of November, 1859, Mr. 
 Matteson was united in marriage with Miss 
 Sarah M. Northrup, who was born in Gran- 
 ville township, Washington county. New 
 York, October 13, 1842, a daughter of John 
 H. and Elvira (Eldred) Northrup, also na- 
 tives of that place, the former born in 1813, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 165 
 
 the latter in 1828. The father, who was a 
 farmer by occupation, was a son of Clarl; 
 and Mary (Holmes) Northrup, natives of 
 Londonderry, New Hampshire, and New 
 York, respectively. Their children were 
 Reynolds, Carr, Sarah, Mary, Penelope, 
 Elizabeth, Annie, Emeline, John H. and 
 Ephraim. Mrs. Matteson is the second in 
 order of birth in a family of ten children, 
 the others being Josephine, James C, Pen- 
 elope H., Mary Elizabeth, Chloe E., Addie 
 and Emma, twins, John Carr and William 
 R. The father of these children died in 
 June, 1894, at the age of eighty-one years, 
 and the mother passed away in May, 1889, 
 at the age of si.\ty-one. 
 
 Five children have been born to Mr. 
 and Mrs. Matteson. John C, born in Gran- 
 ville, Washington county. New York, April 
 9, 1862, was married February 20, 1886, 
 to Katherine Elizabeth Taylor, who was 
 born in Racine county, W^isconsin, Septem- 
 ber 16, 1864, a daughter of T. D. and Mary 
 (Kirkham) Taylor, natives of Massachusetts 
 and England, respectively. To John C. 
 Matteson and wife have been born five chil- 
 dren: Charles Edward, born November 
 27, 1886, died at the age of three months; 
 Clark Valentine, born February 14, 1S88, 
 and Mary Permelia, born June 3, li^go, are 
 attending the district schools; John Dwight, 
 born February 27, 1893, and Henry Albert, 
 born May 31, 1896, are both at home. 
 Charles Ferdinand, the second child of our 
 subject, was born September 17, 18G4, and 
 died of measles March 21, 1877. The third 
 died in infancy. Emma E. , born October 
 25, 1869, died July 8, 1870. Thefifthdied 
 in infancy. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Matteson is a 
 pronounced Republican, and he has been 
 honored with a number of important official 
 
 positions in his township, being clerk for 
 fourteen years, school treasurer nine years, 
 school director a short time, road commis- 
 sioner one term, pathmaster a number of 
 3'ears, and justice of the peace for the past 
 seven years. His official duties are always 
 most faithfully and conscientiously per- 
 formed. Socially he belongs to Oregon 
 Lodge, No. 420, F. & A. M., Rock River 
 Chapter, No. 151, R. A. M., and Economy 
 Camp, No. 131, M. W. A., in which he has 
 passed through the various chairs. He has 
 also been \ice-president of the Old Settlers 
 Association, and a member of the Repub- 
 lican county central committee. His esti- 
 mable wife holds membership in the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church of Oregon. 
 
 Mr. Matteson can relate many interest- 
 ing incidents of early pioneer days and of 
 life in the east. He was in the midst of 
 the Anti-Rent Indian troubles of Rensselaer 
 county, New York. This land was owned 
 by the heirs of Rensselaer, and they re- 
 fused to sell any of the land to the settlers, 
 preferring to rent at high rates. The set- 
 tlers finally took the law into their own 
 hands, and, dressed as Indians, they would 
 haress and bother the collectors and agents, 
 sometimes tarring and feathering them until 
 they had secured their demands to be per- 
 mitted to purchase the land upon which 
 they lived. He also lived there when Mill- 
 erism was at its height, when the people of 
 that denomination tore down their churches, 
 expecting Christ to come October 22, 1843. 
 Mr. Matteson also has a very clear recollec- 
 tion of the old training days of the state 
 militia. One company had a brass cannon, 
 captured when General Burgoyne surren- 
 dered. His great-grandfather, Warren Mat- 
 teson, was a gunner in the Revolution. Our 
 subject has one of the first geographies pub- 
 
1 66 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 lished in the United States, containing only 
 a map of New England. He still has in his 
 possession Noah Webster's Third Reader, 
 published in 1802; The Principles of the 
 Government of the United States, by Par- 
 don Davis, in 1823; an old campmeeting 
 songster, 1836; a rhetoric reader, 1835; 
 a Bible which belonged to his grandfather 
 Waite, printed in Edinburg, Scotland, in 
 1 791; and Bunyan's Holy War, printed by 
 John Melcher, in 1794. Besides these 
 cherished possessions he has a pewter plat- 
 ter, which his paternal grandmother owned, 
 also a cup and saucer, soup tureen, neck- 
 erchiefs, and thread that she spun. He 
 also has the Masonic apron and sash which 
 belonged to his father over sixty years ago, 
 and many other interesting relics relative to 
 theearly pioneer and Revolutionary days. 
 
 HARVEY M. SHOEMAKER.— The fine 
 farm belonging to this gentleman on 
 section 15, Eagle Point township, invariably 
 attracts the eye of the passing traveler as 
 being under the supervision of a thorough 
 and skillful agriculturist, and a man of good 
 business qualifications. He is one of the 
 most e.xtensive stock dealers and shippers 
 in Ogle county, and always carries forward 
 to successful completion whatever he under- 
 takes. He was born November 27, 1839, 
 on the farm where he still resides and has 
 borne his part in the de\elopment and up- 
 building of this region. 
 
 Pierson Shoemaker, the father of our 
 subject, was born in Butler county, Ohio, 
 January 16, 1809, and was a son of Michael 
 and Elizabeth (Long) Shoemaker, the former 
 of German, the latter of English descent. 
 The great-grandfather of our subject on the 
 paternal side was an early settler of New 
 
 Jersey, where Michael Shoemaker was born, 
 but at an early day the latter removed to 
 Ohio and later to Indiana, becoming pio- 
 neers of both states. During his youth 
 Pierson Shoemaker learned the carpenter's 
 trade, which he followed in early life. In 
 1828 he removed to Union county, Indiana, 
 and later to Sullivan county, that state, 
 where he was married, November 20, 1833, 
 to Miss Elizabeth Parker, who was born on 
 the Blue Ridge mountains in Grayson 
 county, Virginia, February 18, 1809. Her 
 father, Lemuel Parker, was one of the first 
 settlers of Sullivan county, Indiana, where 
 he removed from Tennessee on horseback. 
 Soon after his marriage, in 1833, Mr. Shoe- 
 maker came to Illinois, and after spending 
 the winter in the vicinity of Peoria, in the 
 spring of 1834, he took up his residence in 
 Ogle county. At that time the country be- 
 tween his home and Galena and Dixon was 
 almost an unbroken wilderness, and the In- 
 dians, who were still quite numerous here, 
 stole his team of horses, leaving him only 
 a yoke of oxen to break and improve his 
 land. He was the first settler in his part of 
 the country, and his nearest neighbor 
 was a Mr. Kellogg, of Buffalo Grove, 
 who located there in 1833. Mr. Shoe- 
 maker secured a claim of about three hun- 
 dred and twenty acres in Eagle Point town- 
 ship, built a log house, and at once turned 
 his attention to the improvement and cul- 
 tivation of his land. He entered a half- 
 section and when the land came into market 
 he purchased it from the government. La- 
 ter he built a commodious residence, haul- 
 ing the pine lumber, doors and windows 
 from Chicago, and all of his marketing in 
 early days was done either in that city or 
 Galena, it requiring fourteen days to make 
 the round trip to Chicago. Although he 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 167 
 
 came to the county empty-handed, he suc- 
 ceeded in accumulating a handsome prop- 
 erty by his own labor, enterprise and good 
 management. He was a successful farmer, 
 a substantial and reliable citizen, and be- 
 sides his farm owned good business property 
 in Polo. From his farm, he removed to 
 that place and erected the Orient House, 
 which he successfully conducted for twenty- 
 five years. He was one of the original 
 members of the brick United Brethren 
 church, which was located on his land, hav- 
 ing deeded it to the church for their house 
 of worship and cemetery. He was a con- 
 sistent Christian and an active church work- 
 er. He died in Polo, July 3, 1890, at the 
 age of eighty-two years, his wife October 
 19, 1892, at the age of eighty-three, and 
 both were laid to rest in the brick Church 
 cemetery. Eagle Point township, where a 
 monumenthas been erected to their memory. 
 
 In their family were the following chil- 
 dren who reached years of maturity: El- 
 mer, deceased, was married and lived in 
 Eagle Point; Mary wedded Dr. M. C. Mc- 
 Pherson, who engaged in the practice of 
 medicine in Eagle Point, but both are 
 now deceased; Joseph died at the age of 
 twenty-one years; Harvey M. is the ne.xt of 
 the family; J. M. is a resident of Califor- 
 nia; Laura is the wife of Joel B. Buswell, 
 of Elk Horn township; Sarah is a resident 
 of Polo; Lemuel died in Florida, January 
 30, 1899; and Elizabeth is the wife of E. 
 C. Williams, of Polo. 
 
 Amid pioneer scenes, Harvey M. Shoe- 
 maker passed his boyhood and youth on 
 the old home farm and is mostly self-edu- 
 cated as his early school privileges were 
 limited. He and his brothers helped to 
 operate the farm, and after his father's re- 
 moval to Polo, he took charge of the same, 
 
 which he later purchased. To its further 
 improvement and cultivation he has since 
 devoted his attention in connection with 
 stock feeding and dealing. He feeds from 
 one hundred to one hundred and eighty 
 head of steers for the market and about 
 two hundred head of hogs annually, and 
 ships his own stock. So successful has he 
 been in his life work, that he is now the 
 owner of seven hundred acres in one body 
 and improved with two sets of farm build- 
 ings. 
 
 In Stephenson county, Illinois, April 6, 
 1S65, Mr. Shoemaker was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Marian P. Rowand, who was 
 born, reared and educated in Ogle county. 
 Her father, Andrew Rowand, was a native 
 of Scotland, born near Paisley, and when 
 a young man came to America in 1832, lo- 
 cating first in Canada, where he partici- 
 pated in the Rebellion. There he married 
 Miss Elizabeth Losson, a Scotch lady, who 
 came to the new world on the same vessel 
 as her future husband. In the fall of 1838 
 they went to New York, and the following 
 spring came to Ogle county, Illinois, Mr. 
 Rowand buying land and developing a farm 
 in Eagle Point township. There he passed 
 away in the winter of 1887, and Mrs. Shoe- 
 maker's mother died in 1854. To our subject 
 and his wife have been born three children: 
 Andrew P., residing on the home farm with 
 his father, married Nellie Smith, who died 
 leaving one son, Harvey B. Elizabeth W. 
 and Marian P. are also at home. 
 
 Since casting his first presidential vote 
 for Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Shoemaker has 
 been a stanch supporter of the Republican 
 party, but has never cared for the honors 
 or emoluments of public office, though he 
 most efficiently served as highway commis- 
 sioner for about fifteen years. His wife and 
 
168 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 daughters are members of the United Breth- 
 ren church, and the family is one of prom- 
 inence socially in their community. Mr. 
 Shoemaker is widely and favorably known 
 as an upright, reliable business man whose 
 word is considered as good as his bond. 
 
 JOHN E. KINDELL, a most progressive 
 and successful agriculturist, is the owner 
 of a beautiful farm on section ii, Byron 
 township, Ogle county. His methods of 
 farm management show deep scientific 
 knowledge combined with sound practical 
 judgment that the results show that "high 
 class " farming as an occupation can be 
 made profitable as well as pleasant. 
 
 Mr. Kindell was born on the 15th of 
 April, 1835, in Miami county, Ohio, and is 
 a son of Joseph Kindell, who was born on 
 Sherman creek, in Pennsylvania, and there 
 grew to manhood. The grandfather, Jos- 
 eph Hunter, was also a native of Pennsyl- 
 vania and was one of the first settlers of 
 Miami county, Ohio. The father, with two 
 brothers, John and William Kindell, cleared 
 farms in that county, and all became quite 
 well-to-do. Joseph Kindell's place com- 
 prised three hundred and si.xty acres of rich 
 and arable land, and to its development and 
 cultivation he devoted his energies until 
 called to his final rest in 185 1. In Miami 
 county, he married Miss Martha Hunter, 
 who was also a native of the Keystone state 
 and removed to Ohio with her father. 
 Eleven children blessed this union, seven 
 sons and four daughters, of whom si.x sons 
 and three daughters reached years of ma- 
 turity. James, the eldest, was a soldier of 
 the Civil war and after that struggle re- 
 moved to Iowa, later to Kansas and finally 
 settled in Arkansas. Rev. William was a 
 
 minister of the United Brethren church, la- 
 bored earnestly for its interests and died in 
 Mercer county, Ohio. David was also a 
 soldier of the Civil war and now resides in 
 Iowa. John E., of this review, is the next 
 of the family. Martha is the wife of Will- 
 iam Manchester, a veteran ot the Civil war 
 residing in Iowa. Joseph is living in Lima, 
 Ohio. Baxter is a farmer in Iowa. Alexan- 
 der is afarmerin Ohio. Samuel also makes 
 his home in Iowa. Mary E. died at the 
 age of ten years. Priscilla died in Mercer 
 county, Ohio. 
 
 On the home farm in Ohio, John E. 
 Kindell passed his boyhood and youth and 
 was given fair common-school advantages, 
 attending school during the winter months 
 and aiding in the farm work during the 
 summer season. He was married in Pick- 
 away, Miami county, Ohio, August 27, 
 1857, to Miss Jenet Stuart, who was born 
 near Edinburg, Scotland, a daughter of 
 James and Ellen (Simpson) Stewart, na- 
 tives of the same country. Mrs. Kindell's 
 paternal grandfather was quite wealthy and 
 belonged to the nobility. The father was 
 given good school privileges, being educated 
 in Edinburg for the ministry, but after his 
 marriage he located on a farm in his native 
 land and devoted his attention to agricult- 
 ural pursuits for a few years. In 1842 he 
 emigrated to America and settled at Paris, 
 Illinois, where he took up six hundred and 
 forty acres and built thereon a large frame 
 house and had it well furnished, but after 
 residing there for about three years, he 
 rented the place and located near Cincin- 
 nati, Ohio. Being in poor health he con- 
 templated returning to Scotland, but died 
 near Cincinnati. Mrs. Kindell, who was 
 principally reared and educated in Ohio, was 
 one of a family of six children, all born in 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 169 
 
 Scotland. Ellen Sprong, the eldest, is still 
 a resident of Ohio. Elizabeth married a 
 Mr. Zider, a noted educator, who died in 
 St. Louis, Missouri. Mary is the wife of 
 Thomas Plummer, of Braymer, Caldwell 
 county, Missouri. John enlisted in an Ohio 
 regiment during the Civil war and served 
 for six months. In the fall of 1861 he came 
 to Illinois with our subject and his wife and 
 after being here for about a year he re-en- 
 listed in Company C, Seventy-fourth Illi- 
 nois Infantry. He was wounded at Spring 
 Hill and Franklin, Tennessee, and died 
 from the effects of the same. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Kindell have become the 
 parents of eight children, namely: Walter, 
 a railroad man, is married and resides in 
 Farmland, Indiana; William L. married 
 and located in Elgin, Illinois, where he 
 worked in the watch factory, but died at 
 home at the age of twenty-three years; 
 Augustus E., who is now in the Klondike, is 
 married and owns a place near Tacoma, 
 Washington; John Stewart is married and 
 engaged in farming in Byron township. 
 Ogle county; Ida Jenette is the wife of Rob- 
 ert Hench, railroad agent at Kent, Stephen- 
 son county, Illinois; Rosa Florence is at 
 home; Lillie is the wife of Frank Lowe, 
 telegraph operator at Byron, on the Great 
 Western railroad; and Mary Ellen, at home. 
 
 For two years after his marriage Mr. 
 Kindell operated the old home farm in Ohio, 
 but in the fall of 1861 we find him a resi- 
 dent of Ogle county, Illinois, where he rented 
 land the first year. In the spring of 1862 
 he bought eighty acres, of which thirty-seven 
 acres had been placed under cultivation, 
 fenced and a little frame house erected there- 
 on. To the further development and im- 
 provement of his place he at once turned his 
 attention, and later added forty acres adjoin- 
 
 ing, making a good farm of one hundred and 
 twenty acres, on which he has erected a 
 large and well appointed house, also good 
 barns and outbuildings, has set out forest 
 and ornamental trees, and the neat and 
 thrifty appearance of the place testifies to 
 his careful supervision and his skill in his 
 chosen calling. 
 
 The Republican party has always found 
 in Mr. Kindell a stanch supporter of its prin- 
 ciples, but he is not a politician in the 
 sense of office seeking, his time and atten- 
 tion being wholly occupied by his business in- 
 terest. He has, however, most efficiently and 
 satisfactorily served as member of the school 
 board for several years. He and his family 
 hold membership in the Middle Creek Pres- 
 byterian church, and in the best social 
 circles of the community they occupy an 
 enviable position, while their many friends 
 are always sure of a hearty welcome at their 
 hospitable home. 
 
 TOHN H. PHILLIPS, an active and en- 
 <J terprising farmer residing on section 
 16, Lincoln township, is a native-born citi- 
 zen of Ogle county, the date of his birth 
 being April 13, 1852. His father, Jacob 
 Phillips, was a native of Washington coun- 
 ty, Maryland, born in 1822, while his grand- 
 father, William Phillips, was a native of 
 Pennsylvania, but who later settled in Mary- 
 land. They both came to Ogle county in 
 1844 and together entered three hundred 
 and twenty acres of land on section 15, 
 Lincoln township, and at once commenced 
 the improvement of the tract, and in due 
 time had as fine a farm as one would wish 
 to see. The grandfather died some years 
 after locating here. Jacob Phillips was 
 married, November 25, 1847, *<? ^^i^s Mary 
 
I/O 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 E. Brantner, a native of Maryland, and 
 who grew to womanhood in her native 
 state. By this union there were six chil- 
 dren that grew to mature years. Lucinda 
 is now the wife of Jacob Waltermire, and 
 they reside in Marshall county, Iowa. John 
 H., of this review, is next in order of birth. 
 George W. resides in Gage county, Nebras- 
 ka, where hs is engaged in farming. Effie 
 Irene is the wife of Elias Henshaw, of Han- 
 cock county, Iowa. Lewis A. resides in 
 Brown county, Kansas. Samuel C. is liv- 
 ing in Nebraska. On the old home place 
 the father passed the last days of his life, 
 his death occurring July 27, 1887. The 
 mother yet resides on the old farm, en- 
 joying the love of her children and many 
 friends. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in his native township and was edu- 
 cated in the home schools. He remained 
 with his father and assisted in the cultiva- 
 tion of the farm until the father's death. 
 He later bought the interest of the other 
 heirs and succeeded to the home farm, 
 where he has since continued to live. He 
 was married in Freeport, Illinois, February 
 21, 1883, to Miss Elizabeth C. McCoy, a 
 native of Ogle county, Illinois, born, reared 
 and educated in Mt. Morris, and a daughter 
 of Walter Bond McCoy, a native of Wash- 
 ington county. Maryland, born in 18 16, and 
 who grew to manhood in his native county, 
 and there married Mary Ann Huyett, a native 
 of the same county and state. They moved 
 to Ogle county in 1840, and settled in Mt. 
 Morris township, where he engaged in farm- 
 ing, and where they reared their family. 
 Later they moved to Eagle Point, where 
 the father died March 30, 1879. His wife 
 passed away in 1878. They had a family 
 of eight children, seven of whom grew to 
 
 mature years. Sarah J. is the wife of Abra- 
 ham South, and they reside in Quitman, 
 Nodaway county, Missouri. David is now 
 residing with our subject. Mrs. Nancy 
 Taylor is now living in Hardin county, Iowa. 
 Archibald Franklin resides in Wright coun- 
 ty, Iowa. The next living one is Mrs. 
 Phillips, wife of our subject. Mary Ann 
 married Walter Hedrick, but is now de- 
 ceased. Edward died in California, and 
 Charles in infancy. 
 
 Immediately after marriage, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Phillips took up their residence on the 
 farm where they yet reside, and on which 
 he has made some substantial improve- 
 ments, including the remodeling of the res- 
 idence, and the erection of a large barn and 
 various outbuildings. Two children have 
 come to bless their union — Clarence O. and 
 Sylvia N., both of whom are in attendance 
 at the home school. 
 
 Politically Mr. Phillips is a stanch Re- 
 publican, having given adhesion to that 
 party since casting his first presidential 
 vote for Rutherford B. Hayes, in 1876. He 
 was elected and served six years as consta- 
 ble of Lincoln township. He has also 
 served as director of his school district, and 
 as a delegate to various conventions of his 
 party. Fraternally he is a member of the 
 camp of Modern Woodmen of America, at 
 Haldane. Life-long residents of the county, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Phillips take a lively interest 
 in all that concerns its well being. Their 
 friends are many and they are worthy of the 
 esteem in which they are held. 
 
 ELMER E. BAER.— Like many other 
 residents within the bounds of Ogle 
 county who started out in life with naught 
 but an abundance of determination and in- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 defatigable industry, and who have succeed- 
 ed through their own diligence, energy and 
 economy, we classify the gentleman whose 
 name stands at the head of this shetch. 
 He was born in Berlin township, Somerset 
 county, Pennsylvania, February 26, 1876, 
 and the following April his parents removed 
 to Carroll county, where our subject was 
 reared. He attended the public school at 
 Millidgeville, and at the age of thirteen pro- 
 ceeded to learn the printer's trade. When 
 he was fourteen years old he ended his 
 school days and devoted his entire time to 
 his trade in the Free Press of Millidgeville. 
 This required a period of four years, and at 
 the expiration of that time he came to Ro- 
 chelle where he worked from the fall of 
 1892 until the following spring. He then 
 removed to Waterloo, Iowa, and shortly aft- 
 erward returned to Illinois, and resided at 
 Marseilles until August, 1893. The follow- 
 ing year he spent in Millidgeville, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and in August, 1894, he entered the 
 office of the Register at Rochelie. At the 
 breaking out of the Spanish-American war, 
 the editor, G. W. Dicus, lieutenant of the 
 militia, was called to Porto Rico, and Mr. 
 Baer leased the business for the following 
 year. Although it has been under his su- 
 pervision but a few months, it already shows 
 the result of his good judgment and man- 
 agement. 
 
 Mr. Baer is the youngest of three chil- 
 dren, the eldest of whom died in infancy. 
 The second child, Susie M., is the wife of 
 A. L. Poffenberger, and resides at Kastota, 
 Minnesota. The parents of this family are 
 Jacob H. and Mary (Blough) Baer, both of 
 Somerset county, Pennsylvania, who came 
 west in 1876 and purchased a farm in Car- 
 roll county. Mr. Baer was actively en- 
 gaged in the management of this property 
 
 till 1885, when he retired from active busi- 
 ness life. Six months previous to his death, 
 which occurred in 1887, he was manager of 
 a hotel in Millidgeville, in which town his 
 wife still resides. 
 
 On the 3rd of October, 1898, our sub- 
 ject was united in marriage to Emma E. 
 Beck, a daughter of John Beck. In politics 
 our subject is a stalwart Republican, al- 
 ways giving his support to the principles of 
 his party. He has never cared for position 
 in public office, referring to give his undi- 
 vided attention to his business interests. 
 He is a keen-sighted and honorable man of 
 business, and possesses the confidence and 
 respect of the community. 
 
 CYRUS NICODEMUS, an enterprising 
 groceryman, has been an important 
 factor in the business affairs of Polo for a 
 number of years and his popularity is well 
 deserved, as in him are embraced the 
 characteristics of an unbending integrity, 
 unabated energy and industry that never 
 flags. He is a leading merchant of the 
 city, and as a public-sprited citizen is 
 thoroughly interested in whatever tends to 
 promote the moral, intellectual and materl 
 welfare of the community. 
 
 A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Nicode- 
 mus was born in Woodbury township, Bed- 
 ford county, October 2, 1846, a son of 
 Conrad Nicodemus and grandson of Jacob 
 Nicodemus. The latter was a native of 
 Maryland, and was a farmer and lumber- 
 man by occupation, owning and operating 
 a sawmill. He died about 1856, at the age 
 of si.xty years, from the efforts of an injured 
 leg, which was crushed by a timber falling 
 upon it. His wife bore the maiden name of 
 Susan Allebaugh. 
 
172 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Conrad Nicodemus was born in Bedford 
 county, Pennsylvania, and came west in 
 the fall of 1867 after his children had em- 
 igrated to the Mississippi valley. He followed 
 farming in his native state and continued to 
 engage in the same occupation during the 
 nine years of his residence in Ogle county, 
 Illinois. From here he moved to Iowa, 
 where he lived until 1896, and it was there 
 that his wife died December 12, 1881. In 
 her maidenhood she was Sarah Hefley, a 
 native of Blair county, Pennsylvania, born in 
 1 819, and a daughter of Samuel Hefley, 
 who was born in Maryland and died at the 
 age of forty-nine years. In the spring of 
 1896, Mr. Nicodemus went to live with a 
 daughter in Appleton, Minnesota, where he 
 departed this life November 25, 1898, at the 
 age of seventy-eight years. Politically he 
 was a Democrat, and religiously a faithful 
 and consistent member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church. In his family were eight 
 children, of whom si.\ are living, our subject 
 being the third in order of birth, and with 
 the exception of himself all reside either in 
 Iowa or Minnesota. 
 
 The boyhood and youth of our subject 
 were spent upon his father's farm in Wood- 
 bury township, Bedford county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, until seventeen years of age, and during 
 the winter months he pursued his studies in 
 the district schools of the neighborhood. 
 In February, 1865, he enlisted in the Ninety- 
 ninth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and 
 was mustered into the United States service 
 at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. The regi- 
 ment was first sent to City Point, Virginia, 
 and later took part in the battle of Hatchie's 
 Run and the siege of Petersburg, and then 
 went in pursuit of Lee's fleeing army, re- 
 turning by way of Berksville to Richmond. 
 For three days during this time they were 
 
 without food. It required a twelve days' 
 march from Richmond to Washington, Dis- 
 trict of Columbia, and at Bailey's Cross 
 Roads they were reviewed by General Han- 
 cock. On reaching the capital they par- 
 ticipated in the grand review, and then 
 marched back to Arlington Heights, being 
 finally mustered out at Philadelphia June 28, 
 1865. 
 
 Mr. Nicodemus returned to the old home 
 in Woodbury township, and continued to 
 work for his father for a year. On coming 
 to Ogle county, Illinois, in September, 1866, 
 he stopped first at the Pine Creek settle- 
 ment, where he was employed by an uncle 
 for eighteen months. On the 7th of Novem- 
 ber, 1867, he was married in Pine Creek 
 township to Miss Sarah Stauffer, a daughter 
 of John E. and Rebecca (Haight) Stauffer. 
 Her father is a native of Pennsylvania, and 
 is now a retired farmer living in Polo. She 
 was born in Sandusky county, Ohio, but 
 when a child was taken by her parents to 
 Elkhart, Indiana, and in 1865 became a 
 resident of Illinois. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Nicodemus began 
 working at the carpenter's trade. He also 
 rented a farm, which he operated for six 
 years, and then came to Polo, where he 
 clerked in a grocery store for ten years. 
 At the end of that time he embarked in the 
 same business for himself, in partnership 
 with Samuel Brenner, who later sold his 
 interest to W. W. Kline, the firm remaining 
 Nicodemus & Kline for seven years. They 
 then sold out to Garman & Handshaw, and 
 for the following seven months Mr. Nico- 
 demus did nothing while looking around for 
 a favorable opening. In company with Mr. 
 Newcomer, he bought the store of Mr. 
 Woolsey, which they conducted under the 
 firm style of Nicodemus & Newcomer for 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 173 
 
 four years, or until January, 1898, when our 
 subject sold his interest to his partner. The 
 following November he and Lester A. Brand 
 purchased a stock of groceries and opened a 
 store on Exchange street, where he is now 
 greeting his old friends. He has met with 
 a well-deserved success in his business un- 
 dertakings, and besides his mercantile in- 
 terests he now owns a fine quarter-section 
 of land in Iowa. He and his wife attend 
 the Methodist Episcopal church of Polo, and 
 have the respect and esteem of all who know 
 them. Socially he affiliates with the Inde- 
 pendent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights 
 of the Globe and the Grand Army of the 
 Republic, and politically is identified with 
 the Democratic party. 
 
 HON. JAMES P. WILSON, ex-member 
 of the general assembly of the state 
 of Illinois, resides on section 10, Woosung 
 township. He was born June 7, 1854, in 
 Blair county, Pennsylvania, and is the son 
 of Franklin and Susan (Dridenbaugh) Wil- 
 son, both of whom were also natives of the 
 Keystone state. By occupation the father 
 was a farmer, and in 1856, when our subject 
 was but two years old, he came with his 
 family to Illinois and located in Lee coun- 
 ty. He later purchased land in Palmyra 
 township, that county, which he improved, 
 and where the remainder of his life was 
 spent, dying there November 4, 1870. His 
 wife is yet living, and now makes her home 
 in Sterling, Illinois. In their family were 
 five children, four of whom lived to matur- 
 ity, and three yet living. Theodore met his 
 death December 9, 1898, by falling from 
 the tower of his windmill in Palmyra town- 
 ship, Lee county. Stewart is now living on 
 the old homestead in Lee county. Mary 
 
 P., widow of C. C. Fisk, is residing in 
 Sterling, Illinois, with her aged mother. 
 Rebecca died in childhood. James P., our 
 subject, was the youngest of the family. 
 
 On the old homestead, in Lee county, 
 Illinois, the subject of this sketch grew to 
 manhood, and received his primary educa- 
 tion in the public schools of his township. 
 He subsequently attended the high school in 
 Dixon, Illinois; and completed his school 
 life in Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, 
 which he attended in 1872-3-4. Leaving 
 school, he taught school in Woosung town- 
 ship for a time, and then, in partnership 
 with his brother, Theodore, farmed in Lee 
 county one year. 
 
 Mr. Wilson was married, February 8, 
 1877, to Miss MaryE. Rogers, of Palmyra, 
 Lee county, Illinois, daughter of W. L. and 
 Hannah (Fellows) Rogers, pioneers of Lee 
 county. Her father, a native of Canada, 
 settled in Lee county in 1839, while the 
 Fellows family, who were of Puritan stock, 
 from New Hampshire, settled in the same 
 county in 1834. By this union were born 
 two children — Franklin B., who was a 
 graduate, with honors, of the Dixon High 
 school, and who was also a student of 
 Stienman Commercial College, of Dixon, 
 and Jay P. 
 
 In the fall of 1876, Mr. Wilson purchased 
 one hundred and sixty acres of land in 
 Woosung township, comprising a portion of 
 his present farm, and soon after his mar- 
 riage moved to the place, making it his 
 home to the present time. To his original 
 purchase he has added eighty acres, giving 
 him an excellent farm of two hundred and 
 forty acres. Since coming into his posses- 
 sion, he has made many valuable improve- 
 ments, keeping up with the times in every 
 particular. While he has been successful, 
 
1 74 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he has yet met with severe loss. On the 
 3d of October, 1896, his fine large barn, 
 with its contents of hay, grain and machin- 
 ery, was totally consumed by fire, entailing 
 a loss of five thousand dollars. He has fol- 
 lowed general farming and stock raising, 
 and usually feeds from seventy-five to one 
 hundred head of cattle per year. He en- 
 deavors to consume on the place all the 
 grain and hay that he raises. 
 
 In politics Mr. Wilson is an ardent Dem- 
 ocrat, a stanch advocate of the principles of 
 the Democratic party. Since attaining his 
 majority he has taken quite an active part 
 in political affairs and has served almost 
 continuously in some local office. In 1881 
 he was elected supervisor of the newly or- 
 ganized township of Woosung, and his elec- 
 tion was contested by citizens of the old 
 township of Buffalo, of which Woosung had 
 formed a part. The contest was warmly 
 pressed, but resulted in the recognition of 
 the newly organized township, and con- 
 firmed the validity of the election of Mr. 
 Wilson. In 1884 he was elected chairman 
 of the board of supervisors, a position which 
 he filled to the satisfaction of all concerned. 
 In 1886 he was elected a member of the 
 thirty-fifth general assembly of Illinois, re- 
 elected in 1 890 and again in 1892. During 
 his term he took an active part in the con- 
 test between Palmer and Oglesby for the 
 United States senate, and which resulted in 
 the election of General Palmer. He intro- 
 duced a valuable bill, which, however, failed 
 of adoption, making railroad and warehouse 
 commissioners elective, instead of appoint- 
 ive. The measure was carried in the house, 
 but defeated in the senate. In 1891 he was 
 chairman of the appropriation committee 
 and of the revenue committee in 1893. He 
 also served on various special committees, 
 
 and was an influential member of the house. 
 In educational matters he has always taken 
 a commendable interest and for years served 
 on the school board. While living in a Re- 
 publican legislative district, he has always 
 held the respect of his political opponents 
 and usually polls a good Republican vote. In 
 his home neighborhood his popularity has 
 always been great. 
 
 JAMES M. CLAYTON is one of the 
 many residents of Ogle county who 
 started out in life with naught but an abund- 
 ance of determination and indefatigable in- 
 dustry, and a strong and healthy constitu- 
 tion, and who have succeeded through their 
 own diligence, energy and economy. He 
 is now able in his declining years to lay 
 aside all business cares and live retired at 
 his pleasant home in Stillman Valley, where 
 he is surrounded by all the comforts and 
 many of the luxuries of life. 
 
 Mr. Clayton was born in Brimfield, 
 Massachusetts, November 18, 18 14, and 
 when a young man, through the influence and 
 solicitation of an older brother, made appli- 
 cation to and had his name changed by a leg- 
 islative enactment from Crouch to Clayton. 
 His paternal grandfather was of German 
 descent and a soldier in the American Rev- 
 olution, while the father, Ephraim Crouch, 
 who was born and reared in Vermont, took 
 up arms against Great Britain in the war of 
 18 12. When a young man the latter went 
 to Massachusetts, where throughout the re- 
 mainder of his life he engaged in farming 
 and the butcher business. There he mar- 
 ried a Miss Stebbens. 
 
 As his parents were in very limited cir- 
 cumstances, Mr. Clayton's educational priv- 
 ileges were limited, being able to attend 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 175 
 
 school only a few months during the winter. 
 His training at farm work was not so 
 meager, however, and during his youth he 
 worked on the farm of Colonel Brown and 
 gave his wages to his father until he reached 
 manhood. On the 2nd of April, 1837, in 
 company with Colonel Brown, Hon. A. F. 
 Brown and Samuel Patrick, he started for 
 the Rock river valley, Illinois, going down 
 the Hudson river from Hartford to New 
 York city, by vessel to Philadelphia, by 
 canal to Pittsburg, down the Ohio and up 
 the Mississippi rivers to St. Louis, where 
 changed boats and then proceeded up the 
 Illinois river to Peoria, by team to the Rock 
 river and by stage to Dixon. Mr. Clayton 
 arrived in Ogle county May 2, and until the 
 following August worked by the day at By- 
 ron. He next worked by the year for Joseph 
 Sanford, and from that gentleman purchased 
 a partially improved claim of one hundred 
 and sixty acres, on which a log house had 
 been constructed. His brother-in-law, Sol- 
 omon Small, who arrived here in 1838, lo- 
 cated upon the place, while our subject con- 
 tinued to work for others for a few years. 
 In the fall of 1841, in Byron, Mr. Clay- 
 ton married Miss Harriet Norton, who was 
 born and reared in New York, and was one 
 of a family of ten children, five sons and 
 five daughters. Her father. Rev. Isaac 
 Norton, a Free Will Baptist minister, set- 
 tled in this county in June, 1837. The 
 young couple made their home in Byron 
 until the spring of 1842, and when Mr. 
 Clayton sold his first place and took a claim 
 of one hundred and twenty acres adjoining 
 the village of Stillman Valley, which he 
 subsequently entered and still owns. After 
 erecting a log house thereon, he moved in 
 and began to break and improve his land. 
 In 1868 he built a neat, substantial and 
 
 commodious residence, and later erected 
 two barns and other outbuildings, set out 
 an orchard and a number of forest and or- 
 namental trees, and transformed the wild 
 tract into a beautiful and attractive farm. 
 His financial resources having increased he 
 purchased an adjoining farm of one hundred 
 and fourteen acres, making in all two hun- 
 dred and thirty-four acres of valuable and 
 well improved land, which he successfully 
 operated for forty years, but now leaves the 
 active management of the farm to younger 
 hands, while he spends his declining years 
 in that ease and retirement which should 
 always follow a long and useful career. He 
 has lived in Stillman Valley since 1882 and 
 there owns two good residences. 
 
 Mr. Clayton has been called upon to 
 mourn the loss of his estimable wife, who 
 passed away December 12, 1887. Of the 
 seven children born to them, three are now 
 deceased, two having died in childhood. 
 Adelaide, the eldest, is the wife of Wallace 
 Revell, a prominent business men of Still- 
 man Valley, whose sketch appears else- 
 where in this volume. Nellie is the widow 
 of Rev. James Robertson, a minister of the 
 United Brethren church, and she resides 
 in Forreston, Illinois. George is a farmer 
 residing in Stillman Valley. Edgar is also a 
 farmer of Ogle county. Hattie is the wife 
 of Eli Hoysington, a farmer and dairyman 
 of Ogle county. Carrie is the wife of William 
 Sovereign, formerly a business man of Still- 
 man Valley, where he now resides. Lena 
 died when a young lady; Delia Ann at the 
 age of two years; and William H. at the 
 age of three months. 
 
 Politically Mr. Clayton is a stanch Re- 
 publican, having supported that party ever 
 since its organization. He cast his first 
 presidential vote for Martin Van Buren 
 
176 
 
 tHE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in 1836, and in 1840 supported Tippecanoe 
 and Tyler, too. He has never sought or 
 cared for official preferment, but when a 
 young man once served as constable in By- 
 ron. He has ever used his influence to se- 
 cure good schools and teachers, and for 
 some years was a most efficient member 
 of the school board. For sixty-one years 
 he has watched with interest the wonderful 
 changes that have taken place in this coun- 
 ty, has borne an important part in its up- 
 building and development, and his name 
 should be among the foremost on its roll of 
 honored pioneers. He is one of the 
 charter members of the Stillman Valley 
 Congregational church and his life has ever 
 been such as to commend him to the office 
 and respect of all with whom he has come 
 in contact either in business or social life. 
 
 SAMUEL KNODLE, one of Forreston's 
 esteemed representative citizens, was 
 born in Washington county, Maryland, No- 
 vember 21, 1827, where he grew up and at- 
 tended school in the district school in the 
 neighborhood. In the spring of 1 841 he 
 came west with his parents to Illinois and 
 settled in Mount Morris. The journey was 
 a long and tedious one, coming as they did 
 by wagon through Cumberland, Wheeling, 
 Virginia, Zanesville, Ohio, Crawfordsville, 
 Indiana, Attica, Indiana, and through Illi- 
 nois by way of Ottawa, until they reached 
 their destination, Mount Morris. Upon 
 their arrival they found but a few settlers, 
 among which were the Hitts, McCoys and 
 Meyers. Samuel Knodle's father, Jonathan 
 Knodle, was a native of Maryland and was 
 born in 1795. His mother, Barbara (King) 
 Knodle, was born in 1795 in Pennsylvania. 
 His father was a successful mechanic, and 
 
 in the early days, at Mount Morris, manu- 
 factured cradles and Hussey reapers, the 
 first built in this country. He also had 
 shipped to him, from the east, a printing 
 press and brought his nephew, Emanuel 
 Knodle, west to run it. He for a long time 
 printed the Rock River Register, which was 
 first published in 1841, and was the first 
 publication in Ogle county. Jonathan Kno- 
 dle for a period conducted a store in Mount 
 Morris, but retired from active business life, 
 and lived at ease until his death in 1854. 
 Mrs. Knodle, the mother of our subject, 
 died in 1882 at an advanced age and her re- 
 mains lie in Mount Morris cemetery beside 
 those of her husband. The subject of this 
 review had five brothers and two sisters. 
 Peter, now deceased, a resident of Mount 
 Morris; Jacob, a wagonmaker and painter, 
 residing at Mount Morris; Jonathan, a car- 
 penter, deceased; Samuel, the subject of this 
 sketch; Joseph, a carpenter residing at 
 Oregon; Elizabeth, the widow of John Win- 
 ders; William, a carpenter, living at Ore- 
 gon; Mary Catherine died in infancy. 
 
 Such educational advantages as the 
 primitive settlement offered Samuel Knodle 
 secured and after his school days earned his 
 living at farm work and teaming until 1850, 
 when with a few companions he set out for 
 the gold mines of California. The party 
 consisted of Messrs Lott, Fink, Boner, 
 Davis, Fouck and Samuel Knodle, all living 
 in the neighborhood of Mount Morris. 
 They set out on their long journey March 
 19, 1850, and by tedious travel over land 
 arrived at their destination the following 
 October. On their way they stopped six- 
 teen days at Salt Lake City to rest up, and 
 camped at Nevada City, when they set 
 to work to dig for gold. Mr. Knodle spent 
 eighteen years in mining and prospecting in 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 177 
 
 California, Arizona, British Columbia and 
 Washington. His perilous life as a miner 
 and mine-owner was terminated by an ac- 
 cident sustained in defending his camp from 
 the hostile raids of the Apache Indians. 
 In the struggle, four of a party of six were 
 killed outright, the remaining two, of which 
 Mr. Knodle was one, were severely injured, 
 he losing the entire use of his right arm from 
 a weapon in the hands of an Indian. After 
 the accident he returned to Mount Morris, 
 arriving there in 1868. He remained at 
 Mount Morris one year, and in 1869 started 
 a business in Forreston, which he has con- 
 ducted ever since. 
 
 Mr. Knodle is a stanch Republican, and 
 cast his first presidential ballot in 1852, for 
 Winfield Scott. It is said that a child is 
 unerring in its affections, and the truth of 
 the saying is evinced in his popularity with 
 the little folks, who greet him as "Uncle 
 Sam." Mr. Knodle has witnessed the 
 growth of Ogle county, having been a resi- 
 dent since before the era of railroads, when 
 as a farm hand he was obliged to haul grain 
 to Chicago, and Peru, and groceries from 
 Savannah. He is a man of sterling quali- 
 ties, of wide experience in human affairs, a 
 persistent reader and deep thinker, and be- 
 cause of these qualifications, an entertaining 
 companion. 
 
 DANIEL SIMS, Sr., one of the honored 
 pioneers and highly esteemed citizens 
 of Ogle county, has for the long period of 
 sixty years successfully engaged in agricult- 
 ural pursuits on section 12, Byron township, 
 where he has a fine farm of one hundred 
 and sixty acres, which he has developed 
 from wild land. On coming to the county 
 in 1838, the greater part of this region was 
 
 still in its primitive condition, few settle- 
 ments having been made and the land was 
 raw and unimproved. He has borne an 
 active and prominent part in transforming 
 the unbroken wilderness into fine farms and 
 assisted in opening up the country to civili- 
 zation. His first crops he hauled to the 
 Chicago market with an ox-team and as 
 there were no good roads his team and 
 wagon often got stuck in the mud. 
 
 Mr. Sims was born in Luzerne county, 
 Pennsylvania, August 31, 18 17, and is a 
 son of John Sims, a native of the same 
 county, who was a soldier of the war of 
 1 81 2 and was stationed on Long Island. 
 For his services in that struggle he received 
 a land warrant. In Luzerne county he 
 married Miss Catherine Hoover, a native of 
 New Jersey, and in 1838 they emigrated to 
 Ogle county, Illinois, where the father 
 bought a claim of about eighty acres and 
 opened up a farm in Byron township, mak- 
 ing a number of improvements on the same 
 and continuing its cultivation for some 
 years. Here his wife died, but his death 
 occurred in Iowa, where he made his home 
 during his last days. Daniel is the oldest 
 of their children, six sons and five daughters, 
 all of whom grew to manhood and woman- 
 hood, but only three sons and two daughters 
 are now living. 
 
 Daniel Sims was reared in Bradford 
 county, Pennsylvania, and had but limited 
 school privileges, so that he is mostly self- 
 educated. During his youth he began 
 working as a farm hand, and throughout life 
 has devoted his energies to agricultural pur- 
 suits. On coming to Ogle county in 1838 
 he entered eighty acres of government land 
 on section 12, Byron township, and later 
 purchased an adjoining tract of eighty acres, 
 which he has converted into a highly culti- 
 
178 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 vated and well improved farm. His first 
 home, which was a little log cabin, has 
 long since been replaced by a comfortable 
 frame residence and good and substantial 
 outbuildings have also been erected. 
 
 Mr. Sims was married in Ogle county, 
 in 1845, to Miss Christina Bunton, 
 a native of Dundee, Scotland, where 
 she continued to make her home un- 
 til eighteen years of age. Eleven children 
 were born of this union, but only the follow- 
 ing are now living; Mrs. Mary Ferguson, a 
 widow living in Iowa, Henry, a resident of 
 Nebraska; David and Albert, also of Ne- 
 braska; Jessie, wife of James Turner, of 
 Byron township. Ogle county, and Daniel 
 living in Iowa; Ella grew to womanhood 
 and married, but is now deceased; while the 
 others died in childhood. 
 
 Originally Mr. Sims was an old-line 
 Whig in politics, casting his first vote for 
 William Henry Harrison in 1840, but since 
 the organization of the Republican party 
 he has been one of its stalwart supporters. 
 Religiously he and his wife are consistent 
 members of the Middle Creek Presbyterian 
 church, and by all who know them they 
 are held in high regard. 
 
 GEORGE MURRAY.— Canada has fur- 
 nished to the United States many 
 bright, enterprising young men who have 
 left the Dominion to enter the business cir- 
 cles of this country with its more progress- 
 ive methods, livelier competition, and ad- 
 vancement more quickly secured. Among 
 this number is Mr. Murray, one of the most 
 enterprising and progressive farmers and 
 stock breeders of Ogle county, his home 
 being on section 17, Buffalo township. 
 
 Mr. Murray was born near Toronto, On- 
 
 tario, Canada, November 15, 1850, and is 
 a son of Thomas Murray, a native of Scot- 
 land, born in the city of Edinburg, Septem- 
 ber 26, 1 8 18. When a young man the 
 father came to the new world, locating in 
 Ontario, Canada, in 1836, and there he fol- 
 lowed the blacksmith's trade throughout the 
 remainder of his life, dying January 17, 
 1866. He was married in Canada, in March, 
 1848, to Miss Louisa Graham, also a native 
 of Scotland, her birth occurring in Dum- 
 frieshire, June 28, 1826. She crossed the 
 Atlantic with a brother and also took up 
 her residence in Ontario. She survived her 
 husband for thirty years, spending her last 
 days with her son in Illinois, where she 
 passed away January 27, 1896. She was 
 the mother of eight children, five sons and 
 three daughters, of whom four sons and two 
 daughters are still living, namely: Mary, 
 who acts as housekeeper for our subject; 
 George, of this review; Thomas, a farmer 
 of Holcomb, Ogle county; John, who is 
 married and engaged in farming in Lee 
 county, Illinois; Robert; and Mrs. Margaret 
 Copenhaver, who also resides with our sub- 
 ject and has two sons, George and Robert. 
 George Murray was reared in Ontario, 
 Canada, and received a good common-school 
 education, which well fitted him for life's 
 responsible duties. As a young man he 
 came to Illinois, in 1872, and took up his 
 residence in Taylor township. Ogle county, 
 where for one year he worked by the month 
 as a farm hand. He then rented a farm, which 
 he operated for the same length of time. 
 Since then he has given the greater part of his 
 time and attention to the breeding of fine 
 stock, in partnership with his brother import- 
 ing and dealing in pure-blooded Percheron, 
 Clydesdale and French coach horses. The 
 firm of Murray Brothers became well-known 
 
JOHN H. NYE. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 among breeders and dealers in different 
 states and they sold their horses quite ex- 
 tensively throughout the west, doing a large 
 and profitable business. The partnership 
 was dissolved in 1886, but our subject con- 
 tinued to engage in the business until 1893. 
 His first purchase of land consisted of 
 seventy-five acres in what is now Woosung 
 township, but after residing there for three 
 years, he sold the place and in 1881 located 
 upon his present farm, consisting at that 
 time of one hundred and eight-two acres. 
 Upon the place he has made extensive im- 
 provements, which add greatly to its value 
 and attractive appearance, making it one of 
 the most desirable farms of the locality. He 
 has enlarged its boundaries so that they now 
 contain two hundred acres of valuable land 
 under a high state of cultivation and iui- 
 proved with a large neat residence, corn 
 cribs, granaries, barns, etc. He has also 
 given considerable attention to the raising 
 of Galloway cattle, and still feeds annually 
 from one to four car loads of cattle and a 
 car load of hogs for the market. He start- 
 ed out in life for himself with nothing but 
 his own indomitable energy and through his 
 own efforts has acquired a comfortable com- 
 petence, being to-day one of the substantial 
 men of the county. 
 
 Mr. Murray cast his first presidential 
 vote for Grover Cleveland and continued to 
 affiliate with the Democracy until 1896, 
 when he supported William McKinley, the 
 Republican candidate. For a number of 
 years he has served as a member of the 
 school board and has been president of the 
 district. He is also connected with the 
 library association and has served as one of 
 its trustees and directors. He and his sis- 
 ters hold membership in the Independent 
 Presbyterian church of Polo, and he is also 
 
 a member of the Knights of the Globe. 
 He is held in high regard by all who know 
 him, and he has a host of warm friends 
 throughout the county. 
 
 JOHN H. NYE, deceased, was for many 
 years a well known and highly esteemed 
 citizen of Ogle county. He was a native of 
 England, born near Dover, and was the 
 son of James and Harriet Nye, both of 
 whom were natives of the same country, 
 the father there spending his entire life. 
 He was a pipemaker by trade. After the 
 death of her husband, his widow came to 
 the United States, afterwards marrying a 
 Mr. Marsh, her husband being a farmer in 
 Lincoln township. Ogle county, where her 
 death occurred in 1876, when about sev- 
 enty-eight years old. 
 
 John H. Nye received his education in 
 the common schools of his native land. 
 At the age of nineteen he came to the 
 United States, landing in New York, where 
 he spent the succeeding three years learning 
 the carpenter's trade, apprenticing himself 
 to a Mr. Beebe. He then came to Ogle 
 county and located in Mt. Morris. This 
 was in 1853. His first work here was for Mr. 
 Marston, who had the contract for the car- 
 pentry work on the seminary, then in course 
 of construction. After leaving Mr. Marston 
 he engaged in business for himself, locating 
 just southeast of the village. He continued 
 contracting and building until i860, when he 
 commenced farming in Mt. Morris township, 
 on a farm the property of his wife, com- 
 prising two hundred and twenty acres. He 
 later purchased a farm of one hundred and 
 sixty acres in Lincoln township, which he 
 rented, while still continuing to remain 
 upon the farm in Mt. Morris township. In 
 
I82 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1867 he left the farm with his family and 
 removing to Mt. Morris he lived a retired 
 life until 1882. 
 
 On the 2d of October, i860, Mr. Nye 
 was united in marriage with Miss Catherine 
 Coffman, born in Washington county, Mary- 
 land, July 24, 1820, and daughter of James 
 and Anna (Palmar) Coffman, natives of 
 Pennsylvania. By occupation he was a 
 farmer. In 1840 he came to Ogle county 
 and located in Pine Creek township. With 
 his family he came through by team, in a 
 large wagon, usually called a "prairie 
 schooner." They passed through Virginia, 
 Ohio and Indiana, and were six weeks en 
 route, although they stopped some two 
 weeks near Dayton, Ohio. The greater 
 portion of the land was yet owned by the 
 government, and believing there was a great 
 future for the country, Mr. Coffman pur- 
 chased six quarter-sections in Ogle county, 
 and nearly as much in Sangamon county, 
 paying the government price of one dollar 
 and twenty-five cents per acre. This land 
 he at once commenced to improve, and in 
 1842 built a small brick house for occu- 
 pancy, brick being more easily obtained 
 than lumber, as there was a brick-yard 
 within six miles, while lumber had to be 
 hauled from Chicago. The previous year, 
 however, he erected a gristmill on Pine 
 creek. On settling here their nearest neigh- 
 bor was three miles away and their market 
 was Chicago. On the present site of Mt. 
 Morris there was but one solitary building, 
 afterwards known as the old seminary build- 
 ing. This building remained until a few 
 years ago. 
 
 James and Anna Coffman were the par- 
 ents of eight children. Edward married 
 Catherine Price, and they became the par- 
 ents of ten children. They lived in Pine 
 
 Creek township, where he died in 1889. 
 By occupation he was a farmer. Catherine, 
 widow of our subject, was next in order of 
 birth. Barbara married Daniel Sprecher 
 and to them were born eleven children. 
 They are both deceased. Aaron died in 
 California in 1 894. He was prospector. 
 Sarah married David Fearer, who is now 
 deceased. She is the mother of six chil- 
 dren and now resides in Kansas. Susan 
 married John Widney, and to them were 
 born three children. They are living in 
 Ohio, where he is farming. David mar- 
 ried Susan DePue, by whom he had two 
 children. He died many years ago. James 
 Coffman, the father, was not permitted to 
 live to see the great changes that have 
 since taken place in Ogle county, his death 
 occurring in April, 1S47, while yet in the 
 prime of life. His wife survived him sev- 
 eral years. Both were highly esteemed, 
 and their death was a sad loss to the new 
 country in which they had cast their lot. 
 
 To our subject and wife two children 
 were born. Frank Coffman, born Novem- 
 ber 21, 1861, was a young man of more 
 than ordinary ability, a graduate of Mt. 
 Morris College. He died in Dakota, June 
 3, 1886, greatly lamented by a large circle 
 of friends. Ulysses, born April 12, 1864, 
 married Ella Green, of Chicago, who died 
 in California in 1896. He received his lit- 
 erary education in Mt. Morris College, and 
 is a graduate of the Chicago Musical Col- 
 lege. He is a teacher of music of marked 
 ability. At present he is employed in the 
 postoffice at Mt. Morris. Our subject first 
 married Miss Maria Beebe, by whom he had 
 four children — Sarah, Harriet, liinina and 
 Anna. 
 
 In November, 1882, Mr. Nye moved 
 with his family to Beadle county, South 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 iS: 
 
 Dakota, and entered a homestead of one 
 hundred and sixty acres, and a tree claim 
 of one hundred and sixty acres. In 1893 
 they left Dakota and returning to Illinois, 
 located in Maywood, a suburb of Chicago, 
 where they remained until January, 1896, 
 when they went to Los Angeles, California. 
 In that beautiful city, on the 28th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1898, Mr. Nye passed to his reward. 
 He was a devout member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and died in the hope of 
 the resurrection. Fraternally he was a 
 Mason, and politically a Republican. 
 
 A few weeks after the death of her 
 husband, Mrs. Nye left Los Angeles, and 
 after visiting relatives in Douglas county, 
 Kansas, in April, following, returned to her 
 old home in Mt. Morris, where she is sur- 
 rounded by many of her old friends, and 
 where she can make the most of this life. 
 Like her husband, she is a consistent mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, a 
 true Christian woman. 
 
 ORLO W. NORTON.— When after years 
 of long and earnest labor in some hon- 
 orable field of business, a man puts aside all 
 cares to spend his remaining years in the 
 enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil, it 
 is certainly a well deserved reward of his 
 industry. 
 
 "How blest is he who crowns in shades like 
 these 
 A youth of labor with an age of ease, " 
 wrote the poet, and the world everywhere 
 recognizes the justice of a season of rest fol- 
 lowing an active period of business. Mr. 
 Norton spent his last years living retired at 
 his pleasant home in Stillman Valley and 
 his history is one that shows the accomplish- 
 ment of well directed labor. 
 
 He was born in Genesee county. New 
 York, June 18, 1825, and was of a family 
 of English extraction which was founded in 
 Massachusetts as early as 1640. His grand- 
 father, Henry Norton, was born in Guilford, 
 Connecticut, in 1753, and was one of the 
 heroes of the Revolutionary war who par- 
 ticipated in the battle of Lexington, where 
 the colonial troops won their first victory. 
 Gould G. Norton, the father of our subject, 
 was born in Vermont, in 1800, and was the 
 youngest in a family of six children, five sons 
 and one daughter. In 1805 the family re- 
 moved to Essex county, New York, and in 
 1 816 settled in Genesee county, that state, 
 where Gould G. Norton grew to manhood 
 and married Mary Hyde, a native of the 
 Empire state, whither her father, Jesse 
 Hyde, had removed from Vermont at an 
 early day. Her grandfather was Captain 
 Thomas Hyde, of Norwich, Connecticut, 
 who held a captain's commission in the Rev- 
 olutionary war. 
 
 The father of our subject successfully 
 engaged in merchandising and also in farm- 
 ing in Genesee county, New York, until 1830, 
 when he removed to Orleans county, that 
 same state, but seven years later returned 
 to the former county, locating in the part 
 which afterward became Wyoming county. 
 In 1846 he came west and settled in Hart- 
 land, Waukesha county, Wisconsin, where 
 he resided for two years while traveling for 
 a mercantile house. At the end of that 
 time he brought his family to Ogle county, 
 Illinois, and entered on hundred and sixty 
 acres of land in Scott township, where he 
 developed a good farm. On their arrival 
 here of most the land was still in its primi- 
 tive condition, deer and other wild game 
 was plentiful, and the few settlers were 
 widely scattered, their nearest neighbor on 
 
l84 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the east being nine miles distant. The 
 father erected a stone house which is still 
 standing and to the improvement and culti- 
 vation of his land at once turned his atten- 
 tion. Here he spent the remainder of his 
 life, dying June 22, 1886, at the ripe old age 
 of eighty-six years. His worthy wife passed 
 away in April, 1877. He was one of the 
 most prominent and influential citizens of 
 his community, was a friend of education 
 and a stanch supporter of our public schools. 
 He was a self-educated as well as a self- 
 made man, but by hard study and close 
 application he fitted himself for a teacher 
 and successfully followed that profession for 
 a number of terms. He was supervisor of 
 his township ten years, and township trustee 
 for a number of years. 
 
 Orlo W. Norton was the oldest in a fam- 
 ily of five children, three sons and two 
 daughters, all of whom reached years of 
 maturity. Emma C. married Hon. O. B. 
 Young, of Stillman Valley. Mary E. B., a 
 resident of Oakland, California, is a lady of 
 superior education and excellent business 
 ability. She taught for twenty-five years in 
 the Rockford, Illinois, Seminary, and the State 
 Normal of California, and is now secretary 
 of the Social Settlement in West Oakland. 
 Henry B. was educated at the Illinois State 
 Normal and was also a teacher by profes- 
 sion, being employed in the State Normal at 
 Emporia, Kansas, for five years. As his 
 health failed he spent two years among the 
 Indians and then went to California, where 
 he followed his chosen profession for a time. 
 He was an ordained minister of the Congre- 
 gational church, and often lectured on sci- 
 entific subjects. His death occurred June 22, 
 1885. Gould Hyde Norton, now a resident 
 of Eustis, Florida, was also engaged at the 
 Illinois State Normal, and in 1861 enlisted 
 
 as lieutenant in the Thirty-third Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, which was largely com- 
 posed of teachers and pupils belonging to 
 that school and was commanded by the 
 president. Colonel Hovey. Mr. Norton 
 was wounded by a ball in the breast at the 
 battle of Vicksburg, and being unfit for 
 further duty he was discharged with the 
 rank of captain. Later he moved to Vicks- 
 burg and served as captain of police in that 
 city. He was the first man to build a 
 house at Arkansas City, Kansas, where he 
 traded with the Indians on Buffalo range 
 for three years. Later he was colonel of 
 the First Kansas Cavalry and participated in 
 the Indian wars on the frontier. In 1876 
 he removed to Florida and has since en- 
 gaged in the nursery and orange-growing busi- 
 ness. He is a prominent member of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic and at one 
 time was in command of the department of 
 Florida. He had a family of five children, 
 four sons and one daughter, of whom three 
 sons were in the Cuban war and one was 
 killed when fighting with Colonel Roosevelt's 
 rough riders. 
 
 Reared in New York, Orlo W. Norton 
 obtained a good practical education in the 
 common schools of his locality and the high 
 school of Varysburg and in early life suc- 
 cessfully engaged in teaching in that state. 
 In 1845 he accompanied his father on his 
 removal to Waukesha county, Wisconsin, 
 and three years later became a resident of 
 Ogle county, Illinois. He opened up a farm 
 in Scott township on the opposite side of 
 the road from his father's place, and there 
 successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits 
 for forty-five years, being recognized as one 
 of the most industrious and enterprising 
 farmers of the locality. 
 
 On the 25th of January, 1853, Mr. Nor- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 185 
 
 ton was united in marriage with Miss Mar- 
 garet Lanckton, who was born, reared and 
 educated in Genesee county, New York, and 
 engaged in teaching in that state and in 
 Illinois prior to her marriage. Her father 
 was Aaron Lanckton, of Wheatviile, New 
 York. She died in 1862, leaving three chil- 
 dren, namely : Ada C. , now the wife of Mal- 
 colmb D.Norton, of Eustis, Florida; Mary L. , 
 wife of Charles H. Tallmage, of Columbus, 
 Ohio; and Charles H., who died unmarried 
 in Dakota, in 1886, at the age of twenty- 
 four years. Mr. Norton was again married 
 at Laporte, Indiana, September 21, 1863, 
 his second union being with Mrs. Elmira L. 
 Carruth, widow of Amos Carruth, and 
 daughter of Frederick Palmer, who moved 
 to Michigan at an early day. She is also a 
 native of Genesee county, New York, and 
 was there reared. By the second mar- 
 riage there are three children: Harriet 
 M. is the wife of Elmer Johnston of Des 
 Moines, Iowa; Arthur A. completed the reg- 
 ular course and graduated from Harvard 
 University with the degree of A. B. in 1898, 
 and after taking the post-graduate course at 
 that famous institution of learning, had the 
 title B. S. conferred upon him, and Edna 
 R. is the wife of Harvey Watson, of Nor- 
 mal, Illinois. 
 
 In 1893 Mr. Norton rented his farm and 
 removed to Stillman Valley, where he pur- 
 chased a cottage. Politically he first affili- 
 ated with the Free Soil party, but was a 
 Republican from the organization of that 
 party. His first vote was for Martin Van 
 Buren, and in 1856 for John C. Fremont. 
 He took an active and prominent part in 
 public affairs, especially along the lines of 
 education, and for years was a member of 
 the school board. He also served as town- 
 ship clerk eight years, justice of the peace 
 20 
 
 the same length of time and supervisor two 
 years, his labors in behalf of his fellow citi- 
 zens giving the utmost satisfaction. He 
 with his wife held membership in the Con- 
 gregational church and stood high in social 
 circles of the community. Those who knew 
 him best numbered him among their warm- 
 est friends, and no citizen in Stillman Val- 
 ley was more honored hor highly respected. 
 Mr. Norton died October 31, 1898. 
 
 JACOB KAPPMAN.— It is said that biog- 
 raphy yields to no other subject in point 
 of interest and profit, and it is especially 
 interesting to note the progress that has 
 been made along various lines of business by 
 those of foreign birth who have sought homes 
 in America — the readiness with which they 
 adapt themselves to the different methods 
 and customs of America, recognize the ad- 
 vantages offered and utilize the opportunities 
 which the new world affords. Such a man 
 is Mr. Kappman, who is now one of the 
 wealthiest and most prosperous farmers of 
 Ogle county, his home being on section 20, 
 Leaf River township. 
 
 He was born in Hohenzollern, Prussia, 
 February 29, 1828, and was there reared to 
 manhood, but is self-educated in German as 
 well as in the English language. Before leav- 
 ing the faiherland he was married, in 1856, 
 to Miss Mary Schetter, who was also of 
 German birth. In his native land he con- 
 tinued to carry on farming until 1858, when 
 he crossed the Atlantic and came direct to 
 Illinois, joining his brother, John Kappman, 
 who had located here a few years before, 
 but later removed to South Dakota. Our 
 subject arrived in Ogle county in October, 
 1858, and at first rented land, which he 
 operated for one year. He then purchased 
 
1 86 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 a tract of forty acres, on which he now 
 resides. The land had been broken, but no 
 building erected, and his first home here was 
 a small house which he erected. To the 
 further improvement and cultivation of the 
 land he devoted his entire time and atten- 
 tion, but for a few years it was a hard 
 struggle to support himself and family. As 
 his financial resources have increased, how- 
 ever, he has bought more land from time to 
 time, until he now owns seven hundred and 
 forty-seven acres. His home farm, com- 
 prising two hundred and forty acres, is 
 improved with a commodious and comforta- 
 ble residence, supplied with luxuries. Good 
 barns and outbuildings have also been 
 erected, and the place is now one of the 
 most desirable in the locality. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Kappman have a family 
 of seven children, four sons and three daugh- 
 ters, namely: Adolph, who is married and 
 engaged in farming in Leaf River township; 
 Christian, at home; Joseph, who is married 
 and also carries on operations as an agricult- 
 urist in Leaf River township, and William, 
 who assists his brother Christian in the op- 
 eration of the home farm; Mary, wife of 
 William Betz, of Winnebago county, Illi- 
 nois; Susan and Anna, both at home. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Kappman is a 
 strong Republican, and cast his first presi- 
 dential vote for Abraham Lincoln in i860. 
 He served as school director in his district 
 for several years, but has never cared for 
 official honors. In religious faith he and 
 his wife are devout Catholics, and helped to 
 build the church of that denomination at 
 Seward. He is now the possessor of a 
 handsome property which now enables him 
 to spend his declining years in the pleasur- 
 able enjoyment of his accumulations. He 
 came to this country in limited circum- 
 
 stances, and with no capital started out in 
 a strange land to overcome the difficulties 
 and obstacles in the path to prosperity. 
 His youth dreams have been more than 
 realized, and in their happy fulfillment he 
 sees the fitting reward of his earnest toil. 
 
 JAMES H. MAGNE, of Haldane, has 
 spent more than a half century of his 
 life in Ogle county. He was born in Roch- 
 ester, New York, March 30, 1835, and is a 
 son of Charles Magne, a native of Connecti- 
 cut. The family are of French extraction, 
 the first of the name settling in Connecticut 
 in a very early day, and there Charles 
 Magne, Sr. , the grandfather of our subject, 
 was born. He later removed to New York 
 and settled near the city of Rochester. Dur- 
 ing the second war with Great Britain he 
 served his countrj' faithfully, and was 
 wounded at the battle of Queenstown 
 Heights. His death occurred in 1835. 
 
 Charles Magne, the father of our sub- 
 ject, grew to manhood in New York, but 
 returned to Connecticut and there married 
 Mary A. L. Noble, a native of that state. 
 He was a ship carpenter by trade, and soon 
 after his marriage moved to New York city, 
 where he was employed at his trade. In 
 1847 he came west with his family and lo- 
 cated at Buffalo Grove, Ogle county, where 
 he remained two years engaged in carpentry 
 work and in farming. He then moved to 
 what is now Lincoln township, bought one 
 hundred and sixty acres of land near the 
 present village of Haldane and opened up a 
 farm. He later added eighty acres to his 
 tract, giving him a fine farm of two hundred 
 and forty acres, which he improved. He 
 there spent the last years of his life, dying 
 in February, 1857, at the age of forty-eight 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 187 
 
 years. His wife survived him and reared 
 the family, passing to her reward in 1895, 
 at the age of eighty- two years. They had 
 a family of three sons and three daughters, 
 who grew to ^nature years, our subject be- 
 ing the eldest. The others were Charles 
 A., living retired in Haldane; Lucretia E. 
 Mantle, of Brookville township; Horace, 
 living retired in Polo; Abalena, who died a 
 single lady: and Adaline, now deceased, who 
 married Gavin R. Cross, of Ogle county. 
 
 James H. Magne came to Ogle county 
 with his parents when a lad of thirteen years 
 and here grew to manhood, assisting his 
 father in opening up and operating the home 
 farm. Before leaving his native state he 
 secured a fair education in the common 
 schools, but the greater part of his knowl- 
 edge has been obtained since attaining his 
 majority by reading and observation. After 
 his father's death he remained with his 
 mother and carried on the farm, and cared 
 for her in her declining years. He later 
 sold his interest in the farm to the other 
 heirs and then purchased a farm of eighty 
 acres between Maryland and Haldane, to 
 which he removed and further improved the 
 place. He remained on that farm until his 
 removal to the village of Haldane, in 1894. 
 While on the farm he was engaged to some 
 extent in buying and selling stock for a few 
 years. Purchasing residence property in 
 Haldane, he rebuilt and remodeled the 
 house and now has a very neat and com- 
 fortable home. 
 
 Mr. Magne returned east, and, in Clin- 
 ton county, Pennsylvania, January 27, 1881, 
 married Miss Emma J. Wilson, a native of 
 that county and state, where she was 
 reared and educated. She is the daughter 
 of Joseph B. Wilson, a stonemason by 
 trade and a native of Pennsylvania. He is 
 
 now deceased, but his widow is now living 
 with Mrs. Magne. By this union there was 
 one child, Linus E., a student of the home 
 school. 
 
 Politically Mr. Magne is a Prohibition- 
 ist, but was originally a Democrat, casting 
 his first presidential vote for James Buch- 
 anan, in 1856. From the fact that he con- 
 siders the liquor traffic the worst foe to 
 society, he has given his adhesion to the 
 Prohibition party, the only party that is 
 fighting the gigantic evil. By casting his 
 vote with that party he believes that he is 
 at least registering his will, and that the 
 party is exercising an educational influence. 
 Mrs. Magne is a member of the Evangelical 
 church of Haldane. When he came to 
 Ogle county there was little to give promise 
 of the great future before this section of 
 the country. There was not a railroad in 
 the state, and very few towns of any im- 
 portance. Farm houses were few and far 
 between, and the whole country was almost 
 in its virgin state. He has lived to see a 
 change that the most optimistic person 
 could not have conceived, and while his 
 part may have been a humble one he has 
 done what he could in the change that has 
 been accomplished. 
 
 ISAAC SPENCER, who resides on section 
 10, Eagle Point township, is a well- 
 known farmer and stock raiser, one who is 
 numbered among the pioneers of northern 
 Illinois, having been a resident of this sec- 
 tion since 1839. He was born near Collins- 
 ville, Connecticut, January 31, 1832, and 
 is the son of Naaman and Diantha (Ben- 
 ham) Spencer, both of whom were natives 
 of the Nutmeg state. The paternal grand- 
 father, John Spencer, was also a native of 
 
iS8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the same state, but the family is of English 
 origin. 
 
 Naaman Spencer grew to manhood in 
 his native state, and his marriage with 
 Diantha Benham was celebrated July i6, 
 i8i I. In early life he learned the cooper's 
 trade, and also the trade of a miller, follow- 
 ing one or the other occupations while yet 
 residing in the east. In 1833 he moved 
 with his family to Bradford county, Penn- 
 sylvania, cleared and opened up a little 
 farm, and there remained until 1839, when 
 he came to Illinois, and settled on the north 
 side of Elkhorn grove, in Carroll county, 
 where he rented a small place, and there 
 resided for some five or six years. He then 
 purchased a claim of forty acres, where his 
 son now resides, on which was a log house, 
 and about thirty acres of the land having 
 been broken. He there began to farm, and 
 at the same time worked at the cooper's 
 trade, erecting a small shop, where he made 
 flour barrels, and carried on quite a busi- 
 ness. The product of his shop he would 
 haul principally to some river point and sell 
 the same. When the land came into mar- 
 ket he made his entries and secured his 
 title. On that farm he spent the last years 
 of his life, dying January 3, 1873, when 
 nearly eighty-five years old. His wife 
 passed away September 11, 1861. They 
 had a family of four sons and four daughters 
 that grew to mature years. William mar- 
 ried and settled in Stephenson county, but 
 is now deceased. Fanny married Ellas 
 Woodin, but is now deceased. Alanson 
 settled at Elkhorn Grove, but is now de- 
 ceased. Allen is a resident of Eagle Point 
 township. Mrs. Lucinda Jenkins is a 
 widow, residing in Iowa. Naaman is a resi- 
 dent of Milledgeville, Illinois. Diantha 
 married Lewis Porter, but both are now de- 
 
 ceased. Mrs. Clarinda Case, a widow, re- 
 siding in Eagle Point township. Isaac, the 
 subject of this review, is the last in order of 
 birth. 
 
 Isaac Spencer was but nine years of age 
 when he accompanied his parents to Illi- 
 nois, and but fourteen when his father set- 
 tled on the farm where he now resides. His 
 education was obtained in the pioneer 
 schools of Carroll and Ogle counties, but 
 his attendance in the school room was not 
 of long duration. He remained at home 
 and assisted his father in the shop and on 
 the farm until after he had attained his ma- 
 jority. He was married on the 26th of Sep- 
 tember, 1 86 1, to Romelia Maxwell who, 
 was born in the town of Delhi, Delaware 
 county. New York, February 25, 1832, and 
 daughter of Heman and Paulina (Ballard) 
 Maxwell, the former a native of Delhi, Del- 
 aware county, New York, and the latter of 
 Bridgeport, Connecticut. In 1840, Henry 
 Maxwell moved with his family to Ch.Mutau- 
 qua county. New York, where they lived a 
 few years, and then moved to Pennsylvania. 
 In 1850 they came to Illinois, and located 
 in Eagle Point. He was a wagon-maker by 
 trade, and followed that occupation at 
 Eagle Point for some years. He lost his 
 wife in 1875, and later moved to Red Oak, 
 Montgomery county, Iowa, where his death 
 occurred in 1883. 
 
 •\fter his marriage, Mr. Spencer took 
 charge of the home farm, and has since 
 made many valuable improvements to it in 
 the way of a new dwelling, barn, storehouse, 
 etc., and has now a well improved and val- 
 uable place. In addition to general farm- 
 ing, he has given attention to raising good 
 graded stock, and is accounted one of the 
 successful farmers of the township. 
 
 Politically Mr. Spencer is a stanch Re- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1 89 
 
 publican, having been an advocate of the 
 principles of the party since its organization. 
 He has never wanted nor would accept any 
 office, willing at all times that others should 
 have the honors and emoluments attached 
 to office holding. When he came to north- 
 ern Illinois, it was indeed a wilderness, and 
 in the sixty years he has resided here he has 
 witnessed changes hard to realize, changes 
 as wonderful as were ever wrought by Alad- 
 din's lamp. In the transformation he has 
 borne his part. 
 
 ALEXANDER ANDERSON, residing on 
 section 7, Woosung township, is the 
 owner of one hundred and ninety-seven and 
 a half acres of as fine land as there is in the 
 township. He is a native of Ogle county, 
 born on the home farm in Woosung town- 
 ship, June II, 1872, and is the son of Alex- 
 ander and Agnes (Spence) Anderson, both 
 of whom were natives of Scotland, and who 
 came to the United States in 1S50, coming 
 direct to Ogle county and locating in Eagle 
 Point township, where he engaged in farm- 
 ing for about three jears. He then moved 
 into Woosung township, purchased eighty 
 acres of unimproved land, and at once com- 
 menced the establishment of a permanent 
 home, and there resided until death. He 
 was a very successful farmer, and from time 
 to time added to his estate until he had six 
 hundred and forty acres of fine land, the 
 greater part of which was under cultivation. 
 As a breeder of stock, he was likewise suc- 
 cessful, and always had on his place many 
 head of cattle and hogs. He was not a 
 member of any church, but was reared in 
 the Presbyterian faith. A man of retiring 
 disposition, he did not force either himself 
 or his views on others, and therefore never 
 
 asked or sought public office. In politics 
 he was a thorough Republican. His death 
 occurred August 27, 1S87, and his remains 
 were laid to rest in the East Jordan ceme- 
 tery. His wife is yet living, and is yet re- 
 siding upon the old home farm. They 
 were the parents of two children: Alex- 
 ander, our subject; and Ellen E., who is 
 still at home with her mother. 
 
 James Anderson, the paternal grandfa- 
 ther, also a native of Scotland, came to the 
 United States the same year as did the fa- 
 ther of our subject, and made his home with 
 him until his death in 1866. In his family 
 were fi\'e sons and one daughter. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood on the old home farm, and in the pub- 
 lic schools of the neighborhood received his 
 education. This was supplemented, how- 
 ever, by a course in the business college at 
 Dixon, Illinois. He was thus well prepared 
 for the active duties of life. He was but 
 fifteen years old when his father died, leav- 
 ing the care of the large estate to him, since 
 which time he has cultivated and superin- 
 tended the farm, meeting with fine success. 
 Like his father before him, he has shown 
 himself a thorough and reliable farmer, 
 practical in ail things. He ships from one 
 hundred to two hundred hogs per year, be- 
 sides one or two car loads of cattle. He 
 has shown himself a man of superior char- 
 acter and business ability, strong in his in- 
 herited Scotch characteristics of integrity 
 and thrift. 
 
 In politics Mr. Anderson is a Republican, 
 and since the spring of 1898 he has filled 
 the office of township clerk. In religion he 
 is connected with the United Brethren 
 church, and is an active worker in both the 
 church and Sunday-school. He is president 
 of the Young People's Society Christian En- 
 
I go 
 
 TH]': BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 deavor, Rock River conference of United 
 Brethren in Christ, and is trustee of the 
 United Brethren Camp Grounds of Polo. 
 Fraternally he is a member of the Knights 
 of the Globe, and has passed all the chairs 
 in the local lodge. He is also a member of 
 Polo Lodge, L O. O. F. , of which he is 
 past grand; and of Polo Encampment, No. 
 I 17. While yet a young man, he is well- 
 known in various parts of the county and 
 has many friends. His home is one of the 
 best in the township, and his farm one of 
 the best improved. 
 
 MATTHEW P. BULL, an enterprising 
 agriculturist of Ogle county, is the 
 owner of a fine farm on sections 6 and 11, 
 Byron township, and his management of 
 the estate is marked by the scientific knowl- 
 edge and skill which characterize the mod- 
 ern farm. The Bull family is of English 
 descent and was among the pioneer settlers 
 of Chester county, Pennsylvania. At an 
 early day our subject's great-grandfather, 
 Richard Bull, removed to Perry county, the 
 same state, and opened up a farm on which 
 the grandfather, William Bull, and father, 
 John Bull, were both born, the latter in 
 1794. There he grew to manhood and 
 when the war of 1812 broke out he joined 
 the army, being stationed most of the time 
 at Buffalo as private clerk to his colonel. 
 He was married in Perry county to Miss 
 Jane Linn, also a native of the county, and 
 a daughter of William Linn. Upon the old 
 homestead they resided many years, but 
 finally sold and came west, arriving in Ogle 
 county, Illinois, May i, 1851. Here Mr. 
 Bull purchased three hundred acres of land 
 and developed the farm on which his son 
 now resides. He erected good and substan- 
 
 tial buildings upon his place, and success- 
 fully engaged in its operation until called 
 from this life in September, 1863, at the 
 age of sixty-nine years. His wife died in 
 Pennsylvania about 1846, before the emi- 
 gration of the family to Illinois. The fam- 
 ily of this worthy couple consisted of twelve 
 children, ten of whom, two sons and eight 
 daughters, reached years of maturity, but 
 only our subject and two sisters are now 
 living, — Mrs. Jane Milligan, of Mason City, 
 Iowa; and Elizabeth G., a resident of Ro- 
 chelle, Illinois. Our subject's only brother 
 was Robert Henry, who married and owned 
 and operated a nice farm in Ogle county, 
 on which he died in 1875. 
 
 Matthew P. Bull was also born on the 
 old homestead in Perry county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, April 9, 1833, and was provided with 
 a good common school-education, which 
 was supplemented by a year's attendance 
 at the Bloomfield Academy. He was eight- 
 een years of age when he accompanied the 
 family on their removal to Illinois, and was 
 of great assistance to his father in opening 
 up the new farm and preparing it for plant- 
 ing. On the death of the latter he suc- 
 ceeded to a part of the estate and he and 
 his brother subsequently bought an adjoining 
 farm. For some years they engaged in their 
 cultivation together, but finally the property 
 was divided and our subject still lives on 
 the old home farm. He has enlarged and 
 remodeled the residence, built a large barn 
 and good outbuildings and made many other 
 valuable improvements upon the place, and 
 is acknowledged to be one of the best and 
 most successful farmers of the community. 
 In connection with general farming he has 
 also been engaged in raising a good grade of 
 stock and is now interested in the milk busi- 
 ness. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 In Byron township, December 17, 1873, 
 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Bull 
 and Miss Mary E. Linn, the only daughter 
 of John R. Linn, another of Ogle county's 
 early settlers, formerly from Pennsylvania. 
 Mrs. Bull was born and reared in the Key- 
 stone state, and by her marriage to our 
 subject has become the mother of six chil- 
 dren: John L., who died in 1888, at the 
 age of fourteen years; Margaret Isabella, a 
 music teacher, at home; Roberta, who is 
 engaged in school teaching and also resides 
 at home; Mary R. and Nancy M., twins, 
 who are attending the Rockford high school; 
 and Grace Grant, a student in the home 
 school. 
 
 Since the organization of the Republican 
 party in 1856, Mr. Bull has been one of its 
 stanch supporters, but he has never sought 
 nor desired political preferment. As a 
 friend of education and our public school 
 system, he has ever used his influence to 
 secure good schools and teachers and for 
 some years was a most active member of 
 the school board. He and his wife hold 
 membership in the Middle Creek Presbyte- 
 rian church and their lives have been such as 
 to commend them to the confidence and 
 esteem of all who know them. 
 
 GEORGE POOLE is a retired farmer 
 residing in Polo. He was born near 
 Toronto, Canada, January 31, 1835, and is 
 the son of William and Nancy (Johnson) 
 Poole, the former a native of county We.x- 
 ford, Ireland, born in May, 1803, and the 
 latter near Toronto, Canada, May 12, 1814. 
 William Poole was the son of George Poole, 
 a hatter by trade, and likewise a native of 
 Ireland, who came to America in middle 
 life and established himself in business at 
 
 his trade in Cincinnati, Ohio. He remained 
 there a few years, then came to Ogle coun- 
 ty, Illinois, making his home with his son, 
 William, until his death in 1859, at the age 
 of eighty-six years. His wife died in the 
 old country. They were the parents of five 
 children, all of whom grew to maturity. 
 
 William Poole grew to manhood in his 
 native country, and after coming to America 
 learned the the carpenter's trade. At the 
 age of twenty-one years he started for Amer- 
 ica, taking passage in the sailing vessel 
 Maria, and was twice shipwrecked. He 
 finally landed in America, going direct to 
 Toronto, Canada, where he worked a year 
 or two for an uncle who advanced the 
 money for his passage across the ocean. 
 After being released from this obligation, he 
 commenced work at his trade, at which he 
 continued until the spring of 1839, when he 
 came to Ogle county, Illinois, and located 
 in what is now Brookville township. He 
 came here with his brothers-in-law, John 
 Lawrence and John Sanborn, and jointly 
 they secured about eight hundred acres of 
 land, for which they paid the government 
 price of of one dollar and twenty-five cents 
 per acre, besides paying the squatter's claim, 
 as nearly all the land in this vicinity had 
 been settled on by squatters, who located on 
 it for the purpose of holding until they could 
 sell out to some actual settler. On the di- 
 vision of the tract about three hundred acres 
 went to Mr. Poole. Not a rod had been 
 turned and he must make every improve- 
 ment necessary. He first erected a stone 
 house on his portion and then started to 
 break and cultivate. He there continued 
 farming until his death, which occurred 
 September 18, 1886, at the age of eighty- 
 three years. In 1834 he married Miss 
 Nancy Johnson, both of whom were natives 
 
192 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of Pennsylvania. Abraham Johnson was by 
 occupation a farmer, and when but a lad he 
 entered the British service in the Revolu- 
 tionary war as a wagon boy. His wife's 
 father, Mr. Hommon, was killed by an 
 Indian, about one-half mile from Fort Fred- 
 erick. To William and Nancy Poole were 
 born six children, — George, Abraham, Jo- 
 seph, John, Catherine and one who died in 
 infancy. In politics William Poole was an 
 Abolitionist, and with the Free Soil party 
 acted until the organization of the Repub- 
 lican party, the principles of which were so 
 nearly identical with those he had been 
 advocating, that he gave adherence to the 
 new party, believing that with it the coun- 
 try would the sooner become in reality a 
 free country. He was not an office-seeker, 
 but served one term as justice of the peace 
 and was road commissioner for a time. 
 Religiously, he was an Episcopalian. His 
 wife is still living at the age of eighty-five 
 years and is making her home with our sub- 
 ject. 
 
 George Poole was but four years of age 
 when he accompanied his parents to Ogle 
 county, and here he has since continued to 
 reside, a period of si.xty years. He was ed- 
 ucated in the school at Old Town, and was 
 one of the first pupils to attend the school 
 at that place. The first teacher was John 
 Frisbie. He continued to attend school, 
 principally in the winter months, until he 
 was twenty years old, in the meantime as- 
 sisting in the farm work. He then gave his 
 whole time to his father, and continued to 
 work for him until he was twenty-si.\ years 
 old. 
 
 On the nth of October, i860, Mr. 
 Poole was united in marriage with Miss 
 Sabina Strock, born July 22, 1836, in Bed- 
 ford county, Pennsylvania, and daughter of 
 
 Jacob and Catherine (Longnecker) Strock, 
 the former a native of Franklin county, 
 Pennsylvania, born in 1806, and the latter 
 of Bedford county, in the same state, born 
 in iSio. They came to Ogle county in 1854 
 and settled in Buffalo township, where Mr. 
 Strock engaged in farming, at which he con- 
 tinued for some years. Later he removed 
 to Polo, where he lived a retired life, and 
 where his death occurred in November, 
 1882. His wife died in 1895, at the age of 
 eight3'-five years. They were the parents 
 of nine children — Sabina, Henry, John, 
 David, Nancy, Susanna, Abram, Elizabeth 
 and Jacob. All are yet living. To our sub- 
 ject and wife four children have been born, 
 one of whom died in infancy. The living 
 are Frank, Nellie and John. 
 
 On his marriage, Mr. Poole received from 
 his father a small farm and at once commenced 
 its cultivation. After living there for seven 
 years, he sold the same and purchased a 
 farm of three hundred acres on sections 13 
 and 14, Eagle Point township, where he re- 
 sided until his removal to Polo, in 1892. 
 In his farming operations he was quite suc- 
 cessful, and was regarded as one of the 
 leading farmers in the township. He car- 
 ried on general farming and stock raising, 
 including the raising of short horn Durham 
 cattle, Poland China hogs, and Norman 
 draft horses. His farm was always kept 
 under a high state of cultivation, and every- 
 thing about the place showed that it was 
 under the care of a practical man. 
 
 After years of hard toil, Mr. Poole con- 
 cluded that he would retire and live a less 
 active and laborious life. In 1895-6, he built 
 his present fine residence on Barber avenue. 
 Polo, which is the abode of hospitality. In 
 politics he is an ardent Republican, and has 
 served his fellow citizens in various local 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 193 
 
 offices. For eleven years he was supervi- 
 sor of Eagle Point township, and was a 
 member of the board when the railroad 
 trouble of the county was at its height. He 
 was a valuable member of the board, and his 
 services were appreciated by the people of 
 his township, as is attested by his continual 
 re-election. An energetic, enterprising man, 
 he was always willing to work for the best 
 interest of his township and county. He 
 was greatly esteemed throughout the county. 
 
 ^ORTI 
 1 T 1 natur 
 
 ORTIMER S. BREWSTER. — The 
 iral advantages of this section at- 
 tracted at an early day a superior class of 
 settlers — thrifty, industrious, progressive 
 and law-abiding — whose iniluence gave per- 
 manent direction to the development of the 
 locality. Among the worthy pioneers of 
 Ogle county the Brewster family holds a 
 prominent place. The results of the labor 
 and self-denial of these early settlers are 
 manifest in the comfortable homes and fer- 
 tile, well-arranged farms which we to- 
 day see. 
 
 It was August, 1S37, that Mr. Brewster 
 arrived in this county, and he has since 
 taken an active and prominent part in its 
 development. His life has been devoted to 
 agricultural pursuits and he is still success- 
 fully carrying on the old homestead on sec- 
 tion I, Byron township. He was born in 
 Broome county, New York, August 8, 1820, 
 and is a son of James Brewster, a native of 
 Connecticut. The grandfather, David Brew- 
 ster, was born in one of the New England 
 states and when quite young entered the 
 Continental army during the Revolutionary 
 war. At an early day he removed with his 
 family to the Empire state, where James 
 
 Brewster grew to manhood. In Albany 
 county. New York, the latter married Miss 
 Chloe Palmer, who was also a native of 
 Connecticut, but removed with her parents 
 to the former state when young. For some 
 years he followed farming there and then 
 removed to Bradford county, Pennsylvania, 
 where he was similarly employed for a few 
 years. In 1837 he came to Illinois by way 
 of the Erie canal and Great Lakes, and 
 proceeding thence by team finally arrived 
 in Ogle county, where his friend and old 
 neighbor, Mr. York, had located a year or 
 so previously. Mr. Brewster rented land 
 the first summer and then took a claim of 
 about four hundred acres on section I, By- 
 ron township, entering three hundred and 
 twenty acres when the land came into mar- 
 ket. Subsequently he sold some of his land 
 but improved a farm of two hundred acres 
 and made it his home until called to his 
 final rest. He built a log house in which 
 the family lived while he opened up and de- 
 veloped the farm, but it has since been re- 
 placed by a more commodious frame resi- 
 dence. He died at the ripe old age of 
 eighty-four, having survived his wife some 
 years. In their family were ten children — 
 three sons and seven daughters — all of 
 whom reached years of maturity, but only 
 our subject and his sister Caroline are now 
 living. 
 
 Mortimer D. Brewster was a lad of sev- 
 enteen years when he accompanied the fam- 
 ily on their removal to this state and in the 
 task of converting the wild land into a rich 
 and productive farm he bore an active part. 
 His school privileges were limited and he is 
 mostly self-educated. He remained under 
 the parental roof and on his father's death 
 took charge of the farm, which has been his 
 home for sixty-one years. It is one of the 
 
194 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 best improved and most highly cultivated 
 places of the localitj'. 
 
 In Roscoe, Illinois, in 1856, Mr. Brew- 
 ster was married, the lady of his choice be- 
 ing Miss Caroline Alden, a native of Brad- 
 ford county, Pennsylvania, who in 1837 
 came with her father, Adonijah Alden, to 
 Ogle county, settling in Marion township, 
 near Byron. They have become the parents 
 of six children, all living: Henry M., cash- 
 ier of the Farmers & Merchants bank of 
 Byron; Willis J., who is helping to carry 
 on the home farm; Augusta and Edwin P., 
 twins, the former the wife of Daniel Sims, 
 of Cherokee county, Iowa, and the latter 
 at home; Walter H., who is married and 
 engaged in teaching at Saint Ann, Illinois; 
 and Luciaus D. , at home. 
 
 In politics Mr. Brewster was originally 
 a Whig, casting his first presidential ballot 
 for the candidate of that party in 1844, ^'id 
 since its dissolution he has been an ardent 
 Republican. He and his wife are faithful 
 members of the Middle Creek Presbyterian 
 church and are held in high regard by all 
 who know them for their sterling worth and 
 many excellencies of character. 
 
 ANDREW NEWCOMER, deceased, 
 came to Ogle county in 1846, and for 
 a period of nearly forty years occupied a 
 prominent position in the community, and 
 with an ac(|uaintance as extensive as any 
 man in the county. He was born No- 
 vember 25, 1810, in Washington county, 
 Maryland, and was a descendant of Wolf- 
 gang Newcomer, who came from Germany 
 to America more than a century ago. His 
 boyhood was spent in his father's mill, when 
 not in attendance in the common schools. 
 In his youth he learned the carpenter's 
 
 trade, which occupation he followed for 
 about fifteen years after attaining his ma- 
 jority, working in various places in the 
 states of Maryland and Virginia. Many of 
 the public and private buildings in those 
 states show the mark of his handiwork. In 
 the fall of 1832 he located in the town of 
 Boonsborough, Maryland, and immedialely 
 afterward united with the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church. His conversion was thorough 
 and genuine, and he soon commenced tak- 
 ing an active interest in the work of the 
 church and in the affairs of the community, 
 becoming prominent in all lines of benevo- 
 lent work, which prominence was main- 
 tained while residing in the place. During 
 the winters of 1832-3-4, he taught school, 
 and during the summers worked at his 
 trade. 
 
 Mr. Newcomer was first married May i, 
 1834, to Eliza Hamilton, a sister of Rev. 
 William Hamilton, D. D., of the Baltimore 
 conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, and an aunt of Ex-Governor W. 
 T. Hamilton, of Maryland. She died April 
 2, 1875, at Mt. Morris, Illinois, On the 
 2 1st of March, 1876, Mr. Newcomer mar- 
 ried Sarah E. Smith, in Winnebago county, 
 Illinois. 
 
 Mrs. Newcomer was born February 6, 
 1827, in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and 
 is the daughter of Samuel and Rebecca 
 (Reynolds) Rose, the former a native of 
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the latter 
 of New Jersey. By trade her father was a 
 hatter, but after his marriage he removed 
 to the country and engaged in farming, an 
 occupation that he followed until his death, 
 March 18, 1844. In October following, his 
 widow moved with her family to Winne- 
 bago county, Illinois, settling in Rockford. 
 Samuel and Rebecca Rose were the parents 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 195 
 
 of seven children — David, Benjamin, Ann, 
 Maria, Sarah E. , Samuel and Jacob, all of 
 whom are deceased, with the exception of 
 Maria and Mrs. Newcomer. In her native 
 state the latter received a good common- 
 school education. She was first married 
 September 29, 1846, to Lucius J. Smith, a 
 native of Ohio, then residing in Rockford, 
 and a son of John and Maria (Ferris) Smith, 
 also natives of Ohio. Immediately after 
 their marriage they moved to a farm in 
 Winnebago county, where Mr. Smith en- 
 gaged in farming for two years. They then 
 removed to Stephenson county, where he 
 bought a farm of one hundred and twenty 
 acres, and there they lived until his death, 
 October 4, 1867. They became the parents 
 of si.x children, two of whom are deceased. 
 Frances A., born May 28, 1847, married 
 Jefferson Stephens, of Winnebago county, 
 Illinois. They later moved to Fillmore 
 county, Nebraska, where he died in August, 
 1880. She is now living in Mt. Morris. 
 Arthur L. married Eliza Ackers, August 18, 
 1878, and they now reside in San Francis- 
 co, California, where he is employed as a 
 traveling salesman. Edward died in in- 
 fancy. Volney E. died at the age of sixteen 
 years. Emily L. lives at Mt. Morris. Frank 
 C. married Emma Yearing, of Trenton, 
 Missouri, May 24, 1887, and they live in 
 Colorado Springs, Colorado, where he is the 
 division superintendent of the Rock Island 
 railroad. After her husband's decease Mrs. 
 Smith remained on the farm for seven years, 
 and then removed to Winnebago, Winnebago 
 county, Illinois, where she was living at the 
 time of her marriage with Mr. Newcomer. 
 Lucius J. Smith was a good, Christian man, 
 a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, one ever ready to lend a helping 
 hand to those in distress, and his house was 
 
 the abode of hospitality. He was a well- 
 read man, and kept himself posted on the 
 events of the times. He was honored and 
 beloved by all who knew him. 
 
 While yet residing in Boonesborough, 
 Maryland, for a short lime during the years 
 1843-4, Mr. Newcomer was connected with 
 the publication of "The Odd Fellows." 
 The western fever was upon him, however, 
 and hearing good reports from his old 
 friends and neighbors who had settled in 
 Ogle county, Illinois, he determined to emi- 
 grate. Accordingly, in 1846, he came to 
 Mt. Morris, and soon afterwards opened a 
 furniture store and undertaker's establish- 
 ment, a business in which he continued 
 about twenty years. Selling his furniture 
 store in 1867, he embarked in the grocery 
 trade in which he continued until his death. 
 May 20, 1885. 
 
 The death of no man in Mount Morris 
 ever affected the community more deeply 
 than that of Andrew Newcomer, for he was 
 public official and private citizen. In poli- 
 tics he was a Republican, a firm believer in 
 the principles of the party. He served his 
 township as a member of the board of super- 
 visors, and from 1852 until his death he was 
 almost continuously a justice of the peace. 
 Few men ever served in the latter office 
 with more signal ability, and few, if any, of 
 his decisions were ever overruled by the 
 higher court on appeal. He also served as 
 school director and school trustee at dif- 
 ferent times, and in other official capacities. 
 His business qualifications were more than 
 ordinary, and his honesty was not ques- 
 tioned. There are few men whose names 
 appear oftener on the records of the pro- 
 bate court than does that of Andrew New- 
 comer as executor, administrator or guardian. 
 When he thus served it was certain that 
 
196 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 every duty would be conscientiously per- 
 formed. His social qualifications were of a 
 high order. Genial in manner, kind in dis- 
 position, old and young delighted to be in 
 his society. He was an excellent reader, 
 having few equals outside of the professional 
 ones, and it is said that during the civil war 
 he would get his daily paper, and going to 
 his store he would be followed by a crowd, 
 who would gather around him and listen 
 while he read the latest war news. He 
 never lost interest in his church, and at all 
 times served his local church in some official 
 capacity, either as class leader, steward, 
 trustee, or Sunday school superintendent. 
 No call of the church was by him unheeded. 
 He was a firm believer in the cause of his 
 Master, and was ever ready to render the 
 best service in his power. He died in the 
 full assurance of of a blessed resurrection. 
 
 I AMES D. ANDERSON, a representative 
 VwJ and prominent farmer and stock raiser 
 of Ogle county, makes his home on section 
 3, Eagle Point township, and owns and oper- 
 ates over four hundred acres of valuable and 
 well improved land. He has been a resi- 
 dent of the county since 1845 and is, there- 
 fore, numbered among its honored pioneers. 
 Mr. Anderson was born in the town of 
 Andes, Delaware county. New York, Octo- 
 ber 12, 1842. His father, John Anderson, 
 was a native of Scotland, born in 1807, and 
 was a son of Joseph and Jane (Clark) Ander- 
 son, also natives of that country, where 
 they spent their entire lives. The grand- 
 father was a millwright by trade and reared 
 a family of eleven children. Reared in his 
 native place, John Anderson received a com- 
 mon-school education and in early life 
 worked in his father's miU. In 1832 he 
 
 emigrated to the new world, landing in 
 Nova Scotia, whence he proceeded to Dela- 
 ware county. New York, where he worked 
 as a millwright and also engaged in farming. 
 He was a natural mechanic and built a mill 
 in that county. There he was married, 
 September 18, 1834, to Miss Margaret Sim, 
 who was also born and reared in Scotland. 
 Her father, Alexander Sim, a native of the 
 same country, was an early settler of Dela- 
 ware county. New York. In 1845 Mr. An- 
 derson came to Ogle county, Illinois, and 
 made a permanent location upon the farm 
 where our subject now resides. He entered 
 a tract of eighty acres from the government 
 and built a small house, where he resided 
 for some years. He also erected a shop in 
 Eagle Point and engaged in wagon making 
 and repair work. Later he removed the 
 shop to his farm and continued to carry 
 on business there while opening up and im- 
 proving his farm. As he prospered in his 
 new home, he purchased more land from 
 time to time until he owned about three 
 hundred acres. He built a large, neat resi- 
 dence thereon and made many other im- 
 provements, which added greatly to its 
 value and attractive appearance. He was 
 in limited circumstances when he came to 
 the county and by his own labor, enterprise 
 and perseverance he succeeded in acquiring 
 a comfortable home and competence. He 
 continued to make his home upon his farm 
 throughout the remainder of his life, but 
 died in Rockford while on a visit, March 
 21, 1 886. Two years previously he and 
 his wife celebrated their golden wedding, at 
 which time a large number of their friends 
 and neighbors were gathered together at 
 their home to wish them joy. Mrs. Ander- 
 son departed this life June i, 1892, and was 
 laid to rest by the side of her husband in 
 
X 
 
 .------- 
 
 
 T ^ 
 
 -d 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^^^'- ^'^B^^Hj^ 
 
 s 
 
 
 JAMES ANDERSON. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Fairmont cemetery, where a monument has 
 been erected to their memory. They had a 
 host of warm friends in this community and 
 were held in high regard by all who knew 
 them. PoHticaliy, Mr. Anderson was a 
 stanch Republican, and was called upon to 
 fill a number of official positions of honor 
 and trust, including that of justice of the 
 peace, which he filled for a number of 
 years to the entire satisfaction of the public. 
 
 James D. Anderson, of this review, is 
 the fourth in order of birth in a family of 
 seven children, the others being as follows; 
 Joseph A., who is married and resides in 
 Wasco county, Oregon; George, who is 
 with his brother in that state; Jane A., wife 
 of G. J. Monroe, of Dysart, Iowa; John, 
 who is married and is engaged in contract- 
 ing and building in Chicago; Nettie A., 
 widow of W. W. Pierce and a resident of 
 Polo; and Margaret C, wife of George 
 Gibbs, of Ogle county. 
 
 James D. Anderson was only three years 
 old when brought by his parents to Ogle 
 county, where he grew to manhood on the 
 home farm and was educated in the common 
 schools. During early life he assisted his 
 father in the farm work and in 1868 took 
 charge of the place and business. After the 
 death of the latter he purchased the inter- 
 ests of the other heirs in the old homestead 
 which he still owns and operates. He has 
 added to it more land until he now has 
 about four hundred acres, which he has 
 placed under a high state of cultivation and 
 improved in an excellent manner. He has 
 built one of the largest and most conven- 
 iently arranged barns in the county. He 
 also has a very large cattle barn, good out- 
 buildings, windpumps, etc., so that it might 
 well be numbered among the model farms 
 of the county. For the past twenty years, 
 
 Mr. Anderson has made a business of feed- 
 ing stock and annually fits for market from 
 two to si.\ car loads of stock, usually having 
 from sixty to one hundred head of cattle upon 
 his place and from one hundred to one hun- 
 dred and fifty head of hogs. He is one of the 
 most successful farmers and stockmen of 
 the county and usually ships his own stock. 
 
 In Brookville township. Ogle county, Mr. 
 Anderson was married, April 2, 1885, to 
 Miss Addie L. Gibbs, who was born, reared 
 and educated in this county, a daughter of 
 Leonard Gibbs, one of its early settlers. 
 They now have two children: Grace B. and 
 McKinley J. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Anderson has been a 
 life-long Republican, and his fellow citizens 
 recognizing his worth and ability have often 
 called him to office. He is now serving his 
 eighteenth year as commissioner of high- 
 ways, has been treasurer the same length 
 of time, and has served as collector of his 
 township and as a delegate to the county 
 and congressional conventions of his party. 
 For twenty-five years he has been con- 
 nected with the Eagle Point Mutual Fire 
 Insurance Company and is now serving as 
 its president. He is past grand of Polo 
 Lodge, I. O. O. F., and socially is <]uite 
 popular. In all the relations of life he has 
 been found true to every trust reposed in 
 him, and he enjoys the confidence and es- 
 teem of all who know him. 
 
 JOHN GRAHAM is one of the leading 
 and iniluential citizens of I^eaf River 
 township, his home being on section i i, and 
 he has taken an active part in promoting 
 the substantial improvement and material 
 development of the county. Although an 
 adopted son of America, his loyalty is above 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 question, for during the dark days of the 
 rebellion he offered his services to the gov- 
 ernment and for three long years followed 
 the old iiag to victory on southern battle 
 fields. 
 
 A native of Ireland, Mr. Graham was 
 born near the city of Belfast, in County An- 
 trim, in 1832, and was there reared to man- 
 hood. Deciding to come to America in 
 1856 he took ship at Belfast for Liverpool, 
 England, where he boarded a sailing ves- 
 sell, which was five weeks in crossing the 
 broad Atlantic. They encountered some 
 severe storms, the mast was blown away, 
 and the vessel was almost a complete wreck 
 when it arrived in New York. In April of 
 that year, Mr. Graham found employment 
 in a brickyard at Newburg, Orange county, 
 New York, but the following fall proceeded 
 to Ohio, where he remained only a short 
 time, however. He spent the winter at 
 Freeport, Illmois, .and the following year 
 found work in the harvest fields. He then 
 worked for a Mr. Carpenter in Ogle county 
 until after the outbreak of the Civil war. 
 
 Prompted by a spirit of patriotism, Mr. 
 Graham enlisted in 1862, in Company B, 
 Seventy-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
 which was assigned to the Army of the Cum- 
 berland. He participated in many import- 
 ant engagements and skirmishes, including 
 the battles of Perryville, Kentuck}', and 
 Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where they 
 fought for nine days, fighting the old year 
 out and the new year in. He was also in 
 the battles of Lookout Mountain and Mis- 
 sionary Ridge, from there marched to 
 near Knoxville. At Murfreesboro the regi- 
 ment lost heavily and Mr. Graham was 
 wounded in the left cheek, his eye being 
 badly injured. He did not give up, how- 
 ever, and later took part in the battles of 
 
 Resaca, Jonesboro and Kenesaw Mountain. 
 At the last named battle he was again 
 wounded, the bone in his right leg below the 
 knee being terribly shattered. This per- 
 manently disabled him, and he was sent to 
 the hospital at Louisville, Kentucky, whence 
 he was later transferred to the hospital at 
 Quincy, Illinois. When discharged in June, 
 1865, he was still obliged to use crutches 
 and he has never fully recovered from his 
 injuries. 
 
 Returning to the home of Mr. Carpenter 
 our subject remained there for two or three 
 years, and when sufficiently recovered he 
 resumed farm work. On the 8th of March, 
 1873, he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Catherine Shriber, a native of Schuylkill 
 county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of 
 Christian Shriber, who removed from that 
 state to Ogle county and became one of the 
 successful farmers of this region. He died 
 in March, 1890, and his wife, who survives 
 him, is living in Lightsville, a hale old lady 
 of eighty-four years. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Graham have been born four children: Rosa 
 J., Lilly Dora, Ervin Seymour and Ernest M. 
 
 For a few years after his marriage, Mr. 
 Graham operated rented land and then re- 
 moved to the farm on which he now resides. 
 Although he began life in this country in 
 limited circumstances, he has steadily 
 worked his way upward until he is now the 
 possessor of a comfortable competence. 
 His success has been achieved through his 
 own well directed efforts and the assistance 
 of his estimable wife, who has proved a true 
 helpmeet to him. He now has a fine farm 
 of over two hundred acres of rich and arable 
 land. In his political affiliations he is an 
 ardent Democrat, but he has never cared 
 for the honors or emoluments of public office, 
 preferring to give his undivided attention to 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 203 
 
 his business interests. He is a man of in- 
 trinsic worth, esteemed in all the relations of 
 life, and has a host of warm friends in Ogle 
 county. 
 
 NELSON B. IvIDDER, the efficient 
 supervisor of Woosung township, is 
 one of the leading farmers of Ogle count)', 
 owning a fine farm of two hundred and sixty 
 acres in Woosung township, and some three 
 hundred and twenty acres in Jordan town- 
 ship, Whiteside county, Illinois. His home 
 farm is on section 7, W^josung township, 
 which is a highly improved place, with 
 everything in the best order. He is a na- 
 tive of New Hampshire, born in the town 
 of Bristol, Grafton county, |anuary 15,1834, 
 and is the son of Benjamin and Mary 
 (Doton) Kidder, both of whom were na- 
 tives of the Granite state. Benjamin Kid- 
 der was by occupation a farmer in his native 
 state, and after his removal to Illinois. 
 With his family, in 1856. he left his native 
 state and came to Whiteside county, Illi- 
 nois, where he purchased land and engaged 
 in farming for eighteen years, and then 
 moved to Woosung township, Ogle county, 
 where the remainder of his life was passed. 
 He died on the farm now owned by our 
 subject, August 6, 1883. He was a man of 
 retiring disposition, and one who gave his 
 undivided attention to his business, family 
 and religious interests. He made a success 
 in life, and was enabled to assist his chil- 
 dren. Religiously he was a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics 
 was a Democrat. He had a family of six 
 children, as follows: Adoniram, of O'Brien 
 county, Iowa; Levi, who died in 1865; 
 Sarah, the deceased wife of J. W. Taylor, 
 of Whiteside county, Illinois; Nelson B., 
 
 the subject of this sketch; Electa, the de- 
 ceased wife of H. Taylor, of Powesheik 
 county, Iowa; and Marcellus, of Whiteside 
 county, Illinois. 
 
 The paternal grandfather, Benjamin Kid- 
 der, was a native of New Hampshire, while 
 his father, the great-grandfather of our sub- 
 ject, was born in England, and emigrated 
 to this country in 1770. He later served in 
 the Revolutionary war, and assisted the col- 
 onies in securing their independence. 
 
 In his native state Nelson B. Kidder 
 grew to manhood, and there received a com- 
 mon-school education. The knowledge ob- 
 tained in the school room was but little in 
 comparison to that since obtained by con- 
 tact with his fellow men, and in reading the 
 general and current literature of the day. 
 He had attained his majority when he came 
 with the family to Illinois, and on his ar- 
 rival purchased eighty acres of land in 
 Whiteside county, to which he later added 
 one hundred and twenty acres, giving him 
 a fine farm of two hundred acres, eighty 
 acres of which has since been sold, leaving 
 him a balance of one hundred and twenty 
 acres. 
 
 On the 30th of December, 1862, Mr. 
 Kidder was united in marriage with Miss 
 Amanda Mingle, a native of Bradford coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania, and daughter of James 
 and Catherine Mingle, both of whom were 
 natives of the same state. She was but ten 
 years of age when she accompanied her 
 parents to Carroll county, Illinois, where 
 they made their permanent home. By this 
 union there were three children: Aldena 
 died at the age of four years and eight 
 months. Irvin is engaged in farming in 
 Woosung township. Fred J. is now a 
 student in the State Normal School, at Dix- 
 on, Illinois. 
 
204 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 In March, 1874, Mr. Kidder moved to 
 Ogle county, since which time he has been 
 one of its most enterprising citizens, and 
 has taiien quite an active part in public life, 
 having served nine consecutive years as 
 school director and six years as commis- 
 sioner of highways, and in the spring of 
 1897 was elected to his present position 
 as supervisor of his township, an office 
 which he is well qualified to fill, because 
 of his good business ability and earn- 
 est desire for the public good. He has 
 given his attention to general farming, never 
 running off on any fads, and in his life work 
 has met with a reasonable degree of suc- 
 cess. For the past twenty years he has 
 been quite an extensive feeder of cattle, 
 and annually prepares a good many head 
 for the general market. A residence of 
 forty-three years in Whiteside and Ogle 
 counties has brought him in contact with 
 many of their best citizens, and wherever 
 he is known he is held in high esteem. 
 
 REV. ANDREW STAHLEY, a resident 
 of Ogle county since the spring of 1865, 
 and one of its highly esteemed citizens, was 
 born October 3, 1821, in York county, 
 Pennsylvania, where he was reared and ed- 
 ucated in the common schools of the locali- 
 ty. He is of German descent, his grandfa- 
 tiicr, Andrew Stahley, for whom he was 
 named, being a native of Germany. On 
 coming to America he located in Chance- 
 ford township, York county, Pennsylvania. 
 He had a family of four children: Peter, 
 the father of our subject; Joseph, a black- 
 smith by trade, who came to Illinois and lo- 
 cated near Quincy; Stephen, also a black- 
 smith by trade, who came west; and Sarah, 
 who remained and died in York county. 
 
 Pennsylvania. The grandfather died when 
 comparatively a young man. Peter Stahley 
 was born in York county in 1784, and by 
 occupation was a farmer, a calling which 
 he followed during his entire life. During 
 the war of 1812 he was called out, but did 
 not enter the service for the reason the or- 
 der was countermanded before his company 
 could muster. He married Catherine Tome, 
 also a native of York county, Pennsylvania, 
 daughter of Henry Tome, a farmer of that 
 county. She was one of a family of si.x 
 children, the others being Fannie, who mar- 
 ried Fred Gable, a merchant of Dover, 
 Pennsylvania; Elizabeth, wife of Daniel 
 Gohn, a farmer of York county; Jacob, 
 George and Henry, who lived and died in 
 York county. 
 
 Andrew Stahley is the son of Peter and 
 Catherine (Tome) Stahley. After his school 
 days and until he attained his majority, he 
 remained with his parents, assisting his fa- 
 ther in the farm work. When he was twen- 
 ty-one he commenced life on his own ac- 
 count, doing farm work by the day, contin- 
 uing in that work until he was twenty-eight 
 years old. Being of a religious turn of mind 
 and desirious of serving the Master, he en- 
 tered the ministry of the Evangelical Asso- 
 ciation, having prepared himself by constant 
 reading and study for several years. From 
 1849 until 1869 he traveled about preach- 
 iing the word, first as a member of the Cen- 
 tral Pennsylvania conference, doing mission- 
 ary work. He then came to Illinois, and 
 as a member of the Illinois conference con- 
 tinued the work for four years. His first 
 station was at Warren, Pennsylvania, where 
 he remained one year. He was then at 
 Pittsburg two years, thence back to War- 
 ren, Pennsylvania, and then to the Ohio 
 circuit, in Stark county, that state, where 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 205 
 
 he remained one year. He was then again 
 at Pittsburg one year, when he was elected 
 presiding elder for the Pittsburg district. 
 Later he was sent to Canton, Ohio, where 
 he remained two years, then to Erie, Penn- 
 sylvania, two years. From Erie he came 
 direct to Forreston, Illinois, and was as- 
 signed to the West Grove circuit, preaching 
 at Forreston and Freeport, and other points 
 in this locality. 
 
 Mr. Stahley was first married in 1842 
 to Miss Charlotte Vogt, a native of York 
 county, Pennsylvania, and daughter of Peter 
 and Paulina (Will) Vogt. She died in York 
 county after a wedded life of five years, 
 leaving one daughter, Delilah Ann, now the 
 wife of Isaac Vogelgesang, a retired mer- 
 chant and business man of Forreston. In 
 1852 Mr. Stahley married Miss Sarah Long, 
 daughter of Bishop Joseph Long and Kath- 
 erine (Hoy) Long. She was a native of 
 Columbiana county, Ohio, her father being 
 bishop of the Evangelical Association. She 
 died in Forrestson, leaving one daughter, 
 Josephine, now the wife of Samuel McLain, 
 of Forreston, a wholesale manufacturer of 
 specialties in medicine. Mr. Stahley mar- 
 ried his present wife June 22, 1875. She 
 was Miss Ceres Oakes, a native of Reading, 
 Pennsylvania, and daughter of George and 
 Susan (Cleversy) Oakes. Her father was 
 born October 13, 1782, in Hessen Cassel, 
 Germany, and left that country when eight- 
 een years old, crossing the ocean on an 
 English vessel, and while en route to Nova 
 Scotia received his first lesson in the English 
 language from the captain of the vessel. 
 He came to the United States and settled in 
 Lancester, Pennsylvania. He was married 
 in Nova Scotia to Miss Susan Cleversy, a 
 n5itive of Nova Scotia, born in 1800. They 
 were married November 26, 182G, and be- 
 
 came the parents of six children: Serene, 
 born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, March 13, 
 1828, became the wife of Francis Knauss, 
 and they reside in Rock City, Illinois. Zero, 
 born in New Ephrata, Pennsylvania, mar- 
 ried Robert Mitchell, and they also reside 
 in Rock City, Illinois. Alpha, born at 
 Berne, Pennsylvania, June 5, 1832, was a 
 soldier in the Civil war. He now resides at 
 Quincy, Illinois. Ceres is the wife of our 
 subject. Atlas, born in Johnstown, Penn- 
 sylvania, April 9, 1835, was also a soldier 
 in the Civil war. He is now residing in the 
 west. Omega, born in Johnstown, Penn- 
 sylvania, April 3, 1838, is a retired business 
 man, living in Oregon. Professionally, 
 George Oakes was a teacher, and taught in 
 both the English and German languages. He 
 was also a fine musician and gave some time 
 to teaching music. He came with his fam- 
 ily to Illinois in 1846, but died the follow- 
 ing year, his remains being interred in the 
 Dakota cemetery, in Stephenson county. 
 His wife survived him many years, dying in 
 1890, in her eighty-eighth year. Her re- 
 mains were interred beside those of her 
 husband. 
 
 On retiring from the ministry in 1869, 
 Mr. Stahley became interested in a planing 
 mill, but for many years he has given his 
 time to looking after his business interests 
 in connection with his farming land, owning 
 three hundred and seventy acres in Ogle 
 county and eighty acres in Carroll county. 
 He has never taken much interest in polit- 
 ical affairs as generally managed, and for 
 many years did not cast a vote. His first 
 presidential vote was cast for Abraham 
 Lincoln. He now votes as his conscience 
 dictates without regard to party politics. 
 While actively engaged in the nnnistry, he 
 was instrumental in the erection of se\eral 
 
206 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 churches, and his labors in that way were 
 appreciated by the good people of Warren, 
 Ohio, and those on the Harmony circuit 
 and in Columbiana county, Ohio. He has 
 not lost interest in good works, but is ever 
 ready to assist in promoting " peace on 
 earth, good will toward men." 
 
 EMANUEL M. HARNER.— Almost the 
 entire life of this gentleman has been 
 passed in Ogle county, Illinois, and his 
 name is inseparably connected with the 
 agricultural and industrial interests of this 
 region. His thoroughly American spirit 
 and great energy have enabled him to 
 mount from a lowly position to one of af- 
 fluence. One of his leading characteristics 
 in business affairs is his fine sense of order 
 and complete system and the habit of giv- 
 ing careful attention to details, without 
 which success in any undertaking is never 
 an assured fact. He owns and operates a 
 well-improved farm on section 2, Leaf 
 River township, and is also successfully en- 
 gaged in the manufacture of brick. 
 
 Mr. Harner was born in Schuylkill 
 county, Pennsylvania, February 28, 1840, 
 and is a son of Christian Harner, whose 
 birth occurred February 26, 181 1, in Ger- 
 many. About 1830 the father emigrated 
 to America in company with a cousin, also 
 a young man, and located in Northumber- 
 land county, Pennsylvania, where he worked 
 as a farm hand. There he was united in 
 marriage with Miss Elizabeth Delp, who 
 was born in that state of German parentage. 
 They continued to reside in Pennsylvania 
 until 1840, and then, in company with 
 eight families, drove across the country to 
 Illinois, arriving in Ogle county in May of 
 that year. Mr. Harner took up one hun- 
 
 dred and twenty acres on section 11, Leaf 
 River township, on which he erected a log 
 cabin, and he also pre-empted one hundred 
 and sixty acres on section 2. After residing 
 upon the former tract for about two years, 
 he built where our subject now resides on 
 section 2. This was a good log house, in 
 which he made his home until called from 
 this life in 1846, at the early age of thirty- 
 five years. His wife subsequently married 
 again, but continued a resident of Ogle 
 county, dying here March i 8, 1 869. 
 
 Our subject is the second in order of 
 birth in the family of five children, the 
 others being as follows: Edward B. joined 
 the boys in blue during the Civil war, en- 
 listing in 1 86 1, in Company H, Thirty- 
 fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He was 
 killed April 15, 1865, in Chatham county. 
 North Carolina, at which time he was serv- 
 ing as first lieutenant and was on detached 
 duty, having charge of a foraging expedi- 
 tion for his command. Amelia is the wife 
 of John Willoughby, of Legrand, Iowa. 
 Mary Ann is the wife of David Huff, of 
 Leaf River township, Ogle county. Chris- 
 tian F. is married and lives in Kansas. 
 
 The first recollections of our subject 
 are of pioneer scenes, for he was an infant 
 when brought by his parents to Ogle coun- 
 ty. Wolves were numerous in this region 
 at that time and would often come to the 
 house in the day time and stick their noses 
 under the door. Deer and other wild game 
 were also plentiful, the country was all wild 
 and unimproved, and the few settlers were 
 widely scattered. In common with other 
 pioneers, the Harner family endured many 
 hardships and privations, but as time passed 
 the comforts of civilization were added to 
 their home, the wild land was transformed 
 into good liomcs and farms, thriving vil- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 207 
 
 lages sprung up, and the railroad and tele- 
 graph were introduced. Mr. Harner has 
 watched with interest the wonderful changes 
 that have taken place, and has been an im- 
 portant factor in the growth and develop- 
 ment of the county. As there were few 
 schools here during his boyhood, his educa- 
 tional privileges were limited and he is 
 mostly self-educated. 
 
 On the 7th of September, 1861, he en- 
 listed with his brothers, as a pri\atc in 
 Company H, Thirty-fourth Illinois Volun- 
 teer Infantry, which was assigned to the 
 Army of the Cumberland and they fought 
 together until the brother was killed, 
 participating in thirty-seven engageinents. 
 Among the more important was the battle 
 of Shiloh, the siege of Corinth, the battles 
 of Missionary Ridge, Perryville, Kentucky, 
 Stone River, Tennessee, Liberty Gap, Chick- 
 amauga, the engagements of the Atlanta 
 campaign, the memorable march with Sher- 
 man to the sea, and the battle of Benton- 
 ville. North Carolina. He also took part in 
 the grand review at Washington, District 
 of Columbia. At Chattanooga he had re- 
 enlisted December 22, 1863, and at Louis- 
 ville, Kentucky, was mustered out July 12, 
 1865, after almost four years of faithful 
 service. 
 
 Returning tohishome Mr. Harner worked 
 at the carpenter's trade, which he had pre- 
 viously learned. He was married Decem- 
 ber 23, 1866, to Miss Elizabeth Grove, a 
 native of Leaf River township, and a daugh- 
 ter of Samuel H. Grove, and then rented a 
 farm in that township, which he operated 
 for several years. He lost his wife Septem- 
 ber 23, 1868, and the only child born to 
 them, Ola Melissa, died at the age of ten 
 months. On the 7th of October, 1 86g, he 
 wedded Miss Bennettie J. Jackson, who was 
 
 born in Sharpsburg, Washington county, 
 Maryland. Her father, Josiah Jackson, was 
 a native of England, and on coming to 
 America settled in Maryland, where he was 
 married, in 1840, to Catherine Twig, a na- 
 tive of Sharpsburg. He died in Washing- 
 ton county at the age of thirty-three years, 
 and Mrs. Jackson subsequently removed to 
 Ogle county, Illinois, where Mrs. Harner 
 was reared and 'educated, being only five 
 years old on her arrival here. Our subject 
 and his wife have four children: Anna S., 
 wife of Ira Ulfers, who has been operator 
 and agent at Maryland Station, Illinois, for 
 about twelve years; Mary C. A., wife of 
 David Kretsinger, a merchant and business 
 man of Egan; Josiah F. O. and Ilattie Z., 
 both at home. 
 
 Mr. Harner purchased the interest of 
 the other heirs in the old homestead where 
 he has since resided, and has successfully 
 engaged in farming and stock raising. In 
 1895 he embarked in the manufacture of 
 brick, set up an engine and machinery for 
 that purpose, and the first season turned 
 out one hundred and si.xty thousand, the 
 second, one hundred and twenty thousand, 
 and in 1898 ninety-one thousand. He uses 
 a superior clay and makes a most excellent 
 quality of brick, for which he finds a ready 
 sale in the local markets. He was for many 
 years identified with the Republican party, 
 but being a strong advocate of temperance 
 he now supports the men and measures of 
 the Prohibition party. He has served as 
 highway commissioner for three years and 
 as a member of the school board and as its 
 president for some years. Both he and his 
 wife hold membership in the United Breth- 
 ren church at Egan, of which he is one of 
 the trustees, and by all who know them they 
 are held in high regard. 
 
208 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 FRANCIS A. SMITH has for over sixty- 
 one years been prominently identified 
 with the agricultural interests of Ogle coun- 
 ty, and is still engaged in farming on sec- 
 tion 4, Byron township. As one of its hon- 
 ored pioneers he has been an important fac- 
 tor in the development and prosperity of 
 the county. He is now numbered among 
 the elderly residents of the community and 
 is held in that reverence and respect tacitly 
 accorded those whose lives have been dis- 
 tinguished by integrity and usefulness. 
 
 Mr. Smith was born in Palmer, Massa- 
 chusetts, January 22,1817, and 's of the sixth 
 generation born on the old homestead, which 
 is still in the possession of the family. His 
 ancestors were from Scotland and were 
 among the first to settle in the Massachu- 
 setts colony. His father, Robert Smith, 
 spent his entire life on the old home farm, 
 his energies being devoted to agricultural 
 pursuits. He married Hannah Hoar, also 
 a native of the old Bay state and a daughter 
 of Squire Hoar. He died in 18 19 when 
 comparatively young, and his wife passed 
 away in 1855. After her husband's death she 
 carefully reared her family, consisting of six 
 sons and two daughters. 
 
 Our subject, who is the youngest of the 
 family, grew to manhood on the old home- 
 stead, and received a good practical educa- 
 tion, attending first the common schools 
 and later the Wilberham and Amherst Acad- 
 emies. For two terms he taught school in 
 his native state. In 1837, when a young 
 man of twenty years, he came to Illiinois,and 
 on foot proceeded from Chicago to Ogle 
 county, where friends from Massachusetts 
 had previously located. He spent the first 
 winter with the Patrick family, and in June, 
 1838, purchased a claim of four hundred and 
 eighty acres, of which he broke four hun- 
 
 dred acres the first year. In 1838 he re- 
 turned to his old home in Massachusetts, 
 and in the spring of 1839 came back to his 
 present home in Illinois, traveling the entire 
 distance on horseback and alone, making 
 over one thousand miles in twenty-one days. 
 Between Michigan City, Indiana, and Chi- 
 cago, Illinois, he traveled sixty miles with- 
 out passing a house. 
 
 The following two years he planted 
 crops, but as there was no market for his 
 products, he then abandoned farming and 
 went to work by the month. In the spring 
 of 1 84 1 he started for New Orleans in com- 
 pany with Messrs. White and Reed, taking 
 the first stock marketed in the Crescent 
 City. They made the trip by flat boats and 
 did not arrive at their destination until 
 August, the stock being fed and fattened on 
 the boats. On his return to Illinois, Mr. 
 Smith engaged in teaming for Henry Potwin, 
 who owned and operated several stores, and 
 our subject remained in his employ for about 
 three years, hauling goods from the stores 
 to Chicago and also to the Galena mines. 
 
 On the 14th of March, 1844, Mr. Smith 
 was united in marriage with Miss Sarah 
 Brown, who was born, reared and educated 
 in Brimfield, Massachusetts, and is a daugh- 
 ter of Dauphin Brown, one of the honored 
 pioneers of Ogle county, and a sister of 
 A. F. Brown, whose sketch appears else- 
 where in this volume. Nine children were 
 born to our subject and his wife, of whom 
 six are still living, namely: Hattie, wife of 
 H. D. Merrill, who lives on a ranch near 
 Los Angeles, California; Albert and Alice, 
 twins, the former a resident of Fairbury, 
 Nebraska, and the latter the wife of Thomas 
 Ferguson, of Rockford, Illinois; Dr. A. H. , 
 who successfully engaged in the practice of 
 medicine for about twenty years and died in 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 209 
 
 Clinton, Iowa, in the spring of 1890; Nellie, 
 wife of Thomas Roberts, of Elida, Winne- 
 bago county, Illinois; William H., who died 
 in Nebraska; Harry R., who is married, has 
 one child and assists his father in the opera- 
 tion of the home farm; Julia B., who died 
 in 1883; and Lena Belle, wife of Henry J. 
 Young, of Scott township. Ogle county. 
 
 In 1S45 Mr. Smith returned to his farm 
 in Ogle county and resumed farming. His 
 first home here has long since been replaced 
 by a commodious and comfortable residence, 
 large barns and other outbuildings have 
 been erected, and many other improvements 
 have been made which add to the value and 
 attractive appearance of the place. In con- 
 nection with general farming, Mr. Smith has 
 given considerable attention to stock raising, 
 keeping a high grade of cattle and hoes. He 
 has met with e.\cellent success in his under- 
 takings, and is to-day one of the most pros- 
 perous and substantial farmers of Byron 
 township, as well as one of its most highly 
 esteemed and honored citizens. Although 
 eighty-one years of age he is still able to 
 follow the plow and to perform the other 
 duties of the farm, and believes he is able 
 to walk twenty-five miles in a day. In 1840 
 he cast his first ballot for William Henry 
 Harrison, and continued to support the 
 Whig party until the organization of the 
 Republican party, when he joined its ranks 
 and has since been one of its stanch sup- 
 porters. He has filled the office of commis- 
 sioner of highways, but has never cared for 
 political honors, but as a public-spirited and 
 enterprising citizen he gives his support to 
 all objects which he believes calculated to 
 prove of public benefit, or will in any way 
 advance the welfare of the people around 
 him. His estimable wife is a member of 
 the Congregational church. 
 
 HENRY SCHELLING. —There are 
 numerous fine farms in Ogle county 
 which will compare favorably with any 
 others in the state as regards production and 
 also as to the improvements which have 
 been made upon them. Many of these 
 places are owned by men who have started 
 out in the world with little more than an un- 
 limited amount of energy and perseverance, 
 and who have succeeded in an eminent de- 
 gree in securing a comfortable home and 
 competence. As a representative of this 
 class of agriculturists, great pleasure is taken 
 in presenting the name of the subject of this 
 notice, who is living on section 26, Leaf 
 River township. 
 
 Mr. Schelling was born in Washington 
 county, Maryland, December 16, 1837, a 
 son of Joseph and Catherine (Schaffer) 
 Schelling, who were born, reared and mar- 
 ried in Germany. On coming to the new 
 world they settled in Washington county, 
 Maryland, where as a stonemason and 
 plasterer the father carried on operations 
 throughout his active business life. He 
 died there in 1859, and his wife passed away 
 some nine years previously. In their fam- 
 ily were ten children, four sons and six 
 daughters, all of whom reached years of 
 maturity, but one daughter is now deceased. 
 
 Henry Schelling grew to manhood in his 
 native county, and in early life was provided 
 with fair conmion-school advantages. In 
 the east he worked for his father as a 
 plasterer and mason, but in 1859 came to 
 Ogle county, Illinois, arriving on the 28th 
 of February, and joining an elder brother, 
 Andrew Schelling, who had located here 
 about 1854. During the first two years 
 spent here he worked as a farm hand. On 
 the I 2th of January, 1861, he was united in 
 marriage with Miss Susan Henan, also a na- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tive of Maryland, and a daughter of Will- 
 iam Henan, a pioneer of Ogle county, 
 where she was mostly reared. They began 
 their domestic life upon rented land, which 
 Mr. Schelling operated forsixyears, and then 
 made his first purchase, consisting of a 
 tract of three hundred and twenty acres 
 of timber land. He at once began to 
 clear and fence the land, and it was not 
 long before he had transformed the 
 wild tract into a well cultivated farm. Later 
 he bought more land, and is now the owner 
 of two good farms adjoining his other and 
 aggregating four hundred and twenty-three 
 acres, pleasantly situated in Leaf River 
 township, only a half mile from the village 
 of that name. He has recently purchased 
 one additional tract of seventy acres. 
 While opening up his farm he made his 
 home for a number of years in a frame 
 house, which had previously been erected 
 thereon, but it has since been replaced by 
 a large, neat and substantial residence, 
 while two large barns, a granary, windpump, 
 water works, cribs, sheds, etc., have also 
 been built, making it one of the best im- 
 proved farms of the township. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Schelling are the parents 
 of eleven children, namely: Frank and 
 Albert, who are both married and are en- 
 gaged in farming in Leaf River township; 
 Charles, who is married and assists in the 
 operation of the home farm; Dallas, who is 
 married and carries on farming near Water- 
 loo, Iowa; Arthur, who is married and en- 
 gaged in farming in Leaf River township; 
 Bert and John, both at home; Mary, wife 
 of Homer Stanley; Irena, wife of Samuel 
 Clevidense, a farmer near Polo, Ogle coun- 
 ty; Lilly, who is engaged in teaching school 
 and resides at home; and Jennie, also at 
 home. 
 
 Mr. Schelling cast his first vote for 
 Abraham Lincoln and continued to support 
 the Republican party for some time, but 
 believing the temperance question the most 
 important issue before the people, he now 
 gives his allegiance to the Prohibition party. 
 He has never sought or desired public of- 
 fice, though he has acceptably served as 
 highway commissioner and as a member of 
 the school board in his district. Both he 
 and his wife are faithful members of the 
 United Brethren church of Leaf River and 
 enjoy the esteem and friendship of a large 
 circle of friends and acquaintances. For 
 almost forty years he has been a resident of 
 the county, and during that time he has 
 witnessed much of its growth and develop- 
 ment and has given his support to every 
 enterprise for its advancement, being one of 
 its most public spirited and progressive 
 citizens. 
 
 AUGUST F. KORF, section i, Lincoln 
 township, is one of the most prosperous 
 farmers in Ogle county. In his home farm 
 he has three hundred and thirty acres, a 
 well improved and valuable farm, while he 
 is also the owner of three hundred and twen- 
 ty acres in another part oi the township, 
 which is well improved. He is a native of 
 Germany, born in Lippe Detmold, May 2, 
 1843, but has been a resident of Ogle county 
 since July 19, 1848. His father, Louis 
 Korf, was also a native of Germany, born in 
 1797. He there grew to manhood and 
 married Mary Fosha, also a native of that 
 country. In his native land Louis Korf en- 
 gaged in herding, an occupation in which 
 there was but a bare living. He desired 
 something better, and to that end, in com- 
 pany with a number of immigrants, he left 
 for the United States. They set sail from 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Bremen for New York in a slow sailing ves- 
 sel, and in due time landed in New York, 
 from which place they came direct to Ogle 
 county, where they joined some German 
 friends. They landed in the county on the 
 19th of July. The survivors of that com- 
 pany celebrated the event July 19, 1898, 
 their semi-centennial. 
 
 The second year after his arrival Louis 
 Korf purchased eighty acres of land in Mary- 
 land township on which he erected a log 
 cabin, with two rooms, one and a half stor- 
 ies in height, into which he removed with 
 his family and commenced life in earnest in 
 this new world. Like almost all others of 
 his race, he was industrious and thrifty, and 
 from time to time added to his possessions 
 until he became one of the well-to-do farm- 
 ers of the township. On that farm he died 
 in July, 1 87 1, at the age of seventy-five 
 years. His wife passed away September 
 28, 1869. They had a family of si.\ chil- 
 dren who grew to mature years, as follows; 
 Minnie, wife of William Moudhanker, of 
 Baileyville, Illinois; Dorotha, who married 
 John Pothost, both of whom are deceased; 
 Elizabeth, wife of Frederick Todman, of 
 Forreston township; Frederick, a farmer of 
 Forreston township; Henry, of Jasper coun- 
 ty, Iowa; and August F., of this review. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but five 
 years old when he came to Ogle county, 
 and here his entire life has since been 
 passed. His educational advantages were 
 ver)' limited, confined principally to the 
 common schools. The knowledge since 
 acquired has been obtained by experience 
 with the world. The youngest son, he re- 
 mained with his parents during their declin- 
 ing years, helping to relieve them of much 
 of the cares incidental to old age. He was 
 married in Maryland township, Ogle county. 
 
 March 9, 1870, to Miss Doratha M. Zum- 
 dahl, also a native of Germany, born in 
 Sabberhauser, Germany, April 7, 1848, and 
 who came to Ogle county, in 1850, where 
 she grew to womanhood and received her 
 education. Four sons have come to bless 
 their union. August C, born February 23, 
 1 87 1, yet resides at home and is assisting in 
 carrying on the home farm. Jesse A., born 
 January 14, 1874, is now a student in the 
 Northern Illinois Normal school, at Dixon, 
 Illinois. George F. , born May 10, 1877, is 
 a student of Heidleburg University, Tiffin, 
 Ohio. William H., born October 31, 1S80, 
 is a student of the Forreston high school. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Korf took his 
 bride to his father's home, where they re- 
 sided until 1 88 1, when he bought his pres- 
 ent farm to which they removed and where 
 they have since continued to reside. The 
 farm has been greatly improved in the past 
 few years by the remodeling of the dwelling 
 house and the erection of needed outbuild- 
 ings. The place now shows the work of a 
 master mind, and the thrift of its owner. 
 Mr. Korf has in addition to his home farm 
 one of three hundred and twenty acres in 
 sections 11 and 12, Lincoln township. 
 Much of his property has been acquired 
 since his marriage, and is the result of his 
 own wise management, assisted by his es- 
 timable wife. 
 
 Politically Mr. Korf holds to the views 
 and principles of the Democratic party. 
 His first presidential vote was cast for 
 George B. McClellan, in 18C4. In local 
 elections he does not confine himself to his 
 party ticket, but votes for the men he con- 
 siders the best qualified. The only ofScial 
 position held by him is that of member of 
 the school board, a position that he held for 
 about twelve years. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 During the Ci%il war the sympathies of 
 Mr. Korf was on the side of the union, and 
 in March, 1865, he offered his services to 
 his adopted country and joined Company 
 F, Fifteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
 joining his regiment at Morehead City, 
 North Carolina, remaining with it until after 
 the close of the war. After the close of 
 hostilities his regiment was ordered first to 
 Louisville, Kentucky, and later to Leaven- 
 worth, Kansas, where it was mustered out. 
 His discharge was received at Springfield, 
 Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Korf and family are members of the 
 Reformed Church of America, their local 
 church being at West Grove. In that or- 
 ganization Mr. Korf has been one of the 
 elders for some years. In the work of the 
 church he manifests the liveliest interest. 
 The family are held in the highest esteem 
 wherever known. For fifty-one years Mr. 
 Korf has been a resident of Ogle county, 
 and although he was quite small when he 
 came here, he has yet a vivid recollection 
 of the hardships endured during the first 
 few years after the arrival of the family. 
 He has, however, lived to see a vast change, 
 and the county of his adoption take front 
 rank among its sister counties of the fair 
 state of Illinois. 
 
 M' 
 
 ILO A. JONES has demonstrated the 
 true meaning of the word success as 
 the full accomplishment of an honorable 
 purpose. Energy, close application, perse- 
 verance and good management — these are 
 the elements which have entered into his 
 business career and crowned his efforts with 
 prosperity. To-day he is the leading hard- 
 ware merchant of Byron, Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Jones is a native of New York, born 
 
 in Jewett, Greene county, April 29, 1841, 
 and his father, Benjamin Jones, Jr., were 
 also natives of the Empire state, where the 
 family was founded by Welsh emigrants at 
 an early day in the history of this country. 
 The father grew to manhood in Greene 
 county, and there married Miss Catherine 
 Peck, who was also born in New York, and 
 died in Greene county, in 1892. There he 
 still resides, a hale and hearty old man of 
 ninety-three years, honored and respected 
 by all who know him. By occupation he 
 was a farmer and met with success in his 
 chosen calling. Milo A. is the oldest in his 
 family of seven children, five sons and two 
 daughters, the others being Edward, a resi- 
 dent of Greene county. New York; Charles, 
 who is engaged in mercantile business at 
 Alberquerque, New Mexico; Frank, who 
 went to Colorado after reaching manhood 
 and there died; Sumner, a business man of 
 Greene county; and Mary, wife of Herbert 
 Kipp, a merchant of Greene count}'. 
 
 Amid rural scenes on the home farm, 
 Milo A. Jones passed his boyhood and 
 youth. On the 29th of August, 1862, he 
 joined the boys in blue as a member of 
 Company F, One Hundred and Twentieth 
 New York Volunteer Infantry, which was 
 assigned to the army of the Potomac, and 
 with his regiment participated in a number 
 of important engagements, including the 
 battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville 
 and Gettysburg. At the last named he re- 
 ceived a gunshot wound in the left thigh 
 which permanently disabled him. For sev- 
 eral months he was confined to the hospital 
 at Baltimore, and when partially recovered 
 was ordered to Washington, District of 
 Columbia, where he was on duty in the pro- 
 vost marshal's office for about a year. He 
 was then put in the detective service, and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 213 
 
 was in the provost marshal's office another 
 year, remaining there until hostilities ceased, 
 when he was mustered out in July, 1865. 
 
 Returning to his home in New York, Mr. 
 Jones remained there a short time, but in 
 February, 1S66, we find him en route for 
 Illinois. He located in Winnebago county, 
 where he rented land and engaged in farm- 
 ing for a few days. There he was married, 
 in March, 1869, to Miss Sarah E. Brown, a 
 native of that county, and a daughter of 
 Samuel Brown, one of its honored pioneers, 
 having made his home there since 1836. 
 He is now deceased, but the mother is still 
 living, a hale old lady of about ninety years, 
 and makes her home with Mrs. Jones in 
 I>yron. She has three children. Captain 
 John E. Brown, the only son, valiantly 
 fought for the old flag and the cause it rep- 
 resented during the Rebellion, and com- 
 manded his company in that war. He re- 
 ceived an excellent education, being a grad- 
 uate of Lombard Universitj', and for some 
 years successfully engaged in teaching, but 
 is now a railroad man with the Missouri Pa- 
 cific and resides in Kansas. The other 
 daughter, Alice, is the wife of S. P. Wilson 
 and resides in South Haven, Michigan. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Jones have two children: Ellen, 
 now the wife of Henry Weld, a farmer of 
 Marion township, Ogle county; and Alice, 
 at home. 
 
 For a few years after his marriage, Mr. 
 Jones operated the old Brown homestead, 
 and later engaged in the grain and stock 
 business at New Milford for several years. 
 After coming to Byron in the fall of 1883, 
 he continued that business and was instru- 
 mental in forming the stock company which 
 erected the first elevator at this place. In 
 1888 he purchased an interest in a hardware 
 store, and in partnership with William 
 
 Dodds carried it on for several years, but in 
 1897 he purchased the latter's interest and 
 is now alone in business. He carries a full 
 and complete line of shelf and heavy hard- 
 ware, stoves, tinware, buggies, wagons and 
 agricultural implements and enjoys a large 
 and lucrative trade, receiving a liberal pat- 
 ronage from the people of Byron and sur- 
 rounding country. 
 
 Politically Mr. Jones has been a life- 
 long Republican, casting his first vote for 
 Abraham Lincoln in 1864, but he has never 
 taken a very active part in politics aside 
 from voting. While a resident of Winne- 
 bago county he served as deputy sheriff 
 for two years, but has never sought office, 
 preferring to give his time and attention to 
 his extensive business interests. Frater- 
 nally he is an honored member of the Ma- 
 sonic lodge of Byron, and the Ancient 
 Order of the United Workmen and the 
 Grand Army post at Rockford. As a busi- 
 ness man and citizen he merits and receives 
 the respect and confidence of the entire 
 community, and since coming to Byron he 
 has made a host of warm friends. 
 
 HON. TIMOLEON O. JOHNSTON, 
 editor and proprietor of the Oregon 
 Reporter, is a native of Wisconsin, born in 
 Franklin, Iowa county, June 30, 1849, ^nd 
 is the son of Wesley and Sarah L. (Phelps) 
 Johnston. The family are of Irish ancestry, 
 the paternal grandfather being a captain 
 during the war of the Revolution, coming 
 to this country at an early day. He was a 
 prosperous merchant of New York city, 
 where his death occurred. Wesley John- 
 ston was born in New York city, April i, 
 181 7, and inherited from his father a shrewd 
 business capacity, which favored him in the 
 
214 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 world of trade. He received a good educa- 
 tion, and, at tiie age of twenty, with a good 
 portion of money he left the great metrop- 
 olis and started out in the world to seek his 
 fortune. Aside from substantial financial 
 backing he had a good stock of courage, 
 determination and energy. St. Louis was 
 his first stopping place, and the pleasure he 
 experienced on this trip, which was mainly 
 by water, suggested to him a position on 
 one of the magnificent packets then on the 
 river, and he succeeded in getting a clerk- 
 ship on one of the boats plying between St. 
 Louis and New Orleans. This position was 
 of value to him in after life, as it brought 
 him in contact with the various phases of 
 human life and nature, and it also added to 
 his capital. His ne.xt position was as clerk 
 in a hotel in that once famous resort. Sul- 
 phur Springs, near St. Louis. He there 
 became acquainted with prominent men of 
 wealth, and later a company was formed 
 for the purchase of several thousand acres 
 of timber land near St. Louis, and Mr. 
 Johnston was put in charge of the cutting. 
 This was a gigantic task and brought young 
 Johnston in contact with another phase of 
 mankind, as he had in his employ hundreds 
 of laborers of all classes. 
 
 In 1 84 1 Mr. Johnston came to Ogle 
 county, Illinois, where his brother James, 
 an extensive farmer, was then living, and 
 whose lands lay just east of the village of 
 Oregon. He there established an office and 
 employed himself in loaning money for a 
 few years. Later he formed a partnership 
 with J. C. T. Phelps, his brother-in-law, 
 and engaged in merchandising. They were 
 well fixed financially, and also had unlim- 
 ited credit, and established a number of 
 trading posts in Illinois and Wisconsin. 
 This partnership lasted for sixteen years. 
 
 They had stores in Peru and LaSalle, in 
 LaSalle county, and while living at Peru, 
 Mr. Johnston was elected county treasurer 
 of LaSalle county during one of the most 
 exciting periods of the county's existence. 
 From Peru they went to Polo, Illinois, and 
 established themselves in the banking busi- 
 ness. Soon the great state of Texas at- 
 tracted the attention of these gentlemen, 
 and ever ready to embrace opportunities 
 for business, they started in 1857 for that 
 southwestern empire, locating at Austin, 
 where they opened a general store, and 
 also had business at other points. They 
 were quite successful, but the air soon be- 
 came full of secession, and these business 
 men were looked upon with suspicion. 
 The Southern confederacy was formed, and 
 before the battle of Bull's Run their goods 
 were confiscated, and they returned to 
 Illinois, satisfied to get out with their 
 lives. 
 
 In 1865 Mr. Johnston retired from active 
 trade and established a real estate and loan 
 office at Oregon, which he continued up to 
 the time of his death, which occurred Sep- 
 tember 5, 1893, at the residence of his 
 daughter, Mrs. Wagoner, where he had 
 made his home since the death of his wife. 
 The funeral services were conducted by 
 Rev. Barton Cartwright. He had accu- 
 mulated a valuable estate, which, with his 
 honored name, he left to his heirs. He was 
 a man of fine social qualities, a good con- 
 versationalist, which, added to his vast ex- 
 perience and stirring events in his life, made 
 him a very interesting companion. He 
 was quite domestic in his taste, fond of his 
 family and friends, and they were of him, 
 and loved him. He had erected for himself 
 and family, at Oregon, a large and hand- 
 some residence, in which, surrounded by 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 215 
 
 his family, he spent his declining j'ears. He 
 died, mourned and regretted by all. 
 
 In 184S Mr. Johnston married Sarah 
 Louise Phelps, daughter of Judge John and 
 Sarah (Carlin) Phelps, cousin of Governor 
 Carlin, this state, her father being the 
 founder of Oregon. He was a native of 
 Bedford county, Virginia, and came to Illi- 
 nois early in the thirties. In 1835 he lo- 
 cated in Ogle county, where he had staked 
 a claim in 1833, his attention having been 
 called to this beautiful location by Colonel 
 William Hamilton, son of Alexander Hamil- 
 ton. A two-story log house was built in 
 1S34, in the erection of which his brother- 
 in-law, James C. T. Phelps, so long and 
 prominently connected with Ogle county, 
 assisted. This house was situated just be- 
 low where the old Catholic stone church 
 now stands. This house was used by the 
 first circuit court held in the county. 
 John Phelps was the first probate 
 judge to hold court in the county, which 
 was also held in this house. He was a 
 man of the people, and was elected and 
 served as a member of the legislature. 
 John Phelps was born in Bedford county, 
 Virginia, August 9, 1790, and died April 2, 
 1S74. His wife died in 1879. They had 
 three children — James C. T., who died at 
 his home in Kansas City, Missouri, Decem- 
 ber 24, 1S95; Sarah L. , and Napoleon B., 
 the latter dying in New Orleans, December 
 10, 1857. The family were related to Gov- 
 ernor Carlin, of this state. Mrs. Johnston 
 was born in Lebanon, Tennessee, March 27, 
 1817, and her mother, Sarah Regan Carlin, 
 was born in Nashville, Tennessee, April 29, 
 1797. She came to Ogle county with her 
 father in May, 1835, where she first met 
 Wesley Johnston, to whom she was married 
 June 8, 1848, by S.Wooley, a justice of the 
 
 peace, at her father's house, over the old 
 store. No. 118 North Third street, corner 
 Washington and Third streets. She de- 
 parted this life October 4, 1889. She was 
 a devout Christian woman, a devoted wife 
 and mother, and was much beloved by all 
 who knew her. She was a member of the 
 Episcopal church, of which body Mr. John- 
 ston was also a member. In politics he 
 was originally a Democrat, but later became 
 a Republican. They were the parents of 
 four children: Timoleon O., our subject; 
 Sarah Alice, who married S. G. Jones, but 
 is now deceased; Eva E. and James W., 
 the latter being in business in Chicago. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was educated 
 at Sinsinawa Mound and at Rock River 
 Seminary, Mt. Morris. After learning the 
 printer's trade in the office of the Oregon 
 National Guard, he went to Vinton, Benton 
 county, Iowa, and was there connected with 
 the Vinton Semi- Weekly Eagle for about 
 three years. He then returned to Oregon 
 and purchased an interest in the Ogle 
 County Reporter, February 16, 1S72. At 
 the end of si,x months he purchased the en- 
 tire interest in the plant and became sole 
 proprietor. From that time to the present 
 he has continued in charge of the paper, a 
 longer period of time than the publisher of 
 any local paper in the state. 
 
 Mr. Johnston was united in marriage 
 December 30, 1869, at Vinton, Iowa, to 
 Miss Mary E. Shockley, daughter of Philip 
 and Mary Shockley. Her parents are yet 
 living in Vinton, Iowa, and celebrated their 
 golden wedding in June, 1S98. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Johnston three children have been 
 born. May Aileen is now the wife of Will- 
 iam L. Katzenberger, of Baltimore, Mary- 
 land; John P. is in the office with his father. 
 He married Hattie E. Sutphen, of Rochelle, 
 
2l6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and daughter of Peter M. and Maggie (Kelly) 
 Sutphen. They have one child, Timoleon 
 O. The remaining member of the family is 
 Lillian Eidola, who was married to William 
 F. Rudolphy, of Chicago, April 27, 1898. 
 
 Mr. Johnston has taken an active and 
 leading part in the politics of Ogle county. 
 He was elected alderman in 1877-8, and 
 then in 1879-80. In 1883 he svas elected 
 mayor and served one term. He was 
 elected secretary of the Republican Edi- 
 torial Association, of Illinois, in 18 — , and 
 was elected president of the Press Associa- 
 tion at the Bloomington convention, in 
 1888, and has been secretary of the Repub- 
 lican Editorial Association of Illinois. He 
 was secretary of the Old Settlers' Associa- 
 tion of Ogle county, and has been vice- 
 president of the same since the death of his 
 father and served as president of the same 
 in 1896. He has been delegate to various 
 conventions from time to time, and is now 
 on the State Editorial Republican commit- 
 tee. In Ma}', 1897, he was appointed, by 
 Governor Tanner, as trustee of the South- 
 ern Illinois State Normal University at 
 Carbondale, Illinois. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. ]ohnston is a member 
 of the Masonic order, holding membership 
 with Oregon Lodge, No. 420, R. A. M., 
 Rock River Chapter, No. 151, and Di.xon 
 Commandery. and the Modern Woodmen 
 of America. He is also a member of Oregon 
 Lodge, No. 94, I. O. O. F., and of the In- 
 dependent Order of Improved Red Men. 
 
 The Ogle County Reporter, which has 
 so long been conducted by Mr. Johnston, is 
 a Republican journal, and one of the lead- 
 ing papers of the county. It is a seven 
 column quarto, and is issued every Wednes- 
 day, being ably edited by its proprietor, who 
 makes of it a bright newsy sheet. A good 
 
 job office is connected with the paper, where 
 first -class work is done. 
 
 Mr. Johnston is the only representative 
 now in Ogle county of two prominent and 
 leading families who were early settlers in 
 the county, and who left their mark on its 
 civilization. He is a worthy representative 
 of these families and holds up their honored 
 name. He has an ample fortune mostly 
 derived from the estate of his father, and is 
 liberal in aiding all public enterprises that 
 center in the development of the county 
 and in charitable work. He has a host 
 of friends, not only in Ogle county, but 
 throughout the state. 
 
 REV. N. J. STROH, deceased, was a 
 man deserving of the highest honors, 
 one who gave the best years of his life for 
 the betterment of his fellowmen. He was 
 born in Liken's Valley, Pennsylvania, May 
 5, 1798, and after receiving a fairly good 
 education in the grammar schools of his na- 
 tive county he entered college under the di- 
 rection of Rev. Lockman, a minister of the 
 Lutheran church, who educated for the 
 ministry a number of young men, with the 
 design of having them enter the missionary 
 field. After completing his course Mr. 
 Stroh was ordained to the ministry by the 
 Lutheran Synod of Pennsylvania. This 
 was about 1823. After preaching for a 
 number of churches in the east, with a view 
 of restoring his health which had been im- 
 paired, he came west, traveling throughout 
 Illinois and other states. 
 
 Returning east, in 1S26, Mr. Stroh was 
 united in marriage, near Newville, Pennsyl- 
 vania, with Miss Elizabeth Givler, born De- 
 cember 2, 1807, and by this union ten chil- 
 dren wore born: Maria, November 23, 
 
REV. N. J. STROH. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 219 
 
 1828; Luther M., April 17, 1830; Muehlen- 
 berg, July 28, 1832; Martha E., September 
 6, 1835; Rhenius, April 27, 1837; Christa- 
 vius A., September 16, 1840; Alfred E., 
 March 6, 1842; Augusta C. and Cecelia A., 
 twins, February 16, 1844; and Josephine, 
 June 6, 1848. 
 
 After remaining and preaching in the 
 east for a number of years. Rev. Stroh, in 
 1845, came to Ogle county, Illinois, and lo- 
 cated at Oregon, where he resided one year, 
 in the meantime organizing the Lutheran 
 church at that place. He then moved to 
 Mt. Morris and purchased two large farms, 
 on one of which he made his home, and 
 there resided for many years engaged in ag- 
 ricultural pursuits, and preaching the gospel 
 in regions roundabout. He organized the 
 Lutheran church in Mt. Morris, and for a 
 number of jears ministered to its spiritual 
 wants. After a long and useful life, he was 
 called to his reward January i, 1897, being 
 in his ninety-ninth year. His wife died 
 November 10, 1894. She was a good 
 woman, a worthy helpmeet to her husband 
 and a devout member of the Lutheran 
 church. In politics Mr. Stroh was a Dem- 
 ocrat, but he did not mingle much in polit- 
 ical affairs. He was much beloved by the 
 people, not alone of his own religious com- 
 munion, but by all others, and his death 
 was sincerely mourned. "Truly a prophet 
 in Israel has fallen." 
 
 Maria E. Stroh, the first o( the children 
 born to Rev. and Mrs. Stroh, grew to 
 womanhood and July 4, 1846, was united in 
 marriage with Philip R. Bennett, a mer- 
 chant doing business in Oregon, who was 
 born in Massachusetts, October 10, 1824. 
 He departed this life March i, 1855. They 
 became the parents of four children: Fred- 
 erick \V., born September 11, 1848; Walter 
 
 S. , August 4, 1850; Arthur V., September 
 30, 1852; and Philip, January 31, 1S55. 
 Mrs. Bennett, January 4, i860, was again 
 married, her second union being with Will- 
 iam Schultz, a native of New York state, 
 born May 23, 1823. By this union four 
 children were born: William, September 
 21, i860; John R., July 26, 1862; Mary L., 
 April 12, 1864; and Katie L. , February 13, 
 1866. 
 
 For some years Mr. Schultz was en- 
 gaged in the real estate business in Mt. 
 Morris. Later he moved to Oregon and 
 continued in the same line of business 
 with gratifying success. He died in Oregon 
 February 28, 1S79. ^^s a business man he 
 was enterprising, ever ready to assist in any 
 enterprise that would be of benefit to his 
 adopted city and county. In politics he 
 was a Republican, and religiously a Lu- 
 theran, being a member of the church at 
 Oregon. 
 
 After the death of her husband, Mrs. 
 Schultz moved with her son Walter to 
 Grand Island, Nebraska, where she resided 
 for some years. In October, 1896, she re- 
 turned to Mt. Morris to care for her aged 
 father, who died a few months later. She 
 still makes her home in the village where 
 she is so well known and where she is sur- 
 rounded by many old friends. 
 
 MICHAEL CARMAN, now living in re- 
 tirement in Forreston, is one of Ogle 
 county's pioneer citizens, and a gentleman 
 whose life has contributed largely to its de- 
 velopment along industrial and educational 
 lines. He dates his residence in the county 
 since May 28, 1842. He was born in Leb- 
 anon county, Pennsylvania, January 19, 
 1 82 I, and there lived until six years of age, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 removing with his parents to Northumber- 
 land county, in the same state, where he 
 was educated and grew to manhood. After 
 his school days, he became an apprentice 
 to the shoemaking trade, but because of its 
 close confinement he soon gave it up and 
 selected a healthier life at farm work on his 
 father's farm. In 1842, he came west with 
 his parents, and settled in what was then Mt. 
 Morris township, his father purchasing two 
 hundred acres, and beginning its cultivation. 
 
 On the 1 6th of April, 1844, Mr. Gar- 
 man was united in marriage with Miss Eliz- 
 abeth Fagar, a daughter of Coonrod and 
 Hosanna (Fisher) Fagar. She was a native 
 of Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, 
 born March 17, 1823, and came west 
 with her parents the same year in which 
 the Garman family settled here. By this 
 union were eleven children as follows: 
 Sarah' Ann and John Henry, who died in 
 infancy; Joel Ezra, a farmer residing near 
 Adelaine; Louise Josephine, Lucinda Re- 
 becca, Emma Frances, and Helen Ada, 
 who died in infancy; Lucy Alice, wife of 
 Harvey Alters, a farmer of Lincoln town- 
 ship. Ogle county; Ida Honora, wife of Al- 
 fred Meyers, a farmer of Woosung town- 
 ship, Ogle county; Newton Alvin, a mer- 
 chant of Sioux City, Iowa; and Gerard 
 Michael, who enjoys a fine dental practice 
 in Chicago. Mrs. Garman, the mother of 
 these children, lived to see the living ones 
 married and settled comfortably, and then 
 passed away September 2, 1898. 
 
 Michael Garman lived in Lincoln town- 
 ship, until 1886, and by his frugality and 
 industry, acquired a competency in choice 
 and well-improved farm property. While 
 yet residing in Mt. Morris township, he 
 held the office of assessor two years, and 
 from 1844 to 1848, was town treasurer. 
 
 He was township trustee for twelve years 
 and school director of district No. i twen- 
 ty-four years. In Lincoln township he was 
 supervisor one year and assessor two years, 
 school trustee ten years, president of the 
 school board in Forreston nine years, and 
 president of the town board one year. He 
 holds the remarkable record of service in 
 educational affairs, continuously since 1844. 
 His first presidential ballot was cast for 
 James K. Polk, in 1844, and he is yet a 
 stanch Democrat. 
 
 Mr. Carman's ancestors came from Ger- 
 many to America some years prior to the 
 Revolutionary war. His grandfather, Mich- 
 ael Garman, was a native of York county, 
 Pennsylvania, and was born in 1747. He 
 had a creditable military record, and served 
 seven years in the Revolutionary struggle, 
 and was taken prisoner by the enemy in the 
 battle of Brandywine. He had the rank of 
 sergeant, and, being a blacksmith by trade, 
 had the entire management of the black- 
 smith department during the war. The 
 hardships endured brought on an illness 
 which terminated in his untimely death, 
 January 8, 1800. He married Susanna 
 Sheets, who was born in Lancaster county, 
 Pennsylvania, August 16, 1768. They were 
 united in marriage in Dalton county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, in 1785, and became the parents of 
 six children: Catherine, wifeof John Wertz, 
 a fanner of Northumberland county, Penn- 
 sylvania; Martin, who followed the trade of 
 shoemaker in Northumberland county, Penn- 
 sylvania; Benjamin, who died in infancy; 
 Jacob, who in early life learned the trade of 
 tailoring, but who later became a farmer, 
 and who removed with his family to Illinois 
 in 1844; Michael, the father of our subject; 
 and George, a fanner of Northumberland 
 county, Pennsylvania. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Our subject's father was born September 
 29, 179S, in Northumberland county, Penn- 
 sylvania, where he attended school, and 
 afterwards learned the blacksmith's trade, at 
 which he worked until twenty-six, when he 
 was elected constable, in which office he 
 served until 1833. On the 21st of June, 
 1826, he married Rebecca Mace, daughter 
 of John Mace, a farmer of Lebanon county, 
 Pennsylvania. To this marriage there was 
 born one child, Michael, the subject of this 
 sketch. The father died August 11, 1870, 
 his remains being buried in West Grove 
 cemetery, Lincoln township. His wife sur- 
 vived him, dying February 24, 1874, and 
 her remains were interred beside those of 
 her husband's. 
 
 Mr. Carman's maternal great-grand- 
 father, Jacob Mace, was born in Lebanon 
 county, Pennsylvania, and followed farming. 
 In 1750, he married a Miss Baker, and one 
 of the children of this marriage was John 
 Mace, the father of our subject's mother. 
 John Mace was born in Lebanon county, 
 Pennsylvania, and married Miss Margaret 
 Jacoby, daughter of Jacob Jacoby, and by 
 this union were four children — Mary, Re- 
 becca, Jacob and John. 
 
 Mrs. Michael Garman, the wife of our 
 subject, was one of a family of twelve chil- 
 dren, eight surviving as follows: Daniel, 
 residing in Forreston; Samuel, living in Lin- 
 coln township; Sarah Fagar Maze, living in 
 Forreston township; Isaac, of Brookville 
 township; Peter, of Forreston township; 
 David, of Willow Springs, Kansas; Henry, 
 of Osage county, Kansas; and Hosanna, 
 wife of Daniel Hoelshue, living at Herndon, 
 Northumberland county, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Mr. Garman and family are devout 
 members of the Evangelical association. 
 He is among Forreston's and Ogle county's 
 
 most highly esteemed citizens, and the con- 
 fidence and regard in which he is held is 
 evidenced daily in his advice and counsel 
 being sought, and his assistance being ren- 
 dered in the settlement of estates. His life 
 has been an open book, and he has freely 
 given of his time to aid in the general im- 
 provement of his county, and has especially 
 been helpful in social, educational and relig- 
 ious affairs. 
 
 JOHN S. HASTINGS, one of Ogle 
 county's most thrifty and energetic 
 farmers, whose home is on section 8, Ma- 
 rion township, was born in Clark county, 
 Ohio, September 19, 1846, and is a son of 
 Edmond Hastings, who was born in one of 
 the New England states, and when a young 
 man went to Ohio. In Clark county he 
 wedded Miss Mary Ann Sheaff, a native of 
 New York, and a daughter of John Sheaff, 
 a pioneer of that county, who removed from 
 Pennsylvania to New York, and from there 
 to Ohio. Coming west in 1850, Mr. Hast- 
 ings located on a tract of wild land in Ogle 
 county and at once commenced the im- 
 provement and cultivation of his place. 
 He was joined by his wife and family the 
 following year, and continued the operation 
 of his farm until his death, which occurred 
 in 1856. His widow subsequently married 
 John M. Hinckle, now deceased, and now 
 makes her home with a daughter in Ore- 
 gon, Illinois, a hale and hearty old lady of 
 seventy-four years. By the first union 
 there were four children: Mary, who mar- 
 ried, and died leaving a family; Emma C, 
 wife of a Mr. Frace, of Holcomb, Illinois: 
 John S., of this review; and Peter E., a 
 business man of Oregon. 
 
 Brought to Ogle county during childhood. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 John S. Hastings was reared by his mother 
 upon the home farm in Marion township, 
 and obtained his education in the common 
 and higher schools of the county. Although 
 only sixteen j'ears of age, he enlisted in 
 February, 1864, in Company F, Thirty- 
 fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and joined 
 the regiment at Oregon. He participated 
 in many important engagements, including 
 the battles of Rocky Faced Ridge, Buzzard 
 Roost, Resaca, Rome, Georgia, Peach Tree 
 Creek, the siege of Atlanta, the battle of 
 Goldsboro, and the march with Sherman to 
 the sea. Later he took part in the battle 
 and capture of Savannah, Bentonville, South 
 Carolina, and Averyboro, and at the close 
 of the war participated in the grand review 
 at Washington, District of Columbia. He 
 was always found at his post of duty, valiant- 
 ly fighting for the old flag and the cause it 
 represented, and when hostilities ceased was 
 honorably discharged in July, 1865. He 
 was never confined to the hospital and lost 
 no time from his regiment. 
 
 After his return home Mr. Hastings at- 
 tended school in Rockford for three months 
 and then began work on the home farm, 
 which he continued to operate after his 
 marriage until 1880, when he purchased the 
 place where he now resides. It comprises 
 one hundred and twenty acres of highly 
 cultivated and well improved land, on which 
 he has erected a large barn and other out- 
 buildings, making it one of the most desir- 
 able farms of the locality. He thoroughly 
 understands his chosen calling and has met 
 with a well-deserved success. 
 
 At Oregon, Ogle county, in December, 
 1876, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. 
 Hastings and Miss Rachel J. Page, who was 
 born, reared and educated here, her father, 
 Robert Page, having come to the county at 
 
 an early day from Ohio. Four children 
 bless this union: Charles E., at home; Mabel 
 L., who was well educated in the schools of 
 Byron and is now a successful teacher; 
 Herbert J. and Eva B., both at home. 
 
 In his political affiliations Mr. Hastings 
 has always been an ardent Republican, cast- 
 ing his first presidential ballot for Gen. U. S. 
 Grant in 1868. For several years he was 
 an efficient member of the school board and 
 was president of the district. Fraternally 
 he is a Master Mason, belonging to the blue 
 lodge at Byron, and is also an honored 
 member of the Grand Army post. He is a 
 public-spirited, enterprising citizen of known 
 reliability, and has the confidence and es- 
 teem of all with whom he comes in contact 
 either in business or social life. 
 
 HENRY A. PARKS one of the enter- 
 prising farmers of Ogle county, resides 
 on section 22, Woosung township. He 
 was born January 15, 1847, in Palmyra, 
 Lee county, Illinois, and is the son of Hi- 
 ram P. Parks and Martha (Moon) Parks, early 
 settlers of Lee county. Hiram P. Parks 
 was born at Malone, New York, in 1806, 
 and resided there until twenty-two years of 
 age, when he came to Illinois and located 
 in what is now Palmyra township, Lee 
 county, which was his home until his death 
 in 1885. His first tract comprised one 
 hundred and twenty acres, to which he later 
 added fifty acres. In politics he was a 
 Republican in later life, and religiously 
 was a Baptist. In his family were eight 
 children, seven of whom are yet living. 
 Mary first married Rodney Mason, of Lee 
 county, and afterwards John Lawrence, of 
 the same county. Rebecca, one of the 
 first white children born in Lee county, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 223 
 
 married Thomas Ayers, who is now de- 
 ceased, and a brother of William Ayers. 
 She now resides in Dixon, Illinois. Wain- 
 wright married Lydia Sayres, who died 
 leaving two children who reside in Di.xon. 
 Bruce is a farmer residing near Dorchester, 
 Nebraska. Henry A. is next in order of 
 birth. Frederick is in the flour and feed 
 business in Seward, Nebraska. Abner, when 
 last heard from, resided in St. Louis, Mis- 
 souri. Eunice married William Ayers, and 
 they now reside in Hardin county, Iowa. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood on the home farm in Lee county, and 
 was educated in the public schools. When 
 seventeen years of age he entered the store 
 of Willis G. House, of Dixon, Illinois, where 
 he remained five years as a clerk. About 
 1S69, in company with his brother, Wain- 
 wright, and his cousin, Clinton Coe, he 
 bought three hundred and twenty acres of 
 land in Woosung township, Ogle county. 
 
 They were all single men, and kept 
 " bach " while improving their place. Aft- 
 er working the farm for several years and 
 putting it under good improvement, they 
 divided the land, one hundred and sixty 
 acres falling to our subject, which is com- 
 prised in his present farm. 
 
 On the 24th of July, 1S72, Mr. Parks 
 was united in marriage with Miss Marcia I. 
 Hathaway, who was born in Grand Detour, 
 Illinois, and daughter of Stephen and So- 
 phronia (Wetherby) Hathaway, the latter 
 being the first white woman to locate in that 
 village. By this union were two daughters 
 who died in infancy. They have now one 
 daughter, Selma lone, who is a joy and a 
 comfort to them. 
 
 Stephen E. Hathaway, the father of 
 Mrs. Parks, was born in Barnard, Windsor 
 county, Vermont, October 15, 181 5, and 
 
 there grew to manhood. In 1836 he came 
 west and located in Grand Detour, where 
 he engaged in work at his trade of wagon- 
 maker, a business which he has followed 
 throughout life. For the last ten years, 
 however, he has lived retired, making his 
 home with our subject. Sophronia Weth- 
 erby was a daughter of Charles and Sarah 
 (Hurd) Wetherby, and was born in Wor- 
 cester, Massachusetts, August 31, 1816. 
 She was a maiden of sixteen or seventeen 
 when she came with the first colony to 
 Grand Detour. Among those in that col- 
 ony were Leonard Andrus, Willard and 
 Harry House and Mrs. Willard House. 
 They crossed the river by ferry, and in go- 
 ing over Mrs. House playfully declared her 
 intention of being the first white woman to 
 set foot in Grand Detour, but Harry House, 
 in jest, detained her, while Miss Wetherby, 
 taking advantage of the opportunity, stepped 
 ashore, and therefore was the first. To 
 Stephen Hathaway and wife two children 
 were born — Marcia I., now Mrs. Parks; and 
 Wells F. , now a resident of Dixon. Mrs. 
 Hathaway died October 12, 1867. 
 
 Commencing life without means, Mr. 
 Parks has been fairly successful, and what 
 he has he owes to no one save his faithful 
 wife, who has been to him a true helpmeet. 
 They have toiled together and the result is 
 shown by their home surroundings, their 
 place being in excellent repair, and every- 
 thing about it showing that it is controlled 
 by a master mind. In politics he is a Re- 
 publican, and religiously a Baptist, holding 
 membership with the church in Dixon. In 
 the work of the church he has taken great 
 interest, and contributes liberally of his 
 means to its support. He has taken inter- 
 est also in educational matters, and has 
 served as school director for some years, 
 
224 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and has filled other offices in the township 
 with credit to himself and to his constitu- 
 ents. 
 
 ERASTUS W. SCHRYVER, who owns 
 and operates a valuable farm of one 
 hundred and sixty acres on section 34, 
 Eagle Point township, first came to Ogle 
 county in the spring of 1839, and throuhgout 
 the greater part of his life has been promi- 
 nently identified with its agricultural inter- 
 ests. He was born in Andes, Delaware 
 county. New York, September 16, 1829, a 
 son of Matthew and Ann (Webster) Schryver, 
 also natives of that county. The maternal 
 grandfather, Elijah Webster, was a near rel- 
 ative of the great statesman, Daniel Webster. 
 The father of our subject, who was born 
 in 1797, spent his early life in his native 
 state, working at farm labor, on the canal 
 or at anything he could find to do. Coming 
 west in 1839, he took up a claim of one 
 hundred and si.xty acres of land in what 
 is now Eagle township. Ogle county, up- 
 on which he built a cabin, which was the 
 home of the family for a number of years, 
 while he fenced, broke and cultivated 
 his farm. He set out an orchard, later built 
 a good frame house and barn, and trans- 
 formed the wild land into highly cultivated 
 fields. He departed this life in 1872, his 
 wife December 13, 1880, and both were 
 buried in the United Brethren church ceme- 
 tery, where a monument now marks their 
 last resting place. Both were active mem- 
 bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 were consistent Christian people, and had 
 the respect and esteem of all who knew them. 
 Erastus W. Schryver is the third in or- 
 der of birth in a family of si.x children, five 
 sons and one daughter, who reached years 
 
 of maturity. John Henry, the eldest, mar- 
 ried and settled in Ogle county, where he 
 died in 1867; Jesse is a farmer of Eagle 
 Point township; Samuel B. also located 
 here after his marriage, but later removed 
 to Hardin county, Iowa, where his death oc- 
 curred in 1897; George is a farmer of 
 Minnesota; and Eliza Jane Ann is the wife 
 of Henry Landers, of Hardin count}-, Iowa. 
 
 The subject of this review was a lad of 
 ten years when he came with his parents to 
 Ogle county, and in the development and 
 improvement of the old home farm he bore 
 an important part, remaining with his father 
 until he attained his majority. His school 
 privileges were limited, so that he is mostly 
 self-educated. In 1850 he went to Cali- 
 fornia by way of Omaha, where a wagon 
 train was made up to cross the plains. The 
 party started with four yoke of oxen, but on 
 reaching their destination had but one yoke 
 remaining, having been six months and fif- 
 teen days upon the road. Mr. Schryver 
 arrived at the mines September 16, of that 
 year, and for nearly three years was en- 
 gaged in hunting the yellow metal with a 
 fair degree of success. In the spring of 
 1853 he started eastward, leaving San Fran- 
 cisco February i, and by way of the Isth- 
 mus of Panama and Aspinwall proceeding 
 to New York city, where they arrived on 
 the 28th of that month. From New York 
 he went to Chicago and from there home. 
 
 In Eagle Point township Mr. Schryver 
 bought eighty acres of land, only five acres 
 of which had been broke and a few fruit 
 trees set out. To the further improvement 
 and cultivation of his farm he at once turned 
 his attention, and in 1856 he erected there- 
 on a good residence. Selling the place in 
 1864, he went to Idaho bj- means of teams 
 and engaged in mining for a year and a half. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 225 
 
 returning to Ogle county by the same means 
 in the fall of 1866. He then purchased his 
 present place of one hundred and sixty 
 acres, and he now owns another farm of 
 eighty-seven and a half acres two miles 
 farther east. Upon his home place he has 
 built a commodious and pleasant residence, 
 a good barn, granary and cribs, and has set 
 out an orchard and ornamental trees, and 
 now has one of the neatest and best im- 
 proved places of Eagle Point township. In 
 connection with general farming he is inter- 
 ested in breeding and raising stock of good 
 grades, and is accounted one of the success- 
 ful farmers and slock-raisers of the county. 
 On the i6th of April, 1857, in Ogle 
 county, Mr. Schryver was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Lucinda Landes, a native of 
 Niles, Michigan, and a daughter of Solomon 
 and Elizabeth (Detamore) Landes, natives 
 of Rockingham county, Virginia, where 
 they were reared and married. The father, 
 who was born in 1806, took his family to 
 Michigan at an early day, and after spend- 
 ing si.\ years there, came to Ogle county, 
 Illinois, in October, 1S35, being among the 
 first settlers here. He took up a claim, and 
 from the wild land developed a good farm, 
 upon which he died in 1893, honored and 
 respected by all who knew him. He was 
 twice married, Mrs. Schryver's mother hav- 
 ing died in 1866, and both were laid to rest 
 in the United Brethren church cemetery. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Schryver have passed almost 
 their entire lives together, as they were 
 reared in the same neighborhood, attended 
 the same school, and in company with her 
 family she went to California with him in 
 1850, and returned together by way of the 
 Isthmus. After their marriage she accom- 
 panied him on going to Idaho, and their 
 married life has been a most happy one, as 
 
 they have shared with each other its joys 
 and sorrows, its adversity and prosperity. 
 They have two sons: Albert, residing on 
 the home place, is married and has three 
 children: George, Lucinda and Erastus; 
 and Fletcher, a farmer of Eagle Point town- 
 ship, is married and has one daughter, 
 Anna. 
 
 Politically Mr. Schryver has been a life- 
 long Democrat, casting his first presidential 
 ballot for Franklin Pierce in 1852, while in 
 California. At local elections, however, he 
 endeavors to support the best men for the 
 office, regardless of party affiliations, but he 
 has never sought nor desired political pre- 
 ferment for himself. His life is exemplary 
 in many respects and he has the esteem and 
 confidence of the entire community in which 
 he has so long made his home and where he 
 is so widely known. 
 
 SOLOMON BELLBOWERMAN, M. D., 
 a prominent and successful physician 
 and surgeon of Leaf River, Ogle county, 
 was born near Harrisburg, Dauphin county, 
 Pennsylvania, March 3, 1830, a son of John 
 A. Bowerman and grandson of William 
 Bowerman, both natives of the Keystone 
 state. The kingdom of Holland, which has 
 given to the world one of its hardiest races 
 of people, sheltered the paternal ancestors 
 of our subject, but the family was founded 
 in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, at an 
 early day. On reaching manhood John A. 
 Bowerman, our subject's father, married 
 Miss Ann Maria Woland, a native of Dauphin 
 county and a daughter of John Woland, who 
 was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. 
 They continued to make their home in that 
 state throughout life, the mother dying in 
 1854 and the father in 1894, ^^ the ripe old 
 
226 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 age of eighty-five years. By occupation he 
 was a farmer. They reared a family of 
 seven children, four sons and three daugh- 
 ters, all of whom are still living. 
 
 In the county of his nativity Dr. Bower- 
 man spent his boyhood and youth, received 
 good common-school advantages and also 
 attended the Perrysburg Seminary for a 
 time. Subsequently he engaged in teaching 
 school there for several years. He first 
 came to Ogle county, Illinois, in 1858, and 
 taught school for a time in Leaf River 
 township, but in the spring of 1859 returned 
 to his native state. He had previously 
 devoted his vacations and leisure time to 
 the study of medicine for some years, and on 
 his return to Pennsylvania took his first 
 course of lectures at the old Philadelphia 
 Medical College. After completing the 
 course he returned home and engaged in 
 practice in his old neighborhood until the 
 outbreak of the Civil war. 
 
 The Doctor was then serving as lieuten- 
 ant-colonel of the uniformed militia of 
 Pennsylvania, and in November, 18C2, en- 
 listed for one year in Company A, One 
 Hundred and Seventy-second Pennsylvania 
 Volunteer Infanfry. On the organization 
 of the company he was elected first lieuten- 
 ant, and in January, 1863, was promoted to 
 the captainc}', in which capacity he served 
 until mustered out at the close of his term 
 in September, 1863. He was first on de- 
 tached duty and had charge of the artillery 
 at Yorktown, Virginia, but later the regi- 
 ment was transferred to the Eleventh Corps, 
 Army of the Potomac. During the winter 
 of 1863-4 Dr. Bowerman attended two 
 courses of medical lectures at Philadelphia, 
 and was later engaged in practice for a short 
 time, but in 1864 re-enlisted in his country's 
 service, and was commissioned captain of 
 
 Company A, Two Hundred and Tenth Penn- 
 sylvania Volunteer Infantr\\ With his 
 command he participated in the battles of 
 Hatcher's Run, Dapey's Mills, Gravelly 
 Run, the engagements in front of Peters- 
 burg, and the battle of Five Forks. They 
 continued the pursuit of the rebel army 
 until Lee surrendered to Grant at Appo- 
 matto.x Court House. Our subject was 
 breveted major and commanded the regi- 
 ment in front of Petersburg and at Five 
 Forks, and later took part in the grand 
 review at Washington, District of Columbia, 
 in which city he was mustered out in August, 
 1865. 
 
 Returning to Philadelphia, Dr. Bower- 
 man again attended lectures for three terms, 
 and was graduated from the Eclectic Med- 
 ical College of Philadelphia, in the class of 
 1866. After two years practice at his old 
 home in Dauphin county he came to Illi- 
 nois, arriving in Ogle county, August 20, 
 1868. Locating in Lightsville, he resumed 
 practice and as time passed his patronage 
 rapidly increased until he had all that he 
 could attend to, and he still enjoys a large 
 and remunerative practice. 
 
 Dr. Bowerman was married in Ogle 
 county, in 1873, to Miss Margaret Motter, 
 a native of Pennsylvania, and a daughter of 
 Leonard Motter, who located here in 1859. 
 They have become the parents of four chil- 
 dren, as follows: Hughlins E. , acquired 
 his literary education in the home school 
 and the Wells school of Oregon, and after 
 studying medicine with his father for some 
 time, he attended lectures at Bennett Med- 
 ical College, Chicago, where he was gradu- 
 ated in the class of 1897. He is now suc- 
 cessfully engaged in practice with his fa- 
 ther. Adda is the wife of Elmer Myers, of 
 Leaf River township. Anna and Minnie 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 227 
 
 are both at home with their parents. Mrs. 
 Bowerman is a member of the Evangelical 
 church, and the family is one of prominence 
 in the best social circles of the community. 
 Politically the Doctor is identified with 
 the Republican party, and he has taken an 
 active and prominent part in public affairs. 
 He served for two years as assessor of his 
 township, four years as justice of the peace 
 and as supervisor two terms. While a 
 member of the county board he was chair- 
 man of the committee on education, for nine 
 years was a member of the local school 
 board, and has been an important factor in 
 raising the standard of the schools in Ogle 
 county. Fraternally he is an honored mem- 
 ber of the State Eclectic Medical Society, 
 and he stands deservedly high among his 
 professional brethren. Wherever he goes 
 he wins friends and has the happy faculty 
 of being able to retain them. His popu- 
 larity has made him a great favorite in all 
 circles. 
 
 NOAH PRESTON, a representative and 
 leading farmer of Marion township, 
 residing on section ^2,, is a fair specimen of 
 the sturdy agriculturist who have so largely 
 assisted in the development of Ogle county. 
 Here he has met with success in his under- 
 takings and is now the owner of two val- 
 uable farms near the village of Byron. 
 
 Mr. Preston was born in Oneida county, 
 New York, November 29, 1S38, and is a 
 grandson of Noah Preston, Sr. , an early 
 settler of that county, who was born in 
 1763, in Connecticut, and was reared in 
 that state. He was a soldier of the war of 
 1812, and died April 9, 1835, while his 
 wife. Honor Preston, who was born May 
 28, 1766, died November 22, 1847. The 
 
 birth of the father, John S. Preston, oc- 
 curred in Oneida county, in 1804, and there 
 he was married, May 14, 1S34, to Miss 
 Amanda Tuttle, a daughter of Lyman Tut- 
 tle. She died in Oneida county, and he 
 was again married, December 27, 1837, his 
 second union being with Mrs. Elmira Rob- 
 bins, also a native of Oneida county, and a 
 daughter of Amasa Barnes. Mr. Preston 
 was a well-educated man and for nine years 
 successfully followed the teacher's profes- 
 sion in the Empire state. Later he located 
 on a farm and devoted his attention to agri- 
 culture. In 1854 he came to Ogle county, 
 Illinois, arriving here May 10, and joining 
 his brother, who had located here in 1852. 
 He purchased land and improved the farm 
 on which our subject is now living, making 
 his home there until called from this life 
 September 2, 1879, at the ripe old age of 
 seventy-five years. His wife survived him 
 for some time, dying May 13, 1888, at the 
 age of seventy-seven, and both were laid to 
 rest in Stillman cemetery. Noah is the eld- 
 est of the four children born of the second 
 marriage of both parents, the others being 
 John D. , a resident of Shelbina, Shelby coun- 
 ty, Missouri; Amanda, widow of Silas No- 
 ble, of Marion township. Ogle county; and 
 Sarah A., widow of Dr. Delos Hurlbut and 
 a resident of Iowa. 
 
 Noah Preston was a lad of fourteen 
 years when he came with his parents to 
 Ogle county, and on the home farm grew to 
 manhood. After arriving at mature years 
 he took charge of the farm and cared for 
 his parents during their declining years. 
 On their deaths he came into possession 
 of the place and now gives his entire 
 attention to its cultivation and improvement. 
 On the 4th of June, 1865, in Marion town- 
 ship, was celebrated his marriage with Miss 
 
228 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Ruth A. Baker, a daughter of Warren 
 Baker, of Oneida county. New York. She 
 came to Ogle county with her brother, 
 Amasa Baker, who graduated at Mt. Morris 
 College and engaged in teaching here for 
 some years. Later he went to Kansas, there 
 married and spent the remainder of his life. 
 Mrs. Preston is also a native of Oneida 
 county, New York, and was educated at the 
 Holland Patent Academy, New York, where 
 she was a classmate of President Cleveland's 
 two sisters and one brother. She has often 
 heard the President's father preach. After 
 leaving school she successfully engaged in 
 teaching in her native state and also after 
 coming to Ogle county, in 1861. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Preston have a family of six children, 
 as follows: Olive, now the wife of Elsworth 
 McNeal, a farmer, mechanic and carpenter, 
 of Marion township; Lucy, wife of Henry 
 Alfred, a farmer of the same township; Nel- 
 lie, Edna, Rossiter and Myrtle, all at home. 
 The children have all been well educated 
 and are an honor to their worthy parents. 
 
 Since casting his first presidental vote 
 for Abraham Lincoln in i860, Mr. Preston 
 has been a stalwart supporter of the men 
 and measures of the Republican party, but 
 he has never cared for official honors. He 
 has ever used his influence to secure good 
 schools and for some years was an active 
 and capable member ol the school board. 
 In the Methodist Episcopal church he and 
 his wife hold membership, and in the esteem 
 and confidence of their fellow citizens they 
 hold an enviable position. 
 
 Da\ii:l worthington young, 
 one of the prominent and highly re- 
 spected residents of Rockvale township, is 
 the subject of this sketch. He was born 
 
 July 4, 1844, on his father's farm in Ore- 
 gon township. He received his education 
 first at the district school and later at 
 Mount Morris, where he attended the 
 Rock River Seminary. He is the son of 
 William and Nancy (Long) Young, who 
 left their home in Maryland for the " far 
 west " in 1843. They were farmers by oc- 
 cupation, and when coming to Illinois made 
 the journey, by team, the only method of 
 traveling across the country in pioneer days, 
 and which required about three months' 
 time. They went direct to Ogle county, 
 where Mr. Young's death occurred in 1889. 
 He rests in Salem meeting house ceme- 
 tery. Pine Creek township. Mrs. Young 
 was born in 18 19, and was the daughter of 
 Daniel and Elizabeth Long, and married 
 Mr. Young at the age of sixteen. She was 
 one of twelve children, nine girls and three 
 boys, all of whom grew to maturity. Her 
 death occurred in 1870, at the age of fifty- 
 one. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Young were blessed with 
 ten children. Elizabeth, the eldest, is liv- 
 ing at Mount Morris, and is the widow of 
 Samuel Price. George married Mary Wag- 
 ner, and they occupy the homestead in Ore- 
 gon township. William and Joshua died 
 when very young. Daniel Worthington, of 
 this writing, was the fifth child. Henry 
 married Miss Grover, of Manson, Iowa, and 
 is a physician of considerable note at that 
 place. Mary, the seventh child, died when 
 two years of age. B. Frank is a pharma- 
 cist in Manson, Iowa, where he married 
 Miss Nettie Grover, a sister of Mrs. Henry 
 Young. Amanda married Henry C. Muma, 
 and is living in Pine Creek township. The 
 youngest child, Charles C, died at the age 
 of four years. 
 
 Mr. Young, the subject of this sketch. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 229 
 
 attended school and helped his father until 
 he was twenty-one years of af;e, when he 
 left school and farmed with his father until 
 his marriage, four years later; at the expira- 
 tion of this time he rented land in Oregon 
 township, where he and his family resided 
 for two years, moving later to Mount Mor- 
 ris township, where they lived for eleven 
 years, and in 1883 moved to Rockvale, 
 where Mr. Young purchased one hundred 
 and si.xty acres on section 19. This prop- 
 erty, under his management, has become a 
 well-regulated and valuable tract, yielding 
 its owner a handsome income. 
 
 When twenty-five \ears of age Mr. 
 Young was united in marriage to Ann Eliza- 
 beth Wagner. To them five children have 
 been born. The eldest child, Edith, is at 
 home with her parents. She received her 
 education at the district school and at 
 Mount Morris Seminary. Susie also re- 
 ceived her education at the above named 
 school. She is the wife of N. F. Thomas, a 
 farmer of Mount Morris township, and is 
 the mother of one child, H. Worthington. 
 Charles Worthington is, at the present 
 writing, at home. He has just finished a 
 course of pharmacy at the Normal School, 
 Valparaiso, Indiana, preparatory to entering 
 business. Nannie, the fourth in order of 
 birth, married R. C. Gaffin, a farmer in 
 Leaf River township. They have one child, 
 a daughter, Dorathy M. The youngest 
 child, Alice, is living at home, attending the 
 district school. 
 
 Mrs. Young is the daughter of Joseph 
 and Susan (Schecter) Wagner, and is the 
 seventh in order of birth. Her parents 
 came to Oregon township in the pioneer 
 days, and purchased three hundred and 
 twenty acres, at a dollar and twenty-five 
 cents per acre. They made the journey 
 
 overland by team, stopping at Springfield, 
 Ohio, for the winter, and reaching Ogle 
 county, in 1837. Mr. Wagner was a clear- 
 sighted and successful man of busmess. He 
 supervised the work on his farm in Oregon, 
 and was a stock-dealer and shipper; he was 
 also a banker, having been connected with 
 the Exchange Bank, of Oregon. Mr. Wag- 
 ner died March 10, 1889, and his wife, 
 three months earlier. 
 
 Mrs. Young is a member of the German 
 Baptist church. Her great-grandparents 
 were people of considerable prominence, 
 as were their children after them. Captain 
 B. R. Wagner, who was for several terms 
 sheriff of Ogle county, died in 1897 from 
 the effects of a bullet received in the battle 
 of Shiloh. Three uncles served in the war. 
 Captains D. C. and Nehemiah were cap- 
 tured and held as prisoners of war at Ma- 
 con, Georgia. 
 
 Our subject is a Republican in politics, 
 but has never cared for a position in public 
 office, nor for social organizations. He is 
 strictly a home man, more interested in his 
 family and the education of his children 
 than in anything else, his children being 
 more than ordinarily bright and well edu- 
 cated. 
 
 GEORGE HETTIGER, the leading mer- 
 chant tailor of Oregon, Illinois, is a 
 native of Louisville, Kentucky. His father, 
 Joseph Hettiger, was born in Munich, Ba- 
 varia, and came to the United States at the 
 age of five years with his father, Jacob Het- 
 tiger, who died in Evansville, Indiana, al- 
 though he first settled in Louisville. Ken- 
 tucky, where Joseph grew to manhood and 
 spent the remainder of his life, his death 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 occurring April 4, 1879. He was by occu- 
 pation a contractor and builder. In politics 
 he was a Union Democrat, and during the 
 rebellion was a member of the home guards. 
 Religiously he was a Roman Catholic, of 
 which body his wife is also a member. He 
 married Susanna Lehnen, a native of Trier, 
 Germany, born near Frankfort on the Main. 
 She came to the United States with her 
 parents, who settled in Dubois county, In- 
 diana. She is still living in Louisville, 
 Kentucky. Joseph and Susanna Hettiger 
 were the parents of ten children, as follows: 
 George, our subject; Mary, wife of Edward 
 Kurt2, of Chicago; Ferdinand, living in St. 
 Louis, Mo. ; Johanna, in a convent in Mex- 
 ico; Martin, living in St. Louis; Susie, who 
 died in childhood; Susie (2), who died in 
 infancy; Frank, living in New Orleans, 
 and Edward, who lives in Louisville, Ken- 
 tucky. 
 
 The early life of our subject was spent 
 in his native city, where he attended the 
 parochial schools, and at the age of si.xteen 
 years commenced to learn the tailor's trade. 
 After completing his trade, he first went to 
 St. Louis, where he worked as a journey- 
 man, and later worked in Cincinnati, Chi- 
 cago and other places, finally locating in 
 Bloomington, Illinois, in 1878, where he 
 lived nine jears, and in 1887 came to Ore- 
 gon, Illinois, where he has since continued 
 to reside. On coming to Oregon he first 
 engaged as cutter for Mr. Snyder, and re- 
 mained in his employ for five years. He 
 then commenced in business for himself on 
 Washington street, between Fourth and 
 Fifth, where he yet remains. 
 
 Mr. Hettigerwas married July 15, 1875, 
 at Columbus, Ohio, to Kate Whiteaker, of 
 Fort Wayne, Indiana, daughter of D. L. and 
 Sarah (Zimmerman) Whiteaker. Her fa- 
 
 ther was a prominent lawyer of Fort Wayne, 
 Indiana, but is now deceased. Her mother 
 is yet living, making her home in Grand 
 Rapids, Minnesota. They had a large fami- 
 ly, but all are now deceased, but the wife of 
 our subject; Robert E., living in Minnesota; 
 and Rosa, wife of Samuel Stell, of Dixon, 
 Illinois. An uncle of Mrs. Hettiger, John 
 Whiteaker, was at one time governor of 
 Oregon, and is still living at Eugene City, 
 in that state. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hettiger are the parents 
 of three children: George Eugene, Jessie 
 May and Robert E. The last named died 
 in infancy. Miss Jessie received a fine mu- 
 sical education, and in this direction is pos- 
 sessed of much talent. She is proficient on 
 the violin and piano, and these instruments 
 she has played frequently in public in the 
 different cities of the state. Her brother, 
 who is also a good pianist, often accom- 
 panies his sister. October 18, 1898, Jessie 
 M. Hettiger was united in marriage with 
 Herman Leborich, The National clothing 
 merchant of Oregon. 
 
 Religiously Mrs. Hettiger is a member of 
 the Christian church. In politics Mr. Het- 
 tiger is a Republican, and has taken an act- 
 ive part in public matters. He is a pro- 
 gressive and representative citizen of Ore- 
 gon, and was elected alderman of the third 
 ward in 1896 and re-elected in 1898. He is 
 a member of Oregon Lodge, No. 420, F. & 
 A. M., Economy Camp, M. W. A., and of 
 the Knights of Pythias. His son is also a 
 member of Oregon Lodge, F. & A. M. 
 
 Mr. Hettiger is a thorough merchant 
 tailor, and understands every branch of the 
 business. He is regarded as one of the 
 best cutters and fitters in the county, his 
 suits being neat and artistic, and always 
 giving satisfaction. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 231 
 
 WILLIAM H. MILLER, furniture deal- 
 er and undertaker, Mt. Morris, Illi- 
 nois, is a worthy representative of the mer- 
 cantile interests of the place. He is a na- 
 tive of Washington county, Maryland, born 
 July 23, 1850, and is a son of Upton and 
 Maria Louisa (Davis) Miller, both of whom 
 were natives of the same county and state, 
 the former born March 2, 1828, and the 
 latter October i, 1831. They were married 
 April 22, 1849, at Bakersville, Maryland, 
 where her father, Solomon Davis, was en- 
 gaged in the tailoring business. Her father 
 never came west, but spent his entire life 
 in his native state. Upton and Maria L. 
 Miller became the parents of six children. 
 William H., the subject of this sketch. 
 Cyrus, born February 23, i8i;2, died young. 
 Eliza Jane, born July 8, 1855, married H. 
 F. Thomas, and si.x children were born to 
 them. She died February 5, 1897. He is 
 engaged in business in Oregon, Illinois. 
 John D., born October 26, 1858, married 
 Carrie Stone, and they had six children, 
 three of whom are now deceased. He is 
 engaged in the harness business at Mt. 
 Morris. Mary Elizabeth died in infanc}-. 
 Thomas M., born September i, 1863, is 
 making his home with our subject. 
 
 In 1857 Upton Miller came with his 
 family to Ogle county, locating in Mt. 
 Morris, where he worked at his trade of 
 carpentering and cabinet making until the 
 close of the Civil war, when he commenced 
 the undertaking business, buying out An- 
 drew Newcomer. In 1872 he added the 
 furniture department, and in time did the 
 leading business in the place, carrying a 
 large and complete stock. In 1892 he re- 
 tired from active business, since which time 
 he has done a little in the cabinet-making 
 line, but has practically been living a retired 
 
 life. His wife died September 25, 1886, 
 her death being quite sudden, caused by 
 hemorrhage of the lungs. She was a kind 
 and loving wife and mother, a member of 
 the Lutheran church, in which faith she 
 died. He was again married, in 1888, 
 chosing as a companion Mrs. Catherine 
 (Koontz) Newcomer. In politics he is a 
 Republican, and religiously is identified with 
 the Brethren. 
 
 The subject of this sketch came to Ogle 
 county with his parents in 1857, and in the 
 schools of Mt. Morris obtained his primary 
 education. This was supplemented by an 
 attendance at Rock River Seminary, now 
 Mt. Morris College, which ended his school 
 life. After leaving school, he learned the 
 undertaking business, and in 1887 went to 
 Sterling, Illinois, where Professor Sullivan 
 had organized a class in embalming. In 
 1896 he attended Champion College of Em- 
 balming, from which he received a diploma. 
 He has since passed a successful examina- 
 tion by the state authorities, and is ranked 
 as one of the best embalmers in the state. 
 For twenty years he worked for his father, 
 at the expiration of which time he pur- 
 chased the business, and is now sole pro- 
 prietor of the best furniture establishment 
 in Mt. Morris, and one of the best in the 
 entire county. He carries a fine line of the 
 best grades of furniture, and always en- 
 deavors to keep up with the times. 
 
 Mr. Miller was united in marriage De- 
 cember 25, 1878, with Miss Mary Ellen 
 Wallace, born in Mt. Morris township, Ogle 
 county, July 27, i860, and a daughter of 
 Lawrence and Elmira L. (Leek) Wallace, the 
 former a native of Maryland, born August 
 26, 1824, and the latter of Pennsylvania 
 born August 2, 1841. Her father came 
 to Ogle county a young man, and is num- 
 
23: 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 bered among its early settlers. He is the 
 
 son of Otho and (Duggan) Wallace. 
 
 His father was a farmer and came west at 
 an early day. Louisa (Leek) Wallace is the 
 daughter of Jacob and Emily (Allen) Leek, 
 the former born January 25, 1797, and the 
 latter July 7, 181 1. The former died in 
 Pennsylvania, and later his widow came 
 to Ogle county, locating in Lincoln town- 
 ship, where she lived until within three 
 or four years of her death, when she 
 moved to the home of her daughter, Mrs. 
 Wallace, in Mt. Morris township. Law- 
 rence Wallace and wife are the parents 
 of seven children, of whom the wife of our 
 subject is the eldest. Susan, born July 10, 
 1863, married Henry Bearman, a farmer of 
 Mt. Morris township, and they have three 
 children. Emily, born December 16, 1865, 
 married Gray Watts, also a farmer of Mt. 
 Morris township, and they have three chil- 
 dren. Lewis, born December 10, 1867, is 
 engaged in well drilling. William H. born 
 October 2, 1873, died at the age of eight- 
 een months. John, born February 5, 1877, 
 is farming in Mt. Morris township. Ida, 
 born March 6, 1880, married Elmer Baker, 
 and they reside in Mt. Morris. Lawrence 
 Wallace is a carpenter by trade, and has 
 followed that occupation the greater part of 
 his life. He is now living on a small farm 
 in Mt. Morris township, practically retired. 
 To our subject and wife three children 
 have been born: Maude Louisa, born July 
 25, 1882; Edith May, February 27, 1884; 
 and Florence Eva, July 29, 1886. They 
 are giving their children good educational 
 advantages, thus preparing them for useful 
 lives. The entire family are members of the 
 Lutheran church, Mr. Miller being secretary 
 and treasurer of the church in Mt. Morris. 
 All are acti\e workers in the church. 
 
 Fraternall}', he is a member of Elysian 
 Lodge, No. 56, I. O. O. F. , of Mt. Morris, and 
 has passed all the chairs. He is at present 
 permanent secretary of the lodge, which 
 position he has held since passing through 
 the chairs, a period of nearly twenty-five 
 years. Politically he is a thorough Repub- 
 lican, and he has been quite active in local 
 politics. He has been town clerk for the 
 past twenty years, village treasurer since 
 1890, and school treasurer since 1892, and 
 is now serving in each of these offices. 
 These facts testify as to the standing of Mr. 
 Miller in the community which has been his 
 home from early childhood, a period of 
 forty-two \ears. Suffice it to say that no 
 man in the cominunit}- is more highly 
 honored. 
 
 ALFRED HARRISON, a highly es- 
 teemed and worthy citizen of Byroii, 
 Illinois, who is now living retired from act- 
 ive business cares, was born in Yorkshire, 
 England, July 12, 1S32, and is a son of 
 George and Mary (Brown) Harrison, who 
 spent their entire lives in that coun- 
 try, where the father worked as a common 
 laborer or at farming. In the family were 
 three children, of whom one died in child- 
 hood, and Mrs. Emma Wise is now a resi- 
 dent of the city of York, England. 
 
 Our subject had but little opportunity 
 of attending school in early life, and is 
 therefore almost wholly self-educated. He 
 was reared on a farm, where he began work 
 when a mere boy. Saving his earnings, he 
 and his aunt, Elizabeth Steele, came to 
 America in 1855, taking passage on a sail- 
 ing vessel, the Albion, at Liverpool. They 
 were six weeks upon the Atlantic and en- 
 countered one fearful storm, which did 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 :^33 
 
 much damage to the ris^ging. The ship 
 carried five hundred passengers and a crew 
 of fifty men, and finally arrived at New York 
 in safety. Mr. Harrison and his aunt pro- 
 ceeded at once to Rockford, Illinois, where 
 they joined some English friends, and for 
 two seasons he worked by the month in 
 Winnebago county. In 1861 he bought 
 forty acres of land in Byron township, Ogle 
 county, which was covered with timber, and 
 upon his place erected a small shanty, in 
 which he lived for some years, while he 
 cleared, fenced, broke and impro\ed his 
 land. To the original purchase he later 
 added twenty acres adjoining, making a 
 good farm of sixty acres, on which he 
 erected a large and substantial residence, 
 good barns, sheds, etc., converting it into 
 one of the best improved and most desirable 
 farms of the locality. For thirty-six years 
 he successfully engaged in its cultivation, 
 but in 1895 sold the place and removed to 
 I]yron, where he bought a lot and erected 
 a neat residence that is still his home. 
 
 Mr. Harrison was not only without 
 means on his arrival in this country, but 
 had borrowed money to pay his passage, 
 and the success that he has achieved here 
 is certainly well deserved. By his own la- 
 bor, enterprise and econom}' he has accum- 
 ulated a comfortable competence, and is 
 now able to spend his declining years in 
 ease and quiet. In political sentiment he is 
 a Democrat, but formerly was a Republic- 
 an, casting his first ballot for Abraham Lin- 
 coln, and later supporting Grant for the 
 presidency. He has never aspired to office, 
 preferring to give his undivided attention to 
 his business interest. He and Mr. and Mrs. 
 Wright were among the first settlers of this 
 section of the county, and our subject 
 worked for them for several years. In 1876 
 
 he and their son visited the Centennial ex- 
 position at Philadelphia, where they spent 
 three weeks in sightseeing. They also vis- 
 ited New York city, had a most pleasant 
 and profitable time, and returned home 
 feeling much better. 
 
 HENRY SCHRADER has been one of 
 Ogle county's worthy and honored 
 citizens since August, 1840, and was for many 
 years actively identified with its agricultural 
 interest, but is now living retired upon his 
 pleasant farm three miles east of Leaf River. 
 Like many of our best citizens he is a na- 
 tive of Maryland, born in Washington 
 county, September 8, 1817. The father, 
 Henry Schrader, Sr. , was born in the same 
 state, of German parentage, and in Wash- 
 ington county engaged in farming during 
 early life. Selling his place there in 1827, 
 the father removed to Mansfield, Richland 
 county, Ohio, where he resided for a few 
 years, and from there went to Wayne 
 county, Indiana, where he developed a farm 
 in the midst of the forest and spent his re- 
 maining years, dying in 1888, while his 
 wife died three or four years previously. 
 In his native state Henry Schrader, Sr. , 
 was united in marriage with Catherine 
 Longman, who was born near Hagerstown, 
 of German parentage, and until 1827 they 
 made their home on the Schrader farm in 
 that state. Our subject is one of a family 
 of nine children, seven sons and two daugh- 
 ters, but only two are now living, the other 
 being Mrs. Sophia Layman, of Dublin, 
 Wayne county, Indiana. 
 
 During his boyhood and youth Henry 
 Schrader, Jr., assisted his father in opening 
 up and carrying on the home farm, and 
 at the age of twenty years began working 
 
234 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 for others as a farm hand. In 1840 he came 
 to Illinois with his father and brother and 
 located in Ogle county, where he worked 
 for a cousin, Isaac Avery, for one year, and 
 the following year also engaged in farming 
 for others. The father and brother re- 
 turned to Indiana later. 
 
 On the loth of October, 1842, Mr. 
 Schrader led to the marriage altar Miss 
 Mahala Her, also a native of Washington 
 county, Maryland, and a daughter of David 
 and Mary (Hannon) Her, who were born 
 in the same county, and came to Illinois in 
 1837 with a colony of Maryland people. 
 Mr. Her settled at North Grove, in Leaf 
 River township. Ogle county, where he de- 
 veloped a farm and spent his last years, 
 dying at the advanced age of eighty-four. 
 His wife survived him and departed this life 
 at the age of eighty-five years. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Schrader were born five children, 
 namely: Thomas, who married and died in 
 Ogle county, leaving one child; Frank, a 
 resident of Lightsville; Albert, a farmer of 
 this county; George, who is carrying on the 
 home farm; and Harriet, who married Mar- 
 tin Light, but is now deceased. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Schrader rented 
 land for several years and then bought a 
 small place at North Grove, where he oper- 
 ated in connection with rented land for 
 sometime. Selling that farm in 1866, he 
 purchased eighty acres which were under 
 cultivation and fenced. He erected thereon 
 a small house into which the family moved, 
 and has since made many valuable and use- 
 ful improvements, which make it one of the 
 most attractive places of the locaiit}'. Be- 
 sides his property he also owns a small farm 
 near Lightsville, on which his son Albert is 
 now living. 
 
 Politically Mr. Schrader is an old jef- 
 
 fersonian Democrat, but cast his first vote 
 for William Henry Harrison in 1840, and has 
 since supported every presidential candidate 
 of the Democracy , He has served his fel- 
 low citizens as school director and path- 
 master, and in all the relations of life has 
 been found true to every trust reposed in 
 him. He and his estimable wife are faith- 
 ful members of the Christian church at Leaf 
 River, and as honored pioneer and highly 
 respected citizens deserve prominent men- 
 tion in their county's history. 
 
 CHARLES FRUIT, an enterprising farm- 
 er, residing on section 2, Taylor town- 
 ship, came to the United States in 1869, 
 and has since been a resident of Ogle coun- 
 ty and a thorough American citizen, one 
 having at heart the interests of his adopted 
 country. He was born near Gottenborg, 
 Sweden, November 15, 1849, and is the 
 son of Gus and Johanna (Anderson) Fruit, 
 both natives of the same country, and who 
 came to this country in the spring of 1875 
 and settled in Taylor township, where the 
 husband and father worked at his trade of 
 carpentering. They were the parents of si.\ 
 children, three of whom are now deceased. 
 John tiied at the age of twelve years. 
 Charles is the subject of this sketch. Ed- 
 ward died at the age of seven years. Ma- 
 tilda married C. A. Jacobson, and they 
 reside in Falkeping, Sweden, where he is 
 emploj'ed in the machine shops of a rail- 
 road company. Carrie died when two years 
 old. Addie married John Larson, and they 
 live in Taylor township where he is engaged 
 in farming. 
 
 Charles Fruit grew to manhood in his 
 native country and there obtained a fair edu- 
 cation in the public schools. Desiring to 
 
CHARLES FRUIT. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 237 
 
 better his condition in life, and knowing of 
 the possibilities in the new world, he deter- 
 mined, if the opportunity was ever afforded 
 him that he would emigrate to that land 
 where even the very poorest might realize 
 his heart's desire. When but twenty years 
 old, he secured his parents' consent to try 
 his fortunes in this land. Leaving his na- 
 tive land on one of the ocean liners he 
 crossed the ocean and after a voyage of 
 eighteen days, during which time they en- 
 countered some pretty severe weather, they 
 landed at New York, and from there pro- 
 ceeded direct to Rockford, Illinois, where 
 he remained one year engaged in various 
 employments, and then came to Ogle county 
 and located in Taylor township, where he 
 purchased a small farm some five years la- 
 ter, having in the meantime assisted in the 
 construction of the Chicago & Iowa rail- 
 road. 
 
 Mr. Fruit was married August 20, 1884, 
 to Miss Annie Bronson, of Chicago, Illi- 
 nois, and by this union two children were 
 born, Ellen and Vanner, both of whom are 
 now attending the district school. This 
 wife died October 30, 1889, and Mr. Fruit, 
 December 31, 1891, married Mi.ss Selma 
 Anderson, daughter of Carl and Johanna 
 Anderson, natives of Sweden. The tiiree 
 children born of this union are George, 
 Henry and Irma, the first named now being 
 a student in the district school. 
 
 Since locating on his present farm Mr. 
 Fruit has given his attention to general 
 farming. He has improved the place by 
 tiling the land and the erection of wind 
 mills, the building of necessary outbuild- 
 ings, and the planting of orchard and shade 
 trees. He has served his township as town 
 clerk two years, town collector two years, 
 and is now a school director. In politics 
 
 he is a Republican. Religiously he is a 
 Methodist, holding membership in the 
 Methodist Episcopal church at Light House. 
 He comes of a patriotic family, his pater- 
 nal grandfather, |. Truit, serving in the 
 war which his country had with Denmark. 
 
 CHARLES BUSH. — Among the pro- 
 gressive, energetic and successful farm- 
 ers and stock dealers of Ogle county, who 
 thoroughly understand the vocation which 
 they follow, and are consequently enabled 
 to carry on their calling with profit to them- 
 selves, is the subject of this sketch. He is 
 actively engaged in agricultural pursuits on 
 section 3, Eagle Point township, where he 
 owns a valuable and well improved farm. 
 
 Like many of our best citizens, Mr. Bush 
 is a native of the Empire state, born in 
 Roxbury, Delaware county, March 25, 1834. 
 His father, Nicholas Bush, was born in 
 the same coimty. May 31, 1803, and was a 
 son of John lUish, a native of Fairfax, Vir- 
 ginia, and a hero of the Revolutionary war, 
 having aided the coloiiies in their struggle 
 for independence. The great-grandfather 
 of our subject was of English extraction and 
 an early settler of the Old Dominion. .At 
 the close of the Revolution John I5ush 
 was discharged and mustered out in New 
 York city, and then took up his residence 
 as a pioneer in Delaware county, New York, 
 where, in the midst- of the vvilderness, he 
 cleared and developed a farm. There he 
 died at the ripe old age of eighty years. 
 
 On reaching man's estate, Nicholas 
 Bush was married in his native county to 
 Miss Lydia Wolcott, a native of Greene 
 county. New York, and a daughter of Gid- 
 eon Wolcott, an early settler of that coun- 
 ty. He was a native of England and a son 
 
!38 
 
 Til]-: HIOGKAFHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of Francis Wolcott, who spent his entire 
 life in that country. For some years after 
 his marriage Mr. Bush continued to engage 
 in farming and lumbering in New York, but 
 in 1856 he started for Illinois, and on 
 reaching Ogle county he purchased eighty 
 acres of land in Eagle Point township, on 
 which our subject now resides. A small 
 house and barn had already been built and 
 thirty-five acres fenced and broken. To its 
 further improvement and cultivation he at 
 once turned his attention, later erected 
 larger and more subjectial buildings and 
 added to the original purchase ninety acres. 
 In connection with general farming he also 
 engaged in stock raising. During his resi- 
 dence in New York he affiliated with the 
 Odd Fellows society, but never joined the 
 order here. He died September 13, 1890, 
 at the advanced age of eighty-seven years, 
 and his wife departed this life July 2, 1878, 
 at the age of seventy-eight years, both being 
 laid at rest in Eagle Point cemetery, where 
 a neat monument has been erected to their 
 memory. In their family were only two 
 children, the daughter being Nancy, who 
 married and died in Ogle county in 1858. 
 
 Charles Bush, the only son, grew to 
 manhood in Delaware count}'. New York, 
 and completed a good education at Potts- 
 ville Academy. In that county he was mar- 
 ried April 4, 1855, to Miss Hepsebah Booth, 
 who was reared and educated there. Her 
 parents, Levi and Phcebe (Harley) Booth, 
 were natives of Connecticut and early set- 
 tlers of Delaware county, being one of the 
 first families to locate there. Mr. and Mrs. 
 Bush have one daughter, Clara, now the 
 wife of Joseph Sprecker, of Polo, by whom 
 she has two children, Hepsebah and 
 Charles Harry. She was born in Pittsford, 
 Hillsdale county, Michigan, but was reared 
 
 and educated in Ogle county, being a grad- 
 uate of the Polo high school. She engaged 
 in teaching for a time and her parents also 
 followed that profession, both in their native 
 county and after coming to Ogle county, 
 Illinois, Mrs. Bush being a prominent teacher 
 here for several years. 
 
 In March, 1856, Mr. Bush accompanied 
 his father on his removal to this county and 
 assisted in carrying on the home farm for 
 some time, after which he took complete 
 charge of the same. In 1859, however, he 
 went to Michigan and lived for some time 
 in Hillsdale, Adrian and Allegan, being a 
 conductor on the Michigan Southern & 
 Northern Indiana railroad for ten years. 
 He then returned to the farm in Ogle 
 county, and has since successfully managed 
 the same. He has also engaged in feeding 
 and shipping stock, and in his undertakings 
 has met with well deserved success. He 
 has made many i[nprovements upon his 
 place, including the erection of a commodi- 
 ous and comfortable residence, a large gran- 
 ary and other outbuildings, so that he now 
 has one of the most desirable farms in this 
 part of the county. 
 
 Although his father was a Jcffersonian 
 Democrat, Mr. Bush has been identified 
 with the Republican party since casting his 
 first vote for John C. Fremont in 1856, and 
 has since supported every presidential can- 
 didate of that part}'. As one of the leading 
 and influential citizens of his community, he 
 takes an active interest in local politics, has 
 been a delegate to man}' county, congres- 
 sional and state conventions, has served as 
 township clerk fourteen years and been a 
 member of the school board some years. 
 He has proven a most competent and trust- 
 worthy official, and commands the confi- 
 dence and respect of all with whom he 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 239 
 
 comes in contact either in private or public 
 life. He is quite prominent in Masonic cir- 
 cles, being a Knight Templar, a member of 
 the blue lodge and chapter in Polo and the 
 commandery at Dixon. His estimable wife 
 holds membership in the Methodist Episco- 
 pal church at Eagle Point, and like her hus- 
 band has a host of friends in this com- 
 munity. 
 
 BENJAMIN DOUGHTY, who, after the 
 labors of a long and busy life, is spend- 
 ing his later years in ease and retirement in 
 the village of Byron, has made his home in 
 Ogle county since January 16, 1S58, and 
 bore an active part in its early development 
 and upbuilding. A native of England, he 
 was born in Yorkshire, April 12, 1830, and 
 is a son of Thomas and Mary Doughty, who 
 spent their entire lives there. The father 
 engaged in farming or worked at anything 
 which he could find to do, and died at the 
 advanced age of eighty-nine years. Ben- 
 jamin was the oldest of his five sons, all of 
 whom reached manhood, but two are now 
 deceased, while the other two, William and 
 Thomas, still reside in England. 
 
 Benjamin Doughty was reared on the 
 farm and during his youth received a very 
 limited education, but by reading and ob- 
 servation in subsequent years he has become 
 a well-informed man. He was married in 
 Yorkshire, November 23, 1857, the lady of 
 his choice being Miss Elizabeth Wright, a 
 native of that county, who was reared in 
 the same village as her husband. A few 
 days after their marriage they started for 
 the new world, taking passage at Liverpool, 
 November 28, on a sailing vessel, which 
 finally reached New York, January 8, 1858, 
 after a long and tedious voyage of si.x weeks. 
 
 during which they experienced much rough 
 weather and several severe storms, which 
 carried away some of the sails. On land- 
 ing they came at once to Illinois, and after 
 stopping a short time in Franklin Grove 
 came to Byron, where they joined Mr. 
 Doughty's uncle, John Doughty, who had 
 located here about 1S42 or 1843. 
 
 Our subject went to work on a farm in 
 Winnebago county for Alfred Bridgeland, 
 also a native of England, and remained with 
 him about seven months. Returning to 
 Ogle county in 1859, he secured a position 
 with Mr. Spalding, with whom he and his 
 wife lived for one year. In 1859 he made 
 his first purchase of forty acres of land, 
 which he began to improve in 1861, at the 
 same time operated rented land. He fenced 
 his place, erected thereon good and sub- 
 stantial buildings, and continued the work 
 of development and cultivation for many 
 years. As time advanced and he prospered 
 in his undertakings he added more land to 
 the original purchase, first forty acres and 
 then twenty acres, making in all a fine and 
 valuable farm of one hundred acres, pleas- 
 antly located three miles and a half from 
 Byron. He successfully carried on farming 
 here until 1890, when he sold out and pur- 
 chased property in Byron, where he has 
 since lived retired from active labor, in the 
 enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil. 
 The success that he has achieved in life is 
 due entirely to his own unaided efforts, as 
 he was in rather limited circumstances on 
 coming to America, but by hard work, 
 close application and guided by a sound 
 judgment he has made for himself a com- 
 fortable home and competence. 
 
 Mr. Doughty has been called upon to 
 mourn the loss of his wife, who passed away 
 October 20, 1889, and was laid to rest in 
 
240 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Middle Creek cemetery, Winnebago coun- 
 ty. In 1890 he was joined by his cousin, 
 Miss Emily Doughty, who has since been 
 his housekeeper. This estimable lady is 
 also a native of Yorkshire, England, and a 
 daughter of Charles Doughty. She came 
 alone to America, and in 1892 returned to 
 Yorkshire on a visit to family and friends. 
 During the five weeks she remained in the 
 old world she visited the cities of York and 
 Leeds, and also the beautiful seaport town 
 and pleasure resort of Scarborough. She 
 has heard Spurgeon preach, has been in 
 London, and has also seen Buckingham 
 palace and Windsor castle. 
 
 On becoming an American citizen, Mr. 
 Doughty cast his first presidential vote for 
 Abraham Lincoln in 1864, and has since 
 supported the Republican party. He has 
 efficiently served as a member of the vil- 
 lage board of Byron, and his duties, both 
 public and private, have always been most 
 faithfully and conscientiously discharged. 
 Both he and his cousin were reared in the 
 Episcopal faith, and are held in high re- 
 spect by all who know them. 
 
 NICHOLAS N. SHAVER, deceased, 
 was a native of Delaware county. 
 New York, born September 11, 1809, and 
 was the son of Jacob P. and Catherine 
 Shaver, both of whom were natives of the 
 same county and state, the former born 
 May 20, 1775, and the latter April 14, 
 1784. They were the parents of seven 
 children. Catherine Shaver died in her 
 native state, after which her husband came 
 west, where his death occurred many years 
 ago. 
 
 In his native state Nicholas N. Shaver 
 
 grev/ to manhood, and in the common 
 school received a limited education. He 
 was reared to the life of a farmer, an occu- 
 pation that he followed during his entire 
 active life. He was twice married, his first 
 union being with Miss Hannah Nicholson, 
 who was probably a native of Delaware 
 county, New York. Their marriage was 
 celebrated May 13, 1840, and to them were 
 born five children, three sons and two 
 daughters: Arthur J., born February 21, 
 1 841; Robert S., March 12, 1843; Mariette, 
 April 24, 1845; Sophia, October 17, 1847; 
 and Edward, October 15, 1850. The 
 mother of these children died in 1852. 
 
 On the 19th of June, 1854, Mr. Shaver 
 was united in marriage with Miss Kate 
 Voorhees, who was born in Sullivan coun- 
 ty. New York, November 14, 18 14, and the 
 daughter of John C. and Nancy (Brown) 
 Voorhees, natives of New York, but of 
 German descent. They were the parents 
 of nine children, who lived to be men and 
 women. By occupation he was a farmer, 
 one who attended strictly to his own affairs, 
 and enjoyed the respect and confidence of 
 his friends and neighbors. He never came 
 west, but passed the last days of his life 
 amid the familiar scenes of his native state. 
 His wife also passed to her reward in her 
 native state. 
 
 Soon after his second marriage Mr. 
 Shaver came with his wife and family to 
 Ogle county and located in Buffalo town- 
 ship, where he purchased a farm and en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits. He was a 
 good farmer, very industrious, and success 
 crowned his efforts. In his old age he laid 
 aside the cares of the farm and moved into 
 the city of Polo, to enjoy the fruits of a life 
 well spent. For years his face was a famil- 
 iar one on the streets of the city, and those 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 241 
 
 meeting him had a kindly greeting and a 
 pleasant word. 
 
 Politically Mr. Shaver was a Democrat, 
 and a firm believer in the principles of the 
 party as expounded by Jefferson and Jack- 
 son. He was never, however, an office 
 seeker, content always that others should 
 have whatever honors office holding con- 
 tained. He was a member of the Presby- 
 terian church, in the doctrines and teach- 
 ings of which he had unbounded faith. His 
 good wife, who survives him, is also a mem- 
 ber of that church. His death occurred 
 February 19, 1886, and his remains were 
 laid to rest in the cemetery at the brick 
 church in Eagle Point township, there to 
 wait the resurrection day. " Blessed are 
 the dead who die in the Lord, for they shall 
 rest from their labors and their works shall 
 follow them. " 
 
 TOHN B. WOODCOCK, a well-known 
 kJ and prominent agriculturist, residing on 
 section 33, Marion township, has for over 
 fifty-four years been connected with the 
 history of Ogle county and few, if any, have 
 done more for its upbuilding. He has been 
 a champion of every movement designed to 
 promote the general welfare, a supporter of 
 every enterprise for the public good, and 
 has materially aided in the advancement of 
 all social, industrial, educational and moral 
 interests. 
 
 Mr. Woodcock is a native of Canada, 
 born near Prescott, Ontario, on the St. 
 Lawrence river, October i, 1S33, and be- 
 longs to quite an honored and distinguished 
 family, which was founded in New England 
 soon after the arrival of the Mayflower. 
 His ancestors were originally from England 
 and for several generations resided in the 
 
 United States. His great-grandfather on 
 the paternal side took up arms against the 
 mother country in the Revolutionary war, 
 and for three years fought for the freedom 
 of the colonies. One of his sons was also 
 in the same struggle. The grandfather, 
 Jonathan Woodcock, was a native of Con- 
 necticut, but about 1790 removed to Can- 
 ada, making his way through the dense 
 forests with an o.x team for about four hun- 
 dred miles, it being a most tedious and re- 
 markable trip. In the midst of the wilder- 
 ness he hewed out a farm and there made 
 his home until called from this life, at the 
 age of fifty-five years. His wife lived to 
 the advanced age of ninety-one years and 
 died in Marion township. Ogle county, Illi- 
 nois. 
 
 Freeman Woodcock, the father of our 
 subject, was born in the province of On- 
 tario, Canada, March 12, 1802, and was 
 there reared amid pioneer scenes. He mar- 
 ried Miss Elizabeth Bass, also a native of 
 Canada, who was born in Ontario, October 
 14, 1800, and was a daughter of John Bass, 
 whose early home was in Vermont. In 
 Canada, Freeman Woodcock carried on 
 business along various lines, being engaged 
 in farming and merchandising, and also the 
 manufacture of furniture, boots and shoes. 
 In the spring of 1 844 we find him and his fam- 
 ily r« route for Illinois, joining our subject in 
 Ogle county. In Nashua township they 
 purchased about five hundred acres of par- 
 tially improved land, but after operating it 
 five years sold the place and in 1850 bought 
 two hundred acres on sections 27, 3 1 and 32, 
 Marion township, on which our subject now 
 resides. Here a flouring mill, propelled by 
 water power, had previously been built on 
 Stillman creek, and this the father con- 
 ducted until it was destroyed by ice in the 
 
242 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 spring of 1857. It was rebuilt, however, 
 the same season, but soon proved unprofit- 
 able and the building was moved away and 
 used for other purposes. With the mill 
 Mr. Woodcock purchased about three thou- 
 sand acres of land, and in connection with 
 milling engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
 He was one of the most prominent men of 
 his township and was often chosen to posi- 
 tions of honor and trust. He died on the 
 homestead in Marion township, October 11, 
 i860, and his wife passed away November 
 15, 1870. They were earnest and consist- 
 ent Christian people, holding a membership 
 in the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 Their family consisted of three sons and 
 two daughters. Lucy, the eldest, married 
 T. G. Anderson, a minister of the Method- 
 ist Episcopal church, and she died in La- 
 fayette township. Ogle county, leaving three 
 daughters and one son. John B., our sub- 
 ject, is the next in order of birth. Albert 
 was a man of superior attainments, who 
 graduated at Union College, New York. 
 He then studied law, was admitted to the 
 bar and engaged in practice until elected 
 treasurer of Ogle county for a term of two 
 years. Later he was elected county clerk 
 and for sixteen years held the latter ofifice. 
 In 1862 he enlisted in the Ninety-second 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry, was elected cap- 
 tain of his company and was subse(]uently 
 promoted to major, being mustered out as 
 such at the close of the war. He then re- 
 sumed the duties of county clerk, was after- 
 wards elected county judge for a term of 
 two years, and was appointed internal re%'e- 
 nue collector of the district, holding that 
 position until the consolidation of the dis- 
 tricts in 1883. President Arthur appointed 
 him consul to Sicily, and he held that re- 
 sponsible post for four years, during which 
 
 lime he resided at Catania, at the base of 
 Mt. Etna. On his return home he served 
 as land commissioner for two years for the 
 U. P. R. R. Co. He made two trips to 
 California and finally settled in Los Angeles, 
 where he died in 1894. He was three 
 times married and by the first wife had two 
 children. His last wife still survives him. 
 Alanson, the next of the family, is engaged 
 in farming near Fort Scott, Bourbon coun- 
 ty, Kansas. Sarah, the widow of Rev. A. 
 G. Smith, resides in Byron township. Ogle 
 county. 
 
 During his youth John B. \\'oodcock at- 
 tended the academy at Governeur, St. Law- 
 rence county. New York, and after coming 
 to Illinois, at the age of eighteen years, he 
 attended the Mt. Morris Academy. He 
 arrived here in September, 1844, and for 
 several years assisted his father in the work 
 of the farm and mill. As deputy in his 
 brother's office, he discharged the duties of 
 county clerk when the latter was at the 
 front during the Civil war, and continued to 
 fill that position for five years, during which 
 time he resided in Oregon. Later he used 
 to assist in the office for five or six months 
 out of the year. On his father's death he 
 succeeded to the old homestead, and has 
 since given the greater part of his time and 
 attention to its management, with results 
 which cannot fail to be satisfactory. He 
 added to his farm until he had three hun- 
 dred acres of valuable land, which he placed 
 under a high state of cultivation, but has 
 since given some of this property to his 
 children. 
 
 On the 15th of May, 1848, in Lafayette 
 township, Mr. Woodcock was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Lucy Martin, who was born 
 in Ontario, Canada, September 15, 1829, a 
 daughter of Richard and Belinda Martin, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 243 
 
 who settled in the southern part of the 
 county in 183S. Of the six children born 
 to this union, four are now living, namely: 
 Ella E. , Walter S. , Antoinette and John D. , 
 all at home. They have received fair edu- 
 cations, attending the local schools and 
 those at Byron and Oregon. 
 
 Mr. Woodcock cast his first vote for 
 Zachary Taylor in 1848, in 1856 supported 
 John C. Fremont, and has since been an 
 uncompromising Republican. He has filled 
 a number of local offices, but has never been 
 a politician in the sense of office seeking. 
 For many years he and his wife have been 
 faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, to which his parents also belonged, 
 and socially he is connected with Oregon 
 lodge, A. & A. M. Those who know them 
 best are numbered among their warmest 
 friends, and no citizens of the community 
 are more honored or highly respected. 
 
 JACOB F. SWANK, one of the leading 
 citizens of Forreston and of Ogle coun- 
 ty, and who is engaged in the ice business 
 in connection with farming, was born in 
 Somerset county, Pennsylvania, February 
 13, 1853, and is the son of Michael and 
 Adeline (Baker) Swank, both of whom were 
 natives of Pennsylvania, the Swanks being 
 of German descent. In the spring of 1865 
 Michael Swank came with his family to 
 Illinois and located near Dixon, Lee county, 
 where he remained three years, giving his 
 attention to the cultivation of an eighty- 
 acre farm which he rented, and also to his 
 trade of a carpenter. In the spring of 1868 
 he removed to Forreston township. Ogle 
 county, where he purchased eighty acres of 
 land and at once set about its improve- 
 
 ment. The farm was located near the vil- 
 lage of Harper, and on it he continued to 
 reside until 1889, when he removed to 
 Pennsylvania and lived a retired life. He, 
 however, continued to work at his trade for 
 many years, assisting in the erection of 
 many of the buildings in Forreston. 
 
 Our subject was twelve years old when 
 he accompanied his parents to Illinois. 
 His education, begun in the public schools 
 of his native state, was completed in the 
 schools of Lee and Ogle counties. While 
 confined to the common schools he is yet a 
 well-informed man. On removing to Ogle 
 county he was fifteen years old and was re- 
 quired to do his full share of the farm work, 
 his father giving much of his time to work 
 at his trade. In 1873 he commenced life 
 for himself, renting his father's farm of 
 eighty acres, together with si.xty acres from 
 other parties. 
 
 On the I2th of March, 1874, Mr. Swank 
 was united in marriage with Miss Henrietta 
 Foy, daughter of Ludwig Foy, an early set- 
 tler of Brookville township, but who later 
 moved to Forreston township. She was a 
 native of Pennsylvania, but reared in Ogle 
 county. Mrs. Swank took a special interest 
 in organizing a camp of Royal Neighbors in 
 Forreston and was elected oracle of the 
 camp. By this union six children have 
 been born. Cora M. is the wife of Charles 
 W. Timmer, a farmer of Lincoln township; 
 Adeline A., Louis, William M., Arthur F. 
 and Clifford, all of whom are yet at home. 
 Of the brothers and sisters of Mr. Swank, 
 Melinda is the widow of Charles Brant, 
 and lives near Shannon, Carroll county; 
 Edward lives in Sedgwick, Kansas; Samuel 
 lives in Pennsylvania. His mother died in 
 Ogle county, but his father is yet living in 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
244 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Of the brothers and sisters of Mrs. Swank, 
 Edward is deceased; Louis lives in Lena, 
 Illinois, where he is engaged in business; 
 Henry reside in Freeport, where he is en- 
 gaged in the grocery trade; Catherine is the 
 wife of Simon Geating, a farmer of Lincoln 
 township; Louisa, widow of George Law- 
 ber, living'in Freeport; Maggie, wife of E. 
 H. Binkley, a real estate dealer of Chero- 
 kee, Iowa. 
 
 Mr. Swank is the owner of one hundred 
 and eleven acres of excellent farm land 
 which he cultivates, together with forty 
 acres additional which he rents. In politics 
 he is a Republican, and in political and 
 local affairs he has always taken an active 
 part. No enterprise for the public good but 
 meets with his hearty co-operation. He 
 was elected a director and secretary of the 
 Harper Creamery Association in 1890 and 
 served three years, or until it was sold to 
 the Elgin syndicate. He was one of the 
 directors of the Forreston Mutual Fire In- 
 surance Company; was elected president of 
 the Ogle County Farmers Institute in Feb- 
 ruary, 1897, and re-elected in February, 
 1898. He was appointed a delegate to the 
 Farmers National Congress by Governor 
 Tanner, which met in St. Paul, Minnesota, 
 in September, 1897, and was re-appointed 
 to the Farmers National Congress which 
 met at Ft. Worth, Texas, and served with 
 signal ability. He has contributed more or 
 less to the public press, and was the corres- 
 pondent of the Forreston Herald for six 
 years. Fraternally, he is a member of the 
 Modern Woodmen of America, and was 
 elected venerable consul of the camp, and, 
 religiously, he and his family attend the 
 United Evangelical church, of which he is 
 a trustee. He was also a member of the 
 building committee and was secretary of 
 
 the committee, and is the present secre- 
 tary of the board oi trustees. 
 
 In educational affairs Mr. Swank has 
 always taken great interest, serving on the 
 school board and giving freely of his time 
 to advance the best interests of the schools. 
 For eight years he served as secretary of 
 the board of directors, and is now one of 
 the trustees. In 1886 he was elected com- 
 missioner of highways and served three 
 years. For ten years he has been a mem- 
 ber of the county board of supervisors, and 
 has been one of its most active and influen- 
 tial members. He was a member of the 
 board when the court house was built, and 
 cast the deciding vote for its erection. He 
 was a member of the bridge committee that 
 built the bridge at Oregon, and also ap- 
 pointed on the committee of the bridge 
 across Rock river at Grand Detour. In the 
 building of bridges in Maryland, Brookville 
 and Grand Detour and other points he gave 
 of his time as one of a committee charged 
 with their erection. In whatever position 
 he has been called on to fill he has given his 
 best efforts and always in the interests of 
 the people. He is a man in whom the peo- 
 ple can trust, knowing that they will not be 
 betrayed. 
 
 J I!. MILLER, who is now ii\iiig in Mt. 
 Morris, is a native of Mt. Morris town- 
 ship. Ogle count)", and was born December 
 24, 1865. His father, Abraham Miller, 
 was born June 21, 1831, in Franklin county, 
 Pennsylvania, and was of German extraction. 
 Me grew to manhood in his native county 
 and received a very limited common-school 
 education, the knowledge afterwards ac- 
 (juired being received in the school of expe- 
 rience. He was early taught to work, how- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ^45 
 
 ever, and assisted his father in the work of 
 the farm, finally taking the management 
 thereof. He was married November 24, 1853, 
 to Miss Barbara Newcomer, daughter of 
 Daniel Newcomer, a native of Washington 
 county, Maryland, but who removed to 
 Franklin county, Pennsylvania, and there 
 spent the remainder of his life. By this 
 union there were born eleven children, as 
 follows: Elizabeth, born September 24, 
 1854; Mary A., May 3, 1856; Barbara, De- 
 cember I, 1858; Emanuel, May 26, 1861; 
 David M., June 10, 1863;]. H., our subject; 
 Edna M., June 5, 1867; Martha, June 11, 
 1S70; Abraham, March 29, 1874; Emma S. , 
 June 15, 1876; Silas E., March 21 1S7S. 
 Of these Elizabeth, Barbara and Edna are 
 deceased. 
 
 Believing that he could better his condi- 
 tion in life, Abraham Miller left his native 
 state with his family and came to Ogle 
 county, Illinois, in 1865, and on his arrival 
 purchased ninety- five acres of excellent 
 farming land and commenced its cultivation. 
 He later purchased one hundred and five 
 acres adjoining, giving him a valuable farm 
 of two hundred acres. He subsequently 
 deeded seven acres of the same to the rail- 
 road company, on the completion of the 
 road to Mt. Morris. On that farm he spent 
 the remainder of his life, dying July 2, 1S98. 
 His widow is now residing with her daughter 
 Emma, near Freeport, Illinois. She is of 
 Swiss extraction. Politically Abraham Mil- 
 ler was a Republican, and religiously was 
 identified with the River Brethren. His 
 wife is also connected with that church. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in his native county, receiving his pri- 
 mary education in the common schools of 
 Mount Morris township. He then entered 
 Mount Morris College, which he attended for 
 
 a time, but did not take the regular course. 
 After leaving school he assisted his father 
 on the farm for a time, or until he attained 
 his majority, when he went to Nebraska and 
 remained there about five months. He then 
 returned home and again assisted his father 
 in the cultivation of the home farm re- 
 maining two years. 
 
 Again seized with the western fever, he 
 went to Kansas, where he remained for a few 
 months, going from there to Omaha, Ne- 
 braska, where he entered a business college 
 and remained about two months, being com- 
 pelled to leave on account of ill health. 
 From Omaha he went to Vinton, Iowa, and 
 there remained about five years, with the 
 exception of a short period when he returned 
 to Ogle county for his bride. While in Vin- 
 ton he was employed in a grain elevator, 
 and also in farming. 
 
 Mr. Miller was united in marriage with 
 Miss Myrtle Rine, December 24, 1890. She 
 was born April 21, 1866, in Ogle county, 
 and is the daughter of Benjamin and Melissa 
 (Fish) Rine, and is the oldest in a family of 
 four children born to her parents. To Mr. 
 and Mrs. Miller two children have been 
 born: Mable D. , born May S, 1893, and 
 Harold Guy, January 29, 1898. 
 
 In September, 1894, Mr. Miller returned 
 to Ogle county, taking charge of his father's 
 farm, the father being in poor health. He 
 remained on the farm until the fall of 1898, 
 when he moved to the village and purchased 
 the livery stable of H. L. Smith, which he 
 disposed of in 1S99. 
 
 Politically Mr. Miller is a stanch Re- 
 publican, and has held various local offices, 
 including that of town clerk. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Modern Woodmen of America, 
 and is the present venerable counsel of the 
 camp at Mount Morris. 
 
246 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 JOHN H. HELM.— Sound judgment 
 combined with fine ability in mechan- 
 ical lines has enabled the subject of this 
 biography, a prominent contractor and 
 builder of Byron, Illinois, to attain a sub- 
 stantial success in life. He was born in 
 Chemung county. New York, July 31, 1834, 
 and is a son of Phineas Helm, a native of 
 Orange county, that state. The father en- 
 listed in the army during the war of 1812, 
 was ordered out, but did not engage in act- 
 ive service. He was married in Chemung 
 county to Wiss Betsy Smith, also a native of 
 the Empire state. He was a cabinet- 
 make by trade and carried on business for a 
 number of years in Southport, New York, 
 where he remained with his family and 
 spent his last days. His wife survived him 
 only a few months, dying at the same place. 
 In their family were four sons and one 
 daughter, namely: Floyd, who married but 
 is now deceased; Samuel, still a resident of 
 Southport; Phineas, deceased; Mrs. Mary 
 Ann Winkler, deceased; and John H., of 
 this sketch. 
 
 During his boyhood and youth John H. 
 Helm pursued his studies in the schools of 
 Southport, New York, and there learned 
 the carpenter's and joiner's trade. In 1861 
 he came to Illinois and located in Rockford, 
 where he worked at his trade for one year, 
 and then came to Byron, where he con- 
 tinued to follow his chosen occupation. In re- 
 sponse to the President's call for more men 
 during the dark days of the Rebellion, he 
 enlisted December 29, 1863, in Company 
 B, Ninety-second Illinois Mounted Infantry, 
 which was assigned to the Army of the 
 Cumberland. With his regiment he was 
 engaged in scouting, skirmishing and picket 
 duty until July, 1864, when he was taken 
 ill and sent to the hospital, first at Chatta- 
 
 nooga and later at Nashville, Jef^ersonville 
 and the marine hospital at Chicago, being 
 confined at these places for several months. 
 He was finally discharged at Chicago, July 
 21, 1865, and returned to Byron to recu- 
 perate. The following year he was able to 
 resume work at his trade, and has since en- 
 gaged in contracting and building most of 
 the time. A great many of the public build- 
 ings and private residences bear testimony 
 to his handiwork and architectural skill. 
 
 Just previous to coming to Illinois Mr. 
 Helm was married in Ohio, April i, 1861, 
 to Miss Sarah Babcock, who was born and 
 reared in Steuben county. New York, a 
 daughter of Elias Randall Babcock, of 
 that state. She departed this life Novem- 
 ber 15, 1889, and of the four children born 
 to them three are now deceased. Grace 
 died at the age of si.x years, Albert at the 
 age of one year, and W'illiam H., a phar- 
 macist of Byron and Stillman Valley, died 
 at home December 31, 1894, at the age of 
 twenty-three years. Mrs. Anna Schafer, 
 the only one now living, is her father's 
 housekeeper. She has one son, William 
 Helm Schafer, aged three years. 
 
 Mr. Helm's father was a Clay Whig, 
 and our subject cast his first presidential 
 ballot for Millard Fillmore in 1856, but has 
 since supported the men and measures of 
 the Republican party. In June, 1889, he 
 received the appointment of postmaster of 
 Byron under President Harrison and most 
 capably and satisfactorily discharged the 
 duties of that office for four years, his 
 daughter acting as deputy. He was made 
 a Mason in Byron Lodge, F. & A. M., sev- 
 eral years ago, and for four terms has served 
 as master of the lodge, which he also repre- 
 sented in the grand lodge of the state for 
 the same length of time. He is also a 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 247 
 
 prominent member of the Grand Army post 
 at Byron, of which he is past commander, 
 and by his fellow citizens he is held in high 
 regard, receiving the respect and confidence 
 of all with whom he has business or social 
 relations. 
 
 GEORGE R. RHODES, who is engaged 
 in farming on section 6, Grand Detour 
 township, and who for some years was one 
 of the leading contractors and builders of 
 Springfield, Illinois, was born July 27, 
 1833, in Frederick county, Maryland, and 
 is the son of Peter and Elizabeth (Foaster) 
 Rhodes, both of whom were also natives of 
 Frederick county, Maryland, the former 
 born in 1794. The paternal grandfather, 
 Jacob Rhodes, was a blacksmith by trade, 
 and followed that occupation during his 
 entire life. He never came to this state, 
 but died in Maryland many years ago. 
 
 In his youth Peter Rhodes learned the 
 carpenter trade, an occupation he followed 
 during his active life. In 1S63, he came to 
 Illinois, and located in Rochester, Sanga- 
 mon connty, where his death occurred in 
 1878. His wife died some years ago. They 
 were the parents of ten children — Amanda, 
 William H., John T., George R., Martha 
 E., Ann O., Alice E., Katherine, James W. 
 and Fannie. All are yet living save Ann O. 
 In politics Peter Rhodes was a Jackson 
 Democrat, a firm believer in the principles 
 of the party as proclaimed bj' Jefferson and 
 Jackson. He was a member of the Episco- 
 pal church. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared to 
 manhood in his native state, and in the 
 common schools received his education. At 
 the age of eighteen he left school and worked 
 with his father at the carpenter trade until 
 
 1856, when he came to Illinois and located 
 at Springfield, where he continued to work 
 at his trade. The firm of Rhodes Brothers, 
 contractors and builders, was formed, and 
 for many years did a prosperous business, 
 erecting many of the best public and private 
 buildings in the city, among them the 
 splendid building of the Young Men's Chris- 
 tian Association. He continued in contract- 
 ing and building until 1889, when he moved 
 to his present place of residence, and en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits. The farm 
 consists of one hundred and sixty acres, and 
 is under excellent improvement. 
 
 Mr. Rhodes has been twice married, his 
 first union being with Miss Mary C. Lakin, 
 and their marriage was celebrated February 
 23, 1862. She died in 1869. His second 
 marriage was with Mrs. Ella Miller, lu'c 
 Bovey, their union being formed September 
 2, 1874. Mrs. Rhodes was born May 8, 
 1852, in Ogle county, Illinois. She is the 
 daughter of Samuel and Barbara (Funck) 
 Bovey, both of whom are natives of Wash- 
 ington county, Maryland, and who came to 
 Ogle county in the spring of 1846, and lo- 
 cated in Grand Detour township, where his 
 death occurred in 1891. Miss Ella Bovey 
 married Samuel S. Miller in 1S60, and his 
 death took place December 25, 1869. At 
 the time of his death he was managing the 
 farm of his father-in-law. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Rhodes six children 
 have been born. Clinton B., born June 
 26, 1875, is now in the government mail 
 service, running between Pontiac and Chi- 
 cago. Charles L. , born January 20, 1879, 
 is attending Steinman Business College, 
 Dixon, Illinois. Robert S., born July 24, 
 1882, died April 9, 18S5. George T., born 
 June 15, 1885, is attending the district 
 school of Grand Detour township. Harry 
 
MS 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 D., born January 14, 1889, is also in 
 school. Ethel May, was born February 
 
 7, 1897- 
 
 In politics Mr. Rhodes is a Democrat, 
 and for nine years served as a member of 
 the board of supervisors of Sangamon 
 county from Springfield. He made an effi- 
 cient member, being a practical man, one 
 who looked after the best interests of the 
 public, and who did not serve just to please 
 politicians. He also served for nine years 
 as fire marshal of Springfield, a difficult and 
 responsible position which he filled to the 
 satisfaction of the people. Mrs. Rhodes is 
 a member of the Christian church, with 
 which she has been connected for a number 
 of years, and in the teachings of which she 
 has the utmost faith. She is now living in 
 the home of her childhood where she has 
 many friends. Although comparatively a 
 newcomer, Mr. Rhodes is well known and 
 univcrsallv esteemed. 
 
 LOUIS J. OTTO, a thorough and skillful 
 farmer and business man of more than 
 ordinary ability, is a representative of the 
 agricultural and stock raising interests of 
 Ogle county, his home being on section 3, 
 Forreston township, where he has a good 
 farm of one hundred and sixty acres. A na- 
 tive of the county, Mr. Otto was born in 
 Maryland township, May 27, 1854, and is a 
 son of Christian Otto, who was born about 
 1803, in Lippe, Germany, where he was 
 reared and married to Miss Mary Pepper- 
 ling, a German lady. He followed farming 
 in his native land. About 1848 he crossed 
 the Atlantic and proceeded at once to Chi- 
 cago, where he secured a team, and then 
 drove across the country to Ogle county. 
 
 where some friends from Germany were liv- 
 ing in Maryland township. There he pur- 
 chased a tract of eighty acres, and later 
 bought a similar amount, making a good 
 farm of one hundred and si.xty acres, which 
 he commenced to improve and cultivate. 
 He died there in 1862, and his wife passed 
 away in February, i86r. In the family of 
 this worthy couple were four' sons and two 
 daughters, all of whom married and became 
 heads of families. They are Dora, wife of 
 David Haselbrook, of Riley count}', Kansas; 
 Henry, a farmer of Stephenson county, 
 who owns and operates a farm adjoining 
 that of our subject; Louis J., of this review; 
 Lizzie, wife of Henry Stuckenburg, who 
 lives on the line between Ogle and Stephen- 
 son counties; August, who operates the old 
 homestead; and Fred, who owns and oper- 
 ates a valuable farm of six hundred and 
 forty acres in Riley county, Kansas. 
 
 Reared in Ogle county, Louis J. Otto 
 remained with his mother and assisted in 
 carrying on the old homestead. After the 
 father's death two hundred and eighty acres 
 were added to the place, making a valuable 
 property of four hundred and forty acres. 
 This they cleared from all indebtedness and 
 transformed into a well cultivated and high- 
 ly improved farm. Our subject acquired 
 his education in the schools of Maryland 
 township. There he was married, Decem- 
 ber 29, 1879, the lady of his choice being 
 Miss Anna Fosha, who was born and reared 
 in Stephenson county. Her father, John 
 Fosha, was a native of Germany, was 
 brought to America when a child and reared 
 in Maryland whence he came to Illinois 
 when a young man. He married Minnie 
 Shineman and located on the Stephenson 
 county line, where he now resides. Our 
 subject and his wife have eight children. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 249 
 
 namely. Nettie, William, Henry, Emma, 
 Minnie, Mary, Roy and Walter, all at home. 
 For four years after his marriage Mr. 
 Otto lived on a part of the old homestead, 
 of which he owned eighty acres, and on 
 selling that place in the spring of 1884 he 
 removed to his present farm, which he has 
 greatly improved by making an addition to 
 the house, building a large barn, and plac- 
 ing the land under excellent cultivation. 
 He is acknowledged to be one of the suc- 
 cessful and progressive farmers of F"orreston 
 township, and in connection with general 
 farming is interested in dairying and stock- 
 raising, keeping a high grade of stock, both 
 cattle and hogs. On national issues he 
 supports the Democratic party, but at local 
 election votes for the man whom he be- 
 lieves best qualified to fill the office regard- 
 less of party affiliations. He has most ac- 
 ceptably served as school director for thir- 
 teen years, and as clerk of the district for 
 eight years. Socially he is a member of 
 Florence Camp, M. W. A. He was reared 
 in the Catholic church, but he and his wife 
 now attend the German Reformed church, 
 and in the social life of the community oc- 
 cupy an enviable position, having the re- 
 spect and esteem of all who know them. 
 
 BURTON D. KRIDLER, of the well 
 known firm of Strickler& Kridler, Polo, 
 Illinois, was born in Luzerne county, Penn- 
 sylvania, November iS, 1843, and is the son 
 of John and Lydia (Ransom) Kridler, both 
 of whom were also natives of Luzerne 
 county, the former born August 15, 1809, 
 and the latter Decerpber I 5, 1815. She is 
 a daughter of Colonel George Palmer Ran- 
 som, a native of Connecticut, born in 1761, 
 but who removed with his father, Samuel 
 
 Ransom, to Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania, 
 then a portion of Connecticut, but now 
 Luzerne county, Pennsylvania. On the 
 26th of August, 1776, Samuel Ransom was 
 commissioned captain of a company to be 
 organized, and later with his company was 
 ordered to join Washington's forces. With 
 him. Captain Ransom took his son George, 
 a lad of less than sixteen years, who acted 
 as orderly sergeant. Their first battle was 
 at Millstone, January 20, 1777. They also 
 participated in the battles of Brandywine, 
 Germantown, Bound Brook and Mud Fort. 
 Captain Ransom was killed in the Wyom- 
 ing massacre, July 3, 1778. As it happened 
 his son George was not present at the time, 
 but arrived on the scene a few days later, 
 and helped bury his father and other victims 
 of the carnage. He was later taken prisoner 
 and taken to Montreal, where he was held 
 until the following June, when he made his 
 escape on a raft in the St. Lawrence river. 
 After many hardships he succeeded in reach- 
 ing a settlement in Vermont, and later re- 
 joined the army, remaining until the close 
 of the war, when he was honorably dis- 
 charged. 
 
 John Kridler was reared in his native 
 county, and received a very limited educa- 
 tion, attending school for a short time when 
 he was but seven years of age, and but one half 
 day when he was eleven years of age. When 
 nineteen, he commenced to learn the wagon- 
 maker's trade, serving an apprenticeship of 
 two years, for which he was to receive 
 twenty-two dollars and fifty cents per year. 
 Completing his trade, and having rested for 
 a time and visiting his old home, he hired 
 out to a carriage-maker at ten dollars per 
 month, working for him four months. He 
 then went into business for himself, and for 
 a time had a hard struggle to make both 
 
250 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ends meet. He was persevering and indus- 
 trious, however, and from his earnings 
 paid off a mortgage on his father's place. 
 On the 8th of September, 1835, he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Lydia Ran- 
 som, at which time his entire cash cap- 
 ital consisted of eight dollars. Soon aft- 
 er his marriage he moved to Susque- 
 hanna, Pennsylvania, where he opened up 
 a small farm. After spending eighteen 
 years of his married life trying to make 
 headway in his native state, he concluded 
 to try the prairies of Illinois. Accordingly, 
 in 1853, he moved to Carroll county and 
 purchased a farm of three hundred and . 
 twenty acres, about twelve miles west of 
 Polo. From the beginning he was success- 
 ful, and in addition to his home farm, in 
 due time he became the owner of two other 
 farms in Carroll county, which yielded him 
 a generous return for his investment. After 
 residing on his farm for thirty-one years, he 
 moved to Polo, and there made his home 
 during the remainder of his life. He died 
 June 30, 1897. His wife is yet living in 
 Polo. They were the parents of nine chil- 
 dren. George H. was a member of the 
 Fifteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and 
 was wounded at the battle of Shiloh. He 
 died while on his way home. Sabina is the 
 wife of Ale.xander Windle, and they are liv- 
 ing in Iowa Park, Texas; B. D. is the sub- 
 ject of this sketch; W. H. is living in Omaha, 
 Nebraska; S. R. is a physician of Red Oak, 
 Iowa; Emma L. married Orris Mosher, and 
 they reside in Walnut, Iowa; Marian H. is 
 the wife of Dr. D. F. Hallett, and they 
 reside in Red Oak, Iowa. Two died in 
 childhood. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was ten years 
 old when he accompanied his parents to 
 Carroll county, Illinois. In the public 
 
 schools of that county he received his prim- 
 ary education, which was supplemented by 
 an attendance at Mt. Carroll Seminar}'. At 
 seventeen, he quit school and commenced 
 clerking in the general store of Pierce & 
 Barber, Polo, at the munificent salary of 
 seventy-five dollars per year. He remained 
 with that firm for three years, but with an 
 increase of salary, and then entered the 
 Commercial College, at Poughkeepsie, New 
 York, one of the best institutions of the 
 kind in the country. After remaining there 
 one year he removed to Polo and went into 
 the livery business where Griffin's stables 
 now stand. He remained in that business 
 for about two years and then traded his 
 livery stable for a grocery store. After be- 
 ing in the grocery business for about two 
 3'ears, he met with serious reverses which 
 forced him to the wall, leaving him several 
 hundred dollars in debt. He is happy to 
 say, however, that in due time he paid out 
 one hundred cents on the dollar. After 
 meeting with his loss, he went on the road 
 for a time as traveling salesman for a whole- 
 sale notion house, and was also engaged in 
 the patent right business. In 1882 he 
 again went into the mercantile business, 
 purchasing an interest in the furniture store 
 of William Strickler, to which they added 
 dry goods, and later other departments. 
 
 On the 26th of December, 1867, Mr. 
 Kridlcr was united in marriage with Miss 
 Eli/a Baker, daughter of Daniel and Mary 
 C. (North) Baker, both of whom were na- 
 tives of Michigan, as was their daughter. 
 He is yet living, and makes his home with 
 our subject. His wife died in March, 1888. 
 By this union there was one son born, F. 
 B., who is engaged in the grocery and no- 
 tion trade, in which line he has been for 
 the last eight years. He is a graduate of 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 251 
 
 the Polo high school, and is a good business 
 man. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Kridler is a Republican, 
 but is not a partisan. He prefers to give 
 his time and attention to his business inter- 
 ests rather than to politics. He has been 
 in business with Mr. Strickler for about 
 seventeen years, their store now being more 
 than double its original size, covering a 
 space of thirteen thousand five hundred 
 square feet. They handle almost everything 
 that is sold in the large department stores, 
 and their trade is constantly increasing. 
 They are up-to-date business men, and have 
 the confidence of the people. 
 
 MRS. MARY |. JOINER, whose farm is 
 in Eagle Point township, about three 
 and a half miles west of Polo, is a worthy 
 representative of one of the prominent and 
 influential pioneer families of Ogle county, 
 dating her residence here from November, 
 1837. She was born in Delaware coimty. 
 New York, October 29, 1S31, and is a 
 daughter of Robert Smith, a native of 
 Scotland, who was born in 1796, and grew 
 to manhood there. He was a weaver by 
 trade, but after his emigration to the United 
 States, in 1827, he located in Delaware 
 county. New York, and turned his attention 
 to agricultural pursuits. There he was 
 united in marriage with Miss Deborah 
 Broadwell, a native of the Empire state and 
 a daughter of Ezra Broadwell, who fought 
 for American independence as a soldier of 
 the Revolutionary war and was a pioneer 
 settler of Delaware county. In 1837 Mr. 
 Smith brought his family to the west and 
 settled in Eagle Point township. Ogle coun- 
 ty, when the whole region round about was 
 almost an unbroken wilderness; wolves and 
 
 deer were often seen and the Indians had 
 not all left for their new home beyond the 
 Mississippi. A wonderful transformation 
 has since taken place in the county and in 
 these changes the Smith family bore an 
 active and prominent part. The father 
 entered one hundred and si.xty acres of land 
 in Eagle Point township, of which ten acres 
 had been broken, as he purchased the claim 
 from another gentleman, and he bought the 
 land from the government when it came 
 into market. He first built a log house, 
 in which the family lived for a number of 
 years while he was opening up and develop- 
 ing his farm, but it was later replaced by a 
 good frame residence, and good barns and 
 other out-buildings were also erected. He 
 spent his last years in retirement in Polo, 
 and there passed away November 28, 18S1, 
 at the ripe old age of eighty-five years. He 
 was one of the valued and honored citizens 
 of his community, having the respect and 
 confidence of all who knew him. He was 
 twice married, Mrs. Joiner's mother, who 
 died in 1843, being the first wife. To them 
 were born three children, the son being 
 Henry Smith, w-ho. in August, 1862, en- 
 listed in the Ninety-second Illinois Infantry 
 for service in the Civil war and died in the 
 hospital at Nashville, Tennessee, February 
 13, 1863. 
 
 Mrs. Joiner was reared in Ogle county, 
 and on the ist of February, 1855, gave her 
 hand in marriage to William Joiner, a native 
 of Vermont, who was born October 23, 
 1830, and came west with his parents, Alvin 
 and Anna Joiner, in Jime, 1837. He grew 
 to manhood on his father's farm in Pine 
 Creek township, Ogle county, and was edu- 
 cated in the common schools. He and his 
 bride began their domestic life upon the old 
 homestead in that township, which hc 
 
•52 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL KECOKD. 
 
 owned and occupied for a number of years. 
 It comprised about one hundred and forty 
 acres, to which he added by subsequent 
 purchase until he had a very valuable farm 
 under a high state of cultivation and well 
 improved. He was a successful farmer and 
 a very prominent and influential citizen of 
 the community in which he lived. On 
 leaving his farm in Pine Creek township he 
 removed to the old Smith homestead in 
 Eagle Point township, where his death 
 occurred May i8, 1864. He filled several 
 official positions of honor and trust, includ- 
 ing those of tax collector and assessor, and 
 was a leading and active member of the 
 Baptist church of Pine Creek. His remains 
 were interred in the Oak Ridge cemetery, 
 and a marble slab marks his resting place. 
 He left two children. Henry, the older, is 
 a farmer of Eagle Point township; he is 
 married and has six children — Beulah, 
 Pearl, Irma, Vera, Edna and Etta Marie. 
 Paulina is the wife of William Made, of the 
 same township, and they have four chil- 
 dren — Henry W., Mary A., Nellie E. and 
 Robert S., all attending the home school. 
 The mother of these children died March 
 22, 1877. By a second marriage Mrs. 
 Joiner had one daughter. Bertha, who mar- 
 ried Wilson Bellows, of Buffalo township, 
 and is the mother of one child, Robert. 
 Mrs. Joiner is a most estimable lady, loved 
 and respected by all who know her for her 
 many excellencies of character, and this 
 brief sketch of her life will be read with 
 interest by her many friends throughout the 
 county. 
 
 McFARLEN J. WEST, who is now liv- 
 ing a retired life on his farm within 
 the corporate limits of the village of Leaf 
 
 River, is one of the most prosperous and 
 successful business men of Ogle county, 
 with whose interests he has been identified 
 since November, 1856. He was born in 
 Monroe county. New York, January 24, 
 1835, and is a son of Nathaniel R. West, a 
 native of Massachusetts, born in 1787. 
 The family is of English origin and was 
 founded in the old Bay state at an early 
 day in colonial history, and the paternal 
 grandfather of our subject was a soldier of 
 the Revolutionary war. Nathaniel R. West 
 was reared in his native state, and when a 
 young man removed to Monroe county. 
 New York, where he subsequently married 
 Miss Esther Barker, a native of Rensselaer 
 county, that state, and a daughter of Rich- 
 ard Barker, of Monroe county, of Scotch 
 ancestry. Mr. West spent the remainder 
 of his life as a farmer there, dying in 1837 
 when our subject was only two years old. 
 The mother carefully reared her children to 
 habits of thrift and industry and finally 
 came west with her sons to Illinois, locating 
 at Leaf River, where she died in 1873, at 
 the age of sixty-eight years. 
 
 McFarlen J. West is the youngest of 
 the four children, two sons and two daugh- 
 ters, who reached years of maturity. Amasa 
 B. came to Illinois in 1844 and entered a 
 tract of land in Ogle county, a part of which 
 now lies within the limits of the village of 
 Leaf River. He located thereon in 1856, 
 making it his home for a number of years, 
 but finally sold and removed to Wisconsin 
 and spent his last days near Sparta, dying 
 there in 1884. Alma B. married John G. 
 Randall and settled in New York, but later 
 removed to Wisconsin, where her death 
 also occurred. Jane A. married Henry 
 Powner and is now deceased. 
 
 The subject of this review grew to man- 
 
M. J. WEST. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAI- RECORD. 
 
 255 
 
 hood in Monroe county, New York, and 
 was educated in tiie common schools and 
 in Lima Seminary. It was in 1S54 that he 
 came west and purchased two hundred 
 acres of land adjoining his brother's place in 
 Ogle county. At the end of two months, 
 however, he returned to his eastern home 
 and did not locate permanently here until 
 1856, when he began the work of cultivation 
 and improvement. His brother had already 
 made some improvements upon his place, 
 including the erection of a residence, and 
 there they all lived together for several 
 years, while our subject developed his own 
 place. Here he was married May 7, 1863, 
 to Miss Margaret E. Waggoner, a native of 
 Pennsylvania and a daughter of Henry R. 
 Waggoner, who removed here from the 
 Iveystone state in 1848. She was educated 
 at Mt. Morris, and prior to her marriage 
 was a successful teacher. Her brother. 
 Prof. Joseph Waggoner, was the first prin- 
 cipal of the Mt. Morris school. Mr. and 
 Mrs. West began their domestic life upon 
 his farm and soon afterward commenced 
 to build their present residence, which is 
 a large, neat and substantial dwelling, sur- 
 rounded by good barns and outbuildings. To 
 his original purchase he added until he had 
 three hundred acres, through which the rail- 
 road passes, and he has since laid off and 
 platted a portion of the present town. He 
 has sold several acres of his farm and still 
 owns two hundred and twenty-five acres. 
 He has ever taken a deep and commendable 
 interest in the growth and development of 
 the village, has materially aided in its ad- 
 vancement and prosperity, and was one of 
 the organizers of the Leaf River Bank, of 
 which he is an original stockholder and di- 
 rector. He has given a hearty support to 
 all enterprises that tend to the improve- 
 
 ment of the place and to those interests 
 which are calculated to advance the moral, 
 intellectual or social welfare of the com- 
 munity. 
 
 The children born to Mr. and Mrs. West 
 are as follows: Henry S. is married and is 
 the present cashier of the Leaf River Bank; 
 Elsie E. is a cultured and refined young 
 lady, who graduated at Cornell University, 
 in Iowa, and was a teacher in that institu- 
 tion for two years, but resigned to accept 
 her present position as general secretary 
 of the Young Woman's Christian As- 
 sociation with headquarters at Detroit, 
 Michigan. She makes her home with her 
 parents. Wilbur M. is a business man 
 of Dnluth, Minnesota. George A. died in 
 September, 1897, at the age of twenty-three 
 years. They also have an adopted son, 
 Fred D. West, son of Mr. West's sister. 
 He is a well-educated young man and is 
 now serving as postal clerk or mail agent. 
 
 Mr. West cast his first presidential ballot 
 for Millard Fillmore, later was identified 
 with the Republican party for some years, 
 but being a strong temperance man and be- 
 lieving that to be the great question before 
 the people, he joined the Prohibition party, 
 with which he now affiliates. Although he 
 has never sought office, he was elected a 
 member of the village board and served as 
 trustee for some years. lie and his wife 
 were among the original members of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church of Leaf River, 
 and he is now the oldest member of the 
 class at that place. Earnest and sincere 
 Christian people, they are active and zealous 
 workers in the church, and for many years 
 Mr. West has served as one of its officers. 
 Wherever known they are held in high re- 
 gard and their friends throughout Ogle 
 county are numerous. 
 
256 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 JOHN LIGHT, who is now living retired 
 in Leaf River, has been identified with 
 this section of the state for more than sixty- 
 one years, and has contributed to its mate- 
 rial progress and prosperity to an extent 
 equalled by but few of his contemporaries. 
 He early had the sagacity and prescience to 
 discern the eminence which the future had 
 in store for this great and growing country, 
 and acting in accordance with the dictates 
 of his faith and judgment he reaped, in the 
 fullness oi time, the generous benefits which 
 are the just recompense of indomitable in- 
 dustry, spotless integrity and marvelous en- 
 terprise. 
 
 Mr. Light was born July 17, 181 2, in 
 Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, m that por- 
 tion which now forms a part of Lebanon 
 county. His ancestors were originally from 
 Germany, but for many generations the 
 family made their home in Pennsylvania, it 
 being founded in Lancaster county by John 
 Peter Light in 1739, and for several years 
 its representatives were among the most 
 substantial men of that region. Martin 
 Light, father of our subject, was born there, 
 and married Miss Barbara Overalls, also a 
 native of Lancaster county and a daughter 
 of Christian Overalls. She had a paternal 
 uncle who was a soldier of the Revolution- 
 ary war. Martin Light followed farming in 
 his native county, but when it was divided 
 his farm lay in Lebanon county. There he 
 continued to live until called from this life. 
 
 John Light had limited advantages in 
 early life, and is almost wholly self-edu- 
 cated. Leaving home in 1836, he went to 
 Ohio, where he spent one winter, and in 
 1837 came to Ogle county, Illinois, locating 
 in Leaf River township, where he assisted 
 the family with whom he came west in 
 building a house and in breaking prairie. 
 
 He returned to Pennsylvania in the fall of 
 that 3'ear, but in the spring of 1838 he again 
 came to Ogle county and bought a claim, 
 comprising three-quarters of a section, for 
 which he paid three hundred dollars. This 
 he later entered from the government and 
 built thereon a log house. As it was cov- 
 ered with timber, he opened up a prairie 
 farm first and then began to clear and culti- 
 vate his timber land. 
 
 In 1845, Mr. Light was united in 
 marriage with Miss Catherine Scugar, who 
 was born in Pennsylvania, in 1824. Her 
 father, Michael Scugar died when she was 
 a child and her mother subsequently married 
 again. With the family she come to Illi- 
 nois in 1843. Mr. and Mrs. Light began 
 housekeeping in true pioneer style in a 
 little log cabin with wooden benches for 
 chairs, a homemade bedstead and other rude 
 furniture then so common in the homes 
 on the frontier. Two or three years later 
 this home was replaced by a good frame 
 residence, and subsequently a regular Penn- 
 sylvania barn with a basement was also 
 built. In connection with farming Mr. 
 Light engaged in merchandising for some 
 years, starting in business at Lightville with 
 a small stock of groceries, but as he pros- 
 pered in the undertaking he increased his 
 stock from time to time until he had a good 
 general store, which he conducted for ten 
 years. When he began business he hauled 
 his goods from Chicago, the trip occupying 
 from seven to twelve days. After operating 
 his first farm for twenty-one years, he rented 
 it and moved to Stephenson county, where 
 he bought three hundred and twentj' acres, 
 and later a similar amount, it being divided 
 into four farms of a quarter section each. 
 In that county he made his home for twenty 
 years, but since 1885 has lived retired in the 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 25; 
 
 village of Leaf River. Besides the property 
 already mentioned he owned more land in 
 Ogle county, and at one time was the largest 
 land owner and tax-payer in Stephenson 
 county, and owns a substantial home in 
 Leaf River. On coming to the state he had 
 no means, and like the immortal Lincoln, 
 he made rails for several years, splitting 
 some thirty thousand of them. His success 
 is attributed to his own industry, economy 
 and sound judgment, as well as to his in- 
 tegrity and fair dealing. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Light were born seven 
 children, four sons and three daughters, to 
 each of whom he gave a farm of one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres. In order of birth they 
 are as follows. Tena, wife of Henry Schra- 
 der, of Leaf River; Martin, who is married 
 and engaged in farming in Ogle county; 
 John, Jr., a farmer of Stephenson county, 
 who died, leaving a wife and two children; 
 Catherine, wife of Dr. John Penningburg, a 
 physician of Herman; Henry, who is mar- 
 ried and is engaged in the practice of veter- 
 inary surgery in Rockford; Mary, wife of 
 Riley Motter, afarmer of Stephenson count}'; 
 Joseph, a farmer of Stephenson county, who 
 was accidentally killed in October, 1898, 
 and left a wife and eight children. The 
 parents are consistent members of the 
 United Brethren church and have the 
 respect and esteem of all who know them 
 on account of their sterling worth and ex- 
 emplary lives. 
 
 CW. JOHNSON, residing in Grand De- 
 tour, is a native of West Virginia, born in 
 Jefferson county, May 27, 1S45, and is the 
 son of Aaron H. and Marietta (Boone) John- 
 son, the former a native of Virginia, born 
 January 10, 182 i, and the latter of Boons- 
 
 borough, Maryland, born July 17, 1S22. 
 Aaron Johnson was the grandson of Thomas 
 Johnson, a Revolutionary soldier who fought 
 throughout the entire war. Marietta Boone 
 was a daughter of Daniel Boone, who was 
 one of the family owning the site of the 
 present city of Boonsborough, Maryland, 
 and who was a grand nephew of the re- 
 nowned Daniel Boone, of Kentucky. In 
 early life Aaron Johnson followed his trade 
 of shoemaker, continuing in that occupation 
 as long as he remained in his native state. 
 In October, 1846, he came with his family 
 to Ogle county, coming through tlie entire 
 distance by wagon. On his arrival he took 
 up a tract of two hundred and fifty acres in 
 Pine Creek township, where he continued to 
 remain and farm until his death June 22, 
 1867. His wife is yet living and makes her 
 home with her children. They were the 
 parents ot eight children, six of whom grew 
 to maturity: Charles W., the subject of 
 this sketch; J. C, living in Fulton county, 
 New York; H. N., living in Dixon, Illinois; 
 Mary V. , who died at the age of thirty-one 
 years; Susan K., wife of Frank H. Wilber, 
 living near Polo; and A. M., living east of 
 Polo on the home farm. In politics Aaron 
 Johnson was originally an old line Whig, 
 but became a Republican on the organiza- 
 tion of that party. He was an earnest 
 member of the Christian church, of which 
 body his wife is also a member. 
 
 The subject of this sketch came to Ogle 
 county when but one year old, and in the 
 public schools of Pine Creek township he 
 received his primary education. This was 
 supplemented by an attendance at Rock 
 River Seminary, at Mt. Morris. After at- 
 tending one term, his patriotism got the 
 better of him and he enlisted April 24, 1864, 
 in Company I, One Hundred and Fortieth 
 
258 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He 
 went first to Camp Butler, near Springfield, 
 Illinois, and from there he went with his 
 regiment to Memphis, Tennessee, where 
 they were assigned to guard the Memphis & 
 Charleston railroad. In the discharge of 
 this duty they had a number of skirmishes 
 with guerrillas, but were in no regular battle. 
 At the close of his term of service he was mus- 
 tered out October 29, 1864, and has yet in 
 his possession the card of thanks issued and 
 signed by Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 On his return home, Mr. Johnson again 
 entered the seminary at Mt. Morris and re- 
 mained one term. After leaving school, 
 he worked for his father two years, then 
 taught school in winter and farmed in sum- 
 mer for the ne.xt seven years. On the 29th 
 of December, 1868, he was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Saville M. Bovey, who was 
 born March 5, 1850, in Grand Detour town- 
 ship, and daughter of Samuel and Barbara 
 (Funk) Bovey, both of whom were natives 
 of Washington county, Maryland, the form- 
 er born November 5, 1814, and the latter 
 Decembers, 1816. Samuel Bovey was a 
 farmer, and in 1846 came to Ogle county 
 and located in Grand Detour township, 
 where he resided until his death in January, 
 1891. His wife died August 20, 1888. They 
 were the parents of ten children, five of 
 whom grew to maturity. Lydia married J. 
 H. Brubaker, and they live in Anthony, 
 Kansas. Saville M. is the wife of our sub- 
 ject. Ella B. is the wife of George R. 
 Rhodes, and they are livingonthe old home 
 farm in Grand Detour township. Katie is 
 the wife of H. N. Johnson, and they reside 
 in Di.xon, Illinois. Barbara is the wife of 
 D. M. Fahrney, and they also live in Dixon. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson si.x children were 
 born. Clarence died in infancj-. Bertha 
 
 O. , born November 8, 1870, married Jer- 
 ome F. Cox, and they live on our subject's 
 farm in Grand Detour township. Nellie J., 
 born January 21, 1873, married Amos L. 
 Palmer, and they reside in the village of 
 Grand Detour. Francis M., born January 
 22, 1875, is living with his father. E.May, 
 born December 21, 1876, is living with her 
 parents. Bessie L., born March 19, 188G, 
 is also living at home. 
 
 In the spring of 1869 Mr. Johnson com- 
 menced farming for himself, renting the farm 
 of his father-in-law in Grand Detour town- 
 ship, and in 1874 purchased one hundred 
 and sixt}' acres from the heirs of Peter New- 
 comer. To his original purchase, as his 
 means increased, he made additions, until 
 he has now four hundred and seventy-nine 
 acres of well improved and valuable land. 
 In addition to the raising of grain, he has 
 made a specialty of raising Poland China 
 hogs, having usually on his place from one 
 hundred to one hundred and fifty head. He 
 has also had on his farm a number of Mor- 
 gan and Norman horses, and Durham short- 
 horn cattle. Conservative in his work, he 
 has been (juite successful in what he has 
 undertaken, and is numbered among the 
 prosperous farmers of the county. 
 
 In politics Mr. Johnson is a Republican. 
 He has been collector one year; highway 
 commissioner eight yearsjschool trustee eight 
 years; school director two terms; justice of 
 the peace sixteen years; and is now serving 
 his seventh year as supervisor of his town- 
 ship. While on the board he has been 
 chairman of the judiciary, educational, fees 
 and salaries, and poor farm committees, 
 and a member of the claim committee. He 
 has represented his party twice in state con- 
 ventions at Springfield, and in his party 
 work he has always endeavored to keep the 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ;59 
 
 rights of the people in view. He is a mem- 
 ber of the Christian church, as is also his 
 wife and family, and in the work of the 
 church takes a deep interest. Fraternally 
 he is a member of the Grand Army of the 
 Republic, holding membership with Post 
 No. 1 16, at Oregon. 
 
 DANIEL CASE is a man whose genial 
 temperment, sound judgment and well- 
 proved integrity have brought to him the 
 esteem and friendship of a host of acquaint- 
 ances far and near. On coming to the coun- 
 ty in March, 1874, he located on section 8, 
 Marion township, and for some time his at- 
 tention was entirely occupied by agricult- 
 ural pursuits, but since 1888 he has made 
 his home in Stillman Valley, and in connec- 
 tion with his farming interests he has since 
 dealt in all kinds of farm machinery. 
 
 Mr. Case is a native of New Jersey, born 
 in Hunterdon county, June 22, 1842, and is 
 a son of Hon. John H. Case, whose birth 
 occurred in the same county in 1807. His 
 grandfather, Daniel Case, commanded a 
 company and served with distinction in the 
 war of 18 1 2. From wild land he developed 
 the farm in Hunterdon county on which our 
 subject and his father were both born. On 
 attaining to man's estate the latter married 
 Miss Elizabeth Bennett, a native of War- 
 ren county. New Jersey, and a daughter of 
 Isaac Bennett, who was an early settler of 
 Warren county, but spent his last days in 
 Hunterdon county. Throughout life John 
 H. Case followed farming on the old home- 
 stead and was one of the most prominent 
 and influential men of his county. He was 
 called upon to fill many local positions of 
 honor and trust and for two or more terms 
 represented his district in the state legisla- 
 
 ture with credit to himself and to the entire 
 satisfaction of his constituents. He died 
 in 1869, at the age of sixty-two years, and 
 his wife who survived him for some time, 
 passed away in 1893, at the age of eighty- 
 three. They were the parents of eight 
 children, four sons and four daughters, 
 namely: Sarah, wife of Jonas Robins, of 
 Hunterdon county, New Jersey; Phoebe, de- 
 ceased wife, of Joseph Hart; Isaac B., who 
 owns and operates the old homestead; Cath- 
 erine died at the age of twenty-eight years; 
 Daniel, of this sketch; Dr. Nathan, who was 
 engaged in the practice of medicine in Rig- 
 glesville. New Jersey, for several years, 
 but is now deceased; Howard, a commis- 
 sion merchant of New York city; Elizabeth, 
 wife of Anderson Conover, of Foreston, 
 Ohio. 
 
 In the county of his nativity, Daniel 
 Case grew to manhood and had the advan- 
 tages of a good education, completing his 
 studies at the Raraton high school. On 
 leaving the school room he assisted his fa- 
 ther in the labors of the home farm for 
 some years, and thus obtained a good prac- 
 tical knowledge of the occupation which he 
 has made his life work. In Hunterdon 
 county, September 23, 1873, he led to the 
 marriage altar Miss Mary M. Smith, a na- 
 tive of the county, and a daughter of Rob- 
 ert Smith, one of the substantial farmers of 
 that locality. Three children have been 
 born of this union: Robert G., Elizabeth 
 and Emma, all of whom have been well 
 educated and are now at home. 
 
 In the spring following his marriage, 
 Mr. Case came to Ogle county, Illinois, and 
 in Marion township purchased one hundred 
 and sixty acres, to which he subsequently 
 added an adjoining one hundred and twenty 
 acres, making a fine farm of two hundred 
 
26o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and eighty acres, which he placed under a 
 high state of cultivation and improved until 
 it is one of the most desirable places of the 
 community. In connection with general 
 farming he also engaged in breeding and 
 raising a good grade of stock — horses, cat- 
 tle and hogs. In 1888 he rented the farm 
 and removed to Stillman Valley, where, as 
 previously stated, he is now doing a suc- 
 cessful business as a dealer in farm machin- 
 ery, mowers, binders, etc. 
 
 Mr. Case has been called upon to mourn 
 the loss of his estimable wife, who passed 
 away May i, 1898, and was laid to rest in 
 Stillman Valley cemetery. She was a faith- 
 ful member of the Congregational church, 
 to which he and his family also belong. 
 Socially he affiliates with the Modern Wood- 
 men of America and the Knights of Pythias, 
 and has held office in both orders. Politic- 
 ally his support has always been given the 
 Democracy since casting his first vote for 
 General George B. McClellan in 1S64. In 
 Marion township he served on the school 
 board for a number of years, and since com- 
 ing to Stillman Valley has occupied a simi- 
 lar position. He has identified himself with 
 every enterprise for the public good and is 
 justly numbered among the valued and use- 
 ful citizens of the community. 
 
 WH. CUNNINGHAM, one of the lead- 
 ing merchants of Polo, and vice- 
 president of the E.xchange Bank of the same 
 city, was born in Washington county, Mary- 
 land, May 20, 1 84 1, and is the son of Joseph 
 and Elizabeth (Sprickler) Cunningham, both 
 of whom were natives of Washington coun- 
 ty, Maryland, the former born in 1808, and 
 the latter in 1822. Joseph Cunningham 
 was the son of David Cunningham, also a 
 
 native of Maryland,- and who followed the 
 occupation of a cooper during his entire life. 
 In his family were six sons and two daugh- 
 ters. In the common schools of his native 
 state Joseph Cunningham obtained his edu- 
 cation, and at the age of twenty-two years 
 went into the mercantile business, opening 
 up a general store at Cunningham's Cross 
 Roads, now Cearfoss, Maryland. He con- 
 tinued in that business for nearly forty 
 years, retiring from the same about fifteen 
 years before his death, which occurred De- 
 cember 15, 1875. He was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Elizabeth Sprickler, by 
 whom he had eleven children, four only 
 now living — W. H., Andrew, Miley and 
 Mary. With the exception of two, all died 
 young. Those two were John, who died at 
 the age of sixty years, and George, when 
 fifty-six years old. The mother is yet liv- 
 ing in Washington county, Maryland. In 
 politics Joseph Cunningham was an old-line 
 Whig until the organization of the Repub- 
 lican party, when he gave adhesion to that 
 organization, the principles of which he ad- 
 vocated during the remainder of his life. 
 For some years he served as justice of the 
 peace, and also school director a number of 
 years. 
 
 The common schools of his native county 
 afforded the only opportunitj' for our sub- 
 ject to obtain an education, but he made 
 the best use of his opportunities until he was 
 sixteen years old, when he quit the school 
 room that he might begin in earnest the bat- 
 tle of life. One year later, in 1858, became 
 to Ogle county, and for two years worked 
 on a farm owned by Henry Newcomer. At 
 the expiration of that time he went to Polo 
 and commenced clerking in the grocery 
 store of H. N. Murray, the same store and 
 in the same line of business in which he 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 26[ 
 
 himself is now engaged. For five and a 
 half years he continued in Mr. Murray's em- 
 ploy, and then, in partnership with John 
 Bingaman, purchased the stock of the Mur- 
 ray estate and continued the business. 
 This partnership lasted for nineteen and a 
 half years, when Mr. Bingaman withdrew, 
 since which time he has continued alone. 
 
 On the iSth of June, 1868, Mr. Cun- 
 ningham was united in marriage with Miss 
 Deliah Sanford, who was born in Buffalo 
 township, and daughter of Harrison and 
 Bridget (Deyo) Sanford, the former born in 
 Middletown, Delaware county. New York, 
 February 16, 18 12, and who died July i. 
 1866, and the latter born in the same coun- 
 ty and state, March 14, 18 14, and who died 
 October 19, 1869. They were married in 
 1835. Harrison Sanford came west in 1S35 
 in company of a party of New York people, 
 and took up some land in Buffalo township, 
 and followed farming for a number of years. 
 He then went to Oldtown and established a 
 hotel there, which he ran until 1854, when 
 he came to Polo and built a hotel where 
 the Exchange National Bank now stands, 
 and called it the Sanford House. He occu- 
 pied that house for some years. In 1870 
 the building was torn down, and the present 
 building erected by the stockholders of the 
 Exchange National Bank, of which Mr. Cun- 
 ningham is vice-president. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Cunningham four chil- 
 dren have been born: Cora is living at home 
 with her parents. F. S. is assisting his fa- 
 ther in the store. Fannie married Frank 
 Brown, and they have two children. They 
 reside in Sycamore, where he is engaged in 
 the grocery and drug business. Carrie died 
 May 7, 1 89 1, at the age of seventeen years. 
 
 In addition to his mercantile business, 
 Mr. Cunningham has been connected with 
 
 the Exchange National Bank since it was or- 
 ganized, April 15, 1 87 1, being one of its 
 charter members. Since 1885 he has filled 
 the office of vice-president of the same. He 
 is a good business man, conservative in all 
 things, and has the entire confidence of the 
 business community. In politics he is a 
 Republican, but not a partisan. Fraternally 
 he is a Mason, holding membership with 
 blue lodge at Polo, and the commandery at 
 Dixon, 
 
 GEORGE SMITH, who is operating a 
 farm of three hundred and twenty acres 
 on section 32, Woosung township, is a good 
 representative of the young, enterprising 
 farmers of Ogle county. He was born in 
 Rockbury, Washington county, Maryland, 
 April 21, 1861, and is the son of John V. 
 and Sarah (Smith) Smith, both of whom 
 were natives of Washington county, Mary- 
 land. They were the parents of four chil- 
 dren: George, our subject; Fannie E., wife 
 of Fred Seelemur, a farmer of Jones county, 
 Iowa; Jennie G., wife of Frank H. Wilson, 
 of Buffalo township; Ida E., wife of James 
 Hawkins, of Coleta, Whiteside county, Illi- 
 nois; and Anna D., wife of Elmer R. Oster- 
 houdt, residing on the home place, and as- 
 sisting in carrying on the farm. The great- 
 grandfather, John Smith, was a native of 
 Maryland. 
 
 The paternal grandfather, Solomon 
 Smith, was a native of Frederick county, 
 Maryland, a farmer by occupation, who 
 spent his entire life in his native state. He 
 married Elizabeth Hutzel, a native of 
 Washington county, Maryland, and their 
 children were John V., the father of our 
 subject; Susan L. ; Jacob L., a farmer of 
 Buffalo township; and Adam W., a real es- 
 
262 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 state dealer of Lincoln, Nebraska. The 
 great-grandfather on the mother's side was 
 John Hutzel, also a native of Maryland. 
 
 Sarah E. Smith, the mother of our sub- 
 ject, is the daughter of John and Mary 
 Smith, both natives of Maryland. John 
 Smith came to Illinois at the same time as 
 did the father of our subject. He located 
 on the farm which was later. purchased by 
 his son-in-law, and which is now the home 
 of our subject 
 
 John V. Smith was reared in his native 
 state, and he there married. In his native 
 state he worked for wages, and he there re- 
 mained until 1865, when he came to Ogle 
 county, Illinois, and the first year after his 
 arrival, rented and cultivated a farm in 
 Woosung township. He was then one year 
 on a rented farm in Pine Creek township, 
 after which he removed to the farm now 
 owned by his heirs. He made a humble 
 start in Ogle county, having not to exceed 
 one hundred dollars on his arrival here, but 
 he was industrious and attentive to business, 
 and left at his death a fine estate. In poli- 
 tics he was a Republican, but was never an 
 office seeker or a politician in the common 
 acceptation of the term. He believed it to 
 be the duty of every voter to cast his ballot 
 intelligently and as his best judgment dic- 
 tated. In religion he was a Lutheran. He 
 died at his home in Woosung township, 
 March 5, 1888, at the age of forty-nine 
 years and ten months. He was a good man 
 and had no fears of death. His widow is 
 yet living, and is making her home with her 
 husband's brother, Jacob L. Smith, of Buf- 
 falo township. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but four 
 years old when he came with his parents to 
 Ogle county. He grew to manhood on the 
 home farm, and was educated in the com- 
 
 mon schools and in the high school at Polo. 
 On attaining his majority, he rented the 
 home farm for one year, and the next 
 worked the place in company with his 
 father. He was married December 21, 
 1887, to Miss Harriet E. Wilson, who was 
 born in Buffalo township, and a daughter of 
 Jesse and Ann E. (Hyatt) Wilson, the 
 former a native of Baltimore, Maryland, 
 and the latter of Washington count}', same 
 state. Mr. Wilson came to Ogle county 
 soon after his marriage and located in 
 Buffalo township, where he still resides. 
 Mrs. Smith was one of their five children, 
 the others being Sarah E., wife of Daniel 
 Isham, of Buffalo township; Newton, who 
 died in childhood; Charles W. , a merchant 
 of Polo; and Franklin H., who lives with 
 his parents. 
 
 Since attaining his majority, George 
 Smith has been working the home farm. 
 The estate is yet intact, and since the 
 death of the father the children have made 
 some valuable improvements on it, having 
 erected a large barn and other outbuildings. 
 In politics he is an ardent Republican. Mr. 
 and Mrs. Smith have one son, John W. 
 The family are highly esteemed in the com- 
 munity in which they reside and their 
 friends are many. 
 
 SPENCER LAWSHE, who is retired from 
 active business, is now a leading and 
 highly respected citizen of Byron. Since 
 coming to this state in 1856 he has been 
 principally engaged in agricultural pursuits, 
 and has b}' shrewd judgment, excellent 
 management, and fair business transactions, 
 acquired sufficient property to enable him 
 to give up active labor and enjoy the results 
 of his former toil. 
 
SPENCER LAWSHE. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 :65 
 
 Mr. Lawshe is a native of New Jersey, 
 his birth occurring in Hunterdon county, 
 December 24, 1826. His grandfather, Jacob 
 Lawshe, who was of German descent, Hved 
 to the remarkable age of ninety-nine years. 
 The father, Henry Lawshe, who was also a 
 native of New Jersey, grew to manhood in 
 Hunterdon county, and tliere married Sarah 
 Carter, who was born in the same county 
 and was a daughter of Henry Carter. Mr. 
 Lawshe was -a weaver by trade but also en- 
 gaged in farming, and met with good suc- 
 cess in his undertaking, accumulating a com- 
 petence. He died in his native state in 
 1870, and his wife passed away a few years 
 previously. Si.\ children, five sons and one 
 daughter, constituted their family, namely: 
 William, who married and settled in New 
 Jersey, but later removed to Austin, Illinois, 
 where his death occurred; George married 
 and spent his entire life in New Jersey; 
 Spencer is the next of the family; Hannah 
 is the wife of John Dilts, a farmer of New Jer- 
 sey; Lewis H. married and spent his entire life 
 in New Jersey; and Jacob R. is a business 
 man of Newark, that state. 
 
 Until eighteen years of age Spencer 
 Lawshe remained with his father, assisting 
 in the labors of the home farm and attend- 
 ing the local schools to a limited extent, his 
 education being mostly self-acquired since 
 reaching manhood. He served a three 
 years' apprenticeship to the tanner's and 
 currier's trade, and then followed that occu- 
 pation for five years in his native state. 
 There he married Rachel Tomlinson, who 
 died after a short married life of a year 
 and a half. Alter her death he came 
 west to Rockford, Illinois, in 1856, and 
 for one year operated a rented farm in 
 Winnebago county. He then located near 
 Freeport and followed the same occu- 
 
 pation there for three years. In i860 
 he became a resident of Carroll county, 
 where, after renting for one year, he pur- 
 chased a farm of two hundred and forty- 
 five acres. While there he was again mar- 
 ried, March 20, 1864, his second union being 
 with Miss Ruby A. Rogers, who was also 
 born, reared and educated in Hunterdon 
 county, New Jersey. Her father. Major 
 Rogers, was a native of Connecticut, from 
 whence he removed to New Jersey when a 
 young man, and was married there to Eliz- 
 abeth Bodine, a native of that state, anil 
 in 1856 they came to Carroll count}', Illi- 
 nois, locating on a farm. In the east Mr. 
 Rogers worked at his trade (jf shoemaking 
 and also taught vocal music. 
 
 After carrying on his farm in Carroll 
 county for about five years, Mr. Lawshe 
 sold and moved to Rockford, where he pur- 
 chased residence property and engaged in 
 the express business for sixteen years. In 
 1884 he became a resident of Ogle county, 
 and first bought one hundred and seventy- 
 two acres of good farming land in Rock- 
 vale township, two miles from Byron, 
 which was well improved, and to which he 
 later added an adjoining tract of one hun- 
 dred and twenty acres, making a valuable 
 place of two liundred and ninety-two acres. 
 His time and attention were devoted to its 
 further improvement and cultivation until 
 the spring of 1897, when he rented the 
 farm and removed to Byron, where he has 
 since lived retired. 
 
 Of the eight children born to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Lawshe, six are now living. Major R. 
 died in childhood; Emma is the wife of 
 Sherman Taylor, a farmer of Marion town- 
 ship; Alice died at the age of twelve years; 
 George H. is a farmer of Shelby count}', 
 Iowa. Carrie is the wife of Amos Blanch- 
 
266 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ard, a farmer of Ogle county; Charles S. 
 is a business man of Chicago; J. Franklin 
 is in California, and Fred H. is at home. 
 Politically Mr. Lawshe was first identi- 
 fied with the Whig party, casting his first 
 vote for Zachary Taylor, but joined the Re- 
 publican party on its organization and has 
 since fought under its banner. He has 
 never cared for the honors or emoluments 
 of public office, but has always faithfully dis- 
 charged his duties of citizenship and has 
 supported those interests which he believed 
 calculated to prove of public benefit. 
 
 HENRY R. MEYERS, a prosperous and 
 enterprising farmer residing on section 
 13, Lincoln township, owns and operates 
 two hundred acres of land. He is a native 
 of the township, born January 16, 1848. 
 His father, Jonathan Meyers, was born in 
 Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, in 18 12. 
 His grandfather, Jacob Meyers, was a native 
 of Germany. In his native state Jonathan 
 Meyers grew to manhood, and in his youth 
 learned the mason's trade. In early man- 
 hood he went to Hagerstown, Maryland, 
 and there worked at his trade a few years, 
 then came west and settled in Ogle county. 
 This was in 1837. Here he took up a claim 
 of several hundred acres of land in Lincoln 
 township, and later entered several tracts 
 and opened up three or four farms. He 
 became in due time a very prosperous and 
 well-to-do farmer. He was married in this 
 county to Elizabeth Redman, a native of 
 Germany, who came to the new world a 
 young lady, with an aunt, and after residing 
 in Pennsylvania a few years came west and 
 located in White Eagle, Maryland township. 
 Ogle county, where she was residing at the 
 time she gave her hand in marriage to Jon- 
 
 athan Meyers. They became the parents 
 of four sons and three daughters and all but 
 one grew to mature years. Peter R. owns 
 and operates the old homestead. Lydia is 
 the wife of Lewis Boby, of Forreston. 
 Sarah is the wife of Benjamin McCutcheon, 
 of Forreston. Henry R. is next in order of 
 birth. Jonathan R. resides in Forreston. 
 Elizabeth is the wife of Joseph E. Garman, 
 of Maryland township. Aaron R. died at 
 the age of three years. 
 
 On one of his farms in Lincoln township 
 Jonathan Meyers located with his bride, 
 and there they reared their children. To 
 his agricultural interests Mr. Meyers gave 
 his undivided time and attention, caring 
 nothing for the honors or emoluments of 
 public office. He was a thoroughly prac- 
 tical farmer, and withal industrious, and it 
 is no wonder that success crowned his efforts. 
 His wife was called to her reward January 
 16, 1890, and he followed her July I 5, 1893. 
 They were members of the Lutheran church, 
 good Christian people, and worthy of the 
 respect in which they were held. 
 
 Henry R. Meyers spent his boyhood 
 and youth on the home farm and was edu- 
 cated in the West Grove school. He was 
 early given his regular duties to perform in 
 operating the home farm and grew up to be 
 a thoroughly practical farmer. He re- 
 mained at home with his parents until he 
 was twenty-nine years old, being a great 
 help to his parents. He was married in 
 Lincoln township, January 13, 1878, to 
 Miss Rebecca Elizabeth Mase, also a native 
 of Lincoln township. Ogle county, and 
 daughter of John M. Mase, a native of 
 Pennsylvania, who there grew to manhood 
 and came to Ogle county a young man, here 
 marrying Miss Ellen Meyers, a native of 
 Maryland, who came to Ogle county when 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 267 
 
 but two years old with her father, Jacob 
 Meyers, who was also a native of Maryland. 
 By this union four children were born, of 
 whom but one is now living, Oliver Grant, 
 a young man at home. Roy died at the 
 age of fourteen months, Luella at seven 
 months, and Sylvia at eight months. 
 
 Soon after his marriage, Mr. Meyers 
 erected a dwelling house on his present 
 farm, and in the fall of the same year moved 
 to the place where he has since resided. 
 After moving to the place he turned his at- 
 tention to its further improvement, erecting 
 a good substantial barn, granary, and vari- 
 ous outbuildings, set out an orchard, planted 
 shade and ornamental trees, remodeled the 
 house, until he to-day has one of the best- 
 improved farms in the township. 
 
 Politically Mr. Meyers is an earnest and 
 enthusiastic Republican, advocating the 
 principles of the party even before he at- 
 tained his majority. His first presidential 
 vote was cast for U. S. Grant in 1872, and 
 he has since supported the Republican can- 
 didate at every presidential election. He 
 was elected and served as commissioner of 
 highways for nine consecutive years, but has 
 never wanted public office. Fraternally he 
 is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at 
 Forreston. As a citizen he is held in high 
 esteem, and a progressive man he lends aid 
 to all worthy enterprises. 
 
 WILLIAM ELLIS, who is now living 
 retired in the village of Byron, is one 
 of the oldest and most highly esteemed citi- 
 zens of Ogle county. Years of quiet use- 
 fulness and a life in which the old-fashioned 
 virtues of sincerity, industry and integrity 
 are exemplified have a simple beauty that 
 no words can portray. Youth has its 
 
 charms, but an honorable and honored old 
 age, to which the lengthening years have 
 added dignity and sweetness, has a brighter 
 radiance, as if some ray from the life beyond 
 already rested upon it. 
 
 Mr. Ellis was born in Attleboro, Massa- 
 chusetts, June 22, 1808, and is a representa- 
 tive of a family of Welsh origin, who was 
 founded in Dedham, that state, by an old 
 gentleman and his seven sons at an early 
 day. The grandfather, Richard Ellis, was 
 a native of Massachusetts, as was also the 
 father, Hon. George Ellis, who, on reach- 
 ing manhood, married Miss Polly Fisher, 
 who was born near Dedham. They loca- 
 ted on a farm in Attleboro, where they 
 reared their family and spent the remainder 
 of their lives. The father was one of the 
 most prominent and influential men of the 
 community, and for one or more terms ably 
 represented his district in the state legis- 
 lature. In the family were nine children, 
 four sons and five daughters, who reached 
 years of maturity, but Daniel and Darwin 
 are now deceased; William is the subject of 
 this review; George Otis is a resident of 
 Middleboro, Connecticut; Adelia, Maria and 
 Emeline all married, but are now deceased; 
 Mrs. Catherine Plymton is a widow living 
 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island; Harriet is the 
 wife of Otis Putney, of Pawtucket, Rhode 
 Island; and Elizabeth died when young. 
 
 William Ellis grew to manhood on the 
 old home farm in Massachusetts, and had 
 fair school advantages. He learned the 
 jeweler's trade at Attleboro, serving a three 
 years' apprenticeship, and continued to fol- 
 low the business there for a few years. At 
 Middleboro, Connecticut, in 1845, he mar- 
 ried Miss Justina Abbott, a native of that 
 state and a daughter of David Abbott, who 
 belonged to an old and historic family. She 
 
26S 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 had six uncles who were ministers in the 
 Methodist Episcopal church and one who 
 followed the legal profession. To Mr. and 
 Mrs. Ellis were born seven children, four 
 of whom are now living, one son and three 
 daughters, namely: Adelaide J. married 
 David J. Simpson, of BjTon, Illinois, who 
 is now engaged in gold mining in Utah, and 
 their daughter, Helen Barnum, is now the 
 wife of Charles Beggs, who is connected 
 with the Standard Oil Company at Pitts- 
 burg. Pennsylvania. Eleanor F. married 
 Robert Spottswood, who is engaged in the 
 grain and lumber business in Winnebago, 
 Illinois. Fred W. is interested in railroad- 
 ing at Fall City, \\'ashington. Harriet is 
 the wife of Labra Spoor, a merchant of 
 Byron. Those deceased are Frances A., 
 Frank H. and George B. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Ellis and his 
 brother George Otis engaged in the manu- 
 facture of buckles and buttons at Middle- 
 boro, Connecticut, for a number of years, 
 but in 1852 he came to Illinois and first 
 located at Rockford, where he worked in 
 the factory of Clark & Utter for about eight 
 years. He then purchased a farm six miles 
 from that city and successfully engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits until 1889, when he 
 sold the place and the following year moved 
 to Byron, where he purchased property and 
 has since lived retired, enjoying a well- 
 earned rest. His faithful wife passed away 
 in April, 1891, at the age of sixty-three 
 years. 
 
 In politics Mr. Ellis was originally a 
 Jackson Democrat, casting his first vote for 
 Old Hickory, but on the organization of 
 the Republican party in 1856 he joined its 
 ranks and has since been one of its stalwart 
 supporters. On the 20th of September, 
 1849, he was made a Mason in Harmony 
 
 lodge at Waterbury, Connecticut, and still 
 holds membership there, being its oldest 
 living member. In the summer of 1898 he 
 and his daughter, Mrs. Simpson, made a 
 trip east and spent three months in visiting 
 in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Isl- 
 and, Pennsylvania, New York and Ohio. 
 Although over ninety years of age he is still 
 hale and hearty and has the appearance of 
 a man not to exceed seventy, as he is erect 
 and active, while his hearing is good and 
 his eyesight only slightly impaired. Nature 
 deals kindly with the man who abuses not 
 her laws. 
 
 SAMUEL KNODLE, dealer in watches, 
 clocks, jewelry, silverware and dia- 
 monds, Mt. Morris, Illinois, has now the 
 distinction of having been engaged in the 
 mercantile business a longer period of time 
 than any other man in the village. He was 
 born in Fairplay, Washington county, Mary- 
 land, a hamlet eight miles south of Hagers- 
 town, the county seat, August 4, 1820. 
 He attended the public school at Fairplay 
 from the time he was nine years old until 
 he was sixteen, from which time he applied 
 himself studiously to the acquisition of an 
 academic education, in the meantime assist- 
 ing his father in his store of general mer- 
 chandise. Following this he had a clerk- 
 ship in the store of Major E. Baker, and 
 later a clerkship in the general commission 
 house of Meixsell & Struebaker, of Balti- 
 more. Leaving the latter position in the 
 fall of 1839, he returned to the place of his 
 nativity and again took a position in his 
 father's store, which he filled until the fall 
 of 1842. 
 
 On the 13th of Januarj-, 1843, Mr. Kno- 
 dle was united in marriage with Miss I-Illcn 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Dick, who was born at Winchester, Vir- 
 ginia, June 12, 1823. In May, following, 
 they removed to Boonsboroug, Maryland, 
 where he engaged as teacher in the { ublic 
 shcool, and continued to fill that position 
 until January, 1846, in the meantime having 
 been in partnership with his brother, Jo- 
 siah, in printing and publishing a weekly 
 newspaper called The Odd Fellow. The 
 paper was not a fraternal paper, as its name 
 would indicate, but purely a local paper. 
 Having a taste for newspaper work, in Jan- 
 uary, 1846, he removed to Williamsport, 
 Maryland, and purchased of Judge Daniel 
 Weisel, The Republican Banner, a \\'hig 
 newspaper founded by him January i, 1830. 
 Six volumes of this paper are yet in posses- 
 sion of Mr. Knodle, and they embrace the 
 history of several of the most exciting po- 
 litical campaigns recorded in the annals of 
 the country, notably that of the Andrew 
 Jackson and Henry Clay contest for the 
 presidency in 1832. 
 
 After purchasing the material of the 
 office of The Republican Banner, Mr. Kno- 
 dle then commenced the issue of The 
 Times, which he continued to edit and pub- 
 lish until the fall of 184S, when he sold the 
 office and removed back to Fairplay, and 
 engaged as a teacher of the public school 
 there, in which he continued until March, 
 1856. In April of the same year he came 
 to Mt. Morris, expecting to secure the pub- 
 lic school at this place, but circumstances 
 favoring his embarking in the jewelry trade 
 he relinquished his time-honored profession, 
 and on the 20th of May, 1S56, he opened 
 a jewelry shop in rooms in the Eldorado 
 House, then conducted by the late Jona- 
 than Mumma. From that day to the pres- 
 ent time he has pursued that avocation. 
 
 During his residence in Mt. Morris, in 
 
 connection with his regular business, he has 
 been identified with all the various news- 
 paper enterprises up to 1879. In 1858-9, 
 he conducted the Northwestern Republican 
 for an association of citizens who purchased 
 the office of Atwood & Metcalf, who had 
 established the paper in the fall of 1857. 
 In 1860-61, he managed the Independent 
 Watchman, whom a like association of 
 business men had bought of Col. M. S. 
 Barnes, who had purchased the office of the 
 former association. This ended his news- 
 paper business in Mt. Morris until July, 
 1S76, when he again embarked in the busi- 
 ness, in the establishment of The Inde- 
 pendent, owned by a corporation company, 
 Mr. Knodle owning nearly one-half of the 
 stock, consisting of a well-equipped job 
 printing plant, which was added to the 
 newspaper outfit, the job office having been 
 conducted by him since 1872. In May, 
 1877, the Independent Company sold the 
 the office to Henry Sharer, and his son, 
 John, then immediately commenced the 
 publication of the Ogle County Democrat, 
 with Mr. Knoole, as manager of the typo- 
 graphical department and proof reader. 
 
 Mr. Knodle had a family of nine chil- 
 dren. Emanuel Luther was born at Boons- 
 borough, Marland, April 17, 1844, and died 
 July 23, of the same year. Washington Irv- 
 ing, born June 13, 1845, died December 29, 
 1845. Charles William, born at Williams- 
 port, Maryland, April 13, 1847, died Janu- 
 ary 16, 1848. Mary Ann, born at Fairplay, 
 Maryland, July 3, 1849, died December 16, 
 1849. Edwin Wilme, born at Fairplay, 
 December 6, 1850, is now living near Mon- 
 roe, Wisconsin. Jane Elizabeth, born at 
 Mt. Morris, Illinois, June 8, 1857, married 
 John A. Walker, February 14, 1880, and 
 they are now residing in Mt. Morris. Lillie 
 
i-jo 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Belle, born in Mt. Morris, January 5, i860, 
 married George Eliot Coffman, January 16, 
 1879, and they now reside in Thayer, Kan- 
 sas. Thomas Oscar, born in Mt. Morris, 
 August 29, 1863, died August 25, 1865. 
 Ernest Elmer, born in Mt. Morris, October 
 5, 1868, married Miss Mary Carpenter, 
 April 10, 1893, and they now reside in 
 Rockford, Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Knodle's father, Samuel Knodle, 
 Sr., was born in Adams county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, April 23, 1784, and was married at 
 Hagerstown, Maryland, January 3, 1806, 
 to Miss Jane Cutshaw, who was also born 
 in Adams county, Pennsylvania. What 
 time they removed to Maryland is not known, 
 but some time prior to 18 10. at about which 
 time his father built the first house at the 
 place which was afterwards known as Fair- 
 play, where his parents continued to reside 
 until the day of their death, his father dy- 
 ing May 29, 1851, and his mother January 
 23, 1865. 
 
 Since coming to Mt. Morris, Mr. Knodle 
 has been quite active in local affairs. He 
 was clerk of the township of Mt. Morris 
 from 1858 to 1861, and in i860, i86i, and 
 1868, served as village clerk. In 1S71 he 
 served as village trustee and president of 
 the board. In 1883 he was elected village 
 clerk, and has been annually re-elected, 
 making twenty years service in that office. 
 In 1876 he was collector of the township of 
 Mt. Morris. Few men have the good will 
 of their fellow men in a higher degree. 
 
 CHARLES W. GARNHART, a wide- 
 awake and progressive farmer residing 
 on section 25, Marion township, four miles 
 and a half south of Stillman Valley, is a 
 man whose sound common sense and vigor- 
 
 ous, able management of his affairs have 
 been important factors in his success, and 
 with his undoubted integrity of character 
 have given him an honorable position among 
 his fellowmen. His birth occurred in North- 
 umberland county, Pennsylvania, August 27, 
 1834, and he is a representative of one of 
 the old honored families of that state. 
 There his great-grandfather, Peter Garn- 
 hart, and grandfather, Balsar Garnhart, 
 were also born, and the latter was a pioneer 
 of Northumberland county, his early home 
 having been in the southern part of the 
 state. John Garnhart, father of our sub- 
 ject, was born on the same farm in North- 
 umberland county where his son's birth oc- 
 curred, and there he grew to manhood and 
 followed farming for some years. He mar- 
 ried Louisa Moress, also a native of Penn- 
 sylvania, and a daughter of Squire Moress. 
 In 1849 they started across the country to 
 Illinois v/ith two teams and arrived in Ogle 
 county during the fall. That winter the 
 father purchased the farm on which our 
 subject now resides, but the only improve- 
 ment found thereon at that time was a rude 
 log cabin, while about thirty acres had been 
 broken by the plow. Acre after acre was 
 soon placed under cultivation, and in due 
 time a pleasant brick residence was erected, 
 and also a good barn with a basement, mak- 
 ing it one of the best improved farms of the 
 county. For many years Mr. Garnhart was 
 one of the most active and successful farm- 
 ers of the community, but spent his last 
 years in retirement in Rockford, passing 
 away at his home there July 26, 1870. His 
 first wife died on the home farm and he 
 subsequently married again. 
 
 By the first union there were seven chil- 
 dren, si.\ sons and one daughter, of whom 
 Charles W., our subject, is the eldest; 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 271 
 
 Harry married and located on the old home- 
 stead where his death occurred; George W. 
 is a farmer near Polo, Illinois; David P. 
 served as a soldier during the war of the 
 Rebellion and now resides on a farm in 
 Stephenson county, Illinois; Mary C. is 
 the wife of Wallace Walters, of Calhoun 
 county, Iowa; Aaron, who was also a sol- 
 dier in the Civil war, later became a busi- 
 ness man of Davenport, Iowa, and there 
 died; and John W. is a farmer of Pine Rock 
 township. Ogle county. 
 
 Charles W. Garnhartwas a lad of fifteen 
 years when the family came to Ogle county, 
 and being the eldest son he was early in- 
 ured to the arduous task of developing wild 
 land into productive and well cultivated 
 fields. He also assisted in making improve- 
 ments upon the place. He received good 
 common school advantages and at the age 
 of nineteen years began life for himself by 
 working by the month for Peter Smith for 
 two years. He then learned the carpen- 
 ter's and joiner's trade, which he followed 
 forabout the same length of time. He 
 rented land in White Rock township and 
 successfully engaged in farming on his own 
 account. In the spring of 1862 he bought 
 his first land, which was an improved land 
 of one hundred and twenty-eight acres in 
 Pine Rock township, and after operating it 
 for about six years he bought eighty-eight 
 acres adjoining, making a fine farm of two 
 hundred and seventeen acres, upon which 
 he made many substantial improvements. 
 He lived there until 1877, when he pur- 
 chased the old homestead and rented the 
 former place. He started out in life for 
 himself empty-handed, and for his work re- 
 ceived but small wages. This did not dis- 
 courage him, however, and he is to-day the 
 owner of two valuable farms, which have 
 
 been obtained through his own labor, econ- 
 omy and well-directed efforts. 
 
 In September, i86i, in Ogle county, Mr. 
 Garnhart led to the marriage altar Miss 
 Caroline Lilley, who was also born in North- 
 umberland county, Pennsylvania, and when 
 a child of thirteen years was brought to Illi- 
 nois with her parents, David and Catherine 
 Lilley, who settled in Marion township, Ogle 
 county, in the spring of 1847. Of the five 
 children born to Mr. and Mrs. Garnhart two 
 died in infancy. Those living are Lawrence 
 D. , a carpenter and joiner, now residing in 
 Minnesota; William H., who assists in car- 
 rying on the home farm; and Clarence W., 
 a carpenter and joiner residing at home. 
 
 Mr. Garnhart has been an ardent Re- 
 publican in political sentiment since casting 
 his first vote for John C. Fremont in 1856, 
 and he has taken quite an active and prom- 
 inent part in local politics. At the age of 
 twenty-two he was elected a member of the 
 school board, and served as such for twen- 
 ty-five or thirty years, most of the time be- 
 ing president of the board, also serving as 
 clerk part of the time. He has also filled 
 the office of commissioner of highways for 
 sixteen years, and being the present incum- 
 bent he has two more years to serve. His 
 official duties have always been most 
 promptly and faithfully discharged, and he 
 is now most capably and satisfactorily fill- 
 ing the office of township trustee. In all 
 the relations of life he has been found true 
 to every trust reposed in him, and well 
 merits the high esteem in which he is held 
 by all who know him. 
 
 M 
 
 AJOR EDWARD FELLOWS 
 D U TCH E R . — Among the remain- 
 ing early settlers of Ogle county is that 
 
272 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 distinguished lawyer, soldier and pioneer 
 whose name heads this sketch. He was 
 born April 2, 1828, in Canaan township, 
 Litchfield county, Connecticut, on the Hou- 
 satonic river. His education was obtained 
 at the Lenox Academy, at Lenox, Mass- 
 achusetts, and in a school at Salsibury, 
 Connecticut. Later he took up the pro- 
 fession of law, and in 1836 entered the 
 law office of Woods & Morse, at Lock- 
 port, New York, and began his reading. He 
 read in this and other offices until 1842, 
 when he was admitted to the bar in Or- 
 leans county. New York, and soon after- 
 wards formed a partnership with Judge Roy- 
 al Chamberlain for practice in that county, 
 locating at Lynden. In 1846 he became 
 imbued with a desire to go west, and in that 
 year he is found located at Oregon, Ogle 
 county, Illinois, with hisoffice open for busi- 
 ness. 
 
 Major Dutcher is the son of Captain Ru- 
 luff Dutcher, who was born at Dutcher's 
 Bridge, Litchfield county, Connecticut, a 
 farmer by occupation, a soldier of the war 
 of 1812, serving as captain of a com- 
 pany. His father, the grandfather of our 
 subject, was Captain Ruluff Dutcher, who 
 was born in 1738 and who served through 
 the war of the Revolution, entering the serv- 
 ice first as corporal in Captain James Hud- 
 son's company of Major Skinner's regiment 
 of light-horse militia. His name appears 
 on the rolls of the war department as having 
 "marched June 29th. Time when discharg- 
 ed, August 3d. Days in service, 38." Lat- 
 er the war records show him with the rank 
 of captain of a company of Major Sheldon's 
 regiment of light horse in 1776. This roll 
 contains special remarks relative to his serv- 
 ice. This Revolutionary captain was a son 
 of a Hollander whose name was also Ruluff, 
 
 and who was born on the ocean while his 
 parents were en route to America. He 
 died January 17, 1736. 
 
 The mother of our subject was Lucinda 
 Howe, daughter of Elisha Howe, of English 
 ancestry. She was a cousin of Admiral 
 Howe, of the English navy. She died at 
 Amboy, Illinois, August 27, 1874, in her 
 eighty-seventh year, and her remains were 
 interred at Oregon. The paternal grand- 
 mother, Jane Dutcher, iicc Ashley, was the 
 daughter of John Ashley, who was a general 
 in the Revolutionary war. The second 
 daughter of John Ashley, Mary, married 
 John Fellows, who was also a general in 
 the war for independence. John Fellows' 
 son, Edward, was a colonel in the same 
 war, and is the one from whom the subject 
 of this sketch is named. Revolutionary 
 records also show that William Bull, the 
 first husband of Jane Ashley, was a surgeon 
 in the Revolutionary war and died from 
 smallpo.x, and that later Jane married Major 
 Dutcher's grandfather. 
 
 Ruluff and Lucinda Dutcher were the 
 parents of nine children, as follows: Fred- 
 erick R. , born December 21, 1804; Caroline 
 M., born July i, 1806; William A., born 
 January 7, 1809, and died in i85o;Emeline 
 J., born June i, 18 12; Elisha Wells, born 
 in 181 5; Edward F. , our subject; Catherine 
 L., born November 15, 1820; Samuel A., 
 born January 7, 1823; and Elizabeth S., 
 born May 10, 1825. Emeline, who mar- 
 ried Herman B. Bushnell, was matron of 
 the Soldiers' Home, Quincy, Illinois, for 
 three years. Her only son. Lieutenant 
 Pierre Bushnell, was killed during the Civil 
 war. Caroline M., who married Frederick 
 A. Sterling, died at her son's home in St. 
 Louis, January 3, 1898, at the age of ninety- 
 two years. Her only daughter married 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Joseph H. Choate, the distinguished lawyer 
 of New York city. Samuel A. is living at 
 Farley, Iowa. 
 
 Major Dutcher was reading law at Lock- 
 port, at the time of the burning of the 
 steamer Caroline, at Schlosser. To him 
 was given the important charge of going to 
 Buffalo for a capias for the arrest of the 
 British officer under whose orders the vessel 
 was burned. During the Canadian trouble 
 of 1837-8, Major Dutcher was arrested at 
 Hamilton, Ontario, and held a prisoner for 
 four days as a rebel, together with seven- 
 teen other Americans, whose sympathies 
 for the Canadians brought the action of the 
 higher powers against them. 
 
 It was not long after Mr. Dutcher opened 
 his office at Oregon before the people of 
 this section of the country became satisfied 
 that he was a lawyer of no mean ability. 
 In fact he soon took front rank among the 
 members of the profession, and before the 
 war for the Union commenced he was rec- 
 ognized as the leading criminal lawyer of 
 the northwestern part of the state. He 
 was of Revolutionary stock of patriotic an- 
 cestors, and when the war broke out and a 
 blow was aimed at the union his ancestors 
 had helped create, it was his second nature 
 to take a hand and help parry that blow. 
 Accordingly his name is found on the mus- 
 ter roll in August, 1862. He was soon after 
 commissioned second lieutenant, with au- 
 thority from Governor Yates to recruit a 
 company, which he soon had ready, and it 
 was assigned to the Seventy-fourth Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantr}'. On the organisation 
 of the regiment he was elected major, and 
 with his regiment he reached the front Oc- 
 tober 1st, and was assigned to the Army of 
 the Cumberland. In all he recruited some 
 four hundred men for the army. With his 
 
 regiment he took part in the battle of Cham- 
 plain Hill, and the skirmishes in pursuit of 
 General Bragg. He was also in action at 
 the battles of Perryville, Lancaster, Knobb 
 Gap, Overall Creek, Stone River and in all 
 the skirmishes and marches in which his 
 regiment was engaged, until he received his 
 discharge in March, 1S63, on account of 
 disability. For seventy days after the bat- 
 tle of Stone River, Major Dutcher was in 
 command of his regiment, and was in the 
 expedition to Franklin, Temiessee, under 
 General Jeff C. Davis, the object being to 
 intercept Forrest and Wheeler. On leaving 
 the army he returned to Oregon, and on re- 
 gaining his health resumed the practice of 
 his profession. 
 
 Major Dutcher was united in marriage, 
 in 1849, to Elizabeth C. Van Valkenburg, 
 a native of Kinderhook, New York. This 
 union was blessed with si.\ children. Ed- 
 ward S. was a resident of St. Louis, Mis- 
 souri. He is now deceased. William H. 
 lives at Oregon, and has served as United 
 States deputy marshal for the northern dis- 
 trict of Illinois. Ruliiff E. married Maggie 
 Terwilliger, and they reside in Council 
 Gro\e, Kansas. George A. married Laura 
 McCary, and they reside in Oregon. Katie 
 S. and Mary A. died in childhood. Mrs. 
 Elizabeth C. Dutcher departed this life 
 May 13, 1876. In 1S79 Major Dutcher 
 married Sarah (Marsh) Scripter, of Batavia, 
 New York, who died in June, 1895. 
 
 Major Dutcher has always been an earn- 
 est Democrat, though generally in advance 
 of his party, politically. He has lived in a 
 county and district some fifty \ears which 
 has been largely Republican, yet he has 
 been true to his early training, but discuss- 
 ing freely what he conceived to be the errors 
 of his party. In 1849, in a series of able 
 
274 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 articles, he denounced in unmeasured terms 
 tlie "black laws" of 1845. These papers 
 brought upon him much censure from the 
 members of the Democratic and Whig par- 
 ties who supported those laws. In the days 
 of Knownothingism he took an advanced 
 position in the advocacy of the doctrine 
 which he claimed every foreigner coming to 
 the United States to reside should adopt — 
 he should be required to file his intention 
 to become a citizen, and that a court hav- 
 ing jurisdiction should be the scene of this 
 action within ninety days after his arrival. 
 In that way only should aliens be allowed 
 to enter government land, and then only 
 upon the further condition that said alien 
 should become a naturalized citizen within 
 six years thereafter, and in case of failure 
 to secure such citizenship, such lands should 
 revert back to the general government. 
 Later legislation has shown the soundness 
 of these views and his far-seeing mind. 
 
 The major has always taken an active 
 part in political matters, but living in a dis- 
 trict where his party was in the minority, 
 political preferment even if desired was out 
 of the question. He severely denounced 
 the verdict of the electoral commission, 
 and has always held that Tilden was duly 
 elected. He was a delegate to the Demo- 
 cratic convention that nominated Horatio 
 Seymour for president, and has twice been 
 chosen presidential elector for Illinois. 
 
 Major Dutcher has been in active life 
 for nearly a half century in this and adjoin- 
 ing circuits, and has acquired a reputation 
 in criminal law practice excelled by none. 
 Up to within a few years he was connected 
 with almost every important criminal trial 
 in this circuit, and in every case of homicide 
 with which he was connected he has saved 
 his client from the death penalty save one. 
 
 and this one exception was when he was ap- 
 pointed by the court to defend a prisoner in 
 the absence of his attorney, and had no 
 time to prepare for trial. With his thor- 
 ough knowledge of criminal jurisprudence, 
 his analytical mind quick to grasp all the 
 salient points of a cause, his intuitive esti- 
 mate of the character of evidence, his clear, 
 logical arguments and forceful reasoning, 
 win for him the respect and attention of the 
 court and the confidence of the jury. 
 Courtly and fair in the conduct of cases was 
 another attribute he possessed. This, to- 
 gether with his willingness to give his best 
 efforts to the poor client, as well as the one 
 who could produce a handsome retainer, 
 made him the ideal lawyer. His phenom- 
 enal memory was another aid in his profes- 
 sion, and in the longest trials he rarely took 
 notes. 
 
 During the war the Major generally had 
 two horses with him, and many a weary or 
 wounded soldier, unable to keep up, had his 
 sore feet relieved, or his limbs rested, or 
 saved from capture by the rebels, by riding 
 the major's horses, while he would jog along 
 afoot. He has always held to the immortal 
 principle embodied in the Declaration of 
 Independence, that "all men are created 
 equal." He is to-day an active member of 
 the Grand Army of the Republic, and has 
 aided hundreds of soldiers in securing their 
 pensions without charge. 
 
 In addition to his practice the Major has 
 been an extensive breeder of fine horses, an 
 animal of which he is very proud. He has 
 raised some very fast horses and has ma- 
 terially aided in improving the stock of this 
 noble animal in Ogle and adjoiningcounties. 
 After a residence of over a half century in 
 Oregon, and although he has passed his 
 four score years, he is yet hale and hearty, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 -75 
 
 with lorm erect, and his mental powers un- 
 impaired. He was reared in the Episcopal 
 laith, and his religious views incline in that 
 direction. Genial in manners, he has al- 
 ways had many warm friends. 
 
 SILAS WRIGHT LEWIS, a leading res- 
 ident of Rockvale township, and a 
 thorough and experienced farmer, was born 
 in Saratoga county, New York, November 
 1 8, 1843, and is the son of the late Stephen 
 Lewis and his wife, Judith Maria (Boyce) 
 Lewis, natives of Herkimer county. New 
 York, the former born November 25, 1S18, 
 and the latter October 23, 1822. Mr. and 
 Mrs. Lewis were married June 30, 1839, 
 and are the parents of two children, Caro- 
 line, who married George Clancy, and died 
 in 1S63, and Silas Wright. 
 
 When the subject of this sketch was a 
 child of five years, his father, believing 
 that the west afforded greater opportunities 
 for advancement and progress, moved his 
 family to Buffalo, and thence to Chicago by 
 way of the great lakes, which place he left 
 for Oregon, Illinois, moving later to Rock- 
 vale township, where he rented successive- 
 ly, for periods of two years each, the farms 
 of Hiram Read, William Irvine, John 
 James, Hiram Getchell and the Hill farm. 
 Later he purchased two hundred acres on 
 section 9, where he lived until his death, 
 which occurred October 25, 1879, and 
 where his wife still resides at the comforta- 
 ble age of seventy-seven. 
 
 Mr. Lewis' grandparents, John and 
 Elizabeth (Miliis) Lewis, were natives of 
 Saratoga county. They were farmers by 
 occupation, and emigrated to Ogle county 
 in 1879, where they resided until their 
 death. His great-grandparents on both 
 
 sides, took part in the great struggle that 
 gave us our freedom, and which was the 
 first step toward the position which we now 
 occupy, one of the foremost nations of the 
 earth. 
 
 Our subject first attended school at the 
 home of Mrs. Ditwilder, and later, in an 
 old log house which was converted into a 
 school-room. When not attending school 
 Mr. Lewis assisted his father about the 
 farm, and at odd times picked up carpen- 
 tering and blacksmithing, at which he 
 became very proficient. He is still actively 
 engaged in the cultivation of his farm, a 
 valuable tract of two hundred acres. 
 
 December 15, 1871, our subject was 
 united in holy matrimony, to Mary Palmer, 
 who was born on the 9th of October, 1851, 
 and is a daughter of Harry and Lydia 
 (Beeler) Palmer. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis are 
 the parents of four children: Elma, the eld- 
 est, died of scarlet fever when but two 
 years of age; Zelda May, born in 1875, is 
 the wife of Lawson Stine. They have a 
 bright little son of three years, and are 
 living on the Frank Knode farm; Stephen, 
 a typical specimen of young America, was 
 born October 25, 1878, and remains at 
 home to assist his father in the management 
 and superintendence of the home farm; 
 Lydia, the youngest child, was born in 1881, 
 and is the wife of George E. Smith. They 
 reside at the home of our subject and are 
 the parents of a fine daughter born January 
 7, 1899, Mary P. Smith. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Lewis is a Republican, 
 and takes a keen interest in all affairs of 
 state. He is at present holding the office 
 of school director, in which capacity he has 
 served for three terms. He has also served 
 as pathmaster. It seems hard to realize, in 
 looking over Mr. Lewis' farm, that these 
 
276 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 lands now in such excellent state of cultiva- 
 tion, were so recently the home of the deer, 
 and other wild game, but America is 
 nothing if not progressive and to her people 
 belong the credit of this progression. It 
 is to the agriculturists, however, that we 
 owe our standing as the greatest grain- 
 producing country in the world. 
 
 JOHN SHELLY, a prominent and influ- 
 ential farmer residing on section 11, 
 Forreston township. Ogle county, was born 
 in Blair county, Pennsylvania, August 15, 
 1850, and is a son of Abram and Elizabeth 
 (Snively) Shelly, who were also natives of 
 Pennsylvania and were married in Blair 
 county, where the father carried on opera- 
 tions as a farmer until 1870. Coming to 
 Illinois in that year, he spent one year in 
 Ogle county, and then located in Carroll 
 county, where he bought an improved place 
 and again turned his attention to farming. 
 There he spent his last years, dying Septem- 
 ber 25, 1875, at the age of seventy-two years, 
 ten months and twenty-three days. His 
 wife, who survived him for a number of 
 years, passed away in 1896, at the age 
 of eighty-five years, three months and fif- 
 teen days. Besides our subject, the other 
 children of the family were as follows: 
 Jacob, a traveling salesman residing in 
 Shannon, Carroll county; Mrs. Susan Bre- 
 neinan, of Lenark, Illinois; Mrs. Henry 
 Shirk, of Shannon; Mrs. Lizzie Hoffee, who 
 makes her home near Grundy Center, Iowa; 
 Mrs. Barbara Shirk, of Carroll county; Mrs. 
 Sarah Stonrook, of Cedar county, Iowa; 
 Mrs. Louisa Bowers, of Kansas; and Mrs. 
 Albert Puterbaugh, of Plattsburg, Missouri. 
 John Shelly received a good common- 
 school education in his native state and was 
 
 a young man when he came with the family 
 to Illinois. Here he assisted his father in 
 the operation of the home farm until the 
 latter's death. In Forreston township, Ogle 
 county, December 4, 1877, he led to the 
 marriage altar Miss Barbara Shirk, also 
 a native of Blair county, Pennsylvania. 
 Her father, Rev. Joseph Shirk, a minister 
 of the Dunkard church, was born in Lan- 
 caster county, that state, in 1827, and in 
 Pennsylvania grew to manhood. He mar- 
 ried Miss Rebecca Miller, a native of 
 Bedford county, Pennsylvania, born in 1834, 
 where he engaged in farming for a number 
 of years. On coming west in 1865 he first 
 located on a farm in Forreston township, 
 Ogle county, near Harper, but one year 
 later removed to another farm on section 
 II, the same township, where he engaged 
 in agricultural pursuits for some years. 
 Since 1895, however, he has lived retired 
 in Shannon, enjoying a well-earned rest. 
 Mrs. Shelly is the oldest in her family of 
 four children, two sons and two daughters, 
 the others being Robert, a farmer of Carroll 
 county; Jennie, at home with her parents; 
 and Porter, who now operates the old home 
 farm. Our subject and his wife have three 
 children: Ida M., who is now attending the 
 Shannon high school; Harry N. and Oscar. 
 They lost their oldest child, Alvin, who 
 died at they age of two and a half years. 
 
 For three years after his marriage Mr. 
 Shelly engaged in agricultural pursuits on 
 the Blair farm in Carroll county, and then 
 bought the place on which he now resides 
 on section 11, Forreston township. Ogle 
 county. It was then but slightly improved, 
 and the house was in a rather dilapidated 
 condition, but during the eighteen years of 
 his residence here he has made many 
 changes, has set out forest and ornamental 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 trees, has built a commodious and pleasant 
 residence, erected good outbuildings and 
 now has one of the neatest and best im- 
 proved places of the township, comprising 
 eighty acres. In connection with general 
 farming he is engaged in the dairy business, 
 and for this purpose keeps on hand from ten 
 to fourteen cows. Formerly he was inter- 
 ested in breeding and raising stock, and 
 kept a good grade of cattle and hogs. He 
 commenced life for himself in limited cir- 
 cumstances, and by his own labor and enter- 
 prise and the assistance of his estimable 
 wife, he has become one of the prosperous 
 and well-to-do farmers of the community in 
 which he lives. He has always been a sup- 
 porter of the Republican party, but has 
 never aspired to office, though he has capably 
 served as school director for ten years, and 
 as clerk of the district. Religiously, both 
 he and his wife are worthy members of the 
 German Baptist church, and are held in high 
 esteem by all who know them. 
 
 JOHN FRANKLIN SPALDING, of By- 
 ron, Illinois, is undoubtedly one of the 
 best business men of Ogle count}'. Indus- 
 try, enterprise and energy have been the 
 crowning points of his success, and his con- 
 nection with various business enterprises 
 and industries have been of decided ad- 
 vantage to this section of the state, pro- 
 moting its material welfare in no uncertain 
 manner. 
 
 Mr. Spalding is a native of Illinois, his 
 birth occurring in Winnebago county, Janu- 
 ary 30, 1843. The Spalding family is of 
 English extraction, and was founded in the 
 United States in 1619 by two brothers, one 
 of whom settled in Connecticut, the other in 
 Maryland. From the former, who bore the 
 
 name of Edward, our subject is descended. 
 His great-grandfather, John Spalding, was a 
 native of Connecticut, and served with dis- 
 tinction as a colonel in the Revolutionary 
 war. The grandfather, Harry Spalding, 
 died at the early age of thirty-six years. 
 
 S. S. Spalding, the father of our subject, 
 was born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, 
 in 1816, and in 1835, when a young man of 
 nineteen years, he came to Illinois. An 
 older brother, John Franklin Spalding, had 
 located here several years previous and died 
 in Chicago in 1832, while two other broth- 
 ers, Asa and James, also came here in 1835, 
 and Harry arrived several years later. S. S. 
 Spalding and his two brothers spent the 
 winter of 1835-6 in Peru, Illinois, and in 
 the summer of 1836 came to Ogle county 
 and located in Byron township. Our sub- 
 ject's father took a claim two miles west of 
 the village of Byron and opened up a farm 
 of live hundred acres, becoming one of the 
 prominent and substantial farmers of the 
 county. He was married here to Miss 
 Lydia Ann Weldon, a native of Strasburg, 
 Pennsylvania, and a daughter of John Wel- 
 don. She came to this state with Asa 
 Spalding and died in November, i860, 
 while her husband passed away in January, 
 1869. To this worthy couple were born 
 si.x children, of whom two daughters died 
 in childhood. Those living are John Frank- 
 lin, of this review; D. W., a resident of 
 Chamberlain, South Dakota; Mrs. Alice 
 Danforth, of California; and Mrs. Susan 
 Stout, of St. Paul, Minnesota. 
 
 Upon the home farm in Byron towiship, 
 Mr. Spalding of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood, and the early education he acquired 
 in the district schools of the neighborhood 
 was supplemented by a year's attendance 
 at an academy in Monroe, Connecticut. On 
 
278 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 his return to Ogle county, he spent one 
 year on the farm with his father, but in July, 
 1862, he joined the boys in blue as private 
 in Company B, Ninety-second Illinois Vol- 
 unteer Infantry, which was assigned to the 
 Army of the Cumberland. Later he was 
 promoted to the rank of sergeant and parti- 
 cipated in the battles of Chickamauga, 
 Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, the 
 Atlanta campaign, the March to the Sea, 
 and the engagements at Goldsboro and 
 Raleigh. At Jonesboro he was disabled by 
 a gunshot through the right shoulder and 
 also through the left arm, and at Raleigh 
 had a horse killed under him, while at 
 Chickamauga his gun was shot to pieces. 
 For three long years he followed the old 
 flag to victory on southern battle fields, 
 being mustered out at Concord, North 
 Carolina, in June, 1865. 
 
 On his return home, Mr. Spaulding 
 commenced working by the month on a 
 farm, and the following year operated 
 rented land. On the 20th of December, 
 1866, was celebrated his marriage with 
 Miss Emily L. Reed, who was born and 
 reared in Byron, her father, Lucius Reed, 
 being a native of Vermont and a pioneer of 
 Ogle county. They now have four children: 
 Carl S., who is married and engaged in 
 business in Byron; Lucius Reed, an electri- 
 cian, who now has charge of the electric 
 light plant at Kirkland, Illinois; Roy V. 
 who has prepared himself for the legal pro- 
 fession, graduating from the law department 
 of the State University in June, i8g8; and 
 Ralph D , who is attending the home 
 schools, and in five years has been neither 
 absent nor tardy. 
 
 In 1 868 Mr. Spalding purchased a farm 
 of one hundred and twenty acres, which 
 had been placed under the plow and fenced. 
 
 He erected thereon good buildings and en- 
 gaged in its cultivation until 1875, when he 
 sold the place and bought residence prop- 
 erty in Byron, where he has since made his 
 home. In 1873 he began to take contracts 
 for building bridges and has followed that 
 business continuously since with marked 
 success, never having had an accident hap- 
 pen through any fault of his own to a bridge 
 he constructed. He build them of wood, 
 iron and stone, but mostly of iron and 
 stone, and has constructed more bridges in 
 Ogle county than any three men together. 
 He spent three weeks in the lobbies of the 
 legislature trying to get the act passed 
 authorizing the building of the Byron 
 bridge, and later had the contract for part 
 of the work on that structure. In 1876 he 
 erected four store buildings on Main street, 
 Byron, which were lost by fire two years 
 later, and in 1878 he built the Commercial 
 Hotel, which he conducted for five years in 
 connection with his other business. He 
 also built a livery stable and carried it on for 
 ten years. He has a ranch in South Da- 
 kota and is extensively interested in stock 
 growing. He is one of the most active, 
 progressive and successful business men of 
 the community and the prosperity that has 
 crowned his efforts is certainly well de- 
 served. 
 
 Since casting his first vote for General 
 U. S. Grant in 1868, Mr. Spalding has 
 been an ardent Republican, and has ever 
 taken an active and prominent part in 
 political affairs. He has most capably and 
 satisfactorily tilled the offices of school di- 
 rector, commissioner of highways, village 
 trustee, etc., and in 1888 was elected super- 
 visor. So acceptably did he serve in that 
 position that he has been constantly re- 
 elected up to the present time, and was 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 279 
 
 chairman of the board for two years. He 
 has also been chairman of almost every 
 committee and as superintendent had charge 
 of all the business connected with the build- 
 ing of the court house. He has taken an 
 active interest in all public improvements 
 and is recognized as one of the most pro- 
 gressive and public-spirited citizens of the 
 county. He has served as a delegate to the 
 county and state conventions of his party, 
 and during the fortieth general assembly 
 was one of the three sergeants at arms and 
 also through a called session. Socially he 
 is a prominent member of the Grand Army 
 post at Byron, in which he has served as 
 commander, and he was also one of the 
 trustees and a member of the building com- 
 mittee during the erection of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church at that place, of which 
 his wife is a member. 
 
 Mr. Spalding holds a commission given 
 by Governor Fifer, in 1892, as a member 
 of the National Nicaragua Canal convention, 
 which held its first meeting at Saint Louis 
 in June, 1892, and met the following year 
 in November, in New Orleans. There were 
 twenty-two commissioners appointed for 
 the state of Illinois. 
 
 BENJAMIN WOLF, a farmer residing 
 on section 36, Woosuug township, 
 was born November 13, 1839, in Hunting- 
 don county, Pennsylvania, and is the son of 
 Jacob and Elizabeth (Layman) Wolf, both 
 of whom were natives of Pennsylvania, the 
 former being born about 1804. He was a 
 shoemaker by trade, an occupation which 
 he followed throughout life. He remained 
 in Pennsylvania until 1850 when he came 
 to Ogle county and located in Pine Creek 
 township, but still continued to work at 
 
 his trade. His death occurred in 1875. 
 In his family were nine sons, two of 
 whom died in childhood. The living are 
 Samuel, a farmer of Powesheik county, 
 Iowa; Henry, ashoemaker of Polo, Illinois; 
 George, a farmer of Powesheik county, 
 Iowa; Jacob, a carpenter, residing in Polo; 
 Benjamin, our subject; Joseph, a fruit 
 grower of Los Angeles county, California; 
 and John, a harness maker, residing in Iowa. 
 
 In his native county our subject com- 
 menced his education in the public schools. 
 He was eleven years old when the family 
 came to Ogle county, and in the public 
 schools of this county he finished his educa- 
 tion. As soon as physicially able he en- 
 gaged in farm work for wages, and contin- 
 ued in such employment until in July, 1861, 
 when he enlisted in the Thirty-fourth Illi- 
 nois Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Van 
 Tassel. His regiment was assigned to the 
 second division of the fourth army corps, 
 under Sherman and saw considerable hard 
 service. With his regiment, Mr. Wolf par- 
 ticipated in the battles of Shiloh, Mission 
 Ridge, Liberty Gap, Rome, Georgia. Prior 
 to the engagement of Stone River, while 
 his regiment was on the extreme right of the 
 army, it was compelled to retreat, and about 
 fifty men of the regiment, including Mr. 
 Wolf, were captured by Confederate cavalry, 
 but after being held about one hour, were 
 re-captured by Union cavalry. He thus 
 probably escaped a long confinement at 
 Andersonville, the notorious rebel prison. 
 
 In the siege before Atlanta, while hold- 
 ing his haversack and drawing his rations, 
 Mr. Wolf was struck by a rebel bullet, and 
 two of his ribs were broken. He was sent 
 to the hospital, where the next four months 
 were spent. He was one week in the field 
 hospital, and the remainder of the time in 
 
!8o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the hospitals at Chattanooga and Nashville. 
 During the latter part of his disability he 
 was removed to the hospital at Mound City, 
 Illinois, where he was taken with the small- 
 pox. After his recovery he was transferred 
 to the veteran reserve corps, where he spent 
 the remainder of his term of service at Rock 
 Island, guarding prisoners. He was dis- 
 charged and mustered out of'^service July 2, 
 1865, after giving four years of his time to 
 the government. 
 
 After receiving his discharge, Mr. W'olf 
 returned to his home in Ogle county, and 
 renting a piece of land in Pine Creek town- 
 ship, he engaged in farming on his own ac- 
 count. He was married March 8, 1866, to 
 Miss Susan Sterner, who was born in Free- 
 port, Illinois, and daughter of John and 
 Fietta (Sheets) Sterner. She was an or- 
 phan girl, her mother having died when she 
 was only one year old. By this union there 
 were three daughters born: Marietta, now 
 the wife of Frank Ackert, of Di.\on, but 
 who is in the postal service between Chi- 
 cago and Council Bluffs, Iowa; Grace E., 
 wife of Charles Hempleman, a farmer of 
 Pine Creek township; and Gertrude S., still 
 at home. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Wolf rented the 
 farm now owned by William Clark, in Pine 
 Creek township, on which he remained 
 three years. He then purchased his pres- 
 ent farm of eighty acres, which has since 
 been his home, and where he has been en- 
 gaged in general farming and stock raising. 
 When purchased the place was unimproved, 
 and with characteristic energy he went to 
 work to put it in order. All the buildings 
 on the place were erected by him, and after 
 a lapse of some years, it presented an en- 
 tirely different appearance. It is now one 
 of the best improved in the township. For 
 
 the past five years he has rented the culti- 
 vated portion of his farm, but retaining the 
 pasture land, and has given his entire time 
 to stock raising. He yet remains on the 
 farm. 
 
 Mr. Wolf has taken an active interest 
 in educational matters, and has served six- 
 years as director in his school district. He 
 is a stanch Republican and cast his first 
 presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln. 
 Fraternally he is a member of Post No. 84, 
 G. A. R. , of Polo. Mrs. Wolf is a member 
 of the Pine Creek German Baptist church. 
 
 A RON CASS, deceased, was for 3'ears 
 one of the most enterprising citizens of 
 Rochelle, a man to whom the entire com- 
 munity delighted in doing honor. He was 
 born in Tompkins county. New York, July 
 2, 1833, and was the son of Moses and 
 Elizabeth (Mott) Cass, natives of Connect- 
 icut, but early settlers of Tompkins county, 
 New York. For a number of years Moses 
 Cass was engaged in the mercantile business 
 in Watkins, New York, in which line he 
 met with signal success. He never came 
 west, but died in 1856 in Watkins, New 
 York. 
 
 In early childhood, Aron Cass accom- 
 panied his parents to Watkins and there 
 spent his boyhood and youth, completing 
 his studies at Starkey Seminary, North 
 Hector, New York. As a result of his 
 training in that seminary he learned to prize 
 the advantages of education above almost 
 everything else. On leaving that institu- 
 tion he engaged in the manufacture of lum- 
 ber in connection with his father and broth- 
 ers, but his lungs being weak, he was ad- 
 vised by a physician to seek a change of 
 
ARON CASS. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 2^3 
 
 climate, and accordingly, in i5i55, he fol- 
 lowed an older brother to Ogle county, Illi- 
 nois, locating at Rochelie, where he estab- 
 lished himself in the mercantile business, a 
 pursuit for which he had inherited a taste. 
 He continued in that line until the outbreak 
 of the Civil war, at which time he closed 
 out his intere.sts. 
 
 On the tith of May, 1869, .\Ir. Cass 
 was united in marriage with Miss Susan M. 
 Smith, who was born in Marion township, 
 Ogle county, June 23. 1^47, and daughter 
 of Peter and Sarah TFoster) Smith. 'See 
 sketch of Peter Smith.) 
 
 Six children came to bless the union of 
 -Aron and Susan M. Cass: Edward, of whom 
 further mention is made in this sketch; Mar- 
 garet Austin, wife of W. P. Landon, for- 
 merly pastor of the Presbyterian church 
 and now a lawyer of Rochelie; Annie Ame- 
 lia, who is taking a four-years course in 
 Smith College, Northampton, Mas-sachu- 
 setts; Ruth Frances, living at home and at- 
 tending school; Charlotte May, who died 
 at the age of one year; and Willie fi., who 
 died at the age of ten years. 
 
 From 1876 until 1881, Mr. Cass served 
 as a director of the Rochelie National Bank, 
 sharing in its management with his father- 
 in-law, Peter Smith. He then re-estab- 
 lished himself in business in the dry goods 
 trade, and conducted a successful business 
 for several years. From time to time he 
 was a silent partner in several firms in 
 Rochelie, assisting them with his means 
 and wise counsels. On retiring from active 
 business, he invested his means principally 
 in farming lands. He was a good business 
 man and was uniformly successful in all his 
 undertakings. From 1891 to 1893, he 
 served as mayor of Rochelie, and made a 
 good executive officer. He did not seek 
 
 the office, and in fact was averse to holding 
 office, and in his case it was an exemplifi- 
 cation of the office seeking the man and not 
 the man the office. 
 
 Mr. Cass prided himself on his vigorous 
 health and excellent constitution, but in the 
 fall of 1893 he contracted muscular rheu- 
 matism, which caused hirn some alarm, in 
 the latter part of February, (894, he con- 
 sulted Dr. N. S. Davis, one of the best 
 physicians anri diagnosticians in the coun- 
 try, who pronounced him apparently a 
 sound man, slightly run down with stomach 
 trouble, which ought to yield to treatment. 
 From that time, however, he remained in- 
 doors, and for four days previous to his 
 death, which occurred March i, 1894, was 
 confined to his bed. The morning of the 
 day on which he died found him so much 
 better that he was able to walk unassisted 
 to an adjoining room. Late in the after- 
 noon, however, his condition suddenly 
 changed and it was but a few hours before 
 he was at rest, his spirit having gone to join 
 his Maker. 
 
 Politically Mr. Cass was a Democrat, 
 with prohibition tendencies, although most 
 lifjeral in his views. He was an independ- 
 ent thinker, while his clear perceptions and 
 sound judgment were generally recognised 
 and appreciated in all his b':sines3 connec- 
 tions. He possessed a popular reading 
 knowledge of law and took great interest in 
 points of legal controversy. In striking 
 contrast to a mind tempered with a keen 
 sense of humor, was a capacity for thought 
 which attempted to weigh all things con- 
 siderately. His home life was a model one, 
 and his pre-eminent characteristic in the 
 family circle was love. He loved his fam- 
 ily with all the intense devotion of his na- 
 ture, and they in turn loved him. He could 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 not do too much for them, and they recip- 
 rocated all his service. He was a member 
 of the Presbyterian church. 
 
 While his family was to him so much 
 and so dear, his goodness of heart extended 
 to his fellowmen, and with unassuming 
 modesty he performed many acts of mercy, 
 which only his Maker and the recording 
 angel have knowledge. His favorite motto 
 was "With charity for all," and that char- 
 ity he endeavored to extend to all. His 
 death, therefore, was not alone mourned by 
 his family and relatives, but by man}' who 
 were recipients of his favors, and, in fact, 
 by all who knew him. Recognizing the im- 
 possibility that all should be famous, he felt 
 assured that in the eyes of an all- wise Judge 
 he who performed even the humble duties 
 of every-day life would not lose his reward. 
 That he performed .well all such duties a 
 host of friends who are left behind will 
 attest. 
 
 Edward Cass, the eldest son of Aron 
 and Susan M. Cass, was born in I'iochelle, 
 Illinois, August 6, 1870, and died on the 
 twenty-eighth anniversary of his birth, Au- 
 gust 6, 1898. He grew to manhood in his 
 native city, and after graduating from the 
 high school he took a four years' course, 
 including the preparatory year, in the uni- 
 versity at Lake Forest, Illinois, and then 
 spent one year in Amherst College, Massa- 
 chusetts, from which he was graduated in 
 1893. A three years' course in the Har- 
 vard Law School followed, and after gradu- 
 ating from that institution he was admitted 
 to practice in the courts of Illinois. On the 
 first of January, 1897, he began the prac- 
 tice of his profession in Chicago, first with 
 Green, Honore & Robbins, and later with 
 Samuel Lynde. He was a very bright 
 young man, and had just completed ar- 
 
 rangements for entering a still more im- 
 portant field of labor, when death cut short 
 his rapid advancement. Quiet, modest and 
 unassuming, he was possessed of unusual 
 power of intellect, and his death deprived 
 the state of Illinois of one of its bright- 
 est young men, and one who doubtless 
 would have advanced to the front in his 
 profession, to which he gave his best tal- 
 ent and thought. In his professional work 
 he was very thorough. He had resolved 
 to reach the top round, and spared no 
 amount of time, e.xpense or labor in obtain- 
 ing the best possible mental equipment. In 
 the midst of his preparation, while at the 
 law school, his father died. This threw 
 upon him a multitude of business details and 
 responsibilities. Most young men would have 
 stopped their studies, but he assumed the 
 extra load and pressed steadily on, being a 
 student and business man at the same time. 
 Likewise he was husband and father to his 
 mother and sisters. No outside induce- 
 ment, however attractive, nor laborious 
 details within his professional work, swerved 
 him from his purpose. This patient perse- 
 verance, combined with his natural endow- 
 ments and good sense, would have brought 
 him to the very front in the legal profession. 
 Few, even of his intimate acquaintances, 
 knew what complete devotion to a lofty pur- 
 pose possessed this quiet, modest, polite 
 young man. His family life was beautiful, 
 and his thoughtfulness for each member of 
 the family was most strikingly manifested 
 on his death bed. He desired to take his ■ 
 father's place in the family and this he did 
 to a remarkable degree. The beautiful com- 
 panionship between the son and father as 
 they walked and talked together will be re- 
 membered by many. His father's wishes 
 were always a law to him, and the words 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 285 
 
 and desires of the father were often spoken 
 of by him to his friends. 
 
 When about nineteen years old, Ed- 
 ward united with the Presbyterian church, 
 and from that time to the day of his death 
 he was a steadfast, earnest Christian man, 
 a firm believer in the Word of God. He 
 not only read but studied his bible. He 
 also read and studied church history and re- 
 ligious literature, spending his last Sunday 
 at home in reading aloud a life of Christ. 
 A friend has said of him, " Many were his 
 virtues — few his faults." Certainly a noble 
 tribute, and one well deserved. 
 
 LEVI M. BELLOWS, one of the sub- 
 statial farmers of Eagle Point town- 
 ship, and who resides on section 23, has 
 been a resident of Ogle county for a little 
 more than half a century. He was born in 
 Delaware county. New York, December 
 25, 1842, and is the son of Hoton and Sar- 
 ah (Banker) Bellows, both of whom were 
 natives of the same county and state. Ho- 
 ton Bellows was born in 1S09, and was the 
 son of Jotham Bellows, who removed from 
 one of the New England states to Dela- 
 ware county, New York, at a very early 
 day. The family is of English ancestry, 
 and were pioneers in New England. Sarah 
 Banker was a daughter of Squire Banker, a 
 member of the Society of Friends. She 
 died in Ogle county about 1S50. 
 
 Hoton Bellows, who was a farmer by 
 occupation, came to Ogle county in 1848, 
 joining here his father's family, who had 
 come out a few years previously. He came 
 to Chicago by way of the great lakes, and 
 by teams from that city to Ogle county, lo- 
 cating on section 23, in what is now Eagle 
 Point township. He purchased a tract of 
 
 land and opened up a farm. For forty 
 years he was a leading citizen of the town- 
 ship, a good farmer, a kind neighbor, and 
 one ever ready to oblige a friend. His 
 death occurred in 1888, while that of his 
 wife occurred December 24, 1844, in the 
 forty-first year of her age. To Hoton Bel- 
 lows and wife four sons and three daughters 
 were born. Mary is now a widow and re- 
 sides in Eagle Point township. Relief re- 
 sides in Marion county, Kansas. Mrs. 
 Sarah E. Hodge is now living in Lawrence, 
 Kansas. Benjamin R. settled in Eagle 
 Point township, where his death occurred. 
 Levi M. is the subject of this sketch. Ori- 
 son settled in Carroll county, and later died 
 there. Talman C. resides in Buena Vista 
 county, Iowa. P'or his second wife Hoton 
 Bellows married Miss Cornelia Decker. 
 To them five children were born, four of 
 whom are still living: Charles, Emery, Adel- 
 bert and Jotham. 
 
 Levi M. Bellows was six years old when 
 he came with his parents to Ogle county. 
 He here grew to manhood, and in the pub- 
 lic schools received but a limited education. 
 He remained with his father until he reached 
 mature years, when he rented land and en- 
 gaged in farming on his oivn account. He 
 was married in Carroll county, Illinois, Feb- 
 ruary 20, 1867, to Miss Anis M. Wolcott, a 
 native of Green county. New York, and 
 daughter of P^rancis C. and Mary Ann (Rob- 
 inson) Wolcott, who removed from New 
 York to Ogle county and later to Carroll 
 county, Illinois. By this union nine chil- 
 dren were born, of whom five are yet liv- 
 ing. Francis C. died in early childhood. 
 Rose married Harry Stokes, and died in 
 August, 1897, leaving two children, Merna 
 Belle and Levi S., who now live with their 
 grandparents. Walter B., a young man, is 
 
286 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 now assisting in operating the home farm. 
 Harry R. died February 24, 1899. Hattie, 
 a twin sister of Harry, died in infancy. 
 Wilson H. is yet at home. Mary A. also 
 lives at home. Edith Belle died in child- 
 hood. Fanny is a student in the home 
 school. 
 
 Immediately after marriage, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Bellows commenced their domestic 
 life on his father's farm. In the winter fol- 
 lowing he purchased eighty acres, which he 
 farmed in connection with his father's place. 
 He has since added to his original purchase, 
 and is now the owner of about three hun- 
 dred acres. He has endeavored to keep up 
 with the times in the way of improvement, 
 putting out fruit and ornamental trees, til- 
 ing the place, and building a neat and sub- 
 stantial residence, two good barns and other 
 outbuildings. In addition to the raising of 
 grain, he has engaged to some extent in 
 feeding and fattening cattle for the markets, 
 usually shipping one or two car loads per 
 year and about fifty to one hundred head of 
 hogs. He has been fairly successful in life, 
 and has no reason to complain. 
 
 The first presidential ballot cast by Mr. 
 Bellows was in 1864, when he voted for 
 Abraham Lincoln, since which time he has 
 given his earnest support to the men and 
 measures of the Republican party. He has 
 taken quite an interest in local politics, and 
 frequently represents the Republicans of his 
 township in the various conventions of the 
 party. He has served for some years as 
 justice of the peace, and being a friend of 
 education and the public schools, has served 
 as a member of the school board. He is a 
 Tiiembcr of the United Brethren church in 
 liagle Point township (the old brick church), 
 of which he is one of the trustees. He is 
 an active worker in the Sunday-school, and 
 
 served several years as superintendent. 
 Mrs. Bellows is also a member of the same 
 church, and is interested in its work. Both 
 are well-known, especially in the western 
 part of Ogle and the eastern part of Carroll 
 counties. All who know them hold them in 
 the highest respect. 
 
 REV. HOLMES DYSINGER, D.D., 
 pastor of the Lutheran church, at 
 Polo, is a well known and popular divine in 
 the Lutheran church, with a national repu- 
 tation as a minister and a teacher. He 
 was born in Miiflintown, Juniata county, 
 Pennsylvania, March 26, 1853, and is sec- 
 ond in a family of seven children born to 
 Joseph and Mary Amelia (Patterson) Dys- 
 inger, both of whom are natives of the 
 same county and state, and where they yet 
 reside. Joseph Dysinger, by trade, is a 
 carpenter and builder, an occupation which 
 he followed for some years, later following 
 farming, a vocation in which he has been 
 engaged for about thirty-five years. In 
 politics he is a Democrat, and has served 
 his fellow citizens in various official posi- 
 tions, including assessor, collector and 
 school director. Religiously he is a Lu- 
 theran, as also his wife. She is a daughter 
 of William and Catherine (Echo) Patter- 
 son, the former a native of England, a 
 blacksmith by trade, who died at the age of 
 si.xty-eight years, and the latter a native of 
 Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. The pa- 
 ternal grandfather, John Dysinger, when a 
 young man moved from Dauphin county, 
 Pennsylvania, to Juniata county, in the 
 same state, and there followed the occupa- 
 tion of a farmer. He died at the residence 
 of his son, Joseph, with whom he made 
 his home for a time before his death. He 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 287 
 
 married Sarah Kauffmann, whose father 
 was an Ornish preacher in Pennsylvania, 
 and who died at an advanced age. At one 
 time John Dysinger was quite wealthy, but 
 lost his fortune. He had three uncles in 
 in the Revolutionary war. 
 
 In the public schools of his native coun- 
 ty our subject received his primary educa- 
 tion, and at the age of seventeen com- 
 menced teaching. For three years he 
 taught in the country schools and was then 
 employed in the schools of Mifflintown, 
 where he taught two years. He then en- 
 tered Pennsylvania College, at Gettysburg, 
 and after pursuing the regular course, grad- 
 uated from that institution in 1878. After 
 he received his diploma he taught Latin and 
 Greek in the preparatory department of his 
 Alma Mater for four years, in the mean- 
 time finishing the course and graduating 
 from the Lutheran Theological Seminary, 
 located at Gettysburg. In 1882 he was in- 
 vited to accept a chair in the college at Mt. 
 Pleasant, North Carolina, and was a teacher 
 in Latin and Greek. Later he was with the 
 college at Newberry, South Carolina, where 
 he continued five years. He was then 
 called to the presidency of Carthage Col- 
 lege, Carthage, Illinois, and filled that posi- 
 tion for seven years, during which time he 
 greatly strengthened the institution. His 
 resignation was accepted with reluctance, 
 as he had the entire confidence not alone 
 of his own church, under whose auspices 
 the college was conducted, but by the entire 
 community as well. Leaving the college, 
 he accepted the call of the Lutheran church 
 at Polo, to become its pastor. While 
 teaching had been his regular profession, 
 for years he had been a regular ordained 
 minister of the church, preaching at such 
 times as his other duties would admit. He 
 
 is a fluent and eloquent speaker, and is one 
 of the most popular pastors that has ever 
 served in Polo. The church to which he 
 ministers, was organized in 1S70, and the 
 house of worship erected in 1S72. The 
 parsonage was built in 1898. 
 
 Mr. Dysinger was married at Blairsville, 
 Pennsylvania, September 22, 1S86, to Miss 
 Ada Frances Ray, a native of that city, and 
 daughter of Samuel and Margaret (John- 
 son) Ray, the former a native of county 
 Armaugh, Ireland. By this union four chil- 
 dren have been born — Mary Ray, Cornelia, 
 Margaret Eloise and Helen Frances. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Dysinger is thoroughly 
 independent, believeing in giving his sup- 
 port to the best men regardless of their 
 political belief, especially in local affairs. 
 Fraternally he is a Mason, holding member- 
 ship with the blue lodge at Polo. In every 
 enterprise for the best good of his adopted 
 city and county, he cheerfully lends his aid 
 and influence, and in charitable and moral 
 reform, he is always in the lead. 
 
 MAJOR CHARLES NEWCOMER, for 
 many years engaged in the banking 
 business at Mt. Morris, is personally as 
 well known as any man in Ogle county. He 
 was born in Washington county, Maryland, 
 August 22, 1825, and is of Swiss origin, his 
 paternal ancestor, Wolfgang Newcomer, 
 emigrating from Switzerland in 1749, and 
 locating in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He 
 married an American-born woman, removed 
 with her to Lancaster county, Pennsylva- 
 nia, and they became the parents of three 
 sons, Henry, Christian and Peter, who loca- 
 ted in Washington county, Maryland. Henry 
 was the grandfather of the Major, who be- 
 longs to the fourth generation. His father. 
 
288 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Samuel Newcomer, was a native of that 
 county and state, while his mother, Sarah 
 Fridly, was a native of the state of New 
 York. They emigrated to Illinois in the 
 summer of 1845, the father securing the 
 title to three hundred acres of land adjoin- 
 ing the village of Mt. Morris. Here the 
 father died four years later, the mother sur- 
 viving him until January, 1882. They 
 were members of the Evangelical Lutheran 
 church and took an active part in organizing 
 the church and society of that denomina- 
 tion in Mt. Morris. 
 
 Major Newcomer came to Ogle county 
 with his parents. He was then but twenty 
 years of age. The Mexican war, which fol- 
 lowed a little later, brought with it the ac- 
 quisition of California with its newly dis- 
 covered gold fields. Great excitement fol- 
 lowed the discovery of gold and a vast emi- 
 gration set in towards the gold fields. In 
 company with his relatives, Samuel W. 
 Chaney, George and Michael Swingley, on 
 the 1st of April, 1849, our subject started 
 to California with an ox team. St. Joseph, 
 Missouri, being the principal outfitting point 
 for the overland emigrants, they went to 
 that point, secured their outfit for what was 
 then known and called " the plains," crossed 
 the Missouri river early in May, and started 
 out into an unsettled country, uninhabited 
 except by Indians and three government 
 forts garrisoned by United States soldiers — 
 Forts Kearney, Laramie and Hall. The 
 Mormons, however, had a settlement south 
 of the emigrant trail at Salt Lake. The 
 Indians were not as a rule hostile, unless 
 imposed upon. 
 
 The party to which the major belonged 
 traveled and camped alone the greater part 
 of the way, frequently coming in site of 
 Indian camps and villages, and were never 
 
 molested or disturbed by them. They saw 
 vast herds of buffalo on the plams, in some in- 
 stances numbering thousands in a herd. An- 
 telope were plenty, but they did not see any 
 deer until they got into the Sierra Nevada 
 mountains, where they saw plenty of the 
 blatck ailed deer, mountain sheep, and occa- 
 sionally a grizzly bear. Traveling with oxen 
 was slow and tedious. Meeting a camp of 
 Mormon traders at the crossing of Green 
 river, in Wj'oming, they exchanged their 
 outfit and surplus supplies for saddle horses 
 and pack mules, and traveling faster, they 
 arrived at the mining region on Bear river, 
 August I, 1849. Their provisions being 
 nearly exhausted, as well as their cash, 
 they found it necessary to commence work 
 without delay. One dollar per pound was 
 the minimum price of supplies. Luxuries, 
 such as potatoes, onions, etc., were dearer. 
 Picks and shovels were worth one ounce of 
 gold ($16.00) each. 
 
 Mining on Bear river was not sufficiently 
 remunerative to satisfy the party, so they 
 prospected on the Uba, the north fork of the 
 American river, but with indifferent success. 
 Finally they succeeded in finding satisfac- 
 tory " diggin's " near where the city of Ne- 
 vada is now located, and built the first 
 cabin in the embryo city. Being moderate- 
 ly successful, and well pleased with the out- 
 look and surroundings. Major Newcomer 
 was making plans for a probably permanent 
 abode on the Pacific coast, when the intel- 
 ligence of the death of his father reached 
 him, entirely changing the course of his after 
 life. Returning to his home in the summer 
 of 1850, and purchasing the interest of the 
 heirs of his father's estate, he became the 
 proprietor of the homestead and occupied 
 the same until the spring of 1876, when he 
 disposed of it. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 289 
 
 On the first of August, 1877, in company 
 with Dr. Isaac Rice, now deceased, he es- 
 tablished the Bank of Mount Morris, becom- 
 ing sole proprietor in 1S80, and continuing 
 the same until January i, 1899, when he 
 sold out to Joseph L. and John H. Rice, 
 the former being the son of his former 
 partner. 
 
 Major Newcomer was united in marriage 
 with Miss Rosalie D. Blanchard, July 13, 
 1853. She was a native of Jefferson coun- 
 ty. New York, and preceptress of Rock 
 River Seminary at the time of her marriage. 
 She died at the homestead, November 11, 
 1872, leaving three sons — Frank F., at 
 present a resident of Texas; Charles E. 
 and Lyle C, residents of New Mexico. On 
 the 2d of June, 1889, Major Newcomer 
 married Miss Maria Hitt, daughter of Rev. 
 Thomas Hitt, who was one of the pioneers 
 of Ogle county. She was born on the Hitt 
 homestead, adjoining the village of Mt. Mor- 
 ris, was a student in Rock River Seminary, 
 and afterwards continued the study and 
 completed a course of music, both vocal 
 and instrumental, at a conservatory in 
 Washington City. For several years she 
 was music teacher in Rock River Seminary, 
 as scores of old students from its classic 
 halls can testify. 
 
 In public life the Major has been an 
 active and prominent factor. In 1853 he 
 was appointed and served under Elias 
 Baker, as deputy sheriff of the county, and 
 in 1855 was elected sheriff without opposi- 
 tion. In November, 1861, he was elected 
 to represent Ogle county in the constitu- 
 tional convention, and upon the adjourn- 
 ment of the convention was appointed by 
 President Lincoln paymaster in the United 
 States army, with the rank of major, and 
 was assigned to duty in the military division 
 
 of the Department of the Cumberland, 
 with headquarters at Louis\ille, Kentucky. 
 Colonel William Allen, chief paymaster of 
 that department, placed him in charge of 
 the field payments of the Army of the Cum- 
 berland, including the entire forces of Gen- 
 erals Sherman and Thomas. His subordi- 
 nates numbered forty paymasters and clerks. 
 He retained that position until the close of 
 the war, when he was mustered out of the 
 service and returned home to assume the 
 duties of civil life. Since returning home 
 for more than twenty-one years he was 
 actively engaged in the management of his 
 bank. On the 1st of October, 1885, he 
 was selected by the court to adjust the em- 
 barrassed condition of the suspended 15ank 
 of P""orreston, which he succeeded in doing 
 to the satisfaction of the assignor and credit- 
 ors. In whatever position he has been 
 called upon to fill, every duty has been con- 
 scientiously performed. He has always 
 had the confidence of the community in 
 which he has lived, and all have a good 
 word to sav of him. 
 
 FRED J. DEUTH, one of Forrcston's 
 enterprising merchants, owns and man- 
 ages a well-stocked hardware establishment. 
 He was born in Ost Friesland, Germany, 
 October 6, 1852, and in his native land was 
 reared and educated. After his school days 
 were over he assisted his father in the culti- 
 vation of the farm, until 1870, when the fam- 
 ily came to America and located in Forres- 
 ton township. Ogle county, where the father 
 rented a farm. He continued farming in For- 
 reston township during the remainder of his 
 life, dying in May, 1897. His remains were 
 interre in White Oak cemetery, Forreston. 
 His wife, who was a Miss Tina K. Schurman, 
 
igo 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was a daughter of Kreine and Margaret (De 
 Vreis) Schurman. Mr. and Mrs. Deuth 
 were the parents of the following named 
 children: George J., living on a farm in 
 Stephenson county; K. J., living in Minne- 
 sota; Fred J., our subject; Jacob J., a 
 farmer of Forreston township; and August, 
 a farmer of Lincoln township. 
 
 Fred J. Deuth, in 1877, married Miss 
 Anna H. Abels, a daughter of Herman 
 Abels, a farmer of Lincoln township. Her 
 parents, Herman and Margaret Abels, came 
 to America in 1855, and settled near Ger- 
 man Valley. To Mr. and Mrs. Deuth nine 
 children have been born, — Tina F., Her- 
 man, Johnnie F., Annie Carrie, Frederick 
 George, Martha M., Bertha M., Esther 
 Lillian and Emma Augusta. Of these Anna 
 is deceased. 
 
 On a farm in Forreston township Mr. 
 Deuth remained until the fall of 1883, when 
 he came to the city of Forreston and en- 
 gaged in the hardware business, in company 
 with a Mr. Marr, purchasing the establish- 
 ment of Middlekauff Bros., and the firm be- 
 came Marr & Deuth. This partnership 
 lasted three years, terminating on account 
 of the death of Mr. Marr. The firm then 
 became Deuth, Hemphill & Co., which 
 lasted for nine years. It was then Deuth 
 & Abels for one year, then Deuth & Reb- 
 man, three years, and since Deceinber 13, 
 1897, Mr. Deuth has been sole proprietor. 
 He carries a full line of stoves, builders' 
 hardware, agricultural implements, etc. The 
 store is the oldest in Forreston and was es- 
 tablished in 1866. 
 
 In politics Mr. Deuth is a Republican, 
 and cast his first presidential vote for R. B. 
 Hayes, in 1876. He has been quite active 
 in political and local affairs, and for four- 
 teen years served as road commissioner, and 
 
 also as a member of the board of education 
 for nine years. The family are members of 
 the Presbyterian church. He is a very pop- 
 ular, affable, friendly, bright business man, 
 and is recognized as a leader of the com- 
 munity. A self-made man in the true sense 
 of the term, he has worked his way steadily 
 upwards until he is now the possessor of a 
 comfortable competence. No man in For- 
 reston has more friends or is held in higher 
 respect than the subject of this sketch. 
 
 JOHN AND JAMES NICHOLS are num- 
 bered among the most enterprising, 
 energetic and industrious agriculturists of 
 Eagle Point township, where they own and 
 successfully operate a fine farm of two hun- 
 dred and eighty acres on section 14. They 
 were born upon that place, December 31, 
 1861. 
 
 Their father, John Nichols, was born in 
 the town of Andes, Delaware county. New 
 York, in 1818, and was a son of William 
 Nichols, a native of Martha's Vineyard, 
 Massachusetts, and a representative of an 
 old English family, his ancestors being 
 among the Pilgrim Fathers who settled in 
 that state early in the seventeenth century. 
 William Nichols was a sailor and followed 
 the sea for a number of years. He was 
 married at Martha's Vineyard and later re- 
 moved to Delaware county, New York, 
 where he was one of the pioneers. There 
 John Nichols, Sr., was reared and educated, 
 receiving fair school advantages. In 1836, 
 when a young man of eighteen years, he 
 came with his father's family to Illinois and 
 located in what is now Eagle Point town- 
 ship, Ogle county. Here they took up a 
 claim, built a residence and turned their at- 
 tention to the development and cultivation 
 
JAMES NICHOLS. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 293 
 
 of a farm in the midst of the wilderness, the 
 grandfather spending the last years of his 
 life here. John Nichols, Sr. , remained with 
 his parents until after he attained his ma- 
 jority. He entered a tract of eighty acres 
 where the family now resides and soon con- 
 verted the wild land into a good and well 
 cultivated farm, improved with substantial 
 buildings. Being a successful farmer, he 
 bought more land, becoming the owner of 
 a fine place of one hundred and twenty 
 acres. He was an efficient member of the 
 county board of supervisors for a number of 
 years, and held other positions of honor and 
 trust, the duties of which he most capably 
 and satisfactorily performed. He died upon 
 his farm May 28, 1880, honored and re- 
 spected by all who knew him. In Ogle 
 county he had married Miss Christiana 
 Byers, who was born and reared in Dela- 
 ware county, New York, a daughter of 
 James and Jane (Scott) Byers, both natives 
 of Scotland. Mrs. Nichols survived her 
 husband for a number of years, passing 
 away April 27, 1897, and both were laid to 
 rest in the United Brethren cemetery at the 
 brick church in Eagle Point township. They 
 were formerly members of that church, 
 were among the original members and 
 helped to build the church, but later in life 
 united with the Presbyterian church at Polo, 
 Mrs. Nichols having been reared in that 
 faith. To this worthy couple were born si.\ 
 children, namely: Elizabeth, wife of George 
 Adee, who is now living retired in Sycamore, 
 Illinois; Russell B., a farmer of Eagle Point 
 township; Nettie, wife of Barnabus Wright, 
 of Polo; Olive, who was formerly a teacher 
 but is now keeping house for her brothers; 
 and John and James, of this review. 
 
 As soon as old enough to be of any as- 
 sistance, John and James Nichols began to 
 
 aid their father in the operation of the home 
 farm, and since the father's death have pur- 
 chased the interests of the other heirs in the 
 place, which they are now so successfully 
 carrying on. By subsequent purchase they 
 have added to it and now have a fine farm 
 of two hundred and eighty acres under a 
 high state of cultivation and well improved. 
 They are thorough and systematic farmers 
 and as stock feeders have also met with ex- 
 cellent success, fattening for market about 
 three car loads of cattle and one hundred 
 and twenty hogs annually. They ship their 
 own stock and find the business quite 
 profitable. 
 
 Since casting their first presidential bal- 
 lot for James G. Blaine, in 1S84, the Nich- 
 ols brothers have been ardent supporters of 
 the Republican party and have never missed 
 a presidential or state election. James takes 
 quite an active interest in local politics, has 
 been a delegate to numerous county and 
 congressional conventions of his part}-, was 
 assessor of his township for five consecutive 
 years, and for several years has also been 
 president of the township board of trustees 
 of the public schools. He is a member of 
 Buffalo Grove Garrison, No. 3, K. of G., of 
 Polo, and both he and John are members of 
 the Eagle Point Mutual F'ire Insurance 
 Company. Thej' are well-known and high- 
 ly respected, and have been prominently 
 identified with the upbuilding and prosper- 
 ity of the community where they have spent 
 their entire lives, as upright and honorable 
 business men who command the confidence 
 of all with whom thev conie in contact. 
 
 CAPTAIN JOSEPH M. MYERS is un- 
 questionably one of the strongest and 
 most influential business men whoseliveshave 
 
294 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 become an essential part of the history of For- 
 reston and Ogle county. Born on the 2nd 
 of December, 1837, in Mount Morris town- 
 ship, and reared in Ogle county, his inter- 
 est in its growth and advancement have al- 
 ways been uppermost in his thoughts, and 
 every effort tending toward its improvement, 
 strained to the utmost. He is one of the 
 eight children of Benjamin and Mary (Roth- 
 ruck) Myers, the former a native of Penn- 
 sylvania, and the latter of Washington 
 county, Maryland, he and his twin brother, 
 now deceased, coming first in order of birth. 
 Mary is the wife of John H. Mullen, a resi- 
 dent of Columbus Junction, Iowa. John is 
 a resident of Mount Morris township. Ruth 
 Ann, the third child, is deceased. Samuel 
 is a resident of Leaf River. Sarah J. is the 
 widow of Norton S. Goodrich and lives in 
 Winnebago, Illinois. The youngest child, 
 David, died in infancy. 
 
 Captain Myers' parents were among the 
 first settlers of Ogle county, having come 
 to Illinois in 1837. His father was a stone- 
 cutter and worked at his trade after reach- 
 ing Ogle county. When Captain Myers was 
 a child of four years, his parents moved 
 near Adeline, Maryland township, where they 
 lived until his mother's death, in 185 1. 
 After this sad event the Captain was obliged 
 to earn his own living, which he did at farm 
 work, attending school during the winter 
 seasons. In August, 1861, he enlisted in 
 Company H, Thirty-fourth Illinois Infantry. 
 He took an active part in several notable 
 engagements, among which were Shiloh, 
 Corinth, Stone River, Liberty Gap and 
 Missionary Ridge. He also took part in 
 various battles of the Atlanta campaign, in 
 Sherman's march to the sea and the cam- 
 paign in the Carolinas. At Kenesaw Moun- 
 tain he received a slight wound. Captain 
 
 Myers received an honorable discharge, 
 in Chicago, having been mustered out of 
 service at Louisville, Kentucky, July 18, 
 1S65. 
 
 After the close of the war. Captain 
 Myers went to Forreston and engaged in the 
 livery business until May, 1874. He then 
 clerked in a general store until April, 1876, 
 and from that time until 1877 he was pro- 
 prietor of the Commercial hotel. Selling 
 out the hotel business, he accepted a posi- 
 tion with the Illinois Central Railroad Com- 
 pany as baggageman at Forreston, which 
 position he held until his appointment as 
 postmaster, discharging his duties in the 
 latter capacity very creditably until the ex- 
 piration of his term, April 1, 1893. Cap- 
 tain Myers then established an insurance 
 agency, to which he now gives his time and 
 attention, and which has become representa- 
 tive in the volume of business written for. 
 On the 1st of November, 1898, he was again 
 appointed postmaster of Forreston, an in- 
 dication of his popularity and the esteem in 
 which he is held by the community. 
 
 In the year 1871, Captain Myers was 
 united in marriage to Barbara A. Geeting, 
 a native of (iermantown, Ohio. She is a 
 daughter of George and Nancy (Wagner) 
 Geeting, who settled in Ogle county in 
 1854. To this union two children were 
 born: George, a telegraph operator at 
 Harper, and Florence, residing at home. 
 Our subject is a Knight of the Globe and a 
 member of the Grand Army of the Republic. 
 He has been constable for four years, tax 
 collector for two years, assessor three years, 
 member of the board of education three 
 years, town council three years and is now 
 holding the office of village treasurer and 
 notary public; was president of the old set- 
 tlers association for the year 1895. He has 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 295 
 
 frequently been a delegate to county, con- 
 gressional and senatorial conventions, and 
 has been township and county committee- 
 man in public affairs. Captain Myers is a 
 stanch Republican, voting at every presi- 
 dental election since casting his first ballot 
 for Abraham Lincoln, at Mt. Morris. He 
 is a man of sterling integrity, always courte- 
 ous and affable, has the confidence of the 
 community, and the regard of the citizens 
 of Forreston. 
 
 EDMOND D. HUGGANS is one of the 
 active and enterprising farmers of Ogle 
 county. He resides on a well improved 
 farm of three hundred and twenty acres on 
 section 20, about two miles southwest of 
 Polo, and has been a resident of the county 
 since the fall of 1854. His father, David 
 G. Huggans, was a native of Green county. 
 New York, and was the son of William 
 Huggans, of Irish parents, who married a 
 Scotch lady. William Huggans was an 
 early settler of Green county. New York, 
 and near the Catskill mountains, in the 
 heavy wilderness, cleared a farm and pro- 
 vided himself and family a home. The 
 last years of his life were passed in that 
 place. 
 
 David G. Huggans spent his boyhood 
 and youth in his native county, receiving in 
 its primitive schools a limited education. 
 He there married Miss Polly Griffin, a daugh- 
 ter of Daniel Griffin, who was likewise an 
 early settler of Green county. She was 
 born in Delaware county, in the same state. 
 After marriage David G. Huggans located 
 in Delaware county, where he engaged in 
 farming for some years, and also in the 
 manufacture of lumber. In 1854 he came 
 to Illinois, first locating in Lee county, and 
 
 later moving to Whiteside county. In 
 1 86 1 he came to Ogle county and pur- 
 chased land in what is now Woosung town- 
 ship. He subsequently moved to Labette 
 county, Kansas, where he lived four years, 
 and then returned to Ogle county, where 
 iiis death occurred in iSgi. His wife died 
 while they were residing in Lee county, 
 soon after removing west. They had a 
 family of eight children, of whom six sons 
 yet survive. Daniel Uriah grew to man- 
 hood, married and settled in Ogle county, 
 but died in 1894. Kimber resides in La- 
 bette county, Kansas. James G. is a farmer 
 of Jones county, Iowa. John P. is residing 
 in the same county. Richard W. is a farmer 
 of Buffalo township. Edmond D. is the 
 subject of this sketch. William S. is also 
 a farmer of Buffalo township. 
 
 Edmond D. Huggans came to Ogle 
 county when thirteen years old. After the 
 death of their mother the brothers bought a 
 farm of two hundred and forty acres in part- 
 nership, adjoining the farm of their father. 
 They lived and worked in partnership for 
 several years, later purchasing more land. 
 With his brother William he bought out 
 the other brothers, and the two continued 
 together for some years, owning two farms 
 comprising five hundred and sixty acres. 
 They also engaged in buying and shipping 
 stock together for about fifteen years, meet- 
 ing with fair success. They then dissolved 
 partnership, Edmond D. taking the farm 
 where he now resides. Since the dissolu- 
 tion of co-partnership he has confined his 
 operations to general farming and stock 
 raising, and is considered one of the best 
 farmers in the section where he resides. 
 
 Mr. Huggans was married in Ogle coun- 
 ty, December 29, 1892, to Miss Jennie Max- 
 well, a native of Whiteside county, Illinois, 
 
296 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and daughter of William Maxwell, a native 
 of Scotland, but an early settler of that 
 county, where he yet resides and is living a 
 retired life. .By this union one son has 
 been born, Allen Maxwell. 
 
 Mr. Huggans was reared a Democrat 
 and cast his first vote for General Hancock 
 in 1880. Alwaj's a strong advocate of tem- 
 perance, and firmly believing that from the 
 old parties no permanent laws can ever be 
 obtained, or any earnest efforts put forth 
 for the suppression of intemperance, he has 
 for the past eight years voted with the Pro- 
 hibition party. Fraternally, he is a Mason, 
 a member of the blue lodge and chapter at 
 Polo and the commander}' at Dixon. As a 
 citizen he is loyal to the best interests of his 
 adopted county and state, and has given the 
 best years of his life to the permanent im- 
 provement of the county. He has been an 
 industrious man and the results are shown 
 in the fine farm that he owns and the per- 
 sonal property that he possesses. All who 
 know him hold him in high esteem. 
 
 GEORGE W. JONES is the owner of 
 three valuable and well-improved 
 farms, and in his home place, which is 
 pleasantly located two and a quarter miles 
 south of Stillman Valley, he has four hun- 
 dred acres of rich and arable land. He is 
 numbered among the self-made men of the 
 county, his accumulations being the result 
 of his own industry, perseverance and good 
 management, and the exercise of a natur- 
 ally good judgment, both in regard to agri- 
 cultural pursuits and business matters. He 
 came to Ogle county in June, 1850, and 
 since that time this has been the field of 
 his operations, and the center of his inter- 
 ests and hopes. 
 
 Mr. Jones was born in Harlem township, 
 Delaware county, Ohio, October 13, 1824, 
 and is a son of Samuel Jones, whose birth 
 occurred in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, 
 1 80 1. The grandfather, Samuel Jones, Sr. , 
 was a native of Wales and a pioneer of 
 Luzerne county, where he cleared and im- 
 proved a farm, following farming there 
 until 1 8 19, when he removed to Delaware 
 county, Ohio, and in Harlem township 
 again developed a farm from wild land. 
 Samuel Jones, Jr., was a young man of 
 eighteen years when the family removed to 
 the Buckeye state, and was of great assist- 
 ance to his father in opening up the farm. 
 Here he married Miss Maria Cockrell, a 
 native of Virginia and a daughter of Edward 
 and Elizabeth (Dawson) Cockrell, pioneers 
 of Delaware county. For several years 
 after his marriage Mr. Jones carried on 
 operations as a farmer in Ohio, but in 1849 
 came to Ogle county and took up three 
 hundred and twenty acres of land with 
 Mexican war land warrants. In Pine Rock 
 township he built a residence and developed 
 a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, giv- 
 ing to his children the other one hundred 
 and sixty-acre tract. He died' upon that 
 farm July 3, 1889, at the advanced age of 
 eighty-eight years, honored and respected 
 by all who knew him. His first wife de- 
 parted this life in 1845, and his second wife 
 only survived him three months and eight 
 days. 
 
 George W. Jones, our subject, is the 
 oldest child of the first union, which was 
 blessed by eleven children, four sons and 
 seven daughters, all of whom reached years 
 of maturity with the exception of one 
 daughter. By the last marriage there were 
 two sons and three daughters. Oliver 
 Perry, next younger than our subject, was 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 297 
 
 a soldier of the Mexican war and died in 
 Pueblo; John Butler is living retired in 
 Minnesota; Lorinda married William Howe 
 and died in Delaware county, Ohio; Eliza- 
 beth is the present wife of Mr. Howe, who 
 still resides in that county; Maria Jane mar- 
 ried George Lilley and is now deceased ; 
 Katie Ann died in Delaware county during 
 childhood; Elmira is the wife of Lawrence 
 Wren, of Ghana, Ogle county, Illinois; 
 Emma is the wife of Nehemiah Woodruff, 
 of Shamburg, Page county, Iowa; Lucy Ann 
 married William Gifford, who died in the 
 service of his country during the Rebellion, 
 and she later married Samuel G. Morrison, 
 but is now deceased, and Samuel B. is a 
 resident of Delmar Junction, Iowa. The 
 children of the second marriage were Will- 
 iam H., who died after reaching manhood; 
 Alice, wife of O. W. Campbell, of Ashton, 
 Lee county, Iowa; Mary, who died in child- 
 hood; Irene M., widow of John Giles and a 
 resident of Te.xas, and Philip P., a resident 
 of East Chain Lakes, Martin county, Min- 
 nesota. 
 
 In the county of his nativity, George W. 
 Jones was reared and educated, and was 
 there married November 23, 1848, the lady 
 of his choice being Miss Jane Woodruff, 
 whose brother married Mr. Jones' sister. 
 She was born in Pennsylvania, but when a 
 child of three years was taken to Ohio, 
 where she was reared. Four children have 
 been born to our subject and his wife. Ann 
 Mary is now the wife of George Smith, a 
 substantial farmer of Marion township. Ogle 
 county; Elizabeth is the wife of D. A. 
 Harlaman, of the same township; EmmaT. 
 is the wife of Walter Stagle, a farmer of 
 Marion township; Oliver Perry married and 
 died at the age of forty-four years, leaving 
 a large family. 
 
 In 1850 Mr. Jones came to Ogle county, 
 making the journey in a home-made cov- 
 ered wagon with a blue box, and arriving 
 at his destination in June, after twenty-two 
 days spent upon the road, and they brought 
 with them their few household effects and 
 wearing apparel, all home-made. They 
 camped out at night. Mr. Jones left Ohio 
 with thirty-six dollars and arrived here with 
 thirty-one, which, with his team and equip- 
 ments, constituted his entire worldly pos- 
 sessions. He bought a cow and a stove, 
 and began life here in earnest, working by 
 the day for others for the first year. He 
 then operated rented land for several years, 
 his first purchase consisting of a tract of 
 eighty acres of raw land in Pine Rock town- 
 ship, which he broke and cultivated, and to 
 which he later added another eighty adjoin- 
 ing, making it his home until 1882, when 
 he sold the place for ten thousand eight 
 hundred and eighty dollars. He then 
 bought eighty acres in the same school dis- 
 trict, but sold it two years later and pur- 
 chased one hundred and sixty acres in 
 Greene county, Iowa, which he disposed of 
 six years later at a good profit. He also 
 bought one hundred and sixty acres in three 
 pieces in Pine Rock township, this count}', 
 which he sold at the end of that year, and 
 at the same time owned considerable land 
 around Ghana. He is still the owner of 
 three fine farms, aggregating five hundred 
 and fifty-eight acres. This includes the 
 home farm previously mentioned, filty-two 
 acres north of Stillman Valley, sixty-six 
 acres in Pine Rock township, and forty 
 acres at Black Walnut Grove, and is valued 
 at over forty thousand dollars. 
 
 Mr. Jones supported Zachary Taylor, 
 Winfield Scott and John C. Fremont for 
 the presidency, and each succeeding candi- 
 
298 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 date of the Republican party, and he has 
 ever taken an active and commendable in- 
 terest in public affairs. He has held a 
 number of official positions of honor and 
 trust, the duties of which he most capably 
 and satisfactorily discharged. These in- 
 clude the offices of justice of the peace, 
 township collector and trustee, and was 
 also a member of the school board. He 
 and his estimable wife are earnest and con- 
 sistent members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, and are held in high regard by all 
 who have the pleasure of their acquaint- 
 ance. Mr. George W. Jones has just 
 passed his seventy-fourth year; his sight is 
 good, and his business qualifications are 
 remarkably good for his age. He has just 
 deeded each of his four children land in 
 Ogle county, valued at two thousand five 
 hundred dollars. 
 
 LEWIS PETRIE, a well-known farmer 
 of Lincoln township, resides on a well 
 improved farm of one hundred and fifty 
 acres on section 15, and which is one mile 
 north of Haldane. He is a native of the 
 county, born in Maryland township. May 7, 
 1849. His father, Jonas Petrie, was a 
 native of Washington county, Maryland, 
 born April i, 1809, while his grandfather, 
 Philip Petrie, probably of the same count}-, 
 was of German parentage. The latter was 
 a commissioned officer in the Revolutionary 
 army, and the sword that he carried in the 
 service is now in possession of our subject. 
 His death occurred in 1854, in Maryland 
 township. Ogle county. 
 
 Jonas Petrie was reared in his native 
 county and there married Miss Emily 
 Weaver, also born in Washington county, 
 Maryland, and they became the parents of 
 
 eight children, all of whom grew to mature 
 years, and but one now deceased. Frances 
 married Daniel Stoffer, and they now reside 
 in Adeline, Ogle county; David resides in 
 Black Hawk county, Iowa; Jonas is living 
 in Union county, Iowa; Jacob came west, 
 but married and remained on the old home 
 farm in Maryland township, Ogle county, 
 Illinois. He is the deceased one. Upton 
 resides in Iowa Falls, Iowa; Freeland re- 
 sides in Clinton, Iowa; Mary C. is the wife 
 of Samuel Bovey, of Black Hawk county, 
 Iowa; Lewis, of this review, completes the 
 family. 
 
 In early manhood Jonas Petrie was en- 
 gaged in freighting over the mountains of 
 his native state. The favorable reports 
 from old friends and neighbors who had 
 come to Ogle county induced him to come 
 also. He arrived in this county with his 
 family in May, 1840, and first located in 
 Mt. Morris township. He only remained 
 there a year or two, however, and then 
 entered two hundred and forty acres of land 
 in Maryland township, to which he removed. 
 His farm was within two miles of the pres- 
 ent village of Adeline. He there reared 
 his family, and later moved to Forreston, 
 where he lived a retired life, dying there 
 July 23, 1880. His wife survived him but 
 a few months, passing away in November 
 of the same year. They were laid to rest 
 in the cemetery at Adeline. They were 
 highly esteemed people. By his friends 
 and neighbors he was elected to various 
 local offices of honor and trust. He was 
 a member and active worker in the United 
 Brethren church, as was also his wife. 
 
 On the old home farm in Maryland town- 
 ship, Lewis Petrie grew to manhood, and in 
 the district schools received his education. 
 He remained at home, assisting his father 
 
THE I5IOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 299 
 
 in the management of the farm until the 
 iatter's removal to Forreston. He was mar- 
 ried in Stephenson county, Illinois, August 
 24, 1869, to Miss Margaret Ellen Heitnian, 
 who was born near Hagerstown, Washing- 
 ton county, Maryland, and daughter of 
 Joseph Napoleon Heitman, a native of Ger- 
 many, who removed to the United States 
 when a young man, locating in Maryland, 
 where he followed his trade of stone mason. 
 He was married in Martinsburg, Virginia, to 
 Miss Anna Fry, a native of what is now 
 West Virginia. After his marriage he came 
 to Stephenson county, Illinois, arriving in 
 that county in 1852. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Petrie five children have been born. Anna 
 May died at the age of six years. Charles 
 A. will graduate in the Northwestern Dental 
 College in the class of 1899; he has taught 
 seven terms of school in his home district. 
 Carrie A. is the wife of Oliver Long, a 
 farmer of Lincoln township. Daisy A. and 
 Howard A. are yet at home, and are stu- 
 dents in the home school. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Petrie located 
 on the old home farm, which he operated a 
 number of years, and in the meantime pur- 
 chased the farm where he now resides and 
 to which he removed with his family in 1 8S2. 
 Since his removal to his present farm he has 
 made many improvements on the place, in- 
 cluding the erection of a large and neat resi- 
 dence, large barn and various outbuildings, 
 and the planting of orchard and shade trees. 
 He now has one of the best farms in the 
 township. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Petrie is a Democrat, the 
 principles of which party he has advocated 
 during his whole life. His first presidential 
 vote was cast for General Hancock. For 
 about twenty years he has served as school 
 director, and for a large part of the time as 
 
 president of the board. No other office has 
 he cared for, and he only would serve as 
 school director from the fact that he took 
 great interest in the public schools. A life- 
 long resident of the county, he has always 
 had its best interests at heart, and has done 
 what he could to subserve those interests. 
 
 WILLIAM STOCKING, .senior member 
 of the firm of William Stocking & 
 Company, bankers of Rochelle, is well- 
 known throughout Ogle and adjoining coun- 
 ties as a man of strict honor and integrity, 
 possessing fine business qualifications, one 
 having the best interests of his adopted city 
 and county at heart, and who has doubtless 
 done as much as any other one man to ad- 
 vance those interests. He was born in Ash- 
 field, Franklin county, Massachusetts, Jan- 
 uary 3, 1827, and is the son of Herod and 
 Lydia (Ames) Stocking, both of whom were 
 natives of the same county and state, the 
 former born in April, 1795. By occupation 
 the father was a farmer and followed that 
 vocation during his entire life. In 1832 he 
 moved with his family to Cuyahoga county, 
 Ohio, and seven years later to Ogle coun- 
 ty, Illinois, settling in Monroe township, 
 where he took up a claim of one hundred 
 and twenty acres ot government land and 
 at once began the development of a fine 
 farm. On that farm he spent the greater 
 portion of his life, dying in 1S8S, at the age 
 of ninety-three years. A few years prior 
 to his death he retired from active life, pass- 
 ing away at the residence of his son. Al- 
 ways an active man, he retained the full 
 possession of his faculties till the last, and 
 outlived his second wife. During the sec- 
 ond war with Great Britain he served his 
 country as one of its brave defenders. Po- 
 
300 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 litically he was a stanch Democrat. Herod 
 Stocking was the son of Abraham and Aba- 
 gail (Smith) Stocking, both of whom were 
 probably born in Massachusetts, the former 
 hving to the age of ninety years, and the 
 latter until eighty-five years old. Of the 
 ten children born to Herod and Lydia Stock- 
 ing, two only are now living, Lewis, of 
 Lynnville township, and our subject. 
 
 William Stocking was five years old 
 when he accompanied his parents to Cuya- 
 hoga county, Ohio, and but twelve years 
 old when he arrived with them in Ogle 
 county, and here his entire life has since 
 been spent, a period of three score years. 
 He well remembers the trip from Ohio to 
 Illinois, coming through as they did with 
 teams. The country was new and it was 
 quite interesting to the boy. His educa- 
 tion, which was begun in the common 
 schools of Ohio, was completed in the prim- 
 itive schools of Ogle county, attending as 
 he did generally during the winter months. 
 But in those primitive schools he laid the 
 foundation of a practical business life which 
 has been successful, and which has brought 
 him honors and the esteem of his fellow men. 
 
 Continuing with his father, and assisting 
 in the cultivation of the home farm, until 
 he was twenty-one years old, he then took 
 up one hundred and sixty acres of land from 
 the government and the first year broke 
 twenty acres, thus beginning life for himself. 
 His first crop of wheat he hauled to Mil- 
 ford with an ox team and sold for forty-five 
 cents per bushel. Success seemed to crown 
 his efforts from the start, and he is now the 
 owner of one thousand acres in one body, 
 lying in White Rock and Lynnville town- 
 ships. For some years he was extensively 
 engaged in buying and selling stock, and in 
 that line of business was likewise successful. 
 
 In 1872 he became interested in the Ro- 
 chelle National Bank, and was connected 
 with that institution until 1881, when he 
 sold his stock and severed his connection 
 with the bank. He then bought a control- 
 ling interest in the First National Bank of 
 Rochelle, which was later changed into a 
 private bank and business continued under 
 the firm name of William Stocking & Co. 
 The bank is recognized as one of the sound 
 financial institutions of the county, and has 
 a large line of deposits. 
 
 In Monroe township. Ogle county, June 
 27, 1847, Mr. Stocking was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Lydia Crill, a native of 
 Oneida county. New York, and daughter 
 of Henry Crill, one of the pioneer settlers 
 of Monroe tojvnship. Four children were 
 born of this union. Horace married Alma 
 Weeks, and is now living on the home farm. 
 They have four children. Dexter died at 
 the age of three years. Aurora married 
 George Terry, a manufacturer of Chicago, 
 in which city they reside. George E. is 
 connected with the bank in Rochelle. He 
 married Helene S. Stanton, by whom he has 
 three children. 
 
 In politics Mr. Stocking is a Republican 
 and for years has been active in the councils 
 of the party. He has been likewise active 
 in county and municipal affairs, and while 
 residing in White Rock township served as 
 supervisor three terms, and also five terms 
 in the same office in Flagg township, since 
 removing to Rochelle. On the board he 
 was one of the most active and influential 
 members. As a member of the city council 
 of Rochelle, he was chairman of the com- 
 mittee on water works and was chiefly in- 
 strumental in securing so fine a plant, and 
 took part in putting in the same. Since 
 1881 he has served as mayor of the city, a 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 term of office which has probably no parallel 
 in the state in the same office. He has been 
 of great assistance in getting the city of Ro- 
 chelle free from bonded indebtedness. That 
 his services have been appreciated, a refer- 
 ence to the length of time which he has 
 served is all that need be said. 
 
 SOLISTINE GUIO, is a well known citi- 
 zen of Ogle county, residing about four 
 miles north of Polo, on section 32, Lincoln 
 township, where he owns and operates a 
 well-improved farm of one hundred and sixty 
 acres, and also owns eighty acres additional 
 in the same township. He was born in 
 Summit county, Ohio, near Akron, October 
 14, 1835. His father, Peter Guio, was a 
 native of Canada, of French extraction, but 
 who emigrated to Ohio when a young man, 
 locating on a farm in Summit county. He 
 there married Miss Josephine Moushang, a 
 French lady, who was reared in Summit 
 county, Ohio. They became the parents of 
 four sons and five daughters, all of whom 
 grew to mature years. Of the family, two 
 sons and two daughters are now living. 
 The living are Solistine, of this sketch; 
 Peter, who resides near Salt Lake City, 
 Utah, where he owns a ranch, and also 
 keeps a public house and stage station; 
 Levina, widow ot ]. B. Lamb, of Chicago; 
 and Mrs. George Culver, of Kalamazoo, 
 Michigan. The mother of these children 
 died in Ohio in 1845, and about four years 
 later the father removed with the family to 
 Branch county, Michigan, and settled near 
 Gilead, where he engaged in farming and 
 reared the family. He died there about 
 1854. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in Ohio and Michigan, being 
 
 about fourteen years old when he accom- 
 panied his father to the latter state. He 
 had good common school advantages in his 
 native state, and also attended the common 
 schools of Michigan for a short time. 
 When about seventeen years old he com- 
 menced life for himself, working on a farm. 
 He continued at that work in Michigan un- 
 til the spring of 1S60, when he went to 
 Kansas with the idea of making that his 
 home. However, he did not long remain 
 there, but in the fall of the same year came 
 to Ogle county and commenced working by 
 the month. After being thus employed 
 about one year, he rented a farm and began 
 farming for himself. He later bought a 
 threshing machine, and during the seasons 
 for thirty-five years was engaged in operat- 
 ing the same, in ail probability being the 
 oldest operator of a threshing machine in 
 Ogle county. 
 
 Mr. Guio was married in Ogle county 
 February 27, 1868, to Miss Mary Pyfer, 
 born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, 
 and daughter of George Pyfer, also a native 
 of the same county and state, who there 
 married Mary Sweigaurd, likewise a native 
 of Pennsylvania. He moved with his fam- 
 ily to Ogle county, Illinois, in 1857, and 
 here Mrs. Guio grew to womanhood and 
 was mostly educateti. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Guio nine children have been born. Ko- 
 sella, living with her parents. Louisa is 
 the wife of Eugene Reed, a farmer of Buf- 
 falo township. Sarah is the wife of James 
 Mayburn, of Ogle county, and they have 
 one child, Nellie, a bright little girl of three 
 summers. George, who is assisting in car- 
 rying on the home farm. Henry, Oliver, 
 Amos, Lillie and Fanny, complete the 
 family. 
 
 After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Guio 
 
302 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 commenced their domestic life on a farm 
 near where they now reside. His first pur- 
 chase of land was a tract of eighty acres, 
 and later purchasing one hundred and sixty 
 acres adjoining, he has now a fine farm of 
 two hundred and forty acres, all of which is 
 under cultivation. Coming to this county 
 a poor man, by his own industry, assisted by 
 his estimable wife, he has accumulated a 
 fine property and is now one of the sub- 
 stantial citizens of the county. 
 
 Politically Mr. Guio gives his support to 
 the Republican party on national issues, 
 but in local elections he votes independent- 
 ly, casting his ballot for the men he con- 
 siders best qualified to fill the offices for 
 which they aspire. For nineteen years he 
 has served as a member of the school board, 
 a part of which time he was president of the 
 board. He has also served as road com- 
 missioner. His wife and daughter, Rosella, 
 are members of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. The entire family are highly es- 
 teemed wherever known. 
 
 ADKAIIAM FELKER WEAVER, a well- 
 known farmer and highly esteemed 
 citizen of Rockville township, Ogle county, 
 was born in Washington county, Maryland, 
 December 2, 1838. His father, Samuel 
 Weaver, was born in Huntingdon county, 
 Pennsylvania, June 27, 1799, and was mar- 
 ried November 14, 1824, to Elizabeth Fel- 
 ker, whose birth occurred in Washington 
 county, Maryland, June 14, 1805. He 
 died August 14, 1839, and she passed away 
 June 4, 1875. In their family were seven 
 children, namely: John, born June 24, 
 1825, died July 14, 1825; Catherine Wilt, 
 born June 23, 1826, married Daniel Binkley, 
 of Washington county, Maryland; George, 
 
 born November 15, 1829, died October i, 
 1884; Elizabeth, born July 20, 1832, died 
 February 27, 1837; Mary A., born Novem- 
 ber 24, 1834, died June 18, 1838; Louisa, 
 born September 5, 1836, died October 25, 
 1894; and Abraham F. completes the 
 family. 
 
 Our subject was only eight months old 
 at the time of his father's death, and was 
 reared by his mother in his native county, 
 where he acquired his primary education. 
 In July, 1857, at the age of nineteen years, 
 he came alone to Ogle county, where his 
 brother had located two years before, and 
 the first summer he worked for various 
 persons in the county. For one year he 
 was in the employ of Charles Samis, and 
 for si.x months was with Daniel Zellars. He 
 then purchased a half interest in a thresh- 
 ing maching, and in the fall of i860, when 
 the threshing season was over, he hired out 
 to Benjamin Swingley for three months. 
 The following year he was again engaged in 
 threshing, and at the end of the season en- 
 tered the Mt. Morris Seminary, where he 
 pursued his studies for three months. He 
 and his cousin, David Felker, then bought a 
 new machine, and in the spring of 1863 
 Mr. Weaver rented a small farm which he 
 operated until harvest time, when he re- 
 sumed threshing while making his home 
 with his uncle Abraham Felker. With his 
 thresher he traveled extensively through 
 the southern part of the state. At the end 
 of this season he returned to Maryland, 
 where he spent four or five months. In 
 1862 he made his first purchase of land, 
 consisting of eighty acres, in Forreston town- 
 ship, which he sold about 1867. He then 
 purchased a farm in 1870, with like improve- 
 ments, and in 1876 moved on the same. 
 
 On the 28th of April, 1864, Mr. Weav- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 er enlisted in Company I, One Hundred and 
 Fortieth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under 
 Captain James W. Cartwright and Colonel 
 Lorenzo H. Whitney, and was mustered in 
 at Dixon. After the regiment was equipped 
 at Springfield, they proceeded to Cairo and 
 on to Memphis, Tennessee, and to Lafay- 
 ette. Mr. Weaver's company, together 
 with Companies I and F, were detailed to 
 guard a bridge five miles from Lafayette, 
 which the rebels burned at every opportu- 
 nity. Our subject was wounded September 
 5, 1864, in a skirmish with Forrest's men 
 and is now a pensioner of the government. 
 They returned to Memphis, Tennessee, 
 where they remained for two or three weeks. 
 While there the time for which the}- enlisted 
 expired, but they were held for nearly three 
 months; a part of which time he was on the 
 sick list. They were mustered out of serv- 
 ice at Camp Fry, at or near Chicago, Illinois. 
 
 Mr. Weaver married Miss Jennie W. 
 Briggs, who was born March 30, 1851, a 
 daughter of Joseph and Louisa E. (Case) 
 Briggs. Her father was born June 16, 
 1806, and died July 11, 1856, and her 
 mother was born August 31, 18 10, and died 
 May 10, 1S91. To Mr. and Mrs. Weaver 
 were born four children: Grace E., born 
 January 7, 1877; Mabel L. , September 5, 
 1879; Charles H , July 3, 1882; and Lil- 
 lian E. , May 17, 1887. All are living with 
 the exception of the youngest, who died 
 February 13, 18S8. Our subject has also 
 been called upon to mourn the loss of his 
 estimable wife, who passed away October 
 30, 1892. 
 
 Politically Mr. Weaver is a silver Demo- 
 crat, and he has most capably and satis- 
 factorily served as school director for fifteen 
 years and as road commissioner for three 
 years. 
 
 ADDISON COFFMAN, one of the repre- 
 sentative and prominent agriculturists 
 of Ogle county, operates a fine farm of 
 two hundred and eighty-four acres on sec- 
 tion 12, Maryland township, and also has 
 another well improved and valuable farm of 
 two hundred and sixty acres in the same 
 township, which he rents. He is one of 
 Ogle county's honored sons, his birth occur- 
 ring on the farm where he now resides, Au- 
 gust 24, 1843. 
 
 His father, Samuel W. Coffman, was a 
 native of Washington county, Maryland, 
 born in 181 i, and was a son of John Coff- 
 man, who was born on the Atlantic ocean, 
 while his parents were removing from their 
 old home in Germany to the United States. 
 They were among the pioneers of Washing- 
 ton count}', Maryland. There Samuel W. 
 Coffman grew to manhood and married 
 Catherine Doney, a native of the same 
 county and a daughter of Timothy Downey, 
 also an early settler of the county. Mr. 
 Coffman engaged in farming there until 
 1S40, when he came to Ogle county, Illinois, 
 in company with two other families. He 
 entered a tract of two hundred and eighty- 
 four acres in Maryland township, on which 
 his son now resides, erected thereon a log 
 house and began to improve and cultivate 
 his land. He also entered other tracts, but 
 later sold these. In subsequent years his 
 first home here was replaced by a 
 more commodious and modern residence, 
 and the wild land on which he located was 
 converted into a fine farm. His last years 
 were spent in retirement in the village of 
 Baileyville, Illinois, where he died in 18S7. 
 His first wife had died in 1876 and he later 
 married again. 
 
 By the first union there were ten chil- 
 dren, six sons and four daughters, of whom 
 
304 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 two sons and four daughters reached man 
 and womanhood, namely: John D., who is 
 living retired in Chicago; Mrs. Naomi Dunn, 
 of Freeport, Illinois; Catherine, deceased 
 wife of Valentine Wallace; Susan, wife of 
 S. W. Griffith, of Marshalltown, Iowa; and 
 Matilda, a resident of Freeport. 
 
 The subject of this review was reared on 
 the home farm and had very limited school 
 advantages. He remained with his father 
 until reaching manhood and then took 
 charge of the homestead, which he later 
 purchased of the other heirs. His whole 
 life has been devoted to agricultural pur- 
 suits and he has met with marked success, 
 his landed possessions now aggregating five 
 hundred and forty-four acres of fertile and 
 valuable land, which he has placed under a 
 high state of cultivation and well improved. 
 Upon the home farm he has erected a large 
 barn with a basement. 
 
 In Maryland township, June 29, 1879, 
 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Coffman 
 and Miss Sarah Wagner, a native of Ogle 
 county and a daughter of Jonathan Wagner, 
 who settled here as early as 1840. 
 By this union three children were born: 
 Samuel and Jonathan Emory, who assists 
 their father in the operation of the farm, 
 and Eusebia, who died at the age of four 
 years. The wife and mother departed this 
 life in 1885, and Mr. Coffman was again 
 married in Maryland township, December 
 5, 1887, his second union being with Mrs. 
 Emma Stover, a native of the township and 
 sister of his first wife. In November, 1871, 
 she gave her hand in marriage to John 
 Stover, and they went to New York city 
 on their wedding trip. Returning they 
 stopped in Chicago and left that city on the 
 night of the great fire. Mr. Stover located 
 in Sangamon county, Illinois, where he en- 
 
 gaged in farming until his death, which oc- 
 curred in July, 1875. He left two daugh- 
 ters, Marian and May, who are both well 
 educated and the former is now a stenog- 
 rapher in Freeport. There is one son by 
 the second marriage: Frank F. 
 
 Since casting his first presidential vote 
 for Abraham Lincoln, in 1864, Mr. Coff- 
 man has been a stalwart supporter of the 
 Republican party, but he has never cared 
 for office, though he has served for three 
 years as commissioner of highways. He 
 is one of the leading and popular citizens of 
 his community and wherever known he is 
 held in high regard. 
 
 WILLIAM M. CLARK, a practical and 
 successful farmer, residing on section 
 30, Pine Creek township, is a native of 
 Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, born No- 
 vember 14, 1832, and is the son of Isaac 
 and Nancy (Campbell) Clark, both natives 
 of County Antrim, Ireland. Isaac Clark 
 came to the United States in 1832 and lo- 
 cated in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, 
 where he remained until 1850 and then re- 
 moved to Jefferson county, in the same 
 state, where he spent the remainder of his 
 life. He was a good and faithful citizen of 
 his adopted country and state and filled a 
 number of local offices, serving as collector, 
 constable and school director. He died 
 when about seventy-one years of age. His 
 wife survived him and died in 1895, when 
 eighty-two years of age. They were the 
 parents of eleven children, ten of whom 
 grew to maturity. William M. is the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. Thomas remained in 
 Pennsylvania until 1887, and then came to 
 Ogle county, where he remained two years, 
 going from here to the state of Washington, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 305 
 
 which is his present home. Elizabeth is 
 the wife of George A. Currier, of Pennsyl- 
 vania. Mary is the wife of Samuel Mont- 
 gomery. They left Jefferson county, Penn- 
 sylvania, came to Ogle county, where they 
 remained ten years, then went to Wright 
 county, Iowa, where they now reside. Sar- 
 ah married David Currier, of Clarion coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania. Nancy married Peter 
 Butler, now of Jefferson county, Pennsyl- 
 vania. Samuel, when less than eighteen 
 years of age, enlisted in the One Hundred 
 and Third Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, 
 was captured at Plymouth, North Carolina, 
 spent some time in Andersonville prison, 
 from which he was taken to Charleston, 
 South Carolina, and from thereto Florence, 
 South Carolina, where his death occurred 
 about two weeks before peace was declared. 
 James remained in Jefferson county, Penn- 
 sylvania, until about 1874, when he went 
 to California, and from there to Oregon. 
 Later he went to British Columbia, where 
 he accumulated a fortune, after which he 
 returned to his old home in Jefferson county 
 until 1880, when he went to the state of 
 Washington, and is now living on Puget 
 Sound. Issac died at the age of twenty- 
 seven years. John died when six years old. 
 Elizabeth married George A. Currier and 
 resides in Pennsylvania. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in Jefferson county, Penn- 
 sylvania. When thirteen years old he was 
 apprenticed to learn the shoemaker's trade, 
 but after serving si.x months, left his master 
 and returned home. He was then hired out 
 by his father for five dollars per month to 
 work on a farm. When sixteen he was ap- 
 prenticed to a blacksmith to learn his trade. 
 When his employer broke up some months 
 after, he abandoned the idea of learning the 
 
 trade, and for some three years was em- 
 ployed in and about the iron works. From 
 that time until 1854 he was engaged in lum- 
 bering, at which he cleared about five hun- 
 dred dollars, two hundred of which he gave 
 to his father. With the remainder he went 
 to California and located in Plumas county, 
 and for two years was engaged in mining for 
 others. He then went to Sierra county, 
 where he engaged in mining on his own ac- 
 count. He was there at the time the vig- 
 ilance committee was organized to rid the 
 the county of rascally officials. He re- 
 mained in California until November, i860, 
 engaged in inining with fair success. He 
 returned home by way of the Isthmus of 
 Panama. In February, 1S61, he came to 
 Ogle county on business, and liking the 
 country, he purchased one hundred and 
 sixty acres of land in Pine Creek township, 
 which he rented out until after his marriage. 
 On the 1 2th of July, 1866, Mr. Clark 
 was united in marriage with Miss Amanda 
 Yates, daughter of Charles and Catherine 
 (Ninick) Yates, the former a native of Eng- 
 land, and the latter of German parentage. 
 Mrs. Clark was born in Frederick county, 
 Maryland, and when seven years old came 
 with her mother to Ogle county, her father 
 having died when she was but three years of 
 age. She was born March 12, 1839, and 
 was one of a family of nine children. Of 
 these John resided in Ogle county until his 
 death, about 1893. Lucinda married Em- 
 ery Foxwell, a well-known banker of Balti- 
 more, but is now deceased. George died in 
 Ogle county June 7, 1878. Elizabeth mar- 
 ried Benjamin Cummings, for years a resi- 
 dent of Ogle county, but who died in Kan- 
 sas. She now resides in Vinton, Iowa. 
 Mary E. died in childhood. Isaac died at 
 the age of seventeen. Rebecca married 
 
3o6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Joseph Mumma, of Ogle county. Edward, 
 when si.xteen years old, went to the state 
 of Washington, where he now resides, en- 
 gaged in farming. 
 
 After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Clark 
 lived for a year and a half upon the first 
 farm that he purchased. In 1868, they re- 
 moved to their present place of residence, 
 which then consisted of one hundred acres. 
 He has since added to his possessions until 
 he has now a section of good land, which 
 he has leased for a number of years. Much 
 of his time has been given to stock raising, 
 it being his aim to use up all the grain and 
 hay raised on his farms. He usually feeds 
 from two to five car loads of cattle and hogs 
 per year. He has always been a stanch 
 Democrat, and never hesitates to advocate 
 the principles of his part}'. Fraternally he 
 is a Master Mason, and a member of the 
 Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having 
 joined the latter order in 1856. He is a 
 member of both subordinate lodge and the 
 encampment. As a farmer, he has proved 
 a success, keeping up with the times in the 
 various improvements made, and entering 
 heartily into his work. In regard to the 
 future he is an agnostic in belief. 
 
 CHARLES FISHER.— Wherever there 
 is pioneer work to be done men of 
 energy and ability are required, and success 
 or failure depends upon the degree of those 
 qualities that is possessed. In wresting the 
 land of Ogle county from its native wilder- 
 ness; in fitting it for the habitation of men; 
 in developing the natural resources of the 
 community, few if any have done more than 
 Mr. Fisher and it is mete and proper that 
 for the arduous and important labor he 
 performed he should receive due reward. 
 
 Here he has made his home since the 8th 
 of June, 1839, and for many years he was 
 actively identified with the agricultural in- 
 terests of Byron township, but is now living 
 retired in the village of Byron in the pleas- 
 urable enjoyment of his accumulations. 
 
 Mr. Fisher was born in the town of 
 Westboro, Worcester county, Massachu- 
 setts, July 21, 1 8 1 8. The early home of his 
 ancestors was in England, but the family 
 was one of the first established in the old 
 Bay state. His grandfather, Samuel Fisher, 
 and his father, Nahum Fisher, were both 
 born on the old homestead in Worcester 
 county, the latter March 15, 17S8. On at- 
 taining man's estate he became prominently 
 identified with public affairs, and for several 
 terms most ably and satisfactorily repre- 
 sented his district in the state legislature. 
 He also served as justice of the peace for 
 many years, and his decisions were rendered 
 without fear or favor. During the war of 
 18 1 2 he was one of the gallant defenders of 
 his country, and afterward received a pen- 
 sion in recognition of his services. He re- 
 ceived a good education, was engaged in 
 surveying for a time, and was an excellent 
 business man of known reliability. He 
 married Miss Betsy Harrington, also a na- 
 tive of Westboro, Worcester county, born 
 May 15, 1787, and after her death, which 
 occurred October 2, 1851, he was again 
 married. His death occurred in his native 
 place March 27, 1865. 
 
 By the first marriage there were ten 
 children, six sons and four daughters, all of 
 whom grew to man and womanhood, but 
 only three sons are now living: Charles, of 
 this review; Samuel D. , a resident of West- 
 boro, Massachusetts; and Joseph, who lived 
 retired at Montpelier, Vermont, for many 
 years, where he was a neighbor and ac 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 307 
 
 quintance of Admiral Dewey. He died 
 December 22, 1898. 
 
 Reared in Westboro, Charles Fisher ob- 
 tained an excellent education, being a 
 student in the Leicester and Westminster 
 Seminaries and also the Baptist Academy 
 at Worcester. At the age of eighteen he 
 commenced teaching and for two winters 
 successfully followed that profession in his 
 native state. In May, 1839, he started for 
 Illinois in company with a brother and a 
 sister, Mrs. Parsons and her children, driv- 
 ing two teams. The trip was a long and 
 tedious one and they did not arrive at their 
 destination until June 8. Though not a 
 professor of religion at that time, Mr. Fisher 
 observed every Sabbath during the journey. 
 In Ogle county he joined his brother-in-law, 
 Luke Parsons, who had located here three 
 years previovsly. Our subject purchased 
 a claim of two hundred and forty acres in 
 Byron township, of which fifteen acres had 
 been cleared, but later sold that place and 
 purchased Mr. Parsons' farm after the death 
 of his brother-in-law. He then devoted his 
 energies to its further improvement and 
 cultivation, and as prosperity crowned his 
 efforts he was subsequently able to purchase 
 an adjoining tract of sixty acres, making in 
 all a fine and valuable farm of two hundred 
 and ten acres near the present village of 
 Byron, in B3Ton township. Being the 
 owner of the horses with which he had 
 driven from his eastern home, he was able 
 to be of use to the community in which he 
 located by engaging in teaming between 
 this county and Chicago, hauling lumber, 
 and other supplies for the settlers. In 
 this way he not only aided those around 
 him but also added not a little to his in- 
 come. 
 
 On the loth of November, 1850, in By- 
 
 ron township, occurred the marriage of Mr. 
 Fisher and Miss Harriet N. Salisbury, who 
 was born in Townsend, Windham county, 
 Vermont, August 2, 1827, a daughter of 
 Barnard and Arethusa (Duncan) Salisbury, 
 also natives of the Green Mountain state. 
 The father was born in Brattleboro, March 
 30, 1786, and was descended from a family 
 of German origin, which at an early day 
 was founded in England, and from there its 
 representatives came to America, settling 
 in New England. Afr. Salisbury was a 
 pioneer of Townsend, Vermont, where he 
 ever afterward made his home, successfully 
 engaged in agricultural pursuits. On re- 
 turning from a visit to our subject and his 
 wife he was taken ill with cholera at Pulas- 
 ki, New York, and died July 4, 1854. His 
 wife passed away December 27, 1832. In 
 the family of this worthy couple were ten 
 children, of whom nine reached years of 
 maturity, but only Mrs. Fisher, Mrs. 
 Arethusa Merwin, of New Haven, Connecti- 
 cut, and Henry Salisbury, of Schenectady, 
 New York, are now living. Coming west 
 in 1849 to visit a sister, she accepted a po- 
 sition as teacher in Ogle county, and while 
 thus engaged she became acquainted with 
 her future husband. Theirs was the first 
 marriage celebrated in the Byron church. 
 The children born of this union are Harriet 
 E., wife of J. B. Tinker, a business man of 
 Mason City, Iowa; Mary J., wife of George 
 Rood, of Byron, Ogle county; Alice A., wife 
 of Charles B. Rosier, a carpenter of Byron, 
 Illinois; Charles M., a business man of Ma- 
 son City, Iowa; Arthur C, a lawyer by pro- 
 fession, who is now serving as lieutenant- 
 colonel of the Third Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry at Porto Rica; Elsa L. , at home; and 
 Nahum H., a business man of Janesville, 
 Wisconsin. 
 
308 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Fisher began their do- 
 mestic life on his farm in the new residence 
 which had just been completed, but has 
 since been enlarged and remodeled. Good 
 barns and other outbuildings were also 
 erected, and under the skillful management 
 of our subject the farm was made to yield 
 bountiful harvests in return for the care and 
 labor bestowed upon it. For thirty-seven 
 years he successfully engaged in its opera- 
 tion, but in 1887 rented it and removed 
 to the village of Byron, where he erected 
 a neat residence and has since lived re- 
 tired. 
 
 In political sentiment Mr. Fisher was 
 originally a Whig, and cast his first vote for 
 William Henry Harrison in 1840, but in 
 1856 he joined the newly organized Repub- 
 lican party, and of later years has been a 
 supporter of the men and measures of the 
 Prohibition party, as he is a strong temper- 
 ance man. He served as commissioner of 
 highways for about fourteen years, and for 
 several years was a most active and promi- 
 nent member of the school board, doing 
 much to advance the grade of schools in 
 this section. He provided his own children 
 with good educational advantages, all being 
 graduates of the graded schools of Byron, 
 while some of the sons attended Wheaton 
 and Mt. Morris Colleges, and the younger 
 members were students in the Rockford 
 Business College. All became successful 
 and popular teachers with the exception of 
 the oldest, who never followed the profes- 
 sion. For over half a century the parents 
 have been worthy members of the Congre- 
 gational Church at Byron, and their lives 
 have ever been in harmony with its teach- 
 ings. Mr. Fisher has served as deacon since 
 1 88 1 , and as a public-spirited and progressive 
 citizen he gives his support to all enter- 
 
 prises which he believes calculated to ad- 
 vance the moral, educational or material 
 welfare of his town and county. 
 
 DAVID H. LAMONT, dealer in hard- 
 ware, stoves and tinware, Holcomb, 
 is one of the leading merchants of the 
 place, an enterprising citizen, and one who 
 enjoys the respect and confidence of the en- 
 tire community in which he lives. He is a 
 native of Jo Daviess county, Illinois, born 
 September 27, 1863, and is the son of Hans 
 and Alice (Lamont) i^amont. Although of 
 the same name, the parents were not re- 
 lated. They were both natives of Ireland, 
 and became the parents of nine children, 
 three of whom, are now deceased. The liv- 
 ing are Mary, Sarah, John, Stewart, Alice 
 and David. The deceased are William, 
 Thomas and Albert. In 1848, a year that 
 Irishmen have cause to well remember, he 
 came to the United States and for ten years 
 was in the employ of the Baltimore & Ohio 
 railroad, in the meantime accumulating a 
 little money with which to begin life in 
 earnest. In 1858 he came west and located 
 in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, where he con- 
 tinues to reside. He was a good man and 
 made friends wherever he lived. 
 
 In his native county our subject grew to 
 manhood and was educated in the public 
 schools. At the age of seventeen he com- 
 menced to learn the tinner's trade with his 
 brother John, and has since continued to 
 follow the trade with a reasonable degree of 
 success and satisfaction. In 1890 he started 
 a tin and hardware store in Stillman Valley, 
 which he continued to run for three years, 
 but believing there was a better opening in 
 Holcomb, he removed to the latter place, 
 where he now carries a fine line of hard- 
 
DAVID H. LAMONT. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 3" 
 
 ware, stoves and tinware, and has built up 
 an excellent trade. 
 
 On the 19th of February, 1S96, Mr. 
 Lamont was united in marriage with Miss 
 Dora A. Gates, a native of Ogle county, 
 and a daughter of Jacob Gates, who is now 
 deceased, but who was an early settler of 
 that county, and a man greatly esteemed 
 wherever known. 
 
 In politics Mr. Lamont is an unquali- 
 fied member of the Republican party, a 
 party with which he has been identified 
 since attaining his majority. Soon after 
 his removal to Holcomb he was appointed 
 postmaster of the place, an office which he 
 has since continued to hold to the satis- 
 faction of the patrons of the office. He is 
 at present a member of the school board at 
 Holcomb, giving of his time freely to ad- 
 vance the interests of its public schools. 
 Fraternally he is a inember of the Knights 
 of the Globe. Religiously he is a Baptist, 
 and in the work of the church he takes an 
 active interest, and is at present superin- 
 tendent of the Sunday school. He makes 
 a good superintendent, and the school has 
 flourished under his charge. As a business 
 man he attends strictly to business, and is 
 ever ready to encourage any enterprise that 
 he believes will best conduce the interests 
 of his adopted city and county. He enjoys 
 the respect and confidence of the entire 
 community in which he lives. 
 
 BENJAMIN D. SEIBERT, deceased, 
 though not numbered among the 
 pioneers of Ogle county, was yet an early 
 settler, and a man who attained promi- 
 nence in the industrial affairs of the county, 
 and was numbered among its most enter- 
 prising and prosperous citizens. Like many 
 
 of the best citizens of the county he was a 
 native of Washington county, Maryland, 
 born in Hagerstown, April 9, i8r6. He 
 was the son of John Seibert, also a native 
 of the same county and state, and who was 
 by occupation a farmer. The father never 
 came west, but spent his entire life in his 
 native state. 
 
 In his native county our subject grew to 
 manhood and there received a common 
 school education. The knowledge obtained 
 in the school room was supplemented by 
 that gained in the school of experience, by 
 contact with his fellowmen. He was always 
 observing, and with an eye to the main 
 chance, he was quite successful in whatever 
 he undertook. In 1S5S he came to Ogle 
 county and located in Mt. Morris township, 
 about four miles north of the village, where 
 he purchased three hundred acres of good 
 land and engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
 From time to time he added to his posses- 
 sions until at the time of his death he 
 was the owner of over one thousand acres 
 of excellent farming land. 
 
 Mr. Seibert was united in marriage with 
 Miss Hannah Thompson, a native of Can- 
 ada, and daughter of Henry and Sarah B. 
 (Straw) Thompson, the former born in 
 Connecticut in 1791, and the latter in New 
 Hampshire in 1800. Her father died in 
 Canada in 1847, while her mother survived 
 him many years, dying at the residence of 
 Mrs. Seiber, December 29, 1878. They 
 were both members of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church. To Mr. and Mrs. Seibert 
 three sons were born, all of whom are yet 
 living. John V., born March 17, 1870, 
 married Florence Wolfe, and they have 
 one child, also named Florence. They re- 
 side in Mt. Morris. Benjamin D., born 
 March 20, 1872, resides in Mt. Morris. 
 
3>2 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Alfred T. , born September i, 1874, is at- 
 tending the law department of the Illinois 
 University, in Chicago. 
 
 While Mr. Seibert was the owner of 
 several fine farms in Ogle county, he gave 
 his time principally to the real estate and 
 loan business. He had considerable Chi- 
 cago property and much farming land 
 throughout northern Illinois. A brother. 
 Dr. John Seibert, was a well-known physi- 
 cian in Chicago before the great fire in that 
 city. He also practiced medicine in Mil- 
 waukee for about ten years. He was a ripe 
 scholar, a graduate of the University of 
 Pennsylvania. During his life he amassed 
 considerable property in his adopted city 
 of Chicago. He died in that city October 
 9, 1896. 
 
 After a long and useful life, Mr. Seibert 
 passed to his reward, April 9, 1889. His 
 wife died April 7, 1895. Both were devout 
 Christian people, he a member of the Ger- 
 man Baptist church, and she of the Method- 
 ist Episcopal. For many years she was 
 president of the Women's Christian Tem- 
 perance Union of Mt. Morris, and in both 
 temperance and church work was quite 
 active. In politics he was a Democrat. 
 Both enjoyed the love and esteem of a large 
 circle of friends, and their death was sin- 
 cerely mourned. 
 
 GEORGE BRAND is now retired from 
 the labors of a long and active life 
 and is spending his declining days in the 
 midst or ease and plenty at his comfortable 
 home in Polo. For many years he was en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits, and his posi- 
 tion financially is the result of his own un- 
 aided industry, coupled with the sound com- 
 
 mon sense and excellent business capacity 
 with which nature endowed him. 
 
 Mr. Brand was born near Utica, New 
 York, October 12, 1828, and is a represent- 
 ative of a good old Scotch family, his par- 
 ents being James and Jenette (Ferris) Brand, 
 natives of Dumfrieshire, Scotland. The fa- 
 ther was born in the village of Ecclessechan, 
 January 16, 1799, and was a cousin of 
 Thomas Carlyle, a native of the same vil- 
 lage. The grandfather, William Brand, was 
 a man of strong religious convictions and 
 was one of the organizers and buildings of 
 the first church in Ecclessechan. He spent 
 his entire life in Scotland, and when a young 
 man followed the weaver's -trade. He was 
 a son of Robert Brand, of whom little is 
 known at the present time. 
 
 At the age of fourteen years, James 
 Brand, our subject's father, was apprenticed 
 to the carpenter's trade, at which he worked 
 until he attained his majority, and then 
 went to Newfoundland, sojourning there for 
 eighteen months. On his return to Scotland, 
 he was married in 1822 to Jenette Farries, 
 who was born in Ecclessechan, March 
 10, 1799, a daughter of George and Lucy 
 Farries, who in later years crossed the Atlan- 
 tic to Prince Edwards Island, where they 
 spent their last days. They came to Utica, 
 New York, in 1880. Mr. and Mrs. Brand 
 became the parents of ten children, namely: 
 William and Lucy, both born in Ecclesse- 
 chan; George, born in Utica, New York; 
 James, born in Toronto, Canada; Jenette, 
 John (deceased) and Robert, all born in 
 Canada; and Henry, Mary and Anna, born 
 after the family came to Ogle county, Illi- 
 nois. After their marriage the parents con- 
 tinued to reside in their native village until 
 1828, when they sailed from Greenock, 
 Scotland, bound for America, but were 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 becalmed two weeks on the coast of 
 Ireland, finally landioj:^ in New York city 
 after six weeks spent upon the water. The 
 family first located at Utica, New York, 
 where they made their home until 1830, and 
 then removed to Toronto, Canada, spending 
 one year at that place. The father then 
 purchased a farm twenty miles north of the 
 city, and in the midst of the almost unbroken 
 forest they lived for some years. It was 
 during this time that the McKenzie rebellion 
 occurred, with which he was a sympathizer. 
 While living there he worked at his trade, 
 as a shipbuilder, on the lakes. Selling his 
 land in Canada in 1840, he came to Ogle 
 county, Illinois, and located on a farm 
 northwest of Polo, in Brookville township, 
 where he was actively engaged in farming 
 until 1852. He died in April, 1873, and his 
 wife March 13, 1871, honored and respected 
 by all who knew them for their sterling 
 worth and many e.xcellencies of character. 
 George Brand had little opportunity of 
 attending school up to the time the family 
 left Canada, but he made the best of his 
 advantages after coming to Illinois, and is a 
 well-informed man. He remained with his 
 father until twenty-three years of age, and 
 then purchased eighty acres of land, for 
 which he went partly in debt. During the 
 busy season he operated a corn sheller and 
 threshing machine and continued in that 
 vocation for thirty-four consecutive years. 
 It is needless to say that he soon lifted the 
 debt on his first purchase, and from time to 
 time he bought more land until he owned 
 two fine farms, one of one hundred and 
 twenty acres and the other of one hundred 
 acres. These he sold in 1875 ^"d '876, 
 and purchased two farms a short distance 
 north of Polo, aggregating two hundred and 
 twenty-nine acres. He successfully engaged 
 
 in general farming and stock raising until 
 1888, when he retired from active life and 
 removed to Polo, where he is now enjoying 
 a well-earned rest. 
 
 At Freeport, Illinois, March 21, 1S54, 
 Mr. Brand was united in marriage with Miss 
 Leonora Sanburn. Her paternal grand- 
 father, Jonathan Sanburn, was probably a 
 native of New Hampshire, and descended 
 from John or William Sanburn, who, with 
 their grandfather. Rev. Stephen Bachelder, 
 came to this country in 1630, from Holland, 
 whither they had fied from England because 
 of religious persecution. They were sons 
 of John Sanburn, of England. John P. 
 Sanburn, Mrs. Brand's father, was born in 
 New Hampshire, in 1797, and in early life 
 removed to Montreal and later to Toronto, 
 Canada, whence he subsequently moved to 
 Ogle county, Illinois, in 1839, and bought 
 a farm of two hundred and fifty acres near 
 Buffalo Grove. Here he died in 1872. In 
 York township, York county, Canada, he 
 married Miss Susan Johnson, who was born 
 there in 1801, and died in 1866. Her 
 father, Abraham Johnson, was born near 
 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, about 1772, and 
 died about 1867-8. Throughout life he 
 followed the occupation of a farmer. Dur- 
 ing the war of 1S12 he moved to Canada, as 
 he was a British sympathizer, his parents 
 having been Tories during the Revolution- 
 ary war. He first located in Nova Scotia, 
 but later made his home near Toronto. He 
 married a Miss Fisher and to them were 
 born thirteen children, of whom six are now 
 living, and of these Mrs. Brand is the third 
 in order of birth. 
 
 The children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Brand are as follows: Lester A., who is 
 engaged in the grocery business with Cyrus 
 Nicodemus, in Polo, married Mary Wolf, ot 
 
314 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Brookville, Ogle county, and the}- have two 
 children, Alpha and Iva; Mar}- died at the 
 age of nine months; George Mortimer, a bag- 
 gage clerk at the Union depot, St. Paul, 
 Minnesota, married Annie Rates, and they 
 have two children, Milton and Leonora; 
 John James, who is employed in a shoe 
 factory in Rockford, Illinois, first married 
 Ella Hanna, by whom he has one son, 
 George, and for his second wife married 
 Emma Hawes; Hiram Douglas, a success- 
 ful dentist of Tacoma, Washington, married 
 Ellen Lemon and they have two children, 
 Ellen and Iva; Robert Miles, a promising 
 young attorney of Chicago, married Luella 
 Gibson; Kate A. is the wife of Sherman 
 Donaldson, a farmer living near Polo, and 
 they have one son, George; and Ambrose 
 Alexander, who married Ellen Rumell, is a 
 dentist of Chadwick, Carroll county, Illi- 
 nois. 
 
 In his political views, Mr. Brand is an 
 independent Democrat, and for fifteen years 
 he most acceptably served as school director 
 in his district. He is a prominent member 
 of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the 
 blue lodge and chapter in Polo and the com- 
 mandery in Di.xon. He is a pleasant, 
 genial gentleman, of high social qualities 
 and has an extensive circle of friends and 
 acquaintances in Ogle county, who esteem 
 him highly for his genuine worth. 
 
 AUSTIN WRIGHT SPOOR, deceased, 
 was for many years a well known citi- 
 zen of Ogle county, having manj' friends, 
 and enjoying the respect and esteem of all 
 with whom he was brought in contact. He 
 was born in Clarence Hollow, Erie county, 
 New York, August 19, 1837, and was the 
 son of Orsemus and Sophia (Cole) Spoor, 
 
 both of whom were natives of New York, 
 the former born September 12, 1802. He 
 was the son of William and Christine Spoor, 
 the former born January 20, 1769, and the 
 latter July 30, 1774. 
 
 Orsemus Spoor was reared in his native 
 state, and there married Sophia Cole. In 
 1S40, he came west with his wife and fami- 
 \y, locating first in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, 
 but in the spring of 1841 removing to By- 
 ron, Ogle countj', where in partnership 
 with William Wilkinson, he erected the 
 first grist mill built in the northern part of 
 the count}'. He died, however, in the fall 
 following, leaving a widow with a family of 
 six children to care for. In addition to his 
 Ogle county interests he had some property 
 in Chicago, but not knowing its location 
 his widow and children lost track of it and 
 never acquired rights in it. After surviving 
 her husband eleven years, his widow was 
 called to her reward, dying in 1852. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but three 
 years old when he accompanied his parents 
 to Ogle county, and but four years old when 
 his father died. He remained with his 
 mother until twelve years old when he went 
 to East Troy, Wisconsin, to make his home 
 with an uncle, Sylvanus Spoor. After re- 
 maining about three years in the family of 
 his uncle, he felt an earnest desire to return 
 home, fearing that something was wrong. 
 On his way back he stopped over night at 
 the house of an acquaintance, where he 
 learned from acquaintances retnrning from 
 his mother's funeral that she was dead. 
 
 Deciding on remaining in Byron, Mr. 
 Spoor made his home with his brother, who 
 was engaged in the hotel business, and for 
 a time assisted him in the work, and later 
 was his brother's partner for about two 
 years. He then engaged in carrying the 
 
THE BIOGR.\PHICAL RECORD. 
 
 mail between Byron and Rockford for one 
 year. The following year he drove the 
 stage between Rockford and Di.xon, and 
 was then engaged in farm work for two 
 years. Following this he carried mail be- 
 tween Byron and Stillman Valley, and be- 
 tween Kishwaukee and Rockford for four 
 years. 
 
 The war for the union being in prog- 
 ress, Mr. Spoor determined to assist in main- 
 taining the union, and accordingly in July, 
 1862, he enlisted in Company B, Ninety- 
 second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was 
 mustered into the service September 4, fol- 
 lowing. For the first twelve months he 
 was on detached duty, driving an ambulance 
 wagon, after which he was assigned to duty 
 at the headquarters of General Kilpatrick 
 as veterinary surgeon. The war closing, 
 he was mustered out of service June 22, 
 1865, at Concord, North Carolina. 
 
 Returning to his home, in 1866, Mr. 
 Spoor secured a position as traveling sales- 
 man for a Chicago house, and for several 
 years was upon the road. On the 23d of 
 September, 1869, at Polo, Illinois, he was 
 united in marriage to Miss Anna Brand, a 
 native of Polo, and daughter of James and 
 Janet (Farries) Grand, both of whom were 
 natives of Scotland. James Brand was 
 born in the village of Ecclessechan, Dum- 
 friesshire, Scotland, January 16, 1799, and 
 was a second cousin to the renowned Thom- 
 as Carlyle, who was born in the same vil- 
 lage. At the age of fourteen he was ap- 
 prenticed to learn the carpenter's trade. 
 After serving his time he came to America, 
 where he remained about eighteen months, 
 working as a journeyman, then returned to 
 Scotland, and in 1822 was united in mar- 
 riage with Janet Farries. After his mar- 
 riage he remained in Scotland until 1827, 
 
 when he again came to the United States, 
 sailing from Greenock and landing in New 
 York, after a voyage of si.x weeks. For two 
 weeks he was becalmed in mid-ocean. With 
 his family, he first made his home in New 
 Hartford, near Utica, New York, where he 
 was engaged in building power looms in 
 cotton factories. In 1830 he removed to 
 Toronto, Canada, where he lived one year 
 and then bought a farm twenty miles north 
 of that place, and was there during the Ca- 
 nadian rebellion, in which he took no active 
 part, though his sympathies were with those 
 in rebellion. Selling his farm, in 1840, he 
 came to Ogle county and settled on a farm 
 northwest of Polo, in Brookville township. 
 After some twelve years of active farm life 
 in Illinois, Mr. Brand lived in ease and re- 
 tirem^ent until called to the upper and better 
 world, his death occurring April 5, 1873. 
 In politics he was a Democrat and for years 
 served as school treasurer and director. He 
 was a member of the Old School Presby- 
 terian church, and was very strict in his 
 family. James Brand was a son of Will- 
 iam Brand, one of the founders of the 
 first church in the village of Ecclessechan, a 
 weaver by trade, and who died in his na- 
 tive town. He was the son of Robert 
 Brand. Janet Farries was a daughter of 
 George and Lucy Farries, her father being 
 a farmer by occupation, and who emigrated 
 to Prince Edward island, where his death 
 occurred. 
 
 To James Brand and wife ten children 
 were born. William and Lucy, the latter 
 being the wife of W. A. Hatfield, were born 
 in Scotland. George was born in New York. 
 James, Jr., Janet (widow of Benjamin 
 Walkie,) John and Robert born in Canada. 
 Mary, now Mrs. John Elward, and Anna, 
 now Mrs. Spoor, were born in Illinois. 
 
;i6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 To our subject and wife two sons were 
 born, Harry and Albert, both of whom assist 
 the mother in conducting the hotel. The 
 latter was married October 12, 1898, to 
 Miss Mary Agnes Perrine, daughter of John 
 Perrine, of Oregon. The sons, it may truly 
 be said, were born to hotel life, having given 
 their time to little else since their age would 
 permit active work in any line. They are 
 accommodating young men, and their mother 
 thoroughly understands the wants of the 
 traveling public, and each try to make life 
 pleasant to those who make the Spoor House 
 their temporary abode. A more homelike 
 house cannot be found, while the table is 
 well supplied with all the delicacies of the 
 season. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Spoor opened a 
 grocery and confectionery store in Polo, 
 which he conducted for two years, when he 
 sold out, and the following year was with 
 the Elward Harvester Company. He was 
 next engaged in the produce business with 
 Charles F. Barber, continuing in that line 
 until 1879, when he moved to Oregon, 
 leased the American House for five years 
 and conducted the same with signal ability. 
 He then leased the Sinissippi House four 
 years, but in the spring of 18S8 purchased 
 the American House, made many substan- 
 tial improvements in the same, refurnished 
 it and renamed it the Spoor House. He 
 conducted the house in first-class style un- 
 til his death May 28, 1894. In politics Mr. 
 Spoor was a Democrat, and for a time 
 served as an alderman from his ward, but 
 would not accept any other office, prefer- 
 ring to give his time and attention to his 
 business interests. In 1878 he united with 
 the Episcopal church and continued a faith- 
 ful member during the remainder of his life. 
 Eraternally he was a member of the Ma- 
 
 sonic order, blue lodge and chapter. 
 Knights of the Globe and Grand Army of 
 the Republic. A worthy citizen, a kind 
 and loving husband and father, his death 
 was sincerely mourned by all who knew 
 him in this life. Like her husband, Mrs. 
 Spoor is also a member of the Episcopal 
 church. She is greatly esteemed by all 
 and her friends are many, not only among 
 those among whom she has spent her en- 
 tire life, but by all who have accepted her 
 hospitality. 
 
 DANIEL H. STAUFFER, one of the 
 progressive farmers of Ogle county, 
 owns and operates a fine farm on section 19, 
 Pine Creek township. He was born in 
 Stark county, Ohio, February 4, 1853, and 
 is the son of John E. and Rebecca (Haight) 
 Stauffer, the former being a native of Penn- 
 sylvania, but who is now a resident of Polo, 
 Illinois. In 1854, John E. Stauffer left 
 Ohio with his family and moved to Elkhart 
 county, Indiana, where they made their 
 home for thirteen years. Soon after the 
 close of the Civil war, they came to Ogle 
 county, locating on the place which is now 
 the home of our subject. On that farm the 
 father toiled until 1880, when he rented the 
 place and moved to Polo where he has since 
 lived a retired life. To John E. and Re- 
 becca Stauffer twelve children were born, 
 ten of whom are now living. John W. is 
 now residing in Glendale, Arizona, where 
 he is engaged in the fruit business. Sarah 
 E. is the wife of Cyrus Nicodemus, a mar- 
 chant of Polo. George W. is a farmer of 
 Pine Creek township. Christina is the wife 
 of Solomon Solenberger, a retired farmer 
 of Polo. Mary E. is the wife oi Abraham 
 Miller, of Buffalo township. Ananias is a 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL KECOKD. 
 
 3'7 
 
 farmer of Buffalo township. William is a 
 farmer of Pine Creek township. Rebecca 
 is the wife of Frank McDowell, of Polo. 
 Anna is making her home with her parents 
 in Polo. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was thirteen 
 years old when he came to Ogle county. 
 His education, commenced in the public 
 schools of Elkhart county, Indiana, was 
 completed in the public schools of Ogle 
 county. He assisted his father on the farm 
 until he attained his majority, when he 
 rented a portion of the home place and 
 worked it on shares. The following year 
 he purchased eighty acres in Pine Creek 
 township, but had to assume the greater 
 part of the purchase price. This eighty 
 was about three miles from his present 
 home, and on the Dixon road. It is now 
 owned by John Ambrose. Removing to his 
 new purchase, he there lived for fourteen 
 years, having in the meantime added eight- 
 een acres to the tract. In 1890 he sold the 
 place and bought the old homestead where 
 he has since made his home. In 1892 he 
 erected his present commodious and com- 
 fortable residence, and, since becoming the 
 owner, he has erected all the other build- 
 ings now on the place. He has followed 
 general farming, and is regarded as one of 
 the best farmers in the county. 
 
 On the 15th of October, 1876, Mr. 
 Stauffer was united in marriage with Miss 
 Maggie C. Spickler, daughter of C. B. and 
 Sarah (Plumb) Spickler, her father being a 
 retired merchant in Polo. By this union 
 there have been seven children, two of 
 whom are deceased — Florence, Charlie B., 
 Ollie C, Ellen R., Henry M., Bertha P. 
 and Emma R. The parents met with a 
 sad bereavement in the loss of their two 
 eldest sons. On New Years day, 1896, the 
 
 boys we're skating on Rock river, and both 
 fell into an air hole and were drowned. 
 
 Politically Mr. Stauffer is a Republican, 
 having been an advocate of the principles 
 of the party since casting his first vote. 
 Religiously he is a member of the German 
 Baptist church, and for ten years served as 
 deacon in the same. He has always taken 
 an active interest in the work of the church, 
 being a firm believer in the Christian re- 
 ligion and in the teachings of his church. 
 His wife is also a member and active worker 
 in that body. Both are highly esteemed by 
 all who know them. Mr. Stauffer has been 
 quite successful in life, and his success has 
 been attained by his own efforts, assisted by 
 his faithful helpmeet. He is the owner of 
 one of the finest homes and best farms in 
 this rich and productive county. 
 
 LEONARD ANDRUS, deceased, the 
 founder of the village of Grand Detour, 
 and one of the first settlers of Ogle county, 
 was a man of energy, and one who clearly 
 saw the possibilities of the beautiful Rock 
 river country. He was born in Cornwall, 
 Vermont, in 1805, and was a son of Cone 
 Andrus, a native of Connecticut. He 
 traced his ancestry back for many gener- 
 ations on both his father's and mother's 
 side, both families being early residents of 
 the New England states. His father's fam- 
 ily went from Connecticut to Vermont, and 
 later to Malone, New York, in which place 
 he grew to manhood. After due prepara- 
 tion he entered Middleberry College, where 
 he spent two years. He did not complete 
 the full course, but on the death of his fa- 
 ther he left college and returned home. 
 Cone Andrus was a farmer b\' occupation, 
 and while of retiring disposition, was a 
 
3''S 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 man of good business ability. One of his 
 brothers was the father of the celebrated 
 Bishop Andrews. In his family were four 
 children who grew to maturity: Leonard, 
 the subject of this sketch; William, who 
 died in Malone, New York; Lucius, who 
 spent his life in Brooklyn, New York; Albert, 
 who lived and died in Malone, New York; 
 and George, who lived in Malone until late 
 in life, and then moved to New Jersey, 
 where his death occurred. Cone Andrus 
 died in Malone, New York. 
 
 After attaining his majority Leonard An- 
 drus went to Rochester, New York, where 
 he engaged in the mercantile business until 
 1S33, meeting with fair success. Not sat- 
 isfied, however, and believing the west a 
 better place for a young man, in the fall of 
 1833, he came west as far as Constantine, 
 Michigan, where he remained until the 
 spring of 1834, when he made his way to 
 the Ohio river, and started down that 
 stream to St. Louis, with the idea of 
 making that city his future home. Before 
 locating, however, he concluded to go on a 
 prospecting tour through northern Illinois, 
 having heard something of the beauty of 
 that country, and believing that the time 
 would soon come when it would be settled 
 by a thrifty and enterprising people. 
 
 Arriving at Dixon he took a canoe and 
 went up the river until he came to the great 
 bend, the beauty of which and the possi- 
 bility of founding here a great manufactur- 
 ing point, for which there seemed sufficient 
 water power, he made his claim. At that 
 time there were but few settlements in all 
 this region, and they were far between. 
 The settlement at Kellogg's grove and at 
 Dixon were those nearest to this point. 
 Returning east he settled up his business, 
 and in the spring of 1835 returned, stop- 
 
 ping, however, at Constantine, Michigan, 
 where he had relatives living. From that 
 point Willis and Willard A. House, twin 
 brothers, accompanied him. Mrs. Sarah I. 
 House, the wife of Willard A. House, came 
 a little later, arriving here July 4, 1835. 
 She was the first white woman in Grand 
 Detour. She later gave birth to a daugh- 
 ter, Gertrude, who was the first white child 
 born in Grand Detour. 
 
 Soon after his arrival Mr. Andrus became 
 associated with Flint & Walker, proprietors 
 of the old stage line, which connection was 
 continued but a short time. In 1836, in 
 company with Russell Green, Amos Bos- 
 worth, William G. Dana, Marcus and Den- 
 nis Warren, he formed the Hydraulic Com- 
 pany, for the improvement of the water 
 power and the erection of mills, and in 
 1837 the company commenced to build the 
 dam, race and sawmill and make other im- 
 provements. Among the number to come 
 to Grand Detour was John Deere, who 
 afterwards became the noted plow manu- 
 facturer, and who made a world-wide repu- 
 tation and a colossal fortune. Mr. Deere 
 was a blacksmith, and opened a shop, and 
 in addition to the job work that came to 
 him, he engaged in the manufacture of 
 shovels and pitchforks. With Mr. Andrus, 
 two years later, he formed a partnership, 
 and under the firm name of Andrus & 
 Deere they commenced the manufacture of 
 plows. The fame of the Grand Detour 
 plows was soon established throughout the 
 west, and the firm did a good business. Mr. 
 Deere later withdrew and moved to Moline, 
 where he continued the business and estab- 
 lished his fame. 
 
 The Hydraulic Company built the first 
 grist mill in northern Illinois. It was to 
 have commenced running on the 4th of July, 
 
THli BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 319 
 
 1830, and was to form part of the celebra- 
 tion of that day, but it failed to start, and 
 it was one year later before it was in suc- 
 cessful operation. Its success was immedi- 
 ate, and it had more patronage tiian it could 
 well accommodate, with its three run of 
 stone. 
 
 When Mr. Deere removed to Moline, 
 Mr. Andrus continued the business alone 
 until it became too large for him to manage 
 without help, when he took in Amos Bos- 
 worth, his brother-in-law, as a partner, 
 which partnership continued until Mr. Bos- 
 worth's death, in 1862. After running the 
 business alone again for a time Mr. .Andrus 
 formed a partnership with Theron Cummins, 
 which partnership lasted until the death of 
 Mr. Andrus. 
 
 On the 3d of June, 1838, Mr. Andrus 
 was united in marriage with Miss Sarah Ann 
 Bosworth, a native of Royalton, Vermont, 
 and daughter of Amos and Susan (Wheelock) 
 Bosworth, both of whom were also natives 
 of Royalton, Vermont, and who were among 
 the early settlers of Grand Detour. By 
 this union three children were born — Caro- 
 line C, who died at the age of eight years; 
 William C, and Leonard, of the Di.xon 
 National Bank, Dixon, Illinois. 
 
 In early life Mr. Andrus was a Henry 
 Clay Whig, a great admirer of that grand 
 old statesman. On the dissolution of the 
 Whig party, he became a stanch Republic- 
 an, and was an earnest advocate of Re- 
 publican principles until his death. He was 
 always in public life, and filled almost every 
 local official position. He also served as a 
 member of the legislature, making a good, 
 working member of that body. His ac- 
 quaintance with the public men of his day 
 was quite extensive, and his influence was 
 always felt. He was a man of the people. 
 
 and had at heart the interests of the people. 
 The founder of the village of Grand Detour, 
 he was connected with almost every enter- 
 prise that was introduced into the village. 
 He was a pioneer among pioneers, and ex- 
 perienced all the hardships common to 
 those who engage in the development of a 
 new country, but he lived to see his adopted 
 county and state take front rank, and most 
 of the great inventions that have made our 
 whole country famous. In the development 
 of the country and the various industrial 
 enterprises, he certainly bore well his part, 
 and his name will not soon be forgotten. 
 His death, which occurred February 18, 
 1867, was entirely unexpected, having con- 
 tracted pneumonia and living thereafter but 
 a few days. His death was a sad loss to 
 the business and local interests of his 
 adopted county, of which he was such a 
 worthy citizen. 
 
 GEORGE B. HIESTAND, the leading 
 liveryman of Oregon, Illinois, was 
 born in Leaf River township, Ogle county, 
 October 28, 1854, and is the son of Benja- 
 min and Lydia (Rice) Hiestand. The fa- 
 ther was a native of Ohio, and by occupa- 
 tion was a farmer. He came to Illinois in 
 the thirties, and located in Leaf liiver town- 
 ship, where he took up a section of land 
 from the government, which he improved 
 and cultivated up to the time of his death, 
 which occurred February 6, 1855. Leaf 
 River at that time was one ol the best 
 towns in the county. In politics Benjamin 
 Hiestand was a Whig, taking great interest 
 in the political discussions of the day. A 
 strong temperance man he advocated the 
 cause of temperance publicly and privately. 
 For some years he served as school trustee, 
 
320 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 and held other offices of honor and trust. 
 He was a leading and influential man in his 
 township, and was held in high respect 
 wherever known. His wife, L3'dia, was a 
 daughter of Jacob Rice. She was also a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 a devoted wife and mother. She died June 
 13, 1884, at the old homestead, which was 
 so long her home. They were the parents 
 of seven children. Susan, now the widow 
 of David Kendall, resides in Leaf River. 
 Urilla is the wife of Thomas L. Potter, 
 and they reside in Mt. Morris. Mary, who 
 married Charles Gaffin, died March 21, 
 1898. Jacob and John H. both died young. 
 Thomas resides in Mt. Morris township. 
 George B. completes the family. 
 
 George B. Hiestand was reared on the 
 old farm, and in the schools of his native 
 township received a common school educa- 
 tion. This was supplemented by a term at 
 Mt. Morris Seminary. He was but four 
 months old when his father died. As soon 
 as old enough, in connection with his broth- 
 ers, he carried on the old farm. Later, in 
 partnership with his brother Thomas he 
 purchased the interests of the other heirs, 
 and together they carried on the farm until 
 1888, when George purchased his brother's 
 interest and then leased it for three years. 
 In 1893 he sold the place to William Ha- 
 german, and then removed to the village of 
 Leaf River, and in 1895 catne to Oregon 
 and opened up a livery stable on Fourth 
 street, which he has since conducted. He 
 has a finely equipped stable with stock, and 
 is withal a very accommodating man. 
 
 Mr. Hiestand was married September 4, 
 1878, to Mi.ss Adell Bly, daughter of Rath- 
 burn and Emily (Richardson) Bly. She is 
 a native of Ogle county. Hej father was 
 in the Civil war and lost his life in battle. 
 
 By this marriage are two children, Clarence 
 L. and Lydia E. , both of whom are yet 
 at home. Mr. and Mrs. Hiestand are mem- 
 bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 In politics he is a Republican. While re- 
 siding in Leaf River he served as a member 
 of the board of alderman. Fraternally he 
 is a member of the Knights of the Globe 
 and of the Modern Woodmen of America. 
 
 WALLACE REVELL is one of the 
 honored veterans of the Civil war 
 whose devotion to his country was tested 
 not only by service on the field of battle 
 but in the still more deadly dangers of a 
 southern prison. This gallant soldier is 
 now most capably and satisfactorily serv- 
 ing as postmaster of Stillman Valley, and 
 is also successfully engaged in the grocery 
 business at that place. 
 
 Mr. Revell was born near Niagara, 
 Ontario, Canada, July 19, 1842. His 
 father, William Revell was born in England, 
 in 1 8 17, and in 1834 crossed the broad At- 
 lantic with his father, William, Sr. , and 
 family, settling near Hamilton, Ontario, 
 where he grew to manhood. He was 
 married in Canada to Miss Mary A. Bart- 
 lett, a native of that country. He was a 
 tailor by trade and continued to follow that 
 occupation in the Dominion until 1848, and 
 when he removed to Conneaut, Ashtabula 
 county, Ohio, but did not remain there long 
 coming to Ogle county, Illinois, in April, 
 1850. Here he purchased one hundred and 
 twenty acres of raw land in Scott township, 
 erected thereon a house, and then turned 
 his attention to the ardous task of develop- 
 ing a good farm from wild land. During those 
 early days the familye.xpcrienced many of the 
 hardships and privations incident to pioneer 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 321 
 
 life. The father was one of the most in- 
 dustrious and enterprising men of the 
 county and was fairly successful in his under- 
 takings. He continued to work at his trade 
 until 1858, after which he devoted his en- 
 tire time to agricultural pursuits. He died 
 in 1885, and his wife, who still survives him, 
 now makes her home with her daughter, 
 Mrs. Graham. Wallace is the oldest of 
 their six children, four sons and two 
 daughters, all of whom reached years of 
 maturity, but two sons arc now deceased. 
 Wallace Revell was a lad of eight years 
 when brought by his parents to Ogle county, 
 and upon the home farm he grew to man- 
 hood, acquiring a good knowledge of work 
 and a fair common-school education. 
 Prompted by a spirit of patriotism he en- 
 listed August II, 1S62, in Company K, 
 Ninety-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, 
 as a private, and with his regiment was as- 
 signed to the army of the Cumberland. He 
 participated in the battles of Franklin, Ten- 
 nessee, and Chickamauga, and spent the 
 fall and winter of 1863 as courier at Gen- 
 eral Thomas' headquarters. In March, 
 1864, he joined his regiment in northern 
 Alabama, near Chattanooga, they having 
 been mounted in July, 1863, and afterward 
 served as mounted infantry. In April, 1864, 
 they went into camp at Ringgold, Georgia, 
 and while doing picket duty on Taylor's 
 Ridge, on the morning of April 23, 1864, 
 Mr. Revell, with twenty of his regiment, 
 was taken prisoner, after being twice wound- 
 ed in the skirmish by gunshots through the 
 left fore arm and right hip. He was first 
 taken to Atlanta, where he was held for 
 about four weeks, and the following four 
 months were spent as a prisoner in Ander- 
 sonville, where with others he experienced 
 all the horrors and privations of southern 
 
 prison life. About one thousand of the 
 men were then taken to Charleston, South 
 Carolina, where they were confined in a 
 prison camp for four weeks. From Octo- 
 ber, 1864, until February 24, 1865, Mr. 
 Revell remained a prisoner, and was then 
 exchanged at Richmond, Virginia. He suf- 
 fered most while at Charleston, as the pris- 
 oners were confined on a low piece of 
 ground. The prisoners were furnished with 
 spades and by digging holes about four feet 
 deep got the brackish water contained there- 
 in and were forced to drink. It made near- 
 ly all ill and many died. On being released 
 our subject was still sick andwas sent to 
 the hospital at Wilmington, Delaware. He 
 had not fully recovered when discharged. 
 
 For two years after the war, Mr. Revell 
 remained at home, and then rented land, 
 purchased a team, and began life for him- 
 self. He was married December 11, 1868, 
 the lady of his choice being Miss Adelaide 
 L. Clayton, a daughter of James M. Clay- 
 ton, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this 
 work. To them were born four children, 
 namely: Charles W., who is with his fa- 
 ther in the store ahd is also serving as dep- 
 uty postmaster; Nellie M., wife of J. D. 
 Scoon, of West Superior, Wisconsin; Matie, 
 who died at the age of five years; and Ches- 
 ter A., who is attending the home school. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Revell located 
 in Monroe township where he subsequently 
 bought a small farm, which he operated 
 for eight years and then sold in 1S76. Dar- 
 ing the following fifteen years he lived upon 
 rented land and continued to engage in ag- 
 ricultural pursuits, but in 1890 removed to 
 Stillman Valley and established himself in 
 the grocery business, which he has since 
 successfully conducted. He carries a large 
 and well selected stock and bears an excel- 
 
322 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 lent reputation for fair and honorable deal- 
 ing. In the fall of 1897 he was appointed 
 postmaster, and is now acceptably filling 
 that office. He has been a pronounced 
 Republican in politics since casting his first 
 vote for General U. S. Grant in 1868, and 
 in religious faith he and his wife are Bap- 
 tists. Socially he is a prominent member 
 of the Odd Fellows society, has filled all 
 the chairs in his lodge, is past grand, and 
 and has represented the local order in the 
 grand lodge. He also belongs to the 
 Knights of Pythias, and is past commander 
 of W. C. Baker Post, No. 551, G. A. R., 
 of Stillman Valley. 
 
 HENRY GRAEHLING, who resides on 
 section 22, Eagle Point township, is a 
 worthy representative of that hardy race 
 that have done so much to build up this 
 new country, and who, however lowly their 
 condition in life on their arrival here, by in- 
 dustry and economy manage to accumulate 
 a competency, leaving to their children 
 sufficient means to give them a good start 
 in life. He was born in Alsace, Loraine, 
 Germany, June 28, 1828, and in his native 
 land grew to manhood, and in his youth 
 learned the blacksmith trade, although 
 reared on a farm. Like many other youths 
 in the old country, he dreamed of better 
 opportunities afforded in America than in 
 the crowded cities of the old world. He 
 determined to here try his fortunes, and 
 the resolve was put into execution. Bid- 
 ding farewell to the friends of his youth he 
 set sail for the promised land, and landing 
 at New York, he proceeded to Pittsburg, 
 Pennsylvania, where he arrived July 11, 
 1850, joining there some German friends. 
 Securing work in a vise factory, he there 
 
 worked three years, saving in that time 
 some four hundred dollars, which he lost 
 through a broker or banker. He was so 
 discouraged that he did not have the heart 
 to longer remain in that city. From there 
 he went to Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and for two years was engaged in 
 farming. 
 
 Mr. Graehling was married in Pittsburg, 
 Pennsylvania, August 8, 1853, to Miss 
 Walburga Beck, who was born in Wurtem- 
 burg, Germany, February 25, 1835, and 
 who came with her brother and sister to the 
 United States in 1851, the family locating 
 in Pittsburg. By this union ten children 
 were born, two of whom are deceased. 
 Mary is now the wife of Fred Diehl, of 
 Carroll county, Illinois. Alexander is en- 
 gaged in farming in Whiteside county, Illi- 
 nois, where he owns a good farm. James 
 is a farmer of Carroll county, Illinois, where 
 he is the owner of a good farm. George 
 W. also is the owner of a good farm in 
 Carroll county, where he is engaged in 
 farming. Henry is a farmer of Ogle county. 
 Elizabeth is the wife of Andrew Peters, of 
 Carroll county. Gustaf Adolph and Fred 
 Wilhelm yet reside at home. John and 
 Albert were the deceased. They have in 
 all fourteen grandchildren. 
 
 After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Graehling took up their residence in Alle- 
 gheny City, Pennsylvania, Mr. Graehling 
 working at his trade. In September, 1856, 
 he came west to Chicago, and there con- 
 tinued seven months, working at his trade, 
 his time being principally given to horse- 
 shoeing. His wife joined him in the spring 
 of 1857, and in April of that year they went 
 to Sugar Grove, Lee county, where he again 
 worked at his trade a few months and then 
 moved to Eagle Point, Ogle county, con- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 3 = 3 
 
 tinuing there at his trade. He there made 
 his first purchase of real estate, becoming 
 the owner of a small plat of ground, and a 
 little house and shop. He remained there 
 until September, i860, when he moved to 
 the place where he now resides. He first 
 purchased five acres of ground, a piece of 
 brush and stumps, moved here his shop, 
 and commenced to clear the land. Later 
 he purchased five acres more, and still later 
 two and a half acres. He improved his 
 little tract, but in 1865 sold his personal 
 property and moved to Polo and gave his 
 time exclusively to his trade for one year. 
 In the spring of 1866, he returned to his 
 place in Eagle Point and worked at his trade 
 in connection with farming. From time to 
 time as his means would permit, he pur- 
 chased some land until he had a good sized 
 farm. In 1879 he bought an adjoining farm 
 of one hundred and sixty acres, and still 
 later forty acres more. His next purchase 
 was a farm of one hundred and fifty-four 
 acres in Carroll county. At one time he 
 owned five hundred acres of excellent land, 
 but has sold off to his sons a portion, but 
 still owns three hundred acres. His farm 
 is well improved, and he has erected on it 
 a large and neat house, big barn and other 
 outbuildings. 
 
 Politically Mr. Graehling is a stanch 
 Republican, his first presidential vote being 
 cast for Abraham Lincoln in i860. The 
 party ticket he has continued to support 
 from that time to the present. Religiously, 
 he is a member of the Lutheran church at 
 Polo, his wife being a member of the same 
 body. For forty-two years they have been 
 residents of Ogle county, and both are well 
 known and highly respected. Beginning 
 life in limited circumstances, they have en- 
 dured together many toils and privations. 
 
 For some years fortune did not seem to 
 favor them, but they toiled on and have 
 now the satisfaction of knowing that they 
 have laid by enough to sustain and keep 
 them in old age, and that their children are 
 also well provided for. They know further 
 that what they have gained has been by 
 honest industry. 
 
 SAMUEL DOMER, deceased, was for 
 more than fifty years an honored citi- 
 zen of Ogle county, one respected by all 
 who knew him. He was born September 3, 
 1818, near Sharpsburg, Washington county, 
 Maryland, and there grew to manhood, re- 
 ceiving his education in the common 
 schools. In 1839 he left his native state 
 and went to Ohio, where he remained one 
 year, when for some reason he returned to 
 his old home and there remained until 
 1845, when he came to Ogle county, which 
 remained his home until called to the upper 
 and better world. He was a brickmaker by 
 trade, and on locating in Mt. Morris town- 
 ship, in 1845, he made the brick and built 
 his own home. He soon gave up his trade 
 for the more profitable and healthy occupa- 
 tion of farming. 
 
 Mr. Domer was twice married, his first 
 union being with Miss Elizabeth Steffa. 
 After a wedded life of but two years, Mrs. 
 Domer passed away. They had one child, 
 which died in infancy. On the loth of 
 March, 1852, Mr. Domer wedded Miss 
 Rachel Varner, a native of Fayette county, 
 Ohio, born January 9, 1829, and daughter 
 of William Herman and Cynthia Ann (Knox) 
 Varner, who were also natives of the same 
 county, the former born January 19, 1808, 
 and the latter April 4, 18 10. When 
 Mrs. Domer was but a year and a half old 
 
324 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 her parents moved to Fort Wayne, Indi- 
 ana. In 1837, when she was but eight 
 years old, they moved to Lee county, IIH- 
 nois, and in 1850 came to Ogle county, 
 where she has since resided. On the 2 2d 
 of June, 1892, her mother died at the age of 
 eighty-two years. Her father died about 
 1837, in Indiana. They were the parents 
 of three daughters, Mrs. Domer being the 
 eldest; Sarah, now Mrs. William Turner, of 
 Lee county, Illinois; Mary L. , wife of 
 John Etnyre, of Paine's Point, Illinois. 
 
 To Samuel and Rachel Domer were born 
 eight children: Martha Frances, born Feb- 
 ruary 15, 1854, married Charles Reber. 
 She died February 16, 1876. Lydia Ann, 
 born November 27, 1855, died September 
 9, 1862. Andrew J., born July 29, 1857, 
 married Ida Lewis, and to them four chil- 
 dren have been born: Maude, Earl, Min- 
 nie and Laura. They reside in Kansas, 
 where he is engaged in farming. William 
 H., born April 20, 1859, married Kate 
 Alter, and four children have blessed their 
 union — Jesse, Ethel, Percy and Bessie. 
 They are living in Mt. Morris. Samuel O., 
 born May 21, 1863, married Emma Shuber, 
 and they have two children, Floyd and 
 Edna. They arc living in Polo, Illinois. 
 Franklin V., born September 30, 1868, 
 married Effie Brooks, and they have one 
 child, Mary Eva. They are living in 
 Oregon township. Frederick W. , born 
 April 29, 1870, married Anna Fridley, and 
 they have one child, Ray V. They are 
 living on the old homestead in Mt. Morris 
 township. Sarah A., born July 10, 1873, 
 married William W. Koontz, and they re- 
 side on the home place in Mt. Morris town- 
 ship. 
 
 Mr. Domer 'Commenced farming on a 
 farm of one hundred and sixty acres, on 
 
 which he lived for twenty-two years. He 
 then purchased another farm, to which he 
 added from time to time until he had a farm 
 of four hundred acres, all of which he had 
 under improvement. This he disposed of 
 and purchased two hundred and ten acres 
 in Mt. Morris township, upon which he 
 lived about twenty years. In 1895 he 
 rented the farm and moved to Mt. Morris, 
 to spend his remaining years in retirement. 
 He was, however, not long for this world, 
 as the summons came for him to depart July 
 4, 1898. He died of dropsy and heart 
 disease, and his remains were interred in the 
 cemetery at Silver Creek, Ogle county. 
 In politics he was originally an old-line 
 Whig, but on the dissolution of that party 
 he became a Democrat, with which party 
 he acted during the remainder of his life. 
 Interested in the public schools, for many 
 years he served as school director. He 
 never cared to push himself forward in any 
 manner, but was quiet and unassuming in 
 manner, content to fulfill his daily duties of 
 farm and home life, leaving to others the 
 more exacting responsibilities of public life. 
 He left a large circle of relatives and friends 
 to mourn his loss. His widow, who is 
 highly esteemed for her many excellent 
 qualities of head and heart, is yet living in 
 Mt. Morris, where her friends are many. 
 
 MARTIN A. FREI, a leading and suc- 
 cessful merchant of Forreston, came 
 to the county in 1866 and has here spent 
 one-third of a century. He was born in the 
 village of Nuetternioor, Cantor Leer, Ger- 
 many, October lo, 1852, and is the son of 
 Aldirk and Anna (Brandt) Frei, both natives 
 of Germany. In his native village he re- 
 ceived his education and, there remained 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 325 
 
 until he was thirteen years old, when the 
 family emigrated to the United States and 
 settled in Forreston township, Ogle county, 
 where the father engaged in farming. From 
 1866 until 1879 our subject remained on 
 the farm and assisted in the farm work, be- 
 coming a thorough and scientific farmer. 
 He has yet living one brother and live sis- 
 ters. Hilka is the wife of John Geisman, 
 living near Shannon. Renskea is the wife 
 of T. Buisker, a farmer of Lincoln town- 
 ship. Gerhardina is the wife of B. Temple, 
 a farmer residing near Shannon. John re- 
 sides two miles west of Baileyville, in 
 Stephenson county. Lena is the wife of 
 Henry VanDeest, a farmer of Forreston 
 township. Margaret is the wife of L. Pam- 
 mer, residing at Ashton, Iowa. An older 
 brother, Frederick, preceded the family to 
 the United States. During the Civil war he 
 offered his services to his adopted country, 
 and dying while yet in the service was bur- 
 ied at Monterey, Tennessee. The father of 
 this family died August 18, 1S70, and the 
 mother, August 26, 1877. 
 
 On the 27th of November, 1877, Mr. 
 Frei was united in marriage with Miss Annie 
 DeGrote, daughter of F. and Tina DeGrote. 
 She was born in Woquard, Emden, Ger- 
 many, and came to America in 1866 in 
 company with her parents, who settled in 
 Ridott. By this union four children have 
 been born — OUie J., Tina, Fred and Henry 
 F. Of these, Ollie and Fred are assisting 
 their father in the store. The family are 
 well known and highly esteemed. 
 
 In 1 879 Mr. Frei left the farm and went 
 to Freeport, where he engaged in the mer- 
 cantile business, remaining there until 1S85, 
 when he came to Forreston and started a 
 general dry goods and grocery business, in 
 which he has since continued with gratify- 
 
 ing success. He cast his first presidential 
 vote for Rutherford B. Hayes, and has 
 since been a stanch and uncompromising 
 Republican. He has been town trustee for 
 more than six years, and has been on the 
 school board for three terms, and is the 
 present secretary of that body. He is the 
 secretary of the Retail Merchants Associ- 
 ation, and has held different offices of the 
 community. A member of the German Re- 
 formed church, he has been superintendent 
 of its Sunday-school for the past si.x years, 
 and has been a worker of the Sunday-school 
 since 1885. He is a self-made and success- 
 ful business man, affable and courteous in 
 address, and interests himself in all im- 
 provements, and is a factor in the develop- 
 ment of his adopted city and county along 
 all lines. He is popular and influential, 
 and his friends are many throughout Ste- 
 phenson and Ogle counties. 
 
 ALFRED R. BINKLEY, now living a 
 retired life in Mt. Morris, is a veteran 
 of the Civil war. He was born in Wash- 
 inton county, Maryland, January 13, 1847, 
 and is the son of Daniel and Catherine 
 (Weaver) Binkley, the former born in 
 Franklin county, Pennsylvania, in 18 18, 
 and the latter in Washington county, Mary- 
 land, in 1826. By occupation the father 
 was a farmer, and was a strong, robust man 
 up to the time of his death, in i860. He 
 was taken sick with some stomach trouble 
 on Friday and died the following Tuesday. 
 The mother is yet living in Morganville, 
 Washington county, Maryland. They were 
 the parents of six children, our subject be- 
 ing their first born. Calvin married Sevilla 
 Butterbaugh, and they reside in Maryland 
 township, Ogle county, where he is en.- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 gaged in farming, owning one hundred and 
 eighty acres of land. William died in early 
 childhood. Ida married Abram Hawes, 
 and they reside in Morganville, Maryland, 
 where he follows his trade of carpentering. 
 Charles died of typhoid fever at the age of 
 twenty-seven years. Daniel married Eva 
 Downey, and they live in Morganville, 
 Maryland, where he follows farming. 
 
 The subject of this sketch remained in 
 his native state until he was sixteen years 
 old, when he came to Ogle county, and 
 here attended school until 1864, when he 
 enlisted in the One Hundred and Fortieth 
 regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Com- 
 pany I, with which he served until the close 
 of the war. He was on picket duty the 
 greater part of the time and was in several 
 skirmishes. On receiving his discharge at 
 Camp Fry, Chicago, he returned to Ogle 
 county, where he remained a few months. 
 He then went east, and for five years was 
 clerk in a general store at Green Castle, 
 Franklin county, Pennsylvania, after which 
 he again came to Mt. Morris, Ogle county, 
 and clerked for a time. Later he purchased 
 a restaurant, which he gradually turned into 
 a general store, in which line of business he 
 continued until ^in July, 1895, when he 
 was compelled to retire on account of ill 
 health. 
 
 Mr. Binkley was married February 12, 
 1878, to Miss Laura B. Sprecher, of Mt. 
 Morris, and daughter of Philip and Lctha 
 (Castle) Sprecher. They now reside in a 
 comfortable home in Mt. Morris. Mrs. 
 Binkley is a consistent member of the 
 Brethren church, in the work of which she 
 is deeply interested. She is one of a fam- 
 ily of eight children, three of whom are 
 now living. Fraternally Mr. Binkley is a 
 member of the Grand Army of the Repub- 
 
 lic, in which he keeps alive the memory of 
 the days, when yet a youth he went out in 
 defense of his country's honor, and for the 
 restoration of the Union. He has lived to 
 see not only the Union restored, but its 
 boundaries e.xtended, good feeling existing 
 among those who wore the blue and the 
 grey, and a more fraternal feeling than ever 
 existed before. 
 
 PETER SMITH, banker, capitalist and 
 retired farmer, was a natural financier 
 who aided much in the development of 
 Ogle county. He was the son of Edward 
 and Anna (Tebow) Smith, and was born in 
 Franklin, Bergen county. New Jersey, De- 
 cember 21, 1808. His American ancestry 
 runs back to one of the members of a little 
 Swedish colony, who settled in Bergen 
 county. New Jersey, in 1624. When twelve 
 years old he moved with his parents to New 
 York city, where he attended school and ac- 
 quired a good common-school education. 
 His first business venture was in buying and 
 selling fruit, and when but sixteen years 
 old he engaged in the poultry business, and 
 afterwards carried on the manufacture of 
 mustard and cayenne pepper, in which busi- 
 ness he continued until he was twenty-one 
 years old. For the succeeding ten years 
 he was in the wood business, and also in 
 buying and selling horses, purchasing his 
 stock in the state of Ohio and selling in New 
 York. He met with success in each line of 
 business, but he believed that he could do 
 still better in the West. Coming to Ogle 
 county, he settled in White Rock township 
 and a few years later he entered six hun- 
 dred acres of land in Marion and Pine Rock 
 townships (although there were then no 
 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 329 
 
 townships), and erected a log cabin, i6x 24 
 feet, and one and a half stories in height. 
 For miles around neighbors turned out and 
 assisted him in its erection, the time requir- 
 ing but one day. With his wife and two 
 children he there laid the foundation for his 
 large fortune. While developing his own 
 farm he kept a breaking team of five yoke 
 of cattle to assist other early settlers in the 
 neighborhood. By energy and good judg- 
 ment it was not long before he owned over 
 one thousand acres of land. His ability 
 lay in wisely directing the work of others. 
 He was collector and constable in Marion 
 township and school director about fifteen 
 years. He continued farming and .stock 
 raising until December, 1875, when he 
 moved to Rochelle. For several years he 
 was president of the First National Bank of 
 Rochelle. In 1883 he sold out his interest 
 in this bank, making his investments in well 
 improved farms and loans. Mr. Smitli was 
 a life-long Democrat, but had no taste for 
 holding office. He died November 24, 
 1886, at the age of seventy-eight years, 
 leaving a fortune of a quarter of a million 
 dollars. 
 
 May 12, I S3 I, Mr. Smith married Sarah 
 Foster in New York city. She was born in 
 County Armagh, North of Ireland, [ulj- 12, 
 1809, and was of Scotch-Irish descent. 
 Eleven children were born to them, five of 
 whom died in infancy; a daughter, Emma, 
 died at the age of twenty-four. The fol- 
 lowing survive; Abbie A., who married 
 Minor Parker, deceased, resides at Steward; 
 Margaret, who married Austin Noe, deceased, 
 resides at Rochelle; Caroline, the wife of 
 Patrick O'Mara, resides in White Rock 
 township; Susan M. married Aron Cass, 
 deceased, mention of whom is made in an- 
 other article; George F. married Mary 
 
 Jones, and now lives on the old homestead 
 in Marion township. 
 
 Mrs. Smith by her sound sense, indus- 
 try and economy was a great aid to her 
 husband. She was always a Presbyterian. 
 She died July 9, 1897, at the age of eighty- 
 eight. 
 
 FRANKLIN F. PEEK, who resides on 
 section 34, Woosung township, is a 
 well-known citizen of Ogle county, which 
 has been his home since 1838. He was 
 born in Bethel, Windsor county, Vermont, 
 March 2, 1832, and is the son of John and 
 Lucretia (Lamb) Peek, both of whom were 
 natives of Vermont. His father was a 
 farmer by occupation, and politically was a 
 strong Whig and an active worker in the 
 party. He came with his family to Ogle 
 county in 1838, coming by water from Buf- 
 falo to Detroit, and from there to Ogle 
 county by teams, being five weeks on the 
 road, arriving in July. He stopped about 
 three months at Grand Detour, where his 
 brother-in-law, John Deere, afterward the 
 famous plow man, was then located. John 
 Deere first married Demis Lamb, a sister of 
 the mother of our subject, and came west 
 and established himself at Grand Detour 
 where he was working at his trade of black- 
 smith. He had not then begun the manu- 
 facture of plows, which later brought him 
 both reputation and colossal fortune. While 
 residing at Moline his first wife died and he 
 later married her sister, Lucina Lamb. 
 
 In the fall of 1838 John Peek bought 
 the claim to two hundred acres, which he 
 afterward entered, now the home of our 
 subject. That place he put under improve- 
 ment and made it his permanent home. 
 He became quite successful financially, and 
 
330 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 was well known throughout the county. 
 He was quite active in political affairs, but 
 never an office-seeker. At the time of his 
 settlement on his claim there was little else 
 but wolves and rattlesnakes in the vicinity. 
 There was but one house between his place 
 and Dixon, and no settlement north until 
 Oldtown, or Buffalo was reached. At that 
 time and for years after Chicago was the 
 chief market, and to that place they hauled 
 their grain and other produce. With a 
 four-o.\ team they could haul sixty or sixty- 
 five bushels of wheat, and with a two-horse 
 team about thirty-five or forty bushels, and 
 ten days were required to make the trip 
 with oxen. Our subject speaks of one trip 
 of ten days on which he accompanied his 
 father, of not having but one warm meal 
 during the whole time. They usually car- 
 ried their provisions with them for they 
 could not afford to pay out what little was 
 obtained for their produce for meals. The 
 money was too badly needed for other pur- 
 poses. He tells of holding a lantern while 
 the grain was being unloaded at Chicago, 
 and the scoop shovel used for the purpose 
 was left in the wagon and brought home 
 with them, being the first of the kind in the 
 neighborhood. But think of unloading 
 grain in the city of Chicago by the light of 
 a lantern ! 
 
 John and Lucretia I'eek were the par- 
 ents of nine children, all save one born in 
 Vermont, and all lived to maturity, eight of 
 the number yet living. Samuel C. has been 
 a resident of Calaveras county, California, 
 since 1859; William P., who resides in 
 Amadore county, California, has been a 
 prominent citizen there since 1852. He has 
 filled a number of important offices in his 
 adopted county, serving as sujiervisor 
 several years, and as a m^nberof the statu 
 
 legislature two terms; George N. is a re- 
 tired farmer residing in Polo; Jeannette 
 married Fenwick Anderson, of Bureau coun- 
 ty, Illinois, who has been a prominent busi- 
 ness man and politican, and extensive land 
 owner. She died January 9, 1899; Frank- 
 lin F., our subject, was next in order of 
 birth; Mellona, who is single, makes her 
 home with her brothers and sisters; John 
 D. died when about thirty-five years old; 
 Henry P. is a resident of Oregon, Illinois; 
 Horace W. is a farmer of South Dakota. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but six 
 years of age when he came with his parents 
 in Ogle county. The first school he attend- 
 ed here was at Sugar Grove, four miles 
 from his home. While attending that school 
 he boarded with a family in the neighbor- 
 hood and did chores for his board. One 
 year's time would probably cover the entire 
 period of his school life, his attendance be- 
 ing in the winter months for a very short 
 time. When he attained his majority he 
 began life for himself, working at various 
 occupations. Much of the prairie in the 
 vicinity of his home he assisted in breaking 
 and otherwise improving. In 1861 he went 
 to Calaveras county, California, where he 
 remained until October, 1864, when he re- 
 turned home on account of his father's 
 death and took charge of the home farm. 
 He has since carried it on, his mother mak- 
 ing her home with him until her death in 
 February, 1873. Soon after her death he 
 purchased the interest of the olh(;r heirs, 
 becoming sole owner. 
 
 Mr. Peck was married April 2, 1874. at 
 the home of his uncle, John Deere, in Mol- 
 ine, to Mrs. Mattie Wood, widow of Beeler 
 Wood, of Moline, and daughter of Asa and 
 Luchera (Warren) Eaton, her mother being 
 of the family of General Warren, of Revo- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 331 
 
 lutionary fame. The eldest brother of her 
 mother, Daniel Warren, was a colonel in 
 the war of 1812. Mrs. Peck's first marriage 
 was celebrated in Moline, where she lived 
 until her husband's death one year later. 
 She was born in Windsor county, Vermont, 
 where she grew to womanhood. She re- 
 ceived a good education at South Wood- 
 stock, Vermont, at the Green Mountain 
 Liberal Institute, and when but eighteen 
 engaged in teaching in her native state. 
 Two years later she came west to Cham- 
 paign county, Illinois, where she had a 
 cousin living, who was the only acquaintance 
 in that locality. She taught the first term 
 of school at Philo, in that county, and then 
 took a position in the public schools of Ur- 
 bana, where she remained two years. From 
 there she went to Decatur, where she also 
 remained two years, and then went to 
 Moline, where she was teachmg at the time 
 of her marriage to Mr. Wood. She was 
 induced to go to Moline from the fact that 
 Mrs. Deere was an old Vermont friend. 
 She is one of a family of eleven children, 
 five of whom are yet living. Besides her- 
 self, the living are George W. , of Geneseo, 
 Illinois; Mary, wife of Joseph Savage, of 
 Polo, Illinois; Frederick W., who remains 
 on the old homestead in Vermont; and Dr. 
 David D. , a practicing physician, of 3147 
 Indiana avenue, Chicago. 
 
 Since taking possession of the old home- 
 stead, Mr. Peek has followed general farm- 
 ing and stock raising, feeding usually the 
 grain he grows on the place. He has been 
 a Republican since the organization of the 
 party, but has never been an office-seeker. 
 Since 1891, except two years, he has been 
 serving as supervisor of his township, filling 
 the position to the general satisfaction of 
 those interested. He has ever been active 
 
 in educational matters, serving many years 
 on the school board. It is, however, as 
 one of the representative farmers of the 
 township that he is best known. On the 
 old homestead he has made many improve- 
 ments, adding to the beauty and value of 
 the place. The old Galena and Dixon 
 stage road used to cross the farm, and a 
 magnificent row of hard maple trees now 
 on the place was set out by our subject's 
 father along the road. He has made a suc- 
 cess in life and has gained the esteem and 
 respect of his many accjuaintances, not only 
 for his integrity and upright character, but 
 for his ability and good judgment as well. 
 Mrs. Peek is a cultivated and highly re- 
 fined lady, of scholarly attainments. Their 
 home and genial hospitality is shared and 
 appreciated by their many friends and 
 guests. In the summer of 1S75 they visit- 
 ed their old home in Vermont, and al- 
 though he had left it when but six years 
 old, Mr. Peek was yet able to recognize 
 some of the old landmarks. 
 
 WILLIAM H. STEFFA, the subject of 
 this sketch, was born December 21, 
 1S57, in Rockvale township, Ogle county. 
 He is the son of David and Martha (Hill) 
 Steffa, who were born in Maryland, the 
 former March 19, 1833, and the latter in 
 1831. By occupation Mr. Steffa was a 
 farmer, and came to Ogle county in 1S41 
 with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Steffa had 
 ten children, namely: Jacob E. , living in 
 Kansas; Barbara A., also living in Kansas; 
 Ella, living in Nebraska; William H., of 
 whom we are writing; Andrew David, a res- 
 ident of Iowa; J. F. and O. B., of Rock- 
 vale; J. M., of Kansas; Efiie, of Rockvale; 
 and Lottie, who died when twenty years of 
 
332 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 age. Mr. Steffa is living with his son, the 
 subject of this sketch. His wife died Octo- 
 ber 26, 1891. 
 
 Our subject attended school and helped 
 his father until eighteen years of age, when 
 he started out for himself, going first to the 
 farm of Joseph Wagoner, where he remained 
 for one year and then worked b}' the month 
 for eighteen years, after which time he rent- 
 ed the farm of Joshua Thomas for a period 
 of two years. At the expiration of that 
 time Mr. Steffa moved to Hamilton county, 
 Nebraska, where he made his home for one 
 year, moving later to Scott county, Kansas, 
 where he resided for eighteen months, and 
 where he purchased a valuable tract of one 
 hundred and si.xty acres, still in his pos- 
 session. He afterward returned to Ogle 
 county, where he still resides, and where he 
 is still occupied in the management of the 
 highly cultured farm on section 17. 
 
 On the 14th of September, 1890, Mr. 
 Steffa married Mrs. Mary Haney, who was 
 born October 29, 1846, and is the daughter 
 of E. T. and Margaret (Howard) Mallory. 
 Mr. Mallory is a native of Yorkshire, Eng- 
 land, and was born February 18, 18 18. 
 His first wife was from Scotland, where she 
 was born February 13, 18 12. When nine 
 years of age, Mrs. Mallory moved with her 
 parents to London, Canada, where she met 
 her first husband, John McGuffin, a Cana- 
 dian, by whom she had si.x children. She 
 afterward married Edward T. Mallory, and 
 they are the parents of five children. 
 Mary, the wife of the subject of this sketch; 
 Ellen, who was born July 23, 1849, is the 
 widow of Olwyn Trask, and resides in Aus- 
 tin; Frances A., born April 5, 1851, is the 
 wife of Frank Robinson, a carpenter, also 
 living in Austin; Edward T. was born Au- 
 gust 14, 1853. He was president of the 
 
 Minnesota Stoneware Company, at Red 
 Wing, Minnesota, where his widow still re- 
 sides. 
 
 The youngest child, Thomas Howard, 
 was born February 13, 1854. He married 
 Ann Steffa, and they reside in Chicago, 
 where Mr. Mallory is a traveling salesman 
 for a large brickware concern. Edward 
 Mallory lent his support to the Republican 
 party. He was actively interested in all 
 public affairs, and was school-director and 
 constable at the time of his demise, which 
 occurred November 28, 1856. Mr. Mallory 
 returned to England to visit the home of 
 his childhood, and later with reference to 
 some legacies which were left to him. Mrs. 
 Mallory's death occurred February 13,1 862. 
 Her father was one of the patriots who 
 fought in the Canadian rebellion. 
 
 Mrs. Steffa, the wife of our subject, was 
 twice married. Her first husband was Pat- 
 rick Haney, whom she married March 19, 
 
 1863, Eleven children graced this mar- 
 riage, as follows: George E., born April 6, 
 
 1864, married Mary Ebersole, and together 
 with their seven children, they reside in 
 Manson, Iowa. William S. , born June 17, 
 
 1865, married Minnie Lewis. They have 
 two children, and live near Bailyville, Kan- 
 sas. Olive E. was born March 3, 1867. 
 She married C. A. Rosecrans, and they have 
 one child. Their home is in Chicago, where 
 Mr. Rosecrans is engaged in the wholesale 
 hardware basiness. Henry B. was born 
 September 29, 1868, and married Mabel 
 Morton. They have one child and live in 
 Mount Morris township. Lucy Ann was 
 born April 16, 1870, and died two days 
 after her birth. John H. was born April 
 24, 1 87 1, and makes his home in Chicago, 
 where he is in the employ of his brother-in- 
 law. Mary Edith, born July 1, 1873, mar- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 333 
 
 ried Henry Lohafer. They have one child 
 and lives near Mount Morris. Maggie Irene 
 was born February 9, 1876, and is living at 
 home. Homer C. was born March 26, 
 1878, and is attending college at Mount 
 Morris. Bessie Pearl, born January 26, 
 1880, died of appendicitis December 3, 
 1897. Walter P. was born January 13, 
 1883, and is living at home, attending the 
 district school. Mr. Haney was a Demo- 
 crat and gave his support to that party un- 
 til his death, which occurred July 19, 1882. 
 Mrs. Steffa is the possessor of three hun- 
 dred acres in the estate on which they re- 
 side. In politics our subject is a Repub- 
 lican, and ardently supports the party to 
 which he belongs. He is a clear-sighted 
 man of business, and has a very high stand- 
 ing in the community in which he resides. 
 
 REV. JAMES H. MORE, M. D.— Only 
 those lives are worthy of record that 
 have been potential factors in the f>ublic 
 progress in promoting the general welfare 
 or advancing the educational or moral inter- 
 ests of the community. Dr. More has 
 rounded the psalmist's span of three score 
 years and ten, has always been found true 
 to his church, to his country and to his 
 friends, and the world is certainly far better 
 for his having lived. 
 
 The earliest ancestor of the family of 
 which our subject has any knowledge is 
 John More, who was of the Grant clan of 
 the Highlands of northern Scotland, and 
 who was married at F'orrest to Isabel Dun- 
 can, December 22, 1735. Their son John, 
 who was born February 24, 1745, was mar- 
 ried in 1770, to Betty Taylor, of Elgin, 
 Scotland, and they lived happily together 
 for the long period of fifty-three years. 
 
 Their two children were both born in Scot- 
 land, but in the autumn of 1772 the family 
 emigated to America. They spent the win- 
 ter in New York city, and in the spring of 
 1773 ascended the Hudson river to Cats- 
 kill, crossed the mountains and proceeded 
 through the wilderness to what is now Del- 
 aware county, New York. Coming to 
 a favorable spot where the large trees of 
 the forest indicated a fruitful soil, they 
 stopped, and in that wild region made for 
 themselves a home. Two children were born 
 in Scotland, and six children in America. 
 From these worthy pioneers are descended 
 many who have won distinction in the pul- 
 pit, on the rostrum, at the bar, and in com- 
 mercial, financial, medical and educational 
 circles as well as in the humbler walks 
 of life. 
 
 James More, grandfather of the Doctor, 
 was the sixth in order of birth in the family 
 of eight children born to John and Betty 
 More. He was born in Roxbury, Delaware 
 county. New York, January 10, 1782, and 
 died May 19, 1866. He married Roxana, 
 daughter of John and Patience (Post) Ben- 
 jamin. Of the six children born of this 
 union, John Benjamin More, the second in 
 order of birth, was born November 21, 1804, 
 and died in Polo, Illinois, February 24, 1886. 
 In 1829, he married Miss Louisa Jane Kel- 
 ley, who was born in Middletown, Delaware 
 county. New York, November 6, 1809, a 
 daughter of Phineas and Rosalind Kelley. 
 She makes her home with our subject and 
 is still in the possession of her mental and 
 physical faculties. Her father, a blacksmith 
 by trade, was born in Dutchess county, 
 New York, December 6, 1777, and died at 
 age of sixty-seven years. He was a son of 
 David Kelley, a soldier of the Revolutionary 
 war, who married a Miss Ellis. Mrs. More's 
 
334 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 maternal grandfather was Jonathan Kelley, 
 whose mother was Priscilla King, and he 
 married Grace Godfrey, a daughter of John 
 Godfrey. 
 
 Dr. More, the subject of this sketch, 
 was born in Halcottsville, Delaware county, 
 New York, August 31, 1826, a son of John 
 S. and Louisa J. (Kelley) More, and his 
 boyhood was passed in the town of Roxbury, 
 that county, his education being obtanied 
 in the common schools and the academies 
 at Prattsville and Fergusonville, where he 
 prepared for college. He successfully en- 
 gaged in teaching school for several terms 
 in Ro.xbury, and later entered the medical 
 department of the University of Buffalo, 
 New York, where he was graduated June 27, 
 1853. Coming west, he located at Buffalo 
 Grove, Ogle county, Illinois, in May, 1854, 
 and the following August began the practice 
 of his chosen profession with Dr. W. W. 
 Burns. In 1856 he embarked in the drug 
 and book business in Polo, but four years 
 later entered the ministry of the Methodist 
 church as a member of the Rock River Con- 
 ference, being first stationed at Harvard and 
 later at Richmond, McHenry county. At 
 the latter place he joined the Union army 
 as chaplain of the Ninety-fifth Illinois Vol- 
 unteer Infantry, which participated in many 
 important engagements in Missouri, Tenn- 
 essee, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas and 
 Louisiana. The regiment was at first in the 
 Seventeenth Army Corps, but later formed 
 a part of the Sixteenth Army Corps, under 
 General A. J. Smith, and was mustered out 
 in August, 1865. 
 
 After the war. Dr. More continued his 
 labors in Roek R iver Conference, was sta- 
 tioned at Mt. Morris two years and Kanka- 
 kee one year, and in 18C8 was appointed 
 presiding elder of the Dixon district, where 
 
 he remained for four years. During the 
 following three years he had charge of the 
 church at Sterling, was at Sycamore two 
 years, presiding elder of the Freeport dis- 
 trict four years, and for a year and a half 
 was pastor of the Western Avenue church, 
 Chicago. While there his health failed and 
 he was forced to resign, in 1883. Going to 
 Biddle county. South Dakota, he opened 
 up a farm and engaged in agricultural pur- 
 suits. He found no church facilities for the 
 people of that locality, the young folks were 
 desecrating the Sabbath, and he organized 
 churches and held services around at differ- 
 ent settler's cabins. When it became 
 known that he was also a physician, he was 
 forced into the practice of medicine again. 
 He took a great interest in the political 
 affairs of the territory, was a delegate to the 
 constitutional convention, and chairman of 
 the committee on public schools and school 
 lands, embodied in the organic law of the 
 state the best provisions for the safety of 
 school funds of any state in the Union. 
 From this wise legislation the state now has 
 two million dollars drawing seven per cent 
 interest; in each township two sections have 
 been set apart for school purposes, and such 
 safe guards thrown around the school funds 
 as will prevent loss by dishonest officials. 
 The credit of this is almost wholly due to 
 the efforts of Dr. More, and it almost seems 
 that he was sent by Providence to the terri- 
 tory for that purpose. 
 
 On leaving Dakota, December 23, 1886, 
 Dr. More returned to Margaretville, Dela- 
 ware county, New York, where he engaged 
 in various commercial enterprises until 
 1890, when he returned to Ogle county. 
 He has since served as pastor of the Meth- 
 odist church at Forreston for three years, 
 but is now living retired in Polo, where he 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 !5 
 
 has renewed old friendships. He has ever 
 taken a prominent part in local politics, 
 especially in all that is conducive to the 
 welfare of the city, and being elected alder- 
 man in 1 891, he immediately made his in- 
 fluence felt, as he had done in other towns 
 where his lot had been cast. He was the 
 chief factor in securing the local prohibition 
 at Sycamore while residing there, and the 
 city council of Polo soon realized that im- 
 provements must be made in the streets and 
 sidewalks. The Doctor was instrumental 
 in establishing the street grade and park 
 system which has made Polo one of the 
 neatest little cities of its size in the state. 
 He was appointed engineer and superin- 
 tendent of public works, and for a nominal 
 salary has given many days of valuable time 
 to surveying and grading the streets, etc., 
 since 1895. 
 
 On the 2ist of January, 1857, in Polo, 
 Dr. More was united in marriage with Miss 
 Harriet E. Frisbee, also a native of Rox- 
 bury, Delaware county. New York, and a 
 daughter of Rev. George and Maria (Smith) 
 Frisbee. Her father, who was also a 
 Methodist Episcopal minister, was born in 
 Rensselaerville, New York, March 23, 1796, 
 and died at Mt. Morris, Illinois, November 
 4, 1855. He came west in 1846 by way of 
 canal and lakes, having a son who had 
 located at Buffalo Grove four years previ- 
 ously. After spending one year in Mt. 
 Morris, Rev. Frisbee took up his residence 
 in Buffalo township, Ogle county. His 
 first wife had died in 1853, and he" subse- 
 quently married again and returned to Mt. 
 Morris, where his last days were passed. 
 The genealogical record of the Frisbee family 
 is as follows: Edward Frisbee, of Brad- 
 ford, Massachusetts, had twins, Ebenezer 
 and Silence, who were born at that place 
 
 Septembers, 1673. Ebenezer was married 
 at Bradford, April 21, 1703, to Hannah 
 Page, and their first born was Ebenezer, 
 who was born there April 14, 1704, and was 
 married at the same place, December 24, 
 1 73 I, to Silence Brackett. Triplets were 
 born to them, April 28, 1736, and one of 
 these, Benjamin, married Margaret Holley, 
 by whom he had nine children. Benjamin 
 Frisbee, the grandfather of Mrs. More, 
 was the fifth in order of birth in this fam- 
 ily. He was born in Sharon, Connecticut, 
 August 17, 1768, and died in I^o.xbury, 
 New York, February 18, 1S41. He was 
 married about 1790, to Ruth Dolph, who 
 was born in Wethersfield, Connecticut, 
 April 18, 1 77 1, and died in Roxbury, New 
 York, May 8, 1835. Rev. George Frisbee, 
 Mrs. More's father, was the second child in 
 their family. The first to come to the new 
 world was Bathazar and Alice De Wolf, 
 who settled in the Connecticut Valley. 
 They became the parents of several chil- 
 dren, among whom was Edward, who was 
 born in 1642. To Edward De Wolf and 
 his wife Rebecca was born Charles, 1673 
 (died 1731), who married Prudence White. 
 Of their nine children, Joseph, the young- 
 est, was born in 1717 and was killed during 
 the French and Indian war, before Louis- 
 burgh, in 1757. In 1737 he had married 
 Tabitha Johnson, and the youngest of their 
 three children was Abda, who also entered 
 the Colonial army in the French and In- 
 dian war, as did several of his cousins. It 
 was at this time that the name was changed 
 by these young men, who considered it too 
 Frenchy, although it had been born by En- 
 glish-speaking people for several genera- 
 tions. They adopted the name of D'olph 
 or Dolph. After his return from the war, 
 Abda Dolph went to New Haven, Connecti- 
 
336 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 cut, where he was married March i6, 1766, 
 to Mary Coleman, who was born March 4, 
 1745, a daughter of Nathaniel and Ruth 
 Coleman. Their daughter, Ruth Dolph, was 
 born April iS, 1771, and was married Feb- 
 ruary 8, 1 791, to Benjamin Frisbee. One 
 of the eight children born of this union was 
 Rev. George Frisbee, Mrs. Mere's father. 
 
 To Dr. More and wife were born five 
 children, namely: Mary L. , who married 
 George C. Marsh, secretary of the Gates 
 Iron Works and a resident of Ravenswood, 
 Chicago; George Frisbee, an expert elec- 
 trician, now located at Denver, Colorado; 
 Annie, who is clerk in the Sunday school 
 missionary society of the Congregational 
 church in Chicago; Faith, who is engaged 
 in kindergarten work in the same city; and 
 Pauline, who is studying in a kindergarten 
 college in Chicago, and is also assisting in 
 the Riverside public schools in kindergarten 
 work. 
 
 In political sentiment Dr. More is a 
 stanch Prohibitionist and has always made 
 his influence for good felt in every commu- 
 nity in which he has made his home. He 
 is a Knight Templar Mason and belongs to 
 the blue lodge and chapter at Polo and the 
 commandery at Di.\on. His circle of friends 
 is only litnited by his circle of acquaintances, 
 and it is safe to say that no man in Ogle 
 county is held in higher respect or esteem 
 than Dr. More. 
 
 Ri:V. JOHN J. McCANN is the effi- 
 cient pastor of the St. Mary's Catholic 
 church, Oregon, Illinois. He was born in 
 Providence, Rhode Island, October 25, 
 1862, and is the son of George T. and Cath- 
 erine (Wynne) McCann. H's father was a 
 
 native of Manchester, England, and came to 
 the United States with his patents, the fam- 
 ily locating in Providence, Rhode Island, 
 where the parents later died. Felix Mc- 
 Cann, the paternal grandfather, married 
 Mary Coleman, whose father, Thomas Cole- 
 man, was a colonel in the English army, and 
 who was thrown from his horse and killed. 
 Felix and Mary McCann were the parents 
 of four children — John, James, Susannah 
 and George T. , the latter being the father 
 of our subject. By trade George T. McCann 
 was a weaver, and a good one. He first 
 came west on a prospecting tour, and for a 
 time resided in Chicago, from which place 
 he went to Aurora. In Aurora he first 
 found employment in the woolen mills of 
 Mr. Stolp, a factory that did a large and 
 profitable business during the Civil war and 
 for some years after. He had to abandon 
 that business, however, on account of his 
 health. This was, however, shortly before 
 the war. He took his family east again, 
 and resided in Providence, Rhode Island. 
 During the latter part of the Civil war he 
 enlisted, and was mustered into the service 
 as a member of the First Rhode Island 
 Light Artillery, and served until the close 
 of the struggle. His brother James was 
 all through the Rebellion, serving in a com- 
 pany of heavy artillery from Rhode Island. 
 He came west again in July, 186C, and lo- 
 cated in Aurora, Illinois, where he yet re- 
 sides, being foreman in one of the depart- 
 ments of the Aurora Silver Plate Factory. 
 Mrs. Catherine McCann was a native of 
 Ireland, her parents dying in that country 
 when she was a small child. She was the 
 youngest of the family. To George T. and 
 Catherine McCann nine children were born, 
 five of whom are yet living — John J., our 
 subject; Agnes, living with our subject; An- 
 
REV. JOHN J. McCANN. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 339 
 
 drew and George C, now residing in 
 Chicago. 
 
 Father McCann was but four years old 
 when the family moved the second time to 
 Aurora, Illinois. After attending the pub- 
 lic school and being one year in the high 
 school in that city, he entered St. Viateur's 
 College, Bourbonnais, Illinois, in Septem- 
 ber, 1877, where he remained five years in 
 the study of the classics and philosophy. 
 Leaving college, he studied theology and 
 kindred sciences in St. Mary's Seminary, 
 Baltimore, Maryland, finishing the regular 
 course of clerical studies January 6, 188S, 
 at which time he received ordination at the 
 hands of Cardinal Gibbons. His first min- 
 istry was as assistant pastor of St. James 
 church, Chicago, where he remained four 
 years, and was then at St. Phillips church, 
 Chicago, for six months. Leaving Chicago, 
 for a year and a half he was at St. Mary's 
 church, Joliet, and for one year at St. 
 Michael's church. Galena. He was then 
 appointed pastor of the mission of Oregon, 
 Polo and Forreston, by Archbishop Feehan. 
 This was in November, 1894. Since then 
 he has annexed to his charge the Catholic 
 missions at Byron and Ashton. He organ- 
 ized the first Catholic congregation and 
 built the first Catholic church at Byron, in 
 1895. The mission at Oregon was organ- 
 ized in 1850, by Rev. John Quigley, C. M., 
 of LaSalle, who with other priests celebrat- 
 ed mass in private houses, and in the court 
 house until 1862, when they erected a small 
 stone church in which services were held 
 until the present fine church building was 
 erected in 1891 by the Rev. D. B. Toomey. 
 It is a large brick structure, with a seating 
 capacity of five hundred, and will cost when 
 completed twenty thousand dollars. The 
 Oregon mission has about seventy families. 
 
 that at Polo about sixty-five families, about 
 forty families in Ashton, and about sixty 
 families in Byron. They have services in 
 each of these places once every two weeks. 
 All the congregations are in a flourishing 
 condition, and that at Polo have in contem- 
 plation the erection of a church building. 
 Father McCann is a zealous pastor and a 
 hard worker in the interests of his people 
 and Christianity. He is a man of marked 
 ability and popular with all classes, with 
 many friends and well-wishers throughout 
 Ogle and adjoining counties. 
 
 JOHN R. NETTZ is numbered among 
 the thriving farmers of Grand Detour 
 township, where he owns and operates a 
 farm of one hundred and twenty acres of 
 fine land. He is a native of Ogle county, 
 and was born in Pine Creek township, 
 October 26, 1853. His parents, Henry and 
 Margaret (Smice) Nettz, are natives of 
 Washington county, Maryland, his father 
 being born in 1S16. By trade he was a 
 carpenter, an occupation he followed until 
 coming to Ogle county in 1851. On his 
 arrival here, he located in Pine Creek 
 township, where he purchased land and en- 
 gaged in farming in connection with his 
 trade. When his sons became old enough 
 he relinquished into their hands the manage- 
 ment of the farm, and is now living a re- 
 tired life. In politics he is a stanch Re- 
 publican, and religiously is a member of the 
 Christian church, being one of the original 
 members of the church in Pine Creek town- 
 ship. In his family were six children, five 
 of whom are yet living. Thomas F. died 
 in his twenty-first year. Otho J. is a farmer 
 of Cass count}', fowa. lidward A. is living 
 on the old home farm in Pine Creek town- 
 
340 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ship. John R. is next in order of birth. 
 Daniel B. and Samuel B. are twins. They 
 reside in Monroe, Wisconsin. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood on the home farm in Pine Creek town- 
 ship, and was educated in the common 
 school. He was reared to farm life, and 
 until he attained his majority gave his time 
 faithfully to his father. On arriving at 
 man's estate, he worked on farms for wages 
 for several years. On the 5th of August, 
 1880, he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Marthe Wragg, daughter of Peter and 
 Nancy (Thompson) Wragg, of whom further 
 menition is made in the sketch of John B. 
 Wragg, on another page of this work. By 
 this union two children have been born, a 
 son and daughter, George M., and Cora M. 
 both of whom are at home. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Nettz cultivated 
 a rented farm in Woosung township for two 
 years, after which he rented what is known 
 as the Hershey farm in Pine Creek town- 
 ship, where he remained ten years. In 
 1893 he purchased his present farm, which 
 is located on sections 5 and 14, Grand 
 Detour township. During the same year 
 he erected a fine barn and remodeled the 
 dwelling house, sine which time he has made 
 other permanent and valuable improve- 
 ments. 
 
 For the past six years Mr. Nettz has 
 served as school director of his district, and 
 in September, 1897, was elected road com- 
 missioner, which office he is at present fill- 
 ing. In politics he is a Republican, his 
 first presidential vote having been cast for 
 Rutherford B. Hayes, in 1876. He is a 
 worthy member of the Pine Creek Christian 
 church, of which body his wife is also a 
 member. His success in life is largely due 
 to his own industry, integrity and business 
 
 ability. Both he and his wife are held in 
 high esteem, and they have many rfiends 
 in Ogle county, especially in Pine Creek, 
 Woosung and Grand Detour townships, 
 where their entire lives have been spent. 
 
 WILLIAM WATTS, deceased, who 
 resided on section 23, Pine Creek 
 township, belonged to that sturdy class of 
 pioneers who left comfortable homes in the 
 south and east and braved the hardships of 
 frontier life and succeeded in transforming a 
 wild country into one of the most produc- 
 tive countries in the known world. He was 
 a native of Washington county, Maryland, 
 born January 29, 181 8, and is the son of 
 Thomas and Sarah (Knudson) Watts, the 
 former an Englishman by birth, and the 
 latter born in Washington county, Maryland. 
 In his youth Thomas Watts learned the 
 carpenter's trade, but later engaged in 
 farming, an occupation in which he con- 
 tinued throughout the remainder of his life. 
 He never came west, and he and his wife 
 both lived in Maryland. They were the 
 parents of the following named children — 
 John, Nancy, Rachel, Sarah, Joseph, Eliza- 
 beth, Thomas, William, Frisby and Abra- 
 ham. 
 
 In his native county William Watts re- 
 ceived his primary education in the district 
 schools, attending the same as the opportu- 
 nity was afforded him until he was seventeen 
 years old, when he commenced to learn the 
 carpenter's trade. After serving an ap- 
 prenticeship of three years he worked as a 
 journeyman in his native state until 1840, 
 when, in company with (George Swingley, 
 Walter B. McCoy and John B. Ghana, he 
 left Hagerstown on horseback and started 
 west, traveling through Pennsylvania, Ohio 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 341 
 
 and Indiana, taking about a month in mak- 
 ing the trip to Ogle county. They went 
 first through the southern part of Illinois, 
 passing through Springfield, the state capi- 
 tal, which was then but a small village, ar- 
 riving in due time at Mount Morris. 
 
 On his arrival here, Mr. Watts com- 
 menced to work at his trade, assisting in 
 the erection of the first dwelling house in 
 the place. After completing the frame of 
 the dwelling house, he went to work on the 
 old seminary building, which was then in 
 course of construction, and continued on 
 that work until it was completed in the 
 spring of 1842. He then purchased the 
 claim of Major Hitt to a half section of land 
 for which he paid five dollars per acre. The 
 major who is the uncle of the present con- 
 gressman is yet living in Ottawa, Illinois, at 
 the age of ninety years. Although purchas- 
 ing the land, Mr. Watts did not at once 
 commence farming, but continued to work 
 at his trade until 1850. At that time the 
 land was still in its primitive condition, al- 
 though about fifty acres had been broken. 
 
 On the 29th of October, 1849, Mr. 
 Watts was united in marriage with Miss 
 AnnaAnkeny, a native of Washington coun- 
 ty, Maryland, born January 22, 1832, and 
 the daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth An- 
 keny, also natives of the same county and 
 state, who came to Ogle county in 1837, 
 locating in Mount Morris township. By this 
 union there were born eleven children, one 
 of whom died in early childhood. Thomas 
 married Martha Avey and they have two 
 children. They reside in Buffalo township 
 where he is engaged in farming. Albert 
 married Miss Vickey Weller. He is a farmer 
 of Mount Morris township. William mar- 
 ried Ella McNett, and they have one child. 
 He is a farmer of Mount Morris township. 
 
 Ella married Albert Fahrney, and they have 
 three children. He is a farmer of Buffalo 
 township. James is living with his father 
 and running the home place. John died at 
 the age of twenty-one. Mary and Martha, 
 twins, are living at home. Frisby married 
 Ella Felker. He is a farmer of Pine Creek 
 township. Oliver married Ada Mumma, 
 and he is engaged in the grocery business 
 at Mount Morris. 
 
 Immediately after his marriage, Mr. 
 Watts, with his young bride, started for 
 their old home in Maryland, making their 
 bridal tour with a horse and buggy. After 
 spending the winter visiting relatives and 
 friends, they returned to Ogle county in the 
 spring of 1850 and settled upon the farm 
 that Mr. Watts had purchased several years 
 previous, and at once began the battle of 
 life. For forty-nine years they traveled 
 life's journey together, and she was to him 
 a helpmeet indeed, seconding him in all his 
 efforts for success in this world. She was 
 withal a loving mother and her memory is 
 held in grateful remembrance. The sum- 
 mons came to her suddenly in February, 
 1898, her death being attributed to heart 
 failure. Mr. Watts survived his wife about 
 one year, when he, too, was called to rest. 
 
 When Mr. Watts came to Ogle county 
 there were but a few log houses in the town 
 of Oregon, and the whole country was 
 almost in its natural state. Wild game 
 was yet in abundance, and continued plen- 
 tiful for several years. He was blessed in 
 many ways, and by his own industry and 
 wise management the original three hun- 
 dred and twenty acres were added to until 
 he became the owner of about fifteen hun- 
 dred acres of as fine and productive land as 
 there is in Ogle county. In addition to the 
 cultivation of his farm, in times past he 
 
342 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 gave considerable attention to raising thor- 
 oughbred horses. 
 
 Although more than four score years 
 have passed since Mr. Watts was born into 
 this world, he was hale and hearty, with 
 strength of mind and body well preserved 
 until the last. The years that have come 
 and gone since he was born have been 
 eventful ones. His birth was cotemporane- 
 ous with that of the great state of Illinois, 
 which at that time had but few more inhab- 
 itants than has Ogle county at the present 
 time. A long and bloody civil war was 
 fought, four millions of slaves were made 
 free, and in the lapse of time the bonds 
 that held the union together have been 
 strengthened, and there is no longer the 
 sectional feeling that divided the country, 
 but we are truly one people. In what is 
 now the northern part of Illinois, there was 
 not a white man living at the time of his 
 birth. Railroads, steamboats, telegraphs, 
 telephones and the many useful labor-sav- 
 ing agricultural inventions were unknown. 
 It has certainly been a grand age in which 
 to live, and in the progress and develop- 
 ment of the country Mr. Watts bore his 
 part. Reared a Democrat, he always voted 
 that party ticket, but never aspired to office- 
 holding, believing he could do more good 
 by attending strictly to his personal affairs. 
 
 SE. BROWN, who has been actively 
 engaged in business in Forreston for 
 many years, is one of the honored sons of 
 that place, and his life is a verification of 
 the fact that the inevitable law of destiny 
 accords to a tireless energy, industry and 
 ability a successful career. Prominent in 
 business circles of Forreston stands Mr. 
 Brown, who conducts a restaurant, bakery 
 
 and confectionary at that place. He was 
 born August ii, 1844, 'i Schuylkill county, 
 Pennsylvania, and at the early age of two 
 years was left motherless. Upon reaching 
 his fourteenth year he was apprenticed to 
 the shoemaking trade, at which he worked 
 until 1864, when, on the 13th of September, 
 he enlisted in Company H, Two Hundred 
 and Tenth Regiment, Pennsylvania State 
 Volunteers. Shortly after entering the 
 service he was taken ill and sent to the regi- 
 mental hospital, but owing to the lingering 
 condition of his disease he was transferred 
 to the McDougal general hospital, from 
 whence he was discharged, and also mus- 
 tered out of service, receiving his discharge 
 papers May 31, 1865. In 1865 he returned 
 to Dauphin county, and worked in the 
 coal mines from the spring of that year 
 until fall, when he again took up his trade 
 of shoemaking, which he pursued through- 
 out the winter of 1865-66. 
 
 On the sixth of April, 1866, Mr. Brown 
 came to Illinois to join his brother who had 
 preceded him, and settled at Lanark, Car- 
 roll county. Upon joining him, he worked 
 as a farm laborer until 1867, when he was 
 employed by Jonas Beck, for whom he 
 worked the following eight months. On 
 the 24th of November, 1867, he was united 
 in marriage to Miss Nancy Beyers, a daugh- 
 ter of J. G. Beyers, a pioneer settler of Ogle 
 county, and at that time a prosperous farm- 
 er of Brookville township. Two children 
 have blessed this marriage, namely: Agnes, 
 living at home; and John William, express 
 agent at Forreston for the American Ex- 
 press Company. In the fall of 1868 Mr. 
 Brown rented a farm of eighty acres in 
 Brookville township, which he subsequently 
 increased to one hundred and twenty acres, 
 and which he worked until 1894. On the 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 343 
 
 eighth of January he removed to Forreston 
 and went into business in the location which 
 he now owns and occupies. Mr. Brown is 
 one of a family of six children. George, the 
 eldest, is deceased. J. P. is a prosperous 
 farmer in Otter Creek, Carroll county, Illi- 
 nois. David is a farmer in Dauphin county, 
 Pennsylvania. Sarah is the wife of E. O. 
 Ready, of Kewanee Illinois. Susanna is 
 deceased. The sixth child is the subject of 
 this sketch. 
 
 Mr. Brown votes the Republican ticket, 
 and cast his first ballot for Ulysses S. Grant. 
 He is a self-made man, and his valuable 
 farm lands in Iowa, and the business prop- 
 erty in Forreston are the results of his en- 
 ergy and good managment, ably assisted by 
 his wife, who seconds his efforts by her con- 
 stant zeal and activity. He is among the 
 most progressive and public-spirited citizens 
 of Forreston, and gives his support and co- 
 operation to measures tending toward its 
 growth and development. 
 
 HOWARD A. MORRIS.— America owes 
 much of her progress and advance- 
 ment to a position foremost among nations 
 ol the world to her newspapers, and no line 
 has the incidental broadening out of the 
 sphere of usefulness more than this line of 
 journalism. Ogle county has enlisted in its 
 newspaper fields some of its strongest intel- 
 lects — men of broad mental grasp, cosmo- 
 politan ideas and notable business sagacity. 
 Prominent among these is Howard A. Mor- 
 ris, of Rochelle, the successful editor and 
 proprietor of the Herald. He comes of a 
 good old Connecticut family who have lived 
 for generations in the town of Danbury, 
 and whose ancestry dates back to the land- 
 ing of the Mayflower. His great-grand- 
 
 father was Bethel Morris. His grand- 
 parents were Samuel Morris, who died 
 in Danbury in 1864, and Phoebe (Starr) 
 Morris, who died in 1871 at the residence of 
 her son in Chicago. His maternal grand- 
 parents were Oliver and Polly (Benedict) 
 Vail. The former went to Connecticut 
 when a boy, and by his frugality and in- 
 dustry he acquired a small farm, and at the 
 time of his death, which occurred while on 
 a visit to his brother in Syracuse, New 
 York, he was the the owner of large and 
 valuable tracts of land near Adrian, Mich- 
 igan. 
 
 The father of our subject was Granville 
 White Morris, who was born in Danbury, 
 Connecticut, on the 17th of November, 
 1S22. He attended the district school from 
 the age of four years until reachinghistwelfth 
 year, and from that time until his sixteenth 
 year he was employed in his father's woolen 
 mills during the summer, attending an 
 academy in the winter seasons. The four 
 years following he worked in the mills of 
 Dick & Sanford at Sandy Hook, and in 1842 
 purchased from his father the woolen mills 
 aforementioned. These he ran until 1848, 
 when he accepted the office of sheriff and 
 served until 1862, under Philo T. Barnum, 
 a brother of the famous showman of that 
 name, and at the same time kept the coun- 
 ty house and jail. 
 
 In 1862 he opened the Turner House in 
 Danbury, which he ran for a year, and in 
 1863 came west to Rockford, returning the 
 following year for his family, which he took 
 to LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and in 1865 to 
 Rockford, where they remained for ten 
 years. At the expiration of that time they 
 moved to Chicago where Mr. Morris was 
 employed as general agent by an insurance 
 company, traveling over a territory com- 
 
344 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 prising Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, 
 Wisconsin, Michigan, Indiana and Missouri. 
 In 1876 Mr. Morris visited Washington, Dis- 
 trict of Columbia, and the following spring 
 went south intending to locate in Georgia, 
 but was taken ill and returned home, locat- 
 ing in Creston, Illinois, and a few months 
 later removed to Malta, Illinois, where he 
 established the Malta Mail and the Creston 
 Times. In 1881 he sold the former and 
 combined the latter with the Rochelle Her- 
 ald, of which he was editor until his death, 
 which occurred in March, 1893. 
 
 Our subject, Howard A. Morris, was 
 born on the 8th of December, 1851, in Dan- 
 bury, Connecticut, and came west with his 
 parents in 1864. He received his schooling 
 in the common schools of Rockford, attend- 
 ing later the Rockford Business College, 
 where he remained eighteen months. In 
 1876 he was employed as a traveling sales- 
 man by an insurance firm in Wheeling, West 
 Virginia, and the two years following, for a 
 Detroit firm. The fourth year he was in 
 the employ of the Chicago Baking Com- 
 pany, and spent most of his time between 
 Chicago and Omaha, Nebraska. In 1880 
 he joined his parents in Malta, remaining 
 until the following year when, in connection 
 with his father, established the Rochelle 
 Herald, of which his father was editor until 
 his death in 1883. Since that time he has 
 been editor and sole proprietor. On the 
 9th of September, 1880, Mr. Morris was 
 united in marriage to Miss Julia Pease, a 
 daughter of Dan Pease, who was born in 
 Middlefield, Massachusetts, and his wife 
 Rachel (Hurzcll) Pease, a native of Buffalo, 
 New York, and a daughter of Owen and 
 Mary Burzell. Four children have graced 
 this marriage, namely: Mary Josephine, 
 Jennie M., Howard A., Jr., and Helen M., 
 
 Howard A. having died at the age of five 
 year. Mr. Morris is a member of the Ma- 
 sonic Lodge and Chapter of Rochelle, and 
 Sycamore Commandary, K. T. Politically 
 he is a Republican, always giving his sup- 
 port and ballot to that party. He is an 
 honorable and straightforward man of busi- 
 ness, and by this and his courteous and 
 affable manner, commands the respect and 
 esteem of his fellow citizens. 
 
 SAMUEL P. MUMMA, the well-known 
 stock dealer of Mt. Morris, is a native 
 of Ogle county, born in Pine Creek town- 
 ship, October i, 1844, and is the son of 
 Daniel S. and Naomi (Malone) Mumma, 
 both of whom were natives of Washington 
 county, Maryland, the former born June 17, 
 1 818, and the latter September 29, 1820. 
 
 Daniel S. Mumma was reared in his 
 native state and received his education in 
 the common schools. At the age of eight- 
 een he came west, making the journey on 
 horseback, in company with his brother. 
 They were so favorably impressed with the 
 country that they returned east, disposed of 
 their property, and in 1837 came to Ogle 
 county for permanent settlement, thus be- 
 coming pioneers of the county. On his 
 arrival he made claim to one hundred and 
 thirty acres of land in Pine Creek township, 
 on which he resided for about eight years, 
 when he disposed of the same and pur- 
 chased a tract of one hundred and sixty 
 acres, on which he lived for some sixteen 
 years. He then rented the place to his son 
 and purchased eighty acres in Pine Creek 
 township, on which he lived about fourteen 
 years, when he moved to Mt. Morris and 
 lived retired until his death. Daniel S. 
 Mumma was the son of John and Mary 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 345 
 
 (Shafer) Mumina, both of whom were also 
 natives of Washington county, Maryland, 
 and who there spent their entire lives, living 
 to a good old age. They were the parents 
 of si.K children. 
 
 After residing here about three years, Mr. 
 Mumma returned to Maryland and wedded 
 Naomi Malone, daughter of James and 
 Susanna (Albert) Malone, also natives of 
 Washington county, Maryland, and who 
 were the parents of nine children — Elias, 
 Maria, James, Mary, Naomi, Susan, Jane, 
 Ruan, Lizzie. In his native state, James 
 Malone passed to his reward, and later his 
 widow came to Ogle county, where her last 
 days were spent. 
 
 To Daniel S. and Naomi Mumma ten 
 children were born. James L. , born April 
 15, 1 84 1, married Sophia Etnyre, and they 
 reside in the village of Mt. Morris^six chil- 
 dren have been born to them, of whom 
 three are now living. Mary A. , born August 
 7, 1842, married William Griswold, by whom 
 she had five children, two of whom are 
 deceased; both Mr. and Mrs. Griswold are 
 deceased, the latter dying January 19, 1890, 
 and the former October 23, of the same 
 year. Samuel P. is the subject of this 
 sketch. Margaret, born August 26, 1846, 
 married A. N. Ankney, and they have one 
 child; he is living retired in Mt. Morris. 
 Amanda died in infancy. Benjamin E., 
 born August 1 1, 1849, married Laura Shafer, 
 and they have one child; he died July 5, 
 1888, the result of an accident; she later 
 married Frank Stonebraker, and they now 
 reside in Hagerstown, Maryland. Henry 
 C. , born September 9, 1851, married 
 Amanda Young, and they have two chil- 
 dren; they reside on the home place in Pine 
 Creek township, where he is engaged in 
 farming. Estella F. , born February 26, 
 
 1853, married Joseph Middlekoff, and they 
 have three children; he is a farmer, and 
 'they reside in Pine Creek township. Ella, 
 born February 28, 1S55, is living with her 
 mother in Mt. Morris. Elizabeth S., born 
 August 15, i860, married Harvey Griswold, 
 and they have two children; he is a farmer 
 in Rockvale township. 
 
 Daniel S. Mumma died at his home in 
 Mt. Morris, September 10, 1S88. His 
 death was calm and peaceful, drooping away 
 like a summer flower in autumn. His widow 
 yet survives, and is living a peaceful and 
 contented life, and waiting for the svmimons 
 to "come up higher." 
 
 After passing through the grammar school 
 of Pine Creek township, Samuel P. Mumma 
 entered Rock River Seminary, finishing his 
 school life in that institution. After leav- 
 ing the Seminary, he returned to his father's 
 farm and there remained seven years, assist- 
 ing in farm labor. He then went to Mt. 
 Morris and opened the first meat market in 
 the place, and continued in that line of bus- 
 iness for nine years, in the meantime en- 
 gaged to some extent in dealing in stock. 
 Closing out his meat market, he went into 
 the grain and stock business, in which he 
 continued for four years. Desirous of giv- 
 ing his attention exclusively to the stock 
 business, he disposed of his grain interests, 
 since which time his whole time and atten- 
 tion has been given to the purchase and 
 sale of stock. 
 
 On the 22d of February, 1870, Mr. 
 Mumma was united in marriage with Miss 
 Louisa Swingley, a native of Washington 
 county, Maryland, born February 11, 1844, 
 and a daughter of Benjamin and Catherine 
 (Hershey) Swingley, both of whom were 
 also natives of the same county and state. 
 They were the parents of eight children^ 
 
346 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Ellen, John, Oliver, Louise, Ann, Laura, 
 Alice and Grace. The latter is now de- 
 ceased. Benjamin Swingley came to Ogle 
 county in 1845 and located in Mt. Morris 
 township, where he engaged in farming, at 
 which he continued until 1891, when he 
 moved to the village of Mt. Morris, where 
 he is now living at the age of eighty-two 
 years. His wife died June 21, 1893, at the 
 age of seventy-six years. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Mumma five children 
 have been born: Willis, born December 
 22, 1870, married Annie Rice, and they are 
 living in Mt. Morris. Ada, born October 
 9, 1873, married Oliver Watts, who is en- 
 gaged in the mercantile business in Mt. 
 Morris. Edgar, born September 24, 1876, 
 is assisting his father in the business, doing 
 much of the buying. Grace, born April 8, 
 1880, is living at home. Olie, born No- 
 vember 23, 1884, died September 17, 1886. 
 
 In politics Mr. Mumma is a Democrat, 
 a party with which he has been identified 
 since casting his first presidential vote for 
 Horatio Seymour, in 1868. He has served 
 his township and village as school director 
 for a number of years, constable for a few 
 years, member of the village board, and 
 clerk of the same. Fraternally he is a 
 member of the Knights of the Globe, and 
 religiously is a Lutheran, as is also his wife, 
 holding membership in the church at Mt. 
 Morris. 
 
 It is as a business man and stock dealer 
 that Mr. Mumma is best known, handling 
 about eighty car loads per year, and doing 
 a business amounting to fully one hundred 
 thousand dollars per year. He is a good 
 judge of stock and is always willing to live 
 and let live. The farmers of the commu- 
 nity know that they can trust him, and for 
 that reason he handles such a large amount 
 
 of stock per year. His reputation as a fair 
 dealer is beyond question. As a citizen, he 
 is fully abreast of the times, and is always 
 willing to practice what he preaches, doing 
 his share in the development of his village 
 and county. 
 
 GARDNER S. PRESTON.— Prominent 
 among the early settlers of Ogle county, 
 who have witnessed the marvelous develop- 
 ment of this section of the state during the 
 past half century, and who have, by honest 
 toil and industry, succeeded in acquiring a 
 competence, are now able to spend the sun- 
 set of life in quiet and retirement, is the 
 gentleman whose name heads this sketch, 
 and who is a resident of the pleasant village 
 of Stillman Valley. 
 
 Mr. Preston was born in Oneida county, 
 New York, June 11, 182S, and is descended 
 from a famiiyof English origin, which was 
 founded in New England at an early day in 
 the history of this country. His paternal 
 grandfather, Noah Preston, was one of the 
 heroes of the Revolutionary war and was 
 wounded while fighting for libert}'. He 
 was an early settler of Connecticut, and in 
 1806 became one of the pioneers of Oneida 
 county, New York, where he reared his 
 family. 
 
 Lyman Preston, father of our subject, 
 was born in Connecticut, in 1800, and grew 
 to manhood in Oneida county. New York, 
 where he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Hannah Gillett, a native of Herkimer coun- 
 ty, that state. Her father, Rev. Truman 
 Gillett, was a minister of the Free Will 
 Baptist church and a missionary to Canada 
 among the Moravians. Lyman Preston en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits in Oneida 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 347 
 
 county until 1S50, when he brought his 
 family to Ogle county, Illinois, and he.re 
 spent the remainder of his life, dying about 
 1853. His estimable wife long survived 
 him, passing away in the spring of 1898, 
 at the advanced age of ninety years In 
 their family were .the following children: 
 Mrs. Fanny Lawson, now a resident of Mil- 
 waukee, Wisconsin; Gardner S., of this re- 
 view; Lyman, a business man of Provi- 
 dence, Rhode Island; Mrs. Helen Lewis, of 
 Stillman Valley; and Juliette, who married 
 Colonel York and at an early day removed 
 to Kansas, where her death occurred. 
 
 Gardner S. Preston is wholly self-edu- 
 cated, as his school advantages in early life 
 were limited. He was reared upon the 
 home farm in Oneida county. New York, 
 remaining with his father until he attained 
 his majority, and in the fall of 1S49 he 
 came to Ogle county, Illinois, where his 
 father had traded for property some time 
 previous. He located on a tract of one 
 hundred and si.xty acres of wild land in Ma- 
 rion township, fenced it an<l connneucetl 
 the work of cultivation and improvement. 
 He built a stone or gravel house in which 
 he li\ed for over twenty years while open- 
 ing up his farm, but it was finally replaced 
 by a more commodious and modern frame 
 residence. He also built good barns and 
 outbuildings, set out fruit and ornamental 
 trees, and continued to improve his place 
 until he had one of the finest farms in the 
 township. He added to the original pur- 
 chase until he now has three hundred and 
 twenty acres of valuable land, which has 
 been acquired through his own industry and 
 good management as he came to this region 
 almost empty-handed. 
 
 Mr. Preston has been twice married, and 
 by the first wife had four children who are 
 
 still living, namely: Curtis, who is mar- 
 ried and engaged in farming in Monroe 
 ownship. Ogle county;Carrie,wife of George 
 Bird, of Marion township; F"rank, who 
 went to the Pacific coast, and since 1S93 
 has been engaged in the vegetable busi- 
 ness in California; and J. W.,who is now 
 a farmer of Cass county, Iowa. On the 
 28th of Jane, 1872, Mr. Preston was 
 married in Ogle county to Miss Lillie Tra.\- 
 lar, a native of the county, and a daughter 
 of Peter Tra.xlar, who came to this section 
 from Canada during the 'forties. There are 
 two children by this marriage: Lyman, like 
 his brothers, is married and lives on the old 
 home farm; and Maude is her father's house- 
 keeper. This is her last year at the Rock- 
 ford Female College, where she has been 
 giving special attention to music. Mrs. 
 Preston, who was a most estimable lady, 
 passed away in February, 1895, and was 
 laid to rest in the Stillman Valley cemetery. 
 She was a sincere and consistent Christian, 
 an acti\'e member of the Congregatiijnal 
 chLHcli, and much esteemed and beloved for 
 her many Christian virtues. 
 
 Mr. Preston has also been a faithful 
 member of the Congregational church (il 
 Stillman Valley for nearly forty years. He 
 is a stanch Republican in politics, but has 
 never cared for the honors or emolutnents 
 of public office, though he has most credita- 
 bly served as highway commissioner for 
 twenty years, was treasurer of the board, 
 and for several years was an efficient mem- 
 ber of the board of education. His sup- 
 port is never withheld from any object 
 which he believes will prove of public ben- 
 efit, and he is justly numbered among the 
 valued and useful citizens of the community. 
 After the death of his wife in 1895, he re- 
 moved to Stillman Valley, where he is sur- 
 
348 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 rounded by a large circle of friends and ac- 
 quaintances who appreciate his sterling 
 worth. 
 
 GI£ORGE W. HAMMER, residing on 
 section 36, Lincoln township, is num- 
 bered among the active and enterprising 
 farmers of Ogle county. His home farm 
 comprises one hundred and ninety acres, 
 and is a well improved place, while his farm 
 of seventy-four acres in Buffalo township is 
 also well improved. He is a native of Ogle 
 county, born on the farm where he now re- 
 sides, September 7, 1845, and is the son of 
 John and Eliza (Witmer) Hammer, both of 
 whom were natives of Washington county, 
 Maryland, the former born in 1806, and the 
 latter in 18 13. They were married in their 
 native county, and in 1838 moved to Illi- 
 nois, locating in Springfield, and there re- 
 sided until 1842. John Hammer was a 
 harness maker by trade, and was working 
 at his trade while residing in Springfield. 
 Leaving that city, he came to Ogle county 
 and settled in Mount Morris where he con- 
 tinued to work at his trade for about three 
 years. During that time he entered eighty 
 acres of land, which was a portion of the 
 farm now occupied by our subject. In Feb- 
 ruary, 1845, he removed to the tract that 
 he had purchased, erected a small frame 
 house, and there resided while otherwise 
 improving the place. He later purchased 
 more land and had a fine farm of two hundred 
 and forty acres. On his farm he commenced 
 the manufacture of brick, which he contin- 
 ued three seasons, during which time he 
 made the brick that went into his own brick 
 residence that he had built. On that farm 
 he continued to reside until his death in 
 January, 1879, at the age of seventy-three 
 
 years. His wife survives him and now re- 
 sides in Mount Morris at the age of eighty- 
 five years. They were the parents of six 
 children, all of whom are living and have 
 families of their own. Benjamin resides in 
 Polo. John \V. is living in Di.xon, Illinois. 
 D. Harry is a prominent citizen of Chicago. 
 Eliza is the wife of Rev. Malachi Newcomer, 
 a substantial farmer of Ogle county. George 
 W. IS the subject of this review. Ida is the 
 wife of Edward Baker, a farmer of Pine 
 Creek township. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was reared on 
 the farm where he now resides, which he 
 helped to improve. His education was ob- 
 tained in the district school, but the oppor- 
 tunities that were given him were well 
 improved, and he is to-day a well-informed 
 man. He continued to remain at home 
 until his father's death, when he bought the 
 interest of the other heirs and succeeded to 
 the home place. Since coming into pos- 
 session he has made a number of valuable 
 improvements upon the place, including 
 the erection of a large basement barn, 
 together with cribs, sheds and various out- 
 buildings. Everything about the place 
 shows the effect of a master mind, one that 
 fully understands what he desires and puts 
 into execution his plans. He is regarded 
 as one of the best farmers and stockraisers 
 in the county. 
 
 Mr. Hammer was married in Pine Creek 
 township, February 3, 1870, to Miss Mar}' 
 C. Miller, a native of Ogle county, and a 
 daughter of David F. Miller, a pioneer of 
 Ogle county, from W'ashington county, 
 Maryland, and one of the first settlers of 
 Pine Creek township. By this union eight 
 children have been born, of whom D. O., 
 the eldest, is assisting in carrying on the 
 home farm. Clarence is now a student in 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 349 
 
 Mt. Morris College. Edith is the wife of 
 Albert Coffman, a farmer of Buffalo town- 
 ship. Daisy is the wife of Prof. Ora Fos- 
 ter, a professional teacher, residing near 
 Anderson, Indiana. Eva is yet residing at 
 home. Minnie is a teacher in the public 
 schools of Ogle county. George M. and 
 Ray are attending the home school. Ruth 
 died at the age of two months. 
 
 Mr. Hammer cast his first presidential 
 ballot for U. S. Grant in 1868, and from 
 that time to the present has been a consist- 
 ent Republican. He has never held or de- 
 sired public office, having no taste for such, 
 and willing that those aspiring for official 
 honors may have all they wish. His busi- 
 ness interests have commanded his time and 
 attention. He is well known as a man of 
 strict integrity and honor, one deserving of 
 the confidence of the community which has 
 alwavs been his home. 
 
 WILLIAM ALFRED HAMMOND, a 
 well-known and successful farmer 
 and veterinary surgeon residing on section 
 30, Leaf River township, a mile and a half 
 northeast of the village of Leaf River, is one 
 of the active, enterprising and substantial 
 citizens of Ogle county, with whose interests 
 he has been identified since 1855. He was 
 born in Washington county, Maryland, 
 March 11, 1836, a son of William Hammond, 
 whose birth occurred in the same county, in 
 1S07. The family were pioneers of that 
 region and the grandfather, Peter Ham- 
 mond, was of German ancestry. On reach- 
 ing manhood the father married Miss Louisa 
 Santman, also a native of Washington 
 county, where they continued to make their 
 home for some years, his time and attention 
 being devoted to farming. In 1855 he re- 
 
 moved with his family to Ogle county, Illi- 
 nois, and the following year located on the 
 farm where our subject now lives. A small 
 house had previously been built and thirty- 
 five acres placed under cultivation, and to 
 the further improvement and operation of 
 the place he gave his attention for seven 
 years. In 1861, however, he returned to 
 Washington county, Maryland, where he 
 lived retired until called from this life about 
 1 866. His wife survived him a number of 
 years and died at the ripe old age of eighty- 
 two. 
 
 In the family of this worthy couple were 
 eleven children, of whom eight are still liv- 
 ing, namely: Mrs. Mary Ann Eakle, of 
 Bakerville, Maryland; Rev. Josiah L. ,• a 
 Lutheran minister, now located in Iowa; 
 William A., of this review; Mrs. W. L. 
 Palmer, whose sketch appears elsewhere in 
 this work; Isaiah, a farmer of Washington 
 county, Maryland; C. E., a baker of Ster- 
 ling, Illinois; Mrs. Susan Miller, of Wash- 
 ington county, Maryland, and Franklin P., 
 a lientist of Texarkana, Texas. 
 
 The education of our subject has been 
 acquired through reading, study and ob- 
 servation since reaching years of matur- 
 ity, as he had no school privileges during 
 his youth. He was nineteen years of age 
 when he accompanied the family on their 
 removal to Ogle county, and was of 
 great assistance to his father in opening 
 up and carrying on the home farm. In 
 1 86 1 he purchased the place and has made 
 the 'arm what it is to-day — one of the best 
 in I^eaf River township. It comprises two 
 hundred acres of valuable land, which is 
 well improved. Mr. Hammond has rebuilt 
 and remodeled the house, and the other 
 buildings are in harmony therewith. For 
 twenty-eight years he has successfully en- 
 
3?o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 gaged in the practice of veterinary surgery, 
 and has built up a good practice. In 1873 
 he removed to Rocl<ford, where for three 
 years he gave his entire time to the prac- 
 tice of his profession, but at the end of that 
 time he returned to his farm and has since 
 engaged in farming in connection with his 
 practice. 
 
 At Freeport, Illinois, March 14, 1861, 
 Mr. Hammond was united in marriage with 
 Miss Sarah Williard, a native of Dauphin 
 county, Pennsylvania, who came with her 
 father, Jacob Williard, to Ogle county in 
 1854, when a child of eleven years, and set- 
 tled in Leaf River township. Five children 
 were born of this union, as follows: Alcindia, 
 wife of Dr. Ira O. Paul, who is engaged in 
 the practice of medicine in Winnebago, Illi- 
 nois; William J., who is married and en- 
 gaged in farming in Mount Morris township. 
 Ogle county; Sarah V., wife of James B. 
 Shierk, a farmer living near Egan, this 
 county; Franklin, a painter, residing at 
 home; and Gertrude, wife of F. J. Marks, 
 a telegraph operator holding a position at 
 Rosalia, Washington. 
 
 Politically Mr. Hammond is a stanch 
 Democrat, but has never cared for political 
 preferment. His honorable, upright life 
 commends him to the confidence and es- 
 teem of all with whom he comes in contact, 
 and he has a large circle of friends and ac- 
 <]uaintances who fully appreciate his sterling 
 worth. 
 
 HON. ISAAC RICE, deceased, for three 
 score years was a resident of Ogle 
 county, and it is but just to say that few 
 men living here were better known or more 
 highly respected among those with whom 
 they associated. He was a native of Wash- 
 
 ington county, Maryland, the birthplace of 
 some of the best men and women that have 
 made their home in Ogle county. He was 
 born October 28, 1826, and was the son of 
 Jacob and Mary (Roland) Rice, both of 
 whom were natives of Washington county, 
 Maryland. The Rice family were originally 
 from Germany, the great grandparents of 
 our subject being natives of that country. 
 
 Jacob Rice was by occupation a farmer, 
 following that calling during his entire life. 
 In 1837, in company with his brother-in- 
 law, John Wagner, he came to Ogle coun- 
 ty. Leaving their old home in Maryland, 
 on horseback they passed through the 
 states of Ohio and Indiana, but did not 
 find any place to suit their fancy until they 
 arrived in Ogle county, July 4, 1837. 
 While making their tour of observation 
 they left their families in Ohio. As soon 
 as they determined on a location they sent 
 for their families, and in the meantime a 
 double log house was erected, into which 
 Mr. Rice moved with his family on their 
 arrival. It is said that during the following 
 winter about twenty persons found shelter 
 and a home in that log cabin. 
 
 To Jacob and Mary Rice eleven children 
 were born. Barbara married Samuel May- 
 silles, of Washington county, Maryland. 
 They never came west. She is now de- 
 ceased. David married Catherine Avey. 
 They came west, and he died in Ogle coun- 
 ty some years ago. Joshua is deceased. 
 John came to Ogle county and located in 
 Leaf River township. He married Eliza 
 Kendall, but is now deceased. Susan, 
 widow of Elias Thomas, is now living in 
 Mt. Morris township. Lydia married Ben- 
 jamin Hiestand, of Leaf River township, 
 but is now deceased. Elizabeth married 
 Ezra Thomas, of Mt. Morris township, and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 35t 
 
 is now deceased. Jacob and Mary were 
 twins. The former is deceased. The lat- 
 ter is the widow of Daniel Etnyre, of Ore- 
 gon, Illinois. Isaac was ne.xt in order of 
 birth. William died at the age of twenty- 
 one years. 
 
 On the 1st of December, 1S40, Mary 
 Roland Rice departed this life, leaving the 
 husband and eleven children to mourn her 
 loss. Later Jacob Rice married Miss 
 Catherine Funk, a native of Maryland. 
 "Aunt Kittie," as she is familiarly called 
 by all who know her, is yet living at the age 
 of one hundred and two years, and is yet in 
 excellent health and spirits, her lovely char- 
 acter making of her a friend to everyone. 
 Born during the first administration of John 
 Adams, Washington was yet alive, and she 
 has therefore lived while yet there was one 
 ex-president, and under the administration 
 of twenty-three presidents, surviving all save 
 three. She is a member of the Mennonite 
 church, clinging to the faith of her fathers, 
 and trusting in the redeeming grace of her 
 Savior. 
 
 On coming to Ogle county, Jacob Rice 
 purchased some twelve hundred acres of 
 land, all of which, with the assistance of his 
 sons, he soon had under improvement. He 
 was a man of marked character, an mde- 
 fatigable worker, a kind husband, an indul- 
 gent father, a good neighbor, and left the 
 world better for his having lived. He was 
 a member of the River Brethren, as was 
 also his first wife, the mother of his chil- 
 dren. He died on his farm in Mt. Morris 
 township, April 25, 1870. 
 
 Isaac Rice was eleven years old when he 
 accompanied his parents to Ogle county. 
 While yet residing in his native state, he 
 attended the common schools a few terms, 
 and the year following the arrival of the 
 
 family in Ogle county his father erected a 
 log school house on his place, and in the 
 first school taught therein he was a pupil. 
 On the opening of Rock River Seminary he 
 became a pupil in that institution. At the 
 age of eighteen years he taught his first term 
 of school in the school house erected by his 
 father. For that school he received eight- 
 een dollars per month. Desiring to enter 
 the medical profession, he went into the 
 office of Dr. Francis A. McNeil, of Mt. 
 Morris, reading under his instructions until 
 ready to enter a medical college. In the 
 winter of 1852-3 he entered Rush Medical 
 College from which he was graduated with 
 the class of 1855. 
 
 On receiving his diploma, Dr. Rice re- 
 turned to Mt. Morris, and with his late 
 preceptor began practice. He continued in 
 the profession but a few months, however, 
 when he rented some land and commenced 
 farming. In i860, he made his first pur- 
 chase of land, and until 1876 he engaged 
 exclusively in farming and stock raising. 
 He then moved to the village of Mt. Mor- 
 ris and one year later, with Major Charles 
 Newcomer, he established the Bank of Mt. 
 Morris. He never, however, abandoned his 
 interest in agriculture, but continued to give 
 more or less attention to his farms until his 
 death. He became an extensive land 
 owner and his farms were always kept in 
 good condition. 
 
 On the 14th of January, 1S57, Dr. Rice 
 was united in marriage with Miss Sarah 
 Hiestand, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth 
 (Newcomer) Hiestand. She is a native of 
 Washington county, Maryland, born Janu- 
 ary 27, 1836, and is third in a family of six 
 children, and was but one year old when 
 her parents came to this county. Three 
 children were born of this union. Roland, 
 
35^ 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 born February lo, 1858, died at the age of 
 seven months. Anna, born March 22, i860, 
 died when she was eighteen years old. Jo- 
 seph L. , born December 23, 1866, is men- 
 tioned elsewhere in this work. 
 
 In politics Dr. Rice was a thorough and 
 consistent Republican, voting the party 
 ticket and advocating its principles from the 
 very birth of the party. He was a great 
 admirer of our first martyred president, 
 Abraham Lincoln, and supported his candi- 
 dacy with enthusiasm. His admiration for 
 Lincoln increased after listening to the de- 
 bate between Lincoln and Douglas at Free- 
 port, Illinois. He took quite an active part 
 in local politics and for two terms repre- 
 sented his county in the lower house of the 
 general assembly of the state, and for four 
 years was a member of the state senate. 
 In both branches he took an active and lead- 
 ing part and was regarded as one of the 
 strong members. He was always a strong 
 temperance man, and while a member of 
 senate endeavored to have passed some 
 temperance legislation. He introduced the 
 first resolution for the submission of the 
 question to a vote of the people in regard to 
 the manufacturing of distilled spirits, and 
 also introduced what was known as the 
 "Hind's bill," which empowered women to 
 have a voice in licensing the sale of intoxi- 
 cating licjuors. While both measures were 
 defeated, they showed conclusively where 
 the Doctor stood on the temperance ques- 
 tion. 
 
 Religiously the Doctor was a Methodist, 
 being for many years a member of the 
 Methodist church at Mt. Morris. In all the 
 work of the church he took an active and 
 abiding interest. The Sunday school work 
 of the church called forth his best energies, 
 and for some years he was the efficient su- 
 
 perintendent of the school of his home 
 church. His talent as a Sunday school 
 worker was recognized by his election as 
 president of the County Sunday School As- 
 sociation. 
 
 Dr. Rice was a thorough business man, 
 and his abilities in that direction is unques- 
 tioned. Commencing life with very little 
 assistance from his father, he began adding 
 to his possessions until he was numbered 
 among the most prosperous men in the 
 county. His gains were all legitimately 
 made, and not by oppressing any one. He 
 was always lenient with creditors when they 
 were disposed to do right, and there are 
 many men in Ogle county who have reason 
 to be grateful to him for timely assistance 
 rendered and good advice given. He was 
 one of the original stockholders in the First 
 National Bank of Oregon, and for many 
 years owned the controlling interest, and for 
 twenty years was president of the same. He 
 retained connection with the Bank of Mount 
 Morris but about four years, when he sold 
 out to his partner and gave his attention to 
 the bank in Oregon and his extensive pri- 
 vate interests. In 1893 he established the 
 Citizens Bank of Mount Morris, to which he 
 gave only supervisory care, his son, Joseph 
 L. , attending principally to the business. 
 Always careful and methodical, it is no 
 wonder that success crowned his efforts. 
 Whether on the farm, in the bank, in the 
 church, or in whatever engaged, the same 
 attention was given to the minutest details 
 of the business in hand. During later 
 years he lived practically retired, traveling 
 much of the time, making numerous trips 
 abroad. In 1889, he went as far east as 
 Constantinople and in 1890, and again in 
 1892, visited England and the continent. 
 He later lectured considerably in northern 
 
THi: BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 353 
 
 Illinois on his travels and various other 
 subjects. 
 
 Dr. Rice was a thoroughly conscientious 
 man, one who endeavored to do right by 
 his fellow man, living up to the standard of 
 the golden rule. His death, which occurred 
 May 3, 1897, was not only a sad loss to his 
 family, but to the community in which he 
 had so long resided. He had been ill but a 
 few days and his death was unexpected. 
 The funeral sermon was preached by Rev. 
 A. S. Mason and his remains laid to rest to 
 wait the resurrection day. 
 
 JOSEPH L. RICE, president of the Cit- 
 izens Bank of Mt. Moris, Illinois, is a 
 good representative of the younger business 
 element of Ogle county. He is a native of 
 the county, born in the township of Mary- 
 land, December 23, 1866, and is the son 
 of Isaac and Sarah (Hiestand) Rice, pio- 
 neers of Ogle county, of whom mention 
 is made elsewhere in this volume. His 
 early life was spent upon the farm, and in 
 the district schools of his native township 
 he began his education. When ten years 
 of age he removed with his parents to the 
 village of Mt. Morris, and for a time at- 
 tended the public school of that place. 
 Later he entered Rock River Seminary, 
 and after pursuing a partial course, entered 
 the Nortwestern University, Evanston, Illi- 
 nois, with the intention of taking the com- 
 plete classical course. At the age of twen- 
 ty-one, however, he was compelled to 
 abatidon his studies on account of weak 
 eyes. For the succeeding four years he was 
 endeavoring to establish his impaired sight. 
 Believing that further rest and travel would 
 be beneficial, he went abroad in 1891, 
 spending several months, during which 
 
 time he visited the various cities and places 
 of interest in England, Ireland, Scotland, 
 Wales, Holland, Belgium, Germany and 
 France. While in England he visited the 
 noted Oxford University, which to him was 
 one of the most interesting sights witnessed. 
 He returned home by way of Liverpool and 
 New York, stopping for a few days in the 
 latter city. With this trip he was well 
 pleased, the only regret now being that it 
 was not more extended. 
 
 On the 19th of January, 1S93, the Cit- 
 izens Bank was established by Mr. Rice's 
 father with our subject virtually in charge, 
 his father giving but little attention to the 
 details of the business. On the death of 
 the father he took sole charge, latter be- 
 coming associated with his cousin, J. H. 
 Rice, who has assumed the position of 
 cashier, with our subject as president. The 
 bank is in good condition and in January, 
 1899, purchased the business and good will 
 of the Bank of Mt. Morris. With the ab- 
 sorption of the business of the latter bank, 
 it gives the Citizens Bank an increased line 
 of deposits and a clientage equal to any 
 bank in the county. With large capital, 
 good business methods, and the confidence 
 of the people, the bank starts on a new 
 career. Like his father, he is trusted by 
 the people, all having a good word to say 
 of "Joe" Rice, as he is familiarly called. 
 In addition to his interest in the Citizens 
 Bank, he is the largest stockholder in the 
 First National Bank of Oregon, and is vice- 
 president of the saine. 
 
 On the 23d of December, 1S95, Mr. 
 Rice was united in marriage with Miss Em- 
 ily Newcomer, a native of Ogle county, 
 ty, born May 31, 1871, and daughter of Al- 
 bert and Margaret (Hitt) Newcomer, both 
 of whom are natives of Illinois. 
 
354 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 In politics Mr. Rice is a thorough Repub- 
 lican and a stanch advocate of its princi- 
 ples. His business interests, however, have 
 been such as to preclude a very active par- 
 ticipation in the work of the party. 
 
 HIRAM WOODIN is one of the most en- 
 terprising and successful agriculturists 
 of Ogle county as well as one of its most 
 capable financiers, and is a prominent citi- 
 zen of Eagle Point township. His career 
 proves that the only true success in life is 
 that which is accomplished by personal 
 efforts and consecutive industry. It proves 
 that the road to success is open to all young 
 men who have the courage to tread its path- 
 way, and the life record of such a man 
 should serve as an inspiration to the young 
 of this and future generations and teach by 
 incontrovertible facts that success is am- 
 bition's answer. 
 
 Mr. Woodin was born July 3, 1837, on 
 the same farm in Hartford county, Connecti- 
 cut, where his father, Elias Woodin, was 
 also born. The latter married Miss Fanny 
 Spencer, a native of the same county and 
 a daughter of Naaman Spencer. They con- 
 tinued to make their home on the old 
 Woodin homestead in Connecticut for a 
 number of years, the father of our subject 
 being engaged in its operation until 1843, 
 when he brought his family to Ogle county, 
 Illinois, but after spending the winter in 
 Eagle Point, he removed, in 1844, to Car- 
 roll county, where he purchased a farm 
 with a few acres broken and a log house 
 erected thereon. The country was still very 
 new, deer and wolves were numerous, and 
 he assisted in killing a bear and capturing a 
 cub upon his own place. He transformed 
 his wild land into a well improved farm, the 
 
 primitive frontier buildings giving place to 
 a good residence and substantial outbuild- 
 ings. He died there in the spring of 1864, 
 but his wife long survived him, passing 
 away in April, 1897. Both were buried in 
 Union cemetery, Carroll county, where a 
 monument marks their last resting place. 
 Hiram is the fourth in order of birth in 
 their family of twelve children si.\ sons 
 and si.\ daughters, all of whom reached 
 years of maturity, and five sons and five 
 daughters are still living and are heads 
 of families. 
 
 Hiram Woodin was a lad of nine years 
 when he accompanied the family on their 
 removal to Illinois. He attended the com- 
 mon schools to a limited extent, but is 
 mostly self-educated. In the 50s he used 
 to haul grain to Freeport, and selling the 
 grain was paid in the paper money of those 
 days. After holding a few weeks until he 
 desired to spend it he would find it de- 
 preciated, often being worth no more than 
 fifty cents on a dollar. Such was the cir- 
 culating medium of those days. He re- 
 mained with his father until his marriage, 
 which was celebrated in Carroll county, 
 March 28, 1864, Miss Sarah Ann Jenkins, 
 becoming his wife. Her parents, Henry 
 and Lucinda (Spencer) Jenkins, were na- 
 tives of New York and Connecticut, respect- 
 ively and were pioneers of Carroll county, 
 Illinois, where Mrs. Woodin was reared and 
 educated. Our subject and his wife have 
 two children: Walter, who married Ardella 
 Hurless and occupies the old home farm; 
 and Fanny, wife of Frederick E. Becker, a 
 farmer and stock feeder, of Eagle Point 
 township. There is also one grandchild, 
 Archie Woodin. 
 
 For one year after his marriage, Mr. 
 Woodin continued to reside in Carroll coun- 
 
HIRAM WOODIN. 
 
MRS. HIRAM WOODIN. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 359 
 
 ty, but in 1865 he became a resident of 
 Eagle Point township, Ogle county, where 
 he first purchased ninety acres. As time has 
 passed and his financial resources have in- 
 creased, he has added to his landed posses- 
 sions from time to time until he now has 
 three adjoining farms, aggregating nine hun- 
 dred acres of valuable and productive land. 
 He is to-day the largest land holder in the 
 township and the success he has achieved 
 is due entirely to his own industry, perse- 
 verance and sound judgment. Before his 
 marriage he became interested in stock 
 raising and had built up a large and profita- 
 ble business in that line. He now feeds and 
 ships on an average of eight or ten car loads 
 of cattle annually and three or four car 
 loads of hogs. His first shipment of stock 
 was in 1865 and he arrived with the same 
 in Chicago on the day President Lnicoln was 
 shot. As there were no stock yards at that 
 time, he had to pile up ties to the car door 
 and drive the hogs down such a platform to 
 the street. This was accomplished with 
 great difficulty and he then found hard work 
 in disposing of his stock, as business was 
 practically suspended on the announcement 
 of the assassination. Mr. Woodin's son 
 has been a partner in the stock business for 
 the past twelve years and now has charge 
 of most of the shipping. 
 
 At each presidential election since 1S60 
 Mr. Woodin has supported the men and 
 measures of the Republican party, but has 
 never sought nor desired political honors. 
 Ever a friend to our public schools, he most 
 efficiently served as school director of his 
 district for some years and has given his 
 aid to every enterprise which he believed 
 would prove of public benefit. In business 
 affairs he is energetic, prompt and notably 
 reliable, and through his own well directed 
 
 efforts has worked his way upward to a po- 
 sition of affluence, so that he is now one of 
 the most substantial citizens of his com- 
 munity. 
 
 HON. OGDEN B. YOUNGS, who was a 
 leading and prominent citizen of Still- 
 man Valley, resided in Ogle county for over 
 sixty years, arriving here in October, 1S38. 
 The difference between the past and the 
 present can scarcely be realized, even by 
 those who were active participants in the 
 development of the county. The present 
 generation can have no conception of what 
 was required by the early settlers in trans- 
 forming the wilderness into a well settled 
 and highly cultivated county. 
 
 Mr. Youngs, who for over half a century 
 bore a most active and prominent part in 
 the work of development, was born in Cuy- 
 ahoga county, Ohio, June 14, 1S22, and 
 was a son of Thomas A. Youngs, whose 
 birth occurred in New Jersey, in 1790. 
 The grandfather, I5enjamin Youngs, was 
 also a native of New Jersey, and was a rep- 
 resentative of a family of English origin 
 which was early established in that state. 
 In 1807 or 1808, he removed to Canada, 
 where his children were reared. During the 
 war of 18 1 2, the father, Thomas A. Youngs, 
 decided he did not care to fight against his 
 native land, and as to the British authori- 
 ties in Canada were enlisting men for their 
 army, he with other young men made their 
 way to Detroit, where they were taken 
 prisoners, being suspected as spies by the 
 American army, but were soon released. 
 They made their way round the lakes to 
 Buffalo, New York, arriving in time for the 
 battle of I..undy's Lane. When General 
 Scott was wounded and brought to Buffalo, 
 
360 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Mr. Youngs assisted in carrying him to the 
 hospital. Being a carpenter and joiner by 
 trade, the father of our subject worked at 
 those occupations in Buffalo for some time 
 and later settled near Cleveland, Ohio, 
 where he was similarly employed. In part- 
 nership with a Mr. Scoville, he erected the 
 first sawmill in that region and engaged in 
 the manufacture of lumber. Later he lo- 
 cated on a farm three miles from Cleveland 
 but still carried on operations as a contrac- 
 tor and builder for many years. In 1838, 
 however, he brought his family to Illinois, 
 driving across the country with two teams, 
 drawing a wagon and carriage. They 
 crossed the Chicago river on a ferry, as no 
 bridges had then been built, and the city at 
 that time contained a population of three 
 thousand. Their destination was Ogle 
 county where other Ohio families had set- 
 tled, and on their arrival here the father 
 bought claims to several hundred acres in 
 Scott and Marion townships, entering the 
 land some years later. Their first home 
 was a log cabin to which he built an addi- 
 tion, also of logs, but it was afterward re- 
 placed by a good substantial frame residence, 
 while barns and other outbuildings were 
 also erected and a good farm developed 
 from the wild land. In 1818, near Cleve- 
 land, Ohio, Thomas A. Youngs married 
 Miss Lydia O'Brien, a native of Vermont, 
 who, when a young girl, removed with her 
 father, Benjamin O'Brien, to Ohio. The lat- 
 ter was a native of Ireland but when a child 
 came to America, and served as sergeant in 
 the war for independence. He often spoke 
 with justifiable pride of seeing General 
 Washington. Thomas A. Youngs served 
 as captain in the Ohio State Militia, and 
 after coming to Ogle county was justice of 
 the peace for several years, and filled other 
 
 positions of honor and trust in a most cred- 
 itable and acceptable manner. He de- 
 parted this life in May, 1871, at the ripe 
 old age of eighty-one years. 
 
 Ogden B. Young was the second in 
 order of birth in a family of eight children, 
 four sons and four daughters, who reached 
 years of maturity. George, the eldest, 
 married and settled on a farm adjoining 
 the old homestead, where he reared his 
 family and died December, 1897. Mary 
 and Ruth are still living on the old home- 
 stead. Sarah Jane is the widow of Rev. 
 Cleveland and resides in California, as does 
 also her sister, Lydia M. Thomas A. is a 
 retired farmer of Rockford, Illinois. Cap- 
 tain John F. enlisted in 1861 in the Fifth 
 Kansas Cavalry and served through the war. 
 Later he settled on a cattle ranch in Cali- 
 fornia but is now living in Arizona. 
 
 Mr. Youngs, whose name introduces 
 this sketch, was sixteen years old when the 
 family came to Ogle county. He had re- 
 ceived good school privileges in Ohio, and 
 also attended school here after the country 
 became more thickly settled and the school 
 more proficient. Being thus supplied with 
 a fair education he engaged in teaching, and 
 while visiting his father's family in Canada 
 during the winter of 1844-45 taught school. 
 After his return to Ogle county he had 
 charge of the home school for one winter. 
 He took a claim of one hundred and sixty 
 acres in Scott and Marion townships, en- 
 tered the land and developed a good farm. 
 He erected a frame house upon his place in 
 1853, hauling the siding and finishing lum- 
 ber for the same from Chicago. Here he 
 made his home for some years while en- 
 gaged in the arduous task of converting 
 the wild land into rich and highly cultivated 
 fields, but it was subsequently replaced by 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 361 
 
 a more commodious and modern residence. 
 Good barns and other outbuildings were 
 also erected, making it one of the well im- 
 proved farms of the locality. In the spring 
 of 1893, he laid aside business cares and 
 has since made his home in Stilhnan Valley, 
 enjoying a well earned rest. 
 
 In Ogle county, July 19, 1S53, Mr. 
 Youngs was united in marriage with Miss 
 Emma C. Norton, a native of New York, 
 who was educated in that state and success- 
 fully engaged in teaching there and later in 
 Illinois, having charge of the school in Mr. 
 Youngs' district for a time. She is a daugh- 
 ter of Gould G. Norton and a sister of O. 
 W. Norton, whose sketch appears elsewhere 
 in this work. The children born to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Youngs are as follows: Thomas G., 
 who is now in Alaska, leaving his wife and 
 two children in Spring Valley, Illinois; 
 Henry J., who owns and operates a farm in 
 Scott township. Ogle county; Mary, wife of 
 Arthur Norton, who lives on a cattle ranch 
 in Idaho; Bertha B. , wife of Harry R. 
 Smith, a farmer of Ogle county; Alice M., 
 who died at the age of nineteen years; and 
 two who died in infancy. 
 
 Originally Mr. Youngs was a Jackson 
 Democrat in politics, casting his first vote 
 for Franklin Pierce in 1852, since which 
 time he has never missed a presidential elec- 
 tion. He supported John C. Fremont in 
 1856, and was ever afterward an ardent Re- 
 publican. He most capably filled the office 
 of justice of the peace for a few terms, and 
 in 1868 was elected to the state legislature, 
 where he served with distinction on several 
 important committees, including those on 
 counties and agriculture. At intervals he 
 served as supervisor of his township for sev- 
 eral years, and has also been assessor, trus- 
 tee and a member of the school board. His 
 
 public and private life were alike above re- 
 proach, and he had the respect and esteem 
 of all who knew him, while as an honored 
 pioneer he certainly deserves prominent 
 mention in this volume. After a residence 
 here of more than three score years he was 
 called to his reward. His estimable wife is 
 one of the original members of the Stillman 
 Valley Congregational church, and like her 
 husband she has many friends throughout 
 this section of the state. 
 
 HON. JAMES A. COUNTRYMAN, one 
 of the regresentatives of the tenth sen- 
 atorial district in the house of representa- 
 tives of the state of Illinois, is one of the 
 best known and highly honored of the citi- 
 zens of Ogle county, of which he has been 
 a resident for forty-four years. He was 
 born in Herkimer county. New York, May 
 24, 1840, and was partly educated in the 
 district schools of his native state. He 
 came with his parents to Ogle county in 
 1S85, the family locating in the township of 
 Lynnville. After coming to the county he 
 became a student in Rock River Seminary, 
 at Mt. Morris, and attended that institution 
 of learning for several terms. 
 
 Daniel Countryman, the father of our 
 subject, was born in Starkville, Herkimer 
 county. New York, March 31, 1815, and 
 obtained his education in the primitive 
 schools of the early day. He was married 
 in his native county to Miss Sally Phillips, 
 also a native of New York, and who was 
 born in 18 iS. Si.K children were born 
 to them, four of whom are yet living — 
 James A., Calvin, Carrie E. and Jennie V. 
 Of these, the first named is the subject of 
 this sketch. Calvin is now in business in 
 the city of Rockford. Carrie E. married 
 
462 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Benjamin F. Allen, and they had a son and 
 daughter, Ada and Daniel. Jennie V. was 
 united in marriage with Wesley M. Lon- 
 genecker, of Rochelle, and one daughter 
 was born to them, Grace E. 
 
 Daniel Countryman was a stock farmer 
 by occupation, and in his life was quite 
 successful. His whole life was spent in the 
 discharge of duty. He was a member of 
 the Lutheran church, but for many years 
 he advocated with voice and pen church 
 union of all evangelical denominations, and 
 from his advocacy of this a very strong and 
 flourishing union missicn church, located at 
 Lindenwood, is doing much good in that 
 community. His generous spirit led him 
 into constant deeds of charity, and it was 
 fortunate for others that his ability and fru- 
 gality gave him ample means to assist 
 others. He lived in the enjoyment of the 
 love and almost adoration of his family, the 
 esteem of his friends, and with the respect 
 of all that he ever met. He died as he had 
 lived, with a benediction on his lips for all, 
 and he left a large circle of sorrowing friends 
 to mourn his loss. He died March 14, 
 1883, and his widow August 10,1893. She 
 was also well beloved by all who knew her, 
 a true Christian woman, a loving mother, 
 and steadfast friend and neighbor. The 
 family, which is of German origin settled 
 early in Herkimer county, New York, and 
 there the grandfather of our subject, John 
 I. Countryman, was born. 
 
 James A. Countryman was fifteen years 
 old when he came to Ogle county. He re- 
 mained at home assisting his father in farm 
 work until after he had attained his major- 
 ity. Farming has been his life work, and 
 that he has made a success of it is attested 
 by his well tilled fields and the excellent 
 stock upon his premises. He was married, 
 
 February 26, 1873, to Miss Carrie I^link- 
 hart, an adopted daughter of Moses Coun- 
 tryman and wife. This union has been 
 blessed with three sons and one daughter: 
 Floyd M., born July 12, 1874; F. Belle, 
 August 12, 1877; Ralph A., February 11, 
 1882; and Jay A., April 28, 1886. 
 
 Mr. Countryman owns the greater part 
 of the original family homestead, on sec- 
 tions 20 and 21, consisting of eight hundred 
 and eighty acres, which is under a fine 
 state of cultivation. He is a general stock 
 farmer, his specialties being thoroughbred 
 shorthorn cattle, of which he annually fat- 
 tens and prepares for the market a very 
 large number of head, for which he secures 
 the highest market price. He is also a 
 breeder of the world-wide and justly cele- 
 brated Poland China hogs. His reputation 
 in this line is very extensive, having made 
 four shipments of the same to Germany. 
 He has been for many years a breeder and 
 exhibitor of pure bred stock, and has taken 
 many first and sweepstake prizes at the 
 American Fat Stock Show and leading fairs 
 of the country. It is but natural that he 
 should take great interest in this branch of 
 his business. 
 
 Since first exercising the right of fran- 
 chise Mr. Countryman has taken an active 
 interest in political affairs, and has exer- 
 cised a good influence in the party councils 
 of his party, which, it is needless to say, is 
 that of the Republican party. He has 
 been repeatedly elected and filled responsi- 
 ble positions in his township, and the duties 
 of every office held he has discharged in a 
 faithful manner. He was first elected su- 
 pervisor of the township of Lynnville in 
 1S75 and re-elected in 1876, and again in 
 1883-4-5-6, then again in 1890, since 
 which time he has served continuously in 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 363 
 
 the office to the entire satisfaction of his 
 constituents, a period of fifteen years. For 
 two years he was chairman of the board. 
 In the fall of 1898 he was elected one of 
 the representatives of the tenth senatorial 
 district to the Forty-first general assembly 
 of the state of Illinois, and took his seat in 
 that distinguished body January 4, 1899. 
 He is now chairman of the committee on 
 state institutions, and is a member of the 
 following named committees: Agriculture, 
 appropriations, county and township organ- 
 izations, farm drainage, horticulture, roads 
 and bridges, and state and municipal in- 
 debtedness. In the legislation of the house 
 he has taken an active part, and has made 
 an influential member, one whose presence 
 is felt. The life of such a man is well 
 worthy of record, and is certainly an in- 
 centive to the young to do well his part, 
 that in time they, too, may receive due 
 honor. 
 
 AUGUST KANEY.— Among the enter- 
 prising citizens of Forreston township, 
 there is none more energetic or thorough- 
 going than the gentleman whose name heads 
 this sketch. His home is on section 18, 
 where he owns a valuable and well improved 
 farm of one hundred and eighty acres, four 
 miles from the village of Forreston, and is 
 successfully engaged in both general farm- 
 ing and stock raising. 
 
 Mr. Kaney was born in Maryland town- 
 ship, July 12, 1856, and is a son of Henry 
 Kaney, who was born in Lude, Prussia, 
 March 9, 1817. The father of Henry died 
 when his son war of tender age. In the 
 common schools of his country he obtained 
 his education, attending the sanje until he 
 was fourteen years old. He then learned 
 
 the blacksmith trade, and had but completed 
 his term of service when he was forced to 
 serve in the Prussian army for three years. 
 Receiving an honorable discharge from the 
 army, he again took up his trade, at which 
 he continued to work in his native country 
 for some years, when he decided on coming 
 to the United States. In May, 1845, after 
 a SIX weeks' voyage, he landed at Baltimore, 
 Maryland, from which place, some time 
 during the year, he made his way to Shep- 
 ardstown, Virginia, where he again worked 
 at his trade, often carrying the iron that he 
 used from Harper's Ferry on his back. 
 While yet residing in Shepardstown, he 
 was united in marriage, August 29, 1845, 
 with Miss Elizabeth Fosh, who was born in 
 Saben Hansen, Germany, May 17, 1817. 
 The following year they started west in a 
 one-horse wagon, driving to Dayton, Ohio. 
 Thence they proceeded down the Ohio 
 river on a flat boat to Cairo, and by steamer 
 up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers to 
 Peru, and from there drove across the 
 country to Ogle county, joining some Ger- 
 man friends in Maryland township. Leav- 
 ing his family there Mr. Kaney worked in a 
 plow shop at Grand Detour, and a year or 
 two later bought a tract of eighty acres in 
 Maryland township, on which he built a 
 shop of his own and engaged in blacksmith- 
 ing in connection with the development and 
 cultivation of his farm, but finally gave his 
 entire time to agriculture. In 1861 he 
 bought the farm on which our subject now 
 resides — a place of one hundred and sixty 
 acres, then but slightly improved. He con- 
 verted the tract into a nice farm, and sub- 
 sequently bought one hundred and sixty 
 acres across the road, and still later a tract 
 of similar size in the same township. He 
 came to this state empty-handed, and it 
 
364 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 has been through his own industry, enter- 
 prise, perseverance and economy that he is 
 now one of the most substantial, as well as 
 one of the honored and highly respected 
 citizens of Forreston township. He and 
 his wife celebrated their golden wedding 
 August 29, 1895, at which time their 
 children, grandchildren, and great-grand- 
 children gathered at their home to rejoice 
 with them. Since then he has been called 
 upon to mourn the loss of his estimable 
 wife, who passed away October 10, 1H97. 
 To them were born four sons and two 
 daughters, all of whom married and became 
 heads of families: Henry is now deceased; 
 John is a merchant and business man of 
 Forreston; Lewis is a farmer of Forreston 
 town.ship; August is the subject of this 
 sketch; Elizabeth is the wife of August 
 Kilker, a farmer of Maryland township; and 
 Anna M. is the wife of William M. Richter, 
 a merchant of Forreston. 
 
 August Kaney was educated in the dis- 
 trict schools near his boyhood home, and as 
 soon as he was large enough to be of any 
 assistance he commenced to aid in the farm 
 work, first driving a team used in breaking 
 prairie. His early life was passed under 
 the parental roof, and after arriving at 
 man's estate continued to assist in the 
 operation of the home farm. In Mt. 
 Morris township, he was married March 6, 
 1879, to Miss Elizabeth Zumdahl, who was 
 born and reared on a farm in Lincoln town- 
 ship. Ogle county, a daughter of Christian 
 Zumdahl. They began their domestic life 
 on the old homestead, and since taking 
 charge of the same Mr. Kaney has built a 
 large neat barn, good granary and out- 
 buildings, and now has one of the best im- 
 proved places of the locality. He is en- 
 gaged in breeding and raising a good grade 
 
 of Durham and short horn cattle and Poland 
 China hogs, and in this branch of his busi- 
 ness has also met with success. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Kaney have four children: 
 August J., Irvin E., Elizabeth D. and Ar- 
 thur E. all attending the home school, antl 
 have lost three: Edward, who died at the 
 age of four years; and Ezra and Sylvia, who 
 both died at the age of two. The parents 
 are active and prominent members of the 
 Evangelical church at North Grove, both 
 have been teachers in the Sabbath school, 
 while Mr. Kaney has served as its superin- 
 tendent three years and is one of the 
 officers of the church. Formerly he was 
 identified with the Democratic party and 
 voted for Grover Cleveland, but is now a Re- 
 publican. He is a stockholder and direct- 
 or of the Forreston Mutual Fire Insurance 
 Company and gives his support to all en- 
 terprises which he believes calculated to 
 advance the moral, intellectual or material 
 welfare of his township and county. 
 
 AMERICUSL. MENDENHALL, M. 1)., 
 who is engaged in the practice of his 
 profession at Kings, Ogle county, Illinois, 
 was born in Winchester, Ohio, May 21, 
 1846, and is a son of Dr. Elijah and Mary 
 Arigeline (Graves) Mendenhall, the former 
 who was a son of John Mendenhall, being a 
 native of Preble county, Ohio, born January 
 29, 1816. He was reared and educated in 
 Ohio, and was a graduate of the Ohio 
 Medical College, of Cincinnati. He began 
 practice at Somerville, Ohio, and there re- 
 mained five years, moving from that place 
 to Winchester, in the same state, and later 
 to Cincinnati, where he remained in active 
 practice until 1872, when he moved to In- 
 dianapolis, Indiana, which was his home 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL KECOKI). 
 
 365 
 
 until his death, November 3, 1897. His 
 wife died two days later, and the two were 
 buried in one coffin, their remains being 
 interred in Oakwood cemetery, Indian- 
 apolis He was recognized as one of the 
 ablest physicians in that city, and one of the 
 best diagnosticians in the profession. A 
 Republican in politics, he gave but little 
 time to political matters, his professional 
 duties requiring his entire time. In his 
 family were four sons: Alonzo, born August 
 6, 1843, is a practicing physician of Cicero, 
 Indiana. Rev. James W., born November 
 8, 1S44, was a clergyman in the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and for the four years 
 preceding his death, which occurred June 
 18, 1892, was editor of the Methodist Re- 
 view, a position to which he was appointed 
 by the general conference. He had just 
 begun his second term of four years when 
 removed by death. Americus L. , our sub- 
 ject, was next in order of birth. Dr. Win- 
 field S. , born February lo, 1848, died Janu- 
 ary 25, 1899. f^6 was for many years a 
 practicing physician of Springfield, Illinois. 
 He was a graduate of Miami Medical Col- 
 lege, Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in Cincinnati, Ohio. From 
 i860 to 1864 he was a student in the Wes- 
 leyan University, Delaware, Ohio. On the 
 I 2th of February, of the latter year, he left 
 school and enlisted in Company F, One 
 Hundred and Eighty-third regiment, Ohio 
 Volunteer Infantry, under command of 
 Colonel Hoge, his company being com- 
 manded by Captain Thornton. The regi- 
 ment was attached to the third brigade, 
 second division, twenty-fifth army corps, of 
 the Army of the Cumberland. With his 
 regiment he took part in the engagements 
 at Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee, and 
 
 Wilmington, North Carolina, and also in 
 several minor engagements. He enlisted 
 for one year, but served until the close of 
 the war, being mustered out of the service 
 at Camp Denison, Ohio, May 29, 1865. 
 
 On returning home our subject entered 
 the Richmond Commercial College, at 
 Richmond, Indiana, from which he was 
 graduated in 1866. He then took a posi- 
 tion as bookeeper with the wholesale house 
 of John Shilito, of Cincinnati, one of the 
 largest establishments of its kind in the 
 west. He remained with that house one 
 year, but was not able to endure the con- 
 finement, and so resigned his position and 
 entered the Miami Medical College, of Cin- 
 cinnati, from which he graduated March 2, 
 1869, in the same class with his brother 
 Winfield. Receiving his diploma, he com- 
 menced the practice of his profession at 
 Granville, Indiana, in the fall of 1S69, and 
 there remained three years. In 1872 he 
 came to Illinois, locating at Kappa, Wood- 
 ford county, where he built up an excellent 
 practice, and there remained until 1890, 
 when, on account of failing health of his 
 wife, he removed to Smithfield, Nebraska. 
 He remained in that place until the fall of 
 1893 when he removed to Kings, which has 
 since been his home, and where he has also 
 built up a good general practice. 
 
 Dr. Mendenhall was married at Muncie, 
 Indiana, November 30, 1870, to Miss Louiss 
 Smith, a native of that city, and daughter 
 of William M. and Phoebe Smith, both of 
 whom were natives of Ohio. She died 
 October 12, 1891, leaving four sons: Wil- 
 bur, of DesMoines, Iowa; Roscoe, a student 
 of the law school of DesMoines, Iowa; 
 Adelbert, a medical student of the Des- 
 Moines Medical College; and Walter, a 
 student of the hijjh school of DesMoines. 
 
366 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 The Doctor was again married, June 27. 
 1895, to Miss Alice Green, of San Diego, 
 California, and daughter of Miner P. Green. 
 She was born in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, 
 but her father was a native of New York. 
 
 Dr. Mendenhall is a member of the Illi- 
 nois State Medical Society, and is also a 
 member and one of the founders of the 
 North Central Illinois Medical Association, 
 of which he was for some years president. 
 During his residence at Kappa, he was a 
 member of the Woodford County Medical 
 Association. A student of his profession, 
 he has been an occasional contributor to 
 various medical journals. Fraternally he 
 is a Mason, and has attained the Chapter 
 degree. He is also a member of the Modern 
 Woodmen of America, of which he has 
 served as physician. In politics he is a Re- 
 publican, but he does not give much of his 
 time to political affairs, the practice of his 
 profession being more to his taste. In the 
 comparatively short time that he has been 
 a resident of Ogle county he has made many 
 friends, and has the confidence not only of 
 the community where he resides, but of the 
 medical profession of the county. 
 
 HENRY SHARER, now living a retired 
 life in Mt. Morris, is one among the 
 living pioneers of Ogle county, who has 
 witnessed its growth and development from 
 a wilderness to one of the best counties in 
 the great state of Illinois. He has not only 
 been a witness of the same, but was act- 
 ively engaged in the great work of transfor- 
 mation, giving many of the best years of his 
 life to the work. His first visit to the state 
 was when he was a youth of seventeen 
 years. At that time he traversed a goodly 
 portion of the state, but did not locate. 
 
 Like many others of the best citizens of 
 Ogle county, Mr. Sharer is a native of 
 Washington county, Maryland, born March 
 29, 1 817. He is the son of John and Anna 
 (Newcomer) Sharer, the former a native of 
 Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and the 
 latter of Washington county, Maryland. 
 They were the parents of three children. 
 Jacob, born in 1807, married and had two 
 children. He came to Ogle county at an 
 early day and died at the age of fifty-six 
 years. Eliza, born in 1809, married Na- 
 thaniel Swingley, and to them were born 
 eight children. They were also among the 
 pioneers of Ogle county. Both are now de- 
 ceased, Eliza dying when about sixty-eight 
 years old. The third child was the subject 
 of this sketch. The mother died in her 
 native county when fifty-six years old. In 
 1855, after the death of his wife, the father 
 came to Ogle county where his last days 
 were spent, dying at the residence of our 
 subject at the age of seventy-seven years. 
 While residing in Maryland he engaged in 
 milling and farming, but after coming to 
 Ogle county he lived a retired life. John 
 Sharer was the son of Jacob Sharer, a native 
 of Germany, who emigrated to America 
 when in his prime, locating in Lancaster 
 county. Eliza (Newcomer) Sharer's ances- 
 tors were from Switzerland, the first of the 
 name emigrating here at an early day. 
 
 In his native state Henry Sharer grew to 
 manhood. After receiving his primary edu- 
 cation in the common schools of his day, at 
 the age of fifteen he entered St. Mary's Col- 
 lege, which was located just north of F"red- 
 erick City, Maryland, where he remained 
 three years. The college at that time was 
 under the management of Bishop Purcell, 
 the noted Catholic divine, one of the best 
 posted and most popular men in the Catho- 
 
HENRY SHARER. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 369 
 
 lie church. Leaving St. Mary's College, he 
 went to Jefferson College, located near Can- 
 onsburg, Pennsylvania, an institution under 
 control of the Presbyterian church and pre- 
 sided over by President Brown. 
 
 After remaining in Jefferson College one 
 year Mr. Sharer returned home at the age 
 of nineteen years, and was variously em- 
 ployed until his removal to Ogle county in 
 1839. On the 8th of September, that year, 
 he left his old home to seek his fortune in 
 the new and growing west. In company 
 with Jacob Rice and his sister, Mrs. Eliza 
 Swingley, who had been in the west but had 
 returned, they started for Illinois in a doub- 
 le-seated carryall. They passed through 
 the states of Virginia, Ohio and Indiana, ar- 
 riving in Ogle county in October, being 
 about four weeks on the road. At the time 
 of their arrival the country was very sparse- 
 ly settled and very little of the virgin soil 
 had been upturned by the plow. The 
 previous year our subject's father came to 
 the county on a visit and had entered a half 
 section of land which was occupied by our 
 subject, and which he purchased in his own 
 name, when the land came into market at 
 the regular price of one dollar and twenty- 
 five cents per acre. 
 
 On taking possession of the land entered 
 by his father, Mr. Sharer at once com- 
 menced its improvement. About twenty 
 acres had been broken, a portion of which 
 was enclosed by a sod fence. Erecting a 
 log cabin about fifteen feet square, he lived 
 in that while making improvements on the 
 place. That cabin was replaced a few years 
 later by a house of hewed logs. 
 
 In 1S42, in company with Elias Snively, 
 Mr. Sharer purchased an isolated grove in 
 the eastern part of the county, in what is 
 now Creston township, to which he re- 
 
 moved. A log cabin had been erected on 
 the place which for some years was used as 
 a tavern. At the time he moved to his new 
 location, his nearest neighbor was seven and 
 a half miles away, but his cabin being on 
 the main thoroughfare, and no house on the 
 route nearer than twelve miles, it became 
 almost a necessity that it should be thrown 
 open for the accommodation of the travel- 
 ing public and seekers of a new home. The 
 house was on the stage line between Galena 
 and Chicago. In its construction not a nail 
 had been used; the roof, which was made of 
 clapboards, being held in place by means of 
 long poles weighted at each end. While 
 living in this grove, which was called Bro- 
 dies' grove, in honor of a former owner, he 
 had several peculiar experiences. Brodie 
 was a brother-in-law of the notorious Dris- 
 coll, and was probably not one whit better, 
 having the reputation of being a notorious 
 horse thief, and having to flee the country 
 to escape a like fate that befell the Dris- 
 colls. It was at Mr. Sharer's tavern that 
 the Driscolls, father and son, ate their last 
 dinner, being captured, taken to Oregon, 
 and shot the next morning at Washington 
 Grove. 
 
 For some years the nearest market was 
 Chicago, and to that village, as it then, was 
 Mr. Sharer hauled his grain, and for his 
 first frame house hauled the limiber from 
 that place. At the time he settled in Ogle 
 county there were but ten or twelve houses 
 in Oregon, and Grand Detour and Oregon 
 were the only two villages in the county. 
 The change that has since been made is 
 truly wonderful. 
 
 On the Cth of November, 1845, Mr. 
 Sharer was united in marriage with Miss 
 Cornelia Motter, a native of Washington 
 county, Maryland, born September 21, 1823. 
 
370 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 She was the daughter of Jacob Motter, also 
 a native of the same county and state. By 
 this union five children were born: Morton 
 N., born August i6, 1846, died October 10, 
 1S46. John Jacob, born November 28, 
 1847, is married and has three children. 
 He is living in Mexico. Anna E. , born 
 September 10, 1849, married John Swing- 
 ley, and to them three children were born. 
 They are living in Mt. Morris township, 
 where he is engaged in farming. Luella M., 
 born August 11, 1851, married Wentworth 
 Wheeler, and they reside in Kansas City, 
 Missouri, where he is engaged in the mer- 
 cantile business. They have one child, 
 Anna M. Cornelia M., born September 19, 
 1853, died in infancy. Three days after 
 the birth of the last named Mrs. Sharer 
 gave up her life, her death being mourned 
 by a large circle of friends and relatives. 
 
 On the 26th of January, 1858, Mr. 
 Sharer married Mrs. Sarah A. (Felker) 
 Hewitt, widow of Theodore Hewitt. She 
 was born in Washington county, Maryland, 
 August II, 1832, and is the daughter of 
 Abraham and Catherine (Wingert) Felker, 
 both being of German descent. They came 
 to Ogle county in 1855. By this last union 
 one child was born, Charles H., a graduate 
 of Northwestern University, who married 
 Miss Susannah McCosh, a native of Penn- 
 sylvania. They have fourchildren, — Charles 
 Wentworth, David Max, Sarah Elizabeth 
 and Ruth. He is engaged in the grocery 
 business in Mt. Morris. 
 
 In politics Mr. Sharer is a Democrat, 
 the principles of which party he has advo- 
 cated his entire life. While living in a Re- 
 publican community, he has yet been hon- 
 ored by his fellow-citizens with a number of 
 local office. He was a member of the 
 town board eight years, was school director 
 
 for five or six years and was postmaster of 
 Mt. Morris for four years under Cleveland. 
 Fraternally, he is a Mason, holding mem- 
 bership with Mt. Morris Lodge, No. 96, A. 
 F. & A. M. His wife, who was a member 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church, died 
 June 6, 1892. Well known and highly es- 
 teemed, everybody has a good word for 
 Henry Sharer, the pioneer. 
 
 ELDER ISAAC TRUMP, a well known 
 minister of the German Baptist church, 
 known as the Brethren in Christ, now in 
 charge of the Chicago district of that body, 
 has been a resident of Ogle county a period 
 of thirty-six years. He was born near Can- 
 ton, Stark county, Ohio, May i, 1830. His 
 father, George J. Trump, was a native of 
 Ohio, born in 1807, and was the son of 
 John Trump, a native of Pennsylvania, but 
 of English parentage. In a very early day 
 John Trump moved to Ohio, and located in 
 Stark county, being among its very earliest 
 settlers. He located in the dense forest, 
 erected his cabin and commenced clearing 
 off the timber in order to cultivate the soil. 
 At that time Indians were still very numer- 
 ous in the vicinity. 
 
 On the old homestead of his father, 
 (jeorge J. Trump grew to manhood, receiv- 
 ing a limited education in the pioneer schools. 
 In Stark county, Ohio, he married Miss 
 Rachel Weaver, a native of Ohio, and daugh- 
 ter of Valentine Weaver, who moved from 
 Hagerstown, Maryland, to Ohio in an early 
 day. By this union there were three sons 
 and three daughters: Isaac, the subject of 
 this sketch; William, a farmer of Stark 
 county, Ohio; Mrs. Sarah Gibbs, a widow, 
 residing in Ohio; Lydia, wife of Daniel 
 Smith, of Stark county, Ohio; and Levina, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 371 
 
 wife of Jofin Barnett, of the same county 
 and state. 
 
 George J. Trump was a farmer and man- 
 ufacturer of lumber, liaving on Iiis farm a 
 saw mill, from which he supplied much of 
 the lumber that was used in the city of 
 Canton in the early days. From that same 
 mill he furnished considerable lumber to the 
 Pennsylvania Central railroad when it was 
 being constructed. He was an active, en- 
 terprising and successful business man, and 
 was well known throughout northern Ohio. 
 His entire life was spent in his native coun- 
 ty, where his death occurred February 5, 
 I 88 1. His wife survived him some years, 
 passing away in January, i8g6. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in his native county and in 
 the home of his parents, with whom he re- 
 mained until after he attained his majority. 
 His educational advantages were quite mea- 
 ger, but he received a good business train- 
 ing in his father's lumber office and in the 
 mill. Referring to his early life and expe- 
 rience. Elder Trump thus writes. 
 
 "In 1838, father purchased the Rohrer 
 farm, two miles east of Canton, and on the 
 place was a sawmill on the stream called 
 Hunishiling, with power to run the mill du- 
 ring the year. At that place I spent many 
 happy days, the cares of life being but few. 
 I worked on the farm during the summer, 
 and during the winter was obliged to ride 
 the horses over the grain in the old log barn 
 or stable. This or the flail, was the only 
 way we had to thresh our grain. When 
 this was done and there was nothing else to 
 do I had the blessed privilege of going 
 through the dense forest to a little log shan- 
 ty, called a school house, with a few win- 
 dows, slabs for benches, wooden pins in the 
 logs with boards laid on them for promoted 
 
 scholars to scribble on, and teachers that 
 would rank in the third or fourth degree. 
 The first morning of their appearance was a 
 scare to the children, as they came with a 
 handful of gads. This was called the gad 
 system. Then the result, if the mind did 
 not work, as they called it, they would mark 
 the back. Thus it would continue for two 
 or three months. 
 
 "In i(S45, I was obliged to leave the 
 farm and help in the mill, and there spent 
 many a long day, and often until twoo'clock 
 at night, when father would take charge 
 until six o'clock in the morning, when it 
 was my turn again. It was as natural for 
 me when in a dangerous place to call on the 
 Lord to help as to eat when I was hungry. 
 This was about the experience of all on this 
 line. At said time a brother, named George, 
 four years old, was drowned near the mill, 
 on a beautiful Sunday evening. Oh, how 
 sad! We did not miss him until the evening 
 meal, when every seat at the table was oc- 
 cupied but the ' ' high-backed chair. " Today, 
 when I see an empty chair, I think of that 
 solemn event. In 1844, my parents sent 
 me to the German Reformed church to cat- 
 echise, as they called it. After going once 
 a week for five or six weeks, I was sprinkled, 
 or baptized as they called it. By thus do- 
 ing I was received into the church, but am 
 sorry to say had no salvation until I re- 
 pented and was truly and hopefully con- 
 verted to God. I was then baptized by 
 immersion. This is salvation, and when 
 thus saved we know it." 
 
 Elder Trump was married in Stark 
 county, Ohio, March 27, 1854, to Miss 
 Elizabeth Bowers, a native of Blair county, 
 Pennsylvania, by which union there were 
 four children: Jeremiah W., a farmer of 
 Buffalo township; Henry, a minister of the 
 
372 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 German Baptist, or Brethren, church, re- 
 siding in Buffalo township; Isaac B., who 
 resides near Jackson, Tennessee, and Irvine, 
 who carries on the old home farm in Pine 
 Creek township. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Trump purchased 
 a forty-acre tract of land in the timber, on 
 which was a log cabin and a steam saw- 
 mill. He at once commenced clearing the 
 land, and the same season erected a good 
 residence, at the same time operating the 
 sawmill. For the next eight years he did 
 the work of two men at the mill, while still 
 carrying on his farm. He then sold the 
 land, but retained the mill, purchasing an- 
 other farm in the vicinity, which he culti- 
 vated some two or three years, in connection 
 with his milling business. He then sold the 
 mill, but retained the farm six years longer, 
 engaging exclusively in agricultural pursuits. 
 
 In 1863 Mr. Trump sold his farm in Ohio 
 and came to Illinois, arriving in Dixon April 
 7 of that year. He did not remain there, 
 however, but purchased a farm in Pine 
 Creek township. Ogle county, known as the 
 Brubaker farm, where he actively engaged 
 in farming for twenty years. He then 
 moved to Polo, where he purchased ten 
 acres of land and built the residence where 
 he now resides. While yet residing on the 
 farm, his wife died March 13, 1876, and 
 was laid to rest in the cemetery at Polo. 
 She was a noble woman, well beloved by 
 all who knew her, a member of the German 
 Baptist, known as Brethren in Christ, 
 church, and died in the assurance of faith. 
 The Elder, in speaking of this wife, said: 
 "In the fall of 1855 she was truly and 
 hopefully converted to God, which was an 
 event in the history of my life that I shall 
 never forget. It was the loudest call that 
 ever came to me. I do not think anything 
 
 less could have moved me to think how 
 poor and needy I was, with all my church- 
 isms. Her Christian life was a constant 
 sermon to me. What a blessing it would 
 be if every home had Christian parents. It 
 would truly be heaven on earth begun." 
 
 Some three years after the death of his 
 first wife, in Albany, Whiteside county, 
 Illinois, December 22, 1879, Mr. Trump 
 was united in marriage with Mrs. Mary 
 Winger, a widow, and daughter of Abraham 
 Zook, an early settler of Whiteside county, 
 where, a child of eleven years, Mrs. Trump 
 was taken, and where she grew to woman- 
 hood, receiving her education in the public 
 schools. She there married John G. Win- 
 ger, a native of Pennsylvania and a carpen- 
 ter by trade. After their marriage they 
 located at Shannon, Illinois, where his 
 death occurred October 16, 1870. By her 
 marriage with Mr. Trump she is the mother 
 of one son, Clayton E., who is yet residing 
 at home. 
 
 Elder Trump was converted when about 
 thirty years old, uniting with the German 
 Baptist church, having faith in the apostolic 
 teachings of that body. He soon after be- 
 came an active worker in the church, and 
 was ordained a deacon, serving in that 
 office seven or eight years. He was then 
 elected to the ministry, second degree, and 
 served in that capacity about ten years, 
 being then promoted to the eldership, or 
 bishopric, which is the third degree. While 
 still actively engaged on his farm, he trav- 
 eled much in the interest of the church, 
 devoting about one-half his time to minis- 
 terial labors. Since removing to Polo he 
 has devoted the whole of his time to the 
 work of the church, proclaiming the un- 
 searchable riches of Christ, and teaching 
 the simplicity of His gospel. He is one of 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 373 
 
 the best known among the Brethren, hav- 
 ing visited churches in Illinois, Indiana, 
 Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Penn- 
 sylvania, Michigan and Canada. His friends 
 are many wherever known, and his highest 
 aim is to do his Master's will faithfully and 
 well. 
 
 GEORGE H. SHARLAND. — Honored 
 and respected by all, there is no man 
 in Ogle county who occupies a more envia- 
 ble position in bus ness circles than Mr. 
 Sharland, the well-known dealer in granite 
 and marble monuments at Rochelle, not 
 alone on account of the brilliant success he 
 has achieved, but also on account of the 
 honorable, straightforward business policy 
 he has ever followed. He possesses untiring 
 energy, is quick of perception, forms his 
 plans readily and is determined in their exe- 
 cution; and his close application to business 
 and excellent management have brought to 
 him the high degree of prosperity which is 
 to-day his. 
 
 Mr. Sharland was born June 14, 1854, 
 in Torquay, Devonshire, England, a son of 
 George and Sarah (Shapley) Sharland. He 
 is the oldest of their three children, the 
 others being Ellen, wife of Emil Hemmer, 
 of Chicago; and Charles, who is engaged in 
 the nickle-plating business in Denver, Colo- 
 rado. The father died in 1866 and the 
 mother subsequently married R. E. Edg- 
 combe, who died in Denver, where she now 
 makes her home. Our subject's paternal 
 grandfather, John Sharland, was also en- 
 gaged in the marble and granite business 
 in Torquay, England, for fity-four years, 
 and was then succeeded by our subject's 
 father, who continued operations there until 
 his death in 1866. The business was car- 
 
 ried on by the family for the following two 
 years, and after the mother's second mar- 
 riage, her husband had charge of the same 
 for one year. In 1870 the family emigrated 
 to America and located in Brantford, On- 
 tario, Canada. 
 
 During his boyhood George H. Sharland 
 commenced learning marble cutting with 
 his father and in 1871 went to Chicago, 
 where he completed his apprenticeship. As 
 business was dull along his line during the 
 panic of 1873, he left the city and went to 
 Sycamore, Illinois, where he worked at 
 his trade with N. Latten for two years, 
 at the end of which time he came 
 to Rochelle. On the loth of March, 
 1875, in company with his stepfather, he 
 established his present business. The part- 
 nership only existed a little over a year 
 and since then Mr. Sharland had been 
 alone in business. From a humble begin- 
 ning the business has increased until it is 
 now the largest of the kind in northern Illi- 
 nois outside of Chicago, and he has probably 
 erected more fine and costly monuments than 
 any one in the business outside of the large 
 cities of the state. He understands thor- 
 onghly every detail of the business, is a 
 practical mechanic himself, and much of 
 his success is due to his careful methods of 
 filling orders. His trade is not merely local, 
 but he has received orders from distant 
 points as far west as Nebraska and Los An- 
 geles, California, and his present business 
 amounts to about thirteen thousand dollars 
 annually. The monuments manufactured 
 by him compare favorably in superior work- 
 manship and artistic skill with those pro- 
 duced by any establishment of the kind in 
 the west. All the work in his shop is done 
 under his personal supervision, and his 
 productions prove him to be not only a 
 
374 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 skilled mechanic but an artist and sculptor 
 of undoubted talent. Having business re- 
 lations with the largest and leading quar- 
 ries of United States and Europe, he has 
 facilities for securing the best materials at 
 a minimum price and these advantages he 
 shares with his patrons. 
 
 On the 24th of November, 1877, Mr. 
 Sharland was united in marriage with Mrs. 
 Mary (Burton) Stringfellow, widow of Clark 
 Stringfellow. The was born in Pittsburg, 
 Pennsylvania, and by her former marriage 
 had three children, one of whom, Dollie, 
 died in childhood. She others made their 
 home with our subject until their marriage. 
 They are Nettie, now the wifa of Horace E. 
 Carr, who is engaged in the job printing 
 business in Cleveland, Ohio; and James P., 
 superintendent of the Union Central Tele- 
 phone Company, of Fremont, Ohio. Two 
 children were born to our subject and his 
 wife, but both died in infancy. Politically 
 Mr. Sharland has always been a supporter 
 of the Democratic party, but aside from 
 voting takes no active part in political af- 
 fairs, preferring to give his entire time and 
 attention to his business interests. 
 
 CHARLES B. NOBLE, now living a re- 
 tired life on his pleasant farm, on sec- 
 tion 8, Buffalo township, and which is with- 
 in one and one half miles of the corporate 
 limits of Polo, and known as the Winters 
 farm, is an almost life-long resident of the 
 county. He was born in Winnebago coun- 
 ty, Illinois, December 5, 1838, and is the 
 son of Daniel Noble, a native of Williams- 
 town, Massachusetts, born in 181 5. The 
 family are of English origin, and was among 
 the pioneers of that state. Daniel Noble 
 was a graduate of Williamstown College. 
 
 In 1S35 he came to Illinois and located in 
 Jo Daviess county, and was therefore num- 
 bered among its pioneers. He was mar- 
 ried in Ogle county, November 2, 1837, to 
 Miss Sarah B. Waterbury, a native of New 
 York, and daughter of John and Phoebe 
 Waterbury, also natives of the Empire 
 state, but who were pioneers of Ogle coun- 
 ty, locating at Eagle Springs in 1836. Soon 
 after their marriage, Daniel Noble and his 
 wife moved to Winnebago county, where 
 his death occurred in March, 1839. After 
 his death, Mrs. Noble returned to the home 
 of her father, where she remained until her 
 marriage, February 30, 1845, with George 
 D. Dement. By this second marriage she 
 became the mother of four sons and three 
 daughters. John E. and Daniel W. are 
 deceased. Wallace E. resides in the state 
 of Washington. Mrs. Phoebe Buno and 
 Mrs. Louisa Dallam reside in Denver, Col- 
 orado. Helen E. makes her home with our 
 subject, with whom she has spent the great- 
 er part of her life. Frank L. resides in 
 Alaska. Mr. Dement died in 1863, and 
 Mrs. Dement then made her home with her 
 eldest son, Mr. Noble, until she, too, was 
 called to rest, July 15, 1893. 
 
 Charles B. Noble was the only child of 
 his parents. After the death of his father 
 he was taken and reared by his grandfather 
 Waterbury, with whom he remained until 
 he was sixteen years old. His education 
 was received in the school at Eagle Springs, 
 and well does he remember one morning 
 when about ten years old, in going to school 
 across the prairie, and when within one-half 
 mile from his home, in a hazel thicket, a 
 prairie wolf confronted him and wanted the 
 first claim to the nice, crisp doughnuts in 
 his dinner bag. The small boy had no no- 
 tion of going dinnerlessand stood his ground 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 375 
 
 until Mr. W'oli sneaked off into the brush 
 again. Keeping a sharp look behind, the 
 boy lost no time in reaching the school 
 house. In those days prairie wolves fre- 
 quently invaded the farms of the settlers. 
 
 When sixteen years of age, Mr. Noble, 
 in earnest, commenced life for himself, 
 purchasing at that time three yoke of oxen 
 on time, and giving his personal note in 
 payment. He commenced breaking prairie 
 in Whiteside county, under contract, mak- 
 ing his home with his mother. The first 
 season he broke one hundred acres of land 
 and made three hundred dollars. From 
 the proceeds he paid for his team and 
 plows, and then followed breaking for two 
 more seasons. In that time he turned over 
 about three hundred acres of the virgin soil, 
 at times using as many as seven yoke of 
 oxen to the plow. Often his plow would 
 stick so tight in the red roots and "devil's 
 shoe strings" that he had to take two yoke 
 of oxen and hitch them to the back of the 
 plow to haul it out. With the prairie grass 
 knee-deep and wet with dew until about 
 eleven o'clock each day, did not make the 
 work a pleasant one. 
 
 Renting a farm in what is now Eagle 
 Point township, he commenced farming, 
 and in i860 had a crop of about sixty acres. 
 In the spring of 1861 he put in a crop and 
 harvested the small grain. The war for the 
 union was now in progress and men were in 
 demand. In response to the call of the 
 president, on the 5th of September, 1S61, 
 he enlisted in Company B, Seventh Illinois 
 Volunteer Cavalry, at the same time fur- 
 nishing to the government two horses, one 
 of which he used himself and the other by a 
 comrade. With his regiment he joined the 
 Army of the Tennessee, and was soon after- 
 wards detailed as one of the body guard for 
 
 General Rosencrans. Just before the battle 
 of luka, while on detailed duty, he was in- 
 jured somewhat, and fever setting in he was 
 taken to the field hospital, and a short time 
 afterwards was moved north to the hospital 
 at St. Louis, Missouri. As soon as strong 
 enough, he was detailed as warden, and also 
 for a time was acting steward. 
 
 In 1863 he was transferred to the Vet- 
 eran Reserve Corps and sent to Columbus, 
 Ohio, and from there to Camp Douglas, 
 Chicago, to guard prisoners. He remained 
 at the latter place until February, 1864, 
 when he was ordered to Washington City, 
 and there put with the troops in defense of 
 the city, participating in the battle on the 
 outskirts of the city, near Forts Stevens 
 and DeRussey. Our army succeeded in 
 driving the enemy back, thus saving the 
 capital. While with that corps, he served 
 a part of the time as drummer. After three 
 years of faithful service, he was mustered 
 out September 5, 1864. 
 
 Returning home after receiving his dis- 
 charge, he purchased one hundred and 
 twenty acres of the old Waterbury home- 
 stead and again engaged in farming. He 
 purchased the place on time, and after a 
 number of years paid off the obligation, but 
 it was after a long and hard struggle. He 
 later added many improvements to the 
 place and there continued to reside until 
 1876, when he sold and purchased his pres- 
 ent farm, a place of two hundred and eighty 
 acres. A part of the purchase price of this 
 farm he secured time on, but has been so 
 fortunate as to pay off the entire claim, and 
 in addition has made some substantial im- 
 provements. 
 
 Mr. Noble was married in Ogle county, 
 November 8, 1865, to Miss Phebe Roberts, 
 who was born in Whiteside county, Illi- 
 
376 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 nois, February 15, 1842, but was reared in 
 Ogle county. She is a daughter of Orrin 
 and Julia A. (Osterhoudt) Roberts. By 
 this union there are ten children — Jesse D., 
 Addie J., Ella S., Harriet W., Esther H., 
 Lena M., Ruth A., Olive K., Stella B., 
 and John Calvin. The latter died when 
 but four years old. The first named is liv- 
 ing in a neat, substantial dwelling built by 
 his father near the family residence, and is 
 now carrying on the home farm. 
 
 Politically Mr. Noble is a Republican. 
 His grandfather Waterbury was an Aboli- 
 tionist, and kept a station on the under- 
 ground railroad, and his views on the " pe- 
 culiar institution " he instilled into the mind 
 of his grandson, and the lessons thus early 
 learned were never forgotten. While averse 
 to office holding, he yet served some years 
 on the school board. With one exception, 
 Mr. Noble and family are members of the 
 Polo Presbyterian church, and endeavor to 
 walk in the footsteps of the Master. 
 
 Mr. Noble is a natural mechanic, and 
 for a time was employed as a traveling 
 salesman, and in repairing and setting up 
 threshing machines, being with the J. I. 
 Case Company. F"or about eighteen years 
 he run both horse and steam rigs, and made 
 a success of it. He also operates one of 
 the largest sorghum plants in northern Illi- 
 nois, and by extensive experimenting and 
 closely observing the results, he is now 
 manufacturing a very fine quality of syrup. 
 In the past few years he has manufactured 
 over thirty-five thousand gallons of superior 
 syrup. Notwithstanding that he has en- 
 gaged in these outside lines, Mr. Noble has 
 never neglected his farming. He believes 
 in the thorough cultivation of the soil, and 
 that the farmer should give general atten- 
 tion to stock raising, using as far as possible 
 
 on the farm all grain that he raises. On 
 account of failing health, however, for the 
 past twelve years he has practically lived a 
 retired life. 
 
 JOHN A. McCREA, who is now living a 
 retired life, was for years one of the 
 most enterprising of the business men of 
 Ogle county, of which he has been a resi- 
 dent since 1865. He is a native of Orange 
 county. New York, born under the shadows 
 of the Catskill mountains, September 5, 
 1827, and is the son of William and Abigail 
 McCrea, the father being a native of Ire- 
 land but of Scotch parentage. Soon after 
 his marriage William McCrea with his 
 young wife came to the United States and 
 located in Orange county. New York, 
 where he engaged in farming. He later 
 moved to Monroe county, in the same state, 
 where he remained a number of years, or 
 until he joined his children in Ogle county. 
 The last years of his life were spent in 
 Creston, where his death occurred April 4, 
 1888. 
 
 William and Abigail McCrea were the 
 parents of ten children, all of whom grew 
 to mature years, and of which number 
 three sons and four daughters are yet living. 
 Abraham settled in Malta, Illinois, where 
 he engaged in business, but is now deceased. 
 Samuel H. located at Morrison, Whiteside 
 county, Illinois, where he engaged in the 
 grain and lumber business. He later re- 
 moved to Chicago and became one of the 
 leading citizens of that city. He served 
 four years as treasurer of Cook county, and 
 was president of the board of trade for 
 some years. He also held other positions 
 of honor and trust in that city, where his 
 death occurred in 1895. John A., the sub- 
 
JOHN A. McCREA, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 379 
 
 ject of this review, is next in order of birth. 
 Leander located in Carroll county, Iowa, 
 where he resided some years, then moved 
 to Carroll county, Missouri, where he is 
 now living. Alfred B. resides in Creston, 
 and a sketch of him appears on another 
 page of this work. Mrs. Catherine Covey 
 is a widow residing in Sterling, Illinois. 
 Mrs. Jane Parsons is a widow residing in 
 Carroll, Iowa, with a son. Mrs. Maria Kit- 
 tle is a widow, residing in New Lisbon, 
 Wisconsin. Caroline is making her home 
 with our subject. 
 
 John A. McCreagrewto manhood in Mon- 
 Monroe county, New York, and received a 
 good education in the schools of Roches- 
 ter, New York. Attracted by the dis- 
 covery of gold in California, in 1849, he 
 set out for the new Eldorado. He went 
 by way of the Isthmus of Panama, taking 
 the steamer Empire City at New York, for 
 Chagres, and after crossing the isthmus 
 took the steamer Oregon for San Francisco, 
 arriving in that city in November, 1849. 
 During the first winter he engaged in run- 
 ning a boat across the bay, but in the 
 spring of 1850 went to the mines in search 
 of the yellow metal. He continued mining 
 for two and a half years with very good 
 success, and then returned home by the 
 Nicaragua route through Central America. 
 In due time he arrived at his old home in 
 Rochester, New York, where he remained 
 until 1 8 54, when he came west to Branch 
 county, Michigan, and located near Cold- 
 water, where he engaged in farming for ten 
 years. Selling his farm, he went to Morri- 
 son, Whiteside county, Illinois, to learn the 
 grain and lumber business. In 1865 he 
 moved to Creston, Ogle county, and formed 
 a partnership with his brother Alfred B., 
 find here engaged in the grain, lumber and 
 
 coal business. They commenced in a 
 small way, but later built an elevator and 
 for many years continued together, doing a 
 thriving business, amounting from two hun- 
 dred thousand to five hundred thousand 
 dollars per year. The partnership contin- 
 ued until 1892, when our subject withdrew, 
 and has since practically been living a re- 
 tired life. He has invested some in real es- 
 tate and has two good farms near the vil- 
 lage of Creston aggregating four hundred 
 and fifty acres. While yet in partnership 
 the brothers formed a stock company and 
 started a tile factory. They built up a 
 large trade, selling their products for miles 
 around. 
 
 Mr. McCrea was married in Linnville, 
 Illinois, in 1870, to Miss Clara E. Bird, a 
 native of Ohio, and daughter of William 
 Bird, now deceased. She is a well educated 
 lady, and previous to her marriage engaged 
 in teaching. By this union two daughters 
 were born, Ella B. and Florence E., both 
 living at home. 
 
 In 1892 Mr. McCrea went to California 
 to look after some mining interests in which 
 he and his brother were interested. He 
 returned again in 1893 and spent the greater 
 part of that year in the mines. He has now 
 in his possession some fine specimens of 
 gold, which he took himself from the mines. 
 He has made several trips to the Pacific 
 slope, and has spent two winters in Cali- 
 fornia since retiring from business. In 1896 
 he visited Havana, Cuba, where he spent a 
 short time, and during the same trip visited 
 Calveston and New Orleans, crossed the 
 Rio Grande at El Paso into Mexico, and on 
 to southern California. He takes consider- 
 able pleasure in traveling, and manages to 
 pick up a great deal of information. 
 
 Mrs. McCrea is a worthy member of the 
 
38o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Methodist church, and while Mr. McCrea is 
 not a member, he attends the church with 
 his wife and contributes of his means to its 
 support. Fraternallj' he is a Mason, hold- 
 ing membership with the blue lodge at Cres- 
 ton, the chapter and commandery at Syca- 
 more, and Medinah Temple, Scottish rite, 
 of Chicago. He is well known in Ogle and 
 adjoining counties, having been a resident 
 of this county for thirty-four years, a little 
 more than a third of a century. His friends 
 are many, and they may be found from the 
 Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. With the 
 sturdy self-reliance of the Scotch race he 
 has made a success in life. 
 
 IRA METTI^ER, now living a retired life 
 in the village of Creston, has been a 
 resident of the state of Illinois since 1840. 
 He was born in Northumberland county, 
 Pennsylvania, October 27, 1817, and is the 
 son of Relph Mettler, a native of New Jer- 
 sey, born October 11, 1792, and a grandson 
 of Henry Mettler, also a native of New Jer- 
 sey, and who was one of a family of fif- 
 teen children. On the father's side the 
 family are of German descent, but on the 
 mother's side of English descent. 
 
 Relph Mettler, who was a blacksmith 
 by trade, grew to manhood in New Jersey, 
 but when a young man moved to North- 
 umberland county, Pennsylvania, where he 
 married Mary Ann Housewcrt, a native of 
 Pennsylvania, and daughter of Solomon 
 Housewert, of German descent. They be- 
 came the parents of nine children who 
 grew to mature years, seven of whom are 
 yet living. Mrs. Elizabeth Barnum, a 
 widow, resides in Creston. Ira, of this re- 
 view, is next in order of birth. Sarah is 
 deceased. Mrs. Rhoda Dudley resides in 
 
 Cayuga county. New York. Mrs. Fidelia 
 Miller is a widow residing in St. Louis, Mis- 
 souri. Mrs. Harriet M. Powell is a widow 
 residing in College Springs. Iowa. Mary 
 Ann grew to womanhood, but is now de- 
 ceased. William J. resides in Creston, Illi- 
 nois, and James Iliff lives in Great Falls, 
 Montana. 
 
 Relph Mettler carried on his trade a few 
 years in Northumberland county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and in 1822 moved to Seneca county, 
 New York, and started a blacksmith shop, 
 in which he worked a few years, and then 
 purchased one hundred acres of wild land 
 in Tompkins county. New York, and there 
 moved his family. He began at once to 
 clear the place of its heavy timber, prepara- 
 tory to its cultivation, and in due time had 
 a good farm. But the west was now hold- 
 ing out its attractions, and he decided on 
 coming to Illinois. In 1840 he traded his 
 farm in New York for land near Rockford, 
 Illinois, and then came west and set- 
 tled on the place which he began to im- 
 prove. In the fall of 1841 he returned 
 easton business, and came back by way 
 of the great lakes. While on the lakes 
 he was exposed to bad weather, which 
 caused his sickness and death, November 
 17, 1841. His wife survived him many 
 years, dying May 27, 1876. 
 
 The subject of this sketch accompanied 
 his parents to Illinois and assisted in open- 
 ing up the home farm. After his father's 
 death he remained with his mother some 
 three or four years, and later pnrchased a 
 thresher and engaged in threshing grain for 
 a number of years during the season. He 
 also engaged in hauling freight lo and from 
 Chicago, and in breaking prairie for a few 
 years. His first purchase of land consisted 
 of two hundred and sixty-five acres in Win- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 381 
 
 nebago county, which he improved, and in 
 1855 purchased the old home farm, which 
 he operated for three years. He then 
 traded that farm for land and town property 
 at Creston and moved to the place, where 
 he engaged in the real estate business in con- 
 nection with farming. He assisted greatly 
 in building up the town, and also improved 
 several farms, being one of the most suc- 
 cessful farmers and real estate men in the 
 county. 
 
 In 1850 Mr. Mettler went to his native 
 state for his grandfather Housewert. While 
 gone, in New York, he met Miss Delia 
 Young. It is the old story. He returned 
 east, and on the 5th of June, 1853, they 
 were uniteil in marriage. I-5y this union 
 there were three children, only one of 
 whom is now living, Edna M., wife of 
 Professor A. D. Stowell, now of Hannibal, 
 Missouri. Stella grew to womanhood, and 
 died August 27, 1876, at the age of twenty- 
 two years. Lewis Burke died November 
 25, i860, at the age of four years. The 
 mother of these children departed this life 
 February 16, 1S64. She was a devoted 
 member of the Congregationalist church, 
 while her daughter, Mrs. Stowell, is a mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
 
 On the 26th of April, 1870, in DeKalb 
 county, Mr. Mettler was united in marriage 
 with Miss Mary Riddle, born east of Kno.x- 
 ville, Tennessee, and daughter of John and 
 Susan (Anderson) Riddle. Her father first 
 moved with his family from Tennessee to 
 Indiana, and in 1836 moved to DeKalb 
 county, Illinois, where he entered a tract 
 of several hundred acres of land and en- 
 gaged in agricultural pursuits. He was a 
 man of great business ability, and was often 
 called on by his neighbors to transact for 
 them some business. He served as justice 
 
 of the peace, assessor and supervisor, as 
 well as in other official positions, and prac- 
 ticed law in the justices' courts. He died 
 at the age of si.\ty-nine years. His wife 
 survived him a few years. 
 
 In early life, Mr. Mettler was an aboli- 
 tionist and cast his first presidential vote 
 for James G. Birney. On the organization 
 of the Republican party, he became a Re- 
 publican, and continued to vote that party 
 ticket for many years. A strong temperance 
 man, and in favor of the entire prohibition 
 of the liquor traffic, he has for some years 
 been voting the Prohibition ticket. While 
 not desiring official position, he has been 
 honored by his fellow citizens with several 
 offices of honor and trust. He has been 
 assessor of his township, road commissioner, 
 member of the town board, justice of the 
 peace and police magistrate, having been 
 elected by a good majority. He has also 
 served as delegate to the county and state 
 conventions of his party. Mr. Mettler and 
 his wife are strong believers in the Chris- 
 tian religion, taking the Bible as their guide 
 and rule of practice. 
 
 A resident of northern Illinois almost 
 three score years Mr. Mettler is well known, 
 especially in Winnebago, DeKalb and Ogle 
 counties, and he and his most estimable 
 wife are hekl in high esteem. 
 
 THOMAS P. FRANTZ, who is engaged 
 in the meat market business at Hol- 
 comb, Illinois, is a veteran of the Civil war. 
 He is a native of Allegany county, Mary- 
 land, born September 7, 1841, and is a son 
 of George and Rebecca (Friend) Frantz, 
 both of whom were also natives of the same 
 state, and of their si.x children, four are yet 
 living — William B. , Thomas P., Joseph, and 
 
382 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 George D. ; John W. and Julia A. are de- 
 ceased. The paternal grandfather, Joseph 
 Frantz, was a native of Pennsylvania, and 
 was a man of considerable prominence, 
 serving in various local offices, including 
 justice of the peace and county commis- 
 sioner, in the latter office continuing four 
 years. In 1835 he was elected a member 
 of the legislature and served with signal 
 ability. He was a Jacksonian Democrat, a 
 great admirer of " Old Hickory, "and advo- 
 cated the principles of the party until his 
 death, which occurred about 1850. George 
 Frantz, the father, was also a man of more 
 than ordinary ability, and also served as 
 justice of the peace for some years. By 
 occupation he was a farmer and stock deal- 
 er, and was a well-known man in Allegany 
 count}', Maryland. 
 
 Thomas P. Frantz, our subject, was 
 reared and educated in his native county 
 and state and was educuted in Cumberland, 
 Maryland. Before he attained his majority 
 the war for the union was in progress, and 
 his sympathies being on the side of the 
 union, he enlisted September 2, 1 861, in 
 Company I, Second Maryland Volunteer 
 Infantry, at Cumberland, Maryland, to 
 serve three years or during the war. For a 
 little more than three years he was in active 
 service, and was many times under fire of 
 the enemy. At one time at Suspension 
 Bridge, with three others, he volunteered 
 to lay plank across the bridge. The bullets 
 rained like hail from the enemy's guns, but 
 they accomplished the work which they set 
 out to do without receiving a scratch. The 
 experience, however, was not very pleasant 
 and he would not care to repeat it unless 
 absolutely necessary. On the 31st of Oc- 
 tober, 1864, at Cumberland, Maryland, with 
 his regiment he was nuistered out of service. 
 
 Returning to his home, after receiving 
 his discharge, Mr. Frantz again commenced 
 work at his trade of stone mason, and there 
 remained for two years, at which time he 
 determined on emigrating to Illinois. In 
 1867 he located near Mt. Morris, and fol- 
 lowed his trade in connection with farming, 
 and there remained some years. In 1875 
 he came to Holcomb and engaged in his 
 present business and has here since contin- 
 ued to reside, building up a most satisfac- 
 tory trade. 
 
 On the 2d of January, 1870, Mr. Frantz 
 was united in marriage with Miss Emma C. 
 Hastings, a native of Springfield, Ohio, and 
 a daughter of Edmond Hastings, who for 
 many years had been a resident of Ogle 
 county. By this union there was born one 
 son, John A., who, grown to manhood, is 
 now in partnership with his father, and is a 
 young man of good business ability. 
 
 In politics Mr. Frantz is an uncompro- 
 mising Republican, and while never aspiring 
 to official position, has yet served as town- 
 ship collector and other minor positions. 
 In whatever he has been asked to do he has 
 tried to do well. He is a good citizen and 
 is held in high esteem. 
 
 GEORGE M. REED, who is engaged 
 in the mercantile business at Daysville, 
 is a well known citizen of the county, hav- 
 ing been identified with its interests for ^• 
 some si.xty years. He was born February 
 7, 1836, in Gilsom, New Hampshire, and is 
 a son of Lyman and Mehitable (Clark) Reed, 
 the former a native of Vermont, born De- 
 cember 25, 1807, and the latter of New 
 Hampshire, born April 24, 18 14. Lyman 
 Reed was a carpenter by trade, and followed 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 3S3 
 
 that occupation during almost his entire life. 
 In 1839 he located at Daysville, where he 
 spent the remainder of his life, becoming a 
 prominent and influential citizen of the 
 place and of Ogle county. In early life he 
 was politically a Democrat, but on account 
 of the attitude of his party on the slavery 
 question, he became a Republican on the 
 organization of the party, and continued to 
 advocate its principles until called from 
 this life. For many years he served as 
 postmaster of Daysville, was constable for a 
 time, and also filled the office of school di- 
 rector. His death occurred January 8, 1866. 
 His wife survived him many years, dying 
 April 28, 1886. They were the parents of 
 si.x children. George M. is the subject of 
 this sketch. Mary died in infancy. Virgil 
 E. is a farmer of Nassau township, of whom 
 mention is made elsewhere in this work. 
 Lucy A., Bemis, Edwin E. and John L., all 
 reside in Oregon, Illinois. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but three 
 years old when he came with his parents to 
 Ogle county, and since that time he has 
 been a resident of Daysville. In that vil- 
 lage he grew to manhood, and in its schools 
 received a common-school education. In 
 his youth he learned the carpenter trade 
 with his father, and followed that occupation 
 for some years. He continued to reside at 
 home and assisted his father until he was 
 twenty-two years old, when he commenced 
 life for himself. On the ist of November, 
 1858, he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Elizabeth A. Thompson, a native of England, 
 born November I, 1834. She died Septem- 
 ber 20, 1873, leaving three children. Frank 
 E. is a prominent attorney in Oregon, and is 
 present county judge of Ogle county, having 
 been elected to that position in the fall of 
 1898. He married Cora Pankhurst, daugh- 
 
 ter of the bookkeeper of the First National 
 Bank at Oregon. Alice E., now deceased, 
 married Clarence Gardner, a well known 
 attorney of Rochelle, Illinois. One child 
 was born of their union, Freddie. Georgia 
 died at the age of two years. 
 
 The second marriage of Mr. Reed was 
 celebrated November 26, 1874, when he 
 wedded Miss Elmira A. McCIoud, who was 
 born in Ohio, December 11, 1847, the 
 daughter of Stephen and Ruth (Simpson) 
 McCloud, both of whom were natives of 
 Pennsylvania, but who emigrated to Ohio, 
 and from that state to Daysville, Illinois, in 
 1849. 
 
 In 1868 Mr. Reed opened a general 
 store in Daysville, in which line of business 
 he has continued to the present time with a 
 fair degree of success. His acquaintance 
 throughout the county is very extensive, and 
 wherever known he is held in the highest 
 esteem. In 1859 he was elected constable 
 in his township and served eight years. He 
 has also served as township collector a num- 
 ber of years, as school director for twenty 
 years, and as town clerk for twenty-seven 
 years, and is yet filling the latter office. 
 For twenty-three years he has served as 
 postmaster, and is yet occupying that posi- 
 tion. For a time he was a member of the 
 Odd Fellows, but does not now affiliate 
 with the order. Religiously, he is a Meth- 
 odist, holding membership with the church 
 at Daysville. In politics he is a thorough 
 Republican, and has voted the party ticket 
 since attaining his majority. As a business 
 man he is enterprising and reliable at all 
 times. He carries a general stock of such 
 goods as are in demand in his section. An 
 almost lifelong resident of the county, he 
 has not only witnessed its growth and 
 development, but has contributed his part 
 
384 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 in making the county occupy its present 
 exalted rank among the counties of the 
 state. 
 
 MAJOR J. G. GAMMON, a veteran of 
 the Civil war, and for nineteen years 
 connected with the lUinois National Guards, 
 is now living a retired life in the village of 
 Creston. He is a native of England, born 
 in the city of Bristol, July6, 1S40. His fa- 
 ther, Robert Gammon, was also a native of 
 England, and was professionally a sailor, 
 following the sea for many years. His wife 
 died when the Major was but a small lad, 
 and he went to live with an uncle, Henry 
 Gammon, who had no children, and was 
 living in Devonshire, England. In 1854, 
 he accompanied his uncle and aunt to the 
 United States, the family first locating near 
 Buffalo, New York, where they remained 
 two years. In 1856, they came to Illinois 
 and made a permanent location and home 
 in De Kalb county, where the uncle pur- 
 chased raw land and opened up a farm. 
 
 The subject of this sketch remained with 
 his uncle and assisted in the improvement 
 of the farm until January 4, 1862. His 
 adopted country was then in the midst of a 
 Civil war and was calling for men. He had 
 lived long enough in the country to become 
 attached to its institutions, and to all in- 
 tents and purposes he was a thorough Amer- 
 ican. On the date mentioned he enlisted 
 in Company L, Fifteenth Illinois Cavalry, 
 and at once went with his regiment to the 
 front. On his arrival at the scene of ac- 
 tivities, he was put on detached duty, form- 
 ing one of the body guard of General Hal- 
 leck, and later he was in like service under 
 General Grant. At Corinth, he rejoined his 
 regiment, and with it participated in the 
 
 battle at that place. He was also in the 
 engagements at Bear Creek, Tuscumbia, 
 and later was in Arkansas, hunting and skir- 
 mishing with bushwhackers and guerrillas. 
 At the close of his term of service, in Jan- 
 uary, 1865, he was honorably discharged at 
 Helena, Arkansas. 
 
 On receiving his discharge, Mr. Gammon 
 returned home, but he was not content to 
 remain as his adopted country was still en- 
 gaged in the struggle, and accordingly, on 
 the 6th of March, 1865, he re-enlisted for 
 one year, and joined Company G, Fourth 
 Regiment, General Hancock's Veteran Vol- 
 unteer Corps, and went to Washington, 
 where he was engaged in doing guard duty 
 until the final close of the war. He later 
 was sent to Camp Chase, where he was en- 
 gaged in garrison duty. At the expiration 
 of his second term of service he was dis- 
 charged at Todd's barracks, Columbus, 
 Ohio. 
 
 Mr. Gammon again returned to De Kalb 
 county, and located in Malta, but soon after 
 made a trip to England, and visited his na- 
 tive city. He was married May 31, 1866, 
 to Miss Jane Bennett, who was born in 
 Devonshire, England, and a daughter of 
 Henry Bennett, also of Devonshire. Soon 
 after his marriage he returned with his bride 
 to his home in De Kalb county and took 
 charge of the farm of his uncle, and soon 
 after purchased the place, and took care of 
 his uncle and aunt in their declining years. 
 He continued to operate the farm, which 
 consisted of one hundred and sixty acres 
 of fine land, until 1875, when he removed 
 to the village of Creston, which has since 
 been his home. 
 
 In 1876 Mr. Gammon joined the Illinois 
 National Guards, and was commissioned 
 fust lieutenant of his company, and was 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL. RECORD. 
 
 3S5 
 
 soon promoted to the captaincy. While 
 serving with that rank he took the company 
 to Braidwood to preserve peace and protect 
 property at that place. In 1 8S0 he was 
 commissioned major of the first battalion, 
 third regiment. While in the service he 
 was called out a number of times. During 
 the great strike at Chicago in 1894, he 
 spent twenty-one days with his battalion in 
 that city. He made a good and efficient 
 officer, and the men all had confidence in 
 him. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Gammon have three chil- 
 dren. Frank A. is n::arried and is carrying 
 on the home farm in De Kalb county. 
 Henry Bennett is a graduate of the medical 
 department of Michigan University, at Ann 
 Arbor. During the Spanish-American war 
 he was hospital steward of the Thirty-fourth 
 Michigan Infantry, and was with his regi- 
 ment at Santiago. After his return from 
 the service he was taken sick, and on his 
 recovery was placed in the hospital service 
 at Ann Arbor. Jessie E. is now the wife 
 of B. L. Kittle, of Chicago, and they have 
 two children, Paul and Mildred. In the 
 family of Frank A. Gammon are three chil- 
 dren, Neal, Maud A. and Clifford Dewey. 
 
 The first presidential vote cast by Ma- 
 jor Gammon was for Abraham Lincoln in 
 1864. He has been a stanch Republican 
 from that time to the present, and has 
 voted for every presidential nominee of the 
 party. Fraternally he is a Mason, holding 
 membership with the blue lodge at Creston, 
 the chapter at Rochelle and the command- 
 ery at Sycamore. He is also a member of 
 the Grand Army of the Republic, Post No. 
 12, at Sycamore. Mrs. Gammon is a de- 
 voted member of the Congregationalist 
 church, in the work of which she takes a 
 lively interest. Both are highly esteemed 
 
 in Creston and wherever known, the Major 
 having many friends, not only in De Kalb 
 and Ogle counties, but throughout the 
 state, wherever his duties have called him. 
 
 DELOS W. BAXTER.— Not by gift or 
 purchase or by influence can one rise 
 at the bar, but solely by merit must he gain 
 his reputation, his ability winning him 
 greatness, and enabling him to pass on the 
 highway of life many who had accomplished 
 part of the journey ere he started out. 
 Among the members of the legal fraternity 
 in Ogle county, who have won for them- 
 selves prominent places in the ranks of their 
 professional brethren, is the gentleman 
 whose name introduces this sketch, and who 
 is successfully engaged in practicing in his 
 native city. He was born on the 29th of 
 July, 1857, in Rochelle, where he was a 
 pupil of the common and high schools until 
 his eighteenth year, when he entered the 
 law department of the Iowa State Univer- 
 sity, graduating in 1881, having previously 
 read in the office of M. D. Hathaway. He 
 commenced practicing for himself on the 
 ist of July, 1882, and with the exception 
 of a short time with Mr. Hathaway and 
 later with Mr. Gardner, he has conducted 
 his practice alone. 
 
 At Huron, South Dakota, our subject 
 was united in marriage to Georgia Ambrose, 
 formerly of White Rock township, Ogle 
 county, a daughter of George and Ann 
 (Hess) Ambrose. Politically, Mr. Baxter 
 is a Republican, who staunchly upholds the 
 principles of his party. He has been state 
 senator since 1896. He is vice-president of 
 the Rochelle National Bank. Fraternally 
 he is a member of the Masonic lodge and 
 chapter, of Rochelle, and Rockford com- 
 
386 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 mandery, K. T. , also the Independent 
 Order of Odd Fellows, and is a striking ex- 
 amble of the self-made American, who 
 commands the respect of all who meet him. 
 
 The father of this gentleman, Deloss 
 A. Baxter, was born near Ogdensburg, New 
 York, on the 23d of December, 1826. He 
 attended the common schools and the Can- 
 ton Academy, of Canton, New York, until 
 the age of seventeen, when he learned the 
 harness-maker's trade, serving an appren- 
 ticeship of three years. During the winter 
 of 1847 and '48 he clerked in a hardware 
 store in Ogdensburg, and in the spring of 
 1848 came west to Cleveland, Ohio, work- 
 ing there and in the surrounding towns for 
 three years, and in 185 1 removing to Paw- 
 paw, Illinois, where he opened a harness 
 shop. In the spring of 1856 he came to 
 Rochelle, where he entered the same line of 
 business, and in 1898 he retired, selling out 
 to his son, Burt B. Baxter. Mr. Baxter 
 was married to Mary Wirick, a daughter of 
 Jacob and Mary (McCoy) Wirick, natives 
 of Ohio, on the 8th of November, 1854. 
 To this union seven children have been born, 
 here given in order of birth: Delos W., 
 the subject of this sketch; Allison B., a res- 
 ident of Chicago; Guy A., living in Texas; 
 Bert B., his father's business successor; 
 Blanche P., the wife of Clarence E. Gard- 
 ner; Paul G., an official at the state peni- 
 tentiary, at Joliet;and Mary Maud, a teach- 
 er in Rochelle. Deloss A. Baxter departed 
 this life at Rochelle on December 1 1, 1898. 
 
 The grandparents of our subject were 
 Alexander Baxter, Jr., and Philinda (Bax- 
 ter) Baxter. Deloss A. Baxter was now a 
 member of the Masonic Lodge, F. & A. M., 
 and chapter, R. A. M. He was made a 
 Mason in Ohio, and assisted in organizing 
 the lodge in Rochelle, and was the last of 
 
 the original charter members of the Masonic 
 lodge in Rochelle. In politics he was a Re- 
 publican, though casting his first presidental 
 ballot for Franklin Pierce, and his popular- 
 ity in the community in which he resided is 
 illustrated by the fact that he was twice 
 elected mayor of Rochelle, three times al- 
 derman and in 1872 was elected township 
 collector. 
 
 CHARLES KLEIN.— No foreign ele- 
 ment has become a more important 
 part in our American citizenship than that 
 furnished by Sweden. The emigrants from 
 that land have brought with them to the 
 new world the stability, enterprise and 
 perseverance characteristic of their people 
 and have fused these qualities with the pro- 
 gressiveness and indomitable spirit of the 
 west. Mr. Klein is a representative of this 
 class. He came to America in limited 
 circumstances, hoping to benefit his finan- 
 cial condition, and his dreams of the future 
 have been more than realized. He is to- 
 day a successful dealer in grain, coal and 
 lumber at Kings, and occupies a very pro- 
 minent place in business circles in Ogle 
 county. 
 
 Mr. Klein was born April 22, 1849, in 
 the central part of the province of Jenkop- 
 ing, Sweden, near the town of the same 
 name, and is a son of C. P. and Johanna 
 (Moberg) Klein. The father was a farmer 
 and had a thorough technical as well as 
 practical knowledge of that occupation, 
 having been regularly educated in an agri- 
 cultural college, as was required in that 
 country, to fit him for the position he held, 
 that of superintendent of a large agricultural 
 property. Our subject is the seven in 
 order of birth in a family of nine children. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 387 
 
 of whom the following came to America: 
 Ehzabeth, crossed the Atlantic with our 
 subject and stopped first in Chicago, where 
 they had acquaintance living. Later she 
 was married in Rochelle to Charles 
 Skepstedt, but is now living in Chicago. A 
 year after their arrival Sophia came to the 
 United States, and she is now the wife of 
 Nels Nelson, a farmer of Flagg township. 
 Ogle county. Five years later Franz, 
 Augusta and Hedda also came to America. 
 Franz is now a resident of Rockford, Illi- 
 nois. Augusta makes her home with our 
 subject. Hedda married Richard Harding, 
 a farmer of Marion township, Ogle county, 
 and later they removed to Lincoln county, 
 South Dakota, where he owns and operates 
 a farm. 
 
 During his boyhood and youth Charles 
 Klein attended the common schools of his 
 native land and assisted his father in his 
 duties. At the age of twenty-one he and 
 his sister Elizabeth sailed for the new 
 world, and leaving her in Chicago he pro- 
 ceeded to Chariton, Iowa, where he had 
 friends living, and where he was employed 
 for one year. At the end of that time he 
 came to Rochelle, Ogle county, Illinois, his 
 sister having already married and located 
 here. In 1871 he commenced working on 
 the farm of A. F. Crawford, near Rochelle, 
 and in the fall of that year went to Chi- 
 cago, where he easily found employment, 
 there being a demand for laborers after the 
 great fire which destroyed much of that 
 city. The following spring he returned to 
 Ogle county and obtained work on the farm 
 of W. H. King, with whom he remained 
 for five years. During this time he attended 
 the public schools during the winter terms 
 and thus acquired a good knowledge of the 
 common English branches. This was fol- 
 
 lowed by a commercial and scientific course 
 at Mt. Morris College. In 1S78 he em- 
 barked in the coal and lumber business at 
 Kings, and two years later became inter- 
 ested in the grain trade in partnership with 
 W. H. King. Since 18S2, however, he has 
 been alone and does a large and profitable 
 business in all branches. Kings has become 
 quite a grain center and he usually ships 
 from two hundred and fifty to three hun- 
 dred car loads in course of a season. 
 
 On the 2 1 St of June, 1879, Mr. Klein 
 was married in Chicago to Miss Helen Ole- 
 son, who was also born in Sweden, August 
 27, 1 85 1, but during her infancy was 
 brought to this country by her parents, 
 Daniel and Ingri Christina, who located in 
 Lake county, Indiana, where the father 
 owned a farm and made his home until his 
 death. Mrs. Klein is one of a family of 
 eight children, the others being Peter, who 
 still owns and occupies a farm in Lake 
 county, Indiana; Mari, who married F. 
 Johnson and lives in Chicago; Lena, wife 
 of John Carleson, a photographer of Ro- 
 chelle; Christine, wife of J. N. Crona, who 
 is in the United States mail service in Chi- 
 cago; Hannah, wife of a Mr. Fents, of Chi- 
 cago; Paul, a resident of St. Louis, and 
 Anton, who was formerly a photographer 
 of Rochelle, and from there removed to St. 
 Louis, where his death occurred. Five 
 children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Klein, namely: Helen Pauline, who was 
 born January 19, 1884; Carl Reuben, who 
 was born July 24, 1886, and died October 
 1(5, 1892; Crystal Victoria, who was born 
 December 16, 1888; Esther May, who was 
 born March 30, 1893, and died June 22, 
 1893, ^"d Reba Ruth, who was born Octo- 
 ber 30, 1894. The year previous to his 
 marriage, Mr. Klein erected the comfort- 
 
388 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 able residence in Kings which the family 
 now occupy. Politically he is a stanch sup- 
 porter of the Republican party and its prin- 
 ciples, and takes quite an active and prom- 
 inent part in public affairs. For four con- 
 secutive years he served as town clerk, and 
 has been a member of the school board in 
 his district for eight years. During almost 
 his entire residence here he has been a 
 member of the Presbyterian church of 
 Kings, has always taken an active part in 
 its work, serving as elder for ten years and 
 superintendent of the Sunday-school for 
 eight years. 
 
 THOMAS GUEST, one of the most hon- 
 ored and highly esteemed citizens of 
 Ogle county, passed away at his home in 
 Rochelle, August 5, 1886, after a life of in- 
 dustry and rich in those rare possessions 
 which only a high character can give. In 
 all the relations of life he was found true 
 and faithful to every trust reposed in him, 
 and when called to his rest and reward of 
 the higher world his best monument was 
 found in the love and respect of the commu- 
 nity in which he lived for so many years. 
 
 Mr. Guest was born in the province of 
 Ontario, Canada, December 28, 1820, a 
 son of Thomas and Ann (Todd) Guest, 
 who were natives of Ireland, where their 
 marriage was celebrated and where some of 
 their children were born. At an early day 
 they emigrated to the new world and took 
 up their residence in Canada, where the fa- 
 ther continued to make his home until called 
 from this life March 5, i860. By occupa- 
 tion he was a farmer. Immediately after 
 his arrival in Canada, he united with the 
 Methodist Episcopal church and was always 
 an active worker in the church, serving as 
 
 class leader and in other official positions. 
 In his family were eight children, four sons 
 and four daughters, all of whom were reared 
 and married in Canada, and remained there 
 with the exception of our subject, and Rich- 
 ard is the only one now living. In order of 
 birth they are as follows: James; Mary, the 
 wife of Ale.xander Gibson, who was of Scotch 
 origin; John; Eliza, wife of James Brown- 
 lee, who is also deceased; Thomas, our sub- 
 ject; Ann, wife of John Armitage, deceased; 
 Richard and Amelia. 
 
 On the home farm in his native pro- 
 vince, Thomas Guest was reared to man- 
 hood and his education was obtained in the 
 common schools of the neighborhood. Dur- 
 ing his active business life he engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits and early acquired 
 land of his own, having at the time of his 
 removal to Illinois two hundred acres of 
 good land, well improved with excellerit 
 buildings. He was married in Canada May 
 16, 1 8 56, to Miss Ann Pettepiece, who was 
 born in the province of Ontario December 
 23, 1832, and is a daughter of Thomas and 
 Catherine (Stokes) Pettepiece, natives of 
 Ireland and early settlers of Canada. She 
 is one of a family of nine children, six sons 
 and three daughters, and herself and brother 
 George are now the only survivors. All 
 remained in Canada but Mrs. Guest and her 
 brother Joseph, who also came to Illinois 
 and died here in 1897. 
 
 Immediately after their marriage Mr. 
 and Mrs. Guest disposed of their property 
 in Canada, and leaving a fine home came to 
 Ogle county, Illinois. In Flagg township 
 he purchased a quarter section of land on 
 section 30, on which he made his home for 
 thirteen years. In the meantime he bought 
 one hundred and sixty acres in Lee county, 
 Illinois, and five hundred and twenty acres 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 389 
 
 on sections 5 and 6, Dement township, 
 near Rochelle, and on leaving his first pur- 
 chase he removed to the latter place, where 
 he resided until he retired from active life 
 in 1882, spending his last days in ease and 
 quiet in Rochelle. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Guest were born the 
 following children: Aaron W. , born De- 
 cember 9, 1869, is engaged in business in 
 Rochelle; Francis J., born July 3, 1861, is 
 a farmer of Ogle county; George W., born 
 September 22, 1863, is a retired merchant 
 of Rochelle; Anna M., born September 28, 
 1865, lives with her mother; Naomi, born 
 November 25, 1868, died December 30, 
 1868, and Elsie May, born July 15, 1872, 
 is the wife of Peter Wagner, a jeweler of 
 Denver, Colorado. The children were all 
 given the benefit of good school privileges 
 and are graduates of the high school of 
 Rochelle, while Frank and Aaron also 
 attended Wheaton College. 
 
 Mr. Guest always took an active and 
 commendable interest in public affairs, es- 
 pecially educational matters, and for many 
 years was a most efficient member of the 
 school board. He was a life-long member 
 of the Methodist Episcopal church and an 
 earnest, consistent Christian gentleman. 
 He was one of nature's noblemen and the 
 world is certainly better for his having 
 lived. As a citizen he was honorable, 
 prompt and true to every engagement; as a 
 man he held the honor and esteem of all 
 classes; and as a husband and father was a 
 model worthy of all imitation; unassuming 
 in manner, sincere in his friendships, stead- 
 fast and unswerving in his loyalty to the 
 right. His funeral services were conducted 
 in the Presbyterian church of Rochelle, by 
 Rev. M. M. Bates, the Methodist Episco- 
 pal minister, and his remains were interred 
 
 in Lawn Ridge cemetery. We quote from 
 an obituary written at the time by one who 
 knew him well: "The highest encomium 
 possible to be given any one can be truth- 
 fully said of Thomas Guest — 'He was an 
 honest man. 
 
 GEORGE W. PliRKINS, the present 
 popular mayor of Polo, is entitled to 
 distinction as one of the most progressive 
 and enterprising men of Ogle county, and 
 has for many years been prominently iden- 
 tified with the interests of Polo. Upon the 
 commercial activity of a community de- 
 pends its prosperity and the men who are 
 now recognized as leading citizens are 
 those who are at the head of extensive busi- 
 ness enterprises. He is a member of the 
 well-known lumber firm of Perkins & Petti- 
 bone, and is a man of broad capabilities 
 who carries toward to successful completion 
 whatever he undertakes. 
 
 Mr. Perkins is a native of Ogle county, 
 born in Buffalo Grove, November 11, 1850, 
 and is a son of Rufus Perkins, whose birth 
 occurred in New York, July 13, 1827, and 
 whose parents were Timothy and Sarah 
 (Vacty) Perkins. About 1838 or 1840 the 
 father came west and took up his residence 
 in Buffalo Grove, where he purchased a 
 farm and operated the same until 1852. 
 Having an attack of the "gold fever, " he 
 started for California across the plains. 
 The Indians were very troublesome and the 
 cattle stampeded several times, but fortu- 
 nately none of the party were killed. Dur- 
 ing this trip Mr. Perkins made what he con- 
 sidered one of the most famous trades of 
 his life. Vegetables were the articles of 
 food most needed on the long journey, and 
 he succeeded in trading an injured ox, which 
 
590 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 would have had to have been abandon- 
 ed, for one onion. In the Golden state he 
 engaged in mining with fair success and be- 
 came possessed of much valuable property 
 on the Pacific coast. After his return to 
 Ogle count)', in April, 1863, he frequently 
 made trips to the west to look after his 
 possessions there, crossing the plains four- 
 teen or fifteen times. Mr. Perkins became 
 interested in the lumber trade after his re- 
 turn to Ogle county, and was engaged in 
 that business until his retirement from 
 active life in 1875. Upright and hon- 
 orable in all his dealings, he has the 
 confidence and respect of all who know 
 him. In politics he was a Republican. 
 He married Miss Maria A. Saltzman, 
 who was born in Wisconsin, February 26, 
 1830, and died October 8, 1891, while he 
 passed away December 9, 1888. Our sub- 
 ject is the older of the two children born to 
 them. Mary G., who was born during the 
 sojourn of her parents in California, was 
 married in Polo, November 2, 1876, to 
 Charles D. Reed, a native of Buffalo town- 
 ship, Ogle county, and a son of Luman 
 and Mary (Hull) Reed. They have two 
 children, Rufus Maynard and Julia H. The 
 maternal grandparents of our subject were 
 Peter and Polly (Lynn) Saltzman. The 
 grandfather, who was a soldier of the war 
 of 1 81 2, was born March 28, 1797, and 
 died July 12, 1851, at Pittsburg, Pennsyl- 
 vania, while his wife was born March 4, 
 1804, and died in Tennessee, July 19, 1879. 
 George W. Perkins was taken by his 
 parents to California in 1852, but in 1857 
 he returned east with friends, by way of 
 Cape Horn, and made his home with an 
 uncle in Indiana until his parents returned 
 to Ogle county, where he joined them. He 
 attended school in Indiana and in Polo until 
 
 he attained the age of twenty years, and 
 began life for himself in the spring of 1870 
 by working in the lumber yard of Hunt & 
 Perkins, his father being the junior mem- 
 ber of the firm. Two years later his father 
 purchased the interest of his partner and 
 admitted our subject to the firm, the name 
 being changed to Rufus Perkins & Son. In 
 1873 the latter took full charge and carried 
 on operations under the style of G. W. 
 Perkins, with branch yards at Woosung 
 and Maryland. In 1882 the business was 
 merged into the Minnesota Lumber Com- 
 pany, which at one time owned fourteen 
 yards in different towns, and Mr. Perkins 
 served as its secretary as long as the com- 
 pany was in existence. On the death of 
 Mr. H. D. Barber, a leading member of 
 the firm, in 1896, the affairs of the com- 
 pany were dissolved and our subject asso- 
 ciated himself with Chauncey Pettibone, 
 under the firm name of Perkins & Petti- 
 bone. They do an extensive and profita- 
 ble business, which is largely foreign, ship- 
 ping pine lumber principally to Liverpool, 
 England, and Glasgow, Scotland. 
 
 On the loth of November, 1875, in Polo, 
 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Perkins 
 and Miss Mary L. Buck, who was born in 
 Americus, Indiana, and is one of a family of 
 six children, whose parents were Daniel and 
 Lucy A. (Humphrey) Buck. The mother 
 was born in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, 
 July 10, 1833, and in early life removed to 
 Americus, where she gave her hand in mar- 
 riage to Daniel Buck, who was a native of 
 Butler county, Ohio, who was born October 
 10, 1829, and died December 15, 1874. In 
 1856 he removed his family from Indiana to 
 Polo, Illinois, where he was engaged in the 
 dry goods trade. Mr. and Mrs. Perkins 
 have two children: Bryant L., who is a 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 39t 
 
 graduate of the Polo schools and also the 
 Northwestern University at Evaston, Illi- 
 nois, completing the scientific course in the 
 latter institution in 1898; and Clara, who is 
 a pupil in the Polo schools. 
 
 Mr. Perkins is a stalwart Republican 
 and while not a politician he takes great in- 
 terest in public affairs, and has most effi- 
 ciently served as mayor of Polo for four 
 years. Never were the reins of government 
 in more capable hands, as greater improve- 
 ments have been made during his adminis- 
 tration than ever before. A street grade 
 has been established, a park system adopted, 
 the city lighted by electricity, and the wa- 
 ter works extended. Prior to his election 
 to the office of mayor, Mr. Perkins was a 
 member of the city council for si.x years, du- 
 ring which time the beginning of the water 
 works was established and he was a mem- 
 ber of the committee that had the matter in 
 charge. The first water main was laid on 
 Mason street for fire purposes and has since 
 been extended until now there are six miles 
 of mains in the city. Mr. Perkins was city 
 treasurer two years, and school treasurer of 
 Polo school district for fourteen years, suc- 
 ceeding the first treasurer, J. C. Luckey, 
 who served in that office for twenty years. 
 Mr. Perkins is at present a member of the 
 board of education and under the direction 
 of the present board there is being erected 
 one of the finest and up to date school 
 houses in the northern portion of Illinois. 
 As a citizen he ever stands ready to dis- 
 charge every duty devolving upon him and 
 justly merits the esteem in which he is held 
 
 LEWIS STOCKING, for many years a 
 leading and influential farmer in Lynn- 
 ville township, was born in Ashfield, Massa- 
 
 chusetts, February 25, 1820. His father, 
 Herod Stocking, was born in the same 
 county and state. May 13, 1791, and there 
 followed the honorable occupation of a 
 farmer. He was twice married, his first 
 union being with Miss Lydia Ames, their 
 marriage being solemnized January 12, 
 1814. She was also a native of Ashfield, 
 Massachusetts, and was born April 14, 
 1796. By this union there were ten chil- 
 dren — John A., Joseph, third; Lewis, Will- 
 iam Chandler, William, second; Jonathan 
 S., Henry, Horace, and Horace, second. 
 The mother of these children died March 2, 
 1847, and June 29, 1848, Mr. Stocking wed- 
 ded Miss Lavina Forbush. 
 
 Herod Stocking moved with his family 
 to Cuyahoga county, Ohio, in 1832, and 
 from there to Ogle county, Illinois, in 1839. 
 He selected a location for his future home 
 in what was then Monroe precinct, but now 
 Monroe township, which continued to be 
 his home until his death, February 21, 
 1884. His wife died February 2, 1865. 
 They were both good people, highly re- 
 spected, and had many friends in the coun- 
 try of their adoption. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his 
 boyhood in his native state, and his youth 
 in Ohio. He came with his parents to 
 Ogle county, but soon afterward returned 
 to Ohio, and in his twentieth year began 
 life in earnest for himself. Previous to this, 
 however, he had worked for stipulated 
 monthly wages, his earnings going to his fa- 
 ther. He received but a limited education 
 in the schools of Massachusetts and Ohio, 
 but in the school of experience he has ob- 
 tained much valuable knowledge. 
 
 On the loth of December, 1843, Mr. 
 Stocking was united in marriage with Miss 
 Mary Burroughs, of Lorane, Ohio. She 
 
364 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 has been through his own industry, enter- 
 prise, perseverance and economy that he is 
 now one of the most substantial, as well as 
 one of the honored and highly respected 
 citizens of Forreston township. He and 
 his wife celebrated their golden wedding 
 August 29, 1895, at which time their 
 children, grandchildren, and great-grand- 
 children gathered at their home to rejoice 
 with them. Since then he has been called 
 upon to mourn the loss of his estimable 
 wife, who passed away October 10, 1897. 
 To them were born four sons and two 
 daughters, all of whom married and became 
 heads of families: Henry is now deceased; 
 John is a merchant and business man of 
 Forreston; Lewis is a farmer of Forreston 
 township; August is the subject of this 
 sketch; Elizabeth is the wife of August 
 Kilker, a farmer of Maryland township; and 
 Anna M. is the wife of William M. Richter, 
 a merchant of Forreston. 
 
 August Kaney was educated in the dis- 
 trict schools near his boyhood home, and as 
 soon as he was large enough to be of any 
 assistance he commenced to aid in the farm 
 work, first driving a team used in breaking 
 prairie. His early life was passed under 
 the parental roof, and after arriving at 
 man's estate continued to assist in the 
 operation of the home farm. In Mt. 
 Morris township, he was married March 6, 
 1879, to Miss Elizabeth Zumdahl, who was 
 born and reared on a farm in Lincoln town- 
 ship. Ogle county, a daughter of Christian 
 Zumdahl. They began their domestic life 
 on the old homestead, and since taking 
 charge of the same Mr. Kaney has built a 
 large neat barn, good granary and out- 
 buildings, and now has one of the best im- 
 proved places of the locality. He is en- 
 gaged in breeding and raising a good grade 
 
 of Durham and short horn cattle and Poland 
 China hogs, and in this branch of his busi- 
 ness has also met with success. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Kaney have four children: 
 August J., Irvin E., Elizabeth D. and Ar- 
 thur E. all attending the home school, antl 
 have lost three: Edward, who died at the 
 age of four years; and Ezra and Sylvia, who 
 both died at the age of two. The parents 
 are active and prominent members of the 
 Evangelical church at North Grove, both 
 have been teachers in the Sabbath school, 
 while Mr. Kaney has served as its superin- 
 tendent three years and is one of the 
 officers of the church. Formerly he was 
 identified with the Democratic party and 
 voted for Grover Cleveland, but is now a Re- 
 publican. He is a stockholder and direct- 
 or of the Forreston Mutual Fire Insurance 
 Company and gives his support to all en- 
 terprises which he believes calculated to 
 advance the moral, intellectual or material 
 welfare of his township and county. 
 
 AMERICUSL. MENDENHALL, M. D., 
 who is engaged in the practice of his 
 profession at Kings, Ogle county, Illinois, 
 was born in Winchester, Ohio, May 21, 
 1846, and is a son of Dr. Elijah and Mary 
 Angeline (Graves) Mendenhall, the former 
 who was a son of John Mendenhall, being a 
 native of Preble county, Ohio, born January 
 29, 1 8 16. He was reared and educated in 
 Ohio, and was a graduate of the Ohio 
 Medical College, of Cincinnati. He began 
 practice at Somerville, Ohio, and there re- 
 mained five years, moving from that place 
 to Winchester, in the same state, and later 
 to Cincinnati, where he remained in active 
 practice until 1872, when he moved to In-. 
 dianapolis, Indiana, which was his home 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 365 
 
 until his death, November 3, 1897. His 
 wife died two days later, and the two were 
 buried in one coffin, their remains being 
 interred in Oakwood cemetery, Indian- 
 apolis He was recognized as one of the 
 ablest physicians in that city, and one of the 
 best diagnosticians in the profession. A 
 Republican in politics, he gave but little 
 time to political matters, his professional 
 duties requiring his entire time. In his 
 family were four sons: Alonzo, born August 
 6, 1843, is a practicing physician of Cicero, 
 Indiana. Rev. James W., born November 
 8, 1844, was a clergyman in the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and for the four years 
 preceding his death, which occurred June 
 18, 1892, was editor of the Methodist Re- 
 view, a position to which he was appointed 
 by the general conference. He had just 
 begun his second term of four years when 
 removed by death. Americus L. , our sub- 
 ject, was next in order of birth. Dr. Win- 
 field S. , born February 10, 1848, died Janu- 
 ary 25, 1S99. He was for many years a 
 practicing physician of Springfield, Illinois. 
 He was a graduate of Miami Medical Col- 
 lege, Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in Cincinnati, Ohio. From 
 i860 to 1864 he was a student in the Wes- 
 leyan University, Delaware, Ohio. On the 
 12th of February, of the latter year, he left 
 school and enlisted in Company F, One 
 Hundred and Eighty-third regiment, Ohio 
 Volunteer Infantry, under command of 
 Colonel Hoge, his company being com- 
 manded by Captain Thornton. The regi- 
 ment was attached to the third brigade, 
 second division, twenty-fifth army corps, of 
 the Army of the Cumberland. With his 
 regiment he took part in the engagements 
 at Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee, and 
 
 Wilmington, North Carolina, and also in 
 several minor engagements. He enlisted 
 for one year, but served until the close of 
 the war, being mustered out of the service 
 at Camp Denison, Ohio, May 29, 1865. 
 
 On returning home our subject entered 
 the Richmond Commercial College, at 
 Richmond, Indiana, from which he was 
 graduated in 1 866. He then took a posi- 
 tion as bookeeper with the wholesale house 
 of John Shilito, of Cincinnati, one of the 
 largest establishments of its kind in the 
 west. He remained with that house one 
 year, but was not able to endure the con- 
 finement, and so resigned his position and 
 entered the Miami Medical College, of Cin- 
 cinnati, from which he graduated March 2, 
 1869, in the same class with his brother 
 Winfield. Receiving his diploma, he com- 
 menced the practice of his profession at 
 Granville, Indiana, in the fall of 1869, and 
 there remained three years. In 1872 he 
 came to Illinois, locating at Kappa, Wood- 
 ford county, where he built up an excellent 
 practice, and there remained until 1890, 
 when, on account of failing health of his 
 wife, he removed to Smithfield, Nebraska. 
 He remained in that place until the fall of 
 1893 when he removed to Kings, which has 
 since been his home, and where he has also 
 built up a good general practice. 
 
 Dr. Mendenhall was married at Muncie, 
 Indiana, November 30, 1870, to Miss Louiss 
 Smith, a native of that city, and daughter 
 of William M. and Phoebe Smith, both of 
 whom were natives of Ohio. She died 
 October 12, 1891. leaving four sons: Wil- 
 bur, of DesMoines, Iowa; Roscoe, a student 
 of the law school of DesMoines, Iowa; 
 Adelbert, a medical student of the Des- 
 Moines Medical College; and Walter, a 
 student of the hirh school of DesMoines. 
 
394 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 he engaged in the grain, lumber and coal 
 business. Later he formed a partnership 
 with his brother, John A., which continued 
 twenty-seven years, since which time he has 
 conducted the business alone. His business 
 has been quite an extensive one, the amount 
 of grain handled each year being very large, 
 Creston being considered one of the best 
 grain markets on the Northwestern road. 
 
 Mr. McCrea was married in Philadelphia 
 November 19, 1868, to Miss Matilda L. 
 Hunter, a native of that city, where she 
 was reared. Three daughters came to bless 
 their union — Jennie, Ida H. and Edith B. 
 All have been given good educational facili- 
 ties, Ida H. now taking a course in the 
 State Normal at Normal, Illinois. Mrs. 
 McCrea passed to her reward June 10, 1893, 
 and was laid to rest in the Creston ceme- 
 tery. She was a devoted member of the 
 Congregational church. 
 
 Politically Mr. McCrea is a life-long Re- 
 publican, his first presidential ballot being 
 cast in i860 for Abraham Lincoln. He 
 has taken quite an interest in local politics, 
 but has never sought office. He has, how- 
 ever, served in several official positions, be- 
 ing a member of the village board for several 
 years, and one term president of the board. 
 He was elected and served two terms as a 
 member of the board of supervisors, making 
 a valuable member of that body and serv- 
 ing on several important committees. He 
 has been a member of the county central 
 committee of his party, and is now chair- 
 man of the congressional committee, a posi- 
 tion which he has held for about sixteen 
 years. He is a member of the Congrega- 
 tionalist church of Creston, and has been 
 an active worker in the Sunday-school, both 
 as a teacher and superintendent. Frater- 
 nally he is a Master Mason. A good busi- 
 
 ness man, he is thoroughly enterprising and 
 progressive, and enjoys in a remarkable de- 
 gree the confidence of those among whom 
 so many years of his life has been spent. 
 
 WILLIAM J. METTLER, of Creston, 
 Illinois, is one of the active and en- 
 terprising farmers of Ogle county, owning 
 and operating two farms, the home place, 
 which adjoins the corporate limits of the 
 village of Creston, comprising two hundred 
 and forty acres of fine land, which is kept 
 under a high state of cultivation. A resi- 
 dent of the state since 1840, and of Ogle 
 county since 1868, he was born in Tomp- 
 kins county. New York, January 9, 1834, 
 and came with his parents, Relph and Mary 
 Ann (Housewert) Mettler, to Winnebago 
 county, the family locating about six miles 
 southeast of Rockford. His father died the 
 following year, and the mother reared the 
 family. Mr. Mettler remained with his 
 mother until he was eighteen years old, in 
 the meantime receiving his primary educa- 
 tion in the common schools. He later at- 
 tended Rock River Seminary, at Mt. Morris, 
 two terms, which completed his school life. 
 In 1858 Mr. Mettler drove across the 
 country to Texas, from which he returned 
 the following year. He passed over the 
 greater part of northeast Texas, and also 
 through Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and 
 Louisiana, visiting at the time the city of 
 New Orleans. On returning home he en- 
 gaged in farming the old home place, re- 
 maining there until 1864, when he went to 
 Lee county and purchased a farm of eighty 
 acres, and remained there until 18C8, when 
 he came to Ogle county and purchased resi- 
 dence property in Creston. With his 
 brother he invented a tiling machine which 
 
WM. J. METTLER. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 397 
 
 he manufactured and operated for four 
 years. In 1869 he purchased his farm of 
 one hundred and sixty acres in Linnville 
 township. In 1884 he moved to his pres- 
 ent place of residence, the farm originally 
 comprising but one hundred and twenty 
 acres of the estate of Willis S. Roberts, to 
 which he later added a like number of acres, 
 giving him a fine farm of two hundred and 
 forty acres. He has remodeled the dwell- 
 ing on the place, and has built one of the 
 best barns in the township, what is well 
 termed a model barn. It has a capacity 
 for one hundred and fifty tons of hay, two 
 hundred and fifty tons of silo, and some 
 three thousand bushels of grain, with base- 
 ment room for fifty-four head of cattle. 
 The plan of the barn originated with Mr. 
 Mettler, and he has been complimented 
 over and over again on its convenience and 
 perfect adaptability for the purposes in- 
 tended. His farm is rented the greater 
 part of the time, but he has given his per- 
 sonal attention to its cultivation to some ex- 
 tent, and has raised much grain. He has 
 been a successful farmer and financier, hav- 
 ing commenced life with but little means, 
 and by his industry and thrift has acquired 
 valuable property and is regarded as among 
 the best farmers in the county. 
 
 On the 25th of February, 1865, Mr. 
 Mettler was united in marriage with Miss 
 Selina H. Roberts, a native of Putnam 
 county. New York, and a daughter of Willis 
 S. and Phoebe S. (Stevens) Roberts, the 
 former a native of New York and the latter 
 of Danbury, Connecticut. Her father came 
 to Ogle county in 1865 and purchased a 
 farm adjoining the village of Creston, where 
 he spent the remainder of his life, dying in 
 1883. His wife survived him some years, 
 dying in 1896. Both were laid to rest in 
 
 the cemetery at Creston. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Mettler two children were born: Minnie, 
 wife of Orson N. Phelps, station agent at 
 DeKalb, Illinois, and Edgar Willis, who is 
 now assisting on the home farm, but who 
 received a good education in the schools of 
 Creston and a Chicago business college. 
 After leaving the business college, he held a 
 responsible position with a bank at Engle- 
 wood, Chicago, for one year, which he left 
 to assist his father in the management of the 
 home place. ^ 
 
 , Mr. Mettler cast his first presidential 
 vote for John C. Fremont, and for years 
 voted the regular party ticket, but of late 
 he has been voting independent, voting for 
 the man rather than the party. F"raternally 
 he is a Master Mason, holding membership 
 with the lodge at Creston. He is a man of 
 superior business ability, of upright char- 
 acter and moral worth, and wherever known 
 is held in high esteem. He is one of the 
 few left who came to this section in pioneer 
 times, and who has a vivid recollection of 
 early events. 
 
 WILLIAM WALLACE GOULD, M. 
 D., is one of the successful physi- 
 cians of Ogle county and a prominent resi- 
 dent of Rochelle. He has much natural 
 ability, but is withal a close student and 
 believes thoroughly in the maxim "there is 
 no excellence without labor." His devo- 
 tion to the duties of his profession there- 
 fore, combined with a comprehensive un- 
 derstanding of the principles of the science 
 of medicine, has made him a most success- 
 ful and able practitioner, whose prominence 
 is well deserved. 
 
 The Doctor was born in the town of 
 Hamburg, Erie county, New York, July 16, 
 
398 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 1826, a son of Emmons S. and Maria 
 (Greene) Gould, in whose family were three 
 children, namely: Emmons S., deceased; 
 and Wellington R., who is now living in 
 Canada, at the age of eighty-three years. 
 The father, who was a native of Connecticut, 
 and a sergeant in the war of 18 12, died a 
 few months before our subject was born, at 
 about the age of fifty-five years, and the 
 mother died at his birth. Dr. Gould was 
 then reared by an aunt at Buffalo, New 
 York, until about eighteen years of age, and 
 his literary education was acquired in the 
 public schools of that city. When his aunt 
 married and moved to a farm, he accom- 
 panied her, and the following eight years 
 were passed amid rural scenes, working for 
 wages upon the farm after he attained his 
 majority. He commenced the study of 
 medicine with Dr. Gobel, at Worthington, 
 Ohio, and later graduated at the Berkshire 
 Medical College, Pittsfield, Massachusetts. 
 He engaged in the practice of his chosen 
 profession at Ingersoll, Canada, for three 
 years, but in June, i860, came to Rochelle, 
 then known as Lane, where he was not 
 long in building up a good practice, which 
 he still enjoys. 
 
 In Ingersoll, Canada, Dr. (ioukl was 
 married, February 22, 1854, to Miss Mary 
 E. Chase, a native of Windsor, Vermont, 
 whose parents died when she was an infant. 
 She was adopted and reared by her father's 
 uncle, Salmon P. Chase, who was one of 
 the distinguished members of President 
 Lincoln's cabinet. Of the five children 
 born to the Doctor and his wife, Mary E. 
 and Frank C. are both deceased. Jo- 
 sephine E. is the wife of H. D. Judson, of 
 Aurora, Illinois, superintendent of the Chi- 
 cago division of the Chicago, Burlington & 
 yuincy railroad, and they have had four 
 
 children: Bessie; Howard M. ; Fred H. , 
 deceased; and William Wallace. Mary 
 Gertrude is the wife of Dr. W. R. Franklin, 
 of Rockford, Illinois, and they have two 
 sons, Ralph G. and William R. Anna 
 Chase, who completes the family, has for 
 four years taught in a kindergarten in Chi- 
 cago. All the daughters are graduates of 
 the Rochelle high school. 
 
 Fraternally, Dr. Gould is a member of 
 the American Institute of Homeopathy of 
 the United States; the American Association 
 of Orificial Surgery;the Illinois Homeopathic 
 Medical Society; and the Northwestern 
 Homeopathic Medical Society, while polit- 
 ically he is identified with the Republican 
 party. Wherever he goes the Doctor wins 
 friends and has the happy faculty of being 
 able to retain them. His popularity has 
 made him a great favorite in all circles. 
 
 JACOB I. KREBBS, M. D.— One of the 
 most exacting of all the higher lines of 
 occupation to which a man may lend his en- 
 ergies is that of the physician. A most 
 scrupulous preliminary training is demanded, 
 a nicety of judgment but little understood 
 by the laity. Our subject, 'who is a prom- 
 inent and successful physician of Polo, Illi- 
 nois, is well fitted for the profession which 
 he has chosen as a life work, and his skill 
 and ability have won for him a lucrative 
 practice. 
 
 Dr. Krebbs was born in Sclin's Grove, 
 Pennsylvania, July 16, 1857, and on the pa- 
 ternal side is of German descent, his grand- 
 father, Jacob Krebbs, having been born in 
 Germany and when a young man emigrated 
 to America, settling in the Keystone state. 
 He became quite wealthy and married a 
 Miss Kiefer, of Pennsylvania. Their son, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 399 
 
 Alexander Kfepbs, the Doctor's father, was 
 born in SeHn's Grove, in 1825, and died in 
 1894. He was a member of a Pennsyl- 
 vania regiment during the Civil war and 
 after peace was restored made his home at 
 Elkhflrt, Indiana, until called from this life. 
 For twenty-eight years he was in the serv- 
 ice of the Lake Shore railroad, returning 
 to them after the war. Politically he was 
 identified with the Republican party, soci- 
 ally affiliated with the Grand Army of the 
 Republic and the Independent Order of 
 Odd Fellows, and religiously was a mem- 
 ber of the Lutheran church. The Doctor's 
 mother, who bore the maiden name of Eliz- 
 abeth Thursbey, was also a native of Selin's 
 Grove, Pennsylvania, and died in 1862, at 
 the age of ninety-eight years. Her father, 
 Thomas Thursbey, was a soldier of tiie war 
 of 1812, a farmer by occupation, and lived 
 to the extreme old age of ninety-nine years. 
 To the parents of our subject were born 
 two children, the younger being David New- 
 ton, now a resident of Chicago. 
 
 Dr. Krebbs was only six years okl when 
 his mother died, at which time his father 
 was at the front, valiantly fighting for the 
 old flag and the cause it represented. His 
 early life was mostly passed in Elkhart, Indi- 
 ana, where he worked on farms during the 
 summer months and attended school through 
 the winter season until seventeen years of 
 age. Coming to Eagle Point, Ogle county, 
 Illinois, he studied medicine with Dr. Mc- 
 Pherson one summer, and then entered the 
 medical department of the Iowa State Uni- 
 versity at Iowa City, Iowa, but did not 
 graduate from that institution until March, 
 1886. Immediately after his graduation he 
 opened an office in Hampton, Iowa, where 
 he engaged in practice until i8go, in which 
 year he took a post graduate course at the 
 
 Chicago Policlinic under Drs. Senn and 
 Fenzer. He remained in Chicago until 
 1896 and for five years held the chair of 
 surgery in the Physio Medical College, be- 
 ing lecturer and clinic surgeon. He has 
 met with unusual success in his chosen pro- 
 fession and is especially successful in the 
 line of surgery. On leaving Chicago he 
 came to Polo, and it was not long before 
 he succeeded in building up a large and lu- 
 crative practice which he still enjoys. 
 
 In Polo, Dr. Krebbs married Miss Effie 
 Ornsbee, a native of that place and a daugh- 
 ter of C. N. and Fannie (Porter) Ornsbee. 
 To the Doctor and his wife has been born a 
 son, Claude Naem. In his political affili- 
 ations our subject is a Republican, and 
 while a resident of Chicago served as a 
 member of the board of health. He is a 
 Royal Arch Mason and a member of the 
 English Lutheran church. Fraternally he 
 belongs to the Chicago Medical Society and 
 the State Medical Society of Iowa, and in 
 the ranks of his professional brethren he oc- 
 cupies an enviable position. 
 
 EL. ROSECRANCE, who resides on 
 section 5, Monroe township, and one of 
 the substantial farmers of Ogle county, has 
 been a resident of the county since 1855. 
 He was born in New York state, April 29, 
 1829, and is the son of John W. and Mary 
 (Edson) Rosecrance, also natives of the same 
 state. By occupation his father was a 
 farmer, which vocation he followed during 
 his entire life, having a farm of one hundred 
 and twenty acres. He died in 1850 in his 
 native state, his wife surviving him many 
 years, dying at South Bend, Indiana, in 
 1886. 
 
400 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood in his native state and was reared to 
 farm life. His education was mostly ob- 
 tained in the school of experience, that ob- 
 tained in the school room being very mea- 
 gre indeed. The opportunities afforded in 
 the prairie state for the enterprising man 
 had come to his ears, and he determined to 
 here try his fortune. Accordingly in 1855 
 he came to the state and located in Still- 
 man Valley where he resided three years. 
 The first year he worked by the month, but 
 the second and third years he rented and 
 cultivated farms, the first comprising one 
 hundred and twenty acres, and the second 
 eighty acres. He then moved to Monroe 
 township and purchased a farm of eighty 
 acres, and later, in 1884, forty acres addi- 
 tional, giving him a fine farm of one hun- 
 dred and twenty acres, all of which is under 
 cultivation. 
 
 On the iSth of February, 1852, Mr. 
 Rosecrance was united in marriage at Elbe, 
 Genesee county, New York, with Miss Ad- 
 die L. Norton, daughter of Lochlin and 
 Laura (Clark) Norton. By this union two 
 children were born. Frank E. grew to 
 manhood and married Stella Chase, daugh- 
 ter of Henry and Catherine (Hanford) 
 Chase, who were early settlers of Winne- 
 bago county. Frank E. is recognized as 
 one of the substantial farmers of the town- 
 ship and is operating a farm of two hundred 
 acres. Hattie M. married Arthur Chase, 
 son of Henry and Catherine Chase, and 
 they now reside in Cherry Valley township, 
 Winnebago county, where he operates a 
 farm of two hundred acres. After forty-five 
 years of married life, Mrs. Rosecrance was 
 called to her reward, her death occurring 
 April 16, 1898. She was a loving wife and 
 mother, a kind and obliging neighbor, and 
 
 her death was deeply regretted by all who 
 knew her. 
 
 Since removing to his present farm, Mr. 
 Rosecrance has made many substantial im- 
 provements upon the place, erecting new 
 barns, putting up a good windmill, setting 
 out orchards and ornamental trees, and re- 
 modeled the house. In addition to gen- 
 eral farming, Mr. Rosecrance has engaged 
 in stock raising to some extent, giving spe- 
 cial attention to raising Poland China hogs, 
 and Hereford cattle. He generally ships his 
 own stock to Chicago. 
 
 In politics Mr. Rosecrance is a Repub- 
 lican. He has served as highway commis- 
 sioner nine years and school director ten 
 years. He is a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church at New Milford. A resi- 
 dence of more than half a century in Ogle 
 county has brought him in contact with the 
 best people, and wherever known he is held 
 in high esteem. 
 
 COLONEL DAVID CHAPIN MAY.— 
 The deserved reward of a well-spent 
 life is an honored retirement from business, 
 in which to enjoy the fruits of former toil. 
 To-day after a useful and beneficial career 
 Colonel May is quietly living at his pleasant 
 home in Rochelle, surrounded by the com- 
 fort that earnest labor has brought him. 
 He is a prominent citizen of Ogle county, 
 and for many years he was actively identi- 
 fied with its business and agricultural in- 
 terests. 
 
 The Colonel was born in Burlington, 
 Otsego county. New York, March 8, 181 5, 
 a son of Harmon May, whose birth occurred 
 in Windham county, Connecticut, in 1780. 
 The paternal grandfather, Joseph May, was 
 also a native of Connecticut, but the family 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 40 1 
 
 was originally from Massachusetts. Harmon 
 May followed the occupation of farming 
 throughout life, and at an early day re- 
 moved to Otsego county, New York, where 
 he died in 1857, honored and respected by 
 all who knew him. In politics he was a 
 Whig and in religious faith a Presbyterian. 
 He married Miss Sarah Monroe, who was 
 born in Burlington, New York, in 1790, 
 and died in 1834. Her parents were Will- 
 iam and Deborah (Pope) Monroe, quite 
 prominent and highly respected people of 
 Burlington. Mr. Monroe also engaged in 
 farming as a life work, served as a justice 
 of the peace for many years, and as a coun- 
 try lawyer wrote many deeds and settled 
 many estates for his neighbors and friends. 
 He was from Massachusetts and was one of 
 the pioneers of Otsego county. New York, 
 having located there when the country was 
 almost an unbroken wilderness, and the 
 family learned the true meaning of the term 
 hard times in their pioneer home. Of the 
 seven children born to Harmon and Sarah 
 (Monroe) May, only two are now living: 
 David C. , of this review; and Josiah, who 
 is also living in Rochelle. 
 
 Colonel May was reared in his native 
 township and acquired his education in a 
 district school, where ninety pupils were 
 often accommodated in a small room. This 
 he attended only for two months during the 
 winter season, walking two miles and a half 
 to and from school. On attaining his ma- 
 jority he started out in life for himself and 
 for several years engaged in farming. After 
 his marriage he bought a small farm, but 
 sold it a year later and purchased a small 
 hotel in the town of Edmonston, New York, 
 which he conducted for five years On dis- 
 posing of that property he bought another 
 farm near the village, owning and operating 
 
 the same for two years. At the end of that 
 time he sold, and in March, 1855, we find 
 him a resident of Rockford, Illinois, where 
 he carried on a hotel for five years. It was 
 at that place he received his title of 
 "colonel," in the following manner: The 
 editor of a Rockford paper was passing the 
 hotel one Sunday forenoon and stopped for 
 a friendly chat with the landlord. He ac- 
 cepted our subject's invitation to dinner. 
 It was such a one as was not usually served 
 in those early days in a western inn, and in 
 the notice of it, in the following issue of 
 his paper, the editor spoke of the excellent 
 dinner to which he had been invited by 
 "Colonel May." The title seemed to suit 
 the jovial host and has clung to him up to 
 the present time. On leaving Rockford he 
 came to Rochelle, where he also engaged 
 in the hotel business for five years on the 
 site of the present hotel De Los. At the 
 end of that time he disposed of the hotel 
 and engaged in business as an agricultural 
 implement dealer for the same length of 
 time. For the following twenty years he 
 lived on a small farm near the town, and 
 engaged in raising pure blood Devonshire 
 cattle, and also dealt in all kinds of cattle, 
 but, in 1885, he sold the farm and returned 
 to Rochelle, where he has since lived re- 
 tired. 
 
 In Burlington, New York, November 
 II, 1 84 1, Colonel May was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Rebecca Clark Staunton, 
 and now for over fifty-seven years they 
 have traveled life's journey together, shar- 
 ing its joys and sorrows, its adversity and 
 prosperity. Mrs. May was born in South 
 Kingston, Rhode Island, November 12, 
 1820, and is a daughter of John Staunton, 
 Jr. , who was serving as sheriff of his county 
 at the time of his death, August 9, 1822. 
 
402 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 He married Eliza Riter Boss, a daughter of 
 William Boss, and a native of New York 
 state, who died at the age of forty-one 
 years. The Colonel and his wife had one 
 son, Henry R. May, who was born in Ed- 
 monston, New York, June 22, 1845, ^"d 
 was educated in the schools of Rockford 
 and Racine College. After holding a posi- 
 tion in a store for a time, he accepted a 
 place with the Chicago, Burlington & 
 CHiincy railroad, and was stationed at St. 
 Paul, Minnesota, as assistant auditor, but 
 at the time of his death was serving as 
 auditor and cashier of the City street rail- 
 way, of St. Paul. He died December 6, 
 1889, mourned by all who knew him. He 
 made many friends, as he was of a singularly 
 amiable and friendly disposition, and was 
 always even tempered and cordial in man- 
 ner. He married Miss Ida Monroe, in 
 Rochelle, a daughter of Woodward and 
 Mary Ann (Wayman) Monroe, and to them 
 were born two sons: Harry M., who 
 graduated with honors in June, 1898, from 
 the Illinois University at Champaign, as an 
 electrical engineer, ranking first in a class 
 of sixty, and is now holding a responsible 
 position with the Union Electric Company, 
 of Chicago; and William, who is attending 
 the Rochelle high school. 
 
 ROBERT N. JOHNSON, whose farm 
 lies in sections 2 and 3, Taylor town- 
 ship, is one of the energetic and enterpris- 
 ing farmers of Ogle county. He was born 
 June 22, 1843, in Delaware, Ohio, and is 
 the son of William and Margaret (Noe) 
 Johnson, the former a native of Virginia 
 and the latter of New Jersey. The paternal 
 grandfather, Jesse Johnson, was also a 
 native of Virginia, but removed to Ohio, 
 
 with his family, about 1 800, where he later 
 died. William Johnson was a farmer and 
 speculator, an enterprising and influential 
 man in the state of his adoption. In his 
 family of children, our subject was sixth in 
 order of birth. Of the others John lives in 
 Oklahoma; Caroline, the widow of Samuel 
 Maceer, resides in Cunningham, Kansas; 
 Mary Ann, who married a Mr. Henry, lives 
 near Delaware, Ohio; Abbacinde married 
 Thomas Doty, but is now deceased; Mor- 
 gan is a business man in Chicago; Ahaz, re- 
 sides in Alma, Colorado; Adam lives in 
 Carthage, Illinois; Phebe married Liberty 
 Walkup, and they live in Rockford; Clara 
 died at the age of sixteen years; Clinton re- 
 sides near Ashton, Illinois; while the re- 
 maining one died in infancy. 
 
 The subject of this sketch remained at 
 home until eighteen years old, assisting in 
 the farm work, and in attendance upon the 
 common schools. The war for the union 
 being in progress, he enlisted in the second 
 battalion, eighteenth United States Infantry 
 and served three years. During 1862 he 
 was in the siege of Corinth, the battles of 
 Perryville and Stone River, besides various 
 lesser engagements. In 1863 he was in the 
 battles of Hoover's Gap, Chickamauga and 
 Mission Ridge. In May, Juneandjuly, 1864, 
 he was with General Sherman in his various 
 campaigns, and at Atlanta, Georgia, Sep- 
 tember 20, 1864, he was mustered out of 
 service, having given full three years to his 
 country. His record was a commendable 
 one during the entire time. 
 
 After receiving his discharge, Mr. John- 
 son returned to his father's farm and contin- 
 ued to assist in its cultivation until the fall 
 of 1867. On the 21st of September, of 
 that year, he was united in marriage with 
 Miss Sarah Stevens, daughter of Joseph and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 403 
 
 Margaret (Sharp) Stevens, who were among 
 the early settlers of Ogle county, her fa- 
 ther being a native of Kentucky. By this 
 union there have been six children, the first 
 and second dying in infancy. William grew 
 to manhood and married Minnie Chalmers, 
 and they make their home in Rockford, Illi- 
 nois, where he is employed as billing clerk 
 in the freight department of the Chicago & 
 Northwestern railway. Fred S. resides 
 at home and assists in carrying on the home 
 farm. The mother of these children died 
 February 24, 1882, and September 28, 
 I 886, Mr. Johnson married Miss Addie Biy, 
 daughter of Isaac and Rebecca Bly, who 
 were also numbered among the early settlers 
 of Ogle county. By this union there is one 
 child, Mildred. 
 
 Mr. Johnson has three hundred and nine- 
 teen acres of well improved land and is en- 
 gaged in general farming. Nearly all the 
 improvements upon the place have been 
 made by himself. He has but lately com- 
 pleted a new and elegant dwelling, two 
 stories and attic, and his barns are large 
 and commodious, capable of sheltering 
 many head of stock. One wind-mill is in 
 constant use pumping water for the stock. 
 Since 1880, Mr. Johnson has been engaged 
 quite extensively in stock raising, which has 
 been a valuable part of his business. All 
 the accessories of the place are such as to 
 prove conclusively that he thoroughly un- 
 derstands his life work. 
 
 Mr. Johnson has never been an aspirant 
 for political or official honors, and he has 
 therefore held but few public offices. For 
 one term he served as road commissioner, 
 and for some years was on the school board. 
 Fraternally he is a member of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic, uniting with that or- 
 ganization for the reason that he desired to 
 
 mingle now and then with those with whom 
 he suffered in field and in camp during the 
 days of the Civil war. Politically he is a 
 Republican, believing that party best embod- 
 ies the principles for which he fought. Mrs. 
 Johnson is a devoted member of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church. Whether as a sol- 
 dier, fighting in the defense of his country, 
 or as a private citizen engaged in tilling the 
 soil, every duty laid upon him he dis- 
 charges faithfully and conscientiously. 
 
 CLARENCE E. GARDNER. -^ Fore- 
 most among the prominent citizens of 
 Rochelle, stands the gentleman whose name 
 heads this sketch. He is one of Illinois' 
 native sons, having been born in Franklin 
 township, De Kalb county, on the 19th of 
 February, 1865, and is a son of Edward 
 and Mary Gardner. The former was born 
 in Lancastershire, England, and came to 
 America with his mother at the age of 
 twelve years, sailing from Liverpool on the 
 "John and Lucy," which, owing to severe 
 storms off the coast of Nova Scotia, was 
 five weeks and two days in reaching New 
 York harbor. Upon landing they came di- 
 rect to Franklin township, where Edward 
 grew to manhood and fi>llowed farming, 
 having acquired three hundred and sixty 
 acres of valuable land in that locality. In 
 1868 he retired Irom farming and took up 
 auctioneering, having been called upon to 
 serve in that capacity upon various occa- 
 sions before leaving the farm. Later he 
 removed to Belvidere, where he now resides. 
 The paternal grandparents of our subject 
 were Edward Gardner, Sr., a native of 
 Lancastershire, England, who died three 
 months previous to his son's birth, and El- 
 len Hargrave, who, a number of years after 
 
404 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 her husband's death, married Thomas Moon, 
 who brought the family to America, reach- 
 ing Franklin township in 185 1. 
 
 Clarence E. Gardner, the subject of this 
 review, attended the common and high 
 schools of Rochelle, graduating from the 
 latter in 1882. He attended the Evergreen 
 Business College, of Bloomington, and after 
 graduating, went into the drug business, 
 which he gave up after six years to read law 
 in the office of Hathaway & Baxter, being 
 admitted to the bar in 1S91. His father 
 was a successful auctioneer, and his son 
 early acquired the art. Since 1886 he has 
 been actively engaged in this line of busi- 
 ness and in the fall and spring sales he is 
 much in demand, owing to his successful 
 method of selling. In addition to his law 
 practice, Mr. Gardner has, since 1894, been 
 interested in the real estate business, in 
 which he is as successful as in auctioneer- 
 ing. He is the owner of a fine farm ad- 
 journing the town of Rochelle, and is inter- 
 ested in the breeding of pure blood Jersey 
 and short horn cattle. He is also a lover 
 of the horse and possesses some very fine 
 roadsters. 
 
 On the 25th of May, 1886, he was mar- 
 ried to Alice E. Reed, sister of the present 
 county judge, Frank S. Reed, and one son, 
 Fred Eugene, was born to them October 
 7, 1887. Mrs. Gardner died January 19, 
 1889, with consumption, shortly after her 
 return from Colorado. 
 
 On November 26, 1891, Mr. Gardner 
 married Blanche P. Baxter, of Rochelle, a 
 daughter of Delos A. and Mary (Wirrick) 
 Baxter, whose history is given in the sketch 
 of Delos W. Baxter, of this edition. Mr. 
 Gardner is a Republican in politics and is 
 now serving his fourth term as city attor- 
 ney. He was first elected before being ad- 
 
 mitted to the Bar, and was on the anxious 
 seat lest he fail of admission. He passed 
 the examinations with honors and in due 
 season was qualified. He is a member 
 of the Masonic lodge and chapter of Ro- 
 chelle and Sycamore commandery, K. T. , 
 and also of the K. O. T. G., of Malta. He 
 is a brilliant and eminent lawyer and an 
 energetic and much honored citizen of Ro- 
 chelle. 
 
 DR. JEROME B. SNYDER is engaged 
 in the practice of medicine and sur- 
 gery in Polo, Illinois, and has that love for 
 and devotion to his profession which has 
 brought to him success and won him a place 
 among the ablest representatives of the med- 
 ical fraternity in Ogle county. He was 
 born in Pittstown, Rensselaer county. New 
 York, February 28, 1844, a son of John G. 
 and Elizabeth (Rollins) Snyder. The fa- 
 ther, who was a farmer by occupation, 
 spent his entire life in Rensselaer county, 
 where he died at the age of seventy-seven 
 years. In politics he was a stanch Demo- 
 crat. The mother died at the age of sixty- 
 five years. To them were born eleven chil- 
 dren, all of whom reached years of matur- 
 ity and married, but two sons and one 
 daughter are now deceased. 
 
 In the county of his nativity, the Doc- 
 tor remained until fifteen years of age and 
 then came to Illinois, making his home with 
 a brother in Earl, La Salle county. He 
 continued to attend school during the win- 
 ter months until seventeen, and later worked 
 in the office of his brother, who was a promi- 
 nent attorney and banker of that place, but 
 was clerking in a store at the outbreak of 
 the Civil war. Responding to his country's 
 call for aid, he enlisted at Earl, in 1861, 
 
TUK BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 405 
 
 in Company I, Fourth Illinois Cavalry under 
 Colonel Dickny, was mustered in at Otta- 
 wa, and was first sent to Cairo, Illinois, 
 where the regiment made their headquarters 
 lor two or three months, during which they 
 engaged some in scouting in Kentucky. Dr. 
 Snyder participated in the battles of I'ort 
 Henry, Fort Donelson and Shiloh, was 
 wounded in the last engagemen, and sent to 
 the hospital, where he was discharged three 
 months later on account of physical disa- 
 bilities. Returning to Illinois, he read 
 medicine with Dr. Hinkley, at Leland, for 
 one year, and later attended the Chicago 
 Medical College, continuing his reading 
 during the summer months under the di- 
 rection of Dr. D. M. Vosburg. In the 
 spring of 1864 he was admitted to practice, 
 and first located at Grand Detour, where 
 he remained for five years. During the fol- 
 lowing five years he was engaged in prac- 
 tice at Woosung, and in 1874 came to Polo 
 where he was not long in building up a large 
 and lucrative practice, which he still enjoys. 
 He has given special attention to surgery 
 and has met with most excellent success in 
 his chosen calling. 
 
 At Earl, Illinois, Dr. Snyder was married 
 in 1S67, to Miss Maria M. Brown, a native of 
 that place and a daughter of Allen and Sarah 
 (Burt) Brown. The father, who came to 
 this state from Massachusetts, died at the 
 age of seventy-seven years, but the mother 
 is still living at the age of eighty-five years 
 and continues to make her home in Earl. 
 To the Doctor and his wife have been born 
 five children, namely: Maria, who died in in- 
 fancy; Frank, a resident of Gait, Iowa, who 
 married Minnie Miller, and has one son. Rex; 
 Gerald, also a resident of Gait, Iowa, who 
 married Philo Sweet and has one son, Gerald ; 
 Eeone, who is a graduate of the Polo schools 
 
 and is now a student in Stemmans Musical 
 College, Dixon; and Ina, a pupil in the Polo 
 schools 
 
 Smce attaining his majority Dr. Snyder 
 has been identified with the Democratic 
 party, was a member of the city council of 
 Polo for two years, president of the board of 
 education seven years, and assistant super- 
 visor while living in Woosung. He was 
 United States examining surgeon four years 
 under President Cleveland's adminitsration, 
 and is a member of the Ogle County Medical 
 Association. The place he has won in the 
 medical profession is accorded him in recog- 
 nition of his skill and ability, and the place 
 which he occupies in the social world is a 
 tribute to that geinn'ne worth and true noble- 
 ness of character which are universally re- 
 cognized and honored. 
 
 WILLIAM RICE, one of the earliest 
 settlers of Ogle county, was born on 
 the 15th of September, 1822, in Nunda 
 township, Livingston county. New York, 
 and is of Welsh extraction. He has lived in 
 the west since 1837, and watched with inter- 
 est the remarkable development of the coun- 
 try since the days of the stage coaches and 
 log houses. When a child of six years, his 
 parents moved from Livingston to Chatau- 
 qua county, where they lived until 1832 and 
 then removed to Geauga county, Ohio. Dur- 
 ing the fall of 1836 the family lived in Cass 
 county, Michigan, but believing that there 
 were broader fields for advancement farther 
 west, they came to Illinois and took up a 
 claim in White Rock Grove, Ogle county. 
 Mr. Rice has eight brothers and sisters 
 whose names are here given in order of birth : 
 Erastus N. ; Alanson, living in Iowa; Aman- 
 
4o6 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 da, deceased; Esther, living in Ogle count}'; 
 Edwin, residing at Kings, Ogle county; 
 Mary Ann, living in White Rock township; 
 George, residing at Oklahoma; and Mariana 
 and Emily deceased. In 1848 Mr. Rice 
 entered government land in company with 
 a friend, and together they secured a quart- 
 er section in Pine Rock township, which 
 fifty years ago was a vast expanse of wav- 
 ing prairie grass, but lies to-day in great 
 fields of green and yellow grain. 
 
 In 1854 Mr. Rice was united in mar- 
 riage to Mary E. Boyce, a native of Hart- 
 ford, Washington county. New York, and a 
 daughter of Benjamin Boyce, Sr. , one of 
 the honored pioneers of Ogle county. Eight 
 children have graced this marriage. Emma, 
 the eldest, is a teacher of music, and is 
 attending the Chicago College of Music. 
 Frank is living at home and has assumed 
 the management of the farm. Benjamin 
 and Carrie are deceased. Mattie resides at 
 home and is engaged in teaching school. 
 Stella and Freddie are also deceased, and 
 Ethel is attending school at Maywood, near 
 Chicago. 
 
 Mr. Rice has an inexhaustible fund of 
 stories and anecdotes of pioneer days; the 
 hauling of grain to Chicago before the era 
 of railroads; the Driscoll troubles, etc. He 
 has a pleasing personality and a kind and 
 courteous manner. His home is bright, 
 cheerful and attractive, and at once im- 
 presses strangers with its hospitality, good 
 taste, refinement and domestic luxury. His 
 children arc bright and intellectual and his 
 ideas of educational advantages are reflected 
 in their attained qualifications. No other 
 man in Ogle county stands higher in popular 
 esteem. In business transactions he is the 
 soul of honor, and his name is synonymous 
 with sterling integrity and uprightness. 
 
 GILBERT B. TREAT, D. D. S.— 
 Among those who devote their time 
 and attention to the practice of dental sur- 
 gery and have gained a leading place in the 
 ranks of the profession is Dr. Treat, who 
 has spent almost his entire life in Polo, 
 Illinois, his birth occurring there December 
 25, 1859. His father, Lewis J. Treat, was 
 born in Glenwood, Erie county, New York, 
 March 31, 1834, a son of Isbon and Apphia 
 (Thompson) Treat, both of whom attained 
 the age of about eighty years. The grand- 
 father owned and operated a small farm in 
 Erie county. New York. By trade the 
 Doctor's father was a carpenter. Before 
 coming west he married Miss Fannie 
 Barden, who was born near Collins Center, 
 Erie county New York, October 3, 1831, a 
 daughter of Gilbert and Salina (Washburn) 
 Barden, farming people of Erie county. 
 Her paternal grandfather was Jacob Barden, 
 and her maternal grandparents were Rufus 
 and Mary (Finney) Washburn. Soon after 
 their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Treat emigrated 
 to Illinois, locating in Polo September 10, 
 1 85 5, and here the mother made her home 
 almost continuously since. The father was 
 selling threshing machines throughout Iowa 
 at the outbreak of the Civil war, and while 
 in Floyd county, that state, he enlisted in 
 Company G, Twenty-seventh Iowa Volun- 
 teer Infantry. While conveying prisoners, 
 — some of the Quantrell guerrillas — to places 
 of safety, he was stabbed and killed by one 
 of them, Shelby Cole, to whom he had 
 loaned his blanket to keep him warm. This 
 was one of the most dastardly murders 
 committed during the war. Besides his 
 widow, he left two sons: Gilbert B., of 
 this review; and Lewis Edward, a painter 
 by trade, who was killed June 23, 1898, by 
 falling from a building in Polo, on which he 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 407 
 
 was at work. He married Rhoda Strahh, 
 to whom a son, Lewis Edward, Jr., was 
 born after the father's death. 
 
 The childhood and youth of Dr. Treat 
 were passed in Polo and Albert Lea, Min- 
 nesota, and his education was obtained in 
 the district schools, which he attended until 
 fifteen years of age. He commenced the 
 study of dentistry under Dr. W. W. Krape, 
 now of Freeport, Illinois, who was the 
 founder of the Knights of the Globe. He 
 remained a much longer time, however, in 
 the office of Dr. Maid well, and in 1879 be- 
 gan practice in Polo, where he has carried 
 on operations continuously since, with the 
 exception of the time spent at Sliaron, Wis- 
 consin, in 1884 and 1885. His skill and 
 ability in his chosen profession are widely 
 recognized and he enjoys a good practice. 
 
 On the 9th of June, 1S9J, at Mt. Mor- 
 ris, Ogle county, Dr. Treat was united in 
 marriage with Miss Clara M. Good, who 
 was born near that village, a daughter of 
 Jacob and Elizabeth (Plum) Good, and 
 granddaughter of John Good, all natives of 
 Pennsylvania. The father died in 1865, 
 and the mother passed away at her birth- 
 place in the Keystone state, in 1S73. The 
 children born to our subject and his wife are 
 Earl Murillo and Milbrey Elizabeth. 
 
 Dr. Treat is a pronounced Republican in 
 political sentiment, and for several years he 
 most creditably and satisfactorily served as 
 fire marshal in Polo. Socially he is a mem- 
 ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
 lows. He is a man of strong artistic turn 
 of mind and is an excellent amateur artist, 
 though but few of his most intimate friends 
 are aware of the fact, as he makes use of 
 this talent solely for his own pleasure. He 
 is also an expert taxidermist, having 
 mounted many hundred specimens of birds 
 
 and animals from this region, and with a 
 friend made a collection that was disposed 
 of to a museum in St. Louis for fifteen hun- 
 dred dollars. Of a social, genial nature, 
 he has become widely and favorably known, 
 and has a host of friends throughout Ogle 
 county. 
 
 AD. CLARK, an enterprising farmer re- 
 siding at Flagg Center, and whose 
 farm lies in sections 16 and 17, Flagg town- 
 ship, was born on the farm where he now 
 resides, January 17, 1855, and is the son of 
 A. D. and Melinda (Biggers) Clark, both of 
 whom were natives of Steuben county. 
 New York, the former born October 14, 
 1822, and the latter August 10, 1827. He 
 was the son of Silas D. and Rhoda (Web- 
 ster) Clark, the latter being a close relative 
 of Daniel Webster. In his youth Silas D. 
 Clark learned the shoemaker's trade, but 
 soon abandoned it for the life of a farmer. 
 He came west in an early day, but becom- 
 ing homesick he returned to New York, 
 where his death occurred when past seventy 
 years old. His wife survived him and died 
 when past eighty years of age. 
 
 A. D. Clark, the father of our subject, 
 spent his boyhood and youth in his native 
 county, and at the age of twenty was united 
 in marriage, April 26, 1843, with Miss Me- 
 linda Biggers, daughter of Clark B. and 
 Huldah Biggers. Her father, who was a 
 farmer in Steuben county. New Yark, came 
 west in the early forties and located in 
 Flagg township. Ogle county, and lived 
 there for a number of years. He then 
 moved to Winnebago county, Illinois, 
 where his death occurred in 1878, his wife 
 preceding him a number of years. To A. 
 D. and Melinda Clark seven children were 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 born: Alonzo B., a farmer living in Cow- 
 ley county, Kansas; Silas D., a farmer liv- 
 ing in Lafayette township, Ogle county; Os- 
 car P., who died November i8, 1849, at 
 the age of ten months; Rhoda A., now the 
 wife of G. Reed, of Lafayette township; 
 Amerett B., who married E. R. Cooley, of 
 Pine Rock township; Anson D., oursubject, 
 and Frank, a farmer of Flagg township. 
 
 With his wife and one child, A. D. 
 Clark came to Ogle county in 1845, arriving 
 here on the iSth of September, and taking 
 up a claim of one hundred and sixty acres 
 of wild land, a part of the farm where our 
 subject now resides. For the land he paid 
 the government price of one dollar and 
 twenty-five cents per acre. He broke the 
 land and built a small log cabin, which for 
 some years was not only used as the home 
 of the family, but as a tavern and postof- 
 fice, Mr. Clark serving as postmaster for a 
 number of years. He was a good farmer 
 and succeeded in improving and making a 
 valuable place of over five hundred acres, a 
 part of which he sold to his son. At the 
 time of his death he yet retained two hun- 
 dred and fifty-seven acres. While giving 
 his attention especially to his farm, during 
 the civil war he dealt largely in horses, buy- 
 ing and selling to the general government. 
 
 In politics, A. D. Clark, Sr., was a 
 Democrat. He was township trustee for 
 several terms, and was the first assessor 
 and the second township clerk of Flagg 
 township. He also held two commissions 
 from the governors of the state as justice of 
 the peace. For twenty-eight years he was 
 superintendent of the Sunday school at 
 Flagg Center. He was a true Christian 
 man, one having at heart the interests of 
 his fellow men. During the later years of 
 his life he traveled quite extensively, visit- 
 
 ing Europe and Asia in 1868. He enjoyed 
 his travels and it was a pleasure to listen to 
 his narration of places visited and events 
 connected therewith. He died on the old 
 homestead, November 21, 1893, while his 
 good wife passed away June 3, 1891. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to man- 
 hood on the old home farm, and was edu- 
 cated in the school at Flagg Center, which 
 he attended during the winter months, his 
 summers being spent in labor on the farm. 
 He continued in school until he was twenty 
 years old, when he rented forty acres of his 
 father's farm, and forty acres of another 
 man, which he proceeded to cultivate. He 
 continued to farm rented land until 1886, 
 when he moved to Webster county, Ne- 
 braska, where he purchased a farm of one 
 hundred and sixty acres, and there remained 
 until the fall of 1890, when he returned to 
 Ogle county, where he has since continued 
 to reside. He now owns an interest in the 
 home place, and is engaged in general 
 farming. 
 
 Mr. Clark was married March 18, 1884, 
 to Miss Lucy E. Mayberry, born June 25, 
 1867, and daughter of Samuel and Rachel 
 (Thornberg) Mayberry. By this union three 
 children have been born — Pauline M. , Walter 
 D. and Howard A. The latter died in infancy, 
 and Pauline and Walter are now attending 
 the district school which their father at- 
 tended many years before. 
 
 In politics Mr. Clark is a Democrat. 
 While in Nebraska he served as road com- 
 missioner, and since his return has served 
 four years as a member of the school board. 
 Fraternally he is a member of Kyte Camp, 
 M. W. A. Mrs. Clark is a member of the 
 Methodist Episcopal church. Both are 
 well known in Ogle count}, where their 
 friends are man)-. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 409 
 
 PETER COOPER, who resides on sec- 
 tion 12, about two miles north of 
 Rochelle, is one of the early settlers of Flagg 
 township, one who has endured all the trials 
 incident to pioneer life, and one who, com- 
 mencing life without means, without friends, 
 or help of any kind, has by his own industry, 
 thrift and enterprise, gained a competency, 
 and well provided for his family in future 
 years. He was born in Marsh county. New 
 Jersey, August 22, 1S23, and is the son of 
 Garrett and Sarah (Smith) Cooper, both of 
 whom were natives of the same state, the 
 former born in 1791, and the latter in 1800. 
 The paternal grandfather, John Cooper, 
 was also a native of Marsh county. New Jer- 
 sey, as was also his wife, Catherine. They 
 were the parents of eleven children, of 
 whom Garrett was third in order of birth. 
 John Cooper was a shoemaker by trade, an 
 occupation which he followed in early life. 
 He later engaged in farming, in which line 
 he continued the remainder of his life, his 
 death taking place in his native state during 
 the second decade of the present century. 
 His wife survived him a number of years. 
 
 Garrett Cooper grew to manhood in 
 Marsh county. New Jersey, and was reared 
 to farm life, and when arriving at man's es- 
 tate chose farming as his life work. He 
 was united in marriage with Sarah Smith, 
 daughter of Peter and Sarah Smith, both of 
 whom were natives of New Jersey, the for- 
 mer born November 10, 1775. He followed 
 farming as a means of livelihood, and con- 
 tinued to reside in his native state, where 
 his death occurred January 23, 1854. His 
 wife died November 21, 1857. They were 
 the parents of nine children, of whom Sarah, 
 wife of Garrett Cooper, was third in order of 
 birth. 
 
 Garrett Cooper and wife came to Ogle 
 
 county in November, 1858, and here the 
 wife passed to her reward in October, 1861 . 
 He then returned east, where he remained 
 about eighteen years. His children by this 
 time had all made for themselves homes, 
 and he was left homeless. Our subject then 
 went east and persuaded his father to once 
 more come to Ogle county and spend the 
 remainder of his life with him. He did so, 
 and the son and his family made it as pleas- 
 ant as possible for the old man. He did 
 not, however, long survive, and passed away 
 in June, 1890. He was a good man, one 
 who endeavored to live right with his fellow- 
 men. In politics, he was a Jackson Demo- 
 crat. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in his native county and 
 state, and assisted his father in the farm 
 work, while attending the common schools 
 as the opportunity was afforded him. When 
 eighteen years of age he left school and 
 commenced life for himself. For the next 
 five years he worked on farms, and then 
 learned the moulder's trade in Marion, 
 Ohio, at which he worked for about two 
 years. Borrowing twenty-five dollars of 
 his uncle, George Smith, in the fall of 1849 
 he left Ohio and came to Ogle county, hav- 
 ing previously purchased a soldier's land 
 warrant for one hundred and si.xty acres of 
 land, for which he gave one hundred and 
 twenty-five dollars. With his land warrant 
 he took up a tract comprising one hundred 
 and seventy-two acres, paying the govern- 
 ment for the twelve acres additional at the 
 rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per 
 acre. He then returned east, where he re- 
 mained until the spring of 1855, when he 
 came back with the intention of making 
 this his permanent home. He now boasts 
 that on coming here he built his house, 
 
410 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 manufactured the furniture for it, and was 
 married, all within one week. 
 
 On the 29th of May, 1855, Mr. Cooper 
 was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. 
 Serick, who was born in Henry county, 
 Ohio, December 12, 1836, and a daughter 
 of John and Mary (Miller) Serick, both 
 natives of Pennsylvania, but of German 
 origin. They located in Henry county, 
 Ohio, where he engaged in farming, and 
 there the remainder of their lives were 
 spent. In their family were twelve chil- 
 dren, of whom Mrs. Cooper was eleventh 
 in order of birth. Immediately after their 
 marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cooper moved into 
 the house which he had built, and in which 
 the first two years of their married life were 
 spent. It was a car-roof shanty, 12x16 
 feet, with one window and one door. It 
 was, however, their home, and the begin- 
 ning of better things. In two years they 
 had laid by enough to purchase a house 
 located on another farm, for which they 
 paid three hundred dollars. The house 
 was removed to their farm, and in that they 
 lived until 1868, when their present com- 
 modious house was erected. The new 
 house, which is of brick, was erected on an 
 eighty-acre tract adjoining his original pur- 
 chase, and compares favorably with many 
 of the more modern structures. The brick 
 house has been the home of the family up 
 to the present time. In tiie years that have 
 passed fortune seems to have smiled on our 
 subject. In the home place, and in the 
 adjoining township of Dement, he has some 
 five hundred acres of excellent land, all of 
 which is under cultivation. He has also 
 over a section of well improved land in 
 Gage county, Nebraska. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Cooper fourteen chil- 
 dren were born. Mary L. married Joseph 
 
 Haines, and with their children they reside 
 in O'Brien county, Iowa. Garrett P. is a 
 stock buyer, living in South Omaha. He 
 married Alice Sweeney, and they have one 
 child. Oliver is living in Rochelle. Edith 
 A. married Fred Crandall, and is living in 
 Woodson county, Kansas. They have four 
 children. Alma K. is the wife of Jonathan 
 Lynn, and they reside in Flagg township. 
 NettieE. died at the age of nine years. Al- 
 bert C, who is living in Rochelle, where 
 he is engaged in the butcher business, mar- 
 ried Anna Strite and they have three chil- 
 dren. Minnie is living at home with her 
 father. William W. died as the result of an 
 accident, at the age of thirteen years. 
 Charlie is living on his father's farm. He 
 married Elsie McDowell, and they have 
 one child. Lucinda died when one month 
 old. Howard is attending the Rockford 
 Business College. Clifford died in infancy. 
 Florence is living at home. 
 
 Mr. Cooper has done well by his chil- 
 dren, and has given each a good start in 
 life. In March, 1897, he gave to each of 
 his ten children a present of eight thousand 
 dollars, a sum that is certainly not to be 
 despised. Notwithstanding he has passed 
 his three score years and ten, he is yet hale 
 and hearty, and gives personal attention to 
 his business interests. He has been a suc- 
 cessful farmer, running after no special fads, 
 but content to go along in the even tenor of 
 his way, giving his time to general farming 
 and stock raising, looking carefully after the 
 little details of his business. When he 
 came to this section it was but thinly set- 
 tled, the great body of the land which is 
 now paying such golden tribute to the hus- 
 bandman was untouched by the plow. The 
 settlers' cabins were yet few and far between. 
 He has lived to see a remarkable change, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 411 
 
 one that can scarcely be realized even by 
 those who have not only been eyewitnesses 
 but active participants in effecting the great 
 transformation. Scarcely an acre of un- 
 tilled land is to be fonnd in all this section, 
 and thousands of acres which were consid- 
 ered worthless by reason of their swampy 
 nature have been reclaimed and are now 
 the most productive lands. Villages and 
 cities have sprung up, railroads have been 
 built, miles upon miles of telephone and 
 telegraph wires have been strung, school 
 houses and churches dot the prairies, and a 
 happy and contented people are living at 
 peace with all mankind. Our subject has 
 not only the satisfaction of having witnessed 
 these things, but he has the double satis- 
 faction of knowing that the credit is due to 
 himself and other pioneers for all that has 
 been done. 
 
 ANDREW C. SPINK is a prosperous 
 farmer residing on section 27, Scott 
 township, where he owns and operates a fine- 
 ly improved farm of two hundred and forty 
 acres, which is kept under the highest state 
 of cultivation. He was born in Washing- 
 ton county. New York, June 10, 1840, and 
 is the son of Robert and Julia (Warner) 
 Spink, the former a native of Rhode Island, 
 and the latter of Connecticut. They were 
 the parents of three children — Andrew C, 
 Julia and Angelina. 
 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject, 
 Michael Spink, was also a native of Rhode 
 Island, and followed the sea for many years 
 as commander of a vessel, and sailed al- 
 most over the entire known world, finally 
 retiring and purchasing a farm in Washing- 
 ton county. New York, where he engaged 
 in agricultural pursuits during the remainder 
 
 of his life. The maternal grandfather, 
 Nathaniel Warner, was a soldier in the 
 Revolutionary war. 
 
 When our subject was twelve years old 
 his parents moved to Winnebago countj', 
 Illinois, where his father purchased a farm 
 of eighty acres near Rockford, and in con- 
 nection with farming followed the trade of 
 a carpenter which he had learned in his 
 youth. His death there occurred, in 1S95, 
 at the age of eighty-five years, his good 
 wife having preceded him to their heavenly 
 home some two years previously, having 
 died at the age of eighty-four. They were 
 greatly esteemed people in their western as 
 well as in their eastern home, being excel- 
 lent people who delighted in doing good as 
 the opportunity was afforded them. Their 
 death was sincerely mourned by a large 
 circle of friends. 
 
 After spending his boyhood in his na- 
 tive state, Mr. Spink came to Illinois with 
 his parents, and remained with them until 
 after he attained his majority, assisting in 
 the cultivation of the home farm and at- 
 tending the district schools a portion of the 
 time, principally during the winter months. 
 The habits of industry acquired in youth 
 have remained with him during his mature 
 years, as is shown by his well cultivated 
 fields and the excellent appearance of his 
 farm. 
 
 On the 23d of October, 1863, Mr. Spink 
 was united in marriage with Miss Anna 
 Rogers, who was born in England, and who 
 accompanied her father, John Rogers, to 
 the United States in her childhood. ]>y 
 this union eight children have been born, 
 six of whom are living, as follows: Lilly, 
 William, Belle, May, Fred and Frank. The 
 deceased were Angeline and Charles. 
 
 Mr. Spink was elected assessor of Scott 
 
412 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 township in 1893, re-elected in 1895, ^"d 
 again in 1897, filling the position to the en- 
 tire satisfaction of the tax-payers of the 
 township, one of the hardest positions that 
 one can be called upon to fill. He has also 
 satisfactorily performed the duties of road 
 commissioner, another position in which it 
 is difficult to satisfy all the people. For 
 some years he-has been one of the directors 
 of the Scott and Marion Townships Fire 
 Insurance company, which is doing a good 
 business in insuring the farmers of the two 
 townships at a comparatively small cost. 
 Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic 
 order, holding membership with the blue 
 lodge at Rockford. He is also a member of 
 the Modern Woodmen of America, his 
 membership being with the local camp at 
 Davis Junction. In politics he is a Repub- 
 lican, being a firm believer in the principles 
 of the party. While a citizen of the county 
 but fifteen years, Mr. Spink is well known, 
 especially in the northeastern part, and as 
 a citizen he is held in high esteem. 
 
 FRED FREDERICKSON, the leading 
 tailor of Mt. Morris, is a native of Den- 
 mark, born in Copenhagen March 20, 1872, 
 and is a son of J. P. E. and Johanne Marie 
 (Skjcllct) Frederickson, the former born 
 September 12, 1849, in Storskoven, Orsr>, 
 P"'jerding, Dronninglund, Sogn, and the lat- 
 ter August 4, 1850, in Agersted, Bakker, 
 Wor, Sogn. J. P. E. Frederickson is the 
 son of Frederick C. Jensen, Gjelstrup. 
 The latter word is a title bestowed upon 
 him fot bravery, similar to that which 
 might be given one in this country by con- 
 gress for some brave act. It was given him 
 for his courage in reconnoitering the de- 
 
 fenses of the German army during the Dan- 
 ish-German war of 1848-51, being com- 
 pelled in so doing to pass through a line of 
 ten thousand German soldiers. In addition 
 to the title he was given eleven thousand 
 five hundred crowns. 
 
 Frederick C. Jensen was a poor shep- 
 herd boy, and when fourteen years old he 
 entered the military school of Denmark, 
 completing the course at the end of five 
 years with the rank of second lieutenant. 
 On account of his being poor, with no in- 
 fluential person to back him, he was not 
 given a post. Rather than be honorably 
 discharged, he re-entered the military 
 school as a private. After about two years 
 had passed the colonel in command of the 
 school sent a petition to the king reciting 
 the facts in the -case, and within twenty- 
 four hours an answer was received compli- 
 menting the young man and assuring him 
 that something would be done for him. In 
 the meantime he would be sent to the 
 naval academy. Time passed, and at the 
 age of twenty-five he graduated from the 
 academy with the rank of second lieuten- 
 ant. After graduating, the king shook 
 hands with him and told him that he would 
 be looked after. He was then offered the 
 rank of first lieutenant in the army or sec- 
 ond lieutenant in the navy. He chose the 
 former and was sent to Randers, Synder, 
 Jylland. His first real service, with the ex- 
 ception of a number of skirmishes between 
 Denmark and Germany, was in the war of 
 1838-51 between Denmark and Germany. 
 He was also actively engaged in the Dan- 
 ish-German war of 1864, during which time 
 he served as acting lieutenant general. For 
 fifty-six years he served his country in act- 
 ive service, including the time spent in the 
 military school and the naval academy. He 
 
FRED FREDERICKSON. 
 
MRS. FANNIE FREDERICKSQN. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 417 
 
 is now living a retired life, receiving a pen- 
 sion from his government. 
 
 J. P. E. Frederickson is one of a family 
 of seven children. At the age of fourteen 
 he quit school and commenced to learn the 
 cabinet-maker's trade, but later took up 
 painting, and is to-day a fresco painter of 
 superior ability. He has a large establish- 
 ment in a six-story building of his own. At 
 the age of twenty he married Johanne M. 
 Skjellet, and they became the parents of 
 fourteen children: Fred, F. C. , Eida M. C. 
 F. (deceased), Eida M. C. F., R. C. (de- 
 ceased), C. L., Jensine, K. U. M. F., Mar- 
 timus, Thorald, Elvinus, Dusinus, Inger and 
 Johannes. 
 
 At the age of thirteen years the subject 
 of this sketch graduated from the public 
 school and was then apprenticed in a large 
 tailoring establishment in Copenhagen to 
 learn the tailor's trade. After serving an 
 apprenticeship of five years he left Copen- 
 hagen for Tronhjem, Norway, and worked 
 there about four months, going from there 
 to Christiana, Norway, where he remained 
 a short time. From Norway he went to 
 Stockholm, Sweden, and, after traveling 
 over that country a few months, he returned 
 home. He ne.xt went to Hamburg, Ger- 
 many, and after traveling over the principal 
 portions of Germany he went to Calais, 
 France, where he remained nine weeks. 
 He then returned home and was examined 
 for the army, but was rejected. After re- 
 maining at home for a week he determined 
 to try his fortunes in the United States. 
 Accordingly he took a steamer for New 
 York, and after landing came direct to Mt. 
 Morris and commenced work for Gregor 
 Thompson. After working for him a short 
 time he concluded to establish a business of 
 his own. He has now been in business for 
 
 himself about five years and has built up a 
 good substantial trade. 
 
 Mr. Frederickson was united in mar- 
 riage, September 17, 1S93, with Miss Fan- 
 nie Wilson, a native of Ogle county, and 
 daughter of James M. and Margaret (Downs) 
 Wilson, the former born in Perry county, 
 Pennsylvania, in November, 1806, and the 
 latter in Champaign county, Ohio, March 
 I, 181O. James M. Wilson was the son of 
 William Wilson, a native of Philadelphia, 
 Pennsylvania, and who later removed to 
 Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and who never came 
 west. 
 
 James M. Wilson received his education 
 in the conmion schools of his native state, 
 and at the age of eighteen quit school and 
 commenced to learn the carpenter trade in 
 Lancaster, Pennsylvania. After learning 
 his trade he went to Urbana, Ohio, and 
 there remained until 1836, working as a 
 journeyman. He then moved to a farm in 
 Logan county, Ohio, where he resided two 
 years, moving from there to Clark county, 
 Ohio, where he worked at his trade for four- 
 teen years. He then came to Ogle county, 
 purchased a farm in Pine Rock township, 
 and there remained until his death, August 
 20, 1874. His wife survived him nine years, 
 dying January 10, 1898, at the age of eighty- 
 two years and ten months. They were the 
 parents of fourteen children — Sarah J., 
 Mary E., William O., Samuel M., Alice D., 
 Melvina R., Adel M., Margaret, Fannie H., 
 Elizabeth, Katherine, Harry B., Josephine 
 and one who died in infancy. In politics, 
 Mr. Wilson was a Republican. While re- 
 siding in Clark county, Ohio, he served as 
 deputy sheriff of the county, and was then 
 elected sheriff. He also served one term 
 as justice of the peace. Fraternally he was 
 a Mason, as his father was before him. 
 
4i8 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Religiously he was a Baptist. Two of his 
 sons, William O. and Samuel M., were 
 members of the Eighth Illinois Cavalry, and 
 served through the Civil war. Of the four- 
 teen children, ten are yet living. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Frederickson is a Re- 
 publican, and fraternally he is a member of 
 Elysian Lodge, No. 56, I. O. O. P., and 
 Mt. Morris Camp, No. 4526, M. W. A. 
 Religiously he is a Lutheran, as is also his 
 wife. While of foreign birth, he is a true 
 American citizen. 
 
 WILLIAM H. BARKMAN, a well- 
 known blacksmith of Polo, Illinois, 
 and one of its highly esteemed citizens, was 
 born near Hagerstown, Washington county, 
 Maryland, February 6, 1831, a son of Da- 
 vid and Rebecca (Guyton) Barkman, who 
 were also natives of that county, the former 
 born in Boonsboro, in 1801, the latter in 
 1808. The father, who was a shoemaker 
 by trade, came west in 1863, soon after the 
 battle of Gettysburg, his place having been 
 stripped of its stock and fences by the con- 
 tending armies passing to and fro contin- 
 uously, " leaving nothing but the house." 
 On reaching'Ogle county, he bought a farm of 
 forty acres at Franklin Grove, where lie 
 continued to make his home until called 
 from this life in 1S75, while on a visit to 
 our subject's in Polo. He retired from his 
 trade on coming to this state and devoted 
 his attention exclusively to agricultural pur- 
 suits. His father was a soldier of the war 
 of 18 1 2. The mother of our subject died 
 in Ogle county in 1876. There were ten 
 children in the family, of whom he is the 
 third in order of birth, but only seven are 
 now living. 
 
 William H. Barkman received a district 
 
 school education, walking each day three 
 miles to the school house. At the age of 
 fourteen he began his business career by 
 working for neighboring farmers, and was 
 thus employed for four years, after which he 
 learned the blacksmith's trade at Beaver 
 Creek, where he worked for a few months. 
 The spring of 1853 witnessed his arrival in 
 Illinois, making the journey by railroad to 
 Rockford, whence he soon drifted to Grand 
 Detour. There he secured employment in 
 the Andrews Plow Works, but in the fall of 
 the same year went to Buffalo Grove, the 
 " Old Town," where he worked for Mr. 
 Curtis until the first of the following year. 
 Since then he has made his home in Polo, 
 his first employment here being with Major 
 Aplington, who was in charge of railroad 
 construction. He remained with that gen- 
 tleman until the railroad was completed, 
 and then entered the blacksmith shop of Mr. 
 Frost, where he worked as a journeyman 
 until 1857, when he bought out his employ- 
 er and has since engaged in business on his 
 own account with marked success. In 1861 
 he built his present shop, where the anvil 
 has rung a merry tune for over thirty-eight 
 years. 
 
 At Mt. Pleasant, Washington county, 
 Maryland, Mr. Barkman was married in 
 July, I851, to Miss Catherine Bombarger, 
 who was born in that county, January i, 
 1830, a daughter of Moses and Catherine 
 (Betz) Bombarger. Eight children have 
 been born of this union: Annie, now the 
 wife of Harry Hearst, a railroad employe in 
 Colorado, by whom she has two children, 
 Charles and Alice; Elhannen, a traveling 
 salesman for a Chicago house, residing in 
 Decatur, Illinois, who married Rena Hill, of 
 Tama City, Iowa, and has three children, 
 Nina, Inda and Robert; Laura Virginia, who 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 419 
 
 is the widow of Reuben Wilder, and has 
 four children, Nellie, William, Eva and 
 Harry; Ida, wife of William Poffenbarger, a 
 blacksmith of Polo, by whom she has one 
 child, Goldie; William E., who is in the 
 shop with his father; Delia, widow of Ed- 
 ward Farringer; Alice, deceased; and Mollic, 
 wife of William Filson, a cutter in a shoe 
 factory in Dixon, Illinois. 
 
 Socially Mr. Barkman is an active and 
 prominent member of the Odd Fellows 
 lodge of Polo, has filled all its chairs, and 
 has been a delegate to the grand lodge four 
 or fi\e times. The Republican party has 
 always found in him a stanch supporter of 
 its principles, and he has been an inlluential 
 member of the board of supervisors one 
 term and city council for several terms. He 
 has witnessed the entire growth and de- 
 velopment of Polo, and can well remember 
 when this region was all wild prairie with 
 only a railroad grade passing through the 
 present enterprising little city. He has 
 been an important factor in advancing its 
 moral and material welfare and has ever 
 been recognized as one of its valued and 
 useful citizens. There is no one still living 
 in Polo who was here when he located in 
 the village, for the pioneers are fast pass- 
 ing away. 
 
 BARZILLA KNAPP, justice of the peace 
 and notary public, Creston, Illinois, 
 and the efficient collector of the township of 
 Dement, is a well-known citi/en of the 
 county, of which he has been a resident for 
 forty-five years, or since 1854. He was 
 born in Danbury, Connecticut, January 2, 
 1S22, and in the same house in which his 
 father, Hon. James Knapp, was born. The 
 family is of English ancestry, and were 
 
 early settlers of Connecticut, the grandfa- 
 ther, James t\napp, Sr. , being a native of 
 the state. James Knapp, the father of our 
 subject, was twice married, his second union 
 being with Miss Zeruah Gregory. She was 
 the mother of Barzilla. Her death occurred 
 in June, 1849. James Knapp was a prom- 
 inent man in his native state, and served 
 two or more terms in the state legislature. 
 By occupation he was a farmer and owned 
 and operated the old homestead which was 
 in possession of the family for many years. 
 He died in February, 1845. 
 
 Barzilla Knapp spent his boyhood and 
 youth in his native county and assisted his 
 father in the cultivation of the farm. His 
 educational advantages were good, but the 
 knowledge acquired in school has been 
 largely supplemented by reading and contact 
 with his fellow men. In early life he 
 worked in a mill and was an expert miller. 
 He was married in Danbury, Connecticut, 
 in October, 1S41, when in his twentieth 
 year, to Miss Ruth A. Roberts. After mar- 
 riage he carried on the home farm for his 
 father for a few years and rendered what 
 assistance he could to his father in his de- 
 clining years. His wife died in 1846, leav- 
 ing two children— Charles J., now of Crest- 
 on, Illinois; and Ruth A., wife of Prof. H. 
 N. Halleck, of Vinton, Iowa. Mrs. Halleck 
 was well educated in the Creston schools 
 and in the high school at Rockford, Illinois. 
 She was a teacher for a number of years 
 prior to her marriage, and later assisted her 
 husband for nearly twenty years. Prof. 
 Halleck is now living retired in Vinton, 
 Iowa, while Mrs. Halleck is engaged in the 
 millinery business at that place. 
 
 Mr. Knapp's second union was celebrat- 
 ed September 17, 1847, when he was unit- 
 ed in marriage with Miss Melvina A. Read, 
 
420 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 a native of Connecticut, and daughter of 
 Tilly W. Read, also a native of Connecti- 
 cut. After marriage, and until his removal 
 west, Mr. Knapp engaged in farming in the 
 summer and in teaching in winters. In 
 1852 he came to Illinois on a prospecting 
 tour, after passing through the states of In- 
 diana and Michigan. This section seemed 
 to him more attractive than any other, and 
 he accordingly selected a location in Ogle 
 county, near Brodies' grove. In 1854 he 
 moved here with his family, and at once 
 commenced the improvement of his tract of 
 two hundred acres. Fences had to be 
 built, dwelling and barns erected, the 
 prairie broke, and crops planted. 
 
 After remaining on the farm until 1862, 
 Mr. Knappsold out and moved to Rockford, 
 where he engaged in the lumber business 
 until 1868. He then sold the business and 
 removed to Creston, where he lived retired, 
 building up his impaired health, which had 
 been broken down by close application to 
 his work. In the spring of 1869 he was 
 elected justice of the peace, and by re-elec- 
 tion has served continuously for more than 
 thirty years. He was not inexperienced in 
 the duties of the office, having served in the 
 same while residing in this county prior to 
 going to Rockford. In 1869 he was ap- 
 pointed notary public and has served in that 
 office to the present time. He served one 
 term as supervisor of Dement township be- 
 fore moving to Rockford. Since his return 
 he has served eight years as township treas- 
 urer, and is now serving his eighth year as 
 township collector. He has represented his 
 township on several occasions in county and 
 judicial conventions. In every position filled 
 he has discharged the duties devolving on 
 him in a most satisfactory manner. Since 
 the organization of the party he has been a 
 
 thorough and consistent Republican, but in 
 local elections he votes for the men rather 
 than party. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Knapp is an ancient Odd 
 Fellow. He was a member of the Rockford 
 lodge while residing in that city, and was 
 one of the charter members of the lodge in 
 Creston, and remained in full fellowship un- 
 til the surrender of the charter of the lodge. 
 His wife is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
 copal church, and although he is not a mem- 
 ber of the church, he yet attends with his 
 wife and assists in the maintenance of the 
 church in Creston. As a citizen he is held 
 in the highest esteem by all who know him, 
 and his friends are numerous in Winnebago, 
 Ue Kalb and Ogle counties. 
 
 HUGH L. GRIFFIN, an enterprising 
 young business man of Polo, Illinois, 
 was born in that city April 24, 1870, and 
 the greater part of his education was ob- 
 tained in its public schools, though he at- 
 tended the Dixon Commercial College, where 
 he was graduated in December, 1890. He 
 then went west and after spending a short 
 time at Walla Walla, Washington, he set- 
 tled at Port Gamble on Puget sound, where 
 he was in the office of a lumber firm for five 
 years and a half. His health failing, he re- 
 turned home and took charge of the livery 
 business left by his father. He carried on 
 the business in partnership with his mother 
 from July, 1896, until October, 1898, when 
 he took complete control. In the success- 
 ful c©nduct of the business he manifests 
 good executive ability and sound judgment, 
 and by fair and honorable dealing he has 
 won a liberal share of the public patronage. 
 He has a general livery and feed stable, and 
 is also interested in the transfer business. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 421 
 
 Leander Griffin, father of our subject, 
 was born at Royalton, Niagara county. New 
 York, April 18, 1838, and came to Polo, 
 April 25, 1861. On the 3d of the following 
 December he joined the boys in blue as a 
 member of Company L, Fifteenth Illinois 
 cavalry. His company served as body guard 
 for' General Halleckat the siege of Corinth, 
 and later was with General Grant in thesame 
 capacity. Mr. Griffin was discharged June 
 24, 1862, on account of physical disability 
 and returned to Polo. He then engaged in 
 farming until 1867, and after a very short 
 time spent in the grocery business, he pur- 
 chased a livery stable the same year, con- 
 ducting the same quite successfully up to 
 the time of his death, which occurred Jan- 
 uary 7, 1892. He was unwavering in his 
 support of the men and measures of the Re- 
 publican party, and took quite an active 
 and prominent part in public affairs, serving 
 as as a member of the city council and as 
 deputy sheriff for a number of years. He 
 was one of the directors of the Ogle County 
 Agricultural board for a period of six years, 
 and was always found true and faithful to 
 every trust reposed in him. 
 
 William Griffin, the great-grandfather of 
 our subject, was one of the defenders of 
 the country during the war of 1812. The 
 grandparents, James and Jane (Brazee) 
 Griffin, came west at an early day and 
 purchased a farm near Polo, where the 
 former died at the age of si.xty-seven 
 years. The Griffins were of English and 
 Dutch descent, while the Brazees were of 
 Scotch and Dutch e.xtraction. 
 
 On the 19th of December, 1866, Lean- 
 der Griffin was united in marriage with Miss 
 Mary C. Hawkes, who was born at Lock- 
 port, New York, May 14, 1845. Her 
 father, Norman Hawkes, was born June 20, 
 
 1802, in Franklin county, Massachusetts, of 
 which his parents, Zebra and Rebecca (Sex- 
 ton) Hawkes, were also natives. Norman 
 Hawkes was married in 1829 to Miss Sarah 
 Smith, a daughter of Eleazer and Mehitable 
 (Bartlett) Smith, and in the spring of 1S44 
 they came to Illinois. For eighteen months 
 they made their home in Chicago and for 
 two and a half years lived in Dixon, but 
 finally took up their residence in Buffalo 
 township. Ogle county, where Mr. Hawkes 
 and his son-in-law, Leavitt Moore, owned 
 five hundred acres of land. He died in 1884 
 and his wife passed away the year previous. 
 The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Leander 
 Griffin were Norman H., deceased; Hugh 
 L., oursubject; Roy; and J. Leavitt. 
 
 WILLIAM QUEST, section 35, Eagle 
 Point township, is an active and 
 enterprising farmer, the owner of a farm of 
 one hundred and forty-eight and a half acres 
 of valuable land. He was born in Pittsburg, 
 Pennsylvania, August 20, 1850, and is the 
 son of W. C. Quest, a native of Indiana 
 county, Pennsylvania, born June 9, 1829, 
 and who in his youth went to Allegheny 
 City, Pennsylvania, to learn the blacksmith 
 trade. He was married October 9, 1848, 
 to Miss Mary D. Hart, a native of Penn- 
 sylvania, who was left an orphan in early 
 childhood. W. C. Quest was the son of 
 Matthew Quest, a native of Germany, and 
 one of three brothers who left their native 
 land to make homes elsewhere. One of 
 the brother was lost at sea, and one settled 
 in London, England, where he amassed a 
 large fortune. Matthew Quest was a pio- 
 neer of Indiana county, but later moved to 
 Illinois, locating in Lena, Stephenson coun- 
 ty, where he worked at his trade of jeweler. 
 
364 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 has been through his own industry, enter- 
 prise, perseverance and economy that he is 
 now one of the most substantial, as well as 
 one of the honored and highly respected 
 citizens of Forreston township. He and 
 his wife celebrated their golden wedding 
 August 29, 1895, at which time their 
 children, grandchildren, and great-grand- 
 children gathered at their home to rejoice 
 with them. Since then he has been called 
 upon to mourn the loss of his estimable 
 wife, who passed away October 10, 1897. 
 To them were born four sons and two 
 daughters, all of whom married and became 
 heads of families: Henry is now deceased; 
 John is a merchant and business man of 
 Forreston; Lewis is a farmer of Forreston 
 township; August is the subject of this 
 sketch; Elizabeth is the wife of August 
 Kilker, a farmer of Maryland township; and 
 Anna M. is the wife of William M. Richter, 
 a merchant of Forreston. 
 
 August Kaney was educated in the dis- 
 trict schools near his boyhood home, and as 
 soon as he was large enough to be of any 
 assistance he commenced to aid in the farm 
 work, first driving a team used in breaking 
 prairie. His early life was passed under 
 the parental roof, and after arriving at 
 man's estate continued to assist in the 
 operation of the home farm. In Mt. 
 Morris township, he was married March 6, 
 1879, to Miss Elizabeth Zumdahl, who was 
 born and reared on a farm in Lincoln town- 
 ship, Ogle county, a daughter of Christian 
 Zumdahl. They began their domestic life 
 on the old homestead, and since taking 
 charge of the same Mr. Kaney has built a 
 large neat barn, good granary and out- 
 buildings, and now has one of the best im- 
 proved places of the locality. He is en- 
 gaged in breeding and raising a good grade 
 
 of Durham and short horn cattle and Poland 
 China hogs, and in this branch of his busi- 
 ness has also met with success. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Kaney have four children: 
 August J., Irvin E., Elizabeth D. and Ar- 
 thur E. all attending the home school, and 
 have lost three: Edward, who died at the 
 age of four years; and Ezra and Sylvia, who 
 both died at the age of two. The parents 
 are active and prominent members of the 
 Evangelical church at North Grove, both 
 have been teachers in the Sabbath school, 
 while Mr. Kaney has served as its superin- 
 tendent three years and is one of the 
 officers of the church. Formerly he was 
 identified with the Democratic party and 
 voted for Grover Cleveland, but is now a Re- 
 publican. He is a stockholder and direct- 
 or of the Forreston Mutual Fire Insurance 
 Company and gives his support to all en- 
 terprises which he believes calculated to 
 advance the moral, intellectual or material 
 welfare of his township and county. 
 
 AMERICUSL. MENDENHALL, M. D., 
 who is engaged in the practice of his 
 profession at Kings, Ogle county, Illinois, 
 was born in Winchester, Ohio, May 21, 
 1846, and is a son of Dr. Elijah and Mary 
 Angeline (Graves) Mendenhall, the former 
 who was a son of John Mendenhall, being a 
 native of Preble county, Ohio, born January 
 29, 1 8 16. He was reared and educated in 
 Ohio, and was a graduate of the Ohio 
 Medical College, of Cincinnati. He began 
 practice at Somerville, Ohio, and there re- 
 mained five years, moving from that place 
 to Winchester, in the same state, and later 
 to Cincinnati, where he remained in active 
 practice until 1872, when he moved to In- 
 dianapolis, Indiana, which was his home 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 36s 
 
 until his death, November 3, 1897. His 
 wife died two days later, and the two were 
 buried in one coffin, their remains being 
 interred in Oakwood cemetery, Indian- 
 apolis He was recognized as one of the 
 ablest physicians in that city, and one of the 
 best diagnosticians in the profession. A 
 Republican in politics, he gave but little 
 time to political matters, his professional 
 duties requiring his entire time. In his 
 family were four sons: Alonzo, born August 
 6, 1843, is a practicing physician of Cicero, 
 Indiana. Rev. James W. , born November 
 8, 1844, was a clergyman in the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, and for the four years 
 preceding his death, which occurred June 
 18, 1892, was editor of the Methodist Re- 
 view, a position to which he was appointed 
 by the general conference. He had just 
 begun his second term of four years when 
 removed by death. Americus L. , our sub- 
 ject, was next in order of birth. Dr. Win- 
 field S. , born February 10, 1848, died Janu- 
 ary 25, 1899. He was for many years a 
 practicing physician of Springfield, Illinois. 
 He was a graduate of Miami Medical Col- 
 lege, Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 
 The subject of this sketch spent his boy- 
 hood and youth in Cincinnati, Ohio. From 
 i860 to 1864 he was a student in the Wes- 
 leyan University, Delaware, Ohio. On the 
 12th of February, of the latter year, he left 
 school and enlisted in Company F, One 
 Hundred and Eighty-third regiment, Ohio 
 Volunteer Infantry, under command of 
 Colonel Hoge, his company being com- 
 manded by Captain Thornton. The regi- 
 ment was attached to the third brigade, 
 second division, twenty-fifth army corps, of 
 the Army of the Cumberland. With his 
 regiment he took part in the engagements 
 at Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee, and 
 
 Wilmington, North Carolina, and also in 
 several minor engagements. He enlisted 
 for one year, but served until the close of 
 the war, being mustered out of the service 
 at Camp Denison, Ohio, May 29, 1865. 
 
 On returning home our subject entered 
 the Richmond Commercial College, at 
 Richmond, Indiana, from which he was 
 graduated in i860. He then took a posi- 
 tion as bookeeper with the wholesale house 
 of John Shilito, of Cincinnati, one of the 
 largest establishments of its kind in the 
 west. He remained with that house one 
 year, but was not able to endure the con- 
 finement, and so resigned his position and 
 entered the Miami Medical College, of Cin- 
 cinnati, from which he graduated March 2, 
 1869, in the same class with his brother 
 Winfield. Receiving his diploma, he com- 
 menced the practice of his profession at 
 Granville, Indiana, in the fall of 1S69, and 
 there remained three years. In 1872 he 
 came to Illinois, locating at Kappa, Wood- 
 ford county, where he built up an excellent 
 practice, and there remained until 1890, 
 when, on account of failing health of his 
 wife, he removed to Smithfield, Nebraska. 
 He remained in that place until the fall of 
 1893 when he removed to Kings, which has 
 since been his home, and where he has also 
 built up a good general practice. 
 
 Dr. Mendenhall was married at Muncie, 
 Indiana, November 30, 1870, to Miss Louiss 
 Smith, a native of that city, and daughter 
 of William M. and Phoebe Smith, both of 
 whom were natives of Ohio. She died 
 October 12, 1891, leaving four sons: Wil- 
 bur, of DesMoines, Iowa; Koscoe, a student 
 of the law school of DesMoines, Iowa; 
 Adelbert, a medical student of the Des- 
 Moines Medical College; and Walter, a 
 student of the hijjh school of DesMoines. 
 
424 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 an active part in the war of the Revolution. 
 Mrs. Waltmeyer was a daughter of John 
 and Catherine (Bentz) Adams; the former 
 was a son of George Adams. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hibarger are the par- 
 ents of eight children, the eldest being Os- 
 car, who is married and is a brickmason, 
 living at St. Louis. Willis married Henri- 
 etta Triber and lives at Aurora, Illinois, 
 where he is employed on structural iron 
 work. Of their five children, three are liv- 
 ing, namely: Eva, Ada and Vera. The 
 third son, Oliver, is a farmer and carpenter 
 in Brown county, Kansas, and married Anna 
 Pulvermaher. They have two children, 
 Carl and Wanda. Cora married Blair Sey- 
 ster, also of Brown county. The fifth child, 
 Anna, is deceased, and David is employed 
 on a farm in Iowa. Frank is deceased, 
 and the youngest child, Pearl, is a success- 
 ful teacher, who has for five years taught 
 in the school of Lincoln township. Mr. 
 Hibarger is a Democrat, giving his support 
 to that party at each election. Among his 
 business associates he is held in the highest 
 repute for his integrity and uprightness, 
 and in the social circles in and about Polo 
 he and his family are held in the highest 
 esteem. 
 
 JOHN W. SOUTHWORTIl, who is prac- 
 tically living a retired life in the city of 
 Rochelle, was born April 17, 1856, in Dry- 
 den, New York, and is the son of Thomas 
 G. and Malvina A. (Freeland) Southworth, 
 of whom a sketch is found elsewhere in this 
 volume. He attended the public school and 
 the academy at Dryden until the age of 
 eleven years, when he came with his par- 
 ents to Lee county, Illinois, the family lo- 
 cating in Reynolds township, where his fa- 
 
 ther engaged in farming for seven years, and 
 then removed to a farm adjoining the city 
 of Rochelle, Ogle county. In the district 
 schools of Lee county our subject continued 
 his studies until the removal of the family 
 to Ogle county, when he attended the 
 schools of Rochelle for a time. Later he 
 went to Rockford and took a short course 
 in Miss Alice's Business College, after which 
 he assisted his father on the farm in Flagg 
 township until his marriage. 
 
 On the 14th of February, 1882, Mr. 
 Southworth was united in marriage with 
 Miss Katherine DeCourcey, who was born 
 in Ashton, Lee county, Illinois, May 21, 
 1858, and daughter of David and Norah 
 (Doody) DeCourcey, both of whom were na- 
 tives of county Limerick, Ireland. David 
 DeCourcey came to America at the age of 
 seventeen, with his father, James DeCour- 
 cey, and located in Ashton, Illinois. Soon 
 after his arrival he went to work for the 
 Chicago & Northwestern Railway, and was 
 in the employ of the company for a period 
 of thirty years, serving as section boss, bag- 
 gage master, brakesman, fireman, agent and 
 other positions. After leaving the railroad, 
 he bought and sold grain for a few years, 
 and then went to farming in Dement town- 
 ship. Ogle county, where he remained one 
 year. He then went to Malta, De Kalb 
 county, and was there ten years. His ne.xt 
 move was to a farm in Reynolds township, 
 Lee county, where he died January 30, 
 1898. Davit! and Norah DeCourcey were 
 the parents of eleven children — Katherine, 
 Margaret, James, Norah, Edward, Mary, 
 David, Helen, Elizabeth, Victoria and Celia. 
 Mrs. DeCourcey is still living in Rochelle. 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Southworth three children 
 have been born: Thomas G., born July 11, 
 1883; Helen, born December 31, 1889; and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 425 
 
 Ruth, born November 30, 1895. The two 
 oldest are now attendin.c; the public schools 
 of Rochelle. 
 
 After his marriage, Mr. Southworth lo- 
 cated on his farm in Flagg township, and 
 at once commenced its cultivation. On that 
 farm he continued to reside until March, 
 1893, when, having built one of the finest 
 residences in Rochelle, he moved with his 
 family to the city. The first floor of his 
 house is elegantly finished, the parlor and 
 library being in birch and cherry, and .the 
 dining room in cypress. The second story, 
 in which are the bed rooms, is finished in 
 Georgia pine. Everything about the place 
 shows excellent workmanship. The library 
 room is not built for show, but is well filled 
 with the best literature of the day. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Southworth is a Repub- 
 lican, having voted the ticket of that party 
 since casting his first presidential vote for 
 James A. Garfield. He is now serving his 
 third term as alderman from his ward, the 
 duties of which office he discharges with 
 fidelity. Fraternally he is a member of Wil- 
 low Camp, No. 44, M. W. A. Mr. South- 
 worth is a member of the Catholic church. 
 A good business man, Mr. Southworth 
 works for the best interest of his adopted 
 city and county, and enjoys the confi- 
 dence and good will of all with whom he has 
 been brought in contact. 
 
 PETER GOVIG, an enterprising farmer, 
 residing on section 35, Dement town- 
 ship, has been a resident of Ogle county 
 since 1867. He is a native of Norway, and 
 was born near Stevanger, January 4, 1833, 
 and is the son of John and Martha (Randa) 
 Govig, both of whom were also natives of 
 Norway, the former born December 3, 
 
 1799, and the latter in March, 1800. In 
 early life John Govig learned the trade of a 
 shoemaker, which he followed for some 
 years; but later, however, he engaged in 
 carpentering. His children having come to 
 this country, he followed them with his wife 
 in 1859, and spent the last years of his life 
 with his son, Peter, where his death occurred 
 August 27, 1883, at the age of eighty-four 
 years. His wife died in September, 18S4, 
 and her remains were laid to rest beside 
 those of her husband in the Norwegian 
 church cemetery in Alto township, Lee 
 county. They were the parents of three 
 sons and si.x daughters, all of whom grew 
 to mature years. Melvina married Thole 
 Sawyer, and they located in LaSalle county, 
 Illinois, where her death occurred. Dora, 
 widow of Eber Kiuidson, resides in LaSalle 
 county, Illinois. Lars is a farmer of Lee 
 county, Illinois. Martha Jane married Nels 
 Aske, but is now deceased. Peter is the 
 subject of this sketch. Mrs. Melina Foss, 
 a widow, resides with our subject. Mrs. 
 Bertha Hill resides in DeKalb county. Mrs. 
 Martha Hill resides in Passadena, California. 
 John is a resident of Ogle county. 
 
 Peter Govig grew to manhood in Nor- 
 way, and in 1857 came to the United States, 
 where he joined an older brother. He first 
 located in LaSalle county, Illinois, and 
 worked as a farm hand by the month for 
 about two years. In 1859 he made a trip 
 to Pike's Peak, starting from Leland, Illi- 
 nois, April 15, with three yoke of oxen. He 
 did not, however, stop at the Peak, but 
 pushed on to California, arriving there in 
 September. On his arrival he commenced 
 chopping timber for a sawmill, but later 
 went to mining, in which he met with little 
 success. In the spring of i860 he made up 
 his mind to return east, and started toward 
 
426 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Carson Valley and Camp Floyd, and then 
 on to Gregory, now Colorado City, Colorado, 
 where he again went to mining, at which he 
 continued three years with varying success. 
 Leaving Colorado he went to Montana, 
 where he spent about four years, and meet- 
 ing with fair success. In 1866 he returned 
 to Illinois with some means and purchased 
 the farm where he now resides, consisting 
 of three hundred and twenty acres of excel- 
 lent land. With little e.xperience in farm- 
 ing, he commenced work, and is now num- 
 bered with the most successful and practical 
 farmers in the county. 
 
 Mr. Govig was married in LaSalle county, 
 Illinois, with Miss Berthena Aske, also a 
 native of Norway, born May 15, 1850, the 
 marriage ceremony being celebrated Sep- 
 tember 9, 1868, and to them have been born 
 twelve children — John, Elsie, Peter, Mary, 
 Peter, Nellie, Nels, Mabel, Noah A., Marth, 
 Samuel and Daniel. Of these the first 
 Peter and Nellie are deceased. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Govig is a Republican, 
 but he has never asked or accepted public 
 office. He is a good citizen, however, and 
 lends aid and support to all worthy meas- 
 ures for the general good of the public. He 
 has been a resident of this county for forty- 
 two years, and although he came here poor 
 in this world's goods, by his industry, thrift 
 and economy he has accumulated sufficient 
 means to enable him to live in comfort and 
 ease during the remainder of his life. 
 
 ROMANZO G. SHUMWAY, of Polo, is 
 one of the leading bankers in this sec- 
 tion of the state, and bears a wide reputa- 
 tion as a most capable financier and business 
 man. While as a prosperous business man, 
 he has given close attention to his private 
 
 affairs, he has never forgotten or ignored 
 that bond of common interest which should 
 unite the people of every community and he 
 has always been ready to promote progress 
 in every l-ine. 
 
 Our subject traces his ancestry back to 
 Peter Shumway, who founded the family in 
 Massachusetts as early as 1665. His son 
 Peter was the father of Oliver Shumway, 
 who was born October 12, 1724. The hit- 
 ler's son, Elijah Shumway, was born Octo- 
 ber 24, 1754, and was the father of Lewis, 
 who was born August 18, 1776, and became 
 the grandfather of our subject. David Shum- 
 way, the father, was born March 27, 1803, 
 in Jamaica, Vermont, where he lived until 
 reaching man's estate. After his marriage 
 he removed to Ohio, and in the spring of 
 1836 came to Illinois, settling in Winnebago 
 county, where he entered a tract of land at 
 the mouth of the Kishwaukee river, near 
 Rockford. He was a man of great energy 
 and thrift, who succeeded in accumulating 
 a competency and surrounded his family 
 with all the comforts of life. He died in 
 1S79. In early life he was a Democrat, 
 but on the organization of the Republican 
 party in 1856 he joined its ranks and con- 
 tinued to fight under its banner. In Ver- 
 mont he was united in marriage with Miss 
 Sallie Greeley, who was born in that state 
 in 1806 and died in Illinois in 1887. Her 
 father, Solomon Greeley, married a Miss 
 Smith, who died young, but he livcti to an 
 advanced age and spent his last days in 
 Illinois. To David and Sallie (Greeley) 
 Shumway were born five children, and our 
 subject is the eldest of the five who reached 
 years of maturity. 
 
 On the site of the present city of Ober- 
 lin, Ohio, Romanzo G. Shumway was born 
 February 12, 1832, and was therefore but a 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 427 
 
 small child when brought by his parents to 
 Illinois. He was reared on the home farm 
 near Rockford and attended the local 
 schools until twenty years of age. On at- 
 taining his majority he left the parental 
 roof and clerked for a time in a drug store 
 in Rockford. Later he was similarly em- 
 ployed in a drygoods store in Di.xon, and 
 shortly afterward embarked in the drug 
 business on his own account at Milledgeville, 
 with a branch store at Lanark, continuing 
 operations along that line for si.xteen or 
 seventeen years. In November, 1871, he 
 took up his residence in Polo and became 
 interested in a private bank, which was 
 shortly afterward merged into the Exchange 
 National Bank. During the fifteen years 
 he was connected therewith he served as 
 either its president or vice-president. He 
 still carries on the banking business, being 
 interested in nine different banks in Illinois, 
 Minnesota and Wisconsin. A man of keen 
 discrimination and sound judgment, he has 
 met with marked success in all his under- 
 takings, and his good executive ability and 
 excellent management have brought to the 
 concerns with which he is connected a high 
 degree of prosperity. 
 
 On the 17th of October, 1855, Mr. 
 Shumway was united in marriage with Miss 
 Eugenia M. Palmer, a native of Aurora, 
 Illinois, and a daughter of Dr. \V. K. and 
 Anna (Barnum) Palmer, the former born in 
 Lane, Canada, in 1803, the latter in 1806. 
 Dr. W. K. Palmer was one of the pioneers 
 of Illinois, he having practiced medicine in 
 Carroll county for many years, moving to 
 Aurora when there was only one white fam- 
 ily living there. Her paternal grandparents 
 were Azariah and Anna (Kerley) Palmer, 
 the former a son of Azariah Palmer, Sr. 
 Her maternal grandfather was Herman 
 
 Barnum, a son of Daniel Barnum, who 
 married a Miss Hoskins, a daughter of Asa 
 and Elizabeth (McCarthy) Hoskins. To our 
 subject and his wife were born three children, 
 as follows: Clara, deceased, studied art at 
 Evanston, Illinois, was a painter of great 
 promise and was an especially fine colorist. 
 Anna is the wife of \V. P. Wagner, cashier 
 of the Citizens National Bank, of Green 
 Bay, Wisconsin, and they have two chil- 
 dren: Perry and Eugenia. Lucia is a grad- 
 uate of the Polo high school and La Salle 
 Seminary, of Auburndale, Massachusetts. 
 
 Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Shumway are 
 members of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 and socially was formerly a member of the 
 Masonic fraternity. In his political affilia- 
 tions he is a Republican, and he has been 
 honored by his fellow citizens with a num- 
 ber of responsible official positions. He 
 has served as school treasurer for fourteen 
 years; as supervisor for four years; postmas- 
 ter of Milledgeville for fourteen years; and 
 a member of the Polo school board for six 
 years. The duties of the offices were al- 
 ways most faithfully and conscientiously 
 discharged, and his public and private life 
 are alike above reproach. His strict integ- 
 rity and honorable dealing in business com- 
 mend him to the confidence of all; his 
 pleasant manner wins him friends, and he 
 is one of the popular and honored citizens (if 
 Polo. 
 
 T ESSE F. CATER, who resides on sec- 
 <) tion I I, Taylor township, is well known 
 in Ogle and Lee counties as an active 
 and enterprising farmer, one who endeav- 
 ors to keep abreast of the times. His 
 farm of two hundred and seventy acres is 
 always kept under a high state of cultiva- 
 
428 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tion and well supplied with all modern ma- 
 chinery rendered necessary in this progress- 
 ive age. He was born October 25, 1866, 
 in Bureau county, Illinois, and is the son of 
 James and Susan (Perry) Cater, both of 
 whom were natives of Montgomery county, 
 Ohio, where they grew to manhood and 
 womanhood, were married, and afterwards 
 still resided for some years. In 18 — they 
 came to Illinois and settled in Bureau 
 county, about ten miles east of the county 
 seat. Purchasing a farm of one hundred 
 and thirteen acres, the father engaged in 
 agricultural pursuits. On that farm he 
 continued to reside during the remainder of 
 his life, his death occurring August 8, 1868. 
 His wife is yet living. 
 
 The subject of this sketch remained 
 under the parental roof until twenty-two 
 years old, helping in the work of the farm, 
 and when practicable attended the district 
 school. He was married September 20, 
 1888, in Taylor township, to Miss Laura E. 
 Harris, who was born in the township Oc- 
 tober 16, 1866, and a daughter of Ameriah 
 and Hannah A. (Northrup) Harris. Her 
 father was a native of Maine, born in Tur- 
 ner, Oxford county, October 24, 1822, 
 while her mother was born near Halifax, 
 Nova Scotia, July 12, 1826. They were 
 married August 29, 1847, at Grand Detour, 
 Ogle county. Mr. Harris was a well edu- 
 cated man, and for some years engaged in 
 teaching school, devoting his days to the 
 school room and his evenings to the manu- 
 facture of brooms, being an expert broom - 
 maker. Saving his means, he invested in 
 land, and at the time of his death, which 
 occurred June 13, 1893, he was the owner 
 of one hundred and fifty-five acres of im- 
 proved land in Taylor township. His wife 
 died August 12, 189S. For more than fifty 
 
 years she was a member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church at Light House, and was 
 a strong believer in the doctrines of that 
 church. In their family were seven child- 
 ren, Mrs. Cater being the only one now liv- 
 ing. John B. died at the age of seventeen 
 years; Sumner B. when six years old; Vesta 
 E. at two years; addie L. at two years; 
 Louisa E. at one month; and Lucia, a twin 
 sister of Mrs. Cater, when nearly four 
 years old. 
 
 Mr. Cater was one of a family of eight 
 children. Edward married Mary Belknap, 
 and now lives in Carson, Iowa, where he is 
 engaged in the mercantile business; Mary 
 M. married Harry Belknap, a carpenter by 
 trade, and they reside at Goldfield, Wright 
 county, Iowa; William H. married Hattie 
 Scurr, and they reside in Colfax, Iowa, 
 where he is engaged in the mercantile busi- 
 ness; Arvin died in infancy; Ella J. mar- 
 ried Cyrus Hills, who is engaged in the 
 creamery business at Lamoille, Illinois; 
 Henry M. married Carrie Fish, and they 
 live in Berlin township, Bureau county, Il- 
 linois, where he is engaged in farming; 
 Katie B. married Uri Jacobs, and they also 
 reside in Berlin township. Bureau county, 
 where he is engaged in farming. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Jesse F. Cater are the 
 parents of two children — Sumner H., born 
 February 12, 1891, and Orville E., born 
 December 29, 1894. The former is now a 
 pupil in the pupil schools. 
 
 In addition to general farming, Mr. 
 Cater devotes considerable attention to 
 stock raising, principally well bred horses 
 of light and heavy weight stock, and Pol- 
 and China hogs. He annually buys a num- 
 ber of head of cattle, which he fattens for 
 the Chicago markets. He usually attends 
 to his own shipments. In this branch of 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 429 
 
 his business he has been fairly successful. 
 He is not a politician in the ordinary sense 
 of the term, but gives that time to his du- 
 ties of citizenship that should be given by 
 all. The only official position held by him 
 has been that of clerk of the school board. 
 He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church at Light House, his wife also being 
 a member of the same body. In politics 
 he is a Republican. 
 
 FRANK J. CRAWFORD, editor and pro- 
 prietor of the Polo Semi-Weekly Visitor, 
 was born in Delhi, Delaware county. New 
 York, November 10, 1843. He is the son 
 of William S. and Orra A. fSweet) Craw- 
 ford, the former a native of Connecticut, 
 born September 7, 1807, and the latter 
 born in Green county. New York, Septem- 
 ber 19, 1 8 10. They were married Novem- 
 ber 16, 1 83 1. In his native state, William 
 S. Crawford was made a Mason in 1828, 
 and the principles of the order were ever 
 dear to him. His wife died in Delhi, Dela- 
 ware county, New York, April 18, 1888, 
 aged seventy-seven years and seven months. 
 He is still living in his native state. The 
 maternal grandfather, Cyrus Sweet, who 
 was a soldier in the war of 1812, died in 
 1 86 1, at the age of eighty-four years. 
 
 In his native county, our subject ob- 
 tained his education in the public schools, 
 which he attended in the winter months 
 until he was thirteen years old. When 
 seventeen years old he went to P'"ranklm, 
 New York, and commenced to learn the 
 printer's trade, at which he continued until 
 in August, 1862. He was now in his 
 eighteenth year, and the war for the union 
 had been in progress for a little more than 
 one year. He could resist the call of his 
 
 country no longer, and as a private he en- 
 listed in Company D, One Hundred and 
 Forty-fourth New York Volunteer Infantry, 
 August 13, 1862, at Franklin, Delaware 
 county. After enlisting he went into camp 
 at Delhi, where the regiment was thoroughly 
 drilled, and on the 8th of October, follow- 
 ing, having received marching orders, they 
 set out for the seat of war. At Elmira, 
 New York, they stopped long enough to re- 
 ceive Enfield rifles and accouterments, and 
 then proceeded on their journey. In Feb- 
 ruary, 1863, they were brigaded with the 
 One Hundred and Twenty-seventh, One 
 Hundred and Forty-second, and the One 
 Hundred and Forty-third New York Vol- 
 unteers. 
 
 The first engagement in which Mr. 
 Crawford participated was near Suffolk, 
 Virginia, May 3, 1863. His next engage- 
 ment was on John's Island, South Carolina, 
 July 2, 1864, followed by another July 9th, 
 at which time they were charged by the 
 Confederates, whom they repulsed, and 
 then fell back to their line of earthworks. 
 The enemy soon following, again charged 
 them, attempting to capture the two guns 
 attached to their brigade, but were again 
 repulsed with a loss of five to seven hundred 
 men. Mr. Crawford was promoted to cor- 
 poral April 10, 1863, also promoted to ser- 
 geant May 30, 18G5. While on their way 
 from Washington to Frederick City, Mary- 
 land, July 12, 1863, their train was run 
 into, a portion of it wrecked, and many 
 soldiers were injured. The regiment was 
 later stationed on Folly Island, Seabrook, 
 Kiowa, James and other islands in South 
 Carolina. While there they suffered very 
 much from sickness. 
 
 Mr. Crawford was so fortunate as to 
 keep a diary while in the service. From 
 
430 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 this record we find that he stood guard 
 fifteen times, was corporal of the guard one 
 hundred and sixty times, and sergeant of 
 the guard forty-four times. The following 
 extract from his diary shows what a soldier's 
 life used to be: "Sunday, July 19,1863, 
 marched twenty miles and crossed the 
 Potomac river at Berlin on pontoons; Mon- 
 day, marched fifteen miles; Thursday, called 
 into line, and marched twenty miles with- 
 out rations; Saturday, we marched eighteen 
 miles." Among his most intimate com- 
 rades while in the service were Lieutenant 
 Boyd, J. H. Cobine and Giles M. Tiffany. 
 After serving three years, save one month, 
 he was honorably discharged from the serv- 
 ice at Elmira, New York, July 13, 1865. 
 
 On receiving his discharge, Mr. Craw- 
 ford returned to his old home at Delhi, 
 New York, and for a few weeks worked in a 
 printing office at that place. For several 
 years following he worked as a journeyman 
 printer in various offices of the east, and in 
 1876 came west and located in Dixon, Illi- 
 nois, where he continued to work at his 
 trade. In May, 1877, he came to Polo and 
 found employment in the office of the Polo 
 Press, where he continued for nine years. 
 He then went to St. Paul, Minnesota, 
 where he remained one year, and then re- 
 turned to Polo, and went into the clothing 
 business in partnership with W. R. Miller, 
 continuing in that line until i8go, when he 
 sold his interest in the establishment and 
 purchased the office of the Polo Semi- 
 Weekly Visitor, since which time he has 
 been sole editor and proprietor. Under his 
 control, the Visitor has taken front rank 
 among the local papers of the state. While 
 the paper advocates the principles of the 
 Republican party, it gives special attention 
 to local alTairs, espousing all measures tend- 
 
 ing to advance the local interests of Polo 
 and vicinity. 
 
 On the 19th of March, 1S69, Mr. Craw- 
 ford was united in marriage, in Franklin, 
 Delaware county. New York, with Miss 
 Aggie D. Field, a native of Andes, New 
 York, born February 4, 1851, and daughter 
 of Henry and Aseneth (Ferguson) Field, the 
 former born in Green county. New York, 
 June II, 1 82 1 , and the latter in Andes, New 
 York, September 15, 1824. They were 
 married December 5, 1842. Mrs. Field 
 died August 16, 1857, while her husband is 
 still living in the east. To Mr. and Mrs. 
 Crawford two children were born: Lulu 
 May, born in Delhi, Delaware county. New 
 York, June 12, 1872, died at Walton, New 
 York, December 17, 1874; EarlF., born in 
 Polo, Ogle county, Illinois, October 2, 1877, 
 is now assisting his father in his printing 
 office. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. Crawford is a charter 
 member of Polo post. No. 84, G. A. R., 
 and has held office in the post continuously 
 since its organization, a period of eighteen 
 years. He is past commander, and for 
 some six or eight years has been serving as 
 adjutant of the post, a position that he still 
 holds. He is past master of Mystic Tie 
 lodge. No. 187, A. F. & A. M., and past 
 high priest of Tyrian chapter, No. 61, R. 
 A. M., of Polo, Illinois, and is a member 
 of Dixon commandery, No. 21, K. T-, also 
 a member of the Eastern Star. Politically 
 he is a Republican, being a stanch advocate 
 of the principles of the party, his views 
 being plainly expressed through the columns 
 of his paper. From 1881 to 1885, inclu- 
 sive, he served as city clerk of Polo. Be- 
 fore coming to Polo he was a member of 
 the Congregationalist church, but is now a 
 member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 4.1 1 
 
 and one of the official members, holding the 
 office of steward. In the work of the 
 church he takes considerable interest. As 
 a citizen he is held in hi"h esteem. 
 
 JAMliS TAYLOR.— As a representative 
 (i[ the intelligent and hardy pioneers 
 who opened up Ogle county for settlement 
 and have since taken a conspicuous part in 
 its de\elopment, we are pleased to place in 
 this volume a brief sketch of the life of the 
 gentleman whose name stands at the head 
 of this notice. He arrived here in 1841 
 and for many years was actively identifieil 
 with its agricultural interest, but is now 
 living retired in the village of Byron, sur- 
 rounded by many comforts and luxuries, all 
 of which have been ac(]uired through his 
 own industry, perseverance and good man- 
 agement. 
 
 Mr. Taylor was born in lilendon town- 
 ship, Franklin county, Ohio, twelve miles 
 northeast of Columbus, F^ebruary 16, 1823. 
 His father, Ambrose Taylor, was a native 
 of New York, where he married Abigail 
 Meade, a native of New Jersey, who lived 
 at Meade's Bason, sixteen miles from New 
 York city. From the Empire state they 
 removed to Pennsylvania, and later to 
 Ohio, settling in F'ranklin county, where 
 the father developed a farm. Subsequently 
 he became a resident of Indiana, then spent 
 several years in Ogle county, Illinois, and 
 finally went to Iowa, where he passed the 
 remainder of his life. 
 
 Our subject accompanied his father on 
 the removal of the family to Indiana and lo- 
 cated near Lafayette, on the Wabash river. 
 In 1 84 1 he came to Ogle county, Illinois, 
 where he first worked by the month during 
 {be sumrner season for fourteen dollars, and 
 
 also cradled wheat for fifty cents an acre. 
 In this way he secured a start in life and la- 
 ter purchased a team and engaged in teaming 
 on his own account. In early life he was 
 quite a hunter, and as deer and other wild 
 game still abounded in this region, he had 
 ample opportunity to indulge in that sport. 
 Although he worked for others he continued 
 tt) make his home with his father until he 
 attained his majority and together they en- 
 tered eighty acres of land in this county, 
 but later our subject purchased his father's 
 interest. He continued to engage in team- 
 ing for some time, hauling lead from Frank- 
 lin to Galena, and in the winter of 1848, 
 made nine trips with a sleigh to Chicago. In 
 connection with freighting he also followed 
 farming to some extent, broke his eighty- 
 acre tract and erected thereon a hewed-log 
 house, for which he purchased the shingles 
 at St. Charles, Illinois. Later he built a 
 good frame residence and otherwise im- 
 proved his land, adding to it from time to 
 time until he had two hundred and eighty 
 acres in the home farm in Marion township, 
 all valuable and well improved land. I5e- 
 sides this place he owns a farm of one hun- 
 dred and fifty acres in B^'ron township, 
 through which both railroads pass, and 
 which is pleasantly situated a mile north- 
 west of the village of Byron, and also has a 
 good residence in Rocktord, valued at 
 twenty-seven hundred dollars. Ixenting his 
 farm in 1890 he removed to Byron, where 
 he purchased a nice home and has since tie- 
 voted his time to looking after his in- 
 vestment. 
 
 In Ogle county was celebrated the mar- 
 riage of Mr. Taylor and Miss Martha Con- 
 way, on December 21, 1852. She is a na- 
 tive of Morgan county, Ohio, and a daughter 
 of Jesse and Nancy Conway, who removed 
 
432 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 to Lawrence county, Illinois, in 1837, and 
 nine years later became residents of Ogle 
 county, where they spent their remaining 
 years. They now sleep side by side in By- 
 ron cemetery. To Mr. and Mrs. Taylor 
 have been born five children, of whom 
 four are now living, namely: Ambrose, a 
 resident of California; Vinton, who died at 
 the age of ten years; Eveline, wife of Al- 
 fred Rood, of Rockford, Illinois; Sherman, 
 who is operating the old home farm; and 
 Martha, wife of John Shearer, a farmer of 
 Byron township. 
 
 Since the organization of the Republican 
 party, Mr. Taylor has been one of its stanch 
 supporters, voting for Fremont in 1S56 and 
 Lincoln in 1 860, but he has never cared for 
 official honors. For the success that he has 
 achieved in life he deserves great credit, for 
 he came to the county empty-handed, and 
 has not only gained a comfortable compe- 
 tence, but has also won the respect of those 
 he has come in contact with by his hon- 
 orable, upright life. 
 
 GEORGE W. DICUS is not only one of 
 the best known and most popular citi- 
 zens of Rochelle, but is also one of the he- 
 roes of our late war with Spain, having 
 taken an active part in the capture of Porto 
 Rico. For eight years he has been editor 
 of the Rochelle Register, and is now most 
 creditably and satisfactorily serving us post- 
 master of that place. 
 
 Mr. Dicus was born in Marshall county, 
 Illinois, December 18, i860, and is a son 
 of George W. and Hannah (Lynch) Dicus, 
 natives of Ohio, the former born in 18 14, 
 the latter in 18 19. The maternal grand- 
 father, — Thompson, served through- 
 out the Revolutionary war as captain of a 
 
 company from Virginia, and he died in Day- 
 ton, Ohio, in 1842. The progenitor of the 
 Thompson family in America came from 
 England and settled with the first colony at 
 Jamestown in 1620. The Dicus family, 
 however, is of German origin and was not 
 founded in this country until 18 10, when 
 the paternal grandparents of our subject 
 crossed the Atlantic and took up their resi- 
 dence in Ohio, being among the pioneers of 
 that state. Both died during the cholera 
 epidemic of 18 18, leaving their son, George 
 W.,an orphan at the age of four years. He 
 was adopted by George Goodrich, who in 
 1826 removed from Ohio to Lacon, Mar- 
 shall county, Illinois, settling there before 
 that village was established. Our subject's 
 father was thus reared to manhood amid 
 pioneer scenes in this state and was edu- 
 cated in the schools of Marshall county. 
 During his youth he returned to Ohio, and 
 in a small town near Columbus he learned 
 the blacksmith's trade. Having thoroughly 
 mastered the business, he again came to 
 Marshall county, Illinois, at the age of 
 twenty-one and established the first black- 
 smith shop there. In his early life he was 
 very successful, but after his service in the 
 Civil war he met with reverses in business. 
 In August, 1862, he enlisted in the One 
 Hundred and Fourth Illinois Volunteer In- 
 fantry and served for about two years as 
 regimental blacksmith with the rank of 
 sergeant. He participated in the bat- 
 tles of Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga 
 and other notable engagements, and was 
 captured by John Morgan, being imprisoned 
 at Montgomery, Alabama, for about three 
 months, after which he was sent to Nash- 
 ville to be exchanged. In the meantime he 
 had suffered a severe attack of brain fever. 
 During his imprisonment all trace of him 
 
GEO. W. DICUS. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL. RECORD. 
 
 435 
 
 was lost, and his wife, leaving her seven 
 children at home, went in search of him, and 
 for about a year served as nurse at Nash- 
 ville. She was twice married, her first hus- 
 band being John Riley Russell, a contractor 
 and builder, who died of yellow fever at 
 Port Lavaca, Texas, in 1853. By that 
 union she had si.\ children, one of whom, 
 John H. Russell, was also among the boys in 
 blue during the Rebellion, in which he served 
 for four years and two months. He was a 
 member of the One Hundred and Seventh 
 Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was only 
 fifteen years of age at the time he took part 
 in the battle of Chickamauga. Mrs. Dicus 
 is a sister-in-law of Albert Ringe, of Phila- 
 delphia, who was for years the president of 
 the Philadelphia Plate Glass Insurance 
 Company, and was one of the capitalists 
 who furnished the means to Dr. Catling to 
 prosecute the manufacture of his guns. He 
 was at the front for some time, being with 
 Butler while testing the guns. After the 
 war, the father of our subject resumed 
 blacksmithing at Wenona, where he con- 
 tinued in business for some years, but spent 
 the last eight years of his life in retirement 
 at Streator. He died while on a visit to 
 Ottawa, Illinois, August 20, 1891. His 
 widow is still a resident of Streator. Our 
 subject is the second in order of birth in the 
 family of six children born of their union 
 and all are still living with the exception of 
 one son who died in childhood. 
 
 George W. Dicus, of this review, com- 
 pleted his education in the high school of 
 Wenona, Illinois, and at the age of fourteen 
 years commenced learning the printer's 
 trade under Cadet Taylor in the office of 
 Wenona Index, though he was still attend- 
 ing school. On leaving there at the age of 
 nineteen, he went to Streator, and has since 
 
 worked on most of the prominent dailies 
 throughout the United States. In 1888 he 
 purchased the Milledgeville Free Press, and 
 in 1 89 1 bought the Rochelle Register, which 
 he has since successfully published, being 
 one of the ablest representatives of the jour- 
 nalistic profession in this section of the 
 state. 
 
 Mr. Dicus has been for years active in 
 editorial association work, being first vice- 
 president of the Illinois Press Association 
 for three years past, a member of the State 
 Republican Editorial Association, and has 
 been a delegate five times to the National 
 Editorial Association; in 1892, at San Fran- 
 cisco, California; i894,Asbury Park, New 
 York; 1895, St. Augustine, Florida; 1897, 
 Galveston, Texas; and 1899, Portland, Ore- 
 gon. 
 
 On the 7th of June, 1877, Mr. Dicus en- 
 listed in Company C, Tenth Battalion Illi- 
 nois National Guards, under command of 
 Colonel Parsons and was later transferred to 
 Company C, Fourth Illinois. After coming 
 to Rochelle, he enlisted in 1892, as second 
 sergeant in Company M, Third Illinois Nation- 
 al Guards, subsequently was promoted to first 
 sergeant and November 30, 1895, waselected 
 first lieutenant. He assisted in quelling the 
 riots at Lamont and Chicago, and in 1880 
 the company of which he was then a mem- 
 ber carried off the honors at Mobile, Ala- 
 bama. When the war between Spain and 
 the United States broke out, Mr. Dicus was 
 mustered into the United States service at 
 Springfield, May 7, 1898, as first lieuten. 
 ant of his company, and on the 14th of May 
 proceeded to Chickamauga Park, where he 
 remained until July 22, when the Third Illi- 
 nois was picked out of the sixty-five regi- 
 ments to accompany General Brooke to 
 Porto Rico. They were transported on the 
 
436 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 auxiliary cruiser St. Louis and arrived at 
 Ponce July 29, 1898, and after one day 
 spent at that place proceeded to Arroyo, a 
 distance of forty miles, where they landed 
 on the ist of August under the fire of the 
 guns of the St. Louis, Cincinnati and Glou- 
 cester bombarding the town and woods. 
 Capturing the place they occupied it for 
 three days, during which time they took 
 part in a number of skirmishes with the 
 Spaniards. On the 5th of August they ad- 
 vanced on Guayama, captured the town and 
 killed a number of Spaniards without loss 
 to themselves. On the 8th of August they 
 supported the Fourth Ohio regiment in the 
 Cayey mountains, driving the Spaniards out. 
 They were already to engage in battle on 
 the 13th when the news of peace reached 
 them, but they remained at Porto Rico on 
 outpost duty for some time. At the order 
 of General Haines, Lieutenant Dicus planted 
 the flag of truce opposite the Spanish works. 
 On the iith of May, he was appointed by 
 President McKinley as ordnance officer, 
 having full charge of the equipments, am- 
 munition, etc. With his regiment he sailed 
 November 3 on the transport Roumania for 
 New York, where they arrived on the 9th, 
 and over the Erie railroad proceeded at 
 once to Chicago. They were mustered out 
 January 17, 1899. Lieutenant Dicus was 
 a gallant officer and brave soldier, who was 
 held in high esteem by his fellow officers and 
 had the confidence and respect of those un- 
 der him. 
 
 While in Springfield, preparing to go to 
 the front, Mr. Dicus was notified of his ap- 
 pointment as postmaster of Rochelle, and 
 was sworn in at Chickamauga Park by 
 Colonel Fred Bennitt. His wife then 
 served as acting postmaster until February 
 I, 1899, when he assumed the duties of 
 
 the office, which he has since so efficiently 
 discharged. He was married on the 22d 
 of June, 1884, to Miss Mary Louise John- 
 ston, who was born in Lancaster county, 
 Pennsylvania. Her father, George W. 
 Johnston, also a native of Pennsylvania, 
 has borne his part in the wars of this coun- 
 try, having served in the navy during the 
 Seminole war and the war with Mexico, 
 and as a member of the One Hundred and 
 Seventy-seventh Pennsylvania Volunteer 
 Infantry during the Civil war. He was a 
 cousin of Albert Sidney Johnston, the great 
 Confederate general. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Dicus is an ardent sup- 
 porter of the Republican party and its prin- 
 ciples. He is prominent in Masonic circles, 
 being a member of Horicon Lodge, No. 
 244, F. & A. M. ; Rochelle Chapter, No. 
 158, R. A. M. ; Sycamore Commandery, 
 K. T. ; Medinah Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S. ; 
 and the Eastern Star. He is deservedly 
 popular as he is affable and courteous in 
 manner, and possesses that essential quali- 
 fication to success in public life, that of 
 making friends readily and of strengthen- 
 ing the ties of all friendships as time ad- 
 vances. 
 
 AL\1N JOINIIR.— There arc no rules 
 for building characters; there is no rule 
 for achieving success. The man who can 
 rise from the ranks to a position of emi- 
 nence is he who can see and utilize the op- 
 portunities that surround his path. The es- 
 sential conditions of human life are ever 
 the same, the surroundings of individuals 
 differ but slightly; and, when one man 
 passes another on the highway to reach the 
 goal of prosperity before others who per- 
 haps started out before him, it is because 
 
THE r.IOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 43; 
 
 he has the power to use advantages which 
 probably encompass the whole human race. 
 To-day among the most prominent business 
 men in Ogle county stands Mr. Joiner, of 
 Polo. 
 
 The Joiner family was founded in Amer- 
 ica by three brothers, one of wiiom settled 
 in New England, another in the Middle 
 states, and the third in the South, and it 
 is from the first that our subject is de- 
 scended. His grandfather, Alvin Joiner, 
 was a native of Royalton, Windsor county, 
 Vermont, and one of the pioneers of Ogle 
 county, Illinois, having taken up his resi- 
 dence here in 1836. He was a farmer by 
 occupation and in Oak Ridge township he 
 bought a farm of one hundred and sixty 
 acres. He married Hannah Van Wagoner, 
 of New York, a cousin of Roscoc Conklin. 
 
 Charles W. Joiner, father of our sub- 
 ject, was born in Windsor county, \'erniont, 
 December 8, 1S16, and was educated in the 
 common schools of that state and in Mid- 
 dlebury College. He came west with his 
 parents in 1836, and much of his early life 
 was devoted to farming in Ogle county. 
 Later he became interested in lumbering in 
 Michigan and spent twenty-seven \'ears in 
 the pineries of that state, but is now living 
 retired with our subject in Polo. Though 
 well past his four-score years he is still active 
 in body and mind, and is numbered among 
 the highly esteemed citizens of the commu- 
 nity. He married Harriet M. Waterbury, 
 who was born in Andes, Delaware county, 
 New York, November 26, 1S15, a daughter 
 of John Waterbury, a native of Ballston 
 Spa, New York, who was born March 26, 
 1791, and moved to Delaware ^county in 
 1808. His parents were I^aniel and Mary 
 (Stephenson) Waterbur}-, the latter of whom 
 was born May 20, 1765, a daughter of 
 
 David Stephenson. Daniel Waterbury was 
 a son of Captain Daniel and Anna (Bouton) 
 Waterbury, and was a member of his fa- 
 ther's company in the Revolutionary war, 
 in which both served with distinction. John 
 Waterbury, the grandfather of our subject, 
 was married, in 1S13, to Miss Phcebe B. 
 Bradwell, a daughter of Ezra and Sarah 
 (Beach) Bradwell. She was born in Charl- 
 ton, Saratoga county, New York, May 6, 
 1790, and died October 24, i860. To the 
 the parents of our subject were born two 
 children, he being the younger. Mary W. 
 is the wife of John S. Thompson, who is 
 engaged in the steamboat and salt business 
 in Michigan. 
 
 Alvin Joiner, of this review, was born 
 near Polo, November 13, 1848, and as soon 
 as old enough began attending the district 
 school near the home farm. In 1857 the 
 family removed to Port Sanilac, Michigan, 
 where he continued his studies in the com- 
 mon schools, was later a student in the 
 Royalton Academy, Vermont, and took a 
 special course in a business college at Hills- 
 dale, Michigan, fitting himself to assist in 
 his father's business. He completed his ed- 
 ucation about 1866, and at the age of twen- 
 ty-one was admitted to partnership in the 
 business. They purchased large tracts of 
 pine lands, established sawmills, and ship- 
 ped large (piantities of lumber to the New 
 England states, Richmond, Virginia, and 
 also sold much in Ohio, Indiana and Michi- 
 gan. Shingles were manufactured on an 
 extensive scale and our subject himself has 
 bundled enough to make thirty miles of 
 bundles placed end to end. During their 
 business they were burned out six different 
 times. He retired from the lumber business 
 in the fall of 1883, and the following spring 
 returned to Polo, where he has since made 
 
43S 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 his home, he with liis father having invest- 
 ed some of their capital in farming lands in 
 this region. They also own tracts in Flor- 
 ida and Dakota and arc entjaged in loaning 
 money. 
 
 In Wood county, Ohio, Mr. Joiner was 
 married, January 14, 1S74, to Miss Ida 
 Wood, a native of that county and a daugh- 
 ter of Major H. L. and Jane (Kunkel) 
 Wood, the former born in Albany county. 
 New York, June 2, 1809, but was reared in 
 the western part of that state by an 
 aunt. When a young man the Major se- 
 cured the contract to build the Buffalo & 
 Niagara Falls railroad, having learned 
 something of railroad construction while 
 engaged in building the Baltimore & Ohio 
 road in Maryland. He went to Toledo, 
 Ohio, to construct a part of the Wabash & 
 Erie canal, and while there bought a farm 
 in Wood county, Ohio, where he made his 
 home from 1844 until 1876. In 1847 he 
 was commissioned major of the first brigade 
 of Ohio militia, and in 18 — was made 
 brigadier-general of the third brigade. Dur- 
 ing the Civil war he enlisted in the Si.xty- 
 seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry; served as 
 quartermaster for two years, and with his 
 regiment was present at the battles of \\'in- 
 chester and Fort Wagner. From 1866 
 until 1870 he served as a member of the 
 state legislature, and was superintendent of 
 the Western Reserve & Maumee road from 
 1871 until 1875. The following year he 
 removed to Monroe, Michigan, where his 
 death occurred April 23, 1S86. His father, 
 Abraham Wood, was born in Rensselaer 
 county. New York, January 28, 1774, and 
 died April 28, 1849. He was a farmer by 
 occupation, and wedded Mary Stuart, a de- 
 scendant of the royal family of Stuarts. 
 The Woods were of English origin. Major 
 
 Wood was married in Fremont, Ohio, 
 March 27, 1845, to Miss Jane Kunkle, who 
 was born in the Wyoming Valley, Pennsyl- 
 vania, April 20, 1820, and died August 23, 
 1883. Her father, Conrad Kunkle, a miller 
 and mill owner in the Wyoming Valley, mar- 
 ried Hannah Luce, who was an own cousin 
 of Louisa Chandler Moulton. His father was 
 a native of Germany. To our subject and 
 his wife have been born five children, name- 
 ly: Jennie H., who is a graduate of the 
 Conservatory of Music, Oberlin College, 
 and is now engaged in teaching in Danbury, 
 Connecticut; Alice, who is preparing for 
 Cornell University at the Hillside Home 
 School, Iowa county, Wisconsin, where she 
 will graduate in 1899; Charles Henry, Alvin, 
 Jr., and Flora Isabel, who are attending 
 the Polo schools. 
 
 In his political views Mr. Joiner is a 
 Republican, and in his social relations is a 
 member of the Knights of the Globe, the 
 Mystic Workers of the World, and the Lib- 
 eral Congress of Religions. He has served 
 as mayor of Polo for two terms, and was 
 the first postmaster of Chase, Lake county, 
 Michigan, which office was established for 
 the benefit of the lumber camps in that re- 
 gion. He and his father laid out the town 
 at that place, and were prominently identi- 
 fied with its growth and development. In 
 business affairs he is energetic, prompt and 
 notably reliable, and as a citizen merits 
 and receives the confidence and high regard 
 of all who know him. 
 
 ELIJAH n. MlLLi:i;, who is living a re- 
 tired life on his farm on section 15, De- 
 ment township, has been a resident of Ogle 
 county since 18C4. He was born near Au- 
 burn, Cayuga county, New York, September 
 
Tin<: P.IOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 439 
 
 -7< ^^1)7- His father, John Miller, was also a 
 native of the same county and state, while his 
 grandfather, John Miller, Sr. , was a native 
 of New Jersey. The latter, who was a 
 wheelright by trade, and also a miller, built 
 the first mill in Oswego, New York, and for 
 years engaged in the milling business in 
 connection with farming. He moved to 
 the county when it was little better than a 
 vast wilderness, purchased a large tract of 
 land, cleared it of its timber, and made a 
 fine farm. While he ran the mill his sons 
 and hired help ran the farm. 
 
 John Miller, the father of our subject, 
 grew to manhood in Cayaga county, and 
 there married Christiana Dills, a native of 
 New York, and reared in Cayuga county, 
 and daughter of Abram Dills, who was an 
 early settler of that county. By this union 
 there were ten children, two of whom died 
 in childhood. Purchasing a farm near that 
 of his father, John Miller engaged in agri- 
 cultural pursuits, and there reared his fam- 
 ily. He died there about 1862, his wife 
 surviving him until about 1879, when she, 
 too, passed away. 
 
 Elijah H. Miller was third in order of 
 birth of the ten children. He grew to man- 
 hood on the old farm of his father, and in the 
 common schools of the neighborhood re- 
 ceived a fair education. He is, however, 
 mostly self-educated. He was married in 
 his native county April 19, 1857, to Miss 
 Emma McArthur, a native of Wayne coun- 
 ty. New York, a daughter of John and 
 Eliza (Waldron) McArthur, both natives 
 of Onondaga county. New York. F"or 
 fouryears after his marriage, Mr. Miller en- 
 gaged in farming in Cayuga county, and in 
 1 86 1 moved to Wayne county, in the same 
 state, where he bought a farm of fifty acres 
 near the village of Red Creek, on which he 
 
 lived for three years. He then came to 
 Ogle county, Illinois, and located in De- 
 ment township, where he purchased a farm 
 of one hundred acres, sixty acres of which 
 had been broken, but on which no further 
 improvements had been made. He bought 
 a small and cheap house which he moved to 
 his place, and in which the family lived for 
 several years. Later he built an addition to 
 the house, making of it a neat and com- 
 fortable residence. He also built two large 
 barns and erected other outbuildings, set 
 out fruit and ornamental trees, and other- 
 wise improved the place. After a few years 
 he purchased forty acres adjoining, and in 
 1876 bought the eighty acres on which his 
 present residence is located, and to which 
 he removed in 1896. Since moving to his 
 present home he has lived a retired life, 
 leaving the management of both farms to 
 his sons. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Miller are the parents of 
 si.x children, five of whom are now living. 
 Henry E. is a farmer in Dement township. 
 Edward D. resides in Wisconsin. Bertha 
 C. is living at home with her parents. Cal- 
 vin F. is living on the old homestead. 
 George A. is carrying on the present home 
 farm. One daughter, Eliza May, died at 
 the age of three years. Henry E. married 
 Josephine Kendall and they have five chil- 
 dren — Winifred V., William Elijah, Emert 
 J., Guy and Elizabeth E. Edward D. mar- 
 ried Nellie Miles and they have two sons, 
 Roy Harold and Ralph Edward. Calvin 
 Y . married Rose Gibson and they have two 
 children, Alice E. and Floyd Arthur. 
 
 Politically Mr. Miller is a life-long Re- 
 publican, his first presidential vote being 
 cast for Abraham Lincoln in i860. He 
 has never swerved from allegiance to his 
 party, and has voted for every candidate of 
 
440 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 his party for the presidency from that time 
 to the present. He has served several 
 years as township trustee, and for a num- 
 ber of years as member of the school board, 
 at times being president of the board. Re- 
 ligiously he is a Congregationalist, holding 
 membership with the Congregationalist 
 church at Creston, of which body his wife 
 is also a member. For thirty-five years 
 they have been respected citizens of Ogle 
 county, and in that time have made many 
 friends and few enemies. While their 
 financial ability was very limited on coming 
 to the county, they have the satisfaction of 
 knowing that they have been prospered, 
 and have enough to enable them to live at 
 ease, should they so desire, the remainder 
 of their lives. 
 
 HORACE STOCKING, one of Ogle coun- 
 ty's leading agriculturists and a prom- 
 inent grain dealer of Liiidenwood, has spent 
 his entire life in the county, his birth having 
 occurred in White Rock township, October 
 13, 1848, and is the son of William Stock- 
 ing, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this 
 work. He received his preliminary educa- 
 tion in the common schools and later at- 
 tended the Rockford high school. Through- 
 out his active business life he has followed 
 the honorable occupation of farming, and 
 has made a specialty of the breeding of 
 shorthorn cattle. In 1898, he purchased a 
 half interest in the grain elevator at Linden- 
 wood, which is now conducted under the firm 
 name of Horace Stocking & Son, and they 
 are also doing a large and profitable business 
 at that place as dealers in lumber, coal, all 
 kinds of agricultural implements, carriages, 
 wagons, etc. 
 
 On the 22d of October, 1873, Mr. 
 
 Stocking was united in marriage with Miss 
 Alma C. Weeks, a daughter of David H. 
 and Eliza (Shaw) Weeks, of White Rock 
 township, and four sons have been born of 
 this union, namely: Dexter W., Elmer D., 
 Howard L. and George E. Mrs. Stocking's 
 father was born in Starkville, Herkimer 
 county. New York, March 29, 18 19, was 
 well educated in the schools of his day and 
 early acquired an excellent knowledge of 
 farm work in its various departments. He 
 was married, June 15, 1851, to Miss Eliza- 
 beth Shaw, of his native land, and to them 
 were born seven children: John, who mar- 
 ried Emma Murphy; IdaL., wife of William 
 Ritchie; Alma C, wife of our subject; Day- 
 ton N., who married Carrie Danforth and 
 has four children, Ethel, Charles, Hazel and 
 Ida; Albert, who resides in Minneapolis; 
 Henry, a commercial traveler; and George, 
 who died at the age of five years. Both 
 Mr. and Mrs. Weeks are still living and now 
 make their home in St. Lawrence, Dakota. 
 Politically Mr. Stocking has always affil- 
 iated with the Republican party, and for 
 twelve years he has most capably and satis- 
 factorily served as highway commissioner. 
 Socially he is a member of Linden Lodge, 
 No. 829, I. O. O. F. , of Lindenwood. As 
 a business man he is energetic, prompt and 
 notably reliable, and as a citizen he meets 
 every requirement, manifesting a commend- 
 able interest in everything that is calculated 
 to promote the welfare of his community in 
 any line. 
 
 JOSEPH O'KANE, an honored veteran 
 of the Civil war and one of the most 
 philanthropic and generous citizens of Ogle 
 county, has throughout the greater part of 
 his active business life engaged in agricult- 
 ural pursuits near the city of Polo. He 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 441 
 
 was born in Franklin county, Indiana, De- 
 cember 23, 1836, and is a son of Daniel 
 O'Kane, a native of County Tyrone, Ire- 
 land, who was born in 181 1, and died in 
 April, 1892. When a lad of eleven years 
 the father came with his parents to the 
 United States, landing at New York, when 
 they proceeded to Franklin county, Indiana. 
 In 1839 he came to Ogle county and bought 
 a tract of land which he operated during the 
 summer season, while during the winter 
 months he worked at the cooper's trade. 
 Knowing something of medicine, he was 
 frequently called upon to prescribe (or his 
 neighbors in early days. In connection with 
 farming operations he also engaged in the 
 grain business to some extent in later years. 
 His parents both lived to be ninety years 
 old. He married Miss Lucinda Johnson, 
 who was born in Kentucky, in 1813, and died 
 in August, 1868. To them were born 
 fifteen children, of whom only seven are 
 now living. Three make their home in 
 Polo, namely: Joseph, our subject; Mary 
 S., wife of George Kingery; and Aaron A., 
 a barber and insurance agent. James, the 
 oldest, lives in Kerney, Nebraska; John W. 
 lives in Wahoo, Nebraska; S. Byron lives 
 in Lincoln, Nebraska; Caroline married 
 Charles Hadsel and lives near Wahoo, Ne- 
 braska. 
 
 The subject of this review came with his 
 parents to Ogle county in the spring of 
 1839, and grew to manhood on the home 
 farm at Elkhorn Grove, attending the 
 district schools only through the winter 
 months, and working hard during the sum- 
 mer on the farm as he was the second in 
 order of birth in the family of fifteen. In 
 1859 he went to California by way of New 
 York and the Isthmus of Panama, it being 
 thirty days from the time he left home be- 
 
 fore he arrived in San Francisco. He first 
 worked on a ranch in Siskiyou county for 
 fifty dollars per month, and during most of 
 his stay on the Pacific coast was thus em- 
 ployed. In the spring of 1861 he returned 
 to Ogle county by the same route. 
 
 Feeling that his country needed his 
 services, Mr. O'Kane enlisted September 5, 
 I 861, in Company B, Seventh Illinois Cav- 
 alry, the first cavalry regiment in that state, 
 and was mustered in at Springfield on the 
 15th of that month. They were first sent 
 to Bird's Point, Missouri, and for some time 
 were engaged in scouting in that state, 
 reaching Shiloh two days after the battle at 
 that place. Their first engagement was at 
 Corinth, followed by Grierson's raid from 
 Memphis to Port Hudson, during which 
 time they were si.xteen days in the saddle 
 without rest. Mr. O'Kane was captured at 
 Coldwater, Mississippi, November 3, 1863, 
 and for four months each was confined at 
 Cahaba, Alabama, Charleston and Columbia, 
 South Carolina, and Columbus, North Caro- 
 lina, being finally exchanged at Annapolis, 
 Maryland, March i, 1S65. He suffered un- 
 told agonies during his sixteen months im- 
 prisonment and it was only those of strong 
 will who survived. Five days' rations con- 
 sisted of a quart of meal and a pint of 
 sorghum, so that many starved to death. 
 At one time our subject and fifteen others 
 dug a tunnel eighty feet in length, and 
 twelve officers and four privates made their 
 escape from Cahaba prison, and succeeded 
 in traveling eighty miles by night, and were 
 within one night's journey of the Union 
 lines when recaptured. When a man gave 
 out the rest would not leave him and all 
 were caught, being tracked by blood hounds. 
 After his exchange Mr. O'lvane was must- 
 ered out on release as his regiment ha(^ 
 
44^ 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 veteranized during his imprisonment and he 
 was supposed to be dead. He reached 
 home March i8, 1865, a wreck of his 
 former self, and spent the following summer 
 in recuperating. During his service he had 
 sent to his home his wages, and this his 
 father had invested for him in eighty acres 
 of land, which was nearly all paid for. The 
 fall after his return he was married and be- 
 gan life in earnest upon his farm, which he 
 has since successfully operated. With wheat 
 at two dollars a bushel, he finished paying 
 for the place and has since bought one hun- 
 dred and ten acres near Polo, and one hun- 
 dred and five acres of pasture land on 
 Buffalo creek. 
 
 At the Methodist Episcopal church, in 
 Polo, September 17, 1865, was celebrated 
 the marriage of Mr. O'Kane and Miss Jenette 
 Rowand, who was born in "Old Town," 
 Buffalo Grove, Ogle county. Her father, 
 Andrew Rowand was born in Paisley, Scot- 
 land, in 1 81 3, and on crossing the Atlantic 
 in 1 83 1, first located in Canada, but seven 
 years later became one of the pioneers of 
 Ogle county. At that time he could have 
 purchased any amount of land in the pres- 
 ent heart of Chicago for almost nothing, 
 but would not have taken it as a gift. He 
 was a stonemason and farmer by occupa- 
 tion and bought one hundred and sixty acres 
 of land three miles from Old Town, where 
 he departed this life December 27, 1887. 
 In politics he was a Democrat. His father 
 spent his entire life in Scotland on the same 
 farm, where the family have resided for two 
 centuries as leaseholders, as few can own 
 land in that country. Andrew Rowand 
 married Elizabeth Lawson, who was also 
 born in Paisley, Scotland, in 181 1, a daugh- 
 ter of John and Jenette (Downey) Lawson. 
 She came to the new world in the san^e ves- 
 
 sel as her future husband and they were 
 married in Canada. To them were born 
 six children, of whom four are still living: 
 Jenette, wife of our subject; Maria, wife of 
 Marion Shoemaker, of Elkhorn Grove; An- 
 drew J., who lives on the old home farm; 
 and Agnes, widow of W'illiam O'Kane, a 
 brother of our subject. 
 
 Fraternally Mr. O'Kane is a member of 
 the Grand Army of the Republic, and in 
 politics is an ardent Republican. Both he 
 and his wife are active and consistent mem- 
 bers of the Methodist Episcopal church and 
 are noted for their generosity and kindly 
 spirit. Having no children of their own, 
 they have at various times taken into their 
 home nine orphans, several of whom were 
 legally adopted. These are as follows: 
 Mabel is now the wife of William Lyons, 
 who is successfully conducting a laundry at 
 Pecatonica, Illinois. James Edward O'Kane 
 lived with them for many years, but finally 
 went to Chicago, where he assumed the 
 name of Foster. He married Alice Vancil, 
 and now resides in Chicago. Among the 
 number who have lived with Mr. and Mrs. 
 O'Kane at times are Katie Smith, Thomas 
 Fassett, George Garrett, and Philla Sweet, 
 who married Gerald Snyder. Their latest 
 charge is Jerome Kilmarton,vvho now makes 
 his home with our subject. Some one 
 from Polo found him at the stock yards in 
 Chicago, and knowing the philanthropic 
 character of Mr. O'Kane and his wife, and 
 being sure that he would find a good home 
 with them, he brought him here. Such a 
 couple certainly deserve honorable mention 
 in a work of this character and we take 
 pleasure in presenting this brief sketch of 
 their lives to our readers, knowing that it 
 will be perused with interest by their many 
 friencj§ anc) acquaintiinceg in Ogle county. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 443 
 
 JOHN HARTWIG, who resides on sec- 
 tion 27, Eagle Point township, and 
 who owns and operates a farm of one hun- 
 dred and seventy acres, has been a resident 
 of Ogle county since August, 1857. He 
 was born in the kingdom of Prussia, Ger- 
 many, April 3, 1829, and there received a 
 good education in his native language, his 
 knowledge of English having been acquired 
 since coming to the United States. In 
 September, 1853, he was united in marriage 
 with Miss Catherine Schmidt, also a native 
 of Germany. Friends in the United States 
 had duly informed them of the opportunities 
 afforded a poor man to ac(]uire a good liv- 
 ing, and even wealth, and they determined 
 to here try their fortunes. Accordingly 
 they left Bremen in a sailing vessel, and 
 after spending some seven weeks and two 
 days on the broad Atlantic, during which 
 time they encountered several severe storms, 
 they landed at Baltimore, from which place 
 they came direct to Polo, Ogle county, 
 where some of their German friends were 
 then living. From Polo they went to 
 Eagle Grove, and for the next two years 
 Mr. Hartwig worked for others, in the 
 meantime accustoming himself to the 
 changed conditions of a new country, and 
 acquiring a knowledge of the English lan- 
 guage. In that two years he had succeeded 
 in saving a small sum of money, with which 
 he purchased twenty acres of brush land 
 and built a small log house. From the 
 land he cut the timber for the erection of 
 his house. 
 
 A turn had now come in the affairs of 
 Mr. Hartwig. He was now the owner of 
 a home of his own, and even if it was un- 
 pretentious, it was a home, and the begm- 
 ning of what he hoped would be better 
 times to him. And it was the beginning, 
 
 for fortune has since smiled on them. He 
 came here when the country was expe- 
 riencing the effects of hard times, from 
 which it required several years to recover. 
 But he was industrious, and he had a help- 
 ful wife, and by their united efforts they 
 have placed themselves above want. To 
 his original twenty he later added forty 
 acres, and from time to time made other 
 purchases, until he has now a well-improved 
 farm of one hundred and seventy acres. He 
 has now a large, neat frame residence, large 
 barn, good outbuildings, with the place well 
 supplied with fruit and ornamental trees. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Hartwig have three sons 
 and three daughters. Casper married 
 Rachael Schreiver, and they have two chil- 
 dren, Aggie and Edith. He is the owner of 
 a good farm in Ogle county. Valentine yet 
 remains at home and assists his father 
 in carrying on the home place. Seibert 
 married Miss Ella Post, and has one son, 
 Robert. He is also the owner of a valuable 
 farm in Ogle county. Elizabeth is the wife 
 of Edward Schreyver, of Sterling, Illinois, 
 and they have one child living, Nellie, who 
 is married and has one child. Kate is the 
 wife of Fred Scholl, and they have five chil- 
 dren: Frank, John, Arthur. Mabel and 
 Emma. They reside in Ogle county. 
 Emma married George Webster, and they 
 have two sons, John and Howard. They 
 reside in Carroll county, Illinois. 
 
 Politically, Mr. Hartwig and his sons 
 are stanch Republicans. Religiously, he and 
 his wife were reared in the Lutheran faith, 
 and yet adhere to the doctrines of that 
 church, but there being no church of their 
 choice in the neighborhood, they attend the 
 United Brethren church, and give their 
 means to its support. They are well-known 
 and highly respected people, and have many 
 
444 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 friends in the county. They came here 
 with but Httie means, and when the coun- 
 try was but comparatively new, but have 
 hved to see the country thickly settled with 
 an industrious and thrifty people, and their 
 children are all well settled in life. They 
 have no cause to complain that they chose 
 to make for themselves a home in this 
 favored land. 
 
 THOMAS CRILL, who is now living a 
 retired life on his farm on section 25, 
 Monroe township, has been a resident of 
 Ogle county for almost half a century, 
 and is therefore numbered among the early 
 settlers. He is well known in the county 
 and has always been held in high esteem. 
 A native of New York, he was born in 
 Steuben, Oneida county, August 16, 1819, 
 and is the son of Henry and Betsy (Brooks) 
 Crill, both natives of the same state. 
 Thomas Crill, the paternal grandfather, 
 first enlisted in the British army during the 
 Revolutionary war, was later taken prisoner 
 by the Colonial army, under Washington, 
 took the oath of allegiance, joined the 
 American army, and was with Washington 
 until the close of the struggle, when the inde- 
 pendence of the country was acknowledged. 
 For his services, in later years he received 
 a pension from the general government. 
 By trade he was a miller and for some 
 years operated a mill on \"an Horn creek. 
 Subsequently removing to Herkimer county 
 he purchased a farm and engaged in tilling 
 the soil during the remainder of his life, 
 dying at the age of ninety-three years. 
 
 Henry Crill, our subject's father, was 
 born in the town of Stark, Herkimer coun- 
 ty, New York, and there grew to manhood 
 and married Betsy Brooks. He was a 
 
 farmer by occupation and in his native state 
 owned and operated a farm of two hun- 
 dred acres. With a view of liettering his 
 condition, or rather to give his family bet- 
 ter opportunities, he sold his place and in 
 September, 1844, came to Ogle county and 
 bought a squatter's claim of one hundred 
 and si.xty acres in Monroe township, but 
 later removed to the village of Monroe 
 Center, where he purchased a cottage and 
 lived a retired life. His death occurred in 
 that village at a ripe old age, and his mem- 
 ory is held in grateful remembrance by 
 those who were fortunate enough to know 
 him. 
 
 The subject of this sketch grew to 
 manhood in his native state, where he 
 received but a very limited education in 
 the primitive schools, the knowledge since 
 acquired being received in the school of 
 e.xperience, and by reading and observa- 
 tion. On the 25th of March, 1845, he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Caro- 
 line Smith, a native of York state, and a 
 daughter of Wolcott and Betsy Smith. l]y 
 this union live children were born, two of 
 whom died in childhood. Those arriving at 
 mature years were: Elizabeth, who mar- 
 ried a good, substantial farmer of Fayette 
 county, Iowa, where they now reside; Will- 
 ard, who married Pauline Heller, and who 
 is now working four hundred acres of his 
 father's farm; and Etta May, who married 
 James Mead, but who diud at Kirkiand, 
 Illinois, leaving four children. 
 
 In September, 1852, Mr. Crill came to 
 Ogle county and located on sections 25 and 
 26, Monroe township, and for some years 
 lived in a house not over twenty feet from 
 where his present residence now stands. 
 When he located in the township there svas 
 comparatively little improvement made and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 445 
 
 settlements were as yet few and far between. 
 His own place was entirely unimproved and 
 he broke the first sod on the farm. The 
 changes that have since been made are won- 
 derful, indeed. His journey to Ogle county 
 was made by water and rail to Chicago, and 
 from thence by teams to his stopping place. 
 There was then no railroad in Ogle county. 
 From the time of his settlement here he has 
 pursued an active life, and he has been hon- 
 ored by his fellow citizens with a number of 
 local offices, serving three years as assessor, 
 three years as collector, and the same length 
 of time as commissioner of highways. In 
 politics he has always been a Democrat, and 
 a stanch advocate of the principles of the 
 part}'. But he has always given more time 
 to his business interests than to politics, and 
 he has the reputation of being one of the 
 best farmers in his section of the county. 
 His place is well improved and kept in ex- 
 cellent repairs. In addition to general farm- 
 ing he has given more or less attention to 
 stock raising, especially Holstein cattle. 
 He usually ships his own stock to the Chi- 
 cago markets, thus saving the dealer's profit. 
 His long residence in the county has brought 
 him in contact with man}' people, and he 
 has the happ)' faculty of making and keep- 
 ins friends. 
 
 PROF. C. F. PHILBROOK, superin- 
 tendent of schools, Rochelle, Illinois, 
 is a well known educator of more than a 
 state reputation. He was born in Shelby 
 county, Illinois, December 9, 1859, and is 
 the son of Flavins J. and Sarah E. (Carter) 
 Philbrook, the former a native of Licking 
 county, Ohio, born January 8, 1.S36, and 
 the latter in Rno.x county, Ohio, August 31, 
 183S. They were married September 12, 
 
 185S, at St. Elmo, Illinois. The Phil- 
 brooks trace their ancestry back to Thomas 
 Philbrick, or Philbrook (the name being 
 written both ways), who was born in Lin- 
 colnshire, England, and who came from 
 England in 1630, locating in the southern 
 part of Maine. A part of the family later 
 went across the line to Exeter, New Hamp- 
 shire, but that part which were sea-faring 
 men remained in Maine. Thomas Phil- 
 brook was a mariner in early life, and was 
 master of a vessel. He settled in Water- 
 town, Massachusetts, his home being on 
 the corner of Belmont and Lexington 
 streets. 
 
 Seth Philbrook, the paternal grand- 
 father of our subject, of the seventh genera- 
 tion from Thomas, was born in Vinalhaven, 
 Maine, January 5, 1795, and in 181 3 moved 
 to Ohio. He married Margaret Ward, 
 April 2, 181S, and in 1843 moved to Illi- 
 nois, locating near Vandalia, becoming one 
 of the pioneers of that locality. He was a 
 farmer, and the farm purchased by him on 
 locating there is still in possession of the 
 family. His death occurred November 10, 
 1 86 1, his wife surviving him but one month. 
 They were the parents of twelve children, 
 of whom eleven grew to maturity, the 
 father of our subject being tenth in order of 
 birth. 
 
 Flavins J. Philbrook spent his boyhood 
 and youth in Ohio, being about eighteen 
 years old when he accompanied his parents 
 to Vandalia, Illinois. On coming to this 
 state he engaged in farming in summer and 
 teaching in winter until the second year of 
 the Civil war, when he enlisted in the One 
 Hundred and Fifteenth regiment Illinois 
 Volunteer Infantry, and with his regiment 
 marched to the front. He was not destined, 
 however, to see much service in the field, 
 
446 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 as on the day before the battle of Lookout 
 Mountain, he was captured by the enemy, 
 and for five hundred long and weary days 
 was held a prisoner, being confined in 
 various prisons, including Belle Isle, Flor- 
 ence, Macon, Jonesboro, Atlanta, and last, 
 but far from being least, in the notorious 
 Andersonville prison. His experience was 
 not one likely to be forgotten. There must, 
 however, be an end to all things, and he 
 was finally exchanged, and on the ist of 
 July, 1865, was discharged from the ser- 
 vice, having had but little opportunity to 
 distinguish himself in any way, being in no 
 regular engagement. 
 
 After his return from the army, he en- 
 gaged in farming in Shelby county, in which 
 he continued until 1870. About 185S he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Sarah E. 
 Carter, by whom he had eight children, our 
 subject being first in order of birth. Ger- 
 trude married James Otto, of Independ- 
 ence, Kansas, where he is engaged in the 
 real estate and loan business. Mary Belle 
 married John R. Hogg, a banker of Dray- 
 ton, North Dakota. C'ora is a teacher in 
 the public schools of Normal, Illinois. 
 Lowell M. is a student in the State Normal 
 school, at Normal, Illinois. Warren R. , 
 who is married and living in Bloomington, 
 is in the employ of the McLean County 
 Telephone Company. Margaret died in 
 childhood, and one died in infancy. With 
 the desire to give his children better educa- 
 tional advantages than the home schools 
 afforded, Mr. Philbrook moved to Normal, 
 after leaving the farm in 1870. He made 
 that city his home during the remainder of 
 his life, his death occurring in I'ebruary, 
 1898. His wife died in October, 1896. 
 
 The subject of this sketch commenced 
 his school life in the public schools of his 
 
 native county, and was eleven years old 
 when he accompanied his parents to Nor- 
 mal. Entering the public school at that 
 place, he was graduated from the high 
 school at the age of seventeen. After his 
 graduation he commenced to learn the 
 trade of plasterer, in which he continued 
 for three years. It was always his inten- 
 tion, however, to obtain a better education 
 than that afforded by the high school, and 
 accordingly he entered the State Normal 
 School when twenty years old, from which 
 he was graduated in 1888. Being unable 
 to pursue continuously the regular course, 
 during the intervening nine years from the 
 time he entered until his graduation, he 
 taught school in the country surrounding 
 and later in the schools at Normal. For 
 a time he was principal of the schools of 
 Golconda, Illinois. While teaching in Nor- 
 mal, he served as town clerk one j'ear, and 
 one year was alderman. 
 
 After his graduation, Professor Phil- 
 brook took charge of the public schools of 
 Lena, Stephenson county, Illinois, and for 
 four years was superintendent of its schools, 
 giving good satisfaction to the patrons of 
 the school. He could have continued there 
 indefinitely, having been elected by the 
 board for the fifth year, but having received 
 an offer from the Rochclle board of educa- 
 tion to become the superintendent of its 
 schools, he accepted the offer, and in the 
 fall of 1892 moved to that city, where he 
 has since continued to remain. 
 
 On the 29th of June, 1892, Professor 
 Philbrook was united in marriage with Miss 
 Maud E. Simmons, a native of Illinois, and 
 daughter of Rev. O. J. Simmons, a Method- 
 ist minister of the Rock River conference, 
 and the only child of her parents. 
 
 Professor Philbrook is by nature and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 447 
 
 training an educator. He has a love for 
 the profession of a teacher, and gives al- 
 most hjs undivided attention to his profes- 
 sional work. He is an active member of 
 the National Teachers' Association and of 
 the Northern Illinois Teachers' Association, 
 and in the latter body has been railroad 
 secretary for ten years. Religiously he is 
 a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church. Fraternally he is a member of the 
 Sons of Veterans, Horicon Lodge, No. 512, 
 A. F. & A. M., of Rochelle Chapter, No. 
 126, R. A. M., and of the Order of the 
 Eastern Star, of Rochelle. Of the latter 
 body his wife is also a member. He is like- 
 wise a member of the Knights of the Globe. 
 In each of these societies he has taken an 
 active interest. 
 
 In politics Professor Philbrook is a Re- 
 publican on state and national issues. In 
 local elections he votes independently of 
 party. During the campaign of 1896 he 
 was secretary of the McKinley club of Ro- 
 chelle, and in each of the county conven- 
 tions of his party in the past seven years he 
 has served as secretary. In the state con- 
 vention of his party he has served as a dele- 
 gate, representing his county. Thoroughly 
 posted on the various issues of the day, he 
 makes a representative citizen in every 
 sense of the term. He is held in great es- 
 teem, not only because of his educational 
 ability, but because of his worth as a man. 
 
 GUILFORD McDAID.— The world in- 
 stinctively pays deference to the man 
 who has risen above his early surroundings, 
 overcome the obstacles in his path, and 
 reached a high position in the business 
 world. This is a progressive age, and he 
 who does not advance is soon left far be- 
 
 hind. Mr. McDaid, by the improvement 
 of the opportunities by which we are all 
 surrounded, has steadily worked his way 
 upward, and attained a fair degree of pros- 
 perity. He is now numbered among the 
 leading professional men of Oregon, where 
 he is an attorney and also police magis- 
 trate. 
 
 Mr. McDaid was born in Lawrence 
 county. New York, April 17, 1853, and re- 
 ceived his early education in the schools of 
 that county, and later in the schools of 
 Oregon and Ogle county after his parents 
 came west in 1865. He was appointed to 
 the naval school at Annapolis by H. C. 
 Burchard, member of congress, where he 
 remained one year and then resigned and 
 returned home to read law. During the 
 year 1884 and '5 he attended a law school 
 at Bloomington and was admitted to the 
 bar on June 9, 1885. At the same time he 
 was appointed police magistrate, and the es- 
 teem in which he is held in that capacity is 
 illustrated by the fact that, though a stanch 
 Democrat, he has been repeatedly re-elect- 
 ed by a Republican community. One who 
 knows him well says that he gives his judg- 
 ment without fear or favor, and allows no 
 friendship or sympathy to warp his mind in 
 passing on a case. He is a member of the 
 Presbyterian church where he is held in the 
 highest esteem. 
 
 Mr. McDaid is the son of James Mc- 
 Daid, who was born in Londonderry, Ire- 
 land, in 18 16, and came to America in 
 1832, settling on a farm in St. Lawrence 
 county. New York. He followed farming 
 until the breaking out of the Civil war, 
 when he enlisted in Company A, One Hun- 
 dred and Twenty-fourth New York Volun- 
 teer Infantry. He participated in the siege 
 of Fort Sumter, and was with the army of 
 
448 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 the Potomac in the various battles of the 
 Virginia campaign. His father, Daniel Mc- 
 Daid, was a farmer in Ireland, and died at 
 the age of sixty years before James came to 
 America. The mother of our subject, Cere- 
 na (Drake) McDaid, who was born Febru- 
 ary lo, 1814, in Prescott, Canada, is a 
 daughter of Lyman Drake, a farmer in New 
 York state, who died in 1840 in his sixtieth 
 year, and his wife, Polly (Woodcock) Drake, 
 a native of Canada. The Drakes are an 
 old Connecticut family who moved to Can- 
 ada about the time of the war of 1812. 
 
 Guilford McDaid is one of seven chil- 
 dren, four of which are living. Frances, 
 the eldest, makes her home with the sub- 
 ject of this sketch. George resides in Clin- 
 ton, Iowa. The third child is the gentle- 
 man whose name heads this review. 
 James, the fourth child, resides in Chicago. 
 Hiram O. and Lyman, both deceased, were 
 in the Union army during the Civil war. 
 Jennie, also deceased, was the wife of 
 Alfred Woodcock, of Oregon, who served 
 as consul to Italy, also as internal revenue 
 collector for northern Illinois. He is now 
 a traveling land agent for the Union Pacific 
 railroad. 
 
 ORLANDO F. CRILL, residing on sec- 
 tion 15, Monroe township, is an active 
 and enterprising farmer, a life-long resident 
 of the township and one who stands high in 
 the estimation of his fellow citizens. His 
 farm, which consists of two hundred and 
 fifty-seven acres of well-improved land, is 
 always kept under a high state of cultiva- 
 tion. He was born in Monroe township, 
 May 30, 1850, and is the son of John J. 
 and Margaret (Keith) Crill, the former a 
 native of Herkimer county, New York, born 
 
 May 12, 1825, and the latter of Morgan 
 county, Ohio, born in 1830. Henry Crill, 
 the paternal grandfather, a native of New 
 York, married Betsy Wilkins, and both 
 lived and died in York state. The great- 
 grandfather, Thomas Crill, was a native of 
 Hesse, Darmstadt, Germany, and at an early 
 day emigrated to America, where he passed 
 his latter days. John J. Crill, the father, 
 was among the honored pioneers of the 
 county, and came to Monroe township in 
 1844. 
 
 On the home farm our subject grew to 
 manhood, assisting in its cultivation and 
 attending the district schools as the oppor- 
 tunity was afforded him. He remained 
 under the parental roof until twenty-two 
 years of age, when he began life for him- 
 self. He was united in marriage December 
 17. 1S73. with Miss Julia Matthews, daugh- 
 ter of John T. and Alvira P. (Garvin) 
 Matthews. She was born June i, 1852, in 
 Franklin county. New York, and when a 
 child of six years came with her parents to 
 New Milford, Winnebago county, Illinois, 
 and there grew to womanhood. By this 
 union three children have been born. Perry 
 J., born March 27, 1877, after receiving his 
 education in the public schools, took a 
 course in a commercial college of Rockford, 
 thus preparing himself for an active business 
 career. Edna, born May 10, 1883, and 
 Margaret, born October 24, 1885, are jet 
 attending the home school. 
 
 When Mr. Crill removed to his present 
 farm the sod only had been broken, but 
 with the characteristic energy of the family 
 he went to work to further improve the 
 place, and has now one of the best improved 
 farms in the township, with a good orchard 
 and an abundance of shade and ornamental 
 trees, substantial dwelling, good barns and 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 449 
 
 other outbuildings, and the land is kept 
 under the highest state of cultivation. He 
 has no especial hobby in the management 
 and cultivation of his farm, but gives his 
 attention to general farming and stock- 
 raising. He has met with a fair degree of 
 success, and feels that he has no just grounds 
 of complaint. The short-horned cattle and 
 Poland-China hogs which he annually raises 
 upon the place he ships to Chicago, thus 
 realizing the entire proceeds of their sale. 
 Politically, Mr. Crill is a Republican, 
 and with the Republican party he has con- 
 tinued to act since attaining his majority. 
 Fraternally, he is a member of the Modern 
 Woodmen of America, holding membership 
 with the camp at Monroe Center. A friend 
 of education, he has always lent his aid to 
 the public schools. In fact, to every enter- 
 prise calculated for the public good he is 
 ready to extend a helping hand. 
 
 GEORGE HISCOCK is a well-to-do 
 farmer residing on section 14, Dement 
 township, one-half mile north of the village 
 of Creston, where he owns a fine farm of 
 one hundred and twenty acres, and which 
 has been his home since about 1856. He 
 was born in England, November 23, 1S30, 
 and was but two years old when brought by 
 his parents, John and Frances (Dare) His- 
 cock, to the United States. They were 
 both natives of England, and came to this 
 country that they might better their condi- 
 tion in life. John Hiscock was a shoemaker 
 by trade, an occupation which he followed 
 for many years. He located in Danbury, 
 Fairfield county, Connecticut, where he 
 reared his family, and where his death oc- 
 curred when nearly eighty-three years old. 
 
 His wife survived him a year or two. They 
 were good and highly respected people. 
 
 George Hiscock grew to manhood in 
 Fairfield county, Connecticut, being reared 
 on a farm, and receiving his education in 
 the common schools and in a private acad- 
 emy. A young man of twenty-two years 
 he came west, in 1852, and worked on a 
 farm in LaSalle county during the summer. 
 In the fall of the same year he returned to 
 his old home, and during the winter of 
 1852-3 was engaged in running a stationary 
 engine. In the spring of 1853 he again 
 came to this state, and for several seasons 
 was engaged in breaking prairie, having 
 seven yoke of oxen which he used for that 
 purpose. When in Illinois for the first 
 time he purchased the land on which he 
 now resides, and in 1856 came to the coun- 
 ty, and in the spring of 1857 commenced 
 its improvement. Year by year some im- 
 provements were made, his present sub- 
 stantial dwelling being erected in 1873. 
 
 In 1869 Mr. Hiscock was united in mar- 
 riage with Miss Emily A. Potter, who was 
 born, reared and educated in Onondaga 
 county. New York, and daughter of Joseph 
 and Jane (Carpenter) Potter, the former a 
 native of New York, and the latter of Lon- 
 don, England. Previous to her marriage 
 Mrs. Hiscock was for a time a teacher in 
 the public schools. By this union four 
 children were born. Blanche is now the 
 wife of Charles Schofield, editor of the 
 Marengo News, of Marengo, Illinois. Mabel 
 is the wife of Rev. A. F. Brewster, a min- 
 ister of the Methodist Episcopal church, of 
 Arlington Heights, Illinois. Previous to 
 her marriage she was a successful teacher 
 in the public schools. Alice was also a 
 teacher in the public schools. She is now 
 the wife of Charles A. Darnell, a lawyer of 
 
450 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Piano, Illinois. Georgia, a graduate of the 
 Creston schools, is yet at home. 
 
 Politically Mr. Hiscock is a Republican, 
 and has been a life-long advocate of the 
 principles of the Republican party. His 
 wife is a devoted member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church. Both are well known, 
 especially in the eastern part of the county, 
 and have many friends. A residence of 
 forty-three years has enabled Mr. Hiscock 
 to have been an eye witness of the great 
 progress in the way of improvement, not 
 only of Ogle county, but of the northern 
 part of the state as well, and in the work of 
 its transformation he has borne his part. 
 
 HON. MILES J. BRAIDEN. — Promi- 
 nent among the energetic, far-seeing 
 and successful business men of Rochelle is 
 the subject of this sketch. His life history 
 most happily illustrates what may be at- 
 tained by faithful and continued effort in 
 carrying out an honest purpose. Integrity, 
 activity and energy have been the crowning 
 points of his success, and his connection 
 with various business enterprises and indus- 
 tries have been of decided advantage to 
 Ogle county, promoting its material welfare 
 in no uncertain manner. 
 
 Mr. Braiden was born in Castile, Wy- 
 oming county. New York, on the west bank 
 of Silver lake, October lo, 1835, ^"'^ on 
 the paternal side is of Scotch descent, his 
 grandparents, Joseph and Nancy (Gillespie) 
 Braiden, being natives of the north of Ire- 
 land. In their family were but two chil- 
 dren, a son and daughter, Roger and Jane. 
 The grandfather was born about 1767 and 
 died in 1792. 
 
 Roger Braiden, the father, was born in 
 1788, and arrived in New York City with his 
 
 parents the same year. They first located in 
 New York city, and in the public schools of 
 the Empire state he was educated, while 
 later he became a farmer near Silver Lake, 
 New York. In that beautiful locality he 
 was united in marriage with Miss Sophia 
 Fletcher, a daughter of Isaac and Ruth 
 (Pierce) Fletcher, both natives of Westfield, 
 Massachusetts, where for many generations 
 the family has resided. Her father was 
 born October 2G, 1763, and as a sol- 
 dier of the Continental army, he took an 
 active part in the Revolutionary war. He 
 died in 1837 in Tazewell county, Illinois, and 
 his wife in 1839, near Joliet, Illinois. In 
 their family were ten children: Gardner, 
 Joseph, Benjamin, Polly, Charlotte, Sophia, 
 Nancy, Eliza and Sarah. Five children, 
 three sons and two daughters, were born to 
 the parents of our subject, namely: George 
 E. , Cinderella, Marian, Isaac G. and Miles 
 J. The father died on the 20th of May, 
 1845, and five years later the mother, with 
 her children, came to Illinois, locating first 
 near Waukegan, but she spent her last days 
 in Rochelle, Illinois, where she passed away 
 October i, 1872. The Fletcher family can 
 trace its record in England back to the 
 thirteenth century, and still farther back in 
 France and Switzerland, the name origin- 
 ally being spelled Flechiere. 
 
 The early education of Miles J. Braiden 
 was acquired in the public schools of his na- 
 tive state, and it was completed in the 
 Waukegan Academy, after the removal of 
 the family to this state. He began life for 
 himself as a farmer, and carried on opera- 
 tions along that line in Lake county, Illi- 
 nois, until 1856, when he and his mother 
 came to Rochelle, Ogle county, where he 
 embarked in the grocery and grain business 
 in cojTipany with his brother-in-law, H. 
 
M. J. BKAIDEN. 
 
MRS. CLARA V. BRAIDEN. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 455 
 
 Burlingim, under the firm name of H. 
 Burlingim & Company. On account of ill 
 health, caused by the dust from the grain, 
 he was obliged to give up the business in 
 i860, after which he purchased a farm in 
 Reynolds township, eight miles southwest 
 of Rochelle, becoming the owner of si.\ 
 hundred and forty acres on sections 8 and 
 17. He continued to devote his time and 
 attention to the occupation of farming un- 
 til 1872, when he returned to Rochelle and 
 purchased the Flagg farm of one hundred 
 and forty-si.x acres, upon which he has 
 platted two additions to the city. He also 
 purchased si.xty-five acres of Mills Stewart 
 in 1 868, on which he platted two additions 
 of one hundred lots. On his return to Ro- 
 chelle he began dealing in lumber, coal, ice 
 and building stone from (luarries on his own 
 land, and in these combined interests he 
 has been eminently successful. 
 
 Mr. Braiden has been twice married, his 
 first wife being Julia P., a daughter of Wil- 
 lard P. Flagg. Four children were born of 
 this union: May E., Nettie C, Lucy S. 
 and Wilber F., but all died of diphtheria 
 with the exception of Nettie C. , who is now 
 the wife of A. A. McClanahan, a prominent 
 attorney of Chicago, and has five living 
 children, Nettie M., Miles, Alice, Bayard 
 and A. Braiden. For his second wife our 
 subject married Miss Clara E. Vaile, and to 
 them have been born three children, two 
 sons and one daughter: Roscoe V., ]>ryant 
 F. and Marian G. Mrs. biraiden was for 
 eleven 3 ears a most successful teacher in 
 the primary department of the public 
 schools of Rochelle, and her grade took 
 first prize at the state fair in 1881. Her 
 father, Edward G. Vaile, was born in Wash- 
 ington county, Pennsylvania, March 2, 
 1827, and was married May 23, 1848, to 
 
 Miss Caroline Cooper, a native of the same 
 place. In 1S54 they came to Rochelle, 
 where he died March 30, 1897, L>ut at the 
 present writing, in 1899, the mother is still 
 living. To them were born six children, 
 one son and five daughters, as follows: 
 Mary E., Clara E., Maria S., Anna E. , 
 Emma C. and Edward L. 
 
 Socially, Mr. Braiden is a prominent 
 Mason, belonging to Horicon Lodge, No. 
 244, F. & A. M., of Rochelle; Rochelle 
 Chapter, No. 58, R. A. M. ; and Dixon Com- 
 mandery. No, 21, K. T. He is an active 
 member of the Rochelle Agricultural and 
 Mechanical Association, of which he was 
 president for three years. In political sen- 
 timent he is a stanch Republican, and he 
 has ever taken prominent and influential 
 part in public affairs. Immediately after 
 locating in Reynolds township, he was ap- 
 pointed township treasurer of school funds 
 and held that position until his return to 
 Rochelle in 1872. He was also elected 
 supervisor of the township and most credit- 
 ably and satisfactorily filled the office for six 
 years in the township of Reynolds and for 
 the three last terms received every vote cast 
 for supervisor. He also served six years as 
 supervisor of Flagg township. Ogle county. 
 In 1870 he was elected to the twenty- sev- 
 enth general assembly of Illinois, from Lee 
 county, and most ably represented his dis- 
 trict in that body for one term. In 1S93 
 
 he was president of the Old Settlers' Associa- 
 tion. He has served as alderman of Ro- 
 chelle for two terms, and has been a mem- 
 ber of the school board for six years. He 
 has discharged his various official duties 
 with a promptness and fidelity worthy 
 of all commendation, and all that per- 
 tains to the public welfare receives his 
 hearty support. He is emphatically a man 
 
456 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of enterprise, positive character, indomi- 
 table energy and liberal views, and is thor- 
 oughly identified in feeling with the growth 
 and prosperity of his adopted county and 
 state. 
 
 RICHARD M. KING.— Prominent 
 among the energetic, enterprising and 
 successful citizens of White Rock township 
 is the subject of this sketch, whose home is 
 on section 2i. He is public-spirited and 
 thoroughly interested in whatever tends to 
 promote the moral, intellectual and mate- 
 rial welfare of Ogle county. 
 
 Mr. King was born in Pelham, Hamp- 
 shire county, Massachusetts, January 28, 
 1843, a son of John M. and Lucy (Boying- 
 ton) I\ing. The father was a native of 
 England and on coming to this country lo- 
 cated first in the east. Having previously 
 learned the art of manufacturing cloth, he 
 was employed as overseer of woolen mills 
 at various places, among them being Lowell, 
 Massachusetts. He established and for 
 some time operated a mill in Georgia, but 
 in 1846 took up his residence permanently 
 in Ogle county, Illinois, and turned his at- 
 tention to agricultural pursuits and shoe- 
 making, which trade he learned after re- 
 tiring from the manufacturing business. In 
 this county he met with success in his un- 
 dertakings and accjuired about two hundred 
 acres of valuable land. In his political 
 views he was a strong Abolitionist and was 
 one of the first to cast his ballot for the 
 Free Soil party, later becoming a Repub- 
 lican. He was born in November, 1802, 
 and died in the village of Kings in 1886. 
 The mother of our subject passed away in 
 March, 1852. Of the eight children born 
 to them, seven reached years of maturity 
 
 and si.\ are still living. They are George 
 W., a resident of Flagg, Ogle county; 
 James H., who is living retired in Rockford; 
 William H., of Kings; Charles T., of 
 White Rock township; Isabelle J., who 
 married Kingsbury Morehead and died in 
 Jackson county, Iowa; John, who is a resi- 
 dent of Hand county. South Dakota, and has 
 represented his district in the state senate; 
 Richard M., our subject; and Lucy, who 
 died in infancy. 
 
 Richard M. King was only four years 
 old when brought by his parents to Ogle 
 county, but he well remembers many inci- 
 dents of the journey made overland. His 
 boyhood and youth were passed upon the 
 home farm, and he was educated in the 
 common schools and Mt. Morris Academy. 
 In the fall of 1863, with his brother, John 
 M., he enlisted in Company B, Ninety- 
 second Illinois Volunteers, which, a year 
 later, was made a mounted infantry regi- 
 ment, and was first under Colonel Atkins, 
 brigadier commander, and Colonel Sheets, 
 regiment commander. Our subject par- 
 ticipated in the battle of Chickamauga, the 
 campaign resulting in the capture of At- 
 lanta, Sherman's march to the sea, and the 
 Carolina campaigns. After almost three 
 years of arduous service he was mustered 
 out at Concord, North Carolina, June 21, 
 1865, and was honorably discharged on the 
 7th of July, at Chicago. After his return 
 home he attended school at Mt. Morris for 
 one term, and then engaged in teaching in 
 district No. i, White Rock township, now 
 the village of King's. 
 
 On the 1 8th of October, 1866, Mr. King 
 was united in marriage with Miss Lettie 
 Dalrymple, a native of Morrow county, 
 Ohio, and a daughter of John and Eleanor 
 (Logan) Dalrymple, who were also born in 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 457 
 
 that state, where the mother died in 1849. 
 In 1862 the father came to Ogle county and 
 spent his last days in White Rock town- 
 ship, where he passed away September 13, 
 i8gi. His children were Lettie, wife of 
 our subject; John A., still a resident of Mor- 
 row county, Ohio; Mflry E., wife of W. 
 D. Sechler, of Rochelle; and Martha A., 
 wife of Charles Sechler, of King's. Mr. 
 and Mrs. King have a family of si.x children: 
 Carrie, who is one of the prominent instruct- 
 ors of the state and is now engaged in 
 teaching in the city schools of Chicago; 
 Frank J., cashier of the Farmers' Bank at 
 King's; Lula, also a teacher; Harry L., 
 who assists his father in carrying on the 
 home farm; Jeanie, who is attending school 
 in I'iochclle; and M. Eleanor, now at home. 
 After his marriage, Mr. King rented land 
 and engaged in farming, and the following 
 winter again taught school in White Rock 
 township. The next year he purchased 
 forty acres of land now in the village of 
 King's and owned by W. H. I\ing. This he 
 operated in connection with rented land 
 and the following year was able to purchase 
 an adjoining forty acres. Since then as his 
 financial resources have increased, he has 
 bought more land until he now owns three 
 hundred and seventy-five acres of as fine 
 land as can be found in the county. In 
 1875 he located upon his present place. 
 which was then owned by his father-in-law, 
 and to its further improvement and culti- 
 vation he has since devoted his energies. 
 After occupying the small house standing 
 thereon for one year, he built his present 
 residence which he has since enlarged and 
 improved. He has e\'er given his attention 
 principally to general farming and stock 
 raising, but at different times has also been 
 interested in other enterprises. In 1875, 
 
 after the completion of the railroad through 
 King's, he established the lumber and coal 
 business there which is now conducted by 
 Mr. Klein, but he carried on the same for 
 three years. He was the one of the prime 
 movers in organizing the White Rock 
 Mutual Fire Insurance Company in 1873, 
 and served as one of its directors for ten 
 years. In 1891 he became a fourth owner 
 in the Farmers Bank of Kings, and a year 
 later his son Frank bought a fourth interest 
 and has since acted as cashier. Frater- 
 nally Mr. King is an honored member of 
 Rochelle Post, No. 546, G. A. R., and 
 politically is a Republican, but at local 
 elections supports the man and principles, 
 rather than the party. He has provided 
 his children with liberal educations and the 
 home circle is one of culture and refinement. 
 He has always taken an active interest in 
 educational matters and for nine years has 
 most creditably served as school trustee. 
 He is a well-informed, pleasant and genial 
 gentleman, and is very popular, having a 
 most extensive circle of friends and acquaint- 
 ances who esteem him highly for his genuine 
 worth. 
 
 THOMAS G. SOUTHWORTH, a well- 
 known farmer and capitalist, residing 
 in the city of Rochelle, although not num- 
 bered among the pioneers of Ogle county, 
 has been a resident of it for twenty-five 
 years. He was born in Dryden, Tompkins 
 county. New York, November 16, 1829, 
 and traces his ancestry back to Faber 
 South worth, who was born September i, 
 1 7 10, and who married Mary Seabury. 
 Their son John, born January 4, 1743. n^ar- 
 ried Elizabeth Wightman, by whom was 
 born Thomas, who married Sally Eldridge, 
 
458 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, who 
 died April II, 1814. Thomas Southworth 
 died in Dryden, New York, July 27, 1863, 
 at the age of ninety-one years. Their son, 
 John Southworth, was born September 25, 
 1796, in Salisbury, Herkimer county. New 
 York, and at the age of ten years went to 
 Dryden, New York, where he grew to man- 
 hood and engaged in farming. He was very 
 prosperous and became a millionaire. He 
 was married September 9, 18 19, to Nancy 
 Ellis, a native of Tompkins county. New 
 York, and daughter of John and Rhoda 
 (Rathburn) Ellis. Her father, who was a 
 very prominent man, was known in all the 
 regions roundabout as the " King of Dry- 
 den." He was county judge for a number 
 of years, and served his district as state 
 senator, and also held various other local 
 offices. John and Rhoda Ellis were the par- 
 ents of five sons and five daughters. He 
 died a very wealthy man. 
 
 To John and Nancy Southworth five 
 children were born — Rhoda Charlotte, John 
 Ellis, Sarah Ann, Nancy Amelia and 
 Thomas George. The mother of these 
 children died March 16, 1830, and John 
 Southworth later married Betsy Jagger, and 
 to them were born five children. John 
 Southworth never came west to reside, 
 although he invested largely in real estate 
 in Illinois, which was managed for him by 
 his son, the subject of this sketch. He 
 died at his old home in Dryden, New York, 
 December 2, 1877. 
 
 Thomas G. Southworth grew to man- 
 hood in Dryden, New York, and in the 
 schools of that place received his education. 
 At the age of eighteen he quit school and 
 commenced work on the farm. He was 
 married April 19, 1855, to Miss Malvina A. 
 Frccland, who was born August 6, 1834, in 
 
 Caroline, Tompkins county. New York, and 
 daughter of John and Ruth (Lake) Freeland, 
 who were the parents of five children--D. 
 Wellington, Adelaide M., Malvina A., Isaac 
 Newton and Rhoda Jane. John Freeland 
 was a son of Robert Freeland, who was 
 born in Armagh, in the north of Ireland, 
 and was mixed up in the Irish rebellion, and 
 who came to this country in 1798. In early 
 life John Freeland engaged in teaching, but 
 later followed farming in connection with 
 the trade of carpenter. He died in 1854, 
 but his wife is yet living at the age of ninety- 
 five years. To our subject and his wife one 
 son was born, John Willis, of whom more 
 is said elsewhere in this volume. 
 
 After his marriage Mr. Southworth moved 
 into the city of Dryden, and with his 
 brother-in-law, H. W. Sears, engaged in 
 the mercantile trade for two years, and 
 then returned to the farm. He continued 
 to engage in agricultural pursuits in his na- 
 tive county until 1867, when he concluded 
 to come west. On coming to Illinois, he 
 located in Reynolds township, Lee county, 
 and there engaged in farming for seven 
 years. He then moved to Ogle county and 
 settled on his farm adjoining the city of 
 Rochelle, where he lived thirteen years, 
 since which time he has been living in his 
 present place of residence. 
 
 Mr. Southworth is a thorough business 
 man, and has made a success in life. He 
 has one farm of one hundred and sixty 
 acres in Lee county, Illinois, and has sev- 
 eral farms in Ogle county, aggregating in 
 all between thirteen and fourteen hundred 
 acres of excellent farming land. He has 
 been connected with the Rochelle National 
 Bank as a stockholder for about fifteen 
 years, and for ten years has been one of its 
 efficient directors. In politics he is a 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 459 
 
 thorough RepubHcan, but he has never been 
 a politician in the common acceptation of 
 the term. Believing firmlj' in the principles 
 of the party, he gives support to the na- 
 tional and state candidates, but asks no 
 office for himself. 
 
 For thirty-two years Mr. Southvvorth 
 has been identified with the farming and 
 commercial interests of this section of the 
 state, and through his own exertions he 
 has attained an honorable position and 
 marked prestige among the representative 
 men of Ogle county, and with signal con- 
 sistency it may be said, that he is the 
 architect of his own fortunes, and one whose 
 success amply justifies the application of 
 the somewhat hackneyed, but most ex- 
 pressive title, " a self-made man." He is 
 respected by all who know him, and he is 
 one of the best citizens of the county. 
 
 DANIEL ETNYRE.— Ogle county has 
 been the home and scene of labor of 
 many men who have not only led lives that 
 should serve as an e.xample to those who 
 come after them but have also been of im- 
 portant service to their county through vari- 
 ous avenues of usefulness. Among them 
 must be named Daniel Etnyre, who passed 
 away in Oregon, October 21, 1893, after a 
 life of industry, and rich in those rare pos- 
 sessions which only a high character can 
 give. 
 
 Mr. Etnyre was born near Smithsburg, 
 Washington county, Maryland, March 29, 
 1817, a son of John and Catharine (Chris- 
 tian) Etnyre, who were also natives of Mary- 
 land and died in Ogle county. He was 
 reared on a farm in his native state and 
 continued to follow agricultural pursuits 
 there until the emigration of the family to 
 
 Illinois. On reaching the Ohio river, they 
 floated down that stream and then proceed- 
 ed up the Mississippi to St. Louis, and from 
 there came by wagon to Ogle county, reach- 
 ing their destination on the i6th of June, 
 1839. The father bought a farm, but be- 
 fore much had been accomplished in the 
 way of improvements he died, in October 
 of the same year. 
 
 Our subject purchased land on section 
 4, Oregon township, and for forty-six years 
 made that place his home while devoting 
 the greater part of his time and attention to 
 farming. On leaving the farm in Decem- 
 ber, 1884, he removed to the city of Ore- 
 gon, where he had previously built a com- 
 modious and pleasant residence. He was 
 unusually successful in his business career, 
 and besides his home farm, of nearly five 
 hundred acres, lying three-quarters of a mile 
 from Oregon, he had over three hundred 
 acres elsewhere in the county. He was also 
 interested in several important business en- 
 terprises in the city. He was one of the 
 organizers and a large stockholder of the 
 First National Bank, of Oregon, served as 
 its president for a number of years, and was 
 also president of the Rock River Furniture 
 Company. 
 
 On the 1 2th of January, 1843, in Ore- 
 gon, Mr. Etnyre was united in marriage 
 with Miss Mary Rice, who was born in 
 Boonesboro, Washington county, Maryland, 
 September 5, 1825, and came with her par- 
 ents to this state in July, 1837. They drove 
 from their old home in Maryland to Carlyle, 
 Ohio, in three weeks, and after spending a 
 short time at that place proceeded to Ogle 
 county, the remainder of the journey also 
 occupying three weeks. Her parents were 
 Jacob and Mary (Rowland) Rice, both na- 
 tives of Washington county, Maryland, and 
 
460 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 she was the tenth in order of birth in their 
 family of twelve children. After the death 
 of his first wife, Mr. Rice married Catherine 
 Fink, who is now living in Mt. Morris, at 
 the extreme old age of one hundred and 
 two years, and is in full possession of her 
 mental faculties. 
 
 Twelve children were born to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Etnyre: Lauretta, born March 25, 1844, 
 is the wife of Henry Coffman, of Pine Creek 
 township; Mary A., born January 14, 1846, 
 died December 25,1 846 ; Sarah E. , born De- 
 cember 29, 1848, who was the wife of John 
 B, Mix, a farmer of Oregon township, died 
 June 29, 1888; Augusta, born January 23, 
 1850, died May 5, 1864; William A., born 
 March 20, 1852, married Annie M. Lantz, 
 and is engaged in farming in Oregon town- 
 ship; John J., born September 12, 1854, 
 died March 26, 1884; Lydia C. , born Jan- 
 uary 23, 1S58, resides with her mother in 
 Oregon; D. Edward, born July 9, 1859, 
 is engaged in farming on the old homestead; 
 A. Elizabeth, born January 3, 1861, is the 
 wife of Samuel B. Wadsworth; Mary Em- 
 ma born January 21, 1863, and Samuel L. , 
 born May 18, 1865, are both at home; and 
 George L. , born June 26, 1868, was killed 
 by a kick from ahorse September 27, 1881. 
 Mrs. Etnyre, who is a most estimable lady 
 and a member of the Lutheran church, still 
 resides in Oregon. 
 
 On the organization of the Republican 
 party, in 1856, Mr. Etnyre joined its ranks, 
 and continued one of its stalwart supports. 
 He served for one term as county treasurer, 
 but never cared for political preferment. 
 Endowed by nature with a sound judgment 
 and an accurate, discriminating mind, he 
 feared not that laborious attention to the 
 details of business so necessary to achieve 
 success, and this essential quality was ever 
 
 guided by a sense of moral right which 
 would tolerate the employment only of 
 those means that would bear the most rigid 
 examination by a fairness of intention that 
 neither sought nor required disguise. It is 
 but just and merited praise to say of Mr. 
 Etnyre, that as a business man he ranked 
 among the ablest; as a citizen he was hon- 
 orable, prompt and true to every engage- 
 ment; and as a man he held the honor and 
 esteem of all classes. 
 
 JACOB HEWITT, who resides on sec- 
 tion 9, Scott township, is a well- 
 known and highly respected citizen of the 
 township, and a resident of Ogle county 
 since 1855. He is a native of Huntingdon 
 county, England, and was born September 
 17, 1825. His parents, James and Mary 
 (Green) Hewitt, were also natives of the 
 same shire. They had a family of nine 
 children, as follows: Jane, Jacob, Hannah, 
 Elizabeth, Sarah, William, James, Daniel 
 and Samuel. 
 
 After spending his bojhood and youth in 
 his native land, where he received a very 
 limited education, when twenty-five years 
 old, our subject determined on emigrating 
 to America where the opportunities for ad- 
 vancement were supposed to be much great- 
 er, and where the poor man had equal rights 
 with the rich. Leaving home, he sailed for 
 " the land of the free," and after a voyage 
 of a number of days he landed at New York. 
 After two years sojourn in various places, 
 in 1 8$ 5 he came to Ogle county, which has 
 since continued to be his home. For two 
 years he worked by the day at odd jobs, 
 and having accumulated a little money he 
 purchased sixty acres of unimproved land on 
 section 9, and at once set about its improve- 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 461 
 
 merit. In due time he had a well cultivated 
 farm which he has since kept under a high 
 state of cultivation, and which has been to 
 himself and wife a restful place of abode. 
 
 On the 14th of February, 1855, Mr. 
 Hewitt was united in marriage with Miss 
 Sarah Brand, also a native of England, who 
 came to the United States with her father, 
 William Brand, who was born, reared and 
 married in Huntingdon county, England. 
 To her husband Mrs. Hewitt has been a 
 helpmeet indeed, and their married life has 
 been a happy one. While no children came 
 to bless their union, they have always been 
 happy in each other's love. Both are mem- 
 bers of the Baptist church, in the teachings 
 of which they have unbounded faith, and in 
 the work of which they are greatly inter- 
 ested. In politics he is a Democrat. 
 
 M 
 
 |. CRILL, who resides on section 14, 
 Monroe township, is a well-known 
 farmer and stock raiser, one who is known 
 throughout the length and breadth of the 
 county. He is a native of the township, 
 born y\ugust 11, 1848, and is the son of 
 John J. and Margaret Crill, who were mar- 
 ried November 7, 1847, "^tJ who were num- 
 bered among the early settlers of the coun- 
 ty, and who were the parents of three chil- 
 dren — M. J., Orlando and Augusta. The 
 latter married Henry Hardy, and they are 
 now living a retired life in Rockfcrd, Illi- 
 nois. 
 
 The subject of this sketch remained under 
 the parental roof until he was twenty-six 
 years old, and in the common schools of 
 the neighborhood received his education. 
 The greater part of his education, however, 
 was obtained in the school of experience, 
 
 the lessons of which are usually well im- 
 pressed upon the mind, and seldom forgot- 
 ten. From the time old enough to reach 
 the handles of the plow, he was expected 
 to do his full share of the farm work, and 
 whatever he did was well done. The habits 
 of industry ac(|iiired in youth have remained 
 with him during life, and his farm is always 
 under a high state of cultivation and well 
 kept in every respect. 
 
 Mr. Crill was married January 3, 1871, 
 at Cherry Valley, Illinois, to Amelia Houd- 
 shell, a native of Winnebago county, Illi- 
 nois, and daughter of Jacob and Nancy 
 (Obedear) Hondeshell, both of whom were 
 natives of Pennsylvania, and who were 
 numbered among the early settlers of Winne- 
 bago county. By this union four children 
 were born: Nellie A. married Robert 
 Dresser, a substantial farmer residing at 
 Lindenwood, Illinois, where he operates a 
 farm of one hundred and sixty acres; Maude 
 died at the age of nine years, and Ruth Ella 
 when ten months old; and one died in in- 
 fancy. 
 
 When Mr. Crill was first married he com- 
 menced farming a tract of five hundred and 
 ten acres of land and made a specialty of 
 raising Percheron and Morgan horses and 
 Shetland ponies, short horn Durham cattle, 
 and white Chester hogs, a branch of his 
 business in which he was (]nite successful. 
 He has continued to engage in general farm- 
 ing, and his ability as a farmer is acknowl- 
 edged by all. For three years he served as 
 road commissioner, was twelve years a 
 member of the school board, and for five 
 years has been one of the constables of his 
 township, an office which he now holds. In 
 politics he is a Republican. Fraternally he 
 is a Mason, a member of the Knights of 
 Pythias and Modern Woodmen of America, 
 
462 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 GEORGE MURRAY.— Canada has fur- 
 nished to the United States many 
 bright, enterprising young men who have 
 left the Dominion to enter the business cir- 
 cles of this country with its more progress- 
 ive methods, livelier competition, and ad- 
 vancement more quickly secured. Among 
 this number is Mr. Murray, one of the most 
 enterprising and progressive farmers and 
 stock breeders of Ogle county, his home 
 being on section 17, Buffalo township. 
 
 Mr. Murray was born near Toronto, On- 
 tario, Canada, November 15, 1850, and is 
 a son of Thomas Murray, a native of Scot- 
 land, born in the city of Edinburg, Septem- 
 ber 26, 181 8. When a young man the 
 father came to the new world, locating in 
 Ontario, Canada, in 1836, and there he fol- 
 lowed the blacksmith's trade throughout the 
 remainder of his life, dying January 17, 
 1866. He was married in Canada, in March, 
 1848, to Miss Louisa Graham, also a native 
 of Scotland, her birth occurring in Dum- 
 frieshire, June 28, 1826. She crossed the 
 Atlantic with a brother and ^Iso took up 
 her residence in Ontario. She survived her 
 husband for thirty years, spending her last 
 days with her son in Illinois, where she 
 passed away January 27, 1896. She was 
 the mother of eight children, five sons and 
 three daughters, of whom four sons and two 
 daughters are still living, namely: Mary, 
 who acts as housekeeper for our subject; 
 George, of this review; Thomas, a farmer 
 of Holcomb, Ogle county; John, who is 
 married and engaged in farming in Lee 
 county, Illinois; Robert; and Mrs. Margaret 
 Copenhaver, who also resides with our sub- 
 ject and has two sons, George and Robert. 
 
 George Murray was reared in Ontario, 
 Canada, and received a good common-school 
 education, which well fitted him for life's 
 
 responsible duties. As a young man he 
 came to Illinois, in 1872, and took up his 
 residence in Taylor township. Ogle county, 
 where for one year he worked by the month 
 as a farm hand. He then rented a farm, which 
 he operated for the same length of time. 
 Since then he has given the greater part of 
 his time and attention to the breeding of fine 
 stock, in partnership with his brother im- 
 porting and dealing in pure-blooded Per- 
 cheron, Clydesdale and French coach horses. 
 The firm of Murray Brothers became well 
 known among breeders and dealers in differ- 
 ent states and they sold their horses quite 
 extensively throughout the west, doing a 
 large and profitable business. The partner- 
 ship was dissolved in 1886, but our subject 
 continued to engage in the business until 
 1S93. His first purchase of land consisted 
 of seventy-five acres in what is now Woo- 
 sung township, but after residing there for 
 three years, he sold the place and in 1881 
 located upon his present farm, consisting at 
 that time of one hundred and eighty-two 
 acres. Upon the place he has made exten- 
 sive improvements, which add greatly to its 
 value and attractive appearance, making it 
 one of the most desirable farms of the lo- 
 cality. He has enlarged its boundaries so 
 that they now contain two hundred acres of 
 valuable land under a high state of cultiva- 
 tion and improved with a large, neat resi- 
 dence, corn cribs, granaries, barns, etc. He 
 has also given considerable attention io the 
 raising of Galloway cattle, and still feeds an- 
 nually from one to four car loads of cattle and 
 a car load of hogs for the market. He start- 
 ed out in life for himself with nothing but 
 his own indomitable energy and through his 
 own efforts has acquired a comfortable com- 
 petence, being to-day one of the substantial 
 men of the county. 
 
GEORGE MURRAY. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL KECOKI). 
 
 465 
 
 Mr. Murray cast his first presidential 
 vote for Grover Cleveland and continued to 
 affiliate with the Democracy until 1896, 
 when he supported William McKinley, the 
 Republican candidate. For a number of 
 years he has served as a member of the 
 school board and has been president of the 
 district. He is also connected with tin; 
 library association and has served as (jne of 
 its trustees and directors. He and his sis- 
 ters hold membership in the Independent 
 Presbyterian church of Polo, and he is also 
 a member of the Knights of the Clobe. 
 He is held in high regard by all who know 
 him, and he has a host of warm friends 
 throughout the county. 
 
 THOMAS P. KUTLEDGE, deceased, 
 was for years a well-known citizen of 
 Ogle county, one who to know was to love 
 and esteem. He was born February 1,1810, 
 in New York city, and was a son of Robert 
 and Mary (Lurvey) Rutledge, the former a 
 native of Ireland, born April 27, 1782, and 
 the latter in New York state, April 14, 1783. 
 In his youth Robert Rutledge emigrated to 
 the United States, where he formed the ac- 
 quaintance of Mary Lurvey, and in New 
 York city they were united in marriage. 
 From that city they emigrated to Canada, 
 where he purchased two hundred acres of 
 land and engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
 There their fainily of ten children were 
 born, and in that country the parents re- 
 mained until I 84 1, when they came to Ogle 
 county, Illinois, locating in Oregon town- 
 ship, Mr. Rutledge entering and purchasing 
 six hundred and forty acres of wild land and 
 again engaging in farming. Robert Rut- 
 ledge was a benevolent, kind and free- 
 hearted man, and his house was always 
 
 open to the weary traveler. No one was 
 turned from his chjor, and he was always 
 willing to assist those in distress. The new 
 coiner from the far east was made to fed 
 that he was welc.(Une, and he would render 
 any assistance in his jxiwer to help him ob- 
 tain land and gain for iiimself a home. He 
 was an earnest and consistent member of 
 the Methotlist I'.piscopal church and was an 
 active worker in that body. His wife was 
 also a member of that body, and both de- 
 lighted in the service of the Lord's house. 
 He was a great bible student, that book be- 
 ing his constant companion. His death oc- 
 curred December y, 1862, and that of his 
 wife June 13, 1864, both passing to their 
 reward while residing in Oregon township. 
 The subject of this sketch was the eld- 
 est in the family. He grew to manhood in 
 Canada, and received such an education as 
 the common schools of that day afforded. 
 He was reared to farm life and made farm- 
 ing his life work. He was married in To- 
 ronto, Canada, February 14, 1832, io Miss 
 Elizabeth Foster, a native of Ireland, born 
 July 26, 1814, and daughter of Christopher 
 and Catherine Foster, both of whom were 
 natives of the same country. I>y this union 
 thirteen children were born, seven of whom 
 are now living. All were born in Canada. 
 Mary died at the age of one ytar. Robert 
 married Melissa Smith, and died August 18, 
 1894, at Storm Lake, Iowa. Foster mar- 
 ried Caroline Hart, and they reside in Storm 
 Lake, Iowa. b'rances married J. F. Haw- 
 thorn, and they reside in Oregon township, 
 where they are engaged in farming. John 
 enlisted in the Seventy-fourth Illinois Vol- 
 unteer Infantry, antl served under General 
 Thomas until the close of the war. He 
 married Mrs. Lucy Goodhue, but both are 
 now deceaseti. William married Clara 
 
466 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 Blood, and after her decease he married 
 Maggie Fitch. He died at Council Bluffs, 
 Iowa, August 3, 1891. Catherine married 
 Edward Crewell, and they now reside in 
 Orange, California, where he is engaged in 
 fruit growing. Charlotte married Captain 
 Spencer Smith, and they live near \'an 
 Horn, Benton county, Iowa, where he is 
 engaged in farming. Thomas S. died in 
 Rockvale township. Ogle county, at the age 
 of si.xteen years. Elizabeth married Sam- 
 uel G. Walker, and they reside in Butler, 
 Missouri. Hester A. finished her education 
 at Mt. Morris College, and for some years 
 was a successful teacher in Ogle county, 
 and later in Buena Vista county, Iowa. She 
 died July i, 1893, at Battle Creek, Mich- 
 igan. Emily is engaged in teaching in Ogle 
 county. She is the owner of a good farm 
 in Buena Vista county, Iowa. Edward 
 married Fanny Riesdorf, and they reside in 
 Browns Valley, Minnesota. He is a land 
 owner and county surveyor. 
 
 Selling his farm in Canada in the fall of 
 1855. Mr. Rutledge came to Ogle county, 
 and in the fall of that year settled in Rock- 
 vale township, where he bought a farm of 
 three hundred acres and again engaged in 
 farming. It did not take but a little while 
 for him to gather around himself a host of 
 warm-hearted friends, because he was a 
 man of generous impulse, ever ready to do 
 a favor. At the age of nineteen years he 
 united with the Methodist Episcopal church 
 and was ever afterwards one of the faithful 
 workers in that body. A friend of educa- 
 tion, he was one of the first to establish a 
 school in his Canadian home, and after his 
 removal to Ogle county he assisted in estab- 
 lishing one of the first schools in his neigh- 
 borhood. He was a great reader and kept 
 himself well informed on current events. 
 
 and was never at a loss to express himself. 
 A strong temperance man, he advocated the 
 principles of total abstinence, and lived up 
 to his professions. For about ten years 
 prior to his death, whicji occurred April 7, 
 1879, in the city of Oregon, he was in ill 
 health. His wife, who was also a consist- 
 ent member of the Methodist Episcopal 
 church, died in Oregon August 29, 1875, 
 and both were laid to rest in Rock River 
 View cemetery at that place. 
 
 VIKGIL E. REED, who resides on sec- 
 tion 13, Nassau township, is a well 
 known and highly respected citizen of Ogle 
 county. He is a native of the county, 
 born in Daysville, September i, 1S41, and 
 is the son of Lyman and Mehitable (Clark) 
 Reed, the former a native of Westfield, 
 Vermont, born December 25, 1S09, and 
 the latter a native of Gilson, New 
 Hampshire, boru April 24, 18 14. In 1835 
 the parents came west, and in the spring of 
 1836, settled in Daysville, where he en- 
 gaged at his trade of carpentering, at which 
 he worked for about twenty years. In tlie 
 early 'fifties he built a store room and en- 
 gaged in general merchandising until his 
 death, which occurred January 8, 1866. 
 His wife survived him many years, dying 
 April 28, 1886. 
 
 The subject of this sketch lived with his 
 parents until the age of twenty years, in the 
 meantime attending the common schools of 
 the neighborhood as the opportunity was 
 given him. When the war for the union 
 commenced his patriotism was aroused, 
 and he offered his services as one of its de- 
 fenders. He enlisted in Company F, Thirty- 
 fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served 
 nearly four years. He first enlisted for a 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 46; 
 
 term of three years, but at the end of two 
 years the regiment veteranized, and with 
 the command he enlisted " for three years 
 or during the war. " He was in all the 
 battles and campaigns in which his regiment 
 participated until December 31, 1862, when 
 he was taken prisoner at the battle of Stone 
 River, and for six months was confined in 
 Libby prison and at Castle Thunder. He 
 was then exchanged and returned to his 
 regiment, which was encamped on the same 
 battlefield where he was taken prisoner. 
 The Thirty-fourth regiment was in active 
 service until the close of the war, engaging 
 in many battles and skirmishes, and was 
 with Sherman in the march to the sea. It 
 was also in the grand review at Washington. 
 From the time he rejoined it Mr. Reed con- 
 tinued with it until the final muster out at 
 the close of the war. His record as a soldier 
 was a commendable one, and he has a right 
 to look back with a just pride to the days in 
 which as a soldier he endured trials and 
 sufferings that cannot be realized by those 
 who had not the same experience. 
 
 On receiving his discharge, Mr. Reed 
 returning to his home in Daysville, but 
 feeling the need of a better education he 
 attended Mt. Morris Seminary for one year, 
 and was then, April 3, 1866, united in 
 marriage with Miss Harriet D. Carpenter, 
 daughter of John and Louise Carpenter. 
 She was also born in Nassau townshij), the 
 date of her birth being April 8, 1844. Her 
 parents were among the pioneers of the 
 township, and were excellent people, well 
 esteemed in the community. By this union 
 there were four children. Leon yet makes 
 his home with his parents, and is the pres- 
 ent assessor of Nassau township. Elmer 
 V. married Emma Carrick, daughter of John 
 and Jane Carrick. She is a native of Ogle 
 
 county, born in Nassau township. They 
 now reside in Chicago, where he is assistant 
 superintendent of the New York Metropoli- 
 tan Life Insurance Company. Ernest C. 
 is the superintendent of the Metropolitan 
 Life Insurance Company, and now resides 
 in Chicago. Oscar O. is now engaged in 
 teaching the district school in his home 
 neighborhood. The oldest and youngest 
 sons are also engaged in buying and ship- 
 ping stock, and assisting in carrying on the 
 home farm. 
 
 Mr. Reed has a valuable and well-im- 
 proved farm of two hundred and seventy- 
 five acres, on which he has made some 
 valuable improvements since the close of 
 the Civil war. As a farmer he has been 
 progressive, ready to adopt any improve- 
 ment that appealed to his judgment. As a 
 citizen he has always been held in high 
 esteem. Fraternally he is a member of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic and of the 
 Masonic order. Always an advocate of 
 temperance, he has done much to advance 
 its cause. 
 
 WILLIAM J. MINNIS, a representa- 
 tive and highly respected farmer of 
 Ogle county, residing on section 26, White 
 Rock township, started out in life with 
 nothing but his own indomitable energy, 
 and his accumulation of this world's goods 
 is attributable to his industry, perseverance 
 and good management. He has won. a fore- 
 most place among the leading citizens of his 
 community, and has become the owner of 
 four hundred acres of valuable land in White 
 Rock township; two hundred and forty on 
 section 26 and one hundred and sixty on 
 section 25. 
 
 Mr. Minnis was born in b'ebruary, 1831, 
 
468 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 near Belfast, County Down, Ireland, and is 
 a son of William and Margaret (Patterson) 
 Minnis, also natives of that county. The 
 father was a farmer and land owner. In 
 the family were five children, (i) Isabella 
 was married in County Down to Carrin Duff 
 and later they emigrated to Canada, where 
 both died, leaving four children, one son, 
 William, and three daughters. One of 
 these, Mrs. Deborah Way, with her two 
 daughters, Eva and Flora, now makes her 
 home with our subject and acts as his house- 
 keeper. (2) Mary wedded Samuel Gilbraith 
 and still resides in Ireland. (3) Lydia 
 married Robert Wright and they came to 
 America at the same time as our subject, 
 locating first in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 
 Later they came to Ogle county and owned 
 a farm in Lynnville township, where he 
 died. The sister now makes her home in 
 Rochelle. (4) William J. is the next of the 
 family. (5) James came to America two 
 years after our subject, served all through 
 the Civil war and is now living retired with 
 his sister in Rochelle. 
 
 William |. Minnis received a common 
 school education and remained under the 
 parental roof until seventeen years of age. 
 At that time his sister Lydia and her hus- 
 band made arrangements to come to Amer- 
 ica, and he accompanied them on horseback 
 to Belfast, a distance of six miles, to see 
 them on board the vessel which they took 
 for Liverpool, England. His sister per- 
 suaded him to go with them to Liverpool, 
 so he sent his horse back home by a neigh- 
 bor. On reaching that place he was again 
 persuaded by her to come to America, which 
 he did without having made any prepara- 
 tions, his only possessions being the clothes 
 he wore and one pound sterling. Turning 
 his back on home, friends and native land, 
 
 he took passage with Mr. and Mrs. Wright 
 on a sailing vessel, which, after a long and 
 tedious voyage, landed them safely in Phila- 
 delphia. As Mr. Wright had a brother in 
 Pittsburg, they proceeded at once to that 
 city. Our subject's first work in the new 
 world was at threshing rye with a flail, for 
 which he received ten bushels of the grain 
 and sold the same for thirty-five cents per 
 bushel. Later he entered the employ of a 
 farmer in Washington, Pennsylvania, for 
 whom he worked five months for eight dol- 
 lars per month, but did not receive his pay 
 for two years. He next worked in a foundry 
 in Pittsburg for four dollars per week, and 
 out of that amount paid two dollars for 
 board. Later he was employed in glass 
 works at five dollars per week, and after 
 five years spent at various occupations, he 
 came west, locating first in Chicago. As 
 he failed to find employment in that city, 
 he accepted a position with James Garrett, 
 an old companion and associate in Ireland, 
 who was building wire fences for the Chi- 
 cago, Burlington & Quincy railroad in 
 Bureau county. On the completion of that 
 task, he accompanied Mr. Garrett to his 
 home in Ogle county. 
 
 After working here two seasons for 
 wages, Mr. Minnis and his brother-in-law, 
 Mr. Wright, purchased eighty acres of land 
 in Lynnville township, which his sister now 
 owns. For some time he made his home 
 with them, but finally sold his interest to 
 Mr. Wright. Having heard that his father 
 was ill and not expected to live, he returned 
 to Ireland in the spring of 1867, but arrived 
 there too late to see him. He remained in 
 his native land one year, settling up the 
 estate, and then returned with his mother 
 to Ogle county, Illinois. The same fall he 
 bought one hundred and sixty acres where 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 469 
 
 he now resides, and where he has continued 
 to live with the exception of six years spent 
 in Rochelle, during which time he rented 
 the place. On purchasing his farm he went 
 in debt for most of the amount, but so suc- 
 cessful has he been that he has since been 
 able to purchase two adjoining tracts, one 
 of eighty and the other of one hundred and 
 sixty acres. He now rents a portion of his 
 land, but personally superintends the rest, 
 and has always followed a most approved 
 system of mixed farming and stock raising, 
 putting considerable stock on the market 
 each year. 
 
 While on his visit to Ireland, Mr. Minnis 
 was married in February, 1868, to Miss 
 Agnes Martin, a distant relative and a 
 daughter of William and Grace (Minnis) 
 Martin. Soon after the birth of their only 
 child she died, February 23, 1871, at the 
 early age of twenty-eight years, seven 
 months and twenty-one days. Mr. Minnis 
 has always been true to her memory and 
 has never married again. The daughter 
 was named Agnes for her mother, and on 
 the 8th of October, 1895, she was united in 
 marriage with Henry Carpenter, of Dement 
 township. 
 
 Politically Mr. Minnis is a stanch sup- 
 porter of the Republican party, but has 
 never sought nor accepted any office with 
 the exception of school positions. He is 
 one of the leading members of the Meth- 
 odist Episcopal church of Rochelle, has 
 taken an active part in its work and been a 
 member of the official board. For a quar- 
 ter of a century he has belonged to Hickory 
 Grove Lodge, No. 230, I. O. O. F., of 
 Rochelle, and has filled all the chairs, being 
 past grand. He has met with excellent 
 success in life, having not only won a com- 
 fortable competence but also has the esteem 
 
 and confidence of all with whom he has 
 come in contact, either in business or social 
 life. 
 
 JOHN SMITH, now living a retired life 
 on his fine farm on section 4, Dement 
 township, and which lies about six miles 
 northeast of the city of Rochelle, has been 
 a valued resident of Ogle county since the 
 spring of 1859. He was born in Lincoln- 
 shire, England, May 22, 1825, and there 
 spent his boyhood and youth, being reared 
 to farm life. His educational advantages 
 were very limited, but he has made the best 
 use of the knowledge gained in youth and 
 is now a well informed man. He remained 
 under the parental roof until he nearly at- 
 tained his majority, and then worked for 
 others, his wages going to the support of 
 the family. He later began work for him- 
 self, having in view his future relations in 
 life. He was married in Lincolnshire, Eng- 
 land, April 10, 1848, to Miss Ann Tidswell, 
 a native of that shire, where they made 
 their home for two years after marriage. 
 Like all young married couples, they built 
 for themselves many air castles and laid 
 many plans for their future lives. They 
 soon concluded that if their air castles were 
 ever to turn into something more substan- 
 tial, they must emigrate to the United 
 States, where land was cheap and the op- 
 portunity was offered to every one to acquire 
 both wealth and reputation. Accordingly, 
 in 1850, Mr. Smith set sail for New York, 
 where he landed in due time, and made set- 
 tlement in Ontario county, and there be- 
 gan working by the month. Mrs. Smith 
 joined him the following year. They re- 
 mained in Ontario county for two years and 
 then removed to Yates county, in the same 
 
4/0 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 state, where they remained until 1S56, and 
 then came to Illinois, locating in Winne- 
 bago county, where Mr. Smith found em- 
 ployment by the month with Terry Hol- 
 brook, who was residing near Rockford. 
 For Mr. Holbrook and Mr. Allenton he 
 worked for three years, and then moved to 
 his preser>t place of residence. In 1857, 
 he made his first purchase here, consisting 
 of eighty acres of raw land, on which there 
 had no improvement been made. In 1858 
 he built on the place a small house, into 
 which he moved with his family in 1S59. 
 They lived in that house while he was open- 
 ing up his farm, and until his means war- 
 ranted his building a still better one. The 
 second one, however, was not a very pre- 
 tentious affair, but it served as a home until 
 he was able to build the present large and 
 substantial residence, in which the family 
 has now lived for some years. As his 
 means increased, he added to his landed 
 possessions until he has now about five hun- 
 dred acres of as fine land as one would care 
 to see, all of which is under cultivation. 
 Large barns have been erected, while vari- 
 ous outbuildings dot the place, fruit and 
 ornamental trees have been set out, and 
 everything in and around shows that a mas- 
 ter mind has directed and controlled it all. 
 Mr. and Mrs. Smith are the parents of 
 seven children. Lucy is the wife of George 
 Sanders, a farmer of Flagg township. 
 Sarah is living with her parents. George 
 B. is married, and owns and operates a farm 
 adjoining the old homestead. Jennie is the 
 wife of D. F. Flowers, a carpenter by trade, 
 but who is engaged in farming near Cort- 
 land, Nebraska. William T. is married and 
 resides at Woodland, California. Albert E. 
 yet remains at home. Lizzie M. is the wife 
 of Robert Roe, of DeKalb, Illinois. 
 
 On the lOth of April, 1898, Mr. and 
 Mrs. Smith celebrated their golden wed- 
 ding, on which occasion a number of their 
 friends and neighbors, their children and 
 grandchildren gathered to pay their respects 
 and to make glad the hearts of the old 
 couple, whom they all delighted to honor. 
 A silver tea set, and a number of other 
 valuable presents were made to Mr. and 
 Mrs. Smith as a reminder of the pleasant 
 occasion. 
 
 Mr. Smith is not a politician in the cur- 
 rent acceptance of the term, but he advo- 
 cates the principles of the Republican party 
 and votes the party ticket. With his good 
 wife he came to the county in time to ex- 
 perience many of the trials and hardships 
 of pioneer life, but he has been signally 
 blessed in worldly goods, and can now look 
 back to the days that are passed and smile 
 at the hardships then endured, having the 
 satisfaction of knowing that "all is well 
 that ends well." He is now comfortably 
 situated, with means to secure not only the 
 necessities of life, but any of the luxuries 
 that his heart might wish. In leaving the 
 old country for the new a wise move was 
 made. 
 
 JOHN THOMPSON, a well-known and 
 honored citizen of Lynnville township, 
 is the possessor ot a comfortable property 
 whicii now enables him to lay aside all busi- 
 ness cares and enjoy a well-earned rest. 
 His early life was one of toil and due suc- 
 cess was not denied him in his chosen occu- 
 pation. As a young man of twenty-one 
 years he came to America, and with no 
 capital started out in a strange land to over- 
 come the difficulties and obstacles in the 
 path to prosperity. His youthful dreams 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 471 
 
 have been more than realized, and in their 
 happy fulfillment he sees the fitting reward 
 of his earnest toil. 
 
 Mr. Thompson is a native of the north 
 of Ireland, born six miles from Belfast, April 
 19, 1823, of Scotch ancestry. His father, 
 John Thompson, was born on the old home- 
 stead in Ireland, in 1797, and in early life 
 married Miss Margaret Patterson, who was 
 born May i, 1799. Theirs was a long and 
 happy married life of si.xty-five years and 
 they were not long separated by the hand 
 of death, as the mother died April 4, 1885, 
 and the father on the 2nd of the following 
 July. In their family were nine children, 
 namely: John, Margaret, Robert, Sarah, 
 William, James, Rabinah, Jane Ellen and 
 Samuel. 
 
 Our subject was educated in the schools 
 of his native land and there remained until 
 he attained his majority. On his emigration 
 to the United States, in 1844, he located in 
 Pennsylvania, where he was married, Feb- 
 ruary 6, 1850, to Miss Hannah Blair, who 
 was born in Philadelphia, January 13, 1826. 
 In 1853 they came to Illinois and took up 
 their residence in Ogle county, at which 
 time the present thriving city of Rochelle 
 contained but two log cabins. In partner- 
 ship with a brother-in-law, Mr. Thompson 
 purchased two hundred and forty acres of 
 land in Dement township, but later he bought 
 a farm on section 31, Lynnville township, 
 where he now resides. He is a stone mason 
 by trade and followed it for many years, in 
 connection with farming, being employed 
 by the day and also doing some contract 
 work, but for the past ten years he has lived 
 retired. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Thompson were born 
 nine children, four sons and five daughters, 
 namely: Mary and William both died in in- 
 
 fancy. Rabinah J. married Henry Blair, 
 formerly of Pennsylvania, and of the six 
 children born to them, four are now living: 
 Frank, who married Nettie Sechler, of Iowa, 
 and has two children, Elroy and an infant; 
 and Clarence; Addic; and Elmer. Margaret, 
 daughter of our subject, married Isaac G. 
 Teslor, of P lagg townshi}), Ogle county, and 
 they have six children: C. Edna, Fred G., 
 Howard, l:>enjamin. Forest and Vance. 
 Samuel wedded Mary E. Spaulding, of 
 Lynnville township, and they have two 
 children: Lawrence J. and Lizzie A. Lydia 
 married William Ikirgess, of Lynnville 
 township, and died February I, 1895. Rob- 
 ert W. wedded Mary Lovvey, of West Lib- 
 erty, Iowa, and has two children: Robert 
 and Ruby. Mary E. is living at home with 
 her father. J. William married Hattie 
 Collins, and was killed (jn the railroad, Jan- 
 uary 3, 1897. The wife and mother was 
 called to her final rest August 31, 1895. She 
 was a faithful member of the Methodist 
 Episcopal church, to which Mr. Thompson 
 also belongs, and of which he has been one 
 of the trustees. In political sentiment he 
 is an independent Republican. 
 
 CHARLES H. CANODE, editor and 
 proprietor of the Mount Morris News, 
 was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania, 
 October 24, 1872, and is the son of Arnold 
 E. and Amelia Jane (Worley) Canode, the 
 former a native of Washington county, 
 Maryland, and the latter of Franklin coun- 
 ty, Pennsylvania. They were the parents 
 of nine children, as follows: James B., 
 who married Flora L. Stoner, of Des 
 Moines, Iowa, but now reside in Mount 
 Morris; Benjamin ¥.; George B., a druggist 
 of Bushnell, Illinois; Victor E., who m^X^ 
 
472 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ried Miss Mae McCoy, of Mount Morris, but 
 now make their home in Toledo, Ohio; 
 Frederick B., who married Miss Anna Cole- 
 man, of Chicago, where they make their 
 home; Martin Luther, living in DeKalb, 
 Illinois; Jennie M., who married Theodore 
 F. Haller, editor Forreston Herald; and 
 Mary E., at home. The good mother died 
 December 13, 18S9, but the father is still 
 living in Mount Morris, which has been his 
 home since March 18, 1880, when he moved 
 with his family from their Pennsylvania 
 home. By trade he is a contractor and 
 builder, but is now living retired. He is a 
 member of the Lutheran church, in which 
 faith his wife died. Fraternally he is a 
 Mason and an Odd Fellow, and in politics a 
 Democrat. During Governor Altgeld's ad- 
 ministration he served as an officer in the 
 state penitentiary at Joliet. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was but eight 
 years old when he came with his parents to 
 Mount Morris. In the public schools of the 
 place he received his primary education, at- 
 tending the same until he was fourteen 
 years old, when he commenced to learn the 
 printer's trade in the office of the Brethren 
 Publishing Company, of Mount Morris. He 
 later spent six years in various newspaper 
 and job offices in Chicago, and was one of 
 the first operators on the Thorne type-set- 
 ting machine, in which he became an expert. 
 Returning to Mount Morris he established 
 the Mount Morris News, the first issue ap- 
 pearing under date May 19, 1896, and he 
 has since been sole editor and proprietor. 
 Under his management the paper has had a 
 successful career, and has been doing a very 
 satisfactory business. 
 
 On the 23d of September, 1896, Mr. 
 Canode was united in marriage with Miss 
 Eva M. Lutz, who was born in Melbourne, 
 
 Iowa, June 25, 1875, and daughter of John 
 M. and Sarah (Garber) Lutz, the former a 
 native of Pennsylvania, and the latter of 
 Illinois. They moved from State Center, 
 Iowa, to Mount Morris in the spring of 
 1894. Religiously they are members of the 
 Brethren church. They are the parents of 
 five living children, the others being Samuel 
 G., assistant general freight agent of the 
 Iowa Central railroad, who married Cora 
 B. Foreman, Marshalltown, Iowa; Dr. Ira 
 D., a dentist of Boone, Iowa, who married 
 Myrtle G. Praigg; Amanda G., and Viola 
 A., at home. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Canode are members of 
 the Lutheran church, and fraternally he is 
 a member of Samuel H. Davis Lodge, No. 
 96, A. F. & A. M., Mount Morris, and is a 
 charter member of Mount Morris Camp, 
 No. 4596, M. W. A. In politics he is a 
 Democrat. 
 
 JOSEPH F. HARLEMAN.— To a stu- 
 dent of biography there is nothing more 
 interesting than to examine the life history 
 of a self-made man and to detect the ele- 
 ments of character which have enabled him 
 to pass on the highway of life many of the 
 companions of his youth who at the outset 
 of their careers were more advantageously 
 equipped or endowed. The subject of this 
 review has through his own exertions at- 
 tained an honorable position and marked 
 prestige among the representative farmers 
 of Ogle county, and is to-day the owner of 
 a large amount of valuable land in White 
 Rock township, his home being on sec- 
 tion 10. 
 
 Mr. Harleman was born in Northumber- 
 land county, Pennsylvania, October 11, 
 1839, a son of Joshua D. and Elizabeth 
 
JOSEPH F. HARLEMAN. 
 
MRS. ELIZABETH HARLEMAN. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 477 
 
 (Fogelman) Harleinan, also natives of that 
 state. The father was in early life a shoe- 
 maker, but for several years followed farm- 
 ing in Pennsylvania. In the fall of 1852, 
 with his family he came to Illinois by team, 
 our subject's thirteenth birthday occurring 
 while cii route. Locating in Marion town- 
 ship. Ogle county, the father purchased 
 land and spent the remainder of his life 
 there with the exception of a few years 
 passed in the town of Oregon, where his 
 wife died in June, 1878. He then returned 
 to the farm and there passed away June 28, 
 1898, at the advanced age of eighty-si,\ 
 years and seven months. He was a quiet, 
 unassuming man, giving his attention almost 
 wholly to the operation of his farm, and as 
 he met with excellent success in life, he left 
 a good estate. In early life he was a sup- 
 porter of the Democratic party, but later 
 became an ardent Republican. In his fam- 
 ily were four children, of whom our sub- 
 ject is the eldest. Mary C. is now the 
 widow of Robert Sheadle, a resident of 
 Rochelle. Lucy E. was the wife of Charles 
 Hart, of Page county, Iowa, where she 
 died. David S. now owns the old home- 
 stead in Marion township. 
 
 Mr. Harleman, of this review, was 
 reared on the home farm and receive J a 
 common school education. On starting 
 out in life for himself he engaged in farm- 
 ing upon rented land in Wlute Rock town- 
 ship. He was married December 29, 1864, 
 to Miss Elizabeth Doebler, a native of Ly- 
 coming county, Pennsylvania, and a daugh- 
 ter of Henry and Sarah Doebler, who were 
 also born in that state, and in 1857 re- 
 moved with their family to Ogle county, Illi- 
 nois, locating in White Rock township, 
 where the father has since made his home. 
 For the past three years he has resided with 
 
 our subject. The mother is deceased; her 
 death occurred April i i, 1888. Mrs. Harle- 
 man is the second in order of birth in a 
 family of seven children, the others being 
 as follows: Jacob wedded Mary Benner 
 and resided in Wfiite Rock township, where 
 he died, leaving five children, Harry A., John 
 B., Ella M. Myrtle B. and Ina E. Mary 
 S. is the wife of Marvin A. Hayner, of 
 Janesville, Wisconsin. Ellen C. is the 
 wife of Henry Rice, Paines Point, Ogle 
 county. Peter 15. resides on the old home- 
 stead in Wiiite Rock township. John A. is 
 a resident of Harlan county, Nebraska. 
 Martin L. makes his home m Ida county, 
 Iowa. As Mr. and Mrs. Harleman have 
 no children of their own, they have adopted 
 Ina E., who is the youngest child of Jacob 
 Doebler and was only a year old at the time 
 her father's death. She has been carefully 
 reared as their own daughter and has found 
 a pleasant home with them. 
 
 In March, following their marriage, 
 Mr. and Mrs. Harleman commenceti house- 
 keeping upon a rented farm on section 11, 
 White Rock township, comprising one hun- 
 dred and sixty acres of land, which he later 
 purchased. After living there for ten years 
 he bought an adjoining one hundred and 
 sixty acres on section i i, and made that his 
 home for about the same length of time. 
 He then removed to his present farm on 
 section 10. P'rom lime to time as his finan- 
 cial resources have permitted, he has I^ought 
 more land and now owns nine hundred and 
 sixty acres on sections 3, 9,10, 11 and 15, 
 White Rock township, having all of the 
 land for two miles and a half south of the 
 village of Holcomb. He has always given 
 considerable attention to the feeding of 
 stock and usually ships from three to five 
 car loads of cattle annually. He now rents 
 
47 S 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 all of his land, with the exception of one 
 hundred and sixty acres, which he himself 
 operates. Like many men who have at- 
 tained success, he started out with nothing, 
 buying his first farm without a dollar of his 
 own to pay for it, and borrowing five hun- 
 dred dollars from his father to make the 
 first payment. His success is all attributa- 
 ble to his industry and the good judgment he 
 has exercised in business transactions. Po- 
 litically Mr. Harleman is independent, not 
 being bound by party ties, but voting for 
 principle rather than party. 
 
 CHESTER KEYS WILLIAMS, de- 
 ceased, who was for many years prom- 
 inently identified with the agricultural and 
 business interests of Ogle county, was born in 
 Brimfield, Hampden county, Massachusetts, 
 January 13, 1818, and was descended from 
 good old colonial stock. The first of the 
 family to come to the new world was 
 Robert Williams, whose early home was in 
 Norwich, England. He settled in Roxbury, 
 Massachusetts, in i63iS, and died there in 
 1693, at an advanced age. From him down 
 to our subject we trace the ancestry through 
 the following: Samuel, a native of Eng- 
 land, 1632-1698; Samuel, 1655- 1735; Eb- 
 enezer, 1690-1755; Rev. Chester, 1702- 
 1755; Rev. Nehemiah, 1749-1800; and 
 Ebenezer, 1777- 1856. The last named, 
 who was the father of our subject, married 
 Eliza Whitwell, a daughter of Dr. Whit- 
 well, a surgeon in the Revolutionary war. 
 Chester K. Williams attended the com- 
 mon schools of his native town and also, the 
 Monson Academy, and when his education 
 was completed clerked in his father's store 
 until twenty years of age. In October, 
 1838, in company with his brother-in-law, 
 
 Horatio Wales, he came to Ogle county, 
 Illinois, and in Buffalo township they pur- 
 chased three hundred and twenty acres of 
 land bordering on Buffalo Grove. Until 
 1 85 I our subject gave his time and atten- 
 tion to the cultivation and improvement of 
 his land and then rented the farm and en- 
 gaged in clerking in Buffalo Grove, where 
 he also served as postmaster from 1851 un- 
 til 1853. In 1855, in partnership with Drs. 
 W. W. Burns and J. H. More, he embarked 
 in the drug business, which they carried on 
 together for two years, but from 1857 until 
 1 866, our subject again followed farming. 
 In the latter year he sold his place and 
 removed to Polo, where he continued to 
 make his home until called from this life, 
 December 8, 1891. 
 
 Mr. Williams was twice married, first to 
 Maria P. Anthony, of Avoca, New York, by 
 whom he had four children: Lulu, Kate, 
 Anna and Lucy, all now deceased. Lucy 
 married Homer B. Hitt and to them was 
 born a son, Harold Williams. On the i 5th 
 of December, 1886, Mr. Williams married 
 Mrs. Mary McQuaid, a daughter of Charles 
 Wheeler Samis, who was born in New 
 York, January 21, 1801. Her grandfather, 
 Ebenezer Samis, was a sea-faring man who 
 died at the advanced age of ninety-three 
 years. He was married in 1800, at the age 
 of twenty-two or three years, to Ruth 
 Wheeler, who died in December, 1801, and 
 was buried in Trinity church yard. New 
 York city. The Wheelers were an old 
 family on Long Island, and the house in 
 which they lived was built of bricks brought 
 from Holland. Charles W. Samis, the 
 only son of Ebenezer and Ruth (Wheelerj 
 Samis, was married November 28, 1824, 
 to Polly Bently, of Jamestown, New York, 
 who was born October 10, 1803, and died 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 479 
 
 at the age of eighty-three years. She was 
 a member of the Presbyterian church. Her 
 father, Uriah Bently, was a pioneer settler 
 of western New York, where he became an 
 extensive farmer and large land owner. 
 Lakewood and Chautauqua lake are on 
 grounds formerly owned by him. Much of 
 his property is still in the possession of the 
 family. He was born in Rensselaer coun- 
 ty, New York, and was married December 
 28, 1800, to Nancy Sweet, who died April 
 21, 1844, at the age of sixty-five years. 
 Mrs. Williams was first married January i, 
 1849, to William McOuaid, by whom she 
 had three children, as follows: Charles 
 Samis, a practicing physician, married 
 Emma Kerr, and to them was born a son, 
 Charles William. The Doctor died in 
 Kansas. Amelia is the wife of George W. 
 McCollom. William, a resident of Knob 
 Knoster, Missouri, married Delina Andrews 
 and they have one daughter, Mary, now 
 the wife of James W. Silke, who is con- 
 nected with the German National ISank, of 
 St. Paul, Minnesota. 
 
 An upright and honorable man Mr. Will- 
 iams had the esteem and confidence of all 
 who knew him, and was frequently honored 
 by his fellow townsmen with positions of 
 trust and responsibility. Besides serving 
 as postmaster of Buffalo Grove, he was su- 
 pervisor in 1856 and 1857, and again in 
 1863; was mayor of Polo from 18S1 until 
 1886, and president of the Polo Cemetery 
 Association in 1858. He was president of 
 the first old settlers' meeting, was also their 
 first treasurer, and after the reorganization 
 of the society in 1873, served as its presi- 
 dent for two terms. He was also cor- 
 responding secretary of the Buffalo Old Set- 
 tlers' Association, and in 1889 was elected 
 president of the Ogle County Old Settlers' 
 
 Association. Throughout his career of con- 
 tinued and far-reaching usefulness his duties 
 were performed with the greatest care, and 
 during a long life his personal honor and in- 
 tegrity were without blemish. He was a 
 man of deep convictions, was generous and 
 was never afraid to stand up fgr those 
 principles which he believed to be right. 
 In all the relations of life he was always 
 found true to every trust reposed in him, 
 and as a citizen was honored and respected 
 by the entire community. 
 
 BARBER BROTHERS & CO., Bank- 
 ers, Polo, Illinois. This business was 
 founded in 1843 by Chanceford R. Barber 
 and Lemuel N. Barber, brothers, under the 
 firm name of C. & L. N. Barber. They 
 came from near Brattleboro, Vermont, and 
 established a store at Buffalo Grove, an 
 early settlement in Ogle county on the old 
 stage route, in which was carried on a 
 general business in merchandise and prod- 
 uce of all kinds, and at the same time 
 meeting the requirements of the locality in 
 the banking line until the first exclusive 
 banking institution of Ogle county was 
 established at Polo in 1855 by Chanceford 
 R. Barber and others under the firm name 
 of Barber, Frisbee & Co. 
 
 In 1874 he formed a co-partnership for 
 banking with Isaac H. Trumbauer, under 
 the style of I:>arber & Trumbauer. Mr. 
 Barber retained his interest in business, and 
 was actively identified in its management 
 until the time of his death, which occurred 
 August 21, 1 8 79. In 1 88 1 Mr. Barber's 
 widow, Mrs. Lucie H. Barber, and his two 
 sons, Bryant H. and Henry D. , purchased 
 Mr. Trumbauer's interest and became sole 
 proprietors of the bank, which has since 
 
48o 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 been conducted under the name of Barber 
 Brothers & Co. 
 
 The banking house of Barber Brothers 
 & Co. conducts exclusively a general bank- 
 ing business, and the wealth and widely 
 known responsibility of its proprietors give 
 it standing among the substantial financial 
 institutions of the state. 
 
 Henry D. Barber was born in Buffalo 
 Grove, Illinois, March 3, 1S55, a son of 
 Chanceford R. and Lucie H. Barber, and died 
 October 26, 1896. He was educated in the 
 public schools of Polo and at Harvard Uni- 
 versity, receiving his business training in his 
 father's bank where he began as a clerk when 
 he was nineteen years old. From the forma- 
 tion of the present firm of Barber Broth- 
 ers & Co. until his death he was actively 
 engaged in the management of the firm's 
 business. He took an active interest in all 
 matters pertaining to education, and while 
 his exacting duties prevented his acceptance 
 of any public office he was always associated 
 in any movement calculated to develop the 
 highest standard of citizenship. 
 
 Mr. Barber was a man of singularly 
 keen judgment, unimpeachable integrity 
 and unusual attainments. His opinion was 
 held in high esteem in prominent financial 
 circles, and he was interested in many suc- 
 cessful enterprises of importance. He was 
 a deep student of finance, and his informa- 
 tion along these lines was of remarkable 
 range — a fact which, combined with the 
 soundness of his judgment, caused him 
 to be consulted as an authority by those 
 with whom he was brought into contact in 
 the conduct of affairs that took him into 
 the principal business centers of the country. 
 
 Mr. Barber was married F"ebruary 21, 
 1884, to Miss Mary J. Mix, daughter of 
 Henry A. Mix, a pioneer and business man 
 
 of Oregon. Mrs. Barber and two children, 
 Lucie R. and Mary C, survive him. A son, 
 Henry M., was born at Polo, November i, 
 1885, died February 12, 1891. 
 
 Bryant H. Barber, of Barber Brothers 
 & Co., Bankers, Polo, Illinois, is the son 
 of Chanceford R. and Lucie H. Barber. 
 He has lived at Polo since 1856, having 
 been educated at the public schools of that 
 city. His practical business education was 
 received from his father with whom he was 
 associated in the banking and other busi- 
 ness. On the death of his father, he, with 
 his mother and brother, Henry U. Bar- 
 ber, became the successors to the business 
 founded in 1843 by Chanceford R. Barber, 
 his father, and he is now actively engaged 
 in the conduct of this business. 
 
 STANLEY R. PIERCE, residing on sec- 
 tion 12, Dement township, is one of the 
 young and enterprising farmers, stock rais- 
 ers and breeders of Ogle county, who, in a 
 few brief years, has made a reputation of 
 which many whose years are far more may 
 well be proud. He is a native of the coun- 
 ty, and was born in the village of Creston, 
 December 4, 1870. His father, I^lanford 
 R. Pierce, was born in the town of Grotten, 
 Oneida county. New York, March 1 1, 1833, 
 and there grew to manhood, receiving a 
 good education. For some years, in his 
 young manhood, he was engaged in teach- 
 ing, both in New York and in Illinois. He 
 was united in marriage, in Oneida county, 
 New York, October 29, 1853, with Miss 
 Sarah J. Potter, a native of that county and 
 state. By this union were four sons and 
 four daughters. Of the sons. Dr. C. A. is 
 a veterinary surgeon residing in Elgin, 
 where he is engaged in the practice of his 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 profession. Dr. B. A. is also a veterinary 
 surgeon, practicing his profession in the 
 stock yards of Chicago. A. J. is a business 
 man of Oketo, Kansas. Stanley R. is the 
 subject of this sketch. Of the daughters, 
 Florence L. is a lady of superior education, 
 and has been a professional teacher for 
 some years. She is now connected with 
 the college at Albert Lee, Minnesota. Maud 
 is residing with her parents in Chicago. 
 Winifred is acting as housekeeper for her 
 brother, on the old homestead. Carrie is 
 also at home with her parents, and is now 
 a student in the Chicago University. She 
 was also a teacher for two years. 
 
 In 1856 Blanford R. Pierce came to 
 Ogle county and located in the village of 
 Creston, where he engaged in teaching, 
 and later in the grain and stock business. 
 He was a successful dealer in grain and 
 stock, and continued in that line for a num- 
 ber of years. During this time he pur- 
 chased a tract of land near Creston, and in 
 1877 moved to the place and commenced 
 the life of a farmer. In addition to general 
 farming he engaged in feeding, buying and 
 shipping stock, and was credited with being 
 one of the best and most successful busi- 
 ness men of the county. As his means in- 
 creased, he purchased more land, and is 
 now the owner of four farms in Ogle county, 
 all of which are well improved. 
 
 In 1884 Blanford R. Pierce purchased 
 four head of pure blood polled angus cattle 
 and began breeding the same. He kept in- 
 creasing the herd from year to year, and 
 built up a very extensive business and a 
 reputation for the purity of his stock second 
 to no breeder in the United States. In 
 1894 he turned over to his son Stanley a 
 half interest in the business, including the 
 management of his farm near Creston and 
 
 moved to Chicago, where he purchased res- 
 idence property, and is now living a retired 
 life. 
 
 Since the retirement of the father, our 
 subject has continued to breed and deal in 
 pure blood polled angus cattle, and has now 
 the largest herd of such cattle in the state, 
 if not in the entire country, having fully one 
 hundred head of the purest blood. He an- 
 nually makes an exhibit of some of his cat- 
 tle in the stock shows and fairs, and invari- 
 ably carries off the best premiums. In 
 1893 he made an exhibit at the World's 
 Fair, Chicago, and in the great Omaha 
 Fair, in both of which places he received 
 the highest awards. In 1895 and in 1896 
 he exhibited his cattle at the cattle show 
 in Madison Square, New York, competing 
 with the best herds in the whole country, 
 and there received the highest awards, and 
 more premiums and money than any other 
 exhibitor. 
 
 Mr. Pierce has made the breeding of 
 polled angus cattle a study from his youth 
 up, and is probably as well posted on the 
 breed as any man in the country. His suc- 
 cess has been marvelous, his cattle bringing 
 the highest market price at all times. In 
 1898 he sold one animal for the munificent 
 sum of one thousand dollars. During the 
 years that have passed, including those in 
 which his father was engaged in the busi- 
 ness, some three hundred and fifty fine, pure 
 blood male animals have been sold from the 
 herd, and probably twice as many heifers 
 and cows. Together with the fine stock 
 business, Mr. Pierce makes a business of 
 feeding about one hundred head of steers 
 of common stock annually for the market. 
 
 Politically, B. R. Pierce and his sons 
 are all stanch Republicans, and give their 
 support to the men and measures of that 
 
482 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 party. The subject of this sketch is not a 
 poHtician, and gives his entire time to the 
 management of his extensive business inter- 
 ests, having shown superior business ability 
 which has given him a reputation which is 
 not confined alone to his native county and 
 state. He is well known as a man of up- 
 right character and worth, and has doubt- 
 less a bright future before him. 
 
 HENRY GUYER, a resident of Polo, Illi- 
 nois, whose life has been one of ac- 
 tivity and usefulness, is now living a ([uiet 
 and retired life, apart from the turmoil and 
 bustle of a busy world. He was born in 
 Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, in May, 
 1830. He is a son of George and Magda- 
 line (Tohlman) Guyer. The former was 
 born in Wurtemberg, Germany, where he 
 learned the miller's trade, and came to 
 America in 1828, settling in Pennsylvania, 
 where he plied his trade, until coming west. 
 His death occurred in October, 1854, at 
 the age of sixty-five years, and that of his 
 wife in 1868. Of their ten children, six 
 are still living, the subject of this sketch be- 
 ing seventh in order of birth. Two of the 
 family are residents of Stephenson county, 
 Illinois, one of Carroll county, in the same 
 state, one of Iowa, and another of Kansas. 
 The paternal grandfather of our subject was 
 a miller, and with a fellow-workman, watched 
 a portion of the battle of Waterloo from the 
 roof of a mill, until a cannon ball pierced 
 the structure, causing them to retire. 
 
 When Henry Guyer was a boy of fifteen 
 years, he came west with his parents, on 
 the steamer "Bell of the West," which 
 they boarded at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 
 When about seventy-five miles below Cin- 
 cinnati, Ohio, the steamer took fire and 
 
 was entirely destroyed. One hundred and 
 twenty lives were lost, also the boat's 
 freight, including household goods belong- 
 ing to passengers. Our subject jumped 
 into a small boat, followed by his parents 
 and the rest of the family, some of whom 
 fell into the water, but were quickly drawn 
 up into the boat. With nothing but a 
 board for a paddle, our subject succeeded 
 in landing the family, and immediately re- 
 turned to the scene of the disaster and 
 rescued four girls. Blessing by name, who 
 afterwards became warm friends of the fam- 
 ily, frequently interchanging visits" A 
 larger boat carried the passengers to St. 
 Louis without remuneration, and from there 
 they were carried to Savanna, Illinois, their 
 transportation being furnished by a number 
 of kind-hearted citizens of St. Louis. 
 
 On reaching Savanna, the Guyer family 
 went directly to Haldane, Ogle county, 
 where, for a time, they suffered severely, 
 owing to their losses. His father struggled 
 along and finally obtained work, which, 
 after a time, enabled him to purchase a 
 farm of forty acres, on which he lived until 
 his death, in 1854. While in Haldane our 
 subject learned blacksmithing, and shortly 
 afterwards opened a shop in Brookville. 
 Eight years later he moved to Pine Creek 
 township and worked at his trade for two 
 and a half years, and in the fall of i860 
 moved to Polo, Illinois, continuing in the 
 same line of business until 1874, when he 
 retired, and has since lived quietly on a 
 very comfortable income, the results of his 
 frugality and good management. 
 
 On the I ith of January, 1855, Mr. Guy- 
 er was united in marriage to Miss Barbara 
 Lchmen, a native of Blair county, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and the yomigest of eight children of 
 John and Mary (Secrist) Lehmen, who came 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 4-^3 
 
 west on the ist of October. 1852, the father 
 purchasing two farms in Pine Creek town- 
 ship. His death occurred in 1875, at the 
 age of seventy-seven years. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Guyer are the parents of 
 eight children, five of whom are living. The 
 eldest, John C. , is a commercial traveler 
 and makes his home in Freeport, Illinois. 
 He married Dollie Witters, and they have 
 two children. Ruby and Ray. The second 
 child, Sevilla, married M. T. Myers, of 
 Denver, Colorado, and they have three chil- 
 dren, Clarence, Guy and Odesia. The third 
 child of our subject, Harry L., is a travel- 
 ing salesman, whose wife is deceased, and 
 he makes his home with his parents. Addie 
 Ann married Charles Carpenter, an attorney 
 of Rome, Georgia, and they have one child, 
 Ralph. Will C. is in the grocery business 
 at Fort Dodge, Iowa. 
 
 In politics Mr. Guyer is a Republican, 
 and takes a deep interest in all affairs of 
 state. He is a member of the United Breth- 
 ren church, and his genial manner and 
 courtesy, and his high personal worth, have 
 won for him a circle of friends that is lim- 
 ited only by his circle of acquaintances. 
 
 ALFRED MALONE, who resides on 
 section 17, Leaf River township, is a 
 well known citizen of the county, owning 
 and operating a fine farm of two hun- 
 dred and forty acres, a part of which lies in 
 section 18. He is a native of the county, 
 and was born March 8, 1851. His father, 
 James Malone, was born in Washington 
 county, Maryland, in March, 1817, and 
 there grew to manhood. In 1843 he came 
 to Ogle county and located in Pine Creek 
 township, where he entered government 
 land and opened up a farm. As his means 
 
 increased he added to his landed possessions 
 in that township, and there resided for thir- 
 teen years. He was married in this county, 
 to Miss Ellen Patterson, a native of Ireland, 
 where seven years of her life were spent, 
 and then emigrated to Maryland with her 
 parents, where she received her education. 
 She is a daughter of John Patterson, who 
 came from Maryland to Ogle county in 1843. 
 
 In 1856 James Malone bought the farm 
 and located where our subject now resides, 
 a farm which was opened in 1836 by Morti- 
 mer Hunt, who purchased the land from the 
 government. Four years later, Mr. Malone 
 moved to a farm near Leaf River, which 
 was pre-empted by his wife's father, and 
 there he spent the last years of his life, dy- 
 ing December 25, 1888. His wife survived 
 him about ten years, dying December 3, 
 189S. They were the parents of three chil- 
 dren, the others, besides our sul)ject, being 
 Kate, wife of James Wilson, of Leaf River 
 township, and Mary, wife of Marcus Hess, 
 of the same township. James Malone was 
 a man of some prominence, serving in sev- 
 eral offices of trust and honor, including 
 assessor and justice of the peace, serving in 
 the latter office a number of years. 
 
 Alfred Malone grew to manhood in Leaf 
 River township, and when not in school, 
 was assisting his father in farm work. His 
 primary education was received in the Lights- 
 ville school, and at Rock River Seminary, 
 Mt. Morris, he completed his school life. 
 After discontinuing his studies in school, he 
 engaged in teaching in connection with 
 farming, teaching in all about seven winter 
 terms, his summers being taken up with 
 work on the farm. 
 
 On the 1 2th of September, 1878, Mr. 
 Malone was united in marriage, in Mt. Mor- 
 ris township, with Miss Belle Cornell, a na- 
 
4«4 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 tive of Ogle county, and daughter of David 
 and Elizabeth (Hopwood) Cornell, of Mary- 
 land, who came to Illinois in 1843, being 
 among the earliest settlers of Ogle county 
 from the state of New York. By this union 
 six children have been born — Kate, James, 
 Roy, Nora, Florence and Mamie, all of 
 whom are yet living save Roy, who died 
 January 26, 1S99. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Malone began their do- 
 mestic life on the farm where they reside, 
 the farm being rented for several years. 
 He first purchased one hundred and sixty 
 acres of the home place, and later added 
 eighty acres, giving him a valuable farm of 
 two hundred and forty acres, which he has 
 under a high state of cultivation. Com- 
 mencing life as he did with but little means 
 and on a rented farm, he has certainly met 
 with well-merited success, which is due to 
 his own industry, assisted by his estimable 
 wife. His farm is one of the best in Leaf 
 River township, and he is classed among 
 the most substantial farmers of the county, 
 one who keeps fully up with the times. 
 
 Politically Mr. Malone is a Democrat on 
 national issues, believing firmly in the prin- 
 ciples of the party, but on local issues he 
 votes independently, recognizing the man 
 and not the party name he wears. He was 
 elected and served as road commissioner six 
 years, for five years was township collector, 
 and in 1889 was elected supervisor from his 
 township, and being re-elected, served eight 
 consecutive years, during which time he 
 was on a number of important committees 
 and made a very useful member. His influ- 
 ence has ever been exerted in favor of good 
 schools, and he has given of his time as a 
 member of the school board, serving both 
 as president and clerk of his district. A 
 lifelong resident of the county, he has a 
 
 large acquaintance in all parts of it, and 
 wherever known he is held in the highest 
 esteem. 
 
 GEORGE \V. SWAN, a well known 
 farmer and stock raiser of Rockvale 
 township, was born in Chemung county, 
 New York, in 1836, and came to Ogle coun- 
 ty, Illinois, with his parents two years 
 later. He is the son of Henry \\'. and 
 Rachel (Westlake) Swan, the former born 
 in Chemung county. New York, in 1799, 
 and the latter in Newburg, Orange county, 
 New York, September 16, 18 12. While 
 residing in the east, Henry Swan was en- 
 gaged in the mercantile business, and on 
 coming west he first engaged in the same 
 line of business. Later he ran a grist mill 
 and distillery, in which lines he was quite 
 successful. He built the first log house in 
 Byron township, and was well known as an 
 enterprising citizen of the county. He died 
 while yet in the prime of life, October 22, 
 1854. His wife survived him many years, 
 dying May 9, 1879. They were the par- 
 ents of seven children, (i) Benjamin died 
 in infancy. (2) George W. is the subject 
 of this sketch. (3) Annie Floyd married 
 Henry Harding Patrick, and they had five 
 children, as follows: Maurice Lee, born Sep- 
 tember 26, 1863, died .August 22, 18S9. 
 Carrie L., l)orn January 4, 1865, married 
 William W. Light, June 16, 1887. Susan 
 R., born December 11, 1870, married Will- 
 iam VanArsdale, August 4, 1892. Henry 
 Swan, born September 6, 1872, died April 
 3, 1884. F"loyd Harding, born January 15, 
 1877. (4) Mary died when three years of 
 age from the effects of a scald. (5) Louise, 
 born December 14, 1845. was married June 
 16, 1864, to James M. Babcock, then a first 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 485 
 
 lieutenant in the federal army. (6) Morris 
 A., a farmer of Bridgewater, Dakota, was 
 born March 22, 1848. He married Miss 
 Fanny Kepner, and they have three chil- 
 dren, namely: Charles James, born January 
 27, 1875; Floyd A. , February 22, 1879; and 
 Mary Rachel, April 25, 1887. (7) Charles 
 F., born October 5, 1852, is a wealthy phy- 
 sician and banker in South Chicago, where 
 he married Huldah Austerman. They have 
 one child living, Nellie R., and two deceased, 
 Louise and Charles Henry. 
 
 When Henry W. Swan first came west 
 the country was in its primitive state. On 
 the establishment of the land office at Di.x- 
 on, his brother, James Swan, was appointed 
 receiver, and he acted as his deputy. A 
 band of outlaws known as the "prairie 
 bandits" soon infested the country, giving 
 honest people much uneasiness. Gold was 
 required by the government in payment for 
 land, and from time to time it was sent by 
 stage to La Salle, and from thence to St. 
 Louis by boat. On one occasion the stage 
 was held up by the bandits and considerable 
 money was taken. There were very few 
 roads laid out, and our subject remembers 
 well, when a mere boy, in going to Free- 
 port over the almost trackless prairie, there 
 being no roads until the opening of the Yel- 
 low creek brewery, three miles from the 
 village as it then was. The country then 
 abounded in game of all kind. 
 
 The subject of this sketch attended the 
 subscription schools of Ogle county until he 
 was eighteen years of age, and in 1857 took 
 a commercial course at Rockford. He was 
 united in marriage, January 11, i860, with 
 Miss Ida Louise Read, born October 2t,, 
 1 841, and daughter of Hiram and Rhoda 
 (Dewey) Read, the former born April 20, 
 1806, in Cornish, New Hampshire, and the 
 
 latter September 30, 1S03, in O.xford, New 
 Hampshire. They were married March 
 26, 1837, and were early settlers of Ogle 
 county. Hiram Read was the son of David 
 and Hannah (Gerrold) Read, natives of 
 Cornish, New Hampshire, who were blessed 
 with three children — Jacob, Philip and 
 Hiram. Mrs. Rea(] was the daughter of 
 Abel and Rhoda (King) Dewey, and was one 
 of eleven children, namely: Lucy, Joanna, 
 Timothy, Rhoda, Clara, Mary, Martha, 
 Henry, Almisee and two who died in in- 
 fancy. Her father died June 29, 1842, and 
 her mother. May 25, 1853. The great- 
 grandfathers of Mrs. Swan and Admiral 
 Dewey were brothers. 
 
 Soon after his marriage, Mr. Swan, with 
 Hiram Read, purchased land in Rockvale 
 township, and opened up a farm. In the 
 years that have passed, he has sown and 
 reaped, and success has in a measure 
 crowned his efforts. Five children came to 
 bless his union with Miss Read. Stanley 
 H., born July 12, 1862, died April 25, 
 18(35. Ardelle Louise, born August 12, 
 1864, is the wife of P""rai?k Canode, and 
 they reside in Marion township. They have 
 one child, Eva I,., born August 7, 1S95. 
 Lua Lillian died when three years of age. 
 Annie M., born January 19, 1S65, married 
 Thomas Morton, December 15, 1886, and 
 they have four children, as follows: George 
 A., born September 10, 1887; Harry T. , 
 February 4, 1890; Helen I., August 15, 
 1892; and Nellie M., March 20, 1895. Mrs. 
 Morton died February 3, 1898. Henry W., 
 born January 22, 1869, is residing at home 
 and has charge of the home farm. Mary 
 R., born November 22, 1875, married Ezra 
 T. Stoner, March 15, 1899. 
 
 Recognizing the advantages of a good 
 education, Mr. Swan has, in addition to the 
 
486 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 common-school course, gi\en all his chil- 
 dren the benefit of a high-school education 
 in Oregon. Mary attended the Wells Train- 
 ing School, and a preparatory school for 
 teachers at Oregon, and also took her 
 teacher's examination at that place. Until 
 her marriage, she was a successful teacher 
 in the county. 
 
 In politics, Mr. Swan is a Republican, 
 and although his ambitions do not run along 
 the line of office holding, he has served for 
 several years as school director, with great 
 benefit to the community. His farm, on 
 section 25, Rockvale township, is in an ex- 
 cellent state of cultivation, the natural re- 
 sult of years of good management and sound 
 judgment. He and his wife are genial and 
 hospitable people, and they have many 
 friends in the county. 
 
 SAMUEL GIBSON, whose home is on 
 section 20, White Rock township, is a 
 representative of the farming and stock rais- 
 ing interests of Ogle county and is one of 
 the prominent and influential citizens of his 
 community. He was born in Kirkcudbright- 
 shire, Scotland, January 4, 1828, and is 
 a son of William and Agnes (Henry) Gibson, 
 who were of pure Scotch ancestry and repre- 
 sentatives of families who had for genera- 
 tions made their home in that locality. The 
 father, who was a farmer by occupation, 
 spent his entire life there. His children 
 were James, William, Thomas, Robert, Al- 
 exander. John, Elizabeth, Mary Ann, Ag- 
 nes and Jane. 
 
 In the county of his nativity our subject 
 grew to manhood and received a common 
 school education at Bintle high school. On 
 starting out in life for himself, he engaged 
 in farming and contract work on county 
 
 contracts. He was married in Scotland, in 
 September, 1848, to Miss Margaret Adam- 
 son, a daughter of James Adamson. Our 
 subject had *a brother, John Gibson, who 
 came to America in 1845, ^"d located in 
 Pine Rock township. Ogle county, Illinois. 
 Returning to Scotland on a visit in i860, 
 he persuaded our subject to accompany him 
 on the return trip. The latter had already 
 decided to emigrate to America, and hasten- 
 ing his preparations for departure, they 
 crossed the Atlantic together and proceeded 
 at once to Ogle county. Here he purchased 
 a farm of one hundred and sixty acres on 
 section 20, White Rock township, and also 
 the stock, crops, implements, etc., paying 
 for the same fifty-five hundred dollars. Al- 
 though he went in debt at that time for the 
 greater part of the amount, he has been so 
 successful that he is now owner of four 
 hundred and ten acres of highly improved 
 and well cultivated land. He is still act- 
 ively engaged in farming and stock raising, 
 feeding a number of cattle each season, and 
 has made horse breeding an important 
 branch of his business. He believes in the 
 Clydesdale breed, from the fact that weight 
 and quality combined make them ready 
 sellers, they are more intelligent, more dur- 
 able, more courageous and better action and 
 color than the other heavy draft breeds. 
 He has followed a wise and judicious sys- 
 tem of mixed farming, dividing the risks and 
 profits among varied interests rather than 
 staking all in one enterprise. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Gibson were born 
 eleven children, six sons and five daugh- 
 ters, of whom six are now living, namely: 
 Jane, wife of Harvey Haselton, of Carroll 
 county, Iowa; Agnes, wife of William 
 Prile, of Carroll county, Iowa; John, who is 
 still on the home farm and operates tb§ 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 487 
 
 same in connection with his brother Robert; 
 James, a farmer of Winnebago county, 
 Illinois; and Samuel, a farmer of White 
 Rock township. Those deceased are Will- 
 iam, who married and removed to Colorado 
 but finally returned to Ogle county, where 
 he died in 1896, at the age of thirty-seven 
 years; Isabella, who died in early woman- 
 hood; Mary Ann, who died at the age of 
 four years, and Annie, who died at the age 
 of two years. One baby boy who died in 
 infancy. The wife and mother was called 
 to her final rest October 8, 1881. 
 
 Since becoming an American citizen, 
 Mr. Gibson has been a stanch supporter of 
 the Republican principles, but has never 
 sought political preferment, desiring rather 
 to devote his entire time and attention to 
 his business interests. With the exception 
 of school trustee, he has declined all offices. 
 In early life he united with the Presbyterian 
 church, of which he is still a consistent and 
 faithful member. He is one of the suc- 
 cessful and respected citizens of his county, 
 and the keynote to prosperity is industry, 
 economy and perseverance, for he started 
 out in life for himself empty-handed and 
 the success that he has achieved is due en- 
 tirely to his own well-directed efforts. 
 
 CHESTER C. HARRINGTON, now liv- 
 ing a retired life in Lee county, Illi- 
 nois, but who for years was a prominent 
 citizen of Ogle county, was born August 22, 
 18 1 3, at Sandy Hill, on the Hudson, New 
 York, and is the son of Rev. E. Harrington, 
 a Baptist minister, who for a number of 
 years was located in Cayuga county, New 
 York, but who came west in 1840, and soon 
 after located in Burlington, Racine county, 
 Wisconsin. His death occurred in 1842, 
 
 while his good wife preceded him to her 
 heavenly home about two years. The ma- 
 ternal grandfather of our subject was a sol- 
 dier in the Revolutionary war. 
 
 Chester C. Harrington was educated in 
 the schools of Cayuga county, New York, 
 and in his youth studied surveying, and for 
 a few years before coming west followed the 
 profession of surveying in the east. He 
 also for a time engaged in teaching in the 
 schools of his native state. He came to 
 Chicago in 1834, and in 1837 came to what 
 was then Ogle county, but is now a part of 
 Lee county, just across the river from Grand 
 Detour. On first coming to the county he 
 followed his profession as a surveyor for a 
 time, and engaged in other work. It was, 
 however, but a short time before he pur- 
 chased a half section of land on which was 
 a small log cabin, but on which no other 
 improvements had been made. The lum- 
 ber for his house he hauled from Chicago. 
 On that place he has since continued to live 
 with the exception of fourteen years spent 
 in Grand Detour, living retired. 
 
 On the 14th of November, 1844, Mr. 
 Harrington was united in marriage with 
 Miss Zarina Chamberlin, a native of Gene- 
 see county. New York, born December 5, 
 1820, and daughter of Cyrus and Pluma 
 (Burton) Chamberlin, both of whom were 
 natives of Vermont, but who removed to 
 New York at an early day. Cyrus Cham- 
 berlin followed farming in the east, but be- 
 lieving the prairies of the west afforded bet- 
 ter opportunities for the enterprising man, 
 he came west, landing in Grand Detour, 
 July 4, 1835. He at once took up nine 
 hundred acres of land across the river in 
 Lee county and then returned east. In 
 September, 1835, he was again back in this 
 region. Soon after his return to this local- 
 
488 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 ity he established a saw mill which he oper- 
 ated in connection with his farm for many 
 years. He finally moved to the village of 
 Grand Detour, where he lived retired until 
 his death, February 22, 18S1, at the age of 
 ninety-one years. He was a man of good 
 intellectual and executive ability, and en- 
 joyed the love and esteem of a large circle 
 of friends. Two brothers of his wife, Oliver 
 and Thomas Burton, served in the war of 
 1812, both attaining the rank of colonel. 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Harrington four chil- 
 dren were born. Ingalls I. and Inez I. were 
 twins. The former died in infancy, but the 
 latter is j'et living and makes her home in 
 Grand Detour. She is a cultured and re- 
 fined lady, with man)' friends wherever 
 known. Chester Eugene is operating the 
 old home farm in Lee county. Cyrus C. 
 died in 1 881, at the age of twenty-one 
 years. 
 
 Mr. Harrington now makes his home 
 with his son Chester on the old homestead, 
 and, at the age of eighty-five years, is in 
 full possession of all his mental faculties. 
 He has been a very active man in the 
 past, and quite prominent in the communi- 
 ties in which he has made his home. In 
 politics he is a stanch Republican. He was 
 always an anti-slavery man, and in the days 
 of slavery was one of the conductors on the 
 underground railroad and assisted in the 
 escape of more than one slave. For a num- 
 ber of years he served as supervisor of 
 Nachusa township, Lee county. He has 
 also been assessor, collector and school di- 
 rector, and served in other minor official 
 positions. He was always a strong tem- 
 perance man, and was a charter member of 
 the first temperance society formed in this 
 section, and for years was its secretary. 
 During the Civil war he was a member of 
 
 the Union League. In religious belief he 
 is a Baptist. For si.\ty-one years he has 
 been a resident of the vicinity where he now 
 lives, and he is well known throughout Lee 
 and Ogle counties as a man of strict honor 
 and integrity, and his friends are numerous 
 in both counties. 
 
 JOHN C. PHELPS, deceased, for years 
 <J occupied an enviable position among 
 the business men of Rochelle. He was 
 born in Lockport, Niagara county, New 
 York, March 25, 1830, and was educated in 
 the schools of that place. He grew to 
 manhood in his native state and acquired a 
 good business training. In 1855 he came 
 to Illinois, located in Freeport, Stephenson 
 county, and there engaged in business, in 
 which he continued for some years. From 
 Freeport, he removed to Rochelle, and en- 
 gaged in the general merchandise business, 
 and later became a grain dealer. He also 
 started the First National Bank of Rochelle, 
 and conducted it for one year, and then 
 sold to other parties. Subsequently he pur- 
 chased and sold bankrupt stock of goods, 
 general merchandise of every description. 
 
 On the 26th of December, 1855, Mr. 
 Phelps was united in marriage with Miss I. 
 Frances Winchester, of Freeport, Illinois, 
 formerly of Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania, who 
 preceded him to Freeport one month. She 
 is a daughter of Stephen and Nancy (Fuller) 
 Winchester, both of whom were natives of 
 Pennsylvania, and the parents of thirteen 
 children, eight of whom grew to maturity — 
 Stephen, Edmund, Elijah, William, Sarah, 
 Mary, Alvira and I. Frances. The father, 
 who was born in 1789, died in 1849, and 
 his wife soon afterwards. He was also a 
 general merchant. 
 
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 489 
 
 To Mr. and Mrs. Phelps four children 
 were born, one of whom died in infancy. 
 Josephine I. married Charles Hurd, of Ro- 
 chelle, by whom she had four children, two 
 sons and two daughters — Pauline F. G. H., 
 Helen H., Charles and Arthur H. The 
 eldest son, Arthur Alcott, married Grace M. 
 Countryman, youngest daughter of Harvey 
 Countryman, of Rochelle, and they have 
 two sons — Harvey John and Raymond Ar- 
 thur. He is doing a successful business in 
 the hardware line, and also has an interest 
 in the Ogle County Telephone Company, of 
 Rochelle, of which he is general manager. 
 Fraternally he is a member of Star Lodge, 
 No. 169, K. P., of Rochelle, and of Willow 
 Camp, No. 44, M. W. A. The third son, 
 John Clement, died at the age of eleven years. 
 
 John C. Phelps died at his home in 
 Rochelle, December 16, 1896, and his re- 
 mains were laid to rest in the cemetery of 
 that city. He left not only a loving wife 
 and family to mourn his loss, but a large 
 circle of friends and acquaintances. He 
 was a good man and tried to live right be- 
 fore his fellovvmen. 
 
 GEORGE WATERBURY, a substantial 
 farmer residing on section 10, Buffalo 
 township, has been actively engaged in 
 farming and stock raising in Ogle county a 
 period of more than half a century, having 
 become a citizen of the county in October, 
 1847. He was born in Beaver Kill, Sulli- 
 van county, New York, November 23, 1834. 
 The family are of English ancestry and 
 originally settled in Connecticut, from which 
 state Daniel Waterbury, the grandfather of 
 our subject, emigrated in an early day to 
 New York, where David S. Waterbury, the 
 father, was born. The latter grew to man- 
 
 hood in his native state and there married 
 Miss Emeline Huntley, a native of Delaware 
 county, New York, and daughter of Squire 
 Huntley, of that county. 
 
 Daniel S. Waterbury, by trade, was a 
 tanner and currier, which occupation he 
 followed in early life. He also learned the 
 carpenter trade, and was later a contractor 
 on the Erie canal. In 1847 he came to 
 Ogle county, coming by way of the Erie 
 canal and the lakes to Chicago, and from 
 thence by team to this county. He came 
 here by the advice of some friends who had 
 located here, and who had great confidence 
 in the future of the county and state. On 
 his arrival he made a permanent settlement 
 in Buffalo township, entering a tract of 
 land, a portion of which is comprised in the 
 farm of our subject. The whole country 
 was then an almost unbroken wilderness, 
 settlers being few and far between. From 
 the adjacent timber he secured his sleepers 
 and joists, and from Chicago hauled the 
 siding for his house, which was raised No- 
 vember 8, 1847. It was 24 .X 34 feet, and 
 a one-story structure. The farm he at once 
 commenced to improve, and in due time 
 had a valuable and well improved place. 
 On that farm he spent the remainder of his 
 life, dying soon after the commencement of 
 the Civil war. His wife survived him many 
 years, passing away in May, 1895. 
 
 The subject of this sketch came to this 
 county a lad of thirteen years, and assisted 
 his father in opening up the farm. His 
 educational advantages were not of the best, 
 and his school life was limited. With his 
 parents he remained until grown to man- 
 hood, when he commenced life for himself, 
 having purchased eighty acres of his present 
 farm, which he set about improving. He 
 also became interested in a threshing ma- 
 
490 
 
 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 
 
 chine about that time, and in the years that 
 have followed has been enj^aged in the busi- 
 ness of threshing grain. He now owns an 
 interest in a steam thresher, and was one of 
 the first to use one in this section of the 
 state. 
 
 In 1859 Mr. Watcrbury went to Michi- 
 gan, and in Sanilac county was united in 
 marriage with Miss Anna M. Oldfield, a na- 
 tive of England, and daughter of Anthony 
 Oldfield, who left England to make a home 
 for himself and family in the United States. 
 He first located in Cincinnati, where he 
 was later joined by his wife and family. 
 He subsequently removed to Michigan, 
 where he engaged in the lumber busi- 
 ness. While residing in Cincinnati Mrs. 
 Waterbury received the greater part of her 
 education. To Mr. and Mrs. Waterbury 
 three children were born. David E. is 
 married and now resides in Rockford, Illi- 
 nois. Hattie E. is the wife of Robert C. 
 Trollope, who is operating the Waterbury 
 homestead. Henry R. is married and lives 
 in Polo. David E. has two children — 
 Ethel A. and Kenneth. Mrs. Trollope has 
 three children — Anna E., Charles R. and 
 Elwin B. Henry R. has one cliild, a daugh- 
 ter, Marian. 
 
 After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
 
 \\'aterbury commenced their domestic life 
 on the farm which he had already com- 
 menced to improve, and there their three 
 children were born. In his farming opera- 
 tions he has met with fair success, and has 
 now one of the best farms in Buffalo town- 
 ship, a township noted for its good farms. 
 For some time Mrs. Waterbur}' was an in- 
 valid, and was taken by her husband to Bat- 
 tle Creek, Michigan, for medical treatment. 
 Not receiving the help expected from the 
 noted institution at that place, with the 
 hope that a visit among her old friends and 
 relatives in Sanilac county might do her 
 good, she was taken there, but it was with- 
 out avail. The dread disease had taken 
 too strong a hold, and she succumbed to 
 the inevitable, dying at her old home where 
 her marriage occurred, and from which she 
 left a happy bride. 
 
 Politically Mr. Waterbury is an inde- 
 pendent, though usually supporting the Re- 
 publican ticket. He is in thorough sympa- 
 thy with every movement for the better- 
 ment of humanity and in the development 
 of his adopted county he has borne his part. 
 His residence here of fifty-two years has 
 brought him in contact with many of the 
 best people of the county, and wherever 
 known he is held in the highest respect. 
 
index: 
 
 Aklin.TimcithyW 30 
 
 Andersim, Alexander 1^9 
 
 Anderson, James D 19fi 
 
 Andrew, George H 33 
 
 Andrus, Leonard 317 
 
 Ayres, Charles T8 
 
 Bacon, Francis 147 
 
 Baer, Elmer E 170 
 
 Barber Brothers 479 
 
 Barkman, William H 41« 
 
 Baxter, Delos W 385 
 
 Beck, John 154 
 
 Bellows, Levi M 285 
 
 Betebenner, Charles H 130 
 
 Binkley, Alfred R 825 
 
 Bird, William 14 
 
 Bistline, John 60 
 
 Bowers, Elias G 74 
 
 Bowerman, Dr. Solomon B. . . 225 
 
 Bowman, Cornelius 93 
 
 Braiden, M. J 450 
 
 Brand, George 312 
 
 Brewster, Mortimer S 193 
 
 Brown, Albert F 52 
 
 Brown, S. E 342 
 
 Bull, Matthew P 190 
 
 Bunn, William C 24 
 
 Burright, Milton 21 
 
 Bush,"Charles 237 
 
 Btiterliaugh, Edward C 75 
 
 Buttell, Adam 103 
 
 Camling, William 59 
 
 Campbell, James 153 
 
 Canode, Charles H 471 
 
 Carr, George W 120 
 
 Carr, James Wesley 134 
 
 Case, Daniel 259 
 
 Cass.Aron 280 
 
 Cater, Jesse F 427 
 
 Cheeseman, Charles F 104 
 
 Clark, A. D 407 
 
 Clark, William M 304 
 
 Clayton, James M 174 
 
 Clinton, John W 29 
 
 Coffman, Addison 303 
 
 Coffman, Henry 73 
 
 Countryman, James A 3B1 
 
 Cooper, Peter 409 
 
 Crawford, Frank J 429 
 
 Crill, Orlando F 448 
 
 Crill, M.J 4f;i 
 
 Crill, Thomas 444 
 
 Cunningham, W. H 2(i0 
 
 Davis, John H 149 
 
 Davis, .Solomon 159 
 
 Deuth, Fred J 289 
 
 Dicus, George W 432 
 
 Dieffenbaugh, William C 90 
 
 Dixon, Thomas 80 
 
 Dodds, Capt. William T 112 
 
 Domer, Samuel 323 
 
 Donaldson, James 132 
 
 Donaldson. James H. Ill 
 
 Doughty, Benjamin 239 
 
 Drexler, George 12 
 
 Dutcher, Edward F 271 
 
 Dysinger, Rev. Holmes 286 
 
 Ellis, William 267 
 
 Etnyre, Daniel 459 
 
 Ettinger, Martin L 30 
 
 Evans, Ezra H 37 
 
 Fisher, Charles 300 
 
 Frantz, Thomas P 381 
 
 Frederickson, Fred 412 
 
 Frei, Martin A 324 
 
 Fruit, Charles 234 
 
 Gammon, J. G 384 
 
 Gardner, Clarence E 403 
 
 Garman, Michael 219 
 
 Garnhart, Charles W 270 
 
 Garnhart, George W 40 
 
 Gibson, Samuel 480 
 
 Gould, Dr. William W 397 
 
 Govig, Peter 425 
 
 Graehling, Henry 322 
 
 Graham, John 201 
 
 Griffin, Hugh L 420 
 
 Guest, Thomas 388 
 
 Guio, Solistine 301 
 
 Guyer, Henry 482 
 
 Haller, Charles M 16 
 
 Hammer, George W 348 
 
 Hammond, William A 349 
 
 Harleman, J. F 472 
 
 Harrington, Chester C 487 
 
 Harrison, Alfred 232 
 
 Harner, Emanuel M 206 
 
 Hartwig, John 443 
 
 Hastings, John S 221 
 
 Hays, Josiah A 92 
 
 Hedrick, Benjamin T 34 
 
 Helm, John H 246 
 
 Hettiger, George 229 
 
 Hewitt, Jacob. 460 
 
 Hibarger, David F 423 
 
 Hiestand, George B 319 
 
 Hiscock, George 449 
 
 Hitt, Robert R 1 
 
 Howe, F. W.. 25 
 
 Huggans, Edmond D 295 
 
 Johnson, C. W 257 
 
 Johnson, Robert N 402 
 
 Johnston, Timoleon O 213 
 
 Joiner, Alvin 436 
 
 Joiner, Mrs. Mary 1 251 
 
 Jones, Milo A 212 
 
 Jones, George W 296 
 
 Jud'son, Dr. James H 127 
 
 Kappman, Jacob 185 
 
 Kaney, August 363 
 
 Kidder, Nelson B 203 
 
 Kindelhjohn E 168 
 
 King, R. M 456 
 
 Klein, Charles 386 
 
 Knapp, Barzilla 419 
 
 Knodie, Samuel 268 
 
 Knodle, Samuel 176 
 
 Korf, August F 210 
 
 Rosier, John S 101 
 
 Krebbs, Dr. facol) 1 39S 
 
 Kridler, Buton D 249 
 
 Lamont, David H .308 
 
 Landers, Ziba A 20 
 
 Lawrence, Johnson 99 
 
 Lawshe, Spencer 2()2 
 
 Lebo, John J 95 
 
 Lewis, Frederick H 82 
 
 Lewis, Silas W 275 
 
 Light, John 256 
 
 Long, Andrew F 155 
 
 McCann, Rev. John J 336 
 
 McCrea, Alfred B 392 
 
 McCrea, John A 376 
 
 McDaid, Guillord 447 
 
 McGuffin, Samuel S 27 
 
 Magne, James H 186 
 
 Malone. Alfred 483 
 
 Marshall, Reuben S 108 
 
492 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Mason, James 1 158 
 
 Matteson, Clark K 163 
 
 May, Col. D. C 4r0 
 
 Mendenhall, Dr. A. L 364 
 
 Mettler, Ira 380 
 
 Mettler, William J 394 
 
 Meyers, Henry K 266 
 
 Meyers, Peter R 64 
 
 Meyers, Peter S 114 
 
 Miller, Elijah H 438 
 
 Miller, J. H 244 
 
 Miller, Michael 11 
 
 Miller, William H 231 
 
 Minnis, William J 467 
 
 Moore, Amos F 119 
 
 More, Rev. James H 333 
 
 Moring, Lewis 150 
 
 Morris, Howard A 'M'4 
 
 Mulnix, Homer W 15 
 
 Miimma, Samuel P 344 
 
 Murray, George 462 
 
 Myers, James 139 
 
 Myers, Joseph M 293 
 
 Newcomer, Andrew 194 
 
 Newcomer, Charles 287 
 
 Newcomer, Dr. David 137 
 
 Nettz, John R 339 
 
 Nichols, John and James 290 
 
 Nicodemus, Cyrus. . . .• 171 
 
 Nohle, Charles B 374 
 
 Norton, Orlo W 183 
 
 Nye, John H 181 
 
 O'Kane, Joseph 440 
 
 Otto, Louis J 248 
 
 Palmer, William L 160 
 
 Pankhurst, Dr. James 66 
 
 Parks, Henrv A 222 
 
 Peek, Franklin F 329 
 
 Perkins, George W 389 
 
 Petrie, Lewis 298 
 
 Phelps, John C 438 
 
 Philbrook, Prof. C. F 445 
 
 Phillips. John H 169 
 
 Pierce, Stanley R 480 
 
 I'reston, Noah 227 
 
 Poole, George 191 
 
 Powell, Samuel W 77 
 
 Preston, Gardner S 346 
 
 Price, Edward E 65 
 
 Price, Jacob H 129 
 
 Quest, William 421 
 
 Reed, George M 382 
 
 Reed, Virgil E 466 
 
 Revell, Wallace 320 
 
 Reynolds, John 98 
 
 Rhodes, George R 247 
 
 Rice, Isaac 350 
 
 Rice, Jacob 71 
 
 Rice, Joseph L 353 
 
 Rice, William 405 
 
 Roe, Dr. Malcolm C 61 
 
 Rolfe, Squire 135 
 
 Rosecrance, E. L 399 
 
 Royer, John G 151 
 
 Rutledge, Thomas P 465 
 
 Schelling, Henry 209 
 
 Schneider, Charles... .' 91 
 
 Schrader, Henry J 157 
 
 Schrader, Henry 233 
 
 Schryver, Erastus W 224 
 
 Seibert, Benjamin D 311 
 
 Shafer, George W 46 
 
 Sharer, Henry 366 
 
 Sharland, George H 373 
 
 Shaver, Nicholas N 240 
 
 Sheffield, Amos A 140 
 
 Shelly, John 276 
 
 Shoemaker, Harvey M 166 
 
 Shuart, Stephen B 146 
 
 .Shumway, Romanzo G 426 
 
 Sims, Sr., Daniel 177 
 
 Small, John 31 
 
 Smith, Francis A 208 
 
 .Smith, George 261 
 
 Smith, John 469 
 
 Smith, John L 118 
 
 Smith, Peter 326 
 
 .Snyder,' Di . J. F 54 
 
 Snyder, Dr. Jerome B 404 
 
 Southworth, "John W 424 
 
 Southworth, T. G 457 
 
 Spaldin^', John F 277 
 
 Speaker, Noah 26 
 
 Spencer, Isaac 187 
 
 Spink, Andrew C 411 
 
 Spoor, Austin W 314 
 
 Stahley, Rev. Andrew 204 
 
 .Stahlhut, William 81 
 
 StaufCer, Daniel H 316 
 
 Steffa, Jacob 41 
 
 .Steffa, William H 331 
 
 Stires, J. Chester 56 
 
 Stocking, Horace 440 
 
 .Stocking, Lewis 391 
 
 Stocking, William 299 
 
 Stroh, Rev. N. J 216 
 
 Sullivan, Dennis 28 
 
 Swan, George W 484 
 
 Swank, Jacob V 243 
 
 Swingley, Michael N 70 
 
 Taylor, James 431 
 
 Thomson, David 47 
 
 Thomas, Henry L 89 
 
 Thomas, Joshua 122 
 
 Thompson, John 470 
 
 Tobias, Daniel H 42 
 
 Treat, Dr. Gilbert B 406 
 
 Trumbull, Asaph M 44 
 
 Trump, Isaac 370 
 
 Waite, Judson A 63 
 
 Wales, Horatio, .57 
 
 Waterbury, George 489 
 
 Watts, William 340 
 
 Weaver, Abraham F 302 
 
 West, McFarlen, J 252 
 
 Williams, Chester K 478 
 
 Wilson, James P. 173 
 
 Windle, George 116 
 
 Woodburn, James C 48 
 
 Woodin, Hiram 364 
 
 Wolf, Benjamin 279 
 
 Woodcock, John B 241 
 
 Wragg, Peter B 10 
 
 Young, Daniel W 228 
 
 Youngs, Ogden B 359 
 
 Zick, Frederick 84