Qass Book_ 0^1 >v(0 BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF Whiteside County, ILLINOIS. e:13. A people that take no pride in tlie nohle achievements of remote ancestors will never achieve anvthini^ivorthy to he remembered zcith pride by remote generations." — Macaulay. CHICAGO: Till-: S. |. Cl.AKKK rri'.l.lSlilNT, CdMI'ANV, litlJIJ. I 'I^iograplu) is the only hue l\btoru."--Clnc^:^oll /J FROM THE PRESS Ol' W1L8UN, HUMfHRKYfJ A t FUUKTH ST., LOtiANdl'UKT, I.NO. PREKACB. HE greatest of English historians, Macaui-ay, and one of the most brilliant writers of the present century, has said : " Tlie history of a country is best told in a record of the lives of its people." In con- formity with this idea, the Bioguapiiicai. Recoim) has been prepared. Instead of going to musty records, and taking therefrom dry statistical matter that can be appreciated by but few, our corps of writers have gone to the people, the men and women who have, by their enterprise and industry, brought this county to a rank second to none among those comprising this great and noble State, and from tiieir lips have the story of their life struggles. No more interesting or instructive matter could be presented to an intelligent public. In this volume will be found a record of many whose lives are worthy the imitation of coming generations. It tells how some, commencing life in poverty, by industry and economy h;ive accumulated wealth. It tells how others, with limited advantages for securing an education, liave become learned men and women, with an influence extending throughout the length and lireadth of the land. It tells of men who have risen from the lower walks of life to eminence as statesmen, and whose names have become famous. It tells of those in every walk in life who have striven to succeed, and records how that success has usually crowned their efforts. It tells also of many, very many, who, not seeking the applause of the world, have pursued the " even tenor of their way," content to have it said of them, as Christ said of the woman performing a deed of mercy — " They nave done what they could." It tells how manv, in the pride and strength of young manhood, left the plow and tile anvil, the lavv^-er's ofHce and the counting-room, left every trade and profession, and at their country's call went forth valiantly " to do or die," and how through their efl'orts the Union was restored and jieace once more reigned in the land. In the life of every man and of every woman is a lesson that should not be lost upon those who follow after. Coming generations will appreciate this volume and preserve it as a sacred treasure, from the fact that it contains so much that would never linil its way into public records, and which would otherwise be inaccessible. Great care has been taken m the compilation of the work, and every opportunity possible given to those represented to insure correctness in what has been written ; and the publishers flatter themselves that they give to their readers a work with few errors of consequence. In addition 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 vohune. For this the publishers are not to blame. Not having a proper conception of the work, some refused to give the information necessary to compile a sketch, while others were indifferent. Occasionally -some member of the family would oppose tiie enterprise, and on account of such opposition the support of the interested one would be withheld. In a few instances men never could be found, though repeated calls were made at their residence or place of business. January, lUOO. The S. T. Ci-ahke I'ihi.isiiing Co. iismE^c. PAGE Abbott, Alfred N 114 Ackerman, Charles E 3.54 Albertson, Samuel 4'21 Allen, Edwin G 414 Allen, William E 217 Allen, William H 510 Anthony, Frank 248 Arnett, Lewis C 202 Ashlins, Edward 453 Austin, Dennis 95 Austin, Isaac 86 Baer, Frank 482 Baird, James H 153 Baldwm, Joel M 322 Barber, Sidney 458 Bastian, Fred R 208 Bauni, Edgar G 2fl(i Beardsworth, Herbert T 433 Beeler, John 436 Bell, James K 250 Bent, Charles 106 Besse, John J 510 Beswick, William A 43 Bickert,John P 68 Birt, George W 26 Bittinger, J. E 264 Blackmer, William 155 Blagg, Samuel 505 Blean, William W 383 Bogart, Hiram 282 Booth, Jason C 20 Bowman, Edmund 154 Boyd, Hugh A 169 Boyd, John 214 Boyd, Peter R 489 Boynton, Benjamin F 467 Boynton, Jose|)h H 227 Breed, Ralph Y 506 Brewer, Fernando N 444 Brooks, Benjamin F 206 Puell, Jewett C 435 PAGE Burr, Caroline H 455 Burritt, Leverett S ' 60 Bush, Loren T 12 Hutman, William 281 Byam, Abel 5U Cabot, Charles W 242 Card, Martin V 157 Carney, Michael 384 Case, Charles LeRoy 333 Chamberlain, H. G 340 Clark, John 81 Cleaveland, Jay 267 Clendenen, George W 196 Coats, James 385 Cole, Caroline B 280 Cole, Horace B 498 Coleman, Martin 388 Collins, Palmer. 407 Collins, Sherman D 436 Cook, John Henry 97 Cooney, John 323 Covell, Emery D 240 Cox, Sylvester M. 274 Crawford, Uavid M 301 Crosier, Edward I. 219 Curtis, William E 442 Dail, Robert 516 Daniels, Burrell V 55 Darling, Wilford L 310 Dauen, Louis ;W5 Davis, Susanna R 148 Deets, Margaret W 462 Delp, Charles l;i3 Dillon, Lloyd H 292 Dillon, Moses 475 Donichy, Robert H 372 Drain, Thomas A 300 Dudley, William O 56 Durward, Andrew S 116 Durward, Peter T 100 PAGE Eagan, Thomas 47 Eastin, Thomas L 192 Eddy, York 469 Edlund, Jonas 80 Ege, C. P 408 Elliott, George T 237 EUithorpe, Carl S 220 Ely, George E 178 Emmons, Lehman L 389 Entw^histle, John J 38 Eslinger, John 459 Farley, Joel W 305 Farwell, Solomon 278 Finch, Oliver E 163 First National Bank 69 Fitch, Frank E 29 Fitzgerald. Frank 49 Forward, William 2.54 Francis, Isaac 293 Frank, Theodore 3.53 Eraser, William .59 Frost, John .52 Fuller, John P 492 Furry, John P 464 Gage, Edward S 235 Gait, Edgar H 367 Garwick, Charles P 400 Gerdes, Henry E 373 Gibler, Isaac 508 Goodenough, George E 66 Gray, John H 34 Green, John Gilbert 83 Green, John H 112 Greene, Giles 110 Greene, John J 134 Gurtisen, Benjamin 209 Haberer, Andrew K 225 Hamilton, Charles A 499 Hamilton, George R 118 VI INDEX. PAGE Hanks, Stephen B 342 Hansen, A. M 268 Hardy, Richard I 62 Hardy, Winfield J 74 Harrison, David G 129 Harrison. Joshua L 427 Harvey, Samuel C 360 Heath, Henry D 32 Heath, Wjlbur D 494 Hecker, John F 88 Hein, Henry 514 Hein, William A 519 Helms, Henry E 22 Hendricks, Wesley Y 50 Hill, Ezra B 171 Hoak, Ira F. and Orion A 222 Hodges, Frank 446 Holbrook, Watson C 188 Hollinshead, Daniel 10 Hollinshead, Joshua 501 Holmquest, Oke 277 Hoofstitler, Jacob H 313 Hoover, B. Franklin 85 Hoover, Henry 139 Hubbard, James C 516 Hubbard, Solomon 123 Huggins, Thomas 504 Hulett, John W 132 Hull, Harvey C 490 Hunter, John M 318 Jackson, Edmund . 184 James, Anthony A 329 James, Robert S 118 James, Samuel N 79 Jenks, Henry E 521 Johnson, Bernard 450 Kilmer, Elias H 243 Kirkland, John T 346 Knight, Charles C 142 Kohl, John M 230 Lancaster, Edward 204 Landis, Henry C 457 Landis, Henry S 425 Lane, William 261 Langdon, Buel A 43 Langdon, Samuel A 75 Lathe, Benjamin F 403 Leahy, James 348 Lee, Marshall T 136 I'AGE Lehman, Jacob Y 426 LeFevre, John F 347 Limerick, John G 442 Lockheart, Mary R 286 Longsdon, Charles J 378 Lubliner, Joseph A 306 Ludens, Peter M 33 Lum, Cyrrel A 117 Lyon, Marcus R 137 McCalmont, Samuel McKean. .211 McCarty, Jerry V 476 McCartney, David 390 McCauley, James S 352 McEntire, Ejoe 448 McGrady, Barney 224 McKenzie, Marlow C 412 McMahon, C. C 121 McNeil, Alexander J 449 :\IcNeil, Robert 480 McWhorter, Tyler 288 McWhorter, William L 470 Manahan, J. G 451 Mangan, Erwin J 203 Mangan, Naomi J 166 Mangan, Samuel T 168 Marcellus, Fennimore E 131 Marfleet, George T 472 Marvel, Earl E 122 Matthews, L. E 484 Matznick, Frederick 430 Mead,Meril 64 Meek, Nathan 284 Meighan, James A 513 Meins, Harm T 481 Mensch, John H 507 Middagh, William H 460 Miller, Joseph 375 Milroy, JohnE 432 M osier, John E 395 Murphy, Samuel L 47 Mystic Workers of the World . . 185 Naniga, Garrett 260 Needham, George T 303 Neer, George 512 Nevitt, Edward H 474 Noon, Charles, Sr 208 Noon, Thomas 194 Norrish, Robert A 25 Norrish, Robert S 276 Northern Illinois College 265 Nowlen, James A 46 PAGE Olmsted, George W 151 Olson, Oliver D 247 Onken, John F 358 Osborne, Andrew J 392 O'Neil, Francis 394 Pace, John A 508 Paddock, George E 183 Paddock, Orrin 213 Pape, Noah E 61 Parker, D. J 387 Parker, William 429 Parmenter, Allen E 518 Parnham, John C 68 Parrish, Isam S 174 Patrick, William M 104 Payne, Edwin W 27- Payson, Charles H 461 Peck, John 330 Peckham, E. M 517 Peterson, Christian P 317 Pittman, Elw^ood J 370 Pollock, D. J 283 Pope, Aaron 275 Pott, Henry 368 Powell, Clark R 487 Powers, Warren F 396 Pratt, James M 364 Proctor, David G 423 Proctor, George R 382 Ramsay, Frank I) 9 Rapp, Andrew 506 Reed, Benjamin 321 Reed, John 376 Reimers, John J 68 Rennar, John R 406 Reynolds, Charles F 51 Reynolds, J. T 113 Rice, Lucius E 70 Richards, Daniel 417 Richards, William D 13 Richmond, George P 200 Riley, John 165 Riordan, William G 295 Rishell, Dyson 298 Robertson, Christian C 94 Robinson, Thomas, Sr 391 Royer, C. F 339 Russell, Charles N 495 Schwab, John 140 Scofield, Hull 431 INDEX. I'AGE Scotch! )ri)ok, Edward 102 Scott, John E 437 Scott, Josiah S 377 Scoville, James 340 Suger, Dana B 40 Shannon, Hugh 470 Shuler, George F 356 Simonson, J. H 39 Skinner, James W 31 Slayniaker, Leonard A 440 Slaymaker, William D 520 Smack, James 413 Smedley, Ralph 255 Smith, Adam 181 Smith, Harlow 456 Smith, Leander 16 Smith, Ralph N 205 Smith, Richard 258 Snyder, James 177 Snyder, John H 201 Spafford, Dwight S 311 Stoeckle, Leopold 447 Sturtevant, Charles P 173 Sturtz, Charles 467 Taber, William P 350 Talbott, Oliver 478 Thomas, Addison P 41 Thomas, Francis M 92 I'AGE Thomas, Frank B 191 Thompson, Albert L 350 Thompson, John R 466 Thompson, John L 446 Thompson, Nathan 160 Thompson, R. A 509 Thompson, Reuben M 319 Thompson, Samuel A 424 Thomsen, Peter 245 Thomson, William 76 Tilton, William B 15 Tinmierman, Frank P 287 Titus, Abraham B 405 Tracy, George S 334 Tuttle, Lauren E 240 Underbill, Emmett E 304 Upton, Eli 78 Upton, George Y 65 Van Demark, Jacob M 359 Van Osdel, A. L 232 Van Osdol, William A 324 Waite, Cyrus H 150 Waite, De Witt C 496 Ward, Henry C 245 Ward, David W 190 PAGE Warner, John H 228 Wetzell, Henry 231 Wheelock, Samuel L 366 White, Clarence E 262 White, Sarah M 23 Wilber, Thomas J 450 Wickens, James 297 Wilbur, Jacob D 195 Williams, Frederick F 87 Williamson, A. C 275 Willsey, Ira 158 Wilson, O. A 349 Wilson, Robert L *. 124 Winchell, Jacob J 218 Winters, Elhanan C 332 Winters, James M 486 Wolfcrsperger, Aaron A 257 Wood, A. D 407 Wood, Frederick 602 Woodburn, Charles H 121 Woodburn, James 120 Woods, RoUin H 439 Worman, Thomas J 401 Wyatt, F.dward 141 Wyman, V'iana 84 Young, Adam B 212 Zschiesche, August 316 F. D. RAMSAY. BIOGRAPHICAL HON. FRANK D. RAMSAY. In the last half century especially, it is sel- dom that one wins prominence in several lines. It is the tendency of the age to de- vote one's entire energies to a special line, continually working upward and concen- trating his efforts toward accomplishing a desired end; yet in the case of Judge Ram- say it is demonstrated that an exalted posi- tion may be reached in more than one line of action. He is an eminent jurist, an able judge and a leader in political circles. The Judge was born in Prophetstown, Whiteside county, September 27, 1846, a son of Luther B. and Caroline M. (Smith) Ramsay. The father was born in Deer- field, Oneida county, New York, and first came to Whiteside county with Leonard Woodworth as one of the engineers in the construction of the canal around the rapids above Rock Falls. During the six months spent here, he made a claim in what is now Hume township. At the end of that time he returned to New York, but in the fall of 1840 again came to this county and took up his residence upon his farm in Hume town- ship, where he remained for three years. He was next engaged in farming in Proph- etstown and also manufactured cheese on an extensive scale, and in 1853-54 con- ducted a store in the village of Prophets- town. He was one of the leading citizens of his township, and died in Prophetstown in November, 1886. Judge Ramsay acquired his earlj- educa- tion in the common schools, and later at- tended the college at Dixon. After leaving that institution he began the study of law in the office of Frederick Sackett, at Sterling, and remained with him until admitted to the bar b}' examination at Dixon, in 1868. He began practice immediately at Morrison, forming a partnership with O. F. Wood- ruff, under the firm name of Woodruff & Ramsay, and he was connected with him in business for two years. He then opened an office and was engaged in active, practice alone until the summer of 1887, having charge of many of the most important cases that came up for trial in this county. He also took quite a prominent part in polit- ical affairs and served as a delegate to dif- ferent Republican conventions, including those of the state. In the fall of 1887, Judge Ramsay re- moved to Kansas City, where as a member of the firm of Ramsay & Getman, he was successfully engaged in practice for two years, but as times began to change, he re- turned to Morrison in November, 1889, and was engaged in general practice here until his election as circuit judge in June, 1897. His circuit covers the counties of Whiteside, Rock Island, Henry and Mercer. He had previously served as master in chancery for Whiteside county for several years, and re- signed that position to accept his present office. He has also been mayor of Morrison lO THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. and during his incumbency in that office was instrumental in establishing a good system of sewerage in the city. In connection with his law practice the Judge is also interested in farming to some extent. On the first of February, 1872, Judge Ramsay married Miss Lovisa Mclvenzie, of Prophetstown, a daughter of William R. and Harriet McKenzie, old and honored res- idents of that place. They have two sons: Luther Richmond, born May 18, 1876, graduated from the Morrison high school, took an elective course of two years at Oberlin College, and is now practicing law in Morrison in partnership with S. M. McCal- mont under the firm name of McCalmont tS; Ramsay; and Robert M., born February 14, 1879, also graduated from the Morrison high school, and took a two years course of study at Exeter, New Hampshire, and Mt. Vernon, Iowa, and is now serving as court reporter. The Judge is a prominent member of the Morrison Club and is now serving on its ex- ecutive committee. After his return from Kansas City, he was chairman of the Re- publican executive committee of the county up to the time of his election as judge, and filled that position during the Harrison, Cleveland and McKinley campaigns, being especially active in the last named. The county was well organized and the county committee did effective work under his lead- ership. He was made a Mason in Dunlap lodge. No. 321, and now belongs to Proph- etstown chapter and Sterling commandery, and is a member of Medinah temple. Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He has proved himself in all the relations of life, an earnest, honest, upright man, and a citizen of whom any community might be justly proud. DANIEL HOLLINSHEAD, a leading farmer and stock raiser of Ustick town- ship, residing on section 8, was born on the 7th of Februar}', 1834, in Kingston, Can- ada, about thirty iniles from Toronto, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Rush) Hol- linshead. The mother was a native of Pennsylvania and a grandniece of Benjamin Rush, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. Her mother, Mrs. Julia Ann Rush, belongs to a very patriotic fam- ily, and she heartily espoused the cause of the colonists. Frequently she would put on male attire and perform picket duty dur- ing the Revolutionary war. She accom- panied her son-in-law, John Hollinshead, to Canada, and later came with the family to Whiteside county, Illinois, where she died in 1842, being the first to be interred in the cemetery located on the Hollinshead farm. John Hollinshead, father of our subject, was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Jan- uary 6, 1798, and when a mere lad removed with his father, Jacob Hollinshead, to Can- ada, where the latter died. He was a na- tive of one of the eastern states, was a hat- ter by trade, and a Quaker in religious faith. John Hollinshead was married in Canada, where he continued to make his home until the spring of 1839, when he came to White- side county, Illinois, accompanied by his wife and five children. They made the journey by way of the Great Lakes to Chi- cago, and after spending a few hours in that little hamlet, they proceeded on their way across the country. They located in what is now Clyde township. The father was impressed with the idea that Chicago would one day become a large city on account of the facilities it possessed for trading and shipping, and he returned to it and verbally bargained for a farm in what is now the THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. II heart of the city, but as he was unable to collect money which he had loaned, he could not secure the land. He made his home in Clyde township for two years, dur- ing which time he hauled his grain twice to the Chicago market, where he received ior the same sixty cents per bushel. At the time of his death, which occurred in 1845, he possessed a good farm of four hundred and forty acres in Ustick township. His wife died in the spring of 1863. Of the nine children born to this worthy couple, four are still living: Joshua, a resident of Ustick township; Daniel, our subject; Mary, wife of Herman Worthington, of Fulton; and Emily, who married Nathaniel HoUins- head, a cousin, and resides in Fulton. Our subject was but five years old when brought by his parents to Whiteside coun- ty, and he began his education in a little log school house under what is knosvn as the Bluff. He continued his studies there for some years, and remained at home until he attained his majority, when he and his brother Jacob rented the place of their mother and operated it together for about four years. He still lives on the old home- stead, where he had two hundred and thirty acres of valuable land on sections 7, 8 and 17, Ustick township, besides seventy-one acres on section i, Fulton township. He follows general farming and stock raising, and has met with most gratifying success. Of late years he has given considerable at- tention to the breeding of fine horses and has one fine stallion, a Morgan, and owns an interest in a Belgian draft horse, the lat- ter having cost twenty-five hundred dollars. He also feeds cattle and hogs for the market quite extensively. On the 2nd of July, 1859, Mr. Hollins- head was united in marriage with Miss Mary Knight, a native of Hancock county, Illinois, and a daughter of Wesley and Louisa (Cowles) Knight, who were of the Mormon faith and when the people of that denomination were driven from Nauvoo they came to Fulton. Later her father died while on his way to California. His wife was a daughter of Elder Cowles, one of the elders who was opposed to Brigham Young on the question of polygamy. Mrs. Hoi linshead died April 8, 1S67. Of the four children born of that union, three died in infancy, the only one living being Dora, now the wife of Quincy L. Slocum, of St. Louis, by whom she has three children, Leith H., Lloyd Q. and Liebling Mary. Mr. Hollinshead was again married, September 16, 1868, his second union be- ing with Miss Rebecca M. Hubbell, who was born in Summit county, Ohio, July 31, 1837. Her parents were Matthew and Betsy (Foote) Hubbell, the former a native of Bridgeport, Connecticut, the latter of western New York, and her paternal grand- father was Andrew Hubbell, a farmer by occupation. In New Berlin, New York, Matthew Hubbell learned the tailor's trade, which he continued to follow until forty- five years of age, when he turned his atten- tion to farming in St. Clair county, Michi- gan, whither he had removed from Ohio. There he died in November, 1886. In early life he was a Democrat, but prior to the Civil war was a strong Abo- litionist and took an active part inthe oper- ation of the underground railroad. Mrs. Hollinshead's mother had died January 19, 1840, and in 1842 he married her sister, Seraphina Foote, by whom he had one child, Matthew, who married Effie Denton, has one child and resides on the old home- stead in St. Clair county, Michigan. There 12 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. were five children born of the first marriage, of whom one died in infanc}'; Lucy died at the age of twenty-two years; Lois is the wife of Harvey Coburn, of Sanilac coun- ty, Michigan, and they have six children; Angelina is the wife of John Allen, of St. Clair count}', and they had four children, two now living; and Rebecca M., wife of our subject, completes the famil}'. To Mr. and Mrs. Hollinshead have been born five children: (i) Delia married a cousin, Frank Hollinshead, who is engaged in the ice and coal business in Fulton and they have two children, Jeanette A. and Thayer. (2) Hubbell, a farmer of Ustick township, married Phernia Wilson and has two chil- dren. Bayard and Gareld. (3) Earle is en- gaged in business with his brother Hubbell. (4) Archie died at the age of five years. (5) Burton assists his father in the operation of the home place. (6) Clare is at home. Mr. Hollinshead is identified with the Garden Plain Mutual Insurance Company. Politically, he affiliates with the Democrat- ic party, and he has been called upon to serve as road commissioner for six years and school director for a number of years, and is now serving as a justice of the peace. He is a progressive and enterprising man, who takes a deep and commendable interest in public affairs and gives his support to every measure which he believes calculated to prove of public good. His estimable wife is a member of the Episcopal church. REV. LOREN T. BUSH, who has been pastor of the Baptist church at Morri- son since May, 1895, was born at Busti, near Jamestown, Chautauqua county. New York, January 31, 1844, and is a son of Selden F. and Fiorina (Blackman) Bush. The father was born in Herkimer county. New York, but when a young man moved with his father to Chautauqua county, the family becoming pioneers of that section of the state. The grandfather helped to cut the road through the woods to his home at Busti. He had thirteen children who lo- cated within twelve miles of the old home- stead, so that the Bushes are very numer- ous in that part of the county. In connec- tion with farming the father of our subject followed contracting at building at James- town, New York, until Loren T. was four- teen years old, and then removed to Straw- berry Point, Iowa, which at that time was a new country, there being no railroad west of Freeport. He purchased a large tract of land, which he transformed into a good farm. He was an ardent supporter of the Republican party, with which his sons also affiliated, and was a member of the Baptist church. Our subject, who is next to the youngest in a family of six children, lost his mother when only six years old, and the fa- ther subsequently married again and by the second union also had six children. Loren T. Bush began his education in the schools of Busti, New York, and after the removal of the family to Iowa continued his studies there, preparing for college at the Burlington Collegiate Institute. In 1 86 1, during the dark days of the Civil war, he enlisted on the first call for seventy-five thousand men, becoming a member of Com- pany C, First Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He participated in the engagement at Wilson Creek soon after the battle of Bull Run, and was with the western army until discharged on the expiration of his term of service. In January, 1864, he re-enlisted in the First Iowa Cavalry, which also belonged to the western army. Most of the time he was de- THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 13 tailed for clerical dut}' with the quartermas- ter of the regiment, having been wounded at Little Rock and being unable to do regu- lar work. He remained in that position until the close of the war. Before his second enlistment Mr. Bush finished preparing for college, and being finally discharged entered the University of Chicago, from which he was graduated in 1868, receiving the degree of A. B. and three years later that of A. M. Immediately afterward he entered the Baptist Theolog- ical Seminary, a department of the same institution, and was graduated from the same in 1871. While in Chicago he was connected with the Shields Mission of the First Baptist church for four years, during which time he organized it into the Twenty- fifth Street Baptist church. He was con- nected with the cit}' relief work the winter after the great fire, and was ordained pastor of the Twenty-fifth Street Baptist church in 1872, holding that position five years, dur- ing which time the church became self-sup- porting and had a membership of two hun- dred and twenty-five, with five hundred in the Sunday school. On the 1 2th of September, 1876, Mr. Bush married Miss Fannie E. Eaton, of Chicago, and they removed to Osage, Iowa. where he accepted the position of professor of languages in the Cedar Valley Seminary, of which his brother was at the head, while his wife had charge of the music. She had received excellent instruction both in in- strumental and vocal music and for a time played the pipe organ in several of the Chicago churches. For two years Mr. Bush was pastor of the ]3aptist church at Cedar Falls, Iowa, and at Waukegan, Illinois, for eleven years. The latter was a most satis- factory pastorate. There had been trou- ble in the church, but under his leadership the congregation again became united and the church prosperous. The house of wor- ship was repaired, the membership was largely increased, and it proved a very suc- cessful and pleasant pastorate. Mrs. Bush being in poor health the doc- tors advised a trip to the coast, and she and her husband went to Portland, Oregon, where he was pastor of the Emanuel Bap- tist church for three years. In search of a better climate they went to the beautiful city of Oakland, California, and doing the two years spent at that place Mr. Bush was assistant pastor of the First Baptist church and in charge of the city mission work. W'hile there he received a call from the church at Morrison, Illinois, and finally ac- cepted it in May, 1S95. He has built up the membership here from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and eighty and has thoroughly organized every department of the church work.- The church edifice was extensively repaired in 1S98 and is now in excellent condition. But any estimates of material progress give no indication of the great work he has done in molding and shaping to higher issues the lives of those to whom he has given his best thought. His life is entirely devoted to the ministry, and he is revered and loved, not only by his own congregation but by all who know him. WILLIAM D. RICHARDS, a retired carpenter and honored citizen of Morrison, where he has made his home since April, 1871, was born near Easton, Pennsylvania, November 12, 1827, and is a son of Isaac R. and Hannah (Chrisline) Richards, also natives of that place. There the grandfather Richards spent his entire 14 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. life. He was of English descent, but our subject's maternal ancestors were of German extraction. About 1848 Isaac R. Richard brought his family to Stephenson county, Illinois, where he purchased a farm and en- gaged in agricultural pursuits until called from this life at the age of seventy-seven years. In early life he followed the car- penter's trade. The wife and mother died at the home of a son near Lena, Illinois, in 1897, aged eighty-three years. Both were members of the Evangelical church, and were held in high regard by all who knew them. Our subject was educated in the schools of Easton, Pennsylvania, and there learned the carpenter's trade. On the 15th of April, 1853, he arrived in Stephenson county, Illinois, and located near Davis, where he worked at his trade until entering the army. In 1861 he responded to his country's call for troops, enlisting in Com- pany G, Forty-si.xth Illinois Volunteer In- fantry. He was in the service four years, being on duty in Tennessee, Kentucky and as far south as New Orleans. He partici- pated in the battles of Fort Donelson and Pittsburg Landing, and was then detailed to take care of the commissary department, being stationed much of the time on Presi- dents Island until he veteranized. He then went to New Orleans and up the gulf to Fort Gaines, where with his command he remained until the battles of Fort Blakely and Spanish Fort, when they went to Mo- bile. During this time it rained almost in- cessantly and they had no tents or shelter of any kind. They were ne.xt sent to Sel- ma, Alabama, to guard some meat the rebels had failed to secure, and divided it among the darkies and poor people, after which they returned to Mobile and New Orleans, then up the Red river to Shreves- port, Louisiana, where they were finally discharged February 12, 1866. Mr. Rich- ards returned home by way of the Missis- sippi river, and was mustered at Springfield, Illinois. After some time spent in Stephe- son county, he removed to Butler county, Iowa, where he lived for three years and a half, and then traded his farm there of two hundred and twenty acres, for his present home in Morrison, where he located April 15, 1870. Here he engaged in contracting and building until ill health forced his re- tirement from active labor. On the 15th of April, 1855, Mr. Rich- ards was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Epley, of Davis, Illinois, who was born in Dauphin township, Centre county, Pennsylvania, April 24, 1835. Her father, Benjamin Epley, was a native of Berks county, the same state, where he made his home until attaining man's estate and then moved to Centre county, where he wedded Miss Salome Heckman, who was born in the house where their marriage was celebrated. The first thirteen years of their married life were passed in Centre county, and from there removed to Stephenson county, Illinois. The father engaged in preaching for the Evangelical church until 185 1, when failing health caused his re- tirement and he turned his attention to farming. He was one of the first ministers of his denomination in Stevenson county, and the church which he established grew to be quite large under his pastorate. He also traveled over the country on horseback, preaching at various places. In 1873 he left the farm and moved to Davis, and from there went to Waverly, Iowa, in 1885. He died in the latter place in 1896, and his wife passed away November 15, 1897. She THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. It was the daughter of John Heckman, a farmer of Centre county. Mrs. Richard's paternal grandfather was John Epley, who was born in Berks county, that state, and died young. Of the ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. Richards only three are now living. Three were born before our subject entered the army, namely: David A., now a farmer of Cherokee county, Kansas, who married Mary Angel, of Iowa, and has one child by a former marriage, R. Roy; Levi E., who died at the age of three years; and Daniel L. , who died at the age of ten years. The others are Benjamin Franklin, who was born while his father was in the service and died at the age of eleven months; Jacob N., who died at the age of five 3ears; Ellen S., who died in Iowa, at the age of four months; George W. , who was born August 30, 186S, and is now a resident of Freeport, Illinois; John H., who was born December 17, 1869, and is also a resident of Freeport; Salome, who was born May 5, 1871, and is now de- ceased; and Mary E., who was born in July, 1875, ^"'l is also deceased. Formerly Mr. and Mrs. Richards were members of the Evangelical church, but as there is no church of that denomination in Morrison, she has united with the Methodist Episco- pal church. Both are earnest, consistent Christian people, and Mr. Richards believes in taking the Bible as his guide and not the word of man. WILLIAM B. TILTON, deceased, was one of the honored early settlers of this county, as well as one of the leading citizens and representative farmers of Cij'de township, his home being on section 3, where his widow still resides. He was born in Licking county, Ohio, July 20, 1832, and was the oldest in a family of ten chil- dren whose parents were Richard J. and Betsey (Burns) Tilton, also natives of that state. In connection with farming the fa- ther operated a sawmill on his place in Lick- ing county for many years. At a very early day he and his son William B. came to Illi- nois and took up government land in Ogle and Carroll counties, ar.d also in Cljde township, \\'hiteside county, securing in this way about twelve hundred acres of land. The father became quite an extensive land owner, having at one time between two and three thousand acres of land, and he was a stock raiser of considerable prominence. His death occurred in 1856, the result of being kicked by a horse. His wife survived hini many years, dying March 26, 1896, at the age of eighty-four. William B. Tilton grew to manhood in his native state, and was provided with good educational advantages, attending first the common schools of Licking county, and later Granville College. He was about twenty years of age when he first came with his father to Illinois, making the journey in a one-horse wagon, but after four or five months spent here, he returned to Ohio, while his father remained in this state. In I 854 our subject again came to Illinois, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of raw prairie land in Clyde township, White- side county. He was married in i860 and for three years thereafter he made his home in his native county, but at the end of that time he took up his residence permanently in this county. He engaged in stock raising quite extensive!}', shipping two or three car loads of stock each year, but his principal business was that of loaning money. At the time of his death he owned the home farm of two hundred and forty acres in Clyde ^=and has since had charge of the paper, while our subject practically lives retired in Lyndon. He has alwaj's been a stanch Republican in politics and a power- ful advocate of good government. On the 5th of September, 1870, Mr. Patrick married Miss Louise Ma.xwell, a daughter of Ambrose and Artimesia (Hulse) Maxwell, and a granddaughter of Christo- pher C. Maxwell, of Scottish descent, being the son of the founder of the family in Amer- ica. Her ancestors lived in the lowlands of Scotland for many generations and among their number were many seafaring men, but more dominies and doctors. In late years some of the llopesand Maxwells have formed matrimonial alliances with the de- scendants of Sir Walter Scott. At the age of twenty Miss Maxwell commenced teach- ing school. She taught in Whiteside district schools, principal of ward schools at Polo, Ogle county, and at Hanover, Jo Daviess county, afterward in Tama City, Iowa, four years as principal of schools. She taught in Afendota and vicinity eleven years, teaching from 1.S60 to 1885, twenty-live years in all- She still maintains an active interest in edu- cational affairs and literary pursuits, and for four years has been leader of the reading circle formed in Lyndon, in 1 S90, for the study of poets and history. It was organized by Miss E. H. Gould, Mrs. Kate Radford, Mrs. L. M. Patrick, and ^^lss Helen Daggett, now Mrs. Greenlee, and is now in a flourish- ing condition. Mrs. Patrick was also leader of the International Historical Society dur- ing its existence of one year. While in Tama City and Mendota, she taught drawing, music, etc., in connection ^with the regular school studies, her time being fully taken up from morning until night. Mr. and Mrs. Pat- io6 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. rick have an adopted daufjhter, Mary, wife of C. D. Hannon, editor and proprietor of the Erie Independent. At the early age of fif- teen years she won a piano for the best se- lected story for the Valentine number of Tit-Bits, a humorous paper, out of two thou- sand, two hundred and forty contestants. She still has the instrument in her home at Erie. Mr. and Mrs. Hannon have two chil- dren, Robert and Enid. CHARLES BENT, the subject of this sketch, was born in Chicago, Illinois, Dec2mb3r 8, 1S44, ^^ the family residence, No. 185 Michigan avenue, upon which lot, with others, the Leland Hotel is nowsituated. At the time of his birth Chicago contained a population of less than nine thousand peo- ple, and during the year in which he was born the first public school building in the city was erected. In his childhood days the shore of Lake Michigan, which fronted his home, was not obstructed by railroads or breakwater, but its water laved the sandy beach as in the days of the early discover- ies. Before the construction of water works, he remembers seeing large two- wheeled carts, surmounted by a large hogs- head, backed into the lake to be filled, and then driven to residences, to fill the home barrel for a stipulated price. The city's boundaries were not so extensive then as now. Quite a resort until into the 'fifties was known as the " Bull's Head, " which was the sign of a tavern located at what is now the intersection of Madison and Hal- stead streets. Adjoining this locality was the country where picnics and celebrations were held. In his native city young Bent attended school until eleven years of age, when the family moved to Morrison, Illinois. Here he first attended school in what was known as Jacob, town for one winter, and then in the school house one mile east of the present city of Morrison. His school life ended with 1857, and in June, 1858, he entered the office of the White- side Sentinel and served a three years' ap- prenticeship, receiving for the first year thirty dollars, for the second year, fifty dol- lars, and for the third year one hundred dollars. The paper was not quite one year old when he entered the office, and with it he has virtually been connected ever since. After finishing his apprenticeship he worked in the office as a journeyman until in April, 1864, when he enlisted as a private in Com- pany B, One Hundred and Fortieth Illinois "Volunteer Infantry, and was appointed third sergeant of his company. The regiment went into the camp at Di.xon, Illinois, from where it was sent to Camp Butler, near Springfield, where it was mustered into serv- ice. It enlisted under the call for one hun- dred days, and was sent to Lafayette, Ten- nessee, to hold the outposts while the vet- erans pushed ahead. It remained in that vicinity until about the time of the e.xpira- tion of the term of service, when it was or- dered to Chicago to be mustered out. "While (7/ route, General Price gave the citi- zens of St. Louis a scare, the people fear- ing an attack, and so the regiment was or- dered there, where it remained a number of weeks doing guard duty until all danger of attack from Price was over. It was then sent to Chicago and duly mustered out. Returning to his home in Morrison, Mr. Bent again entered the office of the Sen- tinel, in the capacity of foreman, and there remained until February 2, 1865, when he again enlisted in the army as a private in CHARLES BENT. THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 109 Company B, One Hundred and Forty- seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under the call fur one year. The regiment was mustered in at Camp Fry, Chicago, and was sent south, being attached to the First Brigade, Second Division, Army of the Cumberland. It was first stationed at Dal- ton, Georgia, and as General Sherman had cut loose and commenced his march to the sea, it had considerable guerrilla fight- ing to do. Mr. Bent, on the organization of the company, was appointed first ser- geant and was later commissioned second lieutenant of the company. His brigade received the surrender of the rebel army of northern Georgia, and later his regiment was at Albany, Georgia, and a part of the brigade were among the first troops at Andersonville after the surrender. Immediately after the surrender of the southern army, the cities of the south were so overrun with negroes that the troops had to be detached to keep them on plantations. Lieutenant Bent was detailed with a num- ber of men to go to Newton, Georgia, as assistant provost marshal and agent of the Freedmen's Bureau, his duties being to pro- tect citi^ieus in their homes, and as agent of the Freedmen's Bureau to go through the country and make contracts between former slaves and their old masters, and to require them to work. After being there a short time he was appointed assistant provost marshal of his brigade and stationed at Americus. Going to Hawkinsville, Geor- gia, he was later detailed to go to the region where Jefferson Davis was captured, and his headquarters were in the saw mill where Davis spent his last night before capture. After that he went to Savannah, Georgia, and there received orders for the faithful ex- ecution of which mention is made in the History of the One Hundred and Forty-sev- enth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, published in the adjutant-general's state reports, as follows: "December 6, 1865, Lieutenant Charles Bent and twenty men of Companj' B were sent to Fort Pulaski, as a garrison, Lieutenant Bent being responsible for the government propert}-, amounting to several million dollars, and which he satisfactorily turned over to his successor when relieved." With his regiment, Lieutenant Bent was mustered out of -service January 20, 1866, and was paid off at Camp Butler, Spring- field, Illinois. He at once returned home, and once more resumed his position in the office of the Whiteside Sentinel, serving as foreman until in July, 1867, when, in com- pany with his brother-in-law, Maurice Sav- age, he purchased the Sentinel office from its original proprietor, Alfred McFadden. The partnership between Bent & Savage continued until May, 1870, when Mr. Bent purchased his partner's interest and pub- lished the paper alone until February, 1877, when he sold the office, and at once com- menced collecting the material for a history of Whiteside county, which is considered authority in matters pertaining to the cf)un- ty's history, and which enters into detail concerning the early development of the county, as well as its growth and progress. The history was published in 1878. In March, 1879, Mr. Bent re-purchased the Sentinel office and has since been sole proprietor and editor of the paper, which is one of the oldest county papers in the state. A well equipped job office is con- nected with the paper, and is supplied with modern material and type. The paper is Republican in politics, and neither paper or editor has ever bolted the party ticket. In 1887, Mr. Bent erected the office build- I lO THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. ing, which is used exclusively for the busi- ness, and which has all the modern im- provements. On the 15th of August, 1870, Mr. Bent was united in marriage with Miss Decima Manington, who was born in West Vienna township, Oneida county, New York, July 9, 1844, daughter of Alfred and Sophia Manington, natives of England. By this union are the following named children: Paul Alphonso, born May 28, 1871, who is foreman in his father's printing office, mar- ried June 25, 1895, at Morrison, Illinois, to Miss Luna Ouackenbush; Elizabeth, born July 26, 1S73, married October 15, 1896, Robert C. Sattley, and they now reside in W'heaton, Illinois; Charles, born August 2, 1875, married November 3, 1898, Miss Mabel Beuzeville, and they reside in Mor- rison, where he is local editor of his father's newspaper; Ruth, born October 26, 1877; Harry, born March 13, 1S79, and served during the Spanish-American war in Com- pany I, Si.xth Illinois \'olunteer Infantry, with service in Porto Rico; George Man- ington, born June 6, 1890. In civil life, Mr. Bent has been duly honored by his fellowmen. He was assistant assessor of internal revenue in the third collection district from December, 1870, until the office of revenue assessor was abol- ished in 1873. He was alderman in the city of Morrison in 1870-72, and again in 1875-77. He was a member of the board of education from 1877 to 1884, and from 1887 to 1896. In November, 1878, he was elected as a Republican to the state Senate from the eleventh district, comprising the counties of Whiteside and Carroll, for the term of four years. In April, 1883, he was appointed by Governor Hamilton a member of the state board of canal commissioners for the term of two years, and was presi- dent of the board during that time. In February, 1889, he was appointed by Gov- ernor Fifer as a commissioner of the Illinois state penitentiary at Joliet, and held the position until January, 1893, when he re- signed upon the election of a Democratic governor. He has also served as a member of the state Republican committee of his party for several years. In whatever posi- tion he held, he has alwajs endeavored to be faithful to the trust reposed in him, and to conscientiously discharge every duty for the best interest of the people. F'raternally Mr. Bent is a member of Dunlap lodge. No. 321, F. & A. M. ; Ful- ton chapter, No. 108, R. A. M., and Sterl- ing commandery, K. T. He is also a mem- ber of Grove lodge, No. 257, I. O. O. I"., of which he is past grand, and past repre- sentative to the state grand lodge; of the Bethel Encampment, No. 150, of which he is past chief patriarch, and also past repre- sentative to the state encampment; of the Alpheus Clark post. No. 118, G. A. R., of which he is past commander, and on a num- ber of occasions has represented it in the state encampment, and his state in the na- tional encampment. He is also a member of the Illinois Commandery of Loyal Legion of Chicago, and of the Society of the Sons of the .American Rex'olntion. But it is as an editor that he is best known. He endeavors to conduct his paper on a high plane, and always gives aid and encouragement to whatever is of benefit tothecit}- and county which has been his home for nearly half a century. GILES GREENE. At the time of his death, Giles Greene was one of the extensive landowners of Whiteside county, THE lilOGKAPlIICAL RECORD. I I I and his possessions had been acquired large- ly through his own efforts. He had also won, by an honorable, upright life, an un- tarnished name, and the record which he left behind him is one well worthy of emula- tion. He was born March 13, 1822, in Cortland county, New York, a son of Ben- jamin T. Greene, who was born in Rhode Island and in early life removed to the Em- pire state, where he was married to Hettie Wilson, whose birth occurred in Philadel- phia, Pennsylvania, in 1786. To them were born live children:' Harriet, Burrcl and Wilson, all living in Cortland county. New York; one who died in infancy; and the subject of this review. The parents spent their last daj's on the old homestead in the Empire state, where for a long period the father devoted his energies to farming. Giles Greene spent his boyhood days under the parental roof and remained in New York until 1854, when he came to Illinois and purchased land. He then re- turned to the Empire state and in 1855 was married to Laura Mann, daughter of Aris- tarchus and Sophia (Kneeland) Mann. She was born December 27, 1S27, in Delaware count}'. New York, of which place her par- ents were also natives. They hud a famil\- of three daughters, but Lavantia died when about thirty years of age. Julia is the widow of Elliot Orton and now resides in Leavenworth, Kansas. She has five chil- dren: Laliue, Ralph, Miles, Grace, wife of Thomas Carney, and Robert. In 1S64 Mr. and Mrs. Mann came to Illinois, and being then well advanced in years they took up their abode in a house belonging to Mr. Greene where they lived retired until called to the home beyond. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Green started for Illinois, and began their domestic life upon the farm which he had previously purchased. It was then a wild tract of land, entirely destitute of improvements, but with characteristic energy he began its develop- ment and soon transformed the raw prairie into rich and fertile fields. He erected thereon substantial buildings, and with the passing years added all the accessories and conveniencies of the model farm. As his financial resources increased, he made addi- tional purchases, becoming the owner of one thousand acres of rich and \aluable hind, all in Lyndon township. He was very success- ful in his business affairs, and in addition to general farming he was extensively en- gaged in raising stock for shipment. Dili- gence was one of his chief characteristics, and added to this was practical common sense, an element which is often lacking, and without which one cannot hope to suc- ceed. In 1898 he made a business trip to Sterling, and while there was taken ill, his death resulting a few days later, on the 3d of January. Mr. and Mrs. Green were the parents of six children, of whom two are now deceased, George H. having died in infancy, while Hattie died in 1898 at the age of forty years. Ray, the eldest living son, took up the work where his father left it and has since carried on the business, dealing extensively in stock, which he raises and prepares for the market. He was born in i860, received his education in the district schools, and afterward spent one year in Monmouth, Illinois, where he pursued an academic course. He also pur- sued an elective course in the Normal Col- lege of Valparaiso, Indiana, where he spent four winter seasons. Through the summer months he worked on the farm, and since his father's death he has had charge of the stock-raising interests. He makes a spec- I 12 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. iaityof the raising of hogs, cattle and sheep, which he fattens for the market, and his busi- ness ability has enabled him to win very grat- ifying financial results. His political support is given the Democracy, and fraternally he is connected with the Mystic Workers of the World, of Lyndon. He has spent his en- tire life in this county, and is both widely and favorably known. Mary S., the next member of the family, is the wife of E. H. Wooster. They have one son, living, — Miles Spencer. Benjamin T. , who married Leila Cady, follows farming in Lyndon town- ship ; Stark K., a resident of Sterling, mar- ried Hattie Marcy and they have one son, Giles M. In politics Mr. Green was a Democrat who wisely espoused the principles of his party, but he never sought or desired public office and though frequently solicited by his fellow townsmen to serve in positions of pub- lic trust, he always refused. In his business dealings he was ever prompt, reliable and entirely trustworthy, and although he gained a greater degree of success than came to many of his fellow townsmen, it was because he was very energetic, persevering and capable in managing his affairs. In his death the community lost one of its best citizens, his neighbors a faithful friend and his family a considerate husband and father. JOHN H.GREEN, This gentleman, who spent his early life in active business, and mainly in agricultural pursuits, is now living retired on West Grove street, Morri- son, Illinois. A man of great energy and more than ordinary business capacity, his success in life has been largely due to his own efforts and the sound judgment by which he has been enabled to make wise investments and take good advantage of his investments. Mr. Green was born in Yorkshire, Eng- land, June 29, 1831, a son of Jesse and Martha (Hanson) Green, also natives of Yorkshire, the former born in 18 10, the latter in 1809. His paternal grandparents, Christopher and Sarah Green, made their home in that country until the former was fifty years of age and then emigrated to America, settling in Racine, Wisconsin, where they lived for a number of years. The)' next located in Elizabeth, Jo Daviess county, Illinois, where the grandfather died at the age of seventy-six 3'ears. Later his wife li\ed with her children until she, too, was called away at the age of seventy-nine years, dying in Christian Hollow, Stephen- son county, Illinois. She was never ill a day in her life. In her family were thirteen children, of whom three died 3'oung, the others being as follows: John H. is the eldest; George H. , a resident of Des Moines, Iowa, is a widower and has one child; Christopher, a musician in the Union army during the Civil war, is living in Spencer, Iowa, and has two daughters; Mary is the wife of William Reynolds, of Lena, Illinois, also a veteran of the Civil war, and they have three children; Sarah is the wife of William Mahanney, of Janesville, Wiscon- sin, and they have four children; fane is the wife of Edward Body, of Iowa Falls, Iowa, and they have five children; James is a resi- dent of Sheffield, Iowa, and has five chil- dren; Anna M. is the wife of Robert Body, of Iowa Falls. .Iowa, and they have three children; Henry is unmarried and makes his home in Sheffield, Iowa; and Joseph is a resident of Sheffield and has one child. In 1842, the parents of our subject, with their family, came to the new world and settled THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 113 in Jo Daviess county, Illinois, near the Wis- consin line. Two years later they removed to r,lizabeth and later to Stephenson county, where the grandmother died. After four years spent there, they returned to Woodbine, where the father engaged in farming for some years. He died in Coun- cil Hill, Jo Daviess county, in 1887, and his wife passed away in 1889. Our subject never attc:nded school, his education being of a practical kind, gained by contact with the world. During his minority he remained at home, working in the lead mines and teaming, and giving his wages to his parents until twenty-one years of age. He worked in the mines of this state for about two years and a half and then went to California, in March, 1854, by water, I'iii New York. He engaged in gold mining for a year and a half, and then turned his attention to teaming, which oc- cupation proved quite profitable. He made considerable money during the six years spent upon the Pacific coast. At the end of that time he returned to Jo Daviess county, Illinois, where he purchased a farm of two hundred and eight acres, and re- mained there until 1869, when he sold the place and came to Ustick, Whiteside coun- ty. Here he bought one hundred and ten acres of land, to the improvement and culti- vation of which he devoted his energies until 1894, when he removed to Morrison and retired from active labor. In December, 18G1, Mr. Green married Miss Margaret Lowry, who was born on the Isle of Man, September 17, 1844, and during infancy was brought to America by her parents, Henry and Margaret (Oullim) Lowry, the former a native of Lands End, England, the latter of the Isle of Man. They located in Elizabeth township, Jo Daviess county, Illinois, where the father died in 1887. The mother is' still living. They are as follows: (1) Fanny married William Ilowartli, of Jo Daviess county, and died in 1887, leaving twelve children who are still living. (2) Henry was a mem- ber of the Ninety-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the last two years of the Civil war, since which time he has suffered with lung trouble and has traveled most of the time for the benefit of his health. (3) Margaret, wife of our subject, is the next of the family. (4) Joseph, a resident of St. Joseph, Missouri, is married and has two sons. (5) William, a resident of Mor- rison, Illinois, is married and has one son. (6) John (lied in infancy. (7) Maria. To Mr. and Mrs. Green were born six children: John G. ; Sarah G., wife of A. N. Al>bott, the Republican representative of this dis- trict; and May, wife of ]?. F. Hoover, a farmer of Ustick township, are all repre- sented elsewhere in this volume. Phtebe and Benjamin are still at home. The Republican party finds in Mr. Green a stanch supporter of its principles, and he has most creditably filled the offices of road commissioner and school director. Other official positions have been offered him but he declined them. He is well known and highlj' respected, and during his resi- dence in this county has made many friends. His wife is an earnest member of the Pres- byterian church. JT. REYNOLDS, a worthy representa- tive of the agricultural interests of Whiteside county, Illinois, owns and suc- cessfully operates a good farm of one hun- dred and twenty acres on section 34, Mount Pleasant township. He is a native of Penn- 114 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. s}ivania, his birth occurring in Tioga count}', November 9, 1839, and is a son of Bennett and Margaret (Richmond) Rej-nolds, the former born in \'ermont August 11, 1S07, the latter in Pennsylvania January 16, 1816. After attaining his majority the father re- moved to Tioga county, Pennsjlvania, where he continued to make his home until called from this life in 1890. He was a good mechanic, but followed farming as an oc- cupation. His wife died in March, 1S88. To them were born seven children, namely: Ezra, who died in Tioga county, Pennsylva- nia, at about the age of forty years; Orrin, who died at the age of twenty; J. T. , our sub- ject; Mary Jane, now the widow of William Bryant, and a resident of Tioga county; Draper, also a resident of that county; Sal- lie, who married a cousin, William Reynolds, and lives on the old homestead; and Daniel, also a resident of Tioga county, Pennsyl- vania. In the county of his nativity J. T. Rey- nolds grew to manhood, acquiring his edu- cation in its common schools. During the Civil war he was in the quartermaster's de- partment near Fredericksburg, \'irginia, for two winters. In the spring of 1863 he came west and first located in Mount Carroll, Carroll county, Illinois, where he remained about a year, and then came to Mount Pleas- ant township, Whiteside county. After work- ing by the month as a farm hand for one season he operated rented land for four or five years, and at the same time run a thresh- ing machine in connection with W^illiam Hicks for a number of years. On the loth of August, 1871, Mr. Rey- nolds was united in marriage with Mrs. Mar- garet Parnham, widow of Robert Parnham, and daughter of Nathan and Rebecca (Jew- ell) Nash, both natives of Ohio. Her father was a farmer of Licking county, that state, where he died when Mrs. Reynolds was but a small child, and she lost her mother when only si.\ months old. In their familj' were four children: Benjamin, who died in Michi- gan in the spring of 1899, at the age of sev- enty years; Stephen, a retired farmer of Michigan; Mary, widow of George Hughes, and a resident of Iowa; and Margaret, wife of our subject. Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds have one child, Mary Jane, at home. After his marriage our subject bought land on section 34, Mount Pleasant town- ship, to which he has since added until he now has a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres, which he has placed under ex- cellent cultivation. He has purchased an acre and a fraction in Morrison, where he contemplates building a home to which he expects to retire shortly. He is principally engaged in stock raising, selling to the local shippers. In political sentiment he is a Re- publican. Socially he belongs to Lyndon camp, M. W. A., and religiously his wife is a member of the Methodist church, which church he also attends. HON. ALFRED N. ABBOTT, one of the most influential, prominent and progressive citizens of Ustick township, was born on his present farm on section 32, No- vember 2, 1862. His father, Asa M. Ab-V bott, was born in Harland, Vermont,' in 1820, and was a son of Benjamin and Dorcas (Noyes) Abbott, both natives of New Hampshire, the former born in Con- cord, of English ancestry, the latter of Eng- lish extraction. The grandfather was the fifth in direct line in the Abbott family to bear the name of Benjamin. The first to come to the new world landed on our shores THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 115 in 1643 and settled at Andover, beinj;; the first settlers of tJie place. Our subject's great-grandfatlier, Benjamin Abbott, was a Kevolutioiiary soldier and was wounded in the battle of B>unker Hill. Two of his brothers participated in the battle of Ben- nington, in which one of them was killed. In the family of the grantlfather of our sub- ject were the following children who reached years of maturity: Ephraim, a printer, who died in St. Louis, was the editor of the first agricultural paper of the Mississippi X'allev; Enorli traveled around the world for his health and died in Concord, New Hamp- shire, which town was founded by the Ab- bott family; Asa is the father of our subject ; Laura married Lansing Morton, of Mortons Corners, New York, and died at the age of twenty-six years, leaving one son, Charles A. Morton, of St. Paul, where he is super- intendent of freight inspection; Susan mar- ried Jesse Fry and died leavingtwo children: Benjamin, a commercial traveler, of Denver, Colorado, and Laura, now the wife of Brigadier-General William Clendenning, of Moline. During early life Asa M. Abbott worked at the gunsmith's trade. At the age of twenty-one he came west and first located in St. I^ouis, Missouri, but in 1847 came to Fulton, Whiteside county, Illinois. The following year he entered eighty acres of the old homestead now occupied by our subject, and to its improvement and cultivation he de- voted his energies with marked success for many years. At the time of his death he had four hundred and eighty acres of land in Kan- sas, and four hundred and fifty acres in Illinois, one hundred and thirty acres of which was timber land. At the age of twenty-six, he was married in Oquawka, Henderson coun- ty, Illinois, to Miss Sarah Sperry, who was born in Mecca, Ohio, in 1S22, and in 1S36 becarne a resident of Oquawka. Of the seven children born to them one daughter died in infancy. Charles E., the eldest son and the present county treasurer of Juab county, Utah, married Sarah Sperry and has six living children. (2) Morton, a farm- er of Marshall county, Ivansas, married Hannah Knight, and they have six children, two sons and four daughters. {3) Theodore S., a civil engineer of SaltiUo, Mexico, who is considered one of the best in that country, married Lillia Nalle, a native of \'irgiuia, and has two children, a son and daughter. (4) Edward L., a contractor and builder of New Yink City, married Lillie Hartwell and has one daughter. (5) William I^., who has charge of the operating department of the Chicago Edison Company, married Car- rie Entwhistle, of Ustick, and has four chil- dren, two sons and two daughters. (6) Alfred N., our subject, completes the fami- ly. The father died April 8, 1889. The mother is still living. During his l)oyhood Alfred N. Abbott attended the district schools near his home but completed his education at the State Universit}', Champaign, which institution three of his brothers also attended. He has spent his entire life on the home farm, engaged in agricultural pursuits, and has added to it since his father's death a tract of one hundred and twentj' acres, making four hundred acres in all. He has also im- proved the place by the erection of good and substantial buildings, which add greatly to its value and attractive appearance. He raises both grain and stock and each year fattens a number of head of cattle and hogs for the market. On the 1 2th of October, 1886, Mr. Abbott was united in marriage with Miss ii6 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Sarah Green, who was born in Woodbine, Daviess county, Illinois, April 3, 1865, a daughter of John and Margaret Green, of Morrison, the former a native of England, the latter of the Isle of Man. Four chil- dren grace this union, nainel}-: BayardT., Frances D., Louis A. and Howard G. In his political affiliations Mr. Abbott is an ardent Republican and he has ever taken an active and prominent part in the public affairs of the county. On attaining his ma- jority he was elected justice of the peace, which office he filled for si.x years, and subsequently was supervisor for one term. He resigned the latter office in November, 1S98, having been elected to the Legisla- ture from the thirty-lirst congressional dis- trict, and is now filling that position in a most creditable and satisfactory manner. His ambition has been to aquit himself of life's duties honorably before all men, to improve his capabilities and opportunities and to become of use in the world; and it is to this spirit mainly that he owns his ad- vancement. He has not only been honored with positions of public trust but has also been chosen to administer and settle sever- al estates for his neighbors. Socially, he is a Master Mason, one of the directors and prominent members of the Mystic Workers, and also belongs to Ustick Camp, M. W. A., No. 3995. ANDREW S. DURWARD, a well-known and prominent stock buyer of Union- ville, is a native of this county, born in Ustick township September 30, 1863, a son of Peter T. Durward, whose sketch appears on another page of this volume. He re- ceived a fair district school education, pur- suing his studies only through the winter months, as his services were needed on the home farm during the summer season. He assisted his father in the cultivation of the land until he reached the age of twenty-one, and then went to Iowa, where he remained about a year. On his return to Illinois he obtained the position of watchman on the Mississippi river steamer Silver Wave, and remained upon the water three years, being mate the last two years, as he successfully passed the examination and secured a license. On the 3d of February, 1887, Mr. Dur- ward married Miss Elizabeth Edlund, a daughter of Gulick and Martha (Peterson) Edlund, natives of Sweden. The father died when she was quite young, but the mother is still living and is now the wife of Jonas Edlund, a brother of her first hus- band. His sketch also appears elsewhere in this work. Our subject and his wife have three children, two sons and one daughter, namely: Winnie E., Clifford and Lloyd. After his marriage Mr. Durward engaged in farming upon rented land for ten years, but gave the greater part of his time and attention to the raising of cattle and hogs, to which he fed all of his grain. As a stock raiser and farmer he met with most excel- lent success. At the end of ten 3'ears he sold his implements and purchased a home in Unionville, and also seventy- seven acres of land where Ustick postoffice is now lo- cated, paying for the same sixtv-three dol- lars per acre. This is one of the best farms of its size in the township. After securing a home for his family, Mr. Durward thought to add to his wealth more quickly by going to the new gold fields in the Klondike region. He left home the last day of March, 1898, and traveled over THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 117 the Slof^uay trail. He arrived at the pass April 10, and on striking the Yukon river built a skiff in which he floated down that stream for sixteen hundred miles, visiting ail the mining camps along its banks. He stopped at Beaver creek, where he was taken ill with typhoid fever three months later, and on the 25th of September, the same year, he started for home on the steamer Pilgrim. Four days were spent on Behring sea and twelve on the Pacific coast before he once more set foot in the United States, and five days later he reached home — rich in experience if not in gold. After regaining his health, he formed a partner- ship with H. D. Burch, under the firm name of Burch & Durward, and has since successfully engaged in buying and shipping stock to the Chicago markets. He is a wide-awake, energetic business man, and generally carries forward to successlul com- pletion whatever he undertakes. In his political views, Mr. Durward is a Republican, and prior to going to the Klon- dike he held the offices of road commis- sioner five years, and school director, while at present he is school director in Union- ville. Fraternally he is a member of Anchor lodge, No. 120, K. P., of Morrison, Ustick lodge. No. 9, Mystic Workers, in which he is holding the office of banker, and while a resident of Ustick he belonged to Ustick camp, No. 3595, M. W. A., of which he was vice-consul. He has also been a trustee and treasurer of the Presbyterian church for two years although he is not a member. CYRREL A. LUM, an enterprising agri- culturist of ^^'hiteside count)', is the owner of a fine farm on section 16, Union Grove township, and his management of 7 the place is marked by the scientific knowl- edge and skill which characterize the modern farmer. He was born in Ellisburg, Jeffer- son county. New York, July r, 1846, and is the only child of Calvin and Mary B. (Clark) Lum, also natives of Jefferson county. New York. The mother died when our subject was only ten months old, and the father departed this life August 26, 1875. His ancestors were originally from Massachu- setts. By occupation he was a farmer, and he owned and successfully operated one hundred and seventy acres of land in his native county. b'oT his second wife he mar- ried Eunice Potter of the same place, who died ten years after their marriage, and subsequently he wedded Harriet Beddinger, also of Jefferson county, by whom he had one son, Manford P., who is now clerking in a store in Michigan. He is married and has one son, Gerald. Our subject remained with his father until twenty-one years of age, and was edu- cated in the home schools. During the Civil war he enlisted in Company H, One Hundred and Eighty- fifth New York Volun- teer Infantry, and was in the service nine months, being honorably discharged at the close of the war, in June, 1865. Returning home he continued to work on the farm until his marriage, which was celebrated Decem- ber 25, 1867, Miss Inous A. Hoxie becoming his wife. She was also born in Ellisburg, and is a daughter of Isaac and Mary Hoxie, natives of New York. One child was born of this union, Bessie M., at home. In February, 1867, Mr. Lum came to Whiteside county, Illinois, and after suc- cessfully operating rented land for two years in Union Grove township, he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of partially im- proved land. Later he sold that place and ti8 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. bought eighty acres on section 21, Union Grove township, and twenty acres on section 28, but subsequently sold the latter tract, and in 1895 purchased eighty acres of farm- ing land on section 9 and ten acres of tim- berland on section 18. In connection with general farming he is engaged in stock rais- ing, making a specialty of hogs, and feeds most of his grain to his stock. Through his own well- directed and energetic efforts, he has met with excellent success in busi- ness affairs, being a man of keen discrimina- tion, sound judgment and good business ability. Politically, he is identified with the Republican party, and though he has never aspired to office, he has been called upon to serve his fellow citizens as tax col- lector for two years, and constable for eighteen years. Socially, he is a Master Mason, a member of Morrison camp, M. W. A., and the Grand Army post No. 118, while religiously his wife and daughter are members of the Baptist church. ROBERT SNOW JAMES, who owns and operates a farm of seventy-two acres, on section 3, Mount Pleasant town- ship, is a native of Clyde township, and was born February 2, 1865. He is a son of Amos A. and Ann (Norrish) James, the former a native of Mount Pleasant town- ship, Whiteside county, Illinois, and the latter of England. She is a sister of Robert S. Norrish, of whom mention is made else- where in this work. Amos A. and Ann James were the parents of eight children, of whom Robert S. was the fourth in order of birth. (See sketch of Amos A. James on another page of this work.) On the old home farm in Mount Pleas- ant township the subject of this sketch spent his boyhood and youth, and as soon as old enough was assigned his share of farm labor. He attended the district schools of the township and received a good common-school education, which has been put tg a practical test in his business career. He remained at home, assisting in the cul- tivation of the home farm until his mar- riage in 1890 to Miss Rosa Thomas, who was born in Mount Pleasant township, and the daughter of A. P. Thomas, who is also represented in this volume. By this union one child has been born. Vera. Immediatel}' after their marriage, our subject and wife took up their residence on the family homestead of his father, which he operated (or several years, doing a suc- cessful business in general farming. In 1897 he purchased his present farm of sev- enty-two acres on section 3, Mount Pleas- ant township, which he cultivates in addi- tion to one hundred and thirty acres which he rents. While under cultivation, the farm which he purchased is devoid of im- provements. In politics Mr. James is thoroughly inde- pendent, voting for the man rather than the party. While never a seeker for office, he has served his district as school director for ten years, doing all in his power to advance the interests cf the public schools. Fra- ternally he and his wife are members of the Mystic Workers of the World As a citizen he is always willing to do all in his power for the general good of his township and county. GEORGE R. HAMILTON. In the pioneer epoch in the history of this section of Illinois George R. Hamilton came to the Prairie state, and has been an im- portant factor in the substantial develop- THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 119 ment and permanent improvement of White- side county. He has seen its v\ild lands transformed into fine farms, while industrial and commercial interests have been intro- duced and thus towns have become thriv- ing cities. In the work of progress he has borne his part and has been particularly active as a representative of the agricultural interests of the community. He is to- day the owner of four hundred acres of land in Lyndon township, constituting a valuable property, which returns to him a good in- come. A native of Northampton, Massachusetts, Mr. Hamilton was born February 24, 1820, a son of Adam R. Hamilton, who was born in that place October 12, 1791, and was of Irish descent. The father was a printer by trade, but on account of failing health he turned his attention to farming. He was married in Massachusetts to Miss Nancy Miller, also a native of the Bay state and on leaving Massachusetts they removed to New York, where they were connected with agricultural interests until 1S35, when they came with their family to Illinois, the father purchasing land from the government. The sections had not been surveyed, but the townships had been laid out, and he at one time owned two hundred and forty acres, upon which he made his home until his death. For many years the farm was operated under his supervision, but in his last year he rented the land. He died in 1865 and his wife passed away in i860. During the war of 1812 he served as a private, and at all times was loyal to his duties of citizenship. In his lamily were six children: John M., of Lyndon town- ship; Nancy, who married Theron Crook, and died in 1852; Lovisa, who married John Swarthout, who died in 1854, after which she became Mrs. Olds, her death occurring in 1896; George R. ; Mary G., who died in New York at the age of live years; Mary E. , wife of John Garlick, of Nebraska, by whom she has six children; and John, who died in Nebraska, in 1896; and Harriet A., who is living with our subject. George R. Hamilton, of this review, ac- quired his education in New York and after his arrival in Illinois he aided in the arduous task of developing a new farm from the wild prairie. When he had attained his major- ity he began working as a farm hand, being thus employed for two years. His industry and economy in that time enabled him to save a little money and he accordingly in- vested it in five acres of land, — the nucleus of his present extensive landed possessions. As the years passed he kept adding to the property, making judicious investments. When he had been gone from the home farm for two years he returned and assumed its management, renting the property until his father's death. From time to time he extended the boundaries of his own farm by additional purchase until he now has four hundred acres, much of which is under a high state of cultivation or devoted to past- urage. Near his home is a beautiful grove which has grown to stately trees during his residence here. Substantial building, the latest improved machinery and all the ac- cessories of this model farm indicate the thrift and enterprise of the owner, who is accounted one of the leading agriculturists of the community. On the 28th of May, 1868, Mr. Hamil- ton married Miss Hannah Belt, who was born in Ohio, June 9, 1835, and when twelve years of age came to Illinois with her parents, who were also natives of the Buckeye state. Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton be- 120 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. came the parents of two children: Willis G., who died in 1891, married Nellie Harri- son, and they had one son, W. Vernon; Louie E., the daughter, is now managing the household affairs for her father, for the wife and mother was called to the home be- yond February 6, 1887. Mr. Hamilton is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics is a Prohibitionist. He is a most active and interested worker in the Old Settlers' Association, which has held its meetings on his farm for thirty-five years. He was a member of its committee on grounds nearly all that time. The meet- ings are very pleasant occasions, bringing together the pioneer settlers who laid the foundation for the present prosperity of the county, wno came to the west when this was a frontier region, resided in primitive cabins, ofttimes built of logs, broke the wild lands, and endured many hardships in order to found homes for themselves and families in this great and growing section of the country. Through the sixty-four years of his residence here Mr. Hamilton has become widely known, and his many excellent traits of character have gained him the high re- gard of his many friends. JAMES WOODBURN, a prominent nurs- eryman and florist of Sterling, was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, October 12, 1836, and is the only son of George W. and Mary (Williams) Wood- burn, also natives of Pennsylvania, and pioneers of Whiteside county, Illinois. The father came to this count)' in the fall of 1837 and bought a pre-emption claim be- fore the land came into market, the pres- ent property of our subject being a part of this. In the spring of 183S he returned to Pennsylvania for his wife and child, and on again coming to Whiteside county, took up his residence upon his land, which he contin- ued to cultivate and improve until 1S49, when he made an overland trip to Cali- fornia. He remained upon the Pacific coast, engaged in mining, for about ten years, and then returned to his farm in this county, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying here in 1872. In politics he was first a Whig and later a Republican, and in religious belief he was a Presbyte- rian. His estimable wife was one of the charter members of the First Presbyterian church of Sterling. James H. Woodburn was given a liberal education. At the age of ten years he en- tered the preparatory department of Linn Academy of Indianapolis, Indiana, and at sixteen became a student at the Big Springs Academy, where he completed his educa- tion. He then engaged in farm labor until after the opening of the Civil war. On the 2d of August, 1862, he enlisted in Company I, Seventy-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, as a private, but was soon promoted to the rank of corporal and later sergeant and lieutenant. He participated in the battles of Stone River, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and Ringgold Gap, was in the Atlanta campaign with Sherman, and remained in the service until the close of the war, being mustered out June 12, 1865. After the war he turned his attention to horticulture and floriculture, and now has a fine nursery covering twenty acres. Mr. Woodburn was married, November 15, 1S58, to Miss Susan Farrar, a native of Manchester, New Hampshire, and a daugh- ter of Isaac and Hannah Farrar, and by this union two children were born: George W. , who died in April, 1890, and Charles THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 121 H., an attorney of Sterling. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Sterling, in the work of which they take an active and prominent part, Mr. Wood- burn having served as president of the board of trustees for twenty years. Polit- ically he affiliates with the Republican party, and fraternally he belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Independent Order of Mutual Aid, the Knights of Honor, the Iuiie:hts of the Mac- cabees, and the Grand Army of the Re- public. CHARLES H. WOODBUKN, the popu- lar and efficient court stenographer of Whiteside county and a well-known attor- ney of Sterling, residing at No. 501 Fifth avenue, was born in that city November 5, 1S62, and is the only child of James H. and Susan (Farrar^ W'oodburn, whose sketch is given on another page of this work. The early life of our subject was passed under the parental roof, and he attended the Ster- ling public schools, the Wallace high school and the Sterling Business College, where he gave special attention to stenography. He became quite proficient in that art, and was soon called upon to do court and legal reporting. In 18S8 Mr. Woodburn was made the first official reporter for the old Thirteenth judicial district, comprising seven counties, receiving the appointment under Judge John D. Crabtree. The large circuit and his numerous duties occupied his entire time until taking up his present profession. In his intimate and long connection with the court and legal affairs, he became fa- miliar with the profession of law. He was admitted to the bar in November, 1897, ^^''^ on account of the duties connected with his official position he found it impossible to give his attention to practice until 1899, when he opened an office in the Kreider, Harphani & Williams building, on the cor- ner of Third and Locust streets, where he has since engaged in general practice. He is one of the brightest professional men in Whiteside county, and starts out on his career with brilliant prospects. On the nth of February, 1885, Mr. Woodburn was united in marriage with Miss Mary Clatworthy, a native of England and a daughter of Rev. W. H. and Elizabeth (Croker) Clatworthy, who were also born in that country. In early life thj father was a minister of the Wesleyan Methodist church, but in 1878 retired from that call- ing and turned his attention to farming in Lee county, Illinois, bscoming an e.xtensive land owner. Mr. and Mrs. Woodburn are active members of the Fourth Street Meth- odist Episcopal church of Sterling, and he also belongs to the Knights of the Globe and the Independent Order of Mutual Aid. In politics he is an ardent Republican, and takes an active and commendable interest in public affairs. CC. McMAHON, a prominent member of the W'hiteside county bar, and an in- lluential citizen of Fulton, Illinois, was born June 16, 1S60, at Prince Edward Island, a son of Francis and Rosa (McAvoy) McMa- hon, both natives of northern Ireland. His parents were married in Prince Edward Island, where they continued to reside until 1867, when they came west, and from that time until the death of the father, in 1895, made their home in or near Fulton. The widowed mother is now li\ing in Fulton. 122 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. C. C. McMahon spent the early years of his life at home, receiving his elementary instruction in the public schools of Lyons and Fulton. He subsequently completed the scientific course, and took portions of other courses, at the Northern Illinois Col- lege, which he attended four years before entering, in 1885, its law department, from which he was graduated in 1888. Not being jet ready to commence his profes- sional career, Mr. McMahon, who had paid his college expenses by working between terms at boating and rafting, and had for seven years been mate on boats plying be- tween Stillwater and Rock Island. In the winter of 1889 and 1S90 he read law with J. D. Andrews, who then had offices at Morrison and Sterling, and has since be- come famous in the legal world as the au- thor of various important works, including "Commentaries on American Law," "An- drews' Stephen's Pleading, " and " Practice in the Supreme Court of Illinois," used as te.xt books in the leading colleges of the country, and of other works of recognized merit and authority. In the spring of 1890, in the Fulton Bank building, Mr. McMahon opened the office that he still occupies, and in the meantime has built up a lucrative practice in the various courts of the state. Self- educated and self-made in the highest sense implied by the term, securing a thorough knowledge of his profession during the in- tervals of the steamboating seasons, he may well be congratulated on the high position that he has already attained in the legal fraternity. His business transactions are varied and extended. He is one of the faculty of the law department of the North- ern Illinois College. In national politics Mr. McMahon sup- ported the Republican party until 1896, but since then has been identified with the sil- ver movement; in local matters he is inde- pendent, being pledged to neither of the old parties. He has warmly advocated the various beneficial enterprises inaugurated in the city, and has rendered faithful service in many capacities, among others having been township collector one year and city attorney continuously since 1892. He was largely instrumental in securing the loca- tion of the Mississippi Valley Stove Com- pany, and is now one of its directors, and has been actively interested in other move- ments calculated to improve and benefit the town. Fraternally Mr. McMahon is a mem- ber, and past chancellor, of Sunlight lodge, No. 23, K. P.; a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and of the Mystic Workers of the World. EARL E. MARVEL, a well known con- tractor and builder of Prophetstown, is a native of Whiteside county, born in Port- land township, August 3, 1856, and is a son of John Marvel and grandson of Rev. John Marvel. The father was born in New York, in 1834, and there grew to manhood, but when a young man he came west and set- tled in this county. He was a carpenter and joiner by trade and followed that occu- pation in early life, but on coming to White- side county, he located in Portland town- ship and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. He continued his residence there throughout his active business life, but spent his last days in retirement in Prophetstown. In this county he wedded Miss Mary Wright, also a native of New York, and a daughter of Jonathan Wright. He died July, 1895, and she passed away April 11, 1899. Our THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 123 subject was the oldest of their six children, the others being Daniel, who is married and engaged in mining in Breckenridge, Colo- rado; Ike, a resident of Spring Hill; Hattie, who resides with our subject; Ella, also a resident of Prophetstown; and Gu)-, who lives on the old homestead. Earl E. Marvel was reared on the home farm and educated in the public schools of the neighborhood. In 1S79 he went to Jewell county, Kansas, where he took up a claim and engaged in farming for about ten years and then sold his place, He also worked at the carpenter's and joiner's trade to some extent. Returning to Whiteside county, in 1 89 1, he locati-d in Prophetstown, where he worked at his trade in the employ of others for about a year, and then began contracting and building on his own account. In this undertaking he has met with well- merited success, and has erected a large number of the be;t residences in the town, among them being the fine residences of Mr. Field and H. N. Paddock, besides many other of the fine residences of Prophetstown, while some of the business houses also show his architectural skill and handiwork. He has also erected buildings in Erie and else- where in the county, and for the past three years has been tiie leading contractor and builder of Prophetstown. Here he bought property and building for himself a pleasant home, which ranks among the best of all the modern structures of the town. While in Jewell county, Kansas, .Mr. Marvel was married, in March, 1881, to Miss Anna K. Trump, a native of Mar}land and a daughter of David Trump, of Kansas. Two children bless this union: Carl M. and Ella M. Politically, Mr. Marvel has been a life-long Democrat and cast his first presidential vote for Grover Cleveland. He joined the Masonic order at Spring Hill, but is now dimitted. As a business man he stands deservedly high in the esteem of his fellows citizens, and is widely and favorably known. SOLOMON HUBBARD, one of the venerable and highly respected citizens of Sterling, is a worthy son of a representa- tive old family of Connecticut, of Scotch extraction. His father, Josiah Hubbard, jr., and his grand'atner, Josiah Hubbard, Sr., natives of the state mentioned, were farmers by occupation. The jounger man removed to Vermont, and there owned and managed a good farm until his death. At three different times he made his son Solo- mon long visits, after the latter's settlement in Illinois, but he had no desire to reside in the west. He was a man of public spirit and patriotism, like his father, who served as a colonel in the war of 1812. The mother of Solomon Hubbard bore the maiden name of Cynthia Cummings. She was born in Massachusetts, and was of Scotch descent, her family lineage being traceable as far back as the fifteenth cen- tury. To the union of Joseph Hubbard, Jr., and wife, twelve chililren were born, two of whom died in infancy, and one at the age of nine years. Cummings, now deceased, married and had three children, Loren and Diana and one deceased. Maria became the wife of Laac Baldwin, and had three children, two of whoai, Josephine and Louis E., survive. Mrs. Baldwin now is in her ninetieth year. Charles, who died in 1884 in Sterling, was the father of four children, two of whom survive, namely. Charles, of Rock Falls, and May. Lucia, widow of James Tewksbury, resides in \'er- 124 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. mont. Frances, widow of Lucien Chamber- lain, lives in Vermont. Carlos, who has dwelt in Lowell, Massachusetts, for forty- seven years, has one child, Harriet. John, of Montmorenci township, Whiteside coun- ty, has four sons and four da'ighters: Free- love, a resident of Cedar Rapids, Hattie, William, Herbert, Frank, Dana, Sarah and Nellie. Solomon Hubbard was born in Thetford, Vermont, October 28, 1818. He continued to work on the home farm until he was eighteen years of age, when he obtained a position as a clerk and was thus employed until he was twenty-seven years old, in the meantime boarding at hoaia. In 1 84S he cams to Illinois, and for some seventeen years was engaged in business at Dover. Altogether he was a citizen of that place for twenty-one years, at the end of which time he came to Sterling. Here he has been a continuous resident for thirty years, and has been classed among the representative business men. For several years he was engaged in merchandising, and for five j'ears he conducted a lumber business, which he had purchased from Whelan Brown. In 1868 he bought eight hundred acres of land, situated on the Central Pacific Railroad in Kansas, and about a decade previously he had entered one thousand acres of land in Iowa. In addition to this, he bought and sold Illinois property for years, and became known far and near for his extensive deal- ings in real estate. In his early manhood, Mr. Hubbard was an active worker in local politics, and while a resident of Bureau county he served as assessor for four years, and at one time was a commissioner of highways. He now uses his franchise in favor of the Republican party. In 1845 Mr. Hubbard and Amanda N. Belcher were married in Randolph, Mass- achusetts. She was born in Ro.xbury, \'er- mont, January 6, 1820, and died in 1891. Their eldest child, Francis, died when six years of age; Helen Ada died when about eleven years of age; and Solon died in infancy; Harry F. , unmarried, is engaged in the coal and wood business in Sterling; Frederick B., who is express agent at Sterling, married Louisa H. Brown, and their three children are: Ada L., Harry S. and Paul S. Emma A., who makes her home with her father, is the widow of Fred B. Shelton, who was a Chicago architect; Arthur G., unmarried and living at home, is a civil engineer employed on the canal. COL. ROBERT L. WILSON, deceased, was one of the leading citizens of ^^'hiteside county for many years, and was not only well known in the county, but throughout the state and nation. He was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, September 11, 1805, and was of Scotch- Irish extraction, his ancestors moving from Scotland and settling near Belfast, Ireland, after the conquest of Ireland by Cromwell in the sixteenth century. Later they came to the new world, and in 1778 were located in York county, Pennsylvania, from which place the parents of our subject, with ten children, emigrated to what was then the "far west, " Washington county, Pennsyl- vania, making the journey on pack horses over the mountains, there being no wagon roads. In 18 10 the family moved still far- ther west, locating near Zanesville, Ohio, the journey again being made on pack horses. Robert L. was then five years old, and had the honor of riding a pony. COL. ROBERT L. WILSON. THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 127 Twelve years after the arrival of the family in Ohio the father died, and our sub- ject was thrown on his own resources. Up to this time he had attended the pioneer schools of his day but very little, but had advanced far enouj,'h to read the testament and to write very imperfectly. He now at- tended the winter terms of school and en- gaged in farm labor until he was nineteen years old, when having made very rapid progress he was qualified to teach. For the succeeding three years he engaged in teaching a part of each year and was him- self a pupil in the schools the remainder of the time. He was not satisfied, however, with the knowledge thus "obtained, and pro- posed to secure a higher education. Secur- ing an outfit of books and such clotiiing as he felt it necessary to have, with twenty- seven dollars in his pocket, he set off on foot to New Athens, Ohio, that he might enter Franklin College. By dint of hard study during terms and teaching school through vacations, he finished the course and was graduated from the institution. After graduating, Mr. Wilson went to Bath county, Kentucky, and for two years engaged in teaching in the academy at Sharpsburg. While there, on the 28th of March, 1833, he was united in marriage with Miss Eliza J. Kincaid, daughter of An- drew and Ann (Caldwell) Kincaid, both of whom were natives of Kentucky. In 1834 the family came to Illinois and located in Sangamon county about fourteen miles north of Springfield, where Mr. Kincaid engaged in farming. His object in removing to Illi- nois was to get land for his sons. After a long and useful life he was called to his re- ward. His wife survived him, djing in her ninety-second year. Their family consist- ed of eight children, as follows: John, now deceased; Archibald, a farmer of San- gamon county; Eliza J., widow of our sub- ject; William C. , deceased; Mary, widow of Alonzo Whitney; Thomas, deceased; Emily, wife of Henry Gaines. Of the family Mrs. Wilson is the only one who ever removed from Sangamon county. Her father felt very badly about her removal, and they en- tered into a compact to visit each other each year of their lives, if possible. At that time it took three and a half days to make the trip from Sangamon to White- side county. The visits were continued by each until the parents became too old to make the journey, but Mrs. Wilson made her annual pilgrimage to the old home until her mother's death. Her father was a soldier in the war of 18 12. While teaching in Sharpsburg, Mr. W'il- son read law, and each Saturday rode six miles to recite to Judge Robbins. After pursuing his studies for about two years, and having passed a successful e.xamination, he was admitted to practice under the laws of Kentucky. In the fall of 1833, he emigrated to Illinois, with his young bride, and after landing at Beardstown, he pro- ceeded to Sangamon county and located near Springfield, where he taught his last term of school. By virtue of his talents, Mr. \\'ilson soon became one of the prominent and in- fluential citizens of Sangamon county, and in 1836 was elected one of the seven mem- bers of the legislature from that county. There were two state senators elected at the same time, and the nine were always known and spoken of as the " Long Nine," each one of the number being over six feet in height. This delegation were all Whigs, the senators being Arthur G. Hamilton and Job Fletcher, and the representatives 128 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. were Abraham Lincoln, Ninian W. Ed- wards, John Dawson, Andrew McCormick, Dan Stone, William F. Elkins and Robert L. Wilson. The efforts of the " long nine " were mainly directed in securing the re- moval of the capital from \'andalia to Springfield, in which they were successful. In 1840 Mr. Wilson came to Whiteside county, Illinois, and was followed by his family the next year. He located in Sterl- ing, then called Chatham. Soon after his arrival he was appointed by Judge Brown, clerk of the circuit court, a position which had been tendered him by the judge, an old personal friend, prior to his removal, the judge giving him his choice of the clerkship in either Whiteside, Lee, Henry or Carroll counties. He wisely chose Whiteside, and had never reason to regret his choice. After the offlce became an elective one he was elected by an overwhelming majority, and served continuously until December i, i860, a period of nearly twenty-one years. No better official has ever filled the office, and none have ever given better satisfaction. During sixteen years of his incumbency of the office he served as recorder of deeds, and for eight years he was judge of probate. In the spring of 1861 Mr. Wilson was in Washington, being there at the time Fort Sumter was fired on and the first call was made by the President for volunteers. He at once enlisted as a private in a company commanded by Cassius M. Clay, known as the Clay Guards. The organization was composed principally of non-residents and was armed with breech-loading carbines from the arsenal in that city. They were used principally as night police to guard the capitol to prevent its falling into the hands of the rebels. After the arrival of the Seventh New York Regiment, fifteen hundred strong, with a six-gun battery, the Clay Guards were mustered out of service, and the discharges of the men were signed by President Lincoln and Secretary Cam- eron. On receiving his discharge Mr. Wilson returned to Sterling and assisted in raising Company A, Thirty-fourth Illinois Volun- teer Infantry, and was elected captain, but declined the honor in favor of Lieut. Ed- ward N. Kirk, afterwards a brigadier-general. In July, 1 86 1, he again went to Washing- ton, and calling on President Lincoln, who was indeed a personal friend and one of the famous "long nine," he offered his services in any capacity in which he could be useful. Mr. Lincoln informed him that he had made a list of old friends whom he wished to ap- point to office, and that his name was among the number. The President then said to him: "Now, what do you want.^" Mr. Wilson replied: "O! quartermaster will do." Mr. Lincoln then said: " I will make you paymaster. " The commission was made out, the appointment having been confirmed by the senate August 7, 1861, and he was assigned to duty in Washington and made payments to the army on the Potomac. By his own request Col. Wilson was transferred to the western army, with head- quarters at St. Louis. He continued in the service four years and four months, when he was honorably mustered out and discharged with the certificate of non-indebtedness re- quired by the civil authorities and the sec- ond comptroller of the treasury. During his term of service he paid out about sev- enteen millions dollars to more than one hundred thousand men. In 1846 Col. Wilson erected a family residence in Sterling, having much of the THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 129 timber used in its construction hauled by teams from Chicago. At that time there were but few residences in the place. This house lias been continuously in use as the family residence to the present time, a period of about fifty-four }-ears, and is one of tint four houses built about the same time that is yet standing. Of the six children born to Colonel and Mrs. Wilson two survive. Silas, the first born, married Jane Sorher, and made his home in Sterling, where his death occurred in 1871. He was the father of two children. His widow now makes her home in California. Anna W. married Mar- cus Wisewell, and after his decease she married Dr. Ni.xon, who for many years was head physician of the Central Pacific Rail- road hospital at San Francisco, California. He is now deceased, and since his dealh Mrs. Nixon studied medicine, and is now engaged in practice in Los Angeles, Califor- nia. She had two children by her first mar- riage: Frank, deceased, and Alice, who lives with her mother. Emma, widow of Hugh Edwards, makes her home in Los Angeles, California. She has four children, as fol- lows: Lee, now a practicing physician in Lincoln, Nebraska, and who is employed as a physician for the inmates of the Nebraska state penitentiary; Anna, a teacher in the high school at Aledo, Illinois; Mary, a teacher at San Monica, California; and Rob- ert, who resides with his mother at Los Angeles. Robert, who was fourth in order of birth, married Bessie Cox, by whom he had four children: Robert L., Mary, I^essie and Richard. He made his home in Moline, but died in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1892. The family now reside in Chicago. Lee died at the age of sixteen years. In 1875, when past seventy years old. Colonel Wilson visited Great Britain, and in- cluded in his tour nearly all the principal cities of Europe. The trip was a delightful one and afforded him much comfort in the last years of his life. He was always fond of travel, but did not get to gratify his taste in that direction as much as he desired. Having a fair competency he was permitted to spend his declining years in ease and re- tirement, gratifyin:j his tas'.e for literature and reflecting on the past. He took much delight in r'^.viewing the exciting events of the years in which his life was spent. He had a remarkable memory and could easily recall such scenes the narration of which would interest those with whom he was as- sociated. In the compilation of Bent's His- tory of Whiteside County he furnished much of the material from his well stored mind. His death, which occurred March 7, 1S80, was a public calamity, and he was sincerely mourned by all who knew him in this life. He was a good man, a patriotic citizen, a friend of the poor and needy, and his mem- ory will always be held in grateful remem- brance by the people of Whiteside county and the state of Illinois, where the best years of hig life were spent. D.WID G. HARRISON, whose home is on Portland avenue, Moirison, Illi- nois, has throughout almost his entire life been identified with interests of Whiteside county, and is numbered among its most progressive and successful agriculturists. He was born in Beardstown, this state, June 21, 1842, and is a son of Thomas and Nancy (Garlick) Harrison, natives of Derbyshire, England, the former born in Glossop, May 29, 1805, the later July 2, 1806. The paternal grandparents, William and Alice (Rhubottom) Harrison, spent their entire I30 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. lives in Derbyshire. In their family were si.x children, four sons and two daughters, namely: John, Frederick, Thomas, Alice and Mary. All lived and died in England with the exception of Thomas, the father of our subject. In his native land he was em- ployed as overlooker in a cotton mill, all of the finished goods of the mill passing through his hands. In 1840 he and his wife took passage on a sailing vessel bound for America, and on landing at New Orleans, they proceeded up the Mississippi and Illi- nois rivers to Beardstown, Illinois, where they made their home for two years. At the end of that time they came to White- side county, and in Union Grove township, Mr. Harrison purchased a claim before the land came into market. At different times he subsequently added to its forty-acre tracts until he owned three hmidred and sixty acres of valuable land, for which he paid the government price of one dollar and a quarter per acre. In his farming operations he met with most excellent success and was able to spend the last years of his life in ease and retirement from active labor. His wife died upon the farm, November 7, 1865, but his death occurred in Morrison, June 19, 1877. Of the nine children born to this worthy couple two died in infancy, one in England the other in Illinois. David G., our sub- ject, is the oldest now living. (2) Emma is the wife of Isaac Hildreth, of Longmont, Colorado. (3) John, a railroad carpenter, was killed by the cars in 1888, and his wife preceded him, leaving two daughters: Alice; and Nina, wife of Charles Elliott, of Mor- rison, by whom she has one daughter, Florence. (4) Mary wedded John Bowman and died in 1870, leaving one child, Minnie, now the wife of Norman Judd, of Iowa, by whom she has two daughters. (5) Sarah married Daniel Berry and died February 20, 1898, leaving four children, three sons and one daughter, Charles, Harrison, Hartley' and Anna. (6) Charlotte was the first wife of Isaac Hildreth, and by that union two children were born, Frank and Carl. (7) Eliza died unmarried in 1888. David G. Harrison was only a year and a half old when brought by his parents to Whiteside county, where he has since made his home, and has never been away a whole year at a time during his entire life. He was principally educated in the district schools but also attended the military school at F"u!ton for six months. He remained under the parental roof, working for his father without wages until twenty-six years of age, and then operated the farm on the shares for several years, being successfully engaged in general farming and stock rais- ing. Some time before the death of his father, he purchased the interest of the other heirs in the place and has since had entire control. On the 6th of October, 1875, Mr. Har- rison was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Thomson, daughter of William Thomson, whose sketch appears on another page of this volume. To them were born four children, of whom one died in infancy. Otto W. married Mamie Heath and lives on the old homestead, which he rents of his father. Jeanie B. and Euphemia are both at home. The wife and mother died April 6, 1886, and for his second wife, Mr. Har- rison married her sister. Miss Mary J. Thomson, March 10, 1887. She was born December 22, i860, and by her marriage has become the mother of four children, of whom one died in infancy, and one at the age of four years. Those living are Donald THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 131 F., born December 10, 1887; and Madge J., born June 21, 1897. William J. died at the age of four years. Albert died at the age of two weeks. Otto and Donald are the only male representatives of this family now living in America besides our subject. In 1892 Mr. Harrison left the farm and removed to Morrison, where he purchased property and erected thereon a modern res- idence with all improvements. After living here for five years he again took possession of his farm, which he is now operating most successfully. At the polls he votes for the man best qualified in his judgment to fill the office regardless of party lines. He and two of his children are active and prominent members of the Baptist church of Morrison, in which he is serving as deacon and trus- tee, and they are quite prominent socially, having a large circle of friends and acquaint- ances in Morrison and surrounding country. FENNIMORE E. MARCELLUS, a pio- neer merchant, and one of the leading business men of Fulton, Illinois, is at pres- ent manager of the large and well-stocked store of Marcellus Bros., who carry a com- plete line of clothing, boots, shoes, and men's furnishing goods. He was born at Burlington Flats, Otsego county. New York, March 7, 1835, a son of Rev. Enoch Mar- cellus. Enoch Marcellus was born and bred in the Mohawk Valley, New York, where he learned the shoemaker's trade in his youth, and afterward established himself as a min- ister of the Baptist denomination. In 1842, accompanied by his wife and children, he came to Whiteside county, traveling by canal to Buffalo, thence by the lakes to Chi- cago, and from there to Fulton by horse team, being piloted by Mr. Coburn, who lived in Erie, this county, but had been in Chicago on business. He followed his trade in Fulton for a time, and also continued preaching, having been ordained after set- tling here. He subsequently removed to Port Byron, Illinois, vvhere he was engaged in shoemaking, and at the same time had pastoral charge of a congregation. On re- tiring from active labors, he returned to Fulton, where he and his wife are now liv- ing, both well advanced in years, he being eighty-four, and she but two years younger. Nine children blessed their union, as fol- lows: Fennimore, the special subject of this brief biographical sketch; Rachel, widow of James Babb, resides at Stevens Point, Wisconsin; Charles, a member of the Sev- enty-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, died in Nebraska; Tillison, a resident of Fulton; William died in Fulton; Franklin, who en- listed in Company I, Seventy-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, was wounded in the battle at Perrysville, Kentucky, and died within a week of his return to Fulton; John, a farmer in Boyd county, Nebraska; a daughter that died in infancy, while they were living in New York; and Kate, wife of Walter Gasp, of Fulton. Fennimore E. Marcellus was but seven years of age when he came to Fulton with his parents. He was reared at home, and as soon as able was put to work -on the farm during the long vacations between the terms of the district school in which he was educated. At the age of si.xteen he engaged in butchering in Fulton, a trade that he fol- lowed five or si.\ years. Going then to Iowa, he bought land intending to locate there permanently, but preferring Illinois as a place of residence returned to Fulton, 132 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. where he opened a restaurant, and in this business succeeded so well that in i860 he bought the Union Jiouse, which he man- aged in connection with his restaurant for fourteen years. Then, remodeling the build- ing, he put in a good line of men's clothing and furnishing goods, and embarked in the mercantile business, in which, with the ex- ception of a short time he has since been engaged. In 1884 he disposed of the stock he had on hand and removed to Burt coun- ty, Nebraska, where he invested in a sec- tion of land, preparatory to engaging exten- sively in farming and stock raising, taking with him from Fulton six car loads of stock and goods. At the end of two years Mr. Marcellus asked his sons if they would not rather return to Fulton and sell men's over- alls. Receiving an affirmative answer, he sold out there, and coming back to Fulton opened up business at the old stand under the firm name of F. E. Marcellus & Sons, the junior members being his two sons, Fennimore and Franklin. In 1895 he sold out his share of the business to his sons, and the firm name was changed to Marcellus Bros. For some time he remained free from active care, but recently has assumed management of the old store in Fulton, the attention of his sons being often needed at their branch store, located at the corner of Fourth street and Eighth avenue, Clinton, Iowa. Mr. Marcellus takes an active interest in promoting the welfare of the town and county, encouraging and financially aiding all enterprises tending to benefit the public, and enjoys in a high degree the confi- dence and esteem of his fellow men. In politics he was a Republican in his early life, but for nearly three decades has sup- ported the Democratic ticket. He has oc- cupied places of prominence in the manage- ment of public affairs, having been mayor of the city two terms, a trustee of Fulton county, tax collector, and in the spring of 1899 was elected alderman from the second ward. On November 25, 1853, when but nine- teen years old, Mr. Marcellus married Miss Anna Shuman, who was born November 25, 1S33, in Keihl, near Haxtonburg, Germany, where she lived until early womanhood. Of the eight children born of their union, three died in childhood, Frederick and Ida when four years old, , and Mary J. at the age of two years. Those living are as fol- lows: Fennimore; Ella; Franklin; Restoria, wife of Daniel Skinner, of Clinton, Iowa; and Burt, who is a clerk in the store at Fulton. TOHN W. HULETT, one of the leading k-J business men of Morrison, Illinois, has shown in his successful career that he has the ability to plan wisely and execute with energy, a combination which, when pos- sessed by men in any walk of life, never fail to effect notable results. Mr. Hulett is a native of this county, born March 30, 1855, and is a son of Amos A. and Sarah W. (White) Hulett. His father was born in Windsor county, Ver- mont, April 7, 18 1 2, a son of Benjamin G. and Lydia Hulett, both of wiiom are now deceased. Mrs. Hulett was born September 6, 181 8, and was a daughter of Robert and Mary White. In the Hulett family were five children, namely: Ansel, who died in infancy; James H., who married Anna Olds and resides in Hall county, Nebraska; Will- iam, a resident of Story county, Iowa; Robert G., who wedded Mary J. Haslam, THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 133 now deceased, and resides in Morrison; and John W., our subject. Under the parental roof John W. Hulett remained until twenty-two years of age. In early life he followed general farming and stock raising with marked success, his specialty being cattle and hogs, and he still owns a fine farm of two hundred and thirty- five acres of land on section 32, Union Grove township. In the winter of 1889 he moved to Morrison, where he has since car- ried on business as a stock dealer, and is now also interested in the real estate busi- ness. On the iith of December, 1877, Mr. Hulett was united in marriage with Miss Belle Twombly, who was born June 13, 1857, a daughter of Titus J. and Rosina (Cass) Twombly, who were married March 29, 1854. Her father was born December 1 1, 1822, and is a son of Daniel and Sarah Twombly. In his family are two children: Horace, who married Phcebe Harmon and resides in Union Grove township; and Belle; wife of our subject. Mr. and Mrs. Hulett have five children: Pluma B., Ethel M., Rosina E., Ra}mond W. and Earl D. Socially Mr. Hulett is a member of the Knights of Pythias and politically is a strong Republican. He is now filling the office of constable in Morrison and as a citizen faith- fully discharges every duty that devolves upon him. CHARLES DEEP, now living retired in Sterling, has been identified with the interests of Whiteside county for almost half a century, and is well entitled to a place in its history. He was born in Mont- gomery county, Pennsylvania, July 20, 1835, his parents being Michael and Julia A. (Grimm) Delp. The father was a na- tive of Union county, Pennsylvania, born January 5, 1809, and the mother was born in Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, July 20, 1810. After their marriage they settled upon a small farm, which father carried on, spending a portion of his time in working at his trade. In 1850, he removed to this county with his family, and settling upon a farm in Jordan township, ultimately became the owner of two hundred and ninety acres, though at first he had only sufficient funds to purchase part of this property. He was ably and cheerfully assisted in his labors by his sons, and together thsy managed to lay aside a large competence. In 1868 he re- tired from business, and thenceforth made his home in Sterling. He lived and died in the faith of the Mennonite church, his death taking place in March, 1890. Charles Delp is one of ten children, five of whom died when young. Mahlon G., who died in Sterling, married Caroline Hun- ter, who survives, as do four of their chil- dren. Caroline, deceased, was the wife of Joseph Snyder, now a resident of Oregon, and three of their sons survive. Mary A. , Mrs. John S. Weaver, resides in Ster- ling, and they have five living children. Julia, unmarried, lives with our subject and their mother, in Sterling. The education of Charles Delp was chiefly obtained in his native county, though he attended school some after his arrival in this county. After his father retired from the arduous cares of an agricultural life, the young man, who is a practical farmer, operated the home place for a num- ber of years. In 1S80 the farm was leased to a responsible tenant, and Michael Delp purchased a lot in Sterling, and erected thereon a modern house, which has since 134 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. sheltered the family. For two years lonf;er, he continued to supervise the farm, but, having ample means, he is practically re- tired at the present time. Fraternally, he is associated with Sterling lodge, No. 174, I. O. O. F., and politically, he is an active worker in the interests of the Republican party. JOHN J. GREENE, of Prophetstown, is now living a retired life in the enjoy- ment of a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves by reason of his indus- trious efforts of former years. Accomplish- ment and progress ever imply labor, energy and diligence, and it was those qualities that enabled our subject to rise from the ranks of the many and stand among the successful few. He is now one of the highly-respected citizens of Prophetstown and his long residence in Whiteside county and the active part he has taken in its de- velopment well entitles him to representa- tion in its history. Mr. Greene was born in Chautauqua county. New York, May 30, 1835, a son of William Greene, whose birth occurred in Rhode Island, in 1802. The paternal grandfather, Henry Greene, was also a na- tive of Rhode Island, from which state he removed to Cortland county. New York, where he opened up a farm and reared his family. When a young man William Greene went to Chautauqua county, where he married Orrilia Eddy, a native of that state and a daughter of Job Eddy, one of the early settlers of Chautauqua county. There Mr. Greene followed farming for some years, but in July, 1853, came to Whiteside county, Illinois, locating in Prophetstown township, where he followed fanning until called from this life in 1S74, at the age of seventy-six years. His wife long survived him, dying in February, 1899, at the advanced age of eighty- five years. To them were born eight children, four sons and four daughters, of whom seven reached years of maturity, and three sons and two daughters are now living, namely: Albert, a resident of Tallapoosa, Georgia; John J., our subject; Horatio and Mrs. R. M. Besse, both of Prophetstown; and Eliza, wife of E. D. Griswold, of Spring- field, Illinois. Our subject was eighteen years of age on the arrival of the family in this county, and he assisted his father in opening up and carrying on the home farm. Later he engaged in farming in Henry county, Illi- nois, where he owned one hundred and sixty acres, and then came to Prophetstown, where they built an elevator and to deal in grain. For four years after the railroad was built through the town he was engaged in business with H. C. Hull and at the end of that time retired from the grain business. He then formed a partnership with P. H. Smith and for ten years was interested in general merchandising. On selling out he turned his attention to the hardware trade for the following decade and then turned the business over to his son and has since lived retired. In Prophetstown, Mr. Greene was mar- ried, December 10, 1861, to Miss Sarah E. Kimball, a native of Cumberland county, Maine, who came to Illinois with her par- ents, P. H. and Susan (Stanley) Kimball, in January, 1854. They located on a farm in Prophetstown township, where they spent the remainder of their lives. The mother, who was born in Beverly, Massa- chusetts, died June 15, 1866, and the father, THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 135 who was born in Ipswich, the same state, died Februar}- 13, 1891. They had five children who reached man and womanhood, namely: l^enjamin, who died in California when a young man; Caleb, who has been cashier of the First National Bank of South Bend, Indiana, for about thirty-two years; John, a retired farmer of Tampico, Illinois; Susan E. , wife of Dr. David Choate, a leading physician of Salem, Massachusetts; and Sarah E., wife of our subject. Mrs. Greene's paternal grandfa- ther, Caleb Iviinball, and her maternal great- grandfather. Wells Stanley, were both sol- diers of the Revolutionary war, and she and her daughter, Mrs. Stone, are now members of the Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Our subject and his wife have two children: .Allen S., a promi- nent business man of Prophetstown, who married Agnes Warner, a daughter of Jack- son Warner, and has two children, Marjorie and Warner; and Minnie A., wife of H. J. Stone, also a leading business man of Prophetstown, by whom she has one child, Velma. While not members of any religious de- nomination, Mr. and Mrs. Greene attend and give to the support of the Congrega- tional church of Prophetstown, and are among the most highly respected citizens of the town. Since the organization of the Republican party he has been one of its stanch supporters, voting for Fremont in 1856, and he has served as a delegate to county and state conventions. ,\s a pub- lic-spirited and enterprising citizen, he has ever taken an active interest in public af- fairs, and has been prominently identified with the upbuilding of his town and county. He most creditably served as president of the town board for a number of years, and for eighteen years was a member of the school board, during which time the present school house was built. While a resident of Henry county he served as supervisor of his township for two years, and served as justice of the peace for four jears. Mtu AKSHALL TURNER LEE. For a century Marshall Turner Lee has been numbered among the progressive, energetic citizens of Whiteside county, and at present he is living practically retired at his pleasant home in Sterling. Following in the footsteps of his patriotic father, who won honors for his gallant service in the war of 18 12, he fought for more than three years during the war of the Rebellion, par- ticipating in some of the most arduous cam- paigns of that terrible conflict. In years of peace, no less than in those of war, he has bravely performed his duty, and is justly entitled to a place in the nation's roll of honor. Alexander S. Lee, father of our subject, was born in Herkimer county, New York, i'l ^79?)- The latter's mother, whose maiden name was Angeline Scoville, was born in Tonawanda, New York, in 1804, and re- sided there at the time of her marriage. During the war of 18 12, the young husband enlisted in the American army, and fought at Plattsburg, the last battle of the war. .Alexander and Angeline Lee were the par- ents of nine children. Susan first married D. Masten, and their daughter, Mrs. Salome Sunmer, had fcjur children. The second marriage of Susan was witii Alexander Atherton, who also has passed away, and his widow now makes her home with our subject. Hiram, who was a life-long farmer and resident of I'enns\ hania, died while 136 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. making a visit in Ohio, and was buried near his old home. Of his twelve children, four survive. Lafayette, deceased, formerly of Erie county, Pennsylvania, had three children. Mary, widow of Charles Small- edge, and mother of Charles, Jerome, Dell, and Salome, resides in Steuben county. New York. Myra died at the age of nine- teen years. Pauline, deceased, was the wife of James K. Hankey, and their son, Frank, now lives in Chicago. Mercy A., deceased, was the wife of James Gunder, and of their twelve children eight are living. Abner, deceased, made his home on the parental farm until his death, and his widow still resides there. Their si.x children are: Allie, Anna, Myron, James, Ida and Effie. In 1849, Alexander S. Lee emigrated to Whiteside county, and settled upon a farm of one hundred acres, in Genesee township. He worked at his trade as carpenter until advancing years compelled him to retire. Thenceforth he made his home with his son, Abner, until he was summoned to his re- ward in 1883. His wife departed this life in 1 88 1, at the home of our subject. They were highly esteemed by everyone, and to their children they left the heritage of un- blemished names. Marshall T. Lee was born in Erie coun- ty, Pennsylvania, June 7, 1837, and there he lived until he was twelve years of age. He early mastered the various details of agriculture and remained under the parental roof until reaching his majority. As an in- itial step in independent life, he chose Eliza- beth Wetzell as a wife, their marriage being celebrated December 18, 1859. She is a daughter of Daniel and Mary fBidler) Wet- zell, and was born in Canton, Ohio, in 1842. W'ilh her parents, who likewise were na- tives of Ohio, she came to Illinois when a young girl. Mr. and Mrs. Lee have seven sons, namely: Francis M., Marshall T. , Charles J., Abram L. , John H., Fay and Daniel W. Francis M. , of Springville, Iowa, married Nettie Wilbur, and their two children are Zella and Wilbur. Marshall T., of Rock Falls, is a salesman for the Lee Harness Attachment Company, of Chi- cago, and is the inventor and patentee of the article manufactured. He married Nancy Brett, and has three children — Harry, Lawrence and Lottie. Charles ]., who is an enterprising farmer of Hume township, married Erma Van DeMark, and their four children comprise: Wayne, Le- land, Mildred and an infant. Abram L., who has been employed for ten years by the Rock Falls Manufacturing Company, of Sterling, married Mamie Boos, and has two children, Nellie and Fern. John H., a leading attorney of Chicago, is a graduate of the Sterling schools, and of the civil en- gineering and electrical department of the State University of Wisconsin. He received the degree of Doctor of Laws in Kent Col- lege of Law, in Chicago, where he was graduated with high honors, and since then has been engaged in practice, his office being in the Monadnock building, Chicago. He is an able business man, and was one of the organizers of the Lee Harness Attachment Company-. His wife formerly was Miss Lillie McLain. Fay, a resident of Rock Falls, married Belle Wilson, and their only child is named William. Daniel is a mem- ber of the class of 1900 of Kent College of Law, and also is employed as a stenogra- pher in his brother's office in Chicago. Subsequent to the marriage of our sub- ject and wife they settled upon a fifty-acre farm in Genesee township, and were living there, busily occupied in the varied duties THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 137 of aj^'ricultiire, when the Civil war broke out. In October, 1861, Mr. Lee enlisted in Company H, Fifty-fifth Illinois Volun- teers. For some time he was in the hos- pital, and as soon as able to do so he joined his comrades and participated in many of the important battles of the war. Among others, he was active in the battles of Look- out Mountain, Mission Ridge, Kenesaw Mountain, E^ra Chapel and Sherman's march to the sea. At Ezra Chapel the rebels charged the Union army five times during the day, and when night came on the small division in which Mr. Lee was stationed buried about six hundred soldiers in gray who had fallen in front of their lines. After the almost continuous skirmishing of the long, weary march to the sea he went to Wash- ington, where he took part in the grand re- view, and received his honorable discharge in August 25, 1865. After his return home he commenced the cultivation of a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, which was situated in Hutne township, and which he had purchased in 1864, when he was at home on a furlough. From time to time he added more land to his original purchase, until when he was ready to retire from active labors his pos- sessions amounted to six hundred and twenty-four acres, all being under high cul- tivation. He also raised, bought and shipped live stock extensively, and since 1888, when he leased his farm, he has been engaged in buying and shipping cattle to the city markets. He has been practically retired for the past decade, but in the meantime has taken much pleasure in building homes for each of his sons who live in Sterling. Besides furnishing the plans for them he has almost entirely built these dwellings, and at present he is occupied in the erection of a modern house for himself. When completed it will have cost about four thousand dol- lars, to saj' nothing of the work and time he has devoted to it. While a resident of Hume township Mr. Lee was honored by his friends and neigh- bors, who elected him to the offices of col- lector and road commissioner. The cause of education has ever found in him a friend, and for several years he served as a school director. Politically he cast his first vote for I^incoln, and has ever since championed the Republican party. Fraternally he is identified with William Robinson post, No. 274, G. A. R. M-\' ARCUS R. LYON. The subject of his personal narrative is one of the most successful and progressive farmers within the borders of Tampico township, his home being on section 6. He has made his special field of industry an eminent suc- cess, and is highly esteemed and respected by those who know him best. Mr. Lyon was born in Medina county, Ohio, February 27, 1845, and belongs to an old Vermont family, which was founded in that state by his great-grandfather and two brothers, natives of Scotland, who came to the new world during the Revolutionary war. The great-grandfather opened up a farm in Orleans county. The grandfather, Nehe- miah Lyon, and the father of our subject, Baxter Lyon, were both born upon that >< farm, which is still in possession of the Lyon family. The latter was born July 13, 1820, and remained in his native state until twenty years of age, when he went to Medina county, Ohio, where he cleared, improved and cultivated a farm and also worked at his trade of blacksmith, which he continued 138 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. to follow for some years after coming to Whiteside county, Illinois. In Medina county he married Miss Sarah A. Vaughn, a native of New York and a daughter of George Vaughn. In December, 1849, they came to this county, making the journey with teams, and they located near the present city of Morrison, where the father bought one hundred and sixty acres of land with state script. Upon his place he built a frame house, 24 .\ 26 feet, and a story and a half in height, doing most of the carpenter work himself. The first winter it was only sided up and was not lathed and plastered, and the family suffered very much from the cold. In fact, during the first two winters "they e.xperienced many hardships and priva- tions, incident to life on the frontier. Upon his farm the father also built a shop and did blacksmithing for his neighbors. As his financial resources increased, he bought more land, until he owned nearly seven hundred acres; and he was one of the most active, enterprising and prominent farmers of the county. Selling his property near Morrison, he moved to Tampico township, where he resided for a few years, and on disposing of his farm there he bought an- other in Lyndon township. A few years later he moved to Harvey county, Kansas, where he opened up a new farm and became the owner of six hundred acres. There he died on his seventy-third birthday. The wife and mother departed this life in Octo- ber, 1S95, in Whiteside county, Illinois. Marcus R. Lyon was about four years old when brought by his parents to this county, and he was educated in the common schools of Morrison, which he attended only during the winter months, the summer season being occupied with work on the home farm. After reaching manhood he had charge of the place until twenty-five years of age. When nineteen years old he began running a threshing machine, and later bought and operated a horse-power machine for several years. Still later he owned a steam thresher and also a corn- sheller, and now for over thirty-four years he has engaged in threshing, first around Morrison and later near his present home in Tampico township. In Jones county, Iowa, February 28, 1870, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Lyon and Miss Minerva Miller, a native of Warren county, Indiana, and a daughter of John T. and Charlotte (Morris) Miller. Her father was born in Ohio, but was reared and married in Indiana, and from the latter state moved to Jones county, Iowa, where he opened up a farm and reared his family. His wife died there November i, 1895, and he only survived her about a week, dying November 8, 1895. To Mr. and Mrs. Lyon ten children have been born, namely: Lottie B., now the wife of Frank E. West, of Tampico; Lewis L., who is married and engaged in farming on one of his father's farms; Gracie, who died at the age of twelve years; Hubart, who assists his father in the operation of the home farm; Kate, at home; Rhoda A., who is attending the home school; Martha, who died at the age of a 3'ear and a half; Mina and Minerva, twins, at home; and Marcus R. , Jr., at home. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Lyon located on a farm near Morrison, he having purchased one hundred and twenty acres of the old home farm, and there they resided for five years. He then sold the place and before night of the same day had purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land on sec- tion 6, Tampico township, where he now THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 139 resides. To its further improvement and cultivation he has since devoted his energies, and has extended the boundaries of the farm until they now enclose two hundred and forty acres of rich and arable land which he has placed under a high state of cultivation. Near it he also owns another valuable and well-improved farm of two hundred and forty acres, and upon both places is a good set of farm buildings. Progressive, energetic and industrious, the success that he has achieved in life is due entirely to his own well-directed efforts. He is a skillful farmer and a man of good business ability. The Republican party always finds him a stanch supporter of its principles, and he cast his first presi- dential ballot for Gen. U. S. Grant, in 1868. He has been a member of the school board for 3'ears, and clerk of the district, and al- ways takes a commendable interest in every- thing which he believes calculated to advance the intellectual, moral or material welfare of his township and county. For half a cen- tury he has been a resident of the county and has watched with interest almost its entire growth and development, and has ever borne his part in its advancement. HENRY HOOVER is one of Morrison's highly respected citizens, whose usefu- and well-spent life has not only gained for him the confidence of his fellow men but have also secured for him a comfortable competence which enables him to lay aside all business cares and spend his declining days in ease and retirement. He was born near Aaronsburg, Center county, Pennsyl- vania, March 24, 1834, a son of Andrew and Sarah (Creider) Hoover, both of whom were of German descent and of Revolu- tionary stock. The father was a life-long resident of Centre county, where he owned property and where his death occurred in 1842. The mother was born and reared there and was a daughter of John Creider. After her husband's death she removed to Philadelphia, where one of her older sons was living. Our subject was the youngest of a fam- ily of seven children. He received a good practical education in the common schools of Philadelphia, but began work at an early age in order to help support his mother. P'or three years he clerked in a grocery store, and for two years was with Dr. Jaynes in his large drug store on Chestnut street. He was married in 1856, to Miss Mary A. lirown, of Philadelphia, a daughter of An- drew l^rovvn, of Jersey Shore, Pennsylva- nia, and in March of the following year, ac- companied by his wife and mother, became to Fulton, Whiteside county, Illinois; it re- (juired eight days at that time to make the trip on the cars. On landing here his cap- ital consisted of but two dollars and a half in gold. Being a young man from the city, the prospect at Fulton did not seem very bright to him, and the first year spent here proved a very hard one. His mother was taken ill and died the fall after locating here, and his wife was also ill all summer. Mr. Hoover worked hard, but the value of the money then in circulation was very un- certain. He operated a rented farm in partnership with a man from New York who tried to cheat him out of all that they made, but when the war broke out times began to be belter. During the four years of that conflict Mr. Hoover was postmaster and station agent at Clifton, in the work of which posi- tion he was ably assisted by his wife, while he devoted a part of his time to the carpen- I40 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. ter's trade. In this way he secured a start and was able to purchase a team and also bought five cows, for which he gave his own note unendorsed by others. He operated a farm of eighty acres near Clifton that year and made enough to pay for his cows. For four years he rented land, during which time he devoted considerable attention to stock raising, and although he lost many hogs of cholera, he prospered in the under- taking and at one sale took in thirteen hun- dred dollars. He then purchased an eighty- acre tract of land in Ustick township, which at that time was covered with brush and trees, but acre after acre was soon cleared, grubbed and placed under cultivation, though it was an arduous task to transform the wild land into well-tilled fields. He built a fine house upon his place and en- gaged in general farming and stock raising, meeting with such good success that in 1891 he was able to purchase one hundred and sixty acres on the opposite side of the road. This is now all paid for, is improved with good buildings and is one of the finest farms of its size in Ustick township. Mr. and Mrs. Hoover have seven chil- dren: Bertha, now the wife of William Thompson, of Ustick; George, who mar- ried Neva Baber and lives in Fulton; I-'red, a manufacturer of Kansas City; Nellie, wife of John H. Fox, of Sterling; William, who died at the age of twenty-four years and six months; Frank, who lives on the home farm; May, wife of Dr. Clenden- ing, of Fulton. The parents are both earnest and consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and while a nieiuber of the congregation at Cotton- wood, Mr. Hoover served as class leader, steward and superintendent of the Sunday- school for a number of years. His political support is always given the Republican party, and for twenty-seven years he was clerk of Ustick township, his service being interrupted only by the four years spent in Sterling while educating his sons. He built a good residence in that city, but afterward sold the place. In the spring of 1S98 he removed to Morrison and erected his present fine home on West Grove street, where he expects to spend his re- maining years in ease and quiet. The suc- cess that he has achieved in life is well de- served, his prosperity being due entirely to his own unaided efforts, good management and industry. JOHN SCHWAB, a member of the firm of Schwab Brothers, general merchants at Fulton, Illinois, and foreman for the Joyce Lumber Company, is one of the substantial and prominent business men of the city, and an important factor in promoting its advancement and prosperity. He was born December 25, 1857, at Williamsburg, New York, a son of Gottlieb Schwab. Gottlieb Schwab was born June 22, 1S22, in W.irteinburg, Germany, where he worked as a wine manufacturer during his early manhood. He there married Hen- rietta Munz, and the following year sailed for America, arriving at Williamsburg, New York, about two months prior to the birth of their eldest child. Two years later he moved to Illinois, and settled in Fulton, where he was afterwards known by the name of John, his own name being hard to speak. Securing work on the Northwest- ern railway, he continued thus occupied until retiring from active labor, a few years before his death, which occurred at his home July 9, 1898. His widow survives THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 141 him. They reared nine children, as fol- lows: John, the special subject of this sketch; Frederick, belonginj; to the firm of Schwab Brothers, and also head filer in the large saw mill; Frank, employed in the shinfjle manufacturing department of tiie saw mill; Christina, wife of James Carrier, of Fulton; George, formerly road master for the Northwestern Railway Company, is now a brakeman on their road; Henry, in business in Fulton; Emma, wife of Albert L. Draper, who is engaged in the literary and publishing business in F"ulton; David, gang-saw filer in the saw mill; and Louis, one of the partners in the store and man- ager of the business. John Schwab received his early educa- tion in the district schools of Fulton, where he grew to man's estate, attending as he had opportunity. At the age of eight years he began to partly earn his own living by working in the clay pipe factory, an indus- try that he pursued five years. Then after farming awhile, doing boy's work for a neighbor, he was employed in the Fulton pottery a few years. Giving up his position there he sjcured employment as a regular hand in the saw mill and was later made an assistant in the filing department. There he proved himself so skillful a mechanic that he was promoted at the end of two years to gang-saw filer, and subsequently was raised to the position of foreman of the filing room. Here his genius and mechanical ability gave him such prestige that he was asked, in 1887, to become foreman of the mill, a position of responsibility that he still holds. This mill is the most impor- tant industrial plant of the town, when running on full time gi\ing employment to one hundred and forty men, and producing twenty million feet of lumber per annum. The store in which he has an interest was founded in 1892 by Simon Feet and Fred- eric Schwab, the latter being the junior partner. The following year John Schwab became a partner in the concern, and in 1S95 John McCrea was admitted to the firm, and the name was changed to McCrea, Schwab & Co., under which business was continued two years, when Louis Schwab purchased Mr. McCrea's interest and be- came manager of the business, which has since been conducted under its present firm name. In politics Mr. Schwab was actively identified with the Democrats until the sil- ver issue, when he joined the Republican forces. He has been influential in public affairs, having represented his ward as alder- man twelve years in succession, and having served as mayor two years, from 1897 until 1899. He is now a trustee and the vice- president of the Fulton Cemetery Associa- tion. On June 32, 1880, Mr. Schwab married, at Princeton, Iowa, Miss Lillie P. Stichter, who was born in Troy, New York, a daugh- ter of John Stichter, who removed to Iowa with his family when Mrs. Schwab was a child. Mr. and Mrs. Schwab have one child, a daughter, Grossing Schwab. EDWARD WYATT, engineer for the Joyce Lumber Company, at Fulton, Illinois, is well (jualified for the responsible position he holds by reason of knowledge and experience. He was born February 26, 1832, in Leamington, Warwick county, England, a son of William and Elizabeth (Sweet) Wyatt. At the age of fourteen years Mr. Wyatt began the battle of life on his own account 142 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. by entering the factory and machine shops of George Nelson, of \\'ar\vick, as an ap- prentice. After serving six years and one month in that capacity, he secured a posi- tion in a much larger foundry and factory, where for two years he was one ol the five hundred employees. Returning then to his former employer he remained with him un- til the summer of 1855, when he embarked for America, whither he arrived July 17, and was first greeted with the news of the fall of Sebastopol. Going directly to De- troit, Michigan, Mr. Wyatt began work in Pitt's sawmill, in the machinery department. The following September he came to Lyons, Iowa, and until February, 1S56, was em- ployed in the sawmill of John Pickering, whom he left to enter the machine shops of Graham & Company, where, the next Au- gust, he was unfortunate enough to meet with such a serious injury as to cause the loss of his right hand in the planer. The ensuing six years Mr. Wyatt had charge of the engine in the sash factory of M. A. Desbrow, of Lyons. On April 6, 1865, he assumed the duties of his present position as engineer in the sawmill at Fulton, and during the thirty-five years that ha\e inter- vened has been faithful to his employers, ever as mindful of their interests as of his own. In i. HILI^, an honored pioneer of Whiteside county, who is now living a retired life in Prophetstown, was born in the village of Castleton, Rutland county, Vermont, July 30. 1822, and is a son of William and Susan (Hor) Hul, the latter born October 14, 1786, natives of \'errnont and Massachusetts, respectively. The paternal grandfather, William Hill, Sr. , was also a native of the Green Mountain state. In early life the father followed the wheel- wright's and carpenter's trades in the east. In 1835, with two teams of five horses, he started for Illinois, his destination being Peoria, which point he liad visited the jear previous. After a long and tedious journey he reached Chicago, where he met J imes Pratt, who the year before had been to 172 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Whiteside county and recommended this section of the state to Mr. Hill. He then changed his course and came to this countv. He purchased Mr. Gordon's claim of one hundred and si.xt}' acres on Washington street, on which had previously been erected a log house of one room, and in it his and another family lived during the winter spent in this state. The following year he built an addition to his dwelling, fenced and opened up his farm. Later he purchased more land and soon had a fine farm of two hundred acres, upon which he spent the last years of his life, dying there in 1842, at the age of fifty years. His wife survived him a number of years. They were the parents of six children, five sons and one daughter, namely: Sullivan, who married and is now deceased; John, who died un- married; William, a resident of Sterling; Ezra B. , our subject; F. M., a resident of Prophetstown; a wealthy citizen of this county; and Almira, deceased wife of I. C. Southern. Amid pioneer scenes, Ezra B. Hill grew to manhood in this county, and as his school privileges were limited he is almost wholly self-educated. He assisted in opening up and improving the home farm and helped make the rails lence to the first forty-acre field, these being made in a grove si.K miles from home. The first year they raised a good crop, and he continued to aid his father in the labors of the field until the latter's death, after which he and his brothers suc- cessfully carried on the farm together for several years. In this county, Mr. Hill was married, in 1848, to Miss Permelia Jane Underbill, a native of New York and daughter of Hiram Underbill, one of the early settlers of White- side county. They began their domestic life upon a farm of eighty acres adjoining the old homestead, which he had previously purchased, and on which he had erected a good frame house. He also owned a part of the home farm. After operating this place for twelve or fifteen years, he sold and bought an improved farm of one hun- dred and seventy acres, to the further devel- opment and cultivation of which he devoted his energies until 1885, when he rented the place and moved to Prophetstown. Here he bought a residence which he has since remodeled and converted into a neat and comfortable home, where he expects to spend the remainder of his life in ease and quiet, having laid aside all business cares. Mr. Hill has been called upon to mourn the loss of his estimable wife, who died September 12, 1895. To them were born eight children, who are still living, namely: Charles, who is married and engaged in farming near Hastings, Hamilton county, Nebraska; Ella M., wife of David Bailes, a business man of Hastings, Nebraska; Eva, wife of William Lancaster, of Prophetstown; Sumner and Charles G., who are both mar- ried and follow farming in this count\-; Pleasant, who is married and engaged in farming near Holdrege, Nebraska; and Lillie Ann, who now acts as her father's house- keeper. Previous to i860, Mr. Hill was an old- line Whig, but since then has been a stanch supporter of the Republican party. Al- though he has served as highway commis- sioner and a member of the school board, he has never cared for political honors, pre- ferring to devote his entire time and atten- tion to his business interests. Religiously he is a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Prophetstown. For sixty-four long years he has been a resident THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 173 of Whiteside county, ami lias watched wilii interest the wonderful changes that have taken place in this section during that time. On his arrival here the country was almost an unbroken wilderness, much of the county was swamp land, which then seemed almost useless, but by the means of ditches and tiling, has been converted into productive and fertile fields. Indians were still seen in great numbers; deer, wolves and wild game of all kinds were plentiful, but all have dis- appeared before the advancing civilization, and the county is now well populated with an industrious, intelligent and contented people, who have good homes and tine farms. In the work of development and progress Mr. Hill has borne an active and prominent part, and on the pages of his county's history he is certainly deserving of honorable mention. CHARLES P. STURTEVANT. The world instinctively pays deference to the man whose success in life has been worthily achieved, and who has reached a iiigh position in the bu.siness world. This is a progressive age, and he who does not advance is soon left far behind. Mr. Sturte- vant, by the improvement of opportunities by which all are surrounded, has steadily and honorably worked his way upward, and is to day one of the leading stock-dealers of Whiteside county. He now makes his home in Prophetstown. A native of tin's comity, Mr. Sluitcvatit was born on a farm near Rock Falls De- cember 31, 1854, and is descended from a family of Dutch origin, which was founded in Massachusetts in colonial d.tys. His granil father, Peres Sturtevant, was a native of New Hampshire, from which state he re- moved to Vermont, where he opened up a farm and reared his family. The father of our subject, Josiah C. Sturtevant, was born in New Hampshire June 16. 1S05, and gresv to manhood in Vermont, where he married Miss Mary Robbins, a native of that state and a daughter of Jonas Robbins. one of its pioneers. There they continued to make their home until after the birth of si.\ ot their children, when in 1843 they came to Illinois and lirst located at Como, White- side count)-, where the father engaged in farming. He purchased a tract of wild land and opened up a farm near Rock Falls, to the cultivation and improvement of which he devoted his energies for many years, but he spent his last days in Rock Falls, where he died in 1896, at the advanced age of ninety-one years. His wife passed away in 1S81. Reared on tlie old homestead, Charles P. Sturtevant early accjuired an excellent knowledge of the duties which fall to the lot of the agriculturist, and in the common schools of the neighborhood he obtained his literary education. After arriving at man's estate he went to northwesJern Iowa, where he engaged in stock-dealing and the real estate business for one year. He then re- turned to this county and turned his atten- tion to general far.iiing and the feeding of stock, becoming one of the most extensive stock-dealers of the county, annually ship- ping to the city markets from two hundred and fifty to five hundred head of cattle and about ten car-loads of fat hogs. He is the owner of three valuable ami well-improved farms, one in Lyndon township and two in Fenton townshij), aggregating fifteen hun- dred acres. In Lyndon township, April 4, 1885, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Sturtevant 174 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. and Miss Esther- M. Brooks, who was born and reared in Whiteside county, lUinois, and was educated there and in Saginaw, Michigan. Her father, Pardon A. Brooks, was a pioneer of this county, coming thither from Boston, Massachusetts, in 1837, and he became one of the substantial farmers of Lyndon township. To our subject and his wife have been born four children: Edna M. , Imogen, Hazel I. and Paul Allen. They began their domestic life on a farm in Fenton township, and later lived on the old Brooks homestead in Lyndon township, now owned by Mr. Sturtevant. In 1898 they removed to Prophetstown, where on the banks of the beautiful Rock river, he is now erecting one of the largest and most tasteful modern residences in town. On national issues Mr. Sturtevant has always affiliated with the Democratic party, casting his first presidential vote for General Hancock, but at local elections he is inde- pendent in politics, voting for whom he be- lieves to be the best men, regardless of party lines. While a resident of Lyndon township, he served as supervisor for one term, and in the spring of 1899 was elected to represent Prophetstown on the honorable county board of supervisors, where he is now serving as a member of the board and of the finance committee. He has been a delegate to the county conventions of his party many times, and has ever taken quite an active and prominent part in public affairs. His wife is a member of the Con- gregational church, of Prophetstown, and in the best social circles of the village they oc- cupy an enviable position, being highly re- spected and esteemed by all who know them. They are members of the Eastern Star lodge, of which Mrs. Sturtevant is now worthy matron, and our subject also belongs to Lyndon blue lodge and chapter of the Masonic fraternity. As a business man he ranks among the best in his community, and his success is due to his keen discrimi- nation, sound judgment and able manage- ment. ISAM S. PARRISH, a well-known laun- 1 dryman and prominent citizen of Ster- ling, is a native of this county, born in Gene- see township, January 11, 1851. The Par- rish family has lived in Lincolnshire, Eng- land, from the time when William the Conqueror invaded that country, in 1066. The founder of the family on this side of the Atlantic came to America with William Penn, and two of his sons afterward went to Virginia. Major Parrish, the grand- father of our subject, was an officer in the war of 1812, and died in a military hospital twelve miles below Richmond, \'irginia. In the fall of 18 I 5, his widow, with her family, went to Kentucky, and after residing there about two years removed to Dyersburg, Dyer county, Tennessee. Watson Parrish, the youngest son of Major Parrish and the father of our subject, was born near Richmond, Virginia, August 31, 1805, and accompanied the family on their removal to Iventucky and later to Ten- nessee. He was first married in the latter state, December 12, 1S29, to Louisa De- ment, a native of Dyersburg, and in June, 1839, with their six children, they came to Whiteside county, Illinois, and settled in Genesee Grove, on land which had not yet been surveyed. At one time he owned about a section of land; most of which he gave to his children, but still owned one hundred and si.xty acres at the time of his death, which occurred July 14, 1884. When THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 175 a young man he engaged in boat building to some extent, but througliout the greater part of his life followed farming. In 1S56 he was interested in the lumber business, his sons, Elias and William, superintending the cutting of the logs in the pine woods of Wisconsin, and one of his rafts was nearly all lost in the tornado which destroyed the village of Albany. In 1844 he circulated a petition for the organization of public schools in Genesee township, and by most persistent effort he secured the legal num- ber of signatures and accomplished the de- sired object. By his first marriage Watson Parrish had eight children, of whom six were born in Dyersburg, Tennessee, and the others in Genesee Grove, this county. They were as follows: (i) William C. , born February i, 1 83 I, was educated at Knox College, Gales- burg, Illinois, and was married, but his wife died leaving no children. During the Civil war he enlisted in Company G, Thirty- ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and died from disease contracted in the service, at Williamsport, Maryland, November 29, 1861. (2) Elias, born January 12, 1S32, was also educated at Knox College, and is now a farmer of Vesta, Johnson county, Nebraska. He married Ann Kite and has a large family of children. (3) Augustine, born September 8, 1833, married Martha Bunnell, and is interested in gold mining, stock raising and fruit growing in Chico, Butte county, California. His brothers, William and Sampson, went with him to that state in the early days of surface min- ing, crossing the plains with an ox team, and they worked on the Feather river, where Augustine still owns a ranch on the west branch of that stream. His brothers returned home by way of Cape Horn. (4) Sampson, born April 25, 1835, attended Knox College, and is now a lumber mer- chant and farmer of Milford, Iowa. He was married Octoben 14, 1858, to Sarah Courtright, and they have seven children. (5) Watson, born March 9, 1837, also at- tended Knox College, and after the war took up the study of law and graduated from the law department of the State Uni- versity, at Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was a member of Company G, Thirty-ninth Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry, and was in the service until the close of the war, although he was once- wounded. He engaged in the practice of law and in banking in Nebraska, was a member of the state legislature, and was one of the first five directors appointed by the government for the Union Pacific Railroad, which position he held for four years. He is now a prominent attorney of San Diego, California. He married Lucy Roberts, of Genesee township, and they have one son, Frederick. (6) Sarah Ann, born April 27, 1839, was married Novem- ber 16, 1859, to Isaac Newton Thorp, who was born May 20, 1836. - He was a private in Company E, Forty- sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, during the Civil war, and was drowned in the Mississippi river, while landing from trans- ports near Vicksburg, January 3, 1865. He left two children: (a) Katie A., born De- cember 19, i860, was educated at Mount Vernon College, Iowa, and is now the wife of W. C. Holbrook, whose sketch appears on another page of this volume, (b) Harry Elmer, born September 16, 1862, was edu- cated at Dixon College, and was married September 30, 1886, to Huldah'E. Stanley. He is now a farmer of Marshalltown, Iowa. The mother of these children was again married September 23, 1870, her second 176 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. union being with John Cummings, who died in January, 1896, leaving two children, Myrtie and Watson, both residents of Stirl- ing. (7) Henry Harmson, born August 15, 1842, was also a member of Company G, Thirty-ninth Illinois Infantry, during the Civil war, and is now a merchant of Archer Grove, Iowa. He was married December 10, 1865, to Martha E. Evans, and to them were born four children: Effie, wife of A. K. Wick, of Round Grove; Wesley R. ; Mabel, and Donald. (8) Amanda, born April 7, 1845, was married in January, 1870, to Bela T. St. John, and they have four children: Thomas, Clara, Burton and Idella. Mrs. Louisa Parrish, the mother of these children, was born March 8, 1810, and died May 14, 1S47. Watson Parrish was again married, March 16, 1848, his second union being with Miss Nancy Broadwell, who was born near Buffalo, New York, and died October 9, 1855. By this union three children were born, namely: (9) John Broadwell, born January 15, 1849, is a farmer living near Luverne, Minnesota. He was married September 8, 1870, to Delilah A. Court- right, who died May 12, 1887. Of their four children, three are still living. By his second marriHge he also had three children. (10) Isam Shelton, our subject, is the next of the family. (11) Fiances M., born in April, I 854, was married September 2, 1874, to Kendrick E. Bills, who is engaged in the agricultural implement business in Milledge- viUe, Carroll count)', Illinois, and they have one child, Henry. On the 27th of May, 1856, Watson Par- rish married Mrs. Louisa (Broadwell) How- iand, a sister of his second wife. She was first married, February 10, 1853, to Wesley Howland, who died September 30, 1855. By that union she had twochildren: Lewis, who died September 2, 1854, at the age of three months; and Wesley, now a farmer of Genesee township, this county, who was married January 15, 1879, to Mary T. Stanley. By his third marriage, Watson Parrish had twochildren: (12) Harriet G., was married, January 10, 1877, to S. Wesley Johnson, a banker of Ripley, Iowa, and died in 1894. They had one daughter, Nellie. (13) Emma M. was married, Janu- ary 15, 1879, to Andrew D. Stanley, a farmer of Genesee township, this county, and they have one child, Nellie. The mother of these children died July 26, 1881. Isam S. Parrish, whose name introduces this sketch, acquired a good comtnon-school education in district No. 3, and was reared upon the home farm, of which he took charge after reaching man's estate, and suc- cessfully engaged in general farming and stock raising. He still owns the original homestead of one hundred and thirty-iive acres on sections 19, 20, 29 and 30, Genesee township, on which the old log house, first erected by his father, is still standing, and also two Cottonwood trees, which were set out by him and are now about the largest in the county. In 1S87, Mr. Parrish rented his farm and removed to Sterling. For four years he bought grain at Rock Island Junc- tion, where he had an elevator, and at times bought stock for shipment and also dealt in coal. Later he was out of business for one year, and then erected an elevator at Am- boy, where he engaged in the grain business for one year as a member of the firm of Par- rish & Kratz. The following year he was successfully engaged in business at Rock Falls, and then again lived retired for one year. On the expiration of that time, in 1897, he purchased a laundry in Sterling, THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 177 one of the largest in tlie city, and has al- ready built up an excellent trade. In most of his undertakings he has been einineiitly successful, and is to-day one of the leading business men of Sterling. On the 13th of February, 1S79, Mr. Parrish was united in marriage with Miss Florence E. Broadwell. who was born in Wijiona, Minnesota, a daughter of Ara and Irene (Hubbard) Broadwell, the father a native of New York. Her parents are now deceased. They had only two children, the older being Frances, deceased wife of Edward Gray, who with their three chil- dren is living in Meadow Grove, Nebraska. Mr. and Mrs. Parrish have two children: Lawrence E., born November 11, 1891; and Frank, born December 17, 1894. Six years after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Parrish went to California, where they spent one year on his brother's ranch, and vv'hile there he engaged in mining with ex- cellent success. When quite young he once made a trip to Kansas with a brother, and there purchased cattle which they drove back to Illinois and sold. Politically Mr. Parrish is identified with the Republican party, and socially is a member of the Blue lodge. No. 612, F. & A. M. ; the chapter. No. 57, R. A. M. ; Uie Modern Woodmen of America, No. 12; the Knights of the (jlobe. No. 85; and the Mystic Workers of the World, No. 2. As a business man and citizen, he stands high, and being one of the public-spirited and progressive men of the community, he gives his support to all measures for the public good. J.AMES SNYDER, a citizen of Morrison, who is now living retired from active business, was born in Canajoharie, Mont- gomery county. New York, December 27, 1808, a son of Eli and Catherine (Carr) Snyder. He was reared on his father's farm at that place and educated in the com- mon schools of the neighborhood. On ac- count of failing health he was obliged to give up farm work at the age of twenty-two, and then became interested in a country store, being engaged in general merchandis- ing for twenty-three years with most ex- cellent success. During that time Mr. Snyder married Miss Nancy Runkle, by whom he had four children, namely: Mary, now Mrs. L. H. Robinson, of Chicago; Harriet N., widow of George Guffin and also a resident of Chicago; John H., a prominent druggist of Morrison; and James A., a resident of Cedar Ivapids, Iowa. In 1856 Mr. Snyder left the east and came to Whiteside county, Illinois, purchas- ing a farm two miles from Morrison, to the improvement and cultivation of which he devoted his energies for twelve 3'ears. Sub- sequently he rented the place and finally sold it. After the death of his wife, which occurred December 23. 1S63, he removed to Morrison, where he has since lived re- tired. In 1873, Mr. Snyder married Mrs. Mary B. Spears, /nr Purdy, who was born in New York and was lirst married in Ohio, to Will- iam Spears, who later became a member of the firm of Spears I^rothers, prominent dry-goods merchants of Morrison. Both Mr. and Mrs. Snyder are prominent and active members of the Presbyterian church, of which he was an elder for many years both in New York and during his residence here, being the oldest elder in this section of the country'. He is a strong temperance man and for several years past has been a 178 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. supporter of the Prohibition part}', while his wife is an active member of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. They receive and merit the respect and esteem of all who know them. GEORGE E. ELY, an honored and highly esteemed citizen of Sterling, who is now living retired, has been a resi- dent of this county since the fall of 1S57. He was born in Westernvilie, Oneida county, New York, November 18, 1S39, a son of David G. and Elvira (Wallace) Ely. The father was born in Massachusetts in 181 i, and during his boyhood removed to West- ernvilie with his father, who was of Revolu- tionary stock. The grandfather of our sub- ject was an early settler of Westernvilie, where he owned several farms, was a suc- cessful farmer and extensive stock dealer and drover. He was accidentally killed while on horseback some time later than 1S60. The father of our subject grew to manhood in \A'esternville, and followed farming, dairying and stock raising there until his removal to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in the spring of i85v5. While in that city he was prospecting for a location, and the fol- lowing year bought his first home in Hume township, Whiteside county, Illinois, which at that time was all wild prairie land. He erected a residence thereon and converted the land into well-tilled fields, being en- gaged in farming and stock raising there for some time. Eor a number of years he made his home west of Rock Ealls, in Coloma township, but he owns two farms in Hume township, and upon one of these he has resided for over a quarter of a cent- ury. During his active business life he owned a great deal of land and was ex- tensively engaged in farming and dealing in stock. He is one of the influential and most highly respected men of his com- munity, but has never been an aspirant for. office. He was one of the first members of the Methodist Episcopal church in Hume township, and materially assisted in the erection of the house of worship. His wife, who was also a consistent member of that church and class-leader for some time, died in 1875. Of the six child. en born to them, three are still living, namely: Beulah, now the wife of E. J. Jones, of Oshkosh, Wis- consin; George E., our subject; and Nancy, wife of Charles L. Rawson, of Rock Falls. Our subject began his education in the school of Westernvilie, New York, and later attended the public schools of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and the seminary of Prophets- town, Illinois, receiving better instruction than most boys of his day. He aided his father in the work of the home farm until twenty-three years of age. In August, 1 86 1, he married Miss Eliza Rawson, of Geneseo, Illinois, a daughter of William S. Rawson, who came from New York and was one of the pioneer settlers of Geneseo. Of the two children born of this union, Lula Lurance, principal of the shorthand depart- ment of the Sterling Business College; Frank D. attended the Sterling schools and in 1894 graduated from West Point Military Academy. For a time he was stationed on Governors Island as an officer in the Thir- teenth United States Regiment, and during our recent war with Spain participated in the battle of Santiago. For meritorious service he was promoted and is now a first lieutenant in the Second Infantry, stationed in Cuba. He has been in the recruiting service and on detailed duty during most of the time he has been a member of the regu- GEORGE E. ELY. THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. i8i lar army. On account of his health he was given a three months leave of absence, dur- ing which time he visited Germanj'. He married Miss Marion Brooks, of Plainfield, New Jersey. For a few years after his marriage, Mr. Ely rented a farm in Hume township, and was at length able to purchase one hundred and sixty acres there, on which he erected a good residence and made many other im- provements, converting it into one of the finest farms of that part of the county. In connection with general farming, he en- gaged in stock raising, giving special atten- tion to -horses, and for some time bought and shipped horses quite extensively. On selling his first place he bought a farm in Hopkins township north of the river and continued to successfully operate it for some years. Since casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Ely has been a stanch supporter of the Republican party, and has been a delegate to county and con- gressional conventions. He was also con- tinuously in office from the time he was twentj'-three years of age until the ist of April, 1899, serving as township clerk, assessor, supervisor, etc. He has also been township treasurer and treasurer of the Union draining district, comprising three townships, the duties of which office were quite arduous. He was a member of the board of supervisors during its most pro- gressive epoch. In December, 1888, he was appointed superintendent of the White- side county farm and infirmarj', and filled that responsible position most creditably and satisfactorily from April i, 1889, for ten years. The inmates in the poor house numbered seventy-six and in the insane de- partment as high as tsventy-six, all of which he had charge of, in connection with the farm of two hundred acres. During his administration all of the draining and sew- erage was put in, and he made it a paying institution for the county. Previous super- intendents had used all the meat, butter, eggs, potatoes, etc., raised upon the farm, for the inmates, but during the last year of his stay there his sale of the produce above what was needed on the farm amounted to over eleven hundred dollars. He takes a just pride in what he accomplished there for the county and the people. After ten years of arduous labor and honest endeavor on the part of himself and wife, Mr. Ely resigned his position on the ist of April, 1899, and is now living retired, enjoying a well-earned rest. He removed to Sterling, where he had owned property for a number of years, and bought a beautiful home at No. 208 West Third street, and deserves the high regard in which he is uniformly held. AD.\M SMITH, deceased, was one of the foremost citizens of Whiteside county from his early manhood until his death, and no one who has been called from our midst in late years has been more seriously mourned by the general community. His home was in Sterling for many years, and all local improvements were championed by him, his influence carrying great weight, as his judgments were proverbially wise and far-seeing. A native of Bavaria, Germany, Adam Smith was born December 9, 1834. He was one of six children, five sons and a daughter, of whom the only survivor to-day is John W., of Youngstown, Ohio. His father, Michael Smith, died when the lad l82 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. was younn;, and in 1846 he accompanied his mother, Eva, to the United States. They remained in New York about seven years, at the end of which period, Adam Smith came to Rocktord, Ilhnois, where he found employment at liis trade as a painter and grainer, and worked at the court-house, among other places. In 1859 he came to Whiteside county, and continued to work at his regular line of business, and in 1859 lie located peimaneiitly in Sterling. Here he soon acquired an enviable reputation as a painter and business man, and by good management and economy laid aside a con- siderable amount of money. In 1875 '""^ purchased a farm of thirteen hundred acres, which, though all in one body, lay in the two counties of Lee and Whiteside. This farm he superintended successfully, raising great quantities of grain and much live stock. In 1876 he embarked in the furni- ture business at Sterling, but sold out at the end of two years. During his later j'ears he was interested in the real estate business, and at his death left a comfortable fortune to his family. In his political attitude Mr. Smith was a Republican. His fellow citizens, believe- ing in his wisdom and general ability, often inged him to accept public office, but he usually declined. He served as a justice of the j)eace for a perioii, at one time was city marshal and a school director. He was a director and stockholder in the Sterling National Bank, and was active in the estab- lishment of various enterprises. All indus- tries or measures which were calculated to benefit the community were furthered by him, and for this reason, as well as for many others, heis kindly remembered. On the 13th of October, 1863, Mr. Smith married Caroline Fisher, who was born in Trumbull county, Ohio, September 20, 1843. Her parents, Frederick and Martha (Wahl) Fisher, had eight other chil- dren. The eldest, Catherine, became the wife of John W., brother of Adam Smith. John lives in Youngstown, Ohio. William died in Young.-town, Ohio, in 1893. Henry is a painter residing at Elgin. Mary is the wife of Cyrus Folson, of Youngstown, Ohio, and Lucy is the wife of Joseph Maubry, of Cleveland, Ohio. Einanuel resides in Youngstown, Ohio^ Sarah is the wife of Wendel Gaulrapp, a farmer of Hume town- ship, Whiteside county. She is the twin of Emanuel. The parents died at their old home in the Buckeye state. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Smith was blessed with five children. Jennie A. mar- ried John N. Harpham, who is engaged in the real estate business at Sterling, and also owns a market here. Anna B. died un- married, and Nettie L., also unmarried, re- sides at home. Emma A. became the wife of Harry H. Over, a candy manufacturer, and they have one son, Howard Smith. Carl A., the youngest child of our subject and wife, is at home. For about ten years the family resided on Broadway street, but after the death of Mr. S nith, his widow bought a lot on First avenue, and built her pleasant modern dwelling. Both she and her husband have been Lutherans in relig- ious faith, and have been liberal contribu- tors to the work of that denouiination. Ever ready to aid the afflicted and needy, the love and gratitude of many whose bur- dens they have lightened have been be- stowed upon them. To their children they will leave the priceless heritage of an un- blemished name and life-records well worthy of emulation. Mr. Smith died November 7, 1893- THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 183 GEORGE E. PADDOCK, a well-known banker of Prophetstown, was born in the town of Tin-iii, Lewis count)', New York, March 28, 1849, and on the paternal side is of English descent. The family was founded in America by Robert Paddock, one of the Pilj^rims that settled at Plymouth colony in 1634. Our subject's great-grandfather, Daniel Paddock, was a native of New York and was one of the heroes of the Revolu- tionary war. The grandfather, John Pad- dock, was also a native of the Empire state, and Ihe father, Chauncey Paddock, was born and reared in Westernville, Oneida county, New Y'ork. There he was united in marriage with Miss Lury M. Hotchkiss, a native of Mexico, Oswego county. New Y'ork, and in 1851 he brought his family west, locating on the Rock river, near Prophetstown, Whiteside county, Illinois. Here he engaged in agricciltural pursuits with marked success and was numbered among the enterprising farmers of the coun- ty. He died November 16, 1894, and was buried in the Prophetstown cemetery, where a neat and substantial monument marks his last resting p'ace. His wife still survives him, at the age of seventy-nine years, and makes her home in Prophetstown. The early education of George E. Pad- dock was acquired in the public schools of Prophetstown, and was supi)lcinented by a course at the Northern Illinois College, in Fulton. In 1870 he went to California with the family and spent one season on the Pa- cific slope. On his return to this county he engaged in farming until 1880, when he re- moved to Prophetstown and accepted the position of cashier in the Mattson bank, in which capacity he served until the death of Mr. Mattson, when he succeeded to the busi- ness. He carried on business at the old stand for some years, but ip 1892 he erected a good two-story brick building on the cor- ner of the main business street of the town, into which he moved in January, 1893. He does a large private banking business, and is accounted one of the successful business men of the county. On the 6th of May, 1873, in Prophets- town, Mr. Paddock was united in marriage with Miss Ella M. Quigley, a native of Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania, who in early life came with her family to this county and completed her education in the schools of Prophetstown. Her father, George B. Quig- ley, became one of the substantial farmers of this county, but now makes his home near Evansv;l!e, Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Paddock have four children: Hugh, who now holds the position of cashier in his father's bank, and was married November 21, 1S99, to Miss Cass C. Baldwin, of Proph- etstown, Illinois; Jessie L., who completed a six years' course at the Northwestern Uni- versity of Evanston, and was graduated with the class of 1899. and was married in October, 1899, to Oliver P. Petty, of Sterling, Illinois; Louis M., who is attending the Morgan Park Academy, and Gladys, a student in the home school. I'or some years Mr. Paddock was identi- fied with the Democratic party, and three times cast his presidential ballot for Grover Cleveland, but in 1896 voted for William McKiuley and the gold standard, and is now independent in politics, at local elections al- ways voting for the men whom he believes best qualified to fill the offices regardless of party lines. He has been school treasurer of Prophetstown for twenty-two years, a member of the town board six or seven years, and is now president of the same. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason, a i84 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. member of the Blue lodge and chapter of Frophetstown, and Illinois Society Sons of the American Revolution. His wife is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church. EDMUND JACKSON, supreme secretary of the benevolent order of Mystic Workers of the World, Fulton, Illinois, in which capacity he has shown his ability as an organizer and executive officer, was born May 3, 1853, in Greenbush, Rensselaer county. New York, and is the son of Ed- mund and Ann (Adams) Jackson, the former a native of Staffordshire, England, born Au- gust 26, 1820, and the latter of Hereford- shire, England, born August 28. 1823. They were married in England, August 22, 1841, and there five of their children were born, and while that country had to them many attractions, they felt that across the broad Atlantic in this free country of ours, the opportunity was far greater for advance- ment than in their old home. Believing that it was their duty to give their children the best opportunities available, they de- termined on emigrating, and accordingl)', in March, 1851, the husband and father came first, and selecting a temporary home in Greenbush, New York, sent for the family which arrived in August of the same year. After residing" in New York state for some two years, and learning of the great prairies of Illinois, where land could then be purchased for a nommal sum, in Octo- ber, 1853, the family came to Illinois, and located in Kankakee county, where the fa- ther and mother are yet living. On his ar- rival, Edmund Jackson, Sr. , secured a tract of land near Manteno, Kankakee county, where he engaged in fanning and stock raising until 1890, since which time he has lived a retired life in the village of Manteno. In his farming operations he met with the success that usually follows the industrious and enterprising man, and is now enabled to live in ease and comfort upon the proceeds of liis former life of toil. In politics he is a Republican, and in re- ligion is identified with the Episcopal chiirch. In his family were nine children, four hav- ing been born in America. The following is the record: Joseph, a farmer residing near Wolcott, Indiana; Thomas, who is en- gaged in the grain and stock business in Wol- cott, Indiana; Stephen, deceased; David, a traveling salesman making his home in Oakland, California; Lucy M., residing with her parents in Manteno, Illinois; Edmund, our subject; William W., residing on the old homestead in Kankakee count}', Illinois; Andrew, deceased; and George, a merchant of Manteno, Illinois. The subject of this sketch was but a few months old when he was brought by his parents to this state. On the home farm in Kankakee county his boyhood and youth were spent. In the public schools of Manteno, he secured a good com- mon-school education, and at the age of eighteen years engaged in teaching, a pro- fession that he successfully followed for five years in Illinois, Indiana and Kansas. His first business \'enture was in Searsboro, Iowa, where he engaged in the mercantile trade for two and a half jears. He then moved his stock to What Cheer, Iowa, and continued in the same line of business until the fall of 1881, when he sold out, and for the next nine years was in the real estate and insurance business at What Cheer. He was then elected president of the First Na- THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. ig? tional Bank at that place, occupjing that position for three and a half years. Dis- posing of his stock in the bank, in March. 1894, he came to Fulton, Illinois, where he again engaged in ihe real estate and in- surance business. In the spring of 1895 he became interested with Dr. Clendennen in the organization of the Mystic Workers of the World, since which time he has given much of his lime to that organization, a full account of which is found in this work. Since attaining his majority, Mr. Jackson has always taken an active interest in poli- tics, and has always given his support to the men and measures of the Republican party. By his party associates he has been honored with various local offices, the duties of which he has discharged in a satisfactory manner. He has served as justice of the peace in the different places in which he has resided, and in that position he has always acted in such an impartial manner as to win the praise even of contesting parties. While residing in What Cheer, Iowa, he served as a member of the school board and mayor of the city in all about twelve years. In 1896 he was elected police magistrate of Fulton, a position he j'et fills to the entire satisfaction of the people of the city. F"or many years he has been a member of the Masonic order, and while residing in Iowa served as grand treasurer of the grand lodge of the order. He now holds membership with Fulton lodge, No. i, M. W. W. ; Forest camp. No. 2, M. W. A. ; Fulton City lodge, No. 189, A. F. & A. M. ; Fulton chapter. No. 108, R. A. M.; Holy Cross commandery, No. 10, K. T. , Iowa; also a member of Kaaba Temple, Nobles Mystic Shrine; Abou Ben Adhem lodge. No. 148, I. O. O. F. , of which he is past grand; Knights of the Globe, M. B. A.; W. P. Merton chapter. No. 356, O. E. S.; S\l\ia lodge, No. 112, K. P., of Iowa; and and ii past grand treasurer, grand lodge of Iowa, .\. F. & A. M., and is supreme sec- retary of the Mystic Workers of the World. In each of these organizations he has taken an active part, and is one of the best known fraternity men of the state. While other orders have required much of his attention, it is to the Mystic Workers of the World that he has given the greatest attention, and to the interest taken by him, with the execu- tive ability shown, the great success of the order is due. On the 2rst of March, 1877, Mr. Jack- son was united in marriage with Miss Emma G. Bennett, of Eureka, Kansas, who was born near Xenia, Ohio, the daughter of Ralph and Rebecca (Hamilton) Bennett. They have one daughter, Una G., who is still living with her parents. While a resident of Whiteside county a comparatively short time, Mr. Jackson has become thoroughly identified with its in- terests, and is well known as an enterpris- ing and reliable business man, one who al\\ays keeps abreast with the times. All who know him hold him in the highest esteem. THE MYSTIC WORKERS OF THE WORLD. This fraternal benefit order was originally formed in 1891 and the preliminary steps taken for its incorpora- tion under the laws of Iowa by citizens of that state, but after the first papers had been executed and filed, the temporary or- ganization was abandoned and the forma- tion of the order in Illinois was undertaken. Fulton lodge, No. i, was organized at Fulton, Whiteside county, Illinois, during the year 1892, being the first lodge of the order. 1 86 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Verv little progress was made from this time until 1895, no more being done than to preserve the organization of the first lodge and attempts to organize some others which either failed or seceded to other orders. Early in 1895 Edmund Jackson was ap- pointed supreme secretary, who at once began to make a thorough investigation into the affairs of the order, which had become deeply involved, having an indebtedness of many times its available .assets. During the year its affairs were adjusted so far as possible and arrangements made to open up work in earnest for the lodge season follow- ing. During November, the supreme sec- retary employed deputies to work up the membership, paying them wages himself and started them out. The first one en- gaged was supreme vice- master, R. S. Cowan, who, on November 4th, went to Morrison and among the first he solicited and the first one he secured, was Geo. W. Howe, county clerk and since elected supreme master. With the able assistance of Mr. Howe, a lodge was soon organized ■ and all connected with the order were much encouraged. Mr. Cowan then went to Sterling, where he organized a second lodge and from these he and the others em- ployed, soon secured numbers of members until application was made to the state in- surance department for a charter which was granted and the order legally incorporat- ed on February 24, 1S96. The real date of the founding of the order being in No- vember 1S95, at which time and in February, 1896, the whole plans of the original order were so changed that nothing of value was left of it but its name. The work thereafter progressed with rapidity, the order closing the year 1896 with 1,210 benefit members and thirty-eight lodges.. At the close of 1897 there were 2,545 benefit members and eighty-one lodges. At the close of 1898 there were 5,260 benefit members in one hundred and thirty-seven lodges, and at the close of September, 1899, almost ten thousand mem- bers in over two hundred lodges. As an- other indication of its rapid growth, the account fur postage and express for the month of March, 1896, the first month after the charter was granted, was but four dol- lars, while for 1899 the monthly average was over fifty dollars for the same purposes. The order issues benefit certificates for the amounts of $500, $1,000, $2,000 and $3,000, payable at death to the beneficiaries of the insured, being the families and dependent relatives. Certificates are issued to applicants between the ages of eighteen and fifty-one, either male or female, each having the same privileges. In addition to life protection for the benefit of the heirs of the insured, the order pays benefits during life to those of its members who meet with misfortunes. Bene- fits are paid in proportion to the amount of the certificate carried and for disabilities as follows: Amount of certificate payable at death, $500, $1,000, $2,000, $3,000; cash if arm or leg be broken, $50, $100, $200, $300; cash for loss of hand or foot, $125, $250, $500, $750; cash for loss of both hands, both feet or both eyes, $250, $500, $1,000, $1,500; cash each six months for total disa- bility until the certificate is paid in full, $25, $50, $100, $150. Any balance of the face value of the certificate not paid during life is paid to the beneficiaries at death. It has paid in death and disability benefits to October i, 1899, $65,853- '3. ol which $63,- 503.13 was (or forty-seven death benefits THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 187 and $5,350 was for thirty-five accidents and ter, paid by each mernber for that purpose, disabihty claims, thus brinj^ing comfort and and also from the profits on supplies sold to protection to forty-seven homes and relief lodges which are sold at a small advance to thirty-five disabled members in its short over the cost. Local lodges receive the existence up to date. initiation fees of new members for their The order is limited in its jurisdiction. support, and also provide such quarterly States lying wholly south of the thirty-eighth dues as are needed. parallel of north latitude being excluded, as The order has lodges in the following are also all cities of over 200,000 inhab- places in Whiteside county: Fulton, Ustick, itants, although no restriction as to travel Morrison, Sterling, Tampico, Prophetstovvn, or residence is placed on members. It is Lyndon, Rock Falls, Round Grove, Emer- thus confined to the healthiest parts of the son, Erie. Gardenplain, Fenton, Coleta, country. Persons who are engaged in liaz- Ptnrosc, Malvern, Montmorency, Hume, ardous occupations are excluded, which also Deer Grove and Albany, being in every tends to protect the order and reduce its town in the county. death rate to the minimum, which has been It is a fundamental rule of the order that kept down to a very low one, the greatest for the insurance department of some state in any year being 3. 2 5 per thousand lives at risk. which it is working shall be invited an- The rates of benefit assessments are nually to examine the books of the supreme graded according to the age of the member secretary and supreme banker. The depart- at the time of joining and the amount of ments of Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri protection taken and remains the same have each made these examinations, and through life. They are based on the Ameri- have each reported the affairs of the order can table of expectancy, and are at the fol- to be in excellent condition. This fact is lowing rates per thousand, the greater or further proven to be true, for although it lesser amounts of certificates being at pro- has been doing business for over fort\'-four portionate rates: months it has called but twenty assess- Over 18 years of age ami under 20 years 35 meuts, which is a less number called than by " 20 " " " 24 " 40 a similar order before in the same time in 2* " " " '^^ " ^'^ its history. " 28 " " " ;!2 " 55 .. 32 :J6 " 65 The supreme offices are located at Ful- " ;J6 " " " 40 " 75 ton, where all the business of the order is " 40 II "I 'I 42 •• 80 transacted. ,. ^^ „ „ ,. ^,. „ (jQ There are employed in the office of the " 4(5 4S ■' 95 supreme secretary, in addition to that of- " 48 " " " 51 " 1.00 ficer, Miss Lena \'. Snyder, daughter of None but those of good moral character Dr. W. C. Snyder, one of the oldest resi- and who can pass a rigid physical cxamina- dents of the county, and Miss Sarah E. tion are ailmitted, special inducements be- Worthington, daughter of Herman Worth- ing offered to the young and middle-aged. ington, also an old resident of the county. The expenses of the order are provided both of these ladies having been born in for by quarterly dues of fifty cents per quar- the county. 1 i88 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. The principal emblems of the order are the square, plane, balances and globes, the use of which as emblems of the order are fully explained in the ceremonies of initia- tion given in the ritual. The supreme master, George W. Howe, by virtue of his office, has general super- vision over the whole order; R. S. Cowan, supreme vice-inaster, conducts field work, while Edmund Jackson, the supreme secre- tary, has charge of all clerical work of the order, and superintends the employment of deputies. The officers of the order are as follows: George W. Howe, supreme master, Mor- rison, Illinois; R. S. Cowan, supreme vice- master, Fulton, Illinois; Edmund Jacksjn, supreme secretary, Fulton, Illinois; Al. F. Schoch, supreme banker, Ottawa, Illinois; Dr. G. W. Clendenen, supreme medical examiner, Fulton, Illinois; B. F. Lichten- berger, supreme attorney, Savanna, Illinois; Mrs. Clara C. Babcock, supreme conduct- ress, Thomson, Illinois; Mrs. Sarah M. Smith, supreme sentinel, Erie, Illinois; F. Wm. Kuebker, supreme picket, Ivanhoe, Illinois. Board of Directors: A. N. Ab- bott, Union Grove, Illinois; H. C. Blanch- ard, Mendota, Illinois; E. E. Fitch, Galva, Illinois; W. A. Cunningham, Anamosa, Iowa; H. H. Harris, Macomb, Illinois; Fred Zick, Polo, Illinois. Seven of the su- preme officers being located in the county, it will be seen that it is essentially a White- side county product of which the county may well be proud. WATSON C. HOLBROOIv needs no special introduction to the readers of this volume, but the work would be incom- plete without the record of his life. No man in the county has been more prominent identified with its growth and development in the last quarter of a century, and for twenty-one years he has most capably and satisfactory served as county surveyor. He now makes his home at No. 1102 Eighth avenue. Sterling. Mr. Holbrook is a native of the county, born in Genesee township, February 20, 1S48, and traces his ancestry back to Thomas Holbrook, who was in the cattle business near Weymouth and Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1640. In his family were four sons and from them all of the Hol- brooks in Massachusetts were descended. In the early part of the seventeenth century there was one of the family who was a pro- fessor of mathematics in Harvard College. The genealogy of this family can be traced back in England through eleven centuries. The founder of the family in Whiteside county was Henry Holbrook, the grandfa- ther of our subject, who was a soldier of the war of 1812. He came to the county in 1838 and located a land warrant in Genesee township, where he died in 1842. Only two of his children came to this county: Henry H., and Elzina, wife of Ivory Col- cord, the first school teacher of Genesee township. Henry H. Holbrook, the father of our subject, was born in Cornish, New Hamp- shire, May 24, 181 5, and came to this county with his father in 1838. Although he learned the shoemaker's trade and worked at the same at times, he followed farming throughout the greater part of his life. During his entire residence in White- side county he lived upon the land which he purchased from the government. In Steu- ben county. New York, he was m;irried, April II, 1833, to Miss Caroline Ross, who THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 189 was born in Florida, Orange county, New York, ^[arch 5, 1S15, and was one of a family of four children. She belonged to the old Whitney family, of New York, which can be traced back to the time when Queen Anne made an attempt to settle the new world. Mr. and Mrs. Holbrook made the journey to this county overland in 1S3S, arriving here in November of that year. Upon their farm in Genesee township they made their home until called to their final rest, the father dying January 28, 1896, the mother August 13, 1890. To this worthy couple were born ten children, the three eldest born in Cameron, Steuben county. New York, the others in Genesee township, this county. They were as follows: (i) Jane, born January 5,1834, is the wife of S- A. Heath, a farmer living near Audubon, Iowa, and they have two adopted children. (2) Abigail, born No- vember 7, 1835, married Martin Thayer, by whom she had ten children, five now living, David, Esther J., Minnie, Milton and Ran- som, all residents of Wisconsin. After the death of her first husband she married Oli- ver Brown, a pensioner of the Civil war and a resident of Richland county, Wisconsin. (3) John H , born May 28, 1837, was a member of an Iowa regiment all through the Civil war and is now living on a farm near Catlin, Washington. He married Elizabeth Joseph, and of their eleven children, eight are living, Eli, Frank H., Henry H., John H., James, Jesse and Elias. (4) Silas, born Etta, April 25, 1839, is said to be the second white child born in Genesee township. He was married, July i, 1863, to Mary E. Harris, bj' whom he had two children, one now living, Jennie M., wife of George E. Jones, of Waverly, Iowa. Silas joined a Wisconsin regiment during the Rebellion 11 and after serving for a time was discharged for disability, but he never recovered and died .August 30, 1866. His wife is also de- ceased. (5) Sarah M., born April 26, 1S41, married John McWilliams, of Vernon coun- ty, Wisconsin, and died there January 26, 1880, leaving one child, Henry S., now a stationary engineer and farmer of that coun- ty. (6) Watson C, our subject, is the ne.xt in order of birth. (7) Eliza, born January 3, 1850, is the wife of Joseph Ervvin, a farmer of Garwin, Iowa, and of their ten children, eight are living, Augustus W., a medical student; Harry; Mattie; George; Chester; James; Eva and Duffy. (8) Mary E., born August 28, 1S53, is the wife of William E. Brown, of Genesee township, and they have three children: Addie, wife of Rasper Smith, of Sterling; Jesse and Harry. (9) Isaac H., born March 3 i, i 855, lives in Coleta, and is highway commission- er for Genesee township. He married Al- mira Lenhart and has si.x children, Burt, Charles, Bertha, and an infant and two de- ceased. (10) Addie, born December 20, 1859, is the wife of Henry Yakely, a farmer of Viola, Richland county, Wisconsin. Watson Curtis Holbrook, of this review, is a graduate of the Rock Island High School, and also of the Wisconsin University, where he pursued both a scientific and civil engineering course. On the completion of his education he returned to Whiteside county, and successfully engaged in teaching school for a few years in this state. In 1 878, one year before retiring from the teacher's pirofession, he was elected county surveyor, and has since most acceptably filled that office. Since he gave up te:iching he has devoted almost his entire time and attention to civil engineering. While serving as county surveyor he has spent much time in 1 190 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. the west, surveying; for railroads and locat- ing town site in Dakota, along the different railroads of the northwest. He was in Huron when it was a very small village, and in Aberdeen when it contained but one shanty, and has seen large herds of buffalo east of the Missouri river. He has done surveying in fifteen counties of Illinois, and has been called upon to settle boundary lines and prevent litigation of the matter if possible. He has made designs and sur- veyed for several steel and iron bridges over the Rock river, and for city sewers and farm drainage. In all his undertakings he has been very successful, and his labors have given the utmost satisfaction. At one time he wrote an ordinance on sanitary regula- tions for cities and villages, which he then considered correct, and the same has been adopted verbatim by over thirty cities and villages. When disputes arise over boun- daries his services are always in demand, and through him they are nearly always set- tled amicably. On the iGth of March. i8S6, Mr. Hol- brook married Miss Katie A. Thorp, who was born December 19, i860, a daughter of Newton and Sarah (Parrish) Thorp, and granddaughter of Watson Parrish. She is the younger in a family of two children, her brother being Henry E., of Marshalltown, Iowa. Our subject and his wife have four children, whose names and dates of birth are as follows: Ida Belle, October 7, 1887; Glenn Thorp, May ir, 1891; Caroline Blanche, August 22, 1893; fi'id Jennie Louisa, August 25, 1897. Mr. Holbrook owns fifty-one acres of land in Genesee township, but makes his home in Sterling. Politically he is a Re- publican, and religiously is an active and prominent member of the Methodist Episco- pal church, of Sterling, of which he is a trustee. Over two hundred years ago some of his ancestors heard the noted Dr. Whit- field preach, who was one of the founders of that denomination. While engaged in school teaching Mr. Holbrook devoted con- siderable time to studying and investigating the mounds found around this county, and he wrote many able articles on prehistoric man and other scientific subjects. He has in his possession a good collection of fossils, minerals and prehistoric implements, which he himself discovered. He also has letters from Darwin and other scientists thanking him for favors and specimens which they re- ceived at his hands. Of late years his in- creasing business has required all of his at- tention, and he has been compelled to give up his investigations along that line. For the past fifteen years he has compiled many private records of the oldest families of Genesee township, and his researches have extended far back, tracing the genealogy of these families through several generations in the old country. He is widely known throughout the northern part of the state, and is highly respected by all with whom he comes in contact. D AVID W. WARD, M. D., a leading physician of Fulton, who is not only engaged in the practice of medicine in Ful- ton, Illinois, but is also prominently identi- fied with the business interests of the place, was born in the Dominion of Canada, De- cember 5, 1856, and is a son of Thomas Ward and Mary (Mark) Ward, natives of England, the former born at Lythe, near Witbany, Yorkshire, January 29, 1820, the latter in Cumberland Caterlin, near Penrith, in October, 1S88. They were married in THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. lyi Canada. The father is also a physician and is enf^aged in practice in Richelieu, Quebec, where he has served as mayor and as alder- man several years. In his family were eleven children, eiglit of who:n reached years of maturity. Our subject has a brother in Montreal, Joseph Ward, who is a prominent business man in that city, of the firm of Joseph Ward & Company. Dr. Ward, of this review, was reared in Canada, and pursued a classical course at St. John's Academy. At the age of eight- een, he went to St. Albans, Vermont, where he was time-keeper for carpenters for the Vermont Central Railroad for two years. Returning home for a short time he entered the medical department of Magill Universi- ty, where he was a student for one year, and then matriculated at Haiinemann Medi- cal College, Chicago, from which he gradu- ated with the degree of M. D., February 16, I 888. .After one year spent in practice in that cily, he came to Fulton, in Febru- ary, 1889, and as tha only representative of the Homeopathic school in the place, he has built up an excellent practice. He has given particular attention to the study of diseases of women and children, and makes that his specialty. He holds certificates for practice in both Iowa and Illinois, and has man)' patients in the former state, besides those in and around Fulton. He is medical examiner for the Iowa Life Insurance Com- pany, for the accident insurance depart- ment of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Fraternal Union of .America, and the Federal Life Association of Daven- port, Iowa. Dr. Ward is thoroughly identified in thought and feeling with the interests of Fulton, and has aided in her upbuilding and advancement. He purchased a block between Cherry and Broadway street, which he subdivided and sold half, and erected thereon four good residences. Since 1896 he has been a director of the Fulton Elect- ric Light & Power Company, and smce 1898 has been vice-president of the same. He is a member of the Rock River Homeo- pathic Society; was for some time medical e.xaminer for the Modern Woodmen of America, and is now medical examiner for the Mystic Workers of the World, of which he is a member. He also belongs to Abou Ben Adhem lodge, No. 148, I. O. O. F., and is an active and prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is now serving as a member of the board of trustees. He is rather independent in politics, but usually supports the Repub- lican party. He is ?.ctively interested in educational matters, and in 1892 was elect- ed a member of the board of trustees of the Northern Illinois College, of which he has been secretary of the board since 1893. On the 5th of December, 1877, in Car- roll county, Illinois, Dr. Ward was united in marriage with Miss Dora Bashaw, a na- tive of that county and a daughter of Will- iam 15ashaw and Euphrasia (Thomas) Bashaw. The father, who was a promi- nent and successful farmer of that county, died in April, 1883. The Doctor and his wife iia\'e three children: Netta M., Ada M. and Joseph J., all at home except Netta, who is attending Hahnemann Medical Col- lege and Hospital, Chicago, Illinois. FR.WK B. THOMAS is a contractor and inukier of Tampico, of whose skill many notable examples are to be seen in the town and surrounding country. Thor- oughly reliable in all thmgs, the quality of 192 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. his work is a convincing test of his own personal worth and the same admirable trait is shown in his conscientious discharge of the duties of different positions of trust and responsibility to which he has been chosen. A native of Whiteside county, Mr. Thomas was born in Sterling, May 20, 1857, and is a son of Henry and Hannah (Nor- ton) Thomas, both natives of Massachu- setts, where they were married. The fa- ther was born in 1812, and in early life fol- lowed the carpenter's and joiner's trade in Massachusetts and New York. Coming west in 1844, he settled in Sterling, White- side county, Illinois, but spent the follow- ing winter at his trade in St. Louis. He then returned to Sterling and sent for his family, who joined him at that place. There he successfully engaged in contracting and building for many years, but now, after a long and beneficial career, is living retired with our subject in Tampico. His wife died in May, 1891. Reared in Sterling, Frank B. Thomas was educated in the schools of that city. After finishing the liigh school course, he learned the carpenter's trade with his fa- ther, and worked with him in Sterling for about three years. On the 29th of May, 1879, in Tampico, he was united in mar- riage with Miss Ida M. Bullock, a native of Winnebago county, Illinois, and a daughter of R. M. Bullock, now a retired resident of Tampico. Mrs. Thomas was reared and educated in Sterling and was graduated from the high school of that place. By her marriage to our subject she has be- come the mother of three children: Mabel A., and Asael, all of whom who are at- tending school, and Alfred is also clerking in a grocery store. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas located on a farm near Tampico, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits for about eighteen years, at the same time working at his trade. For the last eight years he has been engaged in contracting and building on his own account, and has erected numerous houses and barns in this part of the county. Renting his farm in 1899, he removed to Tampico, where he bought a lot and built a residence for his own use. Although at the beginning of his business career, he received no financial aid, he has steadily prospered, owing to his industry, perseverance and good executive ability, and is now the owner of a good farm of eighty acres in Tampico township besides his property in the village. Mr. Thomas cast his first presidential vote for Rutherford B. Hayes, and has never faltered in his allegiance to the Re- publican party. He has taken quite an act- ive and prominent part in local politics; has been a member of the school board and clerk of the district for some years; and in 1S98 was elected supervisor of Tampico township. As a member of the honorable county board, he is now serving on the judiciary committee and committee of mis- cellaneous claims. Fraternally he is a prom- inent member of the Modern Woodmen Camp of Tampico, where he is serving as venerable consul; and is also supreme judge of the Knights of the Globe at that place. He and his wife hold membership in the Baptist Church of Tampico, and he has filled the office of deacon for about ten years. THOMAS L. EASTIN, foreman of the nickel and polishing department of the Mississippi Valley Stove Works, at Fulton, THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 193 Illinois, is at the head of one of the most important divisions of the place in which he is employed. The polishing and plating, and burnishings of platings for the high grade base burners, ranges and stoves manufact- ured by this company is a very particular work, each article going through different baths, first the potash dip, after which the scouring with pomace stone; then an acid bath, and a rinsing in clear water; then after the electroplating bath in a hot water bath; then in the buffing room the fine Uls- ter that is a distinguishing feature is given; and after these processes are finished comes a washing in a specially prepared compound, then the drying in sawdust. The castings are prepared for grinding by a bath in hy- dro-fluoric acid, and are then heated with lime to neutralize the acid. All of this labor is performed under the supervision of Mr. Eastin, who thoroughly understands every detail of the work, having had much experience therein. He was born September 11, 1862, at Louisville, Iventucky, a son of Thomas N. Eastin, and a grandson of Zachariah Eastin, a soldier of the war of 1812. His great- grandfather Eastin was a man of note in his day, and had the distinction of being the first Unitarian minister to cross the mount- ains into Kentucky. Thomas N. Eastin was born and bred in Paris, Bourbon county, Kentucky, his birth occurring in 181 5. He spent his early life in his native place, and he and his brothers laid out many of the principal roads and pikes of the state. Later they engaged in milling at Spottsylvania, Kentucky, on the Green river. The father spent his last years as a real estate dealer and claim agent, car- rying on a large and successful business. He was a stanch Democrat in politics, a Master Mason, and a faithful member of the Unitarian church. He was twice married, his first wife having been Penelope Churchill, a daughter of Judge O. Churchill, of Eliza- beth, Kentucky. She died in early woman- hood, leaving one child, the Rev. Churchill Eastin, pastor of the Episcopal church, at Washington, D. C. On November 27, 1 866, he married Annie E. Pilcher, daugh- ter of \V. S. and Dolly (Fisher) Pilcher. Her father was for some time associated in business with General Humphey, at one time mayor of the city of Louisville, and was very prominent in public life, having stumped the state three different times, and once received the nomination for lieutenant- governor. By this marriage si.x children were born, naniel}': Henry S., engaged in the brass foundry at Louisville; Thomas L , the special subject of this sketch; Robert N., a resident of Fulton, is engaged with his brother in the stove works; and three children that died in childhood. Thomas L. Eastin completed his early education in the high school of Louisville, Kentucky, and at the age of fifteen years entered upon an apprenticeship with J. B. Williamson & Company, of that city, found- ers ari'd finishers of fine brass work, the senior member of the firm being the first person to introduce fine etching in brass works. At the end of three years he ac- cepted a position with Bridgeford & Com- pany, with whom he remained eleven years, nine years of the time being foreman of the polishing and plating department. Going thence to Evansville, Indiana, he managed the business of the W. F. Schaffer estate for a year, doing plating and finishing in gold, silver, nickel, brass, bronze, etc. He subsequently spent a few months in St. Louis, Missouri, with the Central Union 194 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Brass Works, and was afterwards employed in the same city for five years in the factory of Bridge, I5each & Company, the largest stove works west of the Mississippi river, and from there went to the Belle Hickey Manufacturing Company to take charge of their polishing and plating department, the firm manufacturing chandeliers. After he had been there seven months he was offered the fine position he now holds, and on April 3, 1896, came to Fulton to assume its re- sponsibilities. His fitness for the place is amply recognized by the satisfactory work he has accomplished. Mr. Eastin was married. May 5, 188S, at Jeffersonville, Indiana, to Lucy F. Wat- son, daughter of John and Sarah (Story) Watson, of Louisville, Iventucky. Mr. Watson was twice married, and by his first union had eight children, of whom six are now living, namely: Lucy F. , now Mrs. Eastin; Ida M., wife of J. H. Morton, of Chicago; Julia, wife of Alfred Cornell, of Louisville, Kentucky; Annie L. ; William H. ; and Ambrose. By his second mar- riage, Mr. Watson has one son, Estes. In politics Mr. Eastin supports the principles promulgated by the Republican party. His mother has made her home with him and his wife since the death of her husband, March 16, 1SS4. THOMAS NOON. Among the well-to-do and successful farmers of Whiteside coimty, who have accumulated a compe- tency through their own exertions and econ- omy, and who carry on their chosen calling in a most commendable manner, is the sub- ject of this biographical notice, who resides on section 30, Tampico township. He came to that county in 1874, and since then he has through his own unaided efforts achieved success, becoming the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and eighty acres in Tampico and Prophetstown township. Mr. Noon was born in Warwickshire, England, January 2, 1853, a son of Charles Noon, Sr., whose sketch appears on another page of this volume. In his native land our subject grew to manhood, but as he com- menced work at the early age of seven years, his educational advantages were necessarily limited. In 1874, with his father and the other members of the family, he boarded a steamer at Liverpool and sailed for the new world. After thirteen days spent upon the broad Atlantic they landed in Quebec, Can- ada, whence they proceeded at once to Whiteside county, Illinois. Here our sub- ject worked as a farm hand by the month for five years. On the 19th of December, 18S2, in this county, Mr. Noon was united in marriage with Miss Ora L. Coats, who was born, reared and educated in Ohio. Her father, Jeremiah Coats, was a leading lawyer of Gallia county, that state, and her brother, Professor C. T. Coats, is a prominent edu- cator of Ohio, now at the head of Carlton College. Mr. and Mrs. Noon have four children: Lilliam May, John S., Earl T. and Benjamin F. For one year after his marriage, Mr. Noon operated rented land, and then pur- chased eighty acres of his present farm, to which he added five years later another eighty-acre tract, and still later one hun- dred and twenty acres. He has made many valuable and useful improvements upon the place, has placed the land under excellent cultivation, and now has one of the best farms in the neighborhood. In his political affiliations Mr. Noon was THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 195 formerly a Democrat, but in 1S96 supported William McKinley for the presidency. He takes quite an active interest in educational affairs and for five years has served asschool director in his district. With his wife and two older children, he holds membership in the Christian church of Yorktown, and is now one of the trustees of the church, while socially he is a Master Mason and a mem- ber of the Modern Woodmen camp of Tampico. His honorable, upright life com- mends him to the confidence of all with whom he comes in contact either in business and social affairs, and his circle of friends seems only limited by his circle of acquaint- ances. JACOB D. WILBUR, an honored citizen of Sterling, has been numbered among our representative business men for close onto two score years, during all of this time having been active in the promotion of all local enterprises. His course in life has been eharacterized by integrity and up- rightness, and such material prosperity as he enjoys has come to him by honest labor. Henry Wilbur, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was of English descent. He was one of the first settlers in Wayne county, New York, going to that locality from Massachusetts. His uncle, Isaac Wil- bur, enlisted as a soldier in the war of 1812, and received wounds in one of the engagements in wliich he participated. George Wilbur, father of our subject, was born in Macedon, Wayne county. New York, in 1894, and his elder brother, Jere- miah, was the first white child born in the township where the family resided. He died at the age of twenty-one years. Amy P. , the only sister, became the wife of L. P. Hoag, and died at her home in Michigan. George Wilbur, who was a successful farm- er, died on the 28th of June, 1S63, and was survived a few years by his wife (formerly Elizabeth Pattison), whose death occurred in June, 1S70. The birth of J. D. Wilbur occurred in Macedon, New York, April 22, 1833. In his youth he learned the millwright's trade, and having purchased a farm with the pro- ceeds of his toil, he continued to attend to its cultivation for several years. This prop- erty did not leave his possession until a few years ago, when he sold it. On the i6th of December, 1863, he arrived in White- side county, since which date he has made his home in Sterling. For two years he was engaged in the grocery business, and then turned his attention to carpentering, following that pursuit, and executing work on contracts, for many years. At different times he owned town property and Mich- igan land, being quite successful in his real estate ventures. In 1853, Mr. Wilbur was united in mar- riage to Mary A. Green, in Victor, New York. She was born twenty years before, near Mount Clemens, Michigan, a daughter of Rice and Phcebe Green, who were na- tives of Otsego county. New York. In 1864 they removed to Ogle county, Illinois; where the father carried on a farm for some years, later retiring and making his home in Rochelle, Illinois, until his death. His widow, after a few years, came to live with her daughter, Mrs. Wilbur, and here she died in 1S71. The eldest child 01 our subject and wife, George R. , married May Coons, and resides in Winchester, Illinois. He has two sons, Percy and George Devore. Jeremiah J. was the second of our subject's children. 196 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Mary Ida, wife of W. S. Pattison, of Kala- mazoo, Michigan, has one daughter. May. Julia is the wife of H. L. Norwood, a Chi- cago printer, and their three children are, Cecil, Wilbur and Elizabeth. William E. , whose home is at Clinton, Iowa, married Celesta Ellerston, and their children are named William E. and Celesta. In his early manhood, Mr. Wilbur took quite a prominent part in the local affairs and politics of his own community, but since coming to the west he has contented him- self with voting for the candidates and measures of the Democratic party. Mrs. Wilbur, who is a lady of good education and social attainments, is a member of the Congregational church. GEORGE W. CLENDENEN, M. D., supreme medical examiner for the Mys- tic Workers of the World, an insurance order which he has the honor of organizing, is the seventh son of Robert A. and Amanda (Hinchman) Clendenen, and was born in Boone county, Virginia, now West \'ir- ginia, December 4, 1844. He is distantly related to ex- Postmaster-General Wilson, General Lew Wallace and ex-Comptroller of the Treasuiy Eckles. The family moved from Virginia to Cass county, Michigan, in March, 1847, at which time the country was comparatively new and covered with heavy forests which required a great deal of labor in removing before the soil was ready for tilling. Purchasing a farm, the father commenced the work of clearing and im- proving it, but sickness overtook him in about two years after making the purchase, and he died of flux, leaving a large family of children with a widowed mother. Dur- ing his sickness, three of his daughters also died of the same disease, the older one, Mary Ann, being about nineteen years old, while the other two were two and four years old, respectively. The death of the four all occurred within four weeks' time. George was now but six years old. Through the energy, perseverance and determination of the mother, the family were all kept together, and by the assistance of the older boys, the younger ones were cared for until they were able to care for themselves. During this period the facili- ties for an education were very meager in that wild and new country, but the subject of this narrative attended the common dis- trict school summer and winter until he was large enough to work on the farm in the summer months, after which time he at- tended school in the winter. With a stead- fast determination to succeed he pursued his studies until he secured such an education as enabled him to teach in the common schools of the county. By teaching winters, he procured money enough to attend the graded schools at Niles, Michigan, during the summer. After leaving the graded schools, in the winter of 1861 he taught a district school in Berrien county, Michigan, at the low rate of twenty dollars per month. The following winter he was urged to teach a larger and more advanced school in an ad- joining district at a salary of fifty-five dol- lars per month, and accepted the situation. After this he taught in various schools in Berrien and Cass counties for several years, giving good satisfaction to his patrons. In the fall of 1868 our subject went to Tuscumbia, Alabama, where he engaged in the mercantile business for one year, after which he accepted a position as principal of the Decatur, Alabama, schools for one year. He followed the profession of teaching in G. W. CLENDENEN, M. D. THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 199 winters, and workinj^ on farms in summers, for some years, and then secured a position as traveling salesmen for a firm in Niies, Michigan. While traveling, his spare mo- ments were spent in reading medicine, hav- ing decided to take up the medical profes- sion as his life work. He traveled for five years, at the expiration of which time he at- tended lectures in the Bennett Medical Col- lege, Chicago, from which institution, after taking a thorough course, he graduated in 1SS4, having an average of one fiundred in all branches of study. Soon after his arrival in Tuscumbia, Alabama, Dr. Clendenen was united in marriage with Miss Ellen A. Ferris, who had settled in that city with her parents some two months previous to his arrival. They were married January 15, 1869, by Rev. Joseph H. Shackelford, pastor of the Baptist church, Tuscumbia. The}' remained in that city until in September, 1869, when they moved to Decatur, Alabama, that he might take charge of the school there, as already mentioned. After leaving Decatur, they moved to Dowagiac, Michigan. Ellen A. (F"erris) Clendenen was the daughter of Edwin W. and Jane D. (Lee) Ferris, whose family history traces back to the Lawsons and Fitzgeralds. After more than twenty-five years of wedded life, she was stricken with an internal cancer, and on May 18. 1895, died from the effects of that terrible disease, and her remains were in- terred in the cemetery at Fulton. She was the mother of four children, two of whom died in infanc)'. Eddy, the only son, died of tx'phoid fever in Fulton, Illinois, in 1885. Katherine G., the only child li\ing, resides with her father. For his second wife Dr. Clendenen mar- ried Miss Mae Eno Hoover, who was born in Ustick township, Whiteside county, Illinois, and theyoimgest daughter of H. H. and Mary A. Hoover, who were natives of Pennsylvania. In 1873 Dr. Clendenen located in Fulton and in 1877 began the practice of his profes- sion, and it was but a short time before his skill as a physician was well attested and his practice began to grow. He has now been a resident of the city for twenty-six years, and his practice is a large and satisfactory one. Since coming to the place he has held the position of head physician of the Modern Woodmen of America, and during Cleve- land's administration he was examining sur- geon for soldiers' pensions, serving in both positions with distinction and honor until his term e.xpired. Soon after graduating in medicine. Dr. Clendenen became convinced that the treat- ment of cancer was not what it ought to be in this day and age, and being convinced that cancer was a local disease he sought to find a remedy that would virtually do away with the use of the knife on all such cases. Knowing the plaster to be far superior to the knife, he sought to improve upon the plaster by procuring a medicine that he could use with a hypodermic needle. After thorough investigation and trial of his new preparation, it proved to be far better than he at first anticipated, as the new remedy proved successful in several cases where the knife and the plaster had both failed. It can be truthfully said that Dr. Clendenen was the first person to successfully use the hypodermic needle in the cure of this loath- some disease. Other physicians that have used his treatment utterly refuse to use any other method, as it is by far the best remedy and treatment that has been brought before the medical fraternity. 200 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Dr. Clendenen is now the supreme med- ical examiner of the Mystic Workers of the World, of which organization he is the founder. At the present time the headquar- ters of the order are at Fulton, Illinois, and the order is one of the best of its kind in existence. It was founded in 1S91, the Doc- tor writing the ritual and laws suitable for lodge work. At present the membership of the order is about twelve thousand, and it is growing rapidly. The Doctor has always been somewhat active in politics, and a firm believer in the Jeffersonian doctrine, he is a stanch Demo- crat. He is bitterly opposed to tariffs and trusts, believing all such to be inimical to the best interests of the people. In religion he is liberal. On his mother's side the Doctor is related to Comtnodore Perry of Lake Erie fame, his grandmother being a Perry. His broth- ers and sisters were Oscar P., Marj- Ann, William I., Martin Van Buren, John F., David K., Andrew Irving, Martha Ann and Sarah Jane. Of those now living William I. resides on a farm near Dowagiac, Mich- igan; John Floyd is in the practice of med- icine at LaSalle, Illinois; while Andrew Irv- ing is also in the practice of medicine, his home being in Maywood, Illinois. Fraternally, Dr. Clendenen has been a Master Mason for manyj'ears, and has filled nearly all the chairs in the blue lodge. He is a charter member of Sunlight lodge, No. 137, K. P.; a charter member of Forest camp, No. 2, M. W. A.; a member of the Knights of the Maccabees; the American Benefit Society; the Woodmen of the World; and Fraternal Brotherhood. These are in addition to the Mystic Workers of the World, of which mention has been made. He is editor of the " Mystic Worker," the official organ of the order. The Doctor is now medical health officer of Fulton. As a ph\sician the Doctor has been quite success- ful, and his ability is recognized by all. As a citizen he is ever ready to do his part in everything that will tend to the advancement of his city and county, and therefore he has many friends who esteem him for his worth as a man and physician. GEORGE P. RICHMOND. The sub- ject of this biography, one of the honored sons of Massachusetts, and a most distinguished farmer and stock dealer resid- ing on section 35, Prophetstown township, is pre-eminently a self-made man. He began life with a definite purpose in view, has worked faithfully, honestly, and with a will for its accomplishment, and is now one of the wealthiest, as well as one of the most highly respected citizens of his com- munit}-. Mr. Richmond was born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, October 24, 1827, and there grew to manhood, his education being acquired in the district schools near his early home. Thinking to better his financial condition in the west, he came to Illinois in 1S49, traveling by railroad to Buffalo, by the Great Lakes to Chicago, and overland to Whiteside county, where he arrived in April, of that year. He spent some time in prospecting in this state and Wisconsin, but finally returned to his county in August and entered one hundred and sixty acres of land in Prophetstown town- ship, upon which not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made. During his entire residence here he has devoted considerable attention to stock raising, his first purchase consisting of sixty head of cat- THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 20I tie. He soon bought another farm adjoin- ing the first, upon which a log house had been erected, and into it he mnved. The first season spent here, he, him- self mowed with a scythe enough hay to feed sixty head of cattle during the winter. He also split the rails to fence his stock yard. His first home here later gave place to a good frame residence, which was com- pleted in iS6o. For the first few years of his residence here Mr. Richmond boarded with a family who lived in his house, but on the 22d of February, i860, he was united in marriage with Miss Cevilla Gage, a daughter of Ed- ward S. Gage, one of the pioneers of the county, who located here in 1S35. Mrs. Richmond was born and reared in White- side county, and died in June, 1879, her re- mains being interred in Prophetstown cem- etery, where a monument now marks her last resting place. Three children were born of that union, namely: Mary, wife of Charles Passmore, a business man of Ful- ton, Illinois; John, who, with his wife and two children, resides on the home farm, and Harry, who is married and engaged in farming in this county. A thorough and skillful farmer and an excellent business man, Mr. Richmond's efforts have been crowned with success, and he is now the owner of about eighteen hun- dred acres of valuable and well improved land, divided into three farms, one of which consists of four hundred and eighty acres lying south of the railroad in Prophetstown township. Of late years he has fattened for the market as high as three hundred head of cattle per year. In 1877 he began breeding and dealing in standard bred horses in a small way. having previous to this time raised roadsters and draft horses, and he is now one of the largest breeders and dealers of high class stock in this sec- tion of the state, keeping on hand about one hundred head of horses, and selling each year from twenty to forty head. He has raised some very valuable horses, hav- ing sold some of his young stock as high as five and si.\ hundred dollars. To his own well-directed efforts may be attributed his SUCC3SS in life, for on coming to the county his capital was limited, but he has made the most of his advantages and has been uni- formly successful in his business ventures. Politically he is a stanch Republican, and, as every true American citizen should, he takes a deep and commendable interest in public affairs, supporting all measures which he believes will prove of public benefit. For some years he was an efficient mem- ber of the school board. He has never cared for political honors, preferring to give his undivided attention to his extensive business interests. JOHN H. SNYDER was born in Argus- k-J ville, Schoharie county. New York, August 16, 1S40, and is a son of James Snyder, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. His early education was ac- quired in the schools of his native state, and at the age of fifteen years he accompanied his parents on their removal to Illinois, lo- cating on a farm two miles south of Morri- son. He then attended school at Union- ville, and later was a student at Galesburg Academy, being at the latter place when the railroad was built through the county. Coming to Morrison in 1857 he entered the store of Spears Brothers as clerk and there obtained his first knowledge of business. At that time a bank report had to be ex- 202 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. amined every time a bill was taken in and most of them discounted and sent to Chicago every night. There was no small change in the country and when needed by the mer- chants, shoestrings and other articles were used. Later they used stamps until the government stopped them and issued script that passed in this section. Mr. Snyder continued clerking for four years and then beame a partner in the busi- ness, with which he was connected as a mem- ber of the firm of Spears Brothers & Com- pany for the same length of time. On sever- ing his connection with that firm he formed a partnership with his brother, Jamss A. Sny- der, and engaged in the dry goods business at Clarence, Iowa, then a new town, forty miles west of Clinton, After eight years of successful business at that place our subject returned to Morrison and opened a dry goods and also a grocery store on Main street, be- ing still in partnership witli his brother, who remained in charge of the store at Clarence. The enterprise proved successful and Mr. Snyder conducted both stores at Morrison until iSSS when he closed out the business after having been connected witii the dry goods trade for twenty-nine years and ten months. He then remo\ed to Kansas City, where in connection with Judge Ramsay and a Mr. Parker, he engaged in loaning money for a year, but at the end of that time re- turned to Morrison and about a j ear later became interested in the drug business, buy- ing a stock of drugs with A. R. Lewis as the practical druggist. Business is now carried on under the firm name of J. H. Snyder & Company and they have the leading drug store in the city. They erected their own building, which is especially adapted to the drug trade, is ninety feet deep on Main street, and the second floor is arranged for offices. Besides a well selected stock of drugs, patent medicines, etc., they carry paints, books, papers, etc., and enjoy a large and tlourishing trade. In July, 1867, Mr. Snyder was united in marriage with Miss Mary Furlong, a daugh- ter of John Furlong, who was connected with the construction of th; Northwestern railroad and came to Morrison on one of the first trains- run into the city. He was from Cattaraugus county. New York. Mr. and Mrs. Snyder have two children: Jessie, now the wife of J. A. Anguish, of Morrison; and Alleyne, wife of H. A. Boyd, of Morri- son, by wliom she has one daughter, Kathryn. Mrs. Snyder is a member of the Presbyte- rian church, which her husband also attends and supports. He is a stanch Republican in politics but has never been an aspirant for office, and is a member of Dunlap lodge. No. 321, F. & A. M. LEWIS C. ARNETT, an active, enter- prising agriculturist of Portland town- ship, owns and occupies a well-improved farm of two hundred acres, on section 27, Spring Hill. A life-long resident of this township, he was born December iS, 1842, a son of the late Jacob Arnett. His paternal grandfather, Louis Arnett. spent the eatlier part of his life in his native country, France, where he served under Napoleon, but died in Henry comity, Illinois, whither he emigrated with his family in 1827. Jacob Arnett, born in France in 1815, came with his parents to America, and until 1836 lived in Pennsylvania. Coming then to Whiteside county as a pioneer, he pre- enrpted one hundred and si.xty acres of land in Portland township, on which he settled. A man of industry and thrift, he prospered THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD, 203 in his undertakings, and ere he gave up active work was the owner of at least eight hundred acres of good land. He sub- sequently removed to Getieseo, Illinois, where he lived retired until his death, in May, 1899, at the venerable age of eighty- four years. In the winter of 1841, after living in Portland township nearly live years, he returned to Pennsylvania for his bride, and there married Charlotte Somniers, who was born in Germany. She preceded him to the better land, passing away in August, 1881. Of their children seven grew to mature life, Lewis C. being the eldest. Lewis C. Arnett grew to manhood on the parental homestead, which adjoins his own, and in its management ably assisted his father. In the days of his youth he obtained a good common-school education, and a practical knowledge of the various branches of agriculture. On attaining his majority he began farmirg on his own account, taking charge of his uncle's estate. In 1866 he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of his present propert}-, and has since bought eighty acres of adjoining land. In the care and improvement of this he has shown excellent judgment, and made the best of every opportunity for advance- ment in his chosen calling. He has made improvements of a substantial character, including the building of a convenient house and fine barn, and is carrying on farming after the most approved modern methods. He also pays much attention to stock rais- ing and dealing, making a specialty of hogs, having some valuable pure-blood Poland- Chinas. During the year he feeds and fat- tens for market one car-load of cattle and two car-loads of hogs, an industry that has proved quite profitable. On September 6, 1868, Mr. Arnett mar- ried Miss Sarah Roos, who was born and educated in Henry county, a daughter of Martin Roos, for many years a prominent member of the farming community of that part of the state, but who is now living, at the advanced age of eighty-three years, retired from active life, in Geneseo. Of their union eight children liave been born, as follows: Clara, wife of Augustus Weberg; Stacey, who assists in the care of the home farm, and belongs to the Masonic order and is tyler at the present time; Leroy. a farmer, is married, resides in this count}', and in politics follows his father; Ida; Agnes; Min- nie; Maud, and Harlan. Politically Mr. Arnett is a steadfast Republican, and since casting his -first presidential ballot, in 1864, for Abraham Lincoln, has voted once in four 3'ears for the nominee of the Republican party. He is an active participant in all local elections, and though he has never sought office, was elected, and served for one year, as constable. He is earnestly in- terested in the public schools, and has served a number of terms on the school board. At the present time he is one of the township trustees, an offics which he is filling most acceptably to all concerned. Fraternally he is a Master Mason, and a member of the Spring Hill blue lodge, of which he was for seven consecutive years the treasurer. Mrs. Arnett is a member of the Evangelical church, in which she is a faithful worker. ERWIN J. MANGAN. Prominent among the business men of Sterling, White- side county, is numbered E. J. Mangan, whose name heads this sketch. No one is better known in this vicinity, for his entire life has been spent here, and all his interests 204 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. from boyhood have been closely associated with those in this locality. In his special line of business he has made a great success, and by the energy and zeal which he has manifested he has won the confidence and esteem of the public. Born December 30, 1862, E. J. Mangan is a son of Richard L. and Naomi J. (Thoman) Mangan, whose history may be found in that of their son Samuel T., which appears elsewhere in this volume. In his youth, our subject attended the public schools of this city and managed to obtain a liberal education. He was apprenticed to a harness maker when young and thoroughly learned the trade, at which he worked for a number of years. He also learned the trade of a wagon-maker, which calling he followed a few years, in the meantime residing at home with his parents. These vocations, however, were not en- tirely suited to the tastes of Mr. Mangan, and as his father was a successful tforist, the young man decided to take up that line of business. He was associated with his father until the latter's death, after which, in partnership with his brother, he continued to carry on business for about two years. Considering its humble beginning, it has grown to remarkable proportions for, whereas only a small conservatory, indeed a wing of his father's house, was originally used for this purpose, large greenhouses are now necessary to accommodate the beautiful varieties of plants and flowers. At expira- tion of this time the business was purchased by F. A. Belt, who has retained him as an assistant, and the results demonstrate the wisdom of his choice. The same interest and enterprise which our subject maintains in his financial under- takings are to be seen in his attitude on public questions. In his political affiliation he is a Republican of no uncertain stamp, believing as he does that to that party can be attributed much of the prosperity which this country enjoys in the closing days of the nineteenth century. Fraternally, he is a member of camp Number 12, Modern Woodmen of America. On the 30th of November, 1885, the marriage of E. J. Mangan and Miss May Hendricks was solemnized in this city. She is the daughter of Samuel B. Hendricks, and was born November 30, 1863, in this place. Five children blessed the home of our subject and wife, their names being re- spectively: Pearl, Maurice, Ethel, Marjorie and Dorothy. The family reside in an at- tractive home where they take great pleas- ure in entertaining their many friends. EDWARD LANCASTER. Whiteside county has many well-to-do and suc- cessful farmers who have accumulated what they have of this world's goods through in- dividual effort. Among this class the name of the subject of this sketch is entitled to a place. He resides on section 22, Prophets- town township, where he is industriously engaged in the prosecution of his noble call-' ing, and is meeting with good success in his labors. Mr. Lancaster was born in Lincolnshire, England, June 22, 1831, a son of Charles Lancaster, also a native of Lincolnshire. Our subject was reared upon a farm and provided with fair school advantages. In his native county he was married in April, 1856, to Miss Mary Francis, who was also born in Lincolnshire, a daughter of John Francis. Three dajs later ihey started for the new world, taking passage on a sailing THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 205 vessel at Liverpool and landing in Pliiladel- phia June i, after a stormy voyage of seven weeks. They proceeded at once to White- side county, Illinois, where they joined an English friend, Edward Scotchbrook, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. For three months after his arrival Mr. Lancaster worked by the month as a farm hand, and then located on the Rock river near his present home. He operated rented land for about eight years, a part of this time being spent on one of Mr. Richmond's farms. Industrious and economical, he at length saved enough to purchase eighty acres of partially improved land, upon which he has made his home since 1864. As time has passed and his financial resources have increased, he has added to his farm until his landed possessions now aggregate two hundred and thirty acres, which he has con- verted into one of the best farms of its size in his section of the county. It is pleas- antly located on the Rock river, three miles from Prophetstown, and is improved with a neat and commodious residence, a large barn and substantial outbuildings, which stand as monuments to his thrift and enter- prise. Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster, namely: Jane, now the wife of Lorenzo French, of Lyndon; Edwin, a farmer of Prophetstown; Eliza, wife of Nathan Gage, of Portland township; Han- nah, at home; Herbert, a farmer of this county; Heltie, wife of Edwin Thompson, also a farmer of this county; John, a farmer of the same place; Agnes, wife of Chester Hill, a farmer of this county; and Lewis and Gilbert, who are still on the home farm. Hettie, who died in 1866 at the age of two years, is the only one of the famil}' now deceased. At national elections Mr. Lancaster sup- ports the men and measures of the Demo- cratic party, but in local affairs, where no issue is involved, he votes for the best men, regardless of party affiliations. He and his wife are earnest and consistent members of the Congregational church, and are held in high regard by all who have the pleasure of their acquaintance. RALPH N. SMITH, LL. B., city attor- ney of \Iorrison, is one of the younger members of the Whiteside county bar, but his prominence is by no means measured by his years; on the contrary, he has won a reputation which many an older practitioner might well envy. He was born in Green- wich, Ohio, June 9, 1870, a son of Otis and Mary J. (Welch) Smith. The paternal grandfather was Charles Smith, a native of Connecticut and a representative of an old New England family. For several years he engaged in farming in Saratoga county. New York, and from there removed to Green- wich, Ohio, becoming one of its pioneers. He settled in the woods and there cleared and improved a farm on which he spent his remaining days. Otis Smith, father of our subject, was born in Saratoga county. New York, and was about seventeen years of age when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Greenwich, Ohio, where he still resides upon the old homestead, engaged in agri- cultural pursuits. He is the owner of four hundred acres of valuable land, all of which he devoted to sheep raising until the elec- tion of President Cleveland, in 1884, when the business became unprofitable owing to the removal of the tariff on wool. He was very e.xtensively engaged in the busi- 2o6 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. ness, and usually kept from ten to fifteen hundred sheep through the winter. He is a director of the First National Bank of Plymouth, Ohio, and is a strong Repub- lican, but not an aspirant for office. His wife was born in Huron count}', Ohio, and is a daughter of Nicholas and Susan (Stiles) Welch, early settlers in the vicinity of Greenwich. Both Mr. and Mrs. Smith are faithful members of the Congregational church. Our subject is the youngest son in a family of six children. His early education was acquired in the common and high schools of Greenwich, and after teaching school for three years, he entered the Ohio Normal University, from which he gradu- ated in the scientific department. During the following two years he again engaged in teaching and for a short time was variously employed until he went to Valparaiso, In- diana, and pursued a three years' course at the Northern Indiana Law School, from which he was graduated with the degree of LL. B., in 1895. On the 15th of July, 1895, Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Olive A. McBride, a daughter of W. W. McBride, of Millersburg, Indiana, and they now have a little son, Russell \V., bom September 7, 1898. Soon after his marriage, Mr. Smith came to Morrison and opened a law office. He met with success from the start and has built up a good practice. Although his father is wealthy, he received no aid from him and has been dependent entirely upon his own resources for advancement. He has been connected with many of the most important cases tried in the county, includ- ing the well-known Carlton case and the Dourchy ^'t-rsiis Hawes, in which he ap- peared for the plaintiff. It involved the right of the Salvation Army to induce a child to join them against the wishes of the parents, in which Mr. Smith got a verdict. Mr. Smith was also employed as counsel on three important cases in Mount Carroll, and also in other counties, which speaks well for his ability in his chosen calling. He has lately formed a partnership with E. R. Daniels, and the firm is doing a good busi- ness. Mr. Smith is an active member of the Republican party, has been a delegate to different conventions, and was elected city attorney of Morrison, which position he is now most creditably filling. Socially he is a member of Grove lodge, I. O. O. P., and Anchor lodge, K. P., of which he is now chancellor commander. BENJAMIN F. BROOKS, whose well- kept farm lies in section 29, Portland township, in Spring Hill, is a man of good business capacity, and great intelligence. On the old homestead about two miles from his present home he was born .\ugust 17, 1837, in tiie log cabin reared by his father, the late Alphonso Brooks, and it is historically interesting to know that he is said to be the oldest white child born in this county that is still a resident. The cabin in which he first opened his eyes to the light was rudely constructed of unhewn logs, and as there was but a dirt floor he actually took his first steps on his native soil. Alphonso Brooks, a native of New York state, lived there until 1833, when he joined the procession marching westward in search of cheaper and better homes. Tak- ing up a claim in Du Page county, Illinois, he spent one season there, but in 1834 re- THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 207 turned to New York where he soon married Miss Eliza Teats, who was born and reared in that state. In 1835, accompanied by his young wife, he again came to IHinois, and crossing the state located in Whiteside county. From one of the original settlers of Portland township he purchased a claim of one hundred and twenty acres, on which he reared the log house before mentioned. After placing a portion of his land in a good state of cultivation, he disposed of that prop- erty and took a claim at Spring Hill, where he erected the first building used as a house of public entertainment in this locality, and there for many years kept a hotel, and en- gaged in farming. Benjamin F. Brooks attended the dis- trict school in his youthful days, and as an able assistant in the general work of the home farm obtained a thorough knowledge of agriculture, which he has made his life occupation. On settling in life he bought the parental homestead, but later traded that for his present estate, in the improve- ment of which he has labored with unremit- ting industry, and has met with richly de- served success. He has spent his entire life in this vicinity, and during the three score and more of years has witnessed wonderful changes, with many of which he has been actively identified. In his boyhood days there were neither large school-houses, magnificent churches, costly residences, nor substantial barns; neither railways, tele- graph or telephone lines crossed these broad acres, and the evidences of civilization were but few. Now flourishing towns and cities abound, and broad, well cultivated farms yield abundantly of the products of the soil; in this grand transformation Mr. Brooks has performed his share of labor, spend- ing many of the best years of the busy life IS in redeeming from its primitive condition a portion of this beautiful country. On April 19, 1859, Mr. Brooks married Miss Mary Lamphere, who was born in New York state, but who grew to woman- hood in Illinois. She passed to the life be- yond April 5, 1886, leaving six children, as follows: Frederic, a farmer, is married and resides in Henry county; Emmett, also a farmer, is married and lives in Henry county; Cora; Bert, engaged in farming in Poetland township, is married; Alice, who died at the age of twenty-eight years, and Roy, who assists in the care of the home farm. On August 28, 1889, Mr. Brooks married Miss Electra L. Brown, who was born and reared in Rock Island county, Illi- nois. One son has been born of this union, Marion, now a pupil in the public schools. Mr. Brooks cast his first ballot in i860, voting for Abraham Lincoln for president, and has ever since been conspicuously iden- tified with the Republican party. Taking an active interest in local affairs, he has served honorably and well in various offi- cial positions, wherever placed striving to do his best. He was deputy sheriff four years; a member of the school board many terms; has served as township collector; is present chairman of the township commit- tee; has been assessor the past eight or ten years, and has attended county conventions as a delegate almost continuously since i860. He has served one term as super- visor and road commissioner. He is prom- inent in Masonic circles, being past master of Spring Hill lodge. No. 412. Mr. and Mrs. Brooks are both members of the Sharon Methodist Episcopal church, he be- ing one of the charter members of the or- ganization, and at the present time one of the church trustees. 208 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. FRED R. BASTIAN, of Fulton, is one of the active members of the Demo- cratic party in this section, his large ac- quaintance and popularity giving him an in- fluential following, while his judgment of men and affairs make his counsel of value. He was born in Rochester, New York, Sep- tember 23, 1856, and in 1861 came to Illi- nois with his parents, Van S. and Ann E. Bastian, who settled on a farm near Proph- etstown, Whiteside county, where after re- maining one year, removed to Bureau coun- ty, where he grew to manhood. His edu- cation was desultory and was procured through his own efforts. Nature endowed him with an active mind and he made the most of his advantages. He received a high grade certificate and successfully engaged in teaching school for three years, after which he followed various occupations for some time. In October, 1879, Mr. Bastian accepted a position as reporter on the Sterling Ga- zette and was connected with that paper un- til April, 1 88 1, when he purchased the Jour- nal office at Fulton, Illinois, and changed the character of the paper from a Repub- lican to independent Democratic. Without severing his connection with the Journal, he went to Grand Forks, South Dakota, in July, 1882, as reporter on the Grand Forks Daily and Weekly News, but the following November returned to Fulton and resumed work on the Journal. He was interested in that paper until the fall of 1898, whenhe sold out to his brother, A. W. Bastian, the present editor and proprietor, and is now employed in the Fulton bank. On the 2istof August, 1884, at Mendo- ta, Illinois, Mr. Bastian was united in mar- riage with Miss Nellie J. Barton, a native of La Salle county, this state, and a daughter of William and Maria L (Hastings) Barton. He is quite active in fraternal affairs, is a member of Abou Ben Adhem lodge, No. 148, I. O. O. F. ; and was the organizer of Sunlight lodge. No. 235, K. P., circulating the petition and securing the charter for the same. Later he served as its first chancel- lor commander and first representative to the grand lodge. He was also a charter member of Forest camp. No. 2, M. W. A., in which he filled all of the chairs, and which he represented in the grand lodge. In political affairs, however, he is perhaps best known, and he is one of the active workers for his party interests in Whiteside county. In 1895 he received the Demo- cratic nomination for congressman from the tenth congressional district, and in 1898 his name was again placed on the party ticket for representative to the state Legis- lature from the thirty-first senatorial dis- trict, but he labors to a disadvantage as his party is in the minority in this county. However, he is a man of firm conviction and is utterly fearless and uncompromising; is bold and aggressive; and thoroughly en- joys a political contest. In 1896 he was appointed postmaster of Fulton, by Presi- dent Cleveland, although an advocate erf the free coinage of silver. He went to Wash- ington, presented his case to the president and received the appointment. After serv- ing in that position for twenty-two months, which was several weeks after President McKinley's election, he was removed on ac- count of his active partisanship. CHARLES NOON, Sr., an industrious and thrifty farmer residing on section 32, Tampico township, Whiteside county, Illinois, was born in Warwickshire, Eng- THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 2og land, December 30, 1828, and there was reared upon a farm. On the i6th of No- vember, 1848, at the age of twenty years, he was united in marriage with Miss Martha Hughes, who was born in Northampton- shire, England, October 8, 1830, and in their native land they continued to make their home until after the birth of all their children. There our subject worked at farming, mowing, ditching, or anything which he could find to do. With the hope of benefiting his finan- cial condition in the new world, Mr. Noon left England, in 1874, and with his family sailed from Liverpool to Quebec, whence they came at once to Whiteside count}', Illinois, joining Mrs. Noon's brother, James Hughes, who had located here in 1849. The family arrived at their destination July 19, and the following November Mr. Noon pur- chased a farm of eighty acres, on which was a little house, and a few other improve- ments. After leaving there for two years, he bought one hundred and sixty acres, where he now resides. Up- on that place he also built a little house, but he has since erected thereon two good residences, two large barns, a milk house and other outbuildings, and has made many other improvements which add to the value and attractive appearance of the place. He has since purchased forty acres elsewhere, and has a farm of one hundred and twenty acres one mile south of Tampic, making in all four hundred acres of very valuable and productive land. To Mr. and Mrs. Noon were born four- teen children, namely: Anna, who mar- ried George Low in England, and died there, leaving two children; Thomas, now a substantial farmer of this county; Benjamin and Charles, Jr., who aid in the operation of the home farm; Martha, wife of George Boldison; Jane, wife of Adam Miller; Rachel, wife of Webb Scott, of DeKalb county, Illinois; Sarah, wife of James Har- ris, of Princeton, Illinois; James, a farmer of Iowa; Job, a resident of the west; Caleb, a resident of Greenfield, Tennessee; Will- iam, a farmer of Iowa; Mary, wife of John Curley, of Tampico township, residing on one of Mr. Noon's farms; and Hannah, wife of John Wenkler, who operates one of her father's farms. Mr. and Mrs. Noon were reared in the Episcopalian faith and their children were all baptized in that church. They have twenty-eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Mr. Noon has made the most of his opportunities in life, and by his straightforward, honorable course has gained the respect and confidence of the entire community. He has accumulated a handsome property, and his life illustrates what can be accomplished through industry, perseverance, good management and a determination to succeed. BENJAMIN GURTISEN, one of the honored pioneers and representative citizens of Sterling, where he has made his home since 1854, was born in Strasburg, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, January 3, 1835, a son of Maximillian F. and Mar- garet (Rheam) Gurtisen, natives of Ger- many, who in childhood came to the United States and were married in Lancaster coun- ty, where the father engaged in the butcher business and conducted a meat market of his own. He was killed on the Pennsyl- vania Railroad at Lemon when our subject was only two years old, leaving his wife with three small children: Jacob, now a resident of Iowa; Benjamin; and John, of 2IO THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. After her children grew up the mother moved to Ger- mantown, Indiana, where she died in the faith of the Lutheran church. Our subject received a good practical education in the schools of Strasburg, and served an apprenticeship to the shoemaker's trade at that place. He then came to Sterl- ing, Illinois, which at that time was a small village containing only one or two stores. After working at his trade for two years his health gave out and he accepted a position with a railroad surveying party. Later he formed a partnership with W. F. Caughey, and under the firm name of Caughey & Gurtisen conducted the first successful meat market at Sterling. They did their own slaughtering and as they had no ice were compelled to sell their meat the day the an- imals were killed. They would buy cattle and slaughter them anywhere, and sheep for killing were allowed to run over the present site of the city. During the construction of the railroad there was such a demand for meat that the people would stand in line to be waited on and fight for their meat, get- ting hold of a piece while it was being cut and holding on for fearsome one else would get it. The firm did a good business for a number of years, and their first market on Fifth avenue was afterward replaced by a good brick block on the same street near the high school. Loyal to his country, Mr. Gurtisen gave up a good business and excellent prospects in order to enlist in Company A, Thirty- fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to the western army under General Rosecrans. At Green river he was taken ill and after a year and a half was discharged from the field hospital with the rank of second sergeant. The following year he re-enlisted as second lieutenant in Company A, One Hundred and Fortieth Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry — a hundred -day regiment — which was first ordered to Cairo and later to Memphis, Coldwater and Pigeon. They were engaged in fighting guerrillas until time to be mustered out, when they were ordered to Chicago for that purpose, but as Price was then making a raid through Missouri they were sent to St. Louis and remained in Missouri until he left, being finally mustered out in Chicago. Before his re-enlistment, Mr. Gurtisen and his partner sold out their business and both entered the same company. After his re- turn our subject clerked in the grocery store of S. Ross Morgan for a number of years, and after he sold out to a Mr. Brewer Mr. Gurtisen had charge o( the store — then one of the largest in the city — for one year. At the end of that time he purchased a half in- terest in the business, and in partnership with James P. Overhoser enjoyed a good and profitable trade. In the meantmie he invested in Nebraska lands and city lots and became a stockholder in different manufacturing concerns of Sterling. After disposing of his grocery store he -was em- ployed as shipping clerk in the Novelty Works for two years, and later clerked for J. R. Bell & Company for a number of years, after which he was administrator for estates. He built a good residence on Fifth avenue where the high school now stands, and on selling it to the township for school purposes, in 1897, he erected his present beautiful home at 505 Seventh avenue, where he is now living. In 1857, Mr. Gurtisen married Miss Emma Aument, a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvaniy, who came to Sterling with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 21 I Aument, her father heing a wagon man- ufacturer here in early days. The one child born of this union died young. Mr. Gurtisen were both reared in the Lutheran church. He is identified with the Republican party, and takes a very prominent and active part in city affairs. He has been a mem- ber of the common council for quite a number of years, during which the water works were put in operation; has also been chairman of the electric light committee for eight or ten years, and it is due to his untir- ing efforts that the lights of the city were put up. He is also chairman of the license and judiciary committees, and as a public- spirited and progressive citizen does all in his power to advace the interests of the city. He is a prominent and influential member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, having joined Sterling Lodge, January 8, 1858. On the 1st of July, 1859, he was elected vice-grand; noble grand, January 2, i860; and past grand July 2, i860. He was made a member of the grand lodge in 1872; grand junior warden of the Grand Encamp- ment of Illinois in i 880; grand senior warden in 1 88 I grand high priest in 1882; and grand patriarch in 1883 and 1884. He attended all the meetings of the brand lodge and grand encampment until 1898, and is now deputy and also official examiner and in- structor of the grand lodge of the state. He also belongs to William Robinson yost. No. 274 G. A. R., and is quite popular both in social and political circles. SAMUEL McKEAN McCALMONT, LL. B. , of Morrison, is one of the ablest lawyers practicing at the Whiteside county bar. A man of sound judgment, he man- ages his cases with masterly skill and tact, is a logical reasoner and has a ready com- mand of English. A native of Whiteside county, he was born in Ustick township, December 30, 1867, and is the only child of John J. and Sarah E. (McKean) McCal- mont. The father was a native of Centre county, Pennsylvania, and of Scotch descent, being the son of William Scott and Margaret (Laird) McCalmont. There he grew to manhood, but after his marriage, which was celebrated in Centre county, January 17, 1867, he came to Whiteside county, Illinois, and purchased a tract of wild land in Ustick township, to the improvement and cultiva- tion of which he devoted his energies until called from this life September 27, 1869, at the early age of twenty-nine years, ^^'ill- iam S. McCalmont, grandfather of our sub- ject, died in Centre county, Pennsylvania, December 17, 1863, and his father, John McCalmont, died about 1782. The wife of the latter was Jane Allison. John McCal- mont was a son of Thomas McCalmont, who came to America from the north of Ireland. The family have all been strong members of the Presbyterian church. Our subject's maternal grandfather was Samuel McKean, a tanner and farmer of Center county, Penn- sylvania, who was born September 21, 1809, and died September 7, 1867. He svas mar- ried, November 28, 1837, to Elizabeth M. Lowry, who was born November 26, 18 14, and is still living. Her father, James M. Lowry, was born June 19, 1792, and was married February 24, 1S14, to Sarah Laird, who was born April i, 1790. After the death of her first husband, the mother of our subject returned to Pennsylvania, and in Northumberland county, that state, she was again married, September 3, 1873, her second union being with J. S. Miller, of Ustick township, Whiteside county, IHinois, 1 2 12 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. now of Fulton. They have one child, Anna R. In religious faith the mother is also a Presbyterian. The primary education of Samuel M. McCalmont was obtained in the district schools of Ustick township, and he later attended school at Morrison, coming a dis- tance of five miles each morning. On the removal of the family to Fulton, in Decem- ber, 1886, he entered the high school at that place, from which he was graduated in 1888. The following year was spent at the Northern Illinois College, at Fulton, and in the fall of 1889 he entered the literary de- partment of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, but a year later became a stu- dent of the law department of the same in- stitution, from which he was graduated with the degree of L.L. B., in 1892. In the fall of that year he opened an office in Ful- ton and engaged in practice there until March i, 1895, when he came to Morrison and formed a partnership with F. D. Ram- say. On the election of that gentleman to the office of circuit judge, Mr. McCalmont succeeded to their large practice and is now one of the leading lawyers of the city. He is engaged in general practice and was one of the representatives of the people of Fulton in the Modern Woodmen case that was recentl}' tried in this county. His powers as an advocate have been demonstrated by his success on many occasions. Thoroughness characterizes all his efforts, and he conducts all business with a strict regard»to a high standard of professional ethics. November 1 , 1 899, he formed a partnership with Luther R. Ramsay, son of Judge Ramsay, and the business is conducted under the firm name of McCalmont & Ramsay. Religiously Mr. McCalmont is a Presbyterian. On the i6th of November, 1898, Mr. McCalmont married Miss Mary Alice Taylor, of Morrison, a daughter of Dr. Samuel Tay- lor, deceased. ADAM B. YOUNG, a retired agricultur- ist of Spring Hill, resided on section 30, Portland township, is an honored rep- resentative of the early pioneers of this county, and a true type of the energetic, hardy men who have actively assisted in developing and improving this beautiful and fertile agricultural country. When he came here, in 1853, wild beasts roamed the forest, and the dusky savage still habited the wilderness hereabout, but these have all long since fled, their haunts being re- placed by populous villages or waving fields of grain. He was born March 3, 1823, in Blair county, Pennsylvania, a son of Bal- zar Young. Balzar Young was born in Germany, but when seven years old started with his parents from the Fatherland for America. His fa- ther died on the voyage over, and was buried at sea. His widowed mother pro- ceeded to Pennsylvania with her three chil- dren, two daughters and o'ne son, but not being able to support them alone bound them out. Balzar Young learned the trade of stone mason, and until his death was engaged in mechanical labor. He married Catherine Burket, daughter of Adam Burket, who was born and reared in Germany, but subsequently settled in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, where he brought up his family. Of this union sixteen children were born, si.\ of them being sons, and of this large familj- of children four sons aid six daughters are now, in November, 1899, living. Adam B. Young grew to manhood in his THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 213 native county, and being the eldest son of the parental household had but little time to devote to school, his help being needed to support the large family. In his earlier days he worked on a farm, but afterwards followed the occupation of a post and rail fence builder for fourteen years, a business which he found profitable. In 1853, fol- lowing the tide of emigration westward, he came to Whiteside county with his family, and having entered one hundred and twenty acres of land in Portland township at once commenced clearing it. He built a log cabin in which he lived seven years before erecting a frame house. As he accumula- ted money he invested in adjoining land until he had a farm of two hundred and seventy- seven acres, with excellent farm buildings, and this estate is still in his possession. In 1879 Mr. Young bought the property on which he now resides, and during the twenty years that have since elapsed he has made noted improvements, having entirely remodeled the house, barn and outbuildings, built new fences, and planted an orchard of fine fruit trees. He devotes his energies to general farming, including stock raising and dealing, and for thirty-two years manufact- ured cider each fall, making barrels upon barrels every season, and selling it at differ- ent markets throughout the country. By untiringindustry and sound busness judgment has won merited success in all of his un- dertakings, and is in all respects worthy of the high regard in which he is held by his fellow men. On the 1 8th of September, 1S44, Mr. Young married Elizabeth Ebersole, who was born in Blair county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Jacob Ebersole. She passed to the higher life in 1892, leaving seven children as follows: Jacob, a farmer, liv- ing on the old homestead; John, who is en- gaged as a general farmer in Portland town- ship; Isaac, also a farmer in this place; Daniel, of Portland township, a well-known farmer; George, a resident of Greenfield, Adair county, Iowa; Mary, wife of John F. Martin, of Crawford county, Missouri; and Adam Young, Jr., a farmer, living near Erie, this county. Politically Mr. Young has been a stanch supporter of the princi- ples of the Democratic party since casting his first presidential ballot, in 1844, for James K. Polk, and though taking no very active part in public affairs was for a num- ber of years one of the school directors. While living in his Pennsylvania home he was connected with the Lutheran church, but since coming to Portland he has united with the Sharon Presbyterian church, in which he is an earnest worker. ORRIN PADDOCK owns and operates a fine farm of one hundred acres on section 27, Prophetstown township, who is pleasantly located on the Rock river only two miles from the village of Prophetstown. It is conspicuous for the manner in which it has been improved and cultivated, and shows conclusively that it belongs to one of the most enterprising and energetic agri- culturists of the county. Mr. Paddock was born in Lewis county. New York, July 31, 1837, and is a son of James C. Paddock, who was born in Oneida county, that state, in iSio. The paternal grandfather was John Paddock. The father grew to manhood in his native county, and there married Miss Ro.xie Hall, also a na- tive of New York, and a daughter of Caleb Hall. From Oneida county they removed to Lewis county. New York, and in Novem- 214 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. ber, 185 1, came to Whiteside county, Illi- nois, where they joined two of Mr. Pad- dock's brothers. They made the journey across the country with teams, in company with another brother and his family. Here the father of our subject purchased between eight and nine hundred acres of land, which he at once began to improve and cultivate, but was not long permitted to enjoy his new home, dying of cholera September 2, 1854. His wife had died of the same dread disease three days before — August 31, and two sons, George, aged eight, and Clark, aged two and a half years, died the day fol- lowing the father's death. All were laid to rest in the Prophetstovvn cemetery. There were six children of the family who reached years of maturity, namely: John, now a merchant of Prophetstown; Caleb, a resi- dent of South Dakota; Orrin, of this review; Jay, a resident of Rock Island county; Mary, wife of Daniel H. Paddock, of Prophets- town, and James, now deceased. Orrin Paddock was a lad of fourteen years when he came with the family to this county, and he assisted in the development and cultivation of the home farm, trans- forming the virgin soil into highly cultivated fields. After the death of their parents, he and his brothers carried on the place to- gether for the first year, but during the fol- lowing two years he worked by the month as a farm hand, and he then succeeded to eighty acres of the old homestead. He had received a good common-school education which well fitted him for the practical duties of life. In Prophetstown township Mr. P.iddock was married in October, 1857, to Miss Jane Hotchkiss, a native of New York, who was si.xteen years of age when she came to this county with her uncle, Rufus Hotch- kiss, one of the early settlers of Oswego county. New York. By this union two chil- dren were born: Lillie May, who di-id at the age of seventeen years, and Emily Lavina, wife of Earl Reynolds, of Sterling. Mr. and Mrs. Paddock began housekeep- ing on the old Paddock homestead, where he successfully operated for fifteen years, and then sold, buying the place where he now lives. To its further improvement and cultivation he has since devoted his time and attention in connection with stock rais- ing, and now has a valuable farm. He keeps a good grade of horses, cattle and hogs, and is justly regarded as one of the best farmers of the county. Mr. Paddock cast his first presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln in i860, but is now a stalwart Democrat. He is widely and favorably known, and as an honored pioneer and rep- resentative man of the community is well worthy of the high regard in which he is uniformlv held. JOHN BOYD, a well-to-do agriculturist and leading stock-dealer of Mount Pleas- ant township, is a typical self-made man, and in the following record of his career there is much to arouse respect and esteem. He has placed his reliance upon industry and perseverance rather than "luck," and by making the most of circumstances, however discouraging, has made his way to substan- tial success, his fine farm on section 19 be- ing a tangible evidence of prosperity. A native of Scotland, Mr. Boyd was born in Ayreshire September i, 1826, and is a son of William and Mary Robinson Boyd. He received his education in his native land, and followed farming with his father until 1823, when at the age of twenty-three JOHN BOYD. THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 217 years he came along to America and took up his residence in Whiteside county, Illi- nois. After working by the month for five years he was able in 1853 to purchase one hundred and twenty acres of raw prairie land, to the cultivation and improvement of which he devoted his energies for many years. To the original purchase he added from time to time until he now has about four hundred acres of rich and arable land. His son, William, now manages the farm while he gives his attention to the stock business. Dairying occupies a considerable portion of his time, as he keeps from twenty- five to thirty milch cows for that business. He also buys and ships cattle, principally milch cows, throughout the surrounding couiities. For the past fifteen years he has done little general farming, his entire time being given to the cattle business. On the 24th of February, 1857, Mr. Boyd was united in marriage with Miss Isa- bella Archibald, also a native of Scotland, of which country her parents, Daniel and Mary (Easdale) Archibald, were life- long residents. Her father followed the occupa- tion of farming. Both he and his wife are now deceased, and Mrs. Boyd is now the only one of the family living, her brothers, Robert, James and Daniel, having also passed away. Three children were born to our subject and his wife. James, the eldest, now cashier of the Farmers' National Bank of Kearney, Nebraska, married May Rob- ertson, and has one child living, James W. ; William manages the home farm for his father, and Mary died at the age of seven- teen years. In his political affiliations Mr. Boyd is a Democrat, and for a number of j ears he most acceptably filled the office of road com- missioner. His wife holds membership in the Presbyterian church of Morrison, and although he is not a member he gives lib- erally to its support, and gave five hun- dred dollars toward the erection of the house of worship. What he has accomplished in life is the result of his own individual effort, for his capital on landing in the new world consisted of only nineteen dollars. He paid five dollars for a man to take him from Chi- cago to Di.xon on coming to this county, and daring the first three years he worked here he received only three dollars in money, as currency was very scarce at that time. Enterprising, industrious and energetic he has met with well-merited success in his la- bors, and is now one of the prosperous and substantial citizens of his community. WILLIAM E. ALLEN, who is identified with the Northwestern Railway Com- pany at Fulton, Illinois, as both ticket and freight agent, is well qualified by knowledge and training for the important position he holds, and in which he is giving good satis- faction to all concerned. He was born in Fulton township December 19, 1857, a son of Orin T. and Hannah (Randall) .\llen, both of whom were born, reared and mar- ried in Ohio. They removed from Hills- borough, that state, about 1845, to Illinois, and settled on government land in Fulton township, where the father was prosper- ously engaged in farming until his death, in July, 1895. He was a stanch Democrat in politics, and was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church. His widow survives him, and makes her home with her son William. They were the parents of five children, as follows: .\manda, wife of L. A. Lewis, of Ustick township; Isaac B., of Fulton, who is in the employ of the North- 2l8 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. western Railway Company; William E., the special subject of this sketch; Effie, wife of Elisha Lockhart, of Garden Plain township; and Minnie, wife of W. H. Dabler, a con- ductor on the C, B. & Q. Railway, and a resident of Fulton. William E. Allen was brought up on the home farm, and attended the district schools of the township and the Fulton high school. When seventeen years old he entered the joint office of the Milwaukee & Northwestern Railway as a telegraph operator, and when he had become an adept at telegraphing he was given a position at Meriden, Minnesota, on the Winona & St. Peter division of the road, and for three years thereafter was stationed at different places in Minnesota and Dakota. In 1880 he returned to Fulton to become night operator in the North- western office, and was subsequently in Iowa ten years, being stationed in different offices. Coming again to Fulton, he was employed as clerk in the freight department of the Northwestern office for two years, and the ensuing six years had control of the joint office at Fulton Junction. In 1893 he was installed in his present position, which he has since filled most acceptably. In politics Mr. Allen affiliates with the Republican party, and takes a cordial inter- est in all matters relating to town, county or state. For four years he was alderman from the third ward, and in 1899 was elected to the board of education, on which he is one of the committee for securing teachers. While living in Iowa, he served as town clerk at West Side, and was a member of the town council. Fraternally he is past chancellor in the order of the Knights of Pythias, belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, and is a member of the Mystic Workers of the World. At Amiret, Minnesota, on September 2 1 , 1 88 1, Mr. Allen was united in marriage with Miss Nona Grover, daughter of Lafayette and Olive (Northrup) Grover, the former of whom was born at Blue Earth City, Minne- sota. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have two chil- dren. Fay O. and Edwin Rodney. JACOB J. WINCHEL is successfully en- gaged in agricultural pursuits on sec- tion 36, Prophetstown township, where he owns a farm comprising two hundred and twenty acres of well-improved and valuable land. He is numbered among the self-made men of the county, his accumulations being the result of his own industry, careful man- agement and well-directed labors, and the exercise of a naturally good judgment both in regard to agricultural pursuits and busi- ness matters. In 1856 he located in Henry county, and since that time this section of the state has been the field of his operations and the center of his interests and hopes. Mr. Winchell was born in Ulster county, New York, January 21, 1835, and belongs to a family of English origin that was early founded in that county. His grandfather, Peter Winchell, was a native of New York, and his father, Joseph Winchell, was born in Ulster county, and there married Lany Elmendorph, a native of the same county. Her father. Captain Elmendorph, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, and in recognition of his services received a land warrant, with which he secured a tract of land in Michigan. After farming in his native county for a number of years, Joseph Winchell came west in 1857 and died here about 1873. His wife, who survived him a number of years, departed this life in 1892, at the age of seventy-seven years. THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 219 In the county of his nativity, Jacob J. Wincheil grew to manhood, acquiring an excellent knowledge of farming, but rather a meager literary education. In 1856 he came to Illinois and joined some friends in Henry county. He worked by the month for four years in that and Bureau counties. On the 19th of December, 1859, in Henry county, he led to the marriage altar Miss Sarah A. Lane, who was born in Niles, Michigan, and in 1855 removed from that state to Henry county, Illinois, with her father, Benjamin Lane. The young couple began their domestic life on a rented farm in Henry county, and there they made their home until the spring of 1864, when Mr. Wincheil purchased eighty acres of land in Prophetstown township, Whiteside county, and they located thereon. After operating it for several years he traded the land for a part of his present farm, and it has now been their home since 1873. At that time only half of the one hundred and si.xty acres had been placed under the plow, and an old house was about the only improvement upon the place, but to-day there is a large and pleasant residence surrounded by well-tilled fields, and everything about the farm testi- fies to the careful supervision of an owner who thoroughly understands his chosen call- ing. He has added to the farm until he has two hundred and twenty acres of rich and arable land, and he also bought and gave to his son a tract of eighty acres. Mr. and Mrs. Wincheil are the parents of five children, four sons and one daughter, namely: Flora, now the wife of Marvin Griffin, a farmer of Tampico town-hip; WilHam, an engineer on the Chicago, Bur- lington & Ouincy Railroad, and a resident of Galesburg, Illinois; Lewis B., a farmer of Tampico township; and Nathan and Foster, who assist their father in the operation of the home farm. They also have an adopted daughter, Jennie May, who has found a home with them since two weeks old. Politically Mr. Wincheil has been identi- fied with the Republican party since casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lin- coln in i860, but he has never cared for the honors or emoluments of public office, pre- ferring to give his undivided attention to his business interests. However, he takes an active interest in educational affairs, and has served as a member of the school board for twenty years. He was a charter nrem- ber of Yorktown lodge, F. & A. M., and served as its secretary for some years. He and his wife are members of the Christian church of Yorktown, and are highly respected and esteemed by all who know them. EDWARD' L. CROSIER, agent for the Chicago, Burlington & Ouincy Railway Company, having charge of the offices at Ly- onsand Fulton, and likewise theFultonagent of the Adams Express Company, is an act- ive, wide-awake business man and a valued citizen of Fulton, Illinois. He was born November 15, 1862, in Mercer county, Illi- nois, near the village of Sunbeam, a son of William Crosier. William Crosier removed from Pennsyl- vania, the state of his birth, to Mercer county at a comparatively day, and for many years was the leading contractor and builder of that part of the state. From 1868 until 1 87 1 he resided in Clinton, Mis- souri, where he filled the office of deputy sheriff for three years. Returning from there to Mercer county, he remained until 220 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 1888, when he removed with his family to Kewanee, Henry county, and is there act- ively engaged at the present time as a con- tractor. He married Miss Maggie Smith, a daughter of George Smith, who was an early pioneer of Mercer county, having emigrated from Ohio to that section of the country when it was but thinly populated, and bears, deer, wolves and other wild beasts were plentiful. Of their union three chil- dren have been born, namely: George A., special police in the Fisher building, in Chicago; Edward L. , the subject of this brief biographical notice; and Nellie, who lives with her parents. Edward L. Crosier received a substan- tial common-school education, and until eighteen years of age assisted his father at the carpenter's bench. Going then into the office of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway, he learned telegraphy un- der the instruction of Fred Clark, now assistant general auditor of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Company, remaining with him fifteen months. He was then placed in charge of the night telegraph of- fices at Stanton and Villisca, both in Mont- gomery county, Iowa, where he remained until September, 1883. Going then to Da- kota, he took up a claim on which he re- sided until May, 1885, when he returned to Mercer county to accept the position of clerk in a hotel at Aledo. Mr. Crosier soon afterwards resumed work for the railroad company by taking a night office at Montgomery, Illinois, and has since been in their employ. For three years he was station agent at Ladd, Illinois, from whence, on June i, 1892, he came to Fulton to as- sume the duties of his present office, which is quite important as it includes the picking up and setting out of all cars between Den- rock and Fulton. That he has risen to his high position in the service of the railroad company is due to the strict attention he has paid to every little detail of business, his fidelity and general urbanity of manner making him a favorite with the officers of the road, and with all travelers on it. Mr. Crosier has always been an active worker in the Republican ranks, and in 1897 was elected alderman from the second ward, an office he now holds. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason, belonging to Fulton City lodge. No. 189, A. F. & A. M., and is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. On April 29, 1866, Mr. Crosier married, at Burlington, Iowa, Miss Mary Starkey, who was born in Kewanee, Illinois, but then resided in Aledo, Illinois, with her parents, Irvine W. and Jeannette (Winn) Stnrkey. Mr. and Mrs Crosier have three children, namely: Nellie M., Edna M., and William Irvine, who was named for his two grandfathers. CARL S. ELLITHORPE, whome home is conveniently located on section 6, Prophetstown township, a mile and a quar- ter from the village of Prophetstown, was for many years one of the most active and progressive agriculturists of the county, as well as one of its most reliable and honora- ble citizens, and now in his declining years he is enjoying a well-earned rest, free from the cares and responsibilities of business life. Throughout the county he is widely and favorably known. A native of New York, Mr. ElJithorpe was born in the town of Edinburg, Sara- toga county, November 21, 1833, and is a son of Sampson Ellithorpe, who was born THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 221 in the same county, in 1806. The paternal grandfather, Wyley Ellithorpe, was also a native of New York, his father having removed to that state from \'ermont and settled in Saratoga county at an early day. The family is of English origin, and its representatives were among the pioneers of Vermont. In his native county the father of our subject married Eliza Wight, who was born in Vermont, but who was reared in Saratoga county. New York. Her father. Squire Wight, spent his entire life in the Green Mountain state, where he died dur- ing her childhood. In 1839 Sampson Elli- thorpe came west by way of the Erie canal to Buffalo and the Great Lakes to Chicago, and from there he came by teams to Proph- etstown in company with his uncle, Solo- mon Ellithorpe. Near Sterling they made a claim of nearly one thousand acres of land, on which each built a hewed log house. He then returned east in the spring of 1840, and brought his family here, arriving in July, but was not long permitted to enjoy his new home, however, as he died September 5, 1840. With the Crocker family, Mrs. Elli- thorpe resided in the home on Coon creek until the fall of 1841, when she removed to the neighborhood where our subject now lives. In the spring of 1842 she married Marvin Frary. She was then living in Prophetstown, but they later moved to a farm in Portland township, but in the spring of 1845 returned to Prophetstown township. After residing upon a farm there for ten years, they removed to another farm in the same neighborhood. Mrs. Frary died in Lyndon township August 4, 1866. By her first marriage she had four children, two sons and two daughters, namely: Bethiah, deceased wife of Dr. H. C. Donaldson; Earl S. , our subject; Alpheus, who died July II, 1854, when a young man; and Lucelia, who died in childhood. There was one child by the second marriage — Cordelia, wife of F. N. Brewer, at whose home in Lyndon township the mother died. Our subject was not quite seven years old when he came to Whiteside county. He remained with his mother until he at- tained his majority, and received a rather limited education in the schools of this sec- tion, which at that time were much inferior to those of the present day. On the 27th of March, 1856, he married Miss Mary J. Averill, a native of Vermont, and a daugh- ter of Mark R. and Ada (Durin) Averill, also natives of that state, whence they came to Illinois in 1852, locating in 1854 on the farm in Prophetstown township, Whiteside county, where our subject now resides. Upon that place Mr. and Mrs. Ellithorpe began their married life. After renting the farm for seven years, they removed to Hume township, in 1863, and there he pur- chased three hundred and twenty acres of land, which he improved and operated for two years. Selling to a good advance, he returned to the Averill homestead, which he rented from his father-in-law for three years, and in 1867 moved to Wheatland, Iowa, where he built an elevator and en- gaged in the grain and lumber business for about a year. He then purchased his pres- ent farm, and now owns four hundred and fifty acres of land which he has placed un- der a high state of cultivation and improved with good buildings, including a neat and commodious residence, four barns and other outbuildings, so that he has a valuable and attractive farm. He successfully car- ried on general farming and stock raising, making a specialty of sheep, of which he usually had from si.\ hundred to one thou- 222 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. sand upon his place, but since 1885 he has rented his farm and lived retired, enjoying the fruits of former toil. To Mr. and Mrs. EUithorpe was born one daughter, Luanna, who died August 10, 1895, and was laid to rest in the Prophets- town cemetery. In 1885 the family spent six months on the Pacific coast, and again in 1897, Mr. and Mrs. EUithorpe visited California, where they remained four months, stopping at various places. He cast his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont, in 1856, and has since been un- swerving in his allegiance to the Republican party and its principles. He attends church with his wife, who is a member of the Con- gregational church, and he gives to its sup- port, although he is not a member of any religious denomination. For almost sixty years he has made his home in this county, and his name is inseparably connected with its agricultural interests, for he has labored earnestly in the development of a good farm and has been an important factor in the wonderful transformation that has taken place here during that period. Upright and honorable in all the relations of life, he well merits the high regard in which he is held by all who know him. TRA F. AND ORIAN ABIJAH HOAR 1 constitute the firm of Hoak Brothers and are prominent young business men Sterling. They are engaged in the manufacture of carriages, do first-class carriage painting, and all kinds of fine and difficult blacksmith- ing, general repairing, and sharpen and adjust lawn mowers. In December 1898, they patented and put on the market a new type of tire bolt cutter which met with immediate success wherever shown to car- riage builders. Another bolt cutter for use on any surface has just been perfected by them and will shortly be placed on the market. The tools are simple, effective and cheap and will no doubt prove to be a source of large revenue to their owners to come. Their shop, a large frame structure on East Third street near Sixth avenue, be- longs to them and has been enlarged from time to time as an increase in business demanded additional room. Though the business has been established but four years it has grown to a proportion far beyond their most sanguine hopes. This rapid growth may be attributed to the fact that the work done is strictly reliable and every article producted is given an unqualified guarantee for worth. Ira F. Hoak was born near Brookville, Ogle county, Illinois, June 20, 1869, O. A. in Whiteside county, in 1875. They were educated in the common schools of this county and were graduated from the Sterl- ing high school. After laying aside his text books the older brother learned the car- penter's trade, and later inside wood work and carriage making, while the younger took up the blacksmith's trade. They con- tinued to work for others until 1S95, when they formed a partnership, and under the name of Hoak Brothers have since engaged in their present business, and are meeting with most gratifying success. They are members of the German Baptist church, and are held in high regard by all with whom they come in contact either in business or social life. O. A. Hoak married Miss Clara Journay, of Sterling, and has one child. Lloyd. Henry S. Hoak, father of our subjects, was born ten miles from Lancaster, Penn- sylvania, January 19, 1835, and is a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Hersh) Hoak, natives THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 223 of the same place, the former born in 1787, the latter in 1788. The grandfather was educated at Lancaster and became one of the first teachers under the free school system in that section of the country. He first taught in his own home, and finally in public school houses, and continued to fol- low that profession in connection with farm- ing for some years. He was a man of prominence and influence in his community, his advice was often sought, and he was many times called upon to serve as adminis- trator and executor of estates and also as conveyancer. He died before the birth of the father of our subjects, who was the youngest in a family of nine children, and his wife died six 'years later. Both were of German descent. The family was founded in America by Conrad Hoak, a native of Leipsic, Germany, who crossed the Atlantic at an early day and took up his residence in Pennsylvania, his last years being passed in Lancaster. His son Andrew was the great- grandfather of our subjects. He was only two years old when brought by his father to the new world, and he became a well-to-do and prominent farmer of Pennsylvania. He held office in the German Reformed church, of which he was a strong supporter, and all of the family have been zealous in religious work. Henry S. Hoak attended first the pub- lic schools of his native state and later was a student at the State Normal School in Millers- ville, Lancaster county, for three years, but in the meantime he taught school at intervals in order to pay for his own education. In 1854 he entered upon that profession in Conestoga township, Lancaster county, where he taught for six months out of the year, receiving twenty-five dollars per month and his board. He taught one school in Pequa township, the same county, for six years, and his wages there amounted to forty dollars. Later he taught in Strasburg township, the high school at Hempfield, and in other places in that section of Pennsyl- vania, where he was thus employed for six- teen years. On the 30th of June, 1868, Mr. Hoak married Miss Letitia N. Hull, of Strasburg, a daughter of George Hull, a carpenter, who was also of German descent, and was one of the old residents of Strasburg. They have four children living, namely: Ira P.; Iva Jennie, who has been for three years a teacher in the Lincoln school, and for five years prior to that had been a teacher; Orian Abijah and Harry Leroy. The same year of his marriage, Mr. Hoak came to Illinois, and first settled near Burr Oak Grove, in Ogle county, but in 1870 came to Whiteside county and took charge of a school in Gait. The following year he removed to Sterling, where he has since made his home with the exception of five years when teaching in Jordan township. For seventeen years he has successfully taught school indifferent parts of this county around Sterling, and has followed the pro- fession for thirty-three years, being the oldest teacher in point of service in the county. He has been an active and promi- nent memberof the German Baptist Brethren church for ten years. In their dress and non-resistant principles they are similar to the Reformed church, with which he was connected when a boy. He and his son were the first baptized into the church after his organization here, and there were but two members prior to that time. He raised about half the mouey for the erection of their house of worship, and takes a very active part in all church work. 224 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. BARNEY McGRADY. Among the in- fluential members of the farming com- munity of Tampico township and one of its prosperous citizens, is the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch. He is entirely a seif-made man in the true sense of the word, having been the architect of his own fortunes, and his success in life is attribut- able to his untiring industry, indomitable energy and laudable ambition. Mr. McGrady was born in Cattaraugus county. New York, November 27, 1845, a son of James and Mary McGrady, farming people of that county. In i860 the father came to Whiteside county, Illinois, and pur- chased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Prophetstovvn township, where he suc- cessfully engaged in farming for a time, but finally sold his place and moved to Nebraska, spending his last years near Loup City. The early educational advantages of our subject were somewhat meager as he began life for himself by working as a farm hand at the age of eleven years. He was fifteen when, in the fall of i860, he removed with the family from New York to this county, and here continued to work for others at farm labor until after the Civil war broke out. In the fall of 1862, at the age of sev- enteen years, he enlisted in Company D, Seventy-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Ten- nessee, and the first battle in which he took part was the engagement at Perryville, Ken- tucky. With his command he followed Hood to Nashville; later was in the battles of Murfreesboro and Chattanooga; was in the Atlanta campaign; went with Sherman to Savannah, Georgia; and participated in the battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, — the last engagement of the war. The regi- ment then marched through Richmond to Washington, D. C, and from there to Park- ersburg. West Virginia, and from that city proceeded by boat to Louisville, Kentucky, whence they went by railroad to Chicago, where they were honorably discharged in July, 1865. While Mr. McGrady partici- pated in many battles and skirmishes and had his clothes pierced by bullets, he fort- unately was never wounded, though he was ill for six months in the hospital at Nash- ville. He returned home with a war record of which he may be justly proud, and re- sumed his farm work. In Prophetstown, September 11, 1867, Mr. McGrady was united in marriage with Miss Ocelia Tabor, who was born and reared on a farm in Portland township, and is a daughter of William P. Tabor, one of the prominent farmers of the county, who is represented on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. McGrady have become the parents of five children, namely: William, Ralph, Burt, Pearl and Florence. Ralph is married but still continues on the home farm, and the others are all under the pa- rental roof. After his marriage, Mr. McGrady pur- chased forty acres of raw land where he now resides, and after erecting a small house thereon, he commenced to improve and cultivate his farm. To his original purchase he has added from time to time as his financial resources have permitted, at one time buying one hundred and twenty acres of the Dow estate, and now has a val- uable farm of two hundred and forty acres under a high state of cultivation and im- proved with good buildings, surrounded by fruit and shade trees. In connection with general farming, he is interested in stock raising, feeding each year quite a number of hogs and several head of cattle for market. The biographical record. i2§ While home on a furlough during the war, Mr. McCjrady cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, in 1864, and has since been an earnest advocate and sup- porter of the Republican party and its prin- ciples. For nme consecutive years he filled the office of highway commissioner, and has been a member of the school board twenty years, serving as its president at the present time. Socially he is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the lodge in Prophetstown, and belongs to the Grand Army post of Tainpico. His residence in this county covers a period of forty years, and he has ever manifested the same loyalty in days of peace as in times of war, when he fought so valiantly for the old flag and the cause it represented. ANDREW K. HABERER. Much of the civilization of the world has come from the Teutonic race. Continually moving westward they have taken with them the enterprise and advancement of their eastern homes and have become valued and useful citizens of various localities. In this coun- try especially they have demonstrated their power to adapt themselves to new circum- stances, retaining at the same time their progress! veness and energy, and have become true and devoted citizens. A worthy repre- sentative of this class is Andrew K. Haber- er, the present popular sheriff of Whiteside county. He was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, April 28, 1840, a son of Jacob and Salome (Kergis) Haberer, both natives of Baden, which was their ancestral home. The father was born in 1805, and in early life followed the carpenter's trade. After hi?, marriage he moved to Wurtemburg, where he bought 13 a farm and made his home there until his death, which occurred in 1853. He was one of the most highly respected citizens of Peterzell, Obendorpf, held different posi- tions ofhonor and trust in his community, and was a member of the Lutheran church. He left a family of seven children, of whom our subject is the oldest son and second child. Our subject came alone to the new world, but in 1865 sent for the remainder of the family and made for them a home in Illinois. With the exception of himself all removed to Iowa and there the mother died in 1887. Christine is still a resident of that state; Mary makes her home in Council Bluffs; George died in 1867; Jacob died in Iowa, in 1874; John is a well-to-do farmer of that state; and Kate is living in Indian- ola, Iowa. Andrew K. Haberer graduated from the common schools of his native land, and was then in charge of his father's farm until seventeen years of age, when he was sent by his uncle to this country to avoid military service that he might care for his mother 'and younger children. On landing in Amer- ica he was unable to speak a word of Eng- lish and was entirely dependent upon his own resources for a livelihood. He arrived in New York in the fall of 1857, which was a very poor time to look for work on ac- count of the panic brought on by the circu- lation of wild cat money. He proceeded at once to Sterling, Whiteside county, Illinois, where he worked on a farm until the break- ing out of the Civil war. On the 20th of .April, 1861, on the first call for seventy-five thousand men, Mr. Haberer enlisted in Company B, Thirteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was or- ganized at Di.\on, under command of Col. J. B. Wyman, and sworn into the United 226 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. States service, May 24, for three years. From Dixon they went to East St. Louis in June, and the following month to St. Louis. They participated in the battles at Wilson's Creek and Pea Ridge, and numerous skir- mishes until they finally reached V'icksburg, where they took part in their first big battle, December 27, 28 and 29, 1862. They were in the battles of Arkansas Post, Champion Hills, Jackson, Mississippi, and the whole of the siege of Vicksburg, the regiment bemg in the front during the entire time. Mr. Haberer was offered but declined promo- tion, and after the fall of Vicksburg was given a furlough for meritorious conduct in line of battle, but gave it to a comrade. At this time his command was made the First Regiment of the First Brigade, First Divis- ion, Fifteenth Army Corps, under Gen. Logan, and started up the Mississippi to Memphis. From there they went by rail- road to Corinth, and then took part in a three days battle at Tuscumbia, Alabama, and then marched to Chattanooga, taking part in the battle at that place and also at Lookout Mountain, and Missionary Ridge. A few days later in the engagement at Ringgold, Georgia, the regiment lost heavily, all the field officers were either wounded or killed, and they were withdrawn from bat- tle by Capt. George P. Brown. They next marched to Woodville, Alabama, where Mr. Haberer was stricken with scurvy and sent to Hospital No. 19, Nashville, Tennessee, where he remained two months. On the 1st of March, 1864, he was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps and sent to Cin- cinnati, Ohio, where he did provost guard duty three weeks, and later to Sandusky. About the 15th of May, he went to Wash- ington, D. C, where he was encamped un- til May 24, 1864, when he re-enlisted, be- coming a member of Company I, Seventh Regiment, Hancock's Veteran Reserve Corps. After the re-organization, he reported that his three years of enlistment had expired and was sent to Gen. Grant, who had his records examined. He was paid off and discharged on the General's orders, who said " this is the first man to be discharged in all of this war by reason of the expiration of three years term of service." Mr. Haberer returned to Sterling, and took a position as salesman in a mercantile establishment, where he was a trusted and efficient employe for twenty years. In 1867 he married Miss Caroline Planthaber, who is also of German birth, but who came to this country very young with her parents. They had one son, John A., who was born November i, 1S68, and died January 15, 1891. He was well educated and success- fully engaged in teaching school for a time. Mr. Haberer attends and supports the Con- gregational church, of which his wife is an earnest member. In 1869 and 1870 he was elected tax collector of Sterling township, Whiteside county, and in 1884 he was elected con- stable and gave his entire time and atten- tion to the duties of that position until 1S95, when he was appointed deputy sheriff under Sheriff Fuller and held that position for four years, having charge of the east end — the heavy end — of the county. Proving a most efficient man for the place, he was nominated and elected sheriff in 189S and assumed the duties of the office on the 5th of December, that year. He has taken an active part in the political affairs of the county for years and has been a delegate to numerous conventions of the Republican party. He is a prominent member of Rob- inson post. No. 274, G. A. R., of Sterling, THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 227 of which he has been commander; was also a member of the Department of Illinois for two years, and when a delegate to the state department helped to elect John C. Black. He was one of the first past grands of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows in Ster- ling and is also an honored member of Rock River lodge. No. 612, F. & A. M., of Ster- ling; royal arch captain of Sterling chapter. No. 57, R. A. M., and a member of Ster- ling commandery, No. 57, K. T. He is very prominent both in social and political circles and is held in high regard by all who know him. JOSEPH H. BOYNTON. Eighty years of life, filled with useful effort and crowned with the respect and esteem of his fellow citizens, have left this ven- erable resident of Sterling still hale and hearty with every prospect of continued health for years to come. He is now the oldest citizen of the town and for over half a century has been prominently identified with its business interests. A native of New Hampshire. Mr. Boyn- ton was born in Warren, Grafton county. May 15, 1819, and is a son of Joseph and Sally (Knight) Boynton. The Boynton fam- ily was founded in America during the early days of New England. The grandfather, Asa Boynton, was a native of England, and on his emigration to the new world located in New Hampshire on the farm where our subject's birth occurred, there spending the remainder of his life. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. The father of our subject was also born on the old homestead farm, and the mother's birth occurred near that place. Her father, Samuel Knight, and his brother also aided the colonies in achieving their independence as soldiers of the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Boynton died in New Hampshire, in 1824, when our sub- ject was not quite five years old, leaving three children, namely: Orlando, Joseph H., and Mrs lantha E. Towl, of California, all now deceased with the exception of our subject. For his second wife the father wedded Miss Marian Morse, whose father was also a soldier of the Revolutionary war. While in the east the father of our subject carried on business for himself as a farmer, tanner and currier. In 1834, he removed with his family to St. Clair, Michigan, near which place he purchased a farm, .but after operating it for a few years located in the village, where he lived retired until his death. He was one of the pioneer members of the Methodist Episcopal church of that place, and while in New Hampshire took a prominent part in all church work. He not only served as choir master and class leader, but his house was always a stopping place for the ministers. The education of our subject was ac- quired in the schools of his native state. He was fifteen years of age when he accom- panied the family on their removal to Mich- igan, traveling by way of the canil to Buf- falo and by steairier to Detroit, which accommodations were considered very fine at that time. After two years spent in that state his father gave him and his brother a farm of two hundred acres on the Canadian side of the St. Clair river, where they took up their residence, but soon became inter- ested in the Patriotic Rebellion in 1837, and were forced to leave the country. The la- ther then leased the land for ninety-nine years and our subject went upon the lakes as cabin boy on the Great Western, which was burned in the Detroit river, in 1839. 228 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. The following year he was employed in a hotel in Burlington, Iowa, and from there went to Plattville, Grant county, Wiscon- sin, where he was in business for four years as a dealer in general hardware, stoves, etc. He was also a traveling salesman and was thus employed until he had an attack of smallpox in the winter of 1843, being one of three who lived through a confluent case. After that he was in business alone, and in 1 847 came down the Rock river and opened a store in Sterling. However, he still con- tinued to sell goods on the road for fourteen years, traveling as far north as the Wiscon- sin river, and doing a flourishing business. Among his customers were Long & Fox, whom he knew well and who were described by Bonney in his Bandits of the Prairie. Mr. Boynton is still engaged in business upon the lot where he opened his store in 1847, and in the fifty-two years that have since passed has enjoyed a good trade. The hall over his store was occupied by the Odd Fellows Society for sixteen years and the Masons for eighteen. In 1863 he erected a good three-story hotel on the cor- ner of East Third street and Fourth avenue, and after renting it for one year, has con- ducted it himself, doing the largest business ever done in the town before or since, hav- ing on special days taken in five hundred dollars for meals alone. This hotel is now one of the old landmarks of the country. Mr. Boynton has also erected other build- ings in Sterling, and until recently owned one hundred and thirty-five feet on Third street, where he is located, and extending back to Fourth street. Mr. Boynton first married Miss Mary Ann Fitch, who died in 1856, leaving no children. In the fall of 1861, he was united in marriage with Miss Gratia Red- field, by whom he has one child, Grace, now the wife of Charles H. Ham, of New York. The wife and daughter are members of the Congregational church, to the support of which our subject is a contributor. Since the days of Abraham Lincoln, he has been a stanch supporter of the Republican party, although previously he was a Demo- crat, and he has filled the office of alder- man during his residence in Sterling. He arrived here five years before the railroad was built, and in 1852 traveled on the first passenger train on the old Chicago & Galena Railroad, running between Rockford and Chicago, when going to New York to buy goods. For fifty-two years he has been a merchant of Sterling, and during that time has always paid one hundred cents on the dollar. In 1857 he was twenty thousand dollars in debt, but managed in time to meet all his obligations while all of the old firms with whom he dealt failed. His suc- cess is due entirely to his own unaided ef- forts, and he is now a well-to-do man and highly respected by all who know him. JOHN H. WARNER. Sound judgment, combined with fine ability in mechan- ical lines, has enabled the subject of this biography, a well-known resident of Proph- etstown, Illinois, to attain a substantial success in life, and his history is of especial interest. Mr. Warner was born in Jefferson county, Missouri, November 11, 18 12, and is a son of Jabez Warner, a native of New England, who, when fifteen years of age, went to Missouri with a brother and located in St. Louis. With his brother he learned the cooper's trade, and later he carried on quite an extensive cooperage business in St. THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 229 Louis, though he made his home in Jeffer- son county. There he married Miss Eliza- beth Conner, who was reared in Missouri, and to them was born ten children, of whom our subject is the oldest, the others being as follows: Mary E. , who married Job Dodge, a merchant of Prophetstown, and both are now deceased; Elias B. and Andrew J,, deceased, both of whom married and reared families; Edward B., who was county treasurer of this county for some years and is now deceased; Sarah C, widow of Silas Sears, a farmer of this county; Eliza, widow of Andrew Fuller and a resi- dent of Sterling; Ellen M., who married Henry Bacon and died in southern Cali- fornia; M. P., a resident of Morrison; and Jabez F., a business man of Prophetstown, who died in 1899. In 1837 the father came to Whiteside county, Illinois, and bought a claim near Prophetstown, upon which he located the following year. He also opened up an adjoining farm, which is now within the corporate limits of Prophetstown. Here he spent his last days, dying in 1847. His wife long survived him and passed away when nearly ninety-nine years of age. The subject of this re\iew was reared in St. Louis and obtained a good education in the city schools. He learned the cooper's trade with his father and remained under the parental roof until twenty-one years of age. In Jefferson county, Missouri, he was married, March 12, 1835, to Miss Clarissa E. Bryant, who was born in that county May 28, 1 81 8, a daughter of Colonel David Bryant, a distinguished officer of the war of 1 81 2. He was born in Canada and was reared by French people, as his mother died when he was a child. Later he moved to Jefferson county, Missouri, where he owned and operated a large farm, also a tanyard and gristmill, being one of the most active and prominent business men of that locality. After his marriage Mr. Warner resided in St. Louis for a few years and then pur- chased a farm in Jefferson county and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. In 1840 he came to Whiteside county, Illi- nois, where he spent one year at this time. He took up government land, erected there- on a claim shanty, and while here he cut and made hoop poles and worked at the cooper's trade in Prophetstown, manufact- uring barrels. In 1841 he returned to his farm in Jefferson county, Missouri, and op- erated the same until 1850, when he sold the place and moved to Peru, Illinois, where he built a house and cooper shop and car- ried on business for two years. Disposing of his property there he again came to Prophetstown in 1852, and purchased a residence which has now been his home for forty-seven years. In partnership he en- gaged in the cooperage business and in pork packing on quite an e.xtensive scale for sev- eral years, and their efforts were crowned with success. Our subject bought two hun- dred acres of raw land three miles from Prophetstown, which he has improved and cultivated until it is now one of the most desirable farms of its size in the locality. Of the eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. Warner, four are still living, namely: James, a civil engineer of Oregon; Orpha, wife of George Shaw, of Prophetstown; William, who is married, has two children and resides in Prophetstown, and Frank, who is also married and living in that place. Those deceased are Mary Josephine, who died at the age of one year; Thomas Edward, who died in childhood; Adaline, deceased wife of N. J. Thomas, of Aurora, !30 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. and Emma, deceased wife of Edward Loomis. In his political affiliations Mr. Warner was originally an old-line Whig, but since supporting Abraham Lincoln for the presi- dency in I S6o, he has been a stanch Repub- lican. Although he has never sought polit- ical preferment, he was elected to the first city council of Prophetstown, and most capably filled that position for several years. He has been prominently identified with the growth and upbuilding of the place, and is one of the most honored and highly re- spected citizens. JOHN M. KOHL, a leading groceryman of the east end of Sterling, was born in Cologne, Germany, July 26, 1863, a son of Hermann and Sophia (Frenkus) Kohl. The father came alone to the new world in 1869, and was thirty-three days in crossing the Atlantic. He located in Sterling and six months later was joined by his wife, who brought with her their five children, which made it a hard journey for her. Shortly after his arrival here the father learned the cooper's trade, and for about eighteen years was employed in making flour barrels, and for a few years butter tubs. He bought and fitted up a home in the west end of town, where he still continues to live. He and his wife are active members and liberal supporters of the German Catholic church, and he also belongs to the German Maen- nerchor, having always taken quite an in- terest in music, especially vocal music. By a former marriage he had two sons, Joseph and Frank, now residents of Chicago. Our subject is the oldest of the eight children born of the second union, five of whom were born in this country. They are John M. ; Gertrude, now the wife of D. P. Crook, of Ivansas; Adam and Matthew, residents of Chicago; Peter, of Sterling; Isabella, wife of Frank Boehn, of Sterling; Rosa, at home with her parents; and Henry, of Sterling. John M. Kohl received only a limited common-school education, not being able to attend school more than si.\ months in all, as his mother needed his services at home. Later he worked on a farm for a few years, and while visiting friends in Chicago, who were in the grocery business, he was per- suaded to stay and enter their employ. During the five years he remained with them, he thoroughly learned the business in all its departments. At the end of that time his family insisted on his return home as he was ever a favorite with them, and he found employment with the firm of Beien & Detweiler, grocers of Sterling, for whom he clerked for eight years. He made a valua- ble assistant, as during his Chicago experi- ence he had learned to skillfully arrange the show windows and could wait on two cus- tomers while the other clerks were waiting on one. He also did much of the buying in certain lines for his employers. In part- nership with J. K. Eshelman, who recog- nized his ability, he purchased the store of his employers, but after one year in business down town, Mr. Kohl sold his interest and purchased a small store where he is now lo- cated, believing it to be a good opening and his predictions have been true. He carries a well-selected stock of staple and fancy groceries, and by his courteous treat- ment to customers has built up one of the best and most paying trades in his line in the city. He is also a wholesale and retail dealer in flour and feed. Besides his busi- ness property he ownes a good home and a tenement house, which are fitted up with IriE BIOGRAPHICAL RFXORD. 231 the latest iinprovements. His success in life is due entirely to his own well-directed efforts, for he started out in life for himself with no capital and until he attained his majority f;ave his wages to his parents. Religiously he is a member of the German Catholic church. On the 24th of November, 1S85, Mr. Kohl married Miss Mamie Ramsdell, a daughter of D. H. Ramsdell, of Sterling. They have one child living, Ethel, and an adopted son. Clar, a child of Mrs. Kohl's sister Clara, who is now deceased. They also lost one child, Paul, who died at the age of four years. HENRY WETZELL, who lives on sec- tion 35, Hume township, Whiteside county, Illinois, owns and operates a fine farm of one hundred and si.xty acres, whose neat and thrifty appearance well indicates his careful supervision. Substantial im- provements are surrounded by well tilled fields, and many of the accessories and con- veniences of a model farm are there found. Mr. Wetzell was born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, November i i, 1843, a son of Jacob and Susanna (Biedler) Wetzell, also natives of the Buckeye state. The pater- nal grandparents, John and Margaret (Reese) Wetzell, were born, reared and married in Pennsylvania, and the latter lived to the advanced age of over ninety- si.x years. The father of our subject fol- lowed farming in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, until 1855, when he came to Whiteside county, Illinois, and bought one hundred and sixty acres in Genesee township, which he converted into a good farm. Subse- quently he purchased more land and now resides on the second farm at the age of eighty-five years — an honored and highly- respected old man. The subject of this sketch was a lad of twelve years when he came with the family to this county, and he assisted in opening up and inipro\ing the home farm. When his services were not needed at home, he attended the common schools of the neigh- borhood, and the knowledge thereby ac- quired has been greatly supplemented by subsequent reading and observation. On the nth of May, 1864, he enlisted in Com- pany A, One Hundred and Fortieth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, for one hundred days' service, and was with the Army of the Tennessee. He participated in some skir- mishes, but was mainly engaged in guard- ing railroads in Tennessee and Mississippi. For six weeks he lay ill in the field hospital, and was then honorably discharged in No- vember, 1864. Returning to his home, Mr. Wetzell was married in Genesee township, January 19, 1865, to Miss Catherine Overholser, a na- tive of Holmes county, Ohio, and a daugh- ter of Martin Overholser, who came to this county in 1S53. Mr. and Mrs. Wetzell have a family of ten living children, namely: James Frank, who is married and engaged in farming in Hume township; Cerena, at home; John L. and William, who own a farm and also rent land, so that they now operate two hundred and forty acres; Chris- topher, a successful teacher, who died at the age of twenty-four years; Jennie, wife of Frank Milligan, of Tampico township; Rebecca, Lloyd, Oscar P., Lillian and Harry L., all at home; and Lola V., who died at the age of seventeen months. After his marriage Mr. Wetzell con- tinued his residence in Genesee township until 1872, when he removed to his present 232 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. farm on section 35, Hume township, though at that time he only owned eighty acres. He built a good residence, which he has since enlarged, and also erected a barn and other outbuildings, and later purchased an adjoining eighty-acre tract, so that he now has one hundred and si.xty acres of well- improved land. At national elections Mr. Wetzell has af- filiated with the Republican party since cast- ing his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864, but in local politics he is independent, always supporting the men whom he believes best qualified to fill the offices regardless of party lines. He has been honored with a number of offices, hav- ing served as highway commissioner two or three years, assessor two years, and super- visor for nine consecutive years. While a member of the county board he served on a number of important committees, includ- ing those on equalization, claims and the poor farm. He has also been an efficient member of the school board twenty-one years, and is now president of the district. Socially he belongs to the Grand Army post of Sterling and the Knights of the Globe, and religiously his wife is a member of the United Brethren church, and most of his children belong to the Methodist Episcopal church. He is widely and favorably known, and is one of the most popular and influen- tial men of his community. AL. VAN OSDEL. In past ages the history of a country was the record of wars and conquests; to-day it is the record of commercial activity, and those whose names are foremost in its annals are the leaders in business circles. The con- quests so made are those of mind over mat- ter, not of man over man, and the victor is he who can successfully establish, control and operate extensive commercial interests. Mr. Van Osdel is unquestionably one of the most influential business men whose lives have become an essential part of the history of Whiteside county. He is not only promi- nent in business circles, but has become a leader in public affairs, and is now most creditably serving as mayor of Fulton. Mr. Van Osdel was born in Kendall county, Illinois. December 25, i860, a son of James M. and Margaret C. fBates) Van- Osdel. The father was born in 1816 in New York state, where he was married and continued to make his home until after the birth of four of his children. In Novem- ber, 1854, he moved to Millington, Kendall county, Illinois, where he followed the busi- ness of blacksmithing and wagon-making up to within a year of his death, which occurred in 1889. He had a family of ten children, of whom three died in infancy, those living to maturity being as follows: Mary, now the wife of E. H. Young, of Fulton; George C, an attorney of Aurora, Illinois; O. W., a Baptist miriister of Spokane Falls, Wash- ington; Emma, wife of Edward Budd, of Millbrook; Elizabeth, wife of C. Rickert, of Kendall county; Walter S., who is engaged in the sawmill and lumber business in the state of Mississippi; and A. L. , who is the youngest of the family. Reared under the parental roof, our sub- ject was educated in the schools of Milling- ton and worked with his father in the shop. He also found time, by private study, to procure a knowledge of civil engineering, which profession he took up at the age of twenty-four, and to which he devoted the following six years of his life, being in the employ of diflFerent railroad companies on MR. AND MRS. A. L. VAN OSDEL. THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. J35 survey and construction work in various states and territories. In May, 1894, Mr. Van Osdel came to Fulton to erect a building for the C. H. Rose Company of Chicago, and in March of the following year bought stock in the Miss- issippi Valley Stove Company and become its manager, which position he has capably filled ever since. He has also served as treasurer of the company since August, 1897. The Mississippi Valley Stove Company was founded in Fulton in 1893 by the Ohio Stove Company of Tiffin, Ohio, and in 1895 was formed into a stock company, being purchased by local stockholders, and be- came the Mississippi Valley Stove Company. It is now one of the most important indus- tries in this part of the state, and under its present management the business has in- creased to ten times its former capacity, now amounting to over one hundred thou- sand dollars per year. The officers are J. W. Broadhead, president; J. B. Kearns, vice- president; and A. L. Van Osdel, manager, secretary and treasurer; and the works are conveniently located in the southeast part of the city, just outside the corporate limits, on the Northwestern and the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul railroads. They manu- facture over four hundred different styles and sizes of heating and cooking stoves and ranges. Among the most popular of these are the Royal Solar, Regal Solar, Rival Solar, and Art Solar stoves and ranges, which have gained their place in the trade by their acknowledged superior merit. Add- ed to their other merits, one nice feature of these ranges and cooking stoves is an oven thermometer with an indicator on the outside of the oven door, showing at a glance the exact temperature. This enables the operator to regulate the heat to a nicety and does away with the occasional " bad luck " incidental to guess work. On the 25th of June, 1895, at Fulton, Mr. Van Osdel married Miss Grace E. Mercereau, a daughter of Charles B. and Julia (Keeler) Mercereau, of that place. Religiously, our subject is a member of the Baptist church, while his wife belongs to the Presbyterian church, and fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason. In political senti- ment he is an ardent Republican. Although comparatively a recent arrival in Fulton, he has become thoroughly identified with its interests and has become an important factor in public affairs. Broad-minded, lib- eral and public-spirited, he is recognized as a valuable addition to the community, and he has been honored with the highest office within the gift of his fellow townsmen — that of mayor of the city — to which posi- tion he was elected in May, 1899. With- out the aid of influence or wealth, he has risen to a position of prominence in the business world and in public affairs, and his native genius and actjuired ability are the stepping-stones on which he has mounted. EDWARD S. GAGE, deceased. There are few men more worthy of repre- sentation in a work of this kind than the subject of this biography, who was for over si.xty-lhree years identified with Whiteside county, and in his last years lived a retired life on his farm on section 35, Prophets- town township, three miles east of the vil- lage of that name. He had a long and busy career, rich with experience, and in which he established himself in the esteem and confidence of all who knew him. Mr. Gage was born in Ferrysburg, Ad- dison county, Vermont, May 5, 181 5, and 2^6 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. on the paternal side was of Scotch-Irish extraction. His grandfather, George Gage, was one of the first settlers of Vermont, of of which state Captain Oakman Gage, our subject's father, was a native. On reach- ing manhood the latter married Miss Eliz- abeth Tupper, the first white child born in Ferrysburg, and a daughter of Alpha Tup- per, who moved there from Massachusetts. The father of our subject was a farmer by occupation and held a captain's commission in the war of 1812. He died in Vermont, in 1825, at about the age of forty years, but his wife long sur\'ived him and died at the age of eighty-two years. Of the fam- ily, one brother of our subject, Nathan W. , married and died at about thirty }ears of age. John W. came to Illinois, in 1839, and settled in Prophetstown, Whiteside county, where he married and where both he and his wife died. Moses died at the age of twenty years. In his native state Edward S. Gage was reared; but he received only limited educa- tional advantages as his father died when he was a lad of eleven years, and he was then thrown upon his own resources. He ■commenced learning the wheelwright's trade, at which he worked for eight months, and the knowledge then acquired has proved of great benefit to him all through life. In 1834 he went to Cleveland, Ohio, and stop- ped with an uncle at Newberg, that state, where he worked at farming for one year, later was employed in a sawmill, and the following year helped build a mill, which he afterward operated. In October, 1836, he canie to Whiteside county, Illinois, where his old friend, Johnson Walker, was living. He first bought a claim of eighty acres near Morrison, and then entered one hundred and sixty acres where his last days were spent. Before locating here, however, he run a ferry at Prophetstown for four years. At the end of that time he turned his atten- tion to the improvement and cultivation of his place, and erected thereon a good hewed- log house, sixteen by eighteen feet, with a floor and good fiue. At Jamison's place, in Prophetstown, Mr. Gage was married May 27, 1 840, to Miss Orpha B. Reynolds, who was born in Black Rock, New York, in May, 1822, a daughter of Judge N. G. and Phoebe (Brace) Reynolds. Her father was born in Massa- chusetts, and was married in Buffalo, New York. In the latter state he resided until the fall of 1835, when he came to White- side county, Illinois, and was one of the first to settle in Prophetstown, which place he named in honor of theold Indian prophet who resided here. He was a soldier in the war of I 812, and for his services was given a land warrant. For many years he served as county judge of this county, and held other positions of honor and trust. He died here in 1865, aged seventy-two years, and his wife departed this life in 1875, aged seventy-seven. Of the six children born to our subject and his wile, two sons died in infancy. The others were Sevilla, who married George P. Richmond and died in 1879; Sophia, wife of Gus Edburg, who has operated the Gage farm for a number of years; P'rances, wife of Emmett Underbill, a farmer of Prophetstown township; and Phtebe C. , who died at the age of sixteen years. Besides their own children they reared a number of others, and there are now living four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Mr. and Mrs. Gage began their married life in Prophetstown township, and in Octo- ber, 1844, removed to the farm on section THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 237 35, which was ever afterwards their home. Here he owned three hundred and twenty acres of very valuable land, and at onetime he had in his possession eight hun- dred acres. While actively engaged in agricultural pursuits, he devoted consider- able time to raising and feeding a good grade of cattle and hogs. He commenced life for himself without means, but being industrious, ambitious and energetic, he met with decided success in his undertakings, and was one of the most prosperous farmers of his community. His success enabled him to lay aside all business cares and responsi- bilities, and spend his declining years in ease and quiet. He and his wife made sev- eral trips east to New York and Vermont, and have spent the winter there, visiting old friends and scenes familiar to their childhood. Originally Mr. Gage was a Jeffersonian Democrat in politics, voting for Buchanan in 1856; but in i860 he cast his ballot for Abraham Lincoln, and from that time on was a stanch Republican. While not a member of any religious denomination, he attended the Methodist Episcopal church with his wife, who is a member of that church. On the 21st of October, 1899, Mr. Gage passed quietly away, and his re- mains were laid to rest. He was well known and universally esteemed. His wile yet remains, and is also greatly esteemed. HON. GEORGE THADDEUS EL- LIOTT, ex- mayor of Sterling and a prominent grain dealer of that place, was born in Ames, Canajoharie township, Mont- gomery county. New York, October 18, 1827, and comes of distinguished ancestry. The name was originally spelled Eliot, and it is believed that the family is of English Puritan stock. Elijah Elliot, father of our subject, was born in Connecticut, Novem- ber 10, 1796, and died July 9, 1873. When a young man he removed from his native state to Montgomery county, New York, where he engaged. in milling, and later took up his residence in Otsego county. New York, where his death occurred. He was married, June 2, 1820, to Miss Ann Smith, who died February 12, 1828, during the in- fancy of our subject. Her father. Major James Smith, served with distinction as an officer in the Revolutionary war. He was born in Connecticut of English ancestry and died in 1848, at the age of ninety-four years. Our subject's paternal grandparents were Rev. George and Percy (Kimball) Eliot, the former of whom was born in 1756, and died March 22, 1817, and the latter was born in 1761, and died March 6, 1845. The grand- father was a Baptist minister who organized churches of that denomination at Burlington Flats, Ames, where he preached for twenty years, E.xeter, Starkville and Danube, Herk- imer county, all in New York. He was from Pomfret, Connecticut. He left his church work to serve as a private in the Revolu- tionary war and took an active part in that struggle. As his mother died during his infancy Mr. Elliott, of this review, was adopted into the family of Elisha Elliott, a cousin of his father, and with them removed to Rich- field Springs, Otsego county, New York, when eleven years of age. While his edu- cation was completed he entered the mill of his father at Springfield and learned the trade, remaining there until 1851. In the meantime he was married, October 21, 1849, to Miss Sarah Jane Phelps, of Oneida, New York, a daughter of Heman H. 238 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Phelps, who built the Syracuse & Utica Railroad, now a part of the New York Cen- tral Railroad. At the time of his marriage Mr. Elliott was living at Springfield, New York, at the head of Otsego Lake, where he was engaged in milling, until I 85 I, and during the follow- ing two years he was general superintendent of the flouring mill of Colonel H. P. Adams & Company, at Syracuse. In 1853 he went to Chicago with Colonel Adams, who had contracted to build the Chicago & North- western Railroad from Dixon to Fulton, Illinois, arriving in western metropolis in September of that year. He spent the winter in Muscatine, Iowa, supervising and watching over the railroad interests of his employer. Colonel Adams having failed, Mr. Elliott returned to Chicago, and in 1854 opened the first wholesale flour house in that city, at No. 54 Randolph street. While there he made occasional visits to Belvidere, Illinois, where he controlled the products of a mill. He built up a large flour trade in Chicago and also conducted the old hydraulic mill at the foot of Lake street during the last year and a half of its existence. In 1856 he sold his interests in Chicago and removed to Davenport, Iowa, where he engaged in the flour business until the breaking out of the Civil war, when he returned to Chicago. He was interested in the flour commission business there from May, 1 86 1, to May, 1871, being a member of the board of trade, with which he had previously been connected from 1S54 to 1856. There are few men now living who were with him on the board at that time. During the last ten years a building was erected on the corner of South Water and Wells streets for their use, and that was oc- cupied by them until their removal to the Chamber of Commerce. In connection with the flour business, Mr. Elliott dealt in grain quite extensively. Coming to Sterling in 1 87 1, he operated the old Commercial Mill, until the Wire Company bought the water power for twenty-five years. It was the first and largest mill built in Sterling, having a capacity of about one thousand barrels per week, and was operated exclu- sively in the manufacture of flour. On the sale of this mill, Mr. Elliott purchased his present elevator and moved it to the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad tracks. It has a capacity of twenty-five thousand bushels, but is intended to pass the grain from the farmers' wagons to the cars. He has since devoted his attention to buying and shipping grain, selling several hundred car loads a year in Chicago. His record is that of a man who has worked his way up- ward to a position of prominence by his own unaided efforts. His life has been one of industry and perseverance, and the system- atic and honorable business methods which he has followed have won him the support and confidence of many. Since the organization of the Republic- an party Mr. Elliott has been one of its stanch supporters, but never an aspirant for office, though he has served as mayor of the city — the only public position he has been prevailed upon to accept. During his ad- ministration the era of improvement was commenced, a good street system of sewers was almost completed, and city hall was nearly finished. He signed the first bonds for the city hall, amounting to fifteen thou- sand dollars. He was progressive and pre- eminently public-spirited and ever has the best interests of the place at heart. Mr. Elliott's first wife died in 1873, leaving four children, three sons and one THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 239 daughter, namely: Clifford, now a resi- dent of Kansas City, Kansas; Lillian, widow of J. C. Salmon; George W., a resident of Chicago, who is with the Chicago Housing Company, and Charles, a fruit broker of the same city. Our subject was again married, August 31, 1879, his second union being with Miss Ellen M. Mallett, of this county, by whom he has two daughters, Georgiana and Madeline E. The family have one of the loveliest homes of the city, it being the Farwell homestead. They attend the Episcopal church, of which Mrs. Elliott is a member, and occupy a prominent posi- tion in social circles. Mrs. Elliott is descended from the old French aristocracy. The founder of the Mallett family in America was Peter Mal- lett, a native of Rochelle, France, who was born in 17 12 and from his native land fled to England. Being a man of considerable wealth he purchased a vessel and brought the French refugees to America, founding the city of New Rochelle, New York. He took an active part in the Revolutionary war, holding a prominent position in the Con- tinental army. He married Mary Booth. Their son Peter was born in 1744 and in 1765 married Sarah Mumford. He settled in Wilmington, North Carolina, and was one of the principal founders of Fayette- ville, that state. His son, Edward Jones Mallett, was born in 1797, and married Sarah Fenner. He was a member of a noted class which graduated from Chapel Hill University, one of his classmates being President Polk. He became quite wealthy, was at one time consul-general to Florence, Italy, and later made his home in New York. His son, Charles Pierre Mallett, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, De- cember 20, 1824, and was educated at Jamaica Plains, Boston. In 1846 he came as a pioneer to Whiteside county, Illinois, and took up his residence in Como, becom- ing one of the extensive land owners and prominent builders of that place, where he made his home for many years. There he married Miss Georgiana Sampson, who was born in Duxbury, Massachusetts, February I, 1829. Her lather, Henry Briggs Samp- son, opened the first public house in Como in 1839. He was also a native of Duxbury, Massachusetts, and came of Majflovver stock. The progenitor of the family in America was Henry Sampson, who came to this country with the Filley family on the Mayflower in 1620, and settled in Duxbury, where he died December 20, 1684. His son Caleb married Mercy Standish, a grand- daughter of Miles Standish, and a daughter of Alexander and Sarah (Alden) Standish, the latter a daughter of John and Priscilla Alden. David Sampson, a son of Caleb, was born in Duxbury, in 1685, and was married June 5, 1712, to Mary Chapin, a native of Boston, who lived to the extreme old age of one hundred and three years. Their son Chapin married Bettie Clift, of Marshfield. Massachusetts, and among their children was Captain Job Sampson, who was born in Duxbury, September 19, 1766, and married Betsy Windsor, whose ances- tors were pioneers of Duxbury. Their son. Captain Henry Briggs Sampson, was born July 15, 1787, and died in 1865, at Como, Illinois, where he located in 1837. He married Nancy Turner, daughter of Colonel William Turner, who was one of General Washington's aids during the Revolutionary war. The Sampsons were principally ves- sel owners and sea captains. The Turner family is descended from Humphry Turner, of Essex, England, who on coming to this !40 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. country located in the colony of New Ply- mouth. Mrs. Elliott is a member of the Daugh- ters of the American Revolution, being en- titled to membership along several different lines, and she was appointed regent of the same, but has never organized a chapter at Sterling. EMERY D. COVELL, a representative farmer and highly esteemed citizen of Tampico township, whose home is on sec- tion 6, was born in Wyoming county, New York, December 24, 1835, and is a son of George R. D. and Laura (Carpenter) Covell, also natives of the Empire state. During his childhood he removed with the family to Genesfe count\', New York, where the fa- ther bought a farm and spent his remaining days. There both parents died. Our subject passed his boyhood and youth in much the usual manner of farmer boys of his day, aiding his father in improv- ing and carrying on home farm and attending school as the opportunity presented itself. In Genesee county, he was married, Novem- ber 15, 1859, the lady of his choice being Miss Julia E. Ervvin, who was born in Monroe county. New York, but was reared in Genesee county. They have one son, Clarence, who married Stella Needham and has eight children. He helps his father carry on the home farm. After his marriage, Mr. Covell rented land in Genesee county. New York, and en- gaged in farming there until the spring of 1862, when he came west to Whiteside county, Illinois, joining his brother-in-law, Burt Erwin. During the first year spent here, he worked by the month as a farm hand, and the following year operated rented land. His first purchase consisted of eighty acres of raw prairie, which he fenced, broke, and converted into a highly productive farm. After farming upon that place for several years, he sold it at a good profit, and bought one hundred and twenty acres where he now resides. The same season he purchased another forty-acre tract adjoining the first, and has since devoted his time and attention to the improvement and cultivation of this farm, with the exception of three years spent in Kansas. Renting his land in 1895, he moved to Logan, Phillips county, Kan- sas, where he bought an elevator and en- gaged in the grain and stock business for three years, but in September, 1898, he sold his interests there and returned to his farm in Whiteside county, Illinois. In politics Mr. Covell is an ardent Re- publican, and has never wavered in his allegiance to that party since casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in i860. He has never cared for official honors, but at different times has served as school director in his district. He is largely interested in any movement that is for the improvement of his township and county, or that will elevate or benefit the people among whom he lives. He is honored and respected wherever known, and by his neighbors and friends is held in the highest regard. LAUREN E. TUTTLE, the well known and popular circuit clerk and recorder of Whiteside county, was born in Sterling, February 22, 1849, a son of Henry and Lavinia (Penrose) Tuttle. The progenitor of the Tuttle family in America was William Tuttle, who came to this country on the Planter in 1635 and located in Boston. The THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 241 father of our subject was born in Greene county, New York, January 29, 1818, a son of William and Lucalle (Steele) Tuttle, farming people of that state. The grand- father was born at Wallingford, Connecti- cut, August 29, 1 779, and was a son of John and Lois (Austin) Tuttle. John Tuttle was also a native of the Nutmeg state and was a son of Lieutenant Jehiel Tuttle, who was a soldier in the French war of 1754 and 1763. John recovered the horn and gun of his father and used them afterward in the Revolution. He joined the Colonial army at the age of thirteen years and was at Lake George a part of the time. For many years he served as commissioner of the poor in Greene county. New York, whither he removed in 178S, having previously erected a cabin there which vvafe torn down by the Indians while he returned east for his family. He spent his last days in that county. He had nine children, one of whom was Will- iam Tuttle, grandfather of our subject, who was nine years of age when the family re- moved to Greene county. New York. He was a farmer and merchant by occupation and served with distinction in the general assembly of that state. In 1841 became west, traveling one thousand miles overland in a buggy, but soon after his arrival in Whiteside county he was stricken with ty- phoid fever and died. In his native state Henry Tuttle grew to manhood, and, after receiving a common- school education followed farming there un- til 1837, when he came by way of the lakes to Chicago and from there to Whiteside county. He made the journey in company with A. B. and John B. Steele and Timothy Butler, and he purchased two hundred acres of land in Sterling township, of the four hundred acres which David Steele had previously taken up. At that time the county was very sparsely settled. He built the first frame house within its borders, and his neighbors thought him insane, believing it would be blown down in the first storm, but it is still standing in a good state of preservation, and is still in use. He became the owner of considerable land in Sterling township, which he finally sold in 1867, and purchased three hundred acres in Hopkins township, upon which he made hi.s home until his death, which occurred January 12, 1879. He was extremely charitable and generous, and it is safe to say that no man stood higher in the esteem of his fellow- citizens than Henry Tuttle. His widow is still living, and now makes her home in Sterling. She belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he was also a member. Politically he was a stanch Re- publican, and was honored with a number of local offices. In their family were five children, of whom Lauren E., our subject, is the eldest; Charles E. died at the age of twenty-two years; Clarence H., who is con- nected with the Sterling National Bank, married Emma Bills, and had one child that died in infancy; Ida M. and Mary L. live with their mother in Sterling. Our subject's maternal grandfather, Ed- win Penrose, a son of Robert and Rachel Penrose, was born in Canada June 13, 1807, and was married in Belmont county, Ohio, March 5, 1828, to Miss Mary Spencer, who was born in that state February 18, 1S05, a daughter of Nathan and Ann Spencer. Soon after their marriage they moved to Kno.x county, Ohio, and from there came to Whiteside count}-. Illinois, in 1845, locating on a farm about two miles north of Sterling, where they resided until after the Civil war, when they moved to Iowa. Both died in 242 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. that state, Mr. Penrose October 29, 1879; his wife April 4, 1872. They were members of the Society of Friends, and humble fol- lowers of thp Savior. Their lives were in perfect harmony with their professions, and thry were always ready to render their neighbors any favor within their power. At times Mr. Penrose held offices of public trust in the community where he resided. In his family were seven children, namely: Mrs. Lavinia Tuttle, born December 5, 182S, is the mother of our subject; Mrs. Eliza Hulse, born April 25, 1831, is a resi- dent of Keota, Iowa; Mrs. Annie Hodge, born June 19, 1833, makes her home in Odebolt, Iowa; Mrs. Rachel Coe, born August 22, 1835, is living in Rock Falls, Illinois; Nathan L. Penrose, born January 1, 1837, lives in Sterling; and Jesse A. Pen- rose, born September 24, 1844, makes his home in Sac City, Iowa. Lauren E. Tuttle was educated in the common schools and the Davenport Busi- ness College. After leaving school he spent one year at home and then accepted the po- sition of secretary with the Keystone Burial Case Company, and remained with them after the firm re-organized as the Rock Falls Manufacturing Company for a few months. In 1878 he was appointed deputy recorder by Addison Darrington, then recorder of Whiteside county, and acceptably filled that position for four years. The following two years he was employed as bookkeeper in the First National Bank of Morrison, and at the end of that time was elected circuit clerk and recorder, which offices he has since most creditably and satisfactorily filled for the long period of fifteen years. On the 4th of November, 1875, Mr. Tuttle was united in marriage with Miss Emily A. Ustick, who was born in White- side county, July 6, 1852, a daughter of Henry and Susan (McMullen) Ustick, now honored residents of Morrison. The father was born in Morrow county, Ohio, April 30, 1826, the mother in Toronto, Canada, July 30, of the same year. They have eight children: Sarah E., Emily A., Ed- ward P., John William, Lilly D., Charles B., Annabel and Mitchell C. Mrs. Tuttle's paternal grandfather, Henry Ustick, Sr., was one of the earliest settlers of this coun- ty, and Ustick township was named in his honor. Our subject and his wife have two children: Ivy M., born October 2, 1878, is a graduate of the Morrison high school; and Mary L. , born November 19, 1884, is still attending that school. The parents both hold membership in the Presbyterian church, and Mr. Tuttle is identified with the Repub- lican party. He was a member of the board of education for eleven years, and his official duties have always been most faith- fully and efficiently performed. CHARLES WILLIS CABOT. White- side county has no more successful farmer and stock raiser than the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. He now owns and operates a valuable and well-im- proved farm of two hundred acres on sec- tion 3, Prophetstown township, pleasantly located one mile east of the village of Prophetstown, and that he thoroughly un- derstands the occupation that he has chosen as a life work is manifest in the thrifty ap- pearance of his place. Mr. Cabot is a native of the county, born on the old homestead, where he still resides, March 9, 1857. As a young man his father, Hubbard S. Cabot, became one of the pio- neer settlers of this region, and entered the THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 243 land from the government where his son now resides. He opened up the farm and was numbered among the most active and progressive agriculturists of the community. On locating here he hauled the lumber to build his house and barn from Chicago, and all his farm produce he sold in that city, re- turning home with provisions and supplies. In this county he married Catherine Sears, a native of Massachusetts and one of the pioneer teachers of the county. Her father, Rev. Reuben Sears, was one of the first ministers of the county, and he died here at an early day. Mr. Cabot was accidentally killed by a falling tree, in March, 1862, leaving his wife with four children, whom she reared and educated in a most com- mendable manner. All reached years of maturity, but only two are now living. Sarah, the oldest, was well educated and became a teacher in the city schools of Ster- ling, but died when a young lady. Norman died in Grinell, Iowa, at the age of nineteen years, while attending college there. Mar\', also a teacher in early life, is now the wife of Thomas Diller, of Sterling. Charles Willis completes the family. Our subject grew to manhood on the home farm, and his early education, acquired in the public schools of Prophetstown, was supplemented by one year's attendance at the State Normal at Bloomington and a course at the normal in Valparaiso, Indiana. At the early age of fifteen years he took charge of the farm, and has since made many substantial and permanent improve- ments on it, remodeling the house, build- ings, barns, outbuildings, fences, etc. As a stock breeder he ranks among the best. He raises a good grade of cattle, but his specialty is hogs and draft horses and road- sters. At the state fair he took first pre- 14 mium, in 1897, for having the largest yield of corn to the acre in the state, and in 1898 took second premium. He was again a contestant in 1899 and took the first pre- mium. In August, 1885, at Davenport, Iowa, Mr. Cabot was united in marriage with Miss Ethel B. Warner, a native of this county, who was educated in Morrison and was a successful teacher for some years prior to her marriage. She is a daughter of Pleas- ant Warner, of Morrison. Our subject and his wife have three children: Norman, Katie and Fannie Fern. Politically, Mr. Cabot is a true blue Re- publican, and has never failed to support every presidential candidate of that party since attaining his majority. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, the Royal Neighbors and the Mys- tic Workers of the World, while his wife is a member of the Eastern Star of the Ma- sonic order, the Royal Neighbors and Mj'stic Workers of the World. Their pleasant home is the abode of hospitality, and in the best social circles of the community they occupy an enviable position. ELIAS H. KILMER, a well-known agri- culturist residing on section 36, Proph- etstown township, is not only one of the valued citizens of Whiteside county, but was also one of the brave defenders of the Union during the dark days of the Civil war, devoting over four years of early man- wood to the service of his countrj'. Mr. Kilmer was born in Oswego county, New York, December i, 1839, a son of Elias T. and Bertha (Smith) Kilmer, also natives of the Empire state. The father was a farmer of Oswego county, and con- 244 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. tinued his residence there until after the birth of several of his children. He came west in 1847 by way of the Great Lakes to Chicago, and from there proceeded to Ken- dall county, Illinois, where he followed farming. The last years of his life were spent in Newark, where he died in March, 1893, at the advanced age of ninety-two years. The mother of our subject passed away in 1854, and he later married again. Elias H. Kilmer was a lad of seven years when he came with the family to this state, and in Kendall county he grew to manhood. As his school privileges were limited, he was almost wholly self-educated. His mother died when he was a lad of four- teen years, and for several years thereafter his life was one of hardships and toil upon the farm. On the 24th of April, 1861, at the first call for three-years troops, he en- listed in Company K, Twentieth Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee. His first engage- ment was at Fredericksburg. Missouri, and was followed by the battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Britton's Lane, Port Gibson, Raymond and Champion Hill. For fortj'-seven days he was in battle around Vicksburg, and helped to capture that stronghold. He was ill in the hospital at St. Louis for a short time during the spring of 1862, but remained in the service until the expiration of his term of enlistment, being honorably discharged July 14, 1864. On the 4th of the following September, he re- enlisted, joining the One Hundred and Forty-sixth Illinois Infantry, with which he served until the close of the war. He was mustered out July 8, 1865, with the rank of sergeant and after being discharged re- turned to his home in Ivendall county. Mr. Kilmer first came to Whiteside county in the spring of 1866 and rent- ed a farm in Tampico township. On the 1 6th of September, of that year, he was married, in Tampico, to Miss Emerett Rob- inson, who was born in Berrien county, Michigan, and came to Henry county, Illi- nois, when a child of ten years with her mother and step-father, Mr. and Mrs. Ben- jamin Lane. Her father was Joel Robin- son, a native of New York, who was an early settler of Michigan and died in that state during her childhood. In the fall of 1866, Mr. and Mrs. Ivilmer went to Iowa, where they spent one year, and then re- turned to this state. He then engaged in farming upon rented land in Whiteside county, but lived just across the line in Henry county for several years. In 1880 he purchased eighty acres of partially im- proved land on section 36, Prophetstown township, where he has since, made his home. Here he has erected a pleasant res- idence and just completed a large, substan- tial barn, one of the best in the neighbor- hood. He carries on general farming and stock raising, makmg a specialty of hogs, and is accounted one of the most successful farmers and stock men in the community. On starting out in life together he and his wife were in limited circumstances, but by their combined efforts, untiring industrj' and good management they have become quite well-to-do. To Mr. and Mrs. Kilmer was born one child, Eugene, who died at the age of six- teen months. Out of the kindness of their hearts they have given homes to two others, Alanson Bishop, a nephew, who lived with them from the age of twelve years until his death in 1888, when twenty-seven years of age; and Grace Wildman, who has found a pleasant home with them since a child of THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 245 ten years. Mrs. Kilmer is an active mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church and a most estimable lady. Since casting his first presidential ballot for General U. S. Grant, in 1868, Mr. Kilmer has been a stanch supporter of the Republican party and its principles, and he is an honored member of the Grand Army Post of Proph- etstown. A loyal and patriotic citizen, he is found as true to his duties of citizenship in times of peace as when he followed the old flag to victory on southern battle fields. PETER THOMSEN, who is successfully engaged in business in Fulton, Illinois, was born in W'innert, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, September 11, 1859, and is a son of John and Catherine (Clausen) Thomsen, also of German birth. The father was a contractor and builder in the service of the government, constructing roads and bridges. He died in Germany, in 1897, but the mother survives and still resides in the Fatherland. Our subject is the third in order of birth in a family of nine children, and the only one livmg in this country. Mr. Thomsen received a collegiate education at Humsum, Germany, and during his youth assisted his father in business. He also served for two years as a soldier in the German army. He then came to America, landing in New York City, April 12, 1884, and during the first three months spent in this country, he worked on a fruit farm near Dover, Delaware. In July, 1884, he went to Lyons, Iowa, where he was employed in the sawmill of a Mr. Joyce for two seasons. He then accepted the agency for the Rock Island Brewing Com- pany, and was engaged with them at Lyons for two years and a half. There he was married April 5, 1887, to Miss Anna Roeh, a daughter of John and Margaret (Hertz- ner) Roeh. Her father is one of the pioneer merchants of Lyons, where he was engaged in the grocery business for over thirty years, but is now living retired. Mr. and Mrs. Thomsen have three children, namely: John W. , Alfred W. and Marvin. In 1889 Mr. Thomsen came to Fulton, and has since engaged in his present busi- ness at the corner of Cherry and River street with good success. In 1893 he pur- chased the building, which is a good three, story structure, the upper floor of which is occupied by the Masonic lodge. Fraternally Mr. Thomsen is a prominent member of Sunlight lodge. No. 239, K. P., of which he is past chancellor commander, and politicall}' he is a stanch Republican, but not a politi- cian in the sense of office seeking. He is one of the most progressive and enterpris- ing citizens of Fulton, is well-read and keeps thoroughly posted on topics of general interest as well as the questions and issues of the day. HON. HENRY C. WARD. In the last half of the present century the lawyer has been a pre-eminent factor in all affairs of private concern and national importance. He has been depended upon to conserve the best and permanent interests of the whole people and is a recognized power in all the avenues of life. He stands as the protector of the rights and liberties of his fellowmen and is the representative of a profession whose followers, if they would gain honor, fame and success, must be men of merit and ability. Such a one is Judge Ward, who occupies the bench of Whiteside county, win- ning high commendation by his fair and im- partial administration of justice. 246 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. The Judge was born in Hendrysburgh, Belmont county, Ohio, November 16, 1850, a son of John V. and Mary A. (Mumma) Ward. The father was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, January i, 18 10. The paternal grandfather, Philip Ward, was a native of Cecil county, Mar3land, and a lineal descendant of General Thomas Ward, who came to this country from England with Lord Howe during the Revolutionary war. From Maryland Philip Ward removed to Chester county, Pennsylvania, and when the father of our subject was quite small be- came a pioneer settler of Belmont county, Ohio, where he followed farming until called from this life in 1869. He was not a member of any church but his wife was con- nected with the Society of Friends. Leaving home at the age of eighteen years, John V. Ward, father of the Judge, began his business career as a clerk in a store, where he remained until buying two stores of his own, one in Morristown, the other in Hendrysburgh, Ohio. He after- ward united the two, concentrating his busi- * ness at Hendrysburgh, and in connection with merchandising bought pork, wool and tobacco in season. He acquired quite a fort- une for his time. Most of his produce was hauled to market at Baltimore, Maryland. Politically he was a stanch supporter of first the Whig and later of the Republican par- ties, but would accept no office except that of assessor. In 1874 he came to Whiteside county, Illinois, and lived retired in Ster- ling until his death, August 5, 1899. On the 8th of February, 1835, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary A. Mumma, who was born in Belmont county, Ohio, Feb- ruary 29, 1 8 12, a daughter of John Mumma, who was of German birth and an early set- tler of Belmont county. He was killed by a falling tree at the age of forty-two years. Mr. and Mrs. Ward are active and prom- inent members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Sterling and are held in high re- gard by all who know them. In their fam- ily are five children who reached years of maturity, of whom the Judge is the young- est. E. Brooks, the oldest, came to Sterl- ing as an attorney, and during the Civil war entered the Union army as captain of Com- pany A, Thirty-fourth Illinois Volunteer In- fantry, of which regiment his law partner, E. N. Kirk, was commissioned colonel and later promoted to the rank of general. Cap- tain Ward resigned December 5, 1862, and returned to Sterling, resumed the practice, but never recovered and died in June, 1863. W. Scott is a resident of Sterling. Chattie is the widow of John G. Manahan, a prom- inent attorney of Sterling, whose sketch is given on another page of this volume; and Rowena, deceased, was the wife of John F. Barrett. Judge Ward's early education, acquired in the common schools, was supplemented by a four years' course at McNeeley iNormal College, Harrison county, Ohio. After teaching school for one term in that state he came to Sterling, Illinois, in October, 1872, and entered the law office of Kilgore & Manahan, with whom he studied for five years before applying for admission to the bar, though he gained much practical information by drawing up legal papers, taking testimony, etc. He was examined at Srpingfield, in January, 1877, and licensed to practice. In July of the same year he formed a partnership with Mr. Man- ahan, under the name of Manahan & Ward, and together they engaged in the general practice of law and patent litigation until January i, 1S90, when the THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 247 partnership was dissolved and the business divided, Mr. Manahan taking the patent business exclusively, and our subject the general practice. During the existence of the firm, after the " Q " entered Sterling, they were employed as attorneys for that railroad, until the dissolution above men- tioned, and had a large general practice which our subject still enjoys. He was act- ive in forming the Sterling Water Company, of which he was secretary and a stockholder for sometime after its organization. On the i6th of May, 1877, Judge Ward was united in marriage with Miss Mary C. Anthony, daughter of Dr. J. P. Anthony, who is represented elsewhere in this work, and they have become the parents of si.x children, namely: Martha, Alice M., John A., Frank, Philip H. and Mary Helen. The family have a beautiful home at No. 807 Avenue B, opposite Pennington Park, which was erected by the Judge in 1896. He and his wife hold membership in the Presbyte- rian church of Sterling and occupy an envia- ble position in the best social circles of the city. He is prominently identified with the Republican party, has stumped the county in its interests, and has been an important factor in securing its success. Under the old charter he was city attorney for two terms, being appointed to that position in 1878 and again in 1880, and he was elected to the same office in 1891 and again in 1893. When elected county judge in 1894, he re- signed the former position, and so accepta- bly did he fill the office of judge that he was re-elected in 1898, and is the present in- cumbent. He has had no appeals taken to the higher courts in probate and none reversed in the revenue cases that have been ap- pealed. He has ever taken an active and prominent part in public affairs, has been a director of the public library for many years, and a member of the board of education of the Wallace school for about fifteen years. He is a prominent Mason, master of Rock River lodge, No. 612, F. & A. M., which he has represented in the grand lodge, and also belongs to Sterling chapter, No. 57, R. A. M., and Sterling command- ery, No. 57, K. T., of which he is junior warden at the present time. He is very popular with all classes, and prominent and influential in professional, social and polit- ical circles. OLIVER D. OLSON, whose fine farm of two hundred and eighty acres is lo- cated on section 9, Tampico township, within two miles of the village of that name, has been a resident of Whiteside county since 1854. He is a native of Sweden, born May 21, 1850, and came to the United States with his father, John Olson, in 1853. His father first located in Lee county, near the city of Dixon, and there remained until the following year, when he came to \Vhiteside county, where he opened up a farm in Tam- pico township, there reared his family, and spent his last days, dying in February, 188S. The subject of this sketch was but four years old when he came with his father to this county. Here the remainder of his life has since been spent. Educated in the common schools of the neighborhood, heat- tended school at such time as his labor was not needed on the farm. He remained at home, assisting in the labors of the farm, until after he had attained his majority. He was married in Moline, Illinois, January I, 1870, to Miss Chastine Munson, also a native of Sweden, where she grew to wo- 248 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. manhood, after which she came to the United States. By this union six children were born: Matilda Josephine married Burt Morris, but died in July, 1896. Frank Herman is engaged in railroad work, in the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. Joseph Merton is carrying on the home farm. Edward Theodore is now liv- ing in Minnesota. He is a well-educated young man and is engaged in teaching. Agnes Caroline is a student in the Normal College at Valparaiso, Indiana. Minnie Dora is the wife of Arthur Aldrich, of Tam- pico township. After marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Olson lo- cated on the farm where they now reside, but which then cojjsisted of only eighty acres, but which was purchased by him in 1869. The land was raw prairie and with- out improvements of any kind, and Mr. Ol- son at once went to work to redeem it from its virgin estate. He later bought one hun- dred and twenty acres additional, and still later another eighty, giving him his present fine farm. For a time he also owned a farm of one hundred and forty acres in Hahnaman township, but he has since sold the same. On his home place he has built various outbuildings, barns, and his present comfortable residence. The fruit and orna- mental trees were all put out by his own hands, and in fact all the improvements now seen is due to him. In addition to the raising of grain, he has given much of his time to stock raising, in which line he has been quite successful. Each year he feeds and fattens several car loads of stock for the markets. In the public schools Mr. Olson has al- ways shown a commendable interest, and to further the best interests of the schools he has served for some years as a member of the school board. He has given each of his children good educational advantages, and they have shown themselves worthy of it. For several years he served as road com- missioner and gave much of his time to the roads in his district. In politics he has al- ways been a Republican, and from Grant in 1872 to McKinley in 1896, he has voted the party ticket. In religion Mr. and Mrs. Olson are mem- bers of the Methodist Episcopal church of Tampico, and take an active interest in the work of the church and the spread of the gospel. Fraternally he is a Master Mason, holding membership with the lodge in Tam- pico. He and his wife are also members of the Order of the Eastern Star. He is like- wise a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and of the Knights of the Globe. As a farmer he has been a success, and while he had a little assistance from his fa- ther in beginning the struggle of life, the greater part of his possessions has been ac- quired by his own industry, assisted by his good wife. For forty- five years he has been a resident of the county, and in that time what vast changes have been made.' When he came, there was not a mile of railroad in the county, the country was nearly all in its primitive state, and to his industry, and to the noble band of pioneers, the present condition of the county is largely due. FRANK ANTHONY, M. D. One of the most exacting of all the higher lines of occupation to which a man may lend his energies is that of the physician, A most scrupulous preliminary training is demand- ed, a nicety of judgment but little under- stood by the laity. Our subject is well THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 249 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. Anthony has spent his entire life in Stalling, where he was born, March 9, 1858, a son of Julius P. and Martha J. (Parke) Anthony. The father was a native of Skaneateless, Onondaga county, New York, where he was rehired upon a farm. His early education acquired in the common schools of Skaneateless, was supplemented by a course in the academy at Homer, New York. He paid his own way through school and when his education was com- pleted, he engaged in teaching for a time. Subsequently he commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Parke, of Danville, Pennsylvania, and later attended lectures at the Berkshire Medical College, of Pitts- field. Massachusetts, from wiiich institution he was graduated in the class of 1847. He married the daughter of his preceptor, Dr. Parke, and in i 847 they came west by way of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, locating first at Comanche, Iowa. In the spring of 1850 they came to Sterling, which at that time was a very small place as the railroad had not yet been built. He was one of the best educated and tnost successful physi- cians of the place, and during early days his practice extended as far as Savannah and Geneseo, Illinois. While making profes- sional visits throughout the country he trav- eled on horseback or in a sulky. During the Civil war he was surgeon of the Sixty- first Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was with the regiment in the field all through the service. He received a wound and made light of it at the time, but it eventu- ally killed him. During his early residence here. Dr. J. P. Anthony invested largely in both city and farm property, built a good_ many houses and some business blocks, and became quite prosperous. After his return from the war he resumed private practice and up to the time of his death was one of the leading physicians of the county. He was also surgeon for the Chicago & North- western Railroad and was the originator and main supporter of the free bridge over the river at Sterling, which now stands as a monument to his memory. He was one of the originators and president of the County Medical Society, now non-existent, and also belonged to the State Medical Society, Sterling lodge, I. O. O. F., and Will Rob- inson post, G. A. R., of which he was one of the most prominent members and surgeon for many years. It was largely through his instrumentality that the free library was es- tablished at Sterling, and he took an active part in promoting any enterprise for the public good. Politically he was identified with the Republican party. He passed away June 8, 1891, and in his death the community realized that it had lost one of its most valued and useful citizens. His wife died in February, 188S. They at- tended and supported the Presbyterian church. Their children were Pamelia, Dar- win H., Martha L., Mary C. and Frank. Dr. Frank Anthony, whose name intro- duces this sketch, pursued his studies in the common schools and an academy, and then attended Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin. He read medicine with his father and took a three years course at Rush Medical Col- lege, Chicago, from which he was graduated in 1 88 1. Returning to Sterling he engaged in practice with his father until the latter's death. From the start he has been remark- ably successful and is to-day one of the leading medical practitioners of the county. He has been surgeon for the Chicago & !50 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. Northwestern Railroad for fifteen years and for that company has done considerable work. In 1891 he was made surgeon of the Sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was with his regiment in the Cuban and Porto Rico campaigns during our recent war with Spain. He was on the second boat that landed and was in the first skirmish on the island. At the end of six months he re- turned to the United States September 9, 1S98, and was mustered out of the United States service November 25. He has since given his time and attention to his private practice. On the 4th of October, 1882, Dr. An- thony married Miss Nellie Persels, of Beloit, Wisconsin, and to them have been born two children: Nellie and Hazel. The family reside at No. 202 West Fourth street and attend the Presbyterian church. Fraternally, the Doctor is a member of the Rock River \'alley Medical Society, the State Medical Society, the National Medical Association, and the Railway Surgeons Association. He still belongs to National Guards, and is a member of the A. O. U. W., the Knights of the Globe, and the blue lodge, chapter and commandery of the Masonic order, all of Sterling. His political support is always given the men and measures of the Repub- lican party. Like his father he is public spirited and progressive, and gives his influ- ence to every enterprise for the public good. JAMES R. BELL. The prosperity of any community depends upon its busi- ness activity, and the enterprise manifest in commercial circles is the foundation upon which is builded the material welfare of town, state and nation. The most impor- tant factors in public life at the present day are therefore men who are in control of successful business interests and such a one is Mr. Bell, president of the Sterling Na- tional Bank, of Sterling, Illinois, and the oldest business man of the city. Mr. Bell was born in Goffstown, New Hampshire, June 8, (825, a son of Jona- than and Lydia (Dow) Bell. The father, who was an agriculturist, was born on the same farm in Goffstown, the land hav- ing been entered from the government by the grandfather, Jonathan Bell, Sr. , after his return from the Revolutionary war as a member of a Massachusetts regiment. He was born in New Hampshire, though his father came from the north of Ireland and was of Scotch ancestry, while his wife, Deborah, was of English descent. He served all through the Revolution. He was a pioneer of Goffstown, where from a heavily timbered tract of land he developed a good farm. From his place the English cut masts, and the stump of one tree cut for that purpose was large enough for him to turn his ox-team around on top of stump. He owned two farms and it was upon the sec- ond that he died at the advanced age of ninety years. In religious faith he was a strong Congregationalist. The father of our subject grew to manhood upon the first farm, which he purchased after his mar- riage, and there he made his home through- out life. He held different township offices of honor and trust and owned a pew in the old Congregational church at Goffstown, having a deed to the same. His wife was a daughter of Job Dow, who was also a rep- resentative of one of the pioneer families of that place. She died at the age of fifty-six years, the father at the age of seventy-four. Of the ten children born to them, six reached years of maturity, namely: Fred- f' ,iJ|«L. f %v. S^4^' ^^^^^Hb^;.- id r JAMES R. BELL. THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. = 53 erick, who died on the old homestead, which is still in the possession of the family; Mrs. Elinira Connor, who died in Goffstown; Mrs. Mary Austin, who is still living; Mrs. Margaret Holt, who died in Goffstown; James R. , our subject; Ira L., a resident of Goffstown. The others died young. During his boyhood and youth James R. Bell attended the common schools to a limit- ed extent, having to walk two miles through the woods where no roads have been laid out. Being one of the oldest sons of the family his services were needed at home during the summer months, but for twelve or si.xteen weeks he was a student at the winter schools until about sixteen years of age. Later he attended a select school for a time and then worked with his fa- therupon the farm until nineteen years of age, when he was given his time. As an apprentice he learned the shoe- maker's trade at Goffstown and then worked at the same for a manufacturing company near Manchester for three years. At the end of that time he went to Rushford, Allegany county. New York, where he worked for an uncle who was in the shoe and tanning business, and two years later he was offered an interest in the business or the privilege of taking the shop and run- ning it, and he chose the latter. While at that place he was mirried, July 19, 1852, to Miss Salome Gordon, a daughter of Will- iam Gordon, who was born in Vermont of Scotch parentage, and became a pioneer business man of Allegany county. New York. Mrs. Bell was born in Rushford, and her oldest brother was the first white male chil 1 born in Allegany county. Our subject and his wife have two children: ([) William J. , who is a partner of his father in business, married Mary E. Cochran and has three children: Russell, who is also a member of the firm; Verna; and Herbert E. (2) Samuel G.,who resides on a farm of our subject in Whiteside county, married Ella Erb and has two daughters, Winnie May and Bertha. Mr. Bell rented and operated his uncle's shop in Rushford, New York, for five or six years, during which time he secured a good start. Hearing of the valuable land in Whiteside county, Illinois, which could be bought cheap, he and his wife's brother came to this section, traveling by railroad as far as Geneseo, and from there on foot to Prophetstown. They found that the land which they had intended to buy had been practically sold, but they purchased a large and well improved farm in Erie township, which they divided in the spring of 1854. A few years later, when the railroad was be- ing surveyed through the county, Mr. Bell was offered double the amount which he paid for the farm and accordingly sold his portion. On the ist of April, 1864, he hitched up a young team to a lumber wagon, and with his wife and two small children left Rushford, New York, bound for White- side county, Illinois. They drove to Buffa- lo, a distance of fifty miles, and then boarded a vessel to cross the lake. They encount- ered a terrible gale, during which even the officers expected the ship to sink, but they finally reached Monroe, Michigan, in safety, and from there proceeded to Chicago by rail. They brought a hired man with them, as well as their team and wagon, and from Chicago drove to the farm which Mr. Bell had previously purchased in Whiteside county. In early days he hauled all his produce to market in Dixon. In the fall of 1856, when the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad was built, he removed to Sterling, 254 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. purchased property there, built a store and embarked in the shoe business. There was practically no town here at that time, but the survey had been made and town named, and a few houses been built, with two stores. The same fall he went to New York and purchased a good stock of ladies' shoes, and also did custom work, employing from eight to ten hands. His first business location was a half mile east of his present store, but when the town changed he removed to the latter place and built what is now known as the Bell block, which at that time was considered the best store in the town. It is still a good, substantial structure, the lower floor of which he occupies. For some years he engaged in the shoe business exclusively, but has since added clothing and gents' furnishing goods, his son, William]., being associated with him as a partner in this business. He has now been longer in business than any other man in the county, and is one of its most thor- ough, reliable and successful merchants and bankers. He was one of the incorporators and a member of the first board of directors •of the Sterling National Bank, and in the second year of its existence was elected president. The capital stock was soon in- creased from fifty to seventy-five thousand dollars. Under his able and judicious man- agement the bank has prospered from the start and now has twenty-five thousand dollars of undivided profits, besides paying four per cent semi-annual dividends and the deposits now amount to about two hundred thousand dollars. Every year Mr. Bell has been re-elected president, and the success of the bank is certainly due in a large meas- ure to him. He owns two buildings at the corner of Third and Locust streets — the principal corner in the city — having six store rooms below and offices above. He also has residence property in Sterling and a fine large farm in Mount Morency township, just across from Rock Falls, which he purchased because he liked good farms, but with no intention of living there- on. His own home is beautifully located at the corner of B avenue and Eighth street, where he owns a large tract of land. His son, William ]., has a place adjoining his on the north. Since the organization of the Republican party in 1856, Mr. Bell has been one of its stanch supporters. He was elected county supervisor and filled that office for six years, resigning that position when he went to California on account of his health. He was well pleased with the work of the board and their business methods and en- joyed the position. It was during his term that the question of building a bridge across the Rock river at Sterling was decided. For seven years he was a member of the city council and had entire charge of pur- chasing the ground and building the city hall. His aims have always been to attain to the best, and he has carried forward to successful completion whatever he has un- dertaken. He has made an untarnished record and an unspotted reputation as a business man. He and his wife are earnest and faithful members of the Methodist Epis- copal church, of which he is one of the trustees, and they are highly honored by those who know them. WILLIAM FORWARD is a representa- tive farmer of Prophetstown town- ship, owning and successfully operating a good farm of eighty acres on section 35. He is a native of New York, born in Cayuga THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 255 county, September 5, 1834, and is a son of George and Sarah (Kager) Forward, who were born, reared and married in England, where they continued to mallland, but were mar- ried after coming to America. In company with a number of others they came to America on the same ship, and first took up their abode in Holland, Michi- gan, where they were married, and from whence four years later they came to \\'hite- side county, Illinois. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, lying two and one-half miles from Fulton, and was there engaged in tilling the soil until his death, April 4, 1875. He was an indus- trious, intelligent man, interested in the wel- fare of his adopted town and county, and proved himself a most worthy citizen. He was a decided Republican in politics, and served on the board of education for a num- ber of terms. In religion he was a member of the Reformed church. His widow still lives in Fulton, an active woman of sev- enty-two years. They reared four children, namely: Garrett, the special subject of this sketch; John, in the employ of J. W. Broad- head; Elizabeth, wife of John C. Jones, of Clinton, Iowa, and Dennis, a farmer at Gar- den Plain, this county. Garrett Naniga was educated in the pub- lic schools, and remained on the parental homestead until nineteen years of age, when he started in the world for himself. Going to Nebraska he bought eighty acres of land in Holland, a small town about twenty miles from Lincoln, but after a two years' resi- dence there returned home satisfied with his experience there. The next year he was employed by the 'bus line of D. C. Goble, in Fulton, and was afterward a clerk and salesman with George De Bey & Co., gen- eral merchants, for four years. In 1886, deciding to again try the pursuit of agri- culture, he took charge of the home place, but in 1887 accepted a position as clerk and salesman in the hardware establishment of the late C. N. \\'heeler, and on the death of his employer in July, 1898, as- sumed the entire control of the business, managing it for the estate. In 1899 he es- tablished a new line of business, in which he is dealing in agricultural implements of all descriptions, wagons and vehicles of every kind, and a full stock of farmers' sup- XHE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 261 plies, including seeds, etc. In all of his undertakings he has prospered thus far, his excellent success being but the logical result of his careful and correct business methods. Mr. Naniga has been active in the improve- ment and upbuilding of his town, having bought and remodeled three residences, and erected three new, handsome houses. Politically he has ever been an earnest Republican, and has rendered good service to his townsmen in official capacities, hav- ing been township collector since 1897, and is now alderman from the third ward, hav- ing been elected in the spring of nSgg. Fra- ternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, of the Mystic Work- ers of the World, and of the Abou Ben Adhem lodge, No. 148, I. O. O. F., of Fulton. He is likewise connected with the Woodmen Accident Insurance Company. On October 15, 18S4, at Ustick town- ship, Mr. Naniga was married to Miss Helen Sikkeman, daughter of Jacob and Anna (Volk) Sikkeman, respected members of the farm- ing community of Ustick. Their union has been blessed by the birth of three children, namely: DoraM., Jacob G. and Florence G. WILLIAM LANE. The fine farm be- longing to this gentleman on section 26, Prophetstown township, invariably attracts the eye of the passing traveler as being under the supervision of a thorough and skillful agriculturist, and a man other- wise of good business qualifications. Be- sides this place, comprising one hundred and sixty acres, he owns another good farm of one hundred and forty acres. Mr. Lane was born near Niles, in Berrien county, Michigan, June 18, 1837, a 15 son of Benjamin and Charity (Roper) Lane, natives of Cayuga county, New York, and pioneers of Berrien county, Michigan, where the father took up a tract of government land and cleared and improved a farm. There his first wife died, and he later mar- ried a Mrs. Robinson. In 1855 he came to Illinois and settled in Henry county. He again turned his attention to developing wild land into a well-cultivated and productive farm, his place being on the boundary line between Henry and Bureau counties, near Whiteside county. Here he spent the last years of his life, but died at the home of our subject, in October, 1889, at the age of eighty-two. His last wife had died about eight years before. Our subject is the second in order of birth in a family of five children, three sons and two daughters, of whom George now lives in California, and Mrs. Sarah A. Wincheil lives in Prophets- town township. These are the only surviv- ors. William Lane was about nineteen years of age when he came with his father to this state, and he assisted in opening up and improving the home farm. He received a good common-school education in his native state. During the dark days of the Re- bellion, he manifested his patriotism by en- listing, May 21, 1862, for three years, in Company K, Fifty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was in the service until hostilities ceased, being honorably dis- charged May 20, 1865. He participated in numerous important engagements and skir- mishes, including the battles of Corinth, Town Creek and Resaca, Georgia. He took in the Atlanta campaign, was with Sherman on his famous march to the sea, and his last engagement was at Bentonville, North Caro- lina. At Corinth he received a gunshot 262 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. wound, but was not disabled, and never lost any time on account of sickness and never missed stacking guns with his regiment. On his return home from the war Mr. Lane re- sumed farming. His first purchase con- sisted 'of eighty acres of wild land obtained from his father, and to it he has added from time to time, as his financial resources per- mitted, until he now has three hundred acres of as good farming land as is to be found in the county. In connection with general farming he is interested in raising and feeding stock, his specialty being cattle and hogs, and in both branches of his busi- ness he has been eminently successful. In the village of Prophetstown Mr. Lane was married, October i8, 1868, to Miss Elizabeth Wroe, who was born in Virginia, but was reared in Illinois. Her father, Ben- jamin Wroe, was one of the early settlers of Bureau county, but later removed to Mis- souri, where his death occurred. To Mr. and Mrs. Lane have been born six children, two sons and four daughters, all of whom have been well educated and reside at home. Ida E., William Clark and Charles Francis all attended the Genesee high school, and the two older hold first-class certificates for teaching, while Charles F. and William C. assists in the operation of the farm. Mary A. also holds a teacher's certificate, and Grace and Nellie are students in the home school. Mrs. Lane and children are at- tendants of the Methodist Episcopal church, and the younger members of the family are active workers in the Sunday school. Fra- ternally, Mr. Lane is a member of the Grand Army post of Tampico, and, polit- ically, he is a stanch Republican, having affiliated with that party since casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, in i860. He is widely and favorably known and, being a man of many sterling qualities, the community is fortunate that numbers him among its citizens. CLARENCE E. WHITE, a well-known wagon and carriage manufacturer, of Sterling, Illinois, is entitled to distinction as one of the most progressive, enterprising and public-spirited citizens of the place. Upon the commercial activity of a commun- ity depends its prosperity, and the men who are now recognized as leading citizens are those that are at the head of important business enterprises. He is a man of broad capabilities, who generally carries forward to successful completion whatever he un- dertakes. Mr. White was born in Winchendon, Worcester count}% Massachusetts, October 3, 1853, a son of Daniel and Maria (Poland) White, natives of Vermont. The founder of the White family in America came to this country on the Mayflower. The paternal grandfather was a soldier of the war of 1812, and the father received a part of the pension due him from the government. The latter attended the common schools of his native state, and in early life was bound out to a carriage and vehicle builder, learn- ing the trade thoroughly. After his mar- riage he moved to Winchendon, Massa- chusetts, where he followed his trade for many years, running a large establishment. While there he was a member of the Mas- sachusetts State Guards, and also served as selectman of Winchendon. In 1866, with his wife and two children, he came to Illi- nois and took up his residence in Sterling, where he established a wagon and carriage manufactory, but after conducting it for two years, he bought a section of land in THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 263 Lee county, Illinois, and followed farming for two years. He then returned to Sterl- ing and resumed work at his trade, being engaged in business here up to the time of his death, which occurred June 3, 1876. His wife died in May, 1892. Both were consistent members of the Methodist church, and he was a Republican in poli- tics. In the family of this worthy couple were four children: Elsie E. is now the wife of George P. Ross, a leading farmer of Harmon township, Lee county, and they have two children living. Hiram L. mar- ried Esther O. Barber, and died in Sum- merville, Massachusetts, January 15, 1899, at the age of fifty-six years, leaving two children. Clarence E. is the next in order of birth. Flora is the wife of W. F. Man- gan, of Sterling, and they have five chil- dren. Clarence E. White began his education in the public schools of his native state, and after coming to Sterling attended both the public and select schools of this place. At the age of eighteen years he entered his fa- ther's shop, where he soon mastered the trade, and remained with his father until the latter's death, being a partner from the age of twenty-one. At his father's death he assumed full control of the business, which he has since successfully carried on, em- plo3'ing wood workers, painters and black- smiths. He now gives considerable atten- tion to the real estate business, and owns eight dwelling houses, a meat market and grocery store in the city, besides two well cultivated farms of one hundred and sixty acres each in Comanche county, I'Cansas. On the 4th of May, 1876, Mr. White was united in marriage with Miss Anna S. Abendroth, a native of Berlin, German}', who when a small child came to this country with her father, John Abendroth, locating in Green county, Wisconsin, where he pur- chased land and engaged in farming for a couple of years. Since then he has been successfully engaged in the boot and shoe business in Janesville, that state, and also has money out on interest. Prior to com- ing to America he served for several years in the German army. In his family were four children, of whom Mary died at the age of six years. Those living are Edward, August and Mrs. White. Edward is now chief of police of Monroe, Wisconsin; and August is in charge of a division for the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. To Mr. and Mrs. White were born three children, namely: Uatus E., who died of typhoid fever at the age of eleven years; Lottie S., who will graduate from the Sterling high school in 1900, and Elsie M., who is attend- ing the grammar school of Sterling. Fraternally, Mr. White is a charter member of Sterling garrison. No. 8^, Knights of the Globe, and his wife was one of the first members of the Methodist church of that city, and a charter member of the Betsey Ross garrison, Eminent Ladies Knights of the Globe. In his political affiliations he is a stanch Republican, and in 1890 he was elected alderman from the first ward, in which capacity he served for six years. He was instrumental in getting a great many important measures passed, among the most important being the paving of the streets and the laying of the Broad- way sewer. He was chairman of the print- ing, bridges, electric light, fire and water committees, and was a member of the street and alley committee during the entire time he held the office. At four different times when the mayor was out of the city, he 264 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. served as mayor pro tcm. He is pre-emi- nently public-spirited and progressive and is always willing to give his support to every enterprise which he believes will prove of public good. During the time he was serv- ing as mayor pro ton. all arc lights in the city were put in through his own personal efforts and the free bridge lighted by incan- descents. PROF. J. E. BITTINGER. In this age of intellectual activity, when success in the business world depends not upon mere physical prowess but upon mental activity, upon an ability to master the principles and details of any enterprise and guide its course away from the rocks of dis- aster to the safe harbor of success, the work of the educator has become of even greater importance than ever before, and one of his most important functions is in connec- tion with the department in which the young are trained for the practical duties of the commercial and industrial world. Long occupying a prominent rank among the educators of Illinois is Professor J. E. Bit- tinger, the well known president of the Northern Illinois College, at Fulton, and under his leadership this school has taken rank with the best of its kind in the Missis- sippi valley. With a correct appreciation of the responsiblity that devolves upon the teacher he has ably prepared himself for his profession and is making continual advance- ment along lines of educational progress, each year witnessing an improvement in his methods of instruction. Professor Bittinger was born in Hagers- town, Maryland, August i, 1857, a son of George and Elizabeth (Melchoir) Bittinger, who were natives of Pennsylvania. The family is of German lineage, Jacob Bittinger a native of the Fatherland, having been the first of the name to seek a home in the New World. Throughout his active business career the father of our subject followed farming. He carried on agricultural pur- suits in Washington county, Mar3'!and, for six years, and then emigrated to Illinois. After residing in Ogle county, this state, for eight years he went to Poweshiek county, Iowa, and is now a resident of Nassau. Professor Bittinger is third in the family of seven children born to George and Eliza- beth Bittinger. The others are Emma, wife of Jeremiah Raymond, of Dixon, Illi- nois; George W., of Polo; William G., of Nassau, Iowa; Elizabeth, wife of Lincoln Eyier, of Nassau, Iowa; Mary, wife of Harry Roland, of Davenport, Nebraska; and Frank E., of Mystic, Iowa. Professor Bittinger, of this review, was only seven years of age when he came with hjs parents to Illinois. He spent the days of his childhood and youth upon his father's farm, and assisted in the labors of field and meadow until seventeen years of age, when desiring to gain a better education than had hitherto been provided htm, he bacame a stu- dent in the high school of Lewis, Iowa, where he remained two years. At the age of nine- teen he secured a position as teacher in a graded school in Ogle county, Illinois, and in 1880 he entered the Northern Illinois College at Fulton, graduating from the philosophical department at the end of four years. For the following six years he was employed by his alma inatcr as a teacher of natural sciences, on the expira- tion of which period he became principal of the schools of Port Byron, Illinois, where he remained three years. He then came to Fulton where for five years he acted as THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 265 principle of the public schools, after which he was made president of the Northern Illi- nois College, in which capacity he has now acceptably served for three years. Under his direction the school is making rapid and satisfactory progress, substantial improve- ment is noticed in all departments of the work, and the Fulton Business College, which is conducted in connection with the Northern Illinois College, is unsurpassed in its methods and efficiency by any school of the kind in the country. In it are taught all the branches of learning of use in the com- mercial world and general actual business practice fits the student for the practical duties of the business world. The Inter- Communication practice is used, whereby the students transact business with other students in twenty-five colleges throughout the Union, doing an actual business, save for the interchange of goods. The Northern Illinois College is a credit to Fulton, and ranks high in educational circles throughout the state. Professor Bittinger has ever been an advocate of progress and reform and is thus identified with many movements whose purpose is to do away with old methods and substitute new and better ones. His inter- est in the welfare of his fellow men has led him to give his political support to the Pro- hibition party, and on that ticket he was candidate for county clerk in 1S88, but has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking. Fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America and the Court of Honor. He holds membership in the Baptist church of Fulton, is a member and clerk of its board of trustees, and does all in his power to promote the work and interests of the church. His home relations are very pleasant. In November, 1887, he married Carrie A. Mason, a daughter of Alonzo P. and Carrie (Northnp) Mason, a native of New York, in which state her par- ents were also born. Professor and Mrs. Bittinger now have two children, Lylle M. and Leigh N., both yet in school. The parents enjoy the hospitality of the best homes of the city and their friends are num- bered among the representative people of Fulton. Throughout his life Professor Bit- tinger has been actuated by noble, yet practical, principles, and the spirit of help- fulness which pervades in the school of which he is president is undoubtedly one of the secrets of its success. NORTHERN ILLINOIS COLLEGE. This is one of the leading features of Fulton. It was first established by Colonel De Estynge Cavert, in 1 861, as a military school, and was called the Western Union College and Military Academy. Colonel Cavert proposed to open this institution if the citizens would take hold and aid him, which they did, forming a company and issuing bonds. He secured the Dement House, which had been vacant for some years, re- fitted the building and extended the grounds so as to have ample room for drill. The war had commenced and military enthusiasm ran high. He received from the United States government arms and accoutrements for the use of a cadet corps. It was carried on in this way for about four years, receiv- ing large numbers of students and sending out many well-drilled cadets to the field. Colonel Cavert desired then to retire from the college, and have the company take it off of his hands and rent it as a college. Accordingly they took it from him and or- ganized a college under the general laws of 266 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. the state, securing a special charter. Dona- tions were asked for and received from all parts of the state and quite a large fund was raised. One of the objects was to take the disabled soldiers from Illinois regiments and educate them to fill civil stations. The same advantages were e.xtended to the children of soldiers. The trustees managed the insti- tution with a faculty of whom Leander H. Potter was president. The e.xpenses were defrayed from the donation fund. The in- stitution received from the state during this period about $20,000. Mr. Potter's admin- istration closing about this time, the trus- tees then secured Mr. W. D. F. Lummis, who, with other professors, took charge of the institution. About this period the trus- tees ceased soliciting aid from the state, and then the question of changing the name of the college was discussed, when it was fully agreed by the stockholders and trustees to adopt a new name, calling the institution the Northern Illinois College. To Mr. Lummis the trustees gave the interest of the endowment fund, which was then about $30,000, charging him nothing for the use of the building. Mr. Lummis did not suc- ceed in satisfying the expectations and de- sires of the trustees, and on accepting his resignation they leased the college to Rev. J. W. Hubbard, whose administration, although not extraordinary, was encourag- ing. Subsequently Professor A. A. Griffith took charge of the institution and endeav- ored to establish a school of oratory, but not meeting with the success desired he concluded to change the charactor of the school, and in consequence of which he called Professors A. M. Hansen and \V. F. Hansen, who began to put forth strong efforts to establish a normal, scientific, and classical school. They were very popular and pleased the board. Finally Mr. Griffith resigned and Professor A. M. Hansen was elected its president. He began to re-organize the institution, making many changes in the character of the work and general improvements. President Hansen had erected on the grounds north of the college a large, brick, three-story building to be known as the Ladies' Seminary. This was for the accommodation of his family and the female students, and a dining hall. After eleven years of successful man- agement of the college, during which time over 2,000 students were enrolled. Presi- dent Hansen decided to change his line of work, and began the manufacture of sheet-steel siding. Prof. W. A. Pratt was next elected to the presidency of the insti- tution, but, after two years of experience, he decided to change and take up public school work again, when he was succeeded by Mr. A. A. Riopel, who was not success- ful in bringing the school up to a high standard, and he was consequently succeed- ed by J. H. Breese, who, after two years of connection, resigned and Mr. R. A. Morley was chosen in his place. The institution now seemed to take on new life, but a fire destroyed the main building and under the discouraging circumstances Mr. Morley re- signed and Mr. J. E. Bittinger succeeded him, January i, 1897. The trustees then took hold of the work of reconstructing the main building, and, after securing the amount of insurance allowed, the building was remodeled throughout, making a very handy and satisfactory arrangement for school purposes. The school has had a steady growth since the election of President Bittinger, and about six hundred dollars worth of books, philosophical and chemical apparatus have THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 267 been added. A strong faculty has been added, and excellent work is being done in every department. The faculty is as follows: J. E. Bittinger, A. M., president; Dyson Rishell, LL. D., law; S. A. Maxwell, I^itt. Pi., normal work; Miss Amorett Al- ford, ancient languages; O. W. Win- ter, normal work; A. T. Scovill, com- mercial work; Miss Anna Miller, assistant commercial work; H. W. \'oss, German; Miss Clara Wheeler, music; Adolf Wiese, violin and mandolin music; C. C. McMahon, law. The board of trustees: A. M. Han- sen, president; W. D. Ward, secretary; W. F. Hansen, treasurer; W. A. Pratt, H. Pease, D. B. Snyder, Mrs. A. M. Hansen, Geo. DeBey, J. E. Bittinger, L. Barber, Geo. Storey, M. L. Perry, The trustees keep up the expenses of the institution, such as repairs, insurance, etc., and give the use of the building. This is done from the interest on the donation fund. President Hansen has become quite popular, and he has largely increased the patronage. A business education can be had at this institution that cannot be secured at a graded school or any other college. The student can get his business education and go out, or can go through with a regular classical course. This is one of the best educational institutions in the state, and probably nowhere in the state can a thorough education be procured at so little expense. For health and beauty of location it is unex- celled. The faculty take every pains with their pupils, and the president looks after them with the care of a parent. The par- ents who send their children here can rest assured that they will be under the best of influences. The college buildings are heated with steam, and the rooms are large and well ventilated. The apartments appropri- ated to the young ladies are really elegant. The college has all the instruments, chemi- cals and chemical apparatus, geological cabinets and charts necessary for the use of the student. One of the attractive features of this institution is that it is free from sec- tarian influences, though its government is upon a true Christian basis. JAY CLEAVELAND. Prominent among the successful and enterprising farmers of Hume township is the subject of this bio- graphical notice, whose home is situated on section 29, and who is considered one of the most industrious and worthy citizens of that part of the county. He was born in Lewis county. New York, March 25, 1844, ^ son of David Cleaveland, also a native of New York. The grandfather, Josiah Cleaveland, was also born in Connecticut, and was a soldier of the Revolutionary war under Gen- eral Washington, remaining in the service seven years, nine months and twelve days. The pocket knife which he then carried is now in possession of our subject, while his bullet pouch and flint box belongs to our subject's brother. For his service he re- ceived a lane warrant, with which the father of our subject secured a tract of land in Whiteside county, now belonging to Nelon Cleaveland. In Oneida county. New York, David Cleaveland married Miss Ama Hawkins, and later moved to Lewis county, that state. In 1849 he came to this county, and the following year brought his two sons, who commenced to break and improve the land which he had entered. In 1852 the family located upon the place, and here the father continued to make his home throughout life. He was well known and highly respected, and by his friends he was 268 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. familiarly known as Uncle Dave. He died in the winter of 1879, and his wife passed away the following summer, both being laid to rest in Prophetstown cemetery. The subject of this sketch was only seven years old when he came to this county, and upon the home farm in Hume township he grew to manhood, aiding his father in the cultivation of the farm and attended the public schools of the locality during the winter months. In Morrison, March 24, 1865, he was united in marriage with Miss Fanny Dennison, who was born in Massachusetts and when a child came to this county with her father, who died a few days after their arrival here. Mr. and Mrs. Cleaveland have one child. Earl J., who now holds a position in Bald- win's store of Prophetstown. For four years after his marriage, Mr. Cleaveland continued to reside on the old Cleaveland homestead and carried on a part of the place. He then bought one hundred and si.xty acres of raw land where he now resides, which, by draining and placing un- der a high state of cultivation, he has con- verted into one of the most desirable farms of its size in the township. In 1893 he built a good barn, the following year erected sub- stantial outbuildings, and in 1898 built a large and pleasant residence in modern style of architecture. Besides his home farm, he also owns and operates eighty acres of land elsewhere in Hume township. On attaining his majority, Mr. Cleave- land became identified with the Democratic party, but in 1878 he supported General Grant for the presidency and has since affil- iated with the Republican party. He served as road and ditch commissioner for five years, but has never been an aspirant for political honors, prefeiring to devote his entire time and attention to his business in- terests. His wife is a member of the Con- gregational church of Prophetstown, and al- though he is not a member, he attends serv- ices with her and contributes to the support of the church. He was made a Master Ma- son in Prophetstown lodge, and is also a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He is a public-spirited and enter- prising citizen who takes a deep interest in everything pertaining to public develop- ment. AM. HANSEN, A. M., Ph. D., LL. D. The pioneers ot a country, the found- ers of a business, the originators of any un- dertaking that will promote the material welfare or advance the ediicational, social and moral influence of a community, de- serve the gratitude of humanity. In our subject, who is now president and treasurer of the Steel Brick Siding Company, of Ful- ton, Illinois, we find a prominent representa- tive of the industrial interests of the state. He is not only at the head of this gigantic enterprise but is also the originator and patentee of the steel brick siding, now so widely known and generally used through- out the entire country. Dr. Hansen was born in Gibisonville, Ohio, March 17, 1850, a son ol Samuel C. and Elizabeth (Kinser) Hansen, the former a native of England, the latter of Ohio. The primary education of our subject was received in the common schools of his native state, and later he attended the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware. Ohio. Subsequently he took a regular course in the National Normal University at Lebanon, that state, graduating with the class of 1875. A. M. HANSEN. MRS. HANSEN. THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 273 He at once engaged in educational work as a teacher in Hocking county, Ohio, where he taught school for one year, and the follow- ing year he pursued his profession in Linn county, Missouri. Later he filled the posi- tion of president of the Tayiorville Business College and superintendent of the city schools of Tayiorville, Illinois, for one year, ^ and was then chosen president of the Rock River University at Dixon, which position he filled until the spring of 1879, when he resigned to accept the chair of natural sciences and director of study in the Nothern Illinois College, at Fulton. The president being absent most of the time the care of conducting the college devolved upon him from the start. In June of the succeeding year, 1880, he was elected presi- dent of the college for a term of eight years. In contemplation of extensive building im- provements and in recognition of his able management, the board of trustees, in 1884, re-elected him for a term of ten years, in addition to his unexpired term, thus securing his services during the time improvements were being made. In 1890, however, he resigned his position in the college to engage in his present business. Since that time Professor Hansen has given his entire time and attention to the Steel Brick Siding Company. As before stated he is the original patentee of the steel brick siding, but as usually follows the advent of a meritorious discovery or inven- tion, he has had imitators who have sought to divide the credit and profit with him. He has extended the business and enlarged his plant to meet the growing demands of his trade until he now has one of the most im- portant industries in this section. Located on three different railroads and the Mississippi river which affords him excellent facilities for shipping both the material and finished arti- cle, and the products of his plant are now sold from New York to California. These are so well-known and generally used as to need no description. The siding is made from the best bessemer steel, pressed in imi- tation of brick; its beauty, durability, cheap- ness and fire-proof qualities, have brought this new building material into great favor. In Blue Mound, Macon county, Illinois, November 11, 1877, Professor Hansen was united in marriage with Miss Laura Wilcox, a native of Morgan county, this state, and a daughter of James and Mary (Sims) Wil- cox. To them have been born five children, namely: Charles Roy, who is now a stu- dent in the Northern Illinois College; Lena M., also a student in the Northern Illinois College; Arthur, who died at the age of two years; CarLW.; and Auber M. There is probably no man in Fulton that has done more for its development and pros- perity in the last decade than Professor Han- sen, who has taken a very active and prom- inent part in promoting its interests. He was one of the organizers of the Fulton De- velopment Company, served as its first sec- retary and later as its president. He was instrumental in securing the location here of the Mississippi Valley Stove Company, for which a bonus of thirty thousand dollars was raised. He is one of the most influen- tial and prominent Republicans in the town, and is now a member of the county central committee and chairman of the township committee. Fraternally he is a Master Ma- son, a member of the Modern ^^'oodmen of America, the Mystic Workers of the W'orld and a number of other beneficiary orders. For the past seven years he has been pres- ident of the board of trustees of the North- ern Illinois College at Fulton. 274 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. SYLVESTER M. COX, a prominent stock breeder residing on section 26, Prophetstown township, Whiteside county, lUinois, was born upon his present farm Octobers, 1858, and is a representative of an old New York family of English origin. His grandfather, William Cox, was a native of that state and a soldier of the war of 1812. Luther Cox, father of our subject, was born in Cattaraugus county. New York, in 1818, and was reared there, but when a young man went to Berrien county, Mich- igan, where he married Miss Sarah Lane, an aunt of William Lane, whose sketch ap- pears elsewhere in this volume. In 1856 Luther Cox came to Whiteside county, Illi- nois, and purchased a farm of eighty acres in Prophetstown township, where our sub- ject now resides. Throughout the greater part of his life he followed the blacksmith's trade in connection with farming, and upon his place he erected a shop, doing the black- smithing for the neighborhood. He died upon his farm in 1888, his wife in 1882, honored and respected by all who knew them. To this worthy couple were born eight children, two dying in infanc}': Amelia married Benjamin Doyle and removed to Minnesota, where she was massacred by the Indians about 1863; Cornelius was a soldier of the Civil war and died at the battle of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; W'illiam E. is married and engaged in business in Hast- ings, Nebraska; Emma Jane resides with our subject; Josephine married George Gage but is now deceased, and Sylvester M. completes the family. In much the usual manner of farmer boys of his day, our subject was reared and educated, assisting his father in the labors of the field and attending the district schools when his services were not needed at home. For some 3'ears prior to his fa- ther's death he took charge of the farm and business pertaining to it, and when his father died he succeeded to the place. He has made many improvements thereon, in- cluding the erection of a good residence, and has recently completed a large barn, which is one of the best in the neighbor- hood. In 1896 he began breeding pure- blood Poland China hogs, and in this under- taking has met with marked success. He now has a fine drove of one hundred pure-blooded animals, besides having sold some very valuable stock, and as a breed- er has already gained an enviable repu- tation. In Prophet'stown, February 17, 1879, Mr. Cox was united in marriage with Miss Eva Howland, who was born, reared and educated in Kendall county, Illinois, but latter came with her father, Myron How- land, to Whiteside county. Mr. Cox has been called upon to mourn the loss of his estimable wife, who died April 17, 1S89. By that union three children were born, namely: Floyd M., Dollie M. and Priscilla. The son now assists his father in carrying on the farm and stock business. In his political views, Mr. Cox has been a life-long Republican, and cast his first presidential ballot for U. S. Grant in 1872. He takes an active interest in public affairs, as every true American citizen should, and is a friend of education and the public school system. He ever gives his hearty support to all educational matters, and was presi- dent of the school board for some years. He is a prominent member of the Odd Fel- lows lodge of Prophetstown, in which he has held office, and wherever known he is held in high regard. THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 275 AC. WILLIAMSON, a young business man of Fulton, is one of the leading druggists of the city. He was born March 16, 1873, in Swedonia, Mercer county, Illi- nois, a son of James W. Williamson. His father was born and educated in Allegheny county, Penn.sylvania, but came to Illinois while yet a young man, hoping in the broad prairies of the west to find unlimited opportunities for improving his financial condition. When ready to estab- lish a home lie located at Orion, Henry county, where he carried on general farm- ing until his removal to Creston, Iowa, where he is now living. In 1869 he mar- ried Mary B. Cook, who was born in Scot- land, but at the age of sixteen years came to America with her parents, who settled in Orion, Illinois. Two children were born into their household, namely: A. C, the special subject of this brief biographical notice; and Blanche, who lives with her parents. A. C. Williamson was twelve years of age when he went with his parents to Cres- ton, in whose public schools he completed his early studies. At the age of si.xteen, he took the first steps leading to a mercantile career by entering the drug store of Schif- ferle & Co., at Creston, remaining there a year. Having decided, however, to pre- pare himself for the occupation in which he was now employed he entered the Illi- nois College of Pharmacy, at the North Western University, from which he was graduated in 1893. Coming then to Fulton, Mr. \\'illiamson accepted a position with George B. Robinson, in the store where he is now established. In 1895 Mr. William- son purchased the business of Mr. Robin- son, and he has built up a thriving trade, his ability, practical judgment, and system- atic business methods bringing him as- sured success in his dealings, and his future is bright with promises. In politics Mr. Williamson is a stanch Republican. Fraternally he is prominent in Masonic circles, being a member of Ful- ton City lodge. No. 189, A. F. & A. M. ; of Fulton chapter, No. 108, R. A. M. ; and of Sterling commandery. No. 57, K. T. Religiously he is a member of the First Presbyterian church, of Fulton. AARON POPE, an energetic and pro- gressive farmer, residing on section i 5, Tampico township, owns and operates three good faru5S in Whiteside county, aggregat- ing four hundred and sevent3'-five acres of land, and in their improvement and cultiva- tion he is meeting with most excellent re- sults. He is honored and respected by the entire community, who look upon him as one of their most wide-awake farmers and valued citizens. The earl}' home of our subject was on the other side of the Atlantic, for he was born in Lincolnshire, England, February 23, 1845, a son of Abraham and Sarah (Crampton) Pope, also natives of Lincoln- shire. In 1853 the family emigrated to America and located at once in Lyndon township, Whiteside county, Illinois. Later the father purchased land in Tampico town- ship and engaged in farming there for a number of years, but about 1874 removed to Vancouvers island, where he spent the remainder of his life. On the home farm in this county Aaron Pope grew to manhood, and he attended the district schools of the neighborhood. On leaving home, at the age of twenty-two, 276 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. he went to Missouri, where he spent four months, and on his return to lihnois, at the end of that time, he purchased the old homestead, comprising one hundred and sixty acres, to which he has added until it now consists of two hundred and forty acres. He bought another farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Hume township, and resided there until 1S93, when he removed to his present place. Here he has seventy-five acres within the corporate limits of Tampico, and in connection with its operation also carries on the other farms, which he still owns. He has made a decided success of life, becoming one of the most prosperous agriculturists of his community, as well as one of its leading citizens. In this county, February 22, 1874, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Pope and Miss Mary A. Wetsel, who was born in Ohio, but was reared and educated here. Her father, Daniel Wetsel, now of Rock Falls, was one of the early settlers of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Pope have three children: John Thomas, the oldest, now lives on one of his father's farms. He was married, September 21, 1898, to Miss Min- nie Parents, a daughter of William Parents, of Tampico, where she was reared and edu- cated. Sadie, Eliza and Willard A. are still attending the home school. Politically, Mr. Pope is a stanch Repub- lican, having supported that party since casting his first presidential vote for General U. S. Grant, in 1868. He has filled the office of highway commissioner, was a mem- ber of the drainage commission nine years, and has ever given his influence and support to those measures which tend to advance the moral, educational or material welfare of his township and county. Socially, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and religiously his estimable wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. ROBERT SNOW NORRISH, a well- known and honored citizen of Morrison, who is now practically living retired, was born in Devonshire, England, October i, 1826, a son of Samuel and Frances (Par- tridge) Norrish, who made their home in that county throughout life. The father was a farmer, malster and miller by occTi- pation and became quite prosperous. In the family were nine children, of whom our subject is the seventh in order of birth. Those still living are Elizabeth, a resident of England; Frances, of Union township, Whiteside county, Illinois; Edward S. , a farmer of Dunn count}', Wisconsin; Robert S., our subject; and Ann, wife of Amos James, who is living retired in Morrison. In his native land our subject grew to manhood, and after his education was com- pleted served a three years' apprenticeship to the baker's trade, which he c6ntinued to follow there until the spring of 1850, when he emigrated to America. He first located in Lorrain county, Ohio, where he worked as a farm hand by the month, for a short time, and then rented a mill, which he operated for a year. During his residence in Lorrain county, he married Miss Tamzin Squire, also a native of Devonshire, Eng- land, and a daughter of Thomas and Su- sanna Squire, who settled in that county on coming to America. By that union Mr. Norrish had two children, but the older, Samuel, died in infancy. Margaret is now the wife of Homer Baird,a farmer of Union Grove township, this county, and they have five children, Robert, Florence, Roy, THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 277 Frank and Ruth. Mrs. Norrish died in Mt. Pleasant township, Whiteside county, in October, 1863. For a year after his marriage, Mr. Nor- rish operated a rented farm in Lorrain coun- ty, Ohio, and in 1853 came to Whiteside county, Illinois. He purchased eighty acres of land on section 8, Mt. Pleasant township, which was covered with timber, the only improvement upon the place be- ing a log cabin. He at once turned his at- tention to clearing and cultivating his land. The same year he bought from the state eighty acres of prairie land on section 2, upon which not a furrow had been turned. Astime advanced and his financial resources increased he added to his landed possessions until he now has nine hundred and thirty acres of valuable land in Whiteside county, besides three hundred and twenty acres in Sioux county, Iowa; eighty acres in Clay county, Nebraska; one hundred and sixty acres in Webster county, the same state, and town property in Morrison. He con- tinued to actively engage in agricultural pursuits until the 2nd of July, 1890, when he removed to Morrison, where he erected a handsome residence, and is now living re- tired. While living upon his farm he gave the greater part of his time and attention to stock raising, and usually shipped three or four car loads of cattle and hogs to market each year. He also raised sheep on quite an extensive scale. Mr. Norrish was again married, March 2, 1865, in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, his second union being with Miss Ann Adams, who was born in Yorkshire, England, February 17, 1827, a daughter, of George and Martha (Hargate) Adams, also natives of Yorkshire, where the father operated a gristmill until his emigration to America in 1846. With his wife and four children he crossed the broad Atlantic and took up his residence in Strongsville, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, where he purchased a gristmill and sawmill and engaged in the same business up to the time of his death, which occurred in i860, when he was sixty years of age. His wife departed this life in 1868. Their children were James, who died in Ohio, in 1864; Ann, wife of our subject; William, who died in Huron county, Ohio, in 1870; and Mary, wife of John Dyke, a retired resident of Elyria, Lorrain county, Ohio. By his second marriage Mr. Norrish had three children: Robert A., born December 18, 1866, resides on section 2, Mt. Pleasant township; he married Gertrude Parnham, of Ustick township, and they have two chil- dren, Frank and Edith M. Mary died in infancy. John W., born November 4, 1870, married Edna Smith, of Moville, Iowa, where he is engaged in business as a dealer in furniture and agricultural implements and where he also owns four hundred and eighty acres of farm land. Mr. and Mrs. Norrish are both members of the Episcopal church, and are held in high regard by all who know them. In politics he was a Republican until after the Blaine cfimpaign of 1884, but now votes for the man whom he believes best qualified to fill the office, regardless of party ties. He has always made the most of his opportunities, has accumulated a handsome property, and his life illustrates what can be accomplished through industry, perseverance, good man- agement and a determination to succeed. ORE HOLMQUESTis a man whosesuc- cessful struggle with adverse circum- stances shows what can be accomplished 278 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. by industry and economy, especially if a sensible wife second his efforts to secure a home and competence. Coming to the new world without means, he has labored ear- nestly and his well-directed efforts have been crowned with success for he is now the owner of an excellent farm of two hundred acres on section 14, Prophetstown township. Mr. Holmquest was born in Sweden, December 20, 1S34, and as his parents died during his childhood, he has been de- pendent upon his own resources for a liveli- hood from an early age. In his native land he worked on a farm, in a factory, or at anything which he could find to do, and as his time was wholly taken up in this way, his educational advantages were neces- sarily limited. His knowledge of the Eng- lish language has all been obtained through his own unaided efforts since coming to this country. In 1868, with the hope of benefiting his financial condition, Mr. Holmquest came to America, taking passage on a vessel from Denmark to Liverpool, England, whence he crossed the Atlantic to Boston. He pro- ceeded at once to New York, and on west to Princeton, Bureau county, Illinois, where he found employment at ditching and fol- lowed that employment for about two years, making fair wages. He then rented land near Yorktown and engaged in farming in Bureau county for three years. Coming to Whiteside county, in 1874, he bought two hundred acres of raw land, which he broke, fenced, ditched and improved, transforming it into one of the best farms of the locality. He paid eight hundred dollars toward the county ditch which runs through his farm. Upon his place he has erected a good set of farm buildings which stand as monuments to his thrift and enterprise. In Princeton, Bureau county, Mr. Holm- quest was married, in 1875, to Miss Ida Ol- son, also a native of Sweden, and to them have been born three sons, namely: Albert and Oscar, who have started out in life for themselves; and Anton, who is still at home. In making his farm what we to- day see it, Mr. Holmquest has been ably assisted by his family. He and his wife at- tend the Lutheran church of Prophetstown, and he affiliates with the Democratic party, particularly at national elections. SOLOMON FARWELL, who resides on section 12, Union Grove township, came to Whiteside county in 1853. He was born in Denmark, Lewis count}'. New York, Jan- uary II, 1827, and is the son of Solomon and Sabina (Burlingame) Farwell, both of whom were natives of Vermont, but who moved to Lewis county. New York, and there spent the remainder of their lives. They were the parents of eleven children, two of whom died in infanc}'. Of the re- maining children. Submit married Parley Brown, by whom she had eight children. Both are now deceased. Eunice married John Adams, but both are now deceased. They had six children. Leonard is deceased. Sabina married Moses Brown, and was the mother of nine children. Both are de- ceased. Selah, now deceased, married and left a family of seven children. Eliza mar- ried Rollo Fox, but died leaving five chil- dren. Selah has one daughter living in Morrison, Mrs. A. J. Phileo. Phila E. mar- ried Ebenezer Adsit, by whom she had seven children. She is deceased. Hannah married Allen Pitkin, but is now deceased. She had one child. Solomon is the subject of our sketch. Both parents died on the THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 2/9 old homestead in New York, at the age of seventy-five years. The subject of this sketch was reared in his native state, and in its common schools received his education. At the age of thir- teen years he commenced life for himself, and after working as a farm hand for a time, he was apprenticed to learn the carpenter's trade, an occupation which he followed the greater portion of his life. He was married February 4, 1848, to Margaret Plank, also a native of Lewis county. New York, born September 21, 1828, and daughter of John and Eleanor (Ostrander) Plank, both of whom were natives of Troy, New York. By occupation, her father was a dairy farm- er, and was quite successful in life. Her grandfather, Henry Plank, was a soldier in the war of 181 2. John Plank and wife were the parents of four children, of whom Mar- garet, the wife of our subject, is the only one now living. Hannah married M. L. Bedell, but both are now deceased. They were residents of Ustick township, White- side county, where their death occurred. They had two children, of whom one son, William, is yet living in the township. Nancy married John Canfield, by whom she had ten children. She died at their home in Nebraska. Henry married and had two children. He made his home in Colorado, where his death occurred. The parents of these children both died at the age of forty- one years, in their old home in New York. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Far- well located in the village of Denmark, New York, where he worked at his trade for five years. They then came to Whiteside county and located in Ustick township, where Mr. Farwell purchased a farm of sixty acres, which he operated for some years in con- nection with his trade. In 1863 he pur- chased a farm of seventy-eight acres in Union Grove township, to which he removed with his family, and there remained two years. He then traded farms and moved back to Ustick township, where he remained fifteen years, at the expiration of which time he moved to Uniotiville, and there re- sided ten years. For the next five years the family lived in Morrison, and then he purchased the place where he now resides in 1898. The house he built for another person in 1867. To Mr. and Mrs. Farwell nine children have been born, one dying in infancy. Celia H., born November 17, 1848, married Will- iam Leckey, and they have two daughters and three sons: Edward, Lulu, Harry, Roy and Anita. They reside in Hampton, Iowa, where Mr. Leckey is engaged in the mer- cantile business. Emma, born September 3, 1850, is now the wife of William Latham, and they have two children, Helen and Tal- bott. Their home is in DeWitt, Iowa. Carrie, born April 10, 1852, is the wife o George Rider, by whom she has two chil- dren: Kate and George. Their home is also in DeWitt, Iowa, where Mr. Rider is living a retired life. J. D., born June 24, 1856, has been twice married, his first union being with Louisa Hill, by whom he had eight children: Fred, Bessie, John, Luella, Min- nie, Mable, Ora and Orville. His second union was with Mary Jones, by whom he had five children: Volney, Leona, Robert, Edna and McKinley. His home is in Lyn- don township, where he is engaged in farm- ing. Nellie, born September 3, 1859, is the wife of George W. Burt, living in Ustick township, of whotn a sketch is found else- where in this volume. Minnie, born De- cember 23, 1861, married William Cutler, and they had one child, Laura. For her 2So THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. second husband she married Warren G. Bent, and they now live in Miliedgeville, Carroll county, Illinois. Fred, born Janu- ary 15, 1864, married Lizzie Traubler, and they have two sons: Royand Harry. Their home is in Frederika, Iowa. Lulu, born May 30, 1866, is the wife of Frank Howard, by whom she had two children, one living, Mae. They make their home with our sub- ject. ^^'hlle residing in Union Grove town- ship Mr. Farwell served si.x years as justice of the peace, and while in Ustick township served as assessor and town clerk for a time. In politics he is a Republican, with which party he has been identified since its or- ganization. Religiously he is a Universalist, he and his wife holding membership with the church of that name in Morrison. Until 1883 he worked at his trade, and many of the dwellings and barns jn Ustick and ad- joining township were erected by him. He also erected the church in Round Grove. He is now practically living a retired life. CAROLINE B. COLE, widow of the late Daniel Cole, came to Whiteside county sixty-two years ago, when Portland township was in its infancy, and has resided here most of the time since. Wild turkey, deer, and other game were abundant, help- ing oftentimes to supply the family larder, and the wily red man inhabited the woods, frequently making life a terror to the white settlers. Town, county and state have made wonderful progress in all directions within her remembrance, and the center of the population of the United States has steadily pushed westward until it is now near the Mississippi, with the possibility of touching the Pacific coast in the future. Within the limits of Illinois busy cities have grown, more especially Chicago, which had less than a score of houses when she passed through it on her way to her new home, in 1837, and is now the second city of the Union. Mrs. Cole was born in Virgil, Cortland county. New York, June 22, 1817, a daugh- ter of Daniel Blasdell. Her father was born and brought up in Vermont, where he lived until after his marriage with Clara C. Gard- ner, also of the Green Mountain state. Mr. Blasdel was a man of versatile talent, ex- pert in the use of tools, and possessed of good business ability. Soon after his mar- riage he settled in Cortland county. New York, where he worked as carpenter and joiner, besides doing some coopering and shoemaking, and afterward engaged for a time in mercantile business. In 1827 he re- moved with his family to Broome county, where, in the town of Lisle, he opened a general store, purchased a half interest in a grist mill, which he operated for a while, and in addition engaged in agricultural pur- suits on the farm that he bought. In 1835 he came to Illinois, bringing with hnii his son, and having selected a desirable loca- tion in Portland township commenced the improvement of a homestead. In 1837 he sent for his wife and their daughter Caro- line, Mrs. Cole, who arrived here October 19. From Ithaca, New York, they jour- neyed by canal to Buffalo, thence around the lakes to Chicago, which then had neither streets nor sidewalks, consisting of about a dozen houses, one boarding house, and one store, that of Kinsey & Hunter. There they hired teams to bring them to this coun- ty, and a long dreary ride, over almost im- passable roads, they had. Mr. and Mrs. Blasdell spent the remainder of their lives THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 281 on the homestead which they redeemed from its pristine wildness. Caroline C. Blasdell remained with her parents until her marriage, December 18, 1839, to Daniel Cole, who was born and reared in New York state, and came to this locality at the same time that she did, in 1837. He saw her while cu route, in Chi- cago, but had no opportunity to form an acquaintance until the following winter, when he met her at Rock River. He was a brother of Horace B. Cole, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Cole settled on what they deemed the most desirable land of the township. He soon cleared a space, and on it built the typical log house of the pioneer, which they occupied for thirteen years, while opening up and developing the farm, which comprised two hundred acres of prairie and twenty acres of timber. In 1852 he built a substantial residence, and put up one of the finest barns in this vicin- ity. He was a man of indomitable resolu- tion and perseverance, and made good suc- cess in his untiring efforts, improving an ex- cellent farm, whereon he resided until his death, January 19, 1884. Mr. Cole was recognized as one of the representative men of Portland township, which he served in various official capacities, having been supervisor a number of terms, and for the twenty-six years preceding his death was justice of the peace. Fraternally he was a member of the Masonic order, and promi- nently connected with the Odd Fellows, the lodge to which he belonged having taken charge of burial services. Mr. and Mrs. Cole reared two children, as follows: AlmonB. , for several years a lawyer in Macomb, Illinois, moved from there to Dallas, Texas, where he engaged in the 16 practice of his profession until his death, October 31, 1882; and Antoinette, who died in early womanhood, on November 20, 1868. Almon B. Cole left three children, namely: Frank B., a machinist, at Morri- son; Nettie is the wife of W. S. Rugh, and Elizabeth lives in Kansas City, Missouri, with her mother. Mrs. Cole re- sided on the farm for nearly two years after her husband's death, then went to Paola, Kansas, where she lived with her daughter- in-law from February, 1885, until July 14, 1898, when she returned to her Illinois home. WILLIAM BUTMAN, now living re- tired two miles and a half east of Fulton, this county, was for many years of his active life identified with the railway service of our country. He was born in Rutland, \'ermont, February 10, 1821, a son of James W. and Esther (Moulthrop) Butman, the former of whom was a native of Salem, Massachusetts, and a sea captain. William Butman spent a part of his early life in Elmira, New York, from whence he went to Dundee, New York, to assume the publication of the "Dundee Record" in which he had purchased a half interest. After two years in that position, he became connected with the Rochester & Buffalo Railway, which was one of the seven roads running between Buffalo and Albany that have since been consolidated into the New York Central railroad. He was employed as baggageman for a time, then made conductor of a passenger train running from Rochester to Buffalo, a posi- tion that he held twenty years, when he was forced to give it up on account of fail- ing health. Going next into the New York 2y occupation he was a farmer and blacksmith. In his family were eight children, two sons and six daughters. Mrs. McWhorter's paternal grandfather was Israel Ward, also a native of New Jersey and a farmer by occupation. In 181 1, accompanied by his family, he re- moved to Hamilton county, Ohio, where he bought land for himself and sons. He, too, had a family of eight children, six sons and two daughters. Elias Ward, the father of Mrs. Mc- Whorter, was a soldier of the war of 18 12, and for his services he received a land war- rant. For a number of years he followed the carriage trimmer's trade in Cincinnati, but finally selling his farm in Ohio, he moved to Franklin county, Indiana, where he lived until a few years before his death, when became to Whiteside county, Illinois, to make his home with Mr. and Mrs. Mc- W'horter and some of his other children. Here he died September 6, 1 870. He was an active worker in the Methodist church, and secured the first circuit preacher in Franklin county, Indiana, at the same time opening his house for services. His estimable wife died October 10, 1868. To them were born twelve children, all of whom reached man and womanhood with the exception of one son, Elias, who died in infancy. The others were George, Hettie, Robert, Ellis, Luke, Mary, Israel, James, Rhoda, John and Lewis B. Of this family only two are now living, Mrs. McWhorter and Lewis B. Ward, a farmer of Harmon township, Lee county, Illinois. After his marriage, Mr. McWhorter con- cluded to come west, but it was not until 1865 that he started for this county. He made the journey by team, bringing his household goods with him, and then re- turned for his wife and three little children. This time they traveled by railroad to Dixon and from there by team to Sterling. They located in Montmorency township, where Mr. McWhorter first bought two hundred acres of land, and by subsequent purchase he increased his landed possessions until at the time of his death he had three hundred and sixty acres of land in Whiteside county and a quarter section of land just across the road from his home, in Lee county. He THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. gave his attention principally to stock raising. To Mr. and Mrs. McWhorter were born seven children, namely: Mary M. is now the wife of John Jamison, of Kossuth coun- ty, Iowa, and they have three children; Ellis, a farmer of Iowa, married Emma Seely, and they have four children; Anna IS the wife of Edgar Woods, of Montmo- rency township, Whiteside county, and they have seven children; John E., a resident of Kossuth county, Iowa, married Carrie Colder, and they have four children; Will- iam L. , of Montmorency township, married Belle Beal, and they have one child; Char- lotte L. is the wife of Fred Buell, of Proph- etstown, and they have two children; and Leroy S., a farmer of Kossuth county, Iowa, married Ethel Barrett, and they have one child. On the 5th of May, 1889, Mr. McWhor- ter departed this life, after a lingering ill- ness of about a year, and was laid to rest in a cemetery in Montmorency township. He was a prominent and active member of the Methodist Episcopal church in that township, and aided in the erection of the house of worship there. He was a recog- nized leader in the ranks of the local Repub- lican organization, and was elected to numerous township offices of honor and trust, serving as supervisor nine years and school director fifteen years. He was in- strumental in securing one of the first schools in Montmorency township. In 1874 he was elected to the state legislature by a large majority and became a prominent member of the twenty-ninth general Assembly, where he ably represented his district. Through- out his career of continued and far-reaching usefulness his duties were performed with the greatest care, and during a long life his personal honor and integrity were without blemish. Since 1890 Mrs. McWhorter has been a resident of Sterling. She, too, is a faithful and consistent member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church, and is highly re- spected by all who know her. LLOYD H. DILLON, deceased, was for many years one of the leading business men of Sterling, Illinois, a member of the Dillon Milling Company, which still bears his name. He won success by his well-di- rected, energetic efforts, and the prosperity that came to him was certainly well deserved. Mr. Dillon was born in Zanesville, Ohio, December 10, 1839, a son of Lloyd and Margaret (Culbertson) Dillon, also natives of Zanesville. His paternal grandparents, John and Edith Dillon, removed to that state from Maryland at an early day and took up their residence in Zanesville, where the grandfather became quite a successful manufacturer and prominent citizen. There both he and his wife died. Lloyd Dillon, Sr. , was in business with his father in Zanesville for many years and he, too, be- came very prosperous and influential. His entire life was passed in Ohio. (Further mention is made of the family in the sketch of Moses Dillon on another page ol the vol- ume.) The subject of this sketch was only seven years old when his father died, after which he made his home with an aunt in Ohio for a few years, while he attended the common schools of Zanesville. At the age of fourteen he came west to make his home with his cousin, Charles Dillon, in Iowa City, Iowa, and after living with him for a short time commenced work for his cousin's father-in-law, a Mr. Foster. Here he be- THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 293 came familiar with agricultural pursuits, and was thus employed until the breaking out of the Civil war. Hardly had the echoes from Fort Sum- ter's guns died away before Mr. Dillon offered his services to the government, en- listing April 18, 1861, in the First Iowa In- fantry, which was mustered into the United States service at Keokuk, May 14, 1861. He had previously made up his mind to enter the service, if war was declared, hop- ing in that way to abolish some of the slave laws which then existed. Once, while plowing in the field, he was interrupted by three men who were hunting a negro fugi- tive, and they tried to make him tell where the man was. This he could not or would not do, but was compelled to assist in the hunt, as they told him he was liable to ar- rest if he knew anything of the negro's whereabouts. He afterward looked up the law on the subject and, finding it to be cor- rect, he determined to be one to help to abolish it. Accordingly, he was one of the first to enlist from Iowa at the outbreak of the war. He was wounded in the leg at Wilson's Creek, Missouri, August 10, i86r, and was discharged from the service on the 25th of that month. Here-enlisted at Iowa City, January 10, 1862, in the Fourth Iowa Cavalry, and was made sergeant of his com- pany, September 15, 1862; second lieuten- ant, February 1, 1863, and captain of Com- pany I, May 15, 1865. He was quite se- verely wounded in the left breast at Gun- town, Mississippi, June 10, 1864. The war being over and his services no longer needed, he was finally mustered out at Atlanta, Georgia, August 8, 1865. On his return to civil life he resumed farming in Iowa. On the 28th of September, 1865, in Peoria, Illinois, Mr. Dillon was united in marriage with Miss Ruth E. Rees, a native of Berkley county, Virginia, and a daughter of Jacob and Thamasin (Lupton) Rees. To Mr. and Mrs. Dillon were born eight chil- dren, four of whom are nOw living. After his marriage Mr. Dillon engaged in farming on rented land in Iowa until 1872, when he came to Sterling, Illinois, and immediately embarked in milling with Samuel Kingery, who later sold his interest, and M. C. Bowers became a member of the firm. Subsequently J. T. Strock was a member of the company, but finally with- drew, and in 1891 Mr. Dillon had the busi- ness incorporated as the Dillon Milling Com- pany, which name it now bears. He was a large stockholder and treasurer of the company at the time of his death, which occurred June 18, 1898. He was buried with military honors by William Robinson post, G. A. R., and laid to rest in Riverside cemetery, Sterling. He was also a mem- ber of the Modern Woodmen of America and other fraternal orders, and was a sup- porter of the Republican party. He was a quiet, unassuming man, whose word was considered as good as his bond, and was a devoted Christian and faithful member of the Presbyterian church. As a citizen he was always true to every trust reposed in him, and it is safe to say that no man in the community was more respected or honored. ISAAC FRANCIS, deceased, was an en- terprising farmer and stock raiser of Prophetstown township, who located there in 1869, at which time he was possessed of but little means, but having a' determina- tion to succeed, did succeed, becoming the owner of a well-stocked farm of two hun- 294 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. dred and forty acres, and surrounded by such evidences of thrift as mal/7'(t/, By this assemblage of his acquaintances and friends, that we recogni;?e and appreciate the loss to this community entailed by his death; that we unitedly bear witness to the many pleasant and valued mental and moral endowments which con- stituted him a pleasant companion, a wise counsellor, a good citizen, a firm and stead- fast friend, and which made him a most active and potent factor in all of our material interests; that the evidences of his identifica- tion with the progress and development of this and our neighboring city are such as to remain imperishable monuments to his enter- prise, public spirit and patriotic endeavor to benefit the community within which the greater part of his life was spent; but, that the urbanity of his disposition, his equable, uniform demeanor, his absolute reliability and his social qualities were such as to insure the perpetuity of his memory, regardless of these visible manifestations of his actual work. "Resolved, Also, that we desire to, and do hereby offer to his stricken famil}- and relatives our sincere sympathy in this their peculiar and personal bereavement. ' ' Resolved, Further, that the secretaries of this meeting be requested to furnish to the family of the deceased, and to the local newspapers, copies of these resolutions, and of the action of this meeting thereon." The Hon. J. E. McPherran presented the report and made some personal re- marks, after giving a short biographical sketch of the deceased. In part he said: " Descended from a hardy race, not ashamed to work, Mr. Tracy naturally sought a vocation wherein chance was not 338 THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. the chief element of success. Patient labor and application are as necessary for success in business as they are in the pursuit of science. The old Greek maxim was: ' To become an able man in any profession three things are necessary, — nature, study and practice.' Lord Melbourne said, 'Mak- ing a small provision for young men is of all things the most prejudicial to themselves. The young should hear this language: It depends upon your own exertions whether you starve or not.' No 'provision' em- barrassed Mr. Tracy's youth, and whatever success he achieved in business pursuits, he won by his own diligent, patient, and intel- ligent devotion to business. He early rec- ognized the law that he who would achieve success must 'learn to labor and to wait.' " His early experience in life made him sympathize with those in his employment, and enabled him rightly to discriminate be- tween merit and dismerit amongst them. Hence he grew in favor with them as the years passed by. " Deliberate in speech, self-possessed un- der stress of difficulties, keenly intelligent in the lines of business pursued by him, he rarely erred in judgment of men or things. He was not given to unfriendly criticism of his business competitors or his neighbors. Without personal or business jealousy, his speech was judicious commendation, or it was withheld. He was conservative in politics; in religion, by inheritance and conviction, in accord with the best religious thought of the day. His acts, of kindness, and they were many, to persons less fortu- nate than he, were never published; but his grant, in conjunction with Mr. Gait, of ten years, free rent to the Sterling Public Library, is a part of the records of the city. Truthful, manly, and capable, and withal public spirited, he filled so large a space in business and social interests that his loss will be keenly felt by the entire community for a long time. " He left to mourn his loss, outside of a large circle of friends, a devoted wife («