Henry wrote this about him in his book "History of the Eighty-Fifth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry; Compiled and Published under the Auspices of the Regimental Association by Henry J. Aten, Hiawatha, Kansas; 1901:
He was born Oct 12, 1841 on a farm near Astoria, Fulton County, Illinois, on which his parents, Richard Aten and Ann Peterson, of Brook County, Virginia, had settled in the spring of 1840. His paternal and maternal ancestors were from Holland; both his great grandfathers served the colonies in the War of the Revolution, and his maternal grandfather was a soldier in the war of 1812. He first enlisted August 8, 1861, in Company H, Twenty-eight Illionis Infantry, and served until discharged at Grand Jaunction, Miss., June 19, 1862, for disability resulting from an attack of typhoid pneumonia. He again enlisted August 12, 1862, and was chosen corporal at the organiztion of Company G, was promoted sergeant at Bowling Green, Ky., Dec 12, 1862, and first sergeant Feb 17, 1863, at Nashville, Tenn. He participated in all the battles and campains in which the command was engaged; commanded the company from Atlanta to the sea, and was mustered out with the regiment. Returning to Illinois at the end of his service, he worked on the old homestead until the autumn of 1866, attended business college at Chicago, and began teaching bookkeeeping in the business college at Quincy, Ill., the following spring. He taught and kept books until the spring of 1870, when he went to Kansas, and engaged in the real estate and loan business at Hiawatha, in Brown County. He married Miss Marla L. Burbige (Burbidge, Burbridge), of Quincy, Il., Sept 15, 1870, and has two daughters the issue of this marrigae. Has served as clerk of the district court, mayor of Hiawatha, and was appointed by President Harrison to negotiate with the Pottawatomie and Kickapoo Indians for the allotments of their lands in severalty. Later he was appointed special agent and allotted lands to the members of both tribes. For ten years past he has been vice-president of the Society of the Army of the Cumberland for Kansas. Is the writer of the history in which this sketch appears, and resides at Hiawatha, Kansas." Note: ( ) are corrections added by Sara Hemp
Benjamin F. Bader
Benjamin F. Bader, of the firm of Bader & Company, successful grain dealers of Vermont, Fulton County, IL, was born in Preble County, Ohio, November 20, 1838. He is a son of Jeremiah and Sarah (Thompson) Bader, natives of Germany and the State of Pennsylvania respectively. Jeremiah came alone to the United States when he was about eighteen years old taking passage thus hurriedly in order to avoid the required service in the German army. He located in Pennsylvania, where he was shortly afterward married, and subsequently moved to Ohio. In 1846 he journeyed to Schuyler County, IL, and located near the village of Bader, named in honor of his son, William, who was largely instrumental in locating the line of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company near that place. Jeremiah Bader entered 240 acres of Government land in the vicinity of the town, on which he was engaged in farming until 1855, when he moved to Astoria, IL, and there died in October, 1856, at the age of fifty-seven years. He was born in 1799 and came to this country in 1817. His widow passed away on the old home farm, September 1, 1886. Twelve children were the result of their union, as follows: Pierson, who died in infancy; Elizabeth, deceased, who married Philip Murry, also deceased; Mary, who died in Astoria, IL, and was the wife of Lemuel J. Hopkins, who died in Browning, IL; William, a resident of Oklahoma City, Okla.; Sarah, widow of Elias Gibbs and a resident of Fresno, Cal.; Rosanna, widow of John J. Bleeker, of Pasadena, Cal., who resides with her son, Dr. J. J. Bleaker; Margaret, who first married Courtland Doane, deceased, by whom she had one child, Laura, who became the wife of Eli Dixon, a banker, of Littleton, IL; John L., of Le Roy, Kan.; Benjamin F., Addie L., whose, first husband was Martin Cook, deceased, and who is now the wife of George W. Hughes, of Astoria, IL, and Henry O., who spent many years on the old home farm, but sold his interest, and is now operating a grain elevator in Littleton, Schuyler County.
Benjamin F. Bader was about nine years old when his father brought him to Schuyler County, IL, and was reared on the paternal farm receiving his early education in the district schools of the vicinity. He remained at home until he was eighteen years old and then spent a year in Ohio. On returning home he went to work on the farm of his brother, William, by whom he was employed by the month for some years, after which he farmed jointly with the latter until he was about twenty-six years old. He then purchased and operated a threshing outfit, and has since worn out two or three such equipments. In 1900 Mr. Bader established himself in the grain trade in Vermont, and bought the Sutherland elevator. The firm of Bader & Company has elevators at Rushville, Littleton, Astoria and Vermont, IL, and they also deal in hard and soft coal at Vermont and Astoria. They operate two steam hay-balers and turn out two carloads of hay per day through their four elevators. Each has a capacity of 15,000 bushels of grain per day, and the firm handles about 400,000 bushels per year. Mr. Bader's sons are associated with him in this enterprise, and constitute the "company."
On December 15, 1864, Mr. Bader was united in marriage with Azuba Ann Farr, a daughter of Cooper and Ada (Linn) Farr. Her father originally journeyed from Pennsylvania to Columbus, Ohio, whence he moved to Fulton County, IL, clearing a fine farm In Astoria Township, of which he was one of the pioneer settlers. Her parents are both deceased.
Mr. and Mrs. Bader became the parents of eight children, three of whom died in infancy and one, Lora Ada, died at the age of four years. Those surviving are as follows: Vira B., wife of W. S. Long, of Rushville, IL, connected with the firm of Bader & Company; Fred G., who manages the Astoria elevator; William F., who conducts the Vermont elevator, and Ernest G., of Vermont, IL, who operates the hay department of Bader & Company, attending to the buying in bulk.
In politics Mr. Bader is Independent, voting for the men and measures which he thinks most conducive to the interests of all the people. Fraternally he is affiliated with the IOOF. He ranks as one of the most enterprising and substantial merchants, and one of the best representative citizens of Fulton County. His worthy and estimable wife is a member of the Christian Church. [Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Fulton County, Illustrated, Edited by Newton Bateman, LL.D, Paul Selby, A.M. - Edited by Jesse Heylin 1908]
Jesse Moren Bader
(1886-1963)
Disciples of Christ evangelist and leader of the World Convention of Churches of Christ.
Jesse Bader was devoted to evangelism and to the untiy of all people under the banner of Christ. Born in Bader, Illinois, he studied at the University of Kansas and graduated from Drake University in 1911. Ordained to the ministry, Bader held pastorates in Kansas and Missouri and served overseas with the Y.M.C.A. during World War I. In 1910 he married Golda Elam, also an ordained minister with her own interests and career in ecumerical affairs, including United Church Women. With the founding of the United Church Missionary Society in 1920, Bader became the organization's Secretary of Evangelism. His task was to provide effective evangelistic strategies for local churches. Later he was called to head the Department of Evangelism for the Federal Council of Churches. Writing widely in the field of evangelism, his chief text was "Evangelism in a Changing America" (1957). He was also a consultant to Billy Graham. In 1940 he initiated the observance of World Communion Sunday.
His passion for Christian unity led to the organization of the World Convention of Churches of Christ. In 1930 he served as president of the initial convention held in Washington, D.C. Working to bring about fellowship between global manifestations of the Movement and among the divided segments of the church within the United States, Bader served as Genreal Secretary of the World Convention unitl his death in 1963. [Source: Encycopedia Stone-Campbell Movement, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches/Churches of Christ; Douglas A. Foster, Paul M. Blowers, Anthony L. Dunnavant & D. Newell Williams; Disciples of Christ Historical Society, Nashville, TN; Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX; William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI / Cambridge, U.K.; page 55]
John C. Bagby
Bagby, John C., jurist and Congressmen, was born at Glasgow, Kentucky, Jan. 24th, 1819. After passing through the common schools of Barren County, Kentucky, he studied civil engineering at Bacon College, graduating in 1840. Later he read law and was admitted to the bar in 1845. In 1846 he commenced practice at Rushville, IL, confining himself exclusively to professional work until nominated in elected to Congress in 1874, by the Democrats of the (old) 10th district. In 1885 he was elected to the circuit bench for the sixth circuit. Died April 4th, 1896. ["Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois" Edited by John S. Wilcox, 1904]
Amos Willis Ball, M. D.
The qualities which contribute to the rounding of every successful carrerr - energy, industry, perseverance and a high aim in life - find conspicuous expression in Dr. Amos Willis Ball, of whose splendid skill and usefulness the city of Rushville has been a witness since 1887. Dr. Ball represents that class of scientists who have an ever widening horizon, and who recognize no limit to the possibilities of their inexhaustible calling. His opportunities, largely of his own creating, have been exceptional, and comparatively few men in the county, and indeed in the State, are better equipped for exercising the preprogatives of the art of healing.
Dr. Ball comes honestly by his predilection for medicine, as his father, Joseph T. Ball, who was a native of Morgan County, Ohio, was a practicing physican for many years both in his home State and at Ipava, Fulton County, Ill., where the son was born August 21, 1861. The lad proved an apt and ambitious student, completing his high-school course in Ipava in 1877 at the age of sixteen years, and in connection with his preliminaries studies, absorbing much of medical lore from the books in his father's office. In 1883 he entered upon the three years' course at the Missouri Medical College, St. Louis, and after his graduation in the class of 1886, spent a year as his father's associate in Ipava. During the fall of 1887 he came to Rushville, and the people of that place were not slow to recognize the promise and ability of the young practitioner who sought a foothold in the midst of their increasing population and activities. Twenty years of practical experience, of unremitting research, and fizity of purpose have improved a hundred-fold the resources of this successful physician, and he has left no stone unturned to keep abreast of the progress in his line of work, and at whatever cost, to become familiar with the latest developments of medical science.
From time to time Dr. Ball has pursued post-graduate courses at the foremost centers of professional activity in this county and Europe, attending courses at the St. Louis Post-Graduate School and Hospital, studying also in New York; in London, England; in edinburg, Scotland; and in Belfast, Ireland, and during 1897 availing himself of the unrivaled opportunities afforded at Heidelberg, Germany. He has attended clinics of the most famous physicians and surgeons in all of these places, and it would seem that little remains to tempt his craving for enlightenment. The Doctor's office is equipped with the most modern of medical and surgical facilities, including an X-Ray machine and Vibrator outfit; and he engages in a general practice of his profession, leaning, however, towards the universal preference for surgery and, in his case, the diseases of women. He is Secretary of the Board of United State Pension Examiners, President of the Schuyler County Medical Association, and a member of the State, Military Tract and American Medical Societies. In political affliation he is a Republican, is Chairman of the Republican County Central Committee, has served as Alderman of the First Ward of Rushville, was President if the Board of Education for several years; in fact, has held about all of the local offices in the gift of the people. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons, in which he has taken the 32nd degree, and is a member of Mohamet Shrine, of Peoria; Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Modern Woodmen of America, the Mutual Protective League and the B. P. O. E., Beardstown Lodge 1007.
The marriage of Dr. Ball and Anna R. Thompson occurred November 18, 1891, and of the union there is one son, John Maurice, born October 18, 1898. The doctor and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a man of dignified and pleasing personality, possessing tact, consideration, optimism, and many other fine and almost indispensabel qualities which accompany the rise of the foremost and most useful men of his profession. [Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, Illustrated 1908, Vol II, Schuyler County, by Newton Bateman, LL.D. and Paul Selby, A.M., Edited by Howard F. Dyson, p772-773]
Jesse Beamen
Kerton Township: Jesse Beamen, deceased, a well-known early resident of this county, whose eventful life we now follow, was a native of Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1799. While a lad his father died and receiving ill-treatment from those into whose hands he had fallen he ran away to New York State. He enlisted in the war of 1812 and when discharged returned to New York. He soon came to the wilds of Indiana, where he followed farming and ran a saw-mill. He was married while there to Miss Nancy Pool, daughter of Joseph Pool and cousin of Gen. Joe Hooker. About 1840 he came to Illinois, landing in Schuyler county, he returned to Indiana and then came to Menard county, Ill., and in 1850 to Fulton county, where he remained till his death which occurred in 1858, and he was laid at rest in Isabel township. Mrs. B. is still living in this township. She was born in North Carolina, May 10, 1805. Eight children blessed this union, of whom John W., from whom this sketch is obtained, is the younger. He was born July 15, 1843, in Schuyler Co. He enlisted in Co. K. 103d Ill. Inf. and served through the late war. An older brother, William, was also a soldier and died from wounds. [History of Fulton County, Illinois; together with Sketches of its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. Chas. C. Chapman & Co. (Peoria, IL) 1879, p749-750]
Benjamin F. Bergen
A man who achieved distinction as an official of the United States government and who later sustained a high reputation as a member of the bar of the Bay cities was Benjamin F. Bergen. A native of Schuyler county, Illinois, born in 1838, Mr. Bergen was the descendent of the early New Jersey Bergens, the first of whom came to America with Henrik Hudson in 1621. The head of this family married the first white woman to be born in the province of New Netherlands. The great-grandfather of our subject was a soldier in the Revolution and his grandfather an officer in the War of 1812. His father, George S. Bergen, conducted a large stock farm in Schuyler county. He was a native of New Jersey, from which state he removed to Kentucky in 1818, the same year that Illinois was admitted to the Union. Four years later he went to the latter state and entered Shurtleff College, which had just been founded. On completing his course of study there he settled at Jersey Prairie, near Jacksonville. At this time Illinois saw a large influx of people from the northern Confederate states, who settled in the country between the Wabash and St. Louis rivers, especially in Vermilion, Edgar, Champaign, Sangamon and Morgan counties. The mixture of these old families with those of the pioneers produced a race of people from which sprang many of the country's greatest men.
Benjamin F. Bergen received his early education in the common schools near .his home and at an early age decided to become a lawyer. This meant in those days long and steady application to his studies in a law office, but he persevered and was finally admitted to the bar. Although he was of an exceedingly studious turn of mind, bent on further perfecting himself in his profession, he found time to participate in politics, being affiliated with the democratic party. He possessed an aptitude for organization and had few peers in the state. As long as he remained in Illinois - nearly twenty-five years - he was a delegate to nearly every state convention of his parry and he numbered among his associates such men as Hon. Virgil Hickox, Hon. William M. Springer, Hon. James C. Allen, Hon. William A. Richardson, Hon. O. B. Ficklin, United States Senator John M. Palmer, Hon. William R. Morrison and others who have left their impress upon the pages of history. He was a member of the democratic state central committee from the state at large for many years; a member of the executive committee of that body; and also secretary of the state central committee during the Tilden campaign, spending several months at the headquarters in Chicago. He called to order the memorable convention in the Windy City at which Tilden was nominated for president.
In 1885 Mr. Bergen was sent to California and went to Eureka, Humboldt county, as special agent of the United States land office to investigate irregularities in the acquirement of certain redwood timber holdings, being commissioned by President Cleveland. He prosecuted several cases successfully in the federal courts and became the bane of the "land-sharks" of those days. In the course of this work he reclaimed many hundreds of acres of valuable timber lands which had illegally been taken from the government. When Cleveland was succeeded as president by Harrison he resigned and began the practice of law in San Francisco. When first he tendered his resignation it was not accepted, the reasons for which are later seen in letters from Washington. He made his home in Berkeley until 1910, when he moved to Alameda. Until 1896 he maintained his law office in San Francisco, achieving much distinction and handling much important litigation. Then he removed his office to Oakland, that he might be nearer his family, and continued to practice until his death, which occurred on June 22, 1912.
During his residence in Alameda county he took an active interest in local affairs and in 1894 was a candidate for the superior bench. He served several terms as member of the board of education of Berkeley and in 1898 was appointed a director of the Deaf, Dumb and Blind Institute in the college city.
Mr. Bergen was first married at the age of twenty-three to Elizabeth Ann Clark, daughter of David C. and Martha Ann Clark of Santa Rosa. She died in 1900. In 1910 he wedded Mrs. Louise (Briggs) Bigler of Alameda. Four children were born of the first union: Anna, who married James U. Smith, of Berkeley; M. Emily; Benjamin C.; and Ethel, the wife of Frank N. Lowell of Berkeley.... [Source: Past and Present of Alameda County, California, By Joseph Eugene Baker, Published 1914, S. J. Clarke, page 373-376]
Edgar F. Bickford
Edgar F. Bickford is a prosperous farmer residing six miles east from Hatton. He was born in Linn County, Kansas, October 23, 1873, the son of Benjamin F. and Jane (Fairchild) Bickford, both natives of Illinois who settled in Kansas when young. In 1874 they removed to Illinois, where they lived thirteen years, when they came to Adams County, Washington. They are still living on a farm in this county. Besides the subject of our sketch, they have one child. Birdie, married to C. A. Rice, living in San Juan County, Washington. Mrs. Rice has two children. Our subject's father is a veteran of the Civil War and a very highly respected old gentleman.
Mr. Bickford received his early education in Schuyler County, Illinois, and came west with his parents at the age of sixteen years. Upon coming here he engaged in working on a farm for wages, in which capacity he continued eight years, when he took a homestead, since which time he has been farming for himself. He has his land all fenced, under cultivation and well improved with first class modern buildings. In 1903 he purchased a quarter section of land near his homestead, and rents a half-section, making a total of one section which he annually has in crop. He also has his farm well supplied with draft horses and farm implements.
Mr. Bickford is an active Republican, and a member of the F. and A. M. and of the Knights of Pythias fraternities. [Source: "An Illustrated History of the Big Bend Country . . ." Volume 2; published by Western Historical Publishing Company, 1904; transcribed by GT*Team]
William M. Bilderback
An extensive landholder and a well-to-do agriculturist, Mr. Bilderback is prosperously engaged in his Independent occupation on one of the pleasantest and most desirable homesteads in Schuyler County. His home farm is finely located on Section 28, Birmingham Township and comprises 183 1-3 acres of as fine land as is to be found in the country, all of which is under a high state of cultivation. While he carries on general farming, raising the usual grains and commodities to be found on an Illinois farm, it is in the raising of stock that he takes his chief pleasure and on his farm may be seen a fine herd of Doroc red Jersey hogs which are eligible for registration. In his choice of cattle he is partial to the black breed, and has from twenty-five to sixty head on his farm.
Mr. Bilderback is a descendant of German forefathers, although the family, for a number of generations, has been represented in America. The records state that the grandfather Bilderback died in Kentucky, where he reared a large family of sons, among whom was Charles, the father of William M. At the death of their father the sons (Charles, Alex, William, James and John) left the South to take up life in what at that time (1846) was considered the frontier, coming to Schuyler County, Ill.
Charles made his choice of land in Section 28, Birmingham Township, where he purchased about 300 acres of wild, uncultivated prairie land, far removed from any other white settler. The brothers, not quite so venturesome, selected a spot close to the timber, and here they worked together to improve their property, all the time fearing for the safety of their brother Charles, whose bleak location in the open prairie made him an easy prey to the blasts of win and storm which were no uncommon visitors even in the more sheltered parts.
On the land which he had selected and purchased, Charles Bilderback at once began the work of improvement, erecting a hewed frame building, material for which he hauled from Pulaski, Adams County. In the meantime he had formed domestic ties by his marriage with Sarah L. Crawford (who proved a helpmate in every sense of the word) and together they labored to make a comfortable home for their children of whom there were five in number. Namely: Thomas, who died in infancy; William M., whose name heads this article: Charles E, and John F., both farmers in this township; and Ida B., the wife of S. P. Foster, their home being at St. Mary, Hanco*ck County, Ill. The mother of these children passed to her reward in 1881, and ten years later, in 1891, the father was laid to rest, after a life of many years spent in the up building of the community where in young manhood he selected his future home.
The second child in the family, William M. Bilderback was born on the home farm on Section 28, Birmingham Township, October 15, 1860; and in fact he has never known any other home, for after the death of the mother, the farm was placed under his management. His educational training was meager, consisting only of such advantages as were offered in the schools of the Huntsville district, but nevertheless he was alert and observing, and by well-selected reading has become well informed generally, and is an agreeable conversationalist. When his school days were over, he turned his attention to assisting in the duties of the farm, and upon the death of his father, he purchased the old homestead property. No opportunity to improve upon the older methods of farming have been lost sight of by Mr. Bilderback, and as a result his property is not only in appearance, but in reality one of the most prosperous and productive in this part of Schuyler County.
Mr. Bilderback was married, May 5, 1885, to Miss Emma Z. Harkness, who was born in Kahoka, Missouri, August 31, 1861, the daughter of James C. and Elizabeth (Stauffer) Harkness, natives of Pennsylvania, who as early as 1842 established their home in the wilds of Missouri. Of the nine children born to Mr. and Mrs. Harkness, those besides Mrs. Bilderback now living are as follows: Abraham, of Clark County, Mo.; John of Lake City, Colo.; George, a farmer of Clark County, Mo.; James and Frank, both residents of Kahoka, Mo.; Jane, the wife of Henry Strickler, of Farmington, Iowa; and Annie, the wife of Jasper Stover, of Lake County, Cal. The mother of these children passed away in 1900, but the father is still living in Kahoka, Mo., at the ripe old age of ninety-four years.
Eight children blessed the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Bilderback, as follows: Arthur Glenn, who died when seven years of age; Tivis E., who was born August 18, 1888, and is now a student in the State Normal University, Normal, Ill.; Troy P., who was born January 19, 1890; William R., born April 30, 1892; Quintin B., born October 22, 1895; Herman H., born February 9, 1897; Charles S., born December 7, 1898; and James Clifford, born December 28, 1901.
While not associated with any denomination, Mr. Bilderback gives with a liberal hand to the support of the Presbyterian Church, of which his wife is a member, and in fact throughout his life has contributed generously to both church and Sunday school work, regardless of denomination.
Politically he is a believer in Democratic principles, and carries out his belief by supporting the candidates of that party. Socially he is a member of the Odd Fellows lodge at Huntsville, Ill., and of Augusta Camp, Modern Woodmen of America.
The fact that Mr. Bilderback has spent his entire life in his present locality makes him guard its interests with a jealous eye, and it is safe to say that no project which has for its object the betterment of the community, fails to receive his support, in fact, he has, himself, inaugurated many beneficial measures. He has a hospitable nature, and both himself and wife are surrounded by many friends and well-wishers." [Excerpt taken from "Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Schuyler County" Published in 1908 and edited by Newton Bateman, LLD and Paul Selby, AM; by Karen Beda]
Levi Bisby
Levi Bisby, farmer, sec. 17; P.O., Astoria. Levi Bisby is a native of Maryland, where he was born in 1835. Of his parents but little in now remembered, as thev passed away manv years ago, and Levi, while an infant, was adopted by a family that lived in Ohio, and there he remained until he had attained his tenth year, when he accompanied his guardian, Andrew Fry, to Astoria township. Young Bisby had the advantage of a good common-school education and grew to mature years of manhood upon a farm. In 1860 he was married to a daughter of John Aten, Miss Nancy A., who has become the mother of 9 children: Bell, Emma A., Sarah, Ella, Ettie, Lucetta, Alta M. and John W., and an infant. [History Of Fulton County; tr by SHemp]
Oliver P. Brumback
Oliver Hazard Perry Brumback, school teacher, merchant, lieutenant in the Civil War, postmaster, farmer and stockman, came from an old and distinguished American family whose members participated in the Revolutionary War under Washington, states Volney P. Mooney's History of Butler County. Mr. Brumback was a native of Kentucky. He was born August 17, 1830, a son of Peter and Elisabeth (Estes) Brumback.
Martin Brumback, father of Peter Brumback, grandfather of Peter Warren Brumback and great grandfather of Oliver Hazard Perry Brumback, was born in Germany and came to America where he located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he had an extensive business as an iron merchant. He was lost at sea while accompanying a consignment of iron. His three sons, Peter, who served in the Revolutionary War; Paul and John, were born in Philadelphia, John dying while quite young.
Peter Brumback, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was born in Philadelphia in 1750 and died in Boone County, Kentucky, at the age of 96 years, on April 6, 1846. He served throughout the Revolutionary War and was twice wounded by British bullets, receiving one wound at the battle of Camden. Oliver Brumback often discussed incidents of the Revolutionary War with his grandfather, as he was 16 years old when the grandfather died. Peter Brumback married Elisabeth Simpson in Fauquier County, Virginia, where she was born in 1767. She died in Kentucky in 1852. The children of Peter and Elisabeth (Simpson) Brumback were William, Willis, Martin, Hetty, Eleanor, Susan, Peter Warren, Sarah, Elisabeth, Henry and George. Peter Warren Brumback, father of Oliver Perry Hazard Brumback, was born in Bull Run, Virginia, in 1802. He moved to Kentucky with his parents in 1806. In October, 1829, at Middleton, Kentucky, he married Ann Elizabeth Estes. He died in Huntsville, Illinois, November 27, 1867.
In 1845, Oliver Brumback went from Kentucky to Illinois where he was married to Susan Elisabeth Allphin, a native of Schuyler County, and a daughter of Reuben and Susan (Brumback) Allphin. During the Civil War, Mr. Brumback raised a company in Schuyler County, Illinois, which was mustered into service as Company F, 119th Regiment Illinois Infantry. He was elected first lieutenant of the company at its organization. This company received its baptism of fire at the battle of Shiloh and Mr. Brumback was in the thick of the fray. They then went to Jackson, Tennessee, under Grant and after campaigning in the West for some time, Lieutenant Brumback's health failed and in 1863 he resigned his commission. His brother, Benjamin, served in the Union army throughout the Civil War.
After resigning his commission, Mr. Brumback was engaged in the general mercantile business in Huntsville, Illinois, until May, 1870, when he and his wife and six children drove in a covered wagon from Illinois to Kansas, through El Dorado and Towanda which then was the only town in west Butler County. In Milton Township they staked a claim, upland acres, the northeast quarter of section 26. The five pioneering couples in that section when the Brumbacks arrived were Mr. and Mrs. Amos Adams, Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Moore, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Adams, Mr. and Mrs. James Jones and Mr. and Mrs. William J. McCraner. Texas cattle ranged the prairies and wild game provided food. Mr. Brumback left the wagon bed and cover as shelter for his family and drove the running gears to Emporia from where he hauled lumber to build the first cabin in Milton Township. He then carried mail from Emporia to El Dorado and also "freighted" with wagon and team for the John H. Betts and N. F. Frazier store in El Dorado. He soon made improvements on his homestead and lived there forty-six years, selling the place to his son, Ernest, and buying a store and becoming the postmaster in Brainerd. His was a successful career. He never shirked a responsibility, or duty, whether it was that of husband, father, citizen or soldier. Mr. Brumback died in Brainerd February 8, 1916.
An unusual family history of patriotism is that of Mrs. Susan Elisabeth Allphin Brumback, the widow of Oliver P. Brumback, who will celebrate her ninety-eighth birthday anniversary March 1, 1935, and still lives in Brainerd. With the exception of the Spanish-American War, she has had close relatives in every war fought in America. None of her kin ever lost his life on the battlefield, although several were severely wounded.
Her maternal grandfather, Peter Brumback, served throughout the seven years of the Revolutionary War. An uncle served in the war of 1812. Her father, Reuben Mansfield Allphin, and her brother, William, were in the war with Mexico from 1846 to 1847, Reuben Mansfield Allphin was a son of Zebulon Allphin who was a native of Orange County, Virginia, where he lived at the time of the Revolutionary War but was too young to enter service. Mrs. Brumback's great grandfather was a native of France and a member of the old Bourbon aristocracy, states Judge Mooney's history. Four of Mrs. Brumback's grandsons served in the World War. She is one of the few surviving widows of Civil War veterans who were married before that war. Mrs. Brumback's maternal grandmother, Mrs. Elisabeth Lee Simpson Brumback, was a relative of the families of Gen. Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant. Her paternal grandmother, Mrs. Letitia Clarkson Allphin, was of Irish descent and was born in Orange County, Virginia.
To Oliver and Susan Elisabeth Brumback eleven children were born-Austin Mansfield, born in 1857; Clara, 1859; Virgil and Viola, twins, 1861; Grace, 1864; Everett, 1866; Charles, 1868; Edgar, 1870; Harry, 1873; George, 1875; William, 1877. Only Austin and Grace are living. Austin Brumback was a member of the first class of the University of Kansas, at Lawrence, later was a newspaper editor, school teacher and superintendent of Butler County schools before engaging for many years and until seven years ago, in the practice of law in El Dorado and in Nevada; his children, Avis Brumback Fleming-Beidelman, of Belen, New Mexico, and Ione Brumback Peterson of Los Angeles, were born in El Dorado. Clara was educated in Illinois, attended teachers' institute in El Dorado, taught school in Butler County and was one of the first Kansas girls whose articles and verse were published; she married James Cleveland Perry, a native of New York and a relative of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry of Lake Erie fame; after his death she married Frederick Gaylor, of El Reno, Oklahoma. Mrs. Gaylor died in Gainesville, Texas, in 1901. Her three children, Jessie Stratford, Susan Long and Mercedes Holmes grew up in El Dorado. Edgar B. Brumback was county attorney of Butler County and one of the prosecuting attorneys in the famous Jessie Morrison case; he was city attorney of El Dorado and practiced law here until failing health caused him to move to New Mexico where he practiced law in Estancia and Santa Fe until his death, in 1909. His widow, Minnie Joseph Brumback, former El Dorado librarian and city clerk, member of a pioneer Butler County family, has been a federal employe in the state house and federal building in Santa Fe since his death. Ernest Brumback married Anna Schroke, daughter of Fred Schroke, pioneer merchant of Brainerd and Whitewater; Grace Brumback married George Haskins and lives in Gushing, Oklahoma. They met at a Butler County Institute in El Dorado; both were teachers; Viola Brumback, also a school teacher, married Marion Kinney. The other children died in their youth.
Perhaps it is due to the fact that she is "of fighting stock" that Mrs. Brumback, battling with high courage beside her husband to establish a home on bare prairies, and give to her children every possible educational advantage in a new country, encountered with fortitude all the vicissitudes known to the pioneer. She emerged from those vicissitudes with buoyant spirit, innate sense of humor intact; physical and mental vigor and a sound and inspiring philosophy of life. At 97, she is energetic, erect, absorbed as always in literature, politics and world events. Always she has been an ardent Democrat; just as her husband was an ardent Republican. A loyalty to the Presbyterian and Methodist churches and concern for the welfare of others are italicized in her Book of Life. [Butler County, Kansas’ Eighty Years Bios; tr by Sheryl McClure]
Charles Edgar Burnham
Charles Edgar Burnham, a prominent and successful farmer of McDonough County, Ill., was born in Schuyler County, that state, October 3, 1864, a son of Edgar and Caroline (Armstrong) Burham, the former born in the state of New Hampshire, and the latter in Pennsylvania. The maternal grandfather, John Armstrong, was also a native of the Keystone State. The subject of this sketch is the fourth of fourteen children born to his parents. He was born on the home farm, where he lived until he was eight years of age. His parents then moved to McDonough County, where their son, Charles, enjoyed the advantages of the common schools. Charles and his brother, John bought the home farm when the former was twenty-three years old, and he lived there until two years after hismarriage. In 1896, he sold his interest in the homestead, and purchased the farm which he now operates. He is engaged in general farming and stock-raising, and his energy, industry and systematic methods have resulted in prosperous conditions on his property. On February 7, 1894, Mr. Burnham was united in marriage with Minnie Wilson, who was born and schooled in Industry Township, McDonough County, and is a daughter of Hugh and Harriet (Hobart) Wilson. Mr. and Mrs. Burnham have been blessed with four children, namely: Hugh Wilson, Edgar Wilson, Roy King and Carl Hobart. In politics, Mr. Burnham upholds the principles of the Republican party. [uncited source, submitted by morgans4]
Joseph W. Campbell
The upward struggle of Joseph W. Campbell expresses rare ability to overcome obstacles and make the most of opportunities. This long time resident of Schuyler County, who owns 180 acres of land in Section 13, Rushville Township, is a native of Armstrong County, Pa., where he was born January 29, 1843. Behind him are the advantages of excellent birth and breeding, of practical education, and family history closely interwoven with the momentous events which have shaped the history of this country. His parents, Joseph and Elizabeth (Hallabaugh) Campbell, also were natives of Pennsylvania, and his maternal grandparents born in Germany. John Campbell, his paternal grandfather, came from Ireland, his wife being born in Scotland. John Campbell shouldered a musket in the Revolutionary War, and also fought in the Indian War, enlisting from Pennsylvania. His son, Joseph, after acquiring an education under difficulties, and because he was able to pay his own way, devoted his life to educational work to the end that he was recognized as one of the ablest and most successful teachers in Armstrong County. Of the family of twelve children, Joseph W. was the only son and is the only survivor. Nine of the daughters grew to womanhood, while two died in infancy. The mother subsequently became the wife of Henry Rhodebush, and in 1853 came by water to Illinois, where she remained with her husband for six months in Pleasantview. They then bought forty acres of land in Frederick Township, and in the spring of 1866 moved to Missouri, and soon after to Kansas, where the mother died. The step-father finally returned to Schuyler County, where his death occured in 1901. His son, John Rhodebush, lives in Kansas.
Joseph W. Campbell was ten years old when he came with his mother and step-father to Schuyler County in 1853. A year later he went to work for a Mr. Edgar as chore-boy on a farm, remaining in that capacity a couple of years, and receiving as wages his room and board. At the age of thirteen years he went to work for an uncle, and at the expiration of three years received as compensation for work performed the sum of fifty dollars. When sixteen years had rolled over his head he received twenty-five cents a day and board during the summer, and about the same during the winter. In his monotonous and work-weary life, the prospects of service in the Civil War was by no means disheartening, and this same service proved the mettle of the boy and assisted in the framing of the character of the man. Enlisting in Company D, One Hundred and Fifteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry for three years, he was sent to Kentucky and marched twice through that State, and subsequently marched across Tennessee four or five times. The One Hundred and Fifteenth took part in the battles of Dalton and Resaca, was two days at Chickamauga, and at Lookout Mountain it was the first to climb to the top of the Mountain. At the block-house fight forty-eight men of the company, including Mr. Campbell, were placed in the house to keep at bay Hood's army of forty thousand men until the United States forces could be rallied. During this encounter five of the forty-eight were killed, twenty-two wounded, and twenty-one able bodied men were taken prisoners and placed in Andersonville prison. Thirteen of these managed to be paroled at Millen, Ga. At the block-house Mr. Campbell was among the wounded, and on that account he was paroled and sent home, returning, however, within thirty days to join his regiment, at Montgomery, Ala. Finally he was honorably discharged in June, 1865, and thereupon returned To Schuyler County to take up the burden of farming.
October 25, 1865, Mr. Campbell was united in marriage to Martha Ann Teal, a native of Ohio, and daughter of John Teal, one of the pioneers of Schuyler County. The same year Mr. Campbell bought twenty-nine acres of land in Section 13, Rushville Township, which land had on it a log cabin with puncheon floor, and here the wife died in 1868, leaving a daughter, Clara May, who died at the age of nineteen years. For his second wife, Mr. Campbell married October 25, 1870, Miss Elizabeth McNeely, who was born in Schuyler County in 1849, a daughter of John McNeely, also an early settler of this County, and long since deceased. The year of his second marriage, Mr. Campbell sold his twenty-nine acres of land, and in 1872 bought forty acres in Section 7, Browning Township, which, like his former farm, had a log cabin and few improvements. In 1879 he bought thirty acres in the same section, later sixty acres, and still later forty acres in Section 13, Rushville Township, and forty acres in Browning Township, having 180 acres in one body in Rushville and Browning Townships. In 1884 he moved to his present home in Section 13, where he has many fine improvements, and is conducting general farming and stock-raising under the most favorable conditions.
By his second marriage Mr. Campbell has had nine children: Minnie, deceased wife of Oliver Martin, and mother of Jerry, William and Madison Martin; Charles T., born October 9, 1873, married Sadie Howe, has four children named Ollie, Maggie, Hanna and Shelton, and is engaged in carpenter work; Inza Ann, born August 20, 1876, wife of Oliver Martin, mother of Dannie and Dora Martin, and lives in McDonough County, Ill.; James Eli, born June 12, 1880, a farmer on the old homestead, married Grace Stephens, and they live on the home farm and have two children, Minnie and Homer; Ina E., born July 18, 1883, wife of William Reno, has one child, Inza B., and is a foreman in the Macomb Pottery Works; Austin, born April 28, 1885, living at home; Valentine, born February 14, 1887; and Otis, born July 21, 1890. Few more industrious men have contributed to the growth of Schuyler County than Mr. Campbell. He has known little of the leisure or diversions of life, but has made of his work an expression of himself, a rendering of his character in material form. He is honored because he is honest and fair, loyal and obliging, and because once known, he always may be depended on to do the best that the situation requires. [History of Schuyler County; p 796; sub. by Robin Petersen]
Martin Cook
Astoria Township: Martin Cook, deceased, was a well-known resident of Astoria. He was born in Columbiana Co., O., May 7, 1847, and passed his youth in Sandusky Co. Desirous of obtaining a good education he entered Oberlin College. In an early day he located in Browning, Schuyler Co., Ill., where he taught the public school as principal, and where he married Miss Ida* L. Bader, daughter of Jeremiah Bader, a native of Germany, who emigrated to this country many years ago and settled in Pennsylvania. There he married Miss Sarah Thompson. Mr. Bader moved to Ohio, then to Schuyler Co., where he died. Mr. Cook taught school for many years of his life in the twons of this county, and latterly was principal of the schools at Astoria. After a life of usefulness he passed away. His death occurred May 11, 1879. He was a man highly respected and esteemed. Mrs. Cook resides in Astoria. ["History of Fulton County, Illinois; together with Sketches of its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. Chas. C. Chapman & Co., Peoria, Illinois, 1879, page 427]
Robert H. Crozier
Robert H. Crozier, a prominent and successful farmer of Rushville Township, Schuyler County, Ill., was born in the vicinity of Pleasantview, in the same township, March 5, 1859, and is a son of Richard and Sarah (Crozier) Crozier, natives of County Tyrone, Ireland. Richard Crozier came to America with his father, Richard, Sr. and the latter’s wife, sojourning for a while in Canada, and thence going to New York State and locating at Ithaca. His future wife, Sarah Crozier, accompanied her parents to the United States, the family also settling in Ithaca, and there she was married to Richard Crozier. About the year 1854 the young couple came to Schuyler County, Ill,. Making their home in Section 35, Rushville Township. In 1836 Richard Crozier moved to Bainbridge Township, buying seventy acres of land, and adding more from time to time, until he became an extensive landholder, owing 500 acres at the time of his death. He was one of the most successful farmers in his locality, and as his family grew to maturity, gave each a fine piece of land. He and his wife had five children, as follows: Helen Augusta, wife of Thomas L. Strong, who owns part of the old homestead; Frederick, born in New York State, who died when about three years old; Robert H.; Margaret F., wife of Roland M. Stover, of Rushville, Ill.; Annie M., who died in Bainbridge Township at the age of eleven years. Her father died February 29, 1906. He was one of the leading citizens of Bainbridge Township, and a strong advocate and supporter of educational enterprises. In politics, he was a Democrat, and ably and faithfully filled various township offices. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as is his worthy widow, who resides in Pleasantview, enjoying the sincere respect of all who know her, and the serene consciousness of a well spent life. Robert H. Crozier attended the common school in his boyhood, and remained on the home farm until the time of his marriage. He then bought forty acres of land in Section 15, Bainbridge Township, which in 1900 he sold and moved to his new purchase of 118 acres in Rushville Township. Since then he has made many attractive improvements on the place, especially on the dwelling, and has now a beautiful home, with spacious and substantial barns, and convenient out buildings for the care of his stock.
On January 30, 1890, Mr. Crozier was united in marriage with Anna M. Acheson, a native of Bainbridge Township, where she was born April 16, 1870. Mrs. Crozier is a daughter of William and Mary (Ward) Acheson, and particulars in regard to her father’s life may be found in a biographical record of Alexander Acheson, appearing elsewhere in this work. Mr. and Mrs. Crozier have four children, namely: Mabel A., born January 1, 1891; Harry Earl, born November 15, 1893, deceased May 8, 1902; Clarice E., born June 11, 1899; and Sarah Elsie, born November 11, 1903. Mr. Crozier is the only one of the Croziers left in Schuyler County. Five brothers of his father moved to Kansas, where all but one died having families.
In politics, Mr. Crozier is a Democrat, and has for many years held the office of School Director. Fraternally, he is connected with the M. W. A., Rushville Camp, No. 308. He is a man of genial disposition, and he and his amiable wife have many friends. [From: “Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois Illustrated 1908, edited by Newton Bateman, LL. D. and Paul Selby, A. M., Volume II, Schuyler County”, edited by Howard F. Dyson, pages 804]
William Dean
William Dean was born in county Dennygaul, Ireland, May 3d, 1825, and is a son of John Dean. He received his early education in the district schools of Ireland. At about the age of twenty-two he emigrated to America, landing in New York. From there he went to western part of Pennsylvania, where he resided two years. He then moved to Schuyler county, Illinois, in the spring of 1850, where he engaged in farming. In March, 1857, he was married to Mrs. Maria Pain, daughter of George and Jame {Jane} Umphreys {Humphreys}; she was born July 10th, 1830. The fruits of their marriage is a family of four children, one of whom is now deceased. Mr. Dean is at present residing on his farm in Littleton township, enjoying good health. [Uncited source, submitted by and with {clarifications by Sara Hemp}]
Samuel De Counter
A lifelong resident of the locality which is still his home, and still in the days of his prime, one of the most vigorous, successful and useful characters of Schuyler County, was born in Ripley (once part of Woodstock) Township, Schuyler County, Ill. {now Brown County}, October 4, 1827. He is a son of Peter Frederick and Nancy De Counter, natives of France. His father was a soldier in the Napoleonic wars, and was with Bonaparte when the great Emperor was captured. Having effected his escape, the subject of this sketch immediately came to the United States, landing at New Orleans. After teaching school there for a while he went to St. Louis, and then to Boone's Lick, Mo., where about the year 1823 he was married to Nancy Sconts, a lady of Scotch-German descent. In the spring of 1827, they came to Illinois, settling in Schuyler County, in the southeast quarter of Section 33, Woodstock Township. Peter F. De Counter cleared and cultivated a well conducted farm in moderate extent, on which he remained until the time of his death, in 1855, his wife having passed away in 1833. They were the parents of two children, Jeanetta and Samuel. The former married Jonas Albert, by whom she had three children, as follows: William Albert, Ida and Samuel Albert. William A. is now a resident of Kansas, living in Smoking Valley. Ida first married Alpheus Eddy, and after his death, Jonas Albert, by whom she had one child, Sherman Dalgreen, now living at Los Angeles, Cal., both of his parents being deceased, the death of the mother having occurred in 1884. Samuel Albert has been for twenty years lost to the family, no tidings of him having been received during that period.
In early youth, Samuel De Counter had an opportunity of attending school about three months only. He left home when he was little more than twelve years of age, his father having married a second time. When quite a young man, he had some experience in riding race horses, and from that drifted into teaming. About the year 1850 he turned his attention to farming in the vicinity of his birthplace, and in 1860, bought eighty acres of land in Section 27, Woodstock Township, four acres of which had been cleared. A log cabin with a wide fireplace stood in the opening, and applied himself to the arduous task of clearing the ground of timber and brush, and making a comfortable home and productive farm. In this effort he achieved a signal success. Under careful and sagacious management, all his undertakings were attended by profitable results. To his original 80-acre purchase he made additions amounting to 958 acres, and the home farm now comprises 1038 acres, of which 668 acres are in Camden Township. His career has been one of the most prosperous ever known in Schuyler County. Beginning without the advantages of even ordinary schooling and destitute of financial resources, he gained his education through keen observation and by availing himself of every opportunity of self-instruction, and this, together with energy, perseverance, thrift and integrity, is the foundation of his present handsome competency. Naturally possessed of a strong mind and sound judgment, he became a leader in connection with the agricultural interests of the county, and for many years was conspicuous in all enterprises pertaining to its progress and development. In the period of his activity, he was always a man of genial disposition, of jovial bearing and kindly impulses, and never declined to relieve the needs of anyone approaching him in distress.
Mr. De Counter has been twice married, his first marriage taking place in 1850, when Catherine Miller became his wife. Three children were the issue of this union, namely: Frederick S., Maurice and Emma. Frederick first married a lady named Shull, and after her death, was wedded to a Miss Ronery, residing in Camden Township, Schuyler County, who is now deceased. He was the father seven children by this marriage, as follows: one who died in infancy; Harriet, Anna, Dorothy and Brice, all deceased; Peter F. and Clarence of California. Frederick De Counter departed this life in 1895. Maurice De Counter married Minnie Houser, and by her had seven children, namely: Dotty and Mary, both of whom died at the age of twenty years; Nettie, who died in 1905; Samuel, deceased; Susan, Lella and Lon. Maurice De Counter died January, 1901, and his widow is a resident of Camden Township. Emma, the third child of Samuel De Counter's first marriage, became the wife of Nelson Riding, a farmer in Camden Township, and they had eight children, namely: Laura, Samuel, Katie and Daisey (deceased), Clifford, Logan, Raleigh, and Guy. Catherine (Miller) De Counter, first wife of the subject of this sketch, passed away in 1854, and Mr. De Counter subsequently wedded Harriet Stubbs, who died, much lamented, November 7, 1906. She was a faithful and devoted companion and a constant helpmeet of her husband for half a century, and much if his success is attributed to her invaluable assistance. Her union with Mr. De Counter resulted in one child, Catherine, who died at the age of nineteen years. The later became the wife of George Luthey, and was the mother of one child, Clarence.
Politically, Samuel De Counter has been an adherent of the Democratic party throughout his mature life, but has never entertained any ambition for official distinction. On numerous occasions he has been solicited by appreciative friends to become a candidate for public office, but has steadfastly declined, preferring to devote his whole attention to his extensive personal interests, and to promoting the welfare of the community by his earnest endeavors as a private citizen. He is profoundly respected by all classes in the locality where his career has spanned a period of four-score years. [From: Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois Illustrated 1908, edited by Newton Bateman, LL. D. and Paul Selby, A. M., Volume II, Schuyler County”, edited by Howard F. Dyson, pages 811-812]
Rev. James DeWitt (deceased)
Arriving in Schuyler County in the latter 'thirties as an almost penniless pedestrian in search of a wider field of labor, Rev. James DeWitt remained the associate of the growing fortunes of this part of the State until his death, September 9, 1897, acheiving success in the meantime as a farmer, merchant, Methodist clergyman and politician. Mr. DeWitt was born in Hope, Warren County, N. J., November 5, 1817, a son of James and Anna (Coates) DeWitt, both natives of New Jersey, the former born in Sussex County. The family came to Oakland, Mich., in 1842, and here the elder DeWitt died at the age of ninety-six years, his wife dying at the age of seventy years. They reared a family of eight children, of whom Rev. James was next to the youngest.
James DeWitt knew few advantages in his youth, and the responsibility of self-support settled upon his life when but thirteen years had passed over his head. He then began to clerk in the store of an older brother, and about 1830 went to Pennsylvania, and filled a similar position in the general store of another brother. In the spring of 1838 he came by canal, river and rail to St. Louis, Mo., thence by boat up the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to Schuyler County, where he clerked for the rest of the summer for Dr. B. V. Teel. Thrifty and economical, he saved all possible of his meager earnings, expending the same on a trip back to New Jersey, where he spent the summer of 1839. Returning to Schuyler County in the fall of the same year, he secured a position with Wilson & Greer, which he held until 1842, when his marriage on January 25th, to Ellen Little, became the determining factor which resulted in his remaining in Rushville as a clerk in the general store of his father-in-law, James Little. Mrs. DeWitt was born in Columbia, Lancaster County, Pa., and died in Schuyler County at the age of sixty-one years. She was the mother of seven children: James L., John M., George W., Euphemia E., who died at eleven years of age, Elizabeth, widow of John A. Young, living in Schuyler County; Cyrus L., mention of whom may be found elsewhere in this work {page 814}; and William A. James and Rebecca Little, parents of Mrs. DeWitt, were born in Ireland, and came to the United States in 1801, their deaths occurring in Schuyler County at the age of seventy and eighty-four years respectively. October 3, 1883, Mr. DeWitt contracted marriage with Mrs. Catherine H. (Pittinger) Waddell.
Leaving the employ of his father-in-law in 1844, Mr. DeWitt engaged in business for himself with Mr. Greer, eventually having other business partners, but in 1850 disposed of his business and with his brother-in-law, Dr. W. H. Window, engaged in conducting a general store in Littleton Township, with which he was connected for about ten years. In 1862 he located on a farm and intelligently developed its resources up to the time of his death. In the meantime, the commercial side of life had by no means overshadowed the large moral usefulness which inspired his activity for more than half a century. With but limited scholastic advantages, he yet secured an excellent education, and he made study on of the great objects of his life. Having determined upon the ministerial life he completed a theological course in one year, and thereafter exerted a wide influence in the Methodist Episcopal Church as a local peacher. He had earnestness and enthusiasm, and comparative religious breadth and tolerance, and his half century in the ministry was prolific of good to uncounted thousands. Politically also he was prominent and influential, serving as County Treasurer, Postmaster, Deputy Marshal, Census Enumerator for one half of the county, as Representative in the State Legislature one term (1875-76), and Supervisor for ten terms. [From: "Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois Illustrated 1908, edited by Newton Bateman, LL. D. and Paul Selby, A. M., Volume II, Schuyler County", edited by Howard F. Dyson, pages 814-815]
Joseph Dimmick
Joseph Dimmick, a dentiet of Oakland, was born in Schuyler county, Illinois, November 5, 1842, a son of Joseph Benjamin and Comfort (Dean) Dimmick, both born January 24, 1808, the father near Syracuse, New York, and the mother in Ohio. In his sixteenth year the father moved to Ohio, when he was employed at some salt works, and was married at eighteen. About 1836 he moved to Illinois, settling on a farm in Schuyler county. In 1852 they crossed the plains to Oregon, eventually settling on 320 acres in what is now Benton county. On the six months' trip they found not a single house between the Missouri river and the Dalles, Oregon, not even where is now the city of Omaha. Fort Hall was a rough and ready frontier post of rude cabins and tents. They spent the first winter at Milwaukee, six miles north of Portland, Oregon. The father, whose main career was farming, died in 1861, and the mother in 1858. They had seven sons and seven daughters, of whom the oldest son died in crossing the plains at the age of twenty-three, and another son was accidentally killed by the careless handling of a gun in his own house in Josephine county, Oregon, at the age of thirty-one. The other twelve children are still living, mostly in Oregon. Ann is the wife of Rev. T. M. Starr, of Habey, Oregon, and Ethelinda is the wife of A. W. Starr, a rancher of Tularo county, this State.
Grandfather Joseph Dimmick, born near Syracuse, New York, where the family, originally English, seems to have been settled for several generations, lived to the age of about sixty His widow survived him many years, reaching the age of ninety-eight. Their son, Benjamin, a land owner and merchant of Pleasant View, Schuyler county, Illinois, and Postmaster of that village for over fifty years, died in 1888, aged ninety-five. The maternal ancestry of Dr Dimmick were of Virginia, but the grandparents Dean moved to Ohio and afterwards to Iowa, where they lived to the age of about eighty years. Their son, Samuel Dean, a farmer near Shueyville, Johnson county, Iowa, is living, in 1890, aged about seventy.
J. Dimmick, the subject of this sketch, received his education in the common schools, beginning in Illinois and ending in Oregon. ?? afterwards learned the higher mathematics and surveying under a private teacher. The family being large, he began to earn at an early age books and clothing, going to school only in the winter terms. At fifteen he began to help in the local country stores, and in his eighteenth year was clerk and virtual manager of a general store in Monroe, Oregon, for two years. He spent the summer of 1864 prospecting in Idaho, and mining a little. He taught a country school for the winter term of 1864-5, and then took the position of clerk and manager of a general store at Corvallis, Oregon. In 1866 he made a trip to the East, from June to October, going and coming by way of Panama. He was present at the great national gathering in Chicago, in memory of Senator Douglas, and was much interested in many other sights and wonders of his native land, which to him had all the novelty of a strange land, and he was filled with enthusiasm for the greatness and glory of our reunited country.
Returning to Oregon, he was married in Corvallis, April 27, 1867, to Mrs. Mary Frances (Kriechbaum) Belfils, a widow with two children, Victor Hugo Belfils, now in the employ of the Puget Sound Lumber Company, and Ernest Kriechbaum Belfils, now a dentist of Tulare, California.
Mrs. Dimmick is a daughter of Dr. John George and Lucy (Morgan) Kriechbaum. Her father reached the age of seventy-two, and her mother, born in Illinois, September 28, 1824, and married in Iowa, in 1840, is living, in 1890. Dr. Kriechbaum was for some years a merchant in Burlington, Iowa, and came to this coast in 1853, settling in Portland, Oregon, where he carried on a hotel. Mrs. Dimmick's grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Morgan, came to Oregon in 1853, and died at Pleasant Hill, in Lane county, the husband at the age of sixty-seven and the wife about seventy.
Soon after his marriage Mr. Dimmick came to San Francisco and engaged in trade for a few months. In 1868 he went to farming and fruit-raising near Windsor, Sonoma county, where he bought 164 acres, on which he remained about ten years. About 1871 he began to give some attention to the study and practice of dentistry, and gradually grew to be an expert in the art. In 1879 he sold his place in Sonoma county, taking in part payment some property in this city, where he has resided since April and practiced his profession since June of that year.
Dr. Dimmick has been an Odd Fellow since 1865 and a Knight of Pythias since 1882, and is a past officer in both. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Dimmick are: Clarence Cornell, born in San Francisco, January 22, 1868, received a good common school education and is now in the employ of the Southern Pacific Railroad Company in Oakland; Lillian Lucy Comfort, born in Sonoma county, February 17, 1870, is a graduate in music; Edwin Houston, born January 31, 1873, is a graduate of the Oakland High School, and is now learning dentistry in his father's office; Virgil Benjamin, born August 25, 1875; Ellis L., born February 22, 1879; Carroll Dean, born in Oakland, August 12, 1883. The Dimmick family are of a healthy and robust stock and have little need of physicians. Four brothers and three sisters of Dr. Dimmick at a late reunion of the family were found to weigh 1,463 pounds. [The Bay of San Francisco, The Metropolis of the Pacifie Coast and its Suburban Cities, A History, Illustrated, Vol. II, Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1892, Page 627-629]
Oren Elmer Dodds
Oren E. Dodds, a farmer of enterprising and progressive tendencies, and a young man of excellent traits of character, was born in Bainbridge Township, Schuyler County, Ill., his present home, March 3, 1877. His parents were Thomas and Emily (Ward) Dodds, natives of Schuyler County, whose family history will be found in a separate biographical narrative in this immediate connection. Mr. Dodds grew to manhood on the homestead farm, his youth being passed in assisting in the routine of labor upon the place, and attending the district schools of the vicinity. After remaining with his parents until he was twenty-five years of age, he began farming on his own responsibility, cultivating a farm belonging to his father. In 1904, Mr. Dodds bought 124 acres of land known as the “McCormick farm”, and situated in Section 12 and 13, Bainbridge Township, to which he moved in the fall of that year. The place was in a neglected condition, and he proceeded to put up fences, build barns, and materially improve the dwelling, until he transformed the property into a comfortable and attractive home. Besides general farming he devotes considerable attention to stock raising, and breeds a good grade of horses, cattle and hogs.
On March 26, 1902, Mr. Dodds was joined in matrimonial bonds with Margaret L. Bellamy, who was born January 20, 1884, and is a daughter of D. M. and Lucinda (Greer) Bellamy, both natives of Schuyler County. Her father, who was a well known farmer, died January 30, 1904, and her mother is still living on the old homestead farm in Bainbridge Township. To this union of Mr. and Mrs. Dodds two children have been born, namely: George Madison, born April 12, 1903; and Lucy E., born March 24, 1907.
Politically, Mr. Dodds is an adherent of the Democratic party, and held the office of Tax Collector from 1900 to 1902, discharging its duties with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his constituents. Fraternally, he is identified with the M. W. A., Pleasantview Camp, No. 2040. Mrs. Dodds is a communicant of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which her husband is a liberal contributor. He is also a generous supporter of the cause of education, and of all benevolent enterprises, and both he and his wife are highly esteemed throughout the community. [From: “Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois Illustrated 1908, edited by Newton Bateman, LL. D. and Paul Selby, A. M., Volume II, Schuyler County”, edited by Howard F. Dyson, pages 817]
George B Easley
A native of Rushville, Schuyler County, Illinois, was born December 10, 1854, a son of Thomas M. and Sarah A Easley. He was married December 26 1878, to Alice M. Spencer, daughter of J.M. and Laura A Spencer. They have two children: Foster R, born November 28, 1880; Hattie May, November 03, 1882. Foster R. Married Lola Workman, and is now in business at Brashear. Hattie is now Mrs. W.H. Young of Gibbs, Missouri. Mr. Easley came to Adair County in 1855 and remained for two years. He then went to Macon County {Mo} for four years; lived in Kirksville again for two years; then came to Gibbs in 1901, where he has since resided. He engaged in the hardware and furniture business; but at present is in insurance and notary work. He is a republican, a member of the Christian church, and belongs to the Masonic order. [Source: "The History Of Adair County Missouri" by E.M. Violette (1911) Sub by DR]
Estas Edwards
Estas Edwards, who is carrying on general farming in Roodhouse township, was born in Schuyler county, Illinois, February 10, 1875, and is a representative of one of the old pioneer families of the state. His paternal grandfather was Isham Edwards, a natives of Kentucky, who came to Illinois when twenty-five years of age and devoted his attention to general farming and stock-dealing. He was not only reliable in business and active in the early development of the locality in which he made his home but displayed so many other sterling traits of character that he commanded the highest respect and confidence of all with whom he was associated. He lived at Barrow for twenty years and his last days were spent in Walkerville township. His son, Joseph L. Edwards, was born in Greene county, in 1854 and he, too, has always followed farming. He married Miss Jane Wells, who was born in Schuyler county, Illinois, in 1854.
Mr. Edwards was educated in the school of Barrow, and under his father's direction received his business training, working in the fields when not occupied with the duties of the schoolroom and through the long summer vacations. Since attaining his majority he has carried on fanning on his own account and is now operating land in Roodhouse township, cultivating his fields with energy, discretion and good management, so that the result is desirable and his labors are thus rendered profitable.
On the 24th of February, 1895., Mr. Edwards was married to Miss Mettie Barnhart, who was born in Walkerville, Greene county, and their union has been blessed with three interesting children: Edith, Leona and Ernest, aged respectively nine, five, and two years. The parents are members of the Christian church and are highly respected, having a wide acquaintance, for they have spent their entire lives in the county and the qualities which they have manifested in all life's relations have commended them to the confidence and srood will of those with whom they have been associated. Mr. Edwards is a wide-awake young business man, watchful of opportunity and making the most of his advantages and has already attained desirable success. [Past and Present Of Greene County, Illinois; by Hon. Ed. Miner, Ex-Secretary Old Settlers Society; Illustrated; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1905, page 624-625]
David D. Erwin, Att.
Erwin, David D., Lawyer, Muskegon, was born near Rushville, Schuyler County, Illinois. He is a {great} grandson of one of the Revolutionary patriots, General David Erwin, who was with General Washington when he crossed the Delaware. His {great} great-grandfather emigrated to this country, from Ireland, in 1740. Mr. Erwin commenced his education at Rushville; attended the Wesleyan University, Bloomington, Illinois; and entered the office of the County Clerk of Schuyler County, Illinois, in 1864. He was Deputy in the Circuit Court of the same county, until May, 1867; when he went to Muskegon, and became Deputy Clerk of that county. In 1869 he began the study of law with Gray, Smith & Nims. He was admitted to the bar in 1870, and is now a member of the well-known firm of Smith, Nims & Erwin. He has held the positions of Recorder of Muskegon; member of the School Board; and Receiver of the Chicago, Saginaw and Canada Railroad. He is a member of the Democratic party. Mr. Erwin was married, November 21, 1870, to Miss Florence Tillotson, formerly of Glenn's Falls, New York. [American Biographical History of Eminent and Self-made Men: Michigan Volume, By F. A. Barnard, Published 1878, Western Biographical Publishing Co., page 32]
Jacob Fisher
Kerton Township: Jacob Fisher, farmer and stock-raiser, sec. 30; P. O., Bluff City; among the leading farmers of this township Mr. F. finds a place in the biographical department of this work. He is a native of Germany, where he was born in 1823. His father, Jacob Fisher, was a farmer by occupation and married at Baden Miss Elizabeth Taylor. Our subject was their youngest child. At the age of 11 he brought him to the U. S. At Buffalo his father died. Young Jacob went to Coshocton Co., Ohio., where he was a farm hand. In 1845 he came to Schuyler Co., Ill., where he remained until the Mexican war broke out when he enlisted in Col. Dunlap’s regiment. He returned to Schuyler Co., where he remained 6 years and married Miss Louisa Miller, and about 1859 moved to Kerton tp., where he purchased 160 acres of land. He has increased his possessions through uncommon perseverance to one section of land. The marriage above referred to has been blessed with 9 children, 7 of whom are living: Mary, Valentine, Mahala, George, Laura, Anna and Ellen. Melissa and John deceased. Mrs. F. died April 5, 1876. [History of Fulton County, Illinois; together with Sketches of its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. Chas. C. Chapman & Co., Peoria, Illinois, 1879, page 753]
Robert F. Francis
Farmers Township: Robert F. Francis, a native of England, was born May 22, 1843; came to this country when but 4 years old, and remained in New York 5 years, when he came to Schuyler Co., Ill., where he received a common-school education. He was reared on a farm; served 4 years in the late war, and was a prisoner 10 months and 2 weeks in that most fearful of all dens, Andersonville. He weighed 150 pounds when he entered the prison and was reduced to 72 pounds when weighed in St. Louis, and had been out of the prison a month. He will always be known as one of the heroes of Andersonville. His father, John Francis, was a coach-painter, and died in Chicago in May, 1874. Our subject was married Nov. 22, 1868, to Mary Walker, by whom he has 4 children. She being a widow, had 3 children before he married her. [History of Fulton County, Illinois; together with Sketches of its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. Chas. C. Chapman & Co., Peoria, Illinois, 1879, page 657]
G. W. Gain
Astoria Township: G. W. Gain, farmer, sec. 19; P. O., Ray, Schuyler Co. G. W. Gain is the youngest child born of the marriage of James W. Gain to Matilda Sergeant. James Gain was a native of England and probably followed the occupation of a baker, as this was his calling for a number of years after his arrival in America, which was about 1840. He came from New York city to Schuyler Co., Ill., and engaged in farming. He died in that county in the thirty-fifth year of his age. With his wife, who is still living, he left a family of 3 children. George was born in Schuyler Co., in 1843. When the war broke out he enlisted in Co. B, 119th Ill. Inf., and participated in 8 battles. He was among the last who left Uncle Sam s service, being honorably discharged in Aug., 1865. He married, in Oct., 1866, Miss Melissa H. Mayo, by whom he has 4 children, - William, Mary E., George W. and Ettie. In 1869 he bought his present farm and moved to this county. [History of Fulton County, Illinois; together with Sketches of its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. Chas. C. Chapman & Co., Peoria, Illinois, 1879, page 436]
Benjamin F. Geer
Through the course of a life covering a span of more than one-half century, Mr. Geer has made his home in Schuyler County, and has risen to the rank of one of the most prosperous and progressive farmers of Browning Township, where he was born in November of 1852, and where the responsibilities of patriotic citizenship have been efficiently discharged. In the course of his life it has been his privilege to witness many changes in his locality. When he was a boy he attended school, first in the Sackville district, and later in the Hawkeye district, in Browning Township. The schools of those days were far inferior to those of present time. Text-books were few, methods of instruction were crude, teachers were often illy prepared for their duties, and the equipment of the school was meagre. Along other than educational lines he also has witnessed remarkable changes. Methods of agriculture have been revolutionized since his boyhood. Hand labor has been largely superseded by machinery, and now a farmer has need of a fair knowledge of mechanics in order to conduct his work without exasperating delays. The telephone and the rural free delivery have brought the world to the farmer’s door. All of these improvements he has seen, besides many others scarcely less important.
On the farm on Section 28, Browning Township, where he now resides, Benjamin F. Geer was born, a son of Dyer A. and Anna Eliza (Arnold) Geer, natives of Hamilton County, Ohio. The father was born in 1811 and, at the age of twenty-one, came to Illinois, settling in Schuyler County in 1832 while the country was yet a wilderness of heavy timber from which the Indians had but recently disappeared. After a time he was joined by his brothers, Sidney and Orvis Geer, and he took up 200 acres of congress land on Section 28, Browning Township. On his claim he put up a cabin and hither brought his bride, who had been orphaned in childhood and had accompanied an older brother and sister from Ohio to Illinois. She was spared to a good old age, passing away October 6, 1901, sustained to the last by the firm Christian faith which had been the anchor of her earlier years. The father died in February of 1875. He, too, has been a sincere believer in the doctrines of Christianity and had endeavored in his life to exemplify the teachings of the Savior. During young manhood he had been converted in the Methodist Episcopal Church, but later he identified himself with the Christian Church, in which for years he officiated as Sunday School Superintendent, and to whose missionary enterprises he was a generous contributor. During the existence of the Whig party he supported its tenets. On the organization of the Republican party he endorsed its principles and ever afterward supported its men and measures.
In the family of Dyer A. Geer there were none children, two of whom died in infancy. Those who attained mature years were as follows: James, who is engaged in farm posits in Fulton County, Ill.; Sidney A., who settled at Atlanta, Phelps County, Neb.; and died there about 1901; Melinda, wife of F. M. Skiles, a farmer in Browning Township; Milton, who enlisted in the One Hundred and Nineteenth Infantry during the Civil War and died in the service at Memphis, Tenn.; Hiram, who died on the old homestead in 1882; Benjamin F., of Browning Township; and Louisa, who married James Brines and resides at Ukiah, Cal. After completing the studies of the district schools Benjamin F. Geer attended college at Abingdon, Ill.; and on his return home taught two terms of school in Union district. With his brother he bought the interest of the other heirs in the old homestead and shortly afterward established domestic ties, being united in marriage, September 20, 1875, with Miss Delilah A. Rebman, who was born March 30, 1857, a daughter of John Rebman. (See sketch of Adam Rebman for the family record).
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Geer comprises the following children: Alena, who was born September 18, 1876, and married Ray Walton, a farmer of Browning Township, by whom she has one child, Dail; Frederick, who was born January 7, 1879, who married Jessie Spillers, and has four children, Burton, Bernice, Clifford and Floyd, their home being on a farm in Browning Township; Homer S., who was born January 13, 1881, and married Lusetta Walton, by whom he has two children, Pearl and Ansel; Hiram, who was born August 11, 1883, and married Ada Kloker, by whom he has two children, Dorothy and Neil; Leroy, who was born November 10, 1885, and married Mabel Haffner; Milton, who was born April 20, 1887; Harland, born December 15, 1890; Annie F., born January 3, 1895; and Eugene, born October 15, 1898. During 1883 the family erected a large residence on their farm, and thither they removed from the old cabin home that had been the scenes of many happy gatherings and much quiet enjoyment. The farm originally comprised 157 1-3 acres, but a part of this Mr. Geer has sold to his children, and now owns eighty-six acres, on which he has ornamental and shade trees, also an orchard of one hundred peach and three hundred apple trees. In former years he was a Republican, but now gives his influence to the Prohibition party. With his wife he holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in the up-building of which he has been actively interested. His conversion took place many years ago when he embraced the United Brethren faith, but he soon united with the denomination to which he now belongs. In the twilight of his busy life, sustained by the recollection of an honorable career, cheered by the hope which religion gives, and esteemd {esteemed} by the people in whose midst he has always lived, he is enjoying the fruits of the busy years of the past and is reaping the reward of a well-spent life. [From: “Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois Illustrated 1908, edited by Newton Bateman, LL. D. and Paul Selby, A. M., Volume II, Schuyler County”, edited by Howard F. Dyson, pages 829-830]
Jacob Hammond
Jacob Hammond was born in Knox county, Ohio, November 28, 1835, and came to Illinois in April, 1863, and settled in Woodstock township, Schuyler county; subsequently removed to Bainbridge township; in the fall of 1872 came to Rushville, where be has since resided. In 1861 Mr. Hammond enlisted in Company A, of the 65th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry and subsequently became first lieutenant. In March, 1882, he was appointed post master of Rushville. On the 20th of June, 1863, he married Sarah M. Lawler, a native of Schuyler county, by which marriage there are two children named Charles H., and Harold J. Hammond. Politically he has, since outing his first vote, been a staunch and active Republican. [uncited source]
William M. Harding
Not only is the Kentucky family of Harding one of the earliest, as it is one of the most numerous of any connected with the up building of the Bourbon State, but from its strong and dependable stock have sprung hundreds of men and women who have taken a distinctive and even conspicuous part in the development of many and widely separated communities. For the most part agriculturists, their ambitions frequently have led them into the unfrequented parts of the country, and indeed the pioneering instinct has been a chief, if not a leading, family characteristic. Schuyler County has profited richly by this courageous and sturdy element, and in the person of William McKee Harding, a farmer of Section 11, Buena Vista Township, the qualities most prized and cultivated by the Kentucky progenitors are in no sense abated.
The infant wail of William M. Harding resounded against the walls of a rough log cabin near Cameron, Warren County, where he was born on March 19, 1839. His parents were Aaron and Nancy (McKee) Harding, and his paternal grandfather was John Harding, a native of Kentucky. (The McKee family record may be found elsewhere in this volume. {William McKee page 882-3}) John Harding was a man of strong character, who loved danger and adventure, and whose nomadic spirit craved the excitement and opportunities of the frontier. When our subject's father was but a boy he went with his father and others of his family to the present site of Indianapolis, Ind.; but when that region began to take on a semblance of civilization, he moved on again, this time to Hanco*ck County, Ill., where he took up government land on Bear Creek. The Indians at that time were on the war path, game abounded, and danger lurked on every hand. John Harding took a hand in eliminating these conditions, but the very tameness he helped to bring about had no charm for him, and in 1853, he moved to the Territory of Oregon, with his daughter and son-in-law, his wife the being deceased. Here his death occurred at the age of seventy-five years.
Born in 1803, Aaron Harding led a life scarcely less adventurous than that of his father. He inherited the Harding grit and courage, and the time and place in which he lived bore a heavy strain upon these qualities. Settling on government land in Buena Vista Township, he laid aside his implements of peace in 1832 to enlist in the conflict with the Sac and Fox Indians, known as the Black Hawk War, serving as a private in the company in the same regiment in which Abraham Lincoln was captain of a company. When peace was restored Mr. Harding moved to Warren County, Ill., where he improved a farm until 1835, in that year returning to Schuyler County, where he died October 9, 1845. In Schuyler County he improved a farm, and planted an orchard, the country then being in a primitive state. One day he killed three deer, which he pursued on horseback, striking them on the head with a poking pole after they had been run down by hounds. His wife, who was born in Crawford County, Ill., in 1810, came to Schuyler County in 1826 at the age of sixteen years. She nobly shared the dangers and trials of her husband, at his death being left with a family of eight children, all of whom attained years of maturity, and five of whom were married. Of these, but two survive, William M. and Cassie, the latter the widow of Newton Atkinson, of Industry Township, McDonough County. Mrs. Aaron Harding died on January 25, 1802 {incorrect year}, at the age of eighty-one years.
A heavy weight of responsibility rested upon the youth of William McKee Harding, as he was only six years old when his father died, and the resources of the family were at very low ebb. His attendance at the subscription school of the neighborhood was at best irregular, but he was able to make good use of his time, and he acquired an average education. He remembers putting in much of his time grubbing hazel and other bushes. Later as there were no longer Indians or game to pursue, his love of adventure found vent in a trip to Texas, where he bought a herd of cattle and drove them across the plains to the State of Kansas. The sale of this herd was so successful that during the following year (1871) he made another journey to the South and bought a much larger herd, consisting of 400 head. These he fed and shipped to St. Louis, and in 1873 returned to Schuyler County just in time to go under with the panic of that year. Nothing daunted, he resumed grubbing an farming, and in September, 1875, married Louise Schultz, with whom he settled on Section 1, Buena Vista Township. Mrs. Harding was a native of Missouri, in which State her mother died, her father's death occurring at Baders, Schuyler County. To Mr. and Mrs. Harding were born two children, of whom John A. died at the age of two and a half years, with Carrie, who was born in December, 1876, is the wife of William Kirkham, in charge of the old Harding homestead. Mr. and Mrs. Kirkham have three children: Francis Harding, born December 11, 1901; Lyle Raymond, born December 24, 1903; and Robert H., born April 19, 1905. The passing of Mrs. William (McKee) Harding, May 3, 1880, left a void in the hearts of her husband and daughter and of many friends. She was a gentle, lovable woman, and an earnest member of the Christian Church.
The rise from comparative poverty of Mr. Harding furnishes an encouraging lesson to those who struggle with adverse circ*mstances. He settled on his present farm in 1851, finding it all crude and uncultivated, and even without a log cabin in which the family might have temporary shelter. He earned the money to pay for his first small cabin, and this in turn was succeeded by another house which eventually gave place to the present substantial structure in which Mr. Harding lives with his daughter and her family. All of the buildings which now house the stock, products and machinery were erected by Mr. Harding, and few farms in the township are better supplied with all that tends to progressive and successful farming. More than half a century ago he set out an orchard which attained maturity, bore fruit in season, and passed into the gnarled and useless period of its existence. This was succeeded by the orchard which now gives shade and food to the homestead dwellers. To his first hundred acres he has added until he now owns 200 acres, 160 of which are in Buena Vista, and the remainder in Littleton Township. Mr. Harding has been a careful and painstaking farmer, living always within his income, and studying scientifically the diverse possibilities of his land. The generous and kindly impulse is noticeable in all his walks of life, and in his relations with the Christian Church, of which he is a devout and active member. Politically he is identified with the Republican party, which he has aided with a conscientious vote if not with official service. He is honored as a conservative and capable citizen who reflects credit upon the family from which he springs and the community whose best agricultural and general interests he represents. [From: "Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois Illustrated 1908, edited by Newton Bateman, LL. D. and Paul Selby, A. M., Volume II, Schuyler County", edited by Howard F. Dyson, pages 838-840]
Oliver U. Hawkins
Oliver U. Hawkins, editor and proprietor of the Springdale Record, Stevens County, has been an active and enterprising citizen of the town since 1900.
He was born in Schuyler County, Illinois, September 16,1868, the son of James and Martha (Kenny) Hawkins. The father was a native of Illinois, the mother of Ohio. They located in Illinois at an early day. The father of James Hawkins served in the Black Hawk war, and James, himself, was a veteran of the Civil War, having passed three years in the service, during which time he endured many hardships. He was mustered out at Mobile August 12,1865. He died July 9,1903. The mother of our subject died April 22, 1876. Three children were born to them; Emmaletta, residing with her brother; John, living in Stevens County; and Oliver U., our subject.
Having secured an excellent education in Cass and Morgan Counties, Illinois, at the age of seventeen he began working with his father in the broom manufacturing business, which employment he continued eight or ten years. He then went to Missouri and published a newspaper, the only Republican organ in Shelby county. It is now called the Farmers' Favorite. This property he disposed of in 1889, and opened a broom factory, conducting the same but a short period. Returning to Illinois he engaged in farming for two years, He then went to Macomb Illinois, where he was employed in different newspaper offices, and then moved to Brooklyn, Illinois, where for the following four years he drove stage.
In 1900 Mr. Hawkins came to Stevens County, and in 1902 he put forth the first issue of the Spingdale Record, a meritorious publication, now having a large circulation and other evidences of prosperity. On May 5, 1889, he was united in marriage to Miss Lieuvenia Hopper, daughter of Shelby and Emily (Simms) Hopper, natives of Illinois. They settled in Shelby County, where the father died in 1899. The mother is still a resident of that county. To them were born nine children, seven of whom are still living: Elisha and Matthew, at Kallispel, Montana; Minnie, in Omaha, Nebraska; Alice, wife of Levi E. West, in Sandusky, Montana; Amos, at Augusta, Illinois; Alfred, in Colorado; Jesse, in Shelby County, Missouri.
Mr. and Mrs. Hawkins have four children, Monia, Harold, Hazel, and Chester.
He is a stanch Republican, and as an influential editor, manifests a lively interest in the welfare of that party. He is a member of the M. W. A., at present being V. C. of his camp; and of the I. O. O. F. Mrs. Hawkins is a member of the R. N. A., of which she is Receiver, and of the Congregation church. [From "History of North Washington" Published 1904; Transcribed by: Nancy Grubb]
Horatio Samuel Herbert
Horatio Samuel Herbert, editor and proprietor of the Rolla Herald, is one of the most prominent journalists of Southern Missouri. His ancestors emigrated from England to America prior to the Revolution, and settled in Pennsylvania. His father was Rev. James Herbert, who married Harriet Weston; they lived in Erie, Pennsylvania, where their son, our subject, was born, December 25, 1837. The family removed to Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and afterwards, in 1847, settled in Indianapolis, where they remained until 1855, when they removed to Schuyler county, Illinois; but in 1870 they again moved and settled in Livingston, Missouri, where they now reside.
Horatio received a common and graded school education in Indianapolis, studying through the winter and working in the printing office during the summer months, until at the age of 17 when he worked regularly in the printing office one year. In 1855 he entered the high school at Rushville, Schuyler county, Illinois, remained two years and then removed to Milan, Sullivan county, Missouri, where he worked in a printing office until 1859, when he removed to Lebanon, Laclede county. He was employed as editor of the Laclede Journal; but at the expiration of one year purchased the paper and material and published it as editor and proprietor until 1861.
The war between the North and South called every man of decided principles to take his place in one army or the other. It was both difficult and dangerous for men who had been prominent in the events immediately preceding it, to stay out. Mr. Herbert cast his fortunes with his sentiments, enrolled himself for the Confederate States, and became a member of what was then known as the State Guard of Missouri. He afterward joined Wickersham's company in McBride's division of Price's army, participated in the campaign during the retreat into Arkansas, and was afterward in the battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas. His command was then ordered to join Beauregard at Corinth, and under him they participated in the series of engagements which culminated in the evacuation of that point. Mr. Herbert then went, to North Mississippi, remained during the summer, and in the following fall was a participant in the engagement at Iuka Spring, afterward was with Price and Van Dorn in the' march on Corinth. His command being ordered to Vicksburg, he took part in the engagements and seige which resulted in the surrender of that city to the enemy. Here he was wounded and made prisoner; but was paroled and exchanged, when he joined the command of General J. E. Johnson at Atlanta, Georgia. On the approach of Sherman, they evacuated that point and in Hood's command marched on Nashville; but in the fight at Altoona, Mr. Herbert was again wounded. In three months he rejoined his command in time to retreat with the army. He was then engaged at Mobile, Alabama, in 1865, where he was captured in the surrender of Fort Blakely, and was sent to Ship Island military prison, kept until June and paroled.
The war being now closed, Mr. Herbert then went to Central Mississippi where he remained until 1868, clerking in a store a portion of the time and working in a printing office. He then went to Rolla, Phelps county, Missouri, where he was employed in the office of the Herald. In 1869 he purchased the office and paper and has since continued to be its publisher and editor. His enterprise and skill has improved both the appearance and patronage of his journal, until it has secured a large circulation and wields an important influence.
It is almost needless to say Mr. Herbert is a Democrat and has been one always. He has been prominent in politics since he was old enough to understand party polity and tactics, and is now a member of the Democratic state central committee. Religiously he is liberal in his views.
Horatio S. Herbert was married to Miss Tinnie A. Hooker, daughter of Benjamin and Martha Hooker, of Lebanon, Laclede county, Missouri, September 15, 1860. They have had two children, both living. Mr. Herbert is a man of good business habits and strict integrity. He has been made a member of the Rolla board of education. Naturally of a social disposition, it is not to be wondered at that he has many friends and a happy home. [The United States Biographical Dictionary and Portrait Gallery of Eminent and Self-Made Men, Missouri Volume, New York, Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City: U.S. Biographical Publishing Co., 1878, pgs 470-471]
August Hess
August Hess was born October 18, 1897 in Schuyler County one of twelve children born to George and Mary (Hughes) Hess. George Hess came over from Germany with his parents, August and Catherine Hess, when he was eleven years old.
The Hess family settled in Woodstock township and attended Lamoine Schools near Scotts Mill. George died 7-24-1924 at the age of 62. His wife Mary died 7-3-1924 at the age of 55. Both are buried in Herche Cemetery in Woodstock township near Ripley.
On November 22, 1924, August Hess married Florence Eckroy, daughter of John and Mary (Miltenburger) Eckroy. Florence was born August 7, 1902 in Schuyler Co. Florence had one brother, Winn born Feb. 27, 1896 and died in World War II in LaMons France.
When Florence was six years old, her family moved from the Lusured Bottom in Brown County to the "John Rhinehart Farm" in Schuyler County. Her parents milked sixteen or seventeen cows morning and night and separated the milk by hand. The cream and butter was placed in an open well which had two buckets that has to be pulled up by hand. They churned the butter in a barrel churn and made it into pound rolls, and sold it to Homer Strong's grocery store for fifty cents a pound.
Once a week "Old Maude" the family horse would take the family to Ripley to Stout’s grocery store for supplies.
The fall was time for apple butter making. Lots of work as well as lots of fun took place on "apple peeling night." The following day the apples were put in a big iron kettle with six or seven gallons of cider. It was stirred for 1/2 day and sugar and cinnamon was added, then it was put in stone jars and sealed. The wheat and oats was cut with a binder, shocked the wheat in bundles then threshed thru a thresh machine. No fertilizer was used, no weed killer, clover was plowed under for fertilizer.
August and Florence Hess lived in Woodstock township until 1978 when they sold their farm and purchased the Les Gains property in Rushville. They attend the Free Methodist Church in Rushville. They have one son, Ralph Russell Hess, born June 23, 1942.
Ralph attended Bethel School in Woodstock Township and Memorial Chapel Church while growing up. In June 1970 he married Ruby Krohe, daughter of Philip and Dollie (Jockisch) Krohe of Beardstown, Il. Ruby is one of six children. Ralph and Ruby Hess have two children, Jerry Lee born March 28, 1971 and Aaron August, born May 26, 1978. They reside in Bainbridge township near Schy-Rush Lake on the former “Robert Goodwin” farm. They attend the Church of the Nazarene in Beardstown, Il. [From: Schuyler County Illinois History, compiled in 1983 by the Schuyler County Jail Museum, printed by Taylor Publishing Co., Dallas Texas, Genealogy Section, page 339]
Fern Hess
Fern Hess was born March 10, 1899 in Woodstock Township, Schuyler County, one of 12 children born to George and Mary (Hughes) Hess. Fern's grandfather, August Hess came from Germany along with two brothers. He married Kathryn Herche.
George Hess married Mary Hughes on August 31, 1892 and the following children were born to this union: Katie who married Warren Persinger, they had one son, Warren Henry; Herman married Mary Clements; Verlin married Hildreth Emerick, they had one son Kenneth Lyle; August married Florence Eckroy, they had one son, Ralph; Fern married Jennie Park, they had one daughter, Mary Jane; Olive married Tom Barker, he died and she later married Ed Creal; Gwendolyn married James Fowler, they had two children, Norma and Grant; Mark married Edna Reece, they had three children: George, Richard and Marilyn; Rolland married Della Miller; Cecil married Grace Kerr, they had one son, Ronald; Norma and Lloyd died in infancy.
Fern's parents died in 1924, his mother July 3 and his father July 24. They are buried in the Herche Cemetery in Woodstock Township.
Fern is a member of the Memorial Chapel Church.
He was always a farmer, purchasing the farm known as the Valentine Farm in 1927.
Fern married Jennie Park September 4, 1937. She was the daughter of James and Louisa (Robertson) Park. James was the son of David and Jane (Malcomson) Park. They both came from County Down Ireland in the 1840’s. The reason for coming was the trouble between Catholics and Protestants. They were married after coming to America. They settled near Pleasantview. They are buried in the lot north of their son, James and wife in the Messerer Cemetery in Frederick Township.
Louisa's father was Alex Robertson, the son of William Robertson, the first settler of Browning Township. Her mother was Sarah (Reno) Robertson.
James and Louisa had the following children: Paul who married Florence Croxton. Grace who first married Melvin Smith, they had one daughter, Maxine. After Melvin’s death, she married Charles Utter and they had one son, Charles Richard. Ethel who never married and Ralph who died in infancy. Jennie married Fern Hess.
Jennie received her education at the Rushville High School and graduated with the class of 1924 and at Western University. She also had several art courses for the University of Illinois. She taught in the schools of Schuyler County for 44 years. She is a member of the local, state and National Retired Teachers Assoc.
She has always been active in both the Pleasantview Methodist Church, of which is a member, and the Memorial Chapel Church. She is a member of the Church Women United of Rushville.
She has held several offices in Home Extension. She belongs to Woodstock Sugar Grove unit.
She has exhibited her canning, baking and gardening at the Schuyler County Fair for years.
Fern and Jennie are parents of one daughter, Mary Jane who graduated from Rushville High in 1956 and from Gem City Business College in Quincy in 1957. She married David Collins on August 18, 1957 and he died on June 3, 1962. Later she married Emanuel Voepel on September 14, 1963. They are the parents of three children. Steven was born in 1967, Lynn in 1973 and Susan 1977.
Jane has always worked in the office of the State Street Store and her husband has his own business in Quincy, the V. and E. Building Specialists.
The Voepels are members of the St. James Lutheran Church in Quincy. [From: Schuyler County Illinois History, compiled in 1983 by the Schuyler County Jail Museum, printed by Taylor Publishing Co., Dallas Texas, Genealogy Section, page 339-40]
Samuel Madison Horney
Samuel Madison Horney, who is known from one end to the other of Schuyler County, Ill., as one of its most prominent and prosperous farmers, is a native of the same county, having been born in Littleton Township, May 26, 1844, a son of Leander and Jane (Crawford) Horney, North Carolinians by birth. Samuel and Amelia (Charles) Horney, the paternal grandparents, were also natives of North Carolina. Samuel Horney was a soldier in the in the War of 1812, and as a result of such services received a land warrant from the Government, under which he obtained 160 acres of land in Buena Vista Township, Schuyler County. He served also in the Black Hawk War, thereby securing land in Littleton Township. The grandparents of the maternal side, William and Melinda (Thompson) Crawford, were Kectuckians by nativity, and came form that State to Schuyler County, Ill., early in the 'thirties, settling in Littleton Township. Leander Horney, father of Samuel M., was an infant when brought to Schuyler County by his parents. He grew to manhood on the home farm, and in 1846 took part in the Mexican War, being wounded in the hip at the Battle of Buena Vista. Returning home in 1848, he settled down to farming in Littleton Township, and in course of time became the owner of 1,3000 acres of land in different parts of Schuyler County. Five Hundred acres of this property were in Littleton Township, mostly covered with timber, some of it being swamp land along the river. He served as County Surveyor previous to 1861, holding that office twelve years. On August 6, 1861, he enlisted for the Civil War, becoming a member of the Tenth Regiment, Missouri Volunteer Infantry, at St. Louis, and rising to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was killed in battle at Champion Hills, Miss., near Vicksburg, in May 1863, and was buried there, his body being removed after the war and laid in Thompson Cemetery, Littleton Township. His widow made her home in the same township until her death, February 20, 1907, at the age of eighty-three. They reared a family of three sons and four daughters.
Samuel M. Honey was the second son of the seven children born to his parents. He remained at home until he reached the age of 21 years, attending the district schools, and being for eight months a pupil in the select school of Mr. Marpel, at Rushville. On attaining his majority, he began farming for himself. Two years later he bought eighty acres in Section 30, Littleton Township, a part of it being prairie land and the rest covered with brush. This he improved, and occupied from the spring of 1867 until the spring of 1891, selling it in the latter year and moving to a farm of eighty acres, partially improved, which he had purchased in Section 18, of the same township. Subsequently, he bought eighty acres more in Section 19, and has since thoroughly improved the entire dimensions, with a story-and-a-half ell, and has 18-feet posts. In the spring of 1907, he bought from his mother eighty acres of land in Section 20, which adjoins the home place. Besides general farming, he is engaged in raising horses, cattle, and hogs, his labors being attended by profitable results. He feeds and ships two car {railroad} loads of stock each year.
Mr. Horney has been twice married, his first wife being Elizabeth Sellers, to whom he was wedded in September, 1866. She was born in Littleton Township, Schuyler County, Ill., a daughter of John and Elizabeth (Ritchie) Sellers, respectively natives of Tennessee and Pennsylvania. Four children resulted from this union, as follows: Loren L., who is engaged in the general mercantile business in Littleton, Ill.; Harlan E., a physician residing in Van Alstyne, Tex.; S. {Samuel} Fleming, who is connected with a gocery store at Littleton, Ill.; and Eva Pearl, wife of Fred Scott, a farmer of Littleton Township. The mother of this family died in March 1885. In May 1887, Mr. Horney was united in marriage with Frances L. Raper, born in Littleton Township, Schuyler County, and a daughter of Cyrus and Emily (Irvin) Raper, the former being born in North Carolina and the latter, in Kentucky. The issue of the second marriage was seven children, namely: Verna, who married Wallace Winters, a liveryman, of Littleton, Ill.; Clifford, Dana, Athel, Speed M., Merle and Clara R., who are with their parents. In politics, Mr. Horney is identified with the Democratic party, and he and his wife maintain a high standing among the citizens of Schuyler County. [From: "Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois Illustrated 1908, edited by Newton Bateman, LL. D. and Paul Selby, A. M., Volume II, Schuyler County", edited by Howard F. Dyson, pages 848-849]
J. Hosman, MD
Farmers' Township: Dr. J. Hosman was born in Flushing tp., Belmont Co., O., in 1823; about 1835 the family moved to New Castle, where our subject received a common-school education; April 3, 1845, was married; read medicine under Dr. Beard in Boston, O.; Attended lectures at the Eclectic Medical college of Cincinnati, but since has practiced the regular system, - one year in Belmont, Co. and 10 in Franklin Co., O.; came to Bluff City, Schuyler Co., Ill., at the close of the war; in 1876 located in Table Grove; became disgusted with the practice of medicine (attending only certain professional calls) and went into the drug business, which he finds far more pleasant. [History of Fulton County, Illinois; together with Sketches of its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious, Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons and Biographies of Representative Citizens. Chas. C. Chapman & Co., Peoria, Illinois, 1879, page 659]
George William Logsdon
Visitors to a farm lying on Section 29, Bainbridge Township, are invariably pleased with the will-kept orchards, neat buildings and cultivated fields, nor are they less pleased with the picturesque invironment and the spendid view. Standing on the highest point of the farm (which, according to government reports, is only one and a half feet lower than the highest point in the State, near Galena), the eye beholds a delightful vision of smiling valleys, thriving towns, neat farms and waving fields, and one recognizes as never before the fascinating environment of the Illinois agriculturist. The farm is owned and operated by George William Logsdon, who has been a resident of Schuyler County since boyhood. While he is proud of the entire estate, perhaps he finds his chief source of gratification in the peach orchard of eight acres, containing all of the finest varieties of that luscious fruit and said to be one of the finest orchards of its kind in the entire State. There are now 1000 fruit bearing trees in the orchard, and in addition there is a small orchard of choice varieties of apple trees. The record of the Logsdon family will be found on another section in the sketch of Perry Logsdon. Suffice it to say in this connection, that Joseph and Lucy (Peters) Logsdon moved from Brown County, Ill. To Schuyler County in 1844 and settled in Woodstock Township, where they cleared a farm. Their son, George W., was born in Brown County, November 14, 1852, and was twelve years of age when he came with his parents to Schuyler County, where he attended the district schools. Later he was sent to the Gem City Business College in Quincy. On his return to Schuyler County he taught school for two terms in the county where he was born, but afterward devoted his time to clearing land and cultivating a farm. In 1891 Mr. Logsdon married Miss Margaret J. Kirkham, daughter of Henry and Clara [Wren] Kirkham, both of Scotch lineage. In an early day her father came from his native State of Indiana to Schuyler County, Ill., where he and his wife make there home in Bainbridge Township. The year after his marriage Mr. Logsdon bought 160 acres on Section 29, where he has since engaged in tilling the soil, raising stock of good grades, and developing one of the finest peach orchards in the State. Of his marriage seven children were born, namely: Lucy C., Seth D., Goldie E., Emma Lou (who died in infancy), Mary Agnes (who died at the age of three years), Ruth A., and George M. Fraternally Mr. Logsdon is a Mason, a member of Cass Lodge of Beardstown, Ill., and an ardent believer in the philanthropic principles of that organization. All through his life he has made a study of the money question, which he considers one of our most important national problems. The result of his study has led him to co-operate with the Greenback or Populist party, whose principles he firmly believes to be based on justice, and ever since casting his ballot for Peter Cooper, he has never swerved in his allegiance to the men and measures pledged to secure for our country those monetary changes which he believes to be essential to business success and permanent prosperity. [Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, Illustrated 1908, Volume II, Schuyler County, by Newton Bateman, LL.D. and Paul Selby, A.M., Edited by Howard F. Dyson, page 869]
Jacob Logsdon
Prominent among the progressive and successful descendants of pioneers of Schuyler County is Jacob Logsdon, who, through the exercese of practical and praiseworthy qualities, has become the owner of a farm of 250 acres in Bainbridge and Woodstock Townships, and who is further recognized as a leader in political and social undertakings, and is a stock-holder in the Bank of Schuyler County. Mr. Logsdon was born near Coopertowns, Brown County, Ill., March 13, 1858, a son of Joseph Logsdon, well known in the earlier annals of farming in this part of the State. Until reaching his twenty-sixth year Mr. Logsdon remained on his father's farm, having come to Schuyler County in 1865. His education is that furnished in the district schools, and on this Practical foundation he has built a character and capacity for usefulness which well may be an inspiration to the youth of the coming generation. In 1884, Mr. Logsdon sought to try his fortunes in the State of Kansas, but after a brief experience in Cowley and Sedgewick Counties, was taken ill and returned to his Schuyler County home for recuperation. Convinced that he lived a pretty good part of the United States, he since has made this his home, and as soon as he recovered form his illness he rented land and bought and fed cattle. Thrifty and far-sighted, he laid by all possible of his earnings, and in 1885 bought his first eighty acres of land in Section 12, Woodstock Township, which at that time was practically destitute of improvements. For two years he farmed a small this land, and in the spring of 1888, he married Amelia Krohe, daughter of Lewis E. Krohe, and born in Bainbridge Township, Schuyler County, December 26, 1863. Installing his young wife in the little house, the housekeeping and land developing went hand in hand; children came to gladden the parents and bring sunshine into the well kept home, and a spirit of harmony and success grew out of earnest toil and unremitting co-operation. In 1903 the house that had witnessed so many changes and given shelter in so many storms, gave place to the modern structure now occupied by the family, which has eight rooms all airy and well furnished. There are few rural homes in the county which afford so many advantages as does this one, and in which is expressed such interest for the physical, mental and moral well being of its inhabitants. With the latest magazines and periodicals always on hand, with opportunities for music and varied entertainment, and with the most genial and delightful of outdoor surroundings, this farm may be called an ideal one of its kind, and it is widely considered one of the most hospitable and productive. To Mr. and Mrs. Logsdon have been born five daughters, of whom Amy Louisa, a graduate of Rushville High School, class of 1908, gives promise of literary success, having already contributed many readable articles to current periodicals; Ada Leonora, born January 20, 1892, is attending Rushville High School; Sophia Ellen Lucy was born August 11, 1894; Viola Agnes was born July 11, 1895; and Violet Augusta was born October 3, 1899. The children are receiving every advantage which means and intelligent direction can command, and will be proficient in musical and other accomplishments. The parents of this interesting family are enthusiastic sharers of the interest of their children, and as a result they are their boon companions and most confidential advisers. From such an atmosphere come the best men and women in the land. Sometime since Mr. Logsdon retired from active labors on the farm, but he still supervises its management, and is as keenly interested as ever in its output and improvement. He is a generous contributor to many worthy causes, is an earnest if not an active Democrat, and fraternally is an honored member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has been a stock-holder on the Bank of Schuyler County since 1902. [Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, Illustrated 1908, Volume II, Schuyler County, by Newton Bateman, LL.D. and Paul Selby, A.M., Edited by Howard F. Dyson, page 869-870]
Hon. Perry Logsdon
It would be difficult to find an old resident of Schuyler County to whom the name of Perry Logsdon is unfamiliar, for Mr. Logsdon has been long and intimately associated with the agricultural and political life of the county, and has been especially prominent in Woodstock Township, long his home and headquarters. Thirty-five years and more have passed since he acquired his first landed estate in the township, the date of his purchase having been Decemeber 23, 1871, and the amount, 120 acres of Section 11. About two years after acquiring his first property he erected a commodious residence on Section 1, and in this attractive home he has since remained, welcoming to its hospitable walls the many friends whom he has won in a long and honorable career. At this writing he owns 393 acres, all within Woodstock Township except an eighty-acres tract in Bainbridge Township.
Born in Madison County, Ky., July 8, 1842, Perry Logsdon is a son of Joseph and Lucy (Parker) Logsdon, also natives of Madison County. When he was eighteen months old he was brought to Illinois by his parents, who settled in Brown County and remained there from 1844 until 1865. During the latter year they removed to Schuyler County, settling in Woodstock Township, where the father died June 11, 1900, at the age of ninety-one, and the mother May 30, 1892, at the age of seventy-eight years. Nothing of especial importance occurred in the early life of Perry Logsdon until the outbreak of the Civil War turned his mind from the studies of school and the work on the farm to graver duties connected with citizenship. December 1, 1861, his name was enrolled and he was mustered in as a member of Company H, Fiftieth Illinois Infantry at St. Joseph, Mo. The date of his enlistment papers should have been one month earlier, as he had been accepted as a volunteer at that time.
The Fiftieth Regiment took part in many long marches and hard-fought battles, and Mr. Logsdon endured all the vicissitudes incident to a soldier's life. Among his first engagements in which he participated were those at Forts Henry and Donelson, at Shiloh and Corinth, Miss., and Resaca, Tenn., after which he fought at Altoona and Bentonville. From January of 1864 the history of his regimant is that of Sherman's army in its march to the sea. At the close of the war the regiment participated in the Grand Review at Washington, and Mr. Logsdon was mustered out July 13, 1865, as First Lieutenant of his company. During his absence in the army his parents had removed from Brown to Schuyler County, and hither he came ater receiving an honorable discharge. On Friday he arrived at the new home of his parnets and, on Monday following, began work in the harvest field, after which he continued actively engaged in farming pursuits.
The marriage of Perry Logsdon and Miss Lizzie Byers was solemnized September 5, 1867, in a log cabin erected on the day of the inauguration of Wilkliam Henry Harrison as President of the United States. They are the parents of three children: Luella, at home; Julia, widow of George Howell, and now living with her parents; and Charles, who married Grace Cox of Cooperstown, had one son, Russell, and one daughter, Greta Corine. The son is engaged in farming on Section 2, Woodstock Township. Mrs. Logsdon is an earnest member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Logsdon is a contributor to the same, as well as to all religious movements, although not personally identified with any denomination. Politically he has been a local Republican leader for years. During the 'seventies he was Township Assessor and a member of the Board of Supervisors from Woodstock Township. It is evidence of his popularity that he was several times elected Supervisor in face of a customary Democratic majority in his township. Among all classess of people and all parties, he is admired and honored as a able citizen and honored veteran of the war. A high honor came to him during 1884, in his election as Representative in the Thirty-fourth General Assembly, comprising the counties of Schuyler, Cass, Mason and Menard, and four years later he was again chosen to the same position. During his sevice as Representative he was a member of many important committees and always voted for the interest of the people, winning an enviable position in the confidence of his constituents. One of the most memorable incidents in connection with his membership in the Legislature, was his attitude as one of the patriotic "One Hundred and Three" who determinedly and persistently stood for the election of Gen. John A. Logan to the United State Senate. In that critical period Mr. Logsdon acquitted himself with honor and fearlessness, and won a reputation by no means limited to his own district. The county which, for so many years, has benefited by his loyal citizenship, is dear to him by the ties of long association, and he has been a persistent champion of all measures for its benefit. In the city of Rushville, where he is a Bank Director, he has a large number of friends among the most honored social circles, and his pleasant country home has been the scene of many reunions of the old friends of the family. [Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois, Illustrated 1908, Volume II, Schuyler County, by Newton Bateman, LL.D. and Paul Selby, A.M., Edited by Howard F. Dyson, page 870-871]
