Biographical review of Hancock County, Illinois : containing biographical and genealogical sketches of many of the prominent citizens of to-day and also of the past, Part 1

Author:
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago, Ill. : Hobart Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 806


USA > Illinois > Hancock County > Biographical review of Hancock County, Illinois : containing biographical and genealogical sketches of many of the prominent citizens of to-day and also of the past > Part 1


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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW


1


OF


HANCOCK COUNTY, ILLINOIS


CONTAINING


BIOGRAPHICAL and GENEALOGICAL SKETCHES of


MANY OF THE PROMINENT CITIZENS OF TO-DAY AND ALSO OF THE PAST


" Biography is the only true history." -EMERSON


CHICAGO HOBART PUBLISHING COMPANY


1907


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51075A


AND


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DATIONS


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"The history of a nation is best told in the lives of its people."-MACAULAY.


PREFACE


The present age is happily awake to the duty of writing its own records. setting down what is best worth remembering in the lives of the busy toilers of today, noting, not in vain glory, but with an honest pride and a sense of fitness. things worthy of emulation, that thus the good men do may live after them. The accounts here rendered are not buried talents, but of used ability and op- portunity. The conquests recited are of mind over matter, of cheerful labor directed by thought, of honest. earnest endeavor which subdues the earth in the divinely appointed way. "The great lesson of biography." it is said, "is to show what man can be and do at his best." A noble life put fairly on record, acts like an inspiration, and no more interesting or instructive matter could be presented to an intelligent public.


In this volume will be found the record of many whose lives are worthy the imitation of coming generations. It tells how some, commencing life in poverty. by industry and economy have accumulated wealth. It tells how others with limited advantages for securing an education, have become learned men and women, with an influence extended throughout the length and breadth of the land. It tells of men who have risen from the lower walks of life to eminence as states- men, and whose names have become famous. It tells of those in every walk of life who have striven to succeed, and tells how success has usually crowned their efforts. It tells also of those who, not seeking the applause of the world, have pursued the even tenor of their way, content to have it said of them. as Christ said of a woman performing a deed of mercy. "They have done what they could." It tells how many, in the pride and strength of young manhood. left all, and at their country's call went forth valiantly "to do or to die." and how through their efforts the Union was restored and peace once more reigned in the land.


Coming generations will appreciate this volume, and preserve it as a sacred treasure, from the fact that it contains so much that would never find its way into public record, and which would otherwise be inaccessible. Great care has been taken in the compilation of the work, and every opportunity possible given to those represented to insure correctness in what has been written; and the pub- lishers flatter themselves that they give to their readers a work with few errors of consequence.


22


Yours Respectfully,


HOBART PUBLISHING COMPANY.


January, 1907.


"A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors will not achieve anything worthy to be remembered with pride by remote generations."-MACAULAY.


THE NEWLY IK PUBLIC L .. LAPARY


ASTOR IFN X TILDEN FLUNI IONS


BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW


OF


HANCOCK COUNTY


CHARLES HAY, M. D.


For forty-three years Dr. Charles Hay was a resident of Illinois and though more than two decades have been added to the cycle of the centuries since he passed away, his name is revered and his memory cherished by all who knew him. It was not alone his skill in his profes- sion. although he was an able medical practitioner of his day. his scholarly at- tainments nor the success he achieved. which gained for him the place which he occupied in the regard of his friends, but rather his sterling traits of character, his kindly spirit, his deference for the opinion of others, his loyalty to all that was right and just in man's relations with his fel- lowmen and his fidelity to high ideals.


The life record of Dr. Hay began on the 7th of February, 1801, in Fayette county. Kentucky. In the paternal line the family is of Scotch lineage, the ances- try being traced back to John Hay, who with his four sons emigrated from the Rhenish Palatinate to America about the middle of the eighteenth century. This John Hay was the son of a Scotish soldier


who left his own country about fifty years before and attached himself to the army of the elector Palatine. Following the arrival in the new world the brothers sep- arated and John Hay, the eldest, became a resident of York, Pennsylvania, where. prospering in business affairs, he accumu- lated considerable property. Ile was also influential in public life and served as one of the magistrates of Pennsylvania during colonial days. Interested in the grave questions which elicited public at- tention prior to the Revolutionary war and advocating the cause of liberty. he filled several important offices in the or- ganization of the patriot forces prepara- tory to the Revolution and when war was inaugurated he joined the military forces and won promotion to the rank of colonel. Following the establishment of the republic he represented York county in the assembly. Another brother, Adam Hay, who, like his brother John. had received military training in Europe. became a resident of Berkeley county, Vir- ginia, and also served with some distinc- tion in the Revolutionary war. He was a friend and associate of Washington and


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one of the earliest recollections of his son, the late John Hay of Springfield. Illinois. was of meeting General Washington on a country road and hearing him greet Adam Hay as an old comrade, at the same time bestowing a friendly pat on the head of the young lad.


It was this John Hay who became the father of Dr. Charles Hay of Warsaw. His birth occurred February 13, 1779. His youth was passed in his parents' home, but the discipline of the household was somewhat stern and arbitrary, owing perhaps to the military training. as a German soldier, of the father. As he approached manhood John Hay was un- willing to endure the inflexible rules laid down by the father and resolved to estab- lish a home and seek a fortune for him- self elsewhere. This plan he announced to his father and although there was a lack of sympathy to some extent between them, that there was no positive breach is indicated by the fact that he was pro- vided with money sufficient to enable him to take up a good piece of land in Fayette county, Kentucky, to which place he made his way. In early manhood he married Jemima Coulter and they became the parents of fourteen children, all of whom reached maturity. Three of the sons, Charles, Joseph and Theodore Hay, be- came physicians, while another son. Mil- ton Hay, for many years occupied a most distinguished position at the Illinois bar. In his business affairs in Fayette county, John Hay, the father, met with gratify- ing success and for thirty years continued a resident of that locality. but feeling that the influence of slavery was detrimental he determined to take his family to a


region which was free from that objec- tion and when fifty-five years of age re- moved to Sangamon county, Illinois, ac- companied by all his children save his eldest son, Dr. Charles Hay, who had already begun the practice of medicine in Indiana.


It was the intention of John Hay to engage in the manufacture of cotton goods in Illinois and he brought with him from Kentucky the machinery and appli- ances necessary for the conduct of such an industry, but the business proved un- profitable and he soon concentrated his efforts upon other interests. He dealt to a greater or less extent in land and his speculations and investments in this re- gard brought to him a good financial re- turn. He was the first man to sign a . in the public square of Springfield. In promissory note to the state bank which secured the erection of the old state house matters relating to the general welfare he was deeply interested and his co-opera- tion could be counted upon to further plans and measures. for the public good. His name became a synonym for integrity and honor in business affairs as well as in private life and his record was at all times in harmony with his professions as a member of the Baptist church, in the work of which he took an active and help- full part. The contemporary biographer has said, "His long white hair. his com- pact and powerful form, were for many years a noticeable sight in the streets of the town. He was a devoted friend of Lincoln and the death of the president affected him profoundly. He was then in failing health and for several days after the assassination he could not dis-


ยท


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ILANCOCK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.


miss the subject from his thoughts. He by preliminary reading under the three- forgot his ninety years and often said. if I had been in the box with him. that should not have happened. He sat at the window to watch the funeral cortege which bore the martyred ruler to his grave and then went to his own rest. May 20, 1865. in the ninety-first year of his age."


Dr. Charles Hay, the ellest son of John Hay, spent his childhood and youth in Kentucky upon the old plantation which his father there developed. He was pro- vided with the best educational privileges that the state afforded and his aptitude in his studies was ever a marvel to his teach- ers, who it is said could hardly be con- vinced that he was not playing a practical joke upon them when they saw him learn- ing his alphabet one day and reading with facility a fortnight later. He quick- ly mastered the branches of learning taught in the common schools, after which he continued his studies in a clas- sical school at Lexington, where he made the same easy progress in Latin and Greek. He never allowed his knowledge of those tongues to lapse with the passing of the years and the assistance which he rendered to his children in the reading of Homer and Virgil later made for them an intellectual pastime of what otherwise would perhaps have been a dreaded school task. He was always a man of scholarly tastes and habits, his reading covering a wide range and his assimila- tion of knowledge being such as to render him a pleasing and entertaining com- panion of men of widest thought and culture. His choice of the practice of medicine as a life work was followed


tion of Dr. William 11. Richardson and later of Dr. Dudley and others who were prominent in the medical fraternity in Kentucky at that day. His collegiate training was received in the medical de- partment of Transylvania University, the most important institution of learning in the west and when his graduation won him the degree of M. D. he located for practice in Salem, Indiana, where for ten years he followed his profession with uni- form success.


It was during his residence in Salem that Dr. Hay was married in October. 1831 to Miss Helen Leonard. She was a daughter of the Rev. David A. Leonard. of Bristol. Rhode Island, whose erudition and oratorical power won him wide fame at the beginning of the nineteenth cen- tury. He was a graduate of Brown Uni- versity of the class of 1793 and was class poet. Entering upon the active work of the ministry, he became pastor of the First Baptist church in Gold street in New York city and in 1817 removed to the west, purchasing a large tract of land on the Ohio river. His death occurred two years later. He had wedded Mary Pierce and to them had been born thirteen children. Among this number was a daughter. Evelyn, who became the wife of John Hay Farnham, whose acquaint- ance Dr. Hay formed during his resi- dence in Salem and this brought to him the acquaintance of Helen Leonard. whom he afterward made his wife. Other members of the Leonard family were: Charlotte, who married William P. Thomasson, who represented the Louisville district of Kentucky in con-


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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW


gress ; Sarah, the wife of Governor David Meriwether, who was a prominent rival of Mr. Thomasson as leaders in the whig and democratic parties of Kentucky ; and Cornelia, the wife of William N. Grover, afterward United States district attorney for Missouri.


Following their marriage Dr. and Mrs. Hay established their home in Salem, Indiana. and the young physician soon won a large practice, his position in pub- lic regard being fully established through the energy and devotion with which lie combatted an epidemic of cholera in 1833, which carried off both Mr. and Mrs. Farnham. For weeks together Dr. Hay took little time for either sleep or food, but gave his attention untiringly to the work of checking the ravages of the dread disease. From that time forward he en- joyed a large and lucrative practice in Salem and became recognized moreover as one of the local leaders in the whig party and was induced to become the editor of a weekly whig paper in Salem, which he conducted for several years, making it one of the strongest organs of that political organization in Indiana. His kindness of heart brought him into financial ruin through securities which he signed for friends and with the hope of retrieving his lost possessions he re- moved from Salem to Warsaw, Illinois. in 1841. Until death claimed him he continued an honored resident of this city. his life being actuated by honorable and benevolent principles and filled with good deeds. His professional capability was soon recognized and brought him a large and important practice. Warsaw at that time was situated in what was


largely a pioneer district and the practice of a physician was in consequence fraught with many hardships incident to the long rides which it was necessary to take through the hot summer sun or the win- ter's cold in order to administer to the needs of patients far removed from his home. He was engaged in practice here during one of the most notable epochs in the history of this city. From the east had come a colony of people known as Mor- mons. Their belief in and practice of po- lygamy was so distasteful to the residents of Hancock county that they arose in their wrath to drive the new sect out of the dis- trict and a bitter warfare arose between the Mormon people and their opponents. The roads were infested with bands of lawless persons on both sides, a large number of houses were burned and many persons shot from the ambush of the woods. Dr. Hay's friends, fearing for his life, urged him to give up his country practice, but this he refused to do, merely purchasing a faster horse and continuing his work on either side of the hostile lines. He was often stopped but never otherwise molested, although he was known to be inflexibly opposed to the Mormon people and practices. However. he stood for justice and right and was ever found on the side of law and order and protested vigorously but ineffectually against the march to Nauvoo which re- sulted in the death of Joseph and Hiran Smith, brothers, who were prophet lead- ers among the Mormons.


In his practice Dr. Hay met with suc- cess. He was a student of any subject or theory which seemed to bear upon his professional work and eagerly embraced


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HANCOCK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.


every advanced idea that he believed would promote his efficiency and enable him to give more capable service to his fellowmen in checking the ravages of disease and restoring health. A broad humanitarian spirit was ever the basis of his professional work and yet he was not without that laudable ambition for achiev- ing success, that he might provide well for his family, and as his financial re- sources increased he from time to time made judicious investments in real estate which added to his prosperity. His farms, however. did not bring him the profit which would have accrued to many men who look upon the proposition only from the business standpoint. It is said that Dr. Hay regarded his tenants somewhat as if they were his children or his wards and he looked first to their interests rather than to the financial benefits that he might receive from their labors. How- ever, the normal man always has appre- ciation for nature and Dr. Hay greatly enjoyed riding out to his farms and watching the growth of the crops. His was a well-rounded nature. He never concentrated his energies and efforts so closely upon one line of thought or ac- tion as to become abnormally developed. The study of nature, his professional ser- vice, his deep interest in his fellowmen, shared with his books in his attention. He passed many of his most pleasant hours in communion with the strong and cultured minds of the past, the essay, his- tory and natural science being the prin- cipal themes which claimed his attention. The welfare and progress of his adopted city was ever a matter of deep and intense interest to him and he was particularly


helpful along lines of intellectual prog- ress and advancement. The public- school system received his most earnest endorsement and he co-operated to the full extent of his powers in the work of upholding the standard of education and introducing improved methods of instruc- tion. The school teachers recognized that they had no stancher friend in all Warsaw than Dr. Hay and a word of en- couragement and appreciation was to them often an inspiration that enabled them to put forth further effective effort for the public schools. He was instru- mental in establishing a free public library in Warsaw and was for many years pres- ident of the library board. He held a prominent place in all the associations for the improvement of agriculture, horticul- ture and other important interests of the county and in local religious and chari- table organizations. His endorsement of such movements was not that of words alone, for he was an active co-operant in all plans for public progress and im- provement and considered no task 100 unimportant to claim his best efforts if it proved a factor in the result for which they were striving.


As the years passed there were added to the family of Dr. and Mrs. Hay six children, of whom the eldest, Edward Leonard. died in infancy. Leonard Au- gustus Hay, the second son, retired army officer, died in Warsaw, November 12, 1904. Mary Pierce is the widow of Major Austin Coleman Woolfolk. . A. Q. M., United States army and afterward a circuit judge in Minnesota. John Hay rose to national prominence, his last pub- lic work being as secretary of state under


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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW


President Roosevelt. Charles Edward. captain of the Third Cavalry, United States army, and afterward twice elected mayor of Springfield, Illinois, it the only surviving son. Helen became the wife of Harwood Otis Whitney and died in 1873. The death of this daughter came to Dr. and Mrs. Hay as their greatest bereavement. "Her bright, sunny tem- per. her witty and original conversation, her devotion to those she loved and her absolute unselfishness,-qualities which she seemed to derive with her name from her mother .- made her the idol of her home." The lives of Dr. and Mrs. Hay were bound up in their children and as Dr. Hay expressed it, no personal dis- tinction for himself could bring him the joy that could come to him through the intelligence, honor and thrift of his chil- dren. No personal sacrifice on the part of the parents was considered too great if it would promote the welfare of their sons and daughters. They felt that no economy must be practiced for their edu- cation and there was always means of providing teachers and books of the best within reach. They lived to see them at- tain positions of honor and distinction and the sons attributed to their early parental training much of their success in later life. In the spring of 1879. Mrs. Hay met with a serions accident, so that for many weeks it was thought that she could not recover and she was unable to walk afterward. During these days of trial Dr. Hay waited upon her with un- tiring patience and heroic endurance and following her convalescence became more than ever her inseparable companion. They celebrated their golden wedding in


October. 1881, having terminated fifty years of a marriage relation which in every respect reached the ideal. It was not long after this that Dr. Hay recog- nized that because of heart disease his own end was near. He never spoke of the matter except to his physician. Dr. Hunt, and he charged him strictly never to mention it. for he did not wish to bring one feeling of alarm or danger to his wife, his children or his grandchildren. in whom his life was wrapped up. He passed peacefully away September 18. 1884. "He walked serenely down to the gates of death with nothing of the in- difference of the stoic but with the cheer- ful resignation of a philosopher and the loving self-sacrifice of a Christian hus- band and father bearing the burdens of others." He had attained the age of eighty-three years. Resolutions of re- spect were passed by the library board and by the cemetery board, of both of which he was a member and perhaps no better estimate of his life work and of his character can be given than by quoting from the local papers of Warsaw, for in that city where he had so long made his home his life record was as an open book. "He soon acquired a competency by judicions investments and by his practice, from which he retired several years ago. to enjoy the leisure he had so well earned. Even in his peaceful and honored age. however, he was no idler. He preserved to his latest days the studions and schol- arly habits of his youth. He read with avidity everything of interest which ap- peared, especially in the line of science and history. He took the greatest in- terest in state and municipal affairs, and


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HANCOCK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.


was active in every enterprise which Dr. Hay had no enemies ) : permitted to promised to advance the cause of educa- see all his children occupying honored and useful positions in life ; and, perhaps. above all. receiving from his children, in their frequent visits to the home of their childhood, such love and honor and thoughtful and tender care as but too few parents receive : surely there was much in such surroundings to make life desirable, yet. as he expressed it to a friend, he had been living for years as a "minute man." He had done life's work day by day, as it was presented to his hand, and he stood ready to answer the Master's call any minute." AA minute analization of the life of Dr. Hay, however, would cer- tainly bring forth the fact that with all his love of learning. with all of his de- votion to the public welfare, with all of his scientific knowledge and medical skill. his deepest interest centered in his family. The ties of home were to him sacred. He found his greatest happiness in the companionship of his wife, who survived him until the 18th of February, 1803. when she. too, passed away. tion and enlightenment. As in his early manhood he was never too busy to help his own children in their Greek and Latin lessons, so in his latest days he was never so indolent as to refuse his assistance to any scheme to extend to the people those benefits of sound learning which had been of so much advantage and pleasure to himself." Another publication said, "The Doctor was of the highest stamp of manhood-upright in all his dealings ; un- swerving in the discharge of what he be- lieved to be his duty : kind, generous, and charitable with all men : a lover of man- kind, and ever thoughtful of their wel- fare: strong in his convictions of the right, and true to their teachings. He was a nobleman in the true sense of the word." "In his chosen profession of medicine he was an acknowledged mas- ter : and in his devotion to his profession he had but few equals. He was courte- ous, kind, and considerate in his inter- course with those of like profession. In his friendship he was ardent and faith- ful. So long as a man was worthy, he remained his friend." The funeral ser- vices were conducted at his home by the Rev. John G. Rankin, who in his remarks said, "There has been much, especially CHARLES SAVAGE SHIPMAN. in his latter years, to make life desirable. Having, by his diligence and frugality Charles Savage Shipman, assistant cashier of the First National Bank at Dallas City, and well known in financial circles in this part of the county, was born August 11, 1845. in Yonkers, New York. llis parents were Ralph and Marilla ( Wells) Shipman, both natives of New Britain, Connecticut. Colonel Lee, the in the noonday of life, acquired a com- petency, which enabled him to free his mind from all anxiety: living among friends and neighbors with whom he had been associated for more than forty years ; honored and loved by the entire commu- nity in which he had so long lived (for


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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEWV


great-grandfather of Mr. Shipman, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, and the family was represented by several sol- diers in the Civil war, so that the military record is a most creditable one. While living in Connecticut Mr. Shipman was owner of a brass foundry, and following his removal to Yonkers. New York, he there engaged in the conduct of a paper box factory. Both he and his wife were members of the Presbyterian church, and he served as one of its deacons from early manhood up to the time of his death. He died in December, 1876, while his wife passed away in 1879, and both were laid to rest in the cemetery in Yonkers, New York. In their family were five children. of whom two died in early childhood. Julius married Miss Mary Clark. made his home in Yonkers, New York, and died in 1875. His widow is still living at the very venerable age of ninety years. . He was twenty years older than the sub- ject of this review. He left four children : Mrs. Fannie Wilson, of Brooklyn, New York: Mrs. Isabella Williams, of Yonk- ers, New York; and Walter and Albert Shipman. Ann and Jane Shipman, daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Ship- man, died in childhood. Anna E., the only surviving daughter of the family, makes her home in New Britain, Connec- icut.




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