USA > Illinois > LaSalle County > Biographical and genealogical record of La Salle County, Illinois. Volume I > Part 5
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Mr. Reeves was married in 1876 to Miss Metta M. Cogswell, of Con- necticut, a daughter of Lucius T. Cogswell. He is a man of fine personal appearance, affable in manner and a cultured, genial gentleman worthy of the high regard in which he is uniformly held.
FRANK O. CHAPMAN.
Frank O. Chapman, proprietor of Willow Stock Farm, on section 33, Miller township, LaSalle county, Illinois, is one of the representative and popular citizens of this county. The salient points in regard to his life are as follows :
Frank O. Chapman was born on the old Chapman homestead in Miller township, LaSalle county, Illinois, April 19, 1860, a son of Hiram Chapman and grandson of Amasa Chapman, who were members of a New York family. Hiram Chapman was born in New York in 1824, was married in his native state to Miss Ann E. Davis, and a few years later came west with his wife and two little children and settled in LaSalle county, when this section of the country was nearly all in its primitive state. Here he pur- chased three hundred and twenty acres of land, to which he added in after years until his farm was one of the largest in the county. His eldest son, George, resides in Odell, Illinois. The other three sons-Otis L., Hosmer and Frank O .- all have farms in this township. The only daughter of the family, Della, died at the age of twenty-two years. The father died in 1898, at the age of seventy-four years. The mother was fifty-four when she died, in 1882.
Our direct subject, Frank O., received his early training in the public schools and finished his education with a course in the Normal school at Morris, Illinois. He has never turned aside from the occupation in which he was reared, and as the proprietor of Willow Stock Farm is doing a busi- ness and has a place in which he has just reason to take pride, his farm
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being one of the very best in the county. Mr. Chapman has for several years made a specialty of raising Poland-China hogs, and has sold hogs throughout this state, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri and Iowa.
Mr. Chapman has been twice married. December 23, 1883, he wedded Miss Emma Snyder, daughter of John Snyder, deceased. She died in August, 1885, leaving one child, a son, Elmer E. April 19, 1888, Mr. Chap- man married for his second wife Miss Fanny I. Harris, daughter of Isaac Harris, of Miller township, LaSalle county. The present Mrs. Chapman was, previous to her marriage, a successful teacher. This union has been blessed in the birth of four children,-Clyde, Walter, Harold and Sina Luthera.
Mr. Chapman gives his support politically to the Republican party.
WILLIAM R. LEWIS.
William R. Lewis, the efficient supervisor of Grand Rapids township, LaSalle county, is one of the popular and enterprising agriculturists of this locality. He is one of the native sons of Illinois, his birth having occurred in Putnam county March 3, 1843. Of the eight children born to the Hon. S. R. Lewis, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume, but four sons survive, the others being E. C., Charles and S. M., who is a farmer of Fall River township.
In his youth William R. Lewis was instructed in all departments of agriculture, and obtained a practical education in the public schools. In 1860 he located upon the homestead which he now owns and carries on. At that time this place, as well as all of the other land in the vicinity, was wild, and bore little promise of what it was to become under the careful cultivation and care of its future owner. Mr. Lewis set to work with a will, and the result of years of his well applied energy is seen to-day in his splendid farm, which is considered one of the best in the township. The place, com- prising two hundred acres, is supplied with a model house, good barns and other buildings, a well-kept yard, shaded with fine old trees, and a thrifty orchard. Two windmills furnish the power for supplying an abundance of pure water to the house and barns, and improved farm machinery and imple- ments reduce the labor of managing the place to a minimum. A high grade of live stock is raised and kept upon this farm, and a ready market is found for all of the products of the place, which is situated but three miles from Grand Ridge village.
In 1865 Mr. Lewis wedded Miss E. A. Eichelberger, whose father was born February 28, 1813, and died April 16, 1879. He was one of the early
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settlers of this township, coming to Ottawa in 1837 from York county, Pennsylvania. His widow was born December 4, 1821, and is still living on their old homestead in this vicinity. Four children were born to our subject and wife: Anna, who married S. E. Jones, the agent of the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy Railroad at Earlville, Illinois, and Edward C., Edith C. and F. W. The three younger children are at home, F. W. being a student in the Luther College, at Ottawa, Illinois. All have been given excellent musical advantages and possess considerable talent in that line, both daugh- ters now being teachers of the art, and both boys being connected with the Grand Ridge cornet band.
From his youth Mr. Lewis was an abolitionist, and he joined the Republican party upon its organization, since which time he has been a zealous worker in its interests. He has frequently attended county and state and congressional conventions of his party, often as a delegate. For eight years he has served as a justice of the peace, and in 1896 was elected to the office of supervisor, in both of which positions he has acquitted himself with credit. Religiously Mr. Lewis and his family are connected with the Cumberland Presbyterian church, contributing liberally, both of their means and influence, towards its support.
COLONEL DOUGLAS HAPEMAN.
Electricity, a mysterious force, even now but imperfectly understood and only partially available in a practical way, is nevertheless such an impor- tant factor in the domestic, commercial and manufacturing economy of every enterprising town that it has engaged the services of the best thought of men of intellectuality and splendid business ability, under whose guidance it is being developed and brought under control and made more and more fully the servant of man. Colonel Douglas Hapeman, secretary and treas- urer of the Thomas Electric Light & Power Company, of Ottawa, Illinois, was born in Fulton county, New York, January 15, 1839, a son of John and Margaret (Smith) Hapeman. At the age of five years he was brought by his parents to Illinois. The family located first at Aurora and later at Earlville, where Mr. and Mrs. Hapeman died, leaving three sons and six daughters : Almira, Margaret, Mary, Matilda, Adeline, Elizabeth, John, William and Douglas. The father, who became well known as a bridge builder, lived sixty-two years, and the mother died at the age of fifty-three. They were zealous members of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Douglas Hapeman received his early education in a school which was conducted in a little log school-house not far from Earlville. When thirteen
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years old he began to work as a printer, and followed the vocation until April, 1861. For some time prior to the war he was a member of the Wash- ington Light Guards, of Ottawa, and on the first call of President Lincoln for volunteers he enlisted in Company H, Eleventh Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was made second lieutenant. He was recommis- sioned in the Eleventh Regiment for three years, and took part in the battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh and Corinth. He was discharged for promotion in August, 1862, and was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the One Hun- dred and Fourth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry. At Hartsville, Tennessee, he was captured, together with the regiment, and with Major Widmer was a prisoner about five months. He afterward took part in the battles of Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Resaca, Kene- saw Mountain, Atlanta, Jonesboro and the memorable experiences of the march to the sea. In the campaign after Hood, north of Atlanta, he com- manded a brigade in the First Division, Fourteenth Army Corps, and was mustered out of the army June 22, 1865, having served four years and two months. He then returned to Ottawa and became one of the publishers of the Free Trader, but in 1882 disposed of his interest and was engaged in the book and stationery business until 1895, when he sold out to devote his entire time to his work as secretary and manager of the Thomas Electric Light & Power Company, in which he had been interested since 1884, and of which he is now secretary and treasurer.
The Colonel is a member of the Loyal Legion. Grand Army of the Republic, and the Masonic fraternity. He was married November 6, 1867, to Miss Ella Thomas, daughter of William Thomas, president of the Thomas Electric Light & Power Company. They have a son and a daughter, William T. Hapeman, who is, at the age of twenty-four, a successful lawyer of Chi- cago, and May E., wife of Dr. J. R. Hoffman, of Chicago.
The Thomas Electric Light & Power Company was organized in 1884, with a capital of fifteen thousand dollars, and Colonel Hapeman was made its secretary and treasurer. Starting out in a limited way, with two arc-light dynamos, capable of running twenty-five lights each, the concern, under the personal supervision of Messrs. Hapeman and Thomas, has made a great stride forward, and now takes rank among the leading institutions of the city. At first the station was on the "side cut," near the Illinois and Michigan canal, but in a few months what is now a part of the present structure was erected between the Victor Mills and the City Mills, and it has since been more than doubled in size. The company now operate three dynamos, with a capacity of ninety arc lights, two incandescent-light machines, with power for three thousand six hundred lamps, and the dynamos which run the city lights, one hundred and thirty-three in number. The company maintains
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a day circuit, as well as a power circuit, so that the plant is operated contin- uously. Having the advantage of water power, its customers are supplied with lights and power much cheaper than in almost any other city in the Union. The application of electricity to the purposes of lighting, heating and power is only just beginning to be indicated, and the Thomas Electric Light & Power Company is ever on the lookout for new inventions, or for improvements on existing ones, which will better its service and help it to attain a perfect system of artificial light.
JAMES HENRY DRAKE.
Among the early settlers in LaSalle county, Illinois, was Jesse R. Drake, father of the gentleman whose name initiates this review, who with his family came to Illinois in 1839 and to LaSalle county in 1844. Jesse R. Drake was a son of William Drake, and was born in New York and reared and educated there. When he reached manhood he went to Bradford county, Pennsyl- vania, where he married Miss Jemima Ferguson, daughter of William Ferguson, of English descent, who came to America to fight for the colo- nists in the Revolutionary war. Some years after their marriage they removed with their family to Coles county, Illinois, and five years later to LaSalle county, settling in South Ottawa. Their family consisted of eight children, whose names in order of birth were as follows: Ruthenne, Benja- min, William, Delia, Jesse W., all now deceased; Mary, wife of A. G. Bard- well, of Erie, Neosho county, Kansas; J. H., the subject of this sketch; and Isaac, deceased. Both parents lived to venerable age. The father died at seventy-three and the mother at seventy-five. Jesse R. Drake was a pros- perous farmer and stood high in the esteem of his fellow-citizens. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. Politically he was a Republican. His good wife was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
James Henry Drake was born in Coles county, Illinois, October 26, 1840, and was four years old when his parents came to Ottawa. His boy- hood days were passed in work on his father's farm and in attending the country schools. He remained at the home of his parents, except one summer, when he was engaged in driving cattle from Illinois to Kansas until the civil war broke out. When the civil war came on he was among the first to enter the Union ranks, and he went out as a member of the Fifty- third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel William Cushman and Captain J. Skinner. He enlisted in 1861 and his service covered a period of over three years, at the end of which time he was honorably discharged. In 1886 Mr. Drake located on his present farm of one hundred and twelve
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acres in South Ottawa township. This farm, known for years as the old Dewey farm, is well located, three miles southeast of town, and is nicely improved with good buildings, including a comfortable residence surrounded with lawn and shade trees.
July 5, 1868, Mr. Drake married Miss Mercy J. Turner, a native of Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Erasmus T. and Fidelia (Ball) Turner, both natives of Pennsylvania. Mrs. Turner died in 1871, leaving two children, Mrs. Drake and Mrs. Louisa Clark. Mr. Turner is now a resident of Alta, Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. Drake have two children, namely: Charles H., who married Miss Allie J. Scidmore, and has one child, Charles Henry, who lives at Wenona, Illinois; and Linnie B., wife of Irving Scidmore and mother of one child, Ruth Belle Scidmore.
Mr. Drake is a Republican. Although taking an active interest in politics, he has never aspired to official honors. He is a member of the G. A. R. Post of Streator, and he and his family are identified with the Methodist Episcopal church.
After the war he returned to his father's home and remained there until 1871, when he removed to Chatsworth, where he remained for one year; next he returned to the old home and engaged in the occupation of farming until 1879. Then he and his family removed to Streator, where he turned his attention to the flour and feed business and in buying cattle.
GEORGE L. DAVISON.
In 1869 George L. Davison cast his lot with the people of LaSalle county, and has never seen occasion to regret that he did so; for he is, first of all, patriotic and keenly alive to whatever he believes will be of benefit to the community.
Benjamin Davison, the paternal grandfather of George L., was a native of Pennsylvania. His son, Benjamin, Jr., was born in Washington county, of that state, in 1793, and moved with his father's family to Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1802, when but nine years of age, when that portion of Ohio was almost an unbroken wilderness. In 1834 he removed to Allen county, same state, and began the improvement of a farm near Lima, being one of the pioneers in this part of the state. In December of that year he married Sid- ney Howard Nelson, who was born November 5, 1795, at Geneva, state of New York, and was the first child born of white parentage in that place. The Indians had not yet left that part of the state. Her parents were Edward and Elizabeth (Armstrong) Howard.
But one child was born to Benjamin and Sidney Davison, George L., who is the subject of this sketch. He was born on his father's farm near
Gro & Danson ,
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Lima, Allen county, Ohio, October 20, 1836, and during his youth attended the schools in his neighborhood, completing his education in 1855 at the Presbyterian academy in Lima. His father died in 1854, and after leaving school he and his mother continued to reside upon and operate the farm left by his father until 1869, when they sold the farm and removed to LaSalle county, Illinois, locating in the town of Manlius.
On the IIth day of August, 1862, Mr. Davison enlisted in Company B, Ninety-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was at that time being re- cruited at Lima, Ohio, and was appointed third sergeant at the organization of the company. On the last day of August the regiment was ordered to Covington, Kentucky, and was there during the Kirby Smith raid, and subsequently marched with the Army of the Cumberland, of which it became a part, from Louisville by way of Perryville, Crab Orchard and Somerset to Nashville, Tennessee. On February 26, 1863, while his regiment was encamped at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Sergeant Davison was promoted to be orderly sergeant of his company, and served in that capacity until April 10, 1863, when he was promoted as second lieutenant of his company, and on June 9, 1863, was advanced to the rank of first lieutenant. On July 16, 1863, he took command of his company, and served in that capacity until January 1, 1864. During this time he participated in the advance on Chatta- nooga and the battle of Chickamauga, September 19 and 20, 1863; Lookout Mountain, November 24, 1863; and Missionary Ridge, November 25, 1863. In January, 1864, he obtained a twenty-days' leave of absence and visited his family in Ohio. Immediately upon his return to duty he was, by special order No. 17, headquarters Second Brigade, First Division, Fourth Army Corps, detailed for duty on the staff of Colonel J. H. Moore of the One Hundred and Fifteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, then commanding the brigade. On March 31, 1864, he was, by special order No. 54, headquarters First Division, Fourth Army Corps, detailed as ambulance officer of the division. He organized and was in charge of the ambulance train of the division until July 2, 1864, when his resignation was tendered and accepted, based on a surgeon's certificate of disability. The following indorsement appears on the tender of his resignation :
Headquarters Second Brigade, First Division, Twenty-third Army Corps.
Respectfully forwarded for the action of the Major General command- ing the Department of Ohio.
I am sorry to lose the services of so valuable an officer; but disease has rendered him unfit for further service, and his life is in danger from it. P. T. SWVAINE, (Signed)
Colonel Ninety-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Commanding.
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Mr. Davison's army record is of the best, and his children have just cause to be proud of his gallant and creditable service in the defense of the Union.
In 1869 Mr. Davison came to LaSalle county and located upon a farm in Manlius township, four miles north of Seneca, where he was energetically engaged in farming for several years. In 1887 he settled in Seneca, and for the past twelve years has been thoroughly identified with the town. For a period he was employed at the carpenter's trade, and more recently he has been busily occupied by public duties. While living on his homestead he officiated as the township collector; and he has been the assessor for six years. Seven years ago he received an appointment as a notary public, and in 1897 he was elected the police magistrate. In these offices he is still serving, ably discharging his duties and giving entire satisfaction to the citizens .. He is loyal to the platform and nominees of the Republican party. Fraternally he is a member of Manlius Lodge, No. 491, I. O. O. F., and was the first commander of Joseph Woodruff Post, G. A. R., No. 281, of Mar- seilles.
On the 21st of September, 1858, Mr. Davison married Miss Margaret Boyd, daughter of James and Mary Boyd of Lima, Ohio. Two sons and two daughters of our subject and wife are yet living, namely, Ida A., Louis M., Sidney L. and M. Howard, who have received an excellent education. Ida is at home with her father and the three sons are residents of Oglesby, this state. April 4, 1891, Mrs. Davison passed away, leaving her family and a large circle of friends to mourn her loss. She had lived a consistent Chris- tian life, being at the time of her death a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Seneca. His daughters, Effie L. and Anna M., both died in 1897, the former on the 24th day of April, aged thirty-one years, and the latter on the 2d day of June, aged twenty-five years. Both were conscientious and consistent Christians.
J. L. PIERGUE.
Mr. J. L. Piergue was the Delmonico of Ottawa and vicinity. Through long years of experience he has earned a well-deserved reputation as chef and caterer. A brief review of his life is as follows :
J. L. Piergue was born in France, in 1844, of a good family noted for their industry, honesty and morality. His father was a baker by trade, and under him our subject served an apprenticeship, thus laying the foundation of his successful career. He attended school until he was sixteen, when, in order to perfect himself in his trade, he became an apprentice to a regular caterer. During the World's Fair in Chicago, in 1893, he was chef of the
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Hungarian Cafe, which he successfully conducted and which was one of the most popular of the "White City" resorts. He is now located at Ottawa, Illinois, where he maintains his reputation in his line of business. His elegant and successfully conducted saloon is located in his own building, a three- story brick structure, it being finished and furnished first-class in every respect.
Mr. Piergue was married, in Ottawa, to Miss Victoria De Claude, daughter of M. De Claude, and she is a woman of excellent qualities, and has proved herself a worthy helpmate to her husband. They have four children: Bert, of Omaha, who had charge of the German Village Cafe at the Omaha exposition in 1898; Edith, wife of Lee Uhl, of Ottawa; and Carrie and Louise, at home.
Politically Mr. Piergue is identified with the Democratic party. Socially he is a Knight of Pythias, a member of the uniform rank in that order, and an officer and one of the active promoters of the same.
DAVID LORING.
One of the first pioneer settlers of LaSalle county was David Loring, who arrived in this section of the state in 1838, since which time representa- tives of the name have been prominently connected with public affairs and business interests that have contributed to the general prosperity and ad- vancement of the county. David Loring was born in the state of New Hampshire, on the IIth of November, 1775,-the year in which the Revo- lutionary war began. After some years he enlisted in the United States Navy, and when the second war with Great Britain began he entered his country's service to protect American interests. He married Mercy Benson, a native of Rhode Island, born May 1, 1786, and afterward purchased a farm in East Bloomfield, Ontario county, New York, where he resided with his family until 1832. He then emigrated westward, locating in Medina county, Ohio, whence, in 1838, he came to Illinois, settling on section 32, township 34, range 5, in what has since become known as Manlius township, LaSalle county. There Mr. Loring carried on farming until his death, which occurred May II, 1847, when he had reached the age of seventy-one years and six months. His wife passed away on the Ist of September, 1846, at the age of sixty years and four months. They lived to see all their children married and living in homes of their own near the old family homestead. They had four sons and two daughters: Thomas, Sally, Betsey, David, John and William R.
Thomas, the eldest son of David and Mercy (Benson) Loring, was born
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in Ontario county, New York, in 1806, and in 1827 married Caroline Hall, a native of Providence, Rhode Island. They had three children,-Thomas, Hannah and Catherine. Coming to Illinois, Thomas Loring, Sr., was serv- ing as the jailer in Ottawa at the time George Gates was hung for the murder of an Englishman named Liley. He was also a deputy sheriff at one time and guard in the state penitentiary in Alton, Illinois. He was on various occasions proprietor of hotels, including the Fox River House, at Ottawa; Sulphur Springs House, just west of Ottawa, and the Kimbol House, at Marseilles. His wife died in Marseilles in 1850, and Mr. Loring afterward married Miss Laura Cooley, of Northville, by whom he had three children, -Jennie, Frankie and Nellie. Mr. Loring died in Marseilles in 1887, at the age of eighty-one years. His son Thomas went to California in 1849 with the Green Company, and spent the remainder of his life in the west, his death occurring in Boise, Idaho, a few years ago. Hannah, a daughter of Thomas Loring, Sr., married Aaron Gage, of Brookfield, LaSalle county, and is still living on the old homestead, although her husband died several years ago. She had seven children. Catherine, the second daughter of Thomas Loring, Sr., married Henry Mitchell, of Ottawa, LaSalle county, and there they made their home for several years, but later removed to La Porte, Iowa, where Mr. Mitchell died, in 1896. She had four children.
Sally Loring, daughter of David Loring, the pioneer of the family in LaSalle county, was born in Ontario county, New York, in 1809, and mar- ried Dolphus Clark, of that county. They came to Illinois in 1836, locating on section 5. township 33. range 5. In 1867 they removed to Marseilles, where Mr. Clark died, in 1884, while his wife survived until 1898. They had ten children,-four sons and six daughters: Carlos, Adaline, Mercy, Sally, Caroline, John, Mary, Dolphus, Richard and Clara.
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