USA > Illinois > LaSalle County > Biographical and genealogical record of La Salle County, Illinois, Volume II > Part 30
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The union of Mr. and Mrs. Winter was blessed with three sons and
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three daughters, namely: Harry A., who married Florence Wilson and resides on a farm seven miles west of Wenona: Orrel Dell, who wedded P. H. Jennett and lives near Whitamore, Iowa: Lyman Lee, whose wife was Annie Lechner in her girlhood; William D., who chose Ida Thrasher for a wife; Sarah J., the wife of Jefferson R. Eward, of Garfield; and Susie, who died when about eight months old. The children of Harry A. are named respectively Jay W., Reuben Roy and Floyd Leslie. Mr. and Mrs. Jennett have ten children: Albert William, Walter Lee. Ora Mae. Edwin Matthew, Luella. Hugh Burnett, John Austin. Ralph. Jason and Francis. Lyman Lee Winter, of Garfield, has four living children: Arthur J .. Jennie B., Wilbur Ray and John Lawrence; and William D. Winter, also a citizen of Garfield, has two living children-Oliver Guy and Frances Emma. Mr. and Mrs. Eward are the parents of three children-Mattie Edith. Elsie Dell and Thomas James.
The wife of our subject was identified with the church of the United Brethren in her early womanhood, but of late years she has held her member- ship in the Presbyterian denomination. She has been a faithful helpmate to her husband, a loving mother and a helpful, sympathetic friend and neighbor, endeared to every one who knows her. Mr. and Mrs. Winter are justly regarded and highly respected by those who know them and are held as models worthy to follow.
EUGENE C. LONG.
Eugene C. Long is a well known and much esteemed citizen of Rut- land township. LaSalle county, where he has spent his entire life. his birth having occurred in Rutland township, January 26. 1857. Lewis Long, his father, has been a prominent and influential citizen of the county for many years. He and his wife, whose maiden name was Emily Barber, were the parents of eight children, seven of whom are living, namely: Eugene C .: Emma F., the wife of Gaylord States, of Miller township: Charles W .. of Rut- land township: Ruth Inez. the wife of George Funkle, of Marseilles: Bertha A., the wife of F. Spencer, of Rutland township; and Lewis Walter and Arthur F., at their parental home.
Eugene C. Long was reared on a farm, and, being the oldest of a large number of children. early became his father's assistant. In his boy- hood he was inured to the various kinds of farm work and for two or three years after attaining his majority he was connected with the brick and tile manufactory at Marseilles. Returning to the home farm, he again directed his attention to agricultural pursuits, which he has continued up to the present
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time, now having full charge of the farming operations at the home place.
Mr. Long is a member of several social orders, and is an officer in the Knights of Pythias Lodge, No. 62, of Marseilles. Politically he is a Republican, but has never been an aspirant for political honors, preferring to devote his attention to the vocation in life in which he has met with credit- able and honorable success.
GEORGE A. McFERSON.
An enterprising business man of Tonica is the gentleman named above. who is successfully engaged in the furniture and undertaking business. He was born in Putnam county, this state, March 29, 1848, a son of Harvey and Mary Jane (Atchison) McFerson. His father was a native of southern Ohio, and his mother of Virginia, and they had eleven children, of whom four are now living, namely: Mary Jane, the wife of Frederick Hannum, of San Francisco: Alice G., the wife of Henry Leininger, of Piper City, Illinois; George A .; and Grant, of Kewanee, this state. Harvey McFerson, a farmer, came to Illinois in 1840 and settled in Union Grove, Putnam county, where he faithfully engaged in his calling until 1855, when he came to LaSalle county, locating in Eden township, upon a quarter section of good land which he had purchased, and he followed agricultural pursuits there until 1877: then he moved to Tonica, where he passed the remainder of his life, quitting the scenes of this world in 1878, April 26, at the age of sixty years. His first wife, the mother of our subject, died in 1864, November 14, aged forty-seven years. In her religious sympathies she was a Con- gregationalist, while her husband was a Universalist. In his political views he was a Republican, and in public position he for a time held the office of supervisor of Eden township, and also that of assessor and other public positions. For his second wife he married Martha E. King, who is still living, and by this marriage there were no children.
The paternal grandfather of Mr. McFerson, Alexander McFerson, was also a native of the Buckeye state, of Scotch ancestry, and died in his native state, in middle life, being killed by a kick from a horse. He had three sons and two daughters. The history of the maternal grandfather of our subject is not known.
George A. McFerson was seven years old when the family of which he was a member moved to LaSalle county, and he was reared to the heavy work of the farm until twenty-two years of age, attending school during the winter seasons. In 1869 he married and bought a farm of one hundred
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and sixty acres in Wabaunsee county, Kansas, and followed farming there for five years. (This farm he still owns.) He then returned to LaSalle county, in the winter of 1874, and was employed as clerk by his father-in-law, James S. Underhill, in a hardware store, for a period of five years, and then he purchased his present furniture store, where, in addition to his business of dealing in furniture, he also is an undertaker. He is a well known and highly esteemed citizen of this county, having been a resident here ever since he was seven years of age excepting when he was in Kansas.
In his religion he is exemplary, being a member of the Methodist church: and he is also connected with Tonica Lodge. No. 364. A. F. & A. M .: of Peru Chapter, No. Co. R. A. M .: Peru Council, No. 12, R. & S. M .; of St. John's Commandery, No. 26. K. T .; and of the Mystic Workers of the World. Of the commandery he was the presiding officer for four years, and was then elected generalissimo, in which office he faithfully served until 1898; and he was senior warden for a number of years. He was the master of the blue lodge for three years. He is also a member of the Eastern Star lodge. Politically he is a Republican, and he has served as town clerk of Eden township for several terms.
On the 16th of December, 1869, he was united in marriage with Miss Maria Underhill, daughter of James S. and Jane (McLean) Underhill, and they have one son, Charles .A., who is a conductor on the Illinois Central Railroad. and married Sophia Westmeier. Mrs. George A. McFerson died February 28. 1880, at the early age of twenty-nine years; and for his second wife Mr. McFerson chose, March 12. 1895, Miss Cora C. Gunn, a daughter of Henry and Cordelia (Fisher) Gunn. There were no children by this marriage. Mrs. McFerson died January 12. 1898, at the age of twenty-nine years, a pious and exemplary member of the Methodist church.
JOHN KENNEDY.
John Kennedy, a farmer residing on section 10, Groveland township. LaSalle county, Illinois, has been identified with this county for a period of forty-one years, and is well known as one of its respected and influential citizens.
Mr. Kennedy is a native of Ireland. He was born in county Queens, October 9, 1836, a son of John and Margaret (Call) Kennedy, both natives of the Emerald isle, the former of county Queens and the latter of county Carlow. To John and Margaret Kennedy were born seven children, three sons and four daughters, four of whom are living: Jane, the widow of
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Edward Brennan, of Carlow. Ireland: Mary, the wife of John W. McGarvey, of Sherrington, Canada: Margaret, the wife of Patrick Cooglan, also of Sher- rington. Canada: John, whose name introduces this sketch. The father, who was a farmer, came to America with his family in the year 1850 and located on a farm eight miles south of U'tica. New York, where he died in 1855. at the age of forty years. His wife's death occurred about one year before his.
William Kennedy, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, reached the extreme old age of one hundred and eight years, and his death was then caused by falling from his horse while going to a fair. He was the father of one son and five daughters. The maternal grandfather of our subject also died in Ireland, at a ripe old age. Both were farmers.
John Kennedy spent the first fourteen years of his life in Ireland, reared on a farm and educated in the common schools, and accompanied his par- ents to America, settling with them in New York, where he remained until after his father's death. Then he went to Chicago and entered the employ of the Burlington Railroad Company, but remained with that road only a short time. We next find him in La Porte county. Indiana, where for one year he worked by the month on a farm. Then he came to Mar- shall county, Illinois, and in 1858 to LaSalle county, where he continued as a farin hand, working by the month, until 1864. That year he enlisted in Company B. One hundred and Fiftieth Volunteer Infantry, and served one year. While in the army he took part in a number of skirmishes but was in no heavy battles.
After the war Mr. Kennedy settled in Woodford county, Illinois, where he lived one year, at the end of that time removing to Rutland, LaSalle county. Here he rented a farm, which he cultivated a short time. and then bought eighty acres in Groveland township, near Pleasant Valley school-house, which he still owns. Afterward he bought forty acres, where he now lives, and later added another eighty-acre tract. He carries on general farming and stock-raising and has been fairly successful in his oper- ations. his career showing conclusively that in this country an energetic young man can by honest industry and good management win success.
Mr. Kennedy was married December 4, 1870, to Miss Mary Ann Gol- den, a daughter of Patrick and Mary Golden: and the fruits of their union are thirteen children: Margaret, Ann, William, Mary, John, Jane. Thomas, Frank. Rose Ellen, Emma. Julia. Kate and Daniel. All of the children ex- cept the three oldest daughters are at home. and two of these. Margaret and Ann. are married. Margaret is the wife of William Akens, of Chicago. Ann married John Burns, also of Chicago, and they have one child. Mary. Mr. Kennedy's parents were devout members of the Catholic church,
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and he and his wife also are Catholics. their membership being in Sacred Heart Catholic church of Rutland. Believing that "new times demand new measures and new means." Mr. Kennedy has changed his political views. He was first a Republican, then a Democrat. and is now an independent. As a citizen he stands in high esteem.
JOSHUA G. GAY.
For just half a century Joshua Guilford Gay was actively engaged in business in Ottawa, and is now living retired. after an extremely busy, useful life. He has used his means and influence to the lasting welfare of this, his chosen place of abode, fostering local industries and improvements, and all that has gone toward the upbuilding and prosperity of the community.
The Guilfords and Gays were numbered among the early Pilgrims of New England, and many distinguished representatives of both families have flourished in the United States and have brought additional honor to the names they bore. The Gay family was founded in the vicinity of Boston. Massachusetts, by one John Gay, who was a native of England, and in each generation of his posterity there was a John, named in his honor. Philip Thomas Guilford. our subject's maternal ancestor, emigrated from Eng- land to this country in 1640. He located in Virginia, where he died, and subsequently his widow and son removed to Massachusetts and settled upon a strip of land on the seashore which was later styled Guilford's Point. The son grew to manhood there and several generations of his descendants were born, lived and died in the old Bay state. The maternal grandfather of our subject was Simeon Guilford, who, with five of his brothers, served through the Revolutionary war. He was one of the guards in whose keeping the celebrated Major Andre was placed subsequently to his capture. One of the Guilford brothers lived to attain the extreme age of ninety-three years. Simeon Guilford married a Miss Hayden and reared a large number of children.
The birth of Joshua Guilford Gay occurred in Pittsfield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts. December 11, 1821. He is one of the six children of Willard and Electa Gay, the others being Willard and Lemuel Bingham, who are deceased; Rev. William Moore Gay, who is a Congregational min- ister, now located in Georgetown, Massachusetts; Electa M., who is unmar- ried and is a resident of Boston: and Mrs. Catherine D. Hayden, whose husband, Henry Hayden, died in 1896. since which time she has lived with her son at Colorado Springs.
& & Gay
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The boyhood of Joshua G. Gay was spent in his native town, where he was a student in the public schools until he was seventeen years old. His father was a carriage-maker by trade, and the youth assisted him in his busi- ness for some time, later going to New Haven, Connecticut, where he served an apprenticeship to the carriage-maker's trade. In 1846 he came west. and for about one year worked at his calling in Chicago. Then, com- ing to Ottawa, he entered into partnership with William Palmer, who was engaged in the manufacture of wagons, and continued in partnership with that worthy citizen for some three years. The ambitious young man. having accumulated a little capital by economy and good management, then opened a small shop of his own and commenced manufacturing car- riages and various kinds of light road wagons. He was alone until 1870, and employed quite a force of men during the last years. The following decade he was associated with Colonel B. S. Porter in business, that gentle- man retiring from the firm in 1880, when his interest was purchased by Simeon G. Gay, who is the eldest son of our subject, and who for the past two years has been the sole proprietor of the enterprise which was founded nearly half a century ago by his esteemed father. The firm known as Gay & Son, for seventeen years, built up an extensive and remunerative business and a very desirable reputation for square dealing and for excel- lence of vehicles turned out in its factory. The plant is equipped with the best modern machinery, and high-grade work is invariably to be found in every department of the factory.
The marriage of J. G. Gay and Miss Ann M. Aldrich, of Warsaw, Illi- nois, was celebrated May 18, 1851. Her father. Mark Aldrich, was a pioneer at Warsaw, which town he laid out in 1846. Years afterward he went to California, and then to Arizona, where his death occurred. Mrs. Ann Gay departed this life in 1868, and of the four sons born to herself and husband two have entered the silent land, namely: Willard and Frederick W. Simeon G. and Joseph W. are well known business men of Ottawa. For his second wife Mr. Gay chose Mrs. Olive W. Ashley, of Springfield, Massachusetts, their marriage taking place November 21, 1873; and a son and daughter were born to them, namely: Nellie M., who died in infancy. and Burton Albro, who is yet at home. By her former marriage, to Lester Ashley, Mrs. Gay has one daughter, Mabel E., who is now the wife of Alfred Michell, of Dallas, Texas.
In his political faith Mr. Gay is a stalwart Republican. Coming from stanch old Puritan stock, he naturally adheres to the Congregational de- nomination, to which his ancestors belonged, and for a number of years he has officiated in the capacity of deacon in the Ottawa church. All worthy religious and philanthropic enterprises find a friend and assistant in him,
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and many a needy person has had cause to bless and remember his name, though his deeds of helpfulness are quietly performed and rarely known to the public.
DANIEL PETERSON.
The subject of this sketch, although a native of the Buckeye state, has been identified with Illinois all his life, having been brought here by his par- ents in his infancy. He is a resident of Tonica, engaged in the stock busi- ness. and is one of the substantial and leading citizens of the place.
Daniel Peterson was born in Harrison county, Ohio. April 21, 1835. a son of Isaac and Mary (Bush) Peterson, natives of Ohio. In the Peterson family were ten children, four sons and six daughters, six of whom are now living. namely: Daniel, the direct subject of this review; Nancy Jane. the wife of B. F. Whittaker, of Nebraska: John I .. of Putnam county, Illinois; William A., of Red Wing, Minnesota: Ruth, wife of A. S. Bickle, of North Chillicothe, Illinois: and Elizabeth D., unmarried. Isaac Peterson, the father, was a farmer. He left Ohio in the fall of 1835 and brought his family west to Illinois, selecting a location in Putnam county and buying at that time forty acres of land. To this tract he subsequently added until he had a fine farm of two hundred acres and some timber land. and on this farm he reared his family and passed the rest of his life. He died in January, 1875. at the age of sixty-eight years. His wife survived him five or six years and at the time of her death was about seventy-four. In her religious faith she was a Methodist.
Turning back another generation for a glimpse of the grandparents of Mr. Peterson, we find that his grandfather. Daniel Peterson, was of Holland-Dutch descent, was one of the early pioneers of Ohio, and from there in the spring of 1835 came to Illinois and settled in Putnam county, where he died at about the age of seventy-five years. He was a farmer, and his family comprised five children. Grandfather Bush, Mr. Peterson's grandfather on his mother's side, was a native of Ohio and lived and died there, being well advanced in years at the time of his death. He had several sons and two daughters, and he, too, was a farmer.
Daniel Peterson, the immediate subject of this sketch, as above stated, was brought to Illinois in his infancy, and his life was spent in Putnam county up to 1892. when he moved to Tonica. His educational advantages were those only of the district schools. Reared a farmer, he naturally en- gaged in agricultural pursuits when he reached his majority and started out in life to do for himself. For four or five years he farmed some of his father's land on the shares. Then he bought eighty acres of improved land, and
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later he and his brother John bought out some of the heirs in the old home- stead, and they two farmed together from 1870 for a number of years. They now own four eighty-acre tracts and a forty-acre piece of land in Putnan county, and have two hundred and eighty-one acres of timber land. In 1892 they rented their farms. and Daniel moved to Tonica, where he has since bought a home, located in the southwest part of town; and since the above date he has been engaged in the stock business, dealing chiefly in hogs.
Mr. Peterson has been twice married. November 6, 1856, he wedded Miss Mary J. Inks, a daughter of Thomas and Matilda Inks, and their union was blessed in the birth of six children, one son and five daughters, viz .. Mary Matilda, Martha Jane, Emma Ella, Isaac, Willetta and Edna. Mary Matilda died at the age of thirty-three years. She was the wife of Don- ald Dagger and had two children, Blanche and Cora. Martha Jane is the wife of George Ford, of Putnam county, Illinois, and they have one child, Joy. Emma Ella married W. L. Skeel and lives at Sandwich, Illinois. The other children. Isaac, Willetta and Edna, died in infancy. The mother of these children passed away May 12, 1870, at the age of thirty-six years, a Presby- terian. December 17, 1874, Mr. Peterson married Miss Elizabeth M. Mc- Clung, a daughter of William McClung. There are no children by this mar- riage. Mrs. Peterson is a member of the Congregational church.
Politically Mr. Peterson is a Democrat, as was his father before him. While in Putnam county he served four years as the supervisor of Henne- pin township, and has always taken an intelligent and commendable interest in public affairs.
WILLIAM OSMAN.
William Osman is probably the oldest representative of newspaper in- terests in Illinois, having been connected with the Free Trader at Ottawa for more than half a century. He was born near Gratz, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, on the 19th of June, 1819, and is a son of Robert and Cath- erine (Schreiber) Osman, the former of English and the latter of German lineage. The father was the owner of a farm of three hundred and sixty acres in Pennsylvania, one hundred acres of the place being mountain land. Between the ages of seven and thirteen years our subject attended school through the short winter seasons, his privileges being thus afforded in pri- vate schools of the neighborhood. He learned to read and write and also completed Pike's arithmetic, but the greater part of his education has been obtained through reading and study outside of the school-room. At the age of thirteen he entered the office of the Morgenrocthe. a German newspaper established by Jacob Baab at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He served a six-
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years apprenticeship to the printer's trade and afterward pursued his studies for a short period in Gettysburg College, but on account of his limited means was forced to abandon his text-books. In the fall of 1839 he went to Phila- delphia, where he was employed as a compositor in the establishment of L. Johnson & Company, stereotypers, with whom he remained until the spring of 1840.
Subsequently he worked as a journeyman in Harrisburg and in July, 1840, started westward, traveling by way of Philadelphia, New York, Albany, by railroad to Syracuse, thence by the Erie canal to Buffalo and by the great lakes to Chicago, where he took a stage for Ottawa, arriving on the Ist of August, 1840. He began working for Weaver & Hise, proprietors of the Ottawa Free Trader. doing various kinds of work in the office, includ- ing the writing of editorials. He was an employe of that firm until 1842. when he purchased the interest of George F. Weaver, thus entering into partnership with Mr. Hise, under the firm name of Hise & Osman. That connection was continued until 1848, when Moses Osman, a brother of our subject, purchased the interest of Mr. Hise. The partnership between the brothers continued until 1856, when our subject became sole proprietor. conducting the business alone until 1867. when he entered into partnership with Douglas Hapeman, a relationship that was maintained until 1888, when Mr. Hapeman retired and Mr. Osman admitted his sons to an interest in the business. One of them, William H. Osman, is still connected with his father. During the greater part of his time for fifty-eight years Mr. Osman has written the majority of the editorials for the Free Trader and has made the paper one of the leading journals in his section of the state. It has always been a pronounced Democratic paper, stanchly advocating the prin- ciples of the party during the greater part of the time, save only in 1896, when it advocated the gold standard in opposition to the Chicago platform on free silver.
During the Mexican war Mr. Osman served from May, 1846. until July, 1847, as a volunteer in Company L. First Regiment of Illinois In- fantry, under the command of Captain T. Lyle Dickey and afterward under the command of Captain B. M. Prentiss. He entered the service as a pri- vate but arose to the rank of quartermaster sergeant of his regiment. The only battle the regiment was engaged in and in which Mr. Osman of course took part, was the battle of Buena Vista, February 23. 1847, in which General Zachary Taylor, with four thousand five hundred men, so signally defeated the Mexican army of twenty thousand men under Santa Ana.
Mr. Osman has served for two terms as the postmaster of Ottawa, fill- ing the position from 1856 until 1860. and again from 1887 until 1891. He served during two sessions, 1853-4 and 1856-7, as an engrossing clerk of
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the house of representatives in the Illinois legislature, and in 1854 was for some six months a clerk in the interior department at Washington; but other than this he has held no public office excepting some very minor ones.
On the 28th of November, 1848, Mr. Osman was united in marriage to Miss Mary Hise, a sister of his former partner, John Hise, of Ottawa. Four children, two sons and two daughters, were born to them, but their first child, a daughter, died at the age of two years. The others are still living. One son is now assistant editor of the American Miller at Chicago, and the other son is associated with his father in business. Socially Mr. Osman has been connected with the Masonic fraternity, but has never taken a very active part in its work. For fifty-nine years he has been the editor of the Free Trader, and his long connection with the paper makes him the pioneer in journalistic work in this state. At all times he has labored to advance the interests of the community which he represents, and Ottawa has found in him a progressive and valued citizen who enjoys the high regard of her leading people.
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