USA > Illinois > LaSalle County > Biographical and genealogical record of La Salle County, Illinois, Volume II > Part 33
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The birth of Russell E. Stanford took place in Lowell, LaSalle county, October II, 1842, and from that time until February, 1898. he dwelt in Vermillion township, all but six or seven years of this period being spent on his father's old homestead. When he had arrived at man's estate, he
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rented a quarter-section of this property of his father, and the first land owned by him was the undivided half of a tract of eighty acres, adjoining the old home place. To this he later added about forty acres, which he cultivated in connection with the land owned by his father. After the death of that honored citizen, he purchased the homestead and now, after buying another eighty-acre tract of one of the heirs, his farm comprises two hun- dred and forty acres. This place is an excellent one, improved with good buildings and all of the accessories of a model farm. Mr. Stanford con- tinued to operate the farm until a little more than a year ago, when he retired, having amassed a competency sufficient for his remaining years. He has bought a pleasant house in the southwestern part of the village of Tonica, and is enjoying a well earned rest from the arduous labor which has hitherto engrossed him.
. Everything affecting the welfare of this community has received the earnest attention of Mr. Stanford. For three years he was the supervisor of Vermillion township, for seven years or more he was a road commissioner, and for many years he served as a school director. In his political belief he is a Republican.
In February, 1866, Mr. Stanford married Miss Rebecca Downey, who died May 10, 1868, aged but twenty-two years. She was a devoted member of the Congregational church, and was loved by all who knew her. She left one child, Emory H., who is married and for years was engaged in teach- ing, but at present is in business in Tacoma, Washington. On the IIth of January, 1872. Mr. Stanford was united in marriage with Miss Mary, a daughter of Israel and Mary (Burgess) Hutchinson. Three children were born to our subject and wife, namely: Bertha E., Mary Eva, and Florence Ella, all of whom are receiving good educational advantages and are yet at home with their parents.
DANIEL BASSETT.
Honored and highly esteemed by everyone who knows him, Daniel Bassett, of Groveland township, LaSalle county, is a sterling representative of two of the oldest families of New England, and possesses many of the traits of character for which his sturdy ancestors were renowned. He ad- heres to the same high principles of daily life, upholds the same ideas of religion and religious liberty, and has the same love for the cause of educa- tion and every power making toward the uplifting and progress of the race.
In tracing his lineage it is found, by old records, that his ancestor, William Bassett, emigrated from England to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1639, and located at a village called Hamden, about three miles north of New
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Haven, Connecticut. He married a Miss Ives. They had one son, John, who was born in 1653, and died February 8, 1714. He served in the state militia, and, being appointed as captain of a company of New Haven troops, always afterward went by the title of Captain Bassett. He married Mercy Grigson, and their son John, born in 1691, became a personage of influence in his time. He represented the town of New Haven in the state legislature for a number of sessions, and was appointed cornet of a company of home guards. He owned considerable property, and was highly respected. He died March 27, 1757, aged sixty-six years. His wife was Elizabeth Thomp- son, and one of his children, John, was born in 1717, married Sarah Eaton, a granddaughter of the first governor of the New Haven colony, and died when sixty years of age, February 12, 1777. Their son, Levi, born in 1747, married Mabel Atwater, and had five children, namely: Esther, Eaton, Lyman, Sallie and Leverett. He departed this life September 6, 1816, when sixty-nine years old.
Leverett Ives Bassett, the father of our subject, was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, and died on the same old homestead where he first saw the light. He married Linda Holt, a native of the same county, and they led the peaceful, industrious lives of agriculturists. Her father, Daniel Holt, also a Connecticut farmer, came from one of the oldest families in that state. His ancestor, William Holt, came from England and was one of the early settlers of New Haven, and was one of the seven persons who signed the New Haven constitution on the Ist of July, 1664. He died at Wallingford, Connecticut, September 1, 1683, aged seventy-three years. Daniel Holt, above mentioned, was the eldest of twelve children, and was born in East New Haven, July 5, 1767. On the 12th of January, 1789, he married Hannah, a daughter of Joseph and Hannah Holt, born August 17, 1767. and died December 14, 1839. They were the parents of five children, namely: Daniel, Hiram, Jeremiah, Hannah and Linda. Daniel Holt, who died June 23, 1834, when in his sixty-eighth year, removed to Northbury (subsequently, Plymouth, and now Thomaston) in 1789, and thence to Harwinton, where the remainder of his life was spent. Mrs. Linda (Holt) Bassett was born May 23, 1800, and died on Christmas day, 1854. Later Leverett I. Bassett wedded Hannah, sister of his first wife, and she lived to attain the extreme age of one hundred and one years. Mr. Bassett was called to his reward, April 4, 1863. Of ten children born in his family, four were sons, and of the entire number six survive, namely: Daniel, our sub- ject; Levi: Annis, the widow of Stiles Hotchkis; Mary, the wife of William W. Clemence; Mrs. Lois B. Coe, of Connecticut ; and George, of Cleveland, Ohio.
The birth of Daniel Bassett took place in the country where so many
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generations of his forefathers had passed the span of life, the date of this event being February 16, 1823. He grew to manhood on a farm and re- ceived a very "common" school education. In August, 1852, he was united in marriage to Miss Amy Elvira Barker, a daughter of Daniel and Amy (Pardy) Barker, and one week afterward the young couple started for the new home which they were to found on the broad prairies of Illinois. They located near West Hallock, Peoria county, buying a quarter-section of land, to the cultivation of which Mr. Bassett devoted his chief energy for many years. In 1865 he removed to his present homestead in Groveland township. Here he has owned, previous to allotting to his children, five hundred and sixty acres, finely improved, having a substantial dwelling and other farm buildings, and all of the comforts and conveniences deemed necessary in modern life. Mr. Bassett has been an industrious, hard-working man, useful in his community, upright and just in all of his transactions, and is wholly worthy the high esteem in which he is held.
For almost forty-six years, Mr. Bassett found a faithful companion and sharer of his joys and sorrows in the person of his devoted wife. She was a lady of rare Christian virtues, and was loved by all who knew her. As is her husband, she was a consistent member of the Congregational church, and nobly strove to do her duty toward all mankind. She received the summons to the mansions above in April, 1898, when she was in lier seventy-second year. The three children of Mr. and Mrs. Bassett are: Annis Elvira, Owen B. and Ella A. The elder daughter married Joseph Bane, since deceased, and their children are named respectively Daniel Hubert and Ira Owen. Owen B., the only son of our subject, is unmarried, and resides at home. Ella A. first married Wiley Marshall and had one child. Edna, and is now the wife of C. R. Hinton.
Mr. Bassett has kept posted in all of the public affairs of this country, deeming this the duty of every patriotic citizen, but he has never been an aspirant to official distinction, and has resolutely kept aloof from politics. Since becoming a voter he has cast his ballot for the nominees of the Whig and Republican parties.
AMOS W. MERRITT.
Amos W. Merritt, of the firm of Merritt & Bangs, general merchants, Lostant, Illinois, claims Ohio as his native state, his birth having occurred in Belmont county, June 29, 1843. He is a son of Henry P. and Margaret M. (Wilson) Merritt, natives of Pennsylvania. Their family was composed of eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, of whom nine are now living: Amos W., whose name introduces this sketch; John E., of White
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City, Kansas; Isabel W., wife of I. P. Wierman, of Lostant, Illinois; Hannah B., wife of Sewell Gatchell, of Freeport, Illinois; Mahlon L., of Roberts, Illi- nois; Charles H., also of Roberts; Maggie J., wife of George B. Hager, of Ottawa, Illinois; Isaac E., of Buckley, Illinois; and George L., of Roberts. The father of this family learned the trade of wagon-maker in early life and followed it until he was forty years of age, from that time on giving his attention to farming. He went with his parents from Pennsylvania to Bel- mont county, Ohio, when he was seven years old, and grew to manhood and married in that state. In 1853 he moved to Illinois and located in Magnolia, Putnam county, where he had a wagon shop for four years, until 1857. That year he came to LaSalle county and bought a farm of one hun- dred and sixty acres in Hope township, partly improved at the time of pur- chase. It was principally upon this farm that he reared his children. He lived there until 1882, when he moved to a place near Wenona and lived there twelve years. He died April 13, 1896, at the age of seventy-eight years. His widow is still living, now in her eightieth year, her home being in Lostant. She is a member of the Society of Friends, as also was he. Politically he was a Republican, and at different times held several township offices, including that of supervisor.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was John Merritt. He was a Pennsylvanian, a dealer in boots and shoes, and died in the prime of early manhood, being only twenty-five years old at the time of his death. He left a widow and three little sons. On his mother's side Mr. Merritt's grand- father was Amos Wilson, a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1794. Mr. Wil- son was twice married. His first wife, Hannah Brown, a native of Pennsyl- vania, and whose father was an Irishman, he married in Pennsylvania, and by her had five children. The family moved to Ohio and located on a farm in Belmont county in 1826, and the same year the wife and mother died, at the age of twenty-six years. In 1828 Mr. Wilson married Miss Anna Morris, by whom he had nine children. They came to Illinois in 1851 and located in Putnam county, on a new farm, where he passed the rest of his life, and where he died January 15, 1881, in his eighty-seventh year.
Amos W. Merritt was ten years old when he came with his parents to Illinois, and he has lived in Hope township, LaSalle county, since 1857. His youthful days were passed not unlike those of other farmer boys, assist- ing in the farm work and in winter attending the district schools. When he started out in life on his own responsibility it was as a farmer on rented land. He continued farming until 1888, when he moved to Lostant. The following year he was appointed postmaster. While filling this office, in 1890, he engaged in the grocery business, and the following year took in as a partner M. H. Bangs, his brother-in-law, the firm becoming Merritt & Bangs. They
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then added a stock of dry goods, boots and shoes, making a complete gen- eral store, and have since kept a well assorted stock of general merchandise. They have established a good trade among the leading citizens of the town and surrounding country and are ranked with the enterprising up-to-date business men of Lostant.
Mr. Merritt was married December 30, 1875, to Miss Sarah A. Bangs, daughter of Samuel L. and Margaret (Howard) Bangs, the former a native of England, the latter of Massachusetts. Mrs. Merritt is one of five children -two sons and three daughters-and she has one sister and two brothers living, namely: Jennie, wife of Dr. A. H. Hatton, of Peru, Illinois; J. Ed- ward, superintendent of the township high school, Pontiac, Illinois; and Mark H., in business with Mr. Merritt at Lostant. Mr. and Mrs. Merritt have no children. For several years previous to her marriage Mrs. Merritt was a popular and successful teacher, teaching at Rutland and Lostant and for a short time in the academy at Fallsboro, LaSalle county. She was Mr. Merritt's assistant in the postoffice during the four years and a half he filled that position. Religiously she is a Methodist and fraternally a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, Mr. Merritt being identified with both the F. & A. M., Tonica Lodge, No. 364, and the O. E. S. Politically he is a Republican. In addition to the office already named, he has served in other local offices, such as those of township assessor, member of the village school board and member of the village board of trustees.
EDWARD H. BOYLE.
Now living retired, in the town of Lostant, LaSalle county, is Edward Harrison Boyle, one of the sterling pioneers of this county and state. In his youth he experienced the hardships of life on the frontier, and during his entire life he has been industrious and public spirited, desirous of pro- moting the welfare of his community.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was David Boyle, who was born in Virginia and was of Irish descent. He was a farmer by occupation, and came to Illinois at an early day. He reared several children and died when in the prime of manhood. The maternal grandfather, Thornton Wil- son, a native of Kentucky, was of Scotch descent. He came to this state in 1825, and first located near Elkhart Grove and Springfield. At the end of five years he removed to a farm in Putnam county, where he died in March. 1835, leaving a large family to mourn his loss.
The parents of Edward H. Boyle were Abner and Matilda (Wilson) Boyle. The father was born in Bedford county, Virginia, and was but three years old when his parents removed to Kentucky, settling in Todd county,
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where he grew to manhood. In 1828 they came to Illinois, and, for a few months lived in Danville. In the spring of 1829 they went to Putnam county, where Abner Boyle took up a quarter-section of government land. Improving that place he continued to dwell there until the autumn of 1882. when he retired, and made his home in Lostant until his death, in March, 1886, when he was in his seventy-ninth year. His widow, whose death took place in 1892, was almost ninety years of age at that time. She was a devoted member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church. Mr. Boyle was a typical pioneer, undaunted by obstacles, hard-working and hopeful. He participated in the Black Hawk war, and was active in all of the affairs of his community for years. Several times he served as a supervisor in Putnam county. In former years he was a Whig, and later was identified with the Republican party. At the time that he settled on Ox Bow prairie, in 1829. he and his brothers built a cabin of rough logs, rudely piled together, the roof made of "shakes." The spaces between the logs were unfilled, and windows and chimneys were not required, as all of the cooking was per- formed out of doors. The first season, in addition to building this simple cabin, they planted and raised twenty acres of corn, the yield being from fifty to. sixty bushels to the acre. This corn was conveyed to the mills on the Mackinaw river, fifty miles away, and, with a plentiful supply of venison, the hardy pioneers fared quite comfortably the ensuing winter. Their needs were few and simple, and they really enjoyed their quiet, humble life. In 1830 Mr. Boyle was appointed postmaster of Ox Bow, by President Pierce. It cost twenty-five cents to send letters in those days, and the work of postmaster was so nominal that Mr. Boyle soon resigned. He frequently made trips to Chicago with wheat, receiving only forty cents a bushel. The first circuit court convened in Putnam county was held on the first Monday in May, 1831, and, in accordance with the law, the county commissioners had selected the house of Thomas Gallagher, on the bank of the Illinois. river, about a quarter of a mile above the trading post kept by Thomas Hartzell, as the place where the court should be held. On the appointed day the people of that section assembled, and as no clerk had as yet been provided the judge appointed Hooper Warren and fixed his official bond at two thousand dollars, his sureties being John Dixon and Henry Thorn. The sheriff then gravely announced that the court was considered in session, and the grand jurors were duly chosen and sworn in. They were as follows: Daniel Dimmick, Elijah Epperson, Henry Thomas, Leonard Roth, Jesse Williams, Israel Archer. James Warnock, John L. Ramsey, William Hames, John Strawn, Samuel Laughlin (foreman), David Boyle, Stephen Willis, Jeremiah Strawn, Abraham Stratten and Nelson Shepherd. After the divis- ion of Putnam county, the first election held was on August 1, 1834, the
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officials to be elected being a member of congress, a justice of the peace, and à constable for each precinct. The vote was small, and cach voter called out the name of the person whom he desired to take the office, the clerk writing this down, opposite the name of the voter, in the poll book. This election was held in Sandy precinct, at the houses of Jesse Roberts, John H. Shaw and Abner Boyle.
Edward Harrison Boyle, who was born in Hennepin, Illinois, Feb- ruary 14, 1837, was one of six children, two sons and four daughters. Two of the number are deceased; William A. resides in Burton, Kansas; Caroline is the widow of John Griffith, and lives in Lostant, and Artemesa, the youngest, lives with her brother, our subject, neither of them ever having married. William A. is a hero of the civil war, as for nearly three years he was a member of Vaughn's battery, was stationed at Little Rock for some time, assisted in taking that city, and was in the command of General Steele.
In his boyhood, E. H. Boyle attended the district schools of Putnam county, and always dwelt with his parents as long as they lived, giving them loving, filial care and attention, especially in their declining years. Since 1882 he has resided in the village of Lostant. At the time of his father's death his estate of some eight hundred and fifty acres was divided among the heirs. He and his sister, whose interests, plans and aims are one, own the home property in Lostant, and six hundred and thirty acres of fine farm land, three hundred and ten acres of which is situated in Putnam county and half a section in LaSalle county. Mr. Boyle is a loyal citizen, striving to do his duty toward his country and community, and since he arrived at his majority he has deposited his ballot in favor of the nominees and prin- ciples of the Republican party.
JOHN R. LAMBERT.
John R. Lambert is a self-made man, and his example is well worthy of emulation by the rising generation. His success is but another testimony to the oft-repeated fact that a young man of good common sense, indus- trious and economical habits, and with upright principles, is certain to prosper, if he perseveringly attends to business and faithfully carries out the plans which he carefully decides upon in the first place.
The parents of John R. Lambert were Joel and Sarah (Reed) Lam- bert, both natives of Kentucky. The father was a son of Benjamin Lambert, of German lineage, a native of Virginia and an early settler in Kentucky. He was a farmer, and besides was a local minister, devoted to the old-school Baptist creed. He lived a worthy, useful life and passed
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to his reward at a ripe age, his death taking place in Indiana. The father of Mrs. Joel Lambert was John Reed, who likewise was born in Virginia and who was a hero of the war of 1812. He was of Welsh descent and a typical frontiersman, a pioneer of Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. To this state he came in 1830 and his death took place in Knox county when he was well along in years.
Joel Lambert accompanied his father's family to Indiana and to Knox county, Illinois, nearly seventy years ago. He bought eighty acres of land in Warren county later and there passed his last years, his death occurring in 1840, when he was in his prime, being but thirty-eight years of age. His widow, Mrs. Sarah Lambert, survived him more than half a century and died in 1890, when seventy-five years of age. Both were members of the Baptist church. In the early days of Illinois' statehood, Mr. Lambert belonged to what was known as the light-horse cavalry, a state military organization. Of their two sons and three daughters two are deceased, and those surviving are John R., James A., and Ann Jane, the widow of Coleman Hailey, of Peoria. In 1845 Mrs. Lambert became the wife of Hartwell Hailey, and their two children were Lida, who died when in her seventeenth year; and Ara, who married L. T. Broadus and is now a resident of Horton, Kansas.
The birth of John R. Lambert occurred in Knox county, Illinois, October 12, 1836, and owing to the death of his father when he was quite young he was thrown upon his own resources earlier than he otherwise would have been. In 1845 he went to Putnam county and twenty years later he came to LaSalle county. When he left home to earn his own liveli- hood he had but six dollars, and this he had made by working for neighbors. As soon as he could do so, he commenced renting a farm in Putnam county, and at the end of two years came to this county, where, after renting land for a year, he bought eighty acres, in Hope township. This place was partly improved, and some time afterward he sold it, investing his capital in a quarter-section farm in the same township, Later he disposed of that place also and since then has owned the old homestead in Hope township. which is now carried on by his son. As the years rolled by he prospered, and on several occasions he bought more land until he now owns four hundred and eighty acres, two hundred and forty being in Eden township and the rest in Hope township. Besides accomplishing this, he assisted each of his two sons in the purchase of a quarter-section of land. He has made substantial improvements on his property, expending large sums of money for this purpose.
Throughout life Mr. Lambert has adhered strictly to just and upright methods, and in consequence he enjoys the good will and esteem of all
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who have had dealings with him. Nor has he neglected his duty as a citizen, and for many years officiated as town clerk, school trustee or director on the school board. Politically he is a Democrat.
On the 3d of September, 1847, Mr. Lambert married Miss Emily E. Hiltabrand, daughter of George and Elizabeth (Gunn) Hiltabrand. She was summoned to the better land in 1886, when in her forty-sixth year. Edward F., the elder son of our subject and wife, married Julia Borngasser and has four living children, namely: Vey, Edward, Fern and Norman. Edward F. Lambert is an energetic young business man of Tonica, being the present proprietor of a large lumber yard here. George H. Lambert, the younger son, is managing the old homestead belonging to his father. His wife was formerly Mary Weber, and their four children are Nora, Merlin, Harold and Vernor. Following in the footsteps of their ancestors, our subject and his wife early identified themselves with the Baptist church, contributing liberally toward its support and actively aiding in the noble work of uplifting humanity.
FREDERICK W. MATTHIESSEN.
Frederick W. Matthiessen. secretary of the Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Company, LaSalle, Illinois, is a native of Germany, born in 1835. He was educated in Germany and graduated in mining engineering at the Univer- sity of Freiberg, in that country. Mr. Matthiessen and E. C. Hegeler were fellow students at the University of Freiberg, and in 1857 they came to the United States together. Their purpose was to gain practical experience in mining engineering, and accordingly went to Mineral Point, Wisconsin. While at that place they observed the great waste of zinc ore, and con- ceived the idea of engaging in the smelting of zinc. They came to LaSalle, Illinois, in 1858, selecting this city as a location on account of coal facilities. They began smelting in 1858, and their first operations were hardly more than experimental, the ore being obtained from Wisconsin. As soon as the success of the venture was demonstrated, the works were enlarged, again and again enlarged, until to-day the Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Com- pany operate the largest plant in the United States, with several millions of dollars invested and a business that has steadily increased until it has reached an enormous volume. In 1866 the rolling-mill department was added. In 1874 the company began to mine its own coal, of which an enormous quan- tity is necessarily used. Thus it is observed that many coal miners have found employment through the company. A large number of workmen are employed in the zinc works, and to this industry the growth of LaSalle is largely indebted. Of the Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Company it can
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