USA > Illinois > Brown County > Biographical review of Cass, Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois: Containing biographical sketches of pioneers and leading citizens > Part 37
USA > Illinois > Cass County > Biographical review of Cass, Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois: Containing biographical sketches of pioneers and leading citizens > Part 37
USA > Illinois > Schuyler County > Biographical review of Cass, Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois: Containing biographical sketches of pioneers and leading citizens > Part 37
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death in August, 1849. He had entered considerable land, and at his death still owned 240 acres of land. He had been a Whig in politics and Presbyterian in religion for many years prior to his death. He had ten children: Calvin, born May 30, 1805, died March 14, 1880; Perneta, born December 10, 1806; William, born March 1, 1809, died March 7, 1855; Harrison, born February 15, 1811, died March 18, 1883; Inetta, born August 26, 1813. died June 1, 1838; Terlina, born October 26, 1815, died January 15, 1890; Delila, born October 26, 1815; Catherine, born June 19, 1818, died June 7, 1841; Francis A., born September 11, 1820; and Abner A., born February 6, 1823.
Abner was reared on the farm and attended such schools as the newly settled locality offered. After the death of his mother he resided with a brother until 1847, when he settled where he now resides, on 160 acres of land. He began housekeeping in a log cabin, which in time was supplanted by the present residence, which is a comfortable frame struct- ure. He now owns 440 acres of land. His home contains 320 acres, he having added to the original 160. He has been a stock-raiser as well as a farmer, but now has all his land rented.
He was married, May 27, 1847, to Elizabeth J. Sims, daughter of David and Sarah E. Sims. She was born in Sangamon county, Illinois, February 6, 1832. Mr. and Mrs. Clark have had five children, namely: Francis M., born in 1849, died February 25, 1853; Luticia, born 1851, died March 8, 1853; Nancy P., born in 1852, married Daniel M. McCaskill of Brown county, two children, Carrie and Roy A .; Levi G., born 1857, married Lizzie R. Bond April 20, 1880, her death occurring November 13, 1882; was
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married to Amanda Cady, daughter of Henry Cady, resides in Schuyler county, three chil- dren: Asa A., Alta and Frank F .; Fred D., born 1868, resides at home. .
Mr. Clark is a Republican in politics and a Baptist in religion, being Moderator of the society. He and his wife are respected by all who know them.
OBERT NELSON MCFARLAND, the oldest settler of Brown county, is now residing in Versailles. He was born in Harrison county, Kentucky, April 1, 1818. His father, William McFarland was born in the saine county. There is little known of his grandfather except that he spent his last years in Harrison, Kentucky. His father was reared and inarried in Ohio, but resided in Kentucky until 1819, when his nearest neighbor was ten miles distant. He next moved to Green county, Ohio, and was one of the earliest settlers there. He lived there until 1822, when, with his wife and four children he made the journey to Illinois, cooking and camping by the way. He located in Sangamon and died there. At the time of their location there, this county was sparsely settled. The greater portion was owned by the Government. Springfield was but a hamlet, the capital of the State then being Vandalia.
His mother continued to live in Sanga- mon county until 1824. She accompanied her sister and her sister's husband, Cornelius Van Deventer, whom she afterward married, to what is now Brown county, where she resided until her death.
Mr. McFarland was six years old when he caine to Brown county, and remembers well inany of the incidents of its settlement.
At that time their nearest neighbors, the Indians, were more numerous than the white people.
When Mr. Van Deventer caine he laid claim to a tract of Government land, two and one lialf miles east of the present site of Versailles, and there built a log cabin in which was taught the first school in Brown county, Hannah Burbank being the teacher. For some years after they came here there were no mills convenient, and during one winter the family subsisted almost entirely on lye hominy. In time there was a mill, operated by horse-power, introduced into the county, and Mr. McFarland used to go, in common with others, and during the long ride would subsist on parched corn, wild game and wild honey. There were no railroads, no steamers on the Illinois river and no ınarkets.
Of course our subject was reared to agri- cultural pursuits. His first farm was a tract of 100 acres, which he occupied until 1865, when he sold and purchased a farmi of 210 acres, and at the present time he is living re- tired in the pleasant village of Versailles.
He was married December 31, 1839, to Margaret W. McFarland, who died in 1879, leaving four living children: Lucinda Van Deventer; Mary Whitehead; Robert N .. who inarried Ann Augusta Van Deventer; and Louis, who is still single.
OHN D. HORTON, one of the progres- sive and enterprising farmers of Littleton township, was born in Schuyler county, Illinois, September 21, 1845, a son of Lewis and Priscilla (Christman) Horton. His father was a native of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and there grew to be mature
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years; he drove a stage until 1842, when he made a trip to Illinois, coming via the rivers to La Grange; he settled on the farm now occupied by our subject, purchasing the tract of 160 acres for $350; lie erected a log house which was a comfortable home until 1866, when the present structure was built. In 1852 he crossed the plains to California, returning in 1856 by way of New York city; he was accompanied by his son Fred, who afterward went to Texas, where he died. His life was devoted to the pursuit of agri- culture; in politics he was a Democrat until . 1856 when he cast his suffrage for Lincoln, but he was not actively interested in the movements of the party. His wife died in Schuyler county at the age of eighty-six years; before his death she made a trip to California, visiting a daughter residing there. John D. Horton is one of a family of ten children, four of whom are living, He was first married September 2, 1869, to Miss Mary E. Foster, of Schuyler county, who died July 8, 1870. He was again united in marriage February 17, 1875, to Miss Eliza- betli Nichols. She is also a native of this county, born in Littleton township, July 13, 1856, a daughter of Reuben and Elizabeth (Agnew) Nichols. (See sketch of James (Agnew.)
Mr. and Mrs. Horton are the parents of four children, all of whom are living: Lewis R., born February 24, 1879; Warren, born March 22, 1881; Craig C., born May 14, 1884, and Jessie C., born January 17, 1890. Mr. Horton received his education in the common school at Rushville and remained under the parental roof until his marriage; after this event he settled on the homestead, and has since that time been engaged in agri- culture. Politically he is identified witlı the Republican party; he has represented the
people of his township in varions local of- fices, discharging his duties with much abili- ty and admirable fidelity. His wife has been for many years a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal Church. They are both peo- ple of great stability of character and enjoy the respect of all who know them. Their ancestors for generations have been men and wonen of brave hearts and undaunted cour- age, have served in the wars of the country, and have been reliable, industrious and pros- perous citizens of the Republic which they aided iu founding.
OHN S. STUTSMAN, an honored pioneer of Schuyler county, has been closely identified with its history for many years, and it is fitting that a sketch of his life should appear in these pages. He was born in Dubois county, Indiana, April 10, 1827, a son of Alexander D. and Rhoda (Seybold) Stutsman. Alexander D. Stutsman was a native of Kentucky, a son of Jacob and Mary (Berkey) Stutsman, natives of Pennsyl- vania; his father died in Dubois county, In- diana, at the age of eighty years; the mother died in the same place, aged seventy years. The Stutsman family is of German origin, the great-grandfather of our subject having emigrated froni the fatherland to America. Both Mr. and Mrs. John S. Stutsman had an- cestors that served in the wars of the Revo- lution and 1812. Rhoda Sey bold, the mother of John S. Stutsman, was born in Georgia, and was one of a family of seven children; she became the mother of a family of eleven, eight of whom are living. The father died on the old homestead, now occupied by his soll, at the age of seventy-eight years. He was one of the early pioneers of the State,
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emigrating to Schuyler county in 1834, and bravely bore the privations of life on the frontier that the way might be paved for the coming of an advanced civilization. He was accompanied by his wife and five children, and made the journey with a four-horse wagon; he purchased a farm of 148 acres, partially improved; for twelve years the family lived in a log cabin that had been built before their coming; this was in time re- placed by one of black-walnut logs, which was the liome of the parents until death. The motlier lived to be ciglity years old. Jolin S. remained under the parental roof until he was twenty-three years of age; he attended the district school, and althoughi his opportunities were meager he laid the foundation of a thorough education, and has since come to be recognized as an authority on all historical subjects. Many were the evenings he read to his mother by the light of the flickering candle, as slie sewed upon clothing, either for her own or the neighbor's boys.
Mr. Stutsman was united in marriage, March 21, 1850, to Miss Sarah Howell, who was born in Monroe county, Indiana, January 24, 1831. Her parents, Jonathan and Nancy (Gilhamn) Howell, emigrated to Indiana in 1822, and thence to Brown county, Illinois, in 1838, where they passed the remainder of their lives; the father died at the age of sixty-nine, and the mother at the age of eighty years. They reared a family of ten children, five of whom survive. They had three sons in the Union army in the late war, two of whom died in the service of their country.
Mrs. Howell's parents were natives of North Carolina, as were also Mr. Howells. Mr. and Mrs. Stutsman have had born to them a family of ten children, six of whom are de- ceased; those living are named as follows:
Nancy J. is married and the mother of seven children; Mary E. is at home; Robert W. is married and has two children; John E. is on the old homestead; Mary has tauglit seliool very successfully for several years. The family are members of the Methodist Episco- pal Church South, and are actively engaged in the good work of this society.
After his marriage Mr. Stutsman lived near his present residence for three years, and then purchased the property he still owns; he first occupied a log cabin, which he replaced in time with a substantial brick structure. His first tract consisted of forty acres of wild land, to which he added as his means would permit, until he now has 195 acres. He does a general farming business, and is more than ordinarily successful and prosperous. It is entirely through his own efforts that he lias accumulated his property, as lie had no capital excepting that with which nature had endowed him.
Politically, he affiliates with the Demo- cratic party, which he has represented in various positions of trust and lionor. He was County Treasurer four years from 1886 to 1890, has been Supervisor seven years, and Township School Treasurer twenty-seven years, holding the latter position at present; he has for many years been a member of the School Board. He is one of the most widely known men in the county, and none is held in higher esteem.
IBERTY G. PERSINGER, one of the most prominent farmers of Woodstock township, was born in Allegliany county, Virginia, June 6, 1831, a son of Allen and Paulina (Peters) Persinger. Allen Persinger was a native of Virginia, born in Alleghany
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SCHUYLER AND BROWN COUNTIES.
county, and resided there until he was twenty- three years of age. He then emigrated to Illinois, accompanied by liis wife and one child; the journey was made from Virginia in a one-horse wagon, and when he arrived his capital amounted to $25 in cash. He went to work with a will, and began the task of placing a tract of wild land under cultiva- tion. He afterward sold this, and entered eiglity acres on another section; to this he added as his means increased, until at one time he owned several hundred acres. He built a log cabin iu which he lived four years, and then erected another one of more preten- tious size, in which he died at the age of sev- enty-four years; his wife passed her last days in the same house. Politically, he was closely identified with the early history of the county and State; he held many local offices, and represented his county in the Illinois State Legislature. Liberty G. Persinger, who is named for the old Revolutionary General, Liberty Green, remained with his parents until he was twenty-one years of age. He was then married to Elizabeth Tliarpe, a native of Illinois, and a daughter of Jonathan and Anna Tharpe, who were born in North Car- olina and were early settlers of Schuyler county. To Mr. and Mrs. Persinger have been born eleven children, ten of whom are living; all are married: William L. has five children; Paulina has five children; Anna C. has three children; Cornelia J. is the mother of three children; Naomi has two children; Louis M. is the father of two children; Allen J. has a family of two children; Elmer E. and Edward have no children; Estella is the inother of one child.
After his marriage, Mr. Persinger rented the land which he now owns; he lived in a little log cabin for a year, and then erected another in which he resided eight years; he
then built his present home. He has 300 acres under good cultivation, 111 of which he inherited from his father's estatc. He carries on a general farming business, and has met with more than ordinary success. The land was originally heavily timbered, and has required no small amount of energy and labor to reduce it to a state of culti- vation.
Mrs. Persinger is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our sub- ject takes no active interest in politics further thian to discharge his duty as a citizen by casting his suffrage, which is with the Re- publican party. He is a man of superior business qualifications and unquestioned honor and integrity.
ATHAN SUTTON, one of the most prominent citizens of his county was born in Sussex county, New Jersey, January 22, 1819, son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (Robe) Sutton, the former of the same place as his son, where he kept a store for many years, but sold out in 1823 and went to Washtenaw county, Michigan, where he took up land to the amount of 160 acres and improved it. He then sold it to his fatlier, also Nathan, who was born in the same county and State as his son and grand- son. This gentleman died Michigan when abont seventy-five years of age. His wife, subject's grandmother, was Sarah Sutton and slie died on the farin when about seventy-six. The entire family were fariners by occupa- tion. Mr. Nathan Sutton, Sr., was a teamster in the war of 1812. Benjamin Sutton arrived in Illinois July 29, 1833, and settled near the present home of subject, where he entered and bought land to such an extent that he had 2,200 acres at his death,
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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF CASS,
being one of the largest land-owners in central Illinois. He died in October, 1837, aged about forty-five and his wife, who was born in the saine place as her husband, died on the old farm, aged about forty-seven.
The Sutton family were of English descent, the Robes of German ancestry. Our subject was one of nine children, five of whom are yet living, and his father was one of six chil- dren. His mother's people never came West, but died in New Jersey, when very old: they were farmers. The Sutton family figured largely in the politics of Michigan, several of them serving as Justices of the Peace one was a member of the State Legislature, while another served as Mayor of Anu Arbor, Michigan. The prominence of Benja- min Sutton was not confined to Michigan by any means, as he was one of the most prominent men of his county, in Illinois. He erected the first gristmill in the locality and in order that the children of the section should have the benefit of the subscription schools he paid one half of the teacher's fees for five months. This family did not come West in the moneyless condition that so many were in, as they had nearly $7,000 in cash be- sides personal effects which had been brought across the country in wagons, the only means of transportation in those days. Mr. Sutton, Sr., was a Deacon in the Baptist Church and for a time Clerk, and a member of the order of A. F. & A. M.
Our subject remained upon the home farm until his marriage, when he rented for a year and then bought seventy-five acres of wild land, on which he built a log house 16 x 18 feet, in which he and his wife lived until he built his present house, iu 1856. Mr. Sutton kept adding to his farm until he now has 500 acres of fine land and has given each of his children a fine farm.
A son of . Nathan Sutton enlisted in the late war, and while in service he was captured and sent to Andersonville, where he remained five months. His health was so impared by confinement that he was obliged to be in the St. Louis hospital, but with these exceptions he served throughout the entire war. One of his brothers was in the same company for one year, responding to the last call for inen.
Mr. Sutton was married August 4, 1842, to Miss Elizabeth A. Lemar, born in Mason county, Kentucky, July 9, 1822, daughter of Richard and Elizabeth H. (Merrell) Lemar. The former was a native of New Jersey, who came from Kentucky, which had been his home for some years, to Illinois, in 1840, and after marrying a second time settled in Petersburg, Illinois, where he bought eighty acres of land, five miles from present home of subject. His first wife died when her daugh- ter, Mrs. Sutton, was thirteen months old. The family was of French descent. The mother of Mrs. Sutton was a daughter of Andrew and Elizabethı (Hyde) Merrell and and the Hyde family were the legal heirs to a large estate in England, but which they have never been able to obtain, although they have sufficient proof to establish their claim to it. Mrs. Sutton one of five children, two yet living and also two half sisters are still living. Mr. and Mrs. Sutton have had eight children, as follows: William Sylvester, born April 21, 1844, married Mary E. Severs three children: Alonzo, born September 9, 1846, married Miss Martha Dick (see sketch of Levi Dick); John H., born August 21, 1848, married Hannah Ogden, deceased; mar- ried second time Mary I. Garder, two chil- dren; David L., born July 28, 1850; Win- field S., born August 19, 1852, married Levina Samuels by whom he had six children, and after her death he married Lucretia Lynn
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by whom he had four children; Clara J., born October 14, 1854, inarried Joshna Conyers, and has five living children, one de- ceased; Benjamin R., born March 24, 1857, married Jennie Morgan, has three children, Stella, Ernest and Ella, the oldest onc having died in infancy and another, also an infant, is deceased; and Ella E., born September 8, 1858, married James Odgen, two children.
Mr. Sutton is an ardent Republican, having been an old-line Whig, casting his first vote for General William H. Harrison. Mr. and Mrs. Sutton, with their family are mein bers of the Baptist Church, in which Mr. Sutton has been a Deacon for many years. This is a brief sketch of one of the most prominent families in the county, and we regret that space forbids a more extended notice of such a well known and influential family.
ENRY C. MEYER, a successful brick and tile manufacturer and ice dealer of Beardstown, Illinois, was born in West- phalia, Prussia, September 20, 1835. His parents were Henry C. and E. (Hildabrandt) Meyer. His father was an efficient soldier for fifteen years under the general command of the first Emperor William, when they were both young men. His father partici- pated in many active engagements, and was highly respected by his superior officers. In 1843, the family emigrated to the United States, arriving, after a voyage of fifteen weeks, in New Orleans, from which place they were nearly as long in reaching Evansville, In- diana, by the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. They settled in Knox county, Indiana, where, in 1857, the devoted wife and mother died. Some years later, the father came to Beards- town to visit his son, who had gone to that
place some time before. He subsequently died at his son's home in 1878, at the age of seventy years. He was a man of sterling qualities of mind and heart, and enjoyed, with his wife, the heartfelt esteem of all who knew thein. Both parents were devout members of the Evangelical church.
The subject of this sketch came to Beards- town in 1857, when a poor, young man, hav- ing at that time only $5 in his pocket. He cominenced, in a primitive manner, to work at his present business, moulding brick with his hands, which was then the usnal way. He was thus employed when the Civil war broke ont, and in 1861 he volnnteered his services to the Government, but the quota having been filled he was not accepted. He pur- chased his first land in that year, near Arenz- ville. By unremitting industry and careful economy, he gradually accumulated meaus, which he invested in the best improvements obtainable for the manufacture of brick aud tile, besides branching out in other direc- tions. He now makes about 1,000,000 brick and many thousand rods of tile annually, be- ing the largest manufacturer in that line in his county. He is also extensively engaged in the ice business, which he has successfuly conducted for the past twenty years, his ice houses now having a capacity of 12,000 tons. He has gradually added to his first purchase of land, until he now owns 1,000 acres of choice realty in Cass county; 900 of which are well improved and cultivated. and 300 being under his own management.
He was married about 1862, to Miss Mollie Boy, who was born and raised near Arenzville, of which vicinity her people were early and respected pioneers. Both of her parents are now dead. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer have had eight children, seven of whom sur- vive: Louis, who married Tilla Piehler;
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Elizabeth, wife of A. E. Cameron, a success- ful jeweler of Beardstown; Albert, assisting his father at home; Lydia, wife of Charles Lebkucher, a properous farmer of this county ; Mollie, Herold and Adalaide, living at home.
Politically, Mr. Meyer supports the issues of the Democratic party, and, while being 110 office seeker, takes an interest in all local and public affairs of importance.
Both he and his worthy wife are useful inembers of the Fourthi Evangelical Lutheran Church.
Mr. Meyer has not attained his success without earnest and persistent endeavor; wholly unaided, he has, by industry and economy, acquired his present prosperity ; while by upright dealings and uniform court- esy he has secured the universal esteem of his fellow men.
ON. ARTHUR A. LEEPER, attorney at law, Virginia, Illinois, was born at Chandlerville, Cass county, this State, August 21, 1855, son of William D. Leeper, a native of Edmonson county, Kentucky.
Rev. Robert Leeper, grandfather of Hon. Artlıur A. Leeper, is supposed to have been a native of Kentucky. He removed from that State to Illinois in 1829, and en- tered a tract of Government land, a portion of which is now included in the village of Chandlerville, being one of the first settlers there. He at once built a log house, and be- gan the improvement of his land. He erected the first gristmill ever built in that locality. He operated the mill, superintended the im- provement of his land, and resided there until his death.
William D. Leeper was twelve years old when his parents moved to Illinois. The
greater portion of the State was at that time unsettled, and deer, wild turkeys and other game were plentiful in this vicinity. It was long before the railroads entered this section of the country, and for many years Beards- town was the market and depot for supplies for miles around. He entered a tract of Gov- ernment land that joined his father's farm on the east, located on it at the time of his inar- riage, and passed his life there, dying in 1866. The maiden name of his first wife, mother of the subject of our sketch, was Mary Runyan. She was born in Kentucky, and died in 1857. His second wife, previously Maria Hermeyer, was born in Germany.
In the public schools of Chandlerville, Arthur A. received his early education. At the age of sixteen he entered Eureka College, and graduated with the class of 1874. He then entered the law department of Iowa University, graduating in 1875. Returning to Chandlerville, he opened an office and practiced his profession there until the fall of 1876, when he came to Virginia, where he has since practiced.
September 18, 1878, he married Eva Howe, a native of Ohio, and a daughter of Rufus and Eva (Miller) Howe. They have two chil- dren: Mabel and Alice.
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