Biographical review of Cass, Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois: Containing biographical sketches of pioneers and leading citizens, Part 40

Author: Illinois bibliography; Genealogy bibliography
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Review Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 648


USA > Illinois > Brown County > Biographical review of Cass, Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois: Containing biographical sketches of pioneers and leading citizens > Part 40
USA > Illinois > Cass County > Biographical review of Cass, Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois: Containing biographical sketches of pioneers and leading citizens > Part 40
USA > Illinois > Schuyler County > Biographical review of Cass, Schuyler and Brown Counties, Illinois: Containing biographical sketches of pioneers and leading citizens > Part 40


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OHN DIRREEN, ex-Sheriff of Cass county, was born in Virginia precinct, Cass county, Illinois, July 29, 1840. He is one of the representative men of his


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county, and as such merits biographical men- tion in this work. Briefly given, a review of his life is as follows:


While tradition says that the Dirreen fam- ily originated in France, their ancestry is traced back only to the grandfather of John Dirreen, who was born in Ireland. Three of his children came from the Emerald Isle to America, and located as follows: John set- tled in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he was a customhouse official upwards of forty years, at the end of that time retiring on half-pay. He died there, aged ninety-three years. Michael bought a farm in New York State, and still resides on it. Edward Dirreen was born in county Callan, Ireland, and was there reared. He came to America when a young man and settled in Philadelphia, where he married. He subsequently moved to St. Louis, and from there came to Cass county, Illinois, about 1835, settling in Vir- ginia precinct. Here he entered a tract of Government land, four miles from the site of the present courthouse, and built the log cabin in which the subject of our sketch was born. At that time the country was thinly settled and deer and wild turkey were plenty in this region. The whistle of the locomo- tive had not sounded here, and Beardstown was the market seat for the surrounding country. In 1855 he sold his farin and bonght another in the same locality, where he resided until his death. His widow, whose maiden name was Jane Henphey, still re- sides on the old homestead. They were the parents of seven children: Catherine, Eliza, Alice, John, Richard, Edward and Michael. Eliza and Richard are deceased.


John Dirreen received his education in the primitive log schoolhouses of his native county. As soon as he was old enough he assisted his father on the farm, remaining


under the parental roof until he was twenty- one. He was then employed for three years by others, at the end of which time he en- gaged in farming on his own account. In the fall of 1877, on account of the ill health of his wife, he went to Texas, remaining there till Jannary, 1878, when he returned to Illi- nois. That spring he was made a Deputy Sheriff, and has been connected with the office of Sheriff continuously since. In 1886 he was elected Sheriff, and served one term, which is the limit prescribed by law. At the expiration of his term he was again ap- pointed deputy, which position he still holds.


Mr. Dirreen was married in 1871, to Mary Cunningham, a native of Kentucky, and a daughter of George and Maria (Lind- sey) Cunninghanı, natives of Scotland and Kentucky respectively. Mrs. Dirreen died in February, 1878, and in November, 1886, he married Alice Burrows. By his first wife he has one daughter. Josephine, and by the second, a son, Edward.


Mr. Dirrcen is a member of Virginia Lodge, A. O. U. W.


ILLIAM JOCKISCH, a retired farmer, of Beardstown, was born in Liepsic, Saxony, Germany, in 1829. His parents, Carl G. and Eliza (Jacob) Jock- isch, were born in Saxony. Mr. Jockisch, Sr., was a farmer and distiller for some years before he and his family embarked for the United States in 1834. They went to New Orleans, and then worked their way up the Mississippi river to St. Louis, and there the inother died at the birth of her tenth child. Mr. Jockisch was left with his sınall children to make the rest of the trip alone. He stopped in Cass county for some time, and


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then was married a second time to Mrs. Christina Long, of Germany. Mr. Jockisch dicd in this county, and his wife followed him some ten years later. They were at first Lutherans, and later Methodists.


William Jockisch is the youngest but one of nine children that grew to maturity. Two of his brothers are in the same county. He began farming at an early age, and by his good management has amassed a small for- tunc, which he now enjoys in retirement in his comfortable and pleasant home on the corner of Sixtli and Edwards streets. He owns 300 acres of good, tillable land, be- sides other lands which lie southwest of Beardstown. The building of the railroad has aided him greatly in making his fortune, as much of the land he owned was increased by the building of the road.


He was married to Elizabeth Rohn, of Beardstown, Illinois. She was born in 1839, in Beardstown, and lived there till 1855. She was the daughter of John and Catharine (Sticr) Rohn, of Hesse-Darmstadt. They came to the northwest early in life, and were married in Beardstown. Mrs. Rohn is still living, and is nearly eighty-nine years of age. Mr. Rohn was a plasterer by trade, and was the proprietor of the ferry at Beardstown at the time of his death. He was a Repub- lican in politics, and a Lutheran in religion.


Mrs. Jockisch is the eldest of four children. Mr. and Mrs. Jockisch have had seven chil- dren, two of whom are dead. Mary A. and Rosena A. Those living are: Elizabeth, now the wife of J. T. Brines, a farmer in Schuyler county; J. Victor, at home, and clerking for Phil Kuhl; Anna A., now Mrs. Cad Allard (see biography); Rosa, now Mrs. Dr. J. C. Henny, of Beardstown, the leading dentist; Rudolph, deputy clerk in the post office of Beardstown. The children have all been


well educated. They are all members of the Methodist Church, of which Mr. Jockisch lias bech Trustee for four years, and a mem- ber of the building committee of the new church that has just been erected.


Mr. Jockisch is one of the promoters and a director of the First National Bank of Beardstown, as well as one of the heaviest stockholders in the same. He was appointed Public Administrator in and for the county of Cass September 13, 1892. He is a worthy citizen of this thriving place, and as he has lived in the county since his fourth year, and in the town for the last twenty years, he is one of the pioneers of the place and is a pio- neer of whom Illinois may well be proud.


ENRY VENTRES was born in Smith county, Tennessee, January 25, 1812. His parents, Asa and Nancy (Wake- field) Ventres, were of Welsh and English ancestry respectively. The former was born December 24, 1793, and the latter was born about the same time. Soon after the war of 1812, in which he was a soldier, he located in St. Clair county, Illinois, where he died about 1818.


Henry was the eldest of a family of four children, three of whom are still living. He learned the brick-making trade in early inan- hood, and worked at that and brick-laying up to the time he came to Illinois, and has engaged in it since coming to this State. Coming to Illinois at such an early date, the family have witnessed a wonderful growth in the country. The Black Hawk band was located on Rock river, and frequently infested the settlers. Mr. Ventres has held the vari- ous township offices, and given satisfaction in every one. He settled on his present


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farm in 1834, and is one of the oldest settlers of the county. There was only an occasional log cabin in the county. The land which he took up was a military tract, which he pur- chased, consisting of 160 acres of land, to which he has added forty acres since.


He was married in Monroe county, Ken- tucky, to Miss Elizabeth Jones, January 27, 1833. In 1883 they celebrated their golden wedding, and are looking forward to the cele- bration of a diamond one. They have had nine children, of whom five are still living, namely: William C., a miller and merchant, located in Kansas; Ophelia, now Mrs. A. R. Marshall, of Gove county, Kansas: her hus- band is a farmer and stock-raiser; Sarah, now Mrs. T. Shippy, of Plymouth, Illinois: her husband is a teacher by profession; Lucy A., now Mrs. Beck, of Pueblo, Colorado: her husband is a merchant; Walter Maro resides on a farm adjoining his father's: he married Miss Maggie Diamond. Mr. and Mrs. Ven- ters have been consistent members of the Christian Church for sixty years. Mr. Ven- ters has been a life-long Democrat, but is disgusted with both the old parties. He has been a man of exemplary habits, not using any kind of intoxicants or tobacco in any form. Mr. and Mrs. Venters are comfort- ably situated, and are enjoying the fruits of their early labors.


RS. SALLIE (BRYANT) LUT- TERELL, of section 9, Browning township, was born in Virginia in 1792. She is the oldest person in Schuyler county, and there are very few in the State who can boast of being 100 years old. Should she live until the 25th of June she will be 100 years old. She came to Schuyler county


in 1830, and has been a resident of the county ever since. Her husband, Shelton Lutterell, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and fought at the battle of Horse Bud and various other points. They were married November 13, 1813, and their married life lasted for sixty- nine years, four months and seventeen days, when Mr. Lutterell died, in the house where his widow still resides. He was born May 12, 1794. They were among the first settlers of Browning township, where Mr. Lutterell owned a farmn. Mrs. Lutterell's parents were natives of Patrick county, Virginia. Mrs. Lutterell raised a family of twelve children, and she has survived all but three of them,- Sarah Skiles, Nancy Wright and Ollie Thorn- ton. Mrs. Lutterell has lived with her daugh- ter, Mrs. Thornton, since the death of her husband. Mr. Thornton, the husband of her daughter, was born in Jackson county, Ten- nessee, September 10, 1819, and he was the son of Felix and Celctha (Holly) Thornton. They were born and reared to maturity in Raleigh, North Carolina, but came to this county in 1829, and located on a farm near Mr. Lutterell's. They had five sons and the same number of daughters, but only five of them are living. Mr. Thornton was married in Browning township, June 23, 1844, to Miss Ollie Lutterell. They have eight chil- dren, but only four are living: William I., deceased; Sarah C., wife of John Flemming, and lives in Browning village; Delilah J., deceased; Patsy Ann, wife of David Stead- man, and lives in Browning township; Mar- tha Ellen married William Thornton, and lives in the same place; John A. lives in Browning. Two children died in infancy. A grandson, Chester R., lives with his grand- mother.


Mrs. Lutterell's father was a John Bryant, and was the son of another John Bryant.


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Her mother was Judy Wentfrey. She is a member of the Christian Church, as are Mr. and Mrs. Thornton, and she has been one for fifty years. Mr. Thornton has been a resi- dent of the township for sixty-three years, and he has seen many wonderful changes take place in the county. He has traveled in the States of Kentucky, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Illinois. He has always been a farmer by occupation. He is a Democrat in politics, and his sons are Democrats in their political views.


VERTON PARKE, a substantial farmer and influential citizen of Woodstock township, Schuyler county, Illinois, was born in Brown county, of the same State, October 8, 1841. His parents were Perry and Mary (Logsdon) Parke. (See sketch of Perry and Joseph Logsdon for history of the Logs- dons.) They were both natives of Kentucky, and came to Illinois at an early day, and still reside in Woodstock township, near the home of our subject.


The subject of our sketch was reared on the home farm and attended the country schools of his district during the winters. He re- mained at home until he was twenty years of age, assisting his father and going to school, when, on August 11, 1862, he enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Fifteenth Illinois Infantry, serving in the Civil war un- til its close, with the exception of a few weeks, during which he was in the hospital at Louisville, Kentucky. With the excep- tion of these few weeks he served with his regiment through every skirmish and battle until the great conflict was over. After the war he returned to his home in Schuyler county, where he rented a farm for a year, 24


wlien, in the fall of 1866, he was married to Miss Rosanna C. Reddick. She was a native of Woodstock township, Schuyler county, Illinois, where she was born April 25, 1851, her parents being pioneers and prominent people of this county, viz .: John J. and Mary (Clark) Reddick. (See sketch of John Clark for history of Clark family.) John J. Red- dick was a son of Jonathan Reddick, and came to this county with his parents when he was only about one or two years of age. His parents came from Kentucky about 1830 and located in Schuyler county, being among the earliest settlers of that county, where they resided until their death. They were among the most prominent and successful agricult- urists of their vicinity, and highly respected by all who knew them. It is on their home- stead that our subject now resides, which is one of the finest farms in the country, well improved with substantial house and large barns for grain and stock, while the land is highly cultivated, and supplied with all the modern machinery and appliances for the sowing and harvesting of their products. But, immediately after his marriage, Mr. Parke had no such splendid home, living for several years on a part of his father's farm, which he rented. He and his wife resided here until the death of her parents, since when they have lived in the present home, which through the energy and enterprise of our subject has been greatly improved, and which comprises, at the present writing, more than 300 acres of the finest agricultural land in the country.


Mr. and Mrs. Parke have had eleven chil- dren, five of whom are now living, viz .: John E., Maggie A., Elizabeth, Nettie C. and Rosanna C.


Politically Mr. Parke is a Republican, and ever since his first vote for General U. S. Grant he has voted the straight Republican


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ticket. He is a member of the G. A. R. Post at Rushville, Illinois. He and his estimable wife are members of the church, for the cause of which they are earnest workers, as, indeed, they are in every worthy cause. Both are ardently interested in the advancement and welfare of their county and the country at large, and both enjoy alike the respect and esteem of the community in which they live.


RANCIS MARION STOUT, a large land-owner of Mount Sterling, was born near Georgetown, Scott county, Ken- tucky, January 29, 1823. His ancestors were Englishı, his great-grandfather coming from England, settling in New Jersey at a very early date. His grandfather, Eli Stout, came from New Jersey to Kentucky at the begin- ning of the present century. He journeyed down the Ohio river, exposed to considerable danger from the Indians, on the banks of the stream. He was a pioneer of Fayette county, Kentucky, and died in Owen county, same State. Isaac Stout, father of subject, was born in Scott county, Kentucky, where he was reared, educated and married. The latter event occurred when he led to thie altar Miss Lydia Baxter, native of the same State. He died in Leesburg, Harrison county, Kentucky, of cholera, in 1833, his wife liav- ing died a few days previous.


Francis M. Stout was the oldest of four children, and was only ten years old when his parents died. He was reared by his paternal grandfather and grew to manhood in Scott county, Kentucky, and in Owen county where he attended the subscription schools, and high schools, at Owenton, Kentucky. In 1844 he came to Illinois, landing in Brown


county in June of that year. He first taught school a few years and then began the pot- tery business, in Ripley, in which lie con- tinued for over thirty years. He also em- barked in mercantile pursuits and continued in that busines for about the same length of time. He has now retired from these pur- suits and resides on his fine farin in Ripley, where he is a large landowner.


Mr. Stout was married, the first time to Margaret Alexander, native of Tennessee, and this event took place December, 1846. This wife died, September, 1851, and in January, 1853, he married Nancy C. Alex- ander, a sister of his first wife, who has proven herself a good, faithful wife.


Mr. Stout cast his first vote for Zachary Taylor, and has been a Republican since the formation of the party. He is a devout fol- lower of the teachings of Alexander Camp- bell.


This gentleman is a representative citizen of this part of the great State of Illinois, and he cujoys the respect and esteem of all his neighbors and friends.


OSEPH L. COSNER, one of the lead. ing merchants of Virginia, was born on a farın in Philadelphia precinct, Cass county, Illinois, June 26, 1855. Of his life and ancestry we record the following facts:


Thomas Jefferson Cosner, his father, was born in Lincoln county, North Carolina, July 31, 1815, son of Henry Cosner, who is sup- posed to liave been a native of the same State. The latter was a blacksmith by trade, at which lie worked in Lincoln county till about 1830, when he went to Indiana, being accompanied by his wife and six children, camping along the way and being six weeks in making the


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journey. He became one of the early settlers of Monroe county; bought a claim and en_ tered a tract of Government land two and one-half miles west of Mt. Tabor. There was a log house on the place and a garden spot cleared. He worked at liis trade, devoted his spare time to the improvement of his land, and lived there until his deatlı. The maiden name of his first wife, grandmother of Joseph L., was Elizabeth Isahower. She was born in North Carolina, and died in Monroe county, Indiana. She reared seven children, viz .: Elizabeth, Sally, Joseplı, Thomas J., Andrew, Lewis and Maria. Thomas J. was fifteen years old when his parents moved to Indiana, and he remained there with his father till 1836, when, in company with his brother-in- law, Martin Goble, he came to Illinois, mak- ing the journey by team. Here he was em- ployed at farm work, first receiving $9 per month, and later $13. He continued to work for one man, Jacob Epler, the greater part of the time for a dozen years. He then purchased 120 acres of raw prairie land, built a small frame dwelling, and commenced housekeeping. IIe was successful as a farmer, bought other lands, and is now the owner of 436 acres, all in township 17. He erected a good set of frame buildings on his farm, and continued his residence there, with the exception of short periods spent in Virginia, until 1887, when he removed to Virginia, and now lives retired. He was married in 1850, to Emily (Stevenson) Beard, who was born one mile from Lexington, Fayette county, Kentucky, December 20, 1827. Her father, Thomas Stevenson, is supposed to have been a native of the same county, his father having been a pioneer of Fayette county, where he spent his last years. Thomas Stevenson spent his life on a farm, and died near Lexington in 1831. The maiden name of his wife was


Lucy Wyatt, she being a native of Kentucky and a danghter of Walter Wyatt. Her father was a Virginian by birth. He was one of the pioneers of Fayette county, and from there, in 1835, moved to Illinois, settlingon Indian creek in Morgan county, where he bought land, improved a farın, and resided there till his death. The maiden name of his wife was Julia Bliss. She, too, was a native of Vir- ginia, and died in Morgan county, Illinois. After the death of Mr. Wyatt slie was mar- ried to John Creel, and came to Illinois in 1837, settling ten miles northeast of Jackson- ville, where she resided till her death. The mother of onr subject was ten years old when she came to Illinois with her parents, and re- members well the incidents of the overland journey and of pioneer life here. She assisted her mother in the household duties when quite young, and learned to card, spin and weave. After the death of her mother she went to live with her sister, with whom she made her home until her seventeenth year, when she was married to Maston Beard. He was a fariner of Morgan county, and died there. The parents of Mrs. Cosner are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, They reared seven children, viz .: John T. and Jacob deceased; Henry, Joseph L., Lucy, George and Mollie.


Joseph L. Cosner was reared on a farm. He attended the district school a portion of each year, and subsequently advanced liis edu- cation by a two years' course at Virginia. In 1874 he commenced his mercantile career as a elerk in the store of William B. Payne, and clerked five years. In 1879 he started for the gold fields of Colorado; prospected and mined about a year; had little success in finding gold, and returned home and engaged in farming. A year later he formned a part- nership with J. J. Bergen, with whom he was


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associated in the mercantile business three years, after which the partnership dissolved. He then bought out the firm of Bergslesser & Jones, and has since conducted business alone. He carries an extensive stock of dry goods, clothing, hats, boots and shoes, fancy goods, etc., and does a large business.


Mr. Cosner has an inherent love for fine horses, and, in company with his brother George, is engaged in breeding the same.


He was married June 26, 1888, to Mary Gale Armentrout, who was born in Rood- house, Illinois, daughter of Adam C. and S. E. Armentrout. She departed this life January 8, 1892, at the age of twenty-five years, six months and twenty-two days. Mrs. Cosner was a member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church.


ARTHA J. HARBISON, the esti- inable lady whose biography it is our pleasure to present to our readers, was born in Greenbriar county, Virginia, November 29, 1844, daughter of John and Emily (Milliner) Mason. The former born in Virginia, came West in 1853, by wagon and boat, landing at Keokuk, Iowa. There he obtained teams and went to Mount Pleasant, where he only remained a short time, and then came to Illinois, by teamn, settling where his daughter now lives. He bought 120 acres of wild timber land, on which he built a log-house, and there the family lived for many years, then sold and then rented and finally removed to Kansas, where he now re- sides. The subject's mother died in Mis- souri, wlien about seventy years of age, hav- ing been a native of Virginia, also. All the family on both sides were farmers, as far as can be discovered, except one member of the


family, who operated a woolen mill in Vir- ginia. Mrs. Harbison's grandfather, Milli- ner, was in the war of 1812.


Our subject remained at home until her inarriage, which occurred September 23, 1863. After marriage her husband settled on the farm where she now resides in a fine brick residence that her husband built prior to his death, which occurred August 28, 1890. Mr. Harbison was born September 5, 1837, brother of Moses Harbison (see sketch). Mr. and Mrs. Harbison had four children, one of whom they lost, a daughter, Dolly, at the age of one year and six months. The living ones are: John W., born August 16, 1864, at home renting the old farm, married to Maggie Smith, in 1889. She was born February 26, 1871, daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Lindsay) Smith. They have one child, James, born October 10, 1890. Mrs. Harbison's second child, Ella M., was born July 9, 1867, aud married Frank Wood, February, 1890, have one girl, Lena, born March 8, 1891. The third child, Ida F., was born February 24, 1870, and she married Fred Lippert, and they have one child, Ernest E., born March 16, 1891.


Mr. and Mrs. Harbison were members of the Christian Church and all the family are church people. The son, James, is a strong Democrat. This lady is one of the best known and well liked in the county and well deserves a place in these pages.


EUBEN LANCASTER was born on a farm twelve miles north of George- town, Kentucky, June 14, 1842. His father, Lewis Lancaster, was a native of same locality, and his grandfather, Reuben Lancas- ter, for whom the subject of our sketch was


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named, was born in the State of Virginia, was reared and inarried in the Old Dominion and from there removed to Kentucky, locat- ing in Scott county, where lie purchased a tract of timber land, and out of the wilder- ness developed a fine farm. At the time of lis settlement on it there were no railroads in Kentucky, and Cincinnati, sixty miles dis- tant, was the nearest market and depot for supplies. Lewis Lancaster was reared to agricultural pursuits. After rcaching his majority lie bought a tract of partially cleared land near the old liome, and at the time of his deatlı, which occurred in September, 1852, had amassed quite a fortune in lands and negrocs. His wife, Jane Mallory, was born in Scott county, Kentucky, the daughter of Charles and Mary Mallory, and died in Au- gust, 1852, about one month prior to tlie death of lier linsband, leaving seven children: Eliza, John, Bettie, Reuben, Thomas, James and Sylvester.


After the death of his parents, the subject of our sketch lived with an uncle, Abram Mallory, one year after that with another uncle, Green Mallory, three years. He then chose as his guardian Aaron Dills, of Har- rison county, Kentucky, with whom he lived until September, 1861, when he enlisted as a private in Company B, Sixth Kentucky Cav- alry, in the service of the Union. In 1864, he was commissioned Captain of liis com- pany, and remained in command until after the close of the war. He participated in the battles of Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, siege of Atlanta and all of the principal en- gagements of the Army of the Cumberland After the surrender of Lee, he was detached with his company to capture Jefferson Davis, and was only five miles distant when the rebel chieftain was captured, and saw him taken into Macon, Georgia, a prisoner. Captain




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