USA > Illinois > Hancock County > Biographical review of Hancock County, Illinois : containing biographical and genealogical sketches of many of the prominent citizens of to-day and also of the past > Part 13
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Returning to Hamilton, Mr. Faught turned his attention to general agricul- tural pursuits after spending a few months at St. Joseph, Missouri. He has followed farming throughout his entire life and for many years was a prosperous agricultur- ist but has now put aside the more ardu- ous duties of the farm and has given his attention to gardening, in which he is doing a big business. He bought six lots in the Oakwood addition to Ham- ilton, where he has his residence and in the fall of 1904 he added three more lots. He has a good trade in garden products, placing upon the market many of the finest vegetables produced in this section of the country.
On the 2d of March, 1881. Mr. Faught was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Frances Nelson, who was born in Peoria. Illinois, November 8, 1859, and was edu- cated in the public schools of Quincy, Illi- nojs, and of Keokuk. Jowa. She also studied to be a nurse in the training
school in connection with the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk. . Her father, John S. Nelson, was born in Beardstown, Illinois, and married Phebe J. Turner, whose birth occurred in Cler- mont county. Ohio, October 21. 1841. while his natal day was January 22, 1829. In their family were nine children, four sons and five daughters. Mrs. Nelson, removing to the middle west. made the journey over the Ohio, Mississippi and Illinois rivers to Peoria in 1844 and since that time has made her home in Peoria and Hamilton, living in the latter city since 1870. She now makes hei home with Mr. and Mrs. Faught. By this mar- riage have been born a son and daugh- ter: Emmett Sanford, born April 9. 1882, is now living in Peoria, Illinois. Almeda May, born June 16. 1885. is the wife of John Seavers residing in San Francisco, California, a machinist on the battleships in the navy yard.
Since his return from the war Mr. Faught has resided continuously in Ham- ilton and is one of the oldest citizens here. having been brought to the county in pio- ncer times when a young lad. He is a member of the Freewill Baptist church, gives his political allegiance to the Repub- lican party and is a valued representative of the Grand Army Post.
JUDGE THOMAS COKE SHARP.
Judge Thomas Coke Sharp, deceased. left the impress of his individuality upon
HANCOCK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Hancock county as journalist, lawyer, his graduation from Judge Reed's schol county judge, a member of the state con- he was in April. 1840, matriculated in the Cumberland Law School. In September of the same year he came west and opened a law office in Warsaw, Illinois, which he successfully maintained until 1865. when he located in Carthage, where he resided umtil his death. stitutional convention of 1848, a leader in the movement against the Mormons and as advocate of railroad projects. Any one of these things would entitle him to mention among the representative citizens of this part of the state, while his com- bined labor made him a distinguished man. recognized as a leader of public thought and action.
Judge Sharp was born September 25. 1818, at Mount Holly, New Jersey. His father. Rev. Solomon Sharp, was born on the eastern shore of Maryland and was a noted pioneer Methodist minister of the Philadelphia conference. His mother was a member of the well known and promi- nent Budd family, of Pemberton, Burling- ton county, New Jersey. In his pastoral work Rev. Sharp was stationed at differ- ent times at Trenton, New Jersey, Phila- delphia, Wilmington, Delaware, and was also connected with the Salem circuit of New Jersey, the Christiana circuit of Del- aware, the Smyrna and the Dover circuits. after which he entered upon superannu- ated relations with the church, his death occurring within a short time.
Thomas Coke Sharp. after attending the common schools, entered Dickinson College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania, in 1835. and in 1837 became a student in the law school conducted by Judge Reed, of Car- lisle. He supported himself during the last eighteen months of his law course by teaching in the male high school, of which he took charge when twenty years of age. He was also teacher of mathematics for six months in Dickinson College in the ab- sence of one of the professors. Following
While in Warsaw. Judge Sharp's hear- ing became impaired, so that he gave up the practice of law for a few years or un- til 1858. He practiced for but a year in Warsaw, after which he became one of the proprietors of the Western World, his partner in the enterprise being James Gamble. The paper was published as a whig organ, but Mr. Sharp soon placed it upon a neutral political basis, for he was an advocate of Jacksonian democ- racy. In 18441 the name of the paper was changed to the Warsaw Signal. Al- though the two partners worked hard and faithfully they realized in 1842 that they could not raise the debt on the establish- ment and the paper passed again into the hands of its first proprietor. D. S. White.
It was in the same year, on the oth of September, 1842, that Judge Sharp Was married to Mrs. Hannah G. Wilcox, the widow of John R. Wilcox, one of the original proprietors of the town site of Warsaw. She was a most highly teemed lady, enjoying the warm regard of all who knew her. She had six chil- dren, one born of her first marriage and five of her marriage to Judge Sharp, but only two of the number are now living : Charles G., who resides in Shadron, Mis souri; and W. O. Sharp, who is repre- sented elsewhere in this work. The wife and mother passed away October 3. 1870
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About the time the Warsaw Signal suspended Judge Sharp decided to try farming, but soon realized that nature had never intended him for a tiller of the soil and he made arrangements to again resume the publication of the Warsaw Signal in 1844. He soon became widely known as a journalist whose articles of attack against the Mormons awakened wide-spread attention and aroused public opinion. The sect turned out upon him its vengeance and wrath and called him "Old Tom Sharp." His editorials in the Signal were extensively copied into other papers throughout the country. He was a forceful writer, earnest and fluent, and was unsparing in his attacks of the prin- ciples upon which the Mormon church was founded. Many reading these ar- ticles formed the opinion that Judge Sharp was a most aggressive man, full of the fighting spirit, but on the contrary he was most mild-mannered, of kindly nature and rather inclined to the conserva- tive in his opinions and judgments. It was only when he was aroused by some- thing that he believed to be wrong that he assumed the attitude of the antagonist and then he was unfaltering in support of whatever cause or course he believed to be right. In 1844. Joseph and Hiram Smith. the two prophets and leaders of the , chosen the first mayor of that city, which Mormon church, were killed and Judge Sharp, through the Signal, vindicated the anti-Mormons. Several attempts were made to indict him as one of the leaders in the assassination, but to no avail. He continued at the head of the Warsaw Signal until the fall of 1846 and in the Mormon war which followed the trouble between the orthodox Christians and the
followers of Smith he acted as an aide to General Singleton, who first had com- mand of the anti-Mormon troops, and after his retirement Judge Sharp occupied the same position on the staff of General Brockman. In the battle of Nauvoo he was sent with others to make a feint on the Mormon battery on the right, while the general at the head of the main force made a flank movement on the left. The feint executed. Judge Sharp, with his command, joined the main force and con-, veyed the orders that brought the first regiment into the fight, and in person led the second regiment up to the support of the exposed artillery, during which move- ment several of the men were wounded.
After the Mormons had been driven from the country Judge Sharp turned the Signal over to Thomas Gregg, and as his health had become impaired through the strain and hard work in the office he sought recuperation in outdoor interests. In the spring of 1847 he was elected a member of the constitutional convention with four others from Hancock county and assisted in framing the organic law of the state, which was adopted as the state constitution by a vote of the people in 1848. In 1851 he was elected justice of the peace of Warsaw and in 1853 was office he occupied for three consecutive terms and was again elected in 1858 and 1859, giving to the city a public-spirited administration, characterized by the it- most devotion to the public welfare along lines of material improvement and intel- lectual. legal and political progress. For fifteen months during the early '50s he also published a paper, neutral in politics,
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for the advancement of railroad projects and in this way contributed much to the upbuilding of the state. It has been said that railroads are the means of draining a new country of savagery and all acknowl- edge that rapid transportation is one of the chief elements in opening up a new district to commercialism and industrial- ism.
During the Mormon war Judge Sharp ceased to be a partisan democrat and in 1854. upon its organization, joined the Republican party, which he ardently and zealously supported from that time until his death. In 1856 he was nominated by the republicans of the then fifth district as a candidate for congress. He knew this to be an empty honor because of the strength of the democracy in his section of the state, but nevertheless made a strong canvass through the district, de- livering speeches in every county in sup- port of the principles which he upheld. In 1864 he began the publication of the Warsaw New Era at the request of the Union League of Hancock county, and conducted it for a year at that place, when leaders in public opinion desired that the paper be moved to Carthage because of more central location. In 1865 therefore the Carthage Gazette was established by F. E. Fowler. In the fall of the same year Judge Sharp was nominated by the republicans for the position of county judge and on being elected removed his family to the county seat. He held the office for four years and the court records show him to have been one of the ablest judges that have sat upon the bench. lle was repeatedly renominated but the dem- ocrats had regained their ascendency and
republican victories have since been few in Hancock county. On retiring from the bench he formed a partnership with H. W. Draper, with whom he continued in the practice of law for three years, and in December, 1860, when Mr. Fowler re- ceived a government appointment, Judge Sharp was urged to assume editorial con- trol of the Carthage Gazette, which he did. expecting. however, to remain con- nected with that paper for only a brief period. Hlis old interest in journalistic work. however, being revived. he pur- chased the office in 1870 and continued as proprietor of the Carthage Gazette until he turned it over to his son. W. O. Sharp. the present editor. In this period he had also continued in the practice of law and for many years was at the head of the law firm of Sharp & Berry Brothers, He remained in active life for many years and was widely known throughout the state as a journalist and as a leader in political circles. He also attained high rank at the bar and in citi- zenship stood for all that is progressive, for all that is opposed to misrule and for all that looks to the welfare of the coun- try before the aggrandizement of self. His efforts were again and again of direct and immediate serviceableness to the county. He continued active in the new's- paper field and at the bar until 1891. when he was stricken with paralysis. He lived for three years thereafter, passing away April 9. 1894, at the advanced age of sev enty-five years, his remains being interred in Moss Ridge cemetery. It is an impor tant public duty to honor and perpetuate as far as is possible the memory of an eminent citizen, one who by his blame
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less and honorable life and distinguished career reflected credit upon his city and his state. No man in Hancock county was ever more respected, more fully en- joyed the confidence of the people or de- served in larger measure such respect and confidence. In his lifetime the people of his city and county, recognizing his merit, rejoiced in his advancement and in the honors to which he attained and since his death they have cherished his memory.
MARTIN CONRAD ECHBOHM.
The financial and commercial history of Hancock county would be very incom- plete and very unsatisfactory without a personal and somewhat extended mention of those whose lives are interwoven so closely with its industrial and manufac- turing development and with its public interests. When a man or a select number of men have set in motion the machinery of business which materializes into a thon- sand forms of practical utility, or where they have carved out a fortune or a name from the common possibilities, open for competition to all, there is a public desire to know the results and the circumstances by which such results have been achieved.
The subject of this sketch finds a proper place in the history of those men of business and enterprise in Hancock county, whose force of character, whose sterling integrity, whose fortitude amid discouragements, whose good sense in the management of complicated affairs
and marked success in establishing and controlling industrial and commercial in- terests have contributed in an eminent degree to the development of the re- sources of this part of the state. His career has not been helped by accident, or luck, or wealth, or family, or power- ful friends. He is in the broadest sense of the term a self-made man, being both the architect and builder of his own for- tunes.
Mr. Echbohm was born in Leebeck, Germany, March 13, 1851, and there at- tended a public school until thirteen years of age, when he came to America on an old sailing vessel, which, after a voyage of thirteen weeks, dropped anchor in the harbor of New Orleans. He made the trip in company with his parents and from that city the family proceeded north- ward to Warsaw, Illinois, where Mr. Echbohm has since lived. His father was a ship carpenter in the old country and after coming to the United States em- barked in the grain business, in which he continued until his death, passing away in 1876. when sixty-two years of age. He was married in his native country to Miss Mary Woldebrand, who survived him until 1891. and died at the age of seventy-two years, when she was laid to rest by his side in Warsaw cemetery. They were the parents of three children : Martin C .: Charles, who died at the age of twenty-one years : and Rickey, the wife of Captain Frank Meyers, of Warsaw.
Mr. Echbohm well remembers the in- cidents of the voyage to the United States and the condition of things that confronted the family upon their arrival in Hancock county in 1864. His educa-
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tion completed. he entered upon a com- mercial career in the hay and grain busi- ness in connection with his father. This partnership was maintained until the father's death, and Mr. Echbohm was then alone in business for fifteen years thereafter. On the expiration of that period he retired from the hay and grain trade and became a merchant of Warsaw. since which time he has conducted a hard- ware and implement business, The en- terprise, of which he is now proprietor. was established by Fred and Henry Dross in Warsaw, about 1881, and was contin- ued by that firm until 1898, when the partnership was dissolved and the busi- ness divided. In the meantime Mr. Ech- bohm had become interested in the busi- ness and upon the dissolution of the part nership he purchased a new stock of im- plements and groceries and has since car- ried on business alone under his own name, dealing in hardware. implements and groceries. He carries a large and carefully selected stock suited to the varied tastes and needs of the general public'and has a liberal patronage, which has been given him in recognition of his honorable business methods and reason- able prices. He is a man of resourceful ability and has not confined his attention alone to one line but has extended his efforts into other fields of activity and commercial progress and prosperity have been stimmlated by his energy and keen discrimination. In 1886 he organized the Warsaw Pickle Company, capitalized for twenty-five thousand dollars and still in successful operation. At the beginning he became general manager and has since acted in that office. The plant has a ca-
pacity of sixty thousand bushels a year. In toor a tomato canning plant was added and the annual output of canned tomatoes is about twenty thousand cases. The works are situated in the village of War- saw and the company is officered by the following gentlemen : William Ballenger. president : F. C. Hlaslup. secretary and treasurer: and Mr. Echbohm. general manager. The last named was also or- ganizer of a cold storage business, which is conducted in connection with the pickle works and which has a capacity of two hundred thousand cases of eggs. This enterprise is one of the leading business concerns of the village, furnishing an ex- cellent market for local products and the quality of its output finds a ready sale on the market.
Had Mr. Echbohm done nothing for his city outside of business interests he would be entitled to representation among its leading men. He has, however, la- bored untiringly and effectively toward promoting its welfare in other ways and his fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and devotion to the public good have frequently honored him with office. He has served as aklerman of Warsaw for several terms and in 1901 was elected mayor, giving a practical and business- like administration that led to his re-elec- tion in 1902, again in 1904. and once more in 1905. so that he is now serving for the fourth term in that capacity.
On the 14th of October. 1873, Martin C. Echbohm was married to Miss Mary Schafer. a daugther of John and Eliza- beth Schafer. They have become the parents of a son and daughter. The for mer. Henry, died at the age of twenty-
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one years. Clara is now the wife of Charles Lockart, a resident of St. Paul, Minnesota. The parents are members of the Lutheran church, and Mr. Echbohm became a member of the Odd Fellows society in Warsaw, in which he has passed all of the chairs. Mr. and Mrs. Echbohm are prominent socially and the hospitality of their own home is greatly enjoyed by their many friends. In the prosperity of the city of his residence he has been an invaluable factor, no man having done more toward upbuilding the city of War- saw' than he, while his public spirit and his progressive ideas have been of ines- timable worth to the community. while to public enterprises and other efforts look- ing toward the advancement of his fellow citizens he contributes with an open hand and is the prime mover in most of them.
PARKHURST WARD CUTLER.
Parkhurst Ward Cutler resides on sec- tion 14. Carthage township, where he has a farm of four hundred acres of well improved land. He is a native of Fulton county, Illinois, born February 27. 1848. and came to Hancock county in 1853 with his parents, Nathan and Hannah Ward Cutler. His early education was acquired in the common schools of Han- cock county beginning in the old sub scription school. The father, a native of New York, was born at Holland, Eric county, near Buffalo, and there resided until nineteen years of age, when he re-
moved to Fulton county, Illinois, where he lived with his parents until after his marriage. He continued to reside in that county until 1853, the year of his arrival in Hancock county, where he engaged in general farming. He also purchased a tract of land in Fulton county, which he sold upon locating in Pilot Grove town- ship, where he also bought a farm of one hundred and fifty acres. A year later, however, he disposed of that property and removed to Carthage township, purchas- ing one hundred and seventy-three acres of good land on section 28. This he at once began to cultivate and improve, mak- ing it his home until his death and stic- cessfully carrying on general farming and stock-raising. He kept high grades of cattle, hogs and horses and both branches of his business proved profitable. His life was in harmony with his pro- fessions as a member of the Baptist church. He took a most active and help- ful interest in its work and served as deacon for many years, acting in that capacity at the time of his death, which occurred December 26, 1897. when he was seventy-eight years of age, his birth having occurred on the 10th of August. 1819. He was laid to rest in Moss Ridge cemetery at Carthage. and thus passed away a citizen whom to know was to re- spect and honor. His early political alle- giance was given to the democracy, but a few years prior to his death he joined the ranks of the Prohibition party and was an active worked for its principles. believing firmly in the cause of temper- ance. Upon the democratic ticket he was elected to the office of supervisor for two terms and he was a member of the
PARKHURST W. CUTLER
THE IS PUBLIC LIBRARY
ASTOR, LENOX TILDEN FOUNT . TIONS
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HANCOCK COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
school board for a number of years. In- machinery. Mr. Cutler is probably the tellectual and moral progress and all those interests which tend to uplift man- kind elicited his attention, approval and active support. His wife was born in Pennsylvania, and in her childhood days was taken to Fulton county, Illinois, by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Ward. . There she was reared and educated, living at home until her marriage. She passed away May. 1886. some years prior to the leath of her husband and her interment was also in Moss Ridge cemetery, at Carthage. Of the seven children of that union three are yet living. Francis M .. having died August 1, 1906. The others in childhood.
Parkhurst W. Cutler, whose name in- troduces this review. attended school in Carthage township and assisted in the work of the home farm through the period. of his boyhood and youth, remaining at home until his marriage, save for the time which he spent as a student in Central College, at Pella. Towa. His education completed, he started out in life for him- self, working in partnership with his father for one year and then purchasing one hundred and twenty acres of land on section 28. Carthage township. This was improved when it came into his possession and he made his home thereon for about a quarter of a century, carrying on gen- eral farming and stock-raising. lle then purchased his present farm in Carthage township, where he has lived for the past ten years. He has erected all of the build- ings here and has a model fan property. his land being divided into fields of con- venient size by well kept fences and cul- tivated with the aid of the latest improved
most extensive stock feeder in Carthage township, usually shipping two hundred fat cattle per year. He also was the first man in Carthage township to introduce thoroughbred Hereford cattle which he has handled extensively since 1886. He now has about one hundred head of reg- istered cattle, and has at the head of his herd a fine registered bull. Hle also has had imported animals. Fle was the owner of Britton. a son of Ancient Britton, the Chicago World's fair champion, while he was also a brother of the champion cow at the St. Louis exposition. He weighed 2,600 pounds. The majority of his herd now being descended from him. It is the largest herd in this county. He has been a successful exhibitor at different fairs.
On the 27th of February, 1871. Mr. Cutler was married to Miss Fannie G. Barker: a daughter of Judge Francis .1. and Catherine (Barker) Barker. The father's birth occurred near Poughkeepsie. in Dutchess county. New York. April 2. 1708, and in his nineteenth year he went to West Virginia, where he engaged in he removed to Morgan county, Ohio, teaching for about two years. In 1820 where he was married in 1827, and in Oc- tober. 1844, he went to Towa, settling on section 14. Gold township, Marion county. where he took up land from the govern- ment. Not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made thereon but he at once began its cultivation. In 1810 he
was elected probate judge of Marion county and was re-elected to the same of- fice in 1817, proving a capable officer. In 1803, owing to his advanced age and fail ing health, he disposed of the estate he had
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accumulated through years of toil and hardship and spent his remaining days in the city of Knoxville, dying at his resi- dence there. January 17. 1871, at the age of seventy-three years. He was the first probate judge of Marion county and also held at one time the position of clerk of the house of representatives of Iowa, while for two terms he was warden of the Iowa state prison. At an early epoch in the development of that state he was one of its most prominent, influential and best known citizens and his influence in behalf of public progress was far-reach- ing and beneficial.
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