Documents and biography pertaining to the settlement and progress of Stark County, Illinois : containing an authentic summary of records, documents, historical works and newspapers, Part 41

Author: Leeson, M. A. (Michael A.)
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Chicago : M.A. Leeson
Number of Pages: 710


USA > Illinois > Stark County > Documents and biography pertaining to the settlement and progress of Stark County, Illinois : containing an authentic summary of records, documents, historical works and newspapers > Part 41


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George Harrey, born in 1803, settled in Ohio in 1834, and in Stark county, Illinois, in 1850. His death took place Angust 14, 1884.


John Hawkes, son of John and Margaret (Robinson) Hawkes, was born near Valley Forge, Chester county, Pennsylvania. February 27. 1834. This father was a farmer of that county, and was born in the same house where Capt. Hawkes first saw light. Ilis grandfather, John Hawkes, who is credited with Revolutionary service, was de-


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scended from Adam Hawkes, who settled in Massachusetts in 1640, where many of the family still reside, and the old homestead still remains in their possession. This branch of the Hawkes family made a settlement in York State prior to moving into Pennsylvania. The Robinsons were among the early Irish or Scotch-Irish settlers of the Quaker faith in the Susquehanna country. Capt. Hawkes moved with his parents to Philadelphia about 1839. There his father died, leaving his son to hew out his course through life. After working on a farm for some time he learned the carpenters trade. In 1854 he came to Wyoming, and in 1857 married Miss Augusta E., daughter of Edward and Huldah ( Hammond) Colburn. In 1861 he enlisted in Company K. 47th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, was advanced gradually from private to Second-lieutenant, and received honorable discharge on account of disability in April, 1864. He resided in Knox county the succeeding two years, moved to Galva, where he lived until 1869, when he re- turned to Wyoming and established his hardware and agricultural implement store. This he carried on alone until 1875, then he took ni as partner W. H. Barrett, and did business under the firm name of Hawkes & Barrett until 1883, since which time he has devoted his attention to settling up the business of the firm. His children are Lillian, wife of Alfred N. Walters, residing near Kearney, Neb .; Kate Estelle, a graduate of Carroll College, Waukesha, Wis., and John De W., a student of the same college. now of Beloit College, Wis. Mr. II. was one of the original members of the Congregational churchi of Wyoming. of De Wolf Post, and Post Chaplain, also a member of the Oddfellow's Lodge, and a member of the Encampment. Ile has always given ready support to all agricultural measures, and is classed among the most active members of the Republican party. A reference to the history of Wyoming and Toulon townships will point ont the part he has taken in social and political matters. His recent nomina- tion to succeed Orlando Brace as County Treasurer is an enviable testi- monial. Ilis election followed as a consequence, and in December. 1886, he moved to the County Seat. The name is associated with many of the modern buildings of Wyoming, and of the county. as architect, the school, Congregational church and fair bniklings there being built after his plans.


William H. Henderson was born in Garrard county, Ky., November 16, 1793, of which state his parents were among the pioneers. In 1812 he enlisted in Col. Johnson's " Kentucky Mounted Riflemen," and with this command was present at the battle of the Thames, in Canada, October 5. 1813. where he aided in crushing Proctor's entire English army and Indian auxiliaries. After this campaign, he moved to Dover, Tenn , where he married Miss Lucinda Wimberly in JJanuary, 1816. He was elected sheriff there, and filled others positions until 1823. when he moved to what is now Haywood county, Tenn., of which he was first recorder. Here his wife died. at Brownsville, and here also his parents died. In 1835, he was senator in the State Legis- lature, which position he resigned in 1836, and on July 2d of that vear settled on the Leek claim south of Toulon. In spirit he was an Illinois man prior to that year, for in 1831 he selected lands near


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Ottawa, on Indian creek, and in 1832 sent on his father, mother, his son, John W., his wife's two brothers, and Robert Norris, a hired man, to improve this claim, intending to move there himself the next vear, but the Black Hawk war, the murder of Robert Norris, and the dispersion of the family dissuaded him from settling there. No sooner was he settled here than the pioneers realized his value, and looked up to him for political guidance. His house was a hospitable refuge for judges, lawyers, preachers, and all classes of travelers. and, until the court-house at Toulon was completed, might be called the "County Court-house of Stark." In 1845, he took the census of Stark county, and with the sum realized from this labor purchased a horse to com- plete a team for the transfer of his Family to Johnson county, Ia., where he settled in November of that year. Like many patriots of the revolution and of 1812, he was too unselfish to amass riches; in business, enterprise carried him too far; but in social honor he was always right, and with a name for honor he died January 27. 1864. Mrs. Sarah Murphy ( Howard) Henderson, to whom he was married November 6, 1823, was born in Sampson county, N. C., September 15, 1804. To his first wife three children were born; Mary A., who died in 1834. JJohn D. and Wilham P. were intimately connected with the early progress of Illinois. To his second wife, one daughter and five sons were born ; the former died in infancy, while the sons -- Thomas J., Henry C., Stephen II., Daniel W., and James A. - lived to become leading citizens of this county and district.


John W. Henderson came to Stark county with his father in 1836, and was here married by Jonathan Miner to Miss Mary Perry. Octo- ber 25. 1840. This lady died some years later. He subsequently married Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. Butler, of Wyoming, and settled at Cedar Rapids, Ta., of which state his brother, William P., is also a resident.


Henry C. Henderson, who married Miss Ianthe Fuller, of Elmira, in 1850, was clerk in the United States Treasury department from 1849 to 1852. The year after, he moved to Rock Island. and in 1856, to Marshalltown, Ia., of which state he was senator in 1863. and a Republican presidential elector in 1864. Tle has the reputation of being as able a lawyer as he is a politician.


Stephen HI. Henderson, now a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, was a member of the Illinois bar. In 1862, he entered Com- pany A, Twenty-fourth Jowa Infantry, and was promoted colonel of the Forty-fourth lowa Infantry. After the war he resumed his minis- terial work. Daniel W., his brother, served as lieutenant in the Twenty-second Iowa Infantry ; was wounded at Port Gibson.


Jumex A. Henderson, whose name occurs in almost every chapter of the General History, was also a soklier, serving in Company K, Forty-seventh Illinois Infantry. His first wife was Miss Burdell Turner, of Hennepin, a grand-daughter of Capt. Butler, of Wyoming. In later years he married Miss Frank Dewey, of Toulon, who survives him.


Mrs. Ann Heywood, the second child of Edmund and Alice (How- arth) Wrigley, was born October 26, 1819 and remained at her father's


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home in England until twenty-six years of age. Her early life was spent as a mill operative, when she was married to Thomas Heywood, the son of John and JJane Heywood. He was born at Heywood, Eng- land, in the year 1820, where his father was a manufacturer of cotton. The family was one much interested in religions affairs, John Heywood establishing the first Sunday school in the town, and when he died had been a member of the Methodist church for fifty years. He was eighty-four at the time of his death. His wife also died at an ad- vanced age. ( Vide history of Wrigley family.)


Thomas Heywood learned the carpenter's trade and at the age of twenty-six, was married to Miss Ann Wrigley. For some eleven years after, they remained in England and then emigrating to America, set- tled at Wyoming in 1856, where Mr. Heywood continued his trade. Ilere his home was made, keeping his business improved with the times until 1863, when they removed to a farm in Penn township, where, after but five days of illness, he died in 1868, in his forty-ninth year. Ile had been a prominent member of the Methodist church from boy- hood and an ardent worker in the temperance cause, having been a member of the Reccabite society, a temperance organization in Eng- land. At the time of his decease, he had just been admitted to a mem- bership in the masonic fraternity. For thirteen years after her hus- band's death, Mrs. II. remained upon the farm. In 1881 she returned to Wyoming, where she has since resided. The family consisted of seven children, Jennie, Mrs. B. F. Rockhold, of Bradford ; Edward, died from the effects of a fall while engaged in sport, breaking his back in two places. He was twenty-two years of age. Emma, who married W. M. Pilgrim, of Bradford, is deceased; Thomas, a farmer of Penn township; Alice, Mrs. G. E. Scott, of Penn township ; Annie M. and Mary E., both teachers in the Wyoming schools. Mrs. Hey- wood and all her children are members of the Congregational church, and a family that stand high in the esteem of all.


Richard Hight, son of George and Anna (Malloy) Hight, was born at Lick Ridges, Huntingdon county, Pa., June 26, 1837. At the age of seventeen years, Mr. Hight visited Springfield, Ill., returned to Penn- sylvania, walking from Pittsburg to his home -forty-one miles - in one day ; but in 1854 resolved to make the west his home, and set- tled in Stark county. From 1854 to 1857 he worked here by the month. In 1858 he ventured farming for himself, but this first venture was unsuccessful on account of the June and September frosts. He soll his corn crop on the field for $48, moved to Mossville, engaged in hanling wood and boarding choppers, earned enough that winter to make a second venture, and returned to Stark in 1859. In 1864 he purchased eighty acres of the Beekwith farm in Penn township, from Scott & Wrigley, in 1867 added another eighty acre tract and in 1883 purchased 160 acres from Ansil Sims. This last purchase he sold in 1884 to the Parker brothers; bought his present town house in 1884, and in 1886 purchased five acres in Wyoming. On coming here in 1857 he married Miss Ann, a daughter of Daniel and Mary Bunnell, pioneers of Penn township, who came here from the Wyoming Valley in 1846. This lady was born in Wyoming county, Pa., in 1840, and


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accompanied her parents to Stark county, III. They are the parents of one son and four danghters Irene, wife of Charles Ingram, of Wyoming ; Minnie, wife of James Hless ; Eva, wife of Daniel Docken- dorf, of Iowa; Clarence, a farmer on the homestead, married Miss Lizzie Stansbury, of Brimfiekl, and Ella, residing at home. In 1875 the family moved to Wyoming where Mr. Ilight purchased the brick cottage or Dana cottage, opposite the Truax House. He has served as township collector in Penn and for sixteen years was school director of distriet No. 9 there. For each of his children he provided a good education, and has always been a strong supporter of the common school system. le relates with manly pride that on coming here he expended his last twenty-five cents for breakfast at Henry.


William Holgate, son of the late JJames Holgate, was born on the " Ilolgate homestead " April 15, 1844. He received a practical educa- tion in the school of the district, and at the age of eighteen years, August, 1862, enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Twelfth Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry, followed the fortunes of that command for three years, and received an honorable discharge in July, 1865. Re- turning to his home he followed agricultural life until 1876, when he purchased the interests of W. M. Miner & Co., and engaged in the banking business at Wyoming, conducting the Farmer's Bank there until 1882, when he organized the First National Bank of Wyoming, and was its president until it ceased business under that name. On January 8, 1885, he was married to Miss Charlotte A., daughter of Alexander Kissinger, a worthy old settler of Penn Township, and among the Swiss pioneers of the county. the lady herself being a na- tive of that township. They are the parents of three children-Car- rie, Cora M. and Katie C. Mr. Holgate is a member of De Wolf Post. G. A. R., of the blue lodge at Wyoming since the war, and of the chapter. He was a member of the Stark County Agricultural Society, and one of the original stockholders in the Central Agricultural Soci- ety. The task before him of filling his father's place in the economy of the county is a difficult one, but not beyond the ability of the son to accomplish (vide history of Holgate family and settlement in chapter on Penn Township.)


George E. Holmes was born in Philadelphia, Pa., January 8, 1840. Ilis father. Robert, was born in Antrim County, Ireland, September 13, 1813, and his grandfather George was also a native of that county, and married Rose Pearson there. The mother of George E., was born in Tyrone County, in May, 1810. Grandfather Hohnes and family came to Philadelphia about 1836, and worked at the tailor's trade there. Of his seven children, John, born in 1808, died December 20, 1879; Eliza, who married Lazarus Hohnes, died at Kewanee; Rose Ann is the wife of Robert Patterson, and Robert Holmes came to this county in March of 1855. During this year he purchased 160 aeres of land on Section 9, this township, and was engaged in agriculture here until the spring of 1878, when he sold bis interest in the land and moved to Toulon village. Of his six children, three died at Philadelphia, and three came to this county, namely : George E., Mary, now Mrs. John H. Brown, and Robert, a farmer of Buena Vista County, lowa. George E., re-


William Sturno


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ceived what education he could until he was twelve years old, in his native city. On coming here with his father in 1853, he engaged in agriculture. On October 13, 1864, he married Miss Margaret, daugh- ter of Captain David and Malinda (Edwards) Haacke, of Fulton County. and this union has been blessed by nine children, namely : William II .. Lovel S., David W., Effie, Mary E., Edward E., Maggie, Robert and Lyman, all residing with their parents. Shortly after his marriage he purchased eighty acres on Section 10, near the family homestead. to which he has since added 240 acres. For twenty years he has served as school director of his district. filled the office of col- lector. and. as related in the history of the American Presbyterian Church of Elmira. has, like Mrs. Holmes and son. been a consistent member of that society. In political life he is a Republican ; but the agricultural interests of the county and his own. claim his attention before polities. llis father-in-law. Capt. Haacke, to whom is credited in the history of Penn Township, the sketch of Cooper's Defeat Creek, and whose reminiscences are quoted in other chapters, came from Can- ada to Peoria, and after a time there, to a point ten miles southwest of Canton, Ill., in 1821; was captain of militia in the Black Hawk War. and may be said to have witnessed the upheaval of the whole State. from the wilderness to the rank of one of the first in the Union. The Captain's wife is Miss Edwards, of Kentucky, also a pioneer of Illinois.


John Hook, son of Jacob and Catherine Hook, who came to this country from Switzerland, about 1834, and settled in Niagara county. N. Y., was born in Germany in 1832. was raised on his father's farm m York state. and in 1856, his parents, one son and three daughters came west to join his other daughter in Minnesota, and visit the sub- ject of this sketch, who came here in 1854. Of this family he is the only survivor. On coming here he established himself on a farm and was engaged m agriculture until 1873, when he founded his livery business at Toulon. and carried it on with marked success until his retirement in January, 1885. Here he was married to Nancy Jane Swarts, daughter of Andrew Swarts, who came to this county from Ohio about 1835. They are the parents of three children. Mrs. Laura Edson, of Galva; Mrs. Belle Worley, of Toulon; and Frank Hook, proprietor of the Follett House livery stables. Mr. Ilook has been a member of the I. O. O. F. lodge here for ten years : a member of the Stark county Agricultural Society, and a supporter of everything which gives promise of benefit to his county. In church matters he wishes to support every Christian denomination.


Frank C. Ilook, son of John and Nancy Jane (Swarts) Ilook, was born in Toulon township. May 1. 1856; received a common school education here and for some years was engaged in farming, and sub- sequently carried on a meat market. In 1885 he established his now extensive livery business. Ile was married here to Miss Bessie, daugh- ter of Ilenry Byatt. They are the parents of two children - Freddy and Eva. Whether in business or outside business, Mr. Hook is always genial. Here, where he was raised and educated, he is a favorite with all and is singularly well endowed with a fund of common sense much above the average of young men.


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W. HI. Hoorer. L. D. S., born in Belmont county, Ohio, in 1838, 18 son of Jacob and Phoebe Fraser Hoover, who came to Illinois in 1853. Ilis father was a blacksmith, and with him W. Il. Hoover worked at blacksmithing and farming, until he selected his profession, when he entered the ollice of James F. Hoover, L. D. S., of Washington, Ill., and practiced at Washington until 1875, when he established his office at Wyoming. He was married near Lawn Ridge, Marshall county. Ill., to Miss Lovina Booth, daughter of Jacob and Lonisa Booth, who settled in Peoria county, Ill., in 1835 ; coming from Delaware county, New York state. Mr. Booth died March 3, 1876, in his eighty-second vear, while Jacob Hoover resides at Lawn Ridge, now in his ninetieth year. Dr. Hloover and wife are the parents of two sons and two daughters-Julia, wife of Frank Thomas, a lawyer, of Wyoming: Sandford, Harry and Mary E. One son and two daughters are num- bered among the dead. Dr. Hoover supports the Methodist church. of which his wife is a member.


Augustus Hulsizer, son of Abner and Mary E. (Correll) Ilnlsizer. was born at Broadway, Warren county, N. J .. December 24, 1842. ITis father is a native of Washington, N. J., and mother, of Middle- bury. Vt. The family moved from New Jersey to Ilinois in 1852, and settled on the Hulsizer farm (which he bought at $3.25 per acre, and sold the quarter seetion for $11,000 in 1877 to S. R. Hazen). In 1877 the family moved to Toulon, buying their present residence from Ed- ward Nixon, who built the house. Of their children, Gustavns, George, who died in infancy, William and James were born in New Jersey : Mrs. Mary E. Emery, and Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Hubbell, now of Galva, were born in West Jersey township. Augustus Hulsizer was educated in the schools of Kewanee. and at Eastman's commereial college, Chicago. He graduated from the latter school in 1868. He was subsequently en- gaged on the homestead farm for seven years, when he moved to Tou- Ion, and for the four succeeding years earned very fair money by his penmanship. From 1879 to 1888 he was engaged in the boot and shoe business, founding the first and only exclusive store in that line ever established at Toulon. In 1883 he disposed of his interest in this store and purchased a half interest in the Stark County Sentinel. January 1. 1884. In the following year he purchased the entire interest in this journal, and has managed it in its several departments sinee with marked ability and success. Mr. Ilulsizer was married September 16. 1869 to Miss Eva M., daughter of Lyman Standard, of West Jersey. an old settler of Fulton county, where his daughter was born. They are the parents of five children, namely : Zaidee V., born July 10, 1870 ; Olive B., born January 26, 1872; Mary M., born March 15, 1874 ; Mand A., born December 27, 1876, and Lulu V., born July 22, 1878, all of whom are attending the schools of Toulon. Mr. Ilulsizer enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered in with the Kewanee company in 1863, followed the for- tunes of this command for six months, reönlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth and served six months, and in the fall of 1864 served by transfer in the Thirty-third until close of war, when the command was mustered out at Springfield. Ile is a member of I. O. O. F. here


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for the last seven years, of the G. A. R. Post since organization, and of 1. O. G. T. He is an earnest temperance worker, has been for years a staunch republican, but now gives his moral and journalistic support to the prohibition party.


Mrs. June ( Wrighy) Ingham, born in Lancashire, England, came to the United States in 1856, and shortly after married Mr. Ingham, died in October, 1878.


Mrs. Ellen Jackson, who was one of the old settlers of Toulon, died here in Septemder, 1864. aged seventy-five years.


I'm. S. Johnson, formerly a resident of Toulon, died at Peoria. January 12, 1869.


Henry S. Johnson, born at Toulon December 12, 1865, died at Seneca. Kans., May 15, 1884.


Peyton Pate Johnson, son of JJames A. and Mildred ( Pate) Johnson, was born in Fairtiekl township, llighland county, Ohio. September 17, 1516. The family settled in Bedford county, Va., at the close of the war of 1812. moved ultimately to Highland county, Ohio, where the father died April 19, 1845, and the mother in October, 1860, both be- ing interred in the family cemetery in Highland county, Ohio, where also rest the remains of grandparents on father's side of the family. Of his father's family-eight sons and two danghters-himself and one sis- ter survive. Peyton may be said to have resided in Ohio until 1854. although in 1852 he purchased a half section of land in Goshen town- ship, Stark county, Ill. In Ohio he learned the trade of blacksmith, under his brother, John H. Johnson, of Highland county, Ohio, and subsequently opened a shop for himself in Fayette county, whence he came to Illinois in 1854 with his wife, one son and three daughters. In that year he engaged in farming, and for over 28 years has been a prominent agriculturist of Stark county. On August 7. 1845, he mar- ried Miss Jane, daughter of Peter and Elizabeth Brown. This family moved to Ross county, Ohio, after the war of 1812, in which Peter Brown served. The children of this marriage numbered 9, of whom four sons and four daughters survived, namely : Mrs. Elizabeth M. Dex- ter. of Galva, who is the mother of four sons and two daughters: Peter 1 .. farmer of Pawnee county. Neb .; Mary Ellen, wife of Joseph Wal- ther, of Toulon : Agita Belle, wife of Win. J. Sellon, of Knox county, who are the parents of one son and two daughters : Lyman T .. a farmer of Pawnee county. Neb., who is married and the parent of two daughters; Roswell M., of Skidmore, Mo .; Lincoln, a student of liter- ature, who was a school teacher in 1886. prior to entering Knox Col- lege and Plessie C. The one child numbered among the dead was named Elva Louisa. The Johnsons were of a Quaker family, but since 1843 this branch have belonged to the Methodist church. For years he has been a model temperance worker by example and association, a member of the Okl Settlers' Association, and prior to 1882, an official of the M. E. church. He served as Justice of Peace six years, county coroner six years, and as school director or trustee for a member of vears. From 1861 to 1865 he was an active worker in the Union cause, and throughout his whole life here an exemplary citizen. Ilis residence


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stands on a ten-aere lot, just north of fair grounds. In itself it bears ont the reputation liberally accorded to him and to this family.


John Jordan, son of Charles and Elizabeth (Lyons) .Jordan, was born near Zanesville, Muskingum county, O., February 20, 1832. His parents were natives of Pennsylvania, who in 1812 had resided in Muskingum and Vinton counties, Ohio, and migrated thence to Iowa. Returning east in 1857 they settled in Valley township, Stark county, Illinois, his father dying here June 17, 1883, aged 83 years, leaving two sons and two daughters. John Jordan received his early educa- tion in Ohio. He visited this county in 1852, and again in 1855, a year later, in 1856, settled in Valley township, where he was engaged in farming for several years, until his retirement in 1876, when he came to Wyoming, and four years later joined Sylvester F. Otman in their present extensive business. He was married in Ohio to Miss Frances E. McCraw. a native of Vinton county, Ohio, and a danghter of Alex- ander McCraw, of that county. They are the parents of two sons and three daughters, namely : Julia E., wife of W. T. Dittman, of Valley township; Martha, who married S. M. Stancliff, of Iowa, now de- ceased ; Robert C., in the lumber trade here, and Lavin E., at home. Mr. Jordan served in Company B., 7th Illinois Volunteer Infantry for six months as referred to in military chapter; served on the school board of his district in Valley township ; was road commissioner and township supervisor. Since his settlement at Wyoming he served as supervisor four years, and is now representing Essex township on the County Board. He also served two years in the council of Wyoming. He is a member of De Wolf Post, and present Quarter-Master ; a mem- ber of the Blue Lodge and Chapter and of the O. E. S.




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