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 64
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The Church of Christ at Lafayette adopted this corporate name, August 1, 1873, and elected the following named trustees : John Boyd, Harvey I. Quinn and James Ingles. John T. Smith was secretary. It was organized some years before by Rov. Milton King, and grew so rapidly that the building of the present church was entered upon and carried through successfully.
A reference to the history of the Stark County Sunday-School Association will point out the early history of this society in Goshen township. In August, 1867, Rev. II. Tiffany, J. H. Wilber, Mrs. S. A. Clark, with John W. Clark, alternate, were elected delegates by the Lafayette Sunday School Association to the Sunday-School Conven- tion at Toulon. In June, 1882, the Fourth District Sunday-school Nor- mal Institute was organized, and the work has been successfully car- ried on down to the present time.
BIOGRAPHY AND REMINISCENCES.
The pioneers and old settlers of whom notices appeared in the press of this and adjoming counties during the last thirty years, as
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well as of those who now constitute the bone and sinew and brain of the township, are referred to in the following paragraphs:
Erie Anderson, deceased, born in Sweden in 1810, was married there, and with his wife and five children came to the United States, locating in this county. During his early years here he worked by the month, and by his industry and economy, saved enough from his earn- ings to purchase land in Goshen Township. He died April 26, 1876, leaving for the use of his family 160 acres. His wife is also deceased. Of his ten children, Andrew, Mary, Elizabeth, Charlotte and Sarah J., are numbered among the dead. Christina married Jonas Johnson, now of Minnesota ; Catherine and William are at home, Isaac at Wvo- ming, and Albert H. at Tonlon. Sarah was born here in 1857. died May 6, 1884.
Joseph Atherton. deceased. son of Israel Atherton, of Kentucky, an early settler of Ohio, was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1813. This Israel subsequently settled in Hancock County. Ill., where he died. Joseph came to Stark County in 1845, and with his twin brother Mil- ton, in the fall of that year, settled south of Toulon. In 1851 they located about three miles south of Lafayette, of which township Jo- seph was supervisor two terms. lle came here with little means, but by work and ability left a valuable property at his death, May 1, 1886. Ile was married in Ohio, to Miss Eliza Simonson, born in 1812, and a survivor of pioneer days. They were the parents of twelve children. namely: Jesse S., of Lafayette: Milton. deceased : Charles, a Meth- odist minister in Kansas; William B. resides in MeDonough County. Ill .; Sarah J., deceased : Henrietta, Nancy, Hester, Ann, Lusetta, Franklin P., and Paulina. Mr. Atherton was a member of Toulon Lodge, 93, A. F. & A. M., a life-long Democrat, and a citizen of un- doubted worth - public and private. Jesse S. Atherton, eldest son of Joseph, was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1835, received a com- mon school education, and followed farming until he was nineteen years of age, when he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for a number of years. In June, 1683, he moved to Lafayette, and established his hardware business that year. He was commissioned postmaster in 1855, and took possession of the office July 1, 1885. This was given as a testimonial of his father's and his own unswerving de- moeraey. He was married in 1858, to Miss Lois, daughter of Nelson Grant. They are the parents of Allen, Lucy, and Charles Atherton. Mr. Atherton is a member of Stark Masonie Lodge, has filled the office of supervisor two terms, and given promise of being as useful a citizen as his father was.
Mrs. Allen Atherton died July 31. 1986. She was the daughter of Lewis Williams, of Toulon.
R. C. Baker, vide history of county and township.
Jeremiah. Bennett, born in New York state in 1795, married Sarah Winnie there, and with her came to this county in 1837. first settling at Farmington, and in 1838 on what is now the "Galbraith Farm." In later years they moved to the present farm of Amos Bennett, where Jeremiah died in 1870, aged seventy-six, and his wife in February, 1886, aged eighty-three years. Both were members of the Protestant
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BIOGRAPHY AND REMINISCENCES
Methodist Church. Amos Bennett was born in New York state in 1832, and at the age of five years came with his parents to this State. In 1860 he married Miss Hannah, a daughter of Josiah Bunton. They are the parents of nine children : Sarah W., Walter. Ella. Bertie, Amos, Thomas, Lizzie, Laura and Emma. He is the owner of 225 acres, well improved. His father was an old line Whig until 1855, when he joined the new party, of which the son is a staunch supporter.
A. R. R. Bevier, born in Ulster county, N. Y., in 1820, and Adalme (Misner) Bevier, his wife, born in Sullivan county, N. Y., were early settlers here.
UT. HI. Brown, born at Baltimore, Md., in 1822, is a son of Vachel and Sarah (('Hagan) Brown, natives of Baltimore and Richmond, Va., respectively. Both died in Carroll county, Md., where for years they resided. The Browns were originally from England and the O'Hlagans from Ireland, coming out in colonial days. U. A. was married in Mary- land. in 1844. to Miss Ellen Brangle. In 1857 moved with his wife and five children to Knox county, Ill .. and in 1866 into Goshen town- ship, Stark county. Il. To them twelve children have been born. seven of whom are living, one of whom served in Company F. One Hundred and Twelfth Ilinois Volunteer Infantry, as related in military chap- ters. Mrs. Brown is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Lafayette. Mr. Brown, to whom many references are made in the history of the township and village, is a member of the I. O. O. F. and of the Galya Encampment.
Emory &. Buffum, a soldier of the late war, enlisted in Company B, Thirty-seventh Infantry, as related in the military chapter, and was in active service with that command for nineteen months, when his wounds rendered him incapable of further service in the army. Ile was born at Rock Island, Ill., in t841, but resided in Knox county from the age of seven to the age of twenty. when he enlisted. In 1864 he settled in Stark. A reference to the political chapter will point out his services to the republican party since that time : the school history credits him with being director of his district for a number of years. while that of the I. O. O. F. at Lafayette, points him out a member. Hlad be been a member of the county posts of the G. A. R. instead of that at Galva, his military record would be found there as well as in the military chapter. The year of his settlement here he married Miss Anna L .. daughter of Charles Himes, of whom a complete family history appears in this chapter. Of their eleven children, nine are liv- ing, namely : Laura L .. Charles A., Edwin E., Clara L., Elmer II .. George N., Perry H., Royd L., and Anna M Mr. Butfun is one of those citizens of modern days whose history is so closely identified with the last two decades of this county, that much of it belongs to the county and necessarily finds a place there.
Jonas Butler, born in Beaver county, Pa., in 1815, moved to Ohio with parents in his youth ; to Fulton county. Ill., in 1837; to Henry county in 1855, and to Lafayette a short time prior to his death in July, 1×81.
Mrs. P. Cavanaugh, of Saxon, died in August, 1886. She had been long and favorably known, the family being one of the first to settle
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OF GOSHEN TOWNSHIP.
in that vicinity. Her husband, commonly known as " Old Pat " at all the neighboring fairs, who died about two years ago, was about the first to indulge in high-priced thoroughbred shorthorn cattle, and to him may be traced much of the improvement of the stock of Stark as well as Henry county. She was buried in the cemetery which the family donated for the uses of a Catholic burying ground.
Melinda (Nelson) Curver, born at. Augusta, Me., in 1810, moved to Ohio in 1817, thence to Indiana, where she married JJonathan Carver in 1830, and both moved to their home, just north of Lafayette. in 1861. Mrs. Carver died there February 15, 1885.
Dr. J. R. Crawford, physician and surgeon, a native of Washing- ton county, Iowa, obtained an elementary education in the schools of that county, and completed a literary course at Keokuk. Iowa. He entered the study of medicine under the direction of his brother, Dr. W. D. Crawford, of Coal Valley, Ill., who was his preceptor until he matriculated in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk. la .. in 1879. He took a full course of lectures there and won the graduate's diploma in 1852. The succeeding year he practiced in Mills county. lowa, and coming to Stark county established his office at Lafayette in the spring of 1884. Since that time he has built up a lucrative practice and a very enviable reputation as a physician. In 1881 he married Miss S. M. Phillips, of Coal Valley. He is a member of the Military Tract Medical Society.
I'm. L. Dalrymple, who settled in Wethersfield township, Henry county, in 1853, and served that county as clerk for about twenty-three years, and treasurer for four years, died December 27, 1885.
Elder Delle was an old member of the Congregational church of Lafayette.
Mrs. Dickinson, mother of W. T. Dickinson, died at Lafayette, September 12, 1855, aged eighty-six years.
Mrs. Rebecca ( Delerga) Dickinson, born at Orwell, Vt. in August. 1805, died at Galva, Ill., June 24. 1856. At the age of lifteen years she came with her parents to St. Lawrence county, N. Y .. where in 1×23 she married Norman Church. In 184; she moved to Lafayette, since which time she has lived in or near the place. She was the mother of ten children, seven of whom are living : three. T. D. Church. Mrs. O. B. Stowell, and Mrs. C. V. Dickinson, were with her in the dying hour.
Jeremiah Demuth, son of J. A. and Jane (Rist) Demuth. was born in Favette county, Pa., June 26, 1830. In 1852 he married Miss Jane Robinson. in that state, and five years later moved to Goshen town- ship. settling on his present farm. In 1863 he purchased an eighty- acre tract, which he brought to the highest state of cultivation. Ile also owns land in Nebraska. Mr. D. has served as school director and highway commissioner several terms, and also filled other township offices. His family consists of seven children, namely : Elvira, residing here ; Clark, a physician, residing in Michigan ; Smith, in Nebraska : Anna, residing at home, is skilled in hair work : Diantha, in Nebraska, Oliver, in Nebraska, and Eugene at home. Mr. Demuth is republican in politics, and both he and wife are old and earnest members of the
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BIOGRAPHY AND REMINISCENCES
M. E. church. Miss Elvira Demuth is a teacher in the district school. This is her thirteenth year in the profession, during which she missed but three terms, presiding from four to six terms over one school.
Lotan Derter, deceased, who settled at Toulon in 1854, with his brother-in-law, O. Maxfield, in 1855 in Goshen, and who in 1856 es- tablished his permanent home at Toulon, was born in Kennebec county, Me .. January 30, 1801. He married Miss Ruby Fish there. and in 1853. with tive children moved westward. Those children were Bethana, of Newton, Kan .; Marshall, of Henry county, Ill .; George F., of Goshen ; Henry, deceased, and James W., of Galva. The father died in 1873, leav- ing a widow and large family, the former still residingat Galva. Henry served in the Thirty-seventh Illinois Infantry, was wounded at Pea Ridge, from which wound he died in 1873. in his thirty-seventh year. ( Fide mil. ch.) James W. enlisted in Hyslop's Battery, Marine Artillery. and when this command was disbanded, reenlisted in another regi- ment.
George F. Derter is the only representative of the family of Lotan in this county. He was born in Piscataquis county, Me., January 11. 1832, came to Stark county in 1853-54, and here married Miss Laura. daughter of Wesley and Susannah (Smith) Miner. in November, 1855. Of their children, Eliza J. is dead, Ruby J., George G., Henry HI. and Fred A. reside here. The family belong to the Baptist church. A reference to the history of the Miner family in Stark county, given both in the sketches of Goshen and Toulon as well as in the general history, will show who the ancestors of Mrs. G. F. Dexter were. Mr. Dexter owns 300 acres of well improved land in this township.
Daniel Dodge, formerly a citizen of Goshen, died in Missouri in .Inly, 1869.
Mrs. S. A. Dudley, who with her husband came to Illinois in 1859. and moved to Galva in 1869, died at Ansonia, Conn., August 1. 1881, and was interred at Lafayette.
Stephen D. Euston, born at Drakesville, N. Y., in 1809. married Miss Fowler in 1825, moved to Peoria in 1850 and in 1853 to Lafay- ette, where he died June 10, 1882. His wife died seven years prior to that date.
Elijah Eltzroth, one of the oldest living settlers of Goshen, was born in Warren county. O., July 13, 1817. His parents, Valentine and Patience Elizabeth were natives of Maryland and New Jersey respect- ively. At the age of seventeen years Elijah moved to Goshen, Cler- mont county. O., and there learned the cabinet trade. In 1835 he went to Alton, Ill., worked there for some time. revisited his Ohio home, and in 1838 returned to Ilinois, taking up his residence at La- fayette. Here he carried on the cabinet trade after he married and conducted the village hotel for about five years-from '44 until '49. At that time he had many to entertain, and at prices that would startle the modern hotel man. Meals 123 cents, lodging 122cents, and livery equally cheap. In 1850 he purchased the 160 acres on which he now resides at 82.25 for one eighty acres, and $3.50 for the other eighty acres. This wild land he brought to the highest state of cultivation. In 1843 he married Miss Betsy M., daughter of Wm. A. Reed, of Knox
1
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OF GOSHEN TOWNSHIP.
county. Of their nine children, six are living, namely : Fanny, Forrest. AArthur. Clara, George and Elwood. He and Mrs. Eltzroth were origi- nally members of the Congregational church of Lafayette, but since its disorganization they have not united with any other denomination. Up to 1855 Mr. Eltzroth voted with the democracy, but since that time has supported the republicans in all national affairs. Connected with this family there is the name of one other pioneer of the county- Rachel (Eltzroth) Coburn, who settled here in 1839, and in 1840 located at Princeville.
Conrad Emery, deceased, who settled here August 7, 1835, was born in New Jersey. Was reared principally in Pennsylvania, where he was married to Sarah Fisher before they removed to Holmes county, Ohio, where they lived until 1835, the time of settlement here. The journey west was made with ox teams and wagons, the party compris- ing four families, viz .: Jacob Emery and wife. Debodota, Joseph Emery and wife, Hannah, Jesse and wife, Margaret, and Conrad, the father of three sons. Comrad purchased 240 acres of wild lands at congress prices, and on this land he settled and lived during his life. Ile was a soldier of the war of 1812, and did duty on the frontier in defense of the homes and lives of the border settlers. To them were born thirteen children, eleven of whom came to Stark county with their parents, viz. : Jacob (Galva), Catherine (deceased ), Joseph (de- ceased), Edith Russell, Jesse (Princeville, IR.), Sarah MeClennehan (deceased). Conrad (deceased ), Milly (lowa), David (lowa), Mary (lowa), and John, who resides on the old homestead.
John Emery is the youngest son of the family of Conrad Emery. and the only representative of the family in Stark county. He was born in Holmes county, Ohio, in 1827, was eight years old when his parents settled on the prairies of Hlinois; received a common school education : was married to Sarah, daughter of Joseph Potter, an early settler, now deceased, in the year 1849, who has borne him six children, live living, viz. : Estella O., Charles A., Everett (deceased). Lnellen A .. Gilbert C. He owns a farm of 267 acres of good land, which com- prises the old homestead ; is a member of the I. O. O. F., Lafayette lodge, and votes the Republican ticket upon all questions at issue.
Jacob Fall, born at Eaton, Ohio. in 1810: settled with his family in Goshen township, this county. in 1857. In 1869 he moved to Abing- don, where he died April 19, 1585.
Mrx Farr. On October 2, 1565, four sisters, Mrs. Farr, of Lafay- ette : Mrs. Knowlton, of Indiana, and Mrs. Tufts and Mrs. Tullis, of lowa, met at Lafayette, being the first meeting for forty years. Mrs. Farr was then seventy-five years old.
Barnabus Frail, who settled one mile south of Wyoming in 185, was one of the three pioneers of that immediate neighborhood-Gen. Thomas and Capt. Butler being the others. In the vicinity were Peter Miner, Samuel Seeley, Elijah McClenahan and James Holgate who settled near. and also Whitney Smith. S. Moore, Lemuel Dorrance. Dexter Wall, John Phoenix, Peter Shaffer, George Wentin, Robert Sheeley, A. Avery, Henry Sheeley. M. Shiellaman, Adam and Lewis Pay, H. Lick. Nelson Grant, B. Smith, J. P., Moses Boardman, Thos.
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BIOGRAPHY AND REMINISCENCES
Winn or Wing, Ira Ward, John and Borden Dodge, William Mahany, Major McClenahan, and perhaps a few others. Mr. Frail was born in Donegal county, Ireland. After a voyage of seven weeks he and his brother landed in New York, he being then nineteen years old. For some time they worked on the Erie canal and other public works, and in 1835 came to this county, each bringing a wife and child. In 1837 Barnabas moved to what is now Goshen township, squatted on a piece of land and next purchasing 160 acres. His brother moved to Knox county, where he died in 1843, and was the second body interred in the cemetery at Lafayette. Mr. Frail married Jane Fairchilds in Pennsylvania. Of their ten children eight are living, namely : James, John, Susan, Thomas, Elizabeth, Sarah, Margaret and Kate, all resid- ing in this county except Sarah, who lives at Burlington Junction, Mo .: Lydia and Hugh are deceased. Mrs. Frail died in 1882, aged up- wards of sixty-nine years, in full communion with the Catholic church, which is also the church of the family. Prior to settlement here Mr. F. belonged to the Pennsylvania citizen volunteers. Politically he is a democrat. He started farming in this county over fifty years ago, with some means, and now owns 160 acres of fine farming land.
D. K. Fell, son of James and Isabella (Kyle) Fell, was born in Roxburghshire, Scotland, November 22, 1842. Some years later the father died there, and in the summer of 1852 the widow (now eighty- one years old) and children came to America and settled in Elmira. She now lives with her children. The eldest son, William, emigrated from Scotland to the Falkland Islands, and thence to South America in 1854, and has resided there since ; James is in Henry county. Margaret and Isabella in Toulon, Elizabeth in Harrison county, Mo .. Robert in Toulon township, Elliot in Clay county, Neb., Adam, deceased; D. K. in this county, Walter at Chicago, and Jemima in Erie county, O. Adam G. Fell served with Company B, Nineteenth Illinois Infantry, and Com- pany K. Fourth United States Cavalry, as related in the military chap- ter, was made prisoner near Atlanta in 1864, and endured the horrors of prison life at Andersonville, Milan, and Florence, Ala., and died while en route home at Annapolis, Md. Robert also served in the same commands until the elose of the war; Walter was in the One-hundred-and- twenty-fourth, and served with his command to the close. D. K. Fell was educated here, and worked on rented farms until 1866, when he purchased 160 acres, to which he has added 200 acres here and 160 in Nebraska. He married, Angust 27. 1867, Miss Helen, daughter of Thomas and Isabella Jackson, natives of Roxburghshire, Scotland, and to them eight children have been born : Adam G., Thomas F., Willam A., Jennette 1., Elizabeth H., Mary A., Henry O., and Luella, deceased. In politics he is Republican.
Gideon B. Gillette was born in Sullivan county, New York, in the vear 1815, of English and French parentage. He was married to Sarah A. Dixon in 1837. came with his wife and four children to Stark county. Ill., in 1842. where he settled upon and owned a part of the farm now owned by Austin Grant. Here he spent the few years allowed him, dying in the year 1549, of consumption, leaving a widow and three little daughters. Cynthia having died a few years previous. Theda,
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OF GOSHEN TOWNSHIP.
the eldest daughter, now the wife of C. H. Fuller, of Galesburg, Ill., master train-dispatcher in the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, they having one son, Fred. C., married to Nellie Hill, also of Galesburg, they residing in Bloomington, III .. he being in the employ of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company at that place. Abbie, second daughter of Gideon B. and Sarah A. Gillette, wife of F. J. Bush, banker at Clear Lake, Ia., have two children, Mabel and Grant A., Mabel being the wife of A. D. Davis. with Perry & Co., Chicago, Il .. they having one little daughter. Maud B. Grant A. is an attorney at law, Lincoln, Neb., a member of the firm of Barnes & Bush, married Mabel A. Barnes, of Lincoln, Neb. Mary Jane, third daughter of Gideon B. and Sarah A. Gillette, married James Balentine, of Toulon. Ill. Mary Jane, now deceased, leaving two children, Charles and Blanche. It is said of Gideon B. Gillette by those to whom he was best known, that an enemy was unknown to him. On the contrary. he was blessed with the happy faculty of making many friends; the poor always found in him a willing helper. He was public spirited and successful in his business undertakings. and had he lived would have been, no doubt, as he intended, an extensive land owner. Ile died as he had always lived, a true Christian.
J. T. Gardner settled on the west line of Toulon in 1866, purchasing at this time seventy-six acres there. In 1880 he sold this farm and pur- chased his present eighty acres in Goshen. Hle was born in Adams county. Pa., March 27, 1833, of which county his parents, Barnhart and Mary Gardner (whose maiden name was Mary Trostle) were natives. T. J. Gardner learned the miller's trade from his father, and worked with him in his mnill until 1854, when he came to Fulton county. Ill. He was engaged in agriculture there until 1862, when he moved to the Pacific coast, and there, in Oregon and Idaho, was en- gaged in mining until 1865, when he mounted an Indian pony and made the return journey to Fulton county in safety. In 1855 he mar- ried Miss Philura Bliss, to whom four children were born, three of whom are living, namely : Alice. Eddy and George. His wife and two children are members of the Methodist church of Toulon. Polit- ically Mr. Gardner is a Republican, and while voting with his party on all questions, never fails to recognize what is just in the principies or platform of his opponents.
Hugh Galbraith, son of James and Jane (MeC'aslan) Galbraith. natives of Donegal county, Ireland, was born in 1511. His parents came to Philadelphia in 1828, where they died. Hugh Galbraith was married to Miss Anne Wolson, daughter of Thomas and Ann Wolson (also natives of Donegal). July 3. 1833. Of their eleven children seven are living, namely : James, born in April, 1-36, now at home; Annie, now Mrs. John Ogle, of Essex township, born in 1543: Andrew. ex- sheriff of the county : Hugh, born in 1846; Eliza Jane. born in 1849, now Mrs. Samuel Lowman : Rebecca, now Mrs. Moore, of Peculiar, Mo., born in 1951; Robert, born in February, 1857. Andrew enlisted in the Marine Artillery and re-enlisted in the Hlinois Volunteers and served until the close of the war. Mr. Galbraith owns 260 acres of the finest lands in the county, and is engaged in stock-raising. Mr.
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BIOGRAPHY AND REMINISCENCES
Galbraith has been a Republican all the time. In 1858 he moved with his family to Stark county and has resided here since that time.
Eph. Garrison, a native of Clinton county, O., died Inly 2. 1882, in Goshen, after seventeen years residence here. lle married a daughter of Jonathan Pratz. of West Jersey.
Luther Geer, one of the old settlers of Goshen, died Monday, June 27, 1881. Ile was born in New London, Conn., in 1817. married Abby Hempstead, and came to Illinois in 1840, settling in this county.
Nelson Grant, son of Joshua and Thalia Grant: natives of Connect- ieut, was born in Brown county, N. Y., February 16, 1810. ITis parents moved from Connecticut to New York and thence to Illinois, both ending their days in Knox county. Nelson received a practical education in the district schools here, but the greater part of his time was devoted to farm work. On September 12, 1834, he married Miss Polly, daughter of Isaac and Sabra Chatfield, pioneers of Peoria county, Ill. In 1835 he and his wife moved into the original western part of Putnam, then a part of Knox county and now Stark, settled near Lafayette, where he purchased eighty acres of prairie and erected a bass-wood log cabin. Here the young couple began life in its real form and resided for about forty years. In 1835 deer, wolves and many other animals of the chase were natives or visitants of these prairies, but like the wild grass and flowers, and even the lazy red man, they disappeared before civilization. Mr. and Mrs. Grant were the parents of eight children, seven of whom are now living, namely : Howard P., Isaac, Lois, wife of J. S. Atherton ; Nelson; Jr., Julia, wife of William Gibbs ; Orsin, deceased ; Caroline, wife of A. D. Scott, and Joshua. Mrs. Grant was born in New York state, November 10, 1814. Mr. Grant is one of the few pioneers left us, if not one of a trio of the first settlers now in the county. For years he was a devoted Republican until the newly-organized goddess of Prohibition won his allegiance. His connection with pioneer times and the official history of his township and county is related in other pages.
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