USA > Illinois > Champaign County > Early history and pioneers of Champaign County : illustrated by one hundred and fifteen superb engravings by Melville : containing biographical sketches of the early settlers, the early history of the county obtained from the most reliable sources and many graphic scenes and incidents from the bright and shady sides of pioneer life > Part 13
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was too shrewd and alert to be over-reached by the most casuistic of sharpers. He would have proved himself equal to the ingenuousness of any of the modern confidence men, had they visited him in that day. His shrewdness in settling by the most peaceable of measures a threatened law snit, weil illustrates his aptness in dealing with men. In his water inill above spoken of he made use of a wheel fashioned after one which somebody had patented, without thinking of infringing anyone's rights, others of the same patern being in use in the neighborhood. An agent
of the patentee came through the country looking after infringers upon his patent. He came to Urbana, one day, put up his team and enquired for Mr. Brownfield's mill and residence, and was told he was in town. The two soon met and the stranger made known his business. He said he was inform- ed that Mr. B. had in use one of his patent wheels-that he had already settled like infringements on his letters patent with so and so and was disposed to settle with him without suit. Mr. Brownfield said if he had infringed upon the rights of any one he was willing to pay, but from the stranger's de- scription of his wheel, he doubted iť his own wheel was any infringement. He invited the claimant to go with him to his mill and examine for himself. It was then near noon and it was agreed that the two should meet soon after dinner and together go to the mill, three miles away. After his dinner the stranger drove out with a spirited team for Mr. Brownfield to pilot him to the mill, but he could not be found. After some further search he concluded to go alone and inspect the wheel. He soon reached the mill but found no wheel in it. The smoking embers of a bonfire near by plainly showed that the wheel and all evidence of its character, had been reduced to ashes. The evidence from which to base a suit was gone and the suit thus settled by peaceable means.
MELVILLE CHI
WILLIAM M. SHAWHAN.
The subject of the following sketch was a native of Kentucky. He was born in Bour- bon county, October 2d, 1803. He was the son of John and Margaret (MeCune) Shaw- han. John Shawhan emigrated from Pen-
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sylvania, to Ohio, and from there to Ken- tucky, before the Revolutionary war. Both parents died there. William M. was raised upon the farm, and spent the most of his life upon it and in his father's mill until he was past thirty years of age. He received but a limited education in the subscription schools of his native state, attending one school six weeks and another nineteen days. Ile remained in Bourbon county, until the fall of 1837, when he emigrated to Rush county, Indiana, and bought a farm in that heavily timbered region. Here he actively engaged in farm work, and soon aceumulat- ed sufficient to pay for several hundred acres of valuable land. At the same time he was deeply absorbed in church and school work. He gave largely of both time and money, beside donating land for church, district school, and seminary sites. The accident which resulted in the death of his eldest son in 1846, changed the whole current of his life. He left his faim and removed in 1848, to Falmouth, a little village near his home. Here he remained until the spring of 1856, when he came to Champaign county, and settled on section 19, of what is now known as Raymond township. He had for some years been engaged in the cattle trade and was induced to come to this county by the superior facilities afforded at that time for feeding and grazing large herds. He did not continue in the business long, how- ever, but contented himself with the care of small lots at home. Here he lived until his sudden death on May 2d, 1875, in the church at Sidney. He had had an attack of heart disease about 20 years before. The second attack ended his life painlessly, and aside from his home, in the place he most loved to be, the church.
Ile was twice married, first in 1825 to Rhoda Redmond, who was the mother of his four oldest sons. She died in 1833.
The second time in 1837, to Nancy Red- mond. She still survives her husband and at present is a resident with her son James in Urbana. The names of the children in the order of their birth are as follows: John T., eldest born was accidentally killed in 1845; Charles R., is a farmer and a resident near Belvidere, Nebraska. He married Amanda Clifford; Daniel M., married Jane Carson. They reside in Pike county, In- diana; Joseph H., married Mary Thompson, and resides in Cynthiana, Kentucky ; Marga- ret A., married David Frame; after his death, she married William Higginbotham, of Chicago, she is now a resident of Cham- paign; Mary Helen, married Robert H. Myers, she died in 1865; George R., married Vista Brown, and is a resident of Urbana:
James R., took to wife Asenath Churchill and is also a resident of Urbana; William T., the youngest of the family married Maud Platt and is now a resident and postmaster of Castleton, Nebraska.
William M. Shawhan united with the Christian church at Fairview, Indiana, when about forty years of age. He was an active worker, and soon became an elder in the congregation there. When he came to this country he soon found the congregations in Old St. Joseph, Hickory Grove, Sidney and Camargo. As in Indiana, his time and money assisted in building and establishing these churches. Many old residents remem- ber him well. On churches and schools he was an enthusiast, especially during the years immediately preceding the death of his eldest son. His knowledge of the Bible was wonderful. The New Testament he knew nearly by heart.
Politically he was a democrat, though he had not cast a vote for about thirty years be fore his death. His last ballot was for the adoption of the Indiana Free School law. In Kentucky, he was a Captam of a militia company. In Illinois he served two years as supervisor of Raymond township. This was the only political office, he ever held. He was school treasurer of the township, almost continuously, from the organization of the first district until his death. He was physically a strong man, six feet, four inches high, with muscles able to endure almost any thing. Cradling wheat was pastime. From sunrise until the stars eame ont was a day, when he was in his prime. Few men could swing his scythe, as he always hung the point out so far from the snath. Eight and nine aeres was a day's work. His mind was as vigorous as his body. His memory rarely failed, even to the minutest details. His will was strong and when once he had determined upon a course of action, he rarely changed. His judgment of men was seldom at fault. Few eould impose upon him, and when they did, pity usually opened the way. He would do what he believed right, no matter who opposed. He did not build a grand fortune, but he secured a handsome competence, and left a name that his children and friends love to remember and honor.
PIONEERS OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
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MELVILLE CHI
JONATHAN N. HOWSER
Was born in Clermont county, Ohio, October 16th, 1521. His parents were Christopher H. and Elizabeth (Hoover) Howser, who were both natives of Maryland. Jonathan N. Howser the subject of this sketch, work- ed upon a farm during his boyhood days and later farmed in Clermont county, Ohio, for himself, for about ten years before co.ning to Champaign county, Illinois, in 1855. He was married to Margaret J. Dillman, of Brown county, Ohio, by Z. M. Lansdowne, August 24th, 1843, who came with him to Illinois, and who has, by her wifely assist- ance, helped him in the arduous efforts in building his fortune in his western home. She was born March 19th, 1826, and is still living to enjoy the fruits of their labor. The children of this marriage were as follows: Eliza Ellen. born July 28th, 1844, who mar- ried John H. Hudson, a farmer living in St. Joseph township; Leonidas H., born June 25th, 1846, who is also a farmer in same township; Robert C., born February 7th, 1849, also a farmer in Page county, Iowa; Martha Jane, who married J. D. Laughlin, a farmer now in Page county, Iowa; Chris- topher Lincoln, who is married and farming in St. Joseph, and Caroline who died in in- fancy. Mr. Howser and his wife have been consistent and faithful members of the Christian church forty-two years and yet cling to the same faith. They settled upon section 31, in St. Joseph township, and now own the home place a well improved farm of 240 acres, besides an 50 acre tract in Ur- bana township.
Mr. Howser held the office of highway commissioner for three years, and it was un- der his supervision as such officer, that the iron bridge across the Salt Fork, near St. Joseph was built. . In politics Mr. Howser is a true and tried republican. lle is an unpretending modest man, and commands by his record of honest endeavor and well regulated life the fullest confidence of our people among whom he has lived so long.
MELVILLE CH
SAMUEL D. JONES
Was born in Liverpool, England, July 10, 1816. His parents, David and Elizabeth Jones, resided however in Carnarvonshire, Wales. He was married February 22, 1844, in Festingoe, Wales; his good wife, who is still living, is in her 63th year, and is a well preserved lady bidding fair to bear him company for many years to come. They have had two children; Lucy died in Ver- mont; Catherine, married Garrett N. How- ard, who is now farming on section 28, in East Bend township, in this county. He was a soldier in the 125th regiment, Illinois, Vols. Mr. Jones and wife united with the Baptist church in 1856; the family on both sides were Baptists, tracing the same back to the time the Baptists first came to Wales. Mr. Jones and wife came to this country in 1850, and resided in Vermont for four years .. They then lived in the state of New York for about a year, and in 1855, came to Illinois and settled in Kane county. In 1858, Mr. Jones broke prairie on his farm in section 28, East Bend township, and. moved his family there in 1859, where they still own a farın which they improved by their joint labors. They resided on the same until nine
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years ago he removed to Urbana, to take charge of the poor-house and farm of this county, which position he still holds and conducts in such a business like and econom- ical manner that he will doubtless be retain- ed as long as his services ean be seenred.
Mr. Jones is a republican, strong in the faith, though he has never sought office, being content to be a faithful member in the ranks. The partiality of his neighbors call- ed him to serve as town clerk for ten years and town trustee for seven years. At the time he opened up his farm, there were only forty or fifty votes in Brown and East Bend townships combined. Mr. Jones is a good representative of the hardy race of which he comes and of those peculiarly admirable traits of character so generously shown by them. Industrious, honest and true in all the relations of life, he is fairly entitled to the success he has attained by a life of use- fulness, and we sincerely hope a kind Provi- denee may grant to him and his life partner a green old age and the comforts they have so righteously earned.
MELVILLE CHÍ
BENJAMIN P. PRATHER.
The parents of Mr. Prather, were James and Sophia Prather, who came from Mary- land, in their early years and were among the first settlers on the Ohio river. They settled at Chilo, Clermont county, Ohio. The first we gather of the life of Benjamin P. Prather, is when at the age of tifteen years he was entrusted with the running of a ferryboat between Cincinnati, Ohio, and Newport, Ky. Here he learned to like the life of a steamboatman ; for from this begin- ning he continued to follow the river and was for twenty years on the Ohio and Mississippi
rivers as an engineer. He was married at Felicity, Ohio. September 15, 1846, to Miss Caroline MI. Stevens, daughter of Silsby Stevens, of Vermont. She survives him and resides on the fine farm in Somer township, which their joint labors has rescued from the wild prairie and made it one of the most desirable farms and homes in the county. The following children were born to them: William T., Jessie, and Jennie P. Tate, (all three of whom are deceased:) Homer, was married to Miss Jessie Marriott; she died in December 1877, and he now resides in Dowell, Edwards connty, Kansas; Seott, was married to Miss Etta Haley, in Novem- ber, 1881, and resides on bis farm in Somer; Spees, was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Nye, September 24, 1884, and resides at his father's old home in Somer. Mr. Prather and family moved to Champaign in June, 1856, where he engaged in the grain business with Mark Carley; he built the dwelling house on the corner of State and Hill streets in Champaign which afterwards was for many years the home of Daniel Gardner.
In September 1858, he moved to his farm in Somer; at that time there were no im- provements in sight north or east of him and the eye rested upon a wild untamed prairie relieved only by the prairie flowers that bloomed in their season. The howl of the prairie wolf often disturbed their shinnbers, and frequently the young lambs were carried from the barnyard by these denizens of the prairie. Prairie tires lit up the heavens at times so that a book might be read by the light although it was miles away; it traveled before a high wind faster than the fleetest horse.
Mr. Prather was a staunch and active re- publiean all his mature lite. He was a member of the M. E. church and contributed freely to its support : he was among the first to donate liberally towards the Carley Chapel near his farm.
He held the office of supervisor for Somer township, for the years 1869, '70 and '71, and was a useful and influential member of the board. Mr. Prather died February 3rd, 1885, leaving a comfortable competency for his family and a character for integrity and upright conduct through life that command- ed the admiration of all those who had the honor of his acquaintance.
PIONEERS OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY.
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MELVILLE CHI
J. B. PORTERFIELD.
A sketch of the early settlers of Cham- paign county, would be incomplete without a sketch of J. B. Porterfield, of Sidney, Ill- inois. He is a native of Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, and was born, August 10th, 1826. His parents, Samuel and Nancy Porterfield, were natives of the same state. Mr. Porterfield was raised on the farm, but soon after obtaining his majority he aban- doned it to engage in contracting on rail- roads, the latter being more congenial to his tastes. His first contract was on the Alle- ghany Valley R. R., in Pennsylvania. After the completion of that contract he came west. to Illinois, and was engaged on the C., B. & Q. R. R. From 1857 to 1868, he was engaged on the Illinois Central road, building fence and furnishing wood and ties. He construct- ed the Eureka Springs R. R. in Arkansas in 1882. In 1884 he was instrumental in or- ganizing the present Sidney coal company, and in' successfully sinking the first shaft ever sunk in Champaign county. Since 1858, he has carried on a large farm at Sidney, in addition to the various enterprises mentioned above.
The date of his arrival in this county was in April 1857. Ile stopped in West Urbana. now Champaign, and made that his home until his removal to his farm. Hle was married at Worthington, Pa., May 4th, 1848, to Miss E. Il. Blain, who is still living. John Blain the father of Mrs. Portertiekl. came to Sidney in 1863, where he still resides at the advanced age of eighty four years. The subject of this sketch is the father of thirteen children, nine of whom are living.
All are actively engaged in the business of life.
Politically Mr. Porterfield subscribes to none of the formulated platforms of any party. He is not bound by the ipse dixit of any political organization, but takes an in- dependent position and votes for such meas- ures and men as in his judgment will be for the best interests of the whole country. Would that there were more like him-men who could rise to the true dignity of Amer- ican citizenship and divest their minds of partisan prejudice and vote as their best judgment dictates. A healthier, purer gov- ernment for the people and by the people, would be the result. Mr. Porterfield's polit- ical status is that of an independent repub- lican.
He now resides at Sidney, and is one of the most enterprising citizens of that pros- perous village. He is an ardent temperance man, and refuses to vote for any man in any party whose influence is not used on the side of temperance and good morals. Such men are needed to hold in check, the dangerous tendencies of our people and to furnish a model for the rising generation.
MEL VIL
B CHI
WILLIAM S. GARMAN.
William S. Garman was born in Jackson township, Lebanon county, Penn., Jan. 30, 1826, where also his father, Sebastian Gar- man and his mother, Magdalana Stine, were born, whose great grand parents came from Germany. Their family consisted of six children, three boys and three girls; the boys being the oldest. The second son is the subject of this sketch. He has now two
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brothers and two sisters living in the same county and state. He received a common school education and was put to the tailor trade at about fifteen years of age in Myers- town. He was kept at his trade till he was eighteen. In the fall of 1844, he and a boy about his age, named Win. Robinson, left their homes in September, on foot, with all their effects tied up in a bandanna handker- chief, directing their steps towards the set- ting sun. They came to Chambersburg and from thence on foot over the Alleghany mountains to Pittsburg, and from there to Cincinnati, by boat. He finally came to Dayton, where he remained working at his trade till the fall of '47. He then returned home and staid till the following spring, when the western fever came on him again and he returned to Ohio, and then to Indiana. He traveled over a greater portion of the state and finally settled in Fayette county, and carried on business there the spring of 1850, when he again started westward. He came to St. Louis, and from there to Ottawa, Illinois, thence to Peoria, and Bloomington, and finally landed at Ur- bana, Ill , April 26, 1850, where he was urged by the leading citizens to locate and open a tailor shop. No shop being here he finally consented to stay awhile and he remains yet. It now became necessary to find a place to open business, and buildings being scarce, only one painted house in the town and a good many log cabins. He finally found a cabin on East Main street, in which M. D. Harvey had a carpenter's bench where he did some repairing. He consented to vacate the cabin (which stood on the lot now occupied by Mr. Touhill's residence,) it was swept out and transformed into a tailor shop, with fashion plates tacked up against the logs. The people being scarce, work proved to be the same. Board was cheap, he boarded with A. Bruer at the Ur- bana house for $1.25 per week. lle spent most of the summer on the wide unoccupied prairies, hunting deer and wolves, but as fall grew near, trade increased, his customers came from Mahomet, Sadorus, Homer, Sidney, Salt Fork and the Big Grove. Fall also brought cool weather from which the cabin was not able to shield the inmates. When Mr. Lewis, then sheriff of the county, rented him an unoccupied room in the court house, where he remained till he built the first tailor shop in Urbana, in the fall of 1851. In June 1851, he was married to Miss Naney McGraw, of Fayette county, Ind. He has a daughter Zue E., who is married to Mr. Jno, B. Bennett and resides in Mc- Pherson, Kansas. His first wife died in April 1856, and he married a second time
to Mrs. Louisa, a daughter of Mr. Jno. Mc- Williams, born in Adams county, Penn., Feb. 3, 1532, and came to Urbana, in March 1856. She was the widow T. J. Paul, who was in June 1558, thrown from a horse and killed. He raised four children by his second marriage. I. H., the eldest, who is now in Cairo, Illinois; J. C., second, now in Vancouver, British Columbia ; Jno. C., third and Mae, the youngest who are at home. He became a member of the church when 16 years old and belongs to the M. E. church. He has been identified with the republican party since its organization, and was elected coroner in 1560, and served as deputy sheriff for two years under Sheriff N. M. Clark. He carried on the merchant tailoring busi- ness near Miss Downs' millinery store till 1862, when he left for California, for his health. On his return he boughta farm, one and three-fourthis miles northeast of Ur- bana, where he has since resided. Ile is one of our most industrious and successful farmers.
JAMES G. THOMPSON.
Mr. Thompson's father, George, came from Ireland, in his early life, and located in Otsego county, N. Y. Afterward a young girl named Penelope Thornton went with her parents from her native state of Rhode Island, to the same county. Here George Thompson learned to love her as she grew to womanhood and married her. James G. Thompson, the subject of this sketch. was born to them November 28th, 1524. His early life was spent on the farm in New York state, until 1546, when he left the pa-
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rental roof and went to Rhode Island, where he taught school that winter, 1846-7, and the next spring engaged in the nursery business at East Greenwich. At the expiration of the first year the owner of the nursery went to California, leaving Mr. Thompson in charge of the business, where he continued to thus labor until 1852. He then went to New York, where having become enamored of the nursery business he followed it until 1856, when he came to Illinois, and located live miles southeast of Urbana, and has fol- lowed the nursery and fruit business ever sinee. Ile was married December 14th, 1852, at Providence, R. 1., to Amanda S. Vinton. The young wife went with her husband to New York, and also eame with him to Ur- bana. Her health soon after failed and she returned to Rhode Island in the hope of im- proving it, but she died there, July 28th, 1860. The children of this marriage were James Irving, born in 1854 and died Deeem- ber 26th, 1870. Mary E. O., born in 1828, died in 1860. Mr. Thompson was again mar- ried July 5, 1866, at Urbana, to Maggie C. Donovan. Of this marriage one child, Fred- die E. was born October 25th, 1875, and is still living. Mr. Thompson joined the M. E. church, in Guilford, N. Y., in 1843, and has reinamed a Methodist from that day to the present. He enlisted in Co. G. 76th III. Vol. Infty., in August 1862, and followed the for- runes of his regiment until December 20th, 1862, when Van Dorn made his raid to Holly Springs, Miss., and burned the town, when Mr. Thompson was captured by the rebels. lle was sent to Benton Barracks, St. Louis, until exchanged in June, 1863, when he was transferred to the Veteran Reserve Corps, Co. G, 5th regiment, and sent to Camp Mor- ton, at Indianapolis, to guard rebel prisoners there, where he remained until he was dis- charged July 5th, 1865. Mr. Thompson is still engaged in his favorite business, that of conducting a nursery and fruit farm near this eity, in which he is an eminent success. Politically he is a republican, and though not a politician, he is always to be depended upon to do his duty for the party which he believes is entitled to his support. Mr. Thompson is faithful in all the relations of life and bears a reputation for honesty in business, and integrity in all things which commands the highest regard of his fellow- men.
THU G
CALVIN REED MOREHOUSE.
Just after the war of 1812, on the first ship that was chartered for the United States, after that war, William Morehouse took passage across the broad ocean for the land of liberty and plenty. He was from Dublin, Ireland. Although William was unmindful of the faet, and in fact, knew it not, Catha- rine Kline took passage upon the same ves- sel. During the passage, those on board naturally cultivated sociability. While thus on the ocean wave William met the young lady, for the first time, that was destined soon to become his wife, and later the moth- er of the subject of this sketch. She was born in Maryland and was the nieee of Christian Kline, who carried on the business of Harper's Ferry and had charge of the government works that made all the guns the government used during the war of 1812. The couple settled at Baltimore, where, May 25, 1827, Calvin R. Morehouse was born to them. The parents, when Calvin was a babe, removed to Cincinnati in 1828, when it was only an Indian town and trading post. They went back to their Baltimore home in 1829 and in 1830 again removed to Cincinnati. In 1833 they removed to the Wabash country. In 1850 Calvin R. came to Urbana and in- spected the country. In 1852 he bought land here, and in 1853 removed here with his young wife, whom he had married in 1852. Her name was Rebecca J. Wimp and she is still living. They settled in Somer township and have carried on farming operations ex- tensively ever sinee. The children born to them are Kossuth B., who resides and farms in same township, Jennie D., who married
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