USA > Illinois > Ford County > Historical Atlas of Ford County Illinois > Part 29
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ELI HARVEY, Sibley, was born on his father's farm in Clinton County, Ohio, in 1839. He received his education in a log schoolhouse. In 1857, he emigrated to Malden, Ill., where he resided on a farm until 1860, when he removed to Loda, Ill. Here he commenced a career as overseer of a large landed estate, a position he has held for twenty-two consecutive years. His position at Loda was overseer, general manager and paymaster of Adam Smith's 2,000-acre farm, a position he held until 1875, with the exception of the year 1867, when he came to Barr Oaks farm to oversee the planting of hedge fences of nearly 100 miles in extent, and as a fact worth mentioning here, Mr. Harvey put in the first hedge plant in Sullivant Township with his own hand. In 1875, he became overseer of the Burr Oaks farm, and has held that position to the present time. Mr. Har- vey may be said to be in reality a self-made man. His educa- tion is a broad and generous one. His merits have been repeat- edly recognized by his employers, and the people have held & continual claim upon him, as we find him holding the several positions of School Director for twelve consecutive years, Town- ship Constable for six years, Overseer of Highways for six years. He was the first Town Clerk of Sullivant Township, which obtained its first organization through his efforts. He is one of our best citizens, and takes a pride in the advancement of all public interests.
LESTER S. HEATH, hardware, Melvin, was born near Lockport, Will Co., Ill., February 14, 1848, and is a son of Joseph and Achsah Heath, who settled in Will County in 1838. On December 28, 1870, our subject was united in marriage with Mary Jane Brown, of Joliet, Ill. They have four children- Harry Lester, Lizzie A., Amey B. and Joseph Rolla. Mr. Heath settled in Melvin in 1873.
JOHN F. G. HELMER, Paxton, Deputy Circuit Clerk, was born near the city of Ullrecehamn, Sweden, November 14, 1849. In 1867, he came to this country, settling in Paxton. He was educated in the public schools of his native place, and latterly in the colleges at Grenna and Jonkoping, Sweden. In 1869, he entered the employ of S. D. Cooper, druggiat, in this city, and remained here until 1881. He was appointed Coroner of Ford County from 1874 to 1878, which office he filled with satisfaction to all. In 1881, he was appointed Deputy Circuit Clerk under Weaver White, which position he still retains. He is also agent for the leading steamship lines to Europe. Mr. Helmer is very popular in this county, and is one of Paxton's prominent young men. He is considered to be the best penman among the county officers. He was married, June 4, 1879, to Augusta W. Frederickson, a native of Grenna, Sweden.
CHARLES E. HENDERSON. Samuel E. Henderson, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Virginia. He moved to Logan County, Ohio, where he lived the remainder of his days. He died in the winter of 1877, having reached the patriarchal age of ninety-one years. . Charles E. Henderson, the subject of our sketch, was born in Loudoun County, Va., February 3, 1825. He went with his parents to Ohio, and there remained until he became a young man, receiving such education as the times and locality afforded. In 1850, he went overland to Cali- fornia, remaining three years, then returned to his old home in Ohio, where he was married, May 28, 1854, to Miss Ann Boggs, daughter of William Boggs, one of the early settlers of Logan County, Ohio, and a native of Pickaway County, Ohio. He died at the age of eighty-two at his old home in Logan County, Ohio, where he had lived for more than fifty years. In 1855, Mr. and Mrs. Henderson came to Decatur, Ill., where he engaged in the grain business until 1858, when they again returned to their old home in Logan County, Ohio. Here they remained until 1865, when he located in Ford County, where he has engaged in vari- ous avocations, chiefly farming and dealing in stocks. He was one of the incorporators of the First National Bank of Paxton in 1871. Upon his present home farm in Patton Township is = station of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad called Henderson Station, where our subject has a store and commodious grain house and telegraph office. The store and office of the railroad are under the management of his son Harry.
JAMES OSCAR HUGHES, pharmacist, Gibson, son of Lewis H. and Elizabeth Jane Hughes, was born in Woodford County, Ill., April 29, 1849. On August 18, 1873, he was united in marriage with Emma G. Livingston, at Ureka, Ill. They have one child-Walter Guy. Mr. Hughes came to this county in 1875, and in 1878 the firm of Hughes & Thompson succeeded J. R. Lott, druggist. In August, 1882, Mr. Hughes bought the interest of his partner, S. A. Thompson, since which time he has conducted the drug business alone.
JAMES KEMP, Kempton, P. O. son of Wright and Eliza- beth Kemp, was born in Kendall County, Ill., November 24, 1858, and came to Ford County with his parents in 1866. He
was united in marriage with Carrie M. Switzer July 31, 1877, at a place called Eldridgeville, Kankakee Co., Ill. They have three children-Mary B., Ada E., Myrtie E. Mr. Kemp lives on Section 1, Sullivan Township, Livingston County, about a half mile west from the old home.
WRIGHT KEMP, now residing in Kankakee City, Ill.,
was one of the early settlers in Rogers Township, Ford County. having settled on Section 81, in March, 1866. He is a son of John and Betty Kemp, and was born March 18, 1823, in New- tonmore, Cheshire, England. On January 22, 1843, he was united in marriage with Elizabeth Butterworth, in Middleton, England. In the year 1848, he bade adieu to his wife and three children and set sail for America, landing in New Orleans after & voyage of seven weeks from Liverpool. After = time, he made his way to Kendall County, Ill., where he had an uncle, for whom he engaged to work by the month as a farm hand. The following year he wrote for his wife and family to come to him, and in due time Mrs. Kemp with two children (one child having died since his departure from home) landed in New York, and by way of the canal and the lakes reached Morris, Grundy Co., Ill., where the re-union of husband and father with wife and family took place, A farm was rented in Kendall County, on which they settled, and for many years farmed on shares as renters. About the beginning of the war, Mr. Kemp purchased a farm, and paid a considerable money down. His corn crop was immense that year, and could not be marketed at more than 15 cents per bushel. which so discouraged him that he permitted the land to go back to the owner before him. This farm he rented one year, and an early frost materially injured the corn, yet what was marketable was sold for more than $1 per bushel. The next year, he lived on a farm in Grundy County, near Nettle Creek. He purchased 160 acres of land on what is known as Grand Prairie, Ford County, and in the winter of 1865-66, he hauled lumber for a house and other buildings to be put up the following spring. On March 1, 1866, the family, with house- hold goods and stock, left neighbors and friends in Grandy County for the new home in Ford. The roads were in a terrible con- dition, and streams were overflowing their banks. The journey was by way of Dwight, across the unbroken prairie, till they reached the residence of Mr. Shoemaker, where a stop was made for a few days, after which they took up their abode in a shanty three miles from the location of their new home, where the family remained till the father and Mr. Shoemaker had built the new house, known far and wide in its day as the large white house. Some two or three years after this, he purchased 120 acres lying opposite, at $12.50 per acre. The town of Kempton, a station on the Kankakee & Southwestern Branch of the Illinois Central Railroad was laid out by Mr. Kemp in 1878, and so named in his honor as he materially advanced the interests of the residents of this section by securing right of way through Rogers Town- ship. He afterward purchased 320 acres of land west of Kemp- ton, in Livingston County, on which his sons John and James now reside. Mr. Kemp purchased a house and lot in Kankakee in 1883, where he now lives with wife and youngest boy, Wright E., enjoying rest as only those can that have labored hard and earned it. Mr. and Mrs. Kemp were the parents of the follow- ing children: Sarah, Hannah, Elizabeth Ann, Mary Ann, Elizabeth, James, John, Francis C. and Wright E. The eldest daughter married, and lives in Newton County, Ind., where Mr. Kemp purchased 160 acres of land. The second daughter, Hannah, married Henry Benson in 1869; they live five miles east of the old home. The third daughter married John Clay- ton, and lived but about one year. In 1877, the oldest son mar- ried, and lives one-half mile west of the home place. November 24. 1879, the second son married, and lives one and one-half miles southwest of the old home. Francis C. is a merchant in Kempton.
FRANK G. LOHMAN, Roberts, the present Superintend- ent of Schools in Ford County, was born January 7, 1849, in Watertown, Wis .; son of Frank and Sophia (Vick) Loh- man. The subject of our sketch received his education in the Northwestern University at Watertown, and after finishing his studies there he began teaching school, continuing at it for many years. In July, 1869, Mr. Lohman left Wisconsin and came to Ford County, settling on a farm in Patton Township, where he carried on the business of farming for several years. In 1875, he began teaching school again, and has been connected with school work in this county since. In 1882, he was elected by the citizens to fill the office of County Superintendent of Schools. This office he still holds, having given entire satisfaction to the people. August 22, 1878, Mr. Lohman was united in marriage with Miss Florence B. McCann, a native of Henry County, Til. This union has been blessed with two children. Mr. Lohman is at present making his home in Roberta, this county.
ALEXANDER MCELROY, Paxton, was born October 27, 1836, in Greene County, Ohio. He attended the common school and labored on a farm until fourteen years of age, when the death of both of his parents occurred. From that time until December, 1855, he attended the private and high schools of his native county, and then entered Antioch College at Yel- low Springs, Ohio, where he remained until the spring of 1857. Horace Mann was President of the latter institution during the time Mr. McElroy was a pupil there. The subject of this sketch came to Monmouth, Ill., in April, 1857, and there read law with J. G. Madden until August, 1859. He removed to Paxton in November of the same year, forming a partnership with Nathan Simons, then County Clerk. Mr. McElroy was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court in 1861. Subsequently he held part- nership with John F. Voss and George Toms. In 1875, he moved on a farm near Paxton on account of poor health and other causes, where he remained until June, 1878. In the spring of the latter year he was elected Justice of the Peace for Patton Township, and was re-elected to the same office in 1881. Mr. McElroy and Mary E. Hanley were united in marriage, Jan- uary 10, 1865. They have two children-John H. and Margaret G .; the latter is usually known by the pet name of Daisey.
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Alexander McElroy is highly respected as a citizen, and as au official he has the entire confidence of his constituents.
M. K. McDOWELL, live stock, etc., Gibson, a son of Thomas G. and Elizabeth (Keeney) McDowell, was born in Montgomery County, Ind., April 18, 1841, and settled with his parents in Livingston County, Ill., in 1848. On September 27, 1866, he was united in marriage with Mary Morgan, of Strawn, Livingston County. They have two children-Frank B. and Thomas C. Mr. McDowell settled in Gibson in 1878.
FRANK C. McDOWELL, live stock, etc., Gibson, a son of Thomas G. and Elizabeth (Keeney) McDowell, was born in Mont- gomery County, Ind., March 16, 1889; was united in marriage with Laura Morgan, of Strawn, Ill., March 29, 1871. They had one child, Stellie, who died February 8, 1876. Mr. Mo- Dowell settled in Gibson in 1878.
McDOWELL BROS. This firm was formed in 1866, and has continued uninterruptedly to this time. This firm have during the time been engaged in farming, buying and selling stock and butchering. For thirteen years past, their business has been dealing in live stock and butchering exclusively. This is the oldest firm in this line of business in the city.
HUGH MEHARRY was born in Connersville, Penn., February 12, 1797, and the next year moved with his parents to Adams County, Ohio, where he resided until 1828, when he married Miss Susan Ambrose, and afterward moved to Mont- gomery County, Ind., near Shawnee Mound, where he and his new bride settled for life. By industry and economy, and the great opportunity then offered for buying cheap lands of a very superior quality, he amassed a large fortune. His father died before he left Ohio. About two years after the son moved to Indiana, his mother also moved from Ohio with six more sons and one daughter, and settled at Shawnee Mound, near Hugh's. The brothers and sisters all married and settled in the neighborhood, and like their brother Hugh were very prosperous, and became wealthy, notwithstanding their large donations to churches, col- leges and other benevolent institutions. Prominent among his philanthropic deeds, was the endowing of a professorship in the Central Tennessee College, Nashville. He contributed largely in the building and endowing of the Asbury, now the DePouw College, of Greencastle, Ind., and the Wesleyan University of Bloomington, Ill. When this part of Illinois was comparatively new, Hugh Meharry came out here and secured . large amount of land. On his first trip through this part of Illinois, which is now Ford County, he remained over night at Ten Mile Grove with John Crothers, in a log house yet standing on the farm now owned by John M. Hanley, Esq. During the evening he got into conversation with Mr. Crothers, and Mr. Meharry made some inquiry about the health, and the morals generally of the people. Crothers became excited, and jumped up and slapping his hands together, said : " I have lived here for sixteen years, and I thank God I have never had a preacher or doctor in my house." He l.ke his father raised a large family, all the mem- bers of which he settled in Illinois on good farms, excepting one son and daughter, the former owning and occupying the old homestead at Shawnee Mound, and the latter, to whom he gave 1,400 acres of land near Ambia, Ind. When Mr. Meharry was about seventy-three years old, his wife having died some three years before, he left his old home and came to live with his chil- dren in Illinois, making his home with his son, F. Meharry, and his son-in-law, Robert Blackstock. He died in his eighty-fourth year, while on a visit to his son-in-law, Rev. John A. Kumler, Bement, III. His remains were brought to Paxton and funeral services held in the Methodist Episcopal Church on the 27th day of December, 1881. ITis remains were then taken and in- terred in the family cemetery at Shawnee Mound, Ind. He was an active, faithful and consistent member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church for sixty-nine years, and died in the full assurance that he was going to join loved ones who were safely landed on the other shore. Truly it can be said of him in the language of the Psalmist, " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, they rest from their labor and their works do follow them."
FRANK MEHARRY, Patton Township, was born in Mont- gomery County, Ind., August 10, 1831. Hagh Meharry, father of Frank, was born near Connersville, Penn., February 12, 1797, but was raised in Ohio. Susan Ambrose Meharry, wife of Hugh Meharry and mother of Frank, was born in Virginia, but came with her parents to Highland County, Ohio, while a child, and grew up to womanhood in that county. She died in 1835 in Mont- gomery County, Ind. November 9, 1854, the subject of our sketch was married to Miss Margaret Blackstock, a native of Canada, and sister of Robert Blackstock, of the Ford County Bank. After his marriage, Mr. Meharry lived in Montgomery County for five years. In 1859, he left there and came to Ford County, purchasing 640 acres of fine land of Joseph Coonts, which lays four miles west of Paxton, and is one of the choice farms of Ford County. This farm is well improved and upon it stands one of the finest residences in the county. Charles Me- harry, brother of Frank, came to Ford County in 1969, and re- aides four miles west of Paxton on a beautiful farm.
JOHN H. MOFFETT, Paxton, was born in Clayton, Adams Co., Ill., in 1857, son of Samuel R. and Mary (Strong) Moffett, natives of South Carolina. In 1834, Samuel R. Moffett left South Carolina, and settled in Monroe County, Ind. In 1855, the family removed to Adams County, Ill. Remaining here period of two years, they returned to Indiana, and in April, 1865, they came to this place. The subject of our sketch, re- ceived a good common school education, and subsequently attend- ed Monmouth College two years; he began his law studies with J. R. Kinnear, of Paxton, and was admitted to the bar in 1880, at Springfield, and began the practice of his profession in com-
FORD COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
pany with Mr. Kinnear in this city, which continued until May, 1883, when the partnership was dissolved by mutual agreement, Mr. Kinnear removing to Seattle, Washington Territory. Mr. Moffett is now associated with Judge Tipton, of Bloomington. In 1881, he was elected City Attorney of Paxton, which office he filled for two years. In April, 1878, he was married to Mar- tha S. Gray, daughter of Samuel Gray, of Loda, Ill. The father of our subject died in Paxton in 1879, his mother resides in this place. Mr. Moffett is a young man of integrity, industry and of unquestionable ability.
JOHN A. MONTELIUS, Piper City, real estate and grain merchant, is one of the prominent and popular business men of Ford County, well and favorably known to the public for his in- nate integrity of character, and his firmness in the advocacy of all good principles conducive to a high moral standard and a religious life. He was born in Union County, Penn., May 29, 1844. Here he passed the days of his youth, and when eighteen years old began clerking in s store at Center Hall, Penn. Subse- quently he was in the employ of a National Bank in Philadel- phia. In 1866, he left Pennsylvania and came to Illinois, lo- cating at Piper City. Ford County, and with Dr. Piper opened the second general store in the new village. In 1873, he en- gaged in the banking business, and started the Piper City Bank, which he continued with good success until 1878, when he sold out to George Campbell. Since then Mr. Montelius has turned his attention principally to the real estate business, and is at the present time the largest land owner in the county, owning over 4,000 acres. He, in company with his brother, Edward, is con- ducting an agricultural warehouse, and they are also engaged in the grain business. In 1867, Mr. Montelius was united in mar- riage with Miss Kate Gast, a native of Pennsylvania. The re- sult of this union has been a family of six children, five of whom are living. Our subject has one of the finest places in Piper City, and is one of her most valued citizens.
DAVID PATTON (deceased) was born in Ross Co., Ohio, December 20, 1815. Thomas Patton, father of David, emi- grated to Vigo or Parke Counties, Ind., when David was about three years old. They remained there only a few years. In 1823, the family moved to Fountain County, Ind., where Thomas Patton died. December 10, 1844, David was married to Miss .Jane Cade, daughter of William Cade, who settled in Fountain County in 1828. November 2, 1854, David Patton came to Illi- nois and settled in Button Township. then in Vermilion County. Here he resided until his death, February 29, 1880. He en- tered 480 acres of choice land in Section 33, Town 23, Range 14 west, in Button Township. There are eight children, all living near the old homestead, where the Widow Patton still resides.
WILLIAM H. PELLS. Biographies are the material of which history is made, and it will be found that when the history of this great country of ours, the home of, and the structure of the middle classes, is finally written up, that there will be ample material for the ornamental part of the edifice, but the face brick of the solid wall will be of such as is here presented, of good, an- cestral clay, tempered by industry and perseverance, molded in integrity and benevolence, and burned in necessity and responsi- bility. As such, the subject of this sketch, a self-made man, the best exponent of our nation's glory, and an encouragement and inspiration to all honest endeavor, stands a worthy example. William H. Pells was born in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., June 12, 1818. His education, which had been in the public schools of his native city, was terminated by the financial failure of persons for whom his father had indorsed, and he, at the early age of thirteen, was thrown on his own resources. He went to the city of New York, and began life for himself as the driver of a milk wagon. After six months, he obtained a situation as clerk in a grocery store, which he held until the spring of 1880. He then sought fortune in the western part of New York, then "out West." Reaching Palmyra, he found himself without a dollar, and then for three months recruited his finances by chopping wood and clearing landa. Moving on to Ridgway, he continued with his ax, and while but a boy made his mark on some of the best farms of that township. On the 19th of November, 1881, he began clerking for H. Francis, at Ridgeway. By industry and frugality, fortune's servants, he here laid the foundation of his ample fortune, which classes him, if not now, certainly will, with his energy and promised lease of life, among the millionaires. With the slow earnings of his position invested in the then cheap lands of that district, he began to as ume the responsibilities of, and to take a lead in real life by, first, joining himself, in 1886, in the holy bonds of matrimony to Maria B. Whitaker, a native of Norfolk, England; second, after a ten years' clerkship, by be- coming a full partner in the business. in 1841, and finally, in 1846, sole proprietor, in which capacity he conducted a very successful business until 1851, when he sold a one-half interest to a brother, and the whole in 1856, thus closing his career as a merchant. In the same year, the Medina & Alabama Plank Road Company, having lost heavily on the same, Mr. Polls pur- chased that part leading from Ridgeway to Medina, binding himself to re-build it, and to save the company harmless from its obligations under its charter. This he did against the judgment of all, who thought that the nature of the ground was such that the cost of construction and maintenance would be a ruinous venture. However, he re-built it with stone and gravel in a most thorough manner, and at great expense. It soon was recognized as one of the best roads in the State, there probably not being more than one equal, that between Albany and Troy. This he operated until the charter expired in 1881, it paying . handsome yearly revenue from the beginning. In 1856 he journeyed westward, and, in company with R. R. Murdock and Leander Britt, purchased and laid out Prospect City, now Paxton. He
secured, in 1859, the organisation of Ford County, and in the same year the choice of Paxton by ballot to be the county seat. He gave much of his time, energy and means to the town he had founded, and many of its best features of business enterprise, churches and schools are due largely to his good judgment and liberal support. In 1876, during a period of rest and recreation at Petoskey, Mich., he became impressed with the salubrious cli- mate, the fertile soil, and the general attractiveness of the situa- tion, and, guided by his sound judgment, invested in some 13,000 acres of land. He has since seen the county in which it was located, Emmet, grow from a wilderness, inhabited by 100 whites and 1,100 Indians in 1875, to 7,000 whites and 800 Indians in 1880, and now there are about 12,000 whites. The extension of the G. R. & I. R. R. northward in 1882 passed near the center of Mr. Pells' tract of land, and a flourishing little village, named in honor of its proprietor Pellston, is situated on the same. There were born to William and Maria B. Pells three children, two of whom only survive-Hannah W., wife of Col. Charles Bogardus, of Paxton, with whom Mr. Pells makes his home, and Edgar Z. Pells, of Ridgeway, N. Y. This truly happy union was severed after a continuance of only nine years by the death of the wife and mother, and since that sad event almost forty years ago, Mr. Pells has made the memory of her, who was the partner and sol- ace of his early trials, the companion of his old age. Such is the biography of one whom Ford County delights to honor ; a man of sterling integrity, with s heart that is moved by generous impulses, a purse well filled, that opens to the cry of the needy, letting not the left hand know what the right hand doeth, and with a judgment clear and correct. He is a man with a strong sense of duty, & perception that grasps the future, a will that ar- gues and works out its cause, and a mind that grows with its problem. He is a faithful husband, a loving father, and a suc- cessful business man.
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