Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Hancock County, Volume II, Part 132

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), 1844-1928. 4n; Scofield, Charles J. (Charles Josiah), 1853- 4n
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1174

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On March 9, 1882, Mr. Perry was married to Miss Elizabeth T. Yetter, and they became the parents of the following children, all of whom survive : Herschel G., Howard T., May E. and Leonard Y. Herschel G. Perry attended the common schools and the high school of Car- thage, being graduated from the latter in the class of 1913, and then matriculated at the University of Illinois. Upon his return home he took up farming, but when his country had need of him, he responded, and at the time this record is written is one of Hancock County's

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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY

brave soldiers a member of Company F, Eighty- sixth Illinois Regiment, and is in the Supply Department, which company was known as the Black Hawk Company. He is a true American boy, ready to lay down his life for "Old Glory." He is a credit to his parents, his county and his country. On January 4, 1918, Herschal G. Perry was married to. Miss Juanita Daily, a daughter of John and Irene Daily, of Hancock County. She attended the Carthage High school, from which she was graduated, and is a public schoolteacher, being now in the primary de- partment of the Ferris school. Both she and her soldier husband belong to the Methodist Episcopal Church. The second child, Howard T. Perry, was graduated from the Carthage High school, class 1917, and had college train- ing at Carthage College. Becoming of age in January, 1918, he registered, and held himself ready to respond to the call to military service. Mary E. Perry is attending the Carthage High school, being a member of the class of 1918, and is specializing in music, for which she dis- plays considerable talent. Leonard Y. Perry is attending the grammar graded school, and like his brothers and sister, is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Mrs. Perry was born in Hancock County, June 9. 1869, a daughter of George W. and Mary (Briley) Yetter. She was the third child in a family of five children born to her parents, of whom four survive, and three are residents of Hancock County, the fourth, Estella, who is the wife of Charles Kimbrough, lives at Karl- stadt, Minn., where Mr. Kimbrough is engageu in farming. He is a Republican. The Metho- dist Church holds his membership. Mr. Yetter was born in Pennsylvania, January 26, 1835. and died April 7, 1908. He came to Illinois with his family when primitive conditions pre- vailed. making the trip by way of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to Warsaw. this county. At that time there was plenty of wild game. He engaged in farming and merchandising, and was a well known man, as was his father, who for years was a minister of the Methodist Church. In politics Mr. Yetter was a Repub- lican. Both he and his wife are buried in Moss Ridge Cemetery, and appropriate monuments mark their last resting place. Mrs. Yetter was born in Ohio, February 1, 1836, and she died February 22, 1905. She was brought to Illinois when three years old, and was here reared and educated. Mrs. Perry was educated in the pub- lic schools of Hancock County. Her life inter- est is centered in her home and family, and she has lived up to the highest conceptions of a wife and mother. A faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, she brought up her children in the same faith, and has the satisfaction of having them all members of the same denomination. The Women's Christian Temperance Union has in her an effective sup- porter, and she is president of the local organi- zation. She and the members of her family have been very active in Red Cross work. Mr. Perry is a Democrat, and cast his first presi- dential vote for Grover Cleveland, and has al-

ways espoused the principles of his party. He is an ardent admirer and supporter of Presi- dent Wilson. Fraternally he is a member of Bentley Lodge No. 312, I. O. O. F. at Carthage, and also of Carthage Camp No. 326. M. W. A. Like all the other members of his family, be belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is serving it as a trustee.

For some years Mr. Perry has been raising and breeding Poland-Angus cattle, and has met with remarkable success in this line, as in oth- ers. His prosperity has been attained through his own efforts ably assisted as he has been by his devoted wife, who has been his comrade and supporter. Their beautiful estate is known as Sunny Side Grange, and from it has already gone forth one stalwart soldier to fight for the principles inculcated in him from infancy. Those left behind. father, mother, brothers and sisters, all through the Great War, now happily ended, gave their country a cheerful, hearty and intelligent support.

PETERS, Albertus J., one of the prosperous general farmers of Harmony Township, owns and operates seventy-four and one-fourth acres of valuable land on section 31. He was born in Bear Creek Townshp, Hancock County, March 26, 1892, a son of Albert Peters.

Albertus J. Peters was reared in Bear Creek Township and attended its schools, and at the same time he learned to be a practical farmer, remaining at home until he was married Au- gust 16, 1916, to Chrestie Hylton, born in Floyd County, Va., June 25, 1900, a daughter of Henry Hylton, who was also a native of Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Peters have one daughter, Evvie Leona, who was born July 31, 1917. After his marriage, Mr. Peters moved to his present farm, and since then has already made impor- tant improvements. He belongs to the German Lutheran Church. Ever since he cast his first vote, he has been a Republican, but he has never sought to enter public life. preferring to devote himself to his private affairs.

PETTIJOHN, Cora A., formerly proprietor of the Large Maple Farm, is classed as one of the most successful farmers of Hancock County. This farm contained eighty acres on section 9, Augusta Township. After selling that place she bought the S. W. Mote farm of 160 acres, Au- gusta Township, sold it in four years at a good profit, and then bought the James Campbell farm of 180 acres, selling it at a profit in three months. She is contemplating buying another farm. Mrs. Pettijohn was born at Elm Grove, Ill., January 7, 1877, a daughter of H. C. and Adele (De Groot) Robbins, natives of Illi- nois and New York state, farming people. Mrs. Robbins is deceased, but Mr. Robbins survives and now lives in Oklahoma. He is a Republican.

Mrs. Pettijohn was married in Adams County, Ill., November 14, 1894, to J. E. Pettijohn, and their children were as follows : Grace, who was born November 4, 1895; and Chalmer I., who was born March 14, 1901, and died Jan- uary 14, 1919. On the Large Maple Farm Mrs.

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Pettijohn specialized on raising Poland-China hogs, Holstein cattle, Percheron horses and Buff Orpington chickens. She is a practical farmer and has been very successful in her operations, her daughter being her valuable assistant. A woman of unusual intelligence, she is very much interested in public matters, and since being given the right to do so, has cast her vote for the candidates of the Republican party. The Christian Church holds her membership. In these days when so many openings are made for her sex, Mrs. Pettijohn is proving the fit- ness of women for the occupation that first engaged the attention of mankind, the tilling of the soil and the development of the natural agricultural resources of a community, and there is no doubt but that her success will stimulate others who have a talent in this di- rection and are not afraid of hard work, to follow her example, and put under cultivation land which might otherwise, during any period of shortage of man power, lie idle.

PETTIT, Alfred, now deceased, was one of the honored pioneers of Hancock County who, com- ing here at a very early day, developed a fine farming property from wild land in Pilot Grove Township, and became a man of prominence in his community. He was born on Long Island, N. Y., a son of Jesse and Mary Pettit, natives of New York state, and was reared in his native place, and there acquired his educational train- ing. In young manhood he came west to Iowa, and there met Mary Hemingway, a daughter of John and Mary Hemingway, all of whom were born in Ontario, Canada, but moved at an early date to Iowa. After Alfred Pettit and Mary Hemingway were married, in 1851, he drove overland on the long and perilous journey to the Pacific coast in search of gold, and returned by way of Cape Horn to New York City, thence to Hancock County. He then bought sixty- acres of land on the present site of Burnside, in Pilot Grove Township, and kept on adding to his farm until he had 200 acres in his home farm, and sixty acres one mile west of it. Here he died November 4, 1891, and his wife died November 8, 1893. Their children were as follows: Alice and George, who are deceased ; Emma, who is Mrs. R. M. Duffy, of Lynch, Neb .; John H., who lives at Burnside; and Edwin, who is deceased.

PETTIT, John H., vice president of the State Bank of Burnside, is one of the substantial farmers of Pilot Grove Township. He lives at Burnside, where he has many interests and where at one time he was engaged in the hard- ware business. He was born at Burnside. Ill., December 21. 1860, a son of Alfred and Mary (Hemingway) Pettit. a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.

John H. Pettit grew up on his father's farm, and gained his practical knowledge of life and work from his parents, and of books in the district school. On March 3, 1887, he was mar- ried to Elizabeth Tyner, born in Pilot Grove Township, November 17, 1862, a daughter of

Dewitt C. and Susanna (Decker) Tyner, natives of Indiana and Ohio, respectively. The grand- parents, Wiliam and Susan (Eagen) Tyner, were early settlers of Hancock County, while the grandparents on the maternal side of the house, Elijah and Sarah Decker, are also num- bered among the pioneers of this county. After his marriage, Mr. Pettit rented his farm for four years, and went into the hardware busi- ness at Burnside, but he then returned to agricultural pursuits, although he continues to live at Burnside. Mr. and Mrs. Pettit have had one son, Milo, who was born December S, 1895, who died August 1, 1896. Mr. Pettit belongs to the Christian Church, of which he is treas- urer, and he has also held other church offices. His convictions on the temperance question have long made him a Prohibitionist, and he has served as a school director for many years. Mr. Pettit was one of the organizers of the State Bank at Burnside, and has been its vice pres- ident since 1914. Mr. and Mrs. Pettit took to rear as their own, a nephew, Elzy L. Bross, in 1902, when he was only two weeks old, at which time his mother, Mrs. Pettit's sister Iva, died.

PEYTON, Peter, a retired farmer of Hamilton, and a veteran of the Civil War, was formerly actively engaged in agricultural pursuits in Wythe Township. He was born in Casey County, Ky., October 12, 1843, a son of Peter and Lois (Eden) Peyton, also natives of Casey County, Ky. The father died in 1870, the mother hav- ing passed away in 1869. They had fourteen children, all of whom are now deceased except Peter and Mrs. Eliza Richey, the latter of whom is now living in Washington County, Ky.

Peter Peyton attended the common schools of Kentucky. He left home for the first time when, on January 10, 1862, he entered the Union army, enlisting in Company K, Nine- teenth Kentucky Infantry, Second Brigade, Third Division, Thirteenth Army Corps of the Army of Tennessee, and served for one year and eight months of the Civil War. He was discharged on account of disability occasioned by wounds received at Vicksburg on May 22, 1863. He took part in five hotly contested bat- tles, and numerous skirmishes, and acquitted himself with honor, and received an honorable discharge.

Ill 1868 Mr. Peyton came to Hancock County and rented land in Wilcox Township, but later bought 120 acres in Wythe Township, which he operated until 1912, when he sold and moved to Hamilton, where he has since lived retired. He is one of the most highly esteemed men of the county, and still takes an intelligent in- terest in agricultural matters, although no longer participating in the work of cultivating the soil.'

Mr. Peyton was married February 8, 1866, to Lucy Ann Overstreet, born in Mercer County, Ky., July 25, 1846, but reared in Anderson. They have seven living children, namely : Frank, Lois, Lilly, Bertha, Cora, Grace and Everett Peter. Mary Alice and Carl are deceased. There

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are twenty grandchildren in the family. Mr. Peyton and wife both belong to the Congre- gational Church, of which he has been treas- urer for a number of years. He was a mem- ber of the G. A. R. post.

PIERCE, Clyde F., owner and operator of 166 acres of very valuable land on section 13, Augusta Township, is one of the successful general farmers and stockmen of the county. He was born in Schuyler County, Ill., April 6, 1886, a son of F. J. and Sylvania (Moore) Pierce.

After attending the local schools and the Western Illinois Normal school, Clyde F. Pierce taught school for eight terms, and then began farming for himself in 1916, at which time he bought his present farm. Since then he has been profitably engaged in general farming and stockraising and also feeds some cattle.

On May 13, 1914, Mr. Pierce was married in Schuyler County to Goldie Burton, born in that county. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce have three chil- dren, namely : Helen, Frank and Majorie. Fra- ternally Mr. Pierce belongs to the Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias. A Republican, he has always supported the principles of his party, and while living in Huntsville Township, Schuy- ler County, he served as tax collector. A solid, reliable man and excellent farmer, Mr. Pierce stands well with his associates, and is recog- nized as one of the county's representative agri- culturalists.

PIERROT, Armand, one of Sonora Township's best known and highly respected retired farmers, for many years was a successful agriculturist here and still owns his well improved estate of 200 acres. He was born in what has become a historic part of France, his birthplace being on the river Marne, June 13, 1857. His parents were Germain and Catherine (Dubois) Pierrot. In 1867 they started for the United States to found a new home, and after reaching Illinois, remained at Warsaw, Hancock County, until the spring of 1868, and then the father bought eighty acres of raw prairie land situated on section 36 Sonora Township. He cleared the land and improved it before he retired from hard work. He died at Nauvoo in 1903, the mother having died in 1893 at Warsaw. They had the following children : Victor, who died while serving in the Franco-Prussia War; Ju- lian, who died in the colonial army in China ; Armand ; Charles, who died in Paraguay ; and Julia, who is the widow of Charles Grandjean, of Nauvoo, Ill.

Armand Pierrot was sixteen years old when the family came to the United States and he had attended school in his native land. He gave his father all the assistance he could while growing up and his whole active life was devoted to farming. After his marriage he operated his uncle's farm in Sonora Township for three years and then conducted his father's farm for ten years, when he bought eighty acres of his uncle's farm. In 1895 he bought the Jones farm of eighty acres, lying on the opposite side of the road from his place and -still owns

200 acres, all of which he has had rented out since he retired in 1906. In 1904 he erected his fine modern residence which he and his wife now occupy.

Mr. Pierrot was married in 1874, to Miss Julia Chempeau, who was born at Corning, Iowa, the first child born in the French Icarian colony, of which her parents, John and Louise (Sablier) Chempeau, natives of Paris, France, were members. Mr. and Mrs. Pierrot have four children : Louise, who lives at home; Victor, who lives at Weaver, Iowa ; Christopher, who rents and operates 110 acres of his father's farm; and Florence, who lives with her parents. The family attend the Christian Church. In politics Mr. Pierrot has always been a Repub- lican. In his neighborhood he has served in several public offices, has been school director, road boss and census taker, and has given faithful attention to his duties at all times.

PIGGOTT, Joseph D., one of the representative farmers of Wythe Township, is a director of the First National Bank of Hamilton, and for- merly was supervisor and assessor of his town- ship. He was born in Hancock County, March 18, 1860, one of the four children born to his parents, Joseph L. and Jane (Ayers) Piggott, three of whom survive. Joseph L. Piggott was born in Canada, but came to Illinois at an early day. At one time he made the trip over- land to California and worked for a period in the gold fields. His death occurred on Octo- ber 5, 1900. His widow survived until July 23, 1916, when she too passed away.

Joseph D. Piggott was reared on the farm where he was born and where he now resides, and attended the public schools of his neigh- borhood, and Carthage College. His inclina- tion lay in the direction of agriculture, and he has devoted himself to the tilling of the soil with very gratifying results, as he now owns 360 acres of valuable farm land in Wythe Town- ship, which township has served in official capacities.

Mr. Piggott was married to Miss Amelia L Bricker, a daughter of John Bricker of War- saw, Ill., and they have three children, namely : Harry L., Edward J., and Robert J.

PILKINGTON, George Wilson, now living prac- tically retired at Carthage, is a man well and favorably known throughout Hancock County, and for a number of years he was a very suc- cessful farmer. He was born at Burlington, Iowa, October 31, 1850, a son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Wilson) Pilkington, he born at Bol- ton, England, and she near Manchester, Eng- land. In young manhood, about 1841, the father came to the United States, landing at New Or- leans from a sailing vessel, and went up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, Mo., from whence he made his way to Burlington, Iowa. The family later moved to Hancock County, George Wilson Pilkington walking and driving two cows from Burlington, Iowa, to Sonora Township, where the father bought land, where he died January 19, 1871. The mother died about 1894.

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They had two children, namely: George Wil- son ; and William, who lives at Hamilton, Ill.

George Wilson Pilkington was reared in Iowa and Hancock County, attended the common schools and the first high school conducted in Burlington, in 1864. On March 5, 1SS5, Mr. Pil- kington was married to Sarah M. Fish, born in Sonora Township, a daughter of A. J. and Vic- tory C. Fish. Mr. and Mrs. Pilkington have had the following children: George Ray, who lives on one of his father's farms; Sarah May, who is Mrs. John Sanstrom, of Henderson County, Ill .; Thomas Andrew, who is on the home farm; Violet, who is Mrs. Henry Hobbin, of Prairie Township; and Myrtle and Flossie, both of whom are at home.

After his marriage, Mr. Pilkington bought eighty acres of land belonging to the old home- stead, to which he added another forty acres, and lived there until 1901, when he sold, and bought 160 acres on section 12, in Montebello Township, which was improved land. Later he bought eighty acres in Sonora Township, and still later, eighty acres in Montebello Town- ship, just across the road from the home place, and lived on his land, carrying on general farm- ing and raising Percheron horses, cattle, and hogs and sheep until December, 1908, when he moved to Carthage, where he had bought four and one-half acres of land on which stood a nice, modern frame residence, and here he has since lived, renting out his farms. In politics Mr. Pilkington is a Democrat, and he served as school treasurer while living in Sonora Township. His fraternal connections are with the Odd Fellows and Modern Woodmen of America, both of Carthage. A man of ample means, he has attained to his present prosperity through industry and thrift, and deserves the comforts he is now enjoying.

PILKINGTON, William H., who is one of Han- cock County's substantian agriculturists and rep- resentative men, owns a large body of land in Sonora Township, which has become very valu- able through his careful methods of cultivation and the excellence of his improvements Mr. Pilkington has spent almost his entire life in this county but his birth took place at Burling- ton, Iowa, September 10, 1853. His parents were Thomas and Elizabeth (Wilson) (Todd) Pil- kington. They were born in Manchester, Eng- land, and both died inIllinois, the father in 1874, at the age of sixty-four years, and the mother in February, 1894, when aged seventy- five years.

The maternal grandparents of William H. Pilkington were James and Margaret Wilson, and they were the first of the family to come to Illinois. They sailed from England for New Orleans, Ea., and safely reached that port in 1822 and came up the Mississippi River as far as Nauvoo. At a later date they removed to Fairfield, Iowa, and at Burlington in that state, Thomas Pilkington and Elizabeth (Wilson) Todd were married. To Mrs. Pilkington's first marriage two children were born, Edward E. Todd, who is a resident of Chicago, Ill., and

Sarah E., who is deceased. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Pilkington; George, who lives at Carthage, Ill .; and William H. For fifteen years Thomas Pilkington was foreman of a packing house in the city of Burlington before coming to Hancock County, Ill., and settling April 14, 1865, on a farm near Nauvoo. There he followed farming during the rest of his life. Both parents of Mr. Pilkington died on that place.

William H.Pilkington had built limited educa- tional opportunities in boyhood and never at- tended school after he was ten years old. He learned many very practical things, however, and from the age of eleven years was able to take care of himself through his own efforts. He learned to be a fearless horseback rider and worked at herding cattle, and sold newspapers both in Iowa and Illinois. He thus early gave indication of the perseverance and industry that have had much to do with the upbuilding of his present substantial fortune. Later lie sought employment in Chicago and was in that city at the time of the great fire, lived there for about one year and then returned to Hancock County and embarked in farming. He lived on his farm on the prairie following his mar- riage in 1882 but later moved on the bluff along the Mississippi River where, in 1890, he bought forty acres. To that first purchase he has kept on adding until he now owns 260 acres situated on sections 32, 29, 30 and 33 Sonora Township, and a 10-acre timber tract on sec- tion 33. Mr. Pilkington put up all the modern buildings here and remodeled the old ones and has a fine place. His business has always been general farming and stockraising, and in the latter industry he grows horses, cattle, hogs and sheep. He has always been careful and methodical in his operations and has prospered greatly. On December 3, 1918, he bouglit six acres in the northeast section of Hamilton and rented out his farm.

Mr. Pilkington was married February 14. 1SS2, to Miss Alzira Wilson, who was born in Sonora Township, Hancock County, Ill., August 26, 1859. Her parents were James and Janette (Golden) Wilson. Her father was brought in childhood by his parents to Sonora Township, in 1827, and he often related stories of his Indian boy playmates. Later lie became a river man and was a pilot on the Mississippi River on boats running from St. Louis through the dangerous Des Moines rapids to St. Paul. The ·maternal grandparents of Mrs. Pilkington were Abraham and Sarah Golden, who settled in Sonora Township in 1823. Mr. and Mrs. Pilking- ton have had six children: Maude, who died at the age of three weeks; Roy, who is a farmer in Montebello Township; Berzee, who is de- ceased; and Mildred, Guy and Trillah, all of whom are at home. The son Guy was in the American army in France and was gassed by the enemy in the Argonne Forest and was in all the big battles of the World War. In politics Mr. Pilkington is a Democrat. On many occasions he has been elected to responsible township positions and has served as town-

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ship clerk, school director, school trustee and overseer. Mrs. Pilkington is a member of the Christian Church. He belongs to Temple Lodge, Odd Fellows, and they both belong to the auxiliary order of Rebekah.

PITTAM, Orville Altimonte, one of the progres- sive agriculturalists of Pilot Grove Township, has for a number of years made a specialty of raising bees, and has been very successful along this line. He was born in Pilot Grove Township, September 15, 1863, a son of James Harrison and Marian ( Huckins) Pittam, he was born in England in 1833, and she in New Hamp- shire. James Harrison Pittam was brought to the United States by his parents when he was twelve years old, and the family settled in Pennsylvania, where he lived until 1839, in that year coming to Illinois, and locating at Nauvoo. He had been influenced to come to the Mormon settlement, but after arriving there, found con- ditions so entirely different from what they had been represented, that he was not willing to remain, and left Nauvoo for Pilot Grove Town- ship, where he could be free from Mormon re- strictions. A shoemaker, he went from house to house, and received twelve and one-half cents per pair for making shoes. His board was also given him.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Hancock County, Volume II, Part 132

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), 1844-1928. 4n; Scofield, Charles J. (Charles Josiah), 1853- 4n Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1174

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913. cn; Currey, J. Seymour (Josiah Seymour), 1844-1928. 4n; Scofield, Charles J. (Charles Josiah), 1853- 4n
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1174