USA > Illinois > Warren County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Warren County, Volume II > Part 58
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ed a paint shop at a place now on South Main Street, just north of the Opera House, before any other painter had established himself in the town. In 1861 he enlisted at Galesburg, in Company C, Eleventh Illinois Cavalry, with which he served untl he received an honorable discharge in 1862. He died at Monmouth in 1868. His widow, who survives him, bore him nine children: Wyatt, died young; Alonzo, served three years in Company C, Eighty-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, died April, 1876; Mrs. Williams, next in order of birth; Lorenzo, served from 1862 until the close of the war in the Twelfth Illinois Cavalry and is an inmate of the Soldiers' Home at Quincy; Thomas, died young; Malesta, now Mrs. Whaley, lives in Mercer County; Zack, lives in Monmouth; Mrs. Ida Henry, lives in Monmouth; Warren, a cos- tumer and milliner at Monmouth. D. H. and Melissa (Bunker) Williams have had the fol- lowing named children: Mrs. Jessie Wilson, of Milwaukee, Wis .; Mrs. Lucia Jones, of Mon- mouth; Nellie and Mary Ella, who died young; John D., cigar manufacturer, Monmouth; Ber- tha E. and Adda. Mr. Williams is a member of McClanahan Post, No. 330, Grand Army of the Republic, of which he was Commander in 1894 and is now Sergeant Major, and Mrs. Wil- liams is Conductor and was Secretary, and for three years, President of the Ladies' Relief Corps. They are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
WISE, ROBERT M .; contractor and builder; Monmouth. In a growing city like Monmouth the work of the contractor and builder is an im- portant one and, if he be a man of enterprise and integrity, he is certain to rear himself mon- uments which will stand for many years after he has passed away as reminders of the part he has taken in the work of development and improvement. Robert M. Wise was born at Val- paraiso, Ind., March 29, 1860, a son of Jonathan and Margaret Wise, natives respectively of Washington County, Penn., and Knox County, Ohio, who were married in the Buckeye State. Jonathan Wise was a blacksmith and a man of upright and patriotic character. He died in In- diana, in 1891, and his widow still survives. They had children as follows: Robert M., B. S., D. W., Jennie, Catharine, Maggie and Maud. B. S. and D. W. live in Indiana. Robert M. was reared and educated in that State and, in 1883, came to Monmouth and learned the car-
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
penter's trade, at which he worked for six years with W. S. Emert. He was also employed for a time by Warren Chapin, and he has done con- siderable contracting on his own account, his work having been principally in the erection of residences. He is a member of Monmouth Lodge No. 577, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. At Monmouth, in 1887, he married Nettie Reed, daughter of Omie L. Reed, one of the early prominent men of that city, and they have a son named Omie.
WOLFF, S. J .; carpenter and the first reader of the Christian Science Church, Monmouth, Warren County, Ill .; has been identified with the Christian Science movement since 1897, having begun the study of the science in 1896. Christian Scientists began their work in Mon- mouth in private houses. In July, 1899, they established a public meeting place at one hun- dred and five East Broadway, and in April, 1900, they organized as a church, known as First Church of Christ Scientist of Monmouth, Illinois, with a membership of seven, whose number has increased to fourteen, and after which a more suitable place was desired, and then moved to their present hall, located at 108 South First Street. Mrs. Wolff, who was the first to complete the course of prescribed in- struction, was elected President, and Mr. Wolff, who had been a member of the organization at Kirkwood, was chosen first reader. He "took his class" at Peoria. S. J. Wolff was born Jan- uary 25, 1854, in Cumberland County, Penn., a son of John and Rose Ann (McCoy) Wolff, natives of that State. His father died in Penn- sylvania, in 1861, and hs mother married Jacob Burkholder. The subject of this sketch was the sole issue of the first marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Burkholder had two children: Ellen, who lives in Pennsylvania, and Charles N., a citizen of Whiteside County, Ill. Mrs. Burkholder came to Kirkwood, Warren County, in 1887, and died there in 1898. S. J. Wolff was reared and educated in Pennsylvania, and there learn- ed the carpenter's trade. He married in that State, Mary J. Hyers, who has borne him three children: Mrs. Effie Alma Bear, of Monmouth; James E. and Roy B. The family settled in Kirkwood in 1880, and there Mr. Wolff en- gaged in contracting and building until 1896. Under the leadership of Mr. and Mrs. Wolff, the Christian Science movement at Monmouth is growing steadily and substantially.
WOLF, WILLIAM B .- Illinois owes a debt of gratitude to Pennsylvania which she is not likely to repay as long as the course of emigra- tion is westward. She has received from her sister State a large number of sturdy citizens of the highest character and ability who have been an important factor in all her develop- ment and prosperity. One such is William B. Wolf, of Monmouth. He was born in Pennsyl- vania, May 23, 1839, a son of George S. and Mary (Amweg) Wolf, both natives of Pennsyl- vania, and a grandson of Christian Wolf, who was also born in that State. In April, 1861, Mr. Wolf enlisted in what became Company I, First Regiment Pennsylvania Reserve Volun- teer Corps, which formed a division of the Fifth Army Corps, Army of the Potomac. He was wounded twice during this enlistment, once during the fighting in front of Richmond in 1862, and again in the Wilderness campaign in Virginia in 1864. He was First Lieutenant in Company I during this campaign, and for gallant and meritorious conduct was brevetted Captain, his commission being signed by Pres- ident Andrew Johnson. After his wound healed he organized a company at Harrisburg, Pa., and was made its Captain. This company was one of eight assigned to the 101st Pennsylvania regiment which had been depleted by hard serv- ice. In this regiment he served until the close of the war. Mr. Wolf located in Mercer County, Illinois, in 1865, and removed to Warren Coun- ty in 1868. He was employed for several years in the hardware establishment of E. E. Wal- lace, in Monmouth, then in 1876 became book- keeper for the Pattee Plow Company, of which he is now Treasurer. He has taken an active interest in local politics, and was a member of the Monmouth City Council under the adminis- tration of Mayor Pillsbury. In 1893 he was elected to the office of Mayor, and served in that capacity for two years with much credit. Mr. Wolf married Rose S. Sheriff at Keithsburg, Illinois, October 29, 1868. He is a member and ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church, and has been a liberal contributor toward the main- tenance of public worship and the advancement of many other worthy causes. In politics he is a Republican.
YOUNG, DR. JOHN A., only child of William and Mary McKnight Young; born February 1, 1812, in Chillicothe, Ohio; came to Monmouth, January 9, 1839, and thereafter made Mon-
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
mouth his home continuously until his death, May 3, 1874. The son of a tanner, he natural- ly as a young man took up the trade in which his father was engaged. Having perfected him- self in this he spent a year in Philadelphia that he might acquire the currier's art. Thus it will be seen that the manufacture of leather from the raw to the finished product was orig- inally determined upon as his life's work. In fact, as he himself has said, "The idea of taking up a profession was farthest from his thoughts; and it was only to please a childless uncle, whose favorite he was (and who proposed pay- ing all expenses if he would exchange the trade for the profession) that he undertook a month's trial at reading medicine in the office of Dr. Joshua Martin, in Xenia, Ohio." The month's trial would, as he supposed, demonstrate that he was not fitted either by nature or education for the study of medicine. But much to his own surprise and his uncle's delight, the end of the month found him so deeply interested in it that he had no wish to give it up. In the autumn of 1836 he was therefore duly enrolled as a medical student in the old Miami Medical College of Cincinnati. From this institution he graduated with honors in the spring of 1838. He married, February 16, 1841, Isabella, young- est daughter of Jonathan and Isabella ( Guffey) Wallace, of Xenia, Ohio. To Dr. and Mrs. Young were born three sons: Samuel Mc- Knight, namesake of the uncle referred to- died in infancy; William Wallace, now a dis- tinguished dramatist of New York City; and Henry Byrd, now one of the foremost oculists and aurists of the west, of Burlington, Iowa. Dr. Young became a member of Lodge No. 37, A. F. & A. M. in its early days-his only secret society affiliation. In 1863 he joined the First United Presbyterian Church of Monmouth, of which his wife was practically the founder Dr. Young lived so strenuous a life profession- ally that he had but few outside interests. The only one of note was the Warren County Home Insurance and Banking Company, of which for a time he was President. For many years and at the time of his death he was a member of what was first known as the Executive Commit- tee of Monmouth College Trustees. Of Dr. Young's professional career it may be said that he was the pioneer of specialism in Monmouth. and vicinity. Crippled by rheumatism, which
attacked him in 1864 and later made locomotion impossible without the aid of crutches, he turn- ed his attention more particularly to gynecol- ogy because it offered a field for a large office practice to take the place of much outside work that had to be abandoned. That he was conscientious, capable, fearless and industri- ous throughout all of the thirty-five years he practiced in Monmouth was the testimony of all who knew him. Dr. Young's mother died in Chillicothe in 1824. His father died in Mon- mouth in 1850. His widow survived until May, 1900. Dr. Young was buried the first Monday in May, 1874; Mrs. Young the first Monday in May twenty-six years later. Dr. Young was intellectually a very able man. His conversa- tion, on a wide range of topics, was brilliant and brainy. An enthusiast in his profession, ardent, progressive, untiring, he was also a large-hearted, manly man, the Dr. MacLure of these prairies. The most eminent in the land might truly have said to him, as was said to the Highland practitioner, "Yir an honor tae oor profession."
KETTERING, GUY, farmer, Monmouth, War- ren County, Ill., is a son of John and Sarah Ket- tering, who were natives respectively of Cum- berland, Penn., and the State of Ohio. Mr. Kettering was born in Coldbrook Township, Warren County, April 10, 1864, and acquired his education in the public schools of his na- tive county. He was early instructed in the practical business of farming, which he pur- sued exclusively until September 1, 1900, when he removed to the city of Monmouth, where he now resides. Mr. Kettering was married December 28, 1882, to Abbie M. Sloan, a daugh- ter of Jonathan and Maria (Tubbs) Sloan, who were natives of the State of New York. Emi- grating to Tompkins Township, Mr. Sloan bought land there and followed the business of farming until his death, which occurred in March, 1878. His widow then removed to Kirkwood, Warren County. Mr. and Mrs. Sloan were the parents of four children, of whom one is deceased. One daughter, Frances, lives in Iowa, while another, Martha, resides in Kirk- wood. A third daughter, Abbie, has borne her husband four children: Ethel Pearl, Harry Earl, Bernard Sloan and Mildred Lucile.
PART III.
TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Township Organization in Warren County-One Favorable Vote Held to be Invalid-Final Organization Perfected as Result of Elec- tion Held in November, 1853-Naming of the Townships.
During the first eighteen years of its history the business affairs of Warren County were conducted by a County Commissioners' Court, composed of three men. The first board was chosen at the special election when the county organization was perfected, and consisted of John B. Talbot, Adam Ritchey, Jr., and John Pence. They were elected July 3, 1830, and served until the regular election in August of the same year. The others who served the county on the Commissioners' Court, and the dates of their service, were:
John B. Talbot, 1830-34, 1836-38.
John Pence, 1830-32. Peter Butler, 1830-32, 1840-44.
Jeremiah Smith, 1832-34.
James McCallon, 1832-34.
Robert Gilmore, 1834-36.
William Whitman, 1834-36.
W. S. Jamison, 1834-36. Samuel G. Morse, 1836-39.
Alexander Turnbull, 1836-38, 1844-46.
James C. Hutchinson, 1838-40.
John C. Bond, 1838-42.
James P. Hogue, 1839-43. James Tucker, 1842-45. H. Brownlee, 1843-44. Thomas Griffee, 1844-46. James Drain, 1846-48. H. E. Haley, 1846-47.
John B. Junkin, 1846-49. Josiah Whitman, 1847-49. John W. Giddings, 1848-49.
Daniel McNeil, Jr., was clerk of the board from 1830 to 1838, and again from 1843 to 1848. Elijah Davidson held the position from 1838 to 1843. The last session of the County Commissioners' Court was held November 12, 1849. The members then were John B. Junkin, Josiah Whitman, and John W. Giddings.
The legislature of 1849, under the constitu- tion of 1848, passed an act creating the County Court, and giving to it the powers that had been vested in the County Commissioners' Court, the latter being abolished by the same act. The County Court consisted of a County Judge and two Justices of the Peace, who were known as Associate Justices. The first session of this court in Warren County was held December 3, 1849, with Judge Ivory Quinby presiding. John Riggs was Associate Justice; William F. Smith, clerk; and John Brown, sheriff. The County Court had charge of county matters until the township organization system was adopted and the power was vested in the Board of Supervisors, which was permanently done in 1854.
The first vote on. township organization was taken at the regular election in November, 1849. . A majority of votes was cast in favor of the change, and the County Court, whose duty it was, named three commissioners, Joseph Paddocks, John C. Bond and Ira F. M. Butler, to divide the county into townships. The com- mittee performed this duty and reported that they had divided the county according to the congressional survey, and named the town- ships as follows:
Township 8 North, 1 West-Greenbush. Township 9 North, 1 West-Berwick. Township 10 North, 1 West-Floyd. Township 11 North, 1 West-Coldbrook. Township 12 North, 1 West-Milton.
Township 8 North, 2 West-Swan.
Township 9 North, 2 West-Hat Grove. Township 10 North, 2 West-Ripley.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Township 11 North, 2 West-Monmouth.
Township 12 North, 2 West-Spring Grove.
Township 8 North, 3 West-Point Pleasant. Township 9 North, 3 West-New Lancaster. Township 10 North, 3 West-Center Grove.
Township 11 North, 3 West-Sugar Grove. Township 12 North, 3 West-Martinsville.
The first election of a Board of Supervisors was held in April, 1850, and resulted in the choice of the following:
Greenbush-John C. Bond. Berwick-E. C. Lewis.
Floyd-H. J. McCool.
Coldbrook-Peter Butler.
Milton-William Graham.
Swan-Hezekiah Simmons.
Hat Grove-David C. Riggs.
Ripley-Porter Phelps. Monmouth-Daniel McNeil, Jr. Spring Grove-Robert Gilmore. Point Pleasant-Warren Park.
New Lancaster-Eliphalet Mitchell. Center Grove-Joseph Tinkham.
Sugar Grove-Thompson Lowther. Martinsville-William C. Maley.
The board met April 8 following, and organ- ized by electing Peter Butler of Coldbrook as its first chairman. At the June session of the board it was reported that the names of Milton and Sugar Grove Townships would have to be changed, as other townships in the state already had these names. So Milton was changed to Warren and Sugar Grove to West- field. The county was laid out into fifteen elec- toral precincts-one for each township-and judges of election appointed in each.
This June session was the last one of this Board of Supervisors. A decision of the Illi- nois Supreme Court was handed down soon after that time, in the Woodford County case, holding that in an election to vote on township organization, a majority of all the votes cast at the election must be cast in favor of organi- zation. This had not been the case here, though more votes had been cast for organiza- tion than against it. Consequently, by general consent, the County Court resumed control and management of the county business August 7.
On petition of C. K. Smith and others, the matter of township organization was again submitted at the November election in 1851, but the proposition was defeated. It was sub- mitted again, and again defeated, in November,
1852. September 12, 1853, James McCoy and more than fifty others asked for another vote at the next November election, which was granted, and this time the proposition carried, and the County Court, composed then of Judge Ivory Quinby and Associate Justices John Riggs and William Lair, named John C. Bond, Samuel Hallam, and Robert Gilmore as com- missioners to divide the county into townships.
This commission followed the divisions made by the earlier one, but changed the name of Hat Grove Township to Roseville, Center Grove to Tompkins, Sugar Grove to Hale, Mar- tinsville to Union, and New Lancaster to Elli- son. The first Supervisors under this election were as follows:
Greenbush-John C. Bond.
Berwick-E. C. Lewis.
Floyd-William Laferty.
Coldbrook-Benjamin F. Morey.
Warren-John Miles.
Swan-Absalom Vandeveer.
Roseville-William Johnson.
Ripley-Porter Phelps.
Monmouth-Josiah Whitman.
Spring Grove-Robert Gilmore.
Point Pleasant-Warren Park.
Ellison-Eliphalet Mitchell.
Tompkins-Joseph Tinkham.
Hale-William Fleming.
Union-John P. McGaw.
The new board met June 5, and elected Josiah Whitman chairman. The names of three townships still conflicted with the names of other townships in the state, so the name of Ripley was changed to Lenox, Warren to Kel- ly, and Union to Sumner. No change in the names has since been made.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
BERWICK TOWNSHIP.
(Township 9 North, Range 1 West.)
Berwick is the second from the south in tlie east tier of townships in Warren County. It is well watered by Cedar Fork of the Spoon river, and Slug Run, with Nigger creek cross- ing its southwest corner. These streams make
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
the land more broken in this township than in almost any other in the county, and for this reason also there is considerable timber. Much of the land, however, is rolling prairie, and gen- erally it is a good farming country, with much wealth and substantial prosperity. The Iowa Central railroad passes through the north part of the township, entering from Floyd township on the northeast quarter of Section 6, going east through Section 5, and crossing back into Floyd from the northeast quarter of Section 4.
Berwick township was organized at the election of April 4, 1854. The records of the election have been lost, but the officers chosen were: Supervisor, E. C. Lewis; clerk, A. G. Pearce; Assessor, Harlan J. Davis; Collector, H. M. Lewis; Overseer of the Poor, A. V. T. Gilbert. The present officers are: Supervisor, Hiram Shirley; Clerk, R. J. Kirby; Assessor, D. Duffield; Collector, George Steele; Highway Commissioners, Eli Neff, William Meacham, Thomas Meadows; Constable, F. M. Ray. Those who have been supervisors of Berwick town- ship to the present time are: E. C. Lewis, 1854- 64; S. B. Crane, 1865; H. M. Lewis, 1866-78; W. D. Miller, 1879-89; J. Kirby, 1890-93; H. M. Lewis, 1894-95; Charles W. Robertson, 1896-97; H. Shirley, 1898-1902.
Berwick was one of the earliest townships settled, and many of the farms are held to- day by descendants of the men who first made their homes here. The first comers were Solo- mon Kaisey and Solomon Perkins, brothers- in-law, who located here in 1829, Kaisey on Section 7 and Perkins on Section 4. Perkins had located first in Coldbrook township in 1826, on what was later the Peter Butler farm. He was Second Lieutenant in Major Butler's com- pany of volunteers for the Black Hawk war, and was also a member of the jury which tried the Indians charged with the murder of Wil- liam Martin in Sumner township, just after the close of that war. He died at David City, Neb., in 1886. Soon after them came James Arm- strong, who settled near the north line of the township, coming from Roseville. Henry Meadows was another settler of about the same time, making his home on Section 12, in 1831 or 1832. Isaac, Daniel and Samuel Perkins, brothers of Solomon, came in 1832, the two lat- ter with their families. Isaac was a soldier in the Black Hawk war, and was killed in the service. Rev. Peter Cartwright, the famous Methodist preacher, came in 1833 perhaps, locat-
ing on Section 17 and preaching all over this and adjoining counties. He had several sons who were also prominent in the doings of the early days. E. C. Lewis, father of Hon. H. M. Lewis, George Bay, E. W. Allen, the Shuffields, Samuel G. Morse, and others were also among the early settlers. John Wilcher was the first resident of the village of Berwick, then called Bowling Green, and his daughter and a man named Duffield were the first couple married there. The ceremony was performed by Squire James Tucker, of Swan township, the year the village was laid out. Probably the first mill was that of Josiah Stillings on Section 1, in the northeast corner, on Slug Run.
The first school in the township was opened in 1835. A log school house was built that year by Thomas Pearce, near the present site of the village of Berwick. Miss Jane Allen was the first teacher. She afterward married Judge Ivory Quinby, himself an early resi- dent of Berwick township, and died in Mon- mouth in 1847. The latest figures at hand in the County Superintendent's office show that there are six school districts in the township, with one brick and five frame buildings. There are four male teachers, earning from $35 to $50 a month, and two female teachers, re- ceiving $30 and $33. Males of school age in the township, 112, or whom 99 are enrolled in the schools; females of school age, 99, of whom 96 are enrolled. Two schools have libraries, with 40 volumes, worth $115. The tax levy for schools is $1,950; the value of school property, $3,660; and the value of school apparatus, $100.
Small-pox broke out in this township in Jan- uary, 1853. Several deaths occurred, among them the wife and two children of Wyatt Ray, the wife and child of W. A. Jones, a Mr. Lan- don, Lorenzo Jenks, Hickson Ray, Mrs. Webb, Mrs. Mary Riggs, and Garland Strode and one of his children. There were in all sixteen fatal cases.
The assessment roll for 1901 shows that there were then in Berwick township 928 horses, 2,970 cattle, 40 mules, 675 sheep, and 2,972 hogs. The total value of personal property was $392,100, and the assessed valuation $78,420. The as- sessed valuation of lands was $233,360, and of lots, $7,080.
The population of the township in 1900 was 826, a gain of 28 over the figures given in 1890.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
CHURCHES.
Rev. Barton Randall was one of the pioneer circuit riders of the Methodist Episcopal church and the first to visit this section of the state. The first quarterly meeting was held in Knox County, at which Thomas Pearce was appointed one of the stewards for Warren County. The second quarterly meeting was ap- pointed to be held at Thomas Pearce's house March 18, 1833, but the weather was so bad no one attended. At this time there were scarce- ly a dozen Methodists in the whole county. A class was organized in the spring of 1833, by Rev. Barton Randall, composed of Barton H. Cartwright and wife, Thomas Pearce and wife, and Robert Ray and wife. They continued to meet at the homes of members until 1837, when a permanent place of meeting was ar- ranged for in the village. In 1852 this little band erected a church building which did service for sixteen years. In 1868 a new church was built at a cost of $4,000, and dedicated February 14, of that year, the dedicatory ser- mon being preached by Rev. J. S. Cummings, D. D. But this brave organization, which bat- tled so successfully during the early years of its history, was not destined to carry out the plans of its founders. For many years after the building of the new church services were regularly maintained and the membership in- creased in due measure. But in process of time many strong supporters moved away to other localities, some were claimed by death, and the membership dwindled down to the point where regular services could not be sup- ported, so for ten years past the property had stood idle.
During the summer of 1901, however, revival services were held by Rev. D. E. Hughes, of Monmouth, and by his efforts a church of the Christian faith was organized under the name of the Christian Church of Berwick. This or- ganization has about forty members, and has arranged to use the old Methodist church prop- erty. It also maintains a flourishing Sabbath school, of which J. H. Smith is superintendent. C. E. Niseley, J. H. Smith, and A. Nordwell are the trustees of the organization. It has as yet no settled pastor.
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