USA > Illinois > Warren County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Warren County, Volume II > Part 59
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In the early days there was quite a colony holding to the Baptist faith, and they congre- gated at the home of John Smith, in Roseville township, where on July 28, 1833, a society
was organized by Revs. John Clark and John Logan. August 1 following the congregation called Rev. G. Bartlett to become its pastor, and he took charge at once, serving until December, 1834. Other pastors of the church were Revs. R. M. Wilbur, Isaac Mattson, Eras- tus Minor, Joel Sweet, Joseph Elliott, W. T. Bly, G. D. Simmons, Truman Gregory, H. S. P. Warren, C. E. Bailey, P. P. Shirley, R. L. Caldwell, J. B. Conger, Cary Tillsbury, Homer E. Norton, D. G. Zeak, George Gray, J. F. Caldwell, J. F. Merriman, J. E. Todd, and the present pastor Rev. J. W. Atterbury. The first house of worship of this congregation was erected in 1840. The present church build- ing was erected in 1856 at a cost of $3,000. It is a large, commodious building, and well suit- ed to the work. The congregation also owns a parsonage.
The Christian church at Meridian, on Section 3, two and one-half miles east of Berwick, was organized April 28, 1839, the charter members including several from the old Coldbrook church. The society has a comfortable and commodious church building, which was re- modeled in 1899. The pastor is Rev. W. K. Knight.
BERWICK.
Bowling Green was the poetic name first given to the village of Berwick. It was platted by Deputy Surveyor Peter Butler July 9, 1936, on the west half of the northwest quarter of Section 5, and the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 6, township 9 north, range 1 west (Berwick township). The owners of the site were Samuel G. Morse and Thomas Pearce. The town consisted of a public square and sixteen blocks, with Marion, Pearl and Water streets running east and west,, and Washington, Main and Jackson streets run- ning north and south. The village never had sufficient boom to warrant the platting of ad- ditional territory, but on the contrary blocks 3 and 4 and parts of blocks 5 and 6 of the orig- inal plat have long since been abandoned. The village is now a station on the Iowa Central railroad, which was built through it in 1877, yet there has been no appreciable advance- ment in its growth, though a number of well- kept modern homes grace its few streets. The village has never incorporated. It is, how- ever, a thriving trading point. The organiza- tion of the Berwick Bank, which commenced
Hirame Sholders
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
business in August, 1899, added materially to the business activity of the village. It was at first a private institution, but was reorgan- ized in January, 1900, as the State Bank of Berwick, with a capital of $30,000. The stock is scattered among sixty-three stockholders, representing the wealthiest men of the com- munity, and the bank is doing a prosperous business, having deposits of $90,000, loans and discounts aggregating $100,000, and a net sur- plus of $5,000. W. C. Tubbs is president of the bank, H. M. Lewis vice president, and James Houston cashier.
The Berwick cemetery was laid out in 1840, and was one of the earliest located in the coun- ty. The first person to be buried in it was a son of Franklin Ogden, whose death occurred during the year mentioned.
Berwick Lodge No. 765, I. O. O. F., was in- stituted June 25, 1889, by Frank Lattimer and degree team from Abingdon. There were five charter members. The first officers were: A. M. Howard, N. G .; Harry Van Tassell, V. G .; J. L. Dimmitt, secretary; T. L. Capps, treas- urer. The fifth member was Swain Johnson. Ten others were initiated following the insti- tution of the lodge. They were H. L. Jewell, Hiram Sheldon, T. M. Hess, Jr., Charles Strom, W. J. Sheldon, James A. Coe, J. D. Ra- gan, M. Howard, William VanTassell. The present membership of the lodge is 43, and its officers are: J. C. Hoover, N. G .; Lawrence Maltby, V. G .: J. H. Jones, R. S .; George H. Steele, F. S .; A. Nordwall, W .; J. H. Smith, C .; J. H. Smith, C. M. Finley, A. Nordwall, Wm. Ray, Abner Charles, trustees.
The Berwick Rebekah Degree Lodge was or- ganized April 11, 1901, by Monmouth and Kirk- wood members of the order. There were twen- ty-one charter members, and the first officers were: Mrs. J. H. Smith, Noble Grand; Mrs. A. Charles, Vice Grand; Mrs. C. Robinson, Recording Secretary; Miss Mila Ingram, Fi- nancial Secretary; Miss Zaida Robinson, War- den; Mrs. James Steele, Chaplain; Mrs. G. H. Steele, Treasurer; Mrs. J. H. Jones, Inner Guard; A. Nordwall, Outer Guard.
Berwick Camp No. 4717, Modern Woodmen of America, was organized May 10, 1897, with twenty members. The officers were: H. T. Kleinhaus, Venerable Consul; C. A. Brook, Worthy Adviser, K. Ross Sheldon, Clerk; Hi- ram Shirley, Banker. The present membership is fifty-three, and the officers are: J. H. Smith,
Venerable Consul; J. C. Hoover, Worthy Ad. viser; George H. Steele, Clerk; R. J. Kirby, Banker; Hiram Shirley, C. A. Brook, T. C. Ew- ing, Managers.
A LADIES' CLUB.
The Reading Club of Berwick was organized at the home of Mrs. E. W. Allen, August 17, 1900, with the assistance of Mrs. Clara Gordon Coulson, of Galesburg. The object is mutual improvement, the fostering of a democratic and philanthropic spirit, and all that leads to higher social conditions. The club started with eleven charter members. In its course of read- ings the club has become familiar with the lives and writings of authors of ancient and modern dates, and in the program is included current topics and parliamentary drills. Through the generosity of Mrs. H. M. Lewis, the club has convenient rooms in which to meet, and in which it has a collection of books for a Reading Club library. The club is affili- ated with the General Federation of Women's Clubs.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
BUTLER, EDGAR L., farmer and stock dealer, Berwick Township (postoffice address, Avon), is a progressive and prosperous middle- aged business man of his vicinity, and his suc- cess has been won on such sterling principles and by such praise-worthy methods that all who have knowledge of his career know that he richly deserves it. He is a son of John A. Butler, a biographical sketch of whom appears on another page, born in Greenbush Township, Warren County, March 5, 1852, and was edu- cated in the public schools near his home, which is widely known as the old Butler home- .stead. As a boy he worked on his father's farm and soon after attaining his majority be- gan farming for himself in Berwick Township. He located on his present farm, which consists of a well improved section, in April, 1897, and for many years has, with his father, handled stock very extensively, making a specialty of cattle. He is a member of the Christian church and affiliates with the Republican party, and has served as school master in Berwick Town- shop. He was married in Greenbush Town- ship, August 19, 1874, to Miss Hattie Ennis, and has two children: Lawrence, born April 5, 1879, and Florence, born April 6, 1882. Mr. Butler is an up-to-date business man who ex-
877-18
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
erts a considerable influence upon the com- munity in which he lives, and has many times demonstrated that he possessed a public spirit which is equal to reasonable demands on it, for he has availed himself of every opportunity to advance the interest of the township and county to the extent of his ability.
DUFFIELD, DAVID, farmer, Berwick Township (postoffice address, Abingdon), is one of the most popular men in his part of the county and has been repeatedly elected Asses- sor of his township without opposition. He was born in McHenry County, Ill., December 30, 1837, a son of N. G. and Elizabeth P. Duf- field, natives of West Virginia, and received a public school education. His parents removed from the Old Dominion to Illinois in 1837, only a few months before his birth, and his mother died on their farm in Taylor County, Iowa, 1879, aged fifty-nine years, and his father in 1891, aged sixty-nine years. The family re- moved from McHenry to Warren County in 1865, and thence to Iowa. David Duffield re- mained il Warren County and, in the year last mentioned, bought his present farm in Berwick Township, which he has since man- aged with much success. He was married in McHenry County, November 5, 1868, to Lydia A. Stafford, who has borne him children as follows: Lilla E., Cyrus A., Clyde and Arlie, the last mentioned having died in 1864. Mr. Duffieid is a Democrat and wields much influ- ence in the affairs of his township, of which he has been Assessor for twenty years, besides serving as Tax Collector and in other official positions. He is devoted to the interests of his township and county, and his public spirit impels him to aid all movements which, in his judgment, may tend to benefit any considerable. class of his fellow citizens.
EATON, WILLIAM HARRISON, carpenter and builder, Berwick, a descendant of old Southern families particularly known in North Carolina and in Kentucky, is a man of enter- prise and mnuch force of character who is mak- ing his way to a creditable worldly success. Henry Eaton, his paternal grandfather, was born in North Carolina, and James Eaton, his father, in Edmonson County, Ky. His mother, Amanda School, and Akalus School, her father, were both natives of Kentucky, where the sub- ject of this sketch was born December 9, 1841.
Henry Eaton emigrated early in life to Ken- tucky, and died in Edmonson County. His son, James, became a farmer, and was married in that county and, in 1866, with his wife and nine children, removed to Warren County, Ill., where he farmed until his death, March 20, 1897, hav- ing reached eighty-three years of age. His wife died January 31, 1899. William Harrison Eaton was the eldest of his father's children and, during the civil war, he and his father sympathized with the North, and he was a member of the home guard. He learned the carpenter's trade in his native state and, in 1869, came to Berwick Township, where he has had a very successful career as a contractor and builder, having erected scores of farm houses in the country tributary to Berwick, and many residences and business buildings in Berwick and other villages. In politics he is Democratic and is not without considerable influence, hav- ing been for several years a School Director and for eight years a Justice of the Peace of Berwick Township. In 1863, in Edmonson County, Ky., Mr. Eaton married Agnes Eliza- beth Kelly, whose father died in Kentucky March 12, 1882, and whose mother, aged about ninety years, lives with a daughter in Edmon- son County. Mr. and Mrs. Eaton have children as follows: James Washington, born February 22, 1864, is married and lives in Roseville Township; Jonathan, born June 17, 1865; Thomas Newton, born April 30, 1867, was mar- ried and died March 21, 1900, leaving two daughters named Annie Marie and Edith Pearl; Amanda, born November 10, 1868, is a member of her parents' household; Delia Jane, born September 26, 1872, married Hiram Ray, farmer, Lenox Township; Rudolphus, born Jan- uary 16, 1874, enlisted August 4, 1898, in the Third United States Engineers and served in Cuba during the Spanish War, until mustered out of service, May 30, 1899, was married June 30, 1901, is a painter by trade. Amanda School, Mr. Eaton's grandmother in the mater- nal line, was the first cousin of the celebrated Daniel Boone.
FORDYCE, CAPT. JOHN, farmer, Berwick Township, Warren County, Ill.,. (postoffice ad- dress, Berwick), is by his fellow-citizens accorded the credit due to a man who has won honorable success and the honors which belong of right to one who has risked his life in defense of his coun-
Capt, Aola Fordyce
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
try's flag. Captain Fordyce was born in Greene County, Penn., July 11, 1839, and was educated in the public schools. His parents were Abner and Eliza ( Moredock) Fordyce, natives of the county mentioned, and his grand- fathers, John Fordyce and John Moredock, were also natives of Pennsylvania. John For- dyce, grandfather of Captain John, was born in Greene County, and became a farmer, a teacher and a preacher. His son, Abner, ac- quired wealth and prominence as a farmer in Greene County, and died there in 1885, aged sixty-nine years; his wife died in 1860. Sep- tember 11, 1861, Captain Fordyce enlisted in a company which was recruited in his native county in Pennsylvania, and which became Company F, Seventh Union Virginia Volunteer Infantry. Subsequently upon the division of the State of Virginia, it took the name of the Seventh West Virginia Volunteer Infantry. From the rank of fourth sergeant he was pro- moted to be orderly sergeant, and September 10, 1862, was commissioned captain of his com- pany. Until 1862 the command formed a part of General Shields' Division. After July 2, 1862, beginning with the fight at Harrison's Landing on the following day, the regiment was included in the Second Army Corps of the Army of the Potomac, and he was in constant service until the expiration of his term of en- listment, December, 1864. He was wounded in the Wilderness fight, May 5, 1864, but rejoined his regiment August following, in time to par- ticipate in the second movement of his corps up the James River, and, at Boynton's Plank Road in October, 1864, he was senior officer of the Seventh West Virginia Regiment and the Fourth Ohio Regiment, and commanded both regiments after the colonel of the Fourth was killed. The engagements in which he served included those at South Mountain, Antietanı, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Morton's Ford, Wilderness, Deep Bottom, Ream's Station, Hatcher's Run and Boynton Plank Road. After the war he returned to Greene County, Pennsylvania, whence, in the winter of 1864-65, he came to Berwick Town- ship, where he farmed during the summer and fall, returning to Pennsylvania at the end of the season. He married in Greene County, January 11, 1866, Miss Elizabeth Rossell, and brought her to Berwick Township to the farm which he has since owned and which has been their home. He has been successful as a
farmer and stock-raiser, and now owns 275 acres of land situated near Berwick. He was reared a Methodist, and members of his family are identified with the Baptist church. Influ- cntial as a Republican, for twenty-seven years he has held the office of School Director. In 1866 he helped to organize Post No. 104, G. A. R., in Floyd Township, and later became a mem- ber and commander of Post No. 58, at Abing- don. Mr. and Mrs. Fordyce have three daugh- ters: Jennie E., who married Joseph W. Fluke; Etta, who married William W. Brent; and Lilly. who is yet a member of her parents' household.
HOUSTON, JAMES W., banker; Berwick, Warren County, was born near Kirkwood, Feb- ruary 9, 1866, a son of Samuel Weakley and Mary E. (Woods) Houston. His father was born on a farm near Carlisle, Penn., and was a son of John W. Houston, of Cumberland County, in that state. His mother, also born near Carlisle, was the daughter of Samuel aud Martha (Bell) Woods, of Cumberland County and of Gettysburg respectively. All were old and prominent Pennsylvania families. James W. Houston acquired his education in the dis- trict schools, with a short term in Monmouth College. He was married June 22, 1898, to Miss Nellie E. Edgerton, of Kirkwood, and of this union have been born two children: Flor- ence Priscilla, born June 22, 1899, and Rollin Edgerton, born November 10, 1901. Mr. Hous- ton is a Presbyterian in religious belief, and prior to his coming to Berwick was a ruling elder in the Presbyterian church at Kirkwood. He is a banker in business and a Republican in politics. Mrs. James W. Houston was born in Kirkwood May 27, 1873, the daughter of Edward S. and Philena (Jenne) Edgerton. Her father died some years ago, but her mother is still living in Kirkwood. Her family were among the early settlers of that locality, com- ing to Kirkwood from New York State. Samuel WV. Houston came to Illinois in 1853, when he purchased a farm two miles.west of Monmouth. Ten years later he moved to Tompkins Town- ship and bought a farm on Section 23, where he lived until 1886, when he moved to Mon- mouth, living in retirement till 1890, when his death occurred at Stuttgart, Ark. The death of his wife occurred in 1880. They were members of the Presbyterian church and assisted in the founding of the church of that denomination at Kirkwood, in which he was a ruling elder
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
till his removal from the bounds of the congre- gation. Mr. Houston was a very active Mason, and had taken the thirty-second degree in that fraternity. He was the father of ten children, of whom but three are now living-James W., Robert W., who is cashier of the State Bank of Kirkwood, and Carrie S., who is a nurse in the Burlington Hospital at Burlington, Iowa. James W. Houston, the subject of this sketch, is a young man of active and progressive spirit. When he began life for himself he worked for a couple of years as a farm hand, and also taught school for several years. In 1890 he entered the employ of the First Nat- ional Bank of Kirkwood as book-keeper, con- tinuing with that institution until 1899, when he organized the Farmers' State Bank of Ber- wick, of which he is the cashier, and which, from the beginning, has been a pronounced suc- coss. Mr. Houston is an affable and courteous gentleman and commands many friends.
LEWIS, HENRY MILLS .- Mr. Lewis was born in Baskingridge, N. J., February 21, 1824, and comes of a family long planted in that part of the world. His father, Eliphalet Cross Lew- is, born near Baskingridge, N. J., in 1801, was a son of Thomas and Susan (McCoy) Lewis, and a grandson of Zephaniah Lewis, all of whom were born in New Jersey. Eliphalet C. Lewis was married to Mary Ann Mills, who was born in 1808, near New Vernon, N. J., and was a daughter of Jedediah and Phoebe (Goble) Mills.
Eliphalet C. Lewis removed to Illinois with his family in 1837, remaining two years in Sangamon County. In September, 1839, he lo- cated in Berwick Township, making his home on Section 21, where he pursued the life of a farmer until his death. He brought his family from New Jersey to Berwick in a wagon. He was Supervisor for ten years, and served as Justice of the Peace for twelve years.
Henry M. Lewis had the rearing common to farm boys of his time and received his educa- tion in the district school. When he became of age he worked four years for his father at ten dollars a month, and then bought eighty acres in Section 21, which he cultivated, and to which he added until, at one time, he owned eleven hundred acres. At the present time he owns eight hundred acres. Mr. Lewis has taken a prominent part in local affairs, having been Supervisor fifteen years, and a represent-
ative in the Thirty-first General Assembly having been elected as the candidate of the Democratic party. In the township he has filled the various offices from time to time, and was one of the organizers of the bank at Ber- wick, of which he is Vice President.
Mr. Lewis was married October 18, 1849, to Jane Carr, at Burlington, Iowa. She was born in Perry County, Ind., and was a daughter of Absalom and Sarah (Claycomb) Carr, both of whom were natives of Kentucky, and settlers in Berwick Township, Warren County, Ill., in 1840. She was a cousin of George W. Clay- comb, of Monmouth, Ill. Here they purchased a farm, which was made their home until the death of the husband and father. The mother is dead. Mrs. Jane Lewis died February 11, 1896. Of this union were born: Mary, Sarah, Effa, Jedadiah Emory and Edwin C. To them have also come the loss of the following child- ren: Norvell, Luella and Henry.
October 22, 1896, Mr. Lewis married as his second wife Harriet Crenshaw, daughter of Thomas Crenshaw, who settled in Henderson County about 1840.
SHELDON, HIRAM, farmer and stock-raiser, Berwick, Warren County, Ill., was a represent- ative of an old English family who settled at an early day in Dutchess County, N. Y., where George Sheldon, his paternal grandfather, was born. In 1837 George Sheldon's son, Wilson, the father of Hiram Sheldon, brought his fam- ily from New York State and located in Floyd Township, Warren County, Ill., where he pros pered as a farmer and became the owner of six hundred and forty acres of land. Wilson Sheldon died at Monmouth, Ill., September 13, 1873. His wife, whom he married in New York in 1831, was named Sarah Matteson. They had children named Hiram, Martha, George, Seneca, Burr, Alma, Aurilla, Mary and Jer- ome. Hiram Sheldon was born in Oneida County, N. Y., November 20, 1831, and was ed- ucated in district schools. He became a suc- cessful farmer and stockman and was prom- inent as a Baptist deacon for many years, and was a Democrat. He married in Berwick Township, January 22, 1862, Miss Emma J. Aylsworth, who survives him and who bore him children as follows: Wilson J., October 28, 1862; Irene, January 10, 1864; Donna L., December 5, 1868; Kenneth Ross, October 28, 1876. At the time of his death he owned 1300
HM Lewis
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
acres of land and was a director of the Mon- mouth National Bank, with which he had been connected from the time of its organization in 1873. He retired from business in 1894 and re- moved to Berwick, where he owned a fine resi- dence and the principal village store. He died May 22, 1898, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. Fraternally he was an Odd Fellow. His son, Wilson J. Sheldon, who is a grain mer- chant at Berwick, married Miss Millie Lewis, May 18, 1887. His daughter, Irene, married Frank Cable, January 3, 1889, and lives on a farm near Berwick. His daughter, Donna L., married William W. Atkins, October 12, 1892, and lives in Kansas City, Mo. His youngest son, Kenneth Ross, who has acquired a com- mercial education, is in business in Berwick.
CHAPTER XL.
COLDBROOK TOWNSHIP.
(Township 11 North, Range 1 West.)
Coldbrook is the second from the north in the east tier of townships in Warren County. It consists of broad rolling prairies, with some broken and well-timbered land along Talbot and Cedar creeks, which, with their branches, water the township. The farms are large and productive, and their owners as a rule are prosperous and happy. Much attention is paid to stock-raising, which is a profitable indus- try here. The main line of the Chicago, Bur- lington and Quincy railway passes through the township from east to west close to its southern boundary line; and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad crosses the southeast corner, entering the township at Cameron and going out on the east on Section 24.
The township was organized April 4, 1854. Philip Horney was moderator of the town meet- ing and Joseph Stewart was clerk. The elec- tion resulted in the choice of the following as the first officers of the township: Super- visor, Benjamin F. Morey; Town Clerk, J. S. Parker; Assessor and Collector, James Mc- Farland; Justices of the Peace, Andrew Clay- comb, B. F. Morey; Highway Commissioners,
W. H. H. Claycomb, T. F. Taylor, B. S. Par- ker. The present officers are: Supervisor, George Bruington; Town Clerk, Charles E. Britt; Assessor, C. A. Law; Collector, F. F. Foster; Highway Commissioners, Worden Davis, William Fair, S. A. Ryner; Justice of the Peace, Thomas Griffee; Constable, George Riggle. Those who have served the township as supervisors to the present time, with the dates of their service, are: Benjamin F. Morey, 1854; Philip Horney, 1855; W. H. H. Claycomb, 1856; Philip Horney, 1857; W. H. H. Claycomb, 1858; Henry Murphy, 1859; W. H. H. Clay- comb, 1860; James McFarland, 1861-62; L. M. Gates, 1863-64; J. H. Murphy, 1865; Philip Hor- ney, 1866; J. R. Barnett, 1867-70; L. M. Gates, 1871-73; J. T. Hartman, 1874-75: Philip Horney. 1876; J. T. Hartman, 1877-86; George Bruing- ton, 1887-92.
Coldbrook was among the earliest of the townships to be settled. In 1828 Peter Peck- onpaugh came from Indiana and staked out the first claim. It was on Section 30, in the southwest part of the township, and in this neighborhood he remained until his death. The same year Solomon Perkins settled on Section 31. He moved to Berwick Township in 1829, after selling his place to Peter Butler, who came from Kentucky, residing a few years in Monmouth Township and later moving in- to Coldbrook. Jeremiah McFarland came with Mr. Butler from Kentucky and settled on Sec- tion 25, where he made his home until his death more than fifty years later. William Whitman and his brother, Josiah, came from Kentucky in 1830, William settling on Section 32, and his brother across the line in Mon- mouth Township. William Whitman was a preacher of the Christian (Disciples) church, and was one of the organizers of the second church in the county, now the Christian church at Cameron. He preached the first ser- mon in the township, and married the first couple. The contracting parties in this event were Alma Arrasmith and Elizabeth Pecken- paugh, and the ceremony was performed on Christmas day, 1831. John G. Haley also came from Kentucky in 1830, settling on the south- east quarter of Section 29. He was also one of the charter members of the Christian church referred to, was Sheriff of the county from 1834 to 1836, and moved to Missouri in 1870. Patrick Haley located on the northwest quar- ter of Section 26, and Maximilian Haley on the
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