USA > Illinois > Warren County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Warren County, Volume II > Part 69
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
as one of the comparatively few men who not only aimed at the accomplishment of those things tending to benefit his fellow-men, but persisted in his efforts until success was at- tained.
LANDON, JOHN H .; farmer and stockraiser; Kelly Township, address Galesburg, Rural Route No. 1, is descended from old New Eng- land and New York families, long known for their patriotism, and has not only been a sol- dier but is the son of a soldier. His grandfath- er's name was David Landon and he and his wife (formerly Mrs. Judd) were born in Ver- mont. Their son Wm. Landon, a native of New York, married Elizabeth Barrett, of New Hamp- shire birth, and they were the parents of the subject of this sketch, who was born in Cortland County, N. Y., February 26, 1838, and received a public school education. In 1844, when John H. Landon was about six years old, William Landon brought his family from New York State to Illinois, where he bought a farm and entered upon the work of improving it. In 1861 he joined Battery H, First Missouri Ar- tillery, with which he served during the entire period of the Civil War. After the war he re- sumed farming in Illinois, where he died Octo- ber 30, 1870. His widow survived him until February 7, 1877. Merrill R. Landon, son of William Landon and brother of John H. Lan- don, enlisted in Company E, Seventeenth Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until his discharge after the siege of Vicks- burg. He soon re-enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, serving one hundred days, then again re-enlisted in the Eighth Regiment Illinois Cav- alry, with which he was constantly on duty until the close of the war. At Shiloh a Con- federate ball struck his belt buckle, but, beyond bruising him badly, did him no injury. John H. Landon was a member of Company H, Four- teenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he was in active service until the end of the war. He is a member of Alexis Post, Grand Army of the Republic. Before the war M". Landon had bought a quarter section of land, on which he had begun life as a farmer and made some improvements. Returning home from his service as a soldier with the rank of Second Sergeant, he resumed farming and eventually engaged in stockraising, and, as
farmer and stock raiser, he has scored a dis- tinct success. As a Republican he is influ- ential in local affairs, and has been three times elected Supervisor of his township; has been Town Clerk ten years and School Trustee seven years; was, for fourteen years, Postmaster at Utah and, in 1880, was appointed census enu- merator. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was married at Monmouth, July 3, 1860, to Miss Margaret Clute, who was born in Saratoga County, N. Y., September 8, 1838, a daughter of James M. and Elizabeth (Cole) Clute, natives of New York, who in 1855 settled in Kelly Township, where Mr. Clute died and where Mrs. Clute is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Landon have had seven children: James F., Charles E., Edgar, Millie, Luella, Kate and William. William died in young manhood; James is married and lives in Merrick County, Neb .; Charles is mar- ried and lives in Battle Creek, Mich; Millie married Enos Hannah and Luella married Sherman Davis, and they both live in Spring Grove Township. Edgar and hate are members of their father's household.
LINE, ZACCHEUS T .; farmer and stock- raiser; Alexis, Kelly Township; is of that sturdy Pennsylvania stock which has been a potent factor in the development and prosperity of nearly every community in the United States. John Line, his father, was born in Columbia County, Penn., and married Maria Myers, also a native of that State. Their son, Zaccheus T. Line, was born in Columbia County, Penn., in 1848. At a comparatively early date the fam- ily settled near the Mercer and Warren County line where the elder Line began farming in Illinois. Later he bought one hundred acres of good land in Section 17, Kelly Township, which is now the property of his son, with whom his widow has a pleasant home. Zac- cheus T. Line was married in Kelly Township to Emma Bellinger, who was born in England in 1853, a daughter of Alfred and Eliza (Fos- ter) Bellinger, who in that year came to the United States and established a home in a large house near Shanghai, a settlement which was subsequently destroyed by a terrific wind storm which killed three of its inhabitants. Mrs. Line came out of the catastrophe only a little bruised and her parents survived it many years. Mr. and Mrs. Line have had seven chil-
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
dren as follows: Blanche, John H., Ollie, Eva, Sherman, Sadie and Archie. They are mem- bers of the United Presbyterian Church and in politics Mr. Line is an active and consistent Republican, but he is not a practical politician in the sense of an office-seeker, and has stead- fastly refused such elective offices as have been offered him by his fellow-citizens.
MORRISON, WILLIAM E .; farmer
and stockraiser; Kelly Township, (postoffice ad- dress North Henderson), is a prosperous and influential citizen who has honorably won such success as he has achieved, and who is held in the highest esteem by all who know him. He is one of the few prominent citizens of Kelly. Township who were born within its borders. His birth occurred June 20, 1861, and he is a son of John and Ruth J. (Crosby) Morrison. His father was born near Harrisburg, Penn., and his mother in Augusta County, Va., a daughter of William and Maria (Wagner) Crosby, natives of the Old Dominion. John Morrison, who was a carpenter by trade, set- tled in Kelly Township about 1858. Soon after the beginning of the Civil War he enlisted in Company A, One Hundred and Second Regi- ment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and he re- ceived a wound at the battle of Resaca, May 15, 1864, which caused his death, July 3, fol- lowing. His widow married Henry Franklin, and is living in Kelly Township. The subject of this sketch was little more than three years old when his father died, and the family, not being in good circumstances financially, he was obliged very early to take up the struggle of life for himself. From his childhood he was accustomed to farm work, and as soon as he was able, he bought a farm in Section 5, Kelly Township, which he eventually sold in order to buy another in Section 4. He sold the farm last mentioned, and bought his present eighty- acre farm in Section 12, on which he has won such prosperity as comes from industrious and intelligent farming. He is a member of the Methodist church and a liberal contributor in support of its various interests. As a Re- publican he is influential in his township and has several times been elected to the offices of School Director and School Trustee. He mar- ried at Abingdon, Ill., February 21, 1833, Miss Eva A. Murphy, who was born in McHenry County, Ill., in 1854, a daughter of H. C. and Margaret (Duffield) Murphy. Her father came
from West Virginia to McHenry County in 1848, and was engaged in farming there for some years. Later until his death in 1894, he was proprietor of a hotel at Abingdon. His widow is living with Mr. and Mrs. Morrison. William Crosby, Mr. Morrison's grandfather in the maternal line, came from Virginia to Kelly Township in 1848 and bought a farm in Sec- tion 12, where he died June 11, 1901.
PINE, EDWIN A .; farmer and stock-raiser; Kelly Township; (postoffice Alexis) ; is one or the American representatives of an old English family which has been well known on both sides of the water for many generations. Joseph Pine, his father, was born in Somersetshire, England, in 1828, and died March, 1898. He married Lettie Watson, who was born near Louisville, Ky., in 1828 and died in 1874. Rob- ert Pine, father of Joseph Pine and grandfather of Edwin A. Pine, was a native of Somerset- shire, England, and his wife was Elizabeth Morris, also of English birth. Basil and Ma- tilda (Paddock) Watson were the grandparents of the subject of this sketch in the maternal line. They were both born in Kentucky, near Louisville. Robert Pine came with his family from England to the United States in 1841. After living about two years near Cleveland, Ohio, they came to Kelly Township, Warren County, Ill., and Mr. Pine bought a farm in Section 14, on which he lived until his deatlı, which occurred at the age of about seventy years. His son, Joseph, who was thirteen years old when the family came to Illinois, mar- ried Miss Watson July 5, 1853. In the spring of that year he had purchased a quarter-sec- tion of land in Section 9, Kelly Township, where he lived for some years. He gradually added to his landed possessions until he owned about 500 acres. In 1875 he removed to Gales- burg, where he assisted to organize the Brick and Terra Cotta Company, in which he was one of the largest stockholders, and of which he was President and Superintendent. He was a leader in public affairs in Kelly Township and was several times elected to the office of Su- pervisor, and he and his wife were influential members of the Adventist church at Shanghai City. Their children were named: Edwin A., J. Frank, Clifford B., Jeannette, Fred W. and L. May. Fred W. died in infancy and Clifford B. at the age of twenty-one years. J. Frank became a prosperous business man at Shenan- doah. Iowa, and was shot to death by a drunken
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
man. After he attained his majority Edwin A. Pine finished at Knox College his education which had been begun in the district schools. January 2, 1881, in Kelly Township, he married Elizabeth L. Loveridge, who was born in that township, April 12, 1857, a daughter of James and Harriet Loveridge, natives of Somerset- shire, England, who came to the United States in 1855 and settled in Spring Grove, where Mr. Loveridge bought a farm which eventually he sold in order to buy his present farm in Sec- tion 11, Kelly Township. After his marriage Mr. Pine, who previously had spent some time in Iowa, began farming on one of his father's farms. Edwin A. Pine has purchased land which added to the original homestead amounts to 300 acres of improved land, which he has op- erated to the present time. There is upon it a fine brick residence, which was erected at Mr. Pine's instance and under his supervis- ion. Mr. and Mrs. Pine are members of tlie Adventist church. Politically he is a Demo- crat, and he has served his fellow-townsmen as School Director several years and has, for two terms, filled the office of Assessor of his township. Edwin A. and Elizabeth E. (Love- ridge) Pine have had five children named as follows: Lettie J., Bertha H., Jennie M., Rob- ert E. and Amy Frances. Lettie J. died in in- fancy.
REES, MICHAEL S., farmer and stock-raiser, Kelly Township, Warren County, Ill., whose post-office address is Gerlaw, is of that stanch and trustworthy German stock which has been so influential upon American civilization and prosperity. Martin Rees, his grandfather, came over from the fatherland and located in Penn- sylvania and when his son Martin, who was born on Pine Creek, Penn., in 1784, was nine- teen years old, took his family to Warren County, in that State, where its male mem- bers became farmers and lumbermen, and where the younger Martin accumulated con- siderable property and married Jane Davis. In 1836 Martin Rees, Jr., disposed of his interests in Warren County, Penn., and took his family on a raft down the Alleghany to Pittsburg, where he arrived May 10. He sold his raft and, with the proceeds, bought a small boat which he ran down the Ohio as far as Rising Sun, Indiana. There he bought two spans of horses, several young horses, and several yoke of oxen, five wagons and other necessary articles, and
set out for Monmouth, Ill., where he arrived September 10, 1836. He settled about one and a half miles east of where Gerlaw now is, on portions of Section 36, Spring Grove Town- ship, and moved to Section 32, Kelly Township. His half-section in Kelly Township had upon it a log house and thirty acres of it had been broken. There he lived until his death in 1861. He acquired much land in Kelly and adjoining townships. For more than half a century he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was a Whig and later a Republi- can politically. He filled the office of Justice of the Peace many years, and was a soldier of the War of 1812, serving as captain of a Penn- · sylvania Volunteer Company, and his last wife drew a pension on his account until December 17, 1882, when she died. His second wife was Sarah Smith; his third, who survived him, was Catherine Struthers, a member of an old family of Warren County, Ill. His first wife bore him seven children and his second wife two: Michael S., and Eliza E. The latter married John Presler and died in 1887.
Michael S. Rees was educated in the public schools and, after the death of his father in 1861 until August, 1862, he managed the home farm. He then enlisted in Company B, One Hundred and Second Regiment, Illinois Volun- teer Infantry, he was Corporal and promoted to Sergeant for meritorious conduct and served in the Twentieth Army Corps until the close of the war, participating in the fighting at Resaca, Burnt Hickory, Kennesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek and Atlanta, Savanna, Averies bor- rough, and in many minor engagéments, finally taking part in Sherman's march to the sea and grand review at Washington. He was discharg- ed from the service in June, 1865, after about three years' arduous experience. His regi- mental commander was Col. William McMurty and his brigade commander was Gen. Benja- min Harrison, afterward President of the United States. After the war he resumed farm- ing on his father's old homestead, and he is now the owner of 405 acres.
Mr. Rees was married, in Spring Grove Town- ship, Warren County, January 16, 1868, to Miss Margaret Low, who was born August 3, 1844, a daughter of John and Margaret (Reynolds) Low. Her father was a native of England and her mother and the latter's parents were born in Pennsylvania. Her mother bore her hus- band twelve children and died in 1866 and Mr.
No S Ress,
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
Low later married Lenora Stewart, who bore him one child. William Low, brother of Mrs. Rees, was a member of Company A, Thirtieth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and died in a hospital at Paducah, Ky., March 5, 1862. He had been promoted from fifth corporal to Commissary Sergeant. Mr. and Mrs. Rees have had five children as follows: Eva, who was born January 24, 1871, died August 8th, 1871; Elsie R., born May 16, 1872; Effa E., born August 6, 1875; Daisy F., born January 9, 1877; Bertha A., born September 4, 1879. Daisy F. married Oscar H. Hartzell, of Monmouth Township. Bertha A. married C. Wilber Rose, of Kelly Township. Elsie R. has during the past ten years gained an enviable reputation as a teacher. Effa E. resides at home. Mr. and Mrs. Rees and all their children are members of the Christian Church. Mr. Rees is a Republican and is at this time serving his townsmen as School Trustee. He has also filled the office of Com- missioner of Highways. The names of the chil- dren of Martin Rees by his first marriage are as follows: Annie E., Thomas D., Catherine, Martin D., William R., Margaret J. and Isabel. Annie E. married Anson Gregory, Thomas D. married Melinda Black, Catherine married Mar- tin Waddell, Martin D. married Catherine Berchem, William R. married Clarissa Por- ter and afterwards Sarah Williams, Mar- garet J. married Orange Rees, and Isa- bel married Hubbard Coggswell. The family of Thomas D. Rees consists of five children and has lived in Kansas since 1867. William, the eldest son, was a soldier in the Civil War and is a prominent physician at Pleasanton, Kan. John D. is a physician at Mapleton, Kan. Jane married Arthur Ball, a farmer. Alice married Doctor Brandan of Elsmore, Kan. Elmer E. is a farmer. Samuel, another son, died in 1874.
ROSE, EDWIN R .; farmer and stock-raiser, Kelly Township (postoffice Gerlaw) ; is the son of William B. Rose, who was born in Kentucky about the year 1820 and came to Illinois with the family of his father, Randolph Rose, in the '30s. William B. Rose married Ann Caroline Wells, who was born in Henrietta, Lorain County, Ohio, July 15, 1830, and died in Warren County Ill., December 5, 1864. She was the daughter of Charles and Elizabeth' (Durand) Wells. Charles Wells belonged to a historic family whose ancestor (Joseph Wells) emigrat-
ed from Wales, England, in the seventeenth cen- tury, and who were prominent in the New Eng- land colonies, especially Connecticut-the name originally being spelled Welles. Members of the family took part in the French war and in the War of the Revolution. Charles was born at Huntington, Fairfield county, Conn., November 25, 1799, moved to Henrietta, Lo- rain County, Ohio, about. 1816, and there mar- ried Elizabeth Durand, daughter of Simeon Durand of French descent who had come from Vermont. Their children were Edwin, Ann, (the mother of E. R. Rose), Mary Cook, Nancy and a little girl who died in infancy-the last three being born in Littleton 'Township, Schuy- ler County, Ill. William B. Rose owned a farm in Schuyler County, where Edwin R. was born January 19, 1849. In 1852 his father made a trip to California and engaged in the search for gold, but being unsuccessful, returned the following year and resumed farming. During the Pike's Peak excitement of 1859, he started in company with others, with ox-teams, for that region, but becoming discouraged, turned about without reaching their destination. With the gold-fever still burning in his veins, in 1861, he sold out and with his family, consisting of his wife and six children, made the overland journey to California, locating in the placer mining district of Dutch Flat. His ill-success still followed him, three years later he return- ed to Illinois, arriving in Warren County in October, 1864, with means about exhausted. Here he settled on a farm and, in December following his wife died. At the age of fifteen years, Edwin R., the oldest of the children, took up the battle of life for himself in Spring Grove Township. In 1875 he purchased a farm of eighty acres in that township, which he sold in 1882 in order to buy a farm of 134 acres in Section 32, Kelly Township, where he has since carried on farming and stockraising with considerable success. He is a member of the Christian church and in politics a Demo- crat. He has been a School Director, was elect- ed Supervisor of Kelly Township in 1900 and has filled other important official positions. He is a member of Alexis Lodge, Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows. February 15, 1875, he was married at Monmouth, to Alice A. Porter, who was born in Spring Grove Township, August 14, 1852, a daughter of Joshua and Mary (Tinkham) Porter, and who for some years previous to her marriage had been a success-
.
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
ful teacher. Joshua and Mary Porter were na- tives of Vermont who came to Illinois about 1839 and bought a farm in Spring Grove Town- ship, where they both passed away. It is re- membered of Mrs. Porter that at one time she taught school in her own house in that town- ship. To Edwin R. and Alice A. (Porter) Rose have been born two sons, Clark Wilbur and Floyd P. Rose.
TOWNSEND, SOLOMON E .; farmer and stock-raiser; Kelly Township, (postoffice ad- dress, Utah); is a representative of old Vir- ginia and North Carolina families, whose mem- bers have attained prominence in various walks of life, and is a leading man in his community. Born in Kelly Township, April 19, 1867, Mr. Townsend is a son of Alexander and Sarah Jane (Stegall) Townsend. His father was born in Athens County, Ohio, and his mother in Meigs County, in the same State. Alexan- der Townsend was a son of Daniel and Marga- ret (McCloskey) Townsend, natives of Virginia, and Sarah Jane Stegall was a daughter of Frederick and Sarah (Warren) Stegall, who were born in North Carolina. In 1838 Daniel Townsend came from Virginia to Illinois and, after securing some land, went back to bring out his family. On his second journey to Illin- ois he carried on his person three thousand dol- lars in gold. At Cincinnati robbers attacked him and, after securing the money, knocked him over the side of the boat and he was drowned. His son Alexander, father of Solo- mon E. Townsend, was then but a boy, and he and other members of their family, under the guidance of a cousin, came on to Illinois and they settled south of where Galesburg now is. After his marriage, Alexander Townsend bought a farm in Kelly Township, which, in the course of events, he sold to move to Kan- sas, where he and his wife died. Solomon E. Townsend was educated at a State Normal School in Kansas and returned to Kelly Town- ship and bought a farm in Sections 36 and 26. He is now the owner of 300 acres of good land, and is a prominent stock-raiser, making a spe- cialty of cattle and hogs. Politically he is a Democrat, and he has served his fellow-towns- men in the office of Assessor. He was married, December 16, 1897, at Galesburg, to Mrs. Olive Smith, who was born in Sweden, November 11, 1863, a daughter of Charles and Fredericka Kingston. Mrs. Townsend's father and mother,
natives of Colnar, Sweden, settled at Gales- burg in 1869, and they have passed away. Mr. and Mrs. Townsend have a daughter named Gladys M. Mr. Townsend's grandmother, Sarah (Stegall) Warren, was a daughter of Stillman and Phoebe Warren.
CHAPTER XLVI.
LENOX TOWNSHIP.
(Township 10 North, Range 2 West. )
The committee appointed to divide the county into townships when township organi- zation was first decided on in 1849 gave to this one the name of Ripley, and no change was made when the final organization took place in 1854. At the meeting of the Board of Super- visors, however, in June of the later year, it was found that there already was a Ripley Township in the State, and the name was changed to Lenox. The township is the first south of Monmouth. The land is mostly level prairie, and, containing little timber, is eas- ily cultivated and ranks among the foremost of the grain-producing townships. There is no finer farm land in the county. Lenox Township is watered by Henderson branch and Cedar creek, with their tributaries. It is crossed by three railroads. The St. Louis divi- sion of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy runs directly north and south about a mile east of the western boundary of the township. The Iowa Central enters at the northeast corner of Section 3 and crosses in a southeasterly direction, passing out at the corner of Section 25. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe passes through the center of the township diagonally from northeast to southwest, crossing the Iowa Central at Nemo on Section 11.
The township was organized and the first election held at the school house in District No. 1 on April 4, 1854. Ebenezer Landon was tem- porary chairman, Norman Matteson moderator, and B. F. Wiggins clerk. There were nineteen votes cast, and the officers elected were: Super- visor, Porter Phelps; town clerk, B. F. Wig-
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HISTORY OF WARREN COUNTY.
gins; assessor, Norman Matteson; collector, S. Carmer; overseer of the poor, E. Landon; highway commissioners, C. C. Dickson, Jacob Jewell, C. Lucas; justices of the peace, James M. Dickson, Jacob Jewell; constables, M. Lan- don, S. Dickson. The clerk, collector and con- stables chosen failed to qualify, and a special election was held June 13, to fill the vacancies. N. Matteson was chosen clerk; S. Carmer, collector; and Enoch Hawkins and Sanford Carmer, constables. The present officers of the township are: Supervisor, A. H. Nesbit; clerk, C. H. Morey; assessor, Henry Holegate; col- lector, O. K. Waugh; highway commissioners, S. S. Peterson, Jacob Roberts, S. K. Waugh; justices of the peace, H. L. Jewell, J. H. Wat- son; constable, Charles Dahlgren. Those who have served as supervisors of the township to the present time are: Porter Phelps, 1854- 63; Zephaniah Lewis, 1864-65; G. M. Sayler, 1866-68; J. W. Bridenthal, 1869-73; Evan Ewan, 1874; D. R. Smith, 1875; Evan Ewan, 1876; D. R. Smith, 1877; G. M. Sayler, 1878-79; J. W. Robertson, 1880; G. M. Sayler, 1881; T. L. Capps, 1882; J. T. Lewis, 1883; T. L. Capps, 1884; H. L. Jewell, 1885; T. L. Capps, 1886; Jonas Holegate, 1887-88; M. B. Ray, 1889; Jonas Holgate, 1890-95; A. H. Nesbit, ap- pointed January, 1896, to fill vacancy; L. B. Cowick, 1896-97; C. E. Russell, 1898-99; A. H. Nesbit, 1900-02.
Lenox was not settled quite as early nor as thickly as many of the other townships. The land was rather low and badly drained for the most part, and in the early days was considered undesirable. The first settlements were made in the southeastern corner, near the streams and timber. One of the first comers was Sheldon Lockwood, who had pre-empted a claim in Roseville Township in 1828, but sold out there and located on Section 36, Lenox, where he re- sided at the time of his death. His house was destroyed in a whirlwind. Seth Murphy and Ephraim Smith were also early settlers, com- ing in 1836 and settling on Sections 25 and 26 respectively. John Riggs also resided in Lenox one season, coming from Roseville Township and moving out into 'Roseville. William Oglesby settled on Section 26 in 1835. In 1837 Porter Phelps and his family moved in from Roseville Township, locating on Section 2, where he made his home until his death in 1885. He was the first supervisor of the town- ship, serving in that office for nine years. Gar-
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