History of Bureau County, Illinois, Part 60

Author: Bradsby, Henry C., [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago, World publishing company
Number of Pages: 776

USA > Illinois > Bureau County > History of Bureau County, Illinois > Part 60

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

peal of the Missouri Compromise in 1834, voted for John C. Fremont in 1856, and for every Republican President since that time, always the uncompromising opponent of slavery, and the firm advocate of liberty. He was among the first to favor the arming of the negroes to help put down the Rebellion; to favor their right to citizenship and the ballot, and he maintains now that the points of the war to preserve a free Republic will be lost unless the purity of the ballot can be firmly established. The chief energies of his life have been devoted to upbuilding the newspapers with which he has been so long connected, and his papers have ever taken the part of all enterprises calculated to bene- fit the public. The Republican has ever been the stanch supporter of the high school, manufactories and various improvements. Mr. Bailey has given but little attention to any other business than that of conducting his paper in the best and most successful way. However, at the beginning of the war he spent one winter in Washington, D. C., as correspondent for his paper, in the mail- ing department of the House; and in 1880 he accepted the Supervisorship of the Census for the Third Illinois District, embracing fourteen counties lying between Bureau County and the Mississippi River. In Ma- sonry he has become far advanced, and is now a member of the Blue Lodge, Chapter, Council, Commandery, and in Scottish Rite Masonry he has taken the thirty-second degree. He is an I. O. O. F., and in relig- ion is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. March 27, 1860, at Tiffin, Ohio, he was united in marriage to Miss Emma D. Mc- Clelland, who was born in Lancaster County, Penn., October 10, 1835. She is the mother of the following named children: Ella C., William J., Harry U., J. Howard and Mahle; also two others who died in infancy. The two eldest are following in the footsteps of their "dad," and are now in the Republican office.

JOHN W. BAILEY, Ohio, was born in Syracuse, N. Y., October 12, 1838, and is the son of Throupe and Olive Bailey, for- merly of Vermont. The father was born June 19, 1803. The mother was born June 17, 1805. They were the parents of seven

447

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

children, six of whom are now living: Lewis M. Bailey, born May 13, 1826, lives in Wisconsin; Hester A., born September 16, 1828, now Mrs. G. B. Young, P. O. Ros- coe, Ill .; Caleb, born February 13, 1831, died in 1852; Andrew, born September 24, 1834, lives in Iowa; John W., subject of this sketch; Deborah A., born January 14, 1842, now Mrs. G. Teachout of Minneapo- lis, Minn .; Elijah F., born August 21, 1847, lives in Illinois. The subject of this sketch lived on a farm in his native State until he came to this State with his parents in 1853, and settled in Boone County. Mr. Bailey finished the course in the Rock River Seminary in 1858. December 25. 1860, he was united in marriage to Miss Juliette Wheeler, of this county, a daughter of Charles and Martha B. Wheeler, formerly of Windsor County, Vt. The father was born at Royalton, Vt., March 29, 1808. The mother was born at Tunbridge, Vt., Septem- ber 23, 1810. They were married January 1, 1834, and came to this county in Febru- ary, 1853. The father, Charles Wheeler, died August, 1863, from injuries inflicted by a vicious horse, surviving but a few hours. The mother died December 8, 1864, leaving six children living of a family of seven: William W., born December 1, 1834, of Mal- com, Iowa; Martha B., October 27, 1837, died September, 1859; Juliette, (Mrs. J. W. Bailey), born July 3, 1839, of Ohio, Ill; Orin M., February 7, 1842, of Malcom, Iowa; Charles H., July 15, 1844, killed by the cyclone at Grinnell, Iowa, January 17, 1882; Ethan Allen, Juue 7, 1846, of Montezuma, Iowa; Luna P., January 2, 1850, (now Mrs. F. A. Winslow), Chicago, Ill. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey are the parents of eleven children, eight of whom are now living, as follows: Charles W., born December 13, 1861, died March 4, 1863; infant daughter, born Jan- mary 25, 1863, died April 3, 1863; Martha L., born November 25, 1864; Olive A., March 28, 1867; Glenn G., December 25, 1868; Susan K., December 29, 1870; Fred E., April 1, 1873; John W., Jr., March 21, 1875; Bessie B., March 28, 1877, died September 15, 1877; Chester V., born September 15, 1879; Dexter W., November 3, 1882. £ Mr. Bailey has taught a winter term of school

in this county during the past seven- teen years, and during the past twenty-five years in the State. Mrs. Bailey is a teacher of large experience, having taught twelve years in this county. Martha L. Bailey hav- ing prepared herself for the profession at the State Normal, is now engaged in the graded school at Ohio, Ill., while Olive A. Bailey is engaged in teaching in the public schools of her own township. Mr. Bailey is Republican, and owns 240 acres of land in Ohio Township.

CHARLES C. BAIRD, Lamoille, was born June 28, 1818, in Fairfield Township, Westmoreland Co., Penn. His grandfa- ther was William Baird. His father, Jo- seph Baird, was a native of Chambersburg, Penn. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and died in Bolivar, Penn. The mother of our subject, Jenny Henderson, was a native of Westmoreland County, Penn., where she died. Her mother, Mrs. Polly Henderson, was a native of Ireland, and was three months crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Mrs. Jennie Baird was the mother of seven boys and two girls. Of these only three are living, viz. : Charles, our subject, who is the oldest child; Joseph Baird, a resident of Ford County, Ill., and Samuel, who is the youngest child, and resides in Lamoille Township. Our subject was reared in Pennsylvania, where he boated seven years on the Pennsylvania Canal. First, he drove for $12 per month, and then steered for $14 per month. After that he worked three years repairing the Pennsylva- nia Canal at 75 cents per day, boarding him- self and family. After this he farmed suc- cessfully. In February, 1865, he removed to Bureau County, Ill., where he bought a farm of 180 acres, at $40 per acre. He has now 230 acres of land and ten acres of town property in Lamoille Township. On his farm he keeps some fine horses. His success in life is due to his indomitable perseverance and industry. Our subject was married in Pennsylvania to Martha Snyder, a native of Westmoreland County, Penn, and the daugh- ter of Nicholas and Christina Snyder. Mrs. Baird is the mother of seven children, who are now living, viz. : Mrs. Hannah J. McCray, Mrs. Sarah Hainey, Mrs. Martha Maine, Mrs. Mary Schwabenland, Francis R., Andy J. and

448

HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.

Charles T. Baird, who is managing the home farm. All the children own real estate, and are settled in Lamoille Township. Politi- cally, Mr. Baird is a Republican. He and his excellent wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Their grand-daughter, Miss Sally McCray, brightens their home with her presence.

JUDGE MARTIN BALLOU, Princeton, was born July 18, 1812, in Halifax, Windham Co., Vt. His father, Asahel Ballou, was born January 18, 1771, in Rhode Island; he died March 20, 1851. in Halifax, Vt. He was a mechanic and farmer by occupation, and a son of Benjamin Ballou, whose brother, Hosea Ballou, was the celebrated clergyman of New England. The Ballou family is of French extraction. The mother of the Judge was Martha (Starr) Ballou, who was born May 28, 1776; she died October 9, 1839, at Halifax, Vt. She was the mother of nine children, viz .: Hosea, Asahel, Perley, Levi, Will- iam S., Reuben and Martha (twins), Alvin and Almon. Of these Reuben died in infan- cy, and only Martin, our subject, Alvin and Almon still survive. Judge Ballou received his primary education in the common schools and academy of Brattleboro, Vt. Afterward he studied law with C. K. Field, of Wilming- ton, Vt., and also attended the Harvard Law School at Cambridge, Mass., and was admit- ted to the bar in the spring of 1839, at Fay- etteville, Vt. He then resolved to go West to grow up with the country. In the same year that he was admitted to the bar he hung out his shingle in Princeton, Burean Co., Ill., and here he has followed his profession ever since, and is the oldest member in the legal fraternity. In March, 1857, he was elected Judge of the Circuit Court of the old Twen- ty- third Circuit, serving till June, 1861. The Judge can look back with pleasure upon a well- spent, active, professional life, from which he is gradually retiring. Judge Ballou was joined in matrimony in Princeton, Ill., to Miss Catharine S. Tuttle, who was born in Medina County, Ohio. She is a daughter of Carolus Tuttle, a native of Connecticut. Mrs. Martin Ballou is the mother of five children, viz. : Charles T., now living in Marshalltown, Iowa; William S., an attorney in Colorado; Frank M., a merchant in Boone, Iowa; Elizabeth

M., who is the wife of Seth Mendell, a mer- chant of Boston, Mass., and Addie B., a stu- dent in Boston, Mass. Mrs. Judge Ballou is a member of the Congregational Church. The Judge and his estimable wife have made many friends in Bureau County, and are widely esteemed for their many good qualities of head and heart.

J. J. BAMBURG & CO., Princeton. In 1856 M. Dernham engaged in business in Princeton, and the same business has been continued till the present time. In his employ were Messrs. J. J. Bamburg and A. Oppenheim, both natives of Baden, Ger- many. In 1872 Mr. J. J. Bamburg pur- chased the business of M. Dernham, and the same year took as a partner Mr. Oppenheim, and for twelve years the firm of J. J. Bam- burg & Co. have done a large and successful business as clothiers and merchant tailors. They carry a stock of goods which will aggre- gate at least $25.000 in value, and have annual sales reaching from $45,000 to $50,- 000. In the tailoring department they em- ploy eight hands besides the cutter, and in this department, as in all else, their cus- tomers are given the benefit of the proprietors' large and judicious purchases.

GEORGE BARR, Berlin, was born in Wurtemberg. Germany, May 26, 1841. His father, George Barr, was also a native of Germany, where he passed his life chiefly in farming, though for twenty years he served in the army. His wife, Salmon Busteter, was of French birth, but moved to Germany with her family when a girl. She died when her son George was six years old. They were the parents of seven children, six of whom are still living, all except one in America. Our subject came to this country when about eleven years old, and lived in Wisconsin three years, removing to Bureau County in the spring of 1859. August, 1862, he enlisted in Company B, Ninety-third Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry, served for one year, when he was discharged for disability. He participated in the siege of Vicksburg. Since his return from the war he has been engaged in farming, and has also run a threshing-machine and corn-sheller for several years. In 1877 he bought his present farm of eighty acres in Section 33, Berlin Township. Previously

449

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

he had resided on a farm near De Pue. He was married October 14, 1867, to Rachel Martin, a native of Warren County, N. J., born October 14, 1840. She is a daughter of Henry and Mary (Brown) Martin, both natives of New Jersey. Mr. Martin died at Malden in April, 1879, but his widow still resides there. Mr. and Mrs. Barr have two children, viz .: Fleedia, born March 14, 1870, and Henry, born October 30, 1874. In pol- itics Mr. Barr is identified with the Repub- lican party. He is a member of the Presby- terian Church of Malden.

BENJAMIN BARRETT, deceased, was born March 12, 1809, in Jonesboro, County Aramah, Ireland. He died August 6, 1879, in this county, where he had spent the best part of his life and labored faithfully for his family and for all things pertaining to the interest of the community, especially in the support of churches and schools. His par- ents were George and Mary Barrett. He was married April 18, 1834, to Elizabeth Barrett, born November 14, 1814, in Jones- boro, Ireland, where her parents, William and Jane (O'Neil) Barrett died. Soon after Mr. Barrett was married he removed to Bel- mont County, Ohio. In 1847 he removed to LaSalle, Ill., and in September, 1856, came to Westfield. Bureau County, Ill., where he bought a farm which he improved and on which he died. Mrs. Elizabeth Bar- rett survives her husband and is living on the old homestead. She is the mother of nine children. viz .: Mrs. Mary A. Nelson ; William, of Mendota; Ann J. ; Mrs. Elizabethi Holbrook; Joseph, of Wyanet; Robert, of Dakota;'Mrs. Fannie Butler; James M., of Fort Wayne, and Mrs. Mattie Gill of this county. Of these Fannie is the wife of Will- iam H Butler, a native of Madison County, N. Y. They were married October 1, 1878. and are the parents of Nettie E. and Jessie M. Butler. Religiously, Mrs. Barrett is connected with the Protestant Episcopal Church, as was also her husband.

CHARLES P. BASCOM, Princeton, was born July 5, 1842, in Chicago, Ill., and is the eldest son of Flavel Bascom, D. D., and Elizabeth Bascom, nee Sparhawk. The lat- ter died in Galesburg, Ill. Rev. Flavel

Bascom was born in Connecticut, June 8, 1804. After working his way through Yale College, he came to Illinois in 1833, under the auspices of the Home Missionary Society. For some years heresided at Pekin, but later went to Chicago, where he was pastor of a church for ten years and during that time was President of the first anti-slavery society in Chicago. In 1850 he became pastor of the Congregational Church at Galesburg. In 1855 he removed to Dover, Ill., and in 1864 to Princeton, where he was pastor of the Congregational Church. He now resides at Hinsdale, Ill. More of his life will be found in connection with the church history of Bureau County. Since 1855 Mr. Charles P. Bascom has been a resident of this county. He was educated in Beloit College, Wiscon- sin, graduating in the class of 1864. Decem- ber 11, 1867, he was united in marriage to Miss Lucia M. Colton, who was born in this county and is the daughter of Egbert Colton, deceased. December, 1874, Mr. Bascom became junior partner in the Republican printing office, and his connection with this paper will be found in the chapter on the Press.

EDWIN BASS, SR., Malden. The Bass family came from England to this country some time in the seventeenth century, and settled in Massachusetts. £ From there the different branches scattered; our subject be- ing a descendant of a family which located in Connecticut, where for 150 years the old farm in Windham County has been owned by some one of the Bass name. Edwin Bass. Sr., was born in Windham, Windham Co., Conn., January 28, 1816. His father, Eben- ezer Bass, was born July 4, 1784. and died February 28, 1875. His wife, Sarah Mc- Curdy, was a native of Nova Scotia, born May 9, 1789, and died September 24, 1850. In early life she removed to Connecticut and was there married. They were the parents of seven sons and five daughters, all of whom are living except two sons and two daugh- ters, but are scattered through Missouri, Kansas, Connecticut and Illinois. Edwin Bass was reared on a farm and educated in the common schools of his native State, after- ward teaching several terms. At the age of

450

HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.

twenty one he began working by the month, and in three years saved $400. April 13, 1840, he started for this county, and after three weeks on the way, by the Ohio, Missis- sippi and Illinois Rivers, he landed at Hennepin. He then invested the remainder of his $400 in ninety acres of land in Berlin Township, and for three years worked by the month, teaching school, etc. April 27, 1843, he was married to Emeline J. Stanard, born May 6, 1824, in Madison County, N. Y. She is the daughter of Lebius and Luceba (Fay) Stanard. The father was a native of Vermont, near Montpelier, the mother of Connecticut. They came to the county in the fall of 1840, and lived in Lamoille for some time. Mr. Stanard died in Clarion Township in October, 1858, and his wife died January 3, 1842. Mr. and Mrs. Bass are the parents of eleven children, six of whom are living: Caroline L., born August 28, 1844, died February 6, 1873. wife of Thomas L. Phillips; Lucian, born March 26, 1847, lives in Walnut Township, Bureau County (he was in the Civil war for one year); Luther G., born July 25, 1848, is a physician in Roseland, Ill .; Sidney B., born March 18, 1850, died October 26, 1853; Charlotte M., born April 12, 1852, died October 27, 1853; Oscar S., born May 19, 1854, an attorney by profession; Edwin, Jr., born April 23, 1856, a farmer in Berlin Township; Heber and Howard, born February 15, 1858 (Howard died September 15, 1858, Heber died Sep- tember 25, 1858); Wallace, born March 12, 1860, a farmer in Lee County, Ill .; Alonzo C., April 12, 1862. After marriage Mr. Bass remained on the farm he first bought until February, 1851, when he came to his present farm in the corporation of Malden. Mr. Bass has been successful in his business ca- reer, and now owns as the result of his labor 1,432 acres of land in this and Lee Counties, besides other property. He has been a Re- publican in politics since the party was first organized. Mr. Bass and wife are members of the Baptist Church of Dover.

EUGENE C. BATES, Princeton, was born in Cummington, Mass., November 9, 1840, his parents also being natives of the same Green Mountain nook. Jacob Bates, son of Alvin Bates, and father of Eugene C.,

was born in 1805, was bred a farmer, and served for a time as Captain of Massachusetts militia. He married in 1831 Miss Mary Mason, daughter of Elisha Mason, a lady five years his junior, of great personal beauty and unusual intelligence, with whom he lived hap- pily until her death in Princeton, in 1878. The fruits of this union were a large family of ener- getic sons and daughters, faithful in filial affection, and, like their parents, “ diligent in business, serving the Lord," in a manner ex- cellent, if not evangelical. These parents, Jacob and Mary M. Bates, were active of mind and body, liberal and outspoken in re- ligion, earnest in the cause of temperance, and stood with the faithful few, unflinching in devotion to liberty, in the days when it cost something to be an Abolitionist. It was in this healthy atmosphere that E. C. Bates passed his boyhood, and learned to believe in honest industry and liberty as the right and left hands of human progress. His early years were divided between the schoolhouse and the farm, the latter getting the larger share. At the age of eighteen he took his place behind the counter of a store in his native town, where he served four years, af- terward adding a shorter term as salesman in the city of New York. Meantime the war for the Union being in progress, he enlisted, but on account of his slender physique could not be accepted. A second attempt was no more successful, though he did succeed in getting as far as Key West on a man-of-war. On this trip a severe sickness caine very near terminating his voyage of life. In 1864 Mr. Bates married Miss Lora S. Ward, of Worth- ington, Mass., and in 1865, rich in a wife's companionship, but quite otherwise in the matter of funds, he came to Peoria County, Ill. After a few months' work as salesman in Elmwood, he removed to Princeton, where, in partnership with his brother, J. R. Bates, he opened the dry goods store which after- ward became so widely and favorably known. J. R. retired in 1869, and removed to Stuart, Iowa, and Mr. Bates continued the business alone till 1878, when another brother, Charles E. Bates, and C. M. Durley became members of the firm, C. E. Bates retiring in 1882. In November of the same year the firm sold the business to Messrs. Palmer Bros., since

451

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

which time Mr. Bates has conducted a real estate and loan business with marked suc- cess, being himself an extensive land owner in Bureau County and in the West. He was also for fourteen years a partner in the firm of Robinson & Bates, in the boot and shoe trade, withdrawing in 1884. He is also a Director and stockholder in the First Nation- al Bank of Princeton. Successful business men are not rare in Bureau County, but the success of E. C. Bates has been so unusual in degree and of so broad a character as to demand special mention. Business is not alone a means of making money, but, prop- erly conducted, it is also a civilizing force, a means of maintaining social order and friendship and for the development of char- acter. The business conducted by Mr. Bates is a forcible illustration of this fact. His clerks and salesmen, as well as most of his customers, became his firm friends. From small beginnings the trade grew, until for ten years the pay roll of employes averaged $17,000 per annum, an amount larger than that of any manufacturing concern in the town. In seventeen years over $2,100,000 worth of goods were sold over the counters. Over $1,000,000 of that amount went on to the books of the house as credit sales. Of this amount, strange to say, the loss by bad debts was less than one-fourth of one per cent. Facts like this are not only honor- able to the people of Bureau County, but prove Mr. Bates' accurate judgment of men and his admirable methods of doing business. These close collections were not the result of harsh measures, for, in the entire seven- teen years, only four or five law-suits were brought against customers. Mr. Bates has been doubly fortunate in being able to keep his head cool and his heart warm, and it is not too much to say that his example as a trader will be felt for good in this region for many years to come. Mr. Bates has recently built and furnished and now occupies a capacious and elegant residence in the city, which, with its wide and generous sweep of lawn, is a credit to Princeton, and a source of well-earned satisfaction to its occupants. Mrs. Lora S. (Ward) Bates, wife of our sub- ject, was born in 1840, in Worthington, Mass., where her father, Daniel Ward, was

also born, and where he died in 1881. The Ward family was of English extraction, with many salient traits of character. This was true of Daniel Ward, the father, and espec. ially so of Col. William Ward, grandfather of Mrs. Bates. He was for a long time a prom- inent figure in western Massachusetts, a gen- tleman of the old school, and of a type of character now seldom met with in real life. Mrs. Lucretia Ward, an amiable and well- preserved lady, mother of Mrs. Bates, resides with her daughter. This sketch of the social and business career of E. C. Bates would be sadly incomplete if we failed to state that during all these busy years Mrs. Bates has been a most efficient co-worker, both in the store and the home. Her rare and well- known taste and skill in the dry goods busi- ness were only equalled by her easy grace in society. thus furnishing a living testimony to the fact that business tact and capacity are not necessarily incompatible with true deli- cacy and gentle womanhood.

T. BATES, Neponset, was born October 26, 1823, in Derbyshire, England. He is a son of John Bates, an able minister of the Method- ist Episcopal Church, who was born in 1790 in England. He died September 18, 1871, in Bureau County, Ill. The mother of our subject, Mary (Weekley) Bates, was born in England, and died in August, 1847, in Madison County, Ill. Our subject, T. Bates, came to Neponset in 1849; he settled on Sec- tion 16, where he now resides, and owns 240 acres of well improved land. He was mar- ried March 14, 1850, in Madison County, Ill., to Emma Handsaker, who was born June 19, 1829, in Derbyshire, England. She is a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Falkner) Handsaker, natives of England, where he died August 5, 1836. She died in Madison County, Ill., and was an intelligent and re- ligious lady. Mrs. Emma Bates was the mother of six children, viz .: Joseph H., born January 4, 1851 (he married Mary J. Wood); Mrs. Mary J. Weed, September 10, 1852; Samuel H., January 1, 1855 (he mar- ried Fannie E. Handsaker); John William, July 17, 1857 (he married Emma J. Carr); James T., March 28, 1860; and George E., who was born July 1, 1868. Mr. Bates' eldest son, Joseph H. Bates, is a physician in Neponset;

452

HISTORY OF BUREAU COUNTY.

he has practiced three years in Altona, Ill. He was educated in the Northwestern Uni- versity of Evanston, Ill., and received his medical education at the Chicago Medical College, where he graduated. Politically Mr. Bates is a Republican, and religiously he and his wife are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

MAJ. SILAS BATTEY was born in Provi- dence County, R. I., July 10, 1815, to Sampson and Abigail (Phillips) Battey. The father was a native of Warwick, R. I., and of an old fam- ily of that State. The life of Maj. Battey has been quite varied. He was reared on a farm, but soon after starting for himself be- came interested in an iron foundry, and there learned the business of moulder, and later years followed his trade in Providence, Bristol and Pawtucket, until coming to Bureau County in 1854, where he purchased a farm, upon which he lived until the fall of 1862, when, having been elected Sheriff of the county, he moved to Princeton. After a term of two years as Sheriff, he, in the early part of 1865, recruited a company of soldiers for the war, and was mustered into the service as its Captain in February of that year. They were assigned to the One Hundred and Fifty- first Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, as Company H, whereupon Captain Battey was almost immediately commissioned Major of the regiment. During most of his service the regiment was stationed at different points in Georgia. They were mustered out in Jan- uary, 1866, at Columbus, Ga. Maj. Battey also had four sons in the army: F. A., who enlisted on the 12th day of September, 1861, as a private in Company F, Fifty-seventh Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and passing through all the successive grades, except that of Lieutenant, became Colonel of his regiment, one of the youngest of that grade in the army. He served through the entire war, and participated in all the battles of his regiment, being twice wounded at the battle of Shiloh, and once a prisoner, captured at Dalton, Ga. In command of his regiment he was with Sherman on his famous "march to the sea." After the close of the war he was commissioned First Lieutenant in the Regular Army, and served as such until he resigned, October 31, 1870. Mar-

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Bureau County, Illinois, Part 60

Author: Bradsby, Henry C., [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Chicago, World publishing company Number of Pages: 776

Author: Bradsby, Henry C., [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago, World publishing company
Number of Pages: 776