History of Bureau County, Illinois, Part 79

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 79


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).


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is School Director. Politically he is a Re- publican.


DANIEL IODER, Arispe, was born De- cember 1, 1838, in this county. His father, Joseph Ioder, was born 1805, in Bavaria. He died, 1857, in Bureau County, to which he came in 1837. At first he rented land and then bought forty acres, to which he added from time to time till at the time of his death he owned 370 acres, the result of his industry. He was killed by the cars on a railroad crossing near Tiskilwa, Ill. The mother of our subject, Barbara Albrecht, was a daughter of Christian Albrecht. She was born 1804 aud died in 187S. The family uame was spelled Yoder in the old country. Daniel Ioder has been a successful farmer; he owned forty acres when he started out in life, and now has a farm of 470 acres. He was married in Tazewell County, Ill., to Lena Burkey, a daughter of Valentine Burkey. She is the mother of three children, viz. : Joseph William, Eddie D., and Benjamin. Mr. Ioder's family is religiously connected with the Mennonite Church. Politically he is identified with the Democratic party. He has taken an interest in educational matters, and has been School Trustee.


WILLIAM IODER, Arispe, was born June 11, 1848, in this county. He is a son of Joseph and Barbara (Albrecht) Ioder. Both were natives of Bavaria, and both died here. They were among the early settlers of this township, and were the parents of the following children: Jacob, John (deceased), Mrs. Catharine Schertz (deceased), Daniel, Caroline (who was drowned), Joseph (also deceased), Mrs. Louisa Schertz and William Ioder, our subject. The latter received a common school education in this county, where he has devoted all his attention to farming and stock-raising. Has now some fine blooded horses. He started in life with 160 acres of land, but through industry and perseverance he is now the possessor of 587 acres of land. Mr. Ioder was married here, March 4, 1873, to Fannie Stauffer, who was born March 4, 1849, in Alsace. She is a daughter of Joseph and Anna (Schantz) Stauffer, who were natives of the same place. Mrs. Ioder is the mother of six children, viz .: Elmer J., Julius E., William O., Laura L.,


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Mary E. and Fannie M. Mr. and Mrs. Ioder are members of the Mennonite Church. Politically, Mr. Ioder is a Democrat. He has filled several minor offices. Financially, Mr. Ioder has been a very successful man.


WILLIAM L. ISAAC, Malden, was born in Bureau County, Ill., July 7, 1834, the son of Elias and Mary (Black) Isaac. His father was born near Raleigh, N. C., January 20, 1804. His parents were poor people, of Scotch and Welsh descent. He was early left an orphan, and had to make his own way in life. While yet a young man he worked his way from his native State to Kentucky, and learned the tanner's trade. He after. ward went to Salem, Ind., and was there married. His wife was born in Greenup County, Ky .. in 1805. Some time before 1830 he removed to Paris, Ill., following his trade until 1831, when he went to Putnam County, some distance from Hennepin, and there established a tan-yard. He continued in the business until 1833, when he came across the river into Bureau County, and located a claim in Selby Township, which is now known as the Seaton farm. About two years later he settled on Section 5, Berlin Township, where he and his wife still reside. Since coming to this county he has given his attention to farming. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac are the parents of ten children, seven of whom are still living, but all reached matu- rity: Allen B. (lives near Humboldt, Kan.), Ardilla (wife of Aaron Stevenson, of La- moille), Mahala J. (widow of John Winans, of Carson, Iowa), William L. (of Malden), Milton A. (died while acting Surgeon in the Fifty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry), Martin V. (a school-teacher, died in this county), Mary (widow of John Cass, of La- moille), Nancy (deceased, was wife of Marion Hite), James W. (lives near York, Neb.), William L. Isaac was reared and received his education in this county. He first started in life as a farmer, and that has been his occu- pation most of the time. His farm lies in Sections 8 and 9. In 1882 he removed from the farm to Malden, and has since been engaged in the grain business in connection with his farming. Mr. Isaac's first vote was for John C. Fremont, but in later years he has been strictly independent. He is a mem-


ber of I. O. G. T. Lodge of Malden. Decem. ber 25, 1856, he was married to Lucretia J. Winans. She was born in Canada April 1, 1836, a daughter of John and Mary Winans, who removed from New York State to Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Isaac have three children, viz .: Roena, Bertha and Leoan.


ROSWELL D. JACOB, Selby, was born in Mifflin County, Penn., October 19, 1822, a son of Joseph and Rachel (Mc Vey) Jacob, both natives of Pennsylvania. They died when their son Roswell was an infant, leav- ing two daughters besides, both of whom are now dead. Mr. Jacob spent his early life in a store, but after reaching maturity he engaged in farming in his native county, on a farm which his father had owned. He came to Bureau County, in 1855, and settled on his present farm, where he has since resided, in 1856. He now owns 170 acres of well-improved land in Selby Township Feb- ruary 14, 1860, he was united in marriage to Martha M. Laughlin, who was born in Mif- flin County, Penn., October 5, 1840. Her parents, John and Rebecca (Glasco) Laugh- lin, came to this county in the fall of 1855, and both died in Berlin Township. Mr. and Mrs. Jacob have three children, viz. : Robert N., born February 3, 1861; Samuel L., born April 6, 1863, Rebecca B., born December 21, 1866. Mr. Jacob is a Democrat in poli- tics. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church of Malden. He has belonged to the church since 1837, and his wife for most of her life.


JOHN JACOBSON, Bureau Junction. The gentleman whose name heads this sketch was born in Denmark, September 9, 1832. He is the son of Jacob and Anna (Wilson) Hanson. The father, whose occupation was that of a farmer, died in about 1852, aged sixty years, but his wife survived him till 1880, and died at the age of eighty-four years. Our subject was educated in the free schools of his native land till he was fourteen years of age, and then was put to work. In 1854 he came to America, and in order to learn more thoroughly the English language, he attended school at Peoria, Ill., for some time, but his home has been Bureau County since first coming to America in 1854. For two years he was engaged at farm work, and then


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for two years worked in the Sheffield eat- ing-house. In 1858 Johnson & Nash built the Bureau House at Bureau Junction, a house which contains thirty-eight rooms, but shortly after it was built it fell into the hands of the Rock Island Railroad Company, but the same year, 1858, Mr. Jacobson, in partnership with a Mr. Ramsey, took charge of the house, and continued together till 1880, since which time Mr. Jacobson has had entire charge, and has proven himself to be one of the most successful hotel men on the line. He was married in March, 1874, at Sheffield, to Miss Minerva Kemp, who was born in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Jacobson have one child, viz .: Lillian May, born Sep- tember 17, 1881.


S. J. JOBLING, Indiantown, farmer and mining inspector of Bureau County, was born February 21, 1829, in Newcastle-upon- Tyne, England. His father, Lancelot Job- ling, was an underviewer of mines by occu- pation. and died there. The grandfather of our subject, William Jobling, was a master shifter of mines in England. Mr. Jobling's mother, Margaret (Fryar) Jobling, was the mother of twelve children; of these our sub- ject is the only one now living in the United States. At seven years old he commenced to work in the mines; when he was ten years old he studied one year, and then commenced to study for a civil mining engineer. He mined with his father till 1851, when he came to New York. He sank mines one year in Schuylkill County, Penn., and then went to Richmond, Va., where he was a gas boss for two years; after this he worked in the mines at Hartford City, W. Va., till he came to St. Louis, Mo. In the summer of 1862 he enlisted in Company C, of the Eightieth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He served first as Sergeant, but at the close of the war received a commission as Lieu- tenant. He participated in the battles of Terryville, Murphreysboro, Mission Ridge, Franklin, Nashville, etc. He was in sixteen engagements, and was wounded at Dalton. After the war he mined. In 1867 he came to Bureau County, and here mined till within the last two years, when he was appointed mining inspector. Mr. Jobling is married to Mary E. Simpson, a native of Ohio. She


is the mother of Ruby F. Jobling. Mr. Jobling has a daughter by a former marriage -Mrs. Margaret Smith, living in England. He is a Republican and an A. F. & A. M.


HIRAM JOHNSON, Clarion, was born September 3, 1802, in Hardwick, Mass. He is a son of Cyrus and Celia (Howard) John- son, who were both natives of Massachusetts, where they died. They were the parents of seven boys, viz. : Cyrus N. and Alanson, are deceased; Hiram, our subject; Gardner, who died in New Orleans; Howard, of Mendota; Ranslure, of Barre, Mass .; Theodore, of Wor- cester, Mass. The Johnson family is of English extraction. Our subject learned the mason's trade in Boston. In Amherst, Mass., he built the north wing of the famous col. lege, the President's house, and the great brick " Thair" Block in the city. After a residence of ten years in Amherst, he re- moved, in the fall of 1836, to Bureau County, Ill., where he bought a large claim of Joseph Fassett, in Lamoille Township. Previous to this he had roamed over the country, and entered large tracts of land in Henry and Stark Counties in partnership with Col. Cyrus Kingman, whom he afterward bought out. After the land sales of Dixon and Galena, he found himself the owner of sev- eral thousand acres of land, which he sold from time to time. On account of the bank- ing trouble which existed at that time under the Democratic rule, Mr. Johnson's venture did not prove as successful as his enterprising spirit deserved. He yet owns 160 acres of land in this county. Our subject was mar- ried twice. His first wife, Mary Northam, died in Massachusetts. She was the mother of Hiram N. Johnson, who was accidentally shot in Massachusetts, aged seventeen years. He was married here a second time to Sarah Little, a native of Vermont. She died here in December, 1878, aged seventy two years. She was the mother of Mrs. Sarah M. Smith and Mrs. Laura V. Porter. Mr. Johnson is


one of our oldest settlers. He is a member of the Baptist Church, and politically a Re- publican. His son-in-law, Capt. Dewitt C. Smith, was born May 28, 1839, in Putnam County, Ill. He is a son of Alonzo and Re- becca (Sheldon) Smith, who are old settlers. Mr. Smith enlisted September 17, 1861, in


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the Fifty-second Regiment Illinois Volun- teer Infantry, Company B, as a private, but was appointed First Sergeant, and afterward promoted to the rank of First Lieutenant, and afterward Captain of his company. He fought through the whole war, and partici- pated in the battles of Pittsburg Landing, Fort Donaldson, battle and siege of Corinth, Iuca and Atlanta campaign. He was with Gen. Sherman in his famous "march to the sea," and closed with the grand review at Washington. D. C. The military career of Capt. Smith was a brilliant one. He was wounded at Shiloh and receives a pension, and before leaving the service received, as a special distinction, a Major's commission. Since the war Capt. Smith has been a farmer. He was married here to Sarah M. Johnson, who was born January 16, 1841, and who is the mother of the following children: Ed- mond S .. Louis D. and Louisa (are twins), Ella, Lydia and Hiram Smith. Mr. and Mrs. Capt. Smith and daughter Lonisa are members of the Baptist Church. Politically he is a stanch Republican, and a member of the G. A. R.


HUGH JOHNSON, Ohio, was born in April, 1829, at Dundalk, Louth Co., Ireland, and is the only child of Arthur and Mary Johnson. The father was born about 1800, and immigrated to America in 1849. The mother was born about 1795, and with the son followed the husband to this connty in 1850, where they settled on Section 15, in Ohio Township. Both died in this county. After immigrating to this county, for the first two seasons Hugh worked for Dr. R. J. Woodruf on the farm now owned by Dr. William Winters. In March, 1853, he bought eighty acres of Section 19, Ohio Township, of John H. Bryant, for which he agreed to pay $5.25 per acre, though he had not a cent to pay down. On this eighty, which he still owns, le built a log-cabin in 1856, into which he moved with his first wife, Mary McEnney, to whom he was married Novem- ber 1, 1855. Mary McEnney was born in Monaghan County, Ireland, in 1835, and was the daughter of Philip and Ann Janet McEnney, who came to America in 1851, and settled in Illinois in 1852. Of this marriage there is a family of four children, three of


whom are now living, as follows: Arthur P. Johnson was born August 7, 1856, and is now a bridge builder in Kansas; Thomas H. Johnson, was born May 19, 1858 (he mar- ried Mary B. Fleming, of Lee County, and is now living at Columbus, Kan.); Nicholas Johnson, was born February 20, 1861. Mrs. Johnson died April 4, 1861. In 1862, No- vember 8, Mr. Johnson married his present wife, Lucinda Baumgartner, who was born May 2, 1844, at Berne, Switzerland, and is the daughter of Christopher and Julia Baumgartner. The father was a native of Switzerland, and the mother of France, and is of pure French parentage. Mrs. Johnson came to this country in 1854. Of this last marriage there is a family of ten children, all living, which probably gives to Mr. Johnson the largest living family in Ohio Township. Mary A. was born January 3, 1864; Henry R .. September 11, 1865; Julia E., February 26, 1868; Emma C., December 9, 1870; John, October 7, 1872; Hugh, Jr., September 27, 1874; Annie, October 30, 1876; Hettie K., December 17, 1878; Francis J., Decem- ber 1, 1880; Lillian, July 5, 1883. Mr. Johnson owns 516 acres in Ohio, and thirty - seven acres in Walnut Township, all being well .improved. Mr. Johnson probably has the largest cistern in Bureau County, it being 36x13x13, and serves as a reservoir for stock water, which is conveyed to various parts of the premises through over one- fourth of a mile of pipe. In politics Mr. J. is Democratic, and a member of the Ro- man Catholic Church.


W. A. JOHNSON, Princeton, was born December 16, 1857, near Aurora, Ind. He is a son of James J. Johnson, who was also a native of Indiana. He was born May 29, 1828. He came to Bureau County before the late war, and has been engaged in farm- ing. His father was James Johnson, a na- tive of England, where he was born Febru- ary 14, 1798. He died April, 1884, in Dills- boro, Ind. In early life he was a millwright and later a farmer by occupation. Our sub. ject is one of a family of eleven children, viz .: John C., James H., William H., Watts A., Mary, Nora, Maggie, Florence, Alice, Nettie and Herbert A. Mr. Johnson received his primary education in Bureau County.


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He also attended the University of Chicago one and one-half years, after which he read Law with Richard M. Skinner more than one year, and then entered the Union College of Law in Chicago, where he graduated in June, 1882. Upon his return to Princeton he once more entered Mr. Skinner's law office, where he continued to study till Decem- ber, 1883, when he opened an office near the depot, and has been conducting a success- ful law and real estate business ever since. Mr. Johnson was joined in matrimony, Jan- uary 2, 1884, in Somonauk, Ill., to Miss Jen- nie Buckingham, who was born December 3, 1861, in DeKalb County, Ill. She is a daughter of Almus Buckingham.


DANIEL JONES, Ohio, was born in Greene County, Ohio, September 1, 1823, and is the son of Abram and Mary Jones. The father was born September 5, 1801. The mother was born March 18, 1802, both being of American parentage, and the parents of eleven children, eight of whom grew to man and womanhood. The subject of this sketch is the eldest son, and was raised on a farm till 1831, when he came to this State with his parents, and settled in Putnam County, near where Wenona now stands. The family remained there till 1833, when they removed to where Princeton now stands, and settled on the farm just north of William Knox's farm. At that time there was not a house on the present site of Princeton, though the town plat was staked out. Here the Jones family remained till the subject of this sketch was twenty-four years of age, when he married Mary Ellis, the daughter of Peter and Urania Ellis, of Ohio, who came to this County in 1830, and settled on Bureau Creek, in Dover Township. Subsequent to his marriage Mr. Jones settled on West Bureau Creek, where he remained till 1853. He then removed to Lamoille Township, and settled on Section 30, where he remained till 1861, when he moved to Ohio Township, and settled on the farm which he now occu- pies, being 194 acres of Section 24. (See sketch of Marion Hite.) Mr. and Mrs. Jones are the parents of five children. two of whom are now living: Urania, born March 1, 1849, died March 5, 1849; Orange V., born April 2, 1850, died May 31, 1850: Mary


E., born May 2, 1851, now Mrs. William Turnbull, Van Orin, Ill .; Abram L., born May 1, 1854, married Ida Shifflet; Austin B., born February 14, 1862, died March 4, 1862. Mr. Jones' experiences in early pioneer life were varied and severe, he being in Putnam County during the Black Hawk war. He still retains a vivid recollection of early scenes and incidents during the early days of what is now Bureau County. Mr. Jones was formerly a Whig, and is now a Repnb- lican and member of the Methodist Episco- pal Church.


DR. DANIEL JONES, deceased. The subject of the following biography was a man of more than ordinary talents and his character as a man and physician was well known to the citizens of the northeastern part of Bureau County. He was born Sep- tember 21, 1805, in Salisbury, Vt. His father, Abiel Jones, was a minister of the Congregational Church. He was born July 24, 1761, in Connecticut, and died February, 1829, in Tunbridge, Vt. In early life he chose the medical profession, and fitted him- self for that vocation. But about this time he became converted and joined the Congre- gational Church. Being a man of great conviction, he was not content until he entered Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, where he prepared himself for the min- istry and after graduating studied theology some time with the Rev. Dr. Backus, a cele- brated divine of the Congregational Church. He preached a few years in Massachusetts, and then in 1812 was sent to Farmington, in the Western Reserve, of Ohio, where he labored the remainder of his active life, till his fail- ing health compelled him to go Vermont, where he only lived a short time. The mother of Dr. Jones was Rebecca Rix, who was born May 10, 1773. She died in Sep- tember, 1838. She was the mother of eight children, who are all dead now; three of them were physicians. Dr. Daniel Jones received his primary education in Ohio, where he also taught school, till his parents returned to the East, when he commenced the study of medicine in Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, where he graduated. He practiced two years in Plymouth, and then sixteen years in Ludlow, Vt. In 1854 he


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came to Bureau County, Ill., locating in La- moille, where he practiced sixteen years with marked success. In April, 1870, he moved to Princeton, where he died January 11, the following year. Shortly after the Doctor came to Lamoille he formed a partnership with his younger brother, Joseph R. Jones, M. D., also a graduate of Dartmouth, with whom he was associated for five years. The Doctor was married April 13, 1847, in Mount Holly, Vt., to Miss Mary A. Barrett, a native of Ashby, Mass., but reared and educated in Vermont. She was born August 15, 1822, and is a danghter of Joel and Sarah (How- ard) Barrett, natives of Ashby, Mass. Her grandfather, Daniel Howard, was a native of Massachusetts, but of English descent. He came to Ashby when he was only eighteen years old, and was one of the founders of that town. Mrs. Dr. Joues yet resides in Princeton, and is the mother of four chil- dren, viz .: Charles A, a farmer and stock- man; Eliza, wife of Henry Porter; George WV., who is also a farmer, and S. Louisa. The first three children are living in Butler County, Iowa. By a former marriage Dr. Jones had a son named Norman D., who died when he was nearly twenty-three years old. Dr. Jones was well known as a physician and surgeon; he was also a good financier, and owned large tracts of land in this and adjoining States. His memory will be cherished by all who had the pleasure of knowing him.


DAVID A. JONES, Wyanet, was born in Denbighshire, North Wales, January 9, 1818. He is the son of Rev. David Jones, who was a clergyman in the Church of England, and died when our subject was about eight years old. His wife, Elizabeth Waring, died in 1856. They were the parents of five chil- dren, only two of whom are now living, viz. : David and the youngest daughter, Mary Anne, of North Wales. At the age of sixteen years our subject went to sea. When twenty-one years of age he came to America, but con- tinued to follow the sea for many years, visiting all the ports of any importance on the Western Continent. He experienced all the incidents of a sailor's life, beginning at the forecastle and passing through all grades -second mate, first mate-and at the time


he left the sea owned a small vessel of which he was captain. After leaving the sea he went to California, and from 1852 to 1857 was in the monntains engaged in mining. In September, 1857, he came to Bureau County and bought the farm first settled by the French trader, Bourbonnais. He still owns this farm, but in March, 1882, he removed to Wyanet and retired from active life. Mr. Jones was married June 5, 1849, to Miss Lydia Davis, born in North Dighton, Bristol Co., Mass., May 15, 1823. Her parents, Peter and Mary (Corey) Davis, were both natives of the same county. They were the parents of thirteen children, only three of whom are living-Mrs. Jones and two sisters, who resido in Taunton, Mass. Mr. and Mrs. Jones have two sons: David A., Jr., was born July 29, 1850 (he is now in the mercan- tile business in Annawan, Henry Co., Ill.); William A., born September 9, 1859, (he is a teacher of short-hand in the Geneseo Normal School; was a graduate of Wesleyan Uni- versity, of Bloomington, in 1882). Mr. Jones and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. During his wanderings Mr. Jones has made quite a collection of curiosities, for which he was given first prize at the Princeton fair in 1883. Among other things he has a piece of native gold which was found on his farm.


JOSEPH F. JONES, Princeton, was born October 28, 1830, in Springfield, N. H. He is a son of Samuel Jones, who was a native of New Hampshire, and a bricklayer and farmer by occupation. He came to Bureau County in the fall of 1837, settling south of town. The next year he removed to Prince- ton, where he resided till his death, which occurred in the summer of 1847. His father was Josiah Jones, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He was also a farmer and mason by occupation. The mother of our subject was Mariam Fellows, who was born in New Hampshire. She died May 13, 1880, in Greene County, Iowa. She was the daughter of Joseph Fellows, and was the mother of eight children, viz .: Joseph F., Josiah, Esther, Mary A., Mrs. Almena Phil- lips, Mrs. Henrietta Sayers, Ann M. and Enoch are both deceased. Mr. Jones was married May 18, 1855, to Aroxa E. Water-


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man, 'who was born February 8, 1836, in Perrysburg, N. Y. She is a daughter of Elijah and Polly (Barnhart) Waterman, the former a native of Vermont, and the latter of New York. Mr. and Mrs. Jones are the parents of two children now living, viz .: Ellen, born March 15, 1857, who married Albert Lamb; and Frank M., born August 25, 1858. Mr. Jones has followed the occu- pation of a plasterer and mason since he was fourteen years old, and is the builder of numerous fine structures in Bureau County. In 1860 he crossed the plains and mined one season at Pike's Peak, returning to Princeton the same year. Just before the breaking out of our late war he again crossed the plains, this time going to California, where he fol- lowed his trade, returning to Princeton Au- gust 3, 1866. Here he has lived ever since with the exception of eight years, when he resided in the country. Politically Mr. Jones is connected with the Democratic party.




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