USA > Illinois > Cass County > History of Cass county, Illinois > Part 34
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DR. WILLIAM G. UNLAND, Beards- town; is a native of this county: born near Bluff Springs, in July, 1846, and was raised on a farm. He attended the Beardstown schools four years, Quincy College one year, and four years at the Wesleyan College at Warrenton, Mo. In 1869 he began the study of medicine with Drs. Smith and Cook, of Quincy, Ill., and in 1870 entered the St. Louis Homeopathic College of Physicians and Surgeons, where he took a course of lectures, and completed his studies in the Hahnemann Medical College, Chicago, from which he graduated in the spring of 1871. He then practiced for a year in Pittsfield, Ill., and in the spring of 1872 went to Europe, and con- tinued his medical studies in the universities of Berlin and Vienna for over a year, and on his return, in 1873, located at Quincy, III. He remained there but a short time, then moved to Lincoln, Neb., where he remained two years; afterward spent about two years in Pekin, Ill., and in March, 1880, came to Beardstown where he has since been en- gaged in the drug business in connection with the practice of his profession.
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HERMAN H. UNLAND, merchant, Beardstown; was born in what is now Monroe Precinct, this county, May 12, 1848. At eighteen years of age he entered the Central Wesleyan University, of Warrenton, Mo., where he spent three years, 1862-70, then en- tered the Northwestern University at Evans- ton, Ill., from which he graduated in June, 1875. In the fall of that year he became prin- cipal of the High School at Pekin, Ill., which position he held for a year; and in the fall of 1876, became a member of the firm of H. G. Unland & Bros., which carried on business for a year under that name. He then engaged with C. H. Unland, and since 1880 has had charge of the dry goods department of his store. In 1876, he married Emma Smith, of Will County, Ill .; they have two children.
JOHN H. UNLAND, farmer; P.O., Beards- town; is a native of Germany; born July 30, 1833; son of Casper H. and Mary (Carls) Unland, natives of Germany; he, still living, a farmer by occupation, born in 1808 ; she, born in 1811; parents of thirteen children. John H. attended school in Weimar, Ger- many, three years, and also about one year here, and began farming in this county, and has ever since followed that occupation. He married, in this county, Nov. 19, 1857, Eliza- beth Christianer, born in Germany, in 1830, daughter of Jost H. and Angel Christianer; they have had nine children: George H., Lu- cinda, Mary, Henrietta, Frank J., Henry W., William F., Louis (deceased), and an infant, (deceased). Mr. Unland is a Republican, and a member of the M. E. Church.
JOSEPH WEAVER, contractor and brick- layer, Beardstown; was born in Putnam Coun- ty, Ind., Oct. 22, 1832. George W. Weaver, subject's father, was born in Fluvanna County, Va., and moved to Kentucky when a boy; in 1833 he came with his family to this county, then Morgan County, settling on a farm in Jersey Prairie, where he lived for
many years; he also lived several years in Virginia, this county, where he was engaged in brickmaking; he built the Virginia Seminary. He came to Beardstown about the year 1850, where he engaged in the milling and lumber business about fifteen years. He served one term as County Judge of this county, some time between 1840 and 1850, and was Mayor of Beardstown for three terms. He retired from business life several years before his death, which occurred March 8, 1881, he being then in his seventy-seventh year. His wife, Martha Carver, bore him twelve children, of whom three sons and four daughters are liv- ing, Joseph being the eldest living son. Our subject learned the trades of bricklaying and brickmaking with his father, and took his first contract in Beardstown, in 1856, and has since been contractor and foreman on brick work there, with the exception of four years, which he spent in Hancock County, Ill. In Beardstown, in April, 1862, he married Mary Collins, daughter of Edward and Thalia (Beard) Collins. Edward Collins was born in Enfield, Ct., in 1797, and in 1836 moved with his family to a farm in Beardstown Precinct, this county, where he farmed until about twelve years before his death, spending his last years in Beardstown; he died in 1863; his wife died in 1860. He came to Beards- town from Ohio in 1832.
SAMUEL WORTMAN, blacksmith, Bluff Springs; was born in Rush County, Ind., May 16, 1829. His parents, Smith W. and Mary (Wagoner) Wortman, both died in 1859; his father was a native of North Carolina; his mother of Bourbon County, Ky .; they had six children, five boys and one girl. Samuel re- ceived but a limited education, attending school in Rush and Shelby Counties, Ind. He worked at the blacksmith's trade in Sangamon County, Ill., about a year, then came to this county, where he has since remained, and where he was married, Oct. 17, 1852, to Es-
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ther Taylor, a native of this county, born April 16, 1832, daughter of John and Mary Taylor; he, still living, she, deceased. By this union seven children have been born: Eliza J., Amos (deceased), Levy (deceased), Francis M., Ann E. (deceased), Marvin T. and Alice L. Mr. Wortman is a Democrat; his wife is a member of the M. E. Church.
HENRY WITTE, farmer; P. O. Beards- town; is a native of Prussia; born Aug. 9, 1824; son of Frederick W. and Mena C. (Esa- mann) Witte; he, a farmer by occupation, died in Beardstown, in 1870, where his wife also died, in 1868; they were the parents of nine children. Henry received a good educa- tion, having attended the schools of Germany seven years; he engaged in railroading, and, also served two years as a soldier in Prussia, in the 15th Regiment of Volunteers, under Capt. August Menkoff. He has since follow- ed farming. In Beardstown, this county, April 3, 1856, he married Mena Vette, born in Prussia, April 2, 1834, danghter of Freder- ick and Crystal Vette, and from this union eight children have been born: Henry W., Caroline (deceased), Bertha, Anna, Maria, Louise, Edward (deceased) and Mena. Mr. Witte is a member of the Lutheran Church; he is a Republican.
REV. W. WEIGAND, Beardstown; was born in Zanesville, O., in April, 1852; son of John and Elizabeth Weigand. In 1854 his parents moved to Mt. Sterling, Brown Co., Ill., where our subject lived till he was fifteen years of age, when he entered upon his pre- paratory course at St. Francis' Seminary, Mil- waukee, Wis., and completed the course at St. Joseph's Ecclesiastical College, at Tentopolis, Ill., in 1873. In 1825, he entered Mt. St. Mary's Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, O., from which he graduated in the spring of 1878, receiving the major and minor orders, and that of Deacon, from Archbishop Purcell, of Cincinnati, O. He was ordained to the priest-
hood, Nov. 10, 1878, by Bishop Baltes, of Alton, Ill., and in December of the same year was established Rector of St. Alexius Church, of Beardstown, where he has since officiated; has established a parish school, and freed the church from debt.
DAVID WAGNER, farmer, P. O., Beards- town; was born in Monroe County, O., July 26, 1823, and is the only surviving child of a family of seven children, born to John and Je- mima (Carr) Wagner. John Wagner, who was a blacksmith, and also a sickle, scythe and axe maker, was born in Pennsylvania, in 1794; his wife was a native of Monroe County, O. Mr. Wagner attended school but little, but being an extensive reader, stored his mind with useful information. He early engaged in farming, which occupation he still follows. He has been twice married. His first wife, Sarah E. Blake, whom he married March 8, 1849, bore him four children: John, Sarah J., William, and Rufus; the latter deceased. His present wife, whose maiden name was Eliza J. Brown, is a native of Ohio, and daughter of John and Polly Brown; from this second marriage six children have been born: Mary Ann (deceased), Adeline, Fannie, Franklin, Charles, and Ida. Mr. Wagner was formerly a Whig, and is now a Republican; he was for several years Road Supervisor, and also School Director.
DR. DAVID WHITNEY, retired dentist, Beardstown; was born in Franklin County, Mass., Jan. 29, 1803, and was educated in Conway, his native town. At twenty-two years of age, he began the study of medicine, and graduated from the Pittsfield College, in 1831. In 1832, he removed to western New York, practiced his profession six years, and then moved to Indiana, where, his health fail- ing, he relinquished medicine partly, and practiced dentistry till 1856, when he remov- ed to Beardstown, where he has since remain- cd, having practiced dentistry for twenty
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years; during the last six years, however, he has retired from active practice. In 1826, he married Miss Elizabeth S. Granger, of North Hadley, Mass., and seven children were born to them, three of whom are dead. Those liv- ing are: Cornelia, Mrs. Wallsworth, Ellen, Benjamin R., civil engineer, David V., physi- cian. For many years Mrs. Whitney has made a study of geology and archeology, and has one of the finest collections of fossils and prehistoric implements in the State. The Doctor is a Baptist, and Mrs. Whitney is a Congregationalist.
HENRY B. WILSON, grain merchant, Beardstown; was born in Bertie County, N. C., Sept. 2, 1829, and is the eldest of a family of eleven children, born to James D. and Sallie (Mizell) Wilson. James D. Wilson was born in North Carolina, Jan. 9, 1806; he was a cooper by trade; and in 1851 settled on a farm in Arenzville Precinct, this county, where he died in 185"; he was married in October, 1828, to Sallie Mizell, who died in February, 1881, age 73 years; of their eleven children all are living, save one son. Mr. Wilson learned the cooper's trade with his father, and worked at it in his native State; after his father's death he worked the farm until 1860; he then came to Beardstown, and after elerking a short time there for Mr. Seeger, bought out his stoek, which he sold in 1863, and then was employed by different firms as salesman, until 1820. In that year he entered into partnership with John R. Dutch, in company with whom he carried on a general merchandising and grain business, until the fall of 1874, when their store, stock and warehouse were burned, entailing a loss of $25,000. Mr. Wilson then engaged in the grain business, and in 1818, became a member of the firm of Garin, Wilson & Co., who bought the steamboat " Maggie P," and barges, carrying on an extensive grain busi- ness until the spring of 1882. when they sold
the steamboat. They have warehouses at Beardstown, Bluff Springs, West Point and Bath, and have leased others on the Illinois River. In 1861, Mr. Wilson married Angel- ine, daughter of G. H. Seeger, of Beardstown; they have had seven children, of whom two sons and two daughters are living.
THEODORE WILKINS, deceased; was born in the city of Berlin, Germany, Dec. 13, 1820; his father was a major in the Prussian army. Mr. Wilkins completed a college course, and at the age of seventeen entered the army as a private soldier; he passed his examination at the end of three months, and, after attending an artillery and engineer's sehool at Berlin, received a lieutenant's com- mission, and served until 1847, when he re- signed. He then came to the United States, and settled near Washington, Franklin Co., Mo., where he engaged in farming, and where, in 1849, he married Matilda Manlinekrodt, who died in 1853, leaving one son, Paul, a teacher in St. Louis, Mo .; she was a daughter of Julius Manlinekrodt. In 1855, he married Bertha Setzer; her father emigrated from Hamburg, Germany, and settled at Hermann, Mo., in 1837, she being then a child of nine years. In 1858, Mr. Wilkins moved to St. Louis, Mo., having previously sold his farm, and been engaged in the drug business in Washington, Mo. He was a Collector in St. Louis until the breaking out of the late war, when, in April, 1861, he was elected Captain of a Home Guard Company, afterward serving in the Second Missouri Artillery three years as major, being in active service at the eap- ture of Camp Jackson, at Carthage, and other points. After the war he was Assessor in St. Louis, Mo., until 1868, when he came to Beardstown. Here he engaged as Secretary of the Illinois Insurance Company, and was afterward Cashier of the Cass County Bank until 1878, when he resigned that position, and became editor of the Beardstown Wochen-
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blatt, a German paper, which he edited until the time of his death, which occurred May 11, 1881. By his last marriage seven children were born, four of whom are living, two sons and two daughters.
GEORGE WAGNER, farmer, P. O., Bluff Springs; is a native of Germany; born Dec. 14, 1825; son of Theodore and Elizabeth (An- dreas) Wagner; he, a piano maker by trade; she, died in 1827. Mr. Wagner attended school for eight years in his native country, where he began life as a farmer; he served two years in the 3d Regiment of Prussia-a Hessian regiment-under Captain Otto. He came to this county in 1850, where he has since been engaged in farming. In Beards- town, in 1851, he married Mary Derr, a native of Germany, born Nov. 11, 1825, who bore him five children: John, Theodore, George, Elizabeth, and Mary. In 1864, he married Catharine Deitrick, also a native of Germany, born in 1835, and by this marriage six chil- dren have been born: Emil, Harry L., Rosa, Edward, Lydia, and Anna Eliza. His step- daughter, Mary Webel, eighteen years of age, resides with him. He is a Republican.
JOHN H. WEDEKING, cigar manufact- urer, Beardstown; is a native of Beardstown; born May 11, 1844; son of Frederick Wede- king, a native of Germany, who came to Beardstown in 1833, and finally settled on a farm in Arenzville Precinct, this county, in 1844, where he still resides, aged seventy-three years. John H. received an ordinary educa- tion, and remained on the farm till 1862, when he enlisted in Co. A, 114th Ills. Volunteer Infantry, and during his term of service par- ticipated in the battles of Jackson, Miss., and Vicksburg, and again at Jackson, Miss. At the latter place, July 16, 1863, he received a gunshot wound, which necessitated the ampu- tation of his leg at the thigh; he lay in Mem- phis Hospital till May, 1864, and was mustered out that year at Jefferson Barracks. On his
return to Beardstown, he began learning the trade of cigar making, at which he served two years. In 1866, he opened a cigar factory at Lincoln, Logan County, Ill., where he carried on business one and a half years, then returned to Beardstown, and for six years worked for John Limberger. In 1880, he opened his present cigar factory, No. 36 Fourth District of Illinois, and has since carried on business here; he employs three men, and manufact- ures about 200,000 cigars annually, making four brands. In 1866 he married Helena Tembick, of Beardstown.
JOHN WEBB, retired from business; Beardstown; was born near Manchester, England, Dec. 9, 1813, and came to the United States with his parents in 1818, who settled in Baltimore, Md. He learned the trade of a machinest, and afterward worked in the shops of the B. & O. R. R. Co. He worked upon marine engines, and for the Savage Manufacturing Company, till 1838, in which year he went to Springfield, Ill., and from there to Petersburg. In 1844, he came to Cass County, and started a shop about three miles from Virginia, for the manufac- ture of Page's portable circular saws, but his business increased to such an extent that he was compelled to seek better facilities, and he moved to Beardstown, where he erected a foundry and machine shop, running the same till 1856, when his works were burned out, with a loss of $17,000; no insurance. He re- built, however, and continued the business until 1866, when he sold to Ebaugh & Quin- lan. He afterward went into the manufacture of wagons, which he continued till 1875, when he retired, leaving the business in the hands of his son and son-in-law. He mar- ried in Baltimore, in 1834, Miss Eliza A. Kahaley.
W. B. WILLIAMS, farmer; P. O., Bluff Springs; is a native of North Carolina; born Jan. 6, 1848. His parents, W. A. and Mar.
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garet (Thomas) Williams, are both still living, and have had five children; his father, who is also a native of North Carolina, and a farmer by occupation, was born Jan. 8, 1818. Mr. Williams received but a limited education in the schools of his precinct, attending school but a short time, and has always been a farmer. For the past three years he has been the keeper of the poor-farm. In Beardstown, Aug. 8, 1872, he married Mary J. Heaton, a native of England; born May 15, 1850, who · bore him two children, John E. and William H. Mrs. Williams died March 1, 1881; she was a daughter of John and Mary Jane Hea- ton, who now reside in Virginia, this county. His second wife, whom he married July 28, 1881, is Anna Gough.
CHARLES E. WYMAN, attorney at law, Beardstown; was born in Roxbury, Mass., in May, 1852, and at the age of four years came West with his parents, who settled on a farm in Ford County, Ill., where he remained till he was eighteen years of age. He then be- gan the study of law with his brother Gilbert, in Chatsworth, Ill., and in connection with his law studies engaged in teaching school and in other pursuits for three years. He was
admitted to the bar at the session of the Su- preme Court held in Ottawa, Ill., in Septem- ber, 18:5, and after practicing a year in Gil- man, Ill., came to Beardstown in the fall of 1876, where he has since resided, enjoying a good practice in this and adjoining counties. He is now serving his third term as City At- torney of Beardstown. In 1877, he married Maggie, daughter of John Fidler, of Beards- town.
HENRY WINHOLD, farmer; P. O. Bluff Springs ; is a native of this county ; born May 7, 1843; son of William and Barbara (Weber) Winhold, natives of Hessen, Ger- many. William Winhold was born Feb. 1, 1809, and is a farmer by occupation. He came to this country in 18 5, landing in Bal- timore, Md., August 28, that ycar, and settled in Pennsylvania, where he remained nearly seven years; and in 1841, came to this county. His wife, who was born in 1805, is also living. They are the parents of seven children: two boys, and five girls. Mr. Winhold received his education in the schools of this county, and began life as a farmer, which occupation he has ever since followed in this county. He is a Republican.
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CHANDLERVILLE PRECINCT.
CHANDLERVILLE PRECINCT.
THOMAS AINSWORTH, capitalist ; Chandlerville. Among the most active, up- right and highly respected citizens of Cass County, who have achieved success by their own indomitable energies, rather than by any outside aid, is the subject of this sketch. His record is that of hundreds of others of the self made, self reliant men, to be met with in the every-day walks of life, and his career has been marked with the varied ex- periences common to all of the class referred to. Mr. Ainsworth is a native of Lancashire, England, having been born Jan. 30, 1814, to Thomas and Sarah (Townley) Ainsworth, bothı natives of England. He was denied the privilege of attaining other than a limited mental culture in youth; but his was an en- ergy that was not easily thwarted by obstacles, and by dint of his own perseverance, he suc- ceeded in gaining a fair business education; nor was he more fortunate in this world's goods. Standing on the threshold of his young manhood, he could easily count the dollars that were his upon the fingers of his hand. His had ever been a cradle rocked by the hand of adversity ; but his heart was strong, his courage great, his energy remarka- ble; and lured by hope, he pressed steadily forward, placing his trust in Him who heareth ever the cry of the raven, and who has prom- ised to reward the faithful worker. His early life was spent at home, and at an early age learned to earn his own livelihood in a cot- ton factory, where his father was also em- ployed. At the age of twenty-eight years he bade his home and native country farewell. He emigrated to America in 1842, and the same year moved to Illinois, settling in Mason County, where he entered eighty acres of
wild prairie land, and remained on the same for thirty-five years, and during that time saw this country develop from a wilderness to its present highly cultivated condition. In 1876 he erected, from his own designs, a neat and commodious residence in the stirring little town of Chandlerville, and moved to the same in the spring of 1817, where he may now be found, surrounded with those comforts, and enjoying those pleasures that are ever the re- sult of honesty, industry and economy. Mr. Ainsworth is one of the largest stockholders of the Valley National Bank of St. Louis, is largely interested in Colorado mines, and is the owner of over two thousand acres of the best land of Illinois. His marriage occurred in 1837, to Miss Maria Abbott, a native of Lancashire, England, born in November, 1814. The result of this union was ten children, of whom seven are now living: Nancy, the wife of Agustine Witt, a wholesale merchant of Decatur; William Henry, a prominent mer- chant of Rood House, Ill .; Alice, the wife of William Casey, a retired farmer, of Centralia, Ill .; Thomas T., a farmer of Mason County; Sarah E., wife of George Ransome, a farmer of Mason County; Mary A., wife of Thomas Saye furniture dealer, of Chandlerville, and Jo- seph, who is farming upon the old homestead farm, in Mason County. Among his children Mr. Ainsworth has divided over $80,000 worth of property. He and wife are con- neeted with the Congregational Church. He was formerly an old line Whig, but is now a Republican. He has never taken part in po- litical demonstrations, but evidently takes quite as much interest in what he has not done, as in that which he actually has accom- plished.
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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
FRIEDRICH BRAUER, retired farmer; P. O. Chandlerville. Hanover, formerly a State of the German Confederation, situated in Northwestern Germany, has furnished a larger proportion of solid, substantial, thrifty emigrants to America, perhaps, than any por- tion of country of equal size on the continent. Of the number referred to belongs the sub- ject of this sketch, who was born in Hanover, May 10, 1822. Here were his parents also born. Notwithstanding the beauties in na- ture, art, science and literature, that charac- terize the "German Fatherland," the great Republic that has sprung into existence within the last century in North America, has presented quite enough in attractions to seduce many thousands of Germans to our shores, where, to their honor, be it said, they contributed largely by their industry and thrift, to the material wealth of the country of their adoption. Christ. Brauer, the father of the subject of this memoir, set sail for this country, with his family, in 1842, landing at New Orleans. From this point he embarked by water for Beardstown, Ill., where he re- mained two months looking for a suitable farm, which he found, and purchased of Wil- liam Taylor, three miles north of Arenzville. Here Mr. Brauer died in the spring of 1843; his wife surviving his death until 1853. In 1853, previous to the death of his mother, Mr. Brauer sold the homestead farm, and bought two hundred acres of land about one mile north of Arenzville, where he remained for thirteen years, when he sold it, and bought of John Fielding, in Sangamon Bottom, 280 aeres of land. In 1880, he rented his farms, bought a handsome residence in Chandler- ville, and removed to it the same year, it being his desire to retire from active labor and enjoy the fruits of his past labors. As a business man Mr. Brauer has been very suc- cessful. He now owns 1,000 acres of splen- did farming land, as good as is to be found in
this part of Illinois. Mr. Brauer was married in Cass County in 1847, to Miss Elizabeth Brunker, a native of Germany. The result of this union was twelve children, of whom five are now living: Mary, widow of John Ackerman; Lewis, a farmer of Christian County, who married Miss Lizzie Bloone, of Menard County; Lizzie, the wife of Epha- mire Henry, a farmer of Christian County; Hannah, wife of Charles Grape, a farmer of Christian County; and Minnie, at home with her parents. Mr. Brauer and wife, are mem- bers of the German Lutheran Church. In the life of our subject we have demonstrated some of the possibilities of human energy and perserverance in overcoming difficulties. We have seen him launched out in life empty handed, battling with poverty, with a family to support, steadily gaining and increasing his possessions, until to-day he looks out on his fine farms, covered with a rich harvest, ready for the reaper, and furnished with all conveniences of well ordered and improved farms.
DR. NATHANIEL H. BOONE, Chand- lerville ; was born in Troop Co., Georgia, June 6, 1836, to William and Martha E. (Bradford) Boone; born in South Carolina in 1806; farmer; and died in Mississippi in 1855; his wife, the mother of our subject, was born in South Carolina in 1808, and is now residing in Oxford, Mississippi. She is the mother of ten children; five of whom are living; of whom the Doctor was the third. When but six years old he was removed by his parents to Alabama, and at the age of nine to Oxford, Mississippi. His literary ed- ucation was received at the Oxford Univer- sity, after which he entered the Nashville Medical College, in 1854, and graduated March 4, 1860, when he began the practice of his profession at Pine Bluff, Arkansas; and in 1864 removed to Chandlerville, Ill., his present residence, where he has a large and
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