USA > Illinois > De Witt County > History of De Witt county, Illinois. With illustrations descriptive of the scenery, and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers > Part 52
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ISABEL FRUIT.
made the acquaintance of Miss Elizabeth Boyd, whom he married on the 6th of March, 1845. Ile remained in Kentucky eighteen months, which time was occupied in farming and working for his brother. In the fall of 1846, he returned to De Witt county, settled on his land, and built a log cabin, a view of which may be seen on another page. There he lived for several years, then built a frame-honse, and in 1858 built and removed to his present residence. His wife died Angnst the 8th, 1856. By that mar- riage there were five children-three of whom are living, whose names are Sydney Jane, who is the wife of John Barnett, a resi- dent of Atchison county, Mo .; James A., who married Sarah Jane Stonghtonborough, and Mary Elizabeth, wife of Franklin Barnett On the 5th of November, 1857, Mr. Frnit married Sarah E, daughter of Uriah and Jemima Blue. She died April the 28th, 1873. Two children living by that marriage. Their names are Arthur W., and Laura B. Frnit. After the death of his second wife he married Susan E. Blue. She died January the 16th, 1880, without issue. On the 4th of November, 1880, he married Miss Isabel, daughter of Garrett and Sarah Ann Blue. She was born in Hampshire county, Virginia. Politically, Mr. Fruit was originally a Henry Clay Whig. In 1864 he joined the Democratic party, and is still a member of that political organization. In his religious belief he is a Universalist.
Mr. Fruit has been the architect of his own fortune. IIe started in life poor, but by the practice of industry and economy he has sneceeded to a handsome competency. He is the undis- putable possessor of nearly fifteen hundred acres of as fine land as can be found in Central Illinois. All of it is well improved and under cultivation. His occupation and highest aim in life was to be a successful and independent farmer, and he has snc- ceeded to that prond position. In stock-raising, particularly in sheep, he has been very successful. Wherever known, Mr. Fruit enjoys the reputation of a good farmer and successful man ; honorable in all his dealings, and strictly honest in every bnsi- ness transaction.
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COL. ANDREW WALLACE.
PHOTO. BY F. V. PEASE.
ESTHIER WALLACE.
THE subject of the following sketch was in his life one of the prominent and honored citizens of De Witt county, as well as one of its very early settlers. He was a native of Virginia, and was born February 2, 1787. In 1790-three years later- his father removed the family to Bourhon county, Kentucky. There Andrew grew to manhood, and in the year 1810 was united in marriage to Esther Campbell, who was born March 12, 1792. In the war of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States, Mr. Wallace entered into the service, and was a soldier and one of those brave men who fought the battle of the Thames. He was exceedingly fond of martial display, and in the general musterings and annual parades of the militia, he took a leading part, and his was a conspicuous figure upon the field when the hardy yeomanry were marshalled in mimic array. He was well and familiarly known as "Colonel " Wallace, having held that rank in the militia service. He remained in Kentucky until 1831, when he came to what is now known as De Witt county, and settled in the north-west part of Tunbridge township. There he followed agricultural pursuits until his death. Ilis excellent
and amiable wife still survives him, although she has long passed the allotted time of life, and is now in her ninetieth year, and is in the full possession of all her mental faculties. Col. Wallace in his day, as intimated above, was more than an ordi- nary man, and under more favorable circumstances would have become a marked and prominent character. He was possessed of a strong, vigorous mind, united with a large share of strong, hard common sense, and all who came into his presence were to a greater or less extent impressed with that fact. Ile had a fine, large physique, well formed, and carried himself with a dignified air that well hecame him. In others, it might be regarded as pride or hautenr, but with him it was the natural, unassumed bearing of a true-born gentleman. To his intimate friends he was a most genial and companiable man, of warm and generous impulses, and the very soul of truth and honor. His house was the general resort of the neighborhood for miles around, and of it may truly be said, that the latch-string of the door always hung on the outside, and he who wished could enter and was made genuinely welcome.
253
LITTLE
PHOTO. BY F. O. PEASE.
THOMAS FRUIT.
A LITTLE
ELIZABETH FRUIT.
255
RED MARY IŞ
POCAHONTAS 9TH
ROAN
DAISY QUEEN 4 TH
STOCK & GRAIN FARM OF S. W. HUTCHIN ADJOINING KENNEY, TUNBRIDGE TP. DE WITT CO. ILL .
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HISTORY OF DE WITT COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
DAVID W. HICKMAN.
LEWIS HICKMAN, the paternal grandfather of the present IFiekman family, was born March 8, 1776. He married Sarah F. Thompson, who was born December 5, 1782. Ile came west to Illinois, and died here in June, 1841 ; his wife died a few years later. His son, Rodney Hickman, father of David W., was born in Fayette county, Kentucky, June 19, 1809. He came to Illinois and settled about one mile south-west of Clinton, in De Witt county, where he purchased a tract of land, on which he lived until his death, which occurred October 11, 1842. On the 13th of June, 1837, he was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Ann Wallace, daughter of Col. Andrew aod Esther ( Campbell, Wal- lace. Col. Wallace was born in Virginia February 2, 1787; he emigrated with his parents to Kentucky in 1790, and there married Esther Campbell in 1810. In 1812 he was a soldier in the war between the United States and Great Britain, and was in the battle of the Thames. Ile emigrated to Illinois in 1831, and settled in what is now known as Tunbridge township, in De Witt county, on the same place where Mr. IFickman now lives. His wife, the grandmother of Mr. Hickman, still survives, and is now in her ninetieth year. Mrs. Iliekman was born in Bourbon county, Kentucky. By her marriage with Mr. Rodney Hickman there were three children, two of whom are living. John T., the other son, was born October 5, 1839. He at present is engaged in the loan agency business, in Wellington, Kansas. David Wallace Hickman, the subject of this sketch, was born in De Witt county, Illinois, May 3, 1838; his early education was obtained in the pioncer schools of De Witt county of thirty-five years ago. After the death of his father, he was taken and reared by his maternal grandfather, with whom he remained until 1858, when he went back to the Hickman place, near Clinton. In 1864 he went to the gohl fields of Montana, and soon after went to Grand Round Valley, in Oregon, east of the Cascade mountains, where he remained through the winter of 1864-65. From there he went to Willamette Valley; he remained in the west until 1867, when he returned, vin New York, home, and engaged in farming and stock-raising. In March, 1876, he moved on the old Col. Wallace place, where he still resides. On the 27th of November, 1872, he married Miss Emily Jane, danghter of Henry and Margaret Litsenberger. She was born in Hancock county, Ohio, March 7, 1846. Her parents came to Clinton county in 1856. Her mother died in March, 1874. Mr. and Mrs. Hickman have five children. Their names, in the order of their births, are : Anna Margaret, Hattie May, Henry Thomas, Grace and Rodney Elmer IFickman. Politi- cally, he was a Democrat until 1876, when he joined the National Greenback party. In 1872 Mr. Hickman commenced the busi- ness of trading short-horned Durham cattle. His herd now em- braces fifty head of five, thorough-bred cattle. He has been very successful so far in the business, and we have no doubt will in time become one of the extensive cattle breeders of the State.
CAPT. JAMES R. TURNER,
THE subject of the following biographical sketch, was born in Juniata county, Pennsylvania, October 22, 1822. His father, William Turner, was a native of Virginia ; he emigrated with his father to Pennsylvania, and settled in Penn's Valley, and afterwards moyed to Juniata county. The grandfather was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He married a Beatty, whose mother was closely related to Governor Curtin's family, of Penn-
sylvania. One of the offspring of that marriage was William Turner, father of Capt. James R. He married Jane Elizabeth McGill; she died in Juniata county. Mr. Turner afterwards married again, and moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and there died in 1843. There were three sons and eight daughters by the first marriage. Capt. Turner is the eighth in the family; he was raised to habits of industry upon the farm He went to Cin- cinnati, and there for a short time clerked in a grocery store. In the fall of' 1841 he came west to Illinois, and stopped at Decatur, where he learned the trade of plasterer, and worked at the busi- ness in different parts of the country, always, however, claiming Decatur as his home. In 1846, when the Mexican war broke out, he enlisted in Co. C of the 4th Illinois Regiment, of which company I. C. Pugh was captain, R. J. Oglesby 1st lieutenant, Alexander Froman 2d lieutenant, John Post 30 lieutenant. Mr. Turner participated with his regiment in the battles in which it took part, and at the expiration of his term of service returned home to Decatur, and remained there until 1851, when he married Miss Rachel J. Hutchen, of Butler county, Ohio. In 1852 he moved to Salt creek, and commenced farming, in which he con- tinued until 1871, when he removed to Kenney and engaged in general merchandising, in which he still continues. In Angust, 1862, he recruited a company of men, numbering one hundred and thirty, for three years' service. Upon the organization of the company Mr Turner was elected captain. The company became a part of the 107th Regt. of Illinois Vols., and was known as Co. C. The 107th was a part of the 2d Brigade of the 2d Division of the 23d Army Corps. Capt. Turner participated with his command in all the skirmishes and battles in which it was engaged up to and including the battle of Lost Mountain and the capture of Kenesaw, then, owing to physical disability, he was sent to the hospital at Knoxville, Tenn., and there remained for six weeks. His disability continuing, he was compelled to resign his position ; his resignation was accepted and he returned home. The history of the 107th Regiment is well known to the student of American history. It was a gallant organization, and Co. C. was made of men who contributed to it much of its glory and renown. It passed through the entire war from the time it was enlisted until the conflict closed. Capt. Turner returned home and resumed his labors upon the farm. Politically, Capt. Turner has always since casting his first vote been a Democrat, and takes an active interest in sustaining the principles of that political organization. He enjoys the confidence of his party, who have frequently honored him with offices of trust in his locality. In 1861 he was elected supervisor of his township; in 1878 he was again elected, and re-elected fonr successive terms. Ife bas twice held the position of chairman of the board, and is occupying that position at present. In all the offices held by him he has given complete and unusual satisfac- tion, and has earned the reputation of an honest servant of the peo- ple, and an efficient and careful official ; he looks carefully after the wants of his constituents and the interests of the entire county. By his marriage with Rachel J. Hutchen there were eight children, seven of whom are living ; the eldest, a son, died in infancy. The names of those living are: Laura May, Sallie A., Manford E., Charles Lee, I-ophina, William Thomas and John W. Capt. Turner is not a member of any church organiza- tion, but is liberal npon religious matters, and believes that in doing unto your neighhor as you would have him do unto you that in that practice you come near fulfilling the whole law, and render yourself fit to sit in the circle of the saints. He is a
258
HISTORY OF DE WITT COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
respected member of the I. O. O F., and belongs to Kenney Lodge No. 557.
Capt. Turner is an oldl and respected citizen of Tunbridge township; his frequent election to offices of honor and trust shows in the strongest manner possible his standing and reputa- tion in the community. He is a plain, unassuming man, with decided convictions as to what is his duty, and fearless in its per- formance.
ROSWELL T. SPENCER
The present editor and proprietor of the Kenney Gazette, is a native of Bluffdale, Greene county, Illinois, where he was born August 7th, 1850. Gideon Spencer, his great-grandfather, came from England about 1770, and settled in Vermont. He and his wife Elizabeth, and his son Stephen Winchell Spencer, Mary Smith Spencer, the latter's wife, and Marshall Smith Spencer, the father of Roswell T., moved to Greene county, Ills., in 1820. Marshall S. was then a lad of four years of age. The great- grandfather was a soldier of the War of the Revolution, and was with Ethan Allen at the capture of Ticonderoga. The grand- father was a soldier of the war of 1812.
Marshall S. married Sarah A , daughter of John and Nancy Simmons, who came to Greene county, Ills., from Athens, Ohio, in 1830, while Sarah A. was yet in her childhood. Both the parents are yet living, and are residents of Mariou county, IHs. There were ten children, the offspring of Marshall S. and Sarah A. Spencer, of whom there are five sons and three daughters living.
Roswell T. received his education in the common schools and spent one term in the high school of Tamaroa, in Perry county. When he attained his majority he engaged in the drug business in McLean, McLean county, Illinois, in which he remained three years ; then sold out and served one year in the printing business ; theu resumed the drug trade in Vernon, Ils. One year later he abandoned the business and engaged in the profes- sion of teaching, in which he continued with slight interruption until 1881. The last four years spent in teaching were in Logan county, Illinois.
On the 18th of March, 1881, he established the Kenney Gazette, and from that time to the present has conducted that journal. Mr. Spencer is well adapted for the newspaper business, and is a fluent, easy and graceful writer. Prior to his engaging in the printing business he wrote considerable for the press. He is the author of a biography of Edgar Allen Poe ; also of the sketches "In the Streets," " Charter Oak," " The Grave of Little Paul," and others that received the commendation of the press. He has a decided taste for literary work, which was his chief reason for engaging in the printing business. Politically, he is a Republi- can, and an advocate of temperance.
On the 4th of July, 1869, he was united in marriage to Miss Anna E., daughter of John and Mary Wells, of Logan county, Ills. By that marriage there have been four children, one of whom is living, a daughter, named May L. Spencer.
JACOB TROWBRIDGE.
THE subject of the following sketch is among the substantial and enterprising farmers of De Witt county. He is a native of Warren county, Ohio, and was born July 15, 1826. His grand- father, Abraham Locey Trowbridge, was a native of New Jer- sey. His son was also of the same name, and was born in the same state, and was a mere youth when the family moved to Pennsyl-
vania. They settled in Danphin county, near Harrisburg, and there remained until about the year 1820, when they moved to Warren county, Ohio, which was their home until 1855, when the family came west to Illinois, and landed in De Witt county, in October of that year. Here Abraham Trowbridge and his son bought a piece of railroad land from the Illinois Central. The tract was located in section twenty of this township. It was raw, unimproved land. They built a house, broke the prairie, and improved it, and continued its cultivation until 1861; then his youngest son and the subject of this sketch rented a piece of land near where the village of Kenney now stands, and with them their parents made their home. Afterwards they lived with their son-in-law, Mr. Kirly. Mr. Trowbridge died Oct. 22, 1877. Ile married Rachel Wampole, a native of Peunsylvania. She died Feb. 18, 1869. There were ten children by that mar- riage, six sons and four daughters ;- seven of the children have survived the parents. Jacob, the subject of this sketch, remained at home with his father until his marriage. In 1856 he came west to Tunbridge township, where his father and family had pre- ceded him. In September of the same year he returned to War- ren county, Ohio, and while there his wife died. In 1861 he came back to Illinois, and engaged in farming near where the village of Keuney now stands. In 1865 he removed to the place where he now lives. While yet a resident of Ohio, and on the 4th April, 1851, he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Guston, a native of Warren county. She was the daughter of Benage and Lydia Guston. She died in '58. By that union there were two children, named Alice Jaue, who is the wife of Howard Rucker, (at present principal of the schools in Mattoon, Ills.); and James A. Trowbridge, a farmer of this township. James A. married Miss Rachel Jane Griner. On the 9th of September, 1865, Mr. Trowbridge married Mrs. Lydia Aun Wallace, nee Stout. She is a native of Ohio, and was born Jan. 15, 1834. Her parents came west as early as 1840, and settled in Barnett township, in De Witt county. Her former husband, A. J. Wallace, was a soldier in the 107th regimeut during the late war, and died in the service. By her marriage with Mr. Wallace there were four children. By her union with Jacob Trowbridge there are two children living, named Seymour and Anna Trowbridge ; both are yet beneath the pa- rental roof. In his religious faith Mr. Trowbridge is a Univer- salist. Politically, he was originally an old line whig, and cast his first presidential vote for Zachary Taylor in '48 He remained a whig as long as that party existed. In 1864 he became a de- mocrat, and so continued until 1876, when he voted for Peter Cooper ; but in 1880 he returned to the democratic party, and is now a staunch member of that political organization. Mr. Trow- bridge belongs to the class of self-made men. What he has, is the accumulation of his own toil and energy. He started in life poor ; iu fact, about all he had was health and strength, and with these he has succeeded in carving out for himself a compe- tency, and at the same time making and maintaining for himself a name for strict honesty and integrity, which, after all, is the best heritage to leave to his posterity.
W. W. GRAHAM.
THE Graham family on the paternal side came originally from the west of Ireland, and are of Scotch-Irish ancestry. William Graham, the grandfather of W. W., emigrated with his parents to America while yet young and at a period prior to the Revolu- tionary war. He was a soldier in that memorable struggle. He lived to the great age of one hundred and one years, and died in Warren county, Ohio. His son, Samuel Graham, father of the
FARM RESIDENCE OF JACOB TROWBRIDGE , SEC.6, T.19 R.I. (TUNBRIDGE TP) DE WITT CO.IL.
FARM RESIDENCE OF DR . J. J. LAKE , SEC.6, T.19 R. I. ( TUNBRIDGE TP.) DE WITT CO. ILL.
259
HISTORY OF DE WITT COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
present Graham family, was born in Warren county, Ohio, in 1806. Ilis mother's name was Elizabeth Frazier. Ile remained there until 1849, when he came west, to Illinois, and settled three niles east of Waynesville, in De Witt county, where he purchas- ed an old log school-house, and converted it into a dwelling. It was then the farthest house out on the prairie, and away from the timber. Dire were the predictions of the old settlers at Mr. Graham's temerity in venturing so far out on the prairie. He, nevertheless, remained there farming until 1864, when he sold out, and improved auother place. In 1865 he was elected County Judge. He was for many years Justice of the Peace in Barnett township. At preseut he has practically retired to private life. He married Haunah Kirby, a native of Warren county, Ohio IIer parents were natives of New Jersey. The subject of this sketch is the fourth in a family of nine sons and four daughters. He was born in Union county, Ohio, November 25, 1837, where his parents moved and lived for four years, after which they returned to Warren county. He was in his twelfth year when the family came to Illinois. His education was limited and confined to the log school-houses of the primitive days of Illinois. He remained at home, at work upon the farm, nntil his twenty-fifth year ; he then engaged in farming for himself in Barnett township, where he continued until 1873, when he removed to Clinton to take charge of the office of County Clerk, a position he had been elected to by the people. After his term of office expired he moved back to the farm ; then back to Clinton, and engaged in livery business. In October, 1879, he removed to Kenney, aud opened a livery, feed, and sale stable, in which he continued uu- til April, 1881, when he sold out ; since which time he has dealt a little in stock, but more particularly has given his attention to in duties as Police Magistrate, a position he had been elected to November, 1880.
,
Ou the 11th of December, 1862, he was united in marriage to Miss Harriet C. Cushman, a native of Champaign county, Ohio. She died July 21st, 1876. By that marriage there are three children. Their names in the order of their births are, Clayton L., who is book-keeper in a wholesale house in Chicago; Frank W. is a resident and clerk in Wellington, Kansas; and Il. O. Graham, who is yet at home.
On the 31st of January, 1878, he married Miss Rosa E. Ed- minston, a native of Bellefontaine, Ohio. One child, a daughter, named Jessie, is the fruit of the latter marriage. He is a mem- ber of the Knights of Pythias. On the subject of religion he is liberal in his beliefs ; politically he is a Republican. In 1873 he was nominated for the office of County Clerk by the party in Convention assembled. The office was not of his own seeking. He was not even present at the convention, but at home on the farm. He was elected by a greater majority than any man ou either ticket. In 1880, notwithstanding the town of Kenney was largly Democratic, he was elected Police Magistrate, which is evidence that he stands well in the estimation of the people.
DR. J. J. LAKE.
THE subject of this sketch is credited with being the third while child born in Hancock county, Ohio. The date of his birth was June 16th, 1830. The Lake family are of Irish ancestry. Three brothers of that name emigrated to America, and during the war for the independence of the American colonies espoused the pa- triot's cause and became soldiers in that memorable struggle.
They fought with Washington from Bunker Ilill to Yorktown. Asa M. Lake was a native of Vermont. He removed to Ken- tucky soon after the Revolutionary war, in which struggle he also participated. Some few years later he moved to the State of Ohio, which was shortly before admitted to the Union. He settled in Jackson county, and subsequently moved to Hancock county, and there lived until his death, which occurred about 1854. He married Charlotte Greer, by whom there were seven children, six of whom lived to maturity ; and five are now living. Dr. J. J. is the second in the family. He received his early edu- cacion in the schools of his native county, and at the age of eighteen years he entered the Ohio Wesleyan University at Del- aware, and remained in that institution for two years. Io June, 1852, he came west, and stopped in Clinton, De Witt coun- ty, Illinois, where he taught school ; aud among his pupils there were many of the present middle-aged men of all classes, who now reside in Clintou. He had prior to this time determined to adopt the profession of medicine as the business of his life, and with that idea in view, in 1855, he entered the office of Dr. Good- brake, then and yet a practising physician of Clinton. He pur- sued his studies diligently through the years 1855 and 1856, and iu the fall of the first year named he entered Rush Medical College, at Chicago; and graduated, from that institution with the degree of M. I)., February 18th, 1857. He returned to the county and commenced the practice of his profession in the town of De Witt in this county, and remained there doing a large and successful practice until 1872. Ile then removed to Kenney, and there followed his profession until a few years ago, when he prac- tically abandoned it, and engaged in farming. Whether he will continue out of the practice it is difficult to say. Our observa- tion is, that a man who has been so long in the practice can only quit it when compelled to do so from reason of physical disabil- ity or other equally controlling causes. He belongs to the progres- sive school of medicine, and keeps pace with and is well posted in all the discoveries that are daily made in the science of medicine. He is a member of the American Medical Association ; State and De Witt County Medical Societies. In the summer of 1855 he was nnited in marriage to Miss Susan Cottingham. She died in 187 -. By that union there are four children living ; their names are, William, Frank, Charles, and Frederick. On the 8th of September, 1876, he married Mrs. Rebecca Wallace, nee Farris, a native of De Witt county, Illinois. By the second marriage there are the following children Fanny Feru, Lillian, and Alitta Beulah. In religious matters Dr. Lake is what might be term- ed upon the broad-gauge ; that is to say, he is liberal in his he- lief and is in sympathy with the advanced thought of the day on that question. Politically he is most soundly indoctrinated in the principles aud theories of the Republican party ; he is one of the pioneers of that political organization. He was the secretary of the first Republicau meeting ever held in De Witt county. In 1856 he with a few others had the boldness to cast his vote for the Anti-Slavery candidate-John C. Fremont, and from that time to the present he has on all occasions and at all general elec- tions voted the ticket of his first choice. He is a respected mem- ber of I. O. O F. As before intimated, Dr Lake has abandon- ed the practice of medicine, and is now giving all of his atten- tion to farming and stock-raising, in which he has been quite suc- cessful. A view of his residence and grounds can be seen by re- ference to another page of this work. Dr. Lake in his manners and address is a quiet, unassuming gentlemau of good conversa- tional powers, and of varied aud extensive reading and iuforma- tion.
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