History of Henry County, Illinois, Volume II, Part 3

Author: Kiner, Henry L., 1851-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago : The Pioneer Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1138

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HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

reside until the death of Mr. Ingals, the cold winter seasons, however, being passed in the sunny south.

All through the period of his residence in central Illinois Mr. Ingals took an active and helpful part in the work of progress and improvement, lending his aid and influence at all times to the support of such measures as he deemed would prove beneficial to that part of the state. Lee county was organized about 1840 and when but twenty years of age he was elected one of the three county com- missioners by whom county affairs were at that time managed. He served a three years' term in office and during that period the courthouse was erected at a cost of about ten thousand dollars and a log jail at a cost of eighteen hun- dred. Mr. and Mrs. Ingals lived to celebrate their sixty-third wedding anni- versary on the 6th of September, 1901. They passed the winters of 1901 and 1902 happily in their Chicago home, but in April of the latter year Mr. Ingals became ill and on the 2d of July passed away. A long useful and honorable life was ended and she with whom he had so long traveled life's journey happily was left alone. The labors, the nature and characteristics of each had supple- mented and rounded out the life of the other and their activity in former years brought them to a quiet and serene old age, in which the comforts of life were their's to enjoy as they spent the hours in each other's companionship. Mrs. Ingals died February 12, 1908, at the age of eighty-nine years.

GEORGE RANDALL PARRISH.

Every community points with pride to one or more of its citizens whose rec- ords they regard with honor. The city of Kewanee is known as the home of George Randall Parrish, and every resident in the place is proud of the fact. It is there that he started upon life's journey and in the old home he is continuing the literary labors which have made him known as one of the foremost novelists of the present age. He is the only son of Rufus Parker and Frances Adeline (Hollis) Parrish and was born in "Rose Cottage" on the present site of the Methodist Episcopal church, Kewanee, June 10, 1858. He is of Revolutionary stock on both sides, his maternal grandfather being an officer of the Concord Minutemen and his paternal great-grandfather a New Hampshire soldier at Bunker Hill and Bennington. His paternal grandfather was a major in the war of 1812. The old family home was at Gilmanton, New Hampshire, but the par- ents removed to Kewanee from Boston, where Rufus Parker Parrish had been engaged in business and was prominently associated with William Lloyd Garri- son and others in the anti-slavery cause. Both parents had a wide acquaintance with the famous Boston citizens of that era, including Longfellow, Holmes, Whittier, Wendell Phillips and Emerson. They came to Kewanee, then the mer- est excuse of a village, in April, 1855, the husband becoming connected with the pioneer store of Morse & Willard, then situated at the corner of Main and Fourth streets. A little later the firm became Parrish & Faulkner, the business finally being sold to Elias Lyman, being thus the nucleus for the present large depart-

Geo Randall Parrish

HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

ment store of Lyman-Lay Company. From the time of arrival until his death in 1903 Mr. Parrish was ranked among the most prominent citizens of this com- munity, where he conducted a book store and held many offices of trust. St. John's Episcopal church was established and maintained largely through his ef- forts and for twenty-five years he was president of the public library board.

George Randall Parrish was educated in the Kewanee public schools, gradu- ating from the old academy building in the second class, that of 1875, being on that occasion the class prophet. In addition he attended Allen's Academy at Lake Forest, Illinois, and Griswold College, Davenport, Iowa. Deciding upon law as a profession, he took one year at the Union College of Law, Chicago, completing his course at the Iowa State University, where he won the state bar prize for the best essay on a legal topic. He was admitted before the supreme court of Iowa in May, 1879, but his certificate was withheld until he became of age. Mr. Parrish went immediately to Wichita, Kansas, and became an assis- tant in the law office of William C. Little, a year later forming a partnership with E. S. Martin, at one time principal of the Kewanee high school. Devoting much time to politics and having achieved a reputation as a public speaker, he was elected city attorney, besides being a delegate to county and state conven- tions. His health breaking down from close confinement, he crossed the plains in 1882 with a cattle party, walking most of the way to Las Vegas, New Mexico. Arriving there he discovered conditions had arisen in Wichita which left him practically moneyless and compelled him to labor at anything possible. During the next few months he worked at track-laying, engine wiping and firing between Las Vegas and Albuquerque, on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, fin- ally going as a sheep driver to Fort Sumner. He was camped on the outskirts of that place when Billy the Kid was killed by the sheriff of Lincoln county, and saw the desperado both before and after death. Joining a party of prospectors, the next few months were passed in the wildest regions of Arizona. Gold was found, but within the limits of an Apache reservation, and the party was driven out by United States soldiers. After suffering many hardships en route, Mr. Parrish reached Greeley, Colorado, and secured work on the Greeley-Loveland canal, a little later making his way to Denver. Here he became connected as a reporter with the Rocky Mountain News and began a newspaper career, extending over a number of years, serving for various periods with metropolitan and coun- try publications and in every branch of the work. He has done work on the Grafton (Nebraska) Leader, Kewanee (Illinois) Courier and Independent, Sioux City (Iowa) Times, Omaha (Nebraska) World-Herald and the Chicago Times.

In 1886, while managing editor of the Grafton (Nebraska) Leader, Mr. Par- rish was persuaded to enter the Congregational ministry, being licensed by the Elkhorn Association and given charge of churches at Leigh and Howells, Ne- braska. He was later ordained by the Blue Valley Association and held pas- torates at Harvard, Nebraska, Mattoon, Illinois, Constantine, Michigan, and Marshalltown, Iowa. He was chairman of the Home Missionary Committee for Southern Illinois and one of the founders of Southern Collegiate Institute at Albion. In 1888 he stumped the entire state of Nebraska under the republican state committee, accompanied by a double quartette of ladies, and later lectured extensively throughout many northern states.

HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

In 1887 Mr. Parrish was married to Miss Mary A. Hammon, of Clarkson, Nebraska, and four children were born unto this union, two of whom survive, namely : Robert Arthur, a cadet at St. John's Military Academy, Delafield, Wis- consin; and Philip Hammon, of Lynch, Nebraska. He was divorced in 1899.

During the winter of 1902 Mr. Parrish resumed newspaper work in Chicago, being first connected with the Associated Press, and later engaged in commercial journalism. August 6th of that year he was married to Miss Rose I. Tyrrell, of Kewanee, and the following spring published his first work of fiction-When Wilderness Was King-through A. C. McClurg & Company, Chicago, who have ever since been his publishers. This manuscript was submitted and accepted when but half completed and for a first book met with remarkable sale. All of his previous experience, the atmosphere of culture and refinement of his boyhood home, his literary and legal education, the hardships and privations which he en- dured upon the plains of the west, his campaign experiences and his labors in the ministry, all constituted a preparation and equipment for the work which he is now doing in the literary world, and which has made him one of the most suc- cessful of the modern writers. Since the publication of his first book he has de- voted his entire time to literary work, having published the following books of fiction and history : My Lady of the North, (1904) ; A Sword of the Old Fron- tier, (1905) ; Bob Hampton of Placer, (1906) ; Historic Illinois, (1906) ; Beth Norvell, (1907) ; The Great Plains, (1907) ; Prisoners of Chance, (1908) ; The Last Voyage of the Donna Isabel, (1908) ; My Lady of-the South, (1909). Many of these have been credited among the "six best sellers," and have received high praise both at home and abroad. Mr. Parrish's publishers in Great Britain are G. P. Putnam & Sons.

Since 1904 Mr. Parrish has made his home at Kewanee, in the old family house at 235 South Chestnut street, which was built in 1859, and has identified himself with the best interests of the city, serving as one of the directors of the Commercial Club. He is leading knight of the local Elks Lodge and a frequent speaker at public meetings, not only in Kewanee but throughout the state. He holds membership in the State Historical Society, Sons of the American Revolu- tion, National Geographical Society and American Association for the Advance- men of Science.

JOSEPH and JOHN C. HAMMOND.

Among the highly respected citizens of Geneseo were Joseph and John C. Hammond, two public benefactors whose names will be imperishable in the his- tory of the community. In the year 1897, Joseph Hammond donated to Geneseo township a fine public library, expending ten thousand dollars for the building and its equipment. Subsequent to his demise his son, John C. Hammond, estab- lished and gave to the city the J. C. Hammond Hospital and when his will was read it was found that he had provided a trust fund of over twenty thousand dollars for the hospital and library. The gifts of father and son amounted to more than forty thousand dollars in all.

HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

John C. Hammond was born in West Wardsboro, Vermont, on the 15th of October, 1837, and departed this life in Geneseo, Illinois, on the 3d of October, 1908. He was the only child of Joseph and Polly (Converse) Hammond. On the paternal side he traced his ancestry back to Thomas Hammond, of Lavenham, England, whose son Thomas emigrated to Boston, Massachusetts, in 1634. The latter's descendants were renowned in colonial history, Samuel Hammond, the great-grandfather of John C. Hammond, being one of the famous "tea party" whose acts precipitated the American Revolution. He likewise aided the col- onists in their struggle for independence as a soldier in the Continental army. Peter Hammond, the grandfather of John C. Hammond, lived to attain the re- markable age of exactly one hundred and two years and at the time of his death was the oldest Mason in the United States. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Charlotte Holbrook, was also of Revolutionary stock. Joseph Hammond, the father of John C. Hammond, was a public-spirited, upright and honored citizen, served as the second mayor of Geneseo and held various other positions of trust. The Hammond public library building, which he gave to the city shortly prior to his demise, stands as a memorial of his revered name. His life was one of great usefulness and activity and in all of its relations he exemplified the benefi- cent teachings of the Masonic fraternity, of which he was a valued member. In early manhood he wedded Miss Polly Converse, who also came of old New England stock. They traveled life's journey happily together for almost sixty- six years and passed away within five months of each other.

John C. Hammond, who spent his early life in the town of his nativity, was a young man of nineteen years when he came with his parents to Geneseo, this county, in 1856. For a number of years, in the '6os, he conducted a grocery store southwest of the park but subsequently took up his abode in Mount Ayr, Iowa, where he went into business and made his home until after the death of his wife. Soon afterward he returned to Geneseo and later became connected with the Eagle Stove Works. For several years illness necessitated his retirement from active life and he devoted his attention largely to the care of his aged parents.

On the 12th of September, 1865, at Tiskilwa, Illinois, Mr. Hammond was united in marriage to Miss Eva Perkins, who passed away at Mount Ayr, Iowa, May 16, 1876, when a little more than thirty-three years of age. One of the local papers said: "She was a lovely woman, of a sweet disposition and winning man- ners, warm-hearted, social and intelligent-one whom every one loved. Al- though Mr. Hammond never said much, the great sorrow of his life was in the loss of his beloved wife, and his heart ever remained true to her memory."

Mr. Hammond was called to his final rest on the 3d of October, 1908, and the funeral services were conducted at the home of Mrs. Ella N. Taylor on Monday, October 5, by the Rev. M. J. Miller, the first pastor of the Geneseo Unitarian church, who also officiated at the funeral of the father and mother of the deceased. His remains were interred beside those of his wife in Oakwood. The following is an extract from one of the obituaries appearing in the local papers at the time of his death: "We all know of his generous benefactions, his gift to the city of the J. C. Hammond Hospital and its partial support for some time, and his other charities-made so quietly and conscientiously. He was exemplary in many ways, a man of no bad habits, and while not of a strongly religious nature, he was

HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

a believer in the Bible and carried out its teachings in so far as lay in his power. Of a peace-loving disposition, he was loath to trouble those about him and dur- ing his long illness was always striving to efface self and to say and do just the right thing. He was a quiet, unassuming character but full of good cheer and kindliness to all, and he leaves many friends here that he made in his journey- ings who will sadly regret his passing. We who have witnessed his patience under sufferings endured for years, knowing full well what the inevitable re- sult would be, must feel that a wonderfully courageous example has been given us, and while we regret that his life has been brought to its close, yet we ought to feel that his release from suffering is a blessing."

COLONEL SYLVESTER BLISH.

No history of Henry county would be complete without extended reference to the Blish family, which was founded in this part of the state by Colonel Syl- vester Blish in the year 1836. He was a son of Deacon Thomas and Prudence (Hubbard) Blish and was born at Glastonbury, Connecticut, December 31, 1790. The Blish genealogy published in 1904 says :

"Sylvester Blish was a very active and energetic man. He had the fiery and impetuous temperament of his mother, combined with the determination of his father. He was public spirited and active in politics, holding many public of- fices in Connecticut. He was lister in Glastonbury in 1815, 1817 and 1818; was tithingman 1817, 1819 and 1826; was surveyor of highways in 1820, 1821, 1823, 1824, 1825 and 1827; was on board the relief in 1822 and 1823; was col- lector of taxes in 1825; was grand juryman in 1828 and 1829; was town agent and fence-viewer in 1830; selectman in 1832 and 1833; and a member of the Connecticut general assembly in 1835.

"He was also prominent in military matters and rose through gradual promo- tions until he was colonel in the Connecticut militia for several years before he left Connecticut in 1836. He was one of the administrators of the estate of his brother Aaron Hubbard Blish, and also administered upon the estate of his father.

"In 1835 a rumor was spread through Connecticut and Massachusetts that the Catholics were colonizing the fertile Mississippi valley with the intention of founding a Catholic hierachy there, and a movement was inaugurated with the object of sending out Protestant colonies and settlements to counteract the Catholic movement. A stock company was organized in Wethersfield, Connecti- cut, for this purpose, the Rev. Caleb Tenney, of Wethersfield, and the Rev. Gard- ner Spring of New York, being among the leaders of the enterprise. Colonel Blish joined the Wethersfield company, which was called 'The Connecticut Asso- ciation'. A fund raised and in 1836 Colonel Sylvester Blish, Elizur Goodrich and Rev. Ithamar Pillsbury were chosen to proceed west and purchase lands. Mr. Pillsbury was not a member of the association, but had been in the west the preceding year in the interest of another similar association, so that his ex- perience was valuable. Elizur Goodrich was a surveyor. They came to Illinois

HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

a trip that was not without considerable hardship at that time. Mr. Goodrich became discouraged by the vastness and seeming endlessness of the prairies, but Colonel Blish, encouraged by the zeal and hopefulness of Mr. Pillsbury, pushed the work to a completion.

"They selected and entered over fifteen thousand acres of land in Henry county, Illinois, and returned to Connecticut. Colonel Blish was so impressed with the fertility of the soil in Illinois and the future possibilities of the country that he determined to make his home there. He sold his lands in Connecticut and in the spring of 1837 started with his family for Illinois, making the entire trip in a carriage. His wagons, farming utensils and household effects were shipped by water to New Orleans and from thence came up the Mississippi river to the settlement at Rock Island, about forty miles from the location of the colony lands. These lands were happily chosen. The greater portion lay to the south of a large grove of oak, walnut and hickory timber, about fifteen miles long and six miles wide. A portion of the colony lands were located in the south edge of the timber. To a person reared among the stony hills of Connec- ticut or Massachusetts, these vast rolling prairies with their rich, black soil, were alike a wonder and an inspiration. A town site was laid out a little to the south of the grove and called Wethersfield. By the forms of the association each share of stock gave the owner the right to select a quarter section (one hundred and sixty acres) of prairie land, a twenty-acre timber lot and a village lot, which contained two and one-half acres. A number of other colonists arrived the same year and the season was taken up mainly with the construction of log houses and the raising of small crops to provide for the coming winter. Space forbids any extended account of the privations of these early comers or the growth and final success of the venture. The Catholic scare was purely imag- inary, but the results were good for the parties concerned and for the communi- ties planted in the new country. Three other settlements were made in the near vicinity of Wethersfield, one at Andover, by Massachusetts people, one at Gen- eseo, by New York people and one at Providence, by Rhode Island people.

"Colonel Blish took an active interest in the affairs of the new country and aided and encouraged its development and settlement. He became a large land owner and prospered beyond his most sanguine expectations. In 1853 a railroad was projected which would give connections with Chicago, and into this enter- prise he launched with all his accustomed vigor, and in 1855 the railroad was a reality. From this time the real development of the country began. A railroad station was located a little over a half a mile north of the town site of Wethers- field, which was named Kewanee, that meaning in Indian dialect 'prairie hen.' Colonel Blish owned a quarter section of land adjoining the new railroad station, which is now a part of the city of Kewanee, and completely covered with factories and residences. That was east of the original village of Kewanee, while the city has now extended a mile to the west and taken in his old homestead and orchard, which was just at the south edge of the grove. Even the old village of Wethers- field is now putting on city airs, with water works, street lights and trolley cars.

"Colonel Blish was for many years the postmaster in Wethersfield and held the same office in Kewanee until his death, being the first postmaster in both places. For many years after his arrival in Wethersfield, Colonel Blish kept the

HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

only hotel in Wethersfield. The old oval sign stood upon a post, with the words : 'S. Blish. Inn' painted thereon. His house was the stopping place for the stage lines which traversed the country before the advent of railroads.

"The greatest obstacle with which the pioneers had to contend, was the lack of transportation facilities and their great distance from available mar- kets. A limited quantity of wheat was marketed by teams at Peoria, Lacon and other river points, and occasionally at Chicago. The surest source of in- come was by fattening hogs, butchering and dressing them and hauling the whole carcasses to the river towns and selling them to the packing houses, or by raising cattle and selling them on the hoof to buyers, who took them away in droves to eastern points.

"Soon after the settlers arrived in Wethersfield, they organized a Con- gregational society. Meetings were held at the houses of the members and Colonel Blish's being the largest was usually used. Colonel Blish was the first chorister, and the music was strictly vocal. Later a bass viol was added. In the fall of 1838 a log schoolhouse was built and this was used for church services for some ten years.

"Colonel Blish was also an extensive stock raiser and took especial pride in his horses. He brought the first Morgan horses to Wethersfield and the effect of his labors is still apparent in the neighborhood. He was an expert horseman and no animal was too wild for him to handle."

Colonel Blish was married January I, 1812, at South Manchester, Connecti- cut, to Rhoda Cheney, who was there born December 5, 1794, and was a daughter of Timothy and Rhoda (Skinner) Cheney. They became parents of five children : William Henry, born May 25, 1812; Thomas, September 18, 1815; Charles Cheney, May 26, 1820; Prudence Hubbard, March 26, 1822; and George Cheney, January 12, 1831. Colonel Blish died October 8, 1855, in the old homestead on the place on which he located on his arrival in Illinois, a new house which he was building, having been almost ready for occupancy. His remains were interred in the old Kewanee cemetery, which he donated to the village when it was first laid out.

His wife was a great reader and always kept well informed on current topics. Financially independent after her husband's death, she took great pleasure in helping others. Patient, loving and cheerful, the close of her life was like a beautiful sunset. She died January 9, 1878, in her eighty-fourth year, and her grave was made by that of her husband.

NATHANIEL BARTLETT GOULD.

The name of Nathaniel Bartlett Gould is on the roll of Henry county's honored dead by reason of the work which he did while an active factor in the life of Cambridge and this section of the state. He gave ample evidence of his public- spirited citizenship in his service as mayor of the city and of his humanitarian principles in his broad philanthropy and liberal charity. A native of Vermont, he was born March 31, 1827, his parents being Amos and Nancy H. (Bartlett)

NBGould

1211158 HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

Gould, who were likewise natives of the Green Mountain state. His paternal grandfather, Amos Gould, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, enlisting for three months, and was stationed on Manhattan Island at the time that Benedict Arnold deserted the American camp, being situated about a mile from where Major Andre, the British spy, was captured with the dispatches that Arnold had given him, making the one a traitor to his country and the other a victim of his loyalty to his native land. The maternal grandfather, Nathaniel Bartlett, was also in the Colonial army during the Revolutionary war and was in service under General Arnold in the disastrous campaign through the almost impassable woods of northern Maine. Their destination was Quebec, Canada, but they advanced no farther than St. John's, arriving there in terrible condition on account of the hardships which they had endured in traveling through the wilderness. The children of Amos H. and Nancy (Bartlett) Gould were ten in number, six sons and four daughters, of whom five are now living; Judge J. M. Gould, of Moline, Illinois ; Lyfe Y., a resident of Cambridge; Amos, who makes his home in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Nancy J., the widow of John Dean, of Mitchell, South- Dakota; and Susan H., the widow of B. H. Burrows, of Andover township, this county.

Nathaniel B. Gould was reared in New England and having arrived at years of maturity was married November 24, 1859, to Miss Mary J. Jennings, a daugh- ter of Levi and Susan H. (Shepard) Jennings. The latter was born on the day her father returned from the war of 1812. The birth of Mrs. Gould occurred in Peoria county, Illinois, November 14, 1838. Her parents were natives of Ohio and were married there. Her paternal grandfather was a resident of Salem, Ohio, and of Quaker-English stock. He followed the occupation of farming as a life work and thus provided for his family. Both he and his wife, Mrs. Anna Jennings, lived to an advanced age. The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Gould were John and Elizabeth (Van Meter) Shepard, natives of Virginia. They were slaveowners of that state and although they set their colored people free the negroes all remained with them after obtaining their freedom, a fact which indicates that they were most kindly and considerate in the treatment of the members of the dark race who were once their property. Mr. and Mrs. Shepard removed to Columbus, Ohio, where the death of the latter occurred, after which Mr. Shepard came to Illinois, settling in Danville. There he married again. He had six children by his first marriage and two by the second. Mrs. Gould became the mother of two daughters: Nellie L., who was born October 20, 1863, and died at the age of fifteen years; and Katharine M., who was born November 29, 1865, and became the wife of W. F. Hayes, by whom she had one daughter, Katharine Gould Hayes. Mr. and Mrs. Gould also reared a niece, Daisy M., a daughter of Daniel Gould, who became as a daughter in their house- hold, and afterward married Edward L. Torbert, now a resident of Syracuse, New York.

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History of Henry County, Illinois, Volume II, Part 3

Author: Kiner, Henry L., 1851- Publication date: 1910 Publisher: Chicago : The Pioneer Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1138

Author: Kiner, Henry L., 1851-
Publication date: 1910
Publisher: Chicago : The Pioneer Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1138