USA > Illinois > Henry County > History of Henry County, Illinois, Volume II > Part 38
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GEORGE R. SMITH.
George R. Smith, one of the native farmers and dairymen of Osco town- ship, whose home is on section 27, was born March 9, 1870, and is a son of Jared H. and Mary E. (Knowles) Smith. Reared at home to agricultural pur- suits, he attended the district schools and later the high school at Cambridge, for two winters; supplemented by two winters' study at the Duncan Business College. On the completion of his education he went into partnership with his father under the firm title of T. H. Smith & Son. They bought the stock of A.
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A. Crane, who was engaged in the breeding of Hereford cattle, and for two years conducted a stock business. At the end of that period the partnership was dissolved and George R. Smith took up general farming, giving some atten- tion to the feeding of cattle. He was successful beyond the average, for he spared no effort to keep abreast of the progress made in his line of work and in 1908 he purchased his first milking machine. It was at the time the first in Henry county and perhaps still enjoys the distinction. Mr. Smith has now bought three machines, with each of which he milks two cows, and is now able to milk his herd of thirty-five in about one and a quarter hours. This incident but serves as an indication of his attitude toward the advances that science has made in the agricultural world as in other fields, and when this frame of mind is joined with great industry and intelligence it is but natural that in the suc- ceeding years Mr. Smith should attain to an enviable position among the farm- ers of his township.
In Munson township, December 30, 1894, were pronounced the words that made Mr. Smith and Miss Clara May Masch man and wife. She had been born in Henry county and is a daughter of Henry and Mary Masch. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but one, Willard H., died in infancy. Those living are : Mary E., Anna E., George R., and Leita Naomi. The family are being reared in the faith of the Episcopal church, that to which Mr. and Mrs. Smith give their religious allegiance, and they attend the services of Grace church of that denomination. Politically, Mr. Smith gives his support to the candidates of the republican party, but he has never sought public office, though he has served as township clerk and justice of the peace.
HUGH BAIRD.
Hugh Baird, a successful grocery merchant of Galva, was born in Oneida, Knox county, Illinois, on the 28th of May, 1874, his parents being Hugh and Ellen (Moore) Baird, natives of Scotland. The paternal grandfather, Hugh Baird, passed away in that country at an advanced age. Hugh Baird, the father of our subject, crossed the Atlantic to the United States when about eighteen years of age and settled in Illinois, where he successfully followed general agri- cultural pursuits. He was accidentally killed in the year 1875, being kicked by a horse. His wife passed away in 1888, when thirty-six years of age. Both were consistent and faithful members of the Methodist church. They had two chil- dren: Hugh, of this review; and John, who died at the age of nine years.
When a little lad of six years Hugh Baird was brought to Galva and has since made his home here. He supplemented his public school education by a course in a business college at Galva and after putting aside his text-books worked by the month as a farm hand for two years. Subsequently he was in the employ of the Standard Oil Company for almost eight years, at the end of which time he opened his present grocery establishment and has since enjoyed an extensive trade. His store is most neat and tasteful in arrangement, his prices are rea- sonable and his business methods honorable.
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On the 20th of November, 1894, Mr. Baird was united in marriage to Miss Josie Guthrie, a native of Galva and a daughter of Thomas and Anna (McCul- loch) Guthrie. Her father, a native of England, became an early settler of this county. Mrs. Baird has one sister, Dora, the wife of W. H. Johnson. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Baird has been born a daughter, Mynette.
Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise Mr. Baird has given his political allegiance to the men and measures of the republican party. He is a member of Galva Lodge, No. 243, A. F. & A. M., and both he and his wife belong to the Eastern Star. They attend the services of the Methodist Episcopal church and are well known and highly esteemed throughout the community as people of genuine personal worth and upright lives.
EARL F. WHITE.
All the lines of business which are found in an enterprising progressive city are represented in Geneseo, and among the leading merchants of the town is numbered Earl F. White, now proprietor of a bakery and confectionery estab- lishment and ice-cream parlor. He has a well equipped place and the excellent line of goods which he carries and manufactures assures him a liberal and con- tinued patronage.
The tide of emigration has usually set toward the west and a great majority of Henry county's citizens have come from districts farther east. Earl F. White, however, is an exception to this rule for he was born in Fairfield, Clay county, Nebraska, March 10, 1875. His paternal grandfather, Daniel White, was one of the early settlers of La Salle county, Illinois, where he lived for many years. He acted as justice of the peace there and was connected with commercial interests as a hardware dealer and druggist in Earlville. His death occurred in that town when he was eighty-three years of age. Unto him and his wife, Mrs. Eleanor White, were born three children: George D., Jefferson, and Hamilton.
George D. White was born in Illinois, but seeking the opportunities of a district farther west became a farmer of Clay county, Nebraska, when it was still a pioneer region. Returning to Illinois, however, he became proprietor of a grocery store in Mendota. Afterward he returned to Nebraska, where he died. He wedded Sarah A. Avery, a native of New York and a daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Avery, who were likewise born in the Empire state. The father became one of the pioneer settlers of La Salle county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming at an early day, hauling his wheat to Chicago with an ox team before the building of the railroads. He was closely associated with the early develop- ment of the county and aided in laying broad and deep the foundation upon which has been built the present prosperity and progress of this section. He died in Earlville in 1883 at the age of eighty-one years and his wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Avery, also reached an advanced age. As stated, Sarah A. Avery became the wife of George D. White and, still surviving her husband, now lives in Earlville at the age of seventy-three years, her birth having occurred in 1836. She is a con-
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sistent member of the Baptist church. The death of Mr. White was caused by illness contracted while serving his country as a soldier in the Civil war. After the outbreak of hostilities between the north and the south he responded to the country's call and joined Company D, Fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served three years and seven months as a private. He never faltered in the performance of any military duty but loyally followed the old flag in battle or on the long, hard marches. Unto him and his wife were born two sons and three daughters, but only three are now living: Eleanor, the wife of William Prentice, of Earlville, Illinois ; Earl F., of Geneseo; and George, also of Earlville.
The youthful days of Earl F. White were largely passed at Earlville and in attendance at the public school there he mastered the common branches of Eng- lish learning, continuing his studies until he was graduated from the high school with the class of June, 1893. His first undertaking in the business world was made as a clerk in a general store and he has since been connected with com- mercial interests. In the spring of 1903 he established a bakery and restaurant business on his own account in Earlville and was building up a good trade when in the fall of that year his business was destroyed by fire. In 1904 he resumed business but in the succeeding fall sold out and removed to Kewanee where he acted as assistant foreman of the bread department of the West Side Bakery. On the 4th of May, 1909, he came to Geneseo and purchased the bakery and confectionery business of John L. Morrow, bringing to its conduct broad ex- perience in this line of trade, as well as a firm determination to win success if it could be secured by honorable methods.
Mr. White belongs to Shabbona Lodge, No. 294, I. O. O. F. and to the Mod- ern Woodmen Camp. In politics he is a stanch republican, believing firmly in the party platform. His social qualities and sterling worth make him a popular young man and he has gained in large measure the esteem and good will of his business colleagues and associates in Geneseo.
HARRISON MINER.
Harrison Miner is living retired in Kewanee, although retaining financial con- nection with business concerns of importance. He has lived in the city since 1898 and is one of Illinois' native sons, his birth having occurred in Stark county, June 22, 1840. His parents were Harris W. and Susanna (Smith) Miner, who were natives of Maine and Massachusetts, respectively. The grandfather, com- ing to Illinois in 1828, took up a claim of government land at Prince's Grove, settling in the midst of the forest. Harris W. Miner secured a claim near Tou- lon, Illinois, and burned the deserted Indian wigwams which were still stand- ing on his place at that time. The father and grandfather were closely associated with the pioneer development of the respective sections in which they located. The former passed away in 1858 and his wife died in 1880.
In the public schools Harrison Miner pursued his education, while spending his youthful days on his father's farm. He early became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist and after the father's death
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he bought out the interest of the other heirs and still retains the ownership of the old homestead. His life work has been that of a successful agriculturist, who has made a close study of the quality and needs of the soil, has practiced the rotation of crops and has carried on his work along progressive and effective lines, winning that success which is the result of intelligently directed effort. In 1898 he left the farm and removed to Kewanee, where he now lives a retired life but is still financially interested in the Savings Bank of Kewanee, of which he was one of the organizers and is now the vice president.
On the 14th of November, 1861, Mr. Miner was married to Miss Avice Parish, who was born in Stark county, Illinois, and is a daughter of Rudolph Parish, a pioneer resident of that county. The children of this marriage are as follows : Ida L., the eldest, became the wife of L. D. Maxfield, a farmer of this county, but she is now deceased. Edgar S., residing in Kewanee, is a contractor and builder and has erected some of the most important structures of the city, including the Negel block, the hotel block on Main street, the Baptist church and many others. Ernest, now residing in Decatur, Illinois, is connected with a large manufacturing concern. Harrison E. operates the old homestead in Stark county. Carl R., the youngest, is teller in the Savings Bank at Kewanee.
Mr. Miner has always manifested a public spirit, giving tangible evidence of his interest in the general welfare by hearty cooperation in many movements for the public good. The cause of education has always found in him a stalwart champion and for many years he was a school director in Stark county and also a trustee in Toulon Academy. He was likewise a director of the Stark County Agricultural Society and did much to stimulate ambition and interest along agri- cultural lines and thus promote the welfare of the farming class. Diligent and persevering in business and reliable at all times he has made a record which has gained him classification with the leading and most respected residents of Kewanee.
ED BRINKHOFF.
Ed Brinkhoff, a well known and successful agriculturist residing on section 24, Cambridge township, is numbered among the worthy native sons of Henry county, having been born on the farm where he now lives on the 3d of Sep- tember, 1861. His parents were Dedrich and Sarah (Stackhouse) Brinkhoff, the former a native of Hanover, Germany, while the latter's birth occurred near Ithaca, New York. The paternal grandfather, Frederick Brinkhoff, died in Germany in middle life. His wife lived to attain the ripe old age of ninety-two years. Their children were four in number, namely: Dedrich, Sophie, Henry and Fred. Robert Stackhouse, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of the state of New York and a farmer by occupation. He took up his abode in Cambridge township, Henry county, Illinois, prior to the Civil war and during that sanguinary conflict loyally defended the interests of the Union as a member of the One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois Regiment. His son Henry also belonged to that regiment. Robert Stackhouse died immediately after the close of hostilities, but his wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Bishop,
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lived to a good old age. Unto them were born seven children : Isaac, John, Henry, Benjamin, Sarah, Ann and James.
Dedrich Brinkhoff, the father of Ed Brinkhoff, learned the cabinet-maker's trade in his native land and when a young man of twenty years crossed the At- lantic to the United States. After working for a time at Schenectady, New York, he made his way to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, about 1847, and in 1849 crossed the plains to California with an ox team. He worked in the gold mines there for about three years and in 1852 returned to the west, taking up his abode in Illinois. In 1855 he purchased a tract of one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 24, Cambridge township, this county, and, as his financial resources increased, extended the boundaries of the place from time to time by additional purchase until it embraced four hundred acres. During the last few years of his life he lived retired in Cambridge, where he passed away in 1900 at the age of seventy-four years. The period of his residence in this county covered almost a half century and he was widely and favorably known within its borders as a most successful agriculturist and substantial citizen. His wife was called to her final rest in 1878, when forty-six years of age. Their union was blessed with six children, two sons and four daughters, as follows: Sophia, the wife of J. Buckley, of Burns township; Ada, the wife of T. B. Rogers, of Lincoln, Nebraska; Ed, of this review ; Fred, who died in early life; Mary, the wife of John Rogers, of Palisades, Colorado; and Elizabeth, the wife of Samuel Blystone, of Denver, Colorado.
Ed Brinkhoff was reared on the farm where his birth occurred and which has remained his place of residence to the present time. He attended the district' schools in the acquirement of an education and, through the assistance which he rendered his father in the cultivation of the home farm, early became familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. The old home- stead place is now in his possession and is a rich and productive tract of land com- prising one hundred and sixty acres on section 24, Cambridge township. He has remodeled and greatly enlarged the residence, and the various other buildings on the property are kept in an excellent state of repair. He and his children were all born in the same room where his mother and grandmother died. He has brought his fields under a high state of cultivation and bends his energies toward raising the crops best adapted to soil and climate, so that he annually gathers and markets good harvests.
On the 14th of February, 1883, Mr. Brinkhoff was united in marriage to Miss Sadie Finley, whose birth occured in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, August 13, 1865. Her parents, Samuel and Elizabeth (Hutchison) Finley, who were both natives of Ireland, came to the United States shortly after their marriage and settled in Pennsylvania. In 1877 they came to Henry county, Illinois, taking up their abode in Munson township. Samuel Finley passed away on the 14th of January, 1900, when seventy-four years of age, but is still survived by his widow, who has now attained the age of eighty-two years. Unto them were born eleven children, nine of whom are yet living, as follows : Joseph; Charles; Ida, the wife of John Bonn; Annie, the wife of Andrew Hemmerle ; William ; Mrs. Brinkhoff ; Emma, the wife of Max Rosenstern; and Mate and Elizabeth. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. Brinkhoff, John Finley, was a farmer by occupation and spent his entire life in
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Ireland, passing away in middle age. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Sadie Hazlett, lived to a ripe old age. They had four children : Samuel, Robert, John and Elizabeth. William and Ann (Cochren) Hutchison, the maternal grandparents of Mrs. Brinkhoff, also died on the Emerald isle. They reared a family of six children, namely : William, Robert, Joseph, Cochran, Elizabeth and Hattie. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Brinkhoff have been born three children, as follows: Pearl, who died at the age of ten years and eight months; Bonn, a graduate of the Geneseo high school, who is now engaged in teaching; and Finley, who is at- tending school.
Where national questions and issues are involved Mr. Brinkhoff gives his po- litical allegiance to the republican party but at local elections casts an independent ballot. He held the office of school director for two terms and is a stanch friend of the cause of education. Fraternally he is identified with the Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows, belonging to Cambridge Lodge, No. 199. He has made his home in this county from his birth to the present time, and, owing to his upright and honorable career, the circle of his friends is almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintances.
EDWARD LENIEUS SWANSON.
Among the leading representatives of this the first generation of descendants of the sturdy pioneers of Bishop Hill is Edward Lenieus Swanson, the second son of Swan Swanson, one of the prominent men of the village. He was one of the founders of the colony, was a trustee and the manager of its mercantile department during its existence, and after its dissolution he was one of those active in the establishment of the village of Bishop Hill, a most prominent fac- tor in its civic affairs and its commercial development.
Edward Lenieus Swanson was born at Bishop Hill, February 4, 1862. He received a good common-school education in the village, finishing with a com- mercial course in Elliott's Business College at Burlington, Iowa. After leaving school he turned his attention to mercantile pursuits and in 1889 was appointed postmaster of Bishop Hill by Postmaster General Wannemaker, having con- ducted his general store and the village postoffice in conjunction for the past twenty years, for he has been reappointed for five successive terms as there was no opposition to him, and yet he had no other advantage in his favor save his record of efficient service. That, however, should be great enough to convince any that he was a most capable official for in the score of years of his adminis- tration the postal business has increased more than tenfold, a rural route has been established, a money order division secured, and many other improvements have been made.
Politically Mr. Swanson has always been a stanch republican and has ever taken an active part in the local affairs of the party. Having inherited the characteristics of his father, whom nature had constituted a leader among men, he has followed closely in his footsteps, like him fully appreciating the duties and responsibilities of citizenship. In consequence he has proven himself a worthy
SWAN SWANSON
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successor of that esteemed man in public life as in business. He has held the office of township clerk for almost twenty years, has been a member of the vil- lage board for the greater part of the period since he attained his majority, serv- ing as president of the body during several terms.
On the 18th of September, 1894, in Bishop Hill, Mr. Swanson was united in marriage to Miss Jennie V. Olson, a daughter of the late Olof Olson, a prominent farmer and one of the original members of the Bishop Hill colony, while her mother, who was Miss Mary Malmgren before her marriage, enjoyed the dis- tinction of having been the first child born in the colony. Mrs. Swanson is a graduate of Burlington Commercial College and charming mistress of the pretty home they occupy on the south side of town. It was erected in 1895 and combines comfort and convenience with artistic excellence. They have one child, a daugh- ter, Grace Evelyn, who was born November 23, 1897.
Mr. Swanson has ever taken a deep interest in fraternal organizations, being identified with the Masonic order. In this he has risen to the Knight Templar degree, and also holds membership in the Mohammed Temple of the Mystic Shrine of Peoria, Illinois. Mr. Swanson is a man of modest and retiring dis- position, of a quiet and courteous manner, easy of approach and cordial in his intercourse with and reception of others. His calmness, however, conceals an ability possessed by few men, so that the esteem in which he is held as a citizen and a public servant is only excelled by that with which he is regarded by those who know him intimately through constant intercourse with him at his home and in the world of affairs.
SWAN SWANSON.
With the death of Swan Swanson, which occurred March 24, 1907, the last of the trustees of the little colony of Bishop Hill, which was established in 1853, passed away. Not only was he numbered among the small band of men who set out from their native land to found a home in this country and make a settlement where they might find full exercise for their religious ideas, but throughout the life of the colony and later that of the town, he played a con- spicuous part. Although he retired from active life for more than a quarter of a century before his death, his influence was still potent for advancement and his aid was ever ready where there was worthy need almost to the day of his death.
Swan Swanson was born in Walla, Soderale, Helsingland, Sweden, May 28, 1825. As the son of a farmer he spent the early years of his life in tilling the soil, and as he approached manhood became imbued with the ideas advocated by Eric Jansen. Finally he decided to cast his lot with the sturdy followers of that apostle and in company with other Jansenists left his native land August 21, 1846. The journey to America was protracted according to our present-day notions of ocean travel and it was the 13th of October before the party landed in New York. Thence they made the journey to Albany by steamboat, where they took a canalboat for Buffalo, and proceeded by propeller on the Great Lakes
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to Chicago. The remainder of the journey, from that city to Bishop Hill, the. final destination of the colony, Mr. Swanson accomplished on foot, and once having settled with his compatriots he became a prominent figure in public af- fairs and filled important offices. Upon the organization of the colony, in 1853, he was elected one of the seven trustees, a position he held continuously through- out the existence of the colony, and for the same length of time he superintended the mercantile department. In 1854 he was appointed postmaster and until 1872, when he retired from active life, he distributed the mail to the members of the colony and later to the inhabitants of the town. In 1860, in partnership with Jacob Jacobson, Sr., he engaged in merchandising on his own account, conduct- ing a general store with profit until 1872.
On the organization of the village of Bishop Hill in 1860, as one of the trustees of the colony, Mr. Swanson assisted in laying out the town, and then served as president of the village board and as one of the trustees for a long period. His public efficiency reached even farther, for more than sixteen years he was township school treasurer, and for twelve years was township school trustee, fulfilling the duties of both offices with a care and fidelity to trust imposed upon him which marked the entire course of his life. The last years of his life he passed in the retirement of his home, but he was ever ready to give advice to those who sought it, and to give substantial aid where a worthy cause pre- sented itself. For some time he had been in feeble health and had not left his house since the September before his death, when he attended the Old Settlers Reunion, and still when the apoplectic stroke came that put an end to his life it was a shock to all.
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