History of Henry County, Illinois, Volume II, Part 54

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

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Upon coming to Henry county Jarius Storey, who was just entering the period of his manhood, obtained forty acres of land on section 4, Kewanee township, and later acquired two other forty acre tracts from the government. It was an entirely wild country that met the gaze of the pioneers at that day.

FOUR GENERATIONS OF THE STOREY FAMILY

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Then there was not a single building on the present site of the city, the country being covered with tall prairie grass, while Indians were still not infrequently seen and deer and other wild game abounded. The nearest market in those days was either Peru or Lasalle on the Illinois river, and about four times a year Mr. Storey would go to one of these places to obtain provisions to last for months. Nor were those journeys the only hardships, for in those days before the invention of the many farming implements, Mr. Storey was compelled to cut his grain with a cradle and thresh it with a flail. Nevertheless, he engaged in agriculture with pronounced success throughout his active life, making his home on the land which he had entered from the government. He has now re- tired and lives on North Lexington avenue, Kewanee.

In 1850 Jarius Storey wedded Miss Nancy Dingman, who was born in Can- ada and came to this county with her parents but the year before her marriage. She was the seventh in a family of eleven children. Mary became the wife of James Bradford, a blacksmith of Annawan, who during the Civil war enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. As he was confined to the hospital during the greater part of his services he saw little active warfare. He and his wife have both died but are survived by three children, Lucy, Lovina and Josephus. David married Mary Showers, of Kewanee, and removed to Kansas, where he pursued farming. He and his wife have also died, leaving a family. William married Miss Hodge and they are survived by four children, who are residents of Dayton, Iowa. Joseph wedded Jane Rockey and made his home in Kewanee until the outbreak of the Civil war. In 1864 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Illinois Infantry and after being discharged removed to Kansas, where he engaged in farming until his death. He is survived by three children. Jennette became the wife of George Minord. They have both died and are survived by nine children, who are living in Iowa. Margaret married George Mesker. They died, leaving four children, Merritt, Hattie, Elizabeth and George, who live in Kewanee. Nancy became the wife of Jarius Storey and the mother of our subject. Eliza married James McNeal. They, too, have passed away, leaving two children, William and John, of Alba township. James and his wife died in Iowa. Lawrence also married and lived in Abingdon, Illinois, where he was killed during the erection of a building. He left a family. Frank enlisted in 1861 in Company I, Twenty- seventh Illinois Infantry, was wounded in the battles of Lookout Mountain and Chattanooga and was mustered out in 1865. He was twice married and now with his family resides in Iowa.

Mrs. Nancy Storey died December 30, 1865. She was the mother of seven children. Elijah, our subject, is the eldest. David L., born in 1853, died at the age of eleven. Josephine was only four months old when she passed away. Three others died in infancy. Jane, who was born in 1861, became the wife of George Ditto and now lives in Canyon City, Texas, where they are rearing their three children, Dora, Jarius and Laura Pearl. Jarius Storey was again married April 25, 1867, his second union being with Mrs. Elizabeth Swyhart. Two children were born of this union. The older died at the age of two months. and Tessa, whose birth occurred October 4, 1872, is the wife of Fred Riley, who is in charge of one of the departments of the National Tube Company of

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Kewanee. He at one time owned Urbin, which is now in the possession of his brother-in-law, Elijah Storey. Mr. Storey has always been identified with the republican party, having cast his first ballot for Abraham Lincoln, and has been prominent in local affairs, having served as overseer of highways and as school director. He enjoys a high reputation among the citizens of Kewanee and sur- rounding country.

Reared to the life of a farmer, Elijah Storey has followed it as his voca- tion, but while he tills with success a tract of land in Kewanee township his espe- cial attention is devoted to the stock business. In this he has achieved such suc- cess that he is accounted one of the important stock raisers in Illinois. Almost from the very beginning his horses have won distinction, his first colt having received the first premium at Cambridge in 1876. He owned the French draft horse, Sultan, which won many prizes and sweepstakes every time he was ex- hibited during the years he was in Mr. Storey's possession. Arimus, a Percheron, his next horse, won twenty-four first prizes in Henry county, besides obtaining premiums at various state fairs. Urbin, a French coach stallion, which is now in his possession, won a gold medal at the World's Fair in 1893. Another cele- brated horse, Voltaire, which was considered the best of its class in the state, was also in Mr. Storey's stables. It is to the breeding of Percheron, Clydesdale and French coach horses and of registered cattle and hogs that he has given his attention and is recognized even beyond the boundaries of Henry county as a man who is cognizant with every detail of this important business.

It was on the 27th of February, 1872, that the marriage of Mr. Storey and ¡Miss Lavina McClennan was celebrated. She was born in Kendall county, Il- linois, September 23, 1852, and is a daughter of David and Resinda (Call) Mc- Clennan. Her father, who was a native of Niagara county, New York, where his birth occurred September 5, 1820, came to Henry county, Illinois, in 1855. He settled first in Annawan, but later moved to Alba township, where he died December 9, 1898. His wife, who was born in Canada, November 2, 1826, pre- ceded him to the grave many years, for her death occurred December 29, 1860. Through their marriage, which had been solemnized August 29, 1844, they became the parents of four children: George, who died in infancy; John, who married Retta Blake and after her death wedded Miss Sabina Benson and now lives in Ruthven, Palo Alto county, Iowa; Lavina, who is the wife of Mr. Storey; and Ella, who married George Andrews and after his death married Chris Jor- gensen, of Pipestone, Minnesota.

Mr. and Mrs. Storey are the parents of five children. Nellie, who was born September 19, 1874, died October 5, 1875. Jarius L., born July 12, 1876, and Clarence L., born October 7, 1882, are at home. Ida is the wife of William Bing, a farmer of Kewanee, and they have four children. Ada, a twin sister of Ida's, married James Gash, a farmer of Annawan township.

Mr. Stone has been a stanch supporter of the republican party and has been very active in its affairs in this county for during the past six years he has been the township's representative on the central committee and has served as judge of election on several occasions. He is also assistant supervisor of the township, now serving his fourth term. It is to be remarked, however, that when his name was first placed upon the ticket as a candidate for the office he received the largest

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majority of votes ever polled in his township. As president of the Kewanee Agricultural Fair, of which he has also been director during the last six years, and as director of the Henry County Telephone Company he has shown a most trust- worthy interest in advancing the welfare of the community. He is equally prominent in the church of the United Brethren, for he was president of its board of trustees, and upon his shoulders devolves the care of the parsonage. In short, while he has given his first attention to his private concerns with a success that has already been specified, he has not cramped his interests by confining them to few matters. On the contrary, his breadth of sympathies and his broad viewpoint are among the many things that make him such an esteemed citizen of the city, the township and the county.

ISRAEL G. HEAPS.

Israel G. Heaps, a resident of Kewanee, came to Henry country in 1848, when his father, the late William G. Heaps, cast his lot with that of the early pioneers of this part of the noble prairie state. Mr. Heaps was born in Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania, November 13, 1839. On the paternal side the ancestral line can be traced back many generations to the time when the Scotch Presbyterians removed to the north of Ireland from their native country. In the middle of the seventeenth century they came to this country, settling in the Maryland colony, whence the younger generation scattered out in the western states. On the maternal side-the Green family-Mr. Heaps traces the ancestry back to Germany, whence representatives of the name went to England and afterward came to this country with the early settlers of Pennsylvania. In 1844 William G. Heaps came to Illinois, taking up his abode in Adams county, but two years later removed to Wisconsin, hoping to better his financial condition. He did not find as congenial a climate as he expected, however, and another removal was made in the autumn of 1848, at which time he settled on a tract of government land in Annawan township, Henry county, which became the old family homestead. It was there the father and mother both died and from there the children departed to build up homes of their own. The youngest son, J. P. Heaps, still resides upon that farm. By unfortunate investments in Wisconsin the father became in straitened circumstances and had a large family of small children to support. He possessed, however, strong arms and a brave heart but had nothing else to assist him when he settled in Henry county. Israel G. Heaps well remembers that in the winter of 1848-9 twelve cents was the postage which had to be paid on the delivery of a letter and on occasions they had to wait some time before the money could be obtained to "lift it." The tract of land on which the family settled was in its natural condition, not a furrow hav- ing been turned and there was no shelter for the family until a cabin could be erected. For a few years the struggle for a livelihood was severe but both parents worked hard, practiced the strictest economy and soon succeeded in placing the family in comfort.

In early life Israel G. Heaps had small opportunity for obtaining anything like what would at this day be considered a fair education. He learned to read,

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however, and was fond of books, eagerly perusing those which he could obtain. The schools were either non est altogether or were of the same primitive charac- ter as the other surroundings, and if there had been the best schools and the best opportunities he could not have availed himself of them for in summer he had to drive five yoke of oxen to a breaking plow and in winter had to haul rails from the woods to fence the farm, although he was not yet twelve years of age. If he could get a day off he would drive a breaking team for some of the neigh- bors, for which he would receive the munificent sum of twenty-five cents a day. For three winters after reaching his fifteenth year he attended the country schools and by extra exertion succeeded in securing a knowledge of the English branches taught in the district schools that had been established in the neighbor- hood. Having learned the way to study he made considerable progress in the higher branches. In 1858 he entered the preparatory department of Lombard University, at Galesburg, Illinois, and for several years he taught school and attended that institution alternately. Notwithstanding the interruption in his course he was able to keep his standing in his classes and often acted as tutor. In 1860 he was admitted to the junior year and looked forward confidently to the time when he should complete his course and enter upon the study of law and personally take a part in the work of the world. But the dark clouds of war had been gathering around the horizon of the beautiful sunny south-land and their rumblings were abroad in the ears of the people of the north. On the 12th of April, 1861, the shot was fired upon Fort Sumter that caused the patriotic wrath of the northern people to blaze forth. On the 22d of that month a great war meeting was held in the Baptist church in Annawan, at which speeches were made by Elder Hiram Petteys, J. M. Allan and Elder McDermond, who reviewed the causes leading up to the outbreak of hostilities and in the language of Web- ster declared "that the Union shall and must be preserved." The call had been made for troops and at the close of the meeting it was decided to raise a com- pany for the war and Mr. Heaps was the first man to put his name on the list of enrolled volunteers, thus being the first man to enlist in Henry county in the great Civil war. He was quickly followed by fifty-three others and when the election for officers of the company was held he was unanimously chosen captain, with H. C. Carroll as first lieutenant and Richard Linnehan as second lieutenant. When the company offered its services to the government it could not be ac- cepted as the six regiments called for were full, and after repeatedly trying to get into the services without success the company was partially disbanded, but on the second call for three hundred thousand more men most of the men went to Camp Butler and joined Company I, of the Twenty-seventh Regiment, which had a full complement of officers of all grades but not enough men. At that time Mr. Heaps was helping to raise Company H, Ninth Illinois Cavalry, and as soon as it was full joined his old boys of the Twenty-seventh, with whom he fought for nearly four years, and the history of that grand regiment is part of his war history.

The regiment received its first baptism of fire at Belmont, November 7, 1861,-the first battle in which Grant, Logan, McClernand and others who wrote their names high upon the roll of fame, took an active part. Mr. Heaps, re- enlisting as a veteran, voluntered to serve three years more before his first en-

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listment expired and most of the old boys who had not been killed who had enlisted in that first company at Annawan, remained with him. He was always at the front and took an active part in sixty-six battles and heavy skirmishes, among which were Belmont, Stone River, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Rocky Face, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Atlanta, Franklin, etc. At the battle of Stone River he was severely wounded in the right arm near the shoulder, the bone being shattered. The surgeons wanted to amputate the arm but he refused to let them and as he was young and healthy his wound did nicely and he was ordered to join the invalid corps. This he refused to do and he was then told that he would be discharged from the hospital, but slipping away he joined a party who were being sent to the front and on March 16, 1863, he joined his company at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. At Chickamauga, when Sheridan charged Longstreet's corp, he was shot in the breast and left upon the field for dead, but when the wounded were gathered up it was found he was still alive and he was sent to the hospital at Chattonooga and recovered sufficiently in time to join his company and go with Sheridan on the grand storm- ing and capturing of Missionary Ridge. He then went with his command to East Tennessee to relieve Burnside. The months of January and February were spent among the mountains of Tennessee in fighting Longstreet. In March, 1864, he was granted a veteran's furlough for thirty days and for the first time since entering the service returned to his home to see his mother and the other loved ones he had left when he went to the front.

At the expiration of his furlough Mr. Heaps joined the army which was being massed for the great advance on Atlanta by General Sherman and took part in that glorious campaign, sharing in the hardships, dangers and toils of that "one hundred days of battle." At the battle of Resaca his brother, John B. Heaps, a member of Company A, One Hundred Twelfth Illinois Regiment, was killed and after the shadows of night had drawn a curtain over the bloody work and the fighting had ceased, and only the crack of the rifle of the skirmisher and the moanings of the wounded could be heard, Mr. Heaps received permission to go to the field where the dead had fallen to find the body of his beloved brother. He went alone to the scene of carnage where the forms and faces of those who had died that the nation might live were lying in bewildering con- fusion, and by the feeble glimmer of a single candle peered into the faces, cold in the awful silence of death, until the one he sought was found, and there in the darkness of the midnight hour the living brother dug the grave for the dead one, wrapped his own blanket about the still form and carried it in his arms to its final resting place beneath a large tree near by. But few more lonely and pathetic scenes were enacted during that long four years struggle than this one on that dark and somber night amid the murmuring pines. How aptly and fit- tingly can the poem of "The Burial of Sir John Moore" be paraphrased to apply to this event:

"Not a drum was heard nor a funeral note, As his body to the grave he carried. Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot O'er the grave where his brother he buried.

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He buried him darkly at dead of night, The dirt with a shovel turning, By no struggling moonbeam's misty light And only a candle dimly burning.

No useless coffin enclosed his breast Nor in sheet nor in shroud he wound him; But he lay like a soldier taking his rest With an army blanket around him.

Few and short were the prayers he said And he spoke not a word of sorrow, But he steadfastly gazed on the face of the dead And eagerly thought of the morrow.

He thought as he hollowed his narrow bed, And smoothed down his lonely grave, That the foe and the strangers would tread on the head Of him who in life was so brave.

Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone, And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him; But little he'll reck if they let him sleep on In the grave where a brother has laid him.

Slowly and sadly he laid him down, From the field of his fame, fresh and gory. He carved not a line, he raised not a stone, But left him-Alone with his glory !"

At the battle of Peach Tree Creek, July 20, 1864, Israel G. Heaps was sent with his own and two other companies to guard a crossing of the creek to keep the Confederates from flanking the Fourth Corps, and although the small band was attacked several times by overwhelming numbers the position was held dur- ing the entire afternoon and for the grand and heroic defense made the com- mand was congratulated and thanked in a general order by the division com- mander. When Sherman swung his army around Atlanta his command was heavily engaged at Jonesboro and rough and ready in driving the enemy from their stronghold, thus forcing the evacuation of Atlanta-the prize for which forty thousand brave soldiers went down in action. When General Sherman decided to cut loose and march to the sea the Fourth Corps, to which Captain Heaps' company belonged, was sent back with the Twenty-third corps to take care of General Hood, who, with the Confederate army, had marched north to invade Tennessee. On November 29, 1864, the armies met at Spring Hill and on the next day at Franklin. Then the hardest and bloodiest battle of the war was fought. While Captain Heaps was on the advance skirmish line in front of the army the enemy flanked him and got in the rear and captured him and his

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company. They were sent to Corinth, Jackson, Selma, Cahaba, and finally landed in that death hole, Andersonville. In March, 1865, they were passed through the lines at Vicksburg and from there were sent to St. Louis where the captain was placed in command of three companies in the parole camp and where he remained until his mustering out, June 22, 1865, on account of the close of the war. He was promoted from private to first lieutenant on June 27, 1864, for gallantry at the charge of Kenesaw Mountain, and was afterward mustered into the service as Captain to date, December 15, 1864, by the war department, "for faithful and meritorious service during the war."

Returning to Annawan, Captain Heaps was married to Miss Rhoda A. Pet- teys to whom he had long been engaged. They settled on a farm belonging to Mrs. Heaps' father and he engaged in teaching school in the winter months, but soon devoted his entire time to farming and stock raising. For many years he was traveling correspondent for the Drover's Journal, of Chicago, and in that capacity visited all the states and territories in the west and also Mexico. His letters describing the resources and wonders of that great west and the habits and lore of the ancient inhabitants of that vast district attracted wide attention and comment, not only in this country but in Europe as well. In poli- tics and religion he is independent, not being tied to any party or creed. He was supervisor of Annawan township for ten years and also served as assessor.

Mrs. Heaps was born in New York but came with her parents to Illinois in early girlhood and was educated at Knox College, in Galesburg. Her father was the Rev. Hiram Petteys, a minister of the gospel, and her mother was Susan Brand, of New York. Mrs. Heaps is of Revolutionary stock, her ancestry on both sides taking an active part in the war for independence. Mr. and Mrs. Heaps have had six children, five of whom are living: Irvin P., who resides on his farm in Annawan township; Lilian, who died in early childhood; Clarence E., who is living in Moline and is a contractor and builder; Merrill B., a builder of Moline, now acting as superintendent for his brother; Ross D., who resides in Chicago; and Warren T., a practicing physician and surgeon of Kewanee.

Mr. Heaps has taken an active part in agricultural and live-stock affairs and has been a frequent contributor to the leading agricultural and live stock jour- nals on those subjects. He has also been a speaker of wide repute at farmer's institutes and live-stock associations, and was for several years editor of the Farmer's Tribune, of Des Moines, becoming known as one of the most forceful and able writers in that state. In 1892 he left the farm and removed to Kewanee in order that he might better educate his children, and since has devoted his time to looking after his agricultural interests and the welfare of his children.

When the battleship Maine was blown up in the harbor of Havana and two hundred and fifty-seven American sailors were lost on the 15th of February, 1898, Mr. Heaps, knowing the strained condition between this country and Spain believed that war was inevitable and each day more fully confirmed him in this belief. Thinking that a call would soon be made for troops, on March 23, 1898, he wrote a letter to the governor tendering his services in any capacity in which they could be used in the event of war. In replying he received the following letter :

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"State of Illinois Executive Office.

Springfield, March 25, 1898.

I. G. Heaps, Esq., Kewanee, Ill.

Dear Sir :-

I am directed by the Governor to acknowledge your favor of recent date and. to thank you for your patriotic offer in the event of war. Your letter will be placed on file in the Adjutant General's office for future reference in the event of a call by the President for troops.

Yours very truly,

J. Mack Tanner, Private Secretary."

A few days later he received the following:

Springfield, March 31, 1898.

"State of Illinois Adjutant General's office. Mr. I. G. Heaps, Kewanee, Ill.

Sir :-

I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of your tender of service in the event of war. Thanking you for the same I beg to say that your letter has been placed on file for consideration in the event that war should come.

Very respectfully,

J. N. Reese, Adjutant General."

Notwithstanding the early tender of his aid Mr. Heaps was unable to get into the service and take part in the Spanish-American war. He very much re- gretted this and no reason was ever given for refusing his offer of service in any capacity in which he could be of use to the state and nation.

CLAUS H. ANDERSON.

No resident of Osco holds a more responsible position in business circles nor a higher place in the esteem and regard of his fellowmen than does Claus H. Anderson, the president and cashier of theFarmers Bank of Osco. He belongs to that class of representative American citizens who claim Sweden as the land of their nativity, his birth there occurring in 1860. His parents were John and Mary (Larson) Anderson, both natives of Sweden, the former born in . 1814 and the latter in 1817. The family came to the United States in the fall of 1865, settlement being made in Andover, Henry county, Illinois, where the father en- gaged in agricultural pursuits up to the time of his demise. His death occurred in 1903 while his wife passed away in 1895, both being interred in Andover town- ship. Their family consisted of five children: August, a retired farmer of Red Oak, Iowa; Alfred, a farmer residing in Nebraska; Ephraim, also a retired far-

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History of Henry County, Illinois, Volume II, Part 54

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