USA > Illinois > Henry County > History of Henry County, Illinois, Volume II > Part 62
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On the 10th of May, 1870, Mr. Heath wedded Miss Maria Louise Sturm, who was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and was about sixteen years of age when she came to Illinois with her parents, Isaac Sturm and his wife. She had received a good education and was a devoted wife and mother, whose loss was deeply mourned by her family and friends, when, on the 23d of June, 1903, she was called to her final rest. She is buried in Annawan. Six children were born to her and her husband, namely: Alberta, who married Mr. Mclaughlin; one who died in infancy; Nellie, who makes her home with Mrs. McLaughlin; Edward, who
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died unmarried at the age of twenty-two; Jennie, who is the wife of Grant Ken- drick, a well-to-do blacksmith of Annawan; and John, who died at the age of fourteen.
Mr. Heath is a republican in his political views and cast his first ballot for Grant in 1868. He is a charter member of T. T. Dow Post, No. 290, G. A. R., at Annawan, of which he has served as adjutant commander, and has attended the national reunions at Galesburg, St. Louis, Denver, Chicago and Salt Lake. As he was a brave and patriotic soldier, so he has been an exemplary citizen, and when advancing years and a competence suggested the wisdom of retiring from active work, the good will of a large circle of friends and acquaintances accom- panied him for he has lived in Annawan for two score years and the record of his life has been one which commands unqualified respect.
In the family of Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin there are seven children living and two have passed away. Blanch Irene was born in the village of Annawan, No- vember 21, 1894, and is now a student in the public school there. Edward Earl was born in Cerro Gordo county, Iowa, January 22, 1896. James Darsie was born in the village of Rockwell, Cerro Gordo county, August 15, 1898. Alice Ruth was born in Annawan, June 7, 1900. An infant died at birth and Ada Marie died at the age of six weeks. Nina Louise was born in Kewanee, November I, 1904. Agatha Lucile was also born in that town, October 3, 1906. Alberta May, the youngest, was born on the home farm, May 13, 1908.
Mr. Mclaughlin was reared in the faith of the Catholic church but his wife is a Congregationalist, and both in their lives exemplify the real meaning of Chris- tianity. They are highly respected, for the circle of their friends is almost co- extensive with that of their acquaintances.
WILLIAM W. STICKNEY.
William W. Stickney, now living on the fine old Stickney homestead of three hundred and twenty acres in Clover township, was born March 15, 1871, on his present farm, being a son of William C. and Ida (Clarke) Stickney, a full sketch of whom is given elsewhere in this history. He received an excellent education in the district and Woodhull schools and the Western Commercial College of Galesburg. He has kept up with current events by reading and in his pleasant home are to be found magazines and papers which show that the family is inter- ested in mental development. After leaving school he assumed the care of his father's farm and is keeping it up to the high standard of excellence that has al- ways characterized it.
On March 22, 1893, Mr. Stickney married Miss Nellie Gamble, a daughter of Wilson and Margaret (Elder) Gamble. Her father was a prominent farmer of Oxford township and the family are numbered among the pioneers of Henry county as are the Elders, both coming from Pennsylvania. Three children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Stickney, namely : Wilson W., Ida M. and Clarke G.
Mr. Stickney has taken quite a prominent part in politics and is now a member of the county republican central committee. He has also served as a member of
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the county board of supervisors for eight years and at present is a member of the bridge committee, which is one of the most important, and during his incumbency some of the best bridges of the county have been built. Since he was old enough to serve Mr. Stickney has been a member of the board of education and, being a man of intelligence, is one of its most valued officials. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and is as active in his lodge as he is in other lines. Mrs. Stickney is a member of the Presbyterian church and is very active in church and Sunday-school work.
The Stickney homestead is one of the most pretentious and modern in the county, convenient in its arrangements and equipped with the latest improved ap- pliances, while Mrs. Stickney's good taste is shown in the beautiful furnishings. The residence is surrounded by a beautiful lawn, shaded with stately trees. Even the barn and stableyards resemble a well kept park and there is nothing there to mar the landscape. The entire farm is maintained in the most exquisite order, and the sleek stock show the effects of excellent care, Mr. Stickney being a model farmer who conducts his property according to scientific methods. He is a leading citizen of Clover township and his wife is a refined, intelligent lady, devoted to 'her home and family. The visitor here is always welcomed and hospitably enter- tained and no one is sent away without being made to feel that at the Stickney homestead the old time neighborly feeling prevails.
SAMUEL ARNETT, SR.
Samuel Arnett, Sr., has passed the seventy-third milestone on life's journey and is now enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former toil. He was born in Warren county, Pennsylvania, July 6, 1836, and is a son of Louis and Mary Clara (Shelty) Arnett, both of whom were natives of France, having been born near Strassburg. The paternal grandfather was John Arnett, who devoted his life to farming and died in France at the comparatively early age of forty- six years, his son Louis being his only child. The maternal grandfather was Christian Shelty, who was born in France and was serving in the army at the time of the Russian invasion. He probably lost his life at that time for he was never heard from afterward. Unto him and his wife, Mary Clara Shelty, there were born four daughters.
It was in the year 1826 that Mr. and Mrs. Louis Arnett came to the United States, and after living for a time in Waterford and in Buffalo, New York, they removed to Warren, Pennsylvania. Northern Illinois was still a frontier region when in May, 1837, they came to Henry county. So few had been the settle- ments made in this portion of the state that the land was not yet placed on the market. Mr. Arnett settled upon a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, and after the government placed the land in this district on sale he purchased ad- joining tracts, improved the property and there reared his family. As time passed he developed one of the best farms in what is now Loraine township, but later he sold that place and removed to a farm three miles farther west, con- tinuing to make it his home until 1868 when he passed away at the age of
MR. AND MRS. SAMUEL ARNETT
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seventy-eight years and ten months. His wife died in 1866 at the age of about seventy-two years. They were the parents of twelve children, all of whom reached adult age, but only two are now living, George and Samuel, both of Geneseo.
Samuel Arnett was reared in Loraine township on his father's farm and lived at home until twenty-one years of age. His first schooling was received under private instruction from a man whom his father employed to teach the children. He built a partition in his log cabin, thus forming a little schoolroom, after which he employed the teacher, for he desired that his sons and daughters should have the best advantages in that direction that he was able to secure. The first district school in the neighborhood met in the Evangelical church, which was a little log structure. There he learned to write, he and the other pupils stand- ing on the rostrum, each practicing ten minutes at a time, one giving way to the other. While the methods of instruction in those days were primitive and the branches of learning taught were few, the work done was usually quite thorough and proved an excellent foundation on which to build the superstructure of fur- ther knowledge as the pupils went out in the world and began to learn the les- sons in the school of experience.
In 1859 Mr. Arnett made a trip to Pike' Peak, traveling overland with an ox-team. The Indians were then numerous, and the buffalo and deer were thick upon the prairie, the former at times having to be driven away from the camp. Mr. Arnett traveled westward with a company of about fifty men in search of gold. He spent two and a half years in the mines near where the city of Manitou, Colorado, now stands, after which he returned to Henry county and for two years engaged in the cultivation of rented land. He first bought a farm of one hundred and forty-seven acres in Loraine township, making his home thereon for thirty years, and finally he improved the farm with a new house, new barn and other modern accessories. In 1895 he rented his farm and took up his abode in Geneseo, where he built an attractive and modern resi- dence which he still occupies. He had added to the farm in the meantime, and when he sold that property in 1906 it contained one hundred and eighty-six acres.
On the 15th of November, 1863, Mr. Arnett was married to Miss Catharine Urich, a daughter of Rudolph and Catharine (Rapp) Urich. They became parents of five children : Annie, the wife of Samuel Spath, a resident of Audu- bon county, Iowa, by whom she has two children-Chester and Helen Libbie; David W., a farmer of Loraine township, who married Emma Deener and has one daughter, Sylvia; Edwin Solomon, who resides on the old homestead in Loraine township and married Annie Myers, by whom he has two sons-Glenn and Dale ; Libbie L., who is the wife of William H. Wait, living near Fort Mor- gan, Colorado; and George W., who resides at Bozeman, Montana. Mrs. Cath- arine Arnett died May 22, 1906, at the age of fifty-nine years and nine months. On the Ist of August, 1907, Mr. Arnett was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Mary E. Crouch, the widow of Royal G. Crouch and a daughter of Gardner and Mary P. (Ford) Hunt. Her paternal grandfather was John Hunt, who was the twelfth John in the line of direct descent. He wedded Clar- inda Green. The maternal grandparents of Mrs. Mary Arnett were Olivet and Mary P. (Post) Ford. Mrs. Arnett was born in Rutland, Vermont, and was
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there married to Royal G. Crouch. By that marriage she had four sons and a daughter : Mary Edna, who died in infancy; George Henry, of Bangor, Michi- gan, who married Ada Sniff and has two sons-Raymond and Lloyd; Herbert Royal, of Abingdon, Illinois, who married Augusta Guild and has two chil- dren-Harry and Florence; David Wilbur, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, who married Alice Booton and has two sons-Victor and Kenneth; and Merritt Gardner, of Moline, Illinois, who wedded Etta Smith. Mrs. Arnett belongs to the Grace Evangelical Association. Mr. Arnett is a member of Stewart Lodge, No. 92, A. F. & A. M. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, and he has been active in its local ranks while his fellow townsmen, appreciative of his sterling worth, elected him to the office of supervisor for three years, while for twenty-three years they continued him in the position of highway commissioner. His official record has been a most creditable one, characterized by unfaltering fidelity to duty, and in business affairs his probity has never been called into question. He has made an excellent record, both as a citizen and business man, and the high place which he holds in the regard of his fellow citizens is well merited.
PETER A. JOHNSON.
Among the prominent and prosperous business men of Cambridge, who from a small beginning in the commercial world have achieved success entirely through their own innate powers and persevering efforts, is Peter A. Johnson, a manu- facturer and dealer in agricultural implements, buggies, carriages, automobiles, etc., having resided in this city for the past fourteen years. He was born in Swe- donia, Mercer county, Illinois, December 15, 1859, a son of John and Hannah (Hanson) Johnson, both of whom were natives of Sweden. Peter A. Johnson was one of four children born to this union, the others being: August, who is now deceased; John, Jr., residing in Osco township; and Edward, a resident of Cam- bridge.
John Johnson, the father of our subject, was a carpenter, builder and agricul- turist in Sweden. He emigrated to the United States in 1854, and, coming to Illinois, settled in Swedonia, Mercer county, whence he removed to Andover town- ship, Henry county, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of unim- proved land. For some time he devoted his time and energies to its further development and improvement, and that his labors were rewarded is indicated in the fact that he finally became the owner of over a section of land in this locality. At different times he lived in Osco and Cambridge, his death having occurred in the latter place in the fall of 1902, when he had reached the advanced age of eighty- two years. He survived his wife for several years, she having passed away when about sixty-five years of age. Both were members of the Swedish Lutheran church and people of the highest respectability, whose honorable and upright lives commanded for them the esteem and warm regard of all who knew them.
Peter A. Johnson has lived in Henry county since he was six years old and during his boyhood spent most of his time on the farm in Andover township, at- tending the district school during the winter months and learning the more valuable
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lessons in the great school of experience. He assisted his father in plowing, plant- ing and harvesting, working industriously in field and meadow from the early spring until the crops were garnered in the late autumn. His father, wishing to encourage his efforts, gave him some land to cultivate on his own account and the son engaged in farming in Andover township for a number of years, being now the owner of a good tract of land containing one hundred and sixty acres, which was a part of his father's estate. Subsequent to this time he engaged in the further development of a farm near Cambridge and also conducted an im- plement business in the town for six years before locating there in 1902. Since then he has conducted a business which, under his capable control and active man- agement, has been developed into substantial proportions. In the year of his ar- rival in Cambridge he bought his first automobile and at present he engages extensively not only in buying and selling automobiles but all kinds of agricul- tural implements, buggies, carriages, etc. He owns three business buildings and a foundry where wagons are manufactured and occasionally an automobile.
In April, 1883, occurred the marriage of Peter A. Johnson and Miss Emma E. Young, of Swedonia, Ilinois, who is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Young, both of whom were natives of Sweden and early settlers of Mercer county, Illi- nois. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have three children: Alfred E., who formerly was in partnership with Fred Cook, the firm engaging in the manufacture of gasoline engines ; Lillie E .; and Herbert S. Both Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are members of the Swedish Lutheran church, and he gives his political support to the republican party. Although he started in the business world almost empty-handed, he has built up a business of large proportions, which is not only a source of gratifying income to himself but also a credit to the city, and he is, indeed, a worthy repre- sentative of commercial interests in the city wherein he is numbered among the men of affluence.
GEORGE B. HUMFREVILLE, D. D. S.
The remarkable progress of dental science has almost revolutionized dental surgery and made the work of the dentist almost perfection. Day by day new dis- coveries are being made, better processes invented not only for the replacing of teeth or their preservation after decay commences but for the prevention of trouble of any kind. For these and many other reasons the dental surgeon of today ranks with any other member of the learned professions and in order to gain his degree has to pass through a strict and long course and much practical experience. Ke- wanee is fortunate in having in its midst so excellent a dentist as Dr. George B. Humfreville, whose work is of such a character as to gain him the confidence of all his patients. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, May 29, 1871, and is a son of Harry and Hannah (Teachout) Humfreville. Soon after his birth, the family removed to Ohio, where they resided until 1880, the father being engaged in the practice of medicine. In the latter year removal was made to Waterville, Kansas, and there George B. Humfreville attended high school.
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After finishing his course in high school, the Doctor entered a general store as clerk and thus continued until 1896, when he began the study of dentistry, towards which profession he had long inclined, at the Kansas City Dental College and was graduated from that institution in 1900. Immediately thereafter he began practicing at Waterville, Kansas, where he remained three years and then, in 1903, he came to Kewanee, where he has since remained with profit to himself and to the benefit of the community.
On October 17, 1905, Dr. Humfreville married Anna E. Henry, of Kewanee, a daughter of George and Elizabeth Henry, farming people. Both the Doctor and his wife are members of the Methodist church and Mrs. Humfreville is superin- tendent of the primary department of the Sunday school.
Dr. Humfreville belongs to the Knox County Dental Society and the Illinois State Dental Society. He is a member of the Masonic order and of the Com- mercial Club of Kewanee and is very popular in his fraternal and social connec- tions, while in his professional societies his pronounced skill and knowledge are of service to his fellow members. He is one of the best dentists of Henry county and enjoys a large patronage from some of its best people.
THOMAS C. COWDEN.
Among the residents of Burns township who are now living retired, their pres- ent comfortable financial position being the direct result of former activity and enterprise along agricultural lines, is numbered Thomas C. Cowden, who is also widely known throughout the township by reason of the active and helpful part he has taken in community affairs. Born in Millwood, Guernsey county, Ohio, on the 8th of August, 1847, he is a son of William and Mary (Rogers) Cowden. The father, who was born in Ireland in 1798, came to America in boyhood and, landing at New York city, remained in that place for a short time. He then made his way west to Guernsey county, Ohio, where he secured employment as a farm hand, continuing in that capacity until his marriage. He then purchased a farm to which he removed with his young bride, and there eight of their nine children were born. In 1854 he brought his family to Burns township, Henry county, Illinois, and here purchased a tract of eighty acres of land on section 17. He also took up six more tracts, each consisting of eighty acres of government land near his original purchase, paying for the same one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. Here he reared and educated his family, which had been increased by the birth of one child since the removal from Ohio. The eldest son, William Wash- ington, was killed while serving in the Civil war. Mary became the wife of George Davis, a minister of Hillsdale, Michigan, and they were the parents of two sons, William and John. After the death of her first husband she wedded S. I. Math- ews, a farmer who formerly resided in Annawan township but subsequently re- moved to Westerfield township, where her demise occurred. Joseph, a member of the Union army during the Civil war passed away while home on a furlough, after being confined to the hospital at Nashville for thirteen months. Deborah Ellen married J. G. Walker, a farmer of Burns township who later removed to
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Missouri. There the wife passed away when about forty-five years of age. David L., who was also a soldier of the Civil war, is a retired farmer making his home in Cambridge, Illinois. John H., who followed farming, passed away at the early age of twenty-three years. Thomas C., of this review, is the next in order of birth. Jacob G. is also a retired farmer residing in Oklahoma. Matilda Jane, who completes the family, became the wife of Louis Deets, a farmer of Kearney, Nebraska, and passed away in early womanhood. William Cowden, the father, continued to devote his time and energies to agricultural pursuits in Burns town- ship until called to his final rest in 1891. For more than four decades he had sur- vived his wife, who was also a native of Ohio, her death occurring in 1850.
In the district schools near his home Thomas C. Cowden acquired a good knowl- edge of the various branches of English learning therein taught, and the period of his boyhood and youth was spent under the parental roof, the time not devoted to his text-books being given to assisting his father in the work of the fields, early becoming familiar with the best methods of plowing, planting and harvesting. When about sixteen years of age he ran away from home and went to Chicago, where, actuated by a spirit of patriotism, he enlisted as a member of Company E, One Hundred and Fifty-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he went to the front and served for over six months or until the close of hostilities. He then returned home and gave his father the benefit of his assistance until twenty- one years of age, when, upon attaining his majority, he started out in life on his own account, locating on a farm of eighty acres which his father had given him adjoining the old homestead. His place now consists of one hundred and twenty acres all in one body. He continued to concentrate his energies upon general agricultural pursuits for a number of years, in the meantime bringing his fields under a high state of cultivation and instituting many improvements upon the farm. He erected new barns and outbuildings, built a new windmill and has put in a large amount of tile, by means of which the soil is excellently drained. On the farm is a fine orchard of his own planting, containing apple, peach, pear, plum and cherry trees, all of which bear abundant fruit in season. During the past he devoted much time to stock raising, making a specialty of red Jersey hogs and high grade work horses. He yet owns a full blooded Percheron stallion that is well known throughout this section of the county. For the past five years, however, he has rented his farm, although he retains the overseeing of the place, and that his well directed efforts and intelligently applied labors have been crowned with most gratifying success is indicated by the fact that he is now able to live retired from active duties and enjoy the comforts of life without further recourse to hard labor.
On the 6th of February, 1883, Mr. Cowden was united in marriage in Salis- bury, Sheridan county, Missouri, to Miss Anna Michaels, a daughter of Isaac and Margaret (Walker) Michaels and a representative of two old Illinois fam- ilies, the Walkers being numbered among the first families to settle in McDonough county, while the Michaels were among the first to establish homes in Henderson county. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cowden were born two children, both of whom are still at home, namely : Lawrence H., twenty-four years of age; and Flossie E., eighteen years of age. The son has spent the past few years in study and travel,
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acquiring his education in the institute at Geneseo and in Brown's Business Col- lege at Moline.
Although occupying a prominent position among the residents of Burns town- ship by reason of the success which has attended him in his business ventures, Mr. Cowden is equally well known by reason of the active and influential part which he has at all times taken in public affairs. Early in life he became inter- ested in the politics of the country and, forming his own opinions and rules of conduct, has given stalwart support to the republican party since casting his first presidential vote for U. S. Grant. He has been elected constable three times, was township collector for two years and has been elected assessor three times, his incumbency in that office covering six years. A stanch champion of public educa- tion, he has been a school director ever since attaining man's estate and has been clerk of the school board throughout that time with the exception of one year. He has served on the township committee for eight years and is now serving on the county committee, while for eighteen years he was a member of the drainage com- mission and has recently been elected for another term of three years. Fortunate in possessing ability and character that inspired confidence, the simple weight of his character and ability has brought him into positions of trust and responsi- bility and he ranks high among the well known and valued citizens of Burns township.
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