USA > Illinois > Henry County > History of Henry County, Illinois, Volume II > Part 86
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On the 4th of October, 1876, Mr. Fuller was married at Saxon, Illinois, to Miss Kitty Ellen Green, a daughter of Champion K. and G. A. Green, then of Wethersfield township, later of Logan county, Colorado, but now making their home with Mr. and Mrs. Fuller, to whom have been born three children: Helen Beatrice, born February 9, 1881; Ethel Inez, August 6, 1884; and William Green, born May 19, 1891. The last named is attending Northwestern Univer- sity at Evanston, Illinois, while the daughters are graduates of the academy at Toulon and of Hedding College, at Abingdon, Illinois. The son is also a grad- uate of Toulon Academy.
In politics Mr. Fuller is a republican but not strongly partisan, and has never been an office seeker. He has, however, been called by his fellow townsmen to serve in several local offices. He was supervisor of Wethersfield township for
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twelve consecutive years and school director for many years. He belongs to the Saxon Methodist Episcopal church in which he has served as trustee and in other offices, while for many years he has been superintendent of the Sunday school. He was a delegate from the central Illinois conference to the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal church held at Baltimore in May, 1908. His wife and family are also active members of the church and Mrs. Fuller has been a member of the choir, a teacher in the Sunday school and an officer of the Epworth League for a number of years. The cause of education finds in Mr. Fuller a stalwart champion. He is a man of studious nature and has found his chief recreation in reading and travel. His interest is always concentrated in his farm, his church and his home, and he is one of the honored and representative citizens of Wethersfield township.
OSCAR ERICKSON.
Oscar Erickson, one of the substantial farmers of Geneseo township, was born in Sweden, December 13, 1863, and is a son of John and Hannah Erickson, both natives of that land. The father was born in 1831, while his wife was two years his junior, and he had considerable experience in agriculture in the land of his birth before he decided to make a trial of the advantages claimed to be procurable in America. In 1866 he brought his family to the United States and upon his arrival in Henry county procured some land upon which he farmed until his death, which occurred about twenty years ago. His wife died about the same time and six of the seven children born to them have also passed away. Three of the latter, Albert, Ames and Amanda, for many years lived with their brother Oscar on his farm in Geneseo township. The sister was the first to die and Albert, the last. Like their parents, they were buried in the cemetery at Geneseo.
Oscar Erickson attended the Jackson school of Geneseo township and after hours for lessons and in the vacations worked for his father on the farm. Until he became of age he gave the latter the benefit of his toil, and then ,started in life for himself, working by the month during the summer, and in the winter attending school. In a few years he managed to save enough money to rent a farm in Geneseo township, and after four years, in 1892, bought one hundred and sixty acres of improved land on sections 10 and II, Geneseo township. Here he engages in general farming and devotes considerable attention to the raising of Hereford, or white face, cattle, for which he finds a market in Geneseo and in the eastern cities. A creditable success has attended his earnest efforts, and he enjoys many of the comforts of life.
On the IIth of January, 1892, Mr. Erickson wedded Miss Sophia Johnson, who was born in Geneseo township in 1860. Her parents, Lawrence and Caro- line Johnson, were natives of Sweden but came to Illinois at an early date and in Geneseo township made their home and reared their children. Mr. Johnson was actively engaged in farming during his life and when he died he was laid to rest in the cemetery here, which is the burial place for his wife and four of
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his children. Mrs. Erickson has one sister and one brother living: Annie, the wife of Noah Johnson, who lives in Colorado; and Fred, who lives in Canada. Mr. and Mrs. Erickson had three children, all of whom are living: Adolph, born April 24, 1895; Paul, born June 27, 1896; and Carrie, born May 26, 1898. Mrs. Erickson was a member of the Lutheran church and like her husband was industrious and hard working and by her frugality aiding him in accomplishing the tasks he had set for himself to perform. For two years before her death she had very poor health, and finally, April 14, 1903, she was released from her sufferings, being in her fortieth year. She was buried in Geneseo.
Like his father Mr. Erickson has given his support to the republican party, and has filled the position of school director with credit for several years. He is a member of the Lutheran church and is very active in its work, having held office for a long period. He has known what it meant to work early and late, to endure privations and to sacrifice desires to necessities, but he is now reaping the results of his frugality, for he is one of the rising farmers of this locality.
JESSE S. TRACY.
Jesse S. Tracy, deceased, was a well known farmer, stock raiser and ship- per, whose home is on the northwest quarter of section 17, Osco township. He was born in Lynn township, Henry county, July 7, 1863, a son of Joab and Mary Jane (Coon) Tracy. His parents were born in Morristown, Indiana, where they grew to maturity, became acquainted and were married, coming to Illinois on their wedding trip. They located first in Peoria county, where Joab Tracy farmed on rented land for a year and then removed to Rock Island county, where he lived for three years. Then he came to Henry county to take up a government homestead claim in Lynn township, the deed to which was signed by Franklin Pierce. It was unimproved land at the time, but, undaunted, Mr. Tracy soon had it producing richly. There he spent all the years of his active life, retiring to New Windsor, Mercer county, when he decided to put aside bus- iness cares. In that town he and his wife were living when they celebrated their golden wedding, which was attended by all their children and many of their grandchildren. There he passed away and was buried in 1903, and there his widow still lives. He was a democrat in his political views and four of his sons espoused the same party. When he arrived in Henry county he had fifty dollars in money, a blind horse and one that balked. The first night here he spent under an oak tree in Andover township, near the village of that name, but before his death he owned twenty-two hundred acres of land, which enabled him to give each of his sons and daughters a farm.
Ten children were born to him and his wife: William Riley married Miss Mary Barrett and lives on a farm in Oxford township, this county. They have two children. James Albert married Miss Lena Malthrop and is a commission merchant in Chicago. Willis Douglas married Miss Orlena F. Reynolds and lives on a farm just outside of Galesburg. They have eight children. Ellen is the wife of Charles Kinsey and lives on a farm in Mercer county. They have four
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children. Catherine married Allen Gayre and lives near Sherrard, Mercer county. She is the mother of two children. Jesse S., the sixth of the family, is the sub- ject of this sketch. Rachel was the wife of Guy Fields and lived in Western township, where she died leaving one child. Joab Jackson married Miss Harriett Wirsing and lives on the old homestead in Lynn township. He has one child. Minnie Prink died unmarried at the age of twenty-two years. Mary Jane mar- ried Dalas Petrie and lives in Lynn township. They have one child.
Jesse S. Tracy grew to manhood on the homestead in Lynn township and in the common schools received a fair education. In the spring of 1884, when he became of age, he removed to the farm he occupied at his death, which was a , gift from his father. The latter gave each of his sons three horses and a farm- ing outfit, and to each of his daughters its equal value in household goods, and established each upon a piece of land which he later willed to them. On this land Mr. Tracy lived and worked, tilling the soil and feeding cattle for the markets, and in 1904 bought eighty acres additional, for which he paid one hundred and twenty-five dollars per acre. This brought his acreage to two hundred and forty and enabled him to attain to a substantial position in the agricultural community here.
In the village of Osco, December 17, 1885, Mr. Tracy wedded Miss Kittic Kilmer, of Osco township. She was born here and is a daughter of William and Sarah (Sperbeck) Kilmer. The father was a native of Schoharie county, New York, where he was reared to the life of a farmer and where he married his first wife, by whom he had four sons and four daughters. In 1858 he came to Henry county, Illinois, buying one hundred and sixty acres in Osco township. He afterward lived in Rock Island, and Morristown. In 1878 he moved to the village of Osco, where he lived until his death in 1887. In 1865 he married the second time, and of that union were born Mrs. Tracy and a younger sister, Edna, who is the wife of Walter G. Hopkins, of Osco village, and the mother of four children. Mrs. Tracy's mother died in 1893, and was buried in the cemetery at Morristown.
To Mr. and Mrs. Tracy was born one son, Glenn Kilmer, born October 9, 1887. In 1902 he finished the eighth grade work and then, while at the home school, completed the first two years' work of the high school at Cambridge. In 1904 he entered the junior class of that school and was graduated in 1906, at- taining the highest grade for the work of the last two years. He then took the teacher's examination and again secured the highest grade of any in the gradu- ating class of ten. The year of 1906-7 he spent in teaching in the school near his home and in the fall of 1907 entered upon a four years' agricultural course in the University of Illinois at Urbana. In the spring of his sophomore year he won a gold medal for military competitive work, with which he was decorated by Gen- eral Frederick Dent Grant. He looked forward to graduating with the class of 19II, but owing to the death of his father at the beginning of his junior year he returned home and is now endeavoring to carry on the farm successfully.
Mr. Tracy was a democrat in his political views and for six years served as justice of the peace, and though in that time some of his decisions were appealed, none were ever reversed. He belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows at Orion and of the Modern Woodmen of America at Osco. In the camp
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here he has served as venerable consul for three years and in the camp of Henry county for one year. With his wife he also belonged to the Royal Neighbors, and they and their son were devout members of Grace Episcopal church, of which Mr. Tracy was a vestryman. After a useful and well spent life he passed away on the 28th of September, 1909, from inflammation of the spinal cord. He was sick only ten days, and it was not thought that the disease would prove fatal until a few hours before his death. He was a very kind and indulgent. father, and a most exemplary and loving husband, and his loss is deeply felt by his wide circle of friends and acquaintances, as well as by the immediate community.
THOMAS W. KERR.
In the death of Thomas W. Kerr Hanna township lost one of its best men and a citizen of whom any community might well be proud for he was upright, fearless and devoted to his home and family. He was a man of the highest in- tegrity, gentle and warm-hearted, and he drew friends to him and held them through life. All who know him respected him and although years have elapsed since he was called to his reward, his memory is tenderly cherished.
Mr. Kerr was born in Armstrong county, Pennsylvania, March 16, 1830, a son of Zachariah and Margaret Kerr. The family removed from the Keystone state to Ohio and there Mr. Kerr resided for nine years before coming to Illi- nois in 1857. Arriving here, he located in Hanna township, Henry county, and in 1859 married Amanda Henninger, who survived him many years. He and his wife had a family of nine children, all but two growing to maturity, and they were with him in his last illness, which resulted in his death, February 29, 1896.
When a young man Mr. Kerr joined the Presbyterian church and its faith was a great comfort and support to him during his long illness as well as in his active days. The funeral services were conducted in his late residence by the Rev. S. H. Weed, of Hanna Center, assisted by the Revs. J. H. Skidmore and W. J. Ward, while the Green River choir rendered some choice selections.
Mr. Kerr is remembered as a man of the highest moral character, and al- though he was permitted to amass a comfortable fortune it was not through tak- ing advantage of his fellow creatures but as the result of years of industry and economical habits. A good man, he believed others true, and enjoyed his friend- ship with his neighbors and his associations with his church.
MRS. AMANDA KERR.
Mrs. Amanda Kerr, widow of the late Thomas W. Kerr, was one of the most beloved women of Henry county. One of her most notable characteristics was her courage, and she was industrious, while truth and uprightness were her watchwords. She was born in Wooster, Ohio, February 23, 1841, a daughter of
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Jacob and Susan Henninger, very early settlers of Hanna township, Henry county, to which they came in 1846.
In 1859 Miss Henninger married Thomas W. Kerr and they commenced housekeeping in Hanna township. After his death, February 29, 1896, she lived with her children, all of whom claimed the privilege of ministering to her, and she died November 11, 1908, at the home of her daughter Mrs. Percy Davis after four years of ill health as the result of a paralytic stroke. Mrs. Kerr bore her husband nine children and all but two grew to mature years, namely: Mrs. Ella Withrow, Mrs. Amy Burton, G. W. Kerr, Mrs. Lena Withrow, Mrs. Mina Davis, J. E. Kerr, and H. Z. Kerr, all of whom attended her funeral with the ex- ception of Mrs. Burton, whose home in Montford, Montana, was too far distant for her to arrive in time. Mrs. Kerr's two brothers, George and Fletcher Hen- ninger, and her sister, Mrs. Phoeba Malone, were also at the funeral. The other members of her family who are now deceased are : Mrs. Elizabeth Stanbro, Mrs. Harriet Bacon, John, Hiram and Mrs. Clara Walker.
The services were held at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Davis the Saturday following her demise, the Rev. F. A. Smiley, pastor of the Presbyterian church, officiating. The choir rendered her favorite hymns and her remains were in- terred in Oakwood cemetery.
Mrs. Kerr during her earlier life worked with tireless energy and faithful love for her family. She ever maintained a deep affection for her home and the duties pertaining to it. In her daily life she set an example of womanly devo- tion and sweetness of disposition that have helped many struggling to become better and truer wives and mothers, while to her immediate family she was the one who was ever ready to listen and assist. Her place can never be filled. In the hearts of her children she is enthroned as long as life lasts, and they look forward to joining her with their father in the land where there are no partings and families will once more be reunited.
LOUIS A. SCHROEDER.
One of the substantial farmers and stockmen of Henry county is Louis Schroeder, who on his farm on the northwest quarter of section 32, Edford township, makes a specialty of breeding Cotswold sheep and shorthorn cattle. He was born in that township, near Geneseo, April 24, 1877, and is the son of George H. and Wilhelmina (Weigand) Schroeder. Both parents are still living in Geneseo, whither the father retired after his arduous labors as a tiller of the soil.
Louis Schroeder was reared at home under the guidance of his parents and was early initiated into the work on the farm. He attended the country school of his district, and after having completed the course of study prescribed con- tinued his education at the Geneseo Collegiate Institute. He then returned to the paternal farm, and until his twenty-third year rendered his father valuable assistance. He then went to Osco township, rented some land and farmed there for three years. Six years ago he returned to Edford township, where he pur-
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chased his present farm of one hundred and eighty acres of fine land. Several substantial buildings have since been erected, the old have been put in good re- pair, and the soil has been subjected to a systematic cultivation that will increase its fertility as the years pass on.
In the city of Geneseo, on the 24th day of January, 1900, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Schroeder and Miss Carrie Weidlein, a daughter of Andrew and Sarah (Conrad) Weidlein. Mrs. Schroeder is a native of this county, her birth having occurred in Osco township, and she has become the mother of two children : Merle W. and Kenneth Lyle.
When called upon to exercise his franchise, he invariably casts his vote for the republican candidates as representing the choice of the party with whose principles he is in most accord. He has not, however, given much time to either political or public matters, although he takes a deep interest in questions of im- portance, especially as they concern his fellow citizens and for one term served as collector for his township. His farm and stock demand the most of his atten- tion, and by hard work he has brought both to a high standard and has made a place for himself among the prominent members of his community.
OLOF MATTSON.
Pluck must surely be included among the virile elements which constitute the character of Olof Mattson, one of Lynn township's representative citizens. Like so many settlers in this locality he is Swedish by birth, having been born in the Scandinavian peninsula, June 1, 1854, a son of Mattes Thomason and Cath- erine (Olson) Mattson. When a lad of six years, Olof Mattson lost his mother, and when only fourteen years of age he came alone to America, where a brother, Thomas Mattson, had preceded him. Going first to Galesburg, Illinois, he found employment in the surrounding country as a farm hand, and pieced out what education he had received in his native land with a few months' attendance at a winter school. In two years' time he removed to Ophiem, where he engaged in farm work until his marriage in 1877. Through thrift and industry he now found himself in a position to take up the cultivation of some land about one mile west of Ophiem, and a little later removed to a farm one-half mile east of that village where he has since resided. Three hundred and thirty-five acres of fine land, well improved and under a high state of cultivation, constitute this most desirable homestead. With a view to permanency, all the improvements are substantial and modern, including every available appliance conducive to con- venience and comfort. Mr. Mattson engages exclusively in farming, in which his wonderfully progressive ideas have made him most successful. In addition to his agricultural interests he is a stockholder in the State Bank of Orion.
On January 18, 1877, Mr. Mattson was united in marriage to Miss Maria S. Samuelson, daughter of John and Caroline (Peterson) Samuelson. Her parents came from Sweden in 1849 and were accompanied to the new world by her father's brother, Charles J. Samuelson, and his family. These brothers first located in Andover, Illinois, but as soon as their resources would permit,
MR. AND MRS. OLOF MATTSON
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they purchased a forty acre tract of land near Ophiem and began farming. At the beginning their means were limited in the extreme, but they possessed those excellent assets-industry, thrift and a courage which refused to recognize adversity. In consequence they prospered, becoming large landowners and prominent in the affairs of the community. John Samuelson and his wife were the parents of eleven children, five of whom died upon the voyage to America and two since coming here. Three sons and one daughter are yet living, these being: Leander, a prosperous farmer of Lynn township; Solomon, of Nebras- ka; Maria Sophia, now Mrs. Olof Mattson, wife of the subject of this sketch ; and John H., a prosperous farmer of Lynn township. Mr. Samuelson was re- publican in politics and in this matter all his sons have followed in his foot- steps. He was a man who became a recognized factor in public affairs, and among his public services must be mentioned that of road commissioner of Lynn township for several years, township treasurer and school director. He and his family were members of the Lutheran church, in which for many years he served as trustee and treasurer. This fine man passed on to his re- ward in June, 1887, his widow surviving until March, 1895, and both are in- terred in the Ophiem cemetery. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Olof Mattson has been blessed by the birth of four children: Lillie E., now the wife of Claus A. Nelson, a Lynn township farmer; Arthur M .; Hilda A .; and Edith E. M., the three latter at home.
Mr. Mattson is an active and enthusiastic champion of the republican party, He is and has been for a number of years the Lynn township member of the county republican central committee and his associates have entrusted him with their representation at county, district and state conventions. He has also been a member of the township board of election. For fully a dozen years he has given efficient service as township road commissioner, which position he still holds, and cognizant of the important part played by education in the life of a community, the township has long rejoiced in having his counsel as a mem- ber of the Ophiem board of education. For thirty years Mr. Mattson has been a deacon in the Lutheran church, with which his family are also affiliated and to whose affairs they generously contribute of their time and strength. The entire family are active in all matters pertaining to the elevation of the com- munity. Their home is greatly sought, being attractive in all its appointments, modern in its improvements and abundantly supplied with the best standard and current literature. No one will deny that the Mattson household exerts a bene- ficial influence in Ophiem and the surrounding neighborhood.
HARVEY ULYSSES LOUGH.
The agricultural interests of Henry county find a worthy representative in Harvey Ulysses Lough, who owns and operates a fine farm on section 30, Osco township. He was born on a farm near Morgantown, Monongalia county, West Virginia, on the 2d of March, 1854, and is the ninth in a family of twelve chil- dren born unto Mathew and Malinda Lough. Amid the scenes and environ-
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ments of rural life he was reared to manhood and at the usual age was sent as a pupil to the district schools, where he received a good common school education which well equipped him for the practical and responsible duties of life. The periods of vacation were devoted to the work of the farm and he early became familiar with the tasks that fall to the agriculturist. He continued to give his father the benefit of his assistance in the cultivation of the fields until twenty- one years of age, when he started out in the business world on his own account, being engaged by the day. He was thus employed until 1877, when, being at- tracted by the opportunities offered by the middle west, he came to Henry county, Illinois, in search of a location. He stopped at Cambridge for two or three days and then came to Osco, where he worked by the month for about four years, dur- ing which time he carefully saved his earnings, being imbued with the ambition of some day engaging in farming on his own account. In 1881 he was united in marriage to Miss Mary Jane Holland, of Osco township, who was born in West Virginia, a daughter of Eli and Louisa (Tarleton) Holland. For a few years after his marriage he operated rented land in connection with his father-in-law, and then, in 1895, he purchased his present farm of one hundred and seventy- four acres, located on section 30, Osco township, paying fifteen thousand dollars for the property. He has greatly improved the farm since it has come into his possession and has brought the fields under a high state of cultivation, the prop- erty being now worth one hundred and seventy-five dollars per acre. In addi- tion to general farming he has also engaged in feeding and shipping cattle, and both branches of his business have been so wisely and carefully conducted that he has won substantial success, so that he is numbered among the representa- tive and prosperous agriculturists of the township.
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