History of Henry County, Illinois, Volume II, Part 9

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

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On the 22d of December, 1886, Mr. Shafer was united in marriage to Miss Ida E. Withrow, whose birth occurred in Hanna township in September, 1864, her parents being John W. and Arvilla M. (Allen) Withrow, who took up their abode in Henry county in 1835 and were among the first settlers here. A sketch of John W. Withrow appears on another page of this volume. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Shafer have been born four children: Minnie B., John W., Mary A. and Donald, all at home.

Politically Mr. Shafer is a stalwart advocate of the republican party and at the present time is serving as assistant supervisor of Geneseo township, dis- charging his official duties in a most prompt and capable manner. He is likewise acting as trustee of the township high school board of education. While a resi- dent of Geneseo he served one term of two years as a member of the city council. His fraternal relations are with the Modern Woodmen, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church at Geneseo, with which his wife is also identified. He has resided in this county throughout practically his entire life and has gained the warm esteem of all with whom he has come in contact, because of his upright and honorable career and also by reason of the straightforward methods he has ever followed in his business deal- ings.

PHILIP J. WINTZ.

Philip J. Wintz is not only one of Annawan's wealthiest and most widely known citizens, but also enjoys the distinction of being the oldest settler in Annawan township, for when he came to Illinois and for four or five years after his advent the Winnebago tribe of Indians were still in the neighborhood of the town. During a period of more than six decades he has been an eye-witness of the changes that have transformed the character of the country, has taken part in them, in fact, and in the great struggle that almost wrecked the nation. En- dowed by nature with a retentive memory, he has been able to write many accounts of those early days, of his experiences on the battlefield, and of the travels which

Philip & Wir tz

HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

have occupied part of his later years. His life of activity and deeds of valor are but the just conclusion of the records of his ancestors who braved the perils of a new country in the days of its infancy.

Philip J. Wintz was born in Rappahannock county, Virginia, November 4, 1826, and is a son of Henry and Sarah (Frye) Wintz. The paternal grand- father came from Germany, and the father was born in Culpeper county, Vir- ginia, April 17, 1788. On the 3d of June, 1824, in Loudoun county, Virginia, he was married, by Rev. S. G. Raszell, to Miss Sarah Frye, who was born Feb- ruary 10, 1797. Her father was born August 13, 1775, and came to America in 1793. He died November 20, 1841, and was buried in Middleburg, Loudoun county, Virginia, where he had farmed for some years. During the war of 1812 he was drafted into the army but by the time he had received his accoutre- ments and had reached Middleburg, the war was closed and his services were not needed. On the 7th of April, 1796, he was united in marriage by Rev. John Littlejohn to Miss Catherine Vertz. Of the family born to this union Mrs. Henry Wintz was the eldest, the others being: Elizabeth, born January 24, 1799, died, unmarried, September 7, 1866; Margaret, born December 12, 1800, became the wife of David Daly, of Preble county, Ohio, and died about 1844; Henry, born April 21, 1803, married Miss Burnside and died in Indiana in 1848; Joseph, born May 14, 1809, remained unmarried and died on the old homestead, July 2, 1876; Conrad, born May 14, 1809, married Susannah Thomas and died in Butler county, Ohio, September 29, 1882; Ann C., born April 30, 1814, wedded Town- send Howell, of Virginia, and died in Clark county, Illinois, February 9, 1886; Christina, born December 27, 1816, died, unmarried, in Loudoun county, Vir- ginia, April 7, 1877; Evaline, born March 12, 1820, became the wife of James Lawson, of Fauquier county, Virginia, and died in Maryland, March 23, 1899; and George P., born October 30, 1823, died in Loudoun county at the age of fifteen. After his marriage Henry Wintz farmed in his native state until 1828, when he moved to Warren county, Ohio, and thence to Preble county, that state, where near New Hope he rented a farm for six years. He died, however, be- fore the expiration of the lease, October 27, 1833, and his wife passed away September 18, 1846. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Wintz were the parents of five chil- dren : Peter, born September 5, 1825, married Catherine Frye and died March 10, 1908; Philip J., is the next in order of birth; Mary Ann, who was born Au- gust 22, 1828, became the wife of Samuel Frye and passed away May 25, 1891 ; Daniel, born June 16, 1831, married Miss Sabina Trucksess, who lives near Converse, Howard county, Indiana, but he died April 13, 1904; and Elizabeth, born March 23, 1833, is the widow of George Lowman of Sedgwick county, Kansas, who died about two years ago.

Philip J. Wintz was but six years of age when his father died and only nine- teen when his mother was taken from him. He received a very slight educa- tion in the district schools of Preble county, Ohio, which he attended one month a year for fourteen years. The schoolhouse was a log building, in which even the desks and seats were made of split logs set up on pegs. At the age of twenty-four he went to Springboro, Warren county, Ohio, where he secured work on a farm for ten dollars per month, and then took up carpenter work and the trade of a millwright. In April, 1852, he came to Illinois, locating in

HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

Sheffield, Bureau county, where the Rock Island and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroads were then building and where he bought eighty acres of land for three hundred and sixty-seven dollars in cash. It was an unfortunate in- vestment, however, for because of defect in the title, he lost his right to pos- session. Although somewhat discouraged by this incident, he went to work to make his fortune, borrowing one hundred dollars, with which he went to Chi- cago to get tools and a carload of lumber. On the 24th of March, 1855, he came to Annawan, and after a short visit in the east he built what is now the kitchen of his present residence. For a year he worked at carpentering and then opened a blacksmith shop, the first in Annawan, on the lot adjoining his present home. He also helped to build the first mill here, which he sold a year later. Until 1884 he devoted his energies to the carpenter's and millwright's trades, constructing the majority of buildings in the southern part of the town- ship, including a church, which he erected in 1858, and a second mill. The last residence which he built was that of James MacChesney, in 1877. During the period between 1854 and 1862 he made the greater number of the coffins in Henry county, two dollars being the smallest price received for one and twenty-five dollars the highest. Being a man of very methodical habits he has kept a record of all the coffins he made, for whom they were intended, and the price paid for each.

After the inauguration of the Civil war Mr. Wintz enlisted at Princeton, Bureau county, Illinois, as a musician in a regimental band which had started from St. Louis to join Burgess' sharpshooters at Alton. They were arrested before they reached their destination however, for the reason that the colonel of the regiment they were going to join had reported that they were deserters from the ranks and were going to join the rebels. Upon finding this statement untrue, Governor Yates ordered them to Springfield, and then, after two weeks spent in Camp Butler, sent them to Camp Douglas, Chicago, where the band was as- signed to the Fifty-Seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was sent first to Cairo, then to Paducah, Kentucky, whence they went by boat to Fort Henry, arriving there just after the battle, in time to cook their suppers upon the fires which the rebels had left. Returning to Paducah, they went up the Ohio and Cum- berland rivers to Fort Donelson and took part in the engagement at that place. Thence they marched fourteen miles to Fort Henry, up the Tennessee River to Krump's Landing, where Mr. Wintz was discharged and mustered out of the service, April 20, 1862. Returning home to Annawan, he enlisted August 20 of the same year, in Company A, One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was mustered in at Peoria. John L. Dow was captain, but Tristram T. Dow was first captain and was subsequently made colonel of the regiment and took his men to Cincinnati, then to Covington, Kentucky, where they remained two weeks, and then to Lexington. After a few skirmishes Mr. Wintz was detailed for six months to Captain Low's howitzer battery to follow Morgan's band on their raids through Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, to Buffing- ton's Island, where they captured Morgan's guns, in 1863. This campaign being closed he rejoined his old company and went to Kingston and Athens, Tennessee, and later to Loudoun, where in a skirmish on Hiawasi River they retreated before General Longstreet, who pursued them to Knoxville. There in

Abary Ninty

HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

a battle or skirmish on the 18th of November, 1863, Captain Asa H. Lee, com- mander of Company A, was killed, and Mr. Wintz received a gunshot wound behind his right ear, making a total of four of the company killed and two wounded. When Mr. Wintz regained consciousness after having received his wound he found that the Confederate line had advanced beyond him, thus cutting him from his companions. Making his way through a small vineyard he got through the line, though twenty gunshots were fired at him, and then crawled into a barn, and when this was struck by a rebel gun, crawled in a corn crib. This too was torn to pieces by a shell and the man forced to continue his painful way outdoors. He staggered through the timber to his company, but on the way to the field hospital he fell exhausted on the bank of Second creek, where the ambulance corps found him. Mr. Wintz was then confined to the hospital at Knoxville, Tennessee, until January 18, after which he was given a thirty days' furlough. In March, at Mt. Sterling, he rejoined his company and participated in the skirmishes at Rocky Face, Georgia, and in the battle of Resaca, in which he received a gunshot wound in his right arm, which necessi- tated his being sent to Louisville, Kentucky, where he remained until July, when, having contracted smallpox, he was sent to a hospital near Louisville, in which he was confined until October, 1864. Starting then to rejoin his regiment at Atlanta, he stayed a couple weeks in Chattanooga, where he was on duty in the convalescent camp and was then detailed with orders to drive ten thousand head of cattle to Atlanta for Sherman's army. At Altoona he met his company returning and joining them he went to Nashville and later to Decatur, Georgia, where the company was stationed to watch the movements of Hood. They took part in the battle of Franklin and then Nashville, December, 1864, and followed Hood for one month to Columbia, Tennessee. At Clifton, on the Tennessee River they boarded a steamer and went to Cincinnati, thence by rail to Alexandria, Vir- ginia, by way of Columbus and Bellaire, and then by steamer to Fort Fisher. During a storm in the last stage of this journey the vessels were blown sixty miles into the sea. After one month spent in Fort Fisher, the company went to Smithville, North Carolina, taking part in the skirmish at that place and in the siege and capture of Fort Anderson, and going thence to Wilmington and Kingston, North Carolina. At the last named place Mr. Wintz sprained his ankle and was sent to the hospital for the third time, remaining there for a month, or until he was honorably discharged June 14, 1865. Since the close of the war Mr. Wintz has been a member of the Grand Army and has attended more than a dozen of the national encampments, the last having been that at Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1909. In these, where the soldiers from the whole country congregate, he revives with his comrades the stories of the camp fires and the events of battle.

On returning from the war, Mr. Wintz worked at the carpenter's and mill- wright's trades as in the days before the struggle. But more and more time he has given to his literary labors. Possessed of a fine style and relying upon his excellent memory for the facts which are not recorded in his notebooks he has written very readable histories of Annawan township and of the old settlers. Of recent years he has been compelled to use a typewriter, though not so formerly, for he wrote a beautiful, clear English hand, unsurpassed by few of his genera-

HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

tion and unequaled in this. He kept a record of all his contracts, of his war experiences, of his travels, and of his church. A copy of his history of Annawan and Albion townships he sent to the Old Settlers Association in Geneseo, where it is accounted a work of value.

On the 8th of April, 1852, Mr. Wintz wedded Miss Mary Frye. She was born near Springboro, Ohio, January 16, 1830, and was the daughter of Solomon and Sarah (Haynes) Frye. The former, who was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, October 12, 1800, was the son of Henry Joseph and Catherine (Weide- man) Frye, and the nephew of Philip J. Frye, the maternal granduncle of Mr. Wintz. He moved to Ohio with his parents at the age of sixteen and learned the trade of a carpenter and also engaged in farming on land that he owned. He married, March 12, 1826, Miss Sarah Haynes, a native of Rappahannock, Vir- ginia, who was born October 12, 1803, and came from an old American family of German extraction. Of this union were born four children: Cornelius, who worked at the carpenter's trade and died in Dayton at about forty years of age; Mary, who became the wife of Philip J. Wintz, of this review; Martha, who married Absalom Blinn and removed to Albany, Kansas, where both died; and Margaret, who married George Roy, both now deceased. Solomon Frye died in Warren county, Ohio, October 6, 1846.

Mrs. Wintz has also passed away, her death occurring November 29, 1898, and is buried in Fair View cemetery, where her mother is likewise buried. Al- though a woman who never enjoyed the best of health, she was very active, a great sewer, and of a bright disposition. She was a good wife, a kind neighbor and beloved by all. With her husband she belonged to the United Brethren church and has been greatly missed since her death.

Mr. Wintz is the only son-in-law of his wife's parents now living, and is him- self without offspring. Since his wife's demise he has lived alone in the house he built, a good structure, twenty-eight by eighteen feet, with eighteen foot studding for two full stories, with a large kitchen of one story, sixteen by twenty- two feet. It is located on Depot and Second streets. He now conducts a shop for the repair of furniture, organs, sewing machine, parasols and in fact of everything that can be repaired, for he is almost a genius at this kind of work. He is also engaged in superintending the building of the new town hall, a brick construction with cement foundation, of which Howard Fritzkee is the con- tractor. A member of the United Brethren church, he has been secretary and treasurer of their quarterly conferences, of which he has written the his- tories. In politics he is a republican and cast his first ballot for Zachary Taylor in 1848, the day before he became twenty-one, all the voters in the locality having agreed to accord him that privilege. Mr. Wintz presented to The American's Yeoman League a lot adjoining his own fifty-four by one hundred and fifty feet in the town of Annawan, on which will be built a chapter house. Though eighty-two years of age he still retains the love of music that inspired him as a young man. In other ways also the years have not affected him, for he sees without the use of glasses and is not troubled by his hearing. He is a self-made man, and this may be emphasized, for almost without any schooling he has become a good, fluent writer, a master in the repair shop, and a man of wealth in the community, owning considerable property, including one hundred and

HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

seventy acres in Wilson county, Kansas. His judgment is regarded so highly and his memory is so accurate that the citizens of Annawan have become ac- customed to referring dubious points and questions to him for settlement. Yet he is modest as regards his accomplishments, and in his cheery way disclaims any undue praise for what he is, and for what he has done, either for himself or his country.

JAMES F. CLARK.

Among Henry county's citizens who have passed the seventieth milestone on life's journey is James F. Clark, of Geneseo, who since 1874 has been engaged in business here as a contractor and builder. He is now seventy-six years of age and many men of his years would put aside business cares but he is still active and enterprising and remains a valued factor in the world's work. He was born in Pennsylvania, March 13, 1833, and is a son of John and Margaret (Maxwell) Clark, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. The father was a farmer by occupation and devoted his entire life to tilling the soil in the Keystone state where both he and his wife died and now lie buried. They were the parents of eleven children, but only two are now living, the younger brother being William Clark, a resident of Dallas Center, Iowa. There were three sons who served in the Civil war at one time, Samuel, William and Robert, and Robert held the rank of captain. William participated in the battle of Antietam and Fredericks- burg, and at the last named Samuel McMahan, a cousin of our subject, was killed.

James F. Clark, whose name introduces this review, was educated in the public schools of Pennsylvania and soon after completing his studies learned the trade of carpentering. He followed that pursuit in his native state for five years and then came to Illinois in 1856, settling first in Stephenson county, where he en- gaged in carpentering for three years. He then worked at his trade in the city of Champaign, Illinois, for three years and it was about that time that he was married and established a home of his own.

On the 29th of December, 1859, Mr. Clark was joined in wedlock to Miss Anna Kerr, who was born in Pennsylvania but went with her parent to Stephen- son county, Illinois. She was a daughter of Alexander and Catherine Kerr, who came to this state in 1846. Her father was a farmer and continued his residence in Stephenson county until his death. His wife also passed away there and their graves were made in one of its cemeteries. Their family numbered the following children : Mary Jane, now the wife of Jesse Mckibben, a resident of Stephenson county; Mrs. Clark; Joseph, who is living in the state of Washing- ton; William, a resident of Indiana; Cooper, who was in the Civil war and is now living at the Soldiers Home in Quincy, Illinois; Elizabeth, the wife of George Johnson, who resides at Gladbrook, Iowa; Frank, who lives in Ridott, Stephenson county, Illinois.

After his marriage James F. Clark resided at Lanark, Illinois, for a number of years and was engaged in building operations there. He afterward removed

HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

to Annawan, Henry county, where he dealt in butter and eggs for five years. He then came to Geneseo in 1874 and for thirty-five years has been engaged in carpentering and contracting in this place. He has erected the greater part of the best and most modern homes in the city and also built a church in Green River. He is now the senior member of the firm of J. F. Clark & Sons, and they employ a number of workmen. Mr. Clark's own practical experience has well enabled him to direct the labors of others and as the years have gone by he has made substantial progress, winning desirable success and at the same time contributing to the welfare and improvement of the communities in which he lived and labored.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Clark have been born six children, of whom four are now living. Mary is the wife of James Siebert, a resident of South Dakota and they have four daughters : Mabel, who is now Mrs. Trumb; Hazel, the wife of Byron Souer, of South Dakota; Myrtle and Ruth, at home. Alexander K. Clark, the second member of the family is now engaged in business with his father. He married Anna Ogden and has two children-Mary and Grace. William D., who is also in business with his father in Geneseo, married Bertha Bessie and they have five children-Ferry, Morris, John, Audrey and Shirley. James F., the youngest of the family is married and lives in California. He is an expert mechanic and a carpenter by trade, having learned the trade with his father as did his two brothers.

Mr. and Mrs. Clark are both members of the Presbyterian church, in good standing and are people of genuine personal worth, enjoying in high measure the regard of all who know them. Mr. Clark is a fine mechanic, turning out nothing but the best work and at all times using the best material, and many buildings erected under his skillful guidance stand as monuments to his ability. He is, moreover, a man of unquestioned business integrity and his word is as good as any bond ever solemnized by signature or seal. Mr. Clark has built and sold a number of modern homes in Geneseo and now has a handsome residence equipped with all of the conveniences of the twentieth-century home. He de- serves much credit for what he has accomplished for he had no assistance when he started out in life for himself. He resolved to make his labor of value to others and, becoming an excellent workman, has always been enabled to command good prices for his services. He has long been numbered among the leading contractors and builders of Geneseo and his worth as a man and citizen are also widely acknowledged.

JOHN RINGLE.

John Ringle, who since March, 1900, has lived retired in Cambridge, was for many years actively and successfully identified with the agricultural interests of Henry county. His birth occurred in Minersville, Pennsylvania, on the 21st of May, 1841, his parents being Joseph and Mary Ann (Whitesell) Ringle, like- wise natives of the Keystone state. The paternal grandfather, Mathias Ringle, was a Revolutionary soldier and took up his abode in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where his son Joseph was born. The mother of Joseph Ringle

HISTORY OF HENRY COUNTY

bore the maiden name of Mary Ann Clawson and lived to an advanced age. Mathias Ringle, who was twice married and reared a family of twenty-one chil- dren, passed away when sixty-seven years of age. Jonathan Whitesell, the ma- ternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of Pennsylvania and followed general agricultural pursuits throughout his active business career. He and his wife died in that state when well advanced in years. They had five children.

Joseph Ringle, the father of John Ringle, was a coal miner and owned a number of teams, hauling coal into Pittsburg. Having determined to establish his home in this state, he first sent his son James to Henry county with four horses and a wagon and in the spring of 1857 came here with the other members of the family. They took up their abode on a rented farm in Munson township and later the father purchased a tract of one hundred and sixty acres in Osco township, where he reared his children. During the last fifteen years of his life he lived retired in Cambridge, having won a comfortable competence through the careful conduct of his agricultural interests. His demise, which occurred at the home of his son William in Osco township, was the occasion of deep and widespread regret. His wife, who survived him, was called to her final rest on the 3d of December, 1898, when eighty-four years of age. They were both de- voted and faithful members of the Presbyterian church. Their union was blessed with nine children, seven of whom still survive, namely: James; John, of this review ; Catharine, the widow of Harrison Moore, of Newton, Iowa; William, a resident of Cambridge ; Louisa, the widow of A. J. Combs, of Cambridge ; Mary, the widow of J. C. Sherrard, of Cambridge ; and David, living in Geneseo town- ship.

John Ringle, who obtained his education in the district schools, was a lad of sixteen years when he came with his parents to Henry county, Illinois, and grew to manhood on his father's farm in Osco township. On the 10th of September, 1861, he enlisted as a private in Company C, Ninth Illinois Cavalry, with which he served for a little more than three years. He participated in the battles of Tupelo, Franklin and Nashville and also took part in numerous skirmishes, ever proving a most brave and loyal soldier. When hostilities had ceased he returned to Henry county and engaged in farming for two years, on the expiration of which period he removed to Caldwell county, Missouri, where he was identified with agricultural pursuits for four years. At the end of that time he returned to this county and purchased a partly improved farm of one hundred and fifty acres in Osco township, on which he made his home until the spring of 1883. After disposing of that property he bought a tract of land of one hundred and seventeen acres lying a mile north of Cambridge and successfully continued its cultivation and improvement until March, 1900, when he took up his abode in Cambridge, where he has since lived retired in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil.

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History of Henry County, Illinois, Volume II, Part 9

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