USA > Illinois > Iroquois County > History of Iroquois County, together with Historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources > Part 113
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
has brought her out more than conqueror. Her account of pioneer life in fighting wolves from poultry and young pigs, is certainly interesting, as these ravenous animals and deer were the principal inhabitants of the prairie.
Tom Lindsey, farmer and stock-raiser, Del Rey, is a son of Roland Lindsey, and was born November 28, 1823, in West Virginia. At about the age of fifteen years, with his parents, he came to Illinois, and settled in Knox county ; he, however, soon after came to Iroquois county, Illinois, where he made his home with his uncle, Mr. Ira Lindsey, which brings him here in the fall of 1839, though his uncle had been here a few years previous. The county was, at the time Tom came here, very new, occupied mostly by deer and wolves, which he hunted with great success; the latter paid, especially as their scalps were valuable for paying taxes, the sheriff carrying them to Springfield on horseback, where he went yearly to pay the state tax. In 1845 he went to Washington, Tazewell county, Illinois, and engaged in the business of blacksmithing. From there he went to Wisconsin, but in 1848 returned to this county, and in company witlı Mr. Seneca Amsbary, bought and put up the first saw-mill on Spring creek, and began the manufacture of timber, with which the pioneers could build houses to take the place of their first cabins. He also engaged in farm- ing and stock-raising. In 1849 he married Miss Caroline Grice, wlio died about sixteen months after, leaving an infant child, which has since died. June 28, 1860, he married his second wife, Miss Bettie Hall, who was born in Mason county, West Virginia, September 18, 1844, and came to this county in 1853. Mr. Lindsey now owns 145 acres of excellent land, on which is a powerful flowing artesian well. He is now living in a fine residence on Sec. 2, T. 25, R. 10 E. He has three children living : William A., Lizzie P. and Tom. He is now, and has been for about two years, suffering with a disease of the eyes which almost blinds him.
Robert R. Skeels, farmer and stock-raiser, Onarga, is a son of Mr. Henry Skeels, one of the pioneers of this county, and was born Janu- ary 30, 1842, in what is now Onarga township. He was born and raised a pioneer child. His school was the pioneer log cabin, with seats made from split logs with the flat sides turned up. He was brought up to farming and stock-raising, as well as deer and wolf hunting, as these were the principal occupations engaged in by the early settlers of those days. November 17, 1861, he married Miss Susannalı Riner, who was born in Warren county, Indiana, September 15, 1842. At the age of seven years, with her father, Mr. Daniel Riner, she came to Iroquois county, and hence is entitled to the name
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of " old settler." After his marriage Mr. Skeels engaged in farming for himself, and has followed the business since that time, about two years of the time being spent in Kansas, where he bought and improved a farm. Not liking Kansas, he returned and settled near the old home in Onarga. He now owns 127 acres of land in Secs. 29 and 30, T. 26, R. 14, and has built for himself and family a very comfortable and pleasant residence. He is one of the men who have witnessed this county grow to its present greatness. He has for the last few years been engaged in buying and shipping fat stock to market, in addition to his permanent business of farming and stock-raising. He has two children : Mary A. and Daniel H. He is a member of the M. E. church ; a republican in politics and a man of strictly temperate habits.
Irvin Reuben Skeels, farmer, fruit-raiser and dairyman, Onarga, is a son of Reuben and Hannah (Kirk) Skeels, and was born in Onarga township, Iroquois county, Illinois, October 12, 1846. His early youth was spent engaged in farming, stock-raising and going to school. He attended one terin at Grand Prairie Seminary in Onarga, in 1865, but left in March, 1865, and enlisted in Co. H, 58th Ill. Vol. Inf., and served one year. After returning home he engaged in farming. March 23, 1868, he married Miss Laura A., daughter of Dr. Samuel Turner, one of the first physicians of this county. She was born in this county, August 16, 1849. In January, 1875, he moved on his present farm, about one mile south of Onarga village, where he now lives. He has two children : Leroy C., born December 24, 1868, and Louis G., born March 16, 1874.
John R. Loudon, farmer, Onarga, was one of the earliest settlers on Spring creek. He is the son of George and Mary Loudon, and was born August 22, 1814, in South Carolina. The family name is an old and distinguished one, being prominent in the annals of the American Revolution. One of the larger counties in Virginia is named " Loudon." When Mr. Loudon was very young his parents removed to Washing- ton county, Indiana, where they lived and died. The father was killed at a house-raising by falling timber. After his father's death he was bound out until sixteen years of age to a farmer. Having served out his apprenticeship, he worked by the month until he became twenty- two years of age. Mr. Loudon was married, August 18, 1836, to Miss Elizabetlı Henry, by whom he had ten children, five of whom are living : Mary A., Nancy J., Margaret E., William W. and De Witt C. Mrs. Loudon died March 14, 1869. December 31, 1872, Mr. Loudon married Mrs. Julia A. Beebe, whose maiden name was Bostwick. She was born in Kent, Litchfield county, Connecticut, and is the daughter of Charles Whittlesey Bostwick. Mrs. Loudon has two daughters by
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
her first husband : Amelia J. and Lucy J. Mr. Loudon's father, and Mrs. Loudon's grandfather, Lee, served through the war of 1812. Mr. Loudon came to Iroquois county in the spring of 1842, and settled on the N.W. ¿ of Sec. 6, T. 25, R. 14 W., where he has since remained, engaged in farming. The house in which they now reside was built in the summer of 1854. Mr. and Mrs. Loudon are members of the Presbyterian church, in Onarga, of which he is an elder.
Cyrus S. Pangborn, farmer, Onarga, was the youngest child of Jolin and Miranda (Miller) Pangborn, and was born near Columbus, Ohio, February 5, 1822. He was reared a cultivator of the soil, and has always followed that calling. May 22, 1845, he was married to Mary Jane Gilmore. She died on the 9th of August following. In the same year he emigrated to Iroquois county and settled in Onarga township, where he now lives, on Sec. 17, T. 26, R. 14. July 5, 1849, he was married to Mary Taylor, daughter of Alonzo Taylor. She died May 7, 1850. His third marriage occurred August 19, 1852, with Rosanna Ryner. Seven children have been the issue of this marriage, six of whom are living : Frank E., Josephine H., Licetta V., Jesse (dead), Melvin, Mary M. and Quincy J. Mr. Pangborn was converted when fourteen years of age, and has been a member of the M. E. church since that time. In politics he is a supporter of repub- lican principles. He owns 205 acres of well-improved land, valued at $7,000.
Jesse Drake, farmer and stock-raiser, Onarga, was born in Pike county, Ohio, January 29, 1824, and when about fourteen years old, with his parents, he removed to Vermilion county, Indiana, and en- gaged in farming. His educational advantages were very poor, the country at that time being thinly settled, and school kept only on the old subscription principle. January 24, 1847, lie married Miss Hannah Riner, who is a native of Virginia, and was born December 16, 1828. Her father, Mr. Daniel Riner, was born also in old Virginia, October 19, 1796. He came to this county in 1850, and is still living on the farm he then entered. Mr. Drake came to this county in April, 1850. The county at that time was new and sparsely settled. His nearest market then was Chicago, from where he hauled the lumber to finish building his first house in Onarga township. The land that was then inhabited only by deer and other wild animals is now covered with fields of golden grain ; railroads pass through the county in every direction, and towns have grown up along their lines. He then worked out by the day to pay for liis first 40 acres of land. He now owns 210 acres of well improved land in Secs. 33 and 34, T. 26, R. 14. He has six children living : Martha E., Daniel J., Mary L., Sarah E., Frank M. and Emma E. He is strictly temperate and a strong republican.
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John, son of John Ricketts, farmer and stock-raiser, Onarga, was born in Dearborn county, Indiana, April 11, 1824. Soon after his birth his parents removed to Vermilion county, in that state, where his early youthi was spent with them, engaged in farming, stock-raising and attending, to a limited extent, the old subscription schools of those days. Marclı 5, 1848, he married Miss Anna Drake, who was born in Pike county, Ohio, May 15, 1828. He there engaged in farming as a day laborer, till 1850, when he came to Iroquois county, Illinois, where he rented land till 1854, and then moved into his first house which he built on land he liad previously bought. He permanently located on Sec. 4, T. 25, R. 14, and engaged in farming and stock-raising. Although he is not one of the pioneers of this county he is one of those who went on the wild prairie and made a liome. He judiciously selected for his farm, on which to make his future home, the highest point of observation in all that part of the county, and there drove tlie wolves from liis door and swayed the scepter of his authority over his prairie home, and, after patient waiting for thirty years, now has the satisfaction of seeing this county one of the finest in the state. He has eight children, all living : Mahala, Mary, Melvina, Francis A., Malina, Icabina, Alvin J. and Jesse. He now owns 215 acres of land as the result of his own industry, hard labor and close application to business. He is one of that class of honorable men whose word is as good as his bond.
James E. Owen, grocer and brick and tile manufacturer, Onarga, was born in Birmingham, England, December 25, 1843. His mother's maiden name was Ann Elliman. He emigrated to America with his father, James Owen, in 1849. September 24, 1861, he enlisted in Co. . C, 57th Ill. Vol. He participated in the capture of Fort Donelson, and in the battle of Shiloh, at which latter place he was seriously wounded in the left leg. He fought at Corinth, Mississippi, October 4 and 5, 1862, and served throughout the Atlanta campaign, being in action at Resaca. His military service was terminated by the march to the sea, and lie was mustered ont at Savannah, Georgia, December 30, 1864. He came home and engaged in farming till 1868. He celebrated his nuptials December 20, 1867, with Miss Nancy H. Cob- lantz. One daughter was the fruit of this marriage. His wife died October 5, 1868, and he was married again, August 27, 1873, to Martha Harper. He has held the office of village trustee of Onarga the past three years. He is at present engaged in the manufacture of brick and drain tile at Del Rey, in company with F. P. Beach ; name of firm, Beach & Owen. He is also a member of the firm of Owen Brothers, doing a grocery and provision business in Onarga.
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
Samuel Brown, farmer and stock-raiser, Onarga, came to Onarga township, Iroquois county, Illinois, in 1851, with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Elias Brown, from Indiana, where he was born April 28, 1840. In his early youth his education was much neglected, but by an indus- trious application to study he has acquired a fair education. August. 7, 1862, he volunteered his services to his country, and enlisted in Co. D, 113th Ill. Vol. Inf., and immediately went south to participate in the great struggle then going on between freedom and slavery, and at the battle of Guntown, Mississippi, was shot through the leg by the rebels, and by them taken prisoner and put in hospital one month for treatment. From there he was taken to Cahawba, Alabama, and there remained one year, and in his lame and crippled condition suffered the hardships of rebel prison life. Though sixteen years have nearly passed away since he was wounded he still feels its effects. In the summer of 1865 he was honorably discharged, and returned home and engaged in farming. October 25, 1866, he married Miss Clara, daughter of William Coyner, an early settler of this county. They have three children : Frederick L., Frank G. and Nellie E. He is now actively engaged in stock-raising and farming, and owns 177 acres of land, thie most of it earned by his own industry and close attention to business. His residence and its surroundings are evidences of his thrift.
Two English brothers, Abraham and John Doolittle (the latter dying childless) settled in Massachusetts in 1634. The first shortly after moved to the New Haven colony, where he became a prominent man, being chosen sheriff of the county, one of the committee to super- intend the affairs of the settlement of Wallingford, and a member of the vigilance committee in the time of king Philip's war, besides holding other honorable positions. The fifth in the line of descent, named Elkanah, grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a grad- nate of Yale College, and tutor of Greek, and in company with a class- mate, Hitchcock, started an academy at Sunbury, Georgia, prior to 1790. Elkanah, son of Milton and Mary J. (Jones) Doolittle, was born in New York city, July 16, 1829. He attended a grammar school at Newark, New Jersey, till seventeen years of age. He com- pleted his studies in surveying and engineering in a private school in New York city. Immediately he was employed in railroad surveying, and also in constructing the sewerage of the city of Newark, New Jer- sey. In the spring of 1851 he came west and assisted in surveys of the Illinois Central railroad, and finally located near Onarga. In 1854 he celebrated his marriage with Triphenia Pangborn, daughter of Judge Thomas M. Pangborn. Four sons were the issue of this union. The eldest died when a little more than a year old. The survivors
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are : Milton, Thomas E., and Warren E. His wife dying in 1872, he married in the following year, Miranda, another daughter of Judge Pangborn. In 1858 he was elected county surveyor of Iroquois county, and held the office one term. Residing temporarily in Con- necticnt, his former home, in 1862 he recruited company A, 20th Conn. Vol., under authority dated July 11, and was enrolled on August 15, as second lieutenant, and mustered in September 8, at New Haven. Shortly after the battle of Chancellorsville, where he fought, he was- promoted to first lieutenant of company D, and commissioned June 26, 1863. He fought at Gettysburg, and in January, 1864, owing to his wife's rapidly failing health, resigned his commission. After the war he began farming at his old home near Onarga, and has since con- tinued it. From 1873 to 1877 he was merchandising in that town. Captain Doolittle is genial, but retiring, and a stranger to display. In his keeping are many curious and pleasing heirloomns of his Puritan ancestry.
John C. Culver, grocer, Onarga, was the youngest son of Asa and Lydia (Conger) Culver, and was born in Cayuga county, New York, December 10, 1820. When four years old he was taken and reared by Silas Conger. He worked at farming and clearing land until the age of thirty. In 1832 he went with Conger to Huron (now Erie) county, Ohio, and thence to Richland county ; in 1846 lie settled in Calhoun county, Michigan, and two years later in the lumber region, establish- ing himself in Huron county, where he operated a saw-mill. In 1849 he removed to Porter county, Indiana, and in 1851 to Iroquois county, Illinois, and engaged in milling at Del Rey. In the fall of 1855 he came to Onarga and opened a lumber yard, but at the end of three years quit this for the grocery business, taking Addison Lockwood in company. A few years afterward he sold his interest to his partner. In 1869 he associated C. L. Knight with himself in the same trade. This firm was dissolved after two or three years, and Mr. Culver car- ried on a similar business with James Hawk about the same length of time, when he bought out his partner, and has since continued mer- chandising alone. He was married November 4, 1846, to Clarissa Shaver, who died March 19, 1860. His second marriage he celebrated with Harriet M. Messer, January 1, 1861. The offspring of this union are two sons and two daughters. He has been assessor of Onarga township once, and in 1866 he was assistant assessor of internal revenue. He is an Odd-Fellow and a Knight Templar. From an old line demo- crat he has become independent in politics.
Hiram W. Lawhead, photographer, Onarga, was the oldest son of James and Jane (Boyd) Lawhead, and was born in Holmes county,
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
Ohio, June 4, 1844. When very young his parents removed to Illi- nois, and settled at Middleport, in this county. His father was a phy- sician, and practiced there a few years, but his health failing, he settled on a farm near Plato, in the hope of relinquishing his profession. In a little while he died, when the subject of this sketch was but four years old. Young Lawhead received such an education as was furnished by the district schools of the day ; he added to this two terms at the high school in Kankakee, besides a full commercial course, which he com- pleted in the spring of 1862. He immediately devoted himself to learning photography, and at length became an accomplished artist. This business has since engrossed liis whole attention. He has been in communion with the M. E. churchi the past ten years. In polit- ical sentiment and practice he is an independent.
Adison Harper, farmer and stock-raiser, Onarga, was born May 16, 1807. The early part of his life, up to the age of twenty-eight years, was spent in the hill country of old Virginia, farming and attending school. He then came to Clinton county, Indiana, and there remained about twenty years, engaged in farming. While there, December 6, 1838, he married Miss Mary Sherrard, a native of Butler county, Ohio, born March 19, 1817. In 1852 he came to Iroquois county, Illinois ; entered land in Sec. 13, T. 26, R. 14, in what is now Onarga township, and permanently located and actively engaged in farming and stock-raising. At the time he settled where he now lives he was far separated from markets and mills, no railroads being then built in this part of the state; neither were there then any 'wagon roads, but winding trails over the highest ridges, fording rivers at the safest places. He has lived here to see this county grow up to its present greatness. He owns 255 acres of good land, watered by flowing artesian wells, all earned by his own industry and close attention to business. He has seven children : Martha J.,. Amanda, Ginevra A., William A. and Mary C., living ; Andrew, who died in the service of his country at Holly Springs ; and Samuel, who died at St. Louis, Missouri. Samuel's remains were brought home and interred in Onarga cemetery. They were both members of Co. D, 113th Ill. Vol. Inf.
William P. Pierson, retired, Onarga, whose portrait appears in this work, and the first man to commence business in Onarga, was born in Leroy, Genesee county, New York, in 1811. The roots of his ances- tral tree strike down deep and near the primitive rock of the republic. His two ancestors, Daniel Buell and Rev. Abraham Pierson, emigrated to this country from England, the former in 1630, and the latter in 1640. Rev. Abraham Pierson was a graduate from Cambridge Uni- versity, England, at South Compton, Long Island, and at Brandford,
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Connecticut. Having labored successfully in these fields for twenty- five years, he organized a large company with the view of founding a colony in the then wilds of New Jersey. This colony, in its form, was an organized church, of which Rev. Pierson was pastor. They purchased the land now occupied by Newark, and in 1667 laid the foundations of that now beautiful city. Rev. Abraham Pierson, Jr., acted as co-pastor with and successor to his father for twenty years, when he resigned and went to Connecticut, where he became pastor of the church at Killingworth. In 1701 he was elected first president of Yale College. He died in 1707, and a statue has recently been erected to his memory in New Haven. Mr. Pierson, of Onarga, is one of the numerous descendants of the seventh generation from the original emi- grants, Buell and Pierson. Mr. Pierson's ancestors shared largely in the dangers and trials incident to the early Indian wars in New Eng- land, to the revolutionary war, and to the war of 1812. Mr. Pierson left his native town in 1831 ; graduated at the University of Vermont in 1839 ; studied and practiced law several years in Kentucky, and then, in consequence of failing health, in 1849 purchased and located on a considerable tract of land in Jefferson county, Iowa. Finding that waiting for land to rise in value, with corn at six cents per bushel and pork at $1.50 per 100 pounds constituted a rather slow business for a native New Yorker, he closed out his interests in Iowa in 1853. In the same year he married Miss Mary T. Condit, daughter of Rev. R. W. Condit, D.D., of Oswego, New York, and went to Chicago to engage in business. The Illinois Central railroad was then in process of construction, and high expectations were justly entertained of its ultimate effects upon the destiny of Chicago, and indeed of the whole state of Illinois. Among the numerous stations soon to spring up along the line of this great road, Champaign was regarded as the most promising. In the spring of 1854 the terminus of the Chicago branch was at Spring creek, and freight could not reach Champaign by rail until fall. Hearing favorable reports from the employés of the road in regard to Onarga, and the high character of the old settlers in that region, Mr. Pierson concluded to locate there until fall, and then move on to Champaign. One short train a day, made up of freight and passen- ger cars, was sufficient to do all the business of the road at that time. Mr. Pierson chartered three cars, and loading them with such goods as lie deemed suitable for a new station, he, with his good wife, June 22, 1854, started for what was to him and his a new world. He found the town of Onarga to consist of three or four shanties. Mechanics were just putting the finishing touches to the depot buildings. The post- office had just been opened in a little cigar and candy shop on the east
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
side of the railroad, by D. B. Peck. Moore and Miles were then erect- ing the building on the corner on the east side, and now occupied as a meat market, for a dry-goods store. The first sale made by Mr. Pier- son in the town was for material to complete this building. When the railroad finally reached Champaign, Mr. Pierson found that many busi- ness men had their eyes already on that point, and he moreover thought he saw clear indications that Onarga would prove one of the most inviting fields for business enterprise on the line of the road. He therefore, though doing but little at that time, concluded to remain. By way of showing how well founded these expectations were, Mr. Pierson states that while his sales during his first year at Onarga were less than $3,000, they exceeded $40,000 the third year. At this time all the business was done on the east side of the railroad. In the fall of 1854 Mr. Pierson built an office in the tall prairie grass on the west side, on the corner now occupied by the Pierson Block; hence the point in the following story that he tells of his wife : He one day observed her scattering ashes in the prairie grass around the office, and on his inquiring what was up, she replied-" I am trying to kill the grass to make the surroundings look more like business." In the summer of 1857 Mr. Pierson built and occupied the house on the corner north of the Pierson Block, and now occupied by Isaac Amermand. In the fall of 1858 he erected the store building now constituting "No. 1" in the aforesaid block. In the meantime, the great financial crash of 1857 came and laid the whole country prostrate. During the three follow- ing years the value of property constantly declined, so that no trade could be carried on with profit or even with safety. Every dealer in building material on the Chicago branch of the Illinois Central railroad, with one or two exceptions, and nearly all dealers in this department of trade in Chicago, failed. The main source of weakness in Mr. Pier- son's case at this critical time was in the fact of his having an unusually large stock on hand when the panic came. All that he needed was time to reduce stock, and to collect outstanding claims, which were not large. These objects were successfully accomplished by three years of hard work without profit. He could not, however, have done this had he not had first-class credit at a few solid houses in Chicago, who told him to go ahead. This credit arose from the reputation Mr. Pierson had of keeping his business well in hand, and of living within his means. On this subject Mr. Pierson says : " I have liad creditors, who were themselves daily expecting to be pushed to the wall, come on with the intention of securing what they could. As they looked at my little house, noting how I lived, they said : 'Well, Pierson, you can make more out of this stock than we can ; we shall have to let you
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