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 115
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unerring conclusions with a rapidity surprising to many of the same profession.
William B. Crider, dealer in grain, lumber and coal, Del Rey, is a son of Samuel T. Crider, and was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, April 10, 1829. He lived with his parents, engaged in farming and .going to school till the age of seventeen, when he began teaching music. When eighteen years of age he began to learn the trade of a carpenter under Ferdinand Woodard, at Williamsport, Indiana, having removed with his parents to that state in 1840. After learning the trade he followed the business about twelve years. October 22, 1856, he married Miss Rachel, daughter of Mr. Zebulon Foster, who was born in Warren county, Indiana, May 20, 1837. In the autumn of 1858 he came to Iroquois county, Illinois, where lie bought and im- proved three farms, and finally settled permanently on Sec. 6, T. 25, R. 14, in Onarga township, and actively engaged in farming and stock- raising, and that business he successfully followed till the spring of 1878, when he rented his farm, removed to Del Rey, and engaged in the grain, lumber and coal trade. He now owns, besides his residence in town with four acres of land, a farm of 210 acres of land, on which is built the finest buildings in that part of the township, and all earned by his own hard labor, industry and close application to business, com- ing to this county with but $25. He has six children, all living: Zeb- ulon F., Mary I., Samuel P., Charlie P., Minnie B. and Dora E. He is a gentleman of strictly temperate habits.
John B. Lowe, publisher of the Onarga "Review," Onarga, was the youngest son of Samuel J. Lowe, third sheriff of Cook county, and was born in Chicago, October 10, 1843. He removed to St. Charles, Illinois, in 1853, and to Onarga in 1857. He became an apprentice to the printing business in 1858. He entered the army in 1862 as a private in Co. M, 9th Ill. Cav., and was captured by Hood's army near Florence, Alabama, November 19, 1864. He was mustered out at the close of the war without being exchanged. He engaged in printing in Onarga in 1866, and from 1867 to 1869 was in partnership with Ed. Rumley, and from 1879 to 1861 with F. R. Gilson. He removed the "Review " office to Moline, Illinois, in 1870; he reestablished the paper in 1872, and is still publishing it. He was commissioned captain of Co. E, 9tlı battalion, I. N. G., September 12, 1877.
James B. Baldwin, druggist, Onarga, was the son of Gordon and Harriet (Fitch) Baldwin, and was born in Monroe county, New York, May 6, 1830. He attended the common schools and finished his studies in an academy in his native town of Riga. His father was a farmer, and he was reared to that occupation. In 1854 he went to Ulster
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county, New York, and was employed by his uncle in shipping stone. In 1857 he migrated to Illinois, and settled on the present site of La Hogue, in this county, on a farm of 160 acres. He was one of the first to locate in that section. At that time there was but one house between his residence and Onarga- Mr. Bennett's. In 1863 he moved to Onarga, and was employed two years by the railroad company. In 1866 he commenced selling drugs; three years later he took M. D. Fir- man into partnership, under the style of Baldwin & Firman. In 1876 the latter retired. Mr. Baldwin's drug store is one of the most com- plete and extensive in the county. He was married, May 5, 1855, to Miss Eliza J. Thompson. They have one son and one daughter. Mr. Baldwin has never interested himself in politics beyond a quiet and an intelligent discharge of the duties of citizenship, and he votes inde- pendent of party control.
H. F. Lockwood, farmer, Onarga, son of Walter and Dolly Lock- wood, was born in Canada, August 14, 1824. The family first came to this county in 1857, having previously lived in the states of New York and Ohio, during a period of about twenty years. Mr. Lockwood married his first wife in Ohio, November 22, 1848. Her name was Emily Avery. She died March 23, 1863. They had seven children, three of whom are living: Eugene, Willie L. and. Mary E. Mr. Lock- wood afterward married Miss Mahala Evans, April 28, 1870. She is a . native of Iroquois county. They had three children, only one of whom is living. Mr. Lockwood has a fine farm in Sec. 30, T. 26, R. 11 E. Early on the morning of May 6, 1868, during a severe thunder-storm, Mr. Lockwood's oldest son was instantly killed by lightning, a few rods south of the house. This was a severe affliction to the bereaved parents. Mr. Lockwood's aged parents still reside in Onarga. Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood are members of the Presbyterian church.
The founder of the Babcock family in the United States was James Badcock, who changed his name when he emigrated to the New World. He was born in Essex, England, about 1580. In the year 1620 he removed with his family to Leyden, Holland, to join the pilgrims who were about to sail for America. He embarked in the ship Anne early in 1623, and arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in July. He lived a number of years, and died there. At the time of his arrival in this country he had four children : James, Jolin, Job and Mary, all of whom were born in England between the years 1612 and 1620. He was married again in Plymouth about 1650, and had one son, named Joseph. James, Job and Mary remained at Plymouthı. John moved to Rhode Island about 1648. Members of this family have been prom- inent in New England history. Henry Babcock was a colonel in the 38
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
king's service, and commanded a regiment of provincials in the French war, and was wounded at Ticonderoga. During the revolutionary war he was "General of the State Troops of Rhode Island," and distin- guished himself on several occasions. Oliver Babcock was a captain. He was at the siege of Fort Washington, on the Hudson, and was so. indignant at the surrender that he broke his sword across a cannon, declaring that it should never be yielded to the British. Horace Bab- cock, the subject of this sketch, second son of Charles and Martha (Gard- ner) Babcock, was born in Madison county, New York, September 13, 1821, at a place called Babcock's Mills. He was reared a farmer and brick- maker, and educated in the common schools. September 16, 1845, lie was united in marriage by the Rev. M. Bixby with Miss Sarah Deshon. They have two living daughters: Martha and Hattie E .; the former is the wife of Lee C. Brown, of Onarga. Their son Charles died at this place, early in 1857. In the spring of this year Mr. Babcock removed from New York with his family, and settled in Onarga. He and his brother purchased Sec. 28, T. 26, R. 10 E, now known as the Knoche Farm. He was one of the founders of the Iroquois County Agricultural Society, and was among the earliest importers of Norman horses in this section. From 1860 to 1870 he was engaged in buying, shipping and butchering logs and cattle. He owns 200 acres of land close to Onarga, valued at $12,000.
Thomas Wand, merchant, Onarga, was born in Dollar, Perthshire, Scotland, on May 17, 1832. He was the son of Thomas and Jane (Malcolm) Wand. His parents moved to Glasgow when he was four years old, and he received his education in a seminary of that city, and also learned the tailor's trade. In 1854 he took passage from Liver- pool for. New Orleans, and coming north stopped eighteen months in St. Louis and worked at his trade. In the spring of 1856 he proceeded to Chicago where he remained a year. He passed the summer of 1857 in Kankakee, and in the fall settled permanently in Onarga. He began by working at his trade the first year, after which he opened a merchant tailoring establishment, but his business increased so that in the course of a year or two it had gradually embraced general merchandising. His success in responding to the demands of the trading public for the best goods at the lowest price, has steadily enlarged his circle of cus- tomers, and made his store inferior to no other in this part of the coun- try. Mr. Wand was married to Mary Fickle, September 27, 1867. They have three children : Andrew, Mary and Thomas. Through Mr. Wand's exertions Onarga became an incorporated village. He has held the office of trustee. He is an Odd-Fellow and a member of the M. E. church.
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ONARGA TOWNSHIP.
Almon S. Palmer, attorney and real-estate agent, Onarga, was born in Columbus, Chenango county, New York, February 22, 1824. He was the son of Grant B. and Annis (Smith) Palmer. About 1856 he entered the law office of Henry Bennet, member of congress, and studied nearly three years. Three or four years before this he began operating in lands in the military tract of Illinois. In 1860 he removed to this state, and settled the first year in Onarga, then moved into Douglas township and went to farming. During his seven years' resi- dence there he represented the town on the board of supervisors four or five terms. In 1868 he moved back into the village of Onarga and resumed the practice of the law. He was supervisor of this town many years, and chairman of the board several terms. In 1866 he was a member of the building committee who superintended the construction of the present court-house and jail at Watseka. In 1872 he was elected on the republican ticket to the state senate for four years. He was on the following committees: Judicial department and apportionment, chairman ; expenses of general assembly, appropriations, county and township organization, miscellany, governor's message and revision of the statutes, until the appointment of the special committee. He was prominent in securing the passage of the present railroad law ; he sup- ported the temperance legislation ; voted for the repeal of the lake front act, and against the resolution to revive the southern penitentiary. He was married to Laura L. Briggs, of Madison county, New York, August 11, 1844. Two daughters were the issue of this marriage. One died very young, and the other (Annis E.) is the relict of Walter S. Clark. His wife died March 11, 1877. He married again July 31, 1878, to Miss Emma E. Cushman. His grandfather (Elijah Palmer) was a revolutionary soldier, and a prisoner in the hands of the British six or eight months. His father was a member of the New York gen- eral assembly in 1859, and his brother (Smith M.) was in the Illinois house of representatives from Morgan county, about 1868.
It is a tradition in the Marston family that their ancestors landed on these shores from the Mayflower. The great-great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch kept public-house in Falmouth (now Port- land), Maine, in the time of the revolution, and when tliat place was bombarded, his was the only house left standing. Mr. Marston's father was a mechanic of some note, who built the first Portland Exchange. Sanford K. was born in Augusta, Maine, February 24, 1831. His father's name was Ebenezer, and his mother's maiden name, Sarah S. Rideout. He was educated in the public schools of Mystic, Connecticut. He worked two years in a ship-smithy, and then served a regular appren- ticeship at ship-building. He partially built several vessels at New
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London and Bridgeport, Connecticut. After this he took charge of his father's business in New London -which was stone-cutting and marble-working. He was married, January 16, 1851, to Sarah M. Field. They have two living daughters: Mary A., wife of Robt. F. Cummings, of Clifton ; and Harriet F., wife of Milton Doolittle, of Onarga. In the spring of 1856 he was the chairman of a committee of three who came west to find a location for a colony of about thirty-five Connecticut families. After making a selection he went back, and returned again in August and entered about 8,000 acres for the colo- nists. He then settled there and engaged in farming. He traveled two years for the land department of the Illinois Central railroad, col- lecting land payments in produce. In 1864 he moved to Onarga and opened a real-estate office. Afterward, in company with F. P. Beach, he embarked in the brick manufacture, and furnished the brick for the public school edifice, and for all the business houses in the village that are built of that material. In 1869 he joined William P. Pierson,- under the firm name of Marston & Pierson,-in the lumber, coal, im- plement and furniture trade. He was one of the commissioners to divide Ford county into precincts, and was elected supervisor of Bren- ton township. He was trustee of Onarga six years, and was either president or secretary of the board during the time. In the period of his service saloons were abolished, and none have since been allowed in the place. He has been a member of the M. E. church above thirty years. He is independent in politics.
Jolın Campbell, butcher, Onarga, was born September 12, 1840, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was the second son of James and Cath- erine (Campbell) Campbell. In 1841 his parents moved to Indianapolis, and in 1843 to La Fayette, Indiana. In 1861 he came to Illinois, and enlisted at Onarga, June 1, in Co. F, 25th Ill. Inf. He fought at Booneville, Pea Ridge, Corinth, Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga and Mission Ridge ; marched to Knoxville; served on the Atlanta campaign, and was engaged at Rocky Face Ridge, Big Shanty, Kene- saw and Peach Tree Creek. He was wounded in the right hip at Stone River. He was mustered out September 19, 1864. He returned to Onarga township and farmed till 1869, when he opened a grocery in the town in company with C. H. Baker-firm name, Campbell & Baker. After several changes, in 1878 he went into his present busi- ness of butchering. He was married December 24, 1868, to Marilla L. Baker. They have one daughter, Mary, born August 28, 1869. He has once been constable of Onarga township. He is an Odd-Fellow, and from 1853 to 1858 was a member of the M. E. church. Politically he is a very zealous republican.
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Samuel E. Weeden, farmer and stock-raiser, Onarga, is a son of John Weeden, and was born June 28, 1832, in Jamestown, Rhode Island, on the same farm that his father, grandfather and great-grand- father were born, and in the same house, it having been built in 1687, and is now in good repair. His early youth was spent engaged in farming and attending school. At the age of twenty-two he was elected to the legislature of his native state, where he served two terms, hav- ing been twice elected to that position by his constituents. His grand- father served as captain in the regular army undei Gen. Washington, during the revolutionary war. His uncle (John H. Weeden) was one of the most prominent lawyers in Rhode Island, and a member of the legislature of that state for many years, being a graduate of Brown University, of Providence, Rhode Island. In 1858 the subject of this sketch went to California, and remained there till he visited Idaho in 1861. From there he went to Nevada, and there took part in the change of that territory to a state. In December, 1865, he returned to his old home in Rhode Island, where he remained a few months and then came to Iroquois county, Illinois, and bought a farm in Onarga township, and engaged in farming and stock-raising. April 1, 1874, he married Miss Lucy, daughter of Mr. John Hughs, of Medina county, Ohio, and one of the early settlers of that part of the state. He now owns 240 acres of valuable land. He has two children : Amy C. and Mary H. He is one of the live, go-ahead, thrifty men who are needed to build up a new country, and whose influence is always felt.
Horace Barnes, farmer and stock-raiser, Onarga, is a native of Rut- land, Vermont, and was born January 14, 1822, and there lived with his parents, engaged in farming, attending and teaching school till the age of twenty-four years. He then emigrated to Bloomingdale, Du Page county, Illinois, where he followed farming and teaching school. He also made the breeding and growing of Spanish merino sheep a specialty, taking many premiums on that stock at state fairs. While living in Du Page county he was elected county superintendent of schools, and also represented his township before the board of super- visors, and was for many years township school treasurer. In 1867 he came to this county, bought a farm of 210 acres, one and one-half miles east of Onarga, where he permanently located and engaged in farming and stock-raising. Since he has lived here he has been princi- pal of the Onarga Graded School two years, and is now one of the trustees of Grand Prairie Seminary and Commercial College; also a member of the executive committee, and is now acting commissioner of highways. July 1, 1846, he married Miss Louisa Seeley, of Middlebury, Vermont ; she died March 8, 1851. January 22, 1852, he married
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HISTORY OF IROQUOIS COUNTY.
his second wife, Miss T. Lorette Taylor, who is also a native of Ver- mont, and was born April 26, 1832. He has three children living, as follows : William S., by his first wife, who is now married and en- gaged in farming; Linnie L., wife of Elmer H. Wood, of Chicago, clerk in the office of the Union Pacific railroad department at a salary of $1,200 per year ; and Frank H., passenger ticket agent for the Chicago and Pacific railroad.
Daniel Martin, farmer and stock-raiser, Onarga, was born in the Highlands of Scotland, October 15, 1840. He attended school in the old Scottish Highlands, where he gained a perfect knowledge of the Gaelic language, which was (as he then thought) all he required. His fatlier, being in this country during the revolutionary war, became pleased with the country, and determined in the future to make it his home, and in 1852 came to America and located in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Soon after the subject of this sketch went to Buffalo and engaged in sailing on the lakes, which he followed till about 1860. He then came to Illinois and settled in La Salle county, where he bought a farm and engaged in farming. February 12, 1863, he married Miss Sarah Aikins, a native of England. In October, 1868, he came to Iroquois county, Illinois, where he permanently located on his pres- ent home farm, on Sec. 28, T. 26, R. 14, in Onarga township, and en- gaged in farming and stock-raising, and in that business he is now engaged. He owns 240 acres of land in Onarga township, all earned by his own industry, hard labor and careful management. He has eight children : Daniel, John, Jane, Anna M., Emma, Clara, Hattie and Cora.
Benjamin F. Duncan, farmer and stock-raiser, Onarga, is a son of Asa Duncan, and was born in Newell township, Vermilion county, Illinois, Angust 9, 1835, and there lived with his parents, engaged in farming and attending school till about twenty years of age. The love of adventure then led him west, where he visited Iowa, Nebraska, Colo- rado and Wyoming. He engaged in mining one summer at Pike's Peak, in 1859, and went back on the plains and engaged with Majors Russell and Waddell as assistant wagon-master, carrying government supplies to western forts in 1860, and in the spring of 1861, when the war of the rebellion broke out, he returned home and enlisted in Co. B, 25th Ill. Vol. Inf. At the battle of Chickamauga he received a severe wound in the arm, and was sent to hospital at Nashville, Ten- nessee, and was finally discharged with his regiment. During his ser- vice he was advanced to the office of third sergeant. On. returning home he at once came to Iroquois county to look after the family of his brother, who was still in the service. January 25, 1866, he married
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Miss Martha E. Drake, who was born April 26, 1848, in Vermilion county, Indiana, and is the eldest daughter of Jesse Drake, Esq., one of this county's early settlers. Mr. Duncan now has three children : Edward E., Jesse Elmer and George M., and is engaged in farming and stock raising in Onarga township.
F. P. Beach, brick and tile manufacturer, Del Rey, came to McLean county, Illinois, from Franklin county, Ohio, where he was born Octo- ber 15, 1827. At the age of twenty-one he was married. His wife, Mrs. Nancy Beach, is also a native of Franklin county, Ohio, and was born November 6, 1828. Mr. Beach entered land in Yates township, McLean county, Illinois, in 1852, at the Danville land office; broke the first prairie and built the first house, and in fact made the best and first improvements in the township, and still owns the old farm. In 1865 he removed to Onarga, mainly for the purpose of educating his growing family. Soon after coming to this county he opened up the first brick- yard in the western part of the county, and engaged in the manufacture of brick. He has furnished about all the brick used in the brick build- ings of Gilman, Onarga and Buckley, and many of them he built by contract. In 1871 he built for himself the fine residence now owned by H. Babcock, in Onarga village. In 1877 he removed to Del Rey, and added to his brick business a tile factory, which was the first in the western part of the county that was in successful operation. He has also opened up a country store, where he trades goods for all kinds of country produce. He is one of the reliable, enterprising, go-ahead men, whose influence is felt wherever he is found. He has a family of six children, nearly all grown, as follows: Martha J., Libbie B., Carrie D., Levaun L. and Clifford Earl.
Edwin J. Barber, farmer, Onarga, son of Woodbridge and Sarah Barber, was born in Cornwall, Vermont, February 21, 1830. When he was six years of age his parents moved to western New York. His father was a farmer. His parents died at Yates, Orleans county. When twenty-four years of age Mr. Barber married his first wife and came to Chicago. He afterward returned to his father's home, where he remained until the opening of the war. He enlisted in 1862 in the 17th New York Battery. He served in the army of the Potomac and army of the James, and was in most of the hard battles in Virginia. He has served under Gens. Butler, Baldy Smitlı, Ord, and partici- pated in all the battles under Gen. Grant while in command in Vir- ginia. Mr. Barber was married to Arabella Stevenson, in Fairfax, Virginia, June 27, 1877. He has four children living. Their names are : Minerva S., born December 16, 1854; Mary F., born October 7, 1856; Jennie M., born May 7, 1859; Charlie K., born June 2, 1867.
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The oldest son (James) died November 27, 1867. At the close of the war Mr. Barber removed to Iroquois county, Onarga township, and located on Sec. 12, T. 26, R. 10 E. He has served as deputy sheriff, and is a Mason.
George B. Winter, merchant, Onarga, was descended from French and English ancestry, and was born in Belchertown, Massachusetts, May 26, 1828. He was the tenth child of Alpheus and Prudence (Kenfield) Winter, who reared a family of eighteen children. He received his education at New Salem Academy, Massachusetts, and was bred to the pursuits of the farm. At the age of eighteen he went to the carriage-maker's trade. In 1854 he came west selling vehicles. In the fall he located at Princeton, Illinois, and after living there two years, farming and speculating, moved to Ford county and settled on a farm. During his residence there he represented the "pan-handle" on the board of supervisors. In 1866 he moved to Onarga and opened a boot and shoe, harness and saddle store. His house is now one of the largest and best of the kind in Iroquois county. He was united. in marriage to Miss Kate M. Hawks, August 10, 1852. They have one son and one daughter. George B. Winter, Jr., has been in part- nership with his father since he was eighteen years of age-style of firm, Winter & Son. Their daughter is married to George W. Stokes, a grocer and druggist of Belleflower, Illinois. In 1856 Mr. and Mrs. Winter joined the Congregational church, but when they came here they brought no letter, and have not since affiliated with any denomi- nation ; but they support the society where they live. The latter is a life member of the bible society, and the former is independent in politics.
William A. Boswell, farmer, Del Rey, is one of the enterprising farmers of this county. He was born in Mason county, West Virginia, July 29, 1830. About 1835 the family removed to Vermilion county, Indiana, and engaged in farming. When about fourteen years old, William, in company with his father, drove a number of cattle to Chi- cago, which they tried in vain to sell either in Chicago or Racine .. They finally killed the cattle, and in the shape of mess beef were able to make a trade for goods, which were hauled back to Vermilion and. finally disposed of- a transaction quite in contrast to the operations. of the present time. Mr. Boswell married, October 14, 1852, Miss. Elizabeth Micx, who was born in Virginia, December 24, 1835. She is a daughter of McKendree and Maria Micx, but early in life came to Tippecanoe county, Indiana. Here Mr. and Mrs. Boswell were ınar- ried and lived until 1867, when they came to Iroquois county, and settled on the N.W. ¿ of Sec. 1, T. 25, R. 10 E. Mr. Micx and wife-
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