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 89
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lived together for fifty years if they survive till March 5, 1880, their golden anniversary. His present wife was born in Carlisle, Pennsyl- vania, September 12, 1805. Mr. Hunter has been the father of twelve children, five living : Thomas C., Emily (Mrs. James Whiteside), Wil- liam J., Eliza and George C. The deceased are Allen T., Caroline E., Emeline, John, Harvey, Mary E. and an infant. He has held the office of school director. He voted for Andrew Jackson, turned whig, and is now a republican; and is a member of the Congregational church.
W. J. Hunter, jeweler and postmaster, Chebanse, was born in Ætna, Licking county, Ohio, August 5, 1842. His father is the venerable William Hunter, the oldest inhabitant in the village. At the age of twelve years he moved with his parents to Huntington, Indiana, and attended school till 1861, then enlisted in Co. F, 47th Ind. Vol. Inf. After reaching Kentucky his regiment was ordered to Bowling Green and Fort Donelson, but arrived too late to participate in their capture. Several forced marches brought his regiment to Riddle's Point, Mis- souri, where a siege battery was planted, and an engagement took place with some rebel gunboats, disabling three of them. At Tipton- ville they intercepted the retreating forces from Island No. 10, and captured numerous prisoners. At the capture of Memphis his regi- ment was the first to enter that stronghold. He was also in the battles of Fort Gibson, Raymond, Champion Hill, Black River, siege of Vicksburg, Grand Canton Bayou, Fort Spanish, Fort Blakeley, and a great number of other battles, skirmishes, etc. He served his country faithfully for four years and two months, having reënlisted as a vet- eran, and was discharged November 3, 1865, at Indianapolis. He came to Chebanse in 1866, and clerked until he went into business for himself. He was appointed postmaster by the postmaster-general in the administration of President Grant, in June 1870, and still retains the position. He was married to Miss T. Tracey, March 5, 1871. They have two children : Addie and Effie. Mrs. Hunter was born in Erie, Erie county, Pennsylvania, November 29, 1846.
Patrick Murphy, merchant, Chebanse, was born in the county of Kilkenny, Ireland, March 17, 1851, and is the son of James and Cath- erine Murphy. He emigrated to this country with his parents and settled in Hinsdale, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, in the spring of 1853, he being then but two years of age. He lived there for six years, and then removed to La Salle county, Illinois, in the spring of 1859, his father dying the same year. Mr. Murphy was reared on a farm, and continued it up to the time of his moving to this township, which was on March 16, 1867, and again went to farming until 1874,
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at which time he entered the employ of McKee & Bard, clerking for them for some fifteen months. He then started in the general mer- chandising business for himself, doing a thriving trade and carrying a full stock. He was married, by Rev. Father Gonant, of Chebanse, to Miss Bridget Clabby, May 1, 1876. They have two children : James F. and Mary L. He is a member of the town board, and is also treasurer of the Father Mathew Temperance Society. Mr. Murphy is, so to speak, a self-made man.
Thomas S. Sawyer, lawyer and editor, Chebanse, was born Novem- ber 9, 1844, at Pomfret, Windham county, Connecticut. His father, Lucius E. Sawyer, was born on the same farm in 1817. His mother was a Miss Patience S. Carpenter, a native of Rhode Island. Mr. Sawyer moved with his parents to Illinois in 1856, and lived on a farmi until eighteen years of age, then taught school for two years, and after- ward was appointed to a clerkship in the interior department at Wash- ington, and remained there until removed, in 1866, by Andrew John- son for political differences. While in Washington le commenced the study of law, and pursned it after removal in the office of E. Sanford, Morris, Illinois, until June, 1867, when he was admitted to practice by the supreme court of Illinois. He was married, in the summer of 1867, to Miss Addie A. Barnes, and moved to Chebanse in the fall of 1867, where he has since resided. He has three children: Lucius Clyde, Patience Aileen and Thomas Roy, all living. Mr. Sawyer has held the office of supervisor for four years ; been member of the village trustees - last two years as president of the board ; and represented the counties of Kankakee and Iroquois in the twenty-eighth general assem- bly. In 1869 he commenced the publication of the Chebanse " Herald," a weekly, and has published it regularly since that time. It is a republican sheet.
John Milton Balthis, proprietor of Orchard Farm, Chebanse, was born October 5, 1827, in Putnam, Muskingum county, Ohio. His father, Major John Balthis, was from Strasburg, Shenandoah county, Virginia, and settled on the banks of the Muskingum river, about 1812, on the present site of Putnam, Ohio, which at that time was the abode of many Indians. The name Putnam was given to the town in honor of his pioneer friend, Judge Rufus Putnam, a direct descendant of old Israel Putnam, of Wolfden notoriety. These two pioneers, together with Philip Zane, Increase Mathews, Horace Nye and Catherine Buckingham, were the proprietors of what is now one of the most beautiful and prosperous towns in Ohio, and laid a social foundation evidencing the sterling traits in their characters. ' Politically, John Balthis was a stanch old-line whig, and was commissioned a major of
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Ohio militia by Governor Trimble, and served many years in that capac- ity ; was for about forty years a member of the town council of Putnam, and a stanch unflinching friend of truth and virtue, which he illustrated through a long life. To his family and friends, of him it might be said :
" His life was gentle, and the elements So mixed in him that Nature might stand up And say to all the world, 'This was a man.'"
He died in 1873, seventy-six years old, and left a widow, Lenity Balthis, who was from Portland, Maine, who shared all his privations in early life, and whose charitable, kindly disposition, relieved the wants of many all through her life, and whose children drop a tear in re- membering her gentle ministrations to all their wants through years of great bodily afflictions, which it was liers to bear. Her maiden name was Morton. She died in 1873, three weeks later than her husband, aged sixty-seven, and in the beautiful Woodlawn cemetery, Putnam, Ohio, a fine granite monument marks their grave, inscribed as follows:
"OUR FATHER AND MOTHER."
" Oh that those lips had language !
Life has passed but roughly with us since we saw thee last."
By your children: Calvin C., Esther, Eliza Ann, John Milton, Amanda, William, Adeline, Columbia A., Albert Leroy.
John Milton Balthis was married May 1, 1849, to Susannah Olivia Hamilton, daughter of Rev. Samuel Hamilton, presiding elder in the Ohio conference for over forty years, as the públications of the M. E. Book Concern, of Cincinnati, show, and one of the ablest councilors and earnest, successful preachers in the conference; of sterling traits of character, whose fund of anecdote and incidents of early pioneer preacher's life are the history of the church in Olio and Virginia. He a native of Maryland. He, at the early date spoken of, pitched his tent with his brothers in the unbroken forests of Hopewell township, Muskingum county, Ohio, ten miles of Zanesville, and dedicated their home to God in the great timber, amid a storm and all the solemnity of the wilderness around them. He lived to see prosperity all around him. Mr. Hamilton married Edith Harrison, of Harrisonburg, Virginia, daughter of Robert Harrison, a relative of General, afterward Presi- dent, Harrison ; a woman of gentle graces and fine influence, lamented at death by all who knew her. Her death long preceded Mr. Hamilton, who died in 1853, aged sixty-three years, and is buried on the family homestead, near Asbury chapel, Hopewell township, Muskingum county, Ohio. Mr. Hamilton is buried in the old cemetery at Somerset,
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Perry county, Ohio. Their children are: Sarah, Jane, Susan, Edith, Martha and Mary. Susannah received her education at Putnam Female Seminary, together with earlier learning in the schools of her native home township. John Milton Balthis received his schooling in the public schools of Putnam and at the McIntire Academy of Zanesville, Ohio. At an early period his taste led him to a blacksmith, where he forged out a rude set of engraving tools, with which he engraved draw- ings of his own, and transfers on wood. These coming to the notice of Uriah Park, editor of the Zanesville "Gazette " (the most influen- tial paper in central Ohio), once author of Park's arithmetic, pleased our editor, and he forthwith employed the young artist to make some diagrams for his book ; and so well was he pleased with the illustrations that he insisted on giving him letters of credit and recommendation, which stated to Messrs. Doolittle & Munson, that it introduced a young friend of irreproachable character, the phraseology of which our young artist has never forgotten, and which secured for him a desk in the office of the first bank-note and wood engravers west of the mountains and in Cincinnati. During the time in the engraving office our artist illustrated the Ladies' Repository of the M. E. Book Concern, works on natural history, and the " Twelve Months Volunteer," a "History of the War with Mexico," and a great many other engravings for various pur- poses, also Robinson's system of school-books. The association with artists in Cincinnati, and his free access to the Western Art Union gallery, had developed in the mind of our engraver a taste for the beautiful, in nature and art, which is always present ; and he can truly say that to him now on the farm, " a thing of beauty is a joy forever"; and the ever- varying moods of natural scenery, the deep-vaulted, starry sky, and all the harmonies of nature, are sources of inexpressible joy ; hence farm life and rural scenes are where he prefers to pass his life. From Cin- cinnati, in 1853, he went to Cleveland, Ohio, engaging in the dry-goods business ; from there to Zanesville, and tlience to Oskaloosa, Iowa, where wild lands he owned demanded attention. Believing that Illinois was the best field for his enterprises he settled on a beautiful farm in Copley township, Knox county, Illinois, where he resided when the war of the rebellion broke out, and being all his life a stanch whig and republican, the fire on Sumter called every man to show his colors; and the heated discussions that followed, between loyal men and copperheads (so called), found in Mr. Balthis a warm and earnest champion for the Union cause, and so pronounced was he in his denun- ciations of the disloyal sentiments of those who opposed the war, that his township republicans nominated him unanimously for the office of supervisor (where supplies had to be voted for, for support of the
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brave soldiers' families, and earnest talk to be done to beat back disloyal utterances), and when the vote was counted on the day of'election, Mr. Balthis received every loyal vote of his township. He took his seat in the board, and the records of the meetings show that not a vote of his gave aid and comfort to the enemies of his country ; the journals showing his voice raised always in defense of her integrity, and he prides himself on this record. To show the estimation in which Mr. Balthis was held during these trying times, by the loyal people of Knox county, we insert here a comment, published in the Knoxville "Gazette," a loyal and leading paper, of a convention held in the court-house at Knoxville, in defense of the union cause, of which Mr. Balthis was unanimously chosen secretary, and J. D. Hand, president. " The unconditional Union convention, which was held at the court- house last Saturday, to nominate candidates to be supported at the November election, was composed of ninety-three delegates, represent- ing eighteen out of the twenty townships of the county. The dele- gates were men of intelligence, fully comprehending the situation of the country, and firmly determined to throw the whole influence of the county on the side of the administration in their efforts to preserve its dignity and unity, by vigorously prosecuting the war for the sup- pression of the rebellion. The convention was a Union convention in name, spirit and fact ; not a bastard production like that by which some of our truly loyal citizens were entrapped two years ago; and the people of the county may implicitly rely on the assurance that its nominees, before or after the election, will not be found bearing dis- loyal badges, in the shape of copperhead pins, or taking part in trait- orous assemblages, and siding, framing and. passing infamous resolu- tions of resistance to the authorities in putting down rebellion. They are for the country all the time. They are union in heart and in back- bone, and will default in no demand made upon them by a pure patriotism." Mr. Baltliis represented his township also in the above convention and held the office of supervisor a number of years, when he resigned and went into business in Chicago. In 1867 he removed to his 320 acres of wild land near Clifton to carry out a long cherished desire to realize the "deep pleasures of the rural life," and to show himself what his indomitable perseverance has brought about. We extract from the Chicago "Tribune" the description of his farm and career, written by the Hon. M. L. Dunlap, of Champaign county : " Here is a man by trade an engraver, but as he could not brook such close confinement he left it for another business, and trusting to a few thousand dollars from savings of his labor and liis business tact, he made the venture. Every plan was carefully considered ; every
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improvement proposed had to be subjected to figures, and every day's labor was applied to some useful end. His house is substantial and elegant ; its rooms contain an elegant piano, and another hundreds of volumes of valuable works. He kept steadily at his task, through sum- mer's sun and winter's frost. In the field and the garden, in the haul- ing of building material, in the marketing of hay and corn he played the working farmer, and has carved out one of the most pleasant and comfortable homes that gladden the 'Grand Prairie.'" His artistic taste finds great enjoyment in natural scenes ; in nature's art gallery, he is pleased. We extract from a leading county paper an editorial visit to the farm : "The beautiful ' Orchard Farmn' was reached about one o'clock, and Mr. J. M. Balthis, its big-hearted proprietor, received us with as hearty a welcome as the father in scripture gave his prodigal son. In a few minutes the whole party felt perfectly at home in the elegant and nicely furnished house. We will not make your mouth water with a description of the good things we enjoyed while there, for fear we will not do justice to the magnificent ' Orchard Farm,' its well informed proprietor, his amiable lady and their intelligent family. The place is appropriately named, and though only eight years old, its thrifty orchard of 1,000 trees is one of the finest we ever saw. The fields slope gently to the southi, and the farm .presents a rich, produc- tive appearance even such a year as this. Five hours swiftly passed, while the party also had the pleasure of examining many art specimens of Mr. Balthis, who is an artist of more than ordinary talent, and was once a skillful engraver in Cincinnati, whose associates were Sontagg, White, Grosvenor, Whiteridges, Stillman, and the artists of the ' West- ern Union Art Gallery.'" Mr. Balthis is the father of six chil- dren : Althea, Vernon, Alberta, Estella, Jenny Lind, Fanny, Edith and Harry Hamilton, who was, May, 1879, appointed a cadet midship- man in United States Naval Academy, at Annapolis, Maryland, from the eighth congressional district of Illinois, by the. Hon. G. L. Fort. Young Baltlıis passed a most creditable examination in June, 1879. In conclusion, we deem the above details of a successful life due to one of Iroquois county's most enterprising farmers, showing what well directed effort can do, coupled with untiring industry and integrity of character, to build up a state which is formed of " substantial citizens."
Erick Nelson (deceased) was born in Norway January 6, 1821. He came to America in 1839, going back in 1847, and returning again in 1848. He settled in Yorkville, Kendall county, New York, following the business of farming. In the month of February, 1868, he moved with his family to this township, locating where his family now reside, on the homestead, containing 80 acres, with a 240-acre tract on the
* gute; Je
Respectfully John Milton Balthis.
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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east. He built a nice, roomy residence at the time of settling, and it is a great pity his life could not have been spared to reap the reward of his labors in the society of liis interesting family. He died March 6, 1878, and was buried with Masonic honors. He was married in Christiania, Norway, February 19, 1848, to Miss Isabel Anderson, who was born October 14, 1827. He left to mourn his loss a wife and ten children : Mary, wife of Joseph Yates, deceased ; Caroline, wife of Thomas Thorston ; Sarah, wife of Lester Phelps; Andrew ; Tina, wife of Samuel Heather; Ella, Anna, Emma, Lyda and Charley. Jennie died, aged one year, August 30, 1864. Mr. Nelson was brought up as a Lutheran,-the laws of Norway making it obligatory on the part of parents to send their children, both male and female, to school until a certain age, where they were compelled to receive a ministerial education.
Joseph Yates (deceased) was born in the town of Mohawk, Mont gomery county, New York, January 20, 1842. He enlisted in the army in Wisconsin, August 15, 1862, and was discharged Marclı 26, 1863, on account of sickness, and sent home. At Chicago he was under the physician's care for seven months. He died August 10, 1879. He was married to Miss Mary Nelson May 27, 1877, who was born November 16, 1848. He leaves behind to grieve over his untimely calling off a loving wife, and one daughter, Aileen, who was born October 30, 1878.
B. J. Wakeman, nurseryman and florist, Chebanse, was born Janu- ary 15, 1840, in the town of Addison, Du Page county, Illinois. He lived with his parents till nineteen years of age, at which time he enlisted in Co. B, 33d Ill. Inf., under command of Col. Hovey. He was engaged in eighteen battles, some of the principal ones being : Pea Ridge, Grand Gulf, Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hill and Black River,-all being fought in seven consecutive days. He was also at the siege of Vicksburg, capture of Mobile and numer- ous other engagements. He was discharged and reënlisted as a " vet" in Texas, serving in all four and a half years, and was finally dis- charged in the winter of 1866. Returning home he remained two years, then came to Chebanse in 1868, going into the nursery business, having an eighty-acre tract, several acres of which are devoted to his nursery. By honorable dealings and good stock he has worked him- self a fine trade, and no doubt he deserves it. He was married December 27, 1868, to Miss Etta A. Root, who was born in Albion, Orleans county, New York, August 9, 1845. They have four chil- dren : Mary A., Lena A., Grace M. and George C. Mr. Wakeman belongs to no order, except the Chebanse Silver Cornet Band.
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Geo. W. Trask, Sr., farmer, Chebanse, was borne in Hampshire county, Massachusetts, April 29, 1827. His parents were Norman and Lucretia M. (Brace) Trask. He was raised on a farm, but has worked in all branches of the wool-manufacturing business, and came west September 11, 1856, stopping some three years at Princeton, Bureau county, Illinois, going from there to Grundy county, staying ten years. In 1869 he came to this county, locating on his present farm, contain- ing 320 acres, raising corn, oats and flax. He was married July 4, 1851, to Miss Emily Bacon, who was born in Ware village, Massacliu- setts, November 24, 1835. Her mother, Mrs. Mercy Bacon, was born in Brimfield, Massachusetts, in 1802, and is still living with her dauglı- ter. Mr. Trask has been school director for nine years. He has four children : Frank H., George W., Jr., Eugene A. and Freddie.
Erastus Roadifer, liveryman, Chebanse, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, April 11, 1843. His parents were Daniel and Rhoda (Houghi) Roadifer. His father was a native of Virginia, who was born in 1803, and is still hale and hearty. Mr. Erastus Roadifer resided in the county of Fairfield till 1855, when, with his parents, he moved to La Salle county, Illinois. He there followed the pursuit of farining until 1869, and then came to Chebanse, where he has since resided, carrying on the livery business, being the principal one in the place. He is a good citizen and an upright business man.
William W. Gray, farmer and stock-raiser, Chebanse, is worthy of a place in the history of Iroquois county. He was born on the Isle of Wight, England, December 13, 1824. Isaac and Sarah (Hawkins) Gray were his parents. At the age of sixteen he emigrated to this country with father and mother, stopping in Olio one winter, and located in Rush county, Indiana, in 1831. In 1837 he moved to Adams county, Illi- nois, to what is now called Coatsburg. He was brought up on a farm, and his school facilities were none of the best. Wlien about twenty years of age lie moved to New Diggings, Wisconsin, and teamned, bonght and hauled lead ore for three years. While in New Diggings he married Miss Electa M. Slayton, October 24, 1847. She was born March 24, 1824, in Allegheny county, New York. In company with his wife he returned to Adams county, stopping there till 1870, when he and family moved to Chiebanse township, living in the same house up till the present time, having 720 acres and good out-build- ings. He and his sons are extensively engaged in the raising of Per- cheron Norman horses and Hereford cattle. He has held the office of . road commissioner, school director and school trustee, and has been a member of the M. E. church for thirty-seven years; steward, class- : leader, and delegate to the annual conference held at Monmouth in
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1879. In politics he is a republican. He has been the father of eleven children, eight living: Isaac N .; Sarah M., wife of P. S. De Witt, of Will county ; Anna C., wife of Alonzo Hammond, of Kanka- kee county; George H., Alice L., William W., Owen L. and Ira L .; the deceased were : Charles W., William H. and Jolin L. 1
Rev. Charles Gonant, pastor of SS. Mary and Joseph Church, Chebanse, was born January 25, 1836, in the province of Lorraine, France. He prepared for the ministry in the city of Nancy, when, at the age of twenty-two, he went to Dublin and spent six months in his studies at the All Hallows College, and then left the country of his birth and came to America in 1858, landing in Alton, and after due time was ordained by the first bishop of Alton (Bishop Juncker) in the same year. He was in Springfield for some three months in 1858, after which time he had charge of congregations in Decatur, Assumption and Litchfield. After leaving Litchfield, in 1871, lie returned to France to attend affairs incident to the death of his father, and then returned to this country in 1872. After his return home he became the assistant of Father O'Neill, of Chicago, and faithfully and well performed the duty assigned lim for the six months following. He then removed to Chebanse in 1872, where he has held charge and resided ever since. He has charge, also, of the Clifton parish, consisting of 150 families, and the parish of Chebanse, containing 100. When Father Gonant came here, the church edifice was but a mere shell, but through his energy and good management he soon completed the building, containing ample grounds, also the parsonage adjoining. The church is the neatest in the town, and great credit is due him for its early completion. He is also presi- dent of the Father Mathew Temperance Society, which numbers fifty-seven members, and lias been the means of doing a great deal to advance the temperance cause in this place.
Jolin F. Grosse, deceased, was born in Prussia, Germany, January 18, 1838, and emigrated to America in 1856, and located in Bloom, Cook county, Illinois, and worked at farm work until the breaking out of the war of the rebellion, when he enlisted in the 36th Ill. Inf., and served his adopted country faithfully until his health failed him. He was discharged from his command for disability, and returned to Illinois and settled in the town of Waltham, La Salle county, where lie engaged in farming, and continued at it until his brother Henry moved to Chebanse, Iroquois county, Illinois, to engage in mercantile life, where he resided until his death. He was a pen- sioner for many years before his death, on account of disability from sickness, contracted while engaged in the defense of liis adopted country. He married in Ottawa, Illinois, September 4, 1864, Miss
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