History of La Salle County, Illinois, Part 115

Author: Hoffman, U. J. (Urias John), b. 1855
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

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the Modern Woodmen and with the Odd Fel- lows, while Mr. Hall was a Knight Templar Mason. He attends and supports the Methodist Episcopal church, although not a member, and is a public-spirited citizen, known for his op- position to misrule in public affairs and for his allegiance to all that works for the good of the community. He has been continuously iden- tified with agricultural interests in this coun- try for sixteen years and is now well known as one of the enterprising farmers of Freedom township.

THOMAS PETERSON.

Thomas Peterson, carrying on general farm- ing on section II, Miller township, is one of the pioneer settlers of La Salle county, having for more than a half century made his home here. Great changes have occurred during this period, of which he has been a witness, and in the work of agricultural improvement he has borne his part. Born in Norway on the 16th of February, 1830, he spent his youth upon a farm there and enjoyed fair common-school advantages, but is almost wholly self-educated in English. He con- tinued a resident of his native land until twenty- five years of age, when the favorable reports which he had heard concerning America and its opportunities induced him to come to the United States. He therefore made his way across the water to the new world and took up his abode in La Salle county, Illinois, where necessity at once forced him to seek employment and for several years he worked as a farm hand. When his labor had brought him sufficient capital he pur- chased and fitted up a team of four yoke of oxen and engaged in breaking prairie for several years, turning the furrows on large tracts of virgin soil. He thus contributed in substantial measure to subjugating the wilderness and ex- tending the frontier by reclaiming the once wild land for the purposes of cultivation. The pioneer conditions of the county may be judged from the fact that in those early days he saw great num- bers of deer and much other wild game in this part of the state. Eventually his frugality and enterprise enabled him to make purchase of land and he became the owner of eighty acres adjoin- ing his present home farm. He broke that and added to it and there he carried on general agri- cultural pursuits on his own account. He later bought more land from time to time and now owns three hundred and eighty acres, all pro- ductive land and well improved. In the home place he has two hundred acres which he operates in connection with his sons, this being

situated on section II, and he also has one hundred and eighty acres on section 4. Both tracts are well improved and equipped with modern conveniences. Although he started out in life empty-handed he is now one of the substantial farmers of the county, numbered among the men of affluence whose business records are most creditable and commendable, for in the lines of business activity and honesty he has achieved his success. Everything about his place is kept in excellent condition and there are good buildings, well tilled fields and good grades of stock.

In 1860, in Miller township, Mr. Peterson was married to Miss Esther Swenson, a native of Norway, who was there reared. In their family are five children: Severt, who is married and is a farmer of La Salle county; Peter, who is engaged in the cultivation of his father's second farm; Richard, who is farming the home place ; Tilda, the wife of Peter Clauson, of Miller town- ship; and Emma, who is acting as housekeeper for her brother Peter.

On becoming an American citizen Mr. Peterson gave his political support to the democracy, while later he joined the ranks of the republican party and in 1864 supported Lincoln. He never sought office but served at an early day as one of the road commissioners. He believes in good schools and on the school board has done effective service in behalf of improvement in methods of public instruction. He and his wife are members of the Lutheran church and are people of the highest respectability. He is one of the few remaining of the first settlers from Norway and is a man of influence among his fellow countrymen. He has long been recognized as one of the industrious and diligent farmers of the county and by his own labors and enterprise has accumulated valu- able property. He is a man of integrity and up- right character, having the confidence and good will of all and wherever known he is held in high regard because of what he has accomplished and the methods which he has pursued.

JOHN MUNDIE.

John Mundie is a retired farmer living in Troy Grove township, where he has a nice country home and a good property. A native of Scot- land, he was born in Aberdeenshire and came to the United States in 1854. He had little capital and changed his place of abode, thinking that he might benefit his financial condition in the new world. On reaching Illinois he rented land for a few years and then when he had saved a sufficient sum from his earnings he purchased

MR. AND MRS. THOMAS PETERSON.

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PAST AND PRESENT OF LA SALLE COUNTY.

forty acres of land, which he sold in a few years to purchase the farm of one hundred and sixty acres where he now lives. He early en- gaged in buying cattle, which he found to be a profitable source of income and was for many years the leading buyer in this section of the county, operating extensively along that line. He made purchase of his farm in 1860 and has resided thereon continuously since. At one time he was engaged in business as a grocer and butcher at Mendota, but the greater part of his life has been devoted to general agricultural pur- suits and dealing in live stock. His farm, cov- ering a quarter section of land, is under a high state of cultivation and improved with modern equipments and is now being operated by his son.

Mr. Mundie was married to Miss Elizabeth Condell and unto them were born eight children, tivo of whom are in Iowa, while the others are in Illinois.

Mr. Mundie owes his success to good manage- ment, to hard work and unfaltering diligence. He has put all the improvements and the drain- age upon his farm and has converted it from a wet and unproductive tract of land into a place of rich fertility, from which large harvests are annually garnered. He is indeed a self-made man and one who owes his prosperity entirely to his own efforts. He has builded wisely and well and as the the architect of his own fortune has made a success which is justly merited.

CHARLES W. LONG.

Charles W. Long, living on section 22, Rutland township, is one of the public-spirited men and progressive farmers of La Salle county, whose possessions include a neat and valuable farm of two hundred and sixty-four acres. He was born in Miller township, August 8, 1862. His father, Lewis Long, also a native of this county, was born here in 1825, his parents being Chris- topher and Sally (Booth) Long, who first set- tled in La Salle county south of the city of Otta- wa. They were among the earliest settlers of this part of the state and in fact the family name is inseparably interwoven with the history of pioneer development as well as of later day progress. Lewis Long was reared to manhood upon the old homestead west of Marseilles, at- tended the district schools and aided his father in the work of the farm. He was married on the 14th of December, 1852, to Miss Emily E. Barber, a native of New York and a daughter of Zina and Sarah (Potter) Barber, who came to

Illinois from the Empire state and settled in Miller township, La Salle county, in 1843.

In 1860, Lewis Long purchased a quarter section of prairie land in Miller township, where he built a house and developed a good farm which is now known as the Long homestead. There he followed farming for many years, buy- ing more land from time to time until his pos- sessions aggregated over one thousand acres. He spent the remainder of his life upon that farm and died in 1904, at the age of seventy- eight years. He was a man of excellent busi- ness capacity and executive ability and what- ever he undertook he carried forward to suc- cessful completion. His life was crowned with honor and success and he enjoyed in unqualified measure the esteem and friendship of those with whom he was associated. Mrs. Long survives her husband and now in her seventy-fourth year occupies a nice residence in Marseilles. Fur- ther mention of this worthy couple is made on another page of this work.

Charles W. Long of this review was one of a family of eight children and was reared on the old home farm in Miller township, where he became familiar with all departments of farm labor. After attending the common schools he spent one year in the normal school at Ypsilanti, Michigan, and when he had completed his edu- cation he returned to the farm and remained with his father until his twenty-sixth year. In 1887 he purchased the farm where he now re- sides and has greatly improved the property. which yields to him golden harvests in return for the care and labor he bestows upon the fields, for in all of his farm work he is prac- tical and follows methods that are productive of immediate and desired results.

On the 18th of October, 1888, Mr. Long was married to Miss Mae E. Clark, a native of this county and a daughter of Richard Clark, who was also born here, the Clarks having come originally from Ohio. Following his marriage Mr. Long removed to his new home and has since added to and improved his dwelling, mak- ing it a beautiful residence. He has also built a large barn and other buildings for the shel- ter of his grain and stock and has done much tiling, while well kept fences divide his farm into fields of convenicnt size, wherein are pro- duced excellent crops of corn, wheat and other cereals. He likewise raises good grades of stock of all kinds and everything about his place is indicative of careful supervision and industry.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Long have been born two children: Harry, who is attending school in Ottawa; and Esther, seven years of age. The family attend the Universalist church of

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Marseilles. Mr. Long is a Master Mason, be- longing to the lodge and chapter. Politically he has been a life-long republican since casting his first presidential ballot for James G. Blaine, vot- ing for each succeeding nominee of the party. He takes an active interest in public affairs of the county and state and is the present super- visor of Rutland township, having served for five years in that capacity, while recently he was re-elected. He has been chairman of the asylum committee and a member of several other im- portant committees and has frequently been a delegate to the county conventions. He has also served as school trustee for three years and his co-operation can ever be counted upon to fur- ther movements for the general good. The stu- dent of history cannot carry his investigations far into the annals of this county without learn- ing of the close and intimate connection which the Long family has borne with the work of upbuilding and improvement, and Charles W. Long is now carrying forward the work which was instituted by his grandfather and contin- ued by his father, standing as a champion of public progress.

SILAS L. WOOD.

Silas L. Wood, for years a prominent repre- sentative of the educational interests of Chicago, now living retired in a pleasant home at No. 804 Monroe street, was born in Canandaigua, New York. His father, Garrett Wood, who in his business career was a contractor and builder, was of Holland-Dutch descent.

Silas L. Wood, supplementing his early educa- tional privileges by study in the Michigan State Normal, also attended lectures in the Michigan State University, at Ann Arbor, and afterward engaged in teaching school for twenty-one years in the Union schools of that state. He later spent a year at Woodstock, Illinois, and in January, 1881, came to Chicago, where for twenty-two years he was a prominent represen- tative of the system of public instruction. Throughout that entire period he taught in the Clarke school and was largely instrumental in building it up until the attendance increased from seven hundred to sixteen hundred pupils. Dur- ing that time he graduated over twelve hundred pupils from the school and among the number are representatives in nearly all of the prominent business houses of Chicago. The Clarke School is located at Ashland avenue and Thirteenth street and the building is two hundred and sixty feet long, one hundred feet wide and three

stories and basement in height. It contains twenty-eight large school rooms, twelve small rooms and an assembly hall. Mr. Wood also taught in the evening school for six years and was very successful in his chosen life work, being one of the able educators of the state, represent- ing public instruction. In 1902 his eyesight be- came so largely impaired that he was obliged to retire from the profession and is now unable to go about alone.

Mr. Wood was married in Ottawa, August 9, 1888, to Alice B. Smith, who was born in that city and pursued her education in the high school there. She also studied music in a convent and was under the instruction of Carrie Whittlesey. Since their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wood have always lived in Chicago, and they occupy a beautiful home at No. 804 Monroe street, in ad- dition to which property Mr. Wood owns several other residences in the city and likewise has money out at interest. Mrs, Wood has a sister living with her-Miss Jennie F. Smith, who is a kindergarten teacher. She also has three other sisters living in Chicago; Mrs. A. B. Searing, the wife of Aaron B. Searing, a member of the board of trade, residing at 6212 Greenwood avenue ; Nancy M. Smith, who makes her home with Mrs. Searing; and Mrs. Emma L. Calkins, who resides at No. 301 Winthrop avenue. She is the widow of George I. Calkins, and both are from La Salle county.

Mr. Wood is a member of various social clubs and of the Menoken Club. His wife is a member of the Exodus Society, and also of the Episco- pal church. Both Mr. and Mrs. Wood have a wide and favorable acquaintance in social circles where true worth and intelligence are received as passports into good society.

HON. WALTER A. PANNECK.

Hon. Walter A. Panneck, mayor of La Salle, stands as another exemplification of the fact that the accident of nationality or birth has nothing to do with a man's position in business or polit- ical circles in the new world and that the direct route to public honor is over the road of public usefulness. Born in Poland, Germany, August I, 1866, a son of Joseph and Antonia Panneck, he came to America with the parents at the age of nine years, the family home being established in La Salle, where he acquired his education, and in early life began working in the coal mines, with which he was connected in various posi- tions for fifteen years at Peru, Illinois.

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Ambitious to direct his energies into fields demanding broader intelligence, he took up the study of law while still connected with the coal trade and pursued his preliminary reading in the office of Hall & Haskins. In 1892 he was ad- mitted to the bar and has since practiced his pro- fession in La Salle with ever increasing success. He began in a humble way and advancement at the bar is proverbially slow and yet he has worked himself upward, his close application, fidelity to his clients' interests, his constantly increasing knowledge of the law, owing to his continued study, and his correct adaptation of its principles making him a lawyer of ability, whose skill has been manifest in the successful trial of many causes. He was city attorney of La Salle for four years and in 1903 he was elected mayor, to which position he was re-elected in 1905, so that he is the present incumbent in the office. He stands for opposition to misrule in munici- pal affairs, for an economical yet progressive administration and for general reform and im- provement. His political allegiance is given to the democracy and while capably discharging the duties of his office he at the same time con- tinues active in the practice of his chosen profession.

In 1896 Mr. Panneck was married in La Salle to Miss Carrie Seepe, of Peru, Illinois. He belongs to the Knights of Columbus, the Modern Woodmen camp, the Royal Arcanum, the Be- nevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Fra- ternal Order of Eagles and the Polish National Alliance, affiliations which indicate his hearty sympathy with the beneficent principles which constitute the basic elements of these organi- zations.

FREDERICK E. PIERCE, M. D.

Dr. Frederick E. Pierce, practicing along mod- ern scientific lines, has made his life of signal usefulness and benefit to his fellowmen. He was born in De Kalb county, Illinois, November 2, 1860, and was graduated from the National Med- ical College in 1897. He located at Austin, Illi- nois, where he remained for a few months, but came the same year to Earlville, where he has since remained in active practice. He has a liberal patronage, is a member of the State Homeopathic Medical Society and is chairman of the board of health. He has never been active in search of office, however, and accepted the present position somewhat under protest. He is likewise serving as a member of the board of education and although deeply interested in political questions he has no desire for office as a reward for party fealty.

Dr. Pierce was married in 1883 to Miss Cora Reynolds, of Kane county, Illinois, and they have two children: Nellie C., now the wife of Fred Smith, living at Sandwich, Illinois; and Arthur, who at the age of sixteen years is at- tending the public schools. Mr. Pierce belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church and to sev- eral social organizations, including the Modern Woodmen, the Royal Neighbors, the Yeomen of America and the Mystic Workers.

ALLAN WYLIE.

For over half a century this gentleman has been prominently identified with the agricultural and business interests of La Salle county but is now practically living retired at his pleasant home on Thirteenth avenue, Mendota. The possibili- ties that America offers to her citizens he has utilized and though he came to this country in limited circumstances he has steadily and perse- veringly worked his way upward, leaving the ranks of the many to stand among the success- ful few.

A native of Scotland, Mr. Wylie was born near Stewarton, in Ayrshire, January 17, 1829, a son of Alexander and Jean (Allison) Wylie. and is a representative of an old and honored family of that country, where they owned a farm of about one hundred acres which had been handed down from one generation to another for hundreds of years. Those of the name who have come to America have proved industrious and thrifty and have become enterprising and wealthy citizens of their adopted land. Our subject is one of six brothers who crossed the Atlantic and he has in his possession a family group taken when they averaged about seventy years of age, a picture of which he may be justly proud.

Mr. Wylie was reared and educated in his native land and was about twenty-one years of age when he came to the United States in 1850, his destination being La Salle county, Illi- nois. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres of wild land in Waltham township for himself and also bought tracts for other members of the family, including the farm now occupied by the widow of William T. Wylie. Upon his place he built a pioneer home and began the cul- tivation of the land, but in 1852 went to Cali- fornia by way of the Isthmus route but not meeting with the success that he anticipated he soon returned to this county .. In his business ventures here he has prospered as the years hav

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gone by and he is today numbered among the wealthy citizens of this community.

In 1856 Mr. Wylie married Miss Jean Ken- nedy, also a native of Ayrshire, Scotland, and they have become the parents of seven children : Jeanie, Margaret, Minnie, Alice, Clara, Allan A. and Edith. Leaving the farm in 1876, Mr. Wylie removed to Mendota and is now living retired, enjoying a well earned rest and the fruits of former toil. In his home he reminds one of a typical Scotch laird, of a jovial and genial disposition, and kindly manner,-one who readily makes friends. He has traveled quite extensively throughout the United States and has twice visited England and Scotland, gaining that broad and thorough information of places and events that only travel can bring. By his ballot he supports the men and measures of the republican party and has filled the offices of school director and supervisor of Waltham township for several years.

JAMES VAN DOREN.

James Van Doren, who died in Ottawa, in Sep- tember, 1875, was a prominent and honored pioneer settler of La Salle county, and is yet remembered by many of its earlier residents as a man whose upright life entitled him to warm esteem. He was born in Charleston, Montgom- ery county, New York, on the 10th of Septem- ber, 1824, his parents being Jacob and Maria (Lansing) Van Doren, who came to La Salle county in the early '30s, settling in Farm Ridge township, which was their home until their re- moval to Ottawa, where both died in the early '70s. They brought their family with them on their removal to the west and James Van Doren, then a lad of six or eight years, was reared in La Salle county, making his home in Farm Ridge township. Throughout the greater part of his life he carried on agricultural pursuits but his closing days were spent in Ottawa. In early manhood he wedded Miss Olive M. Dimmick, who came with her parents to this county from Wayne county, Pennsylvania. They settled in Deer Park township in 1833, where the father, Isaac Dimmick, secured a farm from the gov- ernment. For a considerable period he devoted his time and energies to the tilling of the soil there but afterward removed to Ottawa, where he died about thirty years ago in the early '70s. He served as a colonel in the war of 1812 and on the circuit bench in Pennsylvania before coming to Illinois. He also served as county commissioner in La Salle county before it was

divided into townships. Mr. and Mrs. Van Doren traveled life's journey happily together for a long period and surviving her husband, Mrs. Van Doren passed away in Vermilionville, Deer Park township, May 8, 1903.

In the family of this worthy couple were four children, one of whom died in infancy. The others were Elsie, Marshall and Milford, but Elsie is the only one now living. She was born in this county and is now the wife of J. J. Lacy. They reside upon the old James Van Doren farm on section 1, Farm Ridge township. Mr. Lacy was born in Grundy county, Illinois, in 1858, his parents being Thomas and Catherine (Mc- Arthur) Lacy, the former a native of England, and the latter of Scotland. Coming to this country in their minority they were married in Utica, New York, and soon afterward removed to Will county, this state, in the '40s. Subse- quently they became residents of Grundy county. Thomas Lacy was engaged in business as a contractor in railroad construction for some time and afterward turned his attention to farming. In La Salle county he was engaged in contract work, and his wife died in the city of La Salle in the year 1859. Thomas Lacy afterward re- sided for some time in Will county, then went to Grundy county and spent his last days in Chicago, where he died July 30, 1896, at the age of eighty-eight years. In the family were three children, a daughter being Mrs. Birming- ham, of Chicago, while another daughter, Mrs. Annie L. Cloran, died in Galena, Illinois. Thomas Lacey was a well known man, prominent in his time, exerting a widely felt and beneficial influ- ence in the general welfare and public progress.

J. J. Lacy was reared in Will county and throughout the greater part of his life he fol- lowed farming. He has been a resident of La Salle county for the past four years and operates a valuable tract of land of two hundred and forty acres in Farm Ridge township, which is under a high state of cultivation and is equipped with many modern equipments. He was mar- ried in Will county to Miss Mary J. Carroll, who died in 1893, leaving two children, Thomas and Florence, both residents of Ottawa. He has since married Elsie Van Doren, and they reside upon the old Van Doren homestead. Politically Mr. Lacy is independent in politics, while fraternally he is connected with the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. His wife is a member of the Baptist church and both are well known in this portion of the state, where they have many warm friends. The name of Van Doren has figured prominently in agricul- tural circles in La Salle county for seventy years and as one of the honored early settlers

JAMES VAN DOREN.

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he aided in reclaiming the land for the uses of civilization, in subduing the wilderness and ex- tending the frontier, James Van Doren well de- serves prominent mention in this volume.

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History of La Salle County, Illinois, Part 115

Author: Hoffman, U. J. (Urias John), b. 1855 Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Hoffman, U. J. (Urias John), b. 1855
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286