History of La Salle County, Illinois, Part 47

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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At the usual age Marshall N. Armstrong be- came a student in the district school near his father's home and afterward attended the Farm Ridge Seminary for two terms. He then en- gagcd in teaching school for two years and later pursued a seven years' course in the University of Chicago. After studying for two years in the Union College of Law at Chicago he was gradu- ated therefrom on the 5th of June, 1879, and was admitted to the bar. He then located in Ottawa and went into the office of Reeves & Thompson. He has since practiced law in Ot- tawa, covering a period of more than a quarter of a century and the records show that he has been connected as counsel or advocate for the defense or prosecution in almost every case of importance that has been tried in the courts of this district through many years. He has been a member of the city council and of the board of education, long scrving as a factor in the development and upbuilding of the public-school system. He has also been president of the Old Settlers' Association. Beginning in 1896 he was

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elected supervisor of Ottawa township and has served his township in that capacity continuously to the present time. His attention has chiefly been given to the practice of law and he has won for himself very favorable criticism for the careful and systematic methods he has followed. He has a strong power of concentration and ap- plication and his retentive mind has often excited the surprise of his professional colleagues. As an orator he stands high, especially in the dis- tinction of legal matters before the court, where his comprehensive knowledge of the law is mani- fest and his application of the legal principles demonstrates the wide range of his professional acquirements.

Mr. Armstrong has very large farming inter- ests in Calhoun county, Iowa, owning one thou- sand acres of land and he also owns much valu- able property in Ottawa.

MOAB P. TRUMBO.

Moab Perry Trumbo has for more than a half century resided in La Salle county and is one of its venerable and respected citizens, being now in his seventy-seventh year. He was born in Rockingham county in the Shenandoah valley of Virginia on the 16th of December, 1829. The farm upon which his birth occurred has been the property of the Trumbos for one hundred and thirty-five years, hav- ing belonged to his father and his grand- father, both of whom bore the name of Jacob Trumbo. The father came to La Salle county in 1853 with his five sons, O. W., M. P .. John, Mathias, and Christopher, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, upon which the subject of this review now resides. He was not long permitted to enjoy his new home, how- ever, for his death occurred soon afterward. His entire life was devoted to general agricul- tural pursuits. He married Miss Elizabeth Sny- der, who remained a resident of Dayton town- ship until her death, which occurred May 1, 1873. She had for twenty years survived her husband, who passed away November 10, 1853. . In the family were eleven children. Dorothy, born December 13, 1817, is the widow of Levi Hess and resides in Kingman, Kansas. Joseph, born November 27. 1819, died in November, 1823. Benjamin, born December 18, 1827, is deceased. Oliver. born April 5. 1824, died a year ago. Amanda, born May 8, 1827, died in June, 1852. Moab P. is the next of the family. John, born November 22, 1831, died in April, 1859. Mathias, born December 3, 1833, died October 16, 1869.

Ahab C., born March I3,

1836, also passed away on the 16th of October, 1869. Ephraim, born January 29, 1838, died in Octo- ber of the same year. Mary J., born June 27, 1840, is the widow of Isaac Green and lives in Dayton township.

Moab P. Trumbo was reared upon the old homestead farm in Virginia to the age of twenty- three years, when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Illinois. He had attended the common schools and was trained to farm labor through the assistance he rendered his father. At the age of twenty-five years he began farm- ing on his own account and purchased his father's farm in this county, upon which he has since resided, although he has extended the boundaries of his place until he now owns over four hun- dred acres of good land, constituting a very val- uable property. He has bought and sold land, realizing a considerable profit from his real-es- tate operations, has also loaned money and is a director and stockholder in the Ottawa Banking & Trust Company. On Christmas day of 1904 he deeded to his son, B. Frank Trumbo, one hundred and fifty acres of land worth twenty thousand dollars.

On the 27th of February, 1861, Mr. Trumbo was married to Mrs. Rebecca Wal- ters, who was born in Ohio, March 4, 1836, and is a daughter of Lewis B. and Francina P. (Ashbrook) Kagy, both of whom were natives of Virginia. The father died in Ottawa at the age of seventy-four years and the mother died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Trumbo, when ninety-three years of age. Mrs. Trumbo comes from an old Swiss family and has the record of genealogy back to a very early date. The first representative of the name in America came about 1700 and settled in Pennsylvania. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Trumbo have been born two children. B. Frank Trumbo, an enterprising agriculturist, who is now serving as sheriff of this county, was mar- ried December 3, 1886, to Miss Josephine Rhodes, a daughter of Joseph Rhodes, and they have two children : Helena, born in 1887; and Josephine, born in 1892. Mabel, the only daughter, is the wife of Ed Bradford, proprietor of the Ottawa Steam Laundry. He is represented on another page of this work, as is B. Frank Trumbo.

Mr. Trumbo of this review has devoted his entire life to agricultural pursuits, making a specialty of stock raising, which he has found a very profitable source of income. He is now in possession of a handsome competence as the re- sult of well directed labor and judicious invest- ment and is numbered among the substantial res- idents of this part of the state. He was reared

MR. AND MRS. M. P. TRUMBO.

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PAST AND PRESENT OF LA SALLE COUNTY.

in the Baptist church but is now a Christian Scientist. In his political allegiance he is a demo- crat and has served as road supervisor and school officer, but has never been an aspirant for posi- tions of public trust. His residence in the county covers a period of more than a half century. The journey westward was made by rail to Wheeling, West Virginia, thence down the Ohio and up the Illinois rivers to La Salle and by stage to Ottawa. There were but few houses between the Trumbo farm and Ottawa at that time. Now the country has become thickly set- tled, dotted here and there with the homes of a contented and prosperous people. Many changes have been wrought, not only in the set- tlement of the county, but in the manner of living and in the methods of carrying on busi- ness and Mr. Trumbo has rejoiced in the ad- vancement that has been wrought, withholding his support from no measure or movement that tends to benefit the community. He is a man of many good qualities, fearless in support of his honest convictions, and not only as a representa- tive of one of the prominent pioneer families of the county but also because of his own personal merits does he deserve mention in this volume among the leading citizens of his section of the state.

DAVID B. SNOW.

David B. Snow, a capable and distinguished member of the La Salle county bar, whose large law practice is indicative of his position in public regard, was born in Franklin county, Indiana, August 7, 1838, and there spent the first four- teen years of his life. In 1852 he removed to Hamilton county, Ohio, where he was employed at farm labor for four years but, believing that a professional career would prove more congenial and possibly more profitable, he entered the pre- paratory department of Miami University at Ox- ford, Ohio, in 1856, that better educational facili- ties might equip him for a different career. Through the six succeeding years his time was divided between study in that institution and in teaching, but in the early part of 1862 he put aside all personal desires and ambitions in order to aid his country in establishing the supremacy of the Union. Enlisting as a member of Com- pany K, Eighty-third Ohio Infantry, he went to the south and participated in various sanguinary conflicts, including the battles of Arkansas Post, Port Hudson, Champion Hills, Jackson, Black River, Vicksburg and the Red River campaign. He also participated in the last pitched battle of the war, at Fort Blakeley near Mobile, Alabama, on the 9th of April, 1865. After the surrender of

the Confederate troops the Eighty-third Ohio Infantry was sent to Galveston, Texas, being a part of the corps of observation which was in- tended to march into Mexico should the French troops refuse to leave the country. However, this movement was found to be an unnecessary one and with his regiment Mr. Snow was mus- tered out at Galveston on the 26th day of July, 1865. He acted as first sergeant of Company K. and with his command proceeded to Camp Den- nison near Cincinnati, Ohio, where the men re- ceived their final pay and were discharged in the month of August.

In the fall of the same year Mr. Snow entered the law office of his cousin, Henry Snow, at Cincinnati, Ohio, and he further pursued his preparation for the practice of law as a student in a law school of Cincinnati, from which he won his diploma in 1867. In May of that year he located for practice in Ottawa, where he has since remained. The favorable judgment which the public passed upon him at the outset of his career has in no degree been set aside or modified but on the contrary has been strengthened as the years have gone by and has been emphasized by his careful conduct of important litigation, his candor and fairness in the presentation of cases, his zeal and earnestness as an advocate and by generous commendation he has received from his contemporaries, who unite in bearing testimony as to his high character and superior mind.

Mr. Snow, interested in community affairs, served as a member of the board of education for eighteen years, from 1882 until 1900 and has been a co-operant factor in many movements for the general good. He has also served as com- mander of Seth C. Earl post, G. A. R., and is prominent in the organization, while in social circles in the city he has gained warm and favor- able regard.

CHARLES W. CAMPBELL.

Charles W. Campbell, who is successfully en- gaged in the livery business in Ottawa, was born near Paisley, Ontario, Canada, in 1868, and in his early youth his parents removed to Earlville. Illinois, where he resided until 1888. He then came, a young man of twenty years, to Ottawa, to accept the position of day clerk in White's Hotel, where he remained for three years. On the expiration of that period he became a motor- nian on the Ottawa street railway, acting in that capacity for a year. He then invested his earn- ings in a livery stable, which he purchased from

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Henry Holmes, located on La Salle street, where he remained until 1898, when he purchased the livery barn at the corner of Madison and Colum- bus streets and removed to that place. The same year he built a new addition to the building, the dimensions being eighty by forty feet. He is a great horse fancier and owes much of his suc- cess to that fact. He has owned many fast horses in his time and has proved himself an ex- pert in the picking up of green horses which have qualities for great speed, an illustration of this fact being the famous mare, Jessie C., the fast- est mare ever sent out from La Salle county, having a record of 2:1014, also Sadie Hall with a record of 2:1614 and other fine racing stock of less note. He deserves much credit for what he has accomplished, for he started in business without financial assistance and has built up one of the finest livery barns in La Salle county. His barn is located on Columbus street opposite the Clifton Hotel and is one of the finest, cleanest and largest livery stables in the county.

Mr. Campbell was married in 1892 to Miss Dell Wayne, of Freedom township, La Salle county, and they now reside at No. 614 Chapel street in East Ottawa. Fraternally Mr. Camp- bell is connected with Occidental lodge, No. 40, A. F. & A. M .; Shabbona chapter, No. 37, R. A. M .; Ottawa commandery, No. 10, K. T .; and St. Elmo lodge, No. 70, K. P. In politics he is a stalwart and earnest republican and in the spring of 1905 was elected alderman of Ottawa from the second ward, so that he is now serving in that position.

JAMES H. PICKENS.

James H. Pickens, who for many years was actively engaged in the conduct of a farm and is now conducting a fruit business but is practic- ally living a retired life, has made his home in South Ottawa since June, 1840, at which date he came with his parents to Illinois. He was born in Plymouth, Massachusetts, August 16, 1834, and is a son of James and Eliza A. (Chase) Pickens, who upon coming to La Salle county located soon afterward in Otter Creek township, where the father purchased government land and began the development of a farm. After a brief period, however, he removed to South Ottawa, where the family made their home. He pur- chased and sold many different pieces of property and at different times owned the greater part of South Ottawa. Some two years after his arrival here he hauled lumber from Chicago and con- structed a house at what is now about 208 or

210 State street. He likewise carried on general farming in connection with his real-estate dealing and his business interests were capably conducted bringing him a good financial return. He passed away in Ottawa on the 11th of October, 1889. His wife had departed this life several years before. In politics he was a life-long democrat, interested in the growth and success of his party but never accepted office.

James H. Pickens retains very vivid recollec- tions of the early days. He recalls trips that were made to what is now Streator for coal at a time when but one building stood upon the pres- ent populous and thriving city. The family home was about six miles east of Streator and on a trip to that section one would frequently see several deer and lesser game of various kinds was plentiful. The family home was in a loca- tion then known as Pickens Grove. In the family were three sons and three daughters, of whom a brother and sister of our subject are living and also a half-sister. The former are Frank and Mrs. E. H. Hollis, the latter residing on State street in South Ottawa, while the former occupies the old family homestead in South Ottawa town- ship. The half-sister, Miss Mabel Pickens, resides in East Ottawa.

James H. Pickens has resided in South Ottawa from the age of seven or eight years and after attending the common schools here became a student in Marksville Academy in Massachusetts. The greater part of his life has been devoted to farming and his methods of tilling the soil were very practical and resultant. He removed to the city of Ottawa about fifteen years ago and now leases his farm of one hundred and sixty acres and also another tract of sixty-four acres which he owns a half mile west of the city. The Luther College, a Norwegian institution, is located upon an adjoining place, which is a fine fruit and asparagus farm. The asparagus is shipped direct to Chicago, about two thousand or twenty- five hunderd boxes being sent annually. The principal fruit raised is currants, there being about sixty-five hundred bearing bushes of different varieties upon the farm. In addition to that place Mr. Pickens owns several houses in Ottawa, having invested quite extensively in city property, his realty holdings now bringing him a good financial return. His farm comprises two hundred and twenty-five acres of rich and productive land, which adjoins the city on the south and west and aside from giving supervision to his agricul- tural, horticultural and property interests he is now living retired.

Mr. Pickens was married in Massachusetts to Miss Clementine Ashley, who was born in Mid- dleboro, Plymouth county, that state, a daughter of Silas P. and Phoebe (Davis) Ashley. She is

J. H, Pikens

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PAST AND PRESENT OF LA SALLE COUNTY.

a grandniece of Perry Davis, the owner and manufacturer of the Davis Pain Killer. Her grandfather Davis came to La Salle county at an early day and at his death was laid to rest in the Strawn cemetery. Mrs. Pickens was only seventeen years of age at the time of her mar- riage and came to the west fifty years ago. Two children were born of this union: Mrs. Cora J. Pope, who is living on the south side of Ottawa ; and John A., who is residing in South Ottawa and is engaged in the fruit and asparagus busi- ness. He married Miss Edith Milligan, of New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Politically Mr. Pickens is a democrat and has served as collector and in other local offices, including that of supervisor, in which capacity he was retained by re-election for ten years. His wife is a devoted member of the Presbyterian church. He has always taken an active and helpful interest in school matters, having served for many years as school director and was one of the first board of trustees of that organization and built the Ottawa township high school. His devotion to the general good has ever been mani- fest in tangible co-operation in progressive move- ments. As a business man he has made a very creditable record, his methods being practical and enterprising and resulting in the achievement of success, which is well merited and which now supplies him with many of the comforts that go to make life worth living.

GEORGE W. SMITH.

George W. Smith, of Marseilles, is one of the active and public-spirited business men of the county, conducting a furniture and under- taking establishment for the past fourteen years. He has made his home in Marseilles since 1872 and is a native of New York, his birth hav- ing occurred in the town of Theresa, Jefferson county, on the 19th of April, 1849. He spent his childhood and youth there and afterward learned the machinist's trade. Coming westward to Illinois, he settled at Marseilles when a young man of twenty-three years and worked for the Marseilles Manufacturing Company, be- coming foreman of the machine shop after he had been in the employ of the firm for three years and acting in that capacity for seventeen years. No stronger testimonial of his capability and the trust reposed in him by the company could be given than the fact that he was so long retained in this service. On the ex- piration of that period he resigned his position and engaged in the furniture business, purchas- ing a half interest in a store already established.

He was a partner of Mrs. Brier for eleven years and then purchased his partner's interest, since which time he has been sole proprietor. He also equipped himself for the undertaking business and attended an undertaking school, learning the work thoroughly. He has continued in this line for a number of years and in his furniture store he is meeting with success, carrying a large and carefully selected stock of goods. With the furniture and undertaking departments he occu- pies three floors of a good business block and has built up a fine trade. His stock is four times as great as that which he originally car- ried, showing the marked increase in his business.

Mr. Smith, returning to New York, was mar- ried in Jefferson county, on the 5th of January, 1875. to Miss Jane A. Vanschaick, a native of New York, born at Cape Vincent. There are three children of this marriage: Gertrude E .. the wife of John R. Clark, of Marseilles ; Lloyd H., who is married and is a partner with his father ; and Georgiana, at home.

In his political views Mr. Smith was formerly a democrat but is now independent. He is an advocate of the gold standard and thus severed his allegiance to the party when in its platform was embodied the principle of the free coinage of silver. He has been elected and served as township trustee for a number of years and has been alderman of Marseilles for six years, while for one term he was mayor. His official record is creditable and has been characterized by un- faltering devotion to duty and a ready recogni- tion of the needs and possibilities of the city. He and his wife attend the Universalist church. His son is a Master Mason, belonging to the lodge at Marseilles. Mr. Smith is well entitled to the praise that is indicated by the term "a self-made man," for he started out in life with no advantages save those which are common to all and his perseverance and strong determina- tion have enabled him to conquer obstacles and difficulties and win the competence which he is now enjoying as one of the successful business men of Marseilles.

JOHN P. ANTHONY.

John P. Anthony, deceased, was one of the early residents of Ottawa, establishing his home here before the city had emerged from village- hood. With its development and progress he was closely identified for many years and his labors proved of direct and permanent benefit.

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PAST AND PRESENT OF LA SALLE COUNTY.

A native of New York, he was born at Fishkill village on the Hudson in 1819 and came to Otta- wa before the building of railroads through La Salle county, making his way by canal from Chicago. Here he entered the office of B. C. Cook and studied law, after which he was ad- mitted to the bar, but never engaged in practice. Instead he turned his attention to the real-estate business and negotiated many important realty transfers. During the period of the Civil war he worked day and night for the soldiers and did everything in his power to uphold the Union cause. He followed the real-estate business dur- ing his active business life, but his health soon failed him and caused him to retire from that field of labor.

In 1860, Mr. Anthony was united in mar- riage to Miss Helen M. Everett, who was born in Dutchess county, New York, and was brought to this county by her husband after their mar- riage. They became the parents of four children, but only one is now living, Phebe A., the widow of Frederick A. Sherwood, mentioned elsewhere in this work. Mr. Anthony was a stalwart re- publican in his political views after the organiza- tion of the party and took a most active and interested part in its work, doing all in his power to secure its success. He held membership in the Congregational church and lived a life of uprightness and honor. He was, however, only forty-eight years of age at the time of his death, passing away in 1867. Mrs. Anthony still lives in Ottawa, making her home with her daughter, Mrs. Sherwood, and they have valuable property interests here. Mr. Anthony is yet remembered by many of the older citizens and well deserves mention among the prominent and valued pioneer residents of the county.

WILLIAM HARRISON HUNTER.

William Harrison Hunter, whose position in business circles in Illinois is indicated by the fact that he is serving at the present writing-1906- as president of the Illinois Lumber Dealers' As- sociation, has for eight years been closely associ- ated with the lumber trade in La Salle. He was born in Rush county, Indiana, June 5, 1846, a son of William and Elizabeth (Kirk) Hunter, both of whom were of Scotch and Irish descent. William Hunter was a son of John and Griz- zell (McKinley) Hunter and was born in Penn- sylvania, May II, 1793. He was only three years of age when his parents removed to Mason county, Kentucky, where he resided until 1828, when he went to Rush county, Indiana, follow-

ing the occupation of farming there for a long period. In 1856 he removed to Tazewell county, Illinois, and in 1865 became a resident of Jefferson county, this state. He died in July, 1878, while his wife, who was born near Annapolis, Maryland, April 10, 1804, died in Bellerive, Illinois, November 16, 1884, when eighty years of age. They were Presbyterians in religious belief and were highly respected by neighbors and acquaintances.

In the common schools of Indiana and Illi- nois William H. Hunter acquired his education, studying reading, penmanship, arithmetic and to some extent grammar and geography, al- though the schools of that period were very in- efficient as compared to the public-school system of the present time. His early experiences were such as came to a farmer boy of Illinois in the middle of the nineteenth century, for with his par- ents he removed to this state in 1856 and was identified with its farming interests until 1864. On the 12th of March of that year he enlisted in the Ninety-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry as a member of Company I, joining the army at Bloomington. He served as a private in that regiment until July. 1865, when he was trans- ferred to Company G, of the Thirty-seventh Illi- nois Infantry and promoted to the rank of cor- poral. He then acted as color guard until mus- tered out at Houston, Texas, on the 15th of May, 1866, receiving an honorable discharge at Spring- field, Illinois, on the 3Ist of the same month. He afterward lived on the home farm with his parents at Moore's Prairie. Jefferson county, Illi- nois, until January, 1868, after which he spent the succeeding months until the Ist of October, 1868, as a student in the old Vermillion Institute at Haysville, Ohio. From December of that year until March, 1870. he engaged in teaching school in Johnson county, Missouri, and at a later date returned to the home farm, where he lived with his parents until 1873.

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History of La Salle County, Illinois, Part 47

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