USA > Illinois > Lee County > History of Lee County, Illinois, Volume II > Part 13
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In 1893 Mr. Pomeroy was united in marriage to Miss Adaline D. Thornton. Mrs. Pomeroy engaged in teaching in Lee county for several years previous to her marriage. She and her husband have six children: Philip E., who was born July 30, 1894; Richard T., whose birth occurred May 11, 1896; Helen L., born September 24, 1897; Edith E., December 27, 1901; Vernon S., December 6, 1903; and Floyd S., July 8, 1905.
Mr. Pomeroy is well known in fraternal circles, being a mem- ber of Lee Center Lodge, No. 146, A. F. & A. M., and Haskel Lodge, No. 1004, I. O. O. F., of Lee Center. He is also affiliated with Lee Center Camp, No. 1036, M. W. A., and he and his wife belong to the Rebekahs and the Order of the Eastern Star. Mr. Pomeroy gives his political allegiance to the republican party and has held the office of road supervisor. His attention is, however, largely con- fined to his farming interests and his success in their management places him among the representative and substantial men of the community.
CHARLES E. IVES.
Charles E. Ives is a prominent and successful attorney of Am- boy, which city has remained his place of residence since Decem- ber, 1854, or for almost six decades. Immediately after the close of the Civil war, in which he had participated as a loyal defender
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of the Union, he entered his father's law office and subsequently practiced in association with him for a period of twenty years, the firm being known as W. E. Ives & Son. Since 1908 he has prac- ticed his profession independently and has been accorded a liberal and lucrative clientage. His birth occurred in Pavilion, Kendall county, Illinois, on the 14th of October, 1842, his parents being William E. and Susan (Ryan) Ives. The father remained an able and successful representative of the legal profession in Amboy from 1854 until his death more than a half century later. During that period he was honored by election to the position of state's attorney and also served as mayor of Amboy. His demise oc- curred in 1908, when he had attained the venerable age of eighty- seven and a half years, while his wife was called to her final rest in 1883, at the age of sixty-two years. The remains of both were interred in Amboy. Representatives of the Ives family, which is of English origin, came to the United States at an early period in the history of this country. A Mr. Bingham, brother of the great- grandmother of our subject, served under Colonel Ethan Allen in the Revolutionary struggle.
In the acquirement of an education Charles E. Ives attended school at Mount Morris, Illinois, and later pursued his studies in the Chicago University, leaving that institution in 1862, however, in order to join the boys in blue in their defense of the Union. In June of that year he became a member of the Sixty-ninth Illinois Volunteer Regiment and in 1864 reenlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-sixth Illinois Infantry, serving with the latter command until the cessation of hostilities. He proved a brave and valorous soldier and returned home with a creditable military record. Having determined upon the legal profession as a life work, he en- tered the law office of his father and eventually became his part- ner, practicing in association with him under the firm style of W. E. Ives & Son for a period of twenty years. Since 1908 he has practiced independently at Amboy. His success in a pro- fessional way affords the best evidence of his capabilities in this line. He is a strong advocate with the jury and concise in his appeals before the court. Much of the success which has at- tended him in his professional career is undoubtedly due to the fact that in no instance will he permit himself to go into court with a case unless he has absolute confidence in the justice of his client's cause. Basing his efforts on this principle, from which there are far too many lapses in professional ranks, it naturally follows that he seldom loses a case in whose support he is enlisted.
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On the 18th of March, 1874, at Fenton, Michigan, Mr. Ives was united in marriage to Miss Eva J. Lamb, a daughter of the Rev. Aroswal and Sophia Lamb, her father being a pastor at Hartland, Michigan. Our subject and his wife have three chil- dren, as follows: William E., who is an expert machinist in the employ of the Public Service Company; George S., a druggist of Franklin Grove, Illinois; and Eva F., who is the wife of F. J. Blocher, a clothing merchant of Franklin Grove, Illinois.
Mr. Ives is a republican in his political views and has ably served in the capacity of justice of the peace since 1901. He has likewise acted as town clerk and has made a highly creditable record as a public official. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Baptist church, and he also belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic. He is a dependable man under any condition and in any emergency. His quietude of deport- ment, his easy dignity, his frankness and cordiality of address, with the total absence of anything sinister or anything to conceal, foretoken a man who is ready to meet any obligation of life with the confidence and courage that come of conscious personal ability, a right conception of things and an habitual regard for what is best in the exercise of human activities.
GEORGE L. RICHARDSON.
While George L. Richardson is now a resident of Burke, South Dakota, he is numbered among the pioneer settlers of Lee county, where he has a wide and favorable acquaintance. He was born in Cheshire county, New Hampshire, on the 2d of December, 1842, and comes of genuine old New England stock. He is proud, how- ever, to claim that his boyhood days were passed in Dixon, for he was brought to the west by his parents in 1849, when a lad of seven years. They arrived at Daysville, Illinois, in the month of Novem- ber and from that time forward George L. Richardson was an in- terested witness of the growth of the county and of the events which have shaped its history. Even at the early age of seven years he took great pleasure in assisting his grandfather, James Hatch, Sr., helping to swing the ox goad over two yoke of fine oxen which had been brought to this district from Chicago. As there were no railroads in those days and comparatively few horses in the county, oxen were in great demand. In the winter of 1849-50 George L.
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GEORGE L. RICHARDSON
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Richardson came to Dixon and lived for a time with his uncle, James Hatch, Jr., who was then conducting the only bakery in this part of the state nearer than Peru. James and Charles Hatch had the credit of operating the first bakery in Dixon, distributing their hand-made crackers and bread to nearby settlements.
At the age of seven years George L. Richardson was sent to a select or subscription school taught by a Mrs. Cotton in what was known as the stone schoolhouse directly west of the Nachusa house. The lamented Major L. Levanway of the Thirty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, who was killed at the battle of Shiloh on the 7th of April, 1862, was the next teacher. He was followed by Henry T. Noble, who was a member of the Thirteenth Illinois Infantry. In the early '50s the demand for a better school system became imperative and the public schools were established.
With advancing years George L. Richardson passed from one school to another of higher grade and at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war in 1861 was a student in the high school which was then conducted in the building now occupied by Dr. Marion L. White, on Second street, where Alexander and James Gow were the efficient instructors. In September of 1861, Mr. Richardson, who could no longer content himself to remain at home while the country was engaged in war, enlisted in the Thirty-fourth Illinois Infantry in which he served for three years and was then honor- ably discharged at Jonesboro, Georgia, September 12, 1864, when but twenty-two years of age. He went back to Nashville, Tennes- see, with General Thomas and while at that point in the winter of 1865, the battle of Nashville occurred, the troops of General Thomas being confronted with the rebel forces under General Hood. Mr. Richardson was in the service at that time in the Ninth Regiment quartermaster forces, having been appointed first lieu- tenant of Company D of that regiment. During his military experi- ence he participated in many hotly contested engagements, including the battle of Shiloh, April, 7, 1862; the siege of Corinth, Mississippi, in May, 1862; the battle of Perryville, Kentucky, in October of the same year, on which occasion he was recommended to his superiors for promotion in recognition of gallant conduct on the field of action, as told in Major General A. McD. McCook's report of the battle. He was held as a prisoner of war during the month of December, 1862, having been captured near Nashville, Tennessee, while acting as messenger for General McCook. Subse- quently he was exchanged and participated in the battle of Chicka- mauga in October, 1863, and Lookout Mountain and Missionary
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Ridge in December, 1863. The balance of his service until Septem- ber, 1864, was in the army blank and record office at Nashville, Tennessee.
After the close of the war Mr. Richardson returned to Dixon and later went to Woodstock, Illinois, where he pursued a three years' course in the Woodstock Academy. He also took a semi- collegiate course in Carroll College at Waukesha, Wisconsin. For a number of years he engaged in teaching in Lee county and his last three years in this profession were spent as principal of the Lee Center schools.
He then withdrew from the educational field to turn his atten- tion to merchandising in Lee Center, Illinois, where he established a store which he successfully conducted for fourteen consecutive years, enjoying a good and profitable trade throughout that period. He then retired from business in 1899 and returned to his old home in Dixon. During his residence in Lee Center he held many offices of public trust, serving as justice of the peace and notary public for four years and as assessor for seven years.
Mr. Richardson was married in Lee Center in 1874, to Miss Millie C. De Wolf and unto them were born the following named: Mae D., the wife of Mark C. Keller, city attorney of Dixon; Nelson F., who is now manager of the grocery department for the I. B. Countryman Company at Dixon; John G., who is now employed in the postoffice of Dixon; and Marguerite, who is living in this city. Mr. Richardson gave all of his children excellent educational oppor- tunities. He is a comrade in G. A. R. Post, No. 299, of Dixon, Illi- nois, and is active in Masonry, being a member of the blue lodge, chapter and commandery. As a mark of esteem and in recogni- tion of his splendid work in the chapter he was exalted to the chair of most excellent high priest of Nachusa Chapter, No. 56, of Dixon, which office he filled with honor to the fraternity and credit to himself.
On account of ill health Mr. Richardson went west in 1906 and filed on a claim near Burke, South Dakota, in the Indian Rosebud reservation. He was on the ground and selected the quarter section which he now owns and occupies in 1904, at which time he liked the climate so well that he decided to locate there. There are few of the war veterans of the '60s who are now living in the far west country. The Indians are fast disappearing and the work of civil- ization and general improvement is rapidly advancing. Mr Rich- ardson now has his farm in a fine state of cultivation and it is divided into fields of convenient size by well kept fences. It
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compares favorably with Illinois farms in its buildings and im- provements, the climate is fine, the people are of the best type of American citizenship and yet there are often times when Mr. Rich- ardson longs for his old home in Illinois, where he resided for so many years, during which time he formed a strong attachment for the state and its people.
ROBERT L. BAIRD, M. D.
Thorough college training and broad hospital experience well qualify Dr. Robert L. Baird for the onerous duties which now de- volve upon him as a practitioner of medicine in Dixon. He is yet a young man but has already attained a position in the profession which many an older practitioner might well envy. He was born in Sterling, Illinois, in 1883, and is a son of H. D. and Margaret (Norrish) Baird, who are also natives of Illinois. However, their parents were from England and Scotland respectively and were pioneers of this state. H. D. Baird was reared to the occupation of farming and has made it his life work.
At the usual age Dr. Baird entered the public schools, passed through consecutive grades as he mastered the lessons connected therewith and in due time became a high-school pupil. His edu- cation was further continued in Dixon College, of which he is a graduate, and then in preparation for the medical profession, which he had determined to make his life work, he entered the Hahnemann Medical College and was graduated therefrom in 1908. For a year he was an interne in the Hahnemann Hospital, being appointed to this position in recognition of his high standing in his college work. This brought him broad medical experience, en- abling him to put his theoretical training to the test, and after a year thus spent he returned to Dixon, where he opened an office and entered upon general practice in 1909. It was not long before his ability found recognition in a practice that has steadily grown. Although he is a young man, he has already made a creditable name and place for himself. He belongs to the Lee County Homeo- pathic Medical Society, the Illinois State Homeopathic Society and the National Homeopathic Medical Association.
In 1910 Dr. Baird was married to Miss Grace Over, of Ster- ling, Illinois. His social nature finds expression in his member- ship in the Masonic lodge, the Knights of Pythias fraternity
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and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. In his political views he is a democrat and his religious faith is evidenced by his membership in the Episcopal church, while his wife is a member of the Lutheran church. They are now widely known in Dixon and have a large circle of warm friends.
IRA R. GEORGE.
Among those who materially contributed to agricultural prog- ress in Lee county was Ira R. George, who passed away in the midst of a successful career in 1907, when but forty-three years of age. He was a native son of Lee county, being born in Ashton township on August 17, 1864, a son of David and Susan (Reid) George, natives of Pennsylvania, who came to Lee county in an early day of its pioneer history. The parents located in Franklin Grove but subsequently bought a farm in Ashton township at the remarkable price of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. It is interesting to record this price in order to give an idea as to the improvement and progress made in this section as evidenced from the sums which are now needed to acquire farm land in the middle west. On this farm the parents remained many years, the mother dying upon it. The father also passed away in Lee county. Here our subject grew to manhood, acquiring his edu- cation in the Ashton schools. He remained upon the home prop- erty, assisting his father in its operation until forty years of age, when his father deeded him the farm, which comprised one hun- dred and fifty-one acres. Mr. George also bought nine hundred and sixty acres in Missouri and one hundred and sixty in South Dakota. He gave very close attention to his business affairs and success attended his labors, as he was aggressive and progressive in the management of his interests. His farm was always in the best state of cultivation and reflected the assiduous labor and careful management of the owner in its rich bearing fields.
In 1890 Mr. George was united in marriage to Miss Sarah H. Piper, of Steward, Lee county, Illinois, and a daughter of J. C. and Elizabeth (Shelley) Piper, both natives of Bedford county, Pennsylvania. They were among Lee county's early pioneers, coming here in the '40s. Mr. Piper passed away in 1898, his death resulting from an accident, he being killed by a horse. The mother is still living at the age of eighty-five, making her home in Kansas.
IRA R. GEORGE
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To Mr. and Mrs. George three children were born: Warren P., April 16, 1892; Myrtle M., born February 2, 1894, the wife of Harry Edgington; and Ada I, born March 16, 1898. Mr. George passed away October 13, 1907, leaving a widow and three children to mourn his death. He found his last resting place in the Ashton cemetery. He was well liked in his community and stood high in the confidence of his friends and neighbors. His wife still owns the farm, which she actively operates. Mr. George was a mem- ber of the Church of the Brethren, to which his widow also be- longs. She is a lady of good education and before her marriage taught school for some time. Mr. George was one of those men who always interested himself in anything that made for progress and advancement and by his life labors contributed toward raising moral, material and intellectual standards in the section which he called his home.
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JAMES W. WATTS.
James W. Watts, one of the distinguished members of the Lee county bar, has been engaged in general practice at Dixon since 1886. A large and representative clientage has always been accorded him and in addition to his work as advocate and coun- selor he has become widely known as an educator, having been dean of the law department of Dixon College since June 10, 1889, while in May, 1913, he in connection with a number of students, organized the James W. Watts College of Law.
Born in 1850 in Terre Haute, Indiana, Mr. Watts was but two years of age when his parents removed from that state to Illinois. Settlement was made in Lafayette township, Ogle county, in 1853, and there James W. Watts remained until he reached early manhood, his education being acquired in the public schools. He was reared to farm life and early became familiar with all of the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. In 1869 he began teaching, following this occupation for three years in the country schools of Lee county, and in 1872 he went to Ash- ton, where he remained as a student until the fall of 1874. He de- sired to leave the schoolroom for professional activity, however, and at that time entered the law department of the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated on the 30th of March, 1876. He applied himself assiduously to the mastery of the prin-
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ciples of jurisprudence and was well qualified for the arduous duties of the profession when he returned to Ashton and opened a law office. He remained in practice there for nine years and then, seeking a still broader field of labor, came to Dixon in the fall of 1886. Here he has since engaged in general practice and his pronounced ability has given him rank with the foremost mem- bers of the bar in this part of the state. The legal profession de- mands not only a high order of ability but a rare combination of talent-learning, tact, patience and industry. The successful lawyer must be a man of well balanced intellect, thoroughly fa- miliar with the law and practice, of comprehensive general in- formation and possessed of an analytical mind. Possessing all of these requisites, James W. Watts has long been accounted one of the foremost representatives of the Dixon bar, and his ability as an educator in the field of his profession is widely acknowl- edged. On the 10th of June, 1889, he entered upon the duties of dean of the law department of Dixon College and is as well a teacher of law in that institution. In May, 1913, the James W. Watts College of Law was organized by students of the law de- partment of the Northern Illinois College of Law and at its head Mr. Watts is taking an active part in maintaining the high stand- ards of legal education in this state.
He is as well intensely interested in general education and the cause of the public schools, recognizing in them one of the chief bulwarks of the nation. For six years he served as president of the board of education at Ashton and while there residing was also assessor of the town of Ashton for five years and was super- visor in 1881. Following his removal to Dixon he was elected president of the board of education of North Dixon and so con- tinued for fifteen years. He likewise filled the office of city attorney for two years and his official service has been character- ized by the utmost fidelity to duty. In 1889 he was elected jus- tice of the peace and remained in that office until the 1st of May, 1898.
On the 25th of May, 1875, in Ashton, Mr. Watts was united in marriage to Miss Mary Alice Williams and they have one child, Mrs. Clea Bunnell, who was born September 18, 1876. and is the widow of Elwin M. Bunnell. She has two sons, Willard and Elwin, and she and her sons reside with her father.
Mr. Watts is prominently known in fraternal circles. He belongs to the Masonic lodge at Ashton, the Benevolent Protect- ive Order of Elks, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the
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Modern Woodmen of America. As a lawyer and educator he has left the impress of his individuality upon the history of the bar of northern Illinois and, moreover, his personal worth of character commands for him the respect and confidence of all.
M. J. BIESCHKE.
M. J. Bieschke, proprietor of a general store at West Brook- lyn, conducted under his own name, is a wide-awake, alert and en- ergetic young business man of the town in which he was born, March 17, 1884, his parents being Albert and Mary (Meyer) Bieschke, who are now living retired in West Brooklyn. They reared a family of ten children, of whom three have passed away -Kate, John and William. The others are: Frances, now the wife of George Kauth, a resident of Elburn, Illinois; Nicholas, a painter; Adam, a farmer of Iowa; Joseph, who follows farming in Viola township; Albert, a painter of West Brooklyn; M. J. and Frank, who is engaged in clerking for his brother M. J. Bieschke.
The family name indicates the German origin and in his life M. J. Bieschke displays a number of the sterling characteristics of the German race. His education was acquired in the schools of his native town which he attended to the age of seventeen years. He afterward took up carpentering, following the trade for three years, after which he spent a similar period as lineman and gen- eral utility man for the Yocum Telephone Company. He after- ward worked for F. W. Meyer, a general merchant, with whom he remained for two and a half years, before embarking in busi- ness on his own account in 1909. He has since won success in his undertaking. He now has a well appointed general store, carry- ing a good line of goods and tasteful arrangement and reasonable prices are features in his increasing prosperity.
On the 5th of June, 1906, Mr. Bieschke was married in West Brooklyn, to Miss Margaret Gehant, a daughter of Claude and Mary Gehant, both of whom have passed away and are laid to rest in the West Brooklyn cemetery. Mr. and Mrs. Bieschke have two children, Fay, and Wencel. The parents are members of the Catholic church and Mr. Bieschke holds membership with the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Order of Foresters. His political indorsement is given to the democratic party. His
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has been an active and well spent life and he has already made a record in mercantile circles that many an older business man might well envy. He has always lived in this section and his friends are many, all who know him esteeming him for his ster- ling worth.
WILLIAM P. LONG.
The consensus of public opinion places William P. Long among the leading and representative citizens of Amboy, where he is en- gaged in the live-stock business with stock yards near the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad. He has here been located since 1906, and is a well known factor in the business circles of this part of the county. For almost sixty years Mr. Long has resided in Lee county, having been brought to the west during his infancy. He was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, August 15, 1852, and comes of Scotch-Irish ancestry, his parents being James L. and Margaret J. (Blair) Long. The father brought his family to Lee county in 1854, settling on a farm in Sublette township, when the land could be purchased at a dollar and a quarter per acre. The price indicates its condition, not a furrow having been turned or an improvement made upon the tracts which could be bought at that price. Mr. Long, however, soon converted his farm into rich and productive fields and became known as one of the prominent men of his county. He took an active interest in all measures re- lating to the public. good and his labors were far-reaching and beneficial. At the time of the Civil war he aided in soliciting for bounty. He died in 1871 at the age of forty-five years and was buried in the Peterson graveyard in Sublette township. The mother now resides with her son, William, at the advanced age of eighty-three years. It was while assisting a friend to drive hogs into a car on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad that Mr. Long fell between the cars and was killed. In his death the com- munity lost one of its worthy and representative citizens, who is vet remembered by the older settlers.
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