History of Lee County, together with biographical matter, statistics, etc., Part 46

Author: Hill, H.H. (Chicago) pbl
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, H.H. Hill
Number of Pages: 910

USA > Illinois > Lee County > History of Lee County, together with biographical matter, statistics, etc. > Part 46

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tober 11, 1852, respectively. Mr. Hillison died June 21, 1853, from sunstroke. He was a native of Norway ; he came to America in 1835, and for a few years was a coast sailor. He is held in grateful remem- brance by all of the early settlers, many of whom first found shelter under his roof on their arrival here. His widow was married, October 1, 1854, to John Aschenbrenner. Three children are their offspring : Christian, Reinhart, and Andrew. About 1870 Mrs. Aschenbrenner paid her husband $7,000 for all the realty in his name, and they parted. She has since obtained a divorce. She now owns 360 acres in Bradford, 131 in Brooklyn, and a large tract in Iowa. She has given two of her sons 160-acre farms. Her mother died in 1870.

REINHART GROSS, farmer, Franklin Grove, was born in Hesse Cas- sel, Germany, in 1829 ; son of John and Martha (Schnider) Gross. His mother died when he was six or seven years old, and his father two or three years later. The latter was nine years a German soldier. In 1847 R. Gross came to America with Jacob Reiss, in whose family he lived from his father's death till he was of age, at which time he went to work for John Hotzel, continuing in his service four years. In 1853 he married Martha Reinhart. He began farming for himself on eighty acres in Sec. 24, China township, on which he lived till 1867, when he moved to Bradford, N.E. } Sec. 19, and built on the west half of the same. His farm is well improved, the buildings having cost him about $5,000. To the above quarter section he added the W. ¿ of S.E. ¿ Sec. 18. He also owns an improved farm of 150 acres in Sec. 15, and eighty acres in Sec. 24. His children are : Christian, Lizzie, Catherine (deceased), Henry, Mary, and Emma. The family are members of the Evangelical church of Bradford, of which Mr. Gross is a trustee. His eldest sister lives in Germany, and a brother and sister are living in Iowa.

ONTONE REINHART, farmer, Franklin Grove, was born May 13, 1840, in Hesse-Cassel, Germany. He is the son of C. Reinhart, who gave him a good education. The first land he owned was eighty acres in China

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

township, now owned by Andrew, his brother. This land was entered by Lewis Clapp, and afterward bought from him by the father of our subject. In 1861 Ontone Reinhart married Catherine Kersten. About this time he sold his land in China and bought from Samnel Crawford the E. ¿ of S.E. ¿ Sec. 18, Bradford township. This he broke up and built on it the same year. He now owns 360 acres in Secs. 18, 19 and 20, Bradford, and 45 acres of wood land in Lee Center. His prop- erty is highly valnable, there being but little, if any, better land in Lee county. In two of his pastures there is living water. Mr. Rein- hart has a family of nine children : Henry, Andrew, Charles, Lizzie, Martha, Gust, Lena, George, and Christian. Henry is married and lives in Bradford.

BERGHARDT ALBRECHT, farmer, Ashton, was born February 10, 1839, in Hesse Cassel, Germany; son of George and Christine Albrecht, who had a family of eight children. The former was in the German military service six or seven years. In 1855 the subject of this sketch left his native land, both of his parents being dead, and arrived in Lee county June 19. For nine years he worked for Adam Schuhart, Bradford, and during the last year of his service there he was married to Martha Kersten, by whom he has had nine children : Martha, Ontone, Kate, Marcus, Charles, Mary, Clara. Two died, aged one year and eighteen months respectively. After his marriage Mr. Albrecht farmed rented land four years in Bradford, and then bought 160 acres in Reynolds, S.E. ¿ Sec. 17, from Mr. Baden. Here he lived six years, when he sold out to George Kersten, and bought from the administrators of his deceased brother John's estate the farm he now owns in Bradford. This consists of the N. ¿ of S.E. ¿ and the S.E. ¿ of N.E. ¿ Sec. 19. Mr. Albrecht and his family are members of the Ashton Lutheran church. He had always voted the republican ticket till the last presidential election. He is interested in the education of his family much more than are the majority of the German people in this vicinity.

EDWARD W. POMEROY, farmer, Lee Center, was born in Northamp- ton, Hampshire county, Massachusetts, in 1823. His parents were Elihn and Miriam (Wright) Pomeroy, both of the same state and of English ancestry. His father was a cooper, but he was raised a farmer. He received a good education. In 1844 he came west to Princeton, Illinois, and remained there from August till the following February ; thence he came to Lee Center. He lived with Mr. Ira Brewer three years. In the meantime he bought from S. Shumway a claim to the W. ¿ of N.W. ¿ Sec. 31, Bradford, where he is now living. In 1848 he bought the Alva De Wolf farm, Lee Center township, but soon sold it. About this time he bought an "eighty " on Sec. 30. This is land now

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SOUTH DIXON TOWNSHIP.

owned by William Ross and J. Crombie. It was here that Mr. Pomeroy began housekeeping, having married, in 1852, Lora J. Adams, of Steuben county, New York. In 1856 he sold this land, built on his first elaim, and moved to his present home. Since then he has farmed but little. For several years he was buying and shipping hogs and cattle. In 1868 he went into partnership with Lewis Clapp, in a grist- mill, at Northampton, Massachusetts. Mr. Pomeroy has owned this mill since the death of Mr. Clapp in 1880. In an early day our sub- ject drove a breaking team and run a threshing machine for several years. In 1846 he and J. H. Gardner bought the first reaper used in the vicinity. It was a " McCormick," brought from near Rochester, New York. This machine was first tried in a piece of winter wheat, and many came from all around to see it work. In 1852 Mr. Pomeroy raised the first crop of timothy seed marketed from this section of country. It consisted of 150 bushels, which he hauled to Aurora and shipped from there to Chicago by rail, receiving for it $1.75 per bushel. His family consists of two daughters and one son : Mary, Lucy, and Edwin. The former were educated at Rockford, Illinois. Mary is the wife of Henry Wright, and is living in Massachusetts. Mr. Pomeroy is a republican, and was formerly an Odd-Fellow.

SOUTH DIXON TOWNSHIP.

The town of South Dixon was organized in April 1867. The cause of its separation from Dixon, the parent town, was the desire of the outlying farmers to restrain cattle from roaming at large, an evil which was not sufficiently comprehended by the people of Dixon. Mr. Abram Brown, in conjunction with others, prepared and presented a petition to the supervisors praying for the division, which was event- ually made.

South Dixon comprises all of T. 21, R. 9 E., of the 4th P.M., and contains thirty sections, having an area of 19,200 acres. It ranks among the first in agricultural resources, the land being in a very high state of cultivation. The soil for the greater part is a black alluvial and is irrigated by numerous small tributaries of the Three and the Five mile branches, which latter traverse the township from east to west ; the source of the last mentioned is on the farm of Mr. Burkett, at the southeastern portion of the township.

The surface of the country is gently rolling. The hills and dales are beautified by many groves, under whose grateful shelter comfort- able farm-houses appear. A perusal of the biographical sketches will show that for the most part the present or previous occupants of this

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

portion of Lee county migrated from Somerset county, Pennsylvania. They are a thrifty, industrious and persevering people, whose energy has transformed a prairie into a garden ; they support schools for the education of their offspring and are commendable for their religious tendencies, and their homes possess all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life.

Among the early settlers appear the names of Charles Edson, Abram Brown, Christon Stevens, Henry B. Trne, Caldwell Bishop, Reuben Trowbridge, Henry Page, Jacob McKenney, Jacob and E. H. Groh, James Rogers, Matthew McKenney, Wmn. A. Judd, Nathan Hill, Wm. I. Fritz and others, to whom particular allusion is made in the memoirs.

There are three churches in the township: two Evangelical Lu- theran and one Methodist Episcopal, the last mentioned being also a union church.

St. James' Evangelical Lutheran church is on the Chicago road and was erected in the year 1877, by the representatives of the various religious bodies in the vicinity, but is now exclusively used by mem- bers of the persnasion previously mentioned. It can accommodate about 280 members. It is a wooden structure, cost $3,200, and is now entirely out of debt. When this church was built the Sabbath-school was removed thither from the old brick school-house; it is well attended, has a staff of eight teachers, and for the past fifteen years Mr. Hiram Uhl has been superintendent. The first pastor was the Rev. J. P. Sanderson ; the present one is the Rev. A. J. B. Cast. The church belonging to the Methodist Episcopal body is situated in the village of Eldena. It was built in the year 1870. It is built of wood and can seat 150. It is also a union church, being used by the Evan- gelicals and United Brethren for church purposes. The first and present pastor is the Rev. M. A. Rice.

SCHOOLS.

There are four schools in South Dixon. Particular allusion may be made to the old brick school-house in Dist. No. 3, T. 21, where the attend- ance at one time wàs one hundred and twenty ; the average attendance now is abont twenty-seven. The present teacher is Lorenzo Wood ; the directors are Messrs. Abram Brown, Hiram Uhl and Isaac Seitz. Apropos of education here, the first school was held by Miss Edson, in a room in her brother's house. In the same room was organized the first union Sab- bath-school in Lee county, outside of Dixon. Mr. E. B. Edson was appointed the first teacher of the new school. The gentlemen most active in its erection were Abram Brown, John and Charles Beal, Joseph Smith, Hiram Uhl, William J. and John Fritz. The Kellogg

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SOUTH DIXON TOWNSHIP.

school is in Dist. No. 8, T. 21, R. 9. The present directors are A. E. Fellows, Frederick Bollman and William Missman. It can accommo- date eighty children ; average attendance about twenty-five. It was erected in 1867. The first teacher was A. M. Jennes; the present one Lydia Conderman. The Lievan school can accommodate seventy ; daily average about twenty-five. Eldena school, in the village of Eldena, can seat one hundred pupils ; average attendance about fifty. The first teacher was A. F. Parker.

The county farm is situated in Sec. 26, South Dixon, and contains one hundred acres. The Illinois Central railroad cuts off a small por- tion, which is used as a burying-ground, in which five interments have taken place within the past three years. The farm latterly has exceeded the expectations of its founders, and though the land is now of the best, yet under its present management the returns for the past three years have exceeded those of any former similar period. In 1879 there were sold hogs to the amount of $292.82; corn, $164; total, $396.82. In 1880 the proceeds from hogs, corn and oats were $254.12. The pros- pects for 1881 are fair. There are at present under cultivation thirty- four acres of corn and eighteen of oats. There are ten cows and four horses on the farm. It were well to explain that the farm is an asylum for the poor, idiotic, crippled and infirm, as well as for those affected by indulgence in strong drink. There are at present fifteen inmates, nine males and six females. Four only are valuable as farm hands, who are set to suitable work only, such as hoeing, milking, hog-feeding, etc. Dr. Edmond R. Travers, of Amboy, is physician to the institution, and visits whenever notified by the superintendent, Mr. Thomas L. Stetson, who is a salaried officer. He works the farm to the best advantage and hands the proceeds to the board.

LITERARY AND DEBATING SOCIETIES.

The only association of this nature in the township was organized in the year 1858, under the title of the Edsonville Literary and Debating Society. Its first meetings were held in the old brick school- house at Edsonville, so called from a family of that name having been the first settlers here. Mr. Abram Brown was its first president. He evinced an unceasing interest in its welfare and progress. The debates were characterized by vigor and ability, many clever men of Dixon participating therein. This society exercised a beneficial influence in forming the habits and educating the taste of the young in this district.

The Illinois Central railroad passes through the township from north to south. There is a passenger station at the village of Eldena. Mr. H. Hursey is the agent who fills the offices of the express agent and operator for the Western Union Telegraph Company. The

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

Chicago & Northwestern railroad runs through the northern portion of the township.

ELDENA VILLAGE.

This is on the line of the Illinois Central railroad, and is situated in the N.E. ¿ of N.W. ¿ Sec. 36, and comprises about forty acres. The first store and house was built by Reuben H. Cheney, deceased. The first and only church belongs to the Methodist Episcopal body, vide churches. The first grain-house was built by Messrs. Reuben Trowbridge, Reuben H. Cheney and Daniel Brown. The school has been referred to under its proper head. The only elevator in the village is owned by Jeremiah Mottoller, who ships annually about 300,000 bushels of corn. The elevator is capable of handling 3,000 bushels daily. The only stores in the village are owned by Frederick Glessner, George N. Stahn, and A. H. Brubaker, who keep an assort- ment of goods suited to the requirements of the neighborhood ; but the majority of the people choose Dixon for their market town. The village has improved of late years ; the population is now about 200.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

ABRAM BROWN, farmer, Dixon, the son of George and Elsie Brown, formerly of York, latterly of Michigan, was born November 17, 1816, in the township of Yarmouth, at Temperanceville, Eighth Concession north of Lake Erie, Middlesex county, district of London, Upper Canada, where he subsequently filled the offices of clerk and deputy postmaster. He migrated to the State of Illinois on September 21, 1837, and settled in the town of Grand Detour, Ogle county, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and was appointed postmaster of that place February 18, 1840, which position he held for three years. In the fall of 1843, having resigned that post, he moved to Dixon and entered into the blacksmithing business, and on his appointment to the postmastership of Dixon he declined his share of the partnership in the blacksmithing business, and having creditably filled the office of postmaster for three years, impaired health compelled him to resign the post, when he moved to Franklin Grove, Lee county, where he engaged in farming and established the first post-office; he was also the first postmaster appointed there. In February, 1849, he sold out, and on July 3 following he moved to the place he now occupies, in Sec. 13, in the town of South Dixon, and has since followed the occu- pation of farming. He has always taken a leading part in politics, being a democrat, and was twice honored by his party with the nom- ination to the legislature. He was six times elected to the office of justice of the peace, in which capacity he commanded the respect of his fellow citizens. He has held the offices of highways commissioner,

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SOUTH DIXON TOWNSHIP.

school trustee, and for eighteen years the post of school director in his district. He took a very active part in having the town of Dixon divided, and the town of South Dixon set off, in March 1868, the supervisors finally acceding to Mr. Brown's petition. Subsequently he held the post of supervisor of South Dixon for four years and that of magistrate for eight years. For a number of years Mr. Brown has been crop correspondent of the Bureau of Agriculture at Washington, and has acted in a similar capacity for the agricultural department at Springfield, and has contributed various articles on the topics of the day for the press and literary journals. He possesses a fine library, is a man of extensive reading, and is the mainstay of a once pros- perous and talented literary debating society, being its first president. On May 14, 1844, he was united in wedlock to Correlia Whitney, daughter of Col. Nathan Whitney, of Franklin Grove, Lee county. Mr. Brown has a family of three girls and two boys, all highly educated. Virginia H., the eldest daughter, has taught school for the past fifteen years, and has graduated from Rock River Collegiate Institute. Olga and Mary remain at home. Henry A. Brown, the elder son, studied medicine and is one of the supervisors in the institu- tion for feeble-minded children at Lincoln, Illinois. George M., the younger son, is a student in Champaign College, Illinois, and is naturally an inventor, having patented a device for grinding mower sickels. Mr. Brown is the oldest resident in South Dixon and one of the oldest in the county.

DANIEL BROWN, farmer, Eldena, the son of John and Nancy (Westcott) Brown, of Berkshire county, Massachusetts, was born No- vember 6, 1820, in Windsor, of the same county and state. When eight years old his father moved to Aurora, Erie county, New York, where he attended school for about six years. In the spring of 1834 his father settled in Du Page county, Illinois, where Daniel availed himself of the means of education till he reached the age of twenty- three, when he entered Belvidere Seminary, near Rock river, and at- tended there for one year, when, his father dying, he left the seminary and took charge of his father's farm, which he shortly afterward pur- chased from the heirs; it consisted of 300 acres of very choice land. In the year 1854 he sold the above farm and moved to Lee county, Sec. 31, in the township of Nachusa, at that time Chinatown, where he remained till 1871, when he disposed of his farm, but had to retake it, the purchaser being unable to pay ; he then rented it till the spring of 1880, in the interim residing in Dixon ; since that time Mr. Brown has occupied the farm. In November, 1842, he married Miss Adelaide J. Cheney, eldest daughter of Reuben and Sarah Cheney, of Du Page county, near Naperville, and they have a family of six children, five

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

boys and one girl. Clara, the eldest, has married, and resides in Iowa ; Frank, the eldest boy, ¿was in the Union army in the war of the rebell- ion, and at its termination went with the command into Dakota to the Indian territory, where he conducted himself creditably, and located a claim at Ellsworth county, Kansas; Eugene M., the second son, is engineer on the Texas Pacific railroad; Walter B. fills the post of clerk in Parsons, southeast Kansas, and Harry E. and Edwin are at home.

JACOB GROH, farmer, Dixon, was born in Berks county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1806, where he spent his youth and received a limited educa- tion. At the age of sixteen years he was apprenticed to learn the potter's trade, but because of bronchial affections he could not con- tinue in it. In 1828 he was married to Miss Kathrine Hoffman, and for some years lived at Catawissa, Pennsylvania. In 1848 they moved to Lee county, Illinois, and a little later entered 160 acres of land near his present home, with a Mexican land warrant. He is the father of ten children, only two of whom are now living: Mrs. Susan Statlsmith, of Eldora, Iowa, and Ephram H. Groli, Esq., a justice of the peace and prominent citizen of South Dixon township, Lee county. He has a beautiful farm home two and three quarters miles from the city of Dixon, on the Chicago road. Politically Mr. Groh is a republican, but has led a quiet, private life all his days, holding no office save that he was the first overseer of the poor in Sonth Dixon township. He has been a member of the Lutheran church for many years, and was one of the prime movers in the establishment and building of the St. James church, located a few miles from Dixon, on the Chicago road. He helped to build the present school-house in his district, a brick structure, which at that time was the finest in Lee county.

OLIVER E. FELLOWS, farmer, Dixon, the son of Simon and Eliza- beth (Deyo) Fellows, was born June 12, 1837, in Cherry Grove, Jo Daviess county, Illinois. His father was from New Hampshire and his mother from New York state. From Cherry Grove his father moved into Palmyra township, Lee county, to Sugar Grove, where his father rented a farm and where the subject of this sketch attended school for a short time. On March 25, 1860, Mr. Fellows was married to Miss Mary E. Boyer, daughter of Abram and Elizabeth Boyer, of Somerset county, Pennsylvania. He has a fine family of ten children, five boys and five girls, all living under the parental roof. The census taker said he had the premium family in the township. On March 11, 1878, Mr. Fellows moved from Sugar Grove to South Dixon, Sec. 29, and rented a large farm from Col. Noble. The land is most suitable for pasturage and agriculture. It is intersected by the Five-mile

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: ILLARY

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SOUTH DIXON TOWNSHIP.

branch and contains a beautiful grove, which was planted since the termination of the war.

WILLIAM J. FRITZ, farmer, Dixon, the son of John and Eve (Mowry) Fritz, of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, was born there July 1, 1825, and attended school with much difficulty on account of the absence of roads. At the age of twenty years he commenced working on his father's farm, which he continued till his marriage with Miss Eliza Phillippi, eldest daughter of John and Rebecca Phillippi, of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, which event took place October 16, 1849. After this he went on his own farm in that place. In April, 1853, he moved to Lee county, Illinois, South Dixon, Sec. 24. Mr. Fritz, sr., had previously bought land in this section and gave eighty acres of such property to his son, who subsequently bought from his father eighty acres more. Mr. Fritz has now in this township, in dif- ferent sections, 390 acres of as good land as can be found in Lee county. He has also eight and a half acres of timber lands, owns besides 758 acres in Kansas, and is an example of what industry, integrity and perseverance can accomplish. Mr. Fritz had ten children : the eldest boy, Peter Freeman, died at the age of eleven years, and rest, seven boys and two girls, are living, and with the ex- ception of one boy who has gone east are all at home. Mr. Fritz spares no expense in the education of his family, sending them to the best colleges. Noah, the third son, is at Carthage College, Han- cock county. Mr. Fritz is most anxious that a superior education should be imparted in the district school.

HIRAM UHL, farmer, Dixon, is the offspring of Daniel and Mary (Long) Uhl, of Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and was born in the same county and state September 21, 1828. He was educated at the district school till he arrived at the age of eighteen years. He followed the occupation of teaming and farming for a considerable number of years, when he moved west and bought a farm in Sec. 13, at that time Dixon township, which he farmed till the year 1860, when he moved into Dixon and engaged in the milling business for two years. On September 12, 1850, he married Miss Margaret Wilhelm, daughter of Philip Wilhelm, of Maryland, by whom he had four children, two of whom are dead ; the other two are comfortably married. Mrs. Uhl died July 8, 1858, aged twenty-eight years, ten months and twenty-five days. March 20, 1862, Mr. Uhl married Miss Nancy Hughes, daughter of Joseph Hughes, of Cumberland, Alleghany county, of whom the issue is four children, all girls: Ida May, Bertha Almeda, Eva Olive, and Grace Guthrie, all of whom are attending school. Mr. Uhl's farm is a good one of 300 acres, watered by a tributary of the Three-mile branch.

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

EPHRAIM FRITZ, farmer, Dixon, son of Ananias and Harriet Fritz, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, September 30, 1847. His parents migrated to South Dixon, Lee county, in April 1852, and bought a farm of 135 acres in S.E. ¿ Sec. 13. It has a southern aspect and is well adapted for agriculture and pasturage. His mother died in 1864, and his father has removed to Kansas, where at present he farms 140 acres. The subject of this sketch, July 10, 1873, was united in marriage to Miss A. C. Seibert, daughter of Rev. James L. W. Seibert, Somerset county, Pennsylvania. They have three children, two girls and one boy, named Flora Amelia, Harry Seibert, and Ida May, aged respectively seven, five and four years. Mr. Fritz was for three years in the Illinois Central railroad office at Eldena.

DUANE W. BAILEY, farmer, Dixon, son of Capt. Hiram Bailey and grandson of Maj .- Gen. William Bailey, was born in Rupert, Bennington county, Vermont, December 10, 1838. He came from Michigan to Illinois in the spring of 1866 and engaged in the dry-goods business in Polo for some years, when he came to Dixon and bought a farm in the vicinity of the town. Mr. Bailey has honorably filled the position of town clerk of Sonth Dixon and now occupies the position of supervisor. He returned to Vermont and married Miss Julia E. Graves, the youngest daughter of Francis Graves, of Rupert, Bennington county. They have had five children, but two have been removed by death, and two girls and one boy remain.

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History of Lee County, together with biographical matter, statistics, etc., Part 46

Author: Hill, H.H. (Chicago) pbl Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, H.H. Hill Number of Pages: 910

Author: Hill, H.H. (Chicago) pbl
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, H.H. Hill
Number of Pages: 910