USA > Illinois > Lee County > History of Lee County, together with biographical matter, statistics, etc. > Part 50
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WILLIAM MILLER, deceased, Palmyra, was a native of Germany, and was born there in 1801. His parents were Frederick J. and Cecilia Mil- ler. His youth was passed in his native country, and in 1832 he came to America and settled at Philadelphia, where he remained until 1841, when he moved to Lee county, and purchased a farm in Palmyra town- ship, where he died May 1, 1871. He married Miss Anna Obrist, whose death occurred December 26, 1872. Henry E. Miller, son of the above, is a native of Palmyra, having been born there on December 22, 1844. His whole life has been spent in his native town, and on the death of his father he took charge of the farm, and has since carried it on. He was married on December 25, 1869, to Miss Margaret Levan, of South Dixon, and has four children living : Charles M., aged seven ; Martha F.,
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aged five ; Edward H., aged three years, and John F., an infant son. Mr. Miller is a steadfast republican, and a member of the Lutheran church.
GEORGE A. TUCKER, farmer, Palmyra, was born in Otsego county, New York, on May 7, 1849, and is the son of Hervey and Catharine E. (Arnold) Tucker. His father was a farmer, and died in the State of New York in the spring of 1865. His mother is now a resident of Palmyra. After completing his education Mr. Tucker engaged in farming in Otsego county, but when twenty-two years of age removed to Lee county, and settled in Palmyra township, where he has since re- sided. Mr. Tucker was married in Otsego county in the fall of 1874, to Miss Mary M. Windsor, a resident of that county, and they have one child, Hervey, who was born September 13, 1875. Mr. Tucker is a democrat, is a school director in the township, and a member of the Episcopal church.
WILLIAM A. KINTNER, farmer, Palmyra, was born in Wyoming county, Pennsylvania, on the 7th of January, 1843, and is the son of William and Susanna (Heller) Kintner. His father was a farmer, and in 1850 removed to Lee county and purchased the farm on which his son now resides, and there his death took place, in 1857. Mr. Kintner received a common school education, but the death of his father occur- ring when he was yet a lad, threw the care and responsibility of con- ducting the farm upon his shoulders, and he proved himself fully equal to the emergency. He was married first in January 1868, to Miss Lizzie Stuart, a resident of Nelson township, who died shortly after her marriage. On March 19, 1872, he was again married, to Miss Fanny Clark, a daughter of George and Ann M. (Tuck) Clark. Mr. Kintner has one child by his first marriage, James E., aged thirteen years. By the second marriage there are two children : Georgie, aged eight, and Nellie, aged six years. In political sentiment Mr. Kintner is a republican.
WALTER L. ROGERS, farmer, Palmyra, is a native of Upper Canada, where he was born in 1815. He is the son of Gilbert and Nancy (Lockwood) Rogers. His father followed the occupation of a farmer, but died when the subject of this sketch was but two years old. After spending his youth and receiving his education in Canada Mr. Rogers removed to Monroe county, New York, and after residing there for three years came west and located in Palmyra township, in 1839, and a few years later purchased the farm on which he now resides. He was married in 1844, to Miss Hannah Fellows, the daughter of Stephen and Rachel (McGaffey) Fellows. Mr. Fellows was a native of Strafford county, New Hampshire, where he was born November 18, 1786. He came to Palmyra township in 1834, and kept a tavern for several years
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where the residence of Mrs. R. C. Peck now stands. He was first mar- ried to Miss Peggy McGaffey, in 1808, who died in 1823, and he then married the sister of his first wife, Miss Rachel McGaffey, who is still living and is a resident of Iowa. Mr. Fellows was the father of fifteen children, ten of whom are still living. Mr. Fellows' death occurred in 1840. The family of Mr. Rogers consists of six children, the eldest of whom, Lewis G., was born November 29, 1846. He is a farmer and resides in Palmyra. Eliza M., born June 27, 1848, is the wife of Thomas H. Johnson and resides in Colorado; Alice A., born February 27, 1853, is married to Howard Johnson, a resident of Palmyra ; Mary E., born December 16, 1854, married to James P. Wilson, of Woosung, Ogle county ; Anna, born July 14, 1856, and Flora A., born December 11, 1858, reside at home. Mr. Rogers is a thorough-going republican. He has been supervisor of his town and held various other local offices, and attends the Methodist Episcopal church.
M. D. HUBBARD, farmer, Palmyra, was born in Palmyra township, November 18, 1837, and is the son of Oliver A. and Eliza A. (Martin) Hubbard, both of whom were natives of New Hampshire. They re- moved to Illinois in 1836, and located in Palmyra township, where O. A. Hubbard died a few years later. Mrs. Hubbard is still living and is the wife of W. W. Tilton, Esq., of Palmyra. M. D. Hubbard was the third child born in the town. He received his education at the neighboring schools, and when old enough engaged in farming. On May 10, 1861, he enlisted in Co. B, 13th Ill. Vols., and after serving some two years was honorably discharged on account of disability. After coming home he resumed farming, and in 1867 purchased the farm upon which he now resides. Mr. Hubbard was married February 17, 1864, to Miss Blanche Coe, a resident of Palmyra, and they have four children. Winona, the eldest, is sixteen years old ; Henry A., thirteen ; Bert, eight ; and Ollie, four years. In his political views Mr. Hubbard is a supporter of the principles and policy of the demo- cratic party.
CHARLES F. FURLEY, farmer, Prairieville, was born in Maryland, February 14, 1852, and is the son of James and Mary J. (Black) Fur- ley, both of whom are still living and have been residents of Maryland for many years, but are expecting soon to take up their abode in Pal- myra township. His father has been principally engaged in farming and stock dealing during his business career. Mr. Furley received his early education in his native state, and while still a boy learned the trade of chairmaking and general blacksmithing. For a number of years after serving his time he worked at his trade in various places both in the east and west, and some seven or eight years ago he located at Prairieville, in Palmyra township, where he has since resided.
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Besides carrying on a blacksmith shop Mr. Furley is engaged in farm- ing, buys and sells horses, and conducts a general store. Principally through the exertions of Mr. Furley a post-office was established at Prairieville, in June 1878, and he was appointed postmaster, which office he still holds. He was married in Whitesides county, Illinois, April 21, 1873, to Miss Sarah H. Harvey, a niece of W. W. Bethea, Esq., well known throughout Lee county as one of the oldest settlers. One child has resulted from the marriage, Guy L. Furley, born No- vember 19, 1874. Mr. Furley is an active and stirring member of the republican party and is a young man of much ability and enterprise.
THEODORE WILSON, farmer, Palmyra, is a native of Blair county, Pennsylvania, where he was born on May 8, 1847. He is the son of Franklin and Susannah (Bridenbaugh) Wilson, who moved to Lee connty in 1856, and located in Dixon township, but moved about three years later to Palmyra township, where his father died in 1870. Mr. Wilson was brought up and acquired his education in Lee county, and when old enough assisted his father in carrying on the farm, and after the death of the latter he continued farming on his own account. He was married on August 1, 1871, to Miss Cassie M. Lovell, a native of the State of New York, and they have one child, Angier W., who was born January 23, 1880. Mr. Wilson is an earnest and active democrat, and his ability and devotion to principle command the respect of his fellow citizens without regard to party. He is a member of the Presbyterian church.
MARTIN WILLIAM BRAUER, farmer, Palmyra, was born in Germany, in March 1815, and was the son of Jacob and Katrina (Schween) Braner. He was educated in Germany, and while a lad shipped upon a merchant vessel as a sailor and followed the sea for about nine years. In 1840 he emigrated to America, coming directly to Lee county, and after working for his brother-in-law for the space of a year he engaged in farming for himself, having owned and resided on the same property for over forty years. Mr. Brauer was married April 16, 1848, to Miss Helena Harms, in Germany, whither he had gone for that purpose. They have two children living, the eldest being Anton, who is farming in Whitesides county, Illinois, and Frank was living at the old home- stead. Mr. Brauer is a republican in political sentiment, and a mem- ber of the Lutheran church.
WILLIAM McGAFFEY, farmer, Palmyra, is a native of Sandwich, New Hampshire, where he was born June 24, 1828. The first of the family to settle in America was a native of Ireland, who participated in the siege of Londonderry, and was a firm supporter of the Protest- ant canse. He afterward came to this country and settled near Dover, New Hampshire. He left two sons, one of whom was the great-
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grandfather of Mr. McGaffey. His grandfather Samuel was married in 1783 to Miss Lydia Sanborn, and they had a family of seven chil- dren, one of whom, Mrs. Rachel Fellows, widow of Stephen N. Fel- lows, one of the early settlers of Lee county, is still living in Iowa at the ripe age of eighty-four years. The parents of Mr. Gaffey were Eliphalet and Aphie (Chase) McGaffey, both of whom lived and died in the State of New Hampshire. The early years of Mr. McGaffey were spent upon a farm, and in the fall of 1854 he came to the State of Ohio, where he tanght school during the winter months. In the spring of 1855 he paid his first visit to Lee county, but soon returned to the east. In February, 1863, he again came west and purchased a farm in Palmyra township, on which he has since resided. He was married May 31, 1862, at Sandwich, to Miss Margaretta F. Davis, a daughter of Bradford C. and Margaretta (Farrell) Davis. They have three children : William D., born Angust 24, 1863; Samuel A., born December 10, 1866, and Anson, born September 21, 1875.
SIMEON T. MARTIN, farmer, Palmyra, was born in Sandwich, New Hampshire, on May 6, 1813. His parents were Jacob and Mary (Tyler) Martin. His early youth was spent in assisting his father on the farm. When about eighteen years of age he removed to Massachusetts, where he remained for several years engaged in various vocations. In June 1836, having come west, he located in Bureau county, Illinois, pur- chasing a claim and designing to settle there permanently, but after having been there for more than a year his claim was jumped, and he removed to Lee county and purchased a farm in Palmyra township, and which still forms a portion of his present property, which now consists of more than three hundred acres of valuable and fertile land. Mr. Martin was married in 1842, to Miss Catherine Montgomery, a resident of Palmyra township. They have been sadly afflicted, having had three children born to them, all of whom they have lost by death. Mr. Martin is a brother of James T., and also of the late Jacob Mar- tin, and the brothers were pioneers in the settlement of the township.
HARVEY E. JOHNSON, farmer, Palmyra, was born in Bainbridge, Che- nango county, New York, on February 11, 1819. His parents were Seth and Mary (Hough) Johnson, both of whom were natives of Con- necticut. Until he was twenty-six years of age Mr. Johnson resided in Chenango county, having acquired his education there, and having as- sisted his father in carrying on the farm. In 1845, however, he came west, and purchased a farm in Palmyra township, which he still owns, and on which he resides. He was married December 31, 1848, to Miss Mary J. Wheat, a daughter of Josiah Wheat, one of the earliest settlers of what is now China township. They have four children living, the eldest being De Forest J., who was born April 13, 1850. He married
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Miss Emma Bovey on December 24, 1872, and resides in Palmyra township. Florence R., born October 8, 1851, married to Jacob Baker, December 25, 1873, and resides in Ogle county ; Franklin F., born December 19, 1855, and married to Miss Ida Rand, December 1, 1876 ; he is a resident of Palmyra township. Addie A., born December 25, 1866, and resides with her parents. Mr. Johnson's political affiliations are with the republican party, and he is a member of the Baptist church.
CHARLES LAWTON, farmer, Palmyra, is a native of Lincolnshire, England, and was born December 9, 1813. His parents were Edward and Mary (Roe) Lawton. Mr. Lawton lived in his native land until his twenty-third year, when he came to America and settled in Wyo- ming county, Pennsylvania, where he farmed for seventeen years. In the spring of 1853 he came to Illinois and located near Elgin, but a year later he removed to Palmyra township, where he has since re- sided. Mr. Lawton was first married in England, in 1835, to Miss Sarah Tuck, who died in Palmyra about 1857. Four children survive from this marriage, only one of whom, Mrs. A. A. Beede, is a resident of Lee county. On August 22, 1858, Mr. Lawton was again married, to Mrs. Ann M. (Tuck) Clark, and they have four children living : Carrie L., born in 1859, is the wife of William F. Swigart, and resides in Dixon township; Charles H., born April 20, 1861 ; John W., born December 18, 1862, and Fred A., born Angust 29, 1865, reside with their parents. Mr. Lawton is a republican, and a member of the Meth- odist Episcopal church.
JAMES P. GOODRICH, farmer, Palmyra, was born in the State of Vermont, on October 14, 1849, and is the son of Samuel and Charlotte (Perry) Goodrich. His father is a farmer and is now a resident of the State of New York. Mr. Goodrich received his early education in Vermont, and when seventeen years of age came to Illinois and lived for two years in the vicinity of Grand Detour, after which he purchased the farm in Palmyra township on which he now resides. He is largely engaged in the dairy business, in which line he has met with much success. Mr. Goodrich was married, May 2, 1872, to Miss C. M. Wil- liams, daughter of George Williams, Esq., an old resident of Palmyra. They have only one child, Eddie, aged eight years. Mr. Goodrich is a stalwart republican and an attendant of the Methodist Episcopal church.
CHARLES A. GUYOT, farmer, Palmyra, was born in Angust 1820, in the island of Guadaloupe, West Indies, and is the son of John F. and Augustine (Lions) Guyot. His grandfather was an officer in the French army sent to this country during the revolutionary struggle to assist the colonies, and served under the Count De Rochambeau. At the end of the war the regiment to which he belonged was sent to
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garrison the island of Gaudaloupe, and soon after he married there and engaged in planting. Upon the emancipation of the slaves in the West India islands the family removed to the United States. Mr. Guyot landed in New Orleans, but after a few months' residence, hav- ing become imbued with the gold fever, he determined to go to Cali- fornia, which he accordingly did in the spring of 1849, and remained there until 1852, when he returned to New York. Soon after he came to Lee county and located in Palmyra. In 1856 he returned to Guada- loupe, but sickness in his family compelled his departure in 1861, since which time he has resided on his farm in Palmyra township. Mr. Guyot was married February 20, 1854, to Miss Sarah Ann Graham, a daughter of Capt. Hugh Graham. Their children are Mary B., born in February 1859; Charles L., born in May 1860; Ermine O., born in July 1863; Hugh G., born in October 1865, and George R. E., born in November 1869. Mr. Guyot is a member of the republican party.
S. R. RUTr, farmer, Palmyra, is the son of John W. and Barbara (Rutt) Rutt, and was born in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, January 1, 1845. His parents came west and settled in Lee county in 1864, and are now residing upon a farm in the county of Whitesides. Mr. Rutt was brought up and educated in Dauphin county, and came with his parents and located in Palmyra township, where he is now engaged in farming. He was married October 18, 1869, to Miss Catharine Andrews, a resident of Whitesides county. They have five children : Elam, aged eleven ; Edwin, aged nine ; Solomon, aged seven ; Maggie, aged five ; and Archie, aged two years. In his political views Mr. Rutt is a republican.
BENJAMIN STAUFFER, carpenter, Prairieville, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1819. His parents were John and Barbara (Eby) Stauffer. His father was a miller and also carried on a farm. He died in Pennsylvania on December 2, 1871. Mr. Stauffer obtained a common school education in his native town, and while a boy com- menced working in his father's mill, and a few years later engaged in the milling business for himself, which he carreid on until 1852, in which year he came west and settled in Whitesides county, only a short distance from the boundary line of Lee county, and engaged in farming, which he continued until 1875, when he removed to Prairieville and for some time followed the trade of carpenter, but of late years has been principally working at wagon-making. Mr. Stauffer was mar- ried February 29, 1839, to Miss Catherine Bookwalter, a resident of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania. They have nine children living : Esther, born July 18, 1840, is the wife of B. F. Rohrer and resides in Whitesides county ; John, born November 10, 1842. He enlisted in
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1862, in Co. D, 75th Ill. Vols. and served until the end of the war. He is a farmer and lives in Kansas. Abraham L., born June 7, 1845, is a farmer and resides in Nebraska; Henry, born July 12, 1847, resides in Palmyra township; Barbara A., born January 11, 1852, is married to Eli R. Ebersole and lives in Whitesides county ; Emma C., born March 27, 1854, is the wife of Henry Ebersole, and also resides in Whitesides county ; Benjamin F., born January 27, 1857, resides in Nebraska ; Eliza, born August 11, 1860, and Amos, born March 12, 1863, are now residing with their parents. Mr. Stauffer is a republican and has been a justice of the peace for the town of Palmyra since 1877. He is a member of the Mennonite church.
HERMANN S. FISCHER, farmer, Palmyra, was born in Hamburg, Germany, on the 21st of July, 1845, and was the son of Carl and Bertha (Schroeder) Fischer. His father is a lawyer by profession, and is still a resident of Hamburg, where his mother died in 1845. Mr. Fischer was educated in Germany, having been a student at the Uni- versity of Bonn-on-the-Rhine, and also that of Halle in Prussia. A few months after leaving the university he came to America and located at once in Palmyra township, where he has since resided with the exception of a few months' absence in Europe. He was married on September 10, 1878. to Miss Kate Thummel, daughter of the late C. B. Thummel, of Palmyra township. Mr. Fischer is a young man of excellent education and fine attainments, and is universally esteemed and respected.
ELLWOOD HUGHES, farmer, Palmyra, is a native of Columbia county, Pennsylvania, where he was born on the 4th of November, 1818. His parents were Benjamin and Mary S. (Stokes) Hughes. His father for many years followed the trade of a shoemaker, but engaged in farming in Columbia county in 1830, and died there in May 1860, at the age of seventy. Mr. Hughes received a common school education, and at the age of seventeen engaged in teaching, which occupation he followed for several winters, assisting upon the farm during the summer months. He then engaged in farming on his own account, in Columbia county, where he continued until 1869, when he removed to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Ile remained there until February 1871, when he came to Lee county and purchased the farm where he now resides. He was married at Hughesville, Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, on the 16th of Jannary, 1840, to Miss Elizabeth Hill. Seven children resulted from this marriage, five of whom are still living, as follows: Mary C., born Jannary 20, 1841, and married to James Hill, Esq., who is a resi- dent of Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania; Benjamin F., born April 6, 1844, now practicing law in Philadelphia ; Charles H., born April 13, 1846, and a member of the firm of Hughes & Mellick, at Dixon ; Ellwood C.,
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DIXON BRIDGE DISASTER.
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born August 25, 1855, is a graduate of Carthage College and also of the Theological Seminary of Springfield, Ohio, and is now practicing law at Storm Lake, Iowa; Edward A., born March 26, 1857, and is a resi- dent of Palmyra. The eldest son, John M. Hughes, who was born in 1842, was a captain in the 210th Penn. Vols., and was fatally wounded on the 31st of March, 1865, at Gravelly Run, Virginia, and died May 6, 1865. Mr. Hughes held the positions of deputy marshal and justice of the peace in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, and since his removal to Palmyra has served two terms as supervisor and is now town clerk. He is also secretary and treasurer of the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insur- ance Company of Palmyra. Mr. Hughes is an ardent republican and a member of the Lutheran church.
HENRY DECKER, farmer, Palmyra, was born in New Jersey, in 1835, and was the son of Elijah and Christina (Kintner) Decker. Both his parents are still living, in Wyoming county, Pennsylvania. They removed to that section in 1837, and there Mr: Decker was raised and educated. In August, 1862, he enlisted in the 143d Penn. reg., and served for one year and a half, and was then transferred to the signal corps, where he remained until the close of the war. After leaving the service Mr. Decker removed to Illinois, and located in Palmyra town- ship, where he has since resided. He was married September 26, 1867, to Miss Imogene Bunnell, of Palmyra, and they have four children : Charles E., aged thirteen ; Eddie, aged ten : Nellie, aged seven, and Bessie, aged four years. In political sentiment Mr. Decker is a thorough republican and attends the Methodist Episcopal church.
MRS. DIANA WARN, Palmyra, was born in the State of New York, on the 24th of September, 1835. She was the daughter of Alanson B. and Mary (Benjamin) Campbell. She was brought up and educat- ed in her native state, and when nineteen years of age came to Lee' county with her parents and lived for some time in Dixon township, afterward removing into the city, where they remained for abont five years. On the 15th of July, 1860, she was married to Israel P. Warn, a resident of Palmyra township, where she has since resided. Mr. Warn died on the 9th of October, 1871, leaving a widow and four children to mourn his loss. The latter are all daughters, the eldest being Elizabeth, aged twenty ; Ella M., aged eighteen ; Lena B., aged thir- teen, and Gerty S., aged ten years, all of whom reside with their mother.
JOHN H. McWETRY, farmer, Palmyra, was born in Wyoming county, New York, on March 2, 1836, and was the son of Henry and Olive (Hale) McWethy. His father was a farmer and a resident of the State of New York until his death, which occurred about twenty years since. Mr. McWethy after leaving school assisted his father on the
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farm, and when twenty-five years of age came west and located upon a farm in the township of South Dixon. After remaining there three years he removed to Palmyra township and purchased the farm on which he now resides. He was married in Livingston county, New York, in December 1860, to Miss Harriet E. Sheldon, a resident of that county, and they have three children living, the eldest of whom is Charles E., aged nineteen ; George P., aged seventeen, and Willie C., aged nine years. Politically Mr. McWethy is a republican, and a member of the Presbyterian church.
DAVID A. HOLLY, deceased, for many years engaged in farming in Lee county, was born in Paradise township, York county, Pennsylva- nia, in 1804. His parents were Jesse and Anna (Sherer) Holly. Mr. Holly removed, when a young man, to Ohio and engaged in farming there until 1835, at which time he removed to Franklin Grove, in Lee county, where he remained for ten years. He then came to Palmyra and purchased 720 acres of land in that township, of Smith Gilbraith, a considerable portion of which he retained and continued to reside upon until his death, in June 1875. He was married in Knox county, Ohio, January 1, 1830, to Miss Eva Hoke, who survives him. There are also seven children living, the eldest of whom is William D. F. Holly, born in Belleville, Richland county, Ohio, September 1, 1834, and now a resident of Iowa; Amos H. Holly, born in Lee county, April 9, 1836, now living in California ; Cornelia A. Holly, born in Lee county on the 12th of February 1840, and married to Frank Bid- dle, also residing in Iowa; David C. Holly, born in Lee county, Janu- ary 1, 1843, who intends to remove to Iowa within a short time; George W. Holly, born in April 1845, and James F. Holly, born in June 1851, have also resided in Iowa several years ; Emily Holly, born in Lee county in August 1849, and married to Orville Fort, lives in Iowa.
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