USA > Illinois > Lee County > History of Lee County, together with biographical matter, statistics, etc. > Part 60
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
were elected elders. C. D. Loomis was the first clerk. G. W. Bray- ton, G. W. Hewitt, G. W. Pitcher, G. H. Brewer and Jeremiah Ketchum were the first board of trustees. At a meeting February 9, 1861, George H. Brewer was elected secretary of the church and board of trustees. There had been occasional preaching a short time before the organization was effected. W. W. Harsha was the first pastor. During January of 1861 Mrs. Van Vrankin, Mrs. Jane Hussey, James Butler and Mrs. Sarah Butler were admitted; in June, 1862, James M. Dysart, Martha A. Van Vrankin, Gertrude M. Van Vrankin, Alice M. and Lucy A. Brayton. September 19, 1863, G. W. Brayton, Thomas Scott and J. Gilbert were ordained and installed as ruling elders by W. L. Lyons, the second pastor. . At the same date Dr. G. W. Hewitt, his wife, Carrie D., and Mrs. Sophia Brown were received on examination ; and Mrs. E. M. Lyons by letter. The Rev. Lyons has been succeeded in the pastorate by W. Hare, A. F. Morrison, Spencer Baker, S. N. Vail, W. C. Cort, F. C. Cochrane, and H. S. Jor- dan. A Sunday-school was organized in 1857, with T. W. Scott as superintendent, in which capacity Mr. Scott has acted ever since with slight intermissions. This was a union school, and it now numbers about 100 members. The present membership of the church it sixteen. In 1865 this society conjointly with the Lutherans (German) built a church, which they have since used in common.
The German Lutheran church was organized under the preaching of Rev. William Uhl, and meetings were held in Lincoln's Hall, the Universalist church, and the school-house, previous to the building of the church, about one year. George Engel, George Fishback, George Kreitzer and John Genk constituted the first board of trustees. The pastors have been William Angelberger, who organized the Sabbath- school, Charles Young, C. A. Renter, H. Stauffenberg, and Rev. Stolle. The present trustees are Joseph Goether, Ernst Dietrick, Z. Wendel, and Henry Gonnerman. For several years the church has been weak, there having been a dissension which has divided its members.
The German Baptist church, familiarly styled the Brethren or Dunkards, has great financial and numerical strength. The first families of this faith to settle here were the Lahmans and the Emmerts, who came in 1843. The following year the Riddlesbargers came, and about this time meetings were held in their respective dwellings and subsequently in the log school-house. Father Emmert was the first preacher. Christian Lahman was also a minister in this church. The first house of worship was built on the Dixon road in the present town of Nachusa. This was a small grout house, about 20×30 feet, on the south side of the N.E. ¿ Sec. 5, T. 21. It has since been twice re- modeled, until its dimensions are 35×60 feet. About fifteen years ago
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a'church was built at Ashton. In the fall of 1879 the central church was built at Franklin Grove, a little northwest of the village. This is a large building. In these three edifices services are alternated. This is styled the Rock River church. Its present membership is about 175. Seven or eight years ago it was 300, but many have left, thus reducing the number. The church has no officiating pastor; but they, so to speak, do their own preaching; that is, there are two resident ordained elders or bishops, and others of inferior orders, there being three orders of ordination in the church. These bishops and elders share the labor of preaching the gospel. The most apparent characteristics of this people are the simplicity of their dress and worship, and in business their industry and thrift, with a lack of what is commonly called enter- prise or public spirit.
The Universalist church of Franklin Grove was organized by Thomas J. Carney, who wrote the constitution, by-laws, etc. In 1856 a church was built on the corner of Elm and Bradford streets. While it was building meetings were held in the house of Jonas Clisbe, now Dr. U. C. Roe's dwelling. The Hausens, Uncle John Fish, "old man Clisbe," who had the contract to build the church, John C. Black and Isaac Twombly were early members of the organization. But many years prior to this organized society there was preaching at Hausen's, Whipple's, Cooper's, and at other private houses. T. J. Bartholomew was the first preacher. J. O. Barrett and C. F. Dodge preached each two years. The Rev. Chase and the Rev. Cook were pastors, Cook being the last. For several years there have been no regular services, and the society, once quite flourishing, seems now to be nearly broken up.
SCHOOLS.
The first and only school-house in Franklin Grove was built in part in 1856, on the corner of Elm and Bradford streets. It was then 30×40 feet. In 1867 thirty feet in length was added, making it 30× 70 feet. The first principal was T. W. Scott, ably assisted by his wife. The school was soon graded into four departments, one primary, two intermediate, and one high school. Mr. Scott was connected with the school in all seventeen years. The other principals were Moler, Wood, Whetstone, Newton, and Webb. Of the teachers who deserve mention by reason of their long or efficient service, or both, are Miss Hattie Walters, Miss Young, Julia M. Brackett, Virginia Brown, Sophia Town, Mrs. Tyler, Maggie Bailey, Miss Ramsdell, Bricy Gaver, and Mrs. Newton. E. W. Newton, S. A. Griswold and A. Plessinger are the present trustees, and Prof. Thorp is the principal.
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
MISCELLANEOUS.
In 1863 the Franklin Grove Cemetery Association was formed, and Isaac Twombly was made president. The long-neglected ground was enlarged and fenced. It is said that Mrs. Holly was the first one buried in this cemetery ; this was in 1839. It is situated west of the northern part of the corporation of Franklin Grove, joining it. In 1872 a sidewalk was constructed from the Methodist Episcopal church to the cemetery ground.
In June, 1874, James McCosh organized the Silver Cornet Band of Franklin Grove, with twelve pieces. In October they were made a corporate body, and as such proceeded to the erection of a band hall, which after a year or two passed out of their hands. For about two years it has been used by E. W. Newton for a plow manufactory.
The Cheese Factory Association of Franklin Grove was organized in February 1881, A. H. Schoonmaker, president; N. Hausen, vice- president ; H. Black, secretary and treasurer; A. R. Whitney, C. L. Anthony and Charles Wertman, directors. A committee was appointed to draft constitution and by-laws. February 12, 1881, an agreement was entered into between the Association and C. L. Anthony, of White- sides county, by which he agreed to manufacture full cream cheese from the milk of not less than 100 cows at two and a half cents per pound. Manufacture of cheese was begun May 4, 1881, in the village of Frank- lin Grove.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
NATHAN WHITNEY, Franklin Grove. Col. Nathan Whitney, or more appropriately Father Whitney, was born in Conway, Massachu- setts, January 22, 1791. His grandfather, Capt. Jonathan Whitney, was one of the selectmen who organized the town of Conway, about 110 years ago. He bore arms in defense of the colonies all through the revolutionary war. He emigrated to the Indian Orchard, called " Seneca Castle," near the city of Geneva, Ontario county, New York, about ninety years ago. Capt. Jonathan was followed two years later by his eldest son, Nathan, who settled near him, when our subject was two years of age. The elder Nathan Whitney had five sons, Luther, Otis, Nathan, Jonathan, Cheney, and one daughter. A few years ago these five brothers were all living, their united ages being four hun- dred years. Three still survive. The eldest died in 1880 of cancer in the eye, aged ninety-eight years. The younger, Nathan, like his father, seems to have been born a pioneer. He opened a farm near Allison, New York, and another in the town of Elba. He first visited Lee county in 1835, again in 1836 and 1837, his family following in 1838. He was one of the commissioners to organize the county of Lee, Illinois,
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and he has since twice held the office of county commissioner in said county. His nursery was the first north of the Illinois river. From De Witt Clinton, of New York, he has three militia commissions, those of captain, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel. He was in the engage- ment at Fort Erie in the war of 1812. Mr. Whitney is the oldest Mason in Lee county, if not in the northwest. During the Morgan excitement he was " among the faithless faithful found." He married Sarah Graef when twenty years of age. He has had a family of ten children, three of whom died young. Of the others only one, the youngest, was a son, with whom Mr. Whitney is now living, about a mile south of the village of Franklin Grove, on the farm claimed by the colonel forty- five years ago.
A. R. WHITNEY, nurseryman, Franklin Grove, was born February 22, 1824, in Orleans county, New York. He is the youngest child and the only son of Col. Nathan Whitney. Mr. Whitney was but fourteen years old when the family emigrated to China from the State of Ohio, in which they had lived a few years prior to this movement. August 14, 1851, he was married to Mary J. Oakley. Their issue are four children : Jesse, Carrie (wife of A. W. Crawford, South Dixon), Nathan, and May. The sons are married and associated with their father in his extensive business, the culture and shipping of fruit, and the manufacture and sale of cider. The mother of A. R. Whitney died in April 1865.
WILLIAM DYSART, farmer, Franklin Grove, was born in Henderson county, Pennsylvania, in 1828, son of James and Elizabeth Dysart. His father's parents and his mother's mother came from Ireland, and his mother's father from Germany. They were of strong constitutions and lived to a ripe old age. His mother was born in 1799, and died in 1875. His father died March 1873, aged eighty-five years. Ten children were born to these parents, eight boys and two girls, all of whom grew to maturity. They were all reared on a farm, and received a common schooling. Joseph Dysart, the grandfather of our subject, and a brother, Alexander, were the only members of a family of five or more sons who came from the north of Ireland to Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and thence to Henderson county. Alexander traded much with the Indians, and became very wealthy. From 1807 till 1812, inclusive, he was a member of the general as- sembly of Pennsylvania, from Henderson county, and again in 1815. In 1846 James Dysart came to Lee county, and between that and 1849 bought land enough to give each of his children one half-section. In 1850 William Dysart came to Dixon, Illinois, and the same year broke twenty acres of his farm in Sec. 13, T. 21, China. In 1853 he built a house where he now lives. In February, 1858, he celebrated his mar-
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
riage with Mary Grazier, of his native county. Their issue are two daughters, aged thirteen and eleven. Mr. Dysart owns the N.W. ¿ Sec. 13, and the E. ¿ of S. W. ¿ same, 120 acres of timber in Ogle county, 240 acres in Cerro Gordo and Bremer counties, Iowa. In 1869 Mr. Dysart built his barn, at a cost of $4,500. He is a republican in poli- tics, having formerly been a whig. His father was a whig until he became an abolitionist. Of the many genial men we have met in this vicinity Mr. Dysart is rather more than an average.
SAMUEL DYSART, farmer, Franklin Grove, was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, September 14, 1834, son of William and Eliza Dysart, from whom he inherited a strong constitution. He was reared on his father's farm, and received a common schooling. In 1855 he came to China township and went to work on a half section of prairie previously purchased by his father. This is the E. ¿ Sec. 14, T. 21, to which he has since added an eighty in Sec. 13, making a farm of 400 acres. On February 24, 1858, Mr. Dysart was married to Margaret J. Henderson, born September 11, 1834, a farmer's daughter, and the playmate of his youth. Ten children have been born of this marriage : Harry W., December 26, 1858 ; Lilly V., June 7, 1860 ; Lola W., Jan- uary 10, 1863 (Lola died October 11, 1865, and Lilly, March 15, 1872) ; U. Grant, September 14, 1865; Drusilla D., December 1, 1866 ; Horace H., September 18, 1868; Jesse R., July 12, 1871 ; Birdie B., April 4, 1873; May J., August 23, 1875. Mr. Dysart began farming with the intention of raising improved stock as soon as he should get his farm sufficiently improved. Accordingly in 1867 he began with four thorough-bred short-horns, and now has one of the finest herds in the state. He has heretofore given attention to the breeding of Berk- shire swine, having shipped them as far as the Rocky mountains. Mr. Dysart was one of the first members of the Lee County Agricultural Association. He has been several years a member of the State Board of Agriculture. In consequence of his prominence as a stock breeder he was appointed live-stock commissioner to the Paris exhibition of 1878, and received his commission from President Hayes in February. He sailed in May, and besides spending three months in Paris, traveled several weeks in different parts of Europe. Mr. Dysart's residence, built in 1877 at a cost of between $6,000 and $7,000, is elegantly for- nished. His grounds are beautifully decorated with choice flowers, in the care of which he is much engaged. His large stock barn is in keeping with his other buildings. The farm is known as the " Pines Stock Farm," having taken the name of the "Pines place " from the large pine trees planted near the house. In politics Mr. Dysart is a republican.
B. F. DYSART, lumber dealer, Franklin Grove, was born in Hen-
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derson county, Pennsylvania, 1841 ; son of James and Elizabeth Dy- sart. In 1856 he came with his father to Lee county. He attended school at Lee Center and Dixon. In the fall of 1860 he began im- proving his farm, the N.E. ¿ Sec. 23, T. 21, China, and built a house on it. August 7, 1861, he enlisted in Co. C, 34th Ill. Inf., and was mustered at Camp Butler, September 2. November 4, 1864, his resignation was accepted and he was discharged. The same year he was married to Miss A. C. A. Harrison, of Canton, Stark county, Ohio, by whom he has one son, Edgar H., born January 1866. After his discharge from the army Mr. Dysart was one year United States revenue assessor in East Ohio and West Virginia. He was one year engaged in business in Canton, Ohio; thence to Franklin Grove, where he lived one year. In the meantime he was improving his farm, before mentioned, on to which he moved in the spring of 1868. Here he lived till 1876, when he sold out and moved into the village of Franklin Grove, and en- gaged in the lumber business with C. D. Hussey. In 1866 Mr. Dysart sold his farm of 160 aeres in Nachusa township. He is a republican.
AMos HUSSEY, farmer, Franklin Grove, was born in York county, Pennsylvania, August 1806. His father, Amos Hussey, and his moth- er, Abagail Edmondson, were both born in Pennsylvania. His father was of Welsh ancestry, and followed the occupation of farmer; he had a family of twelve children, five of whom lived to maturity. He died when our subject was fourteen years of age. The mother of the latter was of English descent, and died nearly fifty years ago. Amos Hussey, jr., learned the business of weaving, spinning, and dressing cloth, and followed the same for a few years. About 1834 he married Jane F. Holly, whose birth was the first in Fredonia, New York, Jan- mary 1, 1817. In 1838 Mr. Hussey came with his wife and two children overland to Franklin Grove; lived the first winter on the south side of the Grove, and the next year came to his present loca- tion, a little northwest of the village of Franklin Grove, in Sec. 35. His wife died May 1876. He and an elder sister residing in Ohio are the only survivors of his father's family. His family consist of three living: Mary D. (Mrs. Josiah Little, Amboy, Ill.); Jerome (married and, living in Amboy), and Columbus. The second, third and fourth of his family died young: Jesse, aged three years; William H. Har- rison, eight years, and Medrick D., between one and two years of age. Mr. Hussey now owns a farm of 115 acres, having sold some of his land. In politics he is a republican.
GEORGE H. TAYLOR, grain dealer, Franklin Grove, was born in Cheshire county, New Hampshire, 1823. His father, John Taylor, was of Scotch ancestry. His mother was Catherine Livermore. The Livermores were early Puritan settlers in New England, and came
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
from Holland. John Taylor was a tanner by trade; he had a family of eight children, only one of whom was a son. In 1838 he came.to Ogle county, Illinois, and settled at Daysville, and subsequently claimed half a section of land. Here he lived till 1849, when he re- moved to St. Charles, Illinois, where he died in 1854 or 1855. His wife died in 1871, aged eighty-six. In the fall of 1846 George H. Tay- lor married Emily C Wood. Their children are : Alice (Mrs. William B. Loyd, St. Charles, Illinois), Ella (Mrs. William Hemme, Califor- nia), Flora (Mrs. D. R. Timothy, China, Lee county, Illinois), Clara (Mrs. David T. Jones, Washington, District of Columbia), Frank and Lucius. In 1857 Mr. Taylor came to Franklin Grove and engaged in the grain business, which he has since followed. In 1870 he built his elevator at a cost of $5,000, witli a storage capacity of 20,000 bushels. Mr. Taylor is a republican in politics, having been an abolitionist. His wife is a member of the Methodist church.
U. C. ROE, doctor, Franklin Grove, was born in Eddyville, Lyon county, Kentucky. His father, John Roe, was born in Philadelphia, August 19, 1800, of English and German blood, and possessed a splen- did physical organization. When he was twenty-one years old he located in Lyon county, Kentucky, on the Cumberland river, and was here married to Elizabeth, youngest daughter of Col. Nathan Lyon, a native of Ireland. In 1827 John Roe moved with his family to Spring- field, Illinois, and began the study of medicine. In an early day lie settled at Light-house Point, Ogle county, having previously made a claim on the Illinois river, in Putnam county, but on going to Galena to enter it found that a speculator had got ahead of him. In the fall of 1837 the subject of this sketch made his first trip to Chicago. In the winter of 1837-8 he went to a school kept in his father's log house, and in the winter of 1838-9 in the new school-house, to Charles B. Far- well, now of Chicago. He worked on a farm summers till 1844, at- tending the Mount Morris Academy winters. In 1845 he entered the Ohio Botanico-Medical College, and attended one term of lectures. After sixteen years' practice of medicine he received a diploma from this institution. Upon his father's removal to Chicago, about 1845, our subject entered into a large and lucrative practice. In 1846 he married Almeda Brown. Their issue are : Nathaniel C. (married), Ella (Mrs. T. J. Giddings, Cedar Rapids, Iowa), Lucy (Mrs. A. R. Hamlin, Wisconsin) ; Frederick U. and Carrie, Emma and Belle, aged fifteen years, and John, aged two years, are dead. In the spring of 1854 Mr. Roe came to Franklin Grove and lived here till 1860, and returned again in 1870. In 1860 he began the manufacture and sale of medicine, in which business with his sons he is now engaged. He has a large number of teams and wagons out through the country in
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the sale of his medicines. The doctor also treats chronic diseases, and lectures on phrenology and the laws of health. He is an ordained deacon in the Methodist Episcopal church, and a greenbacker in politics.
CONRAD DURKES, merchant, Franklin Grove, was born in the Pal- atine in 1829. His parents were Philip and Appolonia (Stelzer) Durkes. His father was three years a soldier, and under Napoleon was taken prisoner on the march to Moscow. Conrad was the youngest of a large family, only two of whom are living. In 1842 he came to New Orleans with his father, who was a mechanic; thence after six months they went to St. Louis, and in 1845 to Chicago, where his father died in 1858, and his mother in 1866. Here his widowed sister is living. Conrad Durkes remained in this city till 1852, when he went to Oregon, Ogle county, where he sold goods till 1855. He then came to Franklin Grove and began in the dry-goods business, which he has since followed here with one interruption of three years. By close attention to business Mr. Durkes has amassed a good property. In 1858 he married Mary Jones. They have four children living : Augustus P., Ida E., Warren C. and Stelzer A .; Mary Kate died in 1870, aged four years. His family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Durkes is a Mason and independent in politics. He received an average schooling in the German public schools, but has since obtained in actual business that which is far more efficient, and which has made him a man of excellent business qualifications.
EZRA A. WOOD, merchant, Franklin Grove, was born in Augusta, Canada, in 1833. His mother was Mary (Earle) Wood. His father, Anthony Wood, was born in Schoharie county, New York. In 1838 Anthony Wood left Canada, after a short residence there, and came to Ogle county, Illinois. He settled near Oregon and purchased a claim to 160 acres in Nachusa township and improved it. He died on his way overland to the Pacific coast in 1850. He was twice married and had eleven children, two by his first wife. Ezra Wood was attending school at Mount Morris when his father died, but did not go to school after this event. In 1860 he went overland to Colorado, and there enlisted, October 1861, in the 1st Col. Inf. The regiment saw some fighting in New Mexico, and skirmished there and along the Rio Grande with the "rebs." and Indians. In June, 1862, this regiment was encamped at Val Verda on a sandy bluff. There Mr. Wood, with many others, was taken sick with mountain fever, and did not recover till fall, when he was discharged on account of physical disability. He came to Franklin Grove in the fall of 1864, having traveled over much of the western country. In June, 1865, he married Charlotte Herring- ton. Mr. Wood is a republican and a member of the Methodist church.
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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.
HENRY A. BLACK, stationer and jeweler, Franklin Grove, was born in Waldo county, Maine, in 1842; son of John C. and Clohe (Wilber) Black, both of Maine. His father was a hotel-keeper; his family con- sisted of seven children, six of whom are living. The family came to Franklin Grove in the fall of 1855, and John Black went into the drug business with A. L. Meritt. Mr. Black was made postmaster soon after, which office he held till 1861, after which he did but little business. He died in 1864 with consumption, having suffered many years from the effects of asthma. Henry Black, the subject of this article, attended school two years at Lombard University, Knox county, intending to complete a course there, but the civil war interfered with this plan, and in December of 1863 he enlisted in the 75th Ill. Inf., Co. G, Capt. Irwin. By an order from the war department he was detailed clerk in the quartermaster's office at Camp Butler, in which capacity he acted about two months. After this he was in the adju- tant-general's office at the same point, most of the time as chief clerk, till he was mustered out, August 1865. In the following November he married Clara A. Timothy, daughter of Otis Timothy. Their chil- dren are Nellie, born June 22, 1868; Lindsey, June 26, 1870; Edith M., May 2, 1875. His grandfather on his father's side was of Scotch descent, and his paternal grandmother was born in Ireland, and came to Maine when she was six years of age. His mother's people were Scotch. His grandfather Black was militiaman in the war of 1812, and participated in the defense of shipping on Penobscot Bay. For this service he received a land warrant. In politics Mr. Black is a republican.
T. W. Scorr, teacher, Franklin Grove, was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, July 19, 1832. He is the youngest child of James and Elizabeth (Jordon) Scott, both born in Pennsylvania. Of their family of five four are living. Mr. Scott's grandparents all came from Scotland. His father was a mechanic. Our subject received his education chiefly at Central Academy, Juniata county. In February, 1856, he married Elizabeth, youngest daughter of James Dysart. He came west to Nachusa in March 1856. After remaining there a few weeks he came to Franklin Grove, which has since been his home. At this time he began opening the farm on which Samuel Riddlesbarger lives. In the fall of 1856 Mr. Scott organized the school in the new school-house at Franklin Grove. He was connected with this school till 1878 and taught in all eighteen years, all but one of which he was at its head. So long was he connected with the school that during the latter part of his service he could look over his pupils and see a dozen or more of them sitting in seats formerly occupied by their parents, who had also been his pupils. Among other things shown us as testimonials
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