History of Lee County, together with biographical matter, statistics, etc., Part 72

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 72

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HARRIS D. MERWINE, deceased, was born in Pennsylvania May 3, 1821, of German ancestry. His father was a tiller of the soil, and he. at the proper age, began to learn the millwright's trade, which he followed near Mauch Chunk until the summer of 1849. On June 19 of that year he was married to Miss Thurza Morris, of Tunkhannock, Wyoming county, Pennsylvania. Her father was Isaac Morris. Im- mediately after this marriage Mr. and Mrs. Merwine and her father's family started west and stopped at Paw Paw, or "Mormon Corners." They erected a house together in what is now the west part of the town, on land purchased from Jacob Rogers, and the next year Mr. Merwine built a wagon shop, in which he labored until his health failed in 1856. He was then elected constable and collector for Wyoming, but did not long hold these offices, being removed by death April 20,

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

1857. He was a republican and an Odd-Fellow. He was a useful and respected citizen, whose character was in every way above reproach, and whose memory is spoken of to this day in excellent terms. On the death of Mr. Merwine, Mrs. Merwine's parents came to live with her. The mother died in 1874. Mrs. Merwine was left a widow with three children : Irene married A. R. Haskell and lives in Michigan; Albert is station agent at Amboy, and Anna died in 1870.

ALVA R. HARP, restaurateur, Paw Paw Grove, was born in Miami county, Indiana, in 1839. His father, Samuel, and his mother, Jane (Butler), were among the earliest settlers in that county. The father still resides there, and the mother was a second cousin to the late President James A. Garfield. In 1856 Mr. Harp came to Willow Creek township. After spending one summer here, and returning to Indiana for a short visit, he went to Missouri and remained eighteen months. One-third of this time was occupied in teaching school, and the remainder saw him station agent at Miller's Landing, on the Pacific railroad. He now returned to Indiana for a brief sojourn, then to Willow Creek, where he was married in February 1859, to Miss Amanda E., daughter of Jesse Koons. At the end of two or three years' residence in that township he moved to Minnesota, where he and his wife, whose good courage and endurance were tested and served them well, encountered as great hardships as have fallen to the lot of few pioneers. In a year the Indian war broke out and Mrs. Harp returned to Illinois, but her husband tarried behind a few months. He was employed six months at Fort Snelling, first as teamster and then as cook. On his return to Willow Creek he made his home there with his family again two or three years; after which he moved to Iowa, and spent some three years in that state. He once more found his way back to Willow Creek, and subsequently settled in West Paw Paw. This was 'in 1872, and was his last removal. During his changes from place to place he had been most of the time employed at farming. On coming to this village he at once set up in the dry-goods trade, and soon took Andrew Rosenkranz as partner, to whom he sold his interest in a few months. He now opened a restaurant on the south side of Main street, which was the first business house ever erected there. He was once subsequently in the dry-goods trade, in which venture he failed ; he was in the butchering business fifteen months, and altogether has had six restaurants. Accompanied by his wife, in 1879 he traveled by wagon in Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, his journey extending from September 22 until the following January. These parents have two children, Nellie, who is twenty-one years of age, and Samuel, now sixteen. Mr. Harp is a republican, and a member of Anchor Lodge, No. 510, I.O.O.F., and of Paw Paw Encampment, No. 52.

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JAMES LITTLE, retired, Paw Paw Grove, born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, in November 1815, is the only surviving son of Walter and Helen (Johnston) Little. When James was old enough he was kept at school for some years, and then began work in gardens and nurse- ries of fruit and forest trees. In the summer of 1833, in company with an elder brother, he came to America, landed at Quebec, came up to Toronto, was there and elsewhere in Canada about a year and a half, and then came to Buffalo, New York, where they soon after mnet their parents. Two brothers, Andrew and William, followed to America, and settled in the same city. James worked in gardens in the summer season till the spring of 1838, when the whole family, except John, the eldest son, moved to Illinois and took up a claim in what is now Brooklyn, in Lee county. His father died two months after they settled, but the family remained on the place. James and William worked out a part of the time for the first two years till they had their farm on the prairie broken up, and when the land came into market James and William bought the claim. Andrew bought his claim in Viola. In 1846 James bought William's interest in the farm, but shared the home with his mother and brother. In the fall of 1848 he sold the farm, and the following spring moved to East Paw Paw, where he purchased a share in the store of S. B. Warren. His mother died that summer, in July, and soon after her death James had a tombstone set up which marks the graves of both father and mother, and under their names the following verse from Hervey's " Meditations " :

"Centered in Christ, who fires the soul within, The flesh shall know no pain, the soul no sin. E'en in the terrors of expiring breath We bless the friendly stroke, and live in death."

He remained with Warren some two years. In closing up the affairs of the firm Mr. Little commenced the business of loaning money , which he has continued to the present time. In 1861 he bought the house and lot where he now resides, at Paw Paw. In 1871 he was married to Harriet Bolles, second child of Dr. Alexander H. Bolles, of Tunkhannock, Wyoming county, Pennsylvania.

GEORGE S. HUNT, M.D., deceased, was the first regular medical practitioner at Paw Paw Grove and throughout the surrounding coun- try. He was the son of William H. and Elizabeth (Esteb) Hunt; was born in southern Indiana, June 30, 1817; educated at La Porte, Indi- ana ; graduated at the medical college of that city in class of 1845, and married that year, in May, to Louisa Ward, of Paw Paw Grove, daugh- ter of Samuel Ward, formerly of Onondaga county, New York. Dr. Hunt commenced the practice of medicine at Paw Paw Grove in 1844. His ride soon became very extensive, taking in all the groves within

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

reach. His estimable wife often accompanied him, and drove the team, so he might sleep in the carriage. She says "there were at this time no roads, and often no trail or trace, and only his mind's eye to guide him." He wore himself out, and died in 1855 in the town of Pompey, State of New York, while on a visit for recuperation. The beautiful residence of his widow, at South Paw Paw, still evidences Dr. Hunt's good taste, and ability to design and plan. Their only child is Hannah E., wife of John Baker, of Paw Paw. Mrs. Hunt's mother, Hannah Ward, now in her eighty-fifth year, is living with Mrs. Hunt.

IRA BAKER, farmer, retired, Paw Paw Grove, was born in the county of Schoharie, New York, January 14, 1814, and was the eldest of seven children of Silas and Catharine (Bungier) Baker. His father was a lumberman and farmer, working at the one in winter and the other in summer, so that between the two there remained little chance of schooling for his boys. When Ira was seventeen he bought his time for $150, which he subsequently earned by working out by the month. In the summer of 1834, in his twenty-first year, he came west to what is now Jersey county, Illinois. One Spanish dollar constituted his stock in trade when he commenced his western life, but his capital comprised also those traits of character that inevitably insure success. He split rails at three shillings a hundred, and could make just one hundred a day. From this pittance his board, and postage, at two shillings a letter, had to be met. April 2 of the following spring he was married to Sarah, daughter of John Wilkins, of that county. Farming in suitable weather, and turning the balance of his time to account in making oak shingles, thus, by constant hard work and the most rigid economy, he was able in those days to obtain a bare liveli- hood. About this time he carried the mail over a route of some twenty miles, crossing the Mississippi. His flat-boat experiences and adven- tures, as narrated to the writer, were fraught with lively interest. In that early day a house with a window in it was a rare exception. Nothing of importance save hard work and low prices occurred till the spring of 1848, when he moved to Chicago to educate his children a term or two, and continued his shingle business there. The next winter he moved to Wyoming township. Here for about thirty-two years he farmed from 120 to 240 acres. In 1877 he built his village residence, corner of Pern and Wheeler streets. He was commissioner of highways several years; also collector. As an official he was one who did business correctly, but he usually declined all solicitations to be a candidate for any office. In his dealings he has been wont to repose confidence in men, often loaning without even a note, and with no security ; yet, strange to say, $25 would more than cover all his

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losses from betrayed confidence. He believes in making the most unprincipled man feel that he is yet a man. He joined the Methodist Episcopal church forty-two years ago, in the days of Peter Cartwright. He had two sons in the army: Ira W. served three years in Co. K, 75th reg. Ill. Inf., was in the terrible battles from Franklin to Atlan- ta, where he was wounded, but not seriously disabled ; John was in the service the closing year of the war. Of fifteen children twelve are still living, and their father says of them what every parent would gladly be able to say, "I am proud of every one of them."

JOHN B. BRIGGS, hair manufacturer, Paw Paw Grove, was born in Anson, Somerset county, Maine, March 22, 1836. He lived in his native town till the summer of 1846, when he departed with his parents, Adin and Susan (Cottle), for the Far West, and arrived at Grand De- tour, Ogle county, in July. The family remained in the vicinity of that place and Washington Grove five years, engaged in farming. John's advantages for education were very limited, but while there he improved the winters to attend the district school. In 1851 his father moved his family to Willow Creek township, this county, where he preempted the S.E. ¿ Sec. 14, and the following spring died. John, the eldest son, now sixteen, took charge of the farm, and was hence- forth the main dependence of the large family. When the preemption expired he and his mother paid the price of the land from the first crop of wheat, and received a patent from the government. At this time one of the brothers came into possession of half the land, and when the division was afterward made the remainder was evenly divided between the other two. John then bought his brother's share of forty acres. When Mr. Briggs came to Willow creek the country was nowhere improved, save by a meager population located around the groves, and it was so little transformed from its original wildness that in going from his home to Twin Groves he has counted at one time forty deer, and frequently from under his window barking wolves startled the night air with piercing yelps, and gave the household hideous serenade. In 1864 Mr. Briggs was married in Lexington, Somerset county, Maine, to Miss Alfreda Pierce. He returned with his bride and settled on the old homestead, where they lived until 1873, when he sold his farm. During the next two years he made his home in Chicago, being engaged in trade and carpentry. Since that time he has resided at Paw Paw. His wife died some years ago. On March 31, 1877, he was married again, to Miss Eliza Town, youngest daughter of Russell and Roxana Town. By his first marriage he had three children : Obed W. survives, the others were buried in infancy. Since settling in Paw Paw he has been most of the time employed in traveling, and manufacturing and selling hair goods, and is now doing

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

a larger business in this line than any other person west of Chicago. By this means he has obtained an extensive acquaintance. He is a steward in the Methodist church at Paw Paw, and a republican in politics.

S. A. ABBOTT, cooper and dealer in all kinds of cooperage, Paw Paw Grove; born at Londonderry, Windham county, Vermont, May 25, 1825. He was the youngest of twelve children of Jacob and Abi- gail (Dutton) Abbott. His father was in five battles in the war of 1812, and came out of the battle of Plattsburg with seven bullet holes through his close-fitting shirt. In his leisure hours during the war he made himself useful by mending shoes for officers and soldiers, and in this way earned and saved up one hundred silver half dollars. Having enlisted for five years, there still remained fourteen months of his term when that war closed, and to escape a long, tedious march to the Rocky mountains and back he used his hundred half dollars to seeure a sub- stitute. He received his land warrant and held it till his son was eighteen, but it called for land to be selected " away out in Illinois," or farther west, and the son regarded that as out of the civilized world, and would not accept as a gift the rich prairie that he has since learned to prize most highly. Young Abbott's school days were quite limited, yet he seems to have made the most of them. At thirteen commenced working out; was with his first employer twenty-one months, includ- ing three months' schooling. Doubtless, little did that kind-hearted employer then realize that in future years, when nearly a half century should have elapsed, the recollections of his almost paternal kindness to the stranger lad would be still so fresh in a grateful memory as to choke utterance and moisten the eyes. His sixteenth and seventeenth years were employed in a hotel. In the fall of 1842 he hired out to drive a six-horse team from Chester, Vermont, to Boston, one hundred and ten miles. Six tons was an average load. In this work he took great delight; his horses seemed to understand his word perfectly, and he used no rein. He thought he had found his life work; but lo, the iron horse changed many a fate. In the spring of his twenty-first year he began learning the trade of carpenter and joiner; but in that country of long winters he could work at his trade but seven months in the year, so he found employment in a hotel the remaining five, and this course he followed for seven years. In the spring of 1854 he came west to La Salle, Illinois, where he worked at his trade, and that fall made a visit to friends near Paw Paw Grove. Delighted with the country, he at once purchased a farm, and on New Year's day laid the sills for his house. In June, 1855, he was married to Hannah C. Bailey, daughter of Miles S. Bailey. In 1860 both united with the Methodist Episcopal church at Sonth Paw Paw, and since then were transferred

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to the church at Paw Paw. A veteran Sunday-school superintendent, class leader for twenty years, sharing his genial home most happily with his wife's parents a quarter century, surely Mr. Abbott's life has been no failure. He is a republican and P.G.W. in Anchor Lodge, I.O.O.F.

MARSHALL R. REAMS, merchant, Paw Paw Grove, was born in Ross county, Ohio, December 15, 1850, and the only child of William and Ellen (Bowen) Reams. When he was three years old the family moved to Illinois and settled near Paw Paw, where his mother died the following year. His schooling was confined to the home district school and ended at eighteen. At twenty-one he commenced clerking; was employed successively by Jacob Hendershot, John Colvill and W. C. Runyan ; was in partnership a year with Henry Potter in gen- eral merchandising, and in April, 1881, commenced for himself in the same business. He was married March 28, 1875, to Libbie Sanford, of this place. They have two children : Wilbur Pratt, born March 1, 1877, and Frederick William, born October 7, 1879.

ALEXANDER FIELD, liveryman, Paw Paw Grove, proprietor of the well-rigged livery stable east of the Paw Paw House, is one of the old and respected citizens of the place. He was born at Chester, Vermont, October 3, 1826, and the youngest of ten children of Robert W. and Lydia M. Field. Having spent his youth in the usual way, between the school and the farm, he looked about a little through Michigan and Wisconsin, came to Lee county, Illinois, in his twenty-first year, and bought land from the government in Secs. 26 and 27. In August, 1849, he married Louisa Rumsey, daughter of Isaac Rumsey, of Sulli- van, Tioga county, Pennsylvania. He made his financial start in Cali- fornia, whence he returned in 1854. His father, living with him at this time, died in 1858. He sold his farm in 1870, and in 1872 bought his present residence. He was for a time engaged in the heavy work of drayman, but his health failing in 1875, he commenced the livery business. For this he seems to be well fitted, and his business is thriving. He is republican in politics and a zealous Odd-Fellow, having filled all the offices of that order, both of the subordinate and the encampment. Mr. and Mrs. Field have the reputation of being among the most accommodating and kind-hearted of citizens. They have no children living ; have buried two, Addie and Zillia.

AMOS SIGLIN, Paw Paw Grove, is one of those industrious, enter- prising men who are the bone and sinew of a live town. He is a gen- ial Pennsylvanian, born in the township of Chestnut Hill, and county of Northampton. His father, Jacob Siglin, a veteran of 1812, was wounded ' at New Orleans under General Jackson, and died when Amos was but eleven years old. His mother's maiden name was Susannah Singer ;

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

she lived to the great age of ninety-seven years, ten months, and two days. Amos when a boy loved to work, but was not particularly fond of books, and he had to go three miles to school ; so after the death of the father the preference of the boy rather than his real good was too often regarded, and his schooling became too frequently a secondary matter. On the farm till he was sixteen, he then went to the trade of carpenter and joiner, and followed it till he came west in 1855. That fall he purchased the farm he now owns in Sec. 29, Willow Creek township. During the winter of 1873 he dealt quite extensively in but- ter, live stock, etc., at Paw Paw. Before coming west, in 1851, he was married to Catharine, daughter of William and Barbara Sutton, both of whom died at Paw Paw at an advanced age in 1879. The buildings on Mr. Siglin's farm are of his own workmanship; he also built his Paw Paw residence, in 1876, and with Mr. Lester Potter, in 1880, erected the brick block known as the Siglin and Potter block. On the night of July 30, 1881, a high wind stripped off about half of the iron roofing from this building, demolishing coping, awning, etc. The cost of repairs was about $350. Mr. and Mrs. Siglin have four children : Mary Elizabeth (Mrs. Wm. H. Smith), Dolly (Mrs. Adolphus Fisher, of Ogle county), William Siglin, of the firm of Wm. Merrell & Co., and Barbara. Mr. Siglin is in full sympathy with both Odd-Fellows and Masons, being a member of each order. He has always voted the democratic ticket.

SAMUEL C. MITCHELL, dealer in hardware, Paw Paw Grove, born at Bedford, Hillsborough county, New Hampshire, November 3, 1835, was the fifth of twelve children of Dwella W. and Eliza D. (Smith) Mitchell. At ten years of age he had never had a day's schooling nor even been taught his letters. He walked two and a half miles and back each day for all his schooling, save six weeks at an institute at nineteen. Commencing with A BC, his progress was constant and rapid ; at the end of three months he was in the fourth reader. For four years he had six months annually, after that only three, and worked out on farms the other nine. The night before he was twenty-one he delivered up to his father the last farthing of his earnings, received in turn a suit of clothes, and this, with reputation, brains, brave heart and brawny hands, constituted his sole capital with which to start for him- self. "But," says he to the writer, " 'Twas the best thing that could have been done for me." After working one summer on a farm, and teaming that winter, the spring of 1858 found him on a farm in De- Kalb county, Illinois, in the employ of Augustus Breese, with whom he remained four years, and whose daughter Emily he married in 1864. From 1862 to 1872 he rented and worked a farm ;. then was in the hardware business nine months in Iowa, when seeing " as with pro-

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phetie eye," the promising opening for business at Paw Paw, he sold out, came to this place, and opened his present hardware store. He has three children, the youngest named after President Garfield. Mr. Mitchell is a Mason, an official member of the Presbyterian church, and a man who has the respect of his townsmen. His parents are still living, and are on the old homestead in the Old Granite State.

JOHN PATRICK, retired, was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, August 7, 1808. The names of his parents were Abel and Elizabeth (Hurlbutt), and they were natives of Connecticut. His father was a soldier in the revolutionary war, and his grandfather came from France. John was the youngest of seven children. His education was limited, not attending school over three months in the year. The country was new, and there was plenty of hard work on his father's farm, where he stayed till he was twenty-five. He then engaged a short time in a store, afterward in a hotel, and visited the west. In October, 1836, he married Celinda Earl, and for two years they were connected with a hotel. His wife and child died, and in 1838 he returned to his old home in Pennsylvania. For four or five years he was in a store, and in 1841 married Miss Mary Harris, of Columbia county, Pennsylvania. After being on a farm for a time, in the spring of 1845 they came to Sycamore, Illinois, and in February, 1846, settled in Wyoming. At that time there was not a mile of railroad in Illinois. The farm he purchased then was the N.W. } of N. W. } Sec. 36, and the S.W. } of S.W. } Sec. 25. He lived here thirty years. except for two years when the family resided temporarily at East Paw Paw, so that the children could attend school there. In March, 1876, his second wife died. In January, 1879, he married Miss S. A. Wilson, of Paw Paw. Four children were born to his second wife, two of whom are now liv- ing : Mrs. Harriet C. Mirick, in Kansas, who has three children, and Mrs. Gertrude E. Agler, of Paw Paw, who has one child. One who knows Mr. Patrick from his youth says of him: " He has seen hard times enough to sink most men, but through tireless energy and dauntless will has attained a goodly measure of success." He is an Odd-Fellow, and has held prominent positions in various organizations.

ASAHEL PRENTICE, farmer and stock raiser, Paw Paw Grove, is another of the staunch farmers and stalwart men of whom Wyoming is justly proud. Mr. Prentice hails from the old Bay State, where, in the town of Chester, in Hampden county, he was born June 6, 1833. His parents were Ephraim and Susan (Bisbee) Prentice. He was there twenty-three years, with the usual advantages of the district schools of those days, and four months at Williston Seminary, at East- hampton. He was brought up a farmer, and came to Wyoming town- ship in the fall of 1856, and the following year, in November, was

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married to Amanda M., daughter of James C. and Euphemia (Mar- shall) Sproul, of Montour county, Pennsylvania. Nearly a quarter of a century has elapsed since, on the wild prairie one mile north of the township line, they began life together. They now have a good farm, well stocked and improved, a commodious new house, with excellent cellar and conveniences for dairying, six children, hale, hearty and strong, all at home, and apparently a pleasant home, where kindred hearts beat in unison, and all are willing to work for the common good. The children are Sarah E., James C., Henry Mortimer, Joseph D., William M. S., and Lena May. Mr. Prentice is a republican, but says he honors a good, straight democrat. He is both a Mason and an Odd-Fellow, having his membership at West Paw Paw. From 1872 to 1878 he served the town as a commissioner of highways.

GEORGE W. MILLER, farmer, Paw Paw Grove, was born in Ln- zerne county, Pennsylvania, December 12, 1853, and was the son of William and Eliza K. (Vosburgh) Miller. He came west with his parents and settled in Viola township, having first stopped a short time in La Salle county. When he was sixteen years old his father sold his farm and bought another in Wyoming township, on Sec. 6. Mr. Miller remained at home until twenty-four years of age, and on October 5, 1878, was married to Miss Aliee Mittan, daughter of J. P. Mittan. In the autumn of 1879 he took charge of his father's farm of 175 acres, at the head of Willow creek. Mr. and Mrs. Miller's two children are Minnie E. and Carrie May. He is a republican in politics.

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History of Lee County, together with biographical matter, statistics, etc., Part 72

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