History of Lee County, together with biographical matter, statistics, etc., Part 75

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 75

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the sale of it in Illinois. He has made one trip to California and four to Kansas, where he now is improving a permanent home.

MRS. SUSAN P. DETAMORE, proprietor of the Detamore House, Paw Paw, was a native of Pownal, Bennington county, Vermont, and the youngest child of Jedediah and Tameson Foster. Her parents came to Paw Paw Grove in 1847, but on the way out here she stopped at Eaton, Ohio, and was there through all the fearful scourge of the cholera two years later. Just as this was abating, in September, she was married to David Detamore, whose father and mother, Jacob and Sophia Detamore, and brothers and sisters had all been carried off by this terrible disease. While living here the only child they ever had, Mary E. Detamore, now the wife of Dr. Thomas D. Palmer, was born, and when they emigrated to Paw Paw, in 1851, she was six months old. On their arrival Mr. Detamore bought the property where the Detamore House has always stood, and as there was a growing demand for hotel accommodations, they at once opened their doors to entertain the public. In a short time their business had so increased that they . were compelled to enlarge their house. In 1856 Mr. Detamore sold the property and gave a bond for a deed. A long and expensive con- test in the courts ensued, in the midst of which, in 1859, Mr. Detamore sickened and died. The heavy costs of this suit were paid by Mrs. Detamore from keeping boarders in a little private house. Being de- clared the rightful owner of the property, she returned to it in the spring of 1861. Since then, with the exception of about a year that she was east to give her daughter the benefits of school, she has remained here continually, and has succeeded in securing a competency, and that which she prizes as still more valuable, the respect and good-will of her large circle of acquaintances. Mention was made to the writer by numerous citizens of the lively interest this lady had ever taken in the welfare of the place, how she had sold lots at low rates, improved buildings, and contributed generally to its growth and prosperity.

WILLIAM M. SPROUL, farmer, stock raiser and dairyman, Paw Paw Grove, was born in Columbia county, Pennsylvania, August 26, 1821, and was the son of James C. and Euphemia (Marshall) Sproul. His father was from Ireland, and a saddler by trade, followed mercantile pursuits, and was prominent in business. His grandfather Marshall served as a soldier in the revolution, and his mother was of Scotch- Irish descent. William had fair educational advantages, and taught school some four winter terms. On November 18, 1844, he was mar- ried to Sarah A. McHard, and immediately settled down to farming on his father's place. Two children were the fruits of this union; one died in 1847, the mother followed to the grave the next year, and the other child was buried in 1854. Mr. Sproul took a second wife in the

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

person of Miss Charlotte J. Wilson, and the marriage rite was cel- ebrated June 6, 1849. She was the daughter of Richard and Mary (Durham) Wilson. Her grandmother, Margaret Durham, was the wife of James Durham. Long years ago, when the great west, where we now live, was the hunting ground of the savages, and the middle states, some yet unsettled, were on the border, the Indians made an irruption into Pennsylvania. The Durhams were living at the forks of the Susquehanna when the settlement was invaded. As soon as the news of danger reached the people they hurried off to the fort, the women being sent in advance, and Mrs. Durham with a babe in her arms, while the men delayed a little to look after matters. The latter, when moving toward the same place, were attracted by the frantic demon- strations of the house-dog, and on going to the spot indicated by his intelligent manner they found Mrs. Durham lying in a shocking con- dition, scalped and tomahawked, apparently beyond all possible hope of recovery, thongh lingering signs of life might still be discovered. At length, to their surprise she called for water; this was brought in a hat, and from this moment she clung to the last chance for life with such restoring tenacity that her recovery was finally accomplished. To add to her grief, her husband was taken prisoner by the Indians. A silver plate mended her fractured skull, and she lived to become the mother of six children. Mrs. Sproul well remembers her brave grand- mother. About 1850 Mr. Sproul bought a farm in Pennsylvania; in the spring of 1857 he sold it and emigrated to Illinois, settling in Wy- oming township, where he purchased 240 acres in Sec. 27. A tract of eighty acres was partially improved, the remainder was wild land. The house then on the place has a history. It was built entirely of hard wood, spiked together in the most substantial manner, and after being several times moved to different localities has probably found a permanent stopping-place in Paw Paw, where it is owned and occu- pied for a residence by John Briggs, being evidently improved by its itineraney. Mr. Sproul has a neatly improved and well stocked home- stead, fenced with growing hedges, which contains thrifty orchards and good buildings. He is a first-class butter maker, and the products of his dairy bring the highest prices in Baltimore, Philadelphia, St. Louis, and New Orleans. He received the first premium at the Missouri state fair, held in St. Louis in 187S. He gives most careful personal attention to this business and his abundant success is but the natural result of his industry and good judgment. By his last marriage Mr. Sproul has three children : Mary Jane, wife of W. L. Shumaker, Eu- phemia E., and Sarah Margaret, now Mrs. John R .. Crandall, living in Clay county, Kansas. Mr. Sproul is a democrat, and his whole family belong to the Presbyterian church.

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WILLIAM MOFFATT AND BROTHER, farmers, importers and breeders of stock, Paw Paw, were the sons of Joseph Moffatt, who was lost on the steamship Canadian in the straits of Belle Isle, June 4, 1861. The steamer struck an iceberg and went down in forty-five minutes. William was born in Ontario county, Canada, August 24, 1837, and the mother died when he was five years old. There were three chil- dren younger than he; Robert and Mary Jane were twins, and the latter died suddenly at the age of seventeen. After the death of the mother the family remained together and labored in unity, and in this way could help one another, making all more prosperous. The father was a thrifty, energetic man, and left a farm for each of his children. They all received a good education in the excellent common schools of their native place. These brothers have been in company since their arrival in the States, in March 1871, and have made a specialty of breeding thoroughbred stock. They resided three years in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, and in March, 1874, moved to this township, where they purchased 430 acres of land. Their farm contains a number of com- modions buildings adapted to their business. We noticed a barn 100 feet long, one building 40×60, and another 36×44. The latter is en- larged by shed-roof additions. The Moffatt brothers keep an average of thirty-five horses, seventy-five head of cattle, and a choice herd of Berkshire swine. They have imported eight horses the present season. " Johnny Ladd," four years old, imported in 1880, weighs nineteen hundred pounds and is valued at $3,000. In 1878 they competed at Freeport against fourteen herds and received the highest premium. Calves have been sold from their herd for $300 apiece, and their sales of horses in the last year have amounted to more than $12,000. Rob- ert was married October 23, 1860, to Annie E. Leming, of Yorkshire, England. He is a member of Corinthian Lodge, No. 205, A.F. and A.M and is a republican in sentiment, but has not yet taken his natu- ralization papers. Robert Moffatt, the African missionary, was a cousin to his father, and a daughter of the missionary was the wife of Dr. Livingstone, the explorer.

JOHN BUCHANAN, farmer, Paw Paw Grove, was born in Sterling- shire, Scotland, December 15, 1815, and was the son of William and Janet Buchanan. His father was a soldier in the English army ; he enlisted about the time of the battle of Waterloo for twenty-one years, and served under Wellington. When seventeen years of his service had expired he accepted the offer of a discharge, accompanied with a land warrant, instead of serving his full time and receiving a pension. He was an excellent scholar and bookkeeper, and could have been pro- moted to high positions but for the fatal habit of intemperance. The subject of this notice was reared by his grandparents, and when twenty-

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

one years old emigrated to Simcoe county, Canada West. He lived there from 1836 to 1850 leading a backwoodsman's life in the main, driving ox-teams, and working with axe, auger, hoe, and chain imple- ments. In 1850 he came to Wyoming township, accompanied by his father, and his brother William ; here he bought from the government 240 acres of land in Secs. 17 and 20, and began breaking and raising crops. . He still owns the same place, and all the improvements on it are the work of his own hands. As illustrating the rapid growth in value of real estate in this part of the country, and how men's wisdom has been outdone by the prodigious improvement of recent years, it may be mentioned as a curious fact that Mr. Buchanan was once of- fered 160 acres of land adjoining his farm for $200, but supposing it to be worthless refused to buy. The same land would now sell readily for $50 an acre. Mr. Buchanan was married to Mrs. Elizabeth Wooley September 15, 1855. Their children, four in number, are Janet, Will- iam Henry, Mary, wife of Henry Calkins, and Charlie. Janet is af- flicted with total deafness, but converses readily with her mother by watching the movement of her lips. She is a ready writer, intelligent and interesting, and has a large correspondence. Mr. Buchanan is a democrat, and has been a Presbyterian some twenty years. One after- noon in 1860 his brother William took his fowling-piece and started out to shoot a crane. He did not return when he ought, and a violent thunderstorm having arisen in the meantime, it was supposed he had taken shelter at a neighbor's, so no search was made. At length, how- ever, lie was found dead west of the house, and it was evident that he had been accidentally shot while getting over a wire fence. The shock was so great to his father that his feeble frame gave way and he died the same week. Mr. Buchanan was now alone without a relative in America, but being in a kind community he has found the best of friends.

JOHN HARDING, lumber dealer and justice of the peace, Paw Paw Grove, was born in Exeter, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, August 14, 1831. At the age of sixteen he left home and entered a store as clerk his employer giving him $96 a year, and by close economy he managed to attend school one term each twelvemonth. Afterward he obtained a scholarship in the Wyoming Seminary, located at Kingston, in his native state, and was in attendance there about three years. In 1854 he was at the New York Conference Seminary in Schoharie county. All this time the voice of Horace Greeley was ringing in his ears, "Go west, young man, go west," and in 1855 he left the Empire State to seek his fortune in this section of the country. His journey terminated in Wyoming township, where he engaged in teaching school south of the grove. After a residence here of four years, he returned to the

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bosom of his childhood, spending there his summers on the farm with his father and mother, and his winters in pedagogy. In 1862 an un- godly rebellion was scourging the land, and a pressing demand for help came from Uncle Sam. Securing at once letters of introduction to prominent men in Washington, he proceeded there in search of a posi- tion on public works, and was attached to the engineer corps at Camp Baker and Long Bridge. After nine months in that place he returned home, and on July 21, 1864, was drafted, and on August 1 paid a commutation of $300. On the 24th he was mustered into the United" States service as recruiting officer of Pennsylvania volunteers, holding the rank of second lieutenant. He mustered in seventy-three men; then went to Harrisburgh and was mustered first lieutenant of Co. G, 210th reg. Pa. Vols., and on September 15 he joined the 5th Corps under command of Gen. Meade. He was in battle at the South Side railroad October 28, and again February 1865, and was wounded while commanding his company at Hatcher's Run, February 6, by a musket ball passing outward and backward through his right elbow joint. Having received a furlough, he went home, but returned to the army in time to witness the last gasp and to help close the eyes of the de- funct slave-holding confederacy. His active military life ended on May 18, 1865, when he was mustered out under general order No. 82, and special order No. 23S, of the war department ; but he was present at the grand reviews of the two armies of Meade and Sherman, which occurred respectively on the 23d and the 24th. On his return from the war, being solicited by his numerous friends in Luzerne county to present himself as a candidate for assemblyman, he did so and received almost the unanimous support of the convention, and became the nominee. It was a democratic "deestrict " and he was defeated by a majority for his opponent of 221 votes. Again the silvery voice of the patriarchal Greeley resounded in his ears, and again his steps followed the setting sun, and brought him to Wyoming township. At the close of the war he received $1,705, which represented his savings, and on reaching Paw Paw, in October 1865, he formed a partnership with John Colvill, in the mercantile business. After about four years he sold to his partner, and in 1872 began dealing in coal, lime, and agri- cultural implements. In 1874 he bought the old store formerly used by Colvill & Harding and moved it to a lot south of the highway, with a view of fitting it up for an implement warehouse, but it was demolished by a high wind, and he was forced to replace it with a new structure, which he shortly after disposed of to W. C. Runyan. March 1, 1876, he united in a copartnership with L. Potter under the name of Potter & Harding, and carried on the lumber business until Jan- uary 1, 1880, when he bought his partner's interest, and since that

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

time has continued alone to deal in lumber and plastering materials. Mr. Harding stands prominently in the ranks of those who take a large interest in the welfare of the town, and anything necessary to its de- velopment never lags for lack of substantial encouragement from him. He has been useful to many who were endeavoring to secure perma- nent homes, by selling them lumber on easy terms when they were unable to pay cash. As the result of successful industry and economy he is the owner of considerable town property, and enjoys a good home.

E. G. CAss, editor and proprietor of "The Lee County Times," Paw Paw Grove, is a native of Illinois, having been born on a farm near Grand Detour, Ogle county, on October 14, 1858. His parents, Jeramel and Sarah Maria (Grover) Cass, were born in Mary- land, Otsego county, New York; the former April 28, 1817, and the latter June 26, 1822. In January, 1860, the family moved to Henry county, and settled at Galva, where Mr. Cass received his first school- ing. In 1867 they went to Dixon, and there the subject of this notice attended the north side public school until November 20, 1870, and being a ready pupil made rapid and solid advancement. Up to this date his life had not been marked by incident, but being of an active and industrious habit and turn of mind he cherished a desire for man- ual as well as mental employment, and immediately went to work in the printing-office of W. M. Kennedy, of Dixon, and continued there until September 1877. During the whole time he was not out of the office two weeks, except for sickness, and now steady confinement and want of recreation had so told upon his health that he was constrained to quit work altogether for several months. In January, 1878, he formed a partnership with J. B. Gardner, and took control of "The Paw Paw Herald," then the property of its founder, R. H. Ruggles, of Mendota. Five weeks afterward the office was sold to its present proprietor, and Messrs. Cass & Gardner, on March 21, issued the first number of " The Lee County Times." They also started the " Comp- ton Record." In May they began the publication of " The Lee Moni- tor," for the village of Lee. In August Mr. Gardner retired, and Mr. Cass has since carried on the business alone. In April, 1880, he com- menced the issue of a paper for Earlville, called " The Leader." Mr. Cass was but nineteen years old when he engaged here on his own account ; and having readily worked up a large paying subscription list is evidence that he has conducted his business with ability and success. He is in high standing as a man and Mason. In 1880 he was secretary of Corinthian Lodge, No. 205; in April, 1881, he re- ceived the chapter degrees in Mendota, and was created a Sir Knight of Bethany Commandery, No. 28, in the same place.

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JAMES FONDA, blacksmith and farmer, Paw Paw Grove, was born at West Troy, New York, October 29, 1816. His parents, William and Abigail Fonda, were both taken away, and James was left an orphan at nine years of age. His school privileges were so limited that at eighteen he could read and write only with difficulty. After four years' serving at the blacksmith's trade, he was married, in De- cember of 1837, to Alsina Bacon, a well-educated lady, who greatly assisted him. She died May 1, 1852, leaving six children. His sec- ond wife was Jane E., daughter of John Hendricks, of Wayne county, New York. At the date of his first marriage he was eight dollars in debt, but at the time of his second marriage lie had saved up some $2,500. This was the result of hard work at his trade. Branching out now he managed, besides his blacksmithing, a large farm and saw- mill. In his heavy business he met some severe losses, but was in the main successful. In 1867 he sold out, moved to Paw Paw Grove, and bought what was known as the Christie farm, one of the oldest in this region. He still owns this farm, now well known as "Fonda's Corner." Besides this he also owns property in the village where he now resides. Mr. Fonda had two sons in the service of his country, both in New York regiments. Fitch Fenton Fonda, the eldest son, enlisted, in 1861, in the 69th New York, was under Gen. Hancock, and taken prisonera t Petersburg at the time of digging Dutch Gap canal, and, after enduring the barbarities and untold suffering of Andersonville four and a half months, he was released from the tor- tures of starvation by the silent messenger death. Edwin R. Fonda, the second son, enlisted in the 147th New York, passed through a severe run of typhoid fever, was severely wounded in the battles of the Wilderness, under Warren, in Gen. Grant's campaign ; came home, but returned again after partial recovery. Being a fine penman, he was then detailed as secretary to the quartermaster, and served to the close of the war. He is now an engineer on the Union Pacific rail- road, with his headquarters at Omaha. Another son, James H., is engineer on the same road, with his headquarters at North Platte.

JACOB EPLA, farmer, Paw Paw Grove, son of John and Elizabeth (Derr) Epla, was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, January 9, 1820. His father was a soldier in the last war with Great Britain. His parents were poor, and there were no schools, except an occasional one supported by subscription, but he made the most of his meager opportunities and tolerable progress in the elementary studies, though he was not a pupil between the ages of eleven and twenty-one. The clothing he wore in his boyhood was all made from flax raised by his father, and wrought into cloth by the industrious and tireless hands of his mother. He tells how in those days every girl had a spinning

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wheel and went about to do work with it at 75 cents and $1 a week. In September, 1837, the subject of this sketch came to Champaign county, Ohio, and hired out on a farm for $7 per month. In 1840, being yet six months in his minority, he paid his father $30 for this time, and made, as he facetiously says, $5 by the speculation, which was his only capital at majority. . He came with a younger brother on foot to Terre Haute, Indiana, on September 1, 1840, where he hired for a year to work on a farm. This was the hardest year's work he ever did. He and his brother picked fifteen acres of corn, cleared and fenced twenty-three acres of heavy timber and had 7,000 oak rails left, cut sixty cords of wood, and burned 200,000 brick. The two following years he worked in the same neighborhood. He was married March 2, 1841, to Catherine Farnham, daughter of James Farnham, of Edgar county, Illinois. He rented land, followed teaming, and bought forty acres in the dense woods, clearing ten and building a cabin. This property he traded for a team in February 1845, and at once set out for Lee county, Illinois. He rented from Charles Pelcher that year the farm of 120 acres where the Oak Grove Creamery is situated, and also received from the government a patent for forty acres of the farm he now owns on Sec. 9, in Wyoming township. The cluster of hard maples standing in his yard were set out by him the same season. His present house was built about 1857. He enlarged his farm to 200 acres, but has conveyed forty of this to his son Josiah, who is occupy- ing it. For six or seven years after coming to this county Mr. Epla was engaged in teaming much of the time. He hauled wheat to Chi- cago and sold it for 40 cents a bushel, and brought back goods and lumber, which he says he has " hauled all over these prairies." In an early day, about 1849, Mrs. Epla's brother started from Paris in Edgar county, this state, for Paw Paw with a load of apples, and though traced fifteen miles nothing was ever afterward heard of him. Mr. and Mrs. Epla have been the parents of five children. They have buried two, and the living ones are Sarah, wife of E. M. Babbitt; Jo- siah, and Mary, now Mrs. Isaac Christie, of Iowa. Mr. Epla is a repub- lican, and past-grand of Anchor Lodge, I.O.O.F.

LESTER HARDING, farmer, Paw Paw Grove, was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, February 24, 1815. He traveled through this section of country and visited friends here in 1836 and again in 1839. April 28, 1842, he was married to Miss Jerusha Hall, daughter of Jon- athan Hall, of his native county. In 1846 he moved from there with his family, and was thirty-six days performing the journey. In passing over nearly the same route since, by the improved means of travel, which consumed only thirty-six hours, he could not refrain from notic- ing the striking contrast, and reflecting on the wonders of the age in

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which we live. Mr. Harding's father, Isaac Harding, settled here a year prior to his arrival, and purchased from the government 160 acres in Sec. 9, Wyoming township. Sixty acres lying in the northwest quarter he conveyed to our subject when he came, and this he still owns and occupies. He built his house in 1848, hauling his lumber from Chicago. Mr. Harding and his father both promptly acquired high places in local influence and public confidence. The latter had been here but a short time when he was elected to the responsible office of county commissioner, and was a member of the court and as- sisted to divide the county into townships, when that system of local government was adopted. Mr. Harding himself was the second super- visor of Wyoming township, and held that trust five years. Besides his services in that position he has filled every other township office. In 1858 he was elected sheriff of Lee county, and discharged the duties of that position three years. Politically Mr. Harding is a democrat, and it is a fact worthy of remark that he and Judge Charters are the only men of that persuasion who have been elected to a county office in Lee county in twenty-two years. In 1861 Mr. Harding went to Colorado, and from thence in the spring of 1863 to Montana. In the spring of 1865 he visited British Columbia, and arrived home in Octo- ber after journeying sixty days. A mine which he sold for $1,000, in three months after the sale yielded $8,000. Mr. and Mrs. Harding have had five children ; three are living and have their homes in Ne- braska. One son and a son-in-law are engineers on the Union Pacific railroad, and live at North Platte. The recently deceased wife of John Colvill was a sister to the subject of this notice. A brother of his is Garrick M. Harding, president judge of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania.

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History of Lee County, together with biographical matter, statistics, etc., Part 75

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