History of Lee County, together with biographical matter, statistics, etc., Part 81

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

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AMUND HILLESON, farmer, Lee. The first Norwegian settler in Willow Creek township was Amund Hilleson, second son of Hilla and Emaline (Emmonson) Helge, born in South Bergen stift (state), Nor- way, June 20, 1821. His father died when he was six years old, and his mother being left in destitute circumstances with six children, the latter were bound out according to the custom of that country in regard to the poor, that is, each farmer takes one in his turn for a length of time corresponding to the amount of property he owns; while sometimes the poor are bid off at auction, the keepers being paid for their care and trouble. Mr. Hilleson was provided for according to the former method. When sixteen years old he was able to take care of himself, and hired out the first year for $5 and his clothing, the second year for $7 and clothing, and so on, gradually but very slowly increasing until he had worked thirteen years, the last two or three years receiving as high as $10 and a little clothing per year. Four years before he had enough money saved to emigrate he began to turn his thoughts wist- fully toward America, and from that time worked with the sole object of coming at the earliest time he could be ready. That time arrived in 1851, and he came directly to Sublette township, where his brother- in-law, Lars L. Risetter, was living, and worked the first year in the employ of Thomas Fessenden through haying and harvest for $11 per

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month. In 1852 he bought the N.E. ¿ Sec. 15 in Willow Creek for $1.25 per acre, and continued to hire out as a laborer until he had been here five years. In 1855 he began to improve his land, keeping house for himself two years, when, in 1857, he was married to Miss Emaline Larsen, who was born May 8, 1822, and emigrated to Sublette in 1855. They have had two children : Helge A., born in 1859, and Evaline, born September 6, 1863, and died December 16, 1866. The whole family belong to the Norwegian Lutheran church. Mr. Hilleson con- tributed liberally toward the erection of their house of worship, having given to that object some $600. In 1875 he bought the N.W. } Sec. 15 for $8,150. He has one of the best improved and most desirable farms in the country, which is valued at $19,000. He is a republican and one of the solid men in means and character in Willow Creek township.

HENRY BARNHARD, farmer, Lee, son of Henry and Eva (Rinehart) Barnhard, was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1808. In 1850 he came to Twin Groves, and after renting land one or two years from James Thompson, bought his farm, which he still owns and occupies, on Sec. 9. He entered the southwest quarter, and afterward sold the south half. His farm of eighty acres he values at $5,200. He was married in Ohio about 1839, to Miss Harriet Kearns. They have had the following children : Matilda, wife of George Davenport, living in Kansas ; Joseph (dead), Bigelow (dead), Emma, married Ebenezer Pet- tenger (dead); Henry, living at home; Melville (dead), and Mary, at home. Joseph enlisted in 1863, fought in two battles, and died at Vicksburg from disease. Bigelow enlisted first for one hundred days ; he served his time and then enlisted for three years, and died in New York before reaching the seat of war. Mr. Barnhard is a republican.

ROBERT J. THOMPSON, farmer, Steward, was born in Hampshire county, West Virginia, March 2, 1847. He was the son of Robert and Zulemma (Taylor) Thompson, was reared a tiller of the soil, and re- ceived a common school education. His grandfather Thompson ran away from his home in Ireland and came to America before the revo- lution. He fought in the cause of the colonies, and after the war set- tled in Hampshire county, where the subject of this notice was born. His grandfather Taylor was an Englishman and fifer in the revolu- tionary war, and Mr. Thompson's mother has his fife in her possession. In March, 1865, Mr. Thompson 'emigrated to this county and settled in. Willow Creek, and in 1868 he was followed by his parents. His father had owned land in this township a good many years before he came here to live. Mr. Thompson owns 150 acres, left him by his father, valued at $10,000. He is a democrat in politics, and is filling his fourth term as town clerk of Willow Creek. He was married

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

March 15, 1870, to Miss Eva L. Flagg, daughter of Lucius H. and Al- mira Flagg. She was born April 16, 1847. They have had four chil- dren to bless their home : Guy, George, Nora, and Eddie (dead).

JACOB B. FISHER, deceased, son of Thomas and Mary M. (Bookes) Fisher, was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, October 6, 1810. He lived at home on his father's farm until of age. In that day the cus- tom among shoemakers was to go around the country and make the boots and shoes for families at their houses, the leather being furnished by those having the work done. The subject of this sketch took up the trade without serving an apprenticeship, and did the work for his father's family, the arrangement being that the other boys should do the out-door work. When he became twenty-one he went on a farm of eighty acres, mostly woodland, and was married January 28, 1833, to Miss Ruth Carleton, who was a daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Reese), and was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, May 2, 1812. About 1836 they removed and settled near Columbus, on a farm of 120 acres of their own; and in 1853 they emigrated to Willow Creek township, where Mr. Fisher bought 400 acres of land. These parents had fourteen children : Martha E. (dead), Mary J., now Mrs. Patrick Dangherty; Thomas C., married Miss Avais Moore; Sarah Ann, wife of John Hickey ; William (dead) ; Adeline, now Mrs. William H. Dow ; Margaret, wife of Benjamin W. Noe; Hannah (dead); Lydia (dead) ; Adolphus, married Dolly Siglin ; Phebe, wife of John C. Grove; Elea- nor; Jacob, married Miss Elma J. White, and James, married Miss Estella Conklin. Mr. Fisher was a democrat in politics, held the office of supervisor and road commissioner, and was a member of the Presby- terian church from early life. Mrs. Fisher belonged to the same de- nomination, but as there was no Presbyterian church here she first joined the United Brethren and afterward the Methodist church, of which she is at present a member. She and Jacob and James live upon the old homestead, which contains 240 acres, valued at $12,000. Mr. Fisher died January 9, 1857, much regretted. Mrs. Fisher was left with a very large family, but she proved equal to her heavy re- sponsibilities in successfully rearing her children and managing the affairs of the farm.

WILLIAM DUNKELBERGER, farmer, Steward, was born in Pennsyl- vania in 1820. His parents, Solomon and Christiann (Harmon) Dun- kelberger, had six sons and four daughters. His great-grandfather emigrated from Germany before the revolution, and two uncles named Dunkelberger served the country in the war of 1812. When the sub- ject of this notice was eight years old his father removed with his family to New York, and he lived there, working as a farmer, until 1867. In that year he came to Willow Creek and bought the N.E. }

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WILLOW CREEK TOWNSHIP.

and a part of lot 1, N.E. ¿ of S.W. }, and lot 2, N.W. ¿ of S.E. } Sec. 17. He has recently purchased thirty-two acres adjoining on the west, and now owns a pleasantly situated farm of 215 acres, which he valnes at $15,000. In 1845 Mr. Dunkelberger was married to Miss Sarah Knedlei, who was born in 1819. They have had seven children, as follows. Mary Sophia, wife of Henry J. Evers, Sarah Jane (dead), Caroline, Elizabeth (dead), Phebe Adelia, Hannah Amelia (dead), Christiann Esther (dead), and Maria Catherine, now Mrs. August Mer- tons. Both parents are members of the German Evangelical church of Willow Creek, and Mr. Dunkelberger was the first class-leader in that society. He is a republican.

LOUIS P. SMITH, farmer, Lee, son of Charles and Mary (Clayton) Smitlı, was born in Pennsylvania in 1815. His father served in the last war with England, and was in some engagements. Mr. Smith left home when a young boy and went to live with a man named Isaac Smith, who was a miller, aud from him he learned the same trade. He was employed at this twenty years. In 1834 he settled in Ohio, where in 1840 he married Miss Mary Spring, who died in 1844, leaving one child, Byard. He was married again January 24, 1847, to Miss Eliza- beth Armstrong. By the second marriage six children have been born, as follows: William, Hannah Jane, Jacob, Daniel B. (in Colorado), George, and Louis Milton. In 1854 Mr. Smith removed to this town- ship and selected a home at Twin Groves, and the following year came to live on his present farm, the S. ¿ of S. W. } Sec. 9, which he now valnes at $5,200. He has been road commissioner several terms, and is a democrat in politics. His son Byard enlisted in the 27th Ill. Vols. in 1862, but was shortly after transferred to another regiment and served his term of three years. He fought at Stone River and Lookout Mountain, served on the Atlanta campaign, the march to the sea, and the campaign of the Carolinas.

HILLA L. HILLESON, farmer, Lee, eldest son of Lars and Augusta (Swanson) Hilleson, was born in Sublette township, this county, May 15, 1857. His father, a brother to Ommon Hilleson, the first Norwe- gian settler in Lee county, emigrated from Norway in the same party with Lars L. Risetter, in 1847. A brother and sister accompanied him all the way to Lee Center. These were taken sick with cholera, and as everybody was afraid to go near, the care of them fell on him, and his whole time was divided between the work he had to do and his attentions to them. He had $100 when he arrived, but this was soon spent for the sick, and at last both died. By proper precautions he was prevented from taking the disease. But the saddest office was the last, a painful one, when he had to give his own brother and sister sepulture without assistance. The next year, in partnership with his

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

brother Ommon, he rented ground and sowed seventy acres of oats and planted twenty acres of corn. The oats these two cradled, and the whole crop they hauled to Chicago after it was harvested. From this crop he got a little start, and after working with his brother a few years got a piece of land in Sublette. Finally he married, and lived in that township until about 1866, when he came to Willow Creek, where he now lives. Hilla, his son, was married March 15, 1877, to Miss Bertha E. Winterton, who was born in Bergen stift (state), Norway, in 1857. She emigrated with her parents Allen O. and Bertha P. (Espy) Win- terton, in 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Hilleson belong to the Norwegian Lutheran church, and are the parents of two children : Augusta Louisa and Betsy Margaretta.

JACOB E. MILLER, farmer, Paw Paw Grove, was born in the town of Greenfield, Saratoga county, New York, in 1827. His father fought in the battle of Plattsburg, New York, in the last war with England, and married for his wife Maria De Grauph. Mr. Miller was raised on his father's farm, and at the proper age was apprenticed to the black- smith trade, but he never worked at it after he finished his time. In 1848 he left his native state and settled at Bristol on Fox river, in Illinois, and lived there eight years, working by the month at farm- ing. In August, 1854, he was married to Miss Jane S. Brown, of Bristol, who was born in 1827. In September, 1856, Mr. Miller moved with his family to his present home on the S.E } Sec. 28, in which he owns eighty acres. In addition to this he has forty acres in Sec. 27, and both pieces are worth $6,000. His building location is one of the most sightly in Willow Creek, and admits of an extended view of the country which is beautiful and picturesque in this region. Mr. and Mrs. Miller have reared four children : Charles L., Florence D., Frank G. and Thaddeus E. Charles was married in 1879, to Miss Celestia Griswold ; Florence lives in Colorado, and Frank is a soldier in the 21st U. S. Inf., is orderly sergeant of his company, and superintendent of the post school on Vancouver's Island. The sub- ject of this notice is independent in politics.

ANDREW STUBBS, farmer, Paw Paw Grove, was born in Hartford, Oxford county, Maine, March 11, 1820. His parents were Nathan and Sophia (Allen) Stubbs. Mr. Stubbs worked at farming till he was twenty years of age, and then went to New Bedford and shipped on board a whaling ship and was away during a four years' cruise. He sailed around Cape Good Hope, visited New Zealand, Australia, the Society Islands, and the Navigator Islands. His second voyage lasted nearly four years. He went around Cape Horn, visited the Chilian part of St. Carlos and Talcahuano, the Peruvian port of Callao, went to Lima, nine miles back of Callao in the interior, called at the

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Sandwich Islands several times, and cruised in the Japan and the Okhotsk seas. The third and last voyage he made consumed over three years, and on this he shipped as second mate. He landed first at the Azores, next at the Cape Verde Islands, then at the Sandwich Islands, stopped at Sitka, spent one season along the coast of Kam- tchatka and in the Arctic ocean as far north as the 72º of latitude and the ice barrier. Here he came near being devoured, at one time, by Esquimaux dogs. He sailed now to the Sandwich Islands and Hong Kong, then back again to those islands on his passage home around Cape Horn. His vessel touched at Pernambuco, and loaded with oranges. Between the second and third voyages he was at his home in Maine one year farming. He was on the water twelve years, and from the time he began following the sea until he quit was fourteen years. Mr. Stubbs was married in Massachusetts in 1850, to Miss Lucinda Green, from near Cleveland, Ohio. She was born in East Cleveland in May 1832. Her grandmother Gunn was one of the earliest, probably the second white woman, to settle on the western reserve. These parents have nine living children : Elizabeth H., now Mrs. George Hinckley ; Charles A .; Benjamin, married to Miss Ella Shoudy : Almond L .; Mary, wife of Charles Davenport ; Albert, Lillie May, Ida, and Wealthy. Shortly after the close of his last voyage, and in July 1853, Mr. Stubbs came to Lee county, and settled in Willow Creek township, where he has since lived. He was first on the Nettleton farm a short time, and then came to his own 120 acres on Sec. 27. He has been road commissioner, and is a republican. Mrs. Stubbs belongs to the United Brethren church.

NATHANIEL C. ALLEN, farmer, Paw Paw Grove, born in Hartford, Oxford county, Maine, in 1822, was the son of Nathaniel and Polly (Tinkham) Allen. His mother was descended from Ephraim Tink- ham, who came over in the Mayflower. The descendants had in their possession until recent years a kettle which their ancestor brought with him, and which was used until the bottom wore through. Mr. Allen pursued farming and lumbering as his occupation while in Maine, and in 1845 his father's family came to this township, and he followed the next year. He still occupies the land which he then entered - a quarter of a section, worth now $8,000. In the winter of 1848-9 he went to Minnesota, and worked at lumbering. In the spring he went down to St. Louis with a raft of logs. This was the cholera year, and one of the raftsmen died on the float. The follow- ing winter he went to Mississippi to cut cord-wood, but having cut his leg badly, and being taken with chills and fever, he returned in Feb- ruary. In 1861 he was married to Miss Emaline Johnson, of Viola township, who came with her parents from Vermont, and settled there

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

about 1849 or 1850. They have four sons and three daughters : Cora, Nettie, Rufus, Aranda, Clarendon, Adelbert, and Blanche. These are all living, and Cora is the wife of Terry Stevens, of Shabbona. Mr. and Mrs. Allen are members of the United Brethren church, and he is a republican. In February, 1865, Mr. Allen enlisted in Co. I, 15th Ill. Inf. He rendezvoused at Camp Fry, Chicago ; went thence to New York, and from there to North Carolina, joining his command at Raleigh. He marched to Washington City, participated in the Grand Review on May 24, then was transferred to Louisville and St. Louis, and was furloughed at the latter place. He rejoined his command at Fort Leavenworth, where he was mustered out on September 17, 1865. Mr. Allen has been twice almost fatally injured. The first time he was run over by a runaway team, and had his facial bones broken. The next time he was knocked down and terribly gored by an infuri- ated bull. Mr. Allen held to the rope by which he was leading him, while the animal rolled him about on the ground, and when in reach of a tree wound it around and tied it, and then rolled away. It was supposed each time that he could not live.

NOAH W. DAVENPORT, farmer, Paw Paw Grove, was born in Har- persfield, Delaware county, New York, in 1823, and was the eldest child in the family. His mother, whose maiden name was Pamelia Dayton, was a native of Weathersfield, Connecticut. His father, Eras- tus Davenport, was born in Columbia county, New York. His grand- father Davenport was a revolutionary soldier. The subject of this notice traces his lineage in this country from the Rev. John Daven- port, a co-founder of New Haven. In his "History of the United States " McCabe thus refers to him : "In the year of the Pequod war (1637) John Davenport, a celebrated clergyman of London, and The- ophilus Eaton, a merchant of wealth, and a number of their associates, who had been exiled from England for their religious opinions, reached Boston. They were warmly welcomed, and were urged to stay in the Bay colony ; but the theological disputes were so high there that they preferred to go into the wilderness and found a settlement where they could be at peace. Eaton, with a few men, was sent to explore the region west of the Connecticut, which had been discovered by the pur- suers of the Pequods. He examined the coast of Long Island Sound, and spent the winter at a place which he selected as a settlement. In April, 1838, Davenport and the rest of the company sailed from Boston, and established a settlement on the spot chosen by Eaton." In the campaign against the Indians, which resulted in the total destruction of the Pequod nation, Capt. Davenport acted a conspicuous part. When their fort on the Thames was assaulted and taken he com- manded one-half of the assailing party, and Capt. John Mason, who

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was in command of the whole expedition, directed personally the movements of the other half. Mr. Davenport received a good English education, and in 1846 commenced reading to prepare himself for the practice of medicine. In 1848 and 1849 he attended lectures at the Albany Medical College, of New York, and in 1850 located in Lor- raine county, Ohio. Subsequently he settled in Van Wert county, where his health failed, and then he came to Lee county, Illinois, re- maining one year. In January, 1874, he went to Washington Terri- tory, living there two years. In 1876 he returned to the east, and finally settled down on a farm in Willow Creek township. In the summer of the present year (1881) he took a foreign tour. Dr. Daven- port has had an eventful, as it is an interesting, history, but his native modesty will not permit us to detail it in full. He was descended from old-line whig stock, and is naturally a republican.

GEORGE A. BRITTAIN, farmer, Paw Paw Grove, was the second son of William and Elizabeth (Oman) Brittain, and was born in Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, in 1848. His paternal ancestors were residents of New Jersey, and those on his mother's side belonged to Pennsyl- vania. His parents reared a large family ; their twelve children were named as follows: Margaret, Susannah, Sarah, Effie (dead), Hester Miranda, Amelia, Mary, Rebecca, John, George, William Wesley, Oman Peter (dead). John was a soldier in the 156th Ill. Vols., and served nearly a year. In 1855 Mr. Brittain's parents came to Lee county and rented land ten years. In 1865 his father bought the farm where our subject now resides, the S. } of N.W. ¿ Sec. 28. On this place the former died in 1878, at the age of seventy-nine years. Mr. Brittain has increased the homestead which he received from his father, by the addition of the S.W. ¿ of N.E. } Sec. 28, making 120 acres valued at $6,000. He was married in 1876, to Miss Marietta Hall, who is the daughter of Reuben Hall, and was born December 22, 1859. Their children are Oman R., born August 15, 1878; and Martha, Sep- tember 9, 1880. Mr. Brittain has been constable and collector, be- longs to the Methodist Episcopal church, and is a republican. Mrs. Brittain is a member of the United Brethren church.

SARDIS VOSBURGH, farmer, Lee, son of Charles and Millicent (Van- Invanee) Vosburgh, was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, July 8, 1836. His life-long occupation has been that of a farmer. In 1856 he came to De Kalb county, and settled at Shabbona, living there till 1867. The year before he had purchased of his present farm the S.E. ¿ Sec. 23. He has since bought eighty acres adjoining in Sec. 26, making a total of 240 acres of very desirable land, valued at $12,000. On March 27, 1867, he removed from Shabbona to this homestead. His marriage with Miss Ellen Atherton, who was born in 1835, took

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HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

place on March 24, 1864. They have three intelligent children : Will- iam, born July 10, 1867; Fannie, December 22, 1868; and Nellie, October 31, 1870. Mrs. Vosburgh is a communicant in the Baptist church. Mr. Vosburgh has been road commissioner six years, and is a republican in politics. The present year (1881) he put up a handsome store building in Lee, the first brick structure ever erected in that village. Mr. Vosburgh is one of the most respected men in Willow Creek.

THOMAS NELSON, farmer and teacher, Lee, son of Nels and Guro Samson, was born in Hardanger, Norway, September 26, 1843. His youth from six to fourteen was spent in the district schools of the country ; afterward he attended Voss higher school for teachers at Vossvangen, two years. He taught one year, beginning in the spring of 1861, and the following spring emigrated to America, and was en- gaged as a teacher in the Norwegian select school in Chicago. He taught till the autumn of 1864, and on November 1 enlisted for two years in the navy. His whole service was on the Mississippi transport Volunteer. He was retained but half his time, and was mustered out November 3, 1865. On his return to civil life he took one term of in- struction at the Paxton University, in Ford county, Illinois, and then taught again in Chicago until the autumnn of 1866. Having been pre- viously engaged to teach in the Norwegian Lutheran congregation in Willow Creek, he came here that fall. Until 1870 he was teaching and clerking ; in that year he bought his present farm of forty acres ; since that date he has taught both English and Norwegian schools, and clerked and farmed. His homestead is valued at $2,000. In the au- tumn of 1868 he returned to Norway, and on April 2, 1869, took in marriage Miss Bertha Swassand. They embarked the same season for America. The fruits of this union have been three children : Nels William, Carrie Louise, and Andrew. These parents are members of the Norwegian Lutheran church, and Mr. Nelson is a republican. In 1880 he was commissioned notary public, and appointed census enu- merator for Willow Creek township. In the spring of 1881 he was elected to the office of justice of the peace.

CALEB M. BACON, farmer, Lee, eldest son of Daniel H. and Mary (Zuber) Bacon, was born in Pennsylvania in 1826. From his father's farm he went at the age of nineteen to New Bedford, Massachusetts, and engaged to go on shipboard. His first voyage was through the Indian ocean, by way of Australia and New Zealand, to Kamtchatka, thence to the Sandwich Islands, and from there home via Cape Horn. This occupied twenty-two and a half months. From 1847 to 1849 he was on a voyage in the Indian ocean, visiting Australia, island of Java, strait of Sunda, thence home by way of Cape of Good Hope, touching,

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on the passage back, at St. Helena. In October, 1849, he sailed for the Pacific ocean and Polar sea, making ports on the west coast of South America and at the Sandwich and other islands. This voyage lasted thirty-one months. On his subsequent ones he went out and returned by the way of Cape Horn. He shipped again for the Pacific and Arctic oceans in October 1852, and visited the Sandwich and other islands and Hong Kong, and was absent twenty-nine months. In the autumn of 1855 he sailed over nearly the same route on his fifth and last voyage, which he brought to an end in the spring of 1858, when his health broke down and he took a discharge from the ship at the Sandwich Islands, and came home from there as a passenger. The whole of his sea-faring life was spent in the whale-fishery. In the fall of 1858 he came to Willow Creek township and made permanent settlement on the S.W. 4 of Sec. 14, where he has lived until the present time. He had been twice to Illinois before, having come on visits between his voyages. His first marriage was with Miss Sarah Pettibone, of New York city, who survived her nuptials only five months. In 1862 he was married again, to Miss Sarah Brittain, who was born in 1833, and was the daughter of William Brittain. Five children have been born to them : Rhoda, Daniel, Elizabeth (dead), Mary, and Homer. When Mr. Bacon first came to the township he purchased 240 acres of land, afterward he added 80 more, but now has 300, handsomely cultivated, improved with substantial buildings, and valued at $15,000. He is a Congregationalist, but the society to which he belonged, and which assisted in building the Twin Groves Methodist church, has ceased, by reason of removals, to exist. He has been road commissioner, town clerk twice by appointment, assessor two years, and constable and col- lector. He is an independent republican, and a public spirited and prominent citizen.

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History of Lee County, together with biographical matter, statistics, etc., Part 81

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