History of Logan County, Illinois, Part 45

Author: Inter-State Publishing Co.
Publication date: 1886
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 989

USA > Illinois > Logan County > History of Logan County, Illinois > Part 45

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Minnie Ethel and Florence Martha. Maria died January 10, 1878, aged nearly eleven years, and James Henry died in infancy, June 29, 1881. Mr. Johnston and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopl church at Lincoln, he being a member of the official board. He has always taken an active interest in edu- cational and religious matters and has given liberally toward the support of the gospel both in his own and other churches. Har- mony Church, in Ætna Township, was built through his efforts, he alone giving the building. He also donated the cemetery grounds to their cemetery association. He is a Master, Royal Arch and Knight Templar Mason and belongs to the lodge, chapter and com- mandery at Lincoln.

Thomas P. Joseph, sewing-machine agent at Lincoln, was born April 2, 1833, near West Liberty, Logan County, Ohio, where he lived till his fourteenth year. He then began clerking at Dayton, Ohio, and was afterward engaged in clerking at Quincy, Ohio, till 1859. He then came to Logan County, Illinois, and was employed a short time clerking in Atlanta, after which he was engaged in general merchandising till 1872, when he came to Lincoln and has since been engaged in dealing in sewing machines. He was mar- ried at Atlanta to Mrs. Maria Allen, daughter of Hiram Lawrence, of that place. They have two children living-Frank and Burt. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Lincoln. He is a member of Lincoln Lodge, No. 210, A. F. & A. M., at Lincoln, and Logan Lodge, No. 176, I. O. O. F., at Atlanta, and has passed all the chairs in the latter lodge which he has represented in the Grand Lodge of the State of Illinois. . He is also a member of Cook Lodge, No. 109, A. O. U. W., of which he has held the position of receiver for the last five years.

John Paul Keller, proprietor of the Ahrens' House, Lincoln, is a native of Wurtemberg, Germany, born May 22, 1859, a son of John Paul and Catherine (Holz) Keller. When he was eleven years of age his father died. His mother then came to America, leaving him to the care of his grandmother till he was fourteen years old, and till that age he attended the schools of Wurtemberg. He then joined his mother at Marietta, Lancaster County, Penn- sylvania, and lived with her at that place till he was sixteen years of age. He then, in 1875, began life for himself, his first work being in the iron mines of Berks County, Pennsylvania. He mined there about two years and in the fall of 1876 he came to Logan County, Illinois, and located at Lincoln, where he worked in

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the coal shaft of the Lincoln Coal Mining Company for a short time. He was then variously employed till 1881, when he was en- gaged as a clerk in the grocery store of John E. Dehner, with whom he remained almost two years. He then was bar-tender for Henry Ahrens till the fall of 1883, when he became proprietor of the same house. He was married at Lincoln, April 10, 1883, to Cassie L. Klemm, a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They have two children -- Carrie L. and John. He and his wife are mem- bers of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church at Lincoln. He is a member of the Odd Fellows order and belongs to Mozart Lodge, No. 345, and has served as right and left supporter of the vice-grand. In his political views Mr. Keller is a Democrat.

Thomas Wallace Kenyon is a native of New York, born at Port Gibson, Wayne County, November 22, 1835. His parents, Rus- sell A. and Lydia J. (Rhodes) Kenyon, were natives of New York, of English descent. In 1846 they moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan, and there our subject was reared, and was educated in the graded school of Marshall, the seminary at Gull Prairie, and the schools of Yorkville. His father was a tanner and glovemaker and he worked with him as cutter till his majority. July 3, 1856, he was married to Mary L. Brewer, daughter of Paris and Roxanna P. (Miller) Brewer, of Little Sandusky, Ohio, After his marriage he engaged in hotel keeping at Yorkville till 1858, when he came to Logan County, Illinois, and located on a farm in East Lincoln Township, where he lived till August, 1881. He then moved to the city of Lincoln and has since engaged in dealing in live-stock, being associated with Marvin Brewer, under the firm name of Brewer & Kenyon, for a short time, and subsequently with John Dawson and Paul Smith, but since 1883 has been alone. In the spring of 1882 Le was elected a member of the City Council of Lincoln. Heis a member of the Odd Fellows order, and has passed all the chairs of both lodge and encampinent; also of the Knights of Honor. Mr. and Mrs. Kenyon have nine children-Clarence, an attorney of Kansas City, Missouri; Russell P., a blacksmith of Lincoln; Frank H., Inspector of Public Works at Kansas City; Minnie M .; Zella; Thomas W .; Bert; Mary L. and George.

Charles King, bookkeeper for the Citizens' Coal Mining Com- pany, Lincoln, was born near Waynesville, De Witt County, Illi- nois, August 20, 1857, a son of Robert and Elizabeth (Cantrell) King, his father a native of Pennsylvania, of German descent, and his mother of Illinois, of Scotch descent. When he was an infant his

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father died and he remained with his mother till eleven years of age. He then began to work for his own maintenance, finding employment as a farm hand during the summer and attended the district schools in the winter. When nineteen years of age he be- gan teaching school in McLean County and taught three years. In 1880 he attended Gem City Business College, at Quincy, Illinois, from which he graduated June 8, 1881. He then went to Fredo- nia, Kansas, where he was employed five months in the county offices. He was then employed as bookkeeper in the Wilson County Bank till July, 1883, when he came to Lincoln and for a year was employed as bookkeeper in the First National Bank, and since then has been bookkeeper of the Citizens' Coal Mining Com- pany. While in Kansas he held the office of city clerk of Fredo- nia a year. In politics he is a Republican. He is a member of Cook Lodge, No. 109, A. O. U. W. Mr. King was married March 4, 1881, to Clara B., daughter of David and Ellen (Stanfield) Hum- mell, of Lincoln. They have one child-Mary. Mr. and Mrs. King are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He has been superintendent of the Sunday-school two years, steward one year and class-leader one year.

Frank Klatt, of the firm of Klatt & Shilling, liverymen, Lin- coln, was born in the city of Schoenlanke, Prussia, January 29, 1838. When seventeen years old he came to America, and first located in Chicago, where he was variously employed till 1857. He was then engaged for three suminers on a boat plying between Chicago and Joliet, and during the winters he was employed as a teamster in the stone quarries at Joliet. He came to Logan County,, Illinois, in the spring of 1860, and worked on a farm in Corwin Township, for William Squires, till August 11, 1861, when he en- listed in the Union army as a private to serve three years. He was a member of Company B, Second Illinois Cavalry. He par- ticipated in the battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, Grand Junction, and in numerous skirmishes and cavalry scouts. He served three years and one month, when he was dis- charged at Springfield, Illinois, when he returned to Logan County, and settled at Lincoln, working in Martin Spitley's livery stable till June, 1865, when he became Mr. Spitley's partner, continuing as such till the spring of 1874. IIe then bought his partner's in- terest, and in 1879 Joseph Schilling became associated with him, thus forming the present livery firm of Klatt & Schilling. Mr. Klatt was married December 17, 1868, at St. Louis, Missouri, to

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Colley Knapp

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psa Jeager, formerly of Alton, Illinois. They have seven chil- in living-Bertha, Barbara, Ida, Rosa, Charles, Eddie and Lena. be of their children are deceased-Matilda, died in 1873, aged een months; Anna, died in 1883, aged eleven years; Frank, in 1883, aged five years. In politics Mr. Klatt affiliates with Republican party. He and his family are members of St. ty's Catholic Church at Lincoln.

Hon. Colbey Knapp, deceased, was one of the pioneers of Logan sounty of 1836, three years before its separation from Sangamon County. He was born in Chenango County, New York, January 7, 1811, of English ancestry, who settled in Massachusetts in an early day. His father was a physician, and practiced over fifty years in New York. When fifteen years of age our subject left home and went to Oxford for the purpose of attending the academy of that place, but changing his mind he entered a dry-goods store as a clerk. Four years later he was sent by his employers to Honesdale, Pennsylvania, where he remained twelve months. He then went to Baltimore, Maryland, where he was employed as bookkeeper in a commission house, and for four years engaged in the drug business. In 1836 he married Miss Catherine Schaffner, of Baltimore, and soon after came to Illinois, and located at Mid- dletown, where in October of the same year he engaged in the mercantile business in company with William Glenn, Jr., and about one year later he bought Mr. Glenn's interest. In 1837 he was appointed postmaster, and held the office till 1860, a period of twenty-three years. At an early day he was elected township treasurer, and held that office for twenty or more years. Soon after the organization of Logan County he was elected probate justice of the peace (now abolished), and subsequently was elected county commissioner, holding the latter a number of years. In 1851-'52 he represented his district, comprising Logan and Mason counties, in the Lower House of the Illinois Legislature, and in 1862 was elected State Senator. He became a resident of Lincoln in 1864, making this his home till his death in 1881. His wife died in 1882. After moving to Lincoln he was chosen treasurer of the Lin- coln University, and collected over $30,000, while holding the posi- tion, for the erection of the present building. In 1869 he was elected mayor of the city. and negotiated the bonds and raised most of the funds for the erection of the public high school building, which, with its thoroughly graded schools and high school, is a fitting memorial to one of its most earnest supporters. Mr. Knapp had

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a family of four children-Mary, wife of Dr. Perry; Colbey M., Charles Schaffner (deceased), and Lucy Virginia, wife of Dr. W. C Maul, of Hyde Park, Illinois.

Colbey Murray Knapp, County Clerk of Logan County, is a native of this county, born in Middletown, Corwin Township, Sep- tember 19, 1844. His parents, Colbey and Catherine (Schaffner) Knapp, were among the pioneers of 1836. He received good edu- cational advantages, attending in his boyhood the district schools, and later the Indian Point Academy, in Menard County, and Hathaway Academy, of Chicago. His father being a merchant he spent his leisure time in the store, and after leaving school was employed by his father as a clerk, remaining with him four years. In 1864 he enlisted in Company D, One Hundred and Forty-fifth Illinois Infantry for 100 days, but was in the service, in Southwest- ern Missouri, six months. In 1868 he took charge of the Mer- chants' Union and United States express offices, filling the position till 1871, when, in March, he was elected clerk of the city of Lin- coln, and the following month he was elected collector of East Lincoln Township. He filled the office of city clerk by re-election till 1883. In November, 1882, he was elected clerk of Logan County for a term of four years, a position he is eminently compe- tent to occupy. Mr. Knapp is a member of the Masonic fraternity, lodge, chapter and commandery, at Lincoln, of the Odd Fellows' order, in which he has passed all the chairs, and has represented his Lodge in the Grand Lodge of the State; of the Knights of Pythias, of which he has also passed all the chairs. Mr. Knapp was married May 25, 1870, to Mary Tarr, of Pontiac, Illinois. They have five children-Colbey Harry, Bessie Virginia, Kittie Adella, Gertrude and Lucille. Mrs. Knapp is a member of the Episcopal church. In politics Mr. Knapp is a Democrat.

Preston Blackburn Knight was born November 13, 1818, near Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and in 1819 his parents removed to Illi- nois, settling on a farm near Carmi. When he was five years old they settled near Hillsboro, Illinois, where he was reared on a farm, remaining there until 1846, and the education that he received was such as the subscription schools of that early time afforded. In 1846 he went to Christian County, Illinois, where he taught school till 1848, after which he was employed as a clerk in a store in Taylorville of the same county for eight years. In 1856 he went to Sullivan, Moultrie County, and there engaged in the mercantile trade, but during the financial crisis of 1858 he, like

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Robert B. Latham

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many others, failed in business. While living in Taylorville in 1849 he held the office of postmaster, and in 1850 was appointed Deputy United States Marshal to take the census of Christian County, and in 1861 he was enrolling officer of Moultrie County. From 1861 to 1865 he was postmaster of Sullivan, Moultrie County. In 1862 or 1863 he was appointed Internal Revenue Assessor of Moultrie County which office he held until he came to Lincoln in 1865 where he was variously employed for several years. In 1869 he was elected coroner of Logan County on the Republican ticket for a term of two years, and was re-elected to the same office in 1871. In 1870 he was elected justice of the peace of East Lincoln Township, and in 1873 was elected city justice of Lincoln, which office he still holds. He has also served as township clerk of East Lincoln six or eight years. He has been married three times. He was first married to Sarah Smyth in 1839. She died in 1851, and he was again married in 1852 to Lucinda C. Skinner, who died in 1854 leaving one child-S. Emma, now the wife of James H. Grove, of Decatur, Illinois. He married Mary Jane Bell, his present wife, in 1855, and to this union has been born one child-Mary L., who is still at home. Mr. Knight has been a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian church since 1840, and has served as ruling elder. He is a mem- ber of both the Masonic and Odd Fellows orders, and is an ardent worker in the cause of temperance.

Mrs. Ruth Lacey is a native of New York, born near Coopers- town, Otsego County, in 1828. She was reared in her native county, living there till her marriage with Lionel P. Lacey, which occurred in December, 1861. Lionel P. Lacey was born at Belle- ville, St. Clair County, Illinois, in 1820. He was reared a farmer but before reaching manhood he studied law, which he followed the greater part of his life. Soon after his marriage he brought his wife to Illinois and settled in Lincoln, Logan County, where he practiced his profession till his death, which took place in August, 1866, at the early age of forty-six years. He was much respected in the county, and his death was universally regretted. He left a widow, our subject, and two children-Lewis J., who died in 1872 aged ten years, and Ruth Alma, now the wife of Arthur W. Leslie, a resident of Lincoln. Mrs. Lacey still makes her home in Lincoln, and is a member of the Protestant Episcopal church at this place.

Hon. Robert B. Latham was born in Union County, Kentucky, 31

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HISTORY OF LOGAN COUNTY.

June 21, 1818. In 1819 his father, James Latham, came to Logan County (then Sangamon), Illinois, and located in Elkhart Grove, living in the first cabin built in the county. His first teacher was Erastus Wright, one of the first teachers of Illinois, who was employed in his father's family. He subsequently at- tended a subscription school at Fort Clark (Peoria), and in 1827, the year after the death of his father, went to Morgansfield, Ken- tucky, and lived with a sister one year and went to school. He afterward returned to Logan County, and when sixteen years of age entered the select school at Springfield, Illinois, and attended the winter terms four years, taking a course in the natural sciences, and higher mathematics. While at Springfield he formed the acquaintance of Abraham Lincoln, which ripened into an intimate friendship. On attaining his majority he received as his portion of his father's estate a part of Elkhart Grove, and for about eleven years followed agricultural pursuits. In 1850 he sold his farm and engaged in the real estate business at Mt. Pulaski, then the county seat of Logan County. The same year he was elected sheriff of the county and served two years. In the spring of 1853 the Chicago & Alton Railroad Company built their road to Bloom- ington and he was employed to secure the right of way through the county. About this time he, with J. D. Gillett and V. Hickox, purchased the present site of Lincoln, which he named in honor of his friend, Abraham Lincoln. In 1860 he was elected a member of the Illinois State Legislature. At the close of his term of office, in 1862, he raised the One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Infantry, of which he was commissioned Colonel, in accordance with the unanimous voice of the men. The exposure and over- work incident to the life of a soldier, coupled with the climate of the South, was more than he could endure, and after a severe at- tack of pneumonia he was obliged to resign. Mr. Latham has always taken an earnest and active interest in religion and educa- tion, and the founding of Lincoln University was due to his liber- ality and influence. When the university was incorporated he was a charter member, and was a member of the Board of Trustees, and was elected vice-president of the first board, and the second year was elected its president, which office he held for eighteen years. During his presidency the university was a flourishing institution, and from the beginning of it an honor to the town and a credit to the founder. Mr. Latham donated ten acres of land and subscribed $3,000 for the building of the college on the part

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of Gillett, Latham and Wyatt. To him also does Lincoln owe the location of the Institute for the Feeble-Minded. It is a large, commodious building and an honor to the county of Logan. He was the prime mover in the incorporation and building of the Pekin, Lincoln & Decatur Railroad, now part of the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railroad, of which he was president for five years, and also a prime mover and one of the committee in building the Havana, Mason City, Lincoln and Eastern Railroad. Mr. Latham has devoted most of his life in building up the town of Lincoln and no man has been more active in building up its material and intellectual interests. If, as a certain author has said, it is an honor for a man to plant a tree or to erect a house, how much more to build a town. Lincoln stands to-day & testimonial of the energy and indomitable perseverance and liberal ity of Robert B. Latham, its honored founder. And had he done nothing more he would be justly entitled to the lasting gratitude of his fellow citizens. Mr. Latham was married to Georgiana P. Gillett, daughter of John Gillett, who is deceased, as are also the three children born to them. July 24, 1856, he married Sevillah, daughter of William Wyatt, of Jacksonville. They have five children, all residents of Lincoln-May, Richard, Robertie, Will- iam W. and Georgiana.

Nicholas Laus, proprietor of Lincoln House, Lincoln, Illinois, is a native of Germany, born in Luxemburg, September 18, 1835. He remained in his native country till eighteen years of age when he came with his parents to the United States. He located in Decatur, Macon County, Illinois. In 1860 he engaged in hotel keeping at the St. Nicholas and continued in the hotel business in Decatur till April, 1885, when he removed to Lincoln. He was married in Decatur, January 20, 1859, and has had six children, four girls and two boys. The eldest girl died in infancy.

John Christian Lawrence is a native of Germany born in Meck- lenburg, November 7, 1836. He was reared a farmer, and educated in the Lutheran schools of his native town. In his twentieth year he immigrated to America, and immediately came to the State of Wisconsin where he worked as a farm hand till January, 1859, when, the 16th of that month, he came to Logan County, Illinois, and for a short time worked on a farm in Sheri- dan Township, then for six months of the summer worked for J. H. Keust in West Lincoln Township, when he made a trip through part of the Southern States, working on the levees and cutting

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cord wood in Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas. He returned to Logan County, Illinois, in 1866 and worked on the farm of Jacob Gehlbach in West Lincoln Township for three years. In 1864 he purchased a farm of 160 acres in West Lincoln Township where he engaged in farming for himself, living there till 1881, when he became a resident of Lincoln. Mr. Lawrence has become, by his own industry and good management, the owner of two farms in East Lincoln Township, a farm in Sheri- dan Township, besides ten acres of land within the corporate limits of Lincoln. He was united in marriage in April, 1867, to Minnie Worth, of West Lincoln Township. Both are members of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church, of Lincoln, of which Mr. Lawrence is one of the elders. For several years he served as highway commissioner of West Lincoln Township. In politics he affiliates with the Democratic party.

Samuel Powell Logan is a native of Ohio, born near Urbana, Champaign County, February 22, 1838, a son of Elijah and Rox- line (Powell) Logan, natives of Kentucky, the father of Scotch and the mother of Irish descent. In 1812 they located in Champaign County, Ohio, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Samuel P. remained with his parents till manhood, receiving a good education in the common school and the Swedenborgian Col- lege at Urbana. On reaching his majority he began dealing in horses, which he followed till June, 1861, when he enlisted in the war of the Rebellion in Company H, Eighty-sixth Ohio Infantry, for ninety days, and at the expiration of his term of service enlisted under Colonel Canby in the Twenty-sixth Ohio Infantry and served. as wagon-master till October, 1862, when he was honorably dis- charged. His service was in the States of Virginia and Kentucky, some of the most important engagements being Cheat Mountain, Cumberland Gap and Green Brier. After his discharge he re- turned to Urbana and soon after came to Illinois and located in Corwin Township, Logan County. He has engaged in farming in Corwin, East Lincoln, Etna and Laenna townships, owning farms in Corwin and Laenna townships. In 1878 he sold his farm in Corwin Township and went to Kansas and engaged in farming and shipping live-stock till 1881, when he returned to Lincoln and embarked in the livery business, which he has since followed. Mr. Logan was married July 6, 1867, to Elizabeth, daughter of the late Josiah and Nancy Richards. They have one child --- Win- nie.

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Abner J. Lutes, deceased, was born in Butler County, Ohio, May 23, 1822. He was reared a farmer and in 1856 came to Illi- nois and located in Sangamon County. Two years later he removed to Logan County, and began to make a farm out of a tract of wild land in Chester Township. Here he gradually devel- oped a fine farm and built up a pleasant home. He was in the best sense a thorough farmer and a shrewd and enterprising busi- ness man. Strictly honorable and upright, his word was as good as his bond. Always energetic, he was never idle till forced by failing health to lay aside active duties. He died December 29, 1881, after six months of severe suffering. The family have a pleasant home in Lincoln, the 240-acre farm being also in their possession. Mr. Lutes was married April 10, 1861, in Oran Town- ship, to Miss Elmira Cantrell, a native of Logan County, where she has spent her life, and the second daughter of James and Eliza (McLaughlin) Cantrell, early settlers of Oran Township. Mr. Lutes left a young daughter and son to mourn with their mother the loss of a kind husband and father, whose thoughtfulness for their hap- piness and welfare never faltered.

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History of Logan County, Illinois, Part 45

Author: Inter-State Publishing Co. Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Number of Pages: 989

Author: Inter-State Publishing Co.
Publication date: 1886
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 989