History of Logan County, Illinois, Part 74

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

USA > Illinois > Logan County > History of Logan County, Illinois > Part 74

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St. Louis, and doing the entire work himself. He made the mill spindles for Bowers and other mills in the county, and the early settlers still remember his skill and ingenuity in devising ways and means to do these difficult jobs of blacksmithing; also the strength and agility he displayed in shoeing the refractory horses, which, unaccustomed to being shod more than once a year, were naturally hard to handle. Mr. Danner was undoubtedly the most skillful blacksmith in the county, and has often been called from his farm to the shops in Mount Pulaski to do nice pieces of work. He has lived on his farm since 1857. Mr. Dauner was born in Wurtemburg, Germany, December 13, 1810, and came to America with his brother Andrew in 1834. He worked in the large black- smith shops and carriage works of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, six years. He was married in 1838 to Eva Smith, a native of Wur- temburg, who came to America in 1837. She died in 1854, leav- ing four children-Andrew, born July 7, 1841, was the first German born in Mount Pulaski; Henry, a farmer of this township; John, on the homestead and Kate, wife of Fred Binder. In 1855 Mr. Danner married Dorothy Birkhardt, a native of Wurtemburg, who came to America in 1852. She died in 1873, leaving five children-Mary, wife of John Roth; Christena, Christian, George and Gottleib. Mr. Danner is a member of the Lutheran church and has helped build three churches in Mount Pulaski.

Sorell Doten, farmer, was born March 16, 1821, in Barnard, Vermont, and is a son of Isaac and Rosella (Clapp) Doten. He is a descendant of Edward Doten, who came on the Mayflower, and whose name is inscribed on Plymouth Rock. Both his grandfa- thers were among the pioneer settlers of Windham County, Ver- mont, going there from Massachusetts at the close of the Revolu- tion. His mother's father, Benjamin Clapp, having served with distinction in the Continental army, was elected to sixteen con- secutive sessions of the Vermont Legislature. His wife was of the Le Baron family. At the age of twenty-two Sorell Doten re- moved to Huron County, Ohio, where he resided as a farmer until 1858, when he removed to Lincoln, Illinois. Nine years later he settled on a farm on section 2, Mount Pulaski Township, building a first-class farm house and making other substantial improve- ments. He sold the farm in 1883. Mr. Doten now has 320 acres in Chester and Mount Pulaski townships, and is about to erect a commodious residence. He is a member of the Universatist church, Mount Pulaski. In olden times he was a Whig in poli-

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tics, and was a member of the first county convention in Ohio held under the. name " Republican." This was in Huron County in 1856, and delegates were nominated to the first Republican State Convention. Mr. Doten married in Huron County, Ohio, Eliza- beth Nelson, born in Peru, Ohio. Her father, John Nelson, one of the pioneers of Ohio, was from Deerfield, Massachusetts, and blazed his path from Cleveland to Huron County, through the dense woods, when he was but seventeen years of age. Mrs. Do- ten is a member of the same church as her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Doten have five children-Mary, wife of Frank V. Nichol- son, and Harry J. were born in Huron County, Ohio; Agnes L. and Elizabeth were born in Lincoln, Illinois, and Gertrude, on the Mount Pulaski homestead.

Robert Downing, farmer, section 2, was born in Woodbridge, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, December 3, 1793. He is a son of John and Hannah (Frakes) Downing, who removed to what is now Ross County, Ohio, about the commencement of the present century. Here Robert Downing grew to manhood, accustomed to farm work and wood-craft. In 1813 he enlisted in an Ohio battalion and served some months in the war of 1812. He is now one of the few surviving pensioners of that struggle. In 1822 he came with his father and two brothers from Madison County, Ohio, to Salt Creek, Logan County (then Sangamon County), Illi- nois. They came with horse teams and covered wagons, crossing Indiana, then a wilderness, with scarce any vestige of improvement. The settlers on Salt Creek were Patrick Frakes, Nicholas Moore and James Scott, with their families. Mr. Downing entered eighty acres and began life in an unhewn log house, floored with pun- cheons and roofed with clapboards. Springfield, thirty miles south- west, a small "huddle " of log buildings, was the nearest " town," their county-seat and postoffice. During the first year the corn for these settlers was pounded on a log by means of a spring pole and wooden pestle. In 1824 Mr. Downing hauled a load of oats and a quantity of butter to Chicago, receiving three "bits " for oats and a " bit " for butter. Cows, pigs and chickens were almost unknown luxuries among them for a year or two. About 1826 Mr. Downing went to the " lead region." where he spent two years, and found pork worth $18 per barrel and flour at $12, and gen- eral hard times prevailing. One pair of boots lasted him all this time, and those he made himself from a rudely cut and sewed cow-hide. With money earned here he was enabled to "prove

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Robert Downing.

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up" on his pre-emption, the patent, signed by Andrew Jackson, being still in the family. Mr. Downing's present homestead now comprises 540 acres. The substantial farm house was built in 1851, and the old place with its village of barns and the native timber surrounding it presents a most homelike and picturesque appear- ance. Robert Downing is a man who is nearing the end of life in the enjoyment of the fullest respect of all who know him, and is a type of the brave and resolute pioneers of Illinois. His wife, Jane (Morrow) Downing, was born in the State of New York and died in 1881. She was a faithful helper in the stormy days of frontier troubles, and a trusted companion in the later and brighter days. Of their children, the eldest was John M., born on Salt Creek, September 22, 1822, dying fifty-seven years later; Hannah, born March 3, 1825, is also dead; Mary, born August 3, 1827, is the wife of George Roberts; Lorenzo, born December 27, 1829, is a farmer in Logan County; Alexander, born February 26, 1832, is now a carpenter in Lincoln, Illinois. He served three years in the Rebellion and came out a Sergeant of the One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Infantry; Melita, born March 26, 1834, is the widow of Thomas Downing, of Mount Pulaski Township; Clay, born August 30, 1836, enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Infantry and died in the service; Elizabeth, born February 24, 1839, is the wife of Samuel Downing, of Chester Township; Delilah, born February 10, 1842, is the wife of David Shellhamer; R. Harden Downing, born August 9, 1844, is owner of a large farm and man- ager of the homestead. Father and sons have been Republicans since the organization of the party.

Thomas Downing, deceased, was born in Pike County, Ohio, and is a son of Samuel and Margaret (Matthews) Downing, both Pike County people. Samuel Downing married twice, the second wife being Mary Matthews, sister of his first wife. The family came to Illinois in 1846, settling on Salt Creek, Logan County, where Samuel Downing died in 1865, aged seventy-two years. He left seven children, all born in Pike County, Ohio. The subject of this sketch, Thomas Downing, married, in 1853, Miss Melita, danghter of Robert Downing, a pioneer settler of Logan County, of whom a sketch can be found elsewhere in this volume. Thomas Downing was a life-long farmer, and located on the farm where his widow now lives in 1870. He died November 14, 1877, leav- ing six children-Mary, Melissa, Frances, George, Nelson and Lo- renzo, all born in Logan County, Illinois. One daughter, Sarah,

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died at the age of eighteen, and four young children died before the father. Mr. Downing was an honorable man, a good citizen, and his death was regretted by all his friends. He was not a politician, though taking part in elections, and was in political faith a Dem- ocrat.

Peter Fenton was born December 21, 1836, near Baltimore, In- diana, and was reared in Hamilton County, Indiana, where his father, Benjamin Fenton, was an early settler, and where he died. In 1853 the widowed mother, with seven children, came to Logan County. The children were-Ann, Martha, Catherine, Joseph, Charles, Peter, and Mary, who died at the age of twenty five years. Joseph and Charles enlisted in Company I, of the One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois Infantry, and both died in the Union ser- vice. Peter married, September 20, 1859, Miss Mary M. Mier, daughter of George Mier, the first German settler in Mount Pu- laski Township. Five children have been born to them-George W., Sophronia, John T., Clara B. and Chloa A. Mr. Fenton lo- cated on his present farm in 1868 and has it well fenced and tiled, with snug and commodious buildings. In politics he casts his vote for the Democratic party. He is a deacon in the Lake Fork Chris- tian church. His mother died during the war of the Rebellion and was buried at Elkhart.

James W. Gasaway, retired farmer, was born July 20, 1818, in Ross County, Ohio. He is a son of John Gasaway, farmer, and native of Frederick County, Va., who married Catherine Anderson, of the same county. They settled in 1810 on the Scioto bottoms in Ross County, among the pioneers. Nine children were born to them. Of these James W. Gasaway was the pioneer of Illinois, locating on section 9, Lake Fork Township, in 1852. Here his wife died, August 7, 1877, leaving four children-Nicholas B., of Mount Pulaski; William D., of Hastings, Nebraska, and two daughters, Sciota Alice and Minerva Jane. They lost eight chil- dren-Thomas, aged seventeen; John, aged fourteen, and the oth- ers in childhood and infancy. Since 1878 Mr. Gasaway and bis daughters have resided in Mount Pulaski, though owning his Lake Fork farm. He has been a life-long farmer and is a Democrat in politics. In Lake Fork he served several years as collector, asses- sor, road commissioner, and justice of the peace. His son, N. B. Gasaway, married Evelyn Mann, who died December 15, 1885, leaving seven children; W. D. Gasaway married Rebecca Farner and has five children.

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MT. PULASKI TOWNSHIP.

John B. Gordon, of Mount Pulaski, was born 1845 in Waynes- burg, Pennsylvania. His grandfather, John B. Gordon, was the anthor, in the State Legislature of Pennsylvania, of the bill for the building of locks and securing of river navigation between Pittsburg and Brownsville, Pennsylvania. In 1856 the father of our subject, William Gordon, formerly a contractor and builder of Waynesburg, removed his family to Mount Pulaski, and in 1861 he went to Colorado, where he lost an arm while engaged in min- ing operations. He was in Denver, Colorado, when the entire town, then a mere mining camp, was washed away, and witnessed the founding and growth of the present city. After spending sev- eral years in New Mexico he returned to Mount Pulaski, where he has ever since resided. Our subject went to Kansas in 1866, and was employed by McCoy Brothers, noted stockinen, in build- ing the first stock-yards at Abilene, Kansas, for years thereafter the great emporium of the Texas cattle trade. In 1867 he had charge of their Kansas City stock yards, superintending the ship- ment of forty car loads of cattle per day, for five months of the year. He enjoyed the fullest confidence of these millionaire cattle kings, and on one occasion made a trip to the plains for the capt- ure of wild buffalo, elk, etc., for a traveling exhibit, which they proposed to inaugurate. Several specimens of buffalo were actu- ally captured, in a trip full of exciting adventures. Mr. Gordon has seen much of frontier life and wild Western ways in Kansas and the Indian Territory. In 1871 he returned to Mount Pulaski where he has since engaged in farming, and, since 1873, in the liv- ory business, for which he is fully equipped, having twelve to fifteen horses with a goodly stand of vehicles, 'busses and a hrearse. He married, in 1873, in Mount Pulaski, Dorothea Shepard, by whom he has three children.

F. P. Heyle, Secretary and Treasurer of the Mt. Pulaski Mining Company, was born in Peoria, Illinois, November 18, 1853. His father, John C. Heyle, born in Baltimore, Maryland, removed from Columbus, Ohio, to Peoria, Illinois, about 1830, where he died in 1868. His wife, Mary (Fountain) Heyle, was born in Co- lumbus, Ohio, and died in 1872, in Springfield, Illinois. F. P. Heyle was educated in his native city, and was for eleven years in the railroading business, being six years as station agent at Peoria, for the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad Company, and five years in the same capacity for the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railroad Company, of the same city. His wife was Adda (Collyer)

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Heyle, born in Lacon, Marshall County, Illinois, danghter of Theodore Collyer, an early settler of Marshall County, and for the last sixteen years a resident of Peoria. Mr. and Mrs. Heyle have one son-Frank T., born October 2, 1884, in Peoria, Illinois. Mr. Heyle is a Democrat in political views.

John M. Hopkins, City Engineer, Mt. Pulaski, was born in 1848, in Hamilton County, Indiana. In 1852 his father, Andrew Hop- kins, removed the family to Zionsville, Indiana, where John M. received his education and learned engineering. He served seven months in the Union army in 1864-'65, as a musician in the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Indiana Infantry, though for the greater part of his time he was detailed on special service. In 1872 he came to Logan County, Illinois, locating at Chestnut, where he was employed as engineer in the saw-mill, and later in the junction elevator of Z. K. Wood, Mt. Pulaski. He was ap- pointed to his present position September 9, 1884, and is also cap- tain and chief engineer of the Phoenix Fire Company, Mt. Pulaski. He was married to Miss Carrie Rowe, of Pickaway County, Ohio. They have one daughter-Marie M., born in Mt. Pulaski. In politics Mr. Hopkins casts his vote for the Republi- can party.

George Jenner, proprietor of the Green Tree saloon, Mt. Pulaski, came here as a wagon-maker, in 1871. For six years he was in partnership with his brother in that business, going then into the saloon business. His two-story brick building was erected in 1884. Mr. Jenner is noble grand of Lucas Lodge, I. O. O. F., and has been for the past three years. He was born in 1849, in Wurtemburg, where he learned wagon-making. His wife was Kate Danner, of Mt. Pulaski, and they have six children-Annie, George D., Edward J., Katie, Minnie and Carrie, the last two twins. They were all born in Mt. Pulaski.

Charles S. Landis, Justice of the Peace, Notary Public and loan and collection agent at Mt. Pulaski, was born January 15, 1842, in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1853 his father, Dr. P. K. Landis, removed with his family to Jacksonville, Illinois, where he and his daughter Juliette died of cholera in 1854. The widow and mother then removed to Mt. Pulaski Township, where our subject lived as a farmer, caring for the interests of the family for eighteen years. He then came to the village where he has since resided. His mother died in October, 1883, aged seventy-four years. Of the eleven children born to Doctor and Mrs. Landis three sons and five

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daughters are now living. Our subject is a leading Free Mason, . belonging to the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Commandery of Mt. Pulaski. In politics be is a Democrat, and has been elected four times assessor of his township, and served five times as deputy assessor. He was in the army sixteen months, and participated in Sherman's campaign from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Atlanta, Georgia, serving with Captain Johnson, Assistant Quartermaster, as issuing clerk in the Fourteenth Army Corps.

John Lincoln, grain dealer at Mt. Pulaski, is a grandson of Marshall Lincoln, and a son of Thomas and Susanna (Betz) Lin- coln, all Pennsylvanians by birth. Thomas Lincoln and wife died in Pickaway County, Ohio, and are buried at Circleville, Ohio. Our subject was born November 9, 1837, in Union County, Penn- sylvania. In 1842 he went to Pickaway County, Ohio, where he remained until 1856, when he came to Mt. Pulaski. He was a farmer here until 1865, when he went into the live-stock business, buying and shipping. In 1877 he leased the Mt. Pulaski mill and elevator, managing both three or four years, since which time he has devoted his time to the grain business at the elevator. He was married to Melinda Morris, born in Pickaway County, Ohio, by whom he has five children-Mary, Charles W. (now cashier of the Farmer's Bank, Mt. Pulaski), Mand, Edward and Warren, all born in Mt. Pulaski.

S. B. Lincoln, farmer, of section 9, was born in 1820, in Union County, Pennsylvania. He is a grandson of Mordecai and a son of Thomas Lincoln, both Pennsylvanians. Thomas Lincoln re- moved his family to a farm near Circleville, Ohio, where he died. His wife, Susanna (Betz) Lincoln, born in Pennsylvania, died ten years after her husband and is buried with him at Circleville. S. B. Lincoln came from there to Illinois, in 1856, and commenced living on his present farm in 1857. A shanty and a few acres of breaking comprised the improvements at that time. To-day he has a well-improved farm, and a pleasant home protected by trees of his own planting. He married in Ohio, Arminda Morris, born in Pickaway County, Ohio, daughter of John Morris, a farmer, and a native of Virginia. He died in Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln have four children-William, a farmer of Logan County; John, in the insurance business in Lincoln, Illinois; Ellen, now Mrs. Ship- man, and Samuel, at home. All were born in Pickaway County, Ohio. Mr. Lincoln belongs to the Mount Pulaski Methodist Epis-

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copal Church. He has been a Republican since the organization of that party.

John Lipp was born in Konigstadten, Husse-Darmstadt, Sep- tember 28, 1837. His father, John Lipp, was a baker. Our sub- ject came to America in 1859, settling in Evansville, Indiana. In 1862 he came to Lincoln, Illinois, entering the employ of his bro- ther, J. N. Lipp. During 1862-'63 he was in the United States service as a baker, and was present at Fort Donelson, Shiloh and other notable battles. Returning to Jeffersonville, he married Amelia Heier, born June 15, 1842, in that town. In 1865 he re- moved again to Lincoln, Illinois, where he owned and managed a bakery until 1876, when he sold his business and came to Mount Pulaski, where he opened a saloon and also a bakery and restau- rant. Prior to this, in 1876, he spent four months in the Father- land, where both his parents yet live, at the age of eighty-two years. Mr. Lipp remained in active business until 1884, when he retired. He has a beautiful home which he bought and enlarged in 1881. Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Lipp, two are now living-August Henry, born March 25, 1866, in Lincoln, Illinois, and Anna M., born in Lincoln, Illinois, May 13, 1875. Louisa, born April 5, 1869, in Jeffersonville, Indiana, died April 3, 1879. Emilie, born in Mount Pulaski, died October 8, 1880. Mr. and Mrs. Lipp are members of the Second Lutheran Church. In politics he is a Democrat.

A. H. Lucas was born on the Lucas homestead, half a mile west of his present house, on July 8, 1833. His father, Jesse K. Lucas, born in 1807, in Greene County, Ohio, was a son of Abraham and Marcy (Kelsey) Lucas. Twelve children were born to them; the sons were-Joseph, Thomas, Jesse K., James, John and Jabez. In 1825 Abraham Lucas with his family came to Sangamon County from Ohio, and three years later they removed to a farm on the Lake Fork. Here the old people died, and they and several of their children are buried in the Steenbergen cemetery. Jesse K. Lucas married, in Sangamon County, Jane Bowman, daughter of Richard and Mary Bowman, and by her had nine children- Sarah, deceased; Richard B., Abraham H., Mary J., now Mrs. R. Connaway; Arminda, now Mrs. J. Nicholson; Marcy, wife of Will- iam Chrystolier; Thomas, died in infancy; Hannah E., wife of John Roberts, and Phebe, unmarried. J. K. Lucas settled first on the present Caleb K. Lucas farm, in 1828, and about ten years later removed to the farm, where he died December 6, 1874. Our

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subject, A. H. Lucas, has always lived on the farm where he was born, though in 1878 he bought the Shiver farm and here built, in 1883, a tasteful and commodious residence. He now has 750 acres and is looked upon financially and in every way as one of the solid men of his native county. In politics he is a Democrat. He mar- ried in Springfield, Illinois, in 1861, Mary J. Brock, born in Madi -. son County, Ohio. She died in 1863, leaving a son, Oscar J. Lucas, born August 22, 1862. In 1871 he married, in Mount Pu- laski Township, Phebe A. Landis, a native of Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Lucas have a daughter-Grace M. Lucas, born November 21, 1873.

C. K. Lucas is the only living son of John and Sarah (Bowman) Lucas, and was born February 14, 1833, on the Lake Fork home- stead, Logan County, the farm he owns to-day. His father, John Lucas, born in Greene County, Ohio, July 31, 1801, married, at the age of twenty years, Sarah Bowman, born May 27, 1799, in Kentucky. In 1825 they came to Illinois, living for two years near Athens, Sangamon County, going from there to Fancy Creek where they spent a few months. In 1828 they settled on the pres- ent farm of C. K. Lucas, building a log house of fair dimensions, to which another was added, making the typical " donble log house " of early times. This was built to the east of Mr. C. K. Lucas's present home, and an orchard and grove of ornamental trees has been grown around the site. Mr. John Lucas was elected justice of the peace at the age of twenty-one years, and held the office during most of his life. In 1844 and 1845 he was sheriff and collector of Logan County, and in the State Legislature of 1848. He died April 23, 1855, leaving eight children-Mary, wife of Isom Birks, born May 26, 1824; Elizabeth, born April 8, 1827, now Mrs. R. S. Scroggin; Hannah, born March 2, 1829, married Henry Reed and died in Iowa, December 2, 1870; Thomas Lucas, born April 14, 1831, died February 19, 1855; Caleb K., born February 14, 1833; John, born March 3, 1835, died in Feb- ruary, 1869; Jane, Mrs. A. R. Dalton, of Missouri, was born Feb- ruary 11, 1837, and Sarah, born September 22, 1841, married Benjamin Ditzler, deceased, and now resides at Decatur, Illinois. The widow of John Lucas married again, Rev. Michael Mann, and died October 9, 1867. She was a daughter of Richard and Mary (Senteney) Bowman. John Lucas was a son of Abraham Lucas, born in Morris County, New Jersey, who married there Marcy Kelsey, and removed in an early day to Ohio, living princi-

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pally in Greene County. Our subject, C. K. Lucas, was reared and received his education in Logan County, and is pre-eminently a farmer. His estate comprises 560 acres of fertile land, adjoining the heavy timber of Lake Fork on the north, and crossed by the section line road. On the east side of this highway Mr. Lucas built, in 1876, an elegant three-story farm-house on the most approved of modern plans. A farm barn to correspond was built the same year. Mr. Lucas has never, in any sense, been a politi- can, the successful supervision of his farming and live-stock in- terests employing his time to more pleasure and profit. He is, however, on national issues, a Democrat politically. The breed- ing of English Shire Cleveland Bay horses, Cottswold and South- down sheep, and high-grade short-horn cattle has received consid- erable attention from him, during the past few years. February 11, 1859, he married Miss Ellen, youngest daughter of Carter T. Seroggin, a well-known and much respected pioneer of Logan County. Mrs. Lucas was also born in Lake Fork and has spent her life in this county. They have two children-George T., born February 22, 1860, and Laura H., born April 3, 1862.

Win. M. Martin, of the firm of Martin Brothers, merchants, Mount Pulaski, is a son of W. W. Martin, and was born Novem- ber 15, 1862, in Mount Pulaski. After clerking with his father for several years he, with his brother, was admitted to partner- ship. They, C. A. and W. M. Martin, succeeded to the business in June, 1884. They have a double store, one department devoted to dry-goods, hats and caps, boots and shoes and family and fancy groceries, the other to flour and groceries in bulk. The sales for 1885 will aggregate $50,000. C. A. Martin was born November 20, 1859, in Mount Pulaski, and married Miss Louie J., daughter of John W. North, of Illiopolis, Illinois. W. M. Martin mar- ried Miss Emma C. Green, daughter of George N. Green, of Balti- more, formerly of Springfield, Illinois. They have a daughter, Hazel, born in Mount Pulaski. W. W. Martin came to Mount Pulaski in 1858, and in 1859 became one of the firm of George Mayer & Co. He served three years in the Union army, during the Rebellion, and in 1876 began business for himself. The failure of the Mount Pulaski mills dragged him down, involving him to an extent that he was forced to make an honorable assignment in 1884.

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History of Logan County, Illinois, Part 74

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