History of Logan County, Illinois, Part 76

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

USA > Illinois > Logan County > History of Logan County, Illinois > Part 76

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

George B. Row, farmer, section 3, was born in 1842, in Pickaway County, Ohio. His father, Jacob Row, born in Pickaway County, married Sarah Bost, of Berks County, Pennsylvania, by whom he had nine children, eight of whom are living in Illinois, six being in Logan County. Jacob Row, with his family, came to lilinois in 1866, settling on section 3, Mount Pulaski Township, and here died August 10, 1871, his widow surviving him until January 26, 1879. The homestead, comprising 129 acres, is now the property of George B. Row. October, 1861, he enlisted in Company I,

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Fifty-eighth Ohio Infantry, and participated in the battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth and Haines's Bluff, where only eighty men came out from a regiment 475 strong. This remnant was then assigned to duty on the river flotilla, under Admiral Porter, and thus served through the Vicksburg siege. In July, 1863, the regiment was reorganized and did scouting and guarding duty up to its discharge, January 10, 1864. Private Row re- enlisted in Company E at the re-enlistment of the regiment and was made Orderly Sergeant, serving in the Freedman's Bureau de- partment until his final discharge in September, 1865. Since the war he has resided in Mount Pulaski Township as a farmer. March 5, 1884, he was married in Christian County, Illinois, to Ella Curts, born in Pickaway County, Ohio. Her father, H. Curts, came first to De Witt and later to Christian County. Mr. and Mrs. Row have one daughter-Lela Gertrude Row, born in Mount Pulaski Township.

William Rupp was born March 6, 1838, in Wurtemberg, and came to America, with his father's family, in 1852, settling in Logan County. The entire capital of the family, at this time, was $40. They bought a half interest in an old horse and secured another one and a wagon on credit, and then rented what is known as the Lawrence farm, west of Mount Pulaski. They moved into a log house with a slab floor and clapboard roof, and borrowing a plow, commenced farming operations. As a result of five-years hard work, they were enabled to buy 160 acres on section 27, Laenna Township, paying $10.25 an acre for raw prairie. This farm, with the 160 acres adjoining, the half section ralned at $60 an acre, is now the property of William Rupp, who lived here until March, 1884, when he bought the old Dawson farm, half a mile east of Mount Pulaski, for which he paid $18,- 200. This farm comprises 280 acres of valuable land, with fair buildings, the house standing on a rise of ground, commanding a beantiful view. Such has been the result of thirty years of in- dustry, economy and good management, coupled with the charac- teristic pluck of most German farmers. Mr. Rupp married Barbara Stoll, daughter of Erhard Stoll, who came to America with his family in 1847, locating on Salt Creek the following year, and died in 1860, leaving ten children. Mr. and Mrs. Rupp have nine children-Sarah, Charles, William, George, Polly, Lillie, Carrie, Nelie and Effie, all born in Logan County, Illinois. Katie, the second-born, died at the age of six months. Mr.

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Rupp's father, George Rupp, was born in 1806, in Wurtemberg. He married Mrs. Catherine (Boetzel) Weller, who died in 1883. By her first husband she had four children-Margaret, now Mrs. George Brucker; George, a Logan County farmuer; Martin, who died in 1855, and John, who came to Mount Pulaski in 1851, and died in Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. George Rupp had two sons-William, our subject, and Christian, born May 28, 1841, and is a pros- perous farmer. The father and both sons are members of the Lutheran church and are liberal Democrats in politics.

W. A. Schafer was born in 1887, in Kirchberg. Wurtemberg. The family came to America in 1858, locating at Mount Pulaski, where the father, George Adam Schafer, died the following year. There were seven children, two of whom, Christian and Madelina Rau, were step-children. Of the four sons of George Adam Schafer, W. A. and Gottleib are blacksmiths, C. F. is a hardware merchant, and Gottlob was killed in 1856 by the caving in of well. Paulina, a sister of our subject, married George Hanck, of Mount Pulaski, while Mary, born in Mount Pulaski, died at the age of eighteen. The subject of this sketch, William Adam Schafer, was educated in the Fatherland, and learned the trade, which he has followed all his life, from his father. He was & Democrat in former years, but has been a Republican since 1872. In 1872 he was elected sheriff of Logan County and served till 1874. He has also served on the Village Board. He married Catherine M. Seyfer in Mount Pulaski. Of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Schafer, five are living- William G., born October 25, 1863; George F., born September 17, 1865; Caroline, born January 28, 1869; Anna, born in Lincoln, April 19, 1873, and Frederick, born March 3, 1875. A son, John, died, aged one year and seven months, and Albert, at the age of seven years, was killed by climbing upon the rear of a carriage in motion, becoming entangled in the wheels, whereby both legs were broken. Mr. Schafer and his family are members of the Evangelical Lutheran church.

Frank Schick (deceased) was born in Hesse Darmstadt, in 1813. In early life he was apprenticed to a shoemaker. In 1834 he came to America, and after remaining in Ohio for one year, came to Illinois, settling in Mount Pulaski in 1836. A few years later he built a tannery and began shoemaking in the southwestern part of the village. For a time he was in the employ of Jabez Capps, the pioneer merchant, and by good management and

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economy secured capital enough to open a general store in 1842. He continued the business until 1850, when he admitted Barton Starr to partnership, leaving the business in his care while he spent two years in the California gold field. Returning, he con- tinued the business in his own name until 1879, when the firm of Frank Schick & Sons was founded. He retired from the firm April 19. 1883, and lived in retirement up to his death, June 2, 1884. The large, well-arranged, double store was erected in 1875 and is one of the first modern brick buildings in Mount Pulaski. The business was carried on by the three sons, John, Michael and Frank, until obligations, brought about by failure of crops and too great credit, forced the brothers to an honorable assignment, which they did in April, 1885. Frank Schick was twice married. The first wife was Margaret Young, who died in 1844. Only one of her four children survives-Mary, now wife of Conrad Stock, of Stoughton, Illinois. The second wife was Catharine Young, a sister of his former wife, and by her Mr. Schick had nine children, eight of whom are living-John, Michael, Frank, Conrad, Susan, Christina, Sebastian and Margaret. Of these, Susan is now Mrs. Philip Mishler, of Springfield, Illinois, and Christina is the wife of George Lechleiter, of Lincoln, Illinois. The others reside in Mount Pulaski. Gerhardt Schick, another son, was particularly distinguished for his scholastic attainments. While yet a young man, he mastered eleven different languages, ancient and modern, and taught them with remarkable success in St. Louis, Philadelphia and Peoria. He died May 5, 1879, at the age of thirty-four years.

Alfred C. Soroggin, President Mount Pulaski Mining Com- pany, was born in Mount Pulaski Township, Logan County, Illi- nois, May 14, 1842. He is the eldest son of L. K. and Levinia (Buckles) Scroggin, and has been a life-long resident of Logan County, with the exception of six years, 1867 to 1873, in Cham- paign County, Illinois, and two years in Butler County, Kan- sas. He engaged in farming in his native township up to 1885, when he became a stockholder in and president of the mining company. He married in 1865, Mary F. Phillippe, born in Champaign County, Illinois. They have three children- Nettie A., Orrin O. and Mary S., the daughters born in Logan County, and the son in Champaign County. In politics Mr. Scroggin casts his vote for the Democratic party. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, Mount Pulaski Lodge, Chapter and Commandery.

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Leonard K. Scroggin is a son of Carter T. and Phebe (Shelby) Scroggin. His grandfather, Humphrey Scroggin, a Carolinian by birth, enlisted in the Continental army, at the age of seventeen, serving through the Revolution and witnessing the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. In 1811 Carter T. Scroggin removed from his native State, Kentucky (then a Territory), to Gallatin County, Illinois. Phebe Shelby, a native of North Carolina, re- moved with her people to Tennessee, and thence to Pope County, Illinois, where she married Mr. Scroggin. Ten children were born to them, of whom our subject is the eldest. He was born January 25, 1819, in Gallatin County, Illinois, and in 1827 re- moved with his father to the southern part of what is now Mount Pulaski Township, the family living in the timber skirt- ing Lake Fork, in an unhewn puncheon-floored log cabin. Among their neighbors were Robert Buckles (now deceased), A. Bowman, W. James Turley, G. W. Turley and Boston Finders. In the fall preceding the "deep snow " (winter of 1830-1831), Carter Scroggin built a comfortable hewed log house, still stand- ing and occupied by a son. During the " deep snow " they pounded their corn in a wooden mortar and did not taste wheat bread from November until spring. On the day of the " sudden change," in 1836, Mr. C. T. Scroggin started to go to mill in a "durbin," a vehicle peculiar to those days. The morn- ing was very warm and foggy. Before noon, rain set in and con- tinued until nightfall, when without a second's warning and with the roar of a hurricane came the Polar blast that froze everything solid in a few minutes. Mr. Scroggin met the storm on the prairie. It tore the strong top completely off the " durbin, " turning the team squarely about. He raced for life to the nearest house, fortunately not far off, and thus escaped what must have been certain death on the lonely, unprotected prairie. Carter Scroggin died in 1359, leaving 600 acres of valuable land and a fair competence to his ten children. In 1841 Leonard K. Scrog- gin was married to Levinia Buckles, daughter of Robert Buckles. He now owns 3,500 acres of farming land in Logan County, and 4,500 acres in Kansas and Nebraska, all in cultivation or under fence and improvement. He began the banking business at the Mount in May, 1872, and has since continued it. He built the bank, opera hall and Scroggin House, in 1878. He is a man of limited education, but of remarkable judgment and energy, and to his thrift and public spirit Mount Pulaski owes her finest busi-

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ness block. He is counted one of the wealthiest men in Central Illinois and has made every dollar by his own exertions. He is a lifelong Democrat and a member of the Christian church. His wife died in 1863, in Mount Pulaski, leaving three sons and seven daughters. Mr. Scroggin was married again, to Mrs. Rhoda A. Pickering, nee Geitman, born in Mount Pulaski Township, a daughter of George Geitman, formerly of Missouri. By the second marriage there are three children.

George Shall, section 7, was born January 15, 1847, in Mount Pulaski Township, where he has since resided as a farmer. He married, February 26, 1876, Mary Zimmerman, who came from Germany to America in 1874. They have one son-George. Mr. Shall has a farm of 280 acres, well improved, and eighty acres ot timber. In politics he is a Democrat. His father, John Shall, was one of the first of the German farmers to settle in Mount Pulaski Township. He was born March 11, 1811, in Wurtem- berg, and married Catherine Mayer in 1833. They came to America, settling in Mount Pulaski Township in 1840. His wife died in 1850. In 1868 he removed to Lincoln, Illinois, where he died March 20, 1883. Eight children were born to them-Martha, John and Frederick born in Wurtemberg, and Mary, Lizzie, William, George and Nancy, born in Mount Pulaski.

John G. Seyfer was born December 8, 1842, in Wurtemberg, and came to America with his parents in 1847. He was married in Mount Pulaski to Johannetta Wilhelminna Christianna Henn, who died May 13, 1874, leaving three children-Henry, Annie and George, all born in Mount Pulaski. By his second wire, Caro- line (Mellsh) Seyfer, whom he married in Oregon, Missouri, he has two children -Katie and Oscar. Mr. Seyfer enlisted Angust 9, 1862, in the One Hundred and Sixth Illinois, in Company B, and served with the regiment through the siege of Vicksburg and the campaigns in Arkansas, and was mustered out July 12, 1865, at Pine Bluff. His arm was grazed by a cannon ball at Claring- ton, Arkansas, and still shows the effects of the injury. Since the war Mr. Seyfer has resided in this township as a farmer. His parents, Gottleib and Martha Seyfer, have had eleven children, eight of whom are living-Catherina, now the wife of W. A. Schafer, Mount Pulaski; John G., onr subject; Caroline, born at sea, married Lewis Boetzer; John, at home with his parents; Mary is the wife of Charles Boetzer; George, William and Sophia are in Mount Pulaski, the last named being the wife of George

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Fund. Frederick died in childhood. Frederica, born in Ger- many, and an infant sister, born in Mount Pulaski, were both killed by an accidental discharge of a shot-gun. When Mr. Gott- leib Seyfer arrived in Mount Pulaski he entered the employ of Frank Schick as a shoemaker, and has followed that business since in Mount Pulaski.

James Small, mine superintendent of the Mount Pulaski Min- ing Company, was born in 1849 in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, Scot- land, and has been a miner since his twelfth year. He is the son of John and Mary (Logan) Small. His father was a weaver. In the seventeenth century an ancestor, James Small, invented the first plow with an iron moldboard ever used in Scotland. His grandfather and grandmother lived to be eighty-eight and ninety respectively. They had nine children, all of whom are yet living in Scotland, and all over sixty years of age. In March, 1872, the subject of this sketch, James Small, came to America, and has since worked in the mines of Maryland, Beaver County, Pennsyl- vania ; New Lisbon, Ohio ; Bond County, Kentucky; Massillon, Ohio, and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In 1876 he came to Minonk and was employed by Miner T. Ames as boss of the night force. Later he went to Streator, then to La Salle and thence to Raton, New Mexico. He then returned to La Salle, going from there to Chesterfield, Illinois, where he superintended a mining force. In December, 1884, he came to Mount Pulaski, and has since held his present position. He married in Oglesby, Illinois, Agnes Wilson, born in Stellarton, Pictou County, Nova Scotia. She is a daughter of Walter and Simpson Wilson. Mr. and Mrs. Small have two children-John, born June 13, 1880, in Streator, Illinois, and Agnes, born October 11, 1882, in Oglesby.

Charles E. Snyder, of Snyder Brothers, Mt. Pulaski, is a son of William C. Snyder, an early settler of Logan County, where Charles E. was born. In 1875 the brothers, C. E. and W. H. Snyder, purchased a twenty horse-power portable engine and port- able saw-mill, with which they carried on business in Logan County until 1879, when they located the plant at Mt. Pulaski. In 1881 they built the saw-mill, 24 x 60 feet, using the same engine and machinery until the spring of 1882, when the present Ames engine of forty horse-power and a fifty-four inch saw were put in. The brothers are doing a good business, cutting mainly the native lumber, oak, hackberry, elm, sycamore, with a sprinkling of wal- nut and cherry, which, however, are not so plentiful as formerly.

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They have a lumber-yard in connection, also a machine for cutting barrel and keg hoops, and one for the manufacture of combination wire and lath fence. Barrel and keg hoops are shipped by the car-load to Colorado, 60,000 hoops to the car. The brothers make specialty of house, barn and bridge furnishing, and when running the saw-mill, hoop factory and fence machine give employment to fifteen or twenty men. The Latham Tile Company is composed of W. C. Snyder, C. E. Snyder, W. H. Snyder and J. E. Snyder, with the latter gentleman in charge of both the tile factory and branch lumber-yard. Besides the three sons above named, of William C. Snyder, there is a daughter, Harriet H., now wife of P. L. McGrath, and another, Grace Snyder, at home. Charles E. Snyder married Miss Frances Capps, daughter of Charles Capps, Esq., of Mt. Pulaski. One daughter has been born to them, Katie, born in Mt. Pulaski. John E. Snyder married Miss Mary F. Hall, daughter of Henry Hall, of Latham; while William H. Snyder is a single man.

Christian Suedmeier was born in Prussia, and is a son of Deid- reich Suedmeier, who was born December 26, 1803, and who mar- ried Charlotte Mayer. In 1846 he came to America, landing at New Orleans. After spending the first winter at St. Louis he went to Pekin, and thence to Mt. Pulaski. He was identified with Mt. Pulaski in its earlier days, and helped to build the court-house. He is now a well-to-do farmer of Mt. Pulaski Township. His wife and three sons, William, Christian (our subject) and Henry, came to the United States in 1848, landing at New Orleans, July 4, where they thought a riot or war was in progress, on account of the firing of guns and cannon, the martial music and other accompa- niments of the national holiday celebration. Arrived at Mt. Pu- laski the family spent the winter, and in the spring of 1849 began farming operations on the well-known Steinbergen farm. The father was furnished with a log house and fuel free, besides being paid $144 for his year's work. The boys began the study of Eng- lish under old Mr. Steinbergen, and so great was the proficiency of the two younger sons that they mastered the language in a few months. Mrs. Snedmeier was killed, the result of an accident, caused by a runaway team. The three sons are now prosperous farmers. Christian Suedmeier managed his father's farm in Mt. Pulaski for a few years, and in February, 1872, settled on part of his present farm, building the rear wing of his present house. He bought the land as raw prairie, and has broken it, planted 51

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every tree and erected every building on the 280 acres by his own exertions and management, and now has one of the best farms in Laenna Township. His roomy farm-house was built in 1875. June 1, 1860, he married Margaret Maus, daughter of Conrad Maus, who came from Nassau, Germany, in 1853, to America, bringing his wife, Catherine (Michel) Maus, and six children with him. Mrs. Maus died in 1880. Mr. Maus is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Suedmeier have eight children-Mary, now Mrs. John Vetter; Katie, wife of Dr. Bullard; Henry P., Lena M., Eva, Frederick W., George and Lottie. Annie M. died in her nineteenth year, and Edward died aged four years. The family belong to the Second Lutheran Church, of Mt. Pulaski. Politically Mr. Sued- meier affiliates with the Democratic party. He has served as high- way commissioner of Mt. Pulaski Township, overseer and as school director.

Dedrich Tendick was born in the year 1846 in Vluyn, near Mors and Dusseldorf, is a son of Barnhard and Margaret Tendick. In 1850 the father came with his family to America. Leaving his family at Jacksonville he came to Logan County, and bought of James Turley the farm where our subject now resides; and while returning to his family at Jacksonville, as there was no Saturday train from Springfield to Jacksonville, he attempted to walk the distance a hot midsummer day, and being overcome by the extreme heat he died on the way. Barnhard was born in 1814, and married in 1841 Margaret Wevers, who was born in the year 1812. He left a widow and three sons-John, who died at the age of twelve years; Mathias, who took the name of his stepfather at the age of about twenty, died aged thirty-three years, leaving a widow and seven children. He also left a sister, Mrs. William Rentmeister, of Mt. Pulaski Township, and two brothers living in Jacksonville. The widow of Barnhard Tendick married, in 1851. H. Schmilgen, who was born in 1813, and to this union was born one son. George, who died at the age of seven years. They moved to the west line of this (Pulaski) township in 1858, and in 1865 settled in Lincoln, where they resided nineteen years, when they broke up housekeep- ing on account of their advanced age, and have since made their home with our subject on the old homestead, he having built an addition to his house giving them a few rooms for their exclusive use. Dedrich Tendick was married in January, 1877, to Minnie Fichbach, who was born in Elkhart Township, in 1859. They have three sons-John Herman, born in 1877; Henry Barnhard,

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born in 1879; and Uriah Frederick, born in 1884. Mr. and Mrs. Tendick are members of the First Lutheran Church, of which J. T. Butgers is the present pastor. In politics Mr. Tendick affiliates with the Democratic party. He has made many substantial im- provements on his farm, and in 1884 completed his present residence.

John H. Toole, farmer, section 12, was born April 21, 1822, in Fairfield County, Ohio, and followed woolen manufacturing until coming to Illinois. He came to Logan County, Illinois, with his family in 1866, and settled on the 200-acre farm where he now lives, formerly the Bowman farm. November, 3, 1845, he was married to Miss Mary E. Ring, daughter of Major George Ring, deceased, of Fairfield County, Ohio, and Mary (Ludwig) Ring. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Toole removed to Pickaway County, Ohio, and there lived until they removed to Illinois. They have an only son, John G. Toole, born September 10, 1862, in Pickaway County, Ohio, and now manager of the homestead. Mr. John H. Toole is a member of the Masonic lodge of Mount Pulaski. Politically he is a Republican.

George W. Turley, deceased, one of the three founders of Mount Pulaski, was born March 5, 1798, near Mount Stirling, Kentucky. His father, James Turley, a Virginian, was one of the first settlers on Lake Fork, Logan County, locating there in Territorial times. He bronght his family of fourteen children with him from Ken- tucky. Among the Indians, with whom he was a sort of arbitrator, he was known as the " Big Chief." All of the children are now deceased, and James Turley and wife are buried in the Carlysle burying ground, five miles west of town. The subject of this sketch, G. W. Turley, was twice married, only two of his children surviving-Mrs. M. L. Beam, of Mount Pulaski, and Mrs. E. A. Parks, of Lincoln. Mr. Turley at an early day was a farmer in Mount Pulaski Township, and in 1836 interested himself, with Jabez Capps and Dr. Robinson, in laying ont the town of Mount Pulaski. He was a busy, stirring man, doing all in his power to develop the town and advance its interests. He built the house at the northwest corner of the square, now the home of Mrs. Beam, and one of the oldest houses in Mount Pulaski, and lived here un- til his death, which occurred February 28, 1865. In early life he was a teacher, was justice of the peace at a later day, and was known as 'Squire Turley.

J. O. Turley is a great-grandson of James Turley, the first

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settler on the Lake Fork, and one of the first white men perma- nently located in Logan County. He it was whom the Indians designated the " Big Chief " and " Big Bostony." He was born in Virginia, and there married Agnes Kirby. They removed to Ken- tucky, carrying their two first-born children in baskets, one swung on each side of a steady pack-horse. Mr. Turley came to Logan County about the time of the change from Territorial to State Government, and made as a "claim " part of the present William R. Buckles farm, building 100 rods to the east of the Buckles home, his double log house, the first ever built in the Lake Fork Valley. His second wife was Mrs. Sarah (Hoblit) Lucas, widow of Thomas Lucas. Mr. Turley was the father of a large family. His sons were-David, Samuel, William, Charles, George Washington, Jef- ferson and John. Charles Turley, born in Montgomery County, Kentucky, married Sarah Cheatham and came to Logan County with three children-Osben, Elizabeth and Marshall-about 1829, locating on the present Goff farm, in Elkhart Township, where he and his wife both died, and are buried in the Carlyle graveyard. He was a volunteer in the Black Hawk war. His eldest son, Os- ben, born in Kentucky in 1812, came to Illinois with his father and was reared in Logan County, and here he married Mary Su- san Ridgeway, of Buffalo Hart Grove, born in 1813. She is de- scribed by old settlers as the prettiest girl in Logan County at that day. Three of the children born to them are living-Robert, living in Mount Pulaski; James Osben, the subject of this sketch, and Lucy, wife of T. T. Turley. Osben Turley early developed a singular ability as a trader and dealer in live-stock. It is related that he made a rude saddle of bark and brush, with hickory thongs for stirrups, and on this rode and carried chickens to Springfield for sale. His first "horse " was a mule, and his first cart or wagon, a home-made affair, was a nine-days wonder. As an auctioneer he was not excelled, and is well remembered. A self-educated man, he acquired a considerable knowledge of law, and pettifogged for the settlers of that day. His farm, now the Robert Turley farm, in Elkhart Township, was acquired by him from a penniless be- ginning, and such was his talent as a money-maker, that at his death in his fortieth year, May, 1852, he was ranked among the Gilletts, Lawrences and other wealthy men of this county. Many are the stories related of his "makeshifts" and original devices for bettering his woldly condition. J. O. Turley was born Septem- ber 15, 1847, in Elkhart Township, where he began for himself as

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History of Logan County, Illinois, Part 76

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