USA > Illinois > Henderson County > History of Mercer County : together with biographical matter, statistics, etc., gathered from mattter furnished by the Mercer County Historical Society, interviews with old settlers, county, township and other records, and extracts from files of papers, pamphlets, and such other sources as have been available : containing also a short history of Henderson County > Part 32
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
practical knowledge concerning business and national needs. At the age of nineteen he went to New York to superintend the dairy farm of his father where he remained till he arrived at the age of twenty-one. In 1842 he went on a wlfaling voyage on the Pacific Coast with a view to improve his health, and spent two years on the coast of Alaska. In 1845 he, in company with his brother Henry, went to Ohio, purchased a flock of sheep, which they drove to Mercer county, Illinois, the same year, to what is now Perryton township. They laid a claim on section 9, which is now owned by him. He has made one of the most beautiful farms in Mercer county. In 1853 he was married to Mary A. Candor, born 1834, and a native of Union county, Pennsylvania. She came with her parents, Thomas and Margaret (Montgomery) Candor, to Mercer county, Illinois, in 1837. They had nine children, two of whom are living: Elisha, born in 1856, and Fanny, born September, 1865. Elisha was married December 18, 1881, to Lena Bopes, daughter of David Bopes. He carries on the business of the farm for his father. Mr. Lee was elected vice-president of the state board of agriculture in 1864, which position he held till 1870. At the organization of the institute for the feeble-minded of Illinois, he was appointed a member of the board, and with the exception of two years has held the position of president of the board since its organization. His wife, Mary A., died January 30, 1874. He was married a second time, to Anna S. Fisher, a native of Greene county, Pennsylvania, born March 1, 1847. They have one child, Graham, born February 24, 1880. Mr. Lee was raised a Congregationalist, but is now a member of the Presbyterian church at Hamlet.
Among the many successful farmers of Mercer county whose first capital to begin business with was muscle and will power is the subject of our sketch, JONATHAN GAUNT. He is a native of Lancashire county, England, and a son of James and Ann Gaunt. His father was a manu- facturer of cotton, and died in 1845, at the age of fifty-six years. His mother came to America with Jonathan in 1851, and settled in Rock Island county, where she lived for ten years, when she moved to Mercer county, where she died in 1879, at the age of eighty years. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, her husband of the Episcopal church. Jonathan partly learned the trade of his father. Ile lived with his mother till he arrived at the age of twenty, when he went to work for himself. He was married in 1862 to Emily Damp, a native of New York, born in 1841, daughter of Michael and Eliza Damp. They have five children : Fernando, Cicero, Lorenzo, Eliza, and Albert. He has a fine stock farm of 520 acres, well improved and well stocked
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with the best grades. Ile makes a specialty of raising horses to sell. In 1SS1 his sales of horses amounted to $1.912.
JOHN MONTGOMERY is a descendant of one of the earliest pioneer families to locate in this part of the state. Among the pioneer preachers of northwestern Illinois is Rev. John Montgomery, his uncle. John Montgomery, our subject. is a native of Rock Island county, born in 1838. His parents were Daniel and Margaret S. Montgomery, both of Montour county, Pennsylvania. They emigrated from their native state to Edgington, Rock Island county, in 1836. They were of that class of Pennsylvania people who carried their morals with them. Both were devoted members of the Presbyterian church, and did much to establish a high degree of morality in the community where they resided. The father died in 1849, when he was fifty years old. The mother is now living in Milan, Rock Island county, and is in her seventy-third year. John Montgomery received a fair common school education, in addition to which he attended school at Dixon, Illinois, for some time. He was reared on the farm, which business he has always followed. He was married September, 1868, to Sarah J. Morris, native of Ohio, and daughter of William and Sarah Morris. both of Ohio, and members of the Methodist Episcopal church. By this marriage he has two children living: Maud M., born January 4, 1870, and Fanny L., September 6, 1871. Ilis wife, Sarah J., died in 1874. He married again in 1876, Elizabeth Swartwout, born in 1842, a native of New York and a daughter of Cornelius and Lucinda Swartwout. By this second marriage he has three children : Lucinda, born March 6, 1877 ; James S., May 17, 1878; and William H., May 30, 1880. He and wife are mem- bers of the Presbyterian church at Hamlet. He first came to Perryton township in 1868, then returned to his native county and remained till 1882, when he again came to Perryton township, and located on the old David Blue farm, where he owns 360 acres. He makes a specialty of fat cattle, in addition to which he does a good business in buying and shipping stock. He enlisted March, 1865, in company K. 68th Ill. Vol., and served one year.
The present practicing physician and druggist of Hamlet is Dr. M. CRISWELL, a native of Pennsylvania ; was born in 1847, and is a son of Mathew and Sarah M. (Whitehill) Criswell, both of Pennsylvania. They emigrated to Rock Island county, Illinois, in 1855, where they remained till 1878, when they came to Mercer county, where she died in 1864. aged fifty-one years. The father and his son Mathew now reside in the village of Hamlet. Dr. Criswell received a good common school education. In the study of medicine he graduated at Jefferson medical college, Philadelphia. with the class of 1876. The same year
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
he located in Pre-emption township, where he remained till 1877, when he came to Hamlet. He was married in 1879 to Anna C. Huyett, o Illinois, native of Rock Island county, daughter of Dr. Joseph and Harriette L. Huyett, of Pennsylvania. They located in Milan, Rock Island county, about 1850, where he has since been engaged in the practice of medicine. Dr. Criswell has by this marriage one child, Edith. He has a paying practice.
The subject of this sketch JOSIAH CANDOR is a native of Columbia county, Pennsylvania, born in 1830, and is the son of Thomas and Margaret (Montgomery) Candor. He came to Mercer county with his parents. He was reared and educated on his father's farm in Ohio Grove township. In 1852 he went to Oregon and California, returned in 1854 and engaged in the mercantile business in Edgington, Rock Island county, where he remained till 1867, when he, in company with his brother, Capt. D. M. Candor, opened a store of general mer- chandise in Hamlet, in which business he continues. He has held the office of postmaster in Hamlet since 1868. Ile was married in 1857 to Mary E. Nichols, a native of Searsport, Maine. She was born in 1838 and is a daughter of Woodburn and Olive (Sleeper) Nichols, both of Maine, who came to Mercer county in 1859 and located in Perryton township. The mother now lives with her son Albion, one mile south of Hamlet. Mr. and Mrs. Candor have six children : Mary C., May, Robert A., Edwin II., Vessie O., and Herbert J. He and wife are members of the Presbyterian church. He has a farm of 175 acres well improved, and adjoining Hamlet, on which he keeps a good grade of stock. He and his brother formerly dealt in stock buying and ship- ping. Previous to the building of the town of Reynolds, in Rock Island county, they carried on a trade in coal at Hamlet. He has been the school treasurer of the township for the past six years.
Capt. DANIEL M. CANDOR was born in Columbia county, Pennsyl- vania, in 1836, and came with his parents, Thomas and Margaret (Montgomery) Candor, to Mercer county when he was one year old. His early education was such as he could get in the pioneer schools of his neighborhood, with a two years' course in the academy at Macomb, Illinois. He remained on the farm with his parents till of age. He went to Pike's Peak in 1859, stayed two years, returned in 1860, and enlisted in 1861, in company A, 30th Ill. Vol., and served a few days over four years. He first enlisted for three years, or during the war, and afterward veteranized at Vicksburg. He was in the following engagements : Belmont, Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, the skirmishes around Shiloh, Brittin's Lane, Port Gibson, Raymond. Jackson, Mis- sissippi, Champion Hills, siege of Vicksburg, Kennesaw Mountain, sieges
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of Atlanta, Savannah, Charleston, Raleigh, Bentonville, and Golds- borough, and then went to Washington by way of Richmond. He was commissioned captain of his company October 27. 1864, which commission he held till the company was mustered out of the service. Following the siege of Vicksburg he was promoted to the office of orderly sergeant from the office of commissary sergeant. At the battle of Atlanta he received a wound in the head. His parents located in Ohio Grove township when they came to Mercer county, and continued to reside there till 1856. His mother died in 1871, at the age of seventy-five years. ITis father, Thomas Candor, was married a second time, to Mary L. Boardman, and died in 1874, aged seventy-five years. Capt. Candor's parents, Margaret and Thomas, were both natives of Pennsylvania. Capt. Candor was married in 1868 to Emma J. Girton. a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1842, and daughter of Baltis and Anna E. Girton, both of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. They came to Illinois in 1872, and now live in Hamlet. Mr. and Mrs. Candor have three children : Graham L., born in 1868, Thomas G., 1870. and Edna, in 1879. He has a well improved farm of 175 acres, adjoining Hamlet. He keeps a good grade of all kinds of stock. He and his brother Josiah were partners in the mercantile business in Hamlet from 1867 to 1881. He and wife are members of the Presbyterian church at Hamlet.
Of those who look to Mercer county as their birth place and home is the subject of this sketch, W. C. VANDALSEM. IIe was born in 1850. His parents were John and Hannah M. Vandalsem, both of Ohio, and came to Mercer county with the early settlers with their parents. They were married here. His mother's family located as early as 1832 in Warren county, and afterward came to Mercer county and settled near Pope creek. W. C.'s parents emigrated to Kansas in 1879, where they yet remain. His father is now fifty-nine years old, his mother fifty-seven years. They are both members of the Presbyterian church. His father served in the army in company B, 83d III. Vol., and was ont three years, lacking one month. He was in the second battle fought at Fort Donelson. after which his company was detailed to fight bushwhackers and guerillas. W. C. was educated in the common school and reared on the farm. He was married in 1876 to Deborah Dunn, native of Illinois, born in 1852, and daughter of John G. and Lydia (Winans) Dunn, the former of Ohio, the latter of Kentucky. Her father died in 1857, at the age of thirty-five, her mother in 1864. aged about forty-four years, a devoted christian and member of the Methodist Episcopal church. W. C. has by this marriage three chil- dren : Glenn, Charley, and Bessie. His wife's people came to Mercer
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
county in 1851, where they lived till their deaths. Mr. Vandalsem owns a fine farm of 128 acres, on which he keeps a high grade of stock.
GEORGE GRAY is a native of Switzerland county, Indiana, born in 1851. and is a son of Robert and Mary Gray, both of Indiana. His father came to Illinois in 1867, then went to Iowa, and now resides in Barton county, Missouri. His mother died in Indiana. George came first to Rock Island county, Illinois, and lived with his uncle for some time. Ilis educational training was such as he could get in the common school. He began life for himself with nature's capital. energy and muscle. He now has a farm of 120 acres, located two miles southeast of Hamlet, in Perryton township. He keeps a good grade of stock. In 1879 he came to Mercer county and located. The same year he was married to Arabella Vandalsem, daughter of John and Hannah M. Vandalsem. They have one child, Grace.
Of those whom we may term old resident settlers of Perryton town- ship is Mr. J. M. DUNN. He located here as early as 1851. He was born in the state of Kentucky in 1824. His parents were James and Sarah Dunn, both of whom were natives of the "corn cracker state." His father died in his native state in 1823, his mother emigrated with her family in 1831, to Clermont county, Ohio, where she died in 1852. at the age of sixty-two years. She was a member of the Wesleyan Methodist church. J. M. received only a meager education, such as the pioneer schools could give. IIe was reared a farmer, which busi- ness he has always followed. He returned to Ohio in 1855, where he was married to Elizabeth Huntington, born in 1826, and daughter of Abner and Rebecca Huntington, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio respectively. The former died in 1877 at the good old age of seventy- seven years, the latter in 1876, aged seventy-one; both were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Dunn has by this marriage seven children : James A., John H., Benjamin F., George W., Emma C., Thomas II., Sarah (deceased), and Rebecca (deceased). He and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. He has a farm of 200 acres located one mile southeast of Hamlet, fairly improved.
W. W. BRADFORD, the subject of this life sketch is a native of Swit- zerland county, Indiana, born in 1830. His parents were Eli and Mary A. Bradford ; the former of Canada, died March, 1876, at the age of seventy years ; the latter of Pennsylvania, died in 1872, at the age of sixty-two years and ten months. They were pioneer settlers of Indi- ana, having located in Switzerland county while the Indians were yet plenty. They were people of high moral integrity and members of the Baptist church. W. W. came to Mercer county in 1855, and located
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east of Hamlet, where A. Kindall now resides. He returned to Indi- ana the following year and was married, and again came to Illinois where he lived till 1869, when he went to Henry county, and there remained till 1877, when he came to Mercer where he yet resides. His wife was Miss Maria P. Stephens, a native of Indiana and daughter of Reuben and Mary Stephens, both of whom are natives of New York. They were early settlers of Switzerland county, Indiana. Her mother died in 1881 at the advanced age of eighty-two years. Her father still lives in Switzerland county, and is now ninety-three years old. They were both members of the Methodist Episcopal church and well res- pected by all with whom they dealt. By occupation they were farmers. Mr. and Mrs. Bradford have by this marriage eight children : Bruce, Perry (deceased), Eddy (deceased), Elijah (deceased), Ida, Guy S., and William F. He and wife are members of the Free Methodist church. He has a well improved stock farm of 320 acres.
ALFRED H. SMITH is a native of Pennsylvania, born in 1828, son of Charles and Margarette A. (Sungrain) Smith. His father was a native of Pennsylvania, and served in Capt. Brady's United States volunteers in the war of 1812. He died in 1828. His mother was a native of Philadelphia, born in 1804, and died in Mercer county in 1874. Her parents were, one from Switzerland. the other from Holland, She came to Mercer county in 1849. She was a member of the Presbyte- rian church. Alfred H. came to Mercer county with his mother. He was reared on the farm in which business he has continued. He was married in 1855 to Margaret Catchcart, a native of Pennsylvania, daughter of John and Mary (Brown) Catchcart, who came to Rock Island in 1850. Mr. and Mrs. Smith have ten children : Emma, Charles, Arthur, Adella, Dora, Retta, Harvey, Frederick, Charles, and Ulmer. IIe has a well improved farm of 240 acres and good grades of stock. He and wife are members of the Baptist church. His wife's father is a native of Pennsylvania, her mother of Donegal county, Ireland.
Among the early settlers of Perryton township who have passed from this seething and ever-changing world of mingled bliss and joy to that more quiet home above is JAMES GORMAN. Ile located in Perry- ton township in 1842, where he resided till his death, which occurred in 1877 in the seventy-seventh year of his age. He was born in Ire- land in 1800 and came to America in 1837, locating in Pennsylvania, where he remained till 1842, when he emigrated to Illinois. By trade he was a linen weaver but farmed in America. He was married in Ireland to Sarah MeAdam, daughter of Samuel and Sarah McAdam. James Gorman had by this marriage eight children : John (deceased). William, and James were born in Ireland; Andrew, Sarah, and Samuel
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
(deceased), were born in the "Quaker state;" Elizabeth and Nancy were born in Perryton township. James and William enlisted in the army. the former in company C, the latter in company G, 102d III. Vol. : both went out in 1862 and returned at the close of the war in 1868. James Gorman was a member of the Presbyterian church from early life till his death. His widow is a member of the same church. She now lives on the old homestead in the south half of Perryton township where they located in 1842. Sarah and Andrew remain åt home to comfort her in her old age. She is now seventy-seven years old.
LEVI COOPER was born in Staffordshire, England, in 1810. His parents were Thomas and Ann (Hashley) Cooper, both of England. Ilis father was born in Staffordshire, September 3, 1774, and died at Hamlet, October 10, 1857. His mother was born October 1, 1787. and died October 20, 1838. They were married in their native country and emigrated to America in 1832, and located in Canada, where they remained five years, when they moved to Lewis county, New York. In 1840 they emigrated to Michigan, and came to Illinois in 1846 and located in Perryton township, Mercer county, where they spent their declining years. Thomas Cooper was a tailor by trade. He and wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, both in England and America. Levi Cooper came to America with his father, and made the same removals. He was by trade a brick and tile maker, which busi- ness he followed in England, and in America one year, after which he engaged in the business of well-digging, till he located on the farm. This last business he pursued till he retired from active life. He now owns a farm of 320 acres second to none in location and quality in Perryton township. He was married in 1839 to Lucy Sproston, of England, who was born in 1807, and was the daughter of John and Sarah Sproston. They came to America in 1832, located in Canada, and emigrated to Perryton township, Mercer county, in 1866. Her father died at Hamlet. April 21, 1864, aged eighty-five years, her mother in England, about 1808. By this marriage Mr. Cooper has four children: David H., Sarah, Betsy E., and Hiram L. His wife, Lucy Sproston. died in 1876. IIe is a member of the Wesleyan Methodist church ; his wife was a member of the same. Since the death of his wife he has left his farm and now lives with his son-in-law, C. Taylor. His two sons live on his farm. Mr. Cooper is a man who is well respected by all who know him.
H. W. Fisk, the subject of this sketch, a native of Orange county. New York, was born in 1833, and is the son of Jonathan and Susan (Williams) Fisk, both of Massachusetts. His father was a mechanic
G. D. Miller
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PERRYTON TOWNSHIP,
and died in 1833 at the age of sixty-three; his mother died in 1841 at the age of fifty-one; both were members of the Presbyterian church: His father was one of the ruling elders in the society of which he was a member. The Fisk family is of Saxon descent. They came to America soon after the Mayflower brought the pilgrims to the rocky coast of Massachusetts. in the class of 1859.
H. W. Fisk graduated at Waveland, Indiana, Hle then took up the profession of teaching; which he followed till 1864, when he was licensed to preach; by the ; Vincennes presbytery. In 1866 he was ordained a minister of the : gospel by the same presbytery. He was appointed home iniesimmary, . in which position he labored till 1870, when he was called to the Bid= lah charge in Rock Island county where he remained two years. In 1872 he was called to the Hamlet charge, where he has since labored, preaching both at Hamlet and at the Perryton church four miles southi. Ile was married in 1862 to Miss Mary Stevenson, a native of Pennsyl- vania, who was born in 1834, and is a daughter of John and Susan C. . (Myres) Stevenson. Her father was a native of Ireland and her mother of Pennsylvania. Her mother died in 1857 at the age of forty -. seven. Her father is now living and is in his seventy-second year .. Both were devoted members of the Presbyterian church. Rev. Fisk has by this marriage three children : Charles E., Susan, and Emma.
MICHAEL DAMP, deceased, and subject of this sketch, was born in 1814, in New York, and was a son of Philip and Susan Damp, both of Germany. He came to Illinois about 1852, and first located at Milan, where he engaged in the milling business. In 1854 he went to Moline, where he run a mill, and paid the farmers of Rock Island county the first cash for wheat received in that section. Previous to his locating there they received their pay in goods. In 1858 he sold his mill at Moline and moved to Pope creek, where he again engaged in running a mill for about four years, when he quit the milling business and came to Perryton township and engaged in farming. This he followed till his death, which occurred in 1865. He was married to Eliza Kemp, of New York, who was born in 1818, and was a daughter of Michael and Sarah Kemp. Her parents were reared, educated, married, raised a family and died without emigrating from their native state. The Kemp family came to America from Germany, and located in New York in the early settlement of the state. By this marriage he had eight chil- dren : Edward C., Emily, Amos (deceased), Julia (deceased), Melonia (deceased), Charlotta (deceased), and Cicero R. Of the three living children two are at home. Emily, now Mrs. Gaunt, lives in the east part of Perryton township. Edward C. was married in 1875 to Eliza Johnson, who died in 1879, leaving three children : Arthur, Elmer,
20
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HISTORY OF MERCER AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
and Isaac F. Cicero R. was born in 1860, and was married in Decem- ber, 1881, to Julia A. Howard, of Illinois, born in 1858, and daughter of John and Mary Howard. Mr. Damp left his family in good circum- stances. His widow now resides about two miles south of Hamlet. Few, if any farms in Perryton are better improved.
JAMES GINGLES, deceased, is justly entitled to the honor of being one of the pioneers of Perryton township. He came at the same time as did the McHards, in 1838, and settled south of Camp creek. He was a native of Pennsylvania, born in the year 1801, in Columbia county, where he was reared and educated to the business of farming. He remained in his native state till 1838, the time of his emigration to Perryton township. He resided here till his death, which occurred when he was in his seventy-second year. He was married in 1822 to Elizabeth Lackard, of Pennsylvania, born in 1805, and daughter of Robert and Jane Lackard, both of Pennsylvania. James Gingles, by this marriage, raised a family of eight children: Martha, Jane, Eliza- beth, Washington, Margaret, Harriet (deceased), John, and Clinda, all of whom are married except Washington, and he remains at home with his mother, caring for her in her old age. She still resides on the old homestead, where they located when they first came to Perryton township. To use the language of a friend of the family: "Mr. Gin- gles was energetic and industrious. His character for sobriety, honesty, and integrity, was above reproach. Coming to this country when it was in its infancy, he endured every privation and hardship incident to a new country in its early settlement; these he bore with manly forti- tude and Christian resignation. His well matured opinions and advice were sought for and readily given to the more recent settler. In times when money was scarce he often lent a helping hand to those who were in need or distress, thus fulfilling the Christian maxim of doing good while we have time. Ilis door was ever open to the wayfarer and traveler. No one in need was turned away without being recipients of his hospitality. During the last hours of his earthly existence he had the sweetest solace and consolation of human existence by being surrounded by the children of his love, whom he had nurtured in the way of religion and truth, thus depriving death of more than half its terror, and illustrating the truth of that beautiful stanza :
" Jesus can make a dying bed As soft as downy pillows are."
His preference in religion was that of the Presbyterian teaching. IIe and his wife so impressed their earnestness and faith in christianity upon their children, that they are all following in the footsteps of their parents.
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