USA > Illinois > Piatt County > History of Piatt County; together with a brief history of Illinois from the discovery of the upper Mississippi to the present time > Part 45
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HISTORY OF PIATT COUNTY.
been in his hands. He was married in Morgan county, to Mary Peaker, who came with her father to America in 1851. Six of their seven children are still living, John W., Frederick H., George E., Charles E., Alice G. and Sarah Belle.
MR. GEORGE D. DILATUSH, farmer, La Place, claims New Jersey as his native state, from which place he moved to Logan county in 1868, and located in Piatt county in 1871. His present home farm of 240 acres was bought in 1870 and is in good condition. Tiling has been put in, ditches have been niade, and at least two hundred trees have been planted, besides the making of other improvements. In fact Mr. Dilatush is one of the successful farmers of the township. In 1855 Mr. Dilatush and Cynthia Jeffries were united in marriage. Five of their six children are living : Frank V. has been a successful teacher of Monticello for several years ; J. J., Elmer E., Lida E. and William Henry are yet at home.
MR. W. F. DONALDSON, postmaster, keeper of a bookstore, Cerro Gordo, is a native of Monroe county, New York. He lived in Ken- tucky for nine years, and then moved to Decatur, where he remained five months and then moved to Cerro Gordo in 1876. Hc opened a bookstore in that place in 1876, and about 1880 became postmaster. He owns his residence and one lot in the place, is a member of the Masonic lodge, and has been township clerk twice. He was united in marriage in 1862 to Mary McDunn, and has one son, H. W. Donaldson.
MR. THOMAS EAST (deceased) was a native of Ohio, from which state he moved to Christian county, Illinois, in 1861, and in 1864 settled in Piatt county on a farm of eighty acres. He had but begun to improve the place when his death occurred in 1864. He was married in 1832, to Priscilla McCracken, a native of Ohio. They liad fourteen children, seven of whom are living. Isabel, the wife of William L. Hammer, has six children, and lives in Decatur. Ann marricd Jacob L. Davis, who died, leaving four daughters. William H. married Ada Finegan, of St. Louis. He died from sickness contracted in the army, leaving one child. Lcander died from wounds received in the late war. Quincy married Harriet East, and, with one child, lives in Ohio. Joseph is living at home. Wheatley is married and living near Milmine. Francis O., who died 1881, was one of the successful school-teachers of Piatt county. He was a student of the Normal University. Ulric, formerly a student of the same university, died in California at the age of twenty-three. Oscar is living at home
F. E. Bryant.
LIBRARY THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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and is a school-teacher. Homer has been a school-teacher, but at present has charge of the home farm. Mrs. East still lives on her farm near Milmine. Many improvements have been made of late years. The farın is well ditched with open ditches, and about two hundred and fifty trees have been planted out. A new barn was built in 1873, and in 1880 a new house was put up, all of which causes their home to be considered one of the neatest country-places of the county.
MR. DAVID ESPY, La Place, moved from Pennsylvania, his native state, to Illinois in 1851, and to Piatt county in 1874, locating in La Place. He was married in October 1851, to Ann C. Jackson, and has had seven children, three of whom are living. D. Brainard is in Lintner. Sadie M. keeps house for her father, and Nellie J. is teaching in Monticello. Mrs. Espy died August 16, 1880.
MR. ABRAHAM FUNK, farmer, Cerro Gordo, is a native of Pennsyl- vania. He left his native state in 1836 and moved to Bloomington, Indiana. In 1853 he came to Illinois, and settled in Willow Branch township. His next move was to Macon county, but he returned to Piatt county, and settled about one and a half miles from Cerro Gordo. When he first located near Cerro Gordo he boarded the railroad hands as the present Wabash railroad was being built. In 1881 Mr. Funk moved into Cerro Gordo, where he owns a house and three lots. In addition to this he owns forty acres of the eighty-acre farm he improved near the town. There are two houses, a barn, a stable and a good orchard on the place. Mr. Funk was married February 22, 1838, to Eliza J. Mckinney, and four of their five children are living. Emily is the wife of Sandford Tracy, the mother of two children, Charles and Mary, and lives in Cerro Gordo township. Samuel M., a soldier in the army, married Sarah Chilson, lives four miles south of Milmine, and has six children living : Eugene M., John, Samuel, Elvaretta, Cora, Alice and Aaron. Amelia, the wife of William Edie, a farmer near Cerro Gordo, has three children, Albert, Walter and Charles. Theodore lost his first wife, née Sarah Cantrall. His second wife was named Alice Richards, and he next married Alice Good, and is now living with his parents. He is a dealer in small fruits, having four and a half acres of the same.
MR. ENOS FARNSWORTH, farmer, Milmine, is a native of Virginia, Loudon county. From that place he went to Ohio in 1851, and in 1853 came to Piatt county, settling upon 400 acres of land, upon a portion of which the town of Farnsworth is located. He improved this place, putting out some six miles of hedge, several thousand trees,
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4
and four orchards. There are three dwelling houses on the original farm. Mr. Farnsworth was supervisor of Cerro Gordo township four years. He was married in' 1870, to Susan A. Nesbitt, a native of Illinois, and has two daughters, Anna and Emma.
MR. JACOB FRYDENGER, a farmer near Cerro Gordo, was born in Baden, Germany, in 1823. His parents, who are now dead, came to America when he was three years old, and settled in Pennsylvania. He moved from that state to Ohio, from there to Iowa, and, in 1864, settled in Piatt county on the place of 160 acres, on which he still lives. He was married in 1857, to Nancy Jones, who died in 1873. They had six children, five of whom are living : Ida, who is one of the success- ful school-teachers of the county, Emma, Frank, Iowa and Hattie. Mrs. Frydenger's father and stepmother have both died at Mr. Fry- denger's since her death. He has a brother who lives with him, and the two are the only ones of their family living.
MR. JOHN FIELDS, blacksmith, Cerro Gordo, claims Yorkshire, England, as his native place. He came to Illinois in 1844, and located in Cass county, but in 1857 located in Cerro Gordo. He was married by Squire Howell, in 1857, to Semantha Long. He thinks this is probably the first marriage in the place. They have had eleven chil- dren, seven of whom are living: Dora, John, Blanch, Cliff, Clyde, Roy and Maud. He went to the army, from Macon county, in 1862, in Co. A of the 116 Ill. reg., and participated in the battles at Arkansas Post, Vicksburg, Jackson, Mission Ridge, most of the battles of the Atlanta campaign, and Kingston. He owns a house and lot, and a portion of the blacksmith shop, in Cerro Gordo, and is a member of the masonic lodge.
MR. PETER FOUTS, a farmer of Cerro Gordo township, is a native of Indiana, from which place he moved to Macon county in 1856. In 1868 he settled on some rented land near Seven-mile Grove, but after- ward moved to his present home place of eighty acres. He was married in Indiana, to Miss Frantz, and has had seven children, but six of whom are living : Jacob, Henry, Lizzie, John, Leonard and Mary Ellen. M. Fouts has held the office of school director, and is a member of the German Baptist church.
MR. PETER FOLRATHI, who has the only exclusive boot and shoe store in Cerro Gordo, is a native of Germany. He came to America in 1848, and in 1864 located in Cerro Gordo, where he now owns his · residence and two lots. He was married in 1855, to Margaret Davis, and has had nine children, seven of whom are living. These are,
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Davis, who is assisting his father in the store, Henry, Maggie, Walter, Eddie, and Harry and Harley, twins.
MR. WILLIAM GULLIFORD (deceased) settled on a farm in Cerro Gordo township in 1857, and lived there until his death, in 1881. His wife died about 1879. Five of their children are living in Piatt county. James Gulliford died in Piatt county about nine years ago, leaving a wife and three children. Richard is living on his father's home place (see his name). Thomas died about two years ago, leav- ing a wife née Knighten, and two children, who are living in the county. William married Mrs. E. Dailey nee E. Torrence, and has five children, Lillie, Blanch, James, Maud and Scott, and lives in Milmine. Emma is the wife of James Armsworth, of Willow Branch township (see his, name). Ann married Reuben Fisher, and lives at White Heatlı. Eliza is the wife of Noah Armsworth, and lives in Willow Branch township.
MR. RICHARD GULLIFORD, a farmer of Cerro Gordo township, is a native of England. In 1854 he came to America. The passage was a very stormy one, the vessel being struck with lightning once. After two years' residence in America he settled in Piatt county in 1856, where he has been most of the time since. He was married in 1868, to Elizabeth Trimby, a native of England. They have three children living, Alice, Harry and Arthur. Mrs. Gulliford had a very serious time in coming to America in 1864. The vessel struck a rock twelve miles from Portland, Maine. It was wrecked at eight o'clock at night and about sixty persons were drowned. It finally sunk with the baggage of all the passengers. Mrs. Gulliford was pulled out of the water by her hair. She with others were out all night, during which time her hands were frozen. Mr. Gulliford went to the late war from Piatt county in Co. E of the 107th Ill. He was discharged on account of sickness, and again he went into the army in the 9th Iowa. The principal engagements in which he participated were those of Vicks- burg, Lookout, and the battles during the march to the sea. He received a slight flesh-wound once.
MR. H. N. GREEN, hardware merchant, Cerro Gordo, is a native of Indiana. He moved from there to Illinois in 1865, and in 1868 settled in Cerro Gordo, where he now owns a residence and three lots. He and Rebecca A. Johnson were united in marriage in 1852 and have had seven children, six of whom are now living. Of these, Charles J. married Sarah Kemp, has one child and lives in Arizona; May Alice ' married T. J. Wimmer, has one child, Lynn, and lives in Cerro Gordo.
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The names of Mr. Green's other children are Ed. S., Harry T., Ora E. and Ralph Waldo. Mr. Green has held the offices of school director and town trustee.
MR. ISAAC HOWELL, a farmer of Cerro Gordo township, is a native of Ohio, from which state he moved to Macon county, Illinois, in 1826 or 1828. He first settled in Piatt county about one mile northwest of where he now lives. He moved onto his present farm of eighty acres in 1858 and has since made all the improvements on the place. He planted out about 250 trees and in 1878 built his neat and comfortable frame residence. He was married in 1843, to Mary Widick, who has had eight children, five of whom are living. George married Sarah Widick, has one child and lives in Kansas. William went to the army in Co. H of the 39th reg. and was killed. Emily first married Tho. Manzey, who died. She next married Wm. Allsberry, and with two children, John and Louis, lives in Cerro Gordo township. Ellen mar- ried Edward Zinn, has one child and lives in Cerro Gordo township. John married Anna Kelsey and is also living in Cerro Gordo township. Eva is a school-teacher and lives at home. Mr. Howell was quite a hunter from the time he could hold a gun until he was twenty years old. He has helped to kill at least fifty wolves, has killed as many as three or four deer a day, and for a good many years killed from thirty to forty deera year. When quite young he lost an eye by the bursting of a cap when trying to kill a squirrel. Mr Howell owns some 320 acres of land besides what he has in his home-place.
MR. JOSEPH HOWELL, a farmer near Cerro Gordo, was born in Ohio, March 4, 1816. He moved to Indiana, and from there to Macon county, Illinois, about 1828. There was no Decatur then, and they were " near neighbors" to the folks living in what is now Piatt county. The family consisted at that time of James Howell, who died afterward in Macon county, his wife and two sons, Joseph and Isaac. Joseph How- ell split the first rails made in Willow Branch township. He was employed by Mr. Jas. Piatt to fence land owned by Mr. John West, near the Willow Branch. He was quite a hunter when young and frequently killed as many as three or four deer a day and from thirty to forty in one season. This was his occupation when he had no other work. Mr. Howell moved into Cerro Gordo township in 1845. He owns 160 acres of land, upon which he has put all improvements. He has planted an orchard of 200 trees and has fenced the place twice. In
1870 he built a nice brick house of twelve rooms, including basement.
Mr. Howell may be considered one of the successful farmers and stock
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deaers of the township. He was married in1842, to Mary McCauley, who died. Her five children are dead also. Adam married Sarah Whitback and lived in Cerro Gordo township until his death. Mary J. died when seventeen years old. Elizabeth and Amanda died of consumption. Mrs: Jos. Howell died in 1869, and in 1871 Mr. Howell married Anna Zinn.
MR. DANIEL HOWELL, farmer, Cerro Gordo, is a native of Ohio ; came to Piatt county about 1845 and entered the land his son Henry lives on. His father moved to Jasper county, Missouri, four- teen or fifteen years ago, and was in the Black Hawk .war. Mr. Howell was married to Elizabeth Abroms, who has been dead three years. They were old settlers on Friends Creek and had eleven children. Henry married Mary Ann Pemble in 1862, who died, leav- ing five children : Lizzie, Charlie, Arthur, May Pearl and Lenna. Henry Howell married his second wife, Caroline LeDow, in 1881. He is the only child living in the county, and owns 100 acres of the old farm near Cerro Gordo, which his father principally improved. Mary Ann Howell is the wife of Christopher Wigner, and lives in Missouri. John married Margaret Kerns and lives in Nebraska. Levi is unmar- ried ; Samuel is married and lives in Iowa; Martha married Andrew Allen, and lives in Sangamon county ; Jones is married and lives in Missouri.
MR. WILLIAM T. HAVENAR, a farmer of Cerro Gordo township, is a native of Ohio, from which state he moved to Moultrie county, Illinois, in 1850. He next moved to Piatt county, where he owns eighty acres of land. He was married in Ohio in 1847, to Elizabeth Hitchens, and has had seven children, six of whom are living. James married Mary Hitchens, has three children, and lives in Ohio. Charles married Martha Thompson, and lives in Lake City. Sarah J. married James Madison, has four children and lives in Moultrie county. John B. married Alice Patrick, has one son, William, and lives in Cerro Gordo township. Anna, the wife of James Winings, has one child and lives in Moultrie county. William E. is still at home. Mr. Have- nar was one of a family of eight brothers, six of whom went all through the late war, were in some of the hardest battles, but did not receive a single wound.
MR. O. D. ILANNA, carpenter and farmer of Cerro Gordo town- ship, was born in Pennsylvania in 1819. His grandfather was in the revolutionary war, and was in sight of Valley Forge when Washing- ton was there. His father, Ephraim Hanna, was in the war of 1812,
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under Gen. Harrison, and was at the siege of Fort Meigs and Fort Sandusky. He was discharged just before the battle of the Thames. Mr. Hanna, the subject of our sketch, moved from his native state to Virginia, and from there to Ohio, and thence to Illinois, and was an early settler, with others of his family, in Woodford and Livingston counties. Their name is in the history of both of these counties. Mr. Hannah was married in 1844, to Ann Thompson, who was born in Ohio in 1822. Six of their eight children are living. Mary E. married William Pitcher, and with one daughter, Theodosia M., lives in Cerro Gordo township. Phebe A., the wife of Richard Hanna, lives in Liv- ingston county. Sarah E., S. L., B. F. and Stephen are living at home. Mr. Hanna was the first assessor of one of the townships of Woodford county after the township organization. He is one of the few persons who have succeeded in keeping a record of some of the principal events of his life. The book in which he has kept such record was bought in Ohio about thirty five years ago. Mr. Hanna settled in Piatt county in 1878, and owns thirty acres of land in his liome- place.
MR. ANDREW HEMINGER, a farmer, is a native of Ohio, from which state he moved to Piatt county in 1858. He rented a farm for a time, after which he bought his present home of 160 acres, upon which he has put all the improvements. He has put out about five acres of forest trees and two hundred fruit trees. His first wife, née Rachel Long, died leaving one child, which is now dead. In 1877 he married Melinda Schoolcraft, who has had one daughter, Maud Heminger. In 1862 Mr. Heminger went to the army in Co. K of the 107th Ill. He was in the battles of Franklin and Loudon. After the latter en- gagement he was detailed to the engineering corps. He was also at the siege of Knoxville, during which time he found out what "hard times" meant. Mr. Heminger bought apples at the rate of one dollar a dozen while in the army.
MR. ROBERT HUDGEN, a farmer and school-teacher near Cerro Gordo, : is a native of Kentucky. His father moved to Macon county in 1848. Robert settled in Piatt county in 1862, and in 1875 moved onto his present home-farin of forty acres. When he was a young man, and when Cerro Gordo was first started, he went to the place for the pur- pose of buying some town lots, but the swampy appearance of the country deterred him. He has taught school for about sixteen years of his life. While teaching in the fall of 1881 he fell from the ros- trum, injuring one of his limbs so that he was obliged to stop teaching
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for a time. He was married in 1864, to Paulina Vancil. Three of their five children are living, Owen, Lola and Grace.
MR. O. J. HARLAN, merchant, is a native of Fountain county, Indiana. He moved to Champaign county, Illinois, in 1841, and in 1870 moved from Macon county to Cerro Gordo, where he opened a store. He now owns his store building, a residence and two lots in the place. He was married in 1850, to Mary B. Maim, who died in 1858, leaving three children : Morgan; Julia C., who is the wife of George Grubb, of Macon county, and has two children, and Naomi, who married John Hays, has two children and lives at Springfield. Mr. Harlan was married again in 1859, to Sarah M. Ball, and has five children, Arthur A., John Marshall, Almitta, Florence E. and Lula May. Mr. Harlan is a member of the Masonic and I.O.O.F. lodges. He has been school director and at present is a member of the town board.
MR. FREDERICK HEATH, wagon-maker, Cerro Gordo, is a native of New York. He moved to Ohio and then in 1857 located in Willow Branch township. He came into Cerro Gordo in 1860, and for a time worked at carpentering. He now owns a house and lot in the place. He was united in marriage in 1852, to Flavilla Whitford, and has had nine children, five of whom are living. Alice, the wife of John Val- entine, has one child, Arthur. The names of the other children are Fred A., Mary, John and Clyde. Mr. Heath went from this township to the army in Co. K of the 107th Ill., and participated in the battles of Knoxville, Resaca, and others in the Atlanta campaign.
DR. W. M. HARSHA, Cerro Gordo, is a native of Adams county, Ohio. He went from that state to Texas, where he taught school a year, after which he attended the university at Lebanon, Ohio, where he graduated in the scientific and classical course in 1875. From Leb- anon he went to Ann Arbor and attended the medical school in the University of Michigan. After spending a year in Florida, where he was engaged in orange culture, assisting in a drug store and in the prac- tice of medicine, he returned to Cincinnati and graduated there in the Eclectic Medical College in 1878. After spending another year in Flor- ida, he came to Cerro Gordo in 1879 and began the practice of medicine. His practice gradually increased so that it was necessary for him to have assistance, and in 1881 Dr. H. C. Jones became his partner. Dr. HIarsha is also a partner in the drug store of " Harsha and McCrumb." He was married June 1, 1880, to Adelia S. Hutchinson, a native of Ohio, and who was also a student of Lebanon. Dr. Harsha is at pres- . ent a member of the town board.
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HISTORY OF PIATT COUNTY.
MR. E. O. HUMPHREY, teacher, La Place, moved from Ohio, liis native state, to Illinois, locating in 1868 in Douglas county. He moved in 1878 to Piatt county, where he has since been teaching school. He attended school at the State Normal and at Terre Haute, Indiana. He was married October 27, 1881, to Minerva Smith, a native of Batlı county, Kentucky.
DR. HERBERT C. JONES, Cerro Gordo, a native of Ohio, moved from there to Florida, where he remained five years. He came to Cerro Gordo in 1881 and went into partnership with Dr. Harsha. He attended the Ohio University at Athens, Ohio, and graduated from the Medical College of Ohio, in Cincinnati, in 1876. He first practiced medicine in Florida. Dr. Jones was married in 1879, to Florence Correa, a native of Brooklyn, New York, and has one child, Lindley. Dr. Jones is a member of the Masonic lodge of Cerro Gordo and past master of a Florida Lodge.
MR. E. H. JEFFRES, miller, of the firm "E. H. Jeffres & Son," Cerro Gordo, is a native of New York, moved from there to Chicago in 1863, thence to Cerro Gordo in 1879, when he purchased the mill of which he is now proprietor. He went to the army from New York in 1861, as captain of Co. H of the 136th N. Y. Vols., and was in sev- eral battles, the principal of which was Fredericksburg. His regiment was under Gen. Sigel, of the reserve corps. Mr. Jeffres was married abont 1853, to Emily Pattridge, who died, leaving one son, Geo. W., who married Florence Monroe, of Chicago. George is in the mill with his father. Mr. Jeffres was married again in 1865, to Mary A. Ward.
MR. DANDY KELLINGTON, a farmer and mechanic near Milmine, is a native of England. He came to America when nine years old, lived in Morgan county, Illinois, for a number of years, and in 1867 nioved to Piatt county, where he owns 160 acres of land. The farm is drained with both open and tile ditches; it is fenced with hedges and plank fence and there are about 300 trees planted on it. The crops on the place have averaged well from year to year, but in 1881 the corn averaged near sixty bushels to the acre. Mr. Kellington built his eiglit-room frame residence about 1867. He was married in 1855, to Sarah A. Coultas, a native of Morgan county. "All of their eight children are living : Wm. Tho., John C., Geo. Henry, Hannah M., Newton, Mary Jane, Peter Dandy and Edgar Roscoe.
MR. A. H. LOCKE, merchant, La Place, moved from Pennsylvania, his native state, to Illinois, in 1857, and in 1880 located in Piatt county.
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He was married September 10, 1879, to Martha Hollowell, and has one son. Mr. Locke is the present postmaster of La Place.
MR. ANDREW MCKINNEY, fornierly a merchant of Cerro Gordo, is a native of Indiana, from which state lie moved to Illinois, and located in Monticello, where he began housekeeping in a small frame house on the cite of the store building now occupied by W. E. Smith. He moved onto a farin near Cerro Gordo in 1856, and was in partnership with A. L. Rodgers in the first store building of Cerro Gordo. He taught school in Monticello in the winter of 1848-49, in a small frame building a few rods southwest of the square ; had about thirty scholars, and he considers the school as one of the most interesting and pleasant he ever taught. He taught the first school at Cerro Gordo, and built the first residence in. the town. He improved a farm of 160 acres in Willow Branch, known as the James Sherman farm, and also one of sixty acres adjoining Cerro Gordo. He was quite instrumental in building the Presbyterian church in the town, and in fact was closely connected with advancing interests of Cerro Gordo until 1880, when he moved to Rawlins county, Kansas, where he owns 320 acres of land. He was united in marriage about 1847, to Mary A. Rogers, and has had nine children, six of whom are living. Mr. H. E. Mckinney was married in 1878, to Mary F. Garver, and is now assisting in Moore & Co's store in Cerro Gordo. His wife has a milliner store in the town. Charles Mckinney is in Denver, Colorado, and John is in Kansas. Nannie E. is the wife of Robert Turner, has one child and lives in Kansas. Lyle and Willie are both at home. Mr. Mckinney while living in Piatt county held several of the township offices.
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