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 48
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MR. BENJAMIN F. DOOLEY, farmer, Cisco, was born in Kentucky, in 1818, and is of German and English descent. He moved to his pres- ent home in Piatt county November 2, 1860. The house was built and the place was partially improved by Mr. Sam'l E. Clay ; Mr. Doo- ley, however, has added many improvements, including the planting of 730 trees, 207 of which are fruit trees and the remaining forest trees. He now owns eighty acres of land. When he first settled in the town- ship there were but one or two houses between his place and Friends Creek. One house where Cisco now is, and Mr. Spencer's and Mr. Weddle's houses, were about the only houses in sight. The northwest- ern part of the township was covered with ponds and swamps. All this is changed now, and wheat and rye wave to the breeze where the swamp grass once held full sway. The settlers used sometimes to get lost in going to or from Monticello. Mr. Dooley was married June 7, 1843, to Sarah M. Jameson, a native of Kentucky, and who died Janu- ary 10, 1880. Five of their nine children are still living : Wm. O. married Saralı E. Chase ; Elizabeth Ann became the wife of George Hummel, of Cisco ; Albert W. died when twenty-three years and Abel J. when seventeen years old ; Mary E. married Daniel C. Miles. Thomas P.and Emma are still at home. Mr. Dooley has done his duty as school director and road overseer, and was justice of the peace for four years.
MR. GEORGE DILSAVER, farmer, Monticello, is of German descent and was born in 1815, in Fairfield county, Ohio. He moved from Ohio to Indiana, where he lived three and one-half years, and then in 1846 came to Piatt county. In 1848 he bought his present homestead.
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Upon settling in his little log cabin he underwent the usual trials of new settlers. Deer, wolves and prairie chickens were quite plenty. Prairie fires were constant annoyances and did the usual amount of damage to this new settlement. He was married in Ohio in 1837, to Mary Winstead, who was born in 1815. They had five children, two of whom are living : Martha Ann married Wm. Dresback in 1860 ; he died in the army in 1863 ; she died in 1876, leaving two children : Marietta, who in 1879 married Win. Duvall, has one child, Ford, and lives in Goose Creek township, and Elma, who in 1880 married Joseplı H. Keller. Evaline Dilsaver is living at home with her parents ; Manton married C. Jane Prouse, has five children, Mary E., George P., Olive, Frederick M. and Roscoe, and lives in Willow Branch township.
MR. SAM'L D. HAVELY, farmer, Cerro Gordo, was born in Pennsyl- vania in 1800, and was reared in Ohio. He came to Piatt county in 1837, and in 1838 moved into Willow Branch township. He made rails and fenced a half-section of land almost by himself. He was industrious, and, according to the report of a neighbor, would often work all day and not stop for dinner. He finally lost this farm to pay security debts, but now owns a half-section of land in another part of the township and is out of debt. He was married in 1826 to Elizabeth Wiley, who died in 1850, leaving four children : William is married and lives in Kansas ; Margaret married Washington Allsup, has four children and lives in Maroa ; her husband was quite wealthy, and the day he died he bought her a homestead of sixty acres joining Maroa; - Mary became the wife of Isaac Reed, who died in less than two years, leaving one child ; his widow married B. Frank Widick, but died, leaving one child. Mr. Widick married again just twenty-two years after his first marriage, and in the same house. Minor Havely took Ellen Churchill as his first wife. Elizabeth Sherman, a relative of Roger Sherman of revolutionary renown, became his second wife ; they have one son, Samuel, and live in Willow Branch township. In 1852 Mr. Sam'l Havely married Mrs. Samuel Reason, née Rachel Fout. Mr. and Mrs. Reason married in Ohio, from which state they came to Piatt county and lived near Monticello. Mr. Reason died of measles, near Monterey, during the Mexican war. He left three chil- dren, two of whom died of measles the same week, and the other, Will- iam, is still living, and has been married twice, the first time to Kate Conrow, and the last time to Anna Camden. Each wife had three children ; their names are Ella F., Josephine, Anna May, Laura B.,
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Samuel and Pearl O. We suppose that Mr. Sam'l Havely got his sobriquet of "Captain " from the fact that he was once captain of a boat, and at an early day was captain of a light horse company in Ohio. He avers that lie cut down the first tree that was ever felled on the site of the present clty of Columbus. He cut a coon tree there in 1813, and in the same year the sale of lots for that city was cried out from the stump of the tree. Twelve years ago the captain made a visit to Columbus, and while there pointed out the site of the old coon tree stump. He says a "whole troupe of gold-spectacled people were present," and the hospitality of the city was given him. Mr. Havely illustrated to us in quite a vigorous manner the hardships which many of the pioneer settlers had to undergo. When they first came to the county they had to get their provisions at Springfield, Peoria, Chicago, and in Indiana. He tells of going to Chicago with six yoke of oxen and carrying about 100 bushels of wheat at a load. Once when on the road to that city, and when about seventeen or eighteen miles from home, the sole of one shoe came off. Soon the other gave out, and he went the rest of the way to and from Chicago barefooted. About 1838 he went to Decatur for salt, and upon finding that salt at that place was $16.60 a barrel, he immediately planned a trip to the Wabash for the article. He had quite an adventurous time on the way back with his salt, came near sinking the ferry-boat, but finally reached home and sold the salt at the rate of $12 a barrel, and that seemed cheap. Cap- tain referred to quite an exciting wolf hunt that occurred in this county. People congregated from the neighboring counties of Maçon and De Witt, and had some rare sport. Captain Havely and Wm. Barnes finally got track of a wolf, which ran toward Monticello. It was overtaken by the dogs and men riglit on the spot where the court- house stands. After deliberating over the best way to dispatch the animal, Mr. Havely killed it with his stirrup. In those times it was quite common for people to have bloodhounds. Captain Havely once had twenty-two of the old Virginia stock of hounds. Captain Havely seems quite hale and hearty for a person of his age. During the sum- iner of 1881 he went into the field and ploughed and harrowed three days.
MR. JOHN HEATH, farmer, Cerro Gordo, was born in New York in 1820, and is of English and Scotch lineage. He moved from New York to Ohio, from there to Macon county, Illinois, in 1852, and in 1853 settled on his present home-place, which was then raw prairie. At this time Mr. Austin Warner settled on part of what is now Mr.
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Win. Baker's place. He now lives in Nebraska. Mr. Heath has improved all of the 150 acres of land which he now owns. By the use of some ten or twelve thousand tiles he has succeeded in putting nearly every foot of the land under cultivation. The place is well hedged, and six hundred fruit trees and about seven or eight thousand forest trees have been planted. In 1854 Mr. Heath had forty acres in wheat, which yielded thirty bushels to the acre. He used the McCor- mick reaper for cutting it, and probably this was the first reaper used in the county. Part of the present residence was put up in 1854 and part in 1872. When they first settled on the place a shed answered for a dwelling-place for the family until spring. In 1842 Charity B. Warner and Mr. Heath were united in marriage. They have had eight children, seven of whom are now living : Frances A. married Geo. Robertson, and has four children, Elona, Bertie, Grace and Josephine ; Harvey E. married Etta Snyder, and with two children lives in Nebraska ; Alfred B. is farming at home; Ellen H. married Mr. Jas. Robertson, has four children, and lives in Nebraska ; Hubert A., a former student of the Wesleyan University, and a teacher of this county, is now located in Topeka, Kansas; Eva G. is the wife of Edward Moyer ; Ora E. married Owen Hitch, and is living at home. Mr. Heath held the office of school director for two terms.
MR. THOMAS HIATT, farmer, Cisco, is a native of Lawrence county, Ohio, from which state he moved to Piatt county in 1856. He was married in 1861, to Harriet J. Moffit, a native of Ohio, and has had seven children, Clara E., Winfield S., Lorena F., Wm. H., John E., Martha and Ethyl Maud.
MR. PATRICK B. HASSETT, farmer, Cisco, is a native of Ireland, from which country, at the instigation of his uncle, who lived in Canada, he came to America in 1845 or 1846. He came to Illinois in 1854, returned to New York, but in 1867 he settled in Piatt county. He married Ann Hogan, a native of Ireland, and has had four chil- dren : Mary, the wife of George Hickman ; George, Sarah and Willie.
MR. DAVID KUNS, one of the most successful farmers of the county, is a native of Ohio, from which state he moved to Indiana. He moved to Macon county in 1853, and in 1856 settled in Piatt county on his present farm of 460 acres. This is considered "one of the best improved farms of the county." It is fenced with hedges into forty and eighty acre fields, and Mr. Kuns has planted on it at least 400 fruit trees, a three-acre grove of evergreens and a five-acre grove (planted in 1874) of ash, walnut, and other trees. He has succeeded
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in growing some chestnuts, and thinks that people should plant 1
such trees more extensively in this part of the country. In 1867 or 1868 he erected one of the best and largest (containing eighteen rooms with cellar) brick houses in the county. Mr. Kuns was married in 1845, to Margaret Lamb, a lady of English and Scotch descent. They have had one son, Henry L., who married Ella Pierce in 1870, has three children and is now living near Gilroy, Santa Clara county, California. He moved there in 1877, but still owns a farm in Piatt county. Mr. and Mrs. David Kuns are prominent members of the German Baptist church, which they joined after coming to this county. No one who meets them can keep from admiring their great depth of character. The winter of 1881-2 Mr. Kuns and wife spent in California with their son.
MR. HENRY KUNS, farmer, Milmine, was born in Ohio in 1823. He moved from his native state to Indiana "in the timber and among the Indians," but afterward, in 1864, moved to Piatt county and settled on the place which he bought of Mr. Stillman Barber. The present residence was on the place, the orchard was planted and some other improvements were made, but Mr. Kuns has built corn-cribs, cider and scale sheds, and a brick " cooking-house." He has also put out some hedge and 800 fruit trees and 2,000 forest trees, and has put in several hundred rod of tiling. There are some 327 acres in the liome farm, upon which has been raised quite good crops. Mr. Kuns owns 160 acres in Willow Branch township, and two farms of 160 acres each in Cerro Gordo township. He has put all improvements on these places, including the planting of some 600 trees on each place. He has also planted 700 trees on a 160-acre farm of his in Sec. 20 of Cerro Gordo township. Two acres of this farm he donated for a school-house. He improved the N.E. ¿ of Sec. 20 in Cerro Gordo township, and gave it to his daughter. Another quarter-section of land, three miles south of Milmine, he gave to one of his daughters. He gave his two boys 160 acres of land apiece in Willow Branch township. Mr. Kuns was mar- ried in 1845, to Susanna Shively, who died in 1846. He was married again in 1848, to Caroline Spidle, a native of Pennsylvania, wlio was reared in Ohio, and married and lived in Indiana for about eighteen years. Eight of their nine children are living : Jolin S., deacon in the German Baptist church, married Sarah Hover, has two children, Dora and Jesse, and lives in Willow Branch township ; David married Catharine Klinzman, has three children, and is farming in Nebraska. Barbara, the wife of Geo. W. Tracy, has two children and lives in 32
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Christian county ; Hannah, the wife of George Ulery, has one child, Manno, and lives in Cerro Gordo township; Jacob, Noah, Mary C. and Daniel F. are at home. Mr. Kuns is a minister in the German Baptist church. Mr. John Kuns has purchased 160 acres of land of his brother who went to Nebraska. He built a large barn in 1875, and in 1877 a brick house containing seventeen rooms, with halls and cellars. It fronts the south, from which view it presents a fine appear- ance. He has planted on this place between two and three thousand forest trees and five hundred fruit trees. He has had excellent crops on this farm.
MR. JOHN KIEST, farmer and blacksmith, Monticello, is a native of Ohio, from which state he moved in 1856, to Coles county. About 1868 he moved into Piatt county and has been blacksmithing ever since. His shop is now on Willow Branch. He was married to Rebecca Gray, and has had six children, all of whom are living, Wm. P., Sophia R., Nathan B., Maggie E., Estella and Elmer.
MR. PETER Lux, farmer, Bement, was born in France, in 1813. He came to America when nineteen years of age, and started a black- smith shop. He enlisted in the army and was a soldier for eight years, and in 1837 was called to help take the Indians west. He came back to Indiana in 1838, and that fall went west with another troup of Indians, returning to Indiana in March, 1839. In 1840 he started on his third trip west, returning in 1841, when he again began blacksmith- ing. He soon sold out and bought a farm four miles south of Logans- port, Indiana. He remained on the farm two years, then renting it went to Logansport and again at blacksmithing. He sold his shop and, returning to the farm, built a nice house, which as soon as finished burned down, his loss being about $5.000. He then built a log cabin, in which he lived a year. Mr. Lux moved to Illinois in 1862, rented a farm for one year, then bought the farm on which he now lives ; for eight years lived in a small house, then built his present residence and barn. He has his farm in good condition, having done all the improv- ing. It is well hedged, and he has an orchard of 250 trees. Mrs. Peter Lux was born in Hagertown, Maryland, in 1823. She was in Baltimore until she was fifteen years of age, then spent a year in Ohio, after which she came to Logansport, Indiana, where she married Mr. Lux. They have thirteen children, whose ages range from twelve to forty years, and whose names are as follows : John, Anna, Peter, Henry, Susan, Nicholas I., Martin, Jacob O., Clara L., Augustus U., Charles W., Harvey A. and Sarah K.
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MR. WILLIAM MADDEN (deceased) was one of the early settlers in Willow Branch township, and after his locating here lived on one place until his death. He was first married to Miss Huffines, who died, leaving one son, Nelson, who married Melinda Reynolds, and with one child lives in Macon county. He was married again, to Almeria Chap- man, who is still living, and is now the wife of Mr. Stephen Huffines, and has had four children since her last marriage. Leona, the wife of George Barnett, and David and Edward are living. After his last marriage Mr. Madden had five children, four of whom are living : Francis married Lydia A. Moore, who died, leaving six children ; he married again and moved to Kansas ; William married Ida Hopkins, has one child and lives is Missouri ; Mary married Thomas Glick, has two children, Olen and Charles, and lives on part of the home-place ; Cynthia married T. H. McCartney and has three children living, Lillie May, Nora Belle and Pearl Evaline. Mr. and Mrs. McCartney were married December 28, 1869, by Rev. Davidson, in a hotel in Cerro Gordo, with three other couples, Thomas Glick and Mary Madden, W. M. George and Miranda Reynolds, and W. A. McCartney and A. V. S. Miles.
MR. WESTON MILES (deceased) was born in Virginia in 1807. He moved from that state to Piatt county in 1861. He lived with Mr. Samuel Miles the first few weeks until he built the house on his place of 160 acres. A part of this place has been sold since his death, whichi . occurred April 27, 1875. He was married in December, 1837, to Sarah R. Simmons, who was born in 1819. Their eldest son, Edward, married in 1865 Jennie H. Gale, a former school-teacher of the county ; they have six children, and are now living in Ogden, Champaign county, where Mr. Miles is in the grain and merchandise business. John S. married Sarah E. Andrews, has one child and lives in Ogden ; Ann R. married John P. Dresback, and has five children : Lena L., Charles, John, Jessie and an infant ; Mary C., the wife of Joel Rhine- hart, of Deland, has two children, Alice and an infant; William M. married Ruth M. Jackson, has five children, and lives in Champaign county ; Henry T. married Mrs. Miles, née Almira Frederick, and is living at home ; Charles S. married Almira Frederick in 1876 ; he died in 1878, and his brother Henry married his widow; Jesse mar- ried Emma L. Nogle, in 1878, and is a druggist in Cisco ; David T. has been attending the Wesleyan University at Bloomington ; Ger- trude is at home.
MR. SAMUEL MILES (deceased) was born in January, 1812, in Vir-
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HISTORY OF PIATT COUNTY.
ginia, and inoved from that state to Piatt county. in 1855. In 1856 he settled on the place on which he lived at the time of his death, in 1881. He put all the improvements on the place, and built the homestead dwelling the winter of 1855-6, living the while in the kitchen of the house Mr. Jas. Armsworth now lives in. He first bought 160 acres of land, to which he afterward added eighty acres, but it has since been sold. In 1833 Betsey A. Simmons, born in 1815, and Samuel Miles were united in marriage. Their daughter Sarah, born in 1834, married Mr. Reuben Lowry (deceased) ; James V., a soldier in the late war three years, married Maria Lindsey, has three children, and lives near Foosland; William died when young; Mary J. married Henry Cor- nell, and lives in Champaign county ; they have nine children ; Thomas S., born in 1842, was in the army three years, married Harriet Crow, has two children, and now lives near Foosland; Hannah C. was married in 1867, to Jesse E. Welton, has no children, and lives on the home-place; David C. married Eliza Dooley, and has three children, Samuel F., Alberta G. and John Austin; Ann V. married Wm. McCartney, has one son, Wm. E., and lives on what is known as the Madden place ; George W. married Clara McAllister ; Adam S. is living in Nebraska and Joseph L. is now in Missouri. Mrs. Miles survives her husband, and has not lost her industrious manner yet. Mr. Samuel Miles lived to be the eldest of his family. He was a class- leader and exhorter in the Methodist Episcopal church for a number of years before his death.
MR. WILLIAM H. MCARTY, farmer, Cerro Gordo, came from Ohio to Piatt county, and settled near Monticello. He is now living on land which he improved in the southern part of Willow Branch town- ship. He was justice of the peace two terms and has been assessor of Cerro Gordo township. He married Annie Smith, of Ohio, and has had ten children, nine of whom are living : Wesley married Mollie Bear, has four children, Marion, Emma, Charity and Abbey, and lives near Cisco; P. D. McArty married I. McAlister, has three children, Clara A., James and Viola, and lives in Willow Branch township; Eliza J. married Frank Ater (see his name) ; William married Mary Creighton, has three children, Charles, Eldo and Ambrose, and lives near Monticello; Joseph C. was married in 1873, to Catharine Peck, has three children, Carson P., Etoria and Ada Florence, and lives on eighty acres of land in Willow Branch township, which his father improved ; Samuel is living with his parents ; Frank married Henry Schoolcraft, has one child, Earnest, and lives near Cerro Gordo;
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Newton is in McLean county, while Rosetta is living at home. Miss Isabel Peck has been making her home at Mr. J. C. McArty's for several years. Her father, Daniel Peck, settled just in the edge of Macon county, about thity-one years ago. His death occurred about thirteen years ago, and his wife died in 1861. Three of the family are now living in the county.
MR. JOHN MOFFITT, farmer, Monticello, was born in Virginia in 1811. He moved from that state to Pennsylvania, and when seven- teen years old moved to Morgan county, Ohio. Again he moved to Muskingum county, was married in Zanesville, lived in Pickaway county awhile, and from there, in 1855, he moved to Piatt county and settled on Goose Creek. After living on Dr. Hull's awhile he bought a farm, where he lived until 1865, when he moved to Friends Creek, where he lived for eighteen months. His next move was to his farm of 300 acres not far from Monticello, where he now lives. He has made most of the improvements on this place, including the planting of at least one hundred and fifty trees. Mr. Moffitt was married in 1832, to Martha Dickson. Six of their eleven children are living : Martha A. married Richard Morrison, a physician in Ohio, and has three children ; Harriet J. married Tho. Hiatt, of Willow Branch township, and has seven children; Henry Moffitt married Nancy Marquiss, has four children, and is a farmer in Missouri ; Edward Moffitt still lives at home; Robert married Etta Peck, has two chil- dren, Estelle and Roy, and lives in Willow Branch township ; Flora, the wife of John Hiatt, is living in Sangamon township. Mr. John Moffitt held the office of road commissioner for nine years.
MR. DAVID MOYER, farmer, Milmine, was born in Pickaway county, Ohio. IIis father was of German descent, was born in Switzerland, and came to America about 1808 or 1809. The subject of our sketch moved from Ohio to Carroll county, Indiana, and after seven years' residence there, moved to Piatt county in 1854, and lived one year southwest of Cerro Gordo, after which he moved into Willow Branch township. He owns 330 acres of land, which is well improved. Mr. and Mrs. Moyer have had six children, three of whom are living : Mary E. married G. A. Clark, but died in 1880, leaving seven children, William, Ida, Charles, John, George, Clara and Freddie ; Isabella, wife of John A. La Fever, died in Macon county, leaving one child ; Clara married Raymond Mckinney, a restaurant keeper at Cerro Gordo, and has three children, Charlotte, Cora and Loretta ; Edward was married in 1874, to Eva Heath, and has two children, Iona
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and Charles ; he is a graduate of the Jacksonville Business College, and has a library of at least eighty volumes ; Ruth married William Cochran and lives in Willow Branch township. Mr. David Moyer has been supervisor of the township for nine years.
MR. SAMUEL MCCLURE, farmer, Bement, was born in Kentucky, from which state he moved to Indiana, and from there he came to Macon county, Illinois, in 1848, and in 1858 he settled in Piatt county on the land he now lives on. He owns 360 acres of land, upon which he has made most of the improvements. It is all under cultivation, is hedged, and most of it is tiled. Mr. McClure was married in 1851, to Eliza J. Farrow, and has had eight children, five of whom are living, Daniel, John, Frances, Theodosia and Liona. Mr. McClure is known throughout the vicinity as one of the enterprising farmers of the county.
MR. JOHN MINTUN, farmer, Monticello, was born in Ohio. His parents were of English descent and of Ohio. His father is still living in Ohio. His grandfather was in the war of 1812. The subject of our sketch was married in 1855, to Hester A. Truax, a native of Ohio. They lived in Ohio until 1863, when they moved to De Witt county for a time, and then settled in Willow Branch township, where they have lived ever since. Of their children, one daughter is dead ; Stephen married Rosa Lewis, has two children and lives in Nebraska ; Thomas married Georgia A. Lewis, has one child, Arthur, and lives in Willow Branch township ; Nannie was married in 1880, to Charles Henline, and lives in the same township; Jesse and James are at home. Mr. Mintun's sister, Comfort Olm, came to the county the same time he did. Her husband, John Olm, was killed near Bender Ford in 1871. The horses ran off, threw him against a stump, and he was found dead. For over four years Mr. Mintun lived on Mr. Allerton's farm of 2,700 acres. He boarded all the farm hands and was overseer of the entire farm. He is a successful farmer, as those who know him will testify. He is a member of the Masonic lodge.
MR. JAMES P. OWNBY, farmer, Monticello, is a native of Virginia, from which state he moved to Missouri. In 1871 he came to Piatt county, Illinois, but had been to and from Missouri several times before permanently locating in the county. He moved onto his present home-place in 1872. Eighty acres of the farm was heired by Mrs. Ownby from her father's estate. Mr. Ownby has improved the entire place. Their present six-room residence was built in 1875. About eighty trees have been planted, and some tile-ditching has been done. In 1871 Mr. Owuby and Mary A. Ater were united in marriage.
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