USA > Illinois > Stark County > History of Stark County, Illinois, and its people : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 17
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W. David Folk was reared to farm life on the old homestead.
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where he remained until twenty-two years of age, when he located at his present place of residence on section 16, Osceola township. Ile has eighty acres of good land and is engaged in general farming. He has wrought a marked transformation in the appearance of the place, for he has erected good buildings, has brought his fields under a high state of cultivation, has planted an orchard and has added other improvements. He has engaged in the raising of full blooded Here- fords, and his live stock interests have been an important feature of his business.
In 1873 Mr. Fulk was united in marriage to Miss Eva E. Harris, and they have become the parents of three children: W. T., who is assisting his father on the home farm; Bessie L., at home: and John M., who is residing upon another farm of eighty aeres owned by his father, near Bradford.
In his political views Mr. Fulk has always followed an independ- ent course, casting his ballot according to the dictates of judgment and the exigencies of the case. For a number of years he served as school director, and the cause of education found in him a warm friend. He and his wife attend the Methodist Episcopal church and they are worthy people, esteemed for their many excellent traits of character and respected for their well spent lives. Mr. Fulk deserves mention among the honored pioneer settlers of the county and his memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the progressive present. He has lived to see remarkable changes as pioneer homes have been replaced by commodious and beautiful farm residences. The buildings for the shelter of grain and stoek have also been greatly improved, for the county is dotted here and there with mammoth barns and sheds. There is no feature of twentieth century farming that is not found in this district, and Mr. Fulk rejoices in what has been accomplished not only along agricultural lines but in all lines of nor- inal business development.
EMERY S. BUFFUM.
Among the honored veterans of the Civil war living in Toulon is Emery S. Buffum, who was among those that in the darkest hour of our country's history rallied to the defense of the old flag and kept the stars and stripes waving over the national capitol as the symbol of a united country. For many years he was actively and successfully engaged in farming in Stark county and is still the owner of one
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hundred and eighty acres of rich and productive land in Goshen town- ship but is now living retired from active business. His residence in the county covers a period of more than half a century, for he arrived here in 1864.
Mr. Buffum is a native of Rock Island. Illinois, and was born January 7, 1842. His grandfather, Jonathan Buffum, was born in Vermont and on coming to the west soon after the Black Hawk war, settled in Canton, Illinois. Later he removed to and settled in Rock Island, erecting the first brick building in that city. This was a hotel and for a number of years he 'continued actively in the hotel business. He afterward removed to Andalusia, where he spent his last years. During the period of the Black Hawk war he made his home in Mon- mouth. IIis son, Abel C. Buffun, was born in Ohio and was among the first settlers of Rock Island, establishing his home there about 1832, which was the year in which the Black Hawk war occurred, whereby the question of Indian supremacy in Illinois was forever ended. He was married in Knoxville, this state, to Miss Lucinda MI. Pease, a native of Vermont. For a long period Abel C. Buffum carried on farming in Rock Island county but afterward removed to Knox county and eventually became a resident of Taylor county, Iowa, where he remained for a number of years. At length he went to California, taking up his abode in Anderson, Shasta county, where he lived retired until his death, which occurred when he had reached the advanced age of eighty-four years, four months and twelve days. He was married three times, being survived by his third wife.
Emery S. Buffum, whose name introduces this review. was the only son of his father's first marriage. He was reared in Knox county, Illinois, and acquired his education in the common schools. On the . 19th of August, 1861, when a youth of nineteen years. he responded to the country's call for aid, enlisting in Company B. Thirty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under command of Colonel John C. Black. IIe participated in the battle of Pea Ridge. Arkansas, where he was wounded in the breast, and because of the serions nature of his injuries he was afterward honorably discharged.
Later Mr. Buffum returned to Stark county and went upon a farm. On the 17th of May, 1864, he was married in Toulon to Miss Anna L. Himes, who was born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Charles and Laura Himes, who were among the pioneer settlers of this county. After cultivating rented land for two years Mr. Buffum purchased eighty-eight acres which was entirely a wild tract. With characteristic energy he began to develop and improve the property and afterward extended the boundaries of his farm as
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his financial resources increased until he became the owner of one hundred and eighty acres in Goshen township and also other land in the county. Upon his home place he erected a good residence and a substantial barn and other outbuildings for the shelter of grain and stock. He continued farming there until 1901 and later he rented his farm to his son for several years and afterward leased it to others. He still owns the place, which is situated near the Henry county line, and from this he derives a gratifying annual ineome. Upon taking up his abode in the city he purchased the residence which he now occupies, and the success which he achieved in former years supplies him with all of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life.
To Mr. and Mrs. Buffum have been born six sons and three daugh- ters who are yet living, namely: Charles A., who is engaged in business at Long Beach, California; Edwin E., who is a partner with his brother at Long Beach: Elmer H., a real estate and insurance man of Toulon: George N., who follows farming at New Bechard, Saskatche- wan. Canada; Perry H., a farmer living at Hayfield, Minnesota: Roy L., who is engaged in the practice of medicine at Long Beach; Laura L., the wife of Simeon Dunbar, a farmer and stock raiser of Casey, Iowa: Clara L., the wife of Fred P. James, of Hayfield, Minnesota; and A. May, the wife of Fred Nicholson, a farmer of Stark county. They also lost two children: Alberta, who died at the age of twelve years; and Nellie E., when ten years of age.
Politically Mr. Buffum is a republican and has frequently been a delegate to party conventions. He has served on the board of super- visors for two years and is a stalwart advocate of the principles in which he believes. He has passed all of the chairs in Toulon Lodge, 1. O. O. F., of which he is a past grand, and he has twiee been a dele- gate to the grand lodge. He and his wife are identified with the Rebekah degree, in which Mrs. Buffum has filled all of the offices and has likewise been a delegate to the grand order. They are earnest Christian people. Mr. Buffum belonging to the Methodist church and his wife to the Baptist church. They are both active church workers and do all in their power to promote Christian influenee in the com- munity. Mr. Buffum belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic and was at one time commander of the old post at Galva and later at Toulon. Hle thus maintains pleasant relations with his eomrades with whom he wore the blue and with whom he followed the nation's starry flag to victory on southern battlefields. He is a member of the Old Settlers Association, in which he has been honored with office.
In 1876 Mr. and Mrs. Buffum attended the Centennial Exposition held in Philadelphia and they have also attended the World's Commm-
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bian Exposition in Chicago, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis and the exposition in Portland, Oregon. During the past seven years they have spent the winter months in California, much of the time being passed with their sons at Long Beach. although they. have visited the various cities and points of interest on the Pacific coast. Both Mr. and Mrs. Buffum are well-known residents of Toulon and Stark county and are highly esteemed for their many excellent traits of character. Their home is ever open for the reception of their friends, who are many and who are ever cordially welcomed to their fireside.
DANIEL J. OWENS.
Daniel J. Owens, occupying one of the fine homes of Bradford, has long been a prominent representative of its business interests. formerly identified with merchandising and now with agricultural pursuits. He was born in Penn township. Stark county, January 6, 1871. a son of John and Maria (Dillon) Owens, both of whom were natives of Ireland, the father coming of Welsh ancestry. In early life both arrived in the United States and were married on this side the Atlantic. John Owens had made the voyage to the new world when seventeen years of age, or in 1856, and. penetrating into the interior of the country, had settled in Stark county, where he pur- chased a tract of raw land on which not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made. With characteristic energy he began to develop that place and there continued to engage in farming until 1872, when he removed to Campgrove, Illinois, where he lived for four years. On the expiration of that period he took up his abode on a farm east of Bradford, where he still resides, being one of the well known and highly respected farmers of Stark county, where he has resided almost continuously for six decades. His wife passed away in 1899.
At the usual age Daniel J. Owens became a publie school pupil and also attended St. Mary's College in Kansas, where he finished the course but did not quite graduate. He has since attended Loyola College of Chicago, where he won the LL. B. degree. After his education was completed he took up the business of merchandising in 1893 and remained active therein for more than twenty years or until 1914. when he sold out. He has since given his attention to farming and has met with excellent success in that undertaking. In 1908 he erected a fine residence which is one of the best in Bradford. In con-
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nection with his three brothers he owns six hundred acres of land. 1Ie likewise has three hundred and sixteen acres in Warren county, which is cultivated under his personal supervision and direction. One of the most distinguished students of economies, in all America has said that there is no better investment than Illinois farm land. Believing this, Mr. Owens has placed his money in acreage and is today reaping the rewards of his sound judgment and untiring labor, for his farm prop- erties are returning to him a most gratifying annual ineome.
On the 5th of June, 1912, Mr. Owens was married to Miss Maria Cahill. a native of Stark county, and they now have two children, Mary Josephine and Daniel J., both at home. The parents are mem- bers of St. John's Catholic ehureh, and Mr. Owens is identified with the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Order of Foresters. He votes with the democratic party where national issues are involved but at local elections does not consider party ties. He has served as mayor of Bradford, and gave to the city a businesslike and progressive administration that largely promoted publie interests.
GEORGE M. TURNBULL.
The name Turnbull has ever been a synonym in Stark county for progressiveness in business and for loyalty in citizenship, and the family has been represented in this part of the state from the pioneer era. George M. Turnbull was born January 15, 1867, at the second house south of his present home, which is situated on section 16. Elmira township. The family was established in Illinois by his grand- father, a native of Roxburyshire, Scotland, who on coming to the new world brought with him his family, including William Turnbull, the father of George M. William Turnbull was partially reared in Stark county. His birth had occurred in Roxburyshire. Scotland, but in his youthful days he came with his parents to the United States and eom- pleted his education in the schools of this distriet. He afterward located just north of the farm of George M. Turnbull and there resided until his death, which oceurred about sixteen years ago, his attention throughout the entire period being given to agricultural pursuits. His widow survived him for about six years and then she too passed away.
A common school education fitted George M. Turnbull for the aetive and practical duties of life, together with the training which he received upon the home farm. He continued on the old homestead
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until he attained his majority. He first purchased land near Galva, Illinois, on which he lived for seven years and then came to his present place, which is situated on section 16, Elmira township. He now owns two hundred acres of land in this traet, and upon it he has placed good improvements. He also owns one hundred and sixty acres of land at Watton, North Dakota. Upon his Stark county farm he is engaged quite extensively in feeding hogs and sheep, this being an important branch of his business.
On the 30th of April, 1892, Mr. Turnbull was united in marriage to Miss Mary Mckenzie, a native of Scotland, and they became the parents of four children : Catherine B., now of Nebraska; William E., at home; Clarenee, who is a school teacher in Elmira; and Mary I., attending school in Toulon. The wife and mother passed away in 1900. She was a devoted member of the Presbyterian church, to which Mr. Turnbull belongs. For twelve or fifteen years he has served as sehool director and is greatly interested in the advancement of the eause of education. In polities he has been an earnest republican since age conferred upon him the right of franchise.
EDWIN HOLMES.
Edwin Holmes is one of the most venerable citizens of Stark county, having passed the eighty-fourth milestone on life's journey. For a long period he was aetively connected with farming ou section 12, Penn township, but now lives retired, making his home with his daughter, Mrs. W. C. Bocock. He was born in Hyde, Cheshire, England, April 9, 1832, a son of Eli and Maria (Bailey) Holmes. The father, who was a elothier, died during the infancy of the sou. who was one of eight children, of whom three sons eame to the United States.
In the common schools of his native country Edwin Holmes mastered the elementary branches of learning and when about fifteen years of age bound himself out to Captain Jacob Gilles of the merehant ship Queen, a sailing vessel, on which he remained for three years. At New York he shipped as second mate on the L. & W. Armstrong, a vessel on which he sailed to Marieaibo, South America. While in charge of the deck one day a colored man refused to do his work and this brought on trouble, resulting in mutiny, but with the aid of some soldiers the disturbanee was quelled, and of the four negroes who were prominent in the disturbance two were brought
MR. AND MRS. EDWIN HOLMES
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA
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back in irons to New York, where Mr. Holmes was summoned to appear as a witness against them.
After four years spent as a seaman Mr. Holmes returned to Liverpool with the intention of going to the East Indies, but on landing was met by his mother and sister, who were en route for America, and he accompanied them, arriving at New Orleans in the spring of 1850. He then proceeded northward and found employ- ment in a brickyard in Fulton county, Illinois, at fourteen dollars per month, working from two o'clock in the morning until after dark. He afterward spent several years in the coal mines near Canton, Illinois, and while thus engaged was married in 1855 to Miss Salina Savill, who was born at Oldham, England, but when four years of age was brought to this country by her parents, Abraham and Anne (Adee) Savill, who, after a winter spent in Cincinnati, removed to Canton, Illinois. Mr. and Mrs. Holmes began their domestic life at Canton but a year later came to Stark county, and for another year he was employed in the coal mines of Toulon town- ship. He then returned to Canton and two years later went to Mar- shall county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming for a year. IIe then removed to a rented farm in Penn township, Stark county, and after two years purchased forty acres on section 12 in that township, taking up his abode on that place in 1860,
After two years, however, Mr. Holmes put aside business and personal considerations in order to defend the Union, enlisting on the 12th of April, 1862, as a member of the One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel Thomas J. Henderson. In September the troops were sworn in and a few days later started for Kentucky, where they went into winter quar- ters. After active experience of a year in the usual military routine, Mr. Holmes was detailed for a scouting expedition with three companions. At five o'clock in the afternoon of September 14, 1863, they crossed the Hiawassee river and at two o'clock in the morning arrived at Cleveland. In an engagement which followed three days later, where they fought against overwhelming odds, they were eom- pelled to surrender. The captain of the company had been killed and Mr. Holmes was severely wounded in the leg. All of the com- pany were sent to Richmond, save Mr. Holmes, who, unable to walk, was left at Cleveland. Two weeks later he was sent with a number of other prisoners to Dalton, Georgia, and after eight days there was sent fifty miles farther south to Cassville. ITis traveling greatly inflamed his wounds, almost eausing the loss of his leg. He had suffered too from the negleet of the rebel surgeon, but was fortunate
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in that the surgeons were changed about that time, and from the new one he received kindness and attention. On the 25th of Jan- nary, 1864, with other soldiers, he was removed to Atlanta, then the heart of the southern confederacy. He suffered all the hardships and privations of southern prison life with poor food and no com- forts. In the last of February the good news was received that an exchange was to be made, and Mr. Holmes and his eomrades were taken to Dalton, only to be disappointed, for after twenty-four men were exchanged the balance were sent back to Atlanta, where they were placed under strong guard. On the 24th of March again came the order for exchange, but this, too, proved to be a delusion and they were sent to Andersonville, where it seemed that rebel cruelty had reached its height sueh was the unmitigated misery and suffer- ing which presented itself there within the prison walls. There was not a tent of any kind to shelter the twenty thousand there eon- fined. The weather was eold and it rained constantly. The condi- tions were most unsanitary and they were deliberately and systemat- ieally starved, while many of the men were almost naked, the rebels having taken their clothes. All around were men dead and dying. Mr. Holmes was still lame and on crutches. Wrapping his blanket around him he sat down on bis crutches, trying in that way to keep out of the mud, but he could not sleep owing to the cold and wet. Finally he heard someone say, "Has anyone come in from the Hun- dred and Twelfth?" and to his great joy found a soldier from his own regiment, and later some from his own company, who invited him to their mess to partake of such food as they had, which was nothing but a little eorn meal. On the evening of the 29th of March, after having been enrolled, he drew his first ration at Andersonville, consisting of a pint of meal made from eorneob and eorn together. half a teaspoon of salt and two ounces of meat. That was a day's ration. For six weary months he remained at Andersonville amid scenes of siekness, suffering and anguish, surrounded by dead and dying. Once more they were told that they were to be exchanged, again to be disappointed, and on the 28th of September were sent to Charleston, the rebels fearing that the Union troops would be re- leased by Sherman, who had already taken Atlanta. At Charleston they were placed and kept under the fire of Union guns for two days, after which they were sent baek about one hundred miles into the country to Florence, where they were kept under heavy guard until a stoekade could be built, being most inhumanly treated. For three days all that they received to eat was a half pint of poor eorn meal and about. two tablespoonsful of stock peas, or negro beans, to
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a man. Some days they had nothing at all to eat, on one occasion being kept without food for three days as punishment because some of the Union soldiers had dug a tunnel under the prison walls, for which eleven thousand of the emaciated and suffering soldiers were compelled to endure the pangs of hunger for three days. The hor- rors of prison life seemed to reach their height at Florence, but on the 28th of November, 1864, the order for exchange again came and the men were put on cars for Charleston, where they changed ears for Savannah, arriving on the 29th. The next day they took the flag of truce and started for the Union lines, arriving on the same day on board a ship of the Union fleet. The relief and thankfulness of the men can better be imagined than described. Some of them had not been able to wash for months, and after washing they were furnished with new clothes and supplied with a good supper, the first real meal they had had in nine months. After a few days they sailed for Annapolis and four days later landed on free soil. Mr. Holmes and his comrades were then paid off, after having been inmates of rebel prisons for fourteen months and twelve days. On the 16th of December he left for his Illinois home and when discharged from the service returned to the farm where his wife had remained during his absenee.
He at once resumed the cultivation of his land, and in 1866, hav- ing saved some money, purchased twenty acres more. Two years later he bought another forty-aere tract and in 1892 bought one hun- dred acres in Toulon township on which was a coal mine in operation. He also has one hundred and sixty aeres of land in Texas, inherited from a brother. IIe developed his Penn township farm into a valu- able property, on which he placed many improvements and for two years he engaged in general farming, meeting with substantial sueeess.
To Mr. and Mrs. Holmes were born four children: Maria An, the wife of William Combs Bocock, of Wyoming, by whom she has a daughter, Mina: Mary Jane, the deceased wife of Walter Swett; Albert Osear, who died at the age of eight years; and Alfred Edwin, in school.
In 1852 Mr. Holmes cast his first presidential ballot for John Winfield Scott, and in 1864 supported John C. Fremont, the first presidential candidate of the republican party. He has since been a stalwart supporter of the party, doing everything in his power to promote its growth and insure its snecess. He has never been an office seeker but has served as school director. He belongs to Dick- erson Post, G. A. R., and has attended many of the reunions of his
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regiment and state encampments. He is a self-made man, owing his success entirely to his earnest efforts, close application and business ability. Throughout his entire life he has displayed many sterling traits of character and is today not only one of the most venerable but also one of the most honorable citizens of Stark county.
ABRAM PHENIX.
Abram Phenix, who is living in honorable retirement from active life in Bradford after many years of well directed activity, has been a resident of Stark county for seventy-nine years, and he and his brother Harmon are probably its oldest settlers. He was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, on the 25th of December, 1829, and is a son of John T. and Lydia (Daniels) Phenix. The father was born in New York state, as were his parents, the family having been established in New York by his grandfather and great-uncle, who removed to New York eity from Ireland as young men. The grandfather of our sub- jeet, Stephen Phenix, was born in that city and learned the weaver's trade from his father.
John T. Phenix was reared in the Empire state and in early man- hood went to Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, where he followed the earpenter's trade until 1834, when he came west to Stark county, Illinois, and entered land in Penn township. He built a log house and as soon as possible brought his land under cultivation. He was joined by his wife and family in 1836 and continued to reside in this county until his death, which oceurred when he was seventy-five years of age. He held title to and improved two different eighty aere traets but after his sons beeame old enough to look after the farm work he left it mainly to them and gave his time to carpentering. He built the first sawmill and the first gristmill in his neighborhood and he not only erected the buildings but also sawed the limber and split the shingles used in their construction. He also built the first courthouse at Toulon. He was an active worker in the democratie party, whose principles he firmly indorsed. His religions faith was that of the Methodist church and most of the early preachers of that denomina- tion in this eounty were entertained at his home. His wife was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and was there reared and educated. She was engaged in teaching school at the time of her marriage and was successful in her profession. In 1836 she eame with her children hy water to Peoria and thenee to Stark county, Illinois, joining her
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