USA > Illinois > Stark County > History of Stark County, Illinois, and its people : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Volume II > Part 8
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Mr. Phenix was married in February, 1853. to Miss Jane A.
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA
DANIEL B. PHENIX
MRS. JANE A. PHENIX
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA
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Moore, who was born in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, and removed to Stark county, Illinois, when about thirteen years of age. She passed away in 1907, in the faith of the Baptist church, when she had reached the advanced age of eighty-one years. To them were born four children: Bardwell D., a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work; William H., of Bradford; and two who died in infancy.
Mr. Phenix indorsed the principles of the republican party and took an active part in promoting its snecess. He contributed finan- cially to campaign funds and did all in his power to promote the inter- ests of his party. His public spirit was also shown by his presenting the town of Bradford with a flagpole and when that became unsightly he erected a new one. He possessed a vigorous constitution and a strong mind and was active until a very short time before his death, doing some carpenter work in the summer and fall of 1912. He went up town to talk with his friends within three weeks of his death, which occurred on the 28th of January, 1913, when he had reached the ad- vanced age of ninety-three years. Practically all of those who had a part in reclaiming this county from the wilderness have now passed to their reward but their names are still remembered and they are held in the high honor which is their due.
F. T. GELVIN.
F. T. Gelvin has for a decade been engaged in the grain trade at La Fayette and the close application and energy which he displays in the conduct of his business affairs are bringing him deserved suc- cess. That Stark County offers many opportunities to its citizens is indicated in the fact that many of her native sons have remained within her borders after attaining adult age. Among this number is Mr. Gelvin, who was born in Essex Township, December 3, 1877.
His father, James R. Gelvin, was born near Erie, Pennsylvania, November 4, 1836, and was there reared, being a young man of nine- teen years when in 1855 he left the Keystone state and made his way westward to Illinois. He remained a resident of Stark County until 1861, when he felt that his duty to his country was paramount to all else and offered his services to the government in defense of the Union, joining Company F. One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he served until finally discharged at the close of the war, being mustered out at Springfield, in September, 1865. He was a brave and loyal soldier, never faltering in the performance
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of any duty and participating in a number of very important engage- ments, including the battles of Nashville, Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain. He returned to his home with a most creditable military record, characterized by loyalty to the old flag and by the prompt and faithful performance of every task, no matter how arduous, that devolved upon him in connection with his military service. Following his return home he was married in Stark County, in the fall of 1865, to Miss Martha Trickle, who was born and reared in this county. Mr. Gelvin purchased land in Essex Township and transformed the wild sod into productive fields. He fenced his place, erected build- ings thereon and converted the land into a very productive and valu- able farm. He also extended the boundaries of his place from time to time until he became the owner of two hundred and forty acres. from which he derived a substantial annual income in the shape of large crops. Upon that place he resided until his death, which occurred in August, 1905, and his widow still makes her home upon the farm. He was a devoted member of W. W. Wright Post, G. A. R., and thus maintained pleasant relations with his old army comrades.
F. T. Gelvin is one of a family of two sons. his brother being Merle Gelvin, who is married and follows farming in Essex Town- ship. F. T. Gelvin was reared on the old homestead and had the usual experiences of the farm bred boy who divides his time between work in the fields and the acquirement of an education in the district schools. When his textbooks were put aside he continued to assist his father in the development of the home place until he reached his majority. In 1906 he turned his attention to the grain trade, pur- chasing an elevator in La Fayette, and since that time he has been well known among the grain merchants of this part of the county. He also handles tile and has built up a good trade in that connection. Ile ships grain almost daily throughout the year, handling many carloads annually. Diligence and determination have been the basic elements of his success, and in all his business relations he is found reliable as well as progressive.
On the 28th of February, 1900, in Atkinson, Illinois, Mr. Gelvin was married to Miss Lola M. Green, who was born and reared in Atkinson and was there educated. Of this marriage there is one daughter, Velmya Irene, who is now a student in the public schools. The family home is an attractive residence in La Fayette, which Mr. Gelvin purchased.
In politics he is identified with the republican party, and in Essex Township he served as collector for one term. Since 1909 he has served as secretary of the La Fayette Fair Association. He was
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school treasurer of Goshen Township for four years and township clerk for two years. He has never been neglectful of his duties of citizenship and in a private capacity has manifested the same spirit of loyalty to his country and her best interests that his father displayed when on southern battlefields. Mr. Gelvin belongs to the Masonie Lodge at La Fayette, of which he has served as secretary for some years, and he and his wife are members of the Eastern Star. Both are loyal to the high teachings and purposes of the order, and they are ever ready to extend a helping hand where aid is needed. Those who know them entertain for them warm regard, and they have an extensive circle of friends in their part of the county.
WILLIAM U. SICKLES.
No history of the commercial development and activity of Tou- lon would be complete were there failure to make reference to the record of William U. Sickles, who for thirty-eight years has been engaged in merchandising here and who enjoys in full measure the warm regard and confidence of his fellow townsmen. He was born in Marshall county, Illinois, September 24, 1861, a son of William Sickles, a native of New York. The father was there reared but in early manhood removed westward and settled in Marshall county, Illinois, accompany his father, Christopher Sickles, who was one of the pioneers of that region. William Siekles was married in that county to Abigail Freeman, a native of Dutchess county, New York, born near Poughkeepsie. Her father was a native of England, while her mother eame of Seoteh lineage. Following his marriage Mr. Sickles was actively engaged in farming in Marshall county and be- came the owner of two excellent tracts of land there. Upon the old homestead he reared his family but afterward removed to Wyoming, where he engaged in the grocery business for a short time. He met an accidental death, being struek by lightning in 1893. His wife sur- vived him for more than two decades, passing away in the spring of 1914.
William U. Siekles was reared in this state, largely acquiring his education in the schools of Wyoming, although his opportunities in that direction were somewhat limited. When a youth of sixteen years he began providing for his own support by clerking in a store in Tou- lon and was employed in that manner for several years. In 1881 he removed to Peoria, where he became elerk in a wholesale dry goods
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house, but after a year he removed to Toulon and for about twelve months was a clerk in the grocery house of William F. Cox. Subse- quently he spent several years in the employ of Starrett Brothers and in 1907 he embarked in business on his own account, opening a general store in which he carries dry goods. groceries, boots and shoes. He has built up a very gratifying trade and is regarded as one of the progressive merchants of the city.
On the 13th of December, 1883, Mr. Sickles was married to Miss Julianette Rhodes, a daughter of Charles Rhodes, who was one of the first settlers of this county and is now a well preserved man of eighty- two years yet living in Toulon. In the family are four children: Gertrude E., the wife of George Fell. a farmer living near Lamonte, in Pettis county, Missouri: Edith. the wife of Ray Sweat, a farmer of Peoria county; Charles R .. who is opening up a new farm at Walker, Minnesota; Frank L., who is his father's assistant in busi- ness and who in April. 1915, married Miss Mabel Stanley, who was born and reared in the town of Wyoming.
Politically Mr. Sickles is an earnest republican and has filled the offices of alderman and city treasurer. He served as a delegate to county conventions and is recognized as one of the party leaders in this section of the state. In Masonic circles he has taken the degrees of blue lodge and chapter and is in thorough sympathy with the teach- ings of the order, which has as its basic principle a recognition of the brotherhood of mankind. He is one of the active and helpful mem- bers of the Congregational Church. as is his wife, who is also an earnest Sunday school worker. Both are widely esteemed in the community and Mr. Sickles, both as a business man and citizen, enjoys the con- fidence and goodwill of those with whom he has been brought in contact.
WALTER B. BALLENTINE.
Walter B. Ballentine. one of the active and progressive business men of Stark county, is engaged in dealing in coal and ice in Toulon, having there been connected with this line of trade for three years. He was born in Peoria county. Illinois, February 16, 1863, and is a son of James D. Ballentine, who was born in Guilford county. North Carolina, and was reared in the south. When a young man he came to Illinois, settling first in Peoria. Ile was three times married. his first wife being Lucinda Edwards, who died leaving six children.
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For his second wife he chose Mrs. Margaret Johnson, who by her former marriage had three children and by this union there were born two sons and two daughters. For his third wife Mr. Ballantine chose Mrs. Rhoda ( Walters) Reed, a native of Connecticut, whose father was one of the pioneer settlers of Illinois, coming to this state from Connecticut. By her first marriage the third wife had one child and after becoming Mrs. Ballentine she had two sons and a daughter, the daughter being Mrs. W. F. Templeton, of Minneapolis. Mr. Ballen- tine purchased land in Stark county, near Wyoming, and built upon and improved his farm, making it a valuable property. He lost his last wife while living upon the farm and afterward spent two or three years at the home of a daughter in Iowa, reaching the very venerable age of ninety-seven.
Walter B. Ballentine was reared upon the home farm and attended the district schools and also the schools of Wyoming. He was the youngest ehild and remained with his father, whom he assisted in his youth, while later he took charge of the old home place, which he still owns. It comprises three hundred and thirty-four aeres of good land, over half of which is under cultivation. There is a splendid vein of coal eighty feet below the surface and Mr. Ballentine opened up this vein, finding the coal running from four and one-half to five and one- half feet in thickness and of good quality. He has a steam hoist for the coal, and has been operating his mines for eleven years. On removing to Toulon, however, he leased the mines and here he pur- chased an established coal business. Later he built coal sheds and an ice house, thoroughly equipped, motor power being used in unloading. He ean unload an entire ear in from one to two hours. Next to the coal house he put up an iee house, and built a spur of railroad track to facilitate shipping. He ships in Roek River ice, and he finds an excellent sale for the produet. In fact both branches of his business are proving profitable because of his excellent management and the honesty with which he conduets all business transactions.
While upon the farm Mr. Ballentine was married October 29, 1901. to Mrs. M. E. Butler nee Templeton, whose first husband was the owner and editor of the News. By that marriage she had a daugh- ter, Edna B., the wife of Frank Caverly.
In polities Mr. Ballentine is a republican and has served as super- visor of Toulon township for two terms, also as township collector and as a delegate to county conventions. However, he concentrates his energies upon his business, which is capably managed and controlled and is bringing to him gratifying suecess. Ilis determination and even-paced energy have carried him into important business relations
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and he has ever recognized the fact that success is not a matter of genins, as held by some, but is rather the outcome of clear judgment and experience.
BYRON SMITH.
Byron Smith was born July 28, 1851, on the farm on which he now resides on section 31, Osceola township. He has lived in the county for sixty-five years, and is a representative of one of its old and respected pioneer families. His parents, Asher M. and Phoebe (Stark) Smith, were natives of Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, where they were reared and married. In the year 1835 they came west to Illinois, settling at Wyoming, this state, where they spent the winter, after which they took up their abode upon the tract of land on which their son Byron now resides. The father homesteaded this farm. and Byron Smith still has the original sheep skin deed, which shows the father's title to the property. IIe arrived in Illinois only three years after the Black Hawk war, which established the supremacy of the white man as rulers of these broad prairies. There were no railroads in the state, and the work of improvement and progress seemed scarcely begun. Chicago had not then been incorporated as a city, and many of the now thriving and populous towns, cities and villages had not then been founded. For a third of a century Asher M. Smith continued to reside upon his farm, there passing away in 1869. when he was laid to rest in the Smith cemetery, established on land which he had given for that purpose. He was a tanner by trade, following that pursuit in the east, and after his removal to the west be started a tannery but on account of the water which he had to use the work did not prove successful, and he then turned his attention to general farm- ing. which he continued up to the time his life's labors were ended. His fellow townsmen appreciated his worth and ability. and frequently called him to serve in public positions. He occupied a number of township offices, including that of colleetor, while for seven terms he was assessor. His widow continued her residence on the old homestead until 1881, when she was laid by the side of her husband in Smith cemetery.
At the usual age Byron Smith began his education in the distriet schools, and later he spent one term as a student in the Michigan University at Ann Arbor. but he is largely a self-educated as well as a self-made man. He took over the business of his father when the latter
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died, being at that time a young man of eighteen years, and he has sinee given his attention to general agrienltural pursuits, his labors being attended with excellent results. He has made all of the improvements upon the farm, save the building of the house. Here he has erected fine barns and a large silo, and he has the latest improved machinery to facilitate the work of the fields. He also raises high grade stock, and its sale brings to him a gratifying finaneial ineome. ITis place 'comprises three hundred and eight acres of land, and is one of the valuable properties of the county.
Politically Mr. Smith is a republican. For twenty years he has served as school director and for two terms was school trustee. He has no lodge connections, but he attends and supports the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is interested in all those forces which work for the development and improvement of the county along material, political and moral lines.
WILLIAM HOLGATE.
William Holgate was formerly active in various lines of business, and as all of his undertakings proved profitable he gained finaneial independence and is now living retired in Wyoming. His birth oeeurred in Penn township, Stark county, April 15, 1844, and he is a son of James Holgate, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. Our subjeet was reared upon the family homestead and entered the district sehools at the usual age, attending for six months a year umtil he was twelve years old and for three months a year until he was seventeen years of age.
On the 12th of Angust, 1862, when little more than eighteen years old, Mr. Holgate enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, under Colonel T. J. Henderson, and went to the front with that command. He was wounded in the shoulder at Atlanta and was in a hospital for four months. He was also held a prisoner at Belle Island for five months, but during the rest of the time was with his eompany and participated in the battles in which his regiment engaged. He was mustered out on the 15th of July, 1865. and was honorably discharged at Chicago and then returned to Stark county, where he engaged in farming on his own account, owning two hundred and seventy-five aeres in Penn town- ship. In 1876 he bought out a private bank in old Wyoming, nation- alized the institution and served as its president until the charter was
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HISTORY OF STARK COUNTY
given up. He has been president of five different banks and has never held any other position in any of them. For seventeen years he con- ducted a furniture and undertaking business in Wyoming and proved as successful as a merchant as he had as a farmer and financier. Although he has now retired from active life he still owns nine hundred and sixty aeres of land in Kansas and derives a handsome income from that investment.
Mr. Holgate was united in marriage to Miss Charlotte A. Kis- singer, who was born in Pennsylvania in 1845 and is a daughter of Alexander and Nancy (Snare) Kissinger, natives of Martinsburg, Pennsylvania.
Her father followed the tailor's trade in early manhood, but in 1847 eame to Stark county, Illinois, and acquired title to two hundred and forty acres of land in Penn township, which he cultivated until called by death. His wife is also deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Holgate have two daughters: Carrie, the wife of Charles A. Smith, a merchant of Wyoming; and Cora, who married Lyman Graves, also a resident of Wyoming. There was a third daughter, Katie, who married M. A. Sparr, but who has passed away.
Mr. Holgate has always been a stalwart republican and has done all in his power to advance the interests of that party although all the rest of the family have been democrats and he was reared in that political belief. He is well known throughout the county, and all who have had dealings with him recognize his ability and sound judgment. He is one of the leading citizens of Wyoming, and his home is one of the fine residences of the town.
PETHUEL PARISH.
Pethuel Parish, a retired farmer and stockman of Toulon, has resided in Stark county since 1836, or for a period of eighty years, and there are few indeed who have been connected with the county for so long a period. He was four years old when his parents 'removed here with their family, his birth having oeenrred on the 5th of September, 1832, in Canada. His father, Squire Parish, and his mother, Sophia (Althouse) Parish, were both also born in that country, the former on the 12th of June, 1802, and the latter on the 12th of June, 1815. On his removal to this county Squire Parish entered land from the government in what is now Goshen township and the pioneer conditions that then prevailed are indicated by the
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA
PETHUEL PARISH
MRS. PETHUEL PARISH
UNIVERSITY OF MOLINO:3 U. BAPA
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fact that the family lived in a log house for five years. Later a more commodious residence was erected and the farm was brought to a high state of development. The father died in Toulon on the 21st of December, 1862, but the mother survived for many years, passing away in Toulon in 1887. Both were sincere Christian people but were identified with different churches, the father being a Quaker and the mother a Methodist. To them were born ten children: Pethuel; Sarah, the deceased wife of James Stimson: Hiram, de- ceased, who was a soldier in the One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois Volunteer Infantry in the Civil war; Peter, deceased: Cynthia, who first married George Maxfield, a Union soklier, and following his demise married Joseph Burns, a resident of Fairmont, Nebraska; Happy, who became the wife of George Dugan and is living at Bed- ford, Iowa: Lucy, the deceased wife of Jonathan Cooley: Sophia, who married Dexter Maxfield, of Fairmont: Squire, deceased; and Rulof.
Pethuel Parish grew to manhood upon the home farm in this county and received a limited education in an old log schoolhouse. His father was a cripple and not able to do the heavy farm work, and, the family being in moderate circumstances, our subject had to go to work when but a boy. He remained with his parents, giving them the benefit of his labors, until he was twenty-three years of age, when he was married and rented the homestead, his parents removing to Toulon. Subsequently he bought the place, which con- prised eighty acres, and not long afterward purchased another eighty- acre tract. His long and thorough training in farm work as a boy well qualified him to follow agricultural pursuits independently and he seldom failed to receive a good income from his land. As time passed he increased his holdings and today owns eight hundred and forty acres in Goshen township. For many years he dealt extensively in cattle, hogs and horses, and he found stock raising a very profit- able phase of farming. About 1900 he retired from the active work of the fields, and removed to Toulon, where he has a comfortable, modern home. He still supervises the operation of his farm and when the weather is suitable spends much of his time upon his land. He is one of the wealthy men of the county, and his record shows what may be accomplished by industry and good management, as he has made everything that he has himself.
Mr. Parish was married in 1854 to Miss Elizabeth Strayer, a native of Stephenson county, Illinois, who passed away, leaving a son, William H. He was born on the 16th of February, 1858, and is now a prosperous farmer of this county. Mr. Parish was married Vol. II- 6
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a second time, Miss Celestia Ferris becoming his wife on the 4th of February, 1862. She was born in Canada in 1842, a daughter of Elijah and Lydia Ferris, who removed to Stark county in 1855 but subsequently went to Iowa, where both passed away. Mrs. Parish has become the mother of ten children, namely: Lillie May, who was born on the 14th of December, 1862, and died on the 17th of August, 1872; George F., who was born October 7, 1864. and died August 16, 1882; Bertha Ann, whose birth occurred on the 28th of September, 1866, and who married Otis Goodale, a resident of Chi- cago, and passed away on the 10th of March, 1893; Herman Everett, who was born on the 22d of August. 1868, and is living in California ; Blanch Sophia, who was born on the 11th of August, 1873, and gave her hand in marriage to John Leech, a farmer of Goshen township; Lizzie Ethelyn, who was born on the 18th of September. 1877, and married William Nelson, of La Fayette, Illinois; Lucy Maude, who is a twin of Lizzie, and gave her hand in marriage to George Wallace and is residing on her father's farm in Goshen township; Sarah Pearl, who was born on the 9th of November, 1878, and died in May, 1892: Jessie Lenora, who was born on the 16th of October. 1882. and died on the 10th of December, 1894: and Bessie Laurena, who is a twin of Jessie and is at home.
Mr. Parish supports the republican party at the polls but has never aspired to office. Throughout his life he has been a tem- perate man and has never used either alcoholic liquors or tobacco. He has witnessed practically the entire development of the county from a frontier region to its present prosperous condition and has many interesting recollections of the early days. About 1840 Toulon was but a tiny settlement, the only building being a log blacksmith shop, one residence and a log building in which a man named Abel kept a saloon. The first settlers of the county cut grain with a cradle and threshed it with a flail or tramped it out on frozen ground and the nearest mill was many miles distant at a place called Utica. Moreover, the smut was at times so bad in the wheat that the bread would be black. Frequently wheat was so scarce that they had to use corn for making bread, and instead of taking it to the mill to be ground they often crushed it in homemade mortars. The mold- board of the first plow owned by our subject's father was made of black walnut, which was at that time very plentiful throughout the county. For five seasons Mr. Parish of this review broke prairie with five yoke of oxen and a plow with a ribbed moldboard, that is, one made of iron rods instead of a solid piece of metal. this method of construction being better adapted to breaking the tough sod.
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