History of Vermilion County, together with historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources, Part 89

Author: Beckwith, H. W. (Hiram Williams), 1833-1903
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : H. H. Hill and Company
Number of Pages: 1164

USA > Illinois > Vermilion County > History of Vermilion County, together with historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources > Part 89

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

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HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTI.

with the republican party for a long time, but for the past few years has been independent in polities. The Pendergrasts were Irish, and the Moores,- his ancestors on his mother's side, - were English. Both families were among the earliest settlers of Kentucky ; they emigrated from Pennsylvania. His great-grandfather, Jesse Pendergrast, was killed at Boonesborough in attempting to enter the fort while it was invested by Indians. His grandfather, Jesse Pendergrast, was born in the old fort, and a brother, Garret J. Pendergrast, for many years a noted practitioner of Louisville and surgeon in the U. S. army, was re- puted to have been the first white male child born in Kentucky. His birthplace was also at Boonesborough. Garret J. Pendergrast, uncle to the subject of this sketch, was a commodore in the U. S. navy, and at the breaking out of the war was one of the oldest officers in the ser- vice. His wife was a daughter of Commodore Barron who killed De- catur in a duel. Austin Pendergrast, brother to the subject of this sketch, was a commander in the U. S. navy. He was lieutenant-com- mander of the Congress when she was sunk by the Merrimac at New- port News. He commanded the U. S. steamer Waterwitch in Ossa- baw Sound, Georgia, when she was captured, and received a severe wound in the engagement. He was confined in Libby prison eighteen months. He, among others, was placed under the rebel guns at Charles- ton during the siege of that city by Gen. Gillmore, to check the fed- eral fire.

Erastus D. Crane, Rossville, farmer, was born in Warren county, Ohio, on the 4th of January, 1834. His parents were Silas and Jane (Romine) Crane. Soon after his birth his parents migrated to Fountain county, Indiana ; he lived in that and Warren county till 1873, when he moved to Vermilion county, Illinois, and bought the N.E. } of section 5, town 22, range 12, three miles west and three-fourths of a mile north of Rossville, where he at present lives. He was married on the 3d of February, 1856, to Sarah M. Bowling, who was born on the 6th of March, 1839. He was assessor four years in Jordan township, Warren county, Indiana. He has eleven children living and dead, as follows: Mary Jane, born February 13, 1857; Hannah Alice, born August 26, 1858; Huldah Elma, born November 28, 1860 ; died August 16, 1866; William E., born October 21, 1862 ; Charles, born October 15, 1865; Elnora, born January 28, 1868; Ora, born April 23, 1870; Frank, born September 3, 1872; Clara, born February 14, 1874; Luln May, born February 13, 1877; Nellie Florence, born April 12, 1879. He owns one hundred and sixty acres of land, worth $4,800. Mr. Crane is a greenback republican.

Joseph Green, Hoopeston, farmer, was born in Boyle county, Ken-

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tueky, on the 26th of October, 1826, and is the son of Solomon and Mary E. (Randolph) Green. In 1849 he removed to Crawfordsville, Indiana. He was married on the 17th of October, 1849, to Elizabeth E. Rogers. In 1864 he settled in Prairie Green township, Iroquois county, Illinois, where he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres. In 1867 he moved into Stockland township, and bought two hundred and forty-one acres; lived there seven years, and then settled in Hoopeston, to avail himself of the superior school there for his chil- dren. He has served one term as alderman, and been a director of the high school since the spring of 1875. This school is in the front rank of institutions of its kind, and its high reputation is due primarily to the wisdom of its officers. His judgment has proved no less practical in public than in his own private affairs. He has four living children : Willis T., Titus T., Henry Clay, Lina Ellen. He owns four hundred and one acres of land, valued at $12,500. Mr. Green is a staunch republican ; has been a member of the Christian church since 1844.

Alba Honeywell, Hoopeston, farmer, was born in Cayuga county, New York, on the 15th of December, 1821, and is the son of Enoch and Eliza (Dye) Honeywell. When a youth his parents settled in Steuben (now Schuyler) county. He was brought up to the pursuits of the farm. At the age of sixteen he began his education, at first attend- ing the Groton Academy two years, and, after teaching a year, con- tinued his studies two years more at the Oneida Institute. He next taught the Pleasant Valley Academy, and labored in this profession eight or ten years. About 1843 he went to Seneca Falls, and, while engaged in teaching, read law in the office of Ansil Bascom. The next year he went to Rochester, and studied in the office of Gilbert & Osborne. He resided in that city a year, and while there, was a delegate to the Buffalo Convention, which nominated James G. Birney, the aboli- tion candidate, for President in 1844. From this time till 1847 he was chiefly engaged in the temperance and anti-slavery lecture field, and in the meantime wrote several plays in the interest of the temperance cause. During the same period he contributed a number of poems to the Philadelphia " Dollar Newspaper," and employed his pen variously on other papers in writing stories and stray communications bearing more or less directly on the reform questions of the day. In July, 1847, he went to New York city, and became editorially connected with the " Anglo-Saxon," a phonetic publication, Andrews & Boyle, proprietors. Afterward, in company with Josiah Pillsbury and B. P. Worcester, the latter a nephew of the lexicographer, he commenced the publication of the "New York Eagle," a reform paper, which was soon discontinued. In about 1849 he became an attaché on the edi-

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torial staff of the "Standard," the organ of the American Anti-Slavery Society. During much of the time he was associated with the "Stand- ard " he issued a small monthly of his own, called the " Chromo Press." He was thus occupied till April, 1853, when he emigrated to Iroquois county, Illinois, and went on a farm of eight hundred acres, which he and his father had entered the year before. He lived there three years, increasing the farm to fourteen hundred acres. In 1856, having be- come dissatisfied, he traveled in Minnesota and Iowa in quest of a better location, and in the fall went to Chicago and secured a position on the editorial staff of the Chicago "Daily News," a republican paper, which ceased to exist when the political campaign of that year ended. In the spring of 1857 he went to Logansport, Indiana, and became connected with H. H. Evarts in his celebrated patent shingle machine, in which venture he lost four thousand dollars. He next formed a partnership under the title of Swan & Honeywell, in lumber manufac- turing, which lasted two years. In 1860, in company with Charles W. Simonds-firm name of Honeywell & Co .- he started a plow-handle and bending establishment, but at the end of two years sold out his interest to his partner. This same factory has since grown to immense proportions. In 1862 he returned to his farm in Iroquois county, and in 1864 was elected supervisor of Stockland township, and reëlected to that office every year until 1869, when he was elected county clerk on the republican ticket. During the winters that he was on the farm he was engaged in teaching school, and, during the most of his service on the county board, was chairman of the finance committee. In 1872 and 1873 he bought one thousand acres of land adjoining Hoopeston, a part of the city being laid ont on it. In 1874 he removed there, and has since been engaged in improving his fine estate. Altogether, he owns two thousand acres of land, valued at $80,000. He is at present mayor of the city of Hoopeston; has been a stockholder in, and a director of, the First National Bank of Watseka since its organization ; has been prominent in temperance work in Hoopeston. Mr. Honey- well has written the text of a manuscript work entitled, "Philological Encyclopedia of the English Language," embracing, among the many subjects discussed, phonics, and the institutes of grammar, rhetoric and logic. He was married on the 3d of April, 1851, to Cornelia R. An- drews, of Steuben county, New York. They have four living children : Stella, wife of John C. Cromer, editor of the Homer "Enterprise"; Florence, Lilian and Sarah E. Mr. Honeywell is a republican in poli- tics.

William S. Leach, Hoopeston, gardener and fruit-grower, was born in Lyons, Wayne county, New York, on the 2d of April, 1825. He is

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the youngest son of Lyman and Candice Stocking, both of whom were born and reared in Litchfield, Connecticut. He was left an orphan at a very early age, his father dying when he was two and his mother when he was three years old. He was adopted by Chauncey W. McCall, a distant relation, by whom he was reared and with whom he lived till he was twenty-one. At sixteen he was apprenticed to the printer's trade, which he learned, but it being too confining for his health he abandoned it and went to gardening, which has been his life-occupation. In 1847 he emigrated to Coldwater, Michigan, where he was married on the 15th of October, 1852, to Miss Harriet E. Dunn, daughter of a respectable farmer of that place. In the spring of 1859, accompanied by three men named Douglas, Hunter and Sopries, he crossed the plains to Denver, Colorado, on foot, they hanling their provi- sions in a one-horse cart from Omaha. They were treated very kindly by the Indians, among whom they passed withont molestation, and with whom they traded every day. This was the first party to reach Denver that spring ; perhaps a dozen had preceded them the fall before. At this time there was not a honse in the place; the few who were there burrowed in the ground. He helped to make the first mining laws and to hang the first criminal, who was a Mexican that had mur- dered his brother-in-law ; he made the first farming claim, a tract of one hundred and sixty acres. He went there for the purpose of gar- dening, the Pike's Peak emigration being at its height, but a mid- summer frost destroyed every prospect for him in that direction and he returned home in June. In 1867 he moved to Jacksonville, Illinois, where he carried on gardening, farming and stock-feeding till 1874, when he settled in Hoopeston, where he opened his Prairie Garden. He has been trustee of the town of Hoopeston, and later alderman of the city. He is a republican in politics, and has been a member of the Methodist church since he was sixteen years old. He has two living children : Ida E., born on the 24th of September, 1853, wife of W. W. Hobart, of Hoopeston; and Eddie J., born on the 24th of October, 1859.

John R. Livingood, Rossville, physician and surgeon, was born on the 27th of March, 1853, at Sinking Springs, Berks county, Penn- sylvania, and is the son of Michael T. and Hannah E. (Ruth) Livin- good ; attended the Reading Classical Academy from 1867 to 1869, then studied medicine with his father till 1871, when he entered the University of Pennsylvania, graduating on the 13th of March, 1874. He returned to Rossville, where he has since lived and practiced his profession with increasing success. He is a member of the North Ver- milion Medical Society. He is a democrat and a Methodist.

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HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.

Henry H. Dyer, Hoopeston, attorney, was born in Rutland county, Vermont, on the 9th of April, 1831. He is the son of Daniel and Phila B. (Beverstock) Dyer. When seven years old, his parents removed to Richland county, Ohio. He was bred a farmer; was educated at Mount Hesper Seminary, in Morrow county, and taught school a number of terms. In 1853 he obtained a position in the Bank of Mansfield, a bank of issue, as teller and bookkeeper. He was married on the 22d of November, 1854, to Miss Sarah J. Wescott ; next year settled in Callo- way county, Missouri, where, in company with his father, he bought a farm of three hundred and twenty acres whereon he built a combined steam saw, grist and woolen mill. In 1858 this was fired and burned by one Lewis, at the instigation of the slaveholding community, to punish Mr. D. for his anti-slavery views. In 1860 he removed to Denver City and engaged in the commission business ; in 1861 he went to Nevada City, and for two years was mining and running a quartz mill; in 1863 moved to Canon City and bought three ranches ; followed farm- ing and trading; elected justice of the peace and held the office one year. In the fall of 1864 he went to Denver and embarked in the anction and commission business, taking a partner, under the firm name of Clark and Dyer. In the spring of 1867 he came to Chicago, engaging in the hardware trade and the manufacture of tinware; in 1870 moved to Greenup, Cumberland county, Illinois, and went into the real estate and contract business ; in January, 1875, settled in Hoopeston, and began the study of the law privately, which he prosecuted with pro- digious zeal and assiduity. He began to practice in July following. He did not relax his studies, and in January, 1877, was admitted to the bar at Springfield. He has secured a very successful and lucrative practice. He is a nephew of Hon. Charles V. Dyer, of Chicago, a noted anti- slavery lecturer, who was formerly judge under treaty with Great Britain for the suppression of the African slave-trade, by appointment of President Lincoln. He is the father of four living children. Mr. Dyer in his political views is a greenbacker.

Dale Wallace, Hoopeston, publisher, was born in Laporte, Indiana, on the 5th of November, 1849. His parents were John Porter and Lydia Ann (Winchell) Wallace. In 1855 his parents moved to West Union, Fayette county, Iowa, and the subject of this sketch was reared and educated there. He began the printer's trade in 1863 in the office of the " Fayette County Pioneer," a violent copperhead sheet which was published at West Union. This was mobbed the same year by a lot of returned soldiers, while he was yet working in the office. He next went to Marion, Linn county, and obtained a place in the office of the " Marion Register," remaining there one year. In 1865 he en-

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tered Baylies' Commercial College and learned telegraphy, graduating in four months. He next went to work on the Cedar Falls " Gazette," and was foreman in that office two years; then went to Eldora, Har- din county, and was foreman of the "Ledger " one or two years; from thenee he went to California and Oregon and remained two years working at his trade in San Francisco, Sacramento, Portland, Salt Lake and Virginia Cities. When a poor boy he conceived a passion for travel, and saved his money carefully during the long years of close application to his trade to gratify it. He has visited every state in the Union, except Maine and Texas, and traveled in Montana, Idaho, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. In 1871 he returned from the Pacific coast to Eldora. A large eight-column newspaper, owned by stock- holders, was being published in that place, and he was engaged to man- age it, which he did three months. Dictation not proving agreeable to him, he gave up his position and came to Hoopeston, and in com- pany with G. W. Seavey, established the "Chronicle," on the 1st of Jannary, 1872. They sold out on the 1st of January, 1877, to L. F. Watson, and on the 1st of July, of the same year, Mr. Wallace came into control of it again, this time as sole owner. In February, 1877, he visited Washington City, and during that and the following month he traveled extensively in the southern states. In November, 1877, he was appointed postmaster at Hoopeston, and on the 1st of January fol- lowing took charge of the office, which he holds at the present time. He was married on the 14th of November, 1878, to Miss Lucy Viola Webb. Mr. Wallace possesses first-class qualifications for his profes- sion. His ability to maintain a newsy, racy and pungent paper has placed the "Chronicle" in the front rank of the country press, and secured for it a generous patronage. He never does things by halves ; he contributes no halting support, or interposes no timid opposition - he embraces or repels with energy and resolution. He founded the "Chronicle " before a business house had been finished in the place, and by his spirit, płnek and intelligence has done as much as any other to make the name of Hoopeston a byword abroad, and her reputation for thoroughness and enterprise a fixed fact.

Alfred E. McDonald, Hoopeston, attorney, was born in Chatham county, North Carolina, on the 10th of May, 1844. His parents were Simeon and Anna R. (Elliott) McDonald. When very young his parents removed to Clark county, Illinois, and settled on a farm of eighty acres, which was subsequently increased to about six hundred. He volunteered in the spring of 1861 for three months, in Co. G, 10th Ill. Inf., Col. B. M. Prentiss. At the expiration of his term he reën- listed in the same company and regiment ; was employed at New Ma-

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HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.

drid and Island No. 10. His regiment and the 16th Ill., under Gen. Pope, bagged six thousand rebels at the latter place. He was present at the siege of Corinth and the battle of Chickamauga ; fought at Mission Ridge, and marched to Knoxville; veteraned on the 1st of January, 1864, at Rossville, Georgia. He was captured on the 27th of Angust dur- ing the movement of Sherman's army to the rear of Atlanta; was con- fined first at Andersonville, then at Florence; and was paroled on the 13th of December, and delivered to federal authorities at Charleston on the 16th. After a respite of nearly three months at home, he rejoined his regiment at Raleigh the day before Johnson surrendered ; marched to Washington, and went on the grand review of Sherman's army, on the 24th of May, 1865; mustered out on the 4th of July, at Louisville, and disbanded at Chicago on the 12th. He was married on the 16th of No- vember, 1867, to Miss Mildred Conley. On the death of his father, in 1867, the management of the estate devolved upon him. In 1870 he went to Texas, and was employed on a stock ranche. Returning in the fall of 1871, he commenced reading law under Judge A. H. Stutsman ; studied afterward with James A. Conley, of Charleston, Illinois, at present United States district attorney. In the winters of 1872-3 and of 1873-4 he attended the law school of the Michigan University ; grad- uated on the 25th of March, 1874, and was admitted to the bar at Lan- sing on the 7th of April. Soon afterward he located at Waxahatchie, Texas, but in July, 1875, came north and settled at Hoopeston, where he enjoys a good reputation and a fine practice. He has one son : Cory. Mr. McDonald is a republican.

Rudolphus R. Taylor, Hoopeston, hardware merchant and imple- ment dealer, was born in Peoria, Illinois, on the 5th of April, 1842. His parents were James S. and Sarah (Miller) Taylor. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to the tinner's trade, which he learned. In 1859 he went to California, by the way of Panama; lived there two years ; worked some at mining, but most of the time at his trade. He enlisted on the 18th of September, 1861, in Co. A, 2d Cal. Cav., Col. A. J. Smith. He passed his term of service doing duty at Fort Churchill, Nevada, and at Camp Douglas, Salt Lake City, and in sconting after In- dians. He was mustered out on the 4th of October, 1864, at Camp Doug- las, and disbanded on the 16th. He at once started for home across the plains, and arrived in Peoria early in December. He was married on the 7th of February, 1865, to Miss Carrie Ash. In 1867 he engaged . in the hardware trade in Princeville, Peoria county, in company with I. Howell, under the firm name of Howell & Taylor. In the spring of 1872 they sold out and Mr. T. returned to Peoria, and was employed by the T. P. & W. Railroad Company. Two years later he formed a

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co-partnership with James Hulsizer, style of Hulsizer & Taylor, and resumed the hardware business in Princeville. In February, 1875, they removed to Hoopeston, and in March, 1877, Mr. H. sold his inter- est to Mr. Taylor and retired from the firm. Mr. T. is still at the old stand, doing a good business. He is an honorable, fair-dealing man, worthy of confidence and patronage. He has two living children : James A., and Minnie L. Mr. Taylor is a staunch republican in poli- tics.

Joseph Southwick, Hoopeston, farmer, was born at Hoosac Falls, Rensselaer county, New York, on the 1st of August, 1833. He is a son of John Wesley and Esther (Chapman) Southwick. He obtained his educa- tion at the high school at Union Village, Washington county, New York, ending his studies there in 1854. He spent the year 1855 in Maine, sur- veying and platting the counties of Kennebec and Androscoggin for county maps, published by Chase & Barker, of New York. In 1856 he was engaged in the same work in Pennsylvania, for Chase & Barker, and surveyed the counties of Lebanon and Dauphin. In 1857 he emigrated to Woodford county, Illinois, and bought a farm of eighty acres five miles north of El Paso. In the fall he returned to New York, and was married on the 17th of October, to Elizabeth Joy, daughter of John Joy, an influential farmer of Rensselaer county. She was born on the 29th of October, 1839. In 1875 he removed to Vermilion county, hav- ing bought the W. ¿ of section 6, town 23, range 12. He has a well improved and choice farin four and one-half miles west of Hoopeston, on the L. B. & M. railroad, valued at $9,600. In 1869 Mr. and Mrs. Southwick united with the Methodist Episcopal church in Woodford county, but the appointment was dropped and the class went down. Since that they have not been identified with any religious society. They have three living children : Merritt A., born on the 23d of Octo- ber, 1859; Henry, born on the 2d of November, 1863; Arthur, born on the 27th of December, 1866. He is a republican in politics.

Lucius H. Jones, Hoopeston, lumber dealer, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on the 18th of June, 1839, and is a son of Horace and Mary (Mead) Jones. In 1853 his parents settled at Princeton, Illinois, and the next year moved to Oneida, Knox county. He lived there till 1868, during which time his principal occupation was farming. He then went to Chicago and lived there seven years, contracting joiner work. In December, 1875, he located in Hoopeston and engaged in the lumber trade. In 1877 he formed a co-partnership with A. H. Trego, under the firm name of Trego & Jones, and is doing an extensive and profitable business. The gentlemen composing this firm are straight- forward, obliging and reliable men. He was married on the 20th of

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HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY.

December, 1863. to Miss Frances Bailey, danghter of Benjamin Bailey, then of Oneida, now of Hoopeston. She was born on the 19th of An- gust, 1843. They have two living children : Bertie, born on the 1st of December, 1864; Maud E., born on the 11th of August, 1871. Mr. Jones is a republican. He had a brother, William Orlando, in the army during the late war, who served in Co. I, 102d Il]. Reg., through- ont the Atlanta campaign, the march to the sea, and the campaign of the Carolinas. On the march to Washington City he rode off from the column (he was a mounted orderly at the time) to view the Wilderness battle-ground, but he never returned, and no tidings of his fate were ever received. He was probably slain by guerrillas.

Henry Frankeberger, Hoopeston, druggist, was born in Hendricks county, Indiana, on the 27th of October, 1842, and is the son of Samuel and Rhoda Jane (Smith) Frankeberger. He enlisted on the 3d of August, 1861, for three years, in Co. H, Harris' Light Cavalry. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick was lientenant-colonel, and finally colonel of this regiment. The subject of this sketch served entirely in Virginia and under Kil- patrick until the transfer of the latter to Sherman's army in the spring of 1864. He did not miss a day's service, and participated in all of Kilpatrick's scouts and engagements, including the notable raid begun on the 28th of February, 1864, for the purpose of releasing Union prisoners in Richmond. He was captured on the 5th of May, 1864, at the battle of the Wilderness, and was confined at Andersonville, Flor- ence and Charleston, until March 1, 1865, when he was exchanged at the latter place. It was two years before he recovered sufficiently from the effects of his inhuman treatment to do any labor. He has not entirely regained, and never will, his former robust constitution. He was married on the 6th of September, 1866, to Martitia Swisher. From 1870 to 1876 he traveled in the patent-right business. In the latter year he came to Hoopeston, where he now keeps a drug store. He has one child, Judson Kilpatrick, born on the 12th of November, 1869. Mr. Frankeberger is a republican in politics.

Thomas B. Bird, Hoopeston, teacher, was born in Holmes county, Ohio, on the 24th of October, 1841, and is the son of Thomas B. and Mary (Williams) Bird. He was reared a farmer; received his early edu- cation at Hiram Academy, Portage county, Ohio ; began teaching when seventeen, and subsequently attended Spring Mountain Academy, in Coshocton county ; also a select school at Millersburg. He enlisted for three months under the first call for troops, in Co. G. 16th Ohio Vols .; engaged in action at Phillipi, and mustered out at the end of four months' service. He reënlisted in 1862 in Co. G, 102d Ohio, for three years ; did post duty most of the time; was promoted from private to

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History of Vermilion County, together with historic notes on the Northwest, gleaned from early authors, old maps and manuscripts, private and official correspondence, and other authentic, though, for the most part, out-of-the-way sources, Part 89

Author: Beckwith, H. W. (Hiram Williams), 1833-1903 Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago : H. H. Hill and Company Number of Pages: 1164

Author: Beckwith, H. W. (Hiram Williams), 1833-1903
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : H. H. Hill and Company
Number of Pages: 1164