USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. I > Part 61
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On the 4th of December, 1872, Mr. Powers was married to Miss Mary E. Miller, a daughter of Henry and Fredericka (Klostermann) Miller. Henry Miller was born in the province of Oldenburg, Germany, November 13, 1822, and was a son of Pope E. and Theda (Remmers) Miller. He came to America with his father in 1837 and settled in Cass county, Illinois, where his father died a few months later. In the spring of 1838, with his brother, he removed to Palmyra, Lee county, and engaged in farming on the place owned by him
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up to the time of his death, which occurred June 12, 1892. On the 29th of September, 1850, he married Fredrika A. Klostermann, of Palmyra, Lee coun- ty, a daughter of Ernest H. and Alma Margaret (Frerichs) Klostermann. She was born September 23, 1833, in the grand duchy of Oldenburg, Germany, and at present resides with two of her daughters in Chicago, being now in her seventy-fifth year. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Miller were born nine children, two sons and seven daughters, Mary E., the wife of Warren F. Powers, being the eldest.
Mr. and Mrs. Powers have become the parents of seven children. Eva M., the eldest, is now the wife of Charles LeFevre, a farmer of Sterling town- ship, and they have two children, Lawrence and Irene. Willard D., who is a bookkeeper in connection with the government works at Sterling, married Miss Nellie Eisel and lias one son, Homer. Frank W., who is on a ranch in Colorado, married Mabel Crouch and they have two sons, Warren and Llewel- lyn. Earl died in infancy. Lottie A. is the wife of Richard Proctor, of Coleta. Nellie A. is the wife of Ralph Overliolser, of Coleta. Maurice A., who com- pletes the family, is attending business college and resides at home.
The parents and their children are inembers of the Congregational church and the family is one of social prominence. Mr. Powers is a stalwart republican who has continuously supported the party vet has never sought office as a reward for party fealty. In February, 1906, having sold the farm, with his wife, he removed to Sterling, erecting a beautiful brick residence at No. 105 Sixth avenue, where they are now pleasantly located. They have many friends in the city and throughout the county where they have lived con- tinuously since their marriage.
GEORGE N. MASON.
George N. Mason, efficiently filling the position of postmaster at Erie, is a native of Cheshire, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, born July 4, 1856. His parents, James and Abigail (Conn) Mason, were also natives of Berk- shire county and passed away in Hebron, Illinois, where their remains were interred. The father was a farmer and dairyman throughout his entire life. Soon after his arrival in Illinois he rented an extensive farm and thereon conducted a dairy business, milking over one hundred cows. He was sent to Walworth, Wisconsin, to manage a cheese factory and continued there for two seasons, making the first cheese at that place. His business interests were carefully conducted and he was a man of industry and enter- prise. His family numbered seven sons and five daughters, George N. Mason being the third child. Two daughters and five sons are yet living. One daughter, Belle, who was a successful teacher for a long period, died December 15, 1907. The eldest daughter, Ida, died in Chicago of smallpox shortly after the great fire in that city in 1871. All of the sons of the family are engaged in the creamery business.
When eight years of age George N. Mason accompanied his parents to Hebron, McHenry county, Illinois, where he was reared upon a farm until
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G. N. MASON.
LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA
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twenty-four years of age. He acquired his education in the district schools and though his opportunities were somewhat limited he has learned many valuable lessons in the school of experience. As his father was conducting a dairy farm the son learned the business of making butter and cheese, becoming a practical and expert manufacturer in those lines. In 1879 he removed to Erie, where he has since made his home, and in the intervening years he has ever commanded and enjoyed the respect, confidence and good will of his fellow townsmen. Following his arrival herc, he accepted the management of the creamery owned by Hubbard & Burehell, continuing in that position for four years, on the expiration of which period he purchased the business and conducted it under his own name for a number of years. Subsequently he established a factory at Port Byron and the rapid increase in his business eventually made the daily output of butter at Erie twenty- two hundred pounds and at Port Byron one thousand pounds. The excel- lence of the product made it a very marketable commodity and he was always able to command the highest prices. After continuing in the cream- ery business for some time Mr. Mason opened a general mercantile store in Erie and in connection with its conduct also continued to manage the creamery business for a time. Later, however, he disposed of the latter and concentrated his energies upon his mercantile interests. He carried on his creamery and store for about fifteen years. In commercial circles he has gained an enviable reputation as one whose methods will bear the closest investigation and scrutiny and he bases his business moves upon the rules which govern strict and unswerving integrity and industry.
Mr. Mason has now filled the position of postmaster for ten and a half years, having been appointed by President Mckinley during his first admin- istration. It was then a fourth-class office, but since has been raised to a third-class with three rural free delivery routes and one star route. His administration of the office is entirely satisfactory to the general public, who find him a courteous, obliging official, who is, moreover, prompt in the discharge of all business. He has likewise been president of the village board for a year, was president of the board of education for six years and president of the cemetery commission. His political allegiance has always been given to the republican party, of which he is a stalwart champion, doing everything in his power to promote the growth and insure the success of his party.
In 1880 Mr. Mason was married to Miss Elizabeth R. Soothill, who was born near Halifax, Yorkshire, England, July 22, 1856. She was brought to the United States at the age of six months by her parents, Joseph and Char- lotte (Maxwell) Soothill, who located at Harvard, McHenry county, Illinois, where Mrs. Mason resided until her marriage. She proved to her husband a faithful companion and helpmate on life's journey for more than a quarter of a century and was called to her final home January 12, 1907. She was a successful teacher for a long period, having taught thirty-seven terms of school and was a lady of innate culture and refinement, who enjoyed in large measure the esteem and friendship of all with whom she came in contact. Mr. and Mrs. Mason were the parents of a son and daughter.
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The elder, Charles S., who acquired his education in the schools of Erie and in a business college at Davenport, Iowa, was afterward employed in the First National Bank in Morrison, Illinois, and is now receiving teller of the Corn Belt Bank of Kansas City. He was married in 1904 to Miss Mary A. Walker, of Moline, Illinois, who died September 18, 1906, leaving one daughter, Marjorie, who is now with her grandfather Mason. Lois May, who was educated in musie in Chicago and liad become a teacher in that art, died October 1, 1907, at the age of twenty-two years. Mr. Mason owns an attractive home in Erie and also has other property. His realty inter- csts in the village are represented by four dwellings and two business blocks, and he also owns two hundred acres of rich and valuable farming land in one body in Fenton and Newton townships. He was made a Mason at the age of twenty-one years in Hebron, Illinois, and now affiliates with the lodge at Eric. For the past thirty years he has been a consistent member of Christ's Adelphian church. He is a congenial friend and a popular citizen, who enjoys the good will and confidence of his fellow townsmen in an unusual degree.
HARRY J. LUDENS.
Although one of the younger members of the Morrison bar, his years do not seem to impede his progress and Harry J. Ludens is working his way upward to a prominent place among the legal practitioners of this city. He was born in Garden Plain township in 1874, a son of John P. and Dorothy (Vandenberg) Ludens, both of whom were natives of Holland. In the year 1866 the father came with his family to the United States, settling in New York, where he worked at farm labor by the month. He afterward spent a year in Wisconsin and in 1868 came to Illinois. locating in Fulton, where he worked at day labor for some time. His unfaltering industry and careful expenditure at length brought him the capital that enabled him to make investment in property and in 1883 he purchased eighty aeres of land on section 31, Ustiek township, Whiteside county. With characteristic energy he began the further development and improvement of this farm, upon which he spent his remaining days. His life was one of untiring activity and use- fulness and he provided a comfortable living for his family. A devoted member of the Dutch Reform church, he served as one of its officers for inany years and did what he could for its growth and upbuilding. In politics he was a republican and served on the school board, but was not an aspirant · for publie office. He died in 1893 at the age of fifty-four years and is still survived by his widow, who is now living in Chicago at the age of sixty-seven. She, too, is a member of the Dutch Reform church. Their family numbered fourteen children: Jennie, who became the wife of Jacob Sternberg and passed away in 1888; Annie, the wife of David Sternberg, an agriculturist of Ustick township; Peter, who makes his home in Montana; Lizzie, who wedded Fred M. Dykema, a railroad man of Virden, Illinois; Harry J., of
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this review; Jacob J., an attorney at law of Sterling, Illinois; John M., a student in Knox College at Galesburg; David, a civil engineer in the employ of the Great Northern Railroad Company in Montana; and Mattie, the wife of William J. Parr, an engineer on the Pennsylvania System in Chicago. The others have passed away.
Harry J. Ludens was reared to farm life, spending his boyhood days under the parental roof, his time being divided between the work of the fields and the acquirement of an education. He attended the country schools and the Northern Illinois College at Fulton, Illinois. Before taking up the college work, however, he was employed as a clerk in Fulton and from Sep- tember, 1901, until 1906, he occupied a clerical position in the office of the secretary of state at Springfield. While attending college he read law and finished his studies while in the capital city. In the fall of 1903 he was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law in November, 1906, at Morrison. He has met with fair success here and his careful preparation of cases and his continued study arc winning for him success in the difficult and arduous profession of the law.
Mr. Ludens is a member of the Masonic fraternity and the Eastern Star and also affiliates with the Odd Fellows and the Mystic Workers. His polit- ical allegiance is given to the republican party. He is well known in this county, where much of his life has been passed and where he is so directing his labors as to gain recognition as a strong and growing member of the Whiteside county bar.
JOHN B. LEWIS.
John B. Lewis, manager of the lumber business of James C. Simpson & Company at Sterling, has also figured actively in the public life of the city and stands for improvement and progress in every line. He is a native of Indiana county, Pennsylvania. His paternal grandfather, Evan Lewis, was born in Wales and followed the sea for a number of years, after which he became a resident of Pennsylvania and gave his time and energies to general agricultural pursuits. Subsequently he took up his abode in Albany, White- side county, Illinois, where he died in 1872 at the age of eighty-three years. His first wife, Agnes (Lyons) Lewis, was the grandmother of our subject. She died many years ago in middle life and Evan Lewis afterward married Jane Wallace.
David Lewis, a son of the first marriage, was born in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and became a harness-maker by trade, carrying on business along that line in Pennsylvania until the time of the Civil war. In 1865 he went to Kansas, settling near Olathe, Johnson county, and in 1868 he arrived in Albany, Whiteside county, Illinois, where he devoted the greater part of his time and attention to the cultivation of a fruit farm. There he died in 1900, at the age of sixty-nine years. His wife survived him and passed away at the home of her son Sheldon L. at the Brinington navy yard.
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where he has a ranch. Her death occurred in December, 1905, when she was sixty-eiglit years of age. Both Mr. and Mrs. David Lewis were members of the Presbyterian church. Mrs. Lewis bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Griffith and was a daughter of Abner Griffith, a native of Pennsylvania and of Quaker stock. Her father followed agricultural pursuits and died at Marion Center, Pennsylvania, on the farm on which he had lived for fifty years or more, being almost a nonagenarian at the time of his demise. His first wife, Mrs. Elizabeth (Wisegarver) Griffith, died in early womanhood and he afterward married again. The daughter, Elizabeth, was born of the first marriage in Somerset county, Pennsylvania, and there she gave her hand in marriage to David Lewis.
Twelve children were born of this union, ten sons and two daughters, of whom ten are now living: Albert W., a resident of Albany, Illinois; John B .; Owen H., of Hendrum, Minnesota; Evan P., of Albany, Illinois; Shel- don L., a twin of Evan, now living at the Brinington navy yard in Washing- ton ; James M., of Helena, Montana, where he is practicing law; Annie L., the wife of Walter Young, of Salt Lake City, Utah; Harry B., who is engaged in the undertaking business at Overton, Nebraska; Agnes, the wife of John D. Quick, an engineer at the smelter at Bingham Canyon, Utah; and Arthur L .. a millwright of the same place. `The other two died in early childhood.
John B. Lewis came to Whiteside county in December, 1868, and attended the public schools of Albany, after which he pursued a course in the Normal School at Fulton under Professor Griffith. Later he pursued a business course in the business college of Valentine & Lillibridge at Davenport, Iowa, and when his education was completed he followed the Mississippi river as clerk on a steamboat for six years during the summer seasons, while in the winter inonthis he taught school. He afterward entered a general mercantilc store at Albany, the style of the firm being Simpson & Lewis. Some time later they sold the store and engaged in the lumber business at Cambridge, Henry county, Illinois, removing thence to Galva, Illinois, in the same busi- ness. In 1900 the James C. Simpson Lumber Company bought the lumber business of John Peek in Sterling and Mr. Lewis has managed the business sinee that time. They have a fine lumberyard and enjoy an extensive trade, the development of the business being attributable in large measure to the enterprise and capable management of Mr. Lewis.
On the 23d of December, 1892, John B. Lewis was married to Miss Theodosia Simpson, a daughter of John and Eliza (Lewis) Simpson. Mr. and Mrs. Lewis belong to the Congregational church and are prominent so- cially, their pleasant home at No. 406 West Third street being justly cele- brated for its gracious hospitality. They are both members of the Eastern Star and Mr. Lewis belongs to Rock River Lodge, No. 612, A. F. & A. M., and the Modern Woodmen of America and to the Mystic Workers. Politically he is an earnest republican and in recent years has aided in shaping the policy of his party in the city. He lias served as supervisor from Albany township for one term and in May, 1905, was elected mayor of Sterling, giving to the city a publie-spirited and businesslike administration. His labors for the general good are always of a practical character and have been resulting
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factors in promoting the city's welfare and improvement. In manner Mr. Lewis is always approachable and is known as a genial gentleman of un- feigned cordiality, while his many good qualities have gained for him warm friendships and high regard.
MARVIN W. INGWERSEN.
Marvin W. Ingwersen, cashier of the Fulton Bank, has made steady prog- ress in his business career until today he occupies a prominent place in finan- cial eireles and by the consensus of public opinion is numbered among the leading business men of Whiteside county. He was born in Lyons, Iowa, June 28, 1866, his parents being C. H. and Emma (Peters) Ingwersen, both of whom were natives of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The father came to America in 1852 and settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but in 1853 re- moved to Clinton, Iowa. The mother came a few years later, making her way direct to Clinton, where they were married. Mr. Ingwersen followed the occupation of farming and stock-raising for a number of years but in 1873 removed to Chicago, where he still makes his home. While in Iowa in 1871 he was elected sheriff of Clinton county and served for one term. Fol- lowing his removal to Chicago he became interested in the live-stoek commis- sion business, in which he is still engaged. His life has been one of intense and well directed activity, resulting in prosperity, and aside from his business interests in the metropolis he is also president of the Iowa Savings Bank of Lyons. Unto him and his wife were born three children: Julius, who is associated in business with his father; M. W., of this review; and Meta, the wife of E. Puttkammer, of Chicago.
Following the removal of the family from Iowa to Chicago, M. W. Ing- wersen pursued his education in the public schools of that city and at the age of nineteen years took his initial step in the business world, being em- ployed as bookkeeper and elerk in the City National Bank of Clinton, Iowa. There he became familiar with the banking business in all of its departments and was associated with the bank until 1890, when he withdrew and witlı his father and others engaged in the packing business at Clinton, Iowa. The succeeding seven years of his life were thus passed and on disposing of his interests in Clinton in 1897 he removed to South Omaha, where he engaged in the live-stoek commission business. This he followed until 1901 and in the spring of 1902 he and others pureliased the private bank of T. B. Ing- wersen, of Fulton, and incorporated under the state banking laws. M. W. Ingwersen was at that time elected cashier and has since continued in the position. His previous experience in banking well qualified him for the re- sponsible duties which now devolved upon him and he has made for himself a ereditable name in financial eireles, carefully conducting the affairs of the bank, so that it enjoys the entire confidence of the business publie and receives a liberal patronage.
On the 22d of November, 1902, Mr. Ingwersen was married to Miss Florence M. Bolin, a daughter of Hugh and Mary Lowther Bolin, in whose
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family were five children: Laura, now the wife of W. F. Vicroy; Ada, the wife of W. L. Park; Florence M., now Mrs. Ingwersen; Wallace, deceased; and Hugh 1., who is living in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Mr. Ingwersen takes quite an active interest in everything pertaining to the growth and welfare of his adopted county and his aid and co-operation can be counted upon to further many measures for the public good. He votes with the democracy yet is liberal in politics and never bitterly. aggres- sive. He holds today the only official position that he has ever filled, that of aldernian, for he has always preferred to concentrate his time and energies upon his business affairs rather than to seck or fill office. There have been no sensational chapters in his business' career but on the contrary he has followed the honest, slow-moving processes which eventually lead to success. Through experience he has learned many points of value concerning the man- agement of important business interests and his sound judgment and enter- prise are continually manifest in his career.
CHARLES ADAM WETHERBEE.
They were a sturdy band of people, the old pioneers and early settlers who came to Whiteside county, seeking a more favorable district than the overcrowded east. They were people of strong and noble character, with a determination that enabled them to combat with the trials and hardships and. deprivations of the new west. Such conditions developed not only physical powers of endurance but also brought forth the moral, kindly and generous attributes of manhood and womanhood. There was something so akin to nature in all their surroundings, in the vastness of the boundless prairies; in the waving grasses, wild and rank, and in the uncut forests, which constituted the freedom and beauty of the new world,. that the best and strongest in men were brought out and developed. When an individual came to the west he largely left his past behind him and was judged by his personal worth and the manner of his conduct. His surroundings were such as to stir the heart's best impulses and develop a hospitality, a kindliness, a benevolence and char- ity unknown and unpracticed in the older, richer and more densely populated commonwealths. Whiteside county is today numbered among the rich and prosperous counties of the state, but it owcs much of its character and its splendid advancement to the influences established by its early pioncers.
Among the first settlers who came to Whiteside county and left the im- press of their individuality upon its upbuilding and progress was Luther B. Wetherbee, of Barry, Massachusetts, who settled on section 12, Sterling town- ship, in 1838. The founder of the Wetherbee family in America settled in Massachusetts at an early period in the colonization of the new world and one of his descendants, Charles Wetherbec, was a soldier in the patriot army in the battle of Lexington. The religious principles of the family have remained the same for centuries, as succeeding generations have been connected with the Congregational church. Luther B. Wetherbee had formerly been a steam-
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fitter but upon coming west he turned his attention to farming interests, in which he was very successful. He possessed more than ordinary ability and marked foree of eharaeter. In all publie affairs he took a deep interest and was ever ready to lend his aid to movements and measures ealeulated to pro- mote the eounty's welfare. He stood fearless in defense of what he believed to be right and his life was aetuated by the spirit of christianity. He was the founder of the Congregational ehureh in Sterling and one of its most earnest and effective workers. In politics he was also a factor and was recognized as a staneh republiean. Material, social, intellectual, politieal and moral progress were promoted through his labors and Whiteside eounty benefited greatly by his work. His wife, who prior to her marriage was Charlotte Adams, was also a native of Massachusetts and traees her lineage back to the Mayflower, being a direct deseendant of John Quiney Adams.
Luther, Wetherbee built the first frame house between Sterling and Sugar Grove. Soon after his settlement in Sterling township there was an attempt made by some foreign parties to appropriate a part of his land that he had entered from the government and the ereetion of a building was undertaken. Mr. Wetherbee, however, informed the land committee and soon afterward, upon a eertain night, the partly completed building was entirely destroyed, after which there was no further attempt made to seize Mr. Wetherbee's rights. For seventy years the name of Wetherbee has figured prominently and hon- orably in the history of this seetion of the state. Born in 1809, Luther Weth- erbee died November 6, 1873, and thus ended a useful eareer, the eounty being thereby deprived of a mnost valued eitizen.
Charles Adam Wetherbee, whose name introduees this reeord, a son of Luther B. and Charlotte (Adams) Wetherbee, was born on the old homestead farm in Sterling township, December 17, 1839. Few, if any, of those who re- side today within the borders of the county ean elaim so long a residenee as this native son. He attended the publie sehools, which were somewhat primi- tive in eharaeter owing to the faet that this was a frontier distriet. Later, however, he had the opportunity of attending sehool at Kalamazoo, Michigan, and was there preparing for a collegiate eourse when Civil war was inaugu- rated and thus his sehool life ended, for in answer to the eall for troops to erush out the rebellion in the south he offered his serviees to the government and in September, 1861, enlisted as a member of the Thirty-fourth Regiment of Illinois Infantry. At the front he partieipated in the battles of Atlanta, Shiloh, Liberty Gap, Stone River and others. He was taken prisoner at the battle of Stone River but was recaptured by the Union forees before leaving the field. He has a very vivid reeolleetion of the sensation experieneed in looking into the end of a loaded revolver held in the hand of an enemy and ean testify to the persuasive influence felt under such conditions. After a military service of three years, during which time he experieneed all the vieissitudes and hard- ships of war, he was honorably discharged at Atlanta, Georgia, and returned to his home in Whiteside eounty.
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