History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. II, Part 13

Author: Davis, William W
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : Pioneer Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 882

USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. II > Part 13

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On the 27th of February, 1861, Mr. Heaton married Miss Susanna E. Churchill, a native of Clinton county, New York, born October 9, 1830. She belongs to a family that was represented in the revolutionary war, and on the paternal side is of Seoteh and the maternal side of Irish deseent. Her father, Joseph Churchill, was born in Benson, Vermont, January 18, 1775, and died January 25, 1848. By occupation he was a farmer. He was mar- ried September 13, 1809, at Chazy, Clinton county, New York, to Susanna Bailey, and soon after the Civil war they removed to Mooers in the same county, where Mr. Churchill died. His wife was born in Windsor, Vermont,

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.November 1, 1792. Her father died January 1, 1813, and her mother Feb- ruary 4, 1813, both dying of fever. In 1858 Mrs. Churchill came with her family to Whiteside county, Illinois, passing away here at the home of our subject, November 25, 1884. Her children were as follows: Eliza A., born October 24, 1810, died October 29, 1829 .; Calista, born September 28, 1812, died November 8, 1833; Joshua B., born November 11, 1814, died March 6, 1815; Benjamin L., born February 7, 1816, died March 14, 1865, in the army; Jeremiah, born May 4, 1818, was captain of a vessel on Lake Huron and was drowned April 17, 1849; Joseph B., born June 23, 1820, was a soldier of the Civil war and died March 1, 1905; George W., born April 10, 1825, died October 7, 1904; Sylvester S., born November 6, 1827, died June 26, 1884; Susanna E., wife of our subject, is the next of the family; and Charles C., born June 15, 1836, died July 22, 1887.

Mr. and Mrs. Heaton have one daughter, Nettie C., who was born in 1868 and is now the wife of William Boyd, son of John Boyd, in the employ of the Libby, McNeill & Libby milk concern. Mrs. Heaton belongs to the Presbyterian church and, like her husband, is well known and highly es- teemed socially. His political endorsement is given the republican party ,and he has held various township offices. He does not consider himself bound by party ties, however, and voted on one occasion for Bryan. His life has been one of signal usefulness and activity and he belongs to that class of representative men who do much to uphold the political and legal status of the community and to further its substantial development along other lines.

DWIGHT SUMNER SPAFFORD.

Dwight Sumner Spafford is the oldest merchant in point of continuous connection with business interests in Whiteside county, and has won the suc- cess which follows earnest effort, close application and honorable methods. He was born in Bergen, Genesee county, New York, in 1834, and has, there- fore, long since passed the scriptural age of three score years and ten. In spirit and interests, however, he seems yet in his prime, and his activity equals that of many a man of much younger years. His father, Sumner Spafford, a native of Massachusetts, was of English ancestry, and the grand- father, Jacob Spafford, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war. About 1800 the family removed westward to Bergen, New York, and there Jacob Spafford bought a farm in what was known as the Holland purchase, where he re- mained until his death, which occurred about 1840. He prospered in his undertakings, owing to his capable management and diligence, and thus ·provided a good living for his family. He held membership in the Presby- "terian church, and his life was actuated by high and honorable principles. His son, Sumner Spafford, accompanied him on the removal to the Empire state, and throughout his life followed the occupation of farming, dying upon the old homestead in 1858. His religious faith was that of the Presby-

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terian church, and his political allegiance was given to the whig party until its dissolution, when he joined the ranks of the new republican party. He married Delia Barber, who was of French ancestry, although the family was established in America in early days. Her father was killed in one of the Indian wars of the country. Mrs. Spafford was a devoted member of the Presbyterian church and died in that faith in 1868. They were the parents of four children: Burton J., deceased; Dwight S., of this review; Kate D., the widow of Thomas J. Tone, who at one time was engaged in teaching in. Cincinnati, Ohio, but was later engaged in the grain business; and Jerome H., a farmer of Bergen, New York.

In taking up the personal history of Dwight S. Spafford, we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known in this part of the state. The days of his boyhood and youth were spent in the usual manner of farm lads, and through the summer months he assisted in the work of the fields, while in the winter seasons he attended the country schools. Ambitious for a more advanced education, he afterward became a student in the State Normal school of Albany, New York, from which he was graduated with the class of 1855. He taught school at Greene, New York, and at Equality, Illinois, after going to Albany. In the spring of 1856 he came to the west, settling at Equality, where he taught school for three years. In August, 1859, he arrived in the village of Morrison, and be- came identified with its commercial interests through a partnership formed with Orren B. Crosby, under the firm style of O. B. Crosby & Company. This relation was maintained for thrce ycars, when Mr. Crosby retired by selling his interest to Mr. Spafford, who since 1862 has been located in the building in which he is now engaged in business, and which he erected. No other merchant of the county has been so long connected with its trade interests, and no one has maintained a more unassailable reputation for business in- tegrity and reliability. He has been very successful owing to his alert, en- terprising spirit, and he is accounted one of the representative merchants and citizens of this part of the state.

In 1865 Mr. Spafford was married to Miss Anne E. Robertson, who was born in Union Grove township and died in 1885. There were four children of that marriage: Frank S., who is inspector of government surveys of Idaho, making his home in Boise, is married and has three children; John Earl, who is married and makes his home in Leigh, Nebraska, where he is acting as cashier of the Maple Valley State Bank; Roy R., secretary of the C. D. Gallentine Company, of Morrison, who is married and has one child; and Fred Dwight, a student in the Illinois University, at Champaign. Mr. Spafford was again married in 1890, his second union being with Alice Smith, a native of Lyons, Iowa, and a daughter of Leander Smith. They have three children : Leander Smith, a student of the Kentucky Military Academy, at Lyndon; Ruth, who is in school; and Allen, who is likewise in school.

Mr. Spafford is a prominent Mason, having atttained the thirty-second degree, and is also connected with the Shrine. In politics he is a republican, recognized as one of the stalwart workers in republican ranks, and one whose opinions carry weight and influence. He has served as school director, as a

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member of the board of supervisors, and as president of the board of edu- cation. Still higher political honors have been accorded him, for he was elected to the thirty-fourth general assembly, and had the distinction of being one of the memorable one hundred and three who supported General Logan and elected him to the United States senate. He has ever been a man fear- T'ess in' support of his honest convictions and of unswerving loyalty to any cause or movement which he believes to be right. He stands as a man among men, strong in his honor and his good name, strong in his ability to plan and perform. His life history proves that success and an untarnished name may be won simultaneously.

ALBERT B. JOHNSON. $ .

Albert B. Johnson resides on section 13, Montmorency . township, where he is the owner of a good farm of two hundred and forty acres. The fields are well tilled and as the years have passed by, he has gained substantial benefits from his work. Born in, Lee county, Illinois, on .the 26th of January, 1873, he is the second in order of birth in a family of four children, whose parents were Bernard and Eva (Juelfs) Johnson, both of whom were natives of Germany. They crossed the Atlantic to the new world in 1864, and from the east made their way at once into the interior of the country, locating in Lee county, Illinois; where the father worked as a farm hand. In that way he gained his start, and when he had acquired a fair sum of money he bought a farm in Lee county, upon which he lived for a few years. After disposing of that, property he bought land in Whiteside county, and for a considerable period was actively and successfully engaged in general agricultural pursuits. At length he retired from business life, and is now enjoying well merited rest in Rock Falls. Unto him and his wife were born two sons and two daugh- ters: Mamie, now the wife of John Terhune, a resident of Lee county, Illi- nois; Albert B .; Effie, the wife of, Henry Erd, of Ohio; and Fred, who is living in Whiteside county.

Albert B. Johnson was a young man when the parents removed to this county, and is indebted to its public school system for the educational privi- leges he enjoyed. . Through the periods of vacation and after completing his studies he worked upon the farm, being thus engaged until twenty-seven years of age .. He then made preparation for having a home of his own through his marriage to Miss Olive Pettitt, who was born in Rock Falls in 1880, and is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel Pettitt, the former a na- tive of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and the latter of Whiteside county, Illinois. Her father's family numbered five , children : Herbert R., now of Chicago; Mrs. Johnson; Nellic F., and Ruth E., both at home; and one de- ceased. The parents are now living in Chicago. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson has been blessed with a son and two daughters: Loyd L., Florence E. and Ruth E.

For four years after his niarriage Albert B. Johnson cultivated a tract of rented land." Ambitious to become the owner of a farm, he and his wife

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worked industriously and lived economically, until they at length were enabled to purchase four hundred acres lying partly in Whiteside county and partly in Lce county. Upon that place they resided for a year, when Mr. Johnson sold the farm and bought his present place, comprising two hundred and forty acres on section 13, Montmorency township. It has since been his home, and in its neat and well kept appearance indicates the carcful super- vision and practical methods of the owner. The early spring planting fol- lowed by cultivation through the summer, results in the gathering of good liarvests in the autumn, and for his crops Mr. Johnson finds. a ready sale on tlie market. He is also engaged in raising and feeding stock.

In conununity affairs Mr. Johnson is interested, has served as treasurer of the board of commissioners and as a member of the board of drainage com- missioners, and endorses every movement that is calculated to prove of gen- eral benefit to the community. Both he and his wife attend and support the Lutheran church.

BURT A. STURTEVANT.

Burt A. Sturtevant is the most extensive stock feeder of northern Illinois, and in his business interests the public has also profited, in that he furnished an excellent market for the stock raisers of this and other localities. 4

His marked enterprise and aptitude for successful management are continually manifest in one phase or another of his successful carecr. Moreover, he is as popular socially as he is prominent in business circles, and thus indicates the possession of qualities of geniality, kindliness and consideration for others.

Mr. Sturtevant was born in Prophetstown, July 31, 1870, in the same , room in which his mother's birth occurred. It is the oldest house in the town, and stands just in the rear of the Farmers' National Bank. Spending his boyhood under the parental roof and pursuing his education in the public schools, at the age of sixteen years Burt A. Sturtevant began farming for himself and early manifested those traits of character and specific qualities whichi in later years have made him a most prominent business man. After three years he married and took up his abode upon the home farm, near Prophetstown, there living for twelve years. He then again became a resi- dent of the village, and built his present fine home, which he has occupied since the 10th of November, 1899. The farm which he owns consisted orig- inally of two hundred aeres, and later he purchased another track of two hundred acres. At other times he has extended the boundaries of his place until he now owns five hundred and sixty acres in one body on sections 21, 22, 23 and 26, Fenton township. He has erected all of the buildings upon the place with the exception of the dwelling, which he rebuilt. Hc now keeps a tenant on the farm while he is extensively engaged in feeding stock. In this business he is in partnership with his father, but owing to his father's ill healtlı during the last two years almost the entire management of the busi- ness has devolved upon the son. In the year 1907 he shipped fifty-one carloads

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of cattle and six carloads of hogs, and his business, exceeding that of all others, he is today the largest stock feeder in northern Illinois. His judg- ment is never amiss in determining the value of cattle, and placing his stock in excellent condition, he finds for them a ready sale upon the market.

Mr. Sturtevant is a member of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the lodge and chapter at Prophetstown and the Knight Templar commandery at Sterling, being also identified with the Mystie Shrine at Rockford, and the consistory at Freeport, Illinois, thus attaining the thirty-second degree of the Scottish rite. He is likewise a member of the Knights of Pythias fraternity at Prophetstown, and in his life exemplifies the benefieent spirit upon which these orders are based.

On the 27th of December, 1888, Mr. Sturtevant was married to Miss Mary J. Pratt, whose birth occurred at Lyndon, this eounty, August 25, 1864. She is a daughter of Charles and Amelia (Sharrett) Pratt, both of whom were of French parentage. The mother is now living with Mr. and Mrs. Sturtevant, but Mr. Pratt, having enlisted from Whiteside county, died after his return from the army. Mrs. Sturtevant is the oldest of four children, the others being: Flora, now the wife of Mark Stowell, of Prophetstown; Wil- liam, a resident of Waterloo, Jowa; and Mrs. Ora De Zano, who died at Port Byron, Illinois. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Sturtevant has been blessed with two children: Hazel P., who was born January 4, 1890, and died March 17, 1891; and Hamlin A., born November 18, 1905. The parents are widely known in this county, where they have spent their entire lives. Mr. Sturte- vant is, indeed, a whole-souled man, a good entertainer and a genial eom- panion who quiekly recognizes the humor of a situation, and is equally ap- preciative of the good in others. The attainment of wealth has never been allowed to influenee him in his relations with his fellowmen, and his life record is an exemplification of the Emersonial philosophy that, "The way to win a friend is to be one." ,

WILLIAM H. BENNETT.

William H. Bennett, a distinguished corporation lawyer of Minneapolis, was at one time a prominent member of the Whiteside county bar and an in- fluential eitizen of. Sterling. He twice served as mayor of the eity, and in many ways promoted its interests, leading to substantial improvement and development. His friends are still so numerous in the county that the record of his life cannot fail to prove of interest to many of our readers.

Mr. Bennett was born in Scotland, Windham county, Connecticut, June 28, 1843, an only child of Samuel F. and Harrict (Spaulding) Bennett, who were natives of Connecticut. The Bennett family was established in America in early colonial days, and comes of Englishi lineage, the first representatives of the name having settled at Ipswich, Massachusetts. In 1740 they went to Connectieut, and there a farm was purchased in Windham eounty, which has since never been out of the possession of the Bennett family, being now the property of William H. Bennett of this review. The progenitor of the

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family in the United States was William Henry Bennett. The grandfather,' William Bennett, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, aiding loyally in winning independence for the colonies. He followed farming as a life work and died at the advanced age of ninety-five years. His wife, Mrs. Sarah ' (Giddings) Bennett, was of Welsh lineage. In their family were five chil- dren, including Samuel F. Bennett, who always followed farming as a means of livelihood and remained a resident of Connecticut until called to the home": beyond, in 1889, when about eighty-three years of age. His wife died when about thirty-six years of age. They were members of the Congregational church and were earnest, consistent Christian people.

The maternal grandfather of our subject was Benjamin Spaulding, a na- tive of Connecticut, who carried on agricultural pursuits in Windham county. He married Pamelia Carter, a native of Canterbury, Connecticut. The Spauld- ings lived for many years at Pomfret, Connecticut, and Mrs. Spaulding reached the advanced age of ninety-six years, while her husband passed away some years before. She was his second wife, his first union being with a Miss Ingalls, who became the mother of Mrs. Samuel F. Bennett.

Through the period of his boyhood, youth and early manhood, William H. Bennett remained a resident of the state of his nativity. He was born in' Scotland, Connecticut, but spent his early life in Hampton, and liberal edu- cational advantages were afforded him. He pursued his preparatory course in the Philips Academy, and afterward attended Yale College at New Haven, from which he was graduated in 1866. He then taught school for one year at Easton, Connecticut, after which he became a law student in the Albany Law School, and was admitted to the bar of New York at Albany in 1868. He sought the west as being a more advantageous field for a young profes- sional man, and the same year came to Sterling, where he arrived in the fall. " Here he entered the office of Frederick Sackett, with whom he formed a partnership under the firm style of Sackett & Bennett. Later Mr. Sackett removed to Chicago, while Mr. Bennett continued in practice in Sterling, and soon secured a liberal clientage, connecting him with much important litiga- tion tried in the courts of the district. A few years later he formed a part- nership with Henry Green, and the firm of Bennett & Green continued in' active practice until the fall of 1888, when Mr. Bennett went to Minneapolis, becoming a partner in the firm of Koon, Whelan & Bennett. This firm has been connected with the Minneapolis bar for the past twenty years, and has a large and important corporation clientele. They are attorneys for the Minne- apolis Street Railway Company, the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway Company, thic Pillsbury-Washburn Flour Mills Company, Limited, the Northwestern National Bank, the Minneapolis General Electric Company, and a number of other leading business houses and corporations of that city. Mr. Bennett is well versed as a general practitioner of law, but in recent years has confined his attention more closely to the law dealing with corpora- tions, and never enters now into criminal law practice, confining his attention largely to his specialty.

In January, 1873, while in Sterling, Mr. Bennett was married to Miss Frances Green, a daughter of John and Caroline Grcen. They became the

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parents of one child, Frances. The mother died in November, 1873, and in 1876 Mr. Bennett wedded Miss Kate Prescott Wright, of Bridgeport, Con- necticut, a daughter of George A. and Jane (Prescott) Wright. There were two children of the second marriage, Kate Townsend and Jane Prescott Bennett.

Mrs. Bennett is a member of the Episcopal church, while Mr. Bennett is a Unitarian in religious belief. In politics he is a stalwart republican, and while living in Sterling was twice elected mayor of the city. He held the office of alderman for several terms, and was a member of the board of school trustees of Sterling township for many years. In the discharge of his duties he was prompt and capable, regarding a public office as a public trust, and in the exercise of his official prerogatives promoting the interests of Sterling in no uncertain manner. He yet has many friends in the city, who csteem him as one who contributed to its business and municipal life, while his social qualities endeared him to many with whom he came in contact.

CHARLES GRANDISON CURTIS.

Charles Grandison Curtis, who for many years was honorably and suc- cessfully connected with agricultural interests in Whiteside county, departed this life on the 1st of May, 1902. He was born in Milo, New York, in 1826, and had therefore attained the seventy-sixth milestone on life's journey when called' to the home beyond. His parents were Robert Y. and Lois (Tor- rence) Curtis, the former a native of New Hampshire and the latter of New York. They were married in the Empire state and for many years the father followed the profession of school teaching there. His wife was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and both died in New York.

In his boyhood days Charles G. Curtis attended the common schools. He early became familiar with farm work and, thinking that he would find better opportunities for advancement in agricultural lines in the middle west, he came to Illinois in 1857 and for a short time resided at Lyndon. He afterward engaged in the cultivation of a rented farm in Mount Pleasant township for seven years, on the expiration of which period he removed south of Round Grove, where he invested the capital that he had saved from his earnings in an eighty-acre tract of land. Upon that place he took up his abode and made it his residence until his death .. In his farming operations he so managed his interests that he won success, annually gathering good crops as the reward of the care and labor which he bestowed upon his fields.

In 1855 Mr. Curtis was united in marriage to Miss Lucinda Raplee, who was born in Milo, New York, in 1830, a daughter of Robert and Mima Flor- ence Raplee. Her father was of French extraction and was a farmer by occupation. He came to Illinois about 1858 and settled in Lyndon town- ship, where he lived for eight years, after which he removed to Missouri, where his last days werc spent. Mr. and Mrs. Curtis had one child, Evange- line, who was born in 1857 and died in 1884. She was the wife of Everett

MISS EVANGELINE CURTIS

MRS. LUCINDA CURTIS

LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

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Fisk, of Mount Pleasant township, and they had one child, Ethan B. Fisk, now in Clinton, Iowa.

Mr. Curtis devoted his entire life to farming, and his business record was characterized by the utmost integrity as well as industry. He was char- itably disposed, stood well among his neighbors and advocated many pro- gressive publie measures. His many good qualities therefore gained for him the estcem of his fellowmen and caused his death to be deeply regretted by those who knew him. Since her husband's demise Mrs. Curtis has re- moved to Morrison, where she now makes her home. She is a member of the Methodist Episcopal ehureh and has many friends in the eity.

JAMES W. ROSS.

James W. Ross, a retired agrieulturist and one of the leading citizens of Fulton, was born in Clarendon, Rutland county, Vermont, May 25, 1838, his parents being Walter and Eliza (Webb) Ross, natives of Vermont and Massa- chusetts, respectively. Members of the Ross family emigrated to Ameriea and settled in Massachusetts in an early day, while the Webbs came to Amer- ica from England prior to the Revolutionary war, likewise locating in Massa- chusetts, some members of the latter family serving in the war for independ- ence. The paternal grandparents of James W. Ross had the following children who grew to maturity, but all of them are now deceased: Walter; Gary, of Michigan; James; Volney, and Ephriam, who were residents of Vermont; Phoebe, who was the wife of John White, of. Vermont; and Mercy, the wife of William Potter, likewise of the Green Mountain state. Walter Ross, the father of our subject, filled various official positions in his native town, and twice represented his county in the state legislature. His death occurred in 1871, when he had attained the age of seventy-one years, while his wife passed away in 1874, when sixty-nine years of age. Their family numbered nine children: Catherine, deceased, who was the wife of M. B. Brown, of Vermont; Melvina, the deceased wife of Leo McDonough, of Me- Donough county, Illinois; Loantha, deceased, who was the wife of R. R. Kins- man, who has also passed away; Luceba, thic deccased wife of L. G. Kingsley ; James W., of this review; John W., of Rutland, Vermont; Aldis D. L., who likewise resided in Rutland, Vermont, but has now passed away; George W., of Vergennes, Vermont; and Elbridge W., deceased.

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History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. II, Part 13

Author: Davis, William W Publication date: 1908 Publisher: Chicago : Pioneer Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 882

Author: Davis, William W
Publication date: 1908
Publisher: Chicago : Pioneer Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 882