USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. II > Part 32
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Gold Cure in Polo, Illinois, and in June, 1893, removed his business to Sterling. He has treated many people for the liquor, morphine, opium and other drug habits from all parts of the United States and has effected many cures, so that the victims of these habits have been reclaimed for lives of usefulness and honorable manhood. In this connection Mr. Graham is doing a great and important work and his labors are well worthy of com- mendation.
On the 22d of April, 1885, Mr. Graham was married to Miss Lizzie F. Vaughn, a daughter of William and Catharine (Burns) Vaughn, who were natives of Ireland and became early settlers of Carroll county, Illinois. The father was a railroad man throughout the greater part of his life. In his family were three children. The death of Mr. Vaughn occurred March 24, 1901, while his wife survived until 1906. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Graham has been born one son, Eugene William Vaughn Graham, who is attending the business college in Sterling.
The parents are members of the Catholic church and Mr. Graham be- longs to the Knights of Columbus. Politically he is a democrat but the honors and emoluments of office have no attraction for him, as he prefers to concentrate his energies upon his business affairs. He resides at No. 307 Seventh avenue, where he owns a good home, and he also has other residence property in the city. He has conducted his Gold Cure in Sterling since 1893 and has met with success in this undertaking.
FERNANDO NATHANIEL BREWER.
Fernando Nathaniel .Brewer is a representative of one of Whiteside county's oldest families. He was but a year old when his father, Daniel Porter Brewer, came to this county in August, 1837, and settled upon a farm. At his old home in Massachusetts he had followed the tailor's trade, but after his removal to the west turned his attention to general agricultural pursuits, with which he was connected during the greater part of his life. On arriving in this county all of the experiences of a pioneer life lay before him. Only five years before had the Black Hawk war occurred and there were still many proofs of Indian occupancy here. The homes of the settlers were widely scattered and many of them were little log cabins. The farmer liad to depend almost entirely upon his own skill, ingenuity and labor for everything that he needed upon the farm. If machinery was broken he must have the neces- sary skill to repair it, for blacksmith and machine shops were far distant. The early settler also had to go long distances to mill and market and much that was consumed by the family had to be raised upon the farm. After a residence of sixty-six years in this county Daniel P. Brewer passed away December 12, 1902, having for several years survived his wife, Mrs. Emaline Brewer, who died November 19, 1894. They spent their last days in Port- land, living retired from business cares.
As stated, F. N. Brewer was but a year old when brought by his parents to this county, the family home being established in Portland township. His
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MR. AND MRS. F. N. BREWER
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY
birth had occurred in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, July 23, 1836. He was reared upon the frontier in the usual manner of farm lads of the period . and locality and attended the local schools of Portland. He remained with' luis father upon the home farm until twenty-five years of age, assisting him largely in the work of the place. He early became familiar with the arduous task of developing new land and as the years passed by brought the farm under a high state of cultivation. In 1862 he left home and rented a farm east of Prophetstown and thus began general farming on his own account. Continuing in the business, he became one of the successful agriculturists of the community.
In 1863 Mr. Brewer was married to Miss Cordelia Frary, of this county. They have two children, of whom Mason Porter Brewer, born February 7, 1866, is now conducting a hardware store in Prophetstown. Eva Emeline, born July 6, 1872, is the wife of George P. Fisk, a resident of Prophetstown township.
Since the organization of the party Mr. Brewer has given his allegiance to the republican platform and has been called to fill several local offices, serving as supervisor and assessor, while for nearly a quarter of a century he has been school director, the cause of education finding in him a warm and stalwart friend. In 1895 he joined the Masonic fraternity and he is also con- neeted with the Modern Woodmen of America. His religious faith is indi- cated by his membership in the Methodist church. He is greatly interested in the Old Settlers' Society, has served on its committees for forty years and has never missed one of its meetings. There are few men who have so inti- mate and correct a knowledge of the early history of this county as has Mr. Brewer, whose residence here now covers more than the Psalmist's allotted span of three score years and ten.
LUMAN M. RAMSAY.
Luman M. Ramsay, a stockman and agriculturist, who also conducts a meat market, resides at No. 704 East Second street in Rock Falls. He was born in Como, Whiteside county, Illinois, July 11, 1858, a son of William and Lucy Ann (Church) Ramsay, the former a native of Rome, Oneida county, New York, and the latter of Oxford, Chenango county, New York. The paternal grandparents of our subject were David and Lydia (Butler) Ramsay, the former a native of Vermont and a farmer and stock- man by occupation. They both died when past middle life. In their family were five children: William; Luther; Hannah, who died in carly life; Euphemia, who was the wife of William Pratt; and Lydia, the wife of P. K. Marfleet, of Prophetstown.
The maternal grandparents were Bradford and Ann Whittlesey (Barnes) Church, the former a native of Oxford, Chenango county, New York. He was a farmer by occupation and an early settler of Lee Center, Lee county, Illinois, where he took up his abode in 1840. In 1876 both he and his wife came to Whiteside county, where they made their home with William
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Ramsay until the time of their demisc. Bradford Church passed away when eighty-nine years of age, while his wife died at the age of eighty-six. Their family numbered five children, namely: Lucy Ann; Jane, who was - the wife of Henry Moore; Elizabeth, who was the wife of Rufus Moore; Fitche, who died at the age of eighteen years; and Frederick Rollin, who died at the age of thirty-five years, at Menominee. Hc was a very promising young man and a member of the Wisconsin legislature.
William Ramsay was a farmer and stock-drover throughout his active business life. In 1839 he came to Whiteside county, Illinois, locating at what was then Rapids City, now Rock Falls, where he remained until the spring of 1840, when he settled in Hume township, purchasing several pieces of land, which he improved, having about three hundred acres at that place. He removed to Como in 1852, continuing there until 1858, when he returned to Hume township and developed a farm that is now known as the Pond Lily Farm, making his home on that property until 1897. In that year he came to Rock Falls and resided at Oak Lawn until the time of his death, in 1900, when he was eighty-five years of agc. He used to haul grain and drive stock to Chicago and, on one occasion when he could not sell his hogs, butchered them there and sold them on State street at a dollar and a quarter per hundred.
Mrs. Ramsay survived her husband until October, 1907, when she, too, was called to her final rest, having attained the age of eighty-seven years. Both she and her husband werc devoted members of the Congregational church and when they departed this life the county mourned the loss of two of its most honored and respected pioneers. Mrs. Ramsay was a graduate of Oxford Female Seminary, studying languages and mathematics, was a fine scholar and taught a select school in Dixon for some time. She was a great reader and a woman of wide general information, so that her advice was sought by the people of the neighborhood on all kinds of subjects, for her excellent education made her opinions valuable. She possessed a re- tentive memory and was, moreover, a lady of refinement and great force of character, which latter quality strongly manifested itself when she became a pioneer of Whiteside county and established a home in the wilderness. She proved an able helpmate and wise counselor to her husband, a good wife, a loving mother, an exemplary Christian and was held in the highest estecm by all with whom she came in contact. She was a great aid to her husband in accumulating a competency for their declining years. The pioneer women, as well as men, are entitled to great credit for the part they bore in building up a new country and Mrs. Ramsay's far-reaching influence for good was recognized by all who knew her. Both she and her husband deserve much praise for their courage, patience and perseverance in accomplishing what they started out in life to do, namely: to accumulate a competence for old age, to rear their family to become useful and respected citizens and to leave to posterity a noble example and an untarnished name. Their children, to each of whom they gave a good start in life, were five in number: William F., of Blue Hill, Mitchell county, Kansas; Kate and Elizabeth, of Rock Falls; Luman M., of this review; and Luther, who died in infancy.
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Luman M. Ramsay was reared on his father's farm in Hume township, and supplemented the education which he received in the district schools by a course in the Sterling Business College. He carried on agricultural pur- suits until 1897, when he came with his parents to Rock Falls, where he has since mado his home, his sisters, Kate and Elizabeth, residing with him in the old home of their parents. In 1905 he purchased the meat market of N. S. Bcecher and has since conducted the same with good success. He also buys and sells considerable stock and in his business interests has gained a gratifying measure of prosperity because of his industry and excellent management. In connection with his sisters he owns a farm of three hundred and twenty acres which is situated partly in Whiteside county and partly in Henry county and is known as the Cloverland farm. In addition to their attractive home in Rock Falls they also have four acres of ground, and the hospitality which they dispense so freely is just as cordially extended to them by their many friends. For a half century, or throughout the entire period of his life, Mr. Ramsay has been a resident of this county and is a credit to the name which has been an honored one here for almost three score years and ten.
JOHN G. WETZEL.
John G. Wetzel, secretary of the Whiteside Building & Loan Association of Sterling and engaged also in the insurance, renting and loan business, was born in Hopkins township, Whiteside county, Illinois, November 1, 1869, his parents being Lewis and Mary (Lawyer) Wetzel, who were natives of Ohio. The paternal grandfather was a native of Pennsylvania, whence he removed to Ohio, while at a later date he became a resident of Whiteside county, Illinois, where he died at an advanced age, while his wife reached the remarkable old age of ninety-two years.
Lewis Wetzel, the father of our subject, carried on farming in Tus- carawas county, Ohio, and came to Whiteside county, Illinois, in the early '50s with his parents who settled first on a farm in Genesee township, near Coleta. Later Lewis Wetzel removed to Hopkins township, where he pur- chased two hundred acres of land, upon which he resided until the fall of 1888. About twenty years ago he retired from the farm and removed to Galt, Illinois, where he still resides, having spent the last two decades in the enjoyment of a rest which he has truly earned and richly deserves. He has held various-township offices and has been a man of considerable in- fluence in his community. Unto him and his wife were born four children: Rebecca, the deceased wife of W. A. Mensch, her death occurring July 12, 1893; Delilah, the wife of N. J. Reed, of Emerson, Illinois; John G., of Sterling; and Rollin E., who resides in St. Paul, Minnesota.
John G. Wetzel spent his boyhood and youth in the usual manner of farm lads, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He attended the district schools and later
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supplemented his carly educational advantages by study in Dixon Business College and in Sterling Business College, completing his course in each. He then began keeping the books for the Eureka Company of Rock Falls, with which he remained for two years, while subsequently he was book- keeper in the Galt & Tracy Bank, there continuing until the firm became Galt & Son. In the fall of 1896 he became secretary of the Whiteside County Building & Loan Association and has since acted in that capacity. In addition to this he conducts an independent loan and insurance business and annually writes many fire policies and also has succeeded in placing many loans.
On the 20th of June, 1895, Mr. Wetzel was united in marriage to Miss Dora A. Whipple, daughter of Monroe and Annie (McKin) Whipple. There were three children born of that union, Dorothy May, Harriet E. and John Monroe Wetzel.
Mr. and Mrs. Wetzel are members of the Presbyterian church and are people of genuine personal worth, for whom their fellow townsmen enter- tain the warmest regard. Mr. Wetzel is also a director of the Young Men's Christian Association and is identified with various fraternal organizations. He belongs to Rock River Lodge, No. 612, A. F. & A. M .; Sterling Chapter, No. 57, R. A. M .; Sterling Commandery, No. 57, K. T .; and Medinah Temple of the Mystie Shrine, in Chicago. He is likewise connected with Sterling Lodge, No. 174, I. O. O. F. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he is now serving as a member of the town central committee. He is also assistant supervisor of Sterling township and is actively and helpfully interested in many movements relating to the general welfare. In fact he stands for progress and advancement in citizenship as well as in business life and the fact that many of his warmest friends are those who have known him from his youth to the present indicates that his has been an honorable career.
DAVID MATHEW.
While David Mathew has put aside the more active work of the farm, he is still the owner of a valuable property of three hundred and twenty acres on sections 1 and 12, Mount Pleasant township. There for many years he carried on general agricultural pursuits and the place is now operated by his son George W. He also owns the W. C. Thomas farm of two hundred and eighty acres on sections 8 and 9, Mount Pleasant township, which is being cultivated by his son David W. Mr. Mathew makes his home upon a tract of land of sixteen acres in the village of Round Grove and the fruits of his former toil now supply him with all of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life.
A native of Scotland, he was born in Fifeshire, June 3, 1824, his parents being William and Janct (Wylic) Mathew, who came to America some years after the arrival of their son David. They took up their abode in Tucker county, West Virginia, in 1851, and in 1857 came to Whiteside county, Illi-
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nois, settling in Hopkins township, where the mother died, while the father passed away in Mount Pleasant township. Their children were Thomas, David, William, Janet, Andrew, Margaret, Ann, Jane, Robert and Alexander.
David Mathew was rearcd and educated in Scotland, remaining upon the home farm until sixteen years of age. He was a young man of twenty-four years when he crossed the Atlantic to the new world in 1848, arriving in New York. Continuing his residence in the east for some time he taught school for several terms in Maryland and afterward became connected with repair work on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. He followed that pursuit for several years and finally invested his savings in two hundred acres of land in Tueker county, West Virginia, where he carried on general farming for some time. Thinking, however, to enjoy better opportunities in the middle west, he dis- posed of his interests in Tucker county and in 1860 came to Whiteside coun- ty, where for five years he engaged in the cultivation of a rented farm of eighty acres. He then bought eighty acres on section 1, Mount Pleasant town- ship, for which he paid sixteen dollars per acre. To this he has added, and, , becoming owner of various farms, his landed possessions now aggregate more than thirteen hundred acres. In addition to a farm of three hundred and twenty acres in Mount Pleasant, now operated by his son George, and a farm of two hundred and eighty acres on sections 8 and 9, Mount Pleasant town- ship, which he purchased in 1900 and which is now cultivated by his son David W., he also has a farın of one hundred and sixty acres in Union Grove township, which is operated by his son Samuel. He also owns several hundred acres east of Round Grove in Hopkins and Mount Pleasant townships, that in Hopkins being farmed by his son Robert while a farm in Mount Pleasant is operated by his son Simon, and his farming interests return to him an excel- lent income upon his investments. He has displayed keen discernment in the purchase of his property, being seldom if ever at fault in matters of judg- ment regarding land values. He was active in business for many years and his energy, enterprise and keen discrimination are manifest in the splendid success which has come to him.
Mr. Mathew was married in Virginia to Miss Anne Wolf, whose people were from Holland. Mrs. Mathew was probably a descendant of General Wolf, and was a daughter of George A. and Catherine (Barb) Wolf. She was born in Tucker county, West Virginia, and died in this county in 1901. Un- to Mr. and Mrs. Mathew were born thirteen children: William B., who owns a farm near Round Grove; Janet and George, twins, the latter now deceased, while the former is residing with her father; Catherine, deceased; Robert, a farmer ncar Round Grove; Mrs. Mary Sherman, who is living in Ames, Towa; Anna, who is engaged in dressmaking in Morrison; David W., who is operating the Thomas farm owned by his father; George W., twin brother of David and now successfully carrying on general farming on the home place in Mount Pleasant township; James A., of Round Grove, who operates an ele- vator and is meeting with prosperity as a grain buyer; Ezra, who is assistant cashier of the Sterling Bank; Simon, who operates a farm belonging to his father east of Round Grove; and Samuel, twin brother of Simon, and now cultivating a part of his father's land in Union Grove township.
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Mr. Mathew gave his early political allegiance to the democracy and for many years has been a stalwart republican. He voted for Buchanan in 1856 but since that time has given his allegiance to the men whose names have lieaded the national republican ticket. He has served as school director for a number of years and the cause of education has found in him a stalwart friend. In early life he was connected with the Odd Fellows society but is not active in his relations therewith at the present time. He has been a life- long member of the Presbyterian church and his daily conduct has been in strict conformity to its teachings. In his business he has been thoroughly reliable and while he has met success it has come to him by reason of honor- able methods that may well be followed by others. His prosperity has resulted from judicious investment and from untiring energy and gradually he has worked his way upward until he is now one of the most extensive landowners of the county.
APPLETON RICH LEWIS.
Appleton Rich Lewis, engaged in the real-estate business and also man- ager of the auditorium of Morrison, was born in Union Grove township in 1858. His father, Mitchell Y. Lewis, was a native of Knox county, Ohio, born July 1, 1820, and was of Welsh ancestry. He became a carpenter and contractor but in early life worked as a cabinet-inaker and joiner. He made the trip from Ohio to Illinois on horseback in 1854 to look over the country and, being pleased with its prospects, the following year he brought his family to Morri- son, where he remained for a short time. He then rented a farm in Union Grove township, cultivating that land until 1865, when he resumed work at his trade, which he followed for some time. In November, 1844, he wedded Martha J. Lane, a native of New Jersey and of Irish descent. In 1894 they celebrated their golden wedding, at which were present their six children, the minister who married them and also guests who witnessed the marriage cere- mony. Up to that time there had not been a death in the family and Mr. Lewis was the first one to depart this life, dying on the eightieth anniversary of his birth. He and his wife had traveled life's journey together for about fifty-six years. In his fraternal relations he was a Mason and on the seventy- fifth anniversary of his birth, Dunlap Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Morrison, set aside all rules and made him an honorary member of that organization. His early political allegiance was given the democracy prior to 1856, when he voted for John C. Fremont, the pathfinder, and ever afterward gave liis politi- cal allegiance to the republican party. He had no aspiration for office but was always loyal and progressive in citizenship and was a man strictly honest in his dealings, his upright life winning for him the esteem and confidence of his neighbors and friends. His wife survived him until December, 1904, pass- ing away in her seventy-ninth year. She was a member of the Presbyterian church and a most estimable lady. In their family were three sons and three daughters: Mary, the wife of Theodore W. McDaniel, of Morrison; Elizabeth,
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the widow of Aaron H. Martin, who also makes her home in Morrison; John W., a carpenter of Tulsa, Indian Territory; William H., who is a painter of Morrison; Jennie M., who is the wife of Rev. Glenvoie McQueen, a minister of the Presbyterian church at Versailles, Indiana; and Appleton Rich, of this review.
The last named lived upon a farm in this county for six years in his early boyhood and afterward attended the common schools of Morrison. At the age of sixteen he entered the office of the Morrison Sentinel, where he remained for six years, becoming thoroughly acquainted with the art preservative, gradually working his way upward until he was forcman of the office. Entering the drug store of A. H. Martin, he then acquainted him- self with that line of business and passed a state examination before the state board of pharmacy in 1888. In the fall of the following year he formed a partnership with J. H. Snyder and purchased the Martin store. They conducted business together for more than eleven years under the firm style of J. H. Snyder & Company, after which Mr. Lewis retired from the firm on the 1st of January, 1900, and engaged in the cigar and tobacco business. He also assumed the management of the Morrison auditorium. He continued in the tobacco trade until 1904, after which he spent about two years at Tulsa, Indian Territory, purchasing some property there. He then returned to Morrison and since the early part of 1907 has been en- gaged in the real-estate business, thoroughly acquainting himself with the value of property and negotiating a number of realty transfers during the past year. He is also manager of the auditorium and is well known in the business circles of this city, while his strongly marked characteristics are such as have gained for him personal popularity.
. . Mr. Lewis is a member of the Masonic fraternity, the Odd Fellows Lodge, the Dixon Lodge of Elks and Sterling commandery, K. T. His political allegiance is given to the republican party and he has been somewhat promi- nent in its local ranks. Three times he has been elected city treasurer and proved himself a most faithful custodian of the public funds. He has a wide acquaintance in this county and is recognized as one of its represent- ative citizens.
ROBERT R. SPAFFORD.
Robert R. Spafford is one of Morrison's native sons, who throughout his entire life, since completing his education, has been identified with its business interests. Born in this city in 1874, his parents were D. S. and Lydia Spafford, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this work. At the usual age he became a pupil in the public schools and was graduated from Oberlin (Ohio) Academy, while later he attended the Rose Polytechnic School at Terre Haute, Indiana. Well equipped by liberal educational ad- vantages for life's practical and responsible duties, after completing his education he engaged with a company in installing electric light plants for
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