USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. II > Part 51
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On the 27th of March, 1878, Mr. Hill was married to Miss Mary Lan- caster, a native of this county, and a daughter of Charles and Sarah Laneas- ter, of whom mention is made in connection with the sketch of Millard Hill, on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. Mallory S. Hill have but one
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daughter, Maysie, now the wife of H. C. Hull, who is operating her father's farm. Mr. and Mrs. Hill are valued and faithful members of the Methodist Episcopal church, with which they have long been connected, and Mr. Hill belongs to the Modern Woodmen Camp of Prophetstown. Since age conferred upon him the right of franchise he has supported at the polls the men and measures of the republican party, but has never sought nor desired office, preferring, during his active business career, to concentrate his energies upon his farming interests, whereby he attained the gratifying measure of suc- cess which has now placed him far beyond want, and among the men of affluence of the county. Straightforward in his business affairs, he well de- serves mention in this volume because of his personal traits of character, and also by reason of the fact that he is a representative of one of its oldest families.
CYRUS EMERY.
Cyrus Emery, whose influence is ever found on the side of reform, progress and improvement, has valuable property holdings in Prophetstown and Hume townships, Whiteside county, the father and son, Charles E., own- ing three hundred and twenty-five acres. He bought the property where he now lives in 1856, thus becoming owner of a dwelling which was built by Elias C. Hutchinson, one of the earliest settlers of this part of the state. Mr. Emery was born in Sanford, York county, Maine, June 3, 1830, his parents being Thomas Salter and Hannah (Willard) Emery, who were also natives of Sanford, Maine, and spent their entire lives in the Pine Tree state. The father was a farmer by occupation and thus provided for his family. His political allegiance was given to the Whig party. He died very suddenly, at the comparatively early age of forty-nine years, while his wife reached the ad- vanced age of eighty-four years and ever remained true to his memory, never marrying again. By the two marriages there were thirteen children, of whom Cyrus was the eleventh in order of birth and is now the only survivor. He has in his possession an interesting history of the Emery family, giving data from 1590 until 1890, and by desire of his children he has written from memory the reminiscences of his youth, containing fifty thousand words, which he has typewritten and bound in book form.
Mr. Emery remained at the place of his nativity until about twenty years of age and was on the home farm until fourteen years of age, when he began learning the tinner's trade. He followed that pursuit during the greater part of the time until 1866, when he disposed of his interests in that line, and in more recent years has concentrated his energies largely upon the im- provement of his land. He was married on the fifth of June, 1853, to Miss Caroline B. Trafton, who was born in Maine, June 16, 1833, a daughter of Colonel John and Lucinda (Clark) Trafton. The following year he came with his wife to Whiteside county, Illinois, and on the 1st of October, 1854, opened the first hardware store and tinshop in Prophetstown. There was no
LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA
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MRS. CYRUS EMERY
CYRUS EMERY
L'3RARY UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA
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railroad through this part of the county at the time and all of his stock had to be hauled from Geneseo, twenty-two miles away. The new enterprise proved profitable, however, and year by year, with the growth of the village and the surrounding country, his patronage increased, the business becoming a large and important one for a town of this size. He also carried a full line of stoves. He continued in the trade successfully until 1865, when he sold out and has since managed his agricultural interests. In the meantime, in 1865, he had purchased one hundred ninety-seven and a half acres of land, at that time situated on sections 19 and 30, township-20, range 6, Hume township. It was raw prairie when it came into his possession, but he at once began to . cutivate and improve it and his labors through the passing years have trans- formed it into a valuable farm property. He also owns thirty-four acres on sections 17, 20 and 5, township 20, range 5, Prophetstown township, still retaining both properties, while he and his son Charles have three hundred and twenty-five acres together. His present home is one of the old landmarks of the county, having for more than a half century been a mute witness of the changes which have occurred and of the county's growth and substantial improvement. On retiring from commercial pursuits in 1865 Mr. Emery concentrated his attention upon the improvement of his land and also gives much of his time to reading and study, finding great pleasure and happiness in his books. He has read broadly, thinks deeply and is a man of wide general information.
In 1857 Mr. Emery was called upon to mourn the loss of his first wife, who died in Prophetstown on the 24th of April. On the 19th of July, follow- ing, he was again married, his second union being with Martha Ann Rose, who was born June 14, 1832, in Limington, York county, Maine, a daughter of Joseph and Sarah (Edgecomb) Rose. She was the eldest of a family of twelve children and at Dover, New Hampshire, she gave her hand in mar- riage to Mr. Emery. She was a most motherly woman and her good traits of heart and mind won her the friendship and love of all with whom she came in contact. Her kind heart responded readily to a tale of sorrow or dis- tress and her helping hand was extended to many in need and trouble. She was energetic and capable to a marked degree and her best traits of character were ever reserved for her own fireside. She was devoted to the welfare of her husband and children and the two motherless little girls of her husbands first marriage found in her a true mother, who showed no partiality to her own children. Unto Mr. Emery and his first wife there were born two daughters. Eva Lucinda is now the wife of Charles H. Dye, of Oregon City, Oregon, where he is practicing law. Mrs. Dye is the renowned author of McLoughlin and Old Oregon, The Conquest, McDonald of Oregon, and a common school text-book now used in all the common schools of Oregon and this through full legal sanction and authority. She has received most favorable comment from the press throughout the country, the volume, McDonald of Oregon, being interesting from the historical as well as the fiction side, but this, however, would apply to all the writings of this renowned author. Dr. Caroline E. Carley, the second daughter, is the wife of Dr. James O. R. Carley, of Win- chester, Kansas. Both are physicians in active practice. Unto Mr. Emery
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and his second wife were born six children. Cora Lillian, the wife of Jolin A. Reed, of Rock Island, is a graduate of the Hahnemann Medical College of Chicago of the class of 1887 and is now enjoying a large practice. Charles Ellsworth is a resident farmer of Prophetstown township; Florence May is living with her father. Two daughters died at the age of five years and one son at the age of thirteen months. The eldest daughter, Mrs. Eva Dye, is a graduate of Oberlin College and her husband also completed a course in that school in the same class. Mr. Emery certainly has every reason to be proud of his family, as all are now occupying honorable positions in life and three daughters have gained distinction in literary and professional circles. The death of Mrs. Martha Emery occurred in Prophetstown, November 3, 1907, when she had reached the age of seventy-five years, four months and seven- teen days. In 1859 she became a spiritualist and medium, being both clair- voyant and clairaudient. She was also a member of the Daughters of Re- bekah and of the Eastern Star and the Woman's Relief Corps. On the 19th of July, 1907, Mr. and Mrs. Emery celebrated their golden wedding, which was an occasion of much joy, not only to the worthy couple but to all who participated therein. She had many friends and all who knew her loved and esteemed her, so that her death was the occasion of deep and wide-spread regret.
Mr. Emery is also identified with spiritualism, with which he became connected in 1858. Since 1876 he has been a devoted member of the I'nde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. The temperance cause finds in him a sta !- wart champion and he has been identified with the prohibition party since the beginning of the movement and with one exception has continuously voted for its party leaders, while in his community he has been very active in the anti-license campaigns. He has served as school director of Prophets- town for twelve years and was clerk of the board for several years. He was also justice of the peace for one term and for two terms was a member of the town council. He has been most faithful and loyal in the performance of his official duties and in every relation of life has been found to be a man loyal to his ideals and his principals, standing unequivocally for what he believes to be right and thus commanding the respect and admiration of even those who differ from him in his views. Mr. Emery has a reputation of the highest commercial integrity. It is truthfully said of him that he owes no man, and an overdue bill has never had to be presented to him.
LAFAYETTE TRIPP STOCKING.
LaFayette Tripp Stocking, for twenty-five years a member of the White- side county bar, where he has long since attained a position of distinction, was born at Pine Plains, Dutchess county, New York, December 25, 1857. His father, R. V. Stocking, was also born at Pine Plains, and is of English ancestry and of Revolutionary stock. He was a mechanic, and following his removal to Illinois in 1856, settled at Prophetstown, where he first conducted
HOME OF CYRUS EMERY. BUILT IN 1856.
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HOME OF CHARLES E. EMERY
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a blacksmith shop, while later he was connected with the plow works. He is an expert artisan, displaying marked ingenuity and skill in the use of tools. He removed from Prophetstown to Morrison in 1865, and conducted a black- smith shop until 1873, when he merged his business into that of a stoek company, which took the title of the Morrison Agricultural Works, manu- facturing the Morrison stock cutters and other mechanical devices, but prin- eipally the Morrison wagon. Mr. Stocking was the principal stoekholder and · president of the company. He was very successful in his undertakings, and lıis well directed labors and unfaltering diligenee brought to him a compe- tency that in 1884 enabled liim to retire from active business and enjoy well inerited rest. At the time of the Civil war lie enlisted, on the 2d of Decem- ber, 1861, at Prophetstown, joining Company K of tlic Thirty-fourth Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry. On aeeount of disability he was mustered out July 3, 1862, at St. Louis, at that time holding the rank of first sergeant. He par- tieipated in the battle of Shiloh, and is now a member of Alpheus Clark Post, G. A. R. He is a man of cxeellent physique and fine personal appear- ance, being five feet and eleven inches in height and well proportioned. He was a fine rifle shot and an expert in athletics. His political belief was in harmony with the principles of the whig party in his early manhood, and upon the organization of the republican party he became one of its stalwart advocates. In community affairs he has always taken a deep and helpful interest, and his labors have been an important element in the growth and progress of this part of the county. He was at different times one of the officers of the town of Morrison; in 1868 was president of the town board, while the previous year he served as a member of the board. Later he served as one of the aldermen of the city of Morrison, and he exercised his official pre- rogatives in support of all that contributed to the general good. He stands well among his neighbors, and his friends are many. He wedded Mary Keefer, who was also born at Pine Plains, New York, her natal day being February 11, 1838. She is of Holland Dutch descent, and is still living in Morrison. Their family numbered three children: Lewis, who died at the age of thirteen years; George, who died in infancy ; and LaFayette T.
Although born in the Empire state, Mr. Stocking of this review was reared in this county and attended the Morrison schools, being graduated from the high school with the class of 1875. Determining upon the practice of law As a life work, in the fall of 1876 he entered the Albany Law School, and was graduated therefrom in the fall of 1877. Later he returned to Morrison and was admitted to practice his profession at the bar of Illinois, and in the federal courts. He began praetiec in Morrison, and has remained here to the present time, enjoying marked success in the field of his chosen endeavor. Earnest effort, close application and the exercise of his native talents have won him prestige as a lawyer at a bar which has numbered many able and prominent representatives.
On the 11th of February, 1879, Mr. Stocking was married to Miss Kate Guffin, who was born in Morrison in 1860, a daughter of Thomas and Mary (Stiles) Guffin. Her father was one of the pioneer merchants of Morrison, coming from New York to Whiteside county about 1856. His wife removed
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from Pennsylvania to the middle west with her parents, Richard and Maria T. (Burrows) Stiles. Her father established the first bank in Morrison, known as the Stiles & McMaster Bank, and afterward purchased by Leander Smith and A. J. Jackson, who organized it into The First National Bank of Morrison. Mr. and Mrs. Stocking have one daughter, Lena Keefer, who was born in Morrison, July 29, 1880, and is the wife of Walter Graves Baker, an attorney at law of East Moline, Illinois. His parents were Anson and Anna Baker and his grandfather Oliver Baker, one of the pioneers of White- side county. Mrs. Lena Baker is a graduate of the Morrison high school of the class of 1899 and also spent two years as a student in the State Uni- versity at Champaign. For three years she studied in the Chicago Kinder- garten College and was graduated therefrom in 1904, and during one year of that time she also acted as an assistant in the Dewey school of kinder- garten and other work at the Chicago University. She taught the kinder- garten department in the Mckinley school at Waterloo, Iowa, in 1906.
Mr. and Mrs. Stocking are well known socially in Morrison and the hospitality of their pleasant home is greatly enjoyed by their many friends. The zeal with which he has devoted his energies to his profession, the care- ful regard evinced for the interests of his clients and an assiduous and unre- laxing attention to all the details of his cases have brought him a large busi- ness and made him successful in its conduct.
JOSEPH E. HARRISON.
Joseph E. Harrison is a representative of one of the old pioneer families of the county and his memory bears the impress of many events which have shaped the history and molded the destiny in this part of the state. He was born in Genesee township, September 25, 1849, and in the paternal line is of English descent. His father, Mark Harrison, was born in England in 1804 and came to America when twenty-one years of age, landing at Quebec, Canada, where he followed the trade of a cotton worker in the mills. In 1832 he went to Chicago, where he met John A. Cook, the man in whose honor Cook county was named. Mr. Cook offered him twenty- five dollars per month to drive a stage from Chicago to Rock Island and would pay him in town lots that are now within the city limits of the metrop- olis. Mr. Harrison refused the offer, however, and made his way to Fulton, Illinois, where he had purchased five lots without seeing them. After look- ing over his property he traded them for a claim of one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 34, Genesee township. He then started back to Chicago and on his way met a man of the name of H. Brink, with whom he hired out and worked on what was then known as the Empire dam. Later, however, he entered a claim in Genesee township and took up his abode thereon, making it his home until his death. He was one of the first settlers of Genesee township, arriving here in 1836. The Black Hawk war had been fought only four years before and there were still many traces of
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Indian oeeupaney throughout this portion of the state. In faet, Indians yet frequently visited the settlements, while in the forests and over the prairies roamed deer and other wild game.
Mark Harrison was married to Miss Mary Taylor, who was born in North Carolina, near Norfolk, Virginia, in 1803, and they began their domestie life with a eash eapital of fifteen dollars and a half. They cooked and ate their "wedding feast" in their own log cabin, their table being formed of a split slab, into which long pins were driven to serve as legs. They sat on three-legged stools and their bed was formed of a tiek filled with straw. Mrs. Harrison lost her parents when very young and later she became house- keeper for her brother, who was a widower with two children. He sold his property in Norfolk, Virginia, and prepared to move westward but fell a vietim of the eltolera epidemie and died within a few days. Mrs. Harrison then eame to Illinois, locating near Hennepin. The journey of fifteen hun- dred miles was made by wagon across the country, over roads which were often in very poor condition. Mrs. Harrison, however, did not ride, but walked the entire distanee by the side of the wagon. During her early married life she experieneed many hardships and privations ineident to the settlement of the frontier. There was little money in eireulation and farm produets brought very low prices. At one time Mr. Harrison sold wheat for twenty-five eents per bushel, while fat eattle brought five dollars eaeh at Galena. The farmers depended upon what they raised for a. livelihood and nearly everything that was used in the household, largely ineluding elothing and furniture, was made upon the place. As the years passed, how- ever, and the family prospered they were enabled to enjoy many of the eomforts and some of the luxuries of life. Mr. Harrison reached the age of seventy-three years and passed away in 1877, the county thus losing one of its earliest settlers and respected farmers. His wife survived him for eleven years and passed away in 1888. They were the parents of five eliil- dren : Mrs. Aliee Pitman, now residing in Greene county, Iowa; Henry, who is living in Genesee township; Mrs. Sarah Lynch, a widow, residing in Genesee township; Joseph E., of this review; and one deceased.
The early experiences of Joseph Harrison were such as usually fall to the lot of the farm boy whose parents are in somewhat limited eircumstanees, but he possessed the energy and determination that leads to suceessful aeeom- plishment. He rendered assistance in the farm work as time passed and in the publie sehools acquired his edueation. On the 23d of September, 1873, he was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Peugh, a daughter of Charles B. and Jane (Louden) Peugh. Mrs. Harrison was born April 14, 1854, in Genesee township and was one of a family of thirteen children. By her marriage she has beeome the mother of six children: Lillie B., now de- eeased; Mary Iola, the wife of James Pateh, of Kansas; Bertha and Charles B., twins, the former the wife of Jaeob Garwick, a resident of Iowa; Charles B., living in Kansas; Cynthia, the wife of Fred Overholser, of Coleta; and Aliee, at home. ,
Following his marriage, Joseph E. Harrison engaged in farming the old homestead property until his father's death, when he purchased the farm,
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comprising one hundred and twenty aeres in Gencsee township. In 1903 he retired and removed to Coleta, where he now lives, but for a long period was actively associated with agricultural interests and through his well di- rected labors and unfaltering enterprise gained a place among the men of affluence in the community.
In his political views Mr. Harrison is a republican and has served as supervisor of his township, while for thirty years he has been a school trustee and has held nearly every other office in the county. He is inter- ested in the cause of education and is a champion of many progressive meas- ures. He belongs to the Modern Woodmen camp and both he and his wife are members of the Christian church, in the work of which they are deeply interested, while Mr. Harrison is serving as one of the church elders. His religious faith has characterized his entire life, making him an honest man, reliable in all business transactions and considerate of the welfare and interests of others. Both he and his wife belong to old families of the county and both have for more than a half century been witnesses of the changes which have here occurred, Mr. Harrison having seen the growth and devel- opment of this seetion of the state for almost six deeades.
JOHN OLSEN.
John Olsen is a splendid example of the thrift and enterprise which is so characteristie of the Swedish raee, for in America, where opportunity is open to the ambitious young man, he has worked his way up from a very humble beginning until he is now elassed among the substantial agricultur- ists of Whiteside county, owning in Prophetstown township a finely im- proved farm of one hundred and twenty acres, all of which has been acquired through his own persistent and well directed labor.
Mr. Olsen was born in Sehoening, Sweden, April 19, 1858, a son of Ole and Bangda (Parsons) Olsen, whose family numbered seven children, of whom five are living. With the exception of John all still reside in their native country, these being Jens, Neils, Angre and Johannah. The father was in very humble financial circumstanees, so that it became necessary for the son at the very early age of eight years to provide for his own support. He wandered over various scetions of his native land, doing any work that would yield him an honest living. During this time he formed a deep attachment for three companions, two of whom, after reaching years of maturity emigrated to the United States and also indueed Mr. Olsen to join them here.
In 1878, when he had reached the age of twenty years, Mr. Olsen was married to Miss Johannah Anderson, a daughter of Andrew Munson and Cecelia (Stestrom) Anderson, who were likewise residents of Sweden. The father is now deceased but the mother still survives and has always lived in her native country. Mrs. Olsen also has two sisters and one brother in Sweden, while one brother, Eriek Anderson, lives in Henry county, and a sister, Mrs. Edla Johnson, resides in Prophetstown.
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Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Olsen remained in their native land for a decade, after which, in 1888, they emigrated to the United States. He at once made his way' to Illinois, stopping for a few days in Princeton. He then continued his journey to Whiteside county, where he has sinee made his home. He spent the first year working on a farm by the month, in order to provide for the support of himself and family. He then invested in eighty acres of swamp land in Tampieo township, and although his friends considered it a very unwise investment, it proved to be quite the contrary, for after he had improved the tract he sold it for double what he paid for it. He then rented land during the succeeding five years, or until. 1899, when he purchased his present farm, comprising one hundred and twenty acres, which he has also improved and made of it a valuable prop- erty. He is here engaged in rasing the various cereals best adapted to soil and climate and is also engaged in raising stock to some extent, keeping on hand thirteen cows and from ten to twelve head of horses. He is here meet- ing with good success, which seems all the more remarkable from the faet that in his youth he was deprived of all educational advantages, so that what he has accomplished in life has been entirely owing to his good busi- ness judgment and through hard, persistent labor.
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Olsen has been blessed with seven chil- dren : Mrs. Tilda Borup; Mary, the wife of Enoch Anderson, of Prophets- town township, by whom she has two daughters and one boy; Aleda; and Ola, Cecelia, Frans, Otto and Evaline, all yet under the parental roof. Mr. Olsen gives his political support to the republican party and he and his wife are members of the Swedish Lutheran church. He is ever found loyal to the best interests of his adopted country and is alive to the opportunities which this country offers, for, as stated, his success is by no means the result of fortunate cireumstances but has come as the result of his own well di- rected labor and the assistance of his estimable wife, and no citizen of White- side county is more worthy to be ealled "a self-made man" than is Mr. Olsen.
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