USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. II > Part 59
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Edward O. Peterson was reared upon the home farm in the usual man- ner of lads of the period, attending the public schools and working in the fields through the summer months. At the age of twenty-two years he started
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out in life on his own account, being cinployed in a livery stable for a time, while later he was appointed deputy jailer at Princeton, Illinois, serving there for two years under Bert Skugland. He then came to Prophetstown and for one year managed the hardware store owned by his brother, Albert Peter- son. Later he spent one year as a bartender at Sandwich, Illinois, after which he took charge of the honie farm upon which he now resides. His time and energies are being given to the general development and improvement of this property and he is numbered among the representative agriculturists of the community.
Mr. Peterson was married February 5, 1907, to Miss Jennie Poulter, who was born in Iowa, a daughter of John and Fannie Poulter, who were natives of England. They had a family of twelve children. Both Mr. and Mrs. Peterson attend and support the Methodist Episcopal church. He be- longs to the Modern Woodmen camp at Tampico and gives his political allegiance to the republican party.
PETER KNOX.
While a third of a century has passed since Peter Knox was called from this life, he is yet remembered by many residents of Whiteside county, parti- cularly in the district in which he lived. He was born April 4, 1823, in Dum- phrey township in the district of Gore, Canada, and accompanied his parents, James and Amy (Martin) Knox, on their removal to Whiteside county in 1835. He was therefore reared in this county from the age of twelve years, making his way into the district when it was a pioneer region upon the fron- tier. Only three years before, the white settlers had contested with the red race their right to rule over the broad prairies and hunt in the timber regions of Illinois. The red men had rebelled against the intrusion of the white faces and entered upon active warfare under the leadership of Black Hawk. Great stretches of the country were still unclaimed and were known as government land. The prairies were covered with their native grasses and wild flowers, and in the winter the winds had unbroken sweep over the districts, which were covered with an unbroken sheet of snow. The cabins were largely built of logs, cooking was done over the fire places and the houses were lighted with candles and later with-kerosene lamps.
Mr. Knox became familiar with all of the conditions and environment; of pioneer life and the hardships and trials incident to the extension of the frontier. As a boy and youth he assisted in the arduous task of developing a new farm and remained a resident of this county until 1852, when he went to California, accompanied by his three brothers-Henry, Martin and James. They made the overland trip across the long stretches of sand and through the mountain passes until their eyes were gladdened by the sight of the green fields of California. The fabulous stories of rapidly acquired wealth led them to hope that they might have equal success there, but after a year Peter Knox yearned for the old home in Illinois and returned to Whiteside county, tak-
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PETER KNOX
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ing up his abode in Mount Pleasant township. He settled on liis present farm which now comprises two liundred and forty acres in section 16 and which is still owned by his widow, who leases it. Year after year he cultivated the fields and added to the equipments of the farm until he had one of the best improved places of the district. The fields brought forth rich harvests and he also raised considerable stock, which had good pasturage in the meadows. He thus led a busy, useful and active life and acquired a comfortable competence. .
In 1860 Mr. Knox was united in marriage to Miss Emeline C. Hawley, who was born in Genesee county, New York, a daughter of Hiram and Sarah (Dexter) Hawley. Her father, who was an agriculturist, died in the Empire state and the mother died soon after coming to Whiteside county in 1858. Mrs. Knox was one of five children, namely: Royal, a resident of Morrison ; Mrs. Susan M. Humphrey, who is the widow of G. B. Humphrey and is living with Mrs. Knox in Mount Pleasant township; Linas, who was a farmer during his active life and died in Morrison in 1874; and Truman M., who died in California in 1904. He was for a time a resident of Whiteside county and enlisted here for service in the Eighth Illinois Cavalry, after hav- ing previously served for a time in a New York regiment.
Mr. Knox was a stalwart supporter of the republican party. As the years passed by he prospered in liis undertakings and was enabled to enjoy rest and recreation in his later years. He was spending his second winter in California when his death occurred. Mrs. Knox spends most of the winter months in that sunny clime, while the summer seasons are passed in Whiteside county, where she has so long resided and where she has a most extensive acquain- tance, while from the great majority who know her she receives warm friend- ship.
HARVEY SHERMAN GREEN.
Harvey Sherman Green, manager of and stockholder in the Morrison Gas & Electric Company, was born in Morrison on the 9th of April, 1866. In the paternal line he comes of English and Dutch ancestry and of Revolu- tionary stock, the family having been represented in the colonial army dur- ing the war for independence. The grandfather, Thomas Jefferson Green, was an carly settler of northern New York. John Seymour Green, the father, was born in Walton, Delaware county, New York, in 1831, and for many years followed merchandising. He came to Illinois in the early '50s and occupied the position of station agent at Danville, Illinois. Later he went to Alton and prior to the Civil war was engaged in the newspaper business and as an accountant in Kansas City, Missouri. In the fall of 1862 he came to Whiteside county, settling in Morrison, where he established a drug business, entering into partnership with B. B. Higgins, of Dixon, who is now connected · with a large wholesale and retail china and glass firm of New York city. They purchased Dr. William L. Coe's stock of drugs and began business in the first brick block of Morrison under the name of Green & Higgins. Mr. Higgins retired after a couple of years and was succeeded by George A. Whitcomb, who
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later disposed of his interest to Mr. Green, who then conducted the business alone until his death, which occurred in 1888. The store was thereafter con- ducted in the name of Mr. Green until 1903, when the Green Drug Company was organized, the stockholders being Mrs. John S. Green and Charles W. Fitz- gerald, the latter acting as manager. Mr. Green was a successful business man who started in life with small capital but as the years passed accumu- lated considerable property and became quite prosperous. He enjoyed in large measure the confidence and esteem of his fellowmen, having shown himself thoroughly worthy of their trust and good will. He was a member of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, and in politics was always a stal- wart republican. For many years he served as city treasurer and also on the city council and the school board, his official duties being discharged with a sense of conscientious obligation. He wedded Miss Cornelia Williams, who was born in East Pembroke, New York, in 1844, and is still living in Morri- son. On the maternal side she is connected with the Schuylers, Van Slichten- horsts, Herkimers, Ver Plancks and other faniilies prominent in the found-
ing of Manhattan; on the paternal with the Edwards, Buchs and Robinsons, of early Connecticut and Massachusetts. Her father, Hervey Edwards Wil- liams, was a contractor on the enlargement of the Erie canal and when rail- road building began in the west in the early '50s, he made his way to this part of the country and contracted for the grading and building of the Illi- nois Central from Peru to Rockford. He brought his family to the west in 1853 and after the war located on a farm in Lee county, south of Dixon, where he remained until his death. He was a successful man in his undertakings and through railroad building was closely associated with the carly develop- ment and progress of this part of the state.
Mr. and Mrs. John S. Green were married in Dixon, January 5, 1864. Their family consists of four children : Ivy, the wife of T. F. Hummel, who is engaged in the insurance business in Cincinnati, Ohio; Olive Williams, the wife of Charles Gallentinc, proprietor of the Gallentine cucumber and tomato houses at Morrison; Florence Myrtle, the wife of John L. Brearton, an attor- ney at law of Savanna; and Harvey Sherman.
The last nanied was a pupil in the public school of Morrison, passing through successive grades until he was graduated from the high school with the class of 1884. He afterward worked for Potter, Grecn & Company, dealers in coal, grain and luniber, for three years and then went to Idaho in 1887. There he worked for the O. R. & N. Railroad Company as a surveyor for about one year, after which he returned to Morrison and accepted a clerical position in the bank of Leander Smith & Sons, with whom he continued for two years. Removing to Primghar, Iowa, he there engaged in the banking and land title business for a year. Again returning to Morrison he bought an interest in the Morrison Gas & Electric Company, of which he became man- ager, since which time he has been in control of the business. For five years during this time he had been engaged in building electric lighting plants in different parts of the country.
On the 10th of October, 1889, Mr. Green was married to Miss Vallie Slioles, who was born in Morrison in 1866 and is a daughter of C. W. and
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Jennie (Baldwin) Sholes, the former one of the pioneer hardware mer- chants of this city and one of its first business men. Mr. and Mrs. Green have three children: Helen Sholes, John S. and Sherman B.
Mr. Green belongs to the Masonic fraternity and when made a Knight Templar was the youngest Mason of that rank in the state. When made a Shriner he was also the youngest representative of the Shrine in the United States. He belongs to the Knights of Pythias fraternity and gives his politi- cal allegianee to the republican party. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, elected him to the office of eity treasurer, and from 1892 until 1907 he served as a member of the sehool board. Although he has so- journed in different parts of the country at intervals, the greater part of his life has been passed in Morrison and he is well known here as a eitizen of worth and a reliable business man.
TOBIAS KAUFFMAN.
Tobias Kauffman is the owner of a well kept farm on section 29, Jordan township, and is numbered among the representative agriculturists of this part of the state. A native son of Pennsylvania, he was born in Laneaster county on the 23d of April, 1841, and is a son of Jacob and Ann Eliza (Snyder) Kauffman. The first nine years of his life were spent in the place of his na- tivity and he began his edueation in the publie schools of Pennsylvania. He then aecompanied his parents on their removal westward to Whiteside county in 1850, the journey being made by way of the water route, for at that time no railroads had been built and private conveyanee and navigation afforded the only means of transportation. On reaching their destination the family settled in Sterling township but in 1851 removed to Jordan township, taking up their abode on section 32, where they lived until the fall of 1866.
Tobias Kauffman continued his edueation in the publie schools of White- side county and was early trained to the work of the home farm, aiding in the task of plowing, planting and harvesting so that he gained broad practical experience concerning all the departments of farm work. After arriving at years of maturity he made preparations for having a home of his own by his marriage to Miss Harriet E. Kapp, a daughter of George and Mary L. (Her- sey) Kapp. The wedding was celebrated on Christmas of 1866, and the young couple took up their abode upon a farm on seetion 29, Jordan township. During the first year Mr. Kauffman cultivated rented land but in the fall of 1867 he purchased sixty-nine aeres from George Kapp and located thereon his first home. He still owns the old homestead property and as the years passed he brought his fields under a high state of eultivation and added many modern improvements to the farm. In all of his work he has been diligent. and persevering and has manifested the persistency of purpose which con- stitutes an indispensable factor in the acquirement of success.
Six children were born unto Mr. and Mrs. Kauffman. Minnie M., born in 1867, was married in 1898 to Wilbur F. Marshall, a farmer residing in De
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Kalb county, Illinois. Abraham L., born in 1869, was married in 1898 to Miss Jennie Ray, who died in 1906; Frank K., born in 1872, is in New York city; George J., born in 1875, was ruthlessly murdered in 1897. Clara S., born in 1877, and Jessie C., born in 1880, are at home. There are two grand- children, sons of Abraham L. Kauffman-Ray and Clarence, both natives of Whiteside county, born in 1900 and 1903 respectively. The family attend the Fourth Street Methodist Episcopal church of Sterling and their influ- enee is ever found on the side of right, justice, truth and progress.
Mr. Kauffman was a soldier of the Civil war, enlisting at Dixon, Septem- ber 17, 1864, in Company A, Thirty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, as a reeruit. He joined his regiment at Atlanta, Georgia, and was with Sherman on the celebrated march to the sea. He did pieket duty at Sisters Ferry and was one of the three men detailed from his company to look after repairs of the military roads. After participating in the grand review at Washington, D. C., in May, 1865, he was discharged from the service.
Mr. Kauffman has served for eighteen consecutive years as school · trustee, and has also been sehool director for a number of years. He was likewise justice of the peace and his deei- sions were strictly fair and impartial. In fact, all of his politieal serviee has been characterized by unfaltering devotion to duty. In polities he is a stal- wart republican, inflexible in his support of the principles in which he be- lieved. During a residence in this county covering almost six decades, he has never tasted a drop of liquor or visited a saloon. He is not a prohibitionist, but believes in temperanee in all things. He lias witnessed mueh of the growth and development of the county and has been associated with many events which have left their impress upon its history. The county today bears little resemblance to the distriet into which the family made their way fifty-eight years ago. Today there are highly cultivated farms where was then seen wild prairie. At that time there were no large farm houses but little pioneer cabins sheltered the men and women who had made their way to the frontier to establish homes here. Year by year changes have occurred which have brought about the transformation of the present and Mr. Kauff- inan has borne his full share in the work of agricultural development which has transformed this region into one of the richest farming distriets of the state.
IRWIN STEVENS.
Irwin Stevens, who is engaged in general agricultural pursuits and stoek- raising on section 15, Prophetstown township, where he has one hundred and sixty aeres of land, was born in New York; July 31, 1861, his parents being G. L. and Esther (Hollis) Stevens, likewise natives of New York. They are both still living and are the parents of nine children, as follows: Her- bert, living in Denver, Colorado; Irwin, of this review; Ellen M., the wife of Brighton Salisbury, of New York; Emma H., the wife of Edward Inger-
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IRWIN STEVENS
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soll; M. H. and Edward, who reside in Oregon; Charles, who makes hiis. home in St. Charles, Illinois; Raymond, of New York; and one who has de- parted this life.
Irwin Stevens was educated in the common sehools and remained under the parental roof until twenty years of age, subsequently working as a laborer for a period of six years. At the end of that time he was married and then operated a traet of rented land for five years. In the year 1895 he removed to Whiteside eounty, Illinois, having purchased one hundred and sixty aeres on seetion 15, Prophetstown township. He has sinee brought his land under a high state of development and in addition to the work of general farming he makes a specialty of stock-raising and feeding, meeting with a gratifying measure of sueeess in both branches of his business.
Mr. Stevens was joined in wedloek to Miss Mary Ellen Ostler, a native of Woodford county, Illinois, and a daughter of William and Mary (Morris) Ostler, natives of England, who emigrated to the United States in 1851, stopping for a short time in New York and also in Chieago, but subsequently they removed to Peoria eounty, where the father farmed rented land until 1855. He then purchased forty aeres in Woodford county, Illinois, where he made his home, adding one hundred and forty aeres more to his hold- ings as his financial resources permitted. He was one of the early pioneers of this state, aiding in reelaiming the wild land for the purposes of eiviliza- tion and improvement. His death oeeurred in 1905 and he had long sur- vived his wife who was called to the home beyond in 1879. Their family numbered three children: J. W., of Woodford county; Mrs. Stevens, and Anna S. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Stevens have also been born three children, namely : Harold E., Raymond O. and Ralph W.
In his political views Mr. Stevens is a staneh prohibitionist and both he and his wife are members of the Baptist ehureh. He is well and favor- ably known throughout the community as a straightforward and reliable business man, a publie-spirited eitizen and trustworthy friend.
GRANT S. LANDIS.
Grant S. Landis is a representative farmer living on seetions 26 and 23, Coloma township. He has been a life-long resident of Whiteside county and is a man of influence in his community, respeeted by all for the possession of many sterling traits of character which win him friendship and regard. Ile was born April 6, 1864, on the Fred Shuler farm in Sterling township, a son of Henry.C. and Malinda (Summy) Landis, who were natives of Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania. Judge Landis belongs to a different branch of the same family. The founder of the Landis family in America was Benja- mnin Landis, who crossed the Atlantic in 1718. He had four children: Ben- jamin, Jr., who was eighteen years of age at the time of the emigration to the new world; Abraham; Jacob; and Henry. The second named was born in April. 1744, and died March 4, 1825. He married Marie Brubaker, who
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was born February 8, 1747, and died September 8, 1828. Their children were: Anna, Benjamin, Marie, John, Henry, Peter, Abraham, Barbara, Eliz- abeth and Susanna. Of this family, Abraham, born April 11, 1780, died April 21, 1881, while his wife, who bore the maiden name of Anna Neff, was born April 19, 1781, and died January 11, 1866. Their children were Henry, Simon, Abraham, Mary, Elizabeth, John, Anna and Benjamin. Of these, Abraham was born November 22, 1807, and died September 16, 1890, having for many years survived his wife, who bore the maiden name of Maria Pickel. She was born January 6, 1808, and died April 16, 1873. In the family of Abraham and Maria (Pickel) Landis were nine children: Elmina, Nancy, Mary, Henry C., Elizabeth, Abraham, John, Harriet and Benjamin, of which family Henry C. Landis, the fourth in order of birth, was the father of our subject.
Henry C. Landis was born May 6, 1833, and died March 11, 1902. On the 3d of February, 1859, he was married to Malinda Summy, also a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, born May 25, 1840. They removed to the west in 1859, making their way to Whiteside county, Illinois, and settling in Sterling. To this union were born seven children: William, Ada C., Grant S., Laura, Anna, May, and Clayton, of whom only two are living, Ada C. and Grant S.
In the maternal line the ancestry of the family is traced back to a very early period. Hans Peter Summy was a Palatine Mennonite exile from Can- ton-Aurgan, Switzerland. The name in Europe is written Somme and Somec, which would indicate a French origin from the river or country of Somme in northern France. But judging from their religion and other characteristics of these people, it is more likely that they were of the Walden exiles of Italy in the earlier history of the church and assumed the name of the place where- unto they escaped from their Italian expatriation. Like many of the Men- nonite Palatinates, they became the future settlers and inhabitants of Lan- caster county, Pennsylvania. We have a traditional account of members of this family, who, to escape a relentless persecution, fled from Aurgan to Offen- burg, in middle Baden, and on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, by Louis XIV, of France, in 1685, they removed to Alsace for the same cause and again on the cession of Alsace to France upon the treaty of Ryswick in 1697, they removed to Holland for protection, becoming refugees under the rule of William of Orange or his successor, the people there enjoying religious free- dom. From Rotterdam came the American ancestor of the Summy family to the colony of Pennsylvania, by way of Plymouth, England, on the brigan- tine Richmond and Elizabeth, Christopher Clymer, master, arriving in Phila- delphia in 1733. Hans Peter Summy was accompanied by his wife and sons: Hans Jacob, Hans Peter, Otto Fritz, Johannes and Hans Michael, the last two being minors. If there were any daughters the names are not given in the colonial records, nor is the name of the wife given, but in a will executed by Hans Jacob Summy in 1761 he makes provision for the maintenance of his wife and mother, which is proof that she came with him to America.
On his arrival Hans Peter joined the Mennonites in Lancaster county. These Mennonites were the first settlers in the valleys of Pequea and Cones-
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toga, leaving the fatherland and their homes and possessions at the beginning of the eighteenth century to find in the American wilderness a refuge from relentless persecution, such as no other people had suffered, and peace and spiritual freedom among thie red men that the bigotry and intolerance of civ- ilized Europe would not allow them at that time.
How or why the change in the spelling of the name occurred, is not known, but it was no unusual thing for a surname to take a different form upon the change from one language to another. Some of the family went south and located on the Catawba river, in North Carolina, where descendants of theirs still live, including Dr. Albert T. Summy, of Asheville, North Caro- lina, and the Rev. George Summy, of Covington, Kentucky, while the Sum- mys of Tennessee are also descended from the same ancestry.
Johannes Summy lived in Pennsylvania. His children were Abraham, John and Michael and the last named reared a family in Somerset county, Pennsylvania. The Rev. Abraham Summy of Regenew, Westmoreland coun- ty, is a descendant and the Summys of Jo Daviess county, Illinois, sprung from this source. Of John and Abraham, sons of Johannes, we have no history.
Hans Jacob Summy, like most all of the Palatine Menonnites with double names, was known in this country by the name of Jacob only .. He, with his parents, settled in Graff Dale, Earl township, Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, bought lands and engaged in farming like his fellowmen exiles, who with strong arms and stout hearts began converting the wilderness into a rich agricultural district. Hans Jacob married Barbara Hiestand Bear, the widow of John Bear, and their children were: John, Henry, Jacob, Susanna, Peter and Margaret. Jacob and his wife died aged people on their old homestead and are interred in the churchyard of the Graff Dale Menonnite meeting house. The will of Jacob was probated at Lancaster in 1762 and there duly recorded. Henry, the second son of Jacob and Barbara Summy, died in 1783, leaving no children. Jacob, the third son, married Margaret Markly, and to them were born three daughters and one son. Peter, the fourth son, wedded Mary Deilrich, and their children were: John, Barbara, Peter, Jacob, Samuel, Daniel, Christian and' Henry. The three eldest were mutes and lived upon a part of the homestead and are buried with their parents and grandparents by the Graff Dale meeting house. Jacob died in York county, Pennsylvania, aged ninety-four years, leaving a son and daughter, who live in Indiana. Samuel died in Maryland, leaving no descendants, and of Daniel there is no record. Christian Summy died in Virginia, aged ninety-seven years, at the home of his son Christian, who is still living.
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