USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > History of Whiteside County, Illinois, from its earliest settlement to 1908, Vol. II > Part 62
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Unto Mr. and Mrs. Allen have been born five ehildren: Coral M., born November 5, 1888; Albert B., June 20, 1891; J. Fred, who was born August 26, 1893, and died March 25, 1896; Harold E., born' November 14, 1897; and Clarence, January 20, 1902.
The family are well known in this part of the state and from many of their acquaintances they receive warm and lasting friendship. Mr. Allen gives his political allegiance to the republican party but has never sought nor de- sired office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business interests, wherein he is now meeting with excellent success, owning one of the valu- able, attractive and productive farms of his township.
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WILLIAM PRITCHARD.
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William Pritchard, who carries on farming on section 10, Prophetstown township, where he owns one hundred and sixty acres of valuable land, was born in Henry county, Illinois, on the 22d of January, 1878. His parents, Henry and Elizabeth (Erwin) Pritchard, were both natives of Ircland and came to America at an early datc. The father's birth occurred in the year 1843 and after landing on the shores of the new world he first worked as a
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farm hand. Subsequently, however, he purchased a tract of land and, as his financial resources increased, added to his holdings until at the time of his death, in 1904, he was the owner of one thousand aeres in Henry county, Illinois. In addition to his farming interests he carried on an extensive bus- iness as a breeder of Hereford cattle and was widely recognized as a represen- tative and prosperous agriculturist and stock-raiser of his county. Henry Pritehard was twice married and by his first wife, who died in 1880, he had five children, namely: Sadie and Henry, both deceased; John and Mary, of Henry county, Illinois; and William, of this review. . By his second union the father had three children: Hugh, deceased; and Samuel and Walter, at home.
William Pritchard acquired his education in the common schools and remained with his father until he had attained mature years, when he pur- chased a farm in Washington county, Iowa, which he cultivated for a year. At the end of that time he disposed of the property and bought one hundred and sixty acres on section 10, Prophetstown township, Whiteside county, where he has since resided. He has brought the fields under a high state of cultivation and annually gathers golden harvests as a reward for his untiring labor and capable management. He is well known as an enterprising and progressive agriculturist of the community and, although still a young man, has already gained a gratifying measure of success in the conduct of his busi- ness interests.
In 1901 Mr. Pritchard was united in marriage to Miss Mattie H. Baker, a native of Henry county, Illinois, and a daughter of W. P. and Dassa (Graves) Baker, who were both born in the state of Maine and eame to Illinois in 1865. Mrs. Pritchard who was one of a family of nine children is a graduate of the Geneseo Collegiate Institute at Geneseo, Illinois, and taught school for three years prior to her marriage. She is the mother of two chil- dren: Forest Chester and William Ward.
Mr. Pritchard gives his political allegiance to the republican party, while his religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Congregational church, with which his wife is also identified. They have the warm esteem and friendship of many with whom they have come in contact and the hos- pitality of the best homes of the locality is cordially extended them.
JOHN W. SHEAFFER.
It is given to but few men to reach such an advanced point on the jour- ney of life as John W. Sheaffer has done. He is now one of the most vener- able eitizens of Sterling, having reached the age of eighty-seven years. He was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, on the banks of the Conestoga river, May 11; 1821. His father, Jacob Sheaffer, was also born in Lan- caster county, but his father, Nathaniel Sheaffer, was of German deseent and his mother of Irish birth. Having arrived at years of maturity, Jacob Sheaffer wedded Susanne Ferree, who was of French descent and of Hugue- not ancestry, the first of the name in America coming to this country in
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1708. Jacob Sheaffer was a laborer and cut cordwood at twenty-five cents per cord. He also worked at times for twenty-five cents per day. He died in Lancaster county at the age of sixty-five years, having for some time sur- vived his wife, who died at the age of fifty. They were members of the Ger- man Reformed church, now called the German Presbyterian. Their family numbered nine children, six sons and three daughters, John W. and Paul, who is livng in Canton, Ohio, and who was a soldier of the Civil war for three years, being the only ones now living.
John W .. Sheaffer was reared in the county of his nativity, his early boyhood being spent in Earl township. His youth was largely a period of earnest toil and at the age of fourteen he went to the village of New Holland, where he followed various pursuits. When about seventeen years of age he was apprenticed to the tinner's trade, which he followed for many years. In his school life he studied from the Webster's primer and later was advanced to the English reader. The schoolmaster used the rod freely, being a severe teacher and a drinking man, whose habits did not set a very good example to the pupils. Mr. Sheaffer however, was always fond of books and in his early boyhood eagerly pored over the Saturday Evening Post and the Dollar News- paper. Becoming interested in gaining knowledge, he bought a dictionary and as opportunity offered purchased other books, which he would read lying in bed with a tallow candle beside him. He became a great reader and eventually a well informed man and keeps up with the times to a remark- able degree. He yet frequently refers to the encyclopedia in search of knowl- edge bearing upon some subject which comes to his notice and in this way he has continually broadened his mind. This search for information has been one of his chief sources of pleasure. He is also quite a brilliant writer.
In 1853 Mr. Sheaffer came to the west to look over the country and that he was pleased is indicated by the fact that in 1855 he returned and made a permanent settlement. He remembers when the farmers felt that they had excellent transportation facilities in shipping their pork to Chicago from Freeport on the first railroad and the next day receiving their pay for the product. As stated, Mr. Sheaffer became a resident of Sterling in 1855, bought a lot and built thereon the house which he yet occupics. It is one of the old landmarks of the city and has been a witness of many remarkable changes here. Cutting down the trecs, he made pumps and has been continu- ously engaged in the pump business with the exception of the time spent in the Civil war. In 1862, responding to the country's call, he enlisted in the Seventy-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry as a member of Company D and served for three years. He was made sergeant and participated in all the battles of the Cumberland Army, including the engagements of Stone River and Chickamauga. He proved a brave and loyal soldier, never faltering in the performance of any duty, and his military record is most creditable.
Following the close of the war Mr. Sheaffer resumed the business of pump-making and continued it until he permanently put aside business cares. For the past ten years he has lived retired and his rest has been well earned.
It was in October, 1843, that Mr. Sheaffer was married to Miss Eliza Goshen, a daughter of Richard and Betsy (Mycrs) Goshen, who were natives
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of Pennsylvania and there spent their entire lives. They had four children but all are now deceased, the death of Mrs. Sheaffer having occurred in 1894 when she was seventy-one years of age. She was a devoted member of the Presbyterian church and her life was given to promoting the comfort and happiness of her husband and children. Unto them were born a son and seven daughters, of whom five reached years of maturity: Catharine, now the deceased wife of Abraham Miller, by whom she had one child, Mary; Clara, the wife of Silas Green, by whom she has two living children, Esther and Dr. William Green, she and her husband making their home with her father; Mary, deceased; Sarah, the wife of Eugene Rundlet, living near Des Moines, Iowa, and the mother of nine children; and Ferree, who married Nancy Brink and is in the employ of the Standard Oil Company.
Mr. Sheaffer belongs to Will Robinson Post, No. 274, G. A. R., and is its oldest representative. His political allegiance has been continuously given the republican party since its organization. He has never sought to figure prominently before the public, but his life has been that of an honest man, who in business was reliable, trustworthy and diligent and who in every re- lation displayed traits of character which won for him confidence and respect. He is now one of the oldest residents of Sterling and well merits the esteem in which he is held by the young and the aged, the rich and the poor.
PHILIP H. SIMPSON, D. D. S.
The attractiveness of Whiteside county as a place of residence is well in- dicated by the fact that many of her native sons on attaining manhood have remained within her borders, enjoying the advantages and the opportunities which she offers and contributing to her upbuilding by their diligence and enterprise in various lines of business. Dr. Simpson, a native of Garden Plain township, born in 1873, is now one of the successful dentists of Morri- soll.
His father, Herbert J. Simpson, was born in Canada and is now living in Garden Plain township, Whiteside county. He came to the United States in 1854 in company with his parents, who settled upon a farm in that town- ship. Upon that place Herbert J. Simpson still makes his home and as the years have passed he has prospered, attaining a gratifying measure of suc- cess. For a long time he was a breeder of Poland China hogs but now gives his attention more largely to the Duroc hogs. He has also raised consider- able cattle and his live-stock interests have made his business very profitable. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and takes a deep and active interest in its work. His political support is given to the republican party and he has held a number of township offices. He married Ida E. Van Nest, who was born in Albany, Illinois, and was also a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in the faith of which she passed away Novem- ber 14, 1907, at the age of fifty-eight years. In their family were four chil- dren: Philip H., Howard B., Nettie M. and Carlotta M.
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Dr. Simpson was reared to farm life, early becoming familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. At the usual age he began his education as a district-school student and subsequently at- tended the high school at Albany, where he was graduated with the class of . 1896. He afterward pursued a preparatory course at Fulton College and for three years engaged in teaching school but regarding this merely as an ini- tial step to further professional labor, he entered the Chicago College of Den- tal Surgery in the fall of 1900 and completed the three years' course by grad- uation in the spring of 1903. He then located for practice in Albany, where he remained for four years, when, in October, 1907, he came to Morrison. Here he has made a good start in his profession, having a well equipped of- fice, while his skill and ability are manifest in the excellent mechanical work of tlie operating room.
Dr. Simpson was married in the summer of 1903 to Miss Mary Robinson, daughter of Dr. R. E. Robinson, of Albany, Illinois, who was born in Mt. Holly Springs, Pennsylvania, in 1876. They have one son, Robert Donald, born November 13, 1905, and a daughter, Ida Van Nest, born December 10, 1907.
In politics Dr. Simpson is a republican and he makes consecutive prog- ress, in touch with the profession as a member of the County and State Dental Associations. Both he and his wife are members of the Presbyterian church and are well known socially, having many warm friends in the county where Dr. Simpson was born and where he has spent his entire life.
STEVEN SHERWOOD.
Steven Sherwood, who passed away March 1, 1886, was well known in Genesee township as an enterprising farmer of the locality and as a citizen of worth and value. He was born August 7, 1801, at Peekskill, in West- chester county, New York, his parents being Caleb and Phebe (Oakley) Sher- wood. Both parents were representatives of old, prominent families who came to this country in colonial days. Mr. Sherwood of this review was rcared in the east, but. the business opportunities of the west attracted him and in 1852 he made his way into this section of the country, settling on a farm of one hundred and sixty aeres on section 35, Genesec township. It remained his place of residence up to the time of his death, and his energy and labors converted it into a well improved property. He annually gathered good harvests and thus made a comfortable living for his family.
Mr. Sherwood was married first to Miss Caroline Chase, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, June 30, 1812, resided in New York city until 1854 and then came to Whiteside county, Illinois. Her death occurred in this county, July 4, 1854, and of the five children born of that marriage none is now living. On the 31st of May, 1855, Mr. Sherwood was again mar- ried, his second union being with Marena C. Harrison, a daughter of Mark and Mary (Taylor) Harrison, of whom extended mention is made on an-
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other page of this volume in connection with the sketch of James E. Harri- son, a brother of Mrs. Sherwood. Mrs. Sherwood was born January 23, 1833, in Putnam county, Illinois. By her marriage she has beeome the mother of ten children: Frances E., now the wife of William- Kingman, a resident of Colorado; Emma R., the wife of William Rush, who is living in Barton county, Kansas; Gilbert, deceased; Phebe, the wife of Ed. Knox, of Okla- homa; Elnora, the wife of John Morton, living in Whiteside county ; B. F., a resident of Arkansas; Charles J., who married Sophia Bush, of Iowa, in which state they make their home; Clara B., the wife of Ebner Howe, of this county ; Asa K., who married Anna Howe and is living on the home farm; and Arthur C., also of Iowa.
Mr. Sherwood devoted his entire life in the west to general agricultural pursuits and was well known in the community as an energetie, reliable business man, respected for his many excellent traits of character. His widow still survives him and resides upon the home farm, comprising eighty acres of land in Genesee township. She is a member of the Christian church and has many warm friends in this community.
JAMES A. DE GROFF
James A. DeGroff, who since 1851 has been a resident of Whiteside county, is now living retired in Sterling, deriving his ineome largely from his investments in land. He was born in the town of Ira, Cayuga county, New York, August 30, 1834, and was one of two sons and two daughters born unto Gideon and Amy (Howland) DeGroff. The father was a son of Gideon DeGroff, Sr., a native of New York, and of Holland Duteh deseent. He married Margaret Turpening and died in April, 1850, at the venerable age of eighty-one years, while his wife also passed away at an advanced age. His life was devoted to farming, whereby he provided for the support of his family, numbering two sons and six daughters. The maternal grand- parents were Nicholas and Wealthy (Howland) DcGroff. The former, a native of New York, was also a farmer by occupation and after losing his first wife he married Eunice Copeland, while subsequent to her death he married Lueretia Smith.
Gideon and Amy (Howland) DeGroff, parents of our subjeet, were natives of New York, and the former, reared to the occupation of farming, followed that pursuit as a life work. In 1851 he brought liis family to Whiteside county, Illinois, locating in Genesee township upon a farm of one hundred and twenty acres, for which he paid one thousand dollars. This he improved until 1857; when he removed to Sterling, where he lived retired for some time. He died while on a visit to Nebraska in 1875, at the age of sixty-eight years, and his wife's death occurred in 1869, when she was fifty-eight years of age. They were consistent and devoted members of . the Methodist Episcopal elureh and in community affairs Gideon DeGroff was prominent, being called to various township offices, while his opinions
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carried weight among those who knew him. Of the children, Wealthy E. became the wife of J. M. Armstrong and is now deceased; James A. is the second of the family; Burritt M. is a resident of Chicago; and Sarah M. is the wife of John L. Deppell, of Billings, Missouri.
James A. DeGroff was seventeen years of age when he came to White- side county with his parents, where he has lived continuously since. There were still many evidenees of pioneer life here and great changes have been wrought in the fifty-seven years which have since been added to the eyele of the centuries. He attended the district schools and continued his studies in Knox College, at Galesburg, Illinois, after which he successfully engaged in teaching school in this county for several years. Turning his attention to farming in Hopkins township, he purchased a traet of land of two. hundred and forty aeres, which he occupied for nine years, giving his attention to its further development and improvement. In the meantime he extended the boundaries by the additional purchase of eighty aeres. In the spring of 1867 he removed to Sterling and purchased a residence, which he has since occupied. He derives a good income from his property and is the owner of three hun- dred and twenty acres in Potter county, South Dakota.
On the 13th of October, 1858, Mr. DeGroff was married to Miss Elvira Esther Coleord, a daughter of Ivory and Elzina (Smith) Coleord. The an- cestry of the Colcord family ean be traced baek to Edward Coleord, who set- tled at Exeter, Massachusetts, in 1638. His eldest ehild, however, had come to America in 1631, and in 1640 removed to Dover, while in 1644 he became a resident of Hampton and probably removed to Soco, Massachusetts, in 1668. From that town he returned to Hampton in 1673. There were sev- eral sons and daughters in this family who attained adult age. Of the three sons, Jonathan, the eldest, died August 31, 1661, in his twenty-second year. The second, Edward, was killed by the Indians on the 13th of June, 1667, and the other was Samuel. These faets were furnished in support of the report of the famous forged deed of the Sachem Indians that gave to John Wheelwright and others the site of Exeter, New Hampshire, and the region surrounding it, May 17, 1629, more than seven years before Wheelwright erossed the . ocean. It is supposed that Wheelwright employed Coleord to purchase from some Indians the land upon which he designed to found the town of Exeter in 1638. Josiah Coleord, one of the aneestors, served as a private in Captain Supher Jenkins' company, Coloncl Samuel Johnson's regiment, in the Revo- lutionary war, enlisting August 18, 1777, and rceciving his discharge on the 30th of November following. He served for three months and twenty-seven days with the northern army under General Gates. John Coleord (N. H.), ensign of the Eighth Continental Infantry, on the 1st of January, 1776. was made second lieutenant in the Second New Hampshire on the 8th of Novem- ber, 1776, and resigned May 14, 1777. These facts are found in the old records of the east. Her paternal grandparents were Phineas and Rebecea (Bradbury) Coleord. The former was born near Bath, Maine, and was a farmer by occupation. Both he and his wife died near Bath. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. DeGroff was Ethan Smith, a native of New Hampshire. who died when comparatively a young man. His wife bore the maiden
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name of Abigail White and they had one child, Elzina Esther. After losing her husband Mrs. Smith married again, becoming the wife of Henry Hol- brook. She was a daughter of Thomas and Mary (French) White, the former of whom was a great-grandson of Peregrine White, who was born on the Mayflower and was named by his uncle, Dr. Fuller, the name Peregrinc being Latin and meaning "A stranger." Mrs. DeGroff's great-grandfather, Thomas White, was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1730, and became a resident of Cornish, New Hampshire. He was a well-to-do man for those days, owning a large tract of land and living in a large house, a part of which was built over a spring. His daughter, Abigail White, married Ethan Smith, who was drowned, and after his death she and her little daughter, Elzina Esther, returned to the old homestead to live with her parents. Sit- ting around the fireside, Mrs. DeGroff's mother would relate many interest- ing incidents of her childhood spent among the hills of New Hampshire to her children and grandchildren, and Mrs. DeGroff remembers her grand- father taking her upon his lap and relating stories of how his forefathers were so persecuted in England that they came to America in the Mayflower. He said that when a child he had frequently seen the silver knee buckles that they brought over with them at that time. Her mother sat up many nights sewing for the soldiers of the war of 1812, in which two brothers, James and John Smith, took part.
The parents of Mrs. DeGroff became prominent pioneer settlers of Illi- nois. The father was a native of Alfred, Maine, and the mother of Keene, New Hampshire. They arrived in this state in October, 1837, when the Indians still lived here, and this great distriet was then an unbroken wilder- ness, over which deer roamed and many wild animals were found. The white settlers, however, had contested the dominion of the land with the red race and had won a victory in the Black Hawk war. Mr. and Mrs. Col- cord took up their abode in Genesee township, Whiteside county, and pre- empted a elaim before a survey was made. There for many years the father carried on farming, making the homestead his place of residence until his death in 1865, when he was sixty-five years of age, his birth having occurred August 20, 1799. His wife long survived him and died July 9, 1885. at the. age of eighty years. They were the parents of thirteen children, of whom five are now living, namely: Lorena, the widow of Washington Law, of Denver, Colorado; Anna, the wife of Caleb Burgess, of Sterling; Ivory, of Port Hammond, British Columbia; Elvira E., the wife of James A. DeGroff, the subject of this review; and Angeline, the widow of Ozro Turpeny, of Sterling. One son of the family, Ralph Bennett Colcord; was at one time a prominent citizen of Whiteside county, but many years ago removed to Pasadena, California, where he died in October, 1907. One son was the second child born in Whiteside county. Two of the brothers of Mrs. DeGroff were very prominent Masons.
Mrs. DeGroff was born July 25, 1841, on the old Colcord homestead and is probably the oldest person now living in Sterling who was born in this county. For forty-one years she has occupied her present home. which is dear to her from its many sacred associations and memories. Here she has
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reared her family, which numbered four children, but James LeRoy, the third in order of birth, is deceased. Raymond V., the eldest, who is purchasing agent for the Rock Island Railroad Company at Hartshorn, Oklahoma, mar- ried Bertha Hazen, and they have a daughter, Hazel Lorene. Lettie A. is an artist of considerable ability, who has produced many excellent oil paint- ings and also teaches classes in painting. Burton L., after finishing his edu- cation, entered the mercantile business, which he conducted very success- fuily, but at present is traveling salesman for the Heinz Supply Company, and married Anna Phelps, their home being at Peoria. The eldest son is a graduate of the Northwestern University at Evanston, and for over twenty years was superintendent of schools and stood high as an educator in northern Illinois.
Mr. and Mrs. DeGroff are members of the Fourth Street Methodist Episcopal ehureh and have a very extensive cirele of friends in the commu- nity where they have so long resided. Politically Mr. DeGroff was formerly a republican, but is now a prohibitionist. He lias held various township offices, the duties of which he has discharged with promptness and fidelity that is above question. Both he and his wife are held in highest esteem be- cause of their genuine worth, and no record of Whiteside eounty would be complete without mention of them, for during fifty-seven years Mr. DeGroff has been identified with the interests of the county, while his wife has spent her entire life here, representing one of the oldest families in this part of the state. Mrs. DeGroff has always been a faithful helpmate to her husband, who says she is entitled to equal credit with him in securing a competency for old age. She is a most intelligent lady of refinement and culture and be- longs to that class of revered and honored women who are known as "the good mothers" of the county.
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