USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > History of Whiteside county, Illinois, from its first settlement to the present time, with numerous Biographical and Family Sketches > Part 29
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The Postoffice now at Fenton Center was established in 1870, and then ealled Fenton. L. S. Burritt was the first Postmaster, and kept the office at his house, a short distance south of the present United Brethren Church. Mr. Burritt continued Postmaster until the railroad ran through the town, and a depot and elevator were built at Fenton Center, when it was removed to that place, and Geo. W. Wood appointed Postmaster. Mr. Wood held the position about a year, and was succeeded by Wmn. Miller, who continued in office only six months, when he resigned, and M. O. Hurless, the present Postmaster, was appointed.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
JOSEPH FENTON was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, September 12, 1794, and came to Whiteside county in October, 1835, settling upon the farm in Fenton township where his widow and a part of his family still reside. He was married to Miss Elizabeth Durell, at Burlington city, New Jersey, in April, 1826. The children of this marriage have been: Elwood W., born Jan- mary 23, 1827; Joseph R., March 27, 1829; Elizabeth H., JJuly 9, 1831; John D., November 10, 1832; Robert S., October 6, 1834: Alfred W., May 13. 1837; Mary E., December 18, 1839; Sylvester H., August 27, 1841; Henry C., July 3, 1845. The only death in the family has been that of Elizabeth H .. which occurred at the old home in New Jersey, on the 25th of July, 1833. Elwood W. married Annette E. Wonser, and lives at Amidore, California; JJoseph R. lives at Oakland, California, and married since his settlement there; John D. married Marcia Wonser, and lives at Erie; Robert S. married Josie Cross, and
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lives at Fenton; Alfred W. is unmarried, and lives at Erie; Mary E. married Elson Medhurst, and lives in Fenton; Sylvester H. married Amanda Medhurst, and lives at Alphage, Henry county, Illinois; and Henry C. married Amanda Smith, and lives at Erie. Mr. Fenton was the earliest settler in what is now known as Fenton township, and one of the earliest in Whiteside county. With the pioneers he suffered all the privations incident to a new and unsettled country, and with them grappled with all the obstacles in the way with an ener- gy and perseverance born of a conquering will. Men of less determination than our pioneers might have given up in despair, and gone back to the homes where they were reared, but not so with them. They had come to remain, and with that view set themselves resolutely at work to overcome all obstacles. Many of them became affluent in worldly circumstances, and among these was Mr. Fenton. Those who knew Mr. Fenton in his lifetime speak of him as a man of strict integrity, sound judgment, great industry, and of a peculiarly kind and obliging disposition. He was averse to holding publie positions, and only ac- cepted some of the minor offices of the township. His great delight was his home. He died on the 28th of September, 1874, at the age of eighty years. His widow, now 74 years of age, is still living at the old homestead.
JAMES M. PRATT is a native of Aurora, Erie county, New York, and was born April 7, 1822. At the age of fifteen he came to Lyndon, Whiteside coun- ty, with his parents, and has been a resident of the county ever since. His father, John C. Pratt, visited Lyndon first in 1835, and made his claims, and two years afterwards brought on his family. James M. remained in Lyndon un- til the fall of 1854, when he moved to his present farm in Fenton. On the 17th of November, 1844, he married Miss Lucinda Emery, and the following have been the children of this marriage : Beancy L., born August 19, 1845; Mari- ette M., January 27, 1848; John C., February 11, 1851; Dora V., April 13, 1853; Cyrus E., January 27, 1855; Allen M., November 12, 1856; Ella J., October 21, 1858; James C., October 21, 1860; Manson W., November 30, 1863; Richard E., March 17, 1866; Volney P., and Viola J., twins, August 8, 1868. Of these Beancy L., Richard E., Volney P., and Viola J., are dead. Mariette J. married S. S. Chamberlin, and is a resident of Dunlap, Iowa; John C. married Susan Mahany, and lives in Fenton; Dora V. married Wallace Thompson, and lives in Fenton; Cyrus E. married Anna Reisinbigler, and lives in Fenton; Ella J., James C., and Manson W., are still with their parents at the homestead in Fen- ton. Mr. Pratt is a man of fine executive ability, clear judgment, ready tact, and of unswerving integrity, and hence was early looked to as a proper person to hold offices of public trust and confidence. At the first election after the township organization he was elected Supervisor, and has held that office at dif- ferent times for a period of about twelve years. For some of the time he was chairman of the Board of Supervisors. He has also been Commissioner of High- ways for the town of Fenton, aggregating fourteen years. When the Whiteside County Central Agricultural Society was organized in 1872, he was elected its first President, and has been re-elected every year since. To his energy and in- fluence the Society owes much of the success which has attended it. At the establishment of the Postoffice at Pratt, in November, 1869, he was appointed the first Postmaster, and has continued in the position from that time. Mr. Pratt's farm consists of 1010 acres in a body, lying on sections twenty-two, twenty-three and twenty-six, besides 60 acres of wood land on Rock River. A large part of the former has been brought under a good state of cultivation, and produces abundantly. The possession of this extensive tract of land makes him next the largest land owner in the town, if not in the county. For several years he has been devoting considerable of his attention to raising fowls, and now has
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BIOGRAPHICAL.
the finest varieties and the largest number of any man in Whiteside. His fowls have taken the premiums at every Fair where they have been exhibited. Mr. Pratt is one of the self made men of the county, and travels on the broad gauge in religious matters.
MARTIN M. POTTER was born at Richfield, Otsego county, New York, Oc- tober 28, 1812, and came to Whiteside county August 11, 1837, settling first at Prophetstown ferry, where he remained four years, and then moved to Union Grove, where he also remained four years, and then returned to Prophetstown ferry. Here he lived until 1851, when he settled on his present farm in Fen- ton. Mr. Potter married his first wife, Miss Diantha D. Pratt, sister of James M. Pratt, in Aurora, Erie county, New York, November 28, 1836. By this marriage he had the following children: Eliza Jane, born October 17, 1837; De Witt Clinton, July 25, 1839; Charles W., October 19, 1841, and James M., March 6. 1843. His wife died on the 2d of November, 1846, and on the 22d of July, 1847, he married his second wife, Miss Selina Perry. The following have been the children by this marriage: George A., born May 3, 1849; Florence L., June 20, 1851; Henry C., September 22, 1853; Emory D., February 17, 1856; Sarah S., March 9, 1858: Frank M., September 5, 1860; John F., July 11, 1866, and Mary, November 27, 1868. The eldest of the children by the first wife, Eliza Jane, married David P. Perry, who died while in service during the late war, leaving her a widow with two children. She afterwards married Geo. McKnight, and died June 6, 1870. James M. died October 12, 1846, and Mary, December 26, 1868. De Witt C. married Harriet Brown, and is a resident of Shelby county, Iowa; Chas W. married Harriet Shorrett, and also lives in Shelby county, Iowa; George A. married Emma M. Thompson, and lives in Fenton; Florence L. married Nelson W. Stone, and lives in Prophetstown; Henry C. married Phoebe M. Richmond, and lives in Lyndon; Sarah S. married Caleb B. Smith, and lives in Lyndon; Emory D., Frank M., and John F., reside at home. Mr. Potter was one of the first Justices of the Peace elected in Fenton, and has held the office almost uninterruptedly since. He has also frequently been School Trustee, and School Treasurer of the town. When the project was started to form an Old Settlers' Association, with an annual meeting and basket picnic, he was one of the most active and energetic in its advocacy, and to him the success which attended the effort is in a great measure due. His position at these yearly gatherings of Whiteside's pioneers, is usually that of chairman of the commit- tee of arrangements, which not only involves a great responsibility, but entails a very large amount of labor. These are met by a skill and judgment as cred- itable to him as they are advantageous to the occasion. Mr. Potter's farm lies on sections 23, 24 and 25, and consists of 320 acres, all of which is in a body, and is under a fine degree of cultivation. He has also twenty acres of wood land on section 36.
SOLON STEVENS is a native of the town of Standing Stone, Bradford county, Pennsylvania, and was born October 23, 1820. He came to Whiteside county first in 1844, on a prospecting tour, staying one year, and then returned to the East. Visions of the beautiful prairies and their almost unlimited productive- ness, however, when compared with the stubborn soil of the Pennsylvania hills and mountains, were too vivid and enchanting to allow him to remain away from them, and in 1851 he came back, and settled permanently in Fenton township. Mr. Stevens was married to Miss Charlotte M. Smith, in Albany, Pennsylvania, on the 17th of March, 1844, and the children have been: Charlotte A., Martha E., John E., Ann C., Ettie M., Emma A., and Susan. All are living excepting Susan. Charlotte A. married Jesse W. Scott, and lives in Montmorency; Mar- tha E. married Charles S. Sage, and lives in Pottawatamie, Iowa; John E.
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married Lela Emery, and lives in Fenton; Ann C., Ettie M., and Emma A., are unmarried and reside at home. When Mr. Stevens came to settle permanently in Whiteside he was the possessor of only a little over one hundred dollars, but by industry, energy and perseverance, combined with a clear judgment and keen foresight, he is now the owner of several hundred acres of good land, with nearly all of it under a fine state of cultivation. His farm consists of 340 acres on sections 24 and 25, in Fenton, and 40 acres in Lyndon, adjoining Fenton, mak- ing 380 acres in all. He also owns 12 acres of wood land, on section 3. To such indefatigable men as Mr. Stevens, a county owes much for its advancement and prosperity.
GEORGE H. PETERS was a native of North Adams, Massachusetts, and born March 12, 1812. In 1841 he came to Whiteside, and settled in Fenton, where he purchased a large tract of land near Rock river. Upon taking possession, he commenced work resolutely to bring it under a proper state of cultivation, and in a few years had a fine farm. On the 6th of May, 1838, he married Miss Charity Smith, at Petersburg, Rensselaer county; New York. The following have been the children: Jerome Darwin, Minerva Jane, Esther H., and George A. The eldest, Jerome Darwin, died while quite young. Minerva Jane mar- ried Levi Strunk, and died December 24, 1876; Esther H. married Frank Ham- ilton, and lives in Fenton; George A. married Mary A. Hamilton, and also re- sides in Fenton. Mr. Peters died September 8, 1873.
JOSEPH JAMES was born in Bristol, England, on the 21st of April, 1814, and emigrated to America in May, 1830, settling first at Flemington, New Jer- sey. In May, 1836, he came to Whiteside county, and located a homestead on section 33, in Fenton township, upon which he resided until his death, October 9, 1875. He helped put up the first log cabin in Erie township, and at the time of his decease was one of the oldest settlers in the south part of Whiteside county. On the 9th of March, 1843, he was united in marriage to Miss Jane Medhurst, in Monmouth, Warren county, Illinois, who still survives him. Their union was blessed with eight children, five of whom are yet living. Mr. James was a kind and affectionate husband, an indulgent father, a genial and accom- modating neighbor, a patriotic citizen, and a whole-souled, upright man.
REUBEN THOMPSON was a native of the State of Vermont, and was born January 10, 1794. His parents moved to New York State when he was quite young. He remained in that State until 1818, when he settled in the town of Salem, Meigs county, Ohio, and in December, 1841, came to Whiteside county and purchased a farm in section thirty-five in the present township of Fenton. In 1816 he married Miss Philinda Kent, the following being the children of that union: Mary, died in infancy in New York State; Elisha K., born March 18, 1822; Samuel A., born July 30, 1823; Reuben M., born December 27, 1825; James I., born December 6, 1827. Mrs. Thompson died in 1827 at Salem, Meigs county, Ohio, at the age of thirty-two years. On the 10th of January, 1828, Mr. Thompson married his second wife, Mrs. Esther Robinson, widow of Fain Robinson. She had three children by her first husband, to-wit: Linneus J., born June 24, 1822; Emily A., born September 3, 1823, and William L., born July 5, 1825. The following are the children of Mr. Thompson by his marriage with Mrs. Robinson: Esther L., and Sarah T., twins, born November 1, 1829; Fain H., born March 4, 1832; Joseph M., born December 1, 1834; Eliza A., born January 6, 1836; Virginia R., born December, 8, 1838; George W., born March 26, 1842; Mary A., born April 22, 1844, and died October 14, 1845; Helen M., born January 15, 1848. Elisha K. Thompson married Miss Nancy Gilman, at Meigs county, Ohio, June 27, 1847, and has had five children, two of whom are dead; resides in Lyndon, Samuel A. Thompson married Mrs.
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Elizabeth B. Bull, March 28, 1858; has two children; resides in Fenton; he is a large land owner, and extensive farmer. Reuben M. Thompson married Miss Matilda Dodge, December 25, 1850; has ten children; resides in Fenton. Sarah T. Thompson married Dr. Clinton Pratt, February 23, 1852; has three children; is now a widow, and resides in Morrison; Esther L. Thompson mar- ried Leonard W. Barker, July 4, 1854; has five children; resides in Erie. Joseph M. Thompson married Miss Franeis Wood November 16, 1857; has eight children; resides in Shelby county, Iowa. Virginia R. Thompson married Benj. F. Hubbart, February 11, 1857; has four children; resides in Erie. Eliza A. Thompson married George W. Wood; has five children; resides in De- Kalb county, Illinois. George W. Thompson married Miss Susan Farrar, December, 1865; has five children; resides in Dunlap, Iowa. Fain H. Thomp- son married Miss E. A. Mills, December 23, 1867; has six children; resides in Fenton. Helen A. Thompson married Lafayette Pace, November 25, 1871; has one child; resides in Erie. Emily A. Robinson married Nelson Row, December 25, 1842; had three children; died in Scott county, Iowa, December 11, 1855. Linneus J. Robinson married Miss Sarah Jeffers, May 17, 1852; has five children; resides in Fenton. William L. Robinson married Miss Eliza MeNeal, November 16, 1849; has four children; resides in Anawan, Henry county, Illinois. Mr. Thompson died May 30, 1850. The widow is still living in Fenton.
REUBEN M. THOMPSON was born in the town of Salem, Meigs county, Ohio, December 27, 1825, and came to Whiteside county in the fall of 1839, stopping first at Union Grove mill. During the same fall he went to Iowa and prospected for a year, and then returned to Whiteside and settled in what is now the township of Fenton, where he has since resided. On the 25th of December, 1844, Mr. Thompson married Miss Matilda S. Dodge, a native of Stark county, Illinois. Their children have been: Esther Philinda, born January 16, 1851; John L., born March 26, 1852; James Amasa, March 13, 1854; Albert Levi, July 13, 1857; Clara Lydia, December 8, 1860; Franeis Eli, July 23, 1863; Rhoda M., March 8, 1866; Eva Leona, July 5, 1868; Martin Ray, September 19, 1871, and Henry Clay, September 20, 1875. Of these, James Amasa died August 17, 1859, and Franeis Eli, December 28, 1866. Esther Philinda mar- ried H. L. Ewing, and resides in Fenton. Mr. Thompson owns 1,863 acres of land, all of which is situated in Fenton township, constituting him the largest land holder in the township, and without doubt in the county. A large portion of this land he has brought under a good state of cultivation. He is also an extensive stoek raiser and dealer, owns the grain elevator at Fenton Center, and is one of the go-ahead, intelligent, and successful business men of Fenton township. Mr. Thompson has held the position of Supervisor for Fenton for a number of terms, and has also been Constable, and Collector of the township.
EDWARD J. EWERS was born October 20, 1813, in Loudon county, Virginia, and came to Albany, Whiteside county, in March, 1839, where he remained until 1843 when he settled in what is now Fenton township. Mr. Ewers was married to Miss Mary Davis on the 22d of May, 1842, in Plymouth, Richland county, Ohio. Mrs. Ewers is a native of Killingly, Windham county, Con- necticut, and was born March 27, 1815. The names of their children are: George N., born March 7, 1843; Sarah A., born April 12, 1844; Ellen E., born December 18, 1845; William D., born October 5, 1847; Mary E., born November 2, 1849; Amy V., born December 29, 1852; Edward F., born May 10, 1855, and Jesse A., born June 20, 1858. Of these Sarah A. died May 10, 1853. George N. married Miss Jennie Hitt, and resides in Albin, Monroe county, Iowa. William D. married Miss Kate Priestly, and resides in Fenton. Mr. Ewers has
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HISTORY OF WHITESIDE COUNTY.
always been an earnest advocate of public education, and has taken a com- mendable interest in the public schools of his township. To his efforts in a great degree the citizens of the town are indebted for the facilities they enjoy for the education of their children. He is at present the School Treas- urer of the township. Mr. Ewers owns a fine farm of three hundred acres, on section twenty.
CHAPTER XI.
HISTORY OF GARDEN PLAIN TOWNSHIP-BIOGRAPHICAL.
HISTORY OF GARDEN PLAIN TOWNSHIP.
Although this township was first settled at an early day, reference being had to the chronological history of the county, it never became a precinct by itself, and only attained a distinct organization when the Commissioners ap- pointed by the County Commissioners' Court fixed the boundaries and gave names to the different townships of the county, in 1852, under the township organization law. Previous to that time it first formed a part of Van Buren Precinct, and then of Albany Precinct, the village of Albany being the voting place, and where for a long time grain and produce were taken, and marketing done. The township includes all of township twenty-one north of base line, range three east of the 4th Principal Meridian. A range of bluffs extends diagonally through the north part, commencing near the Mississippi river on the west and reaching to the Fulton and Ustick line on the northeast, where it connects with the range running through the latter town. North of this range the land is partly sandy, and partly of a deep loam, skirted along the river bank by a growth of small timber. The western outlet of the Cattail runs through a part of this low, loamy land. In this part of the town is situated what is known as the Holland Settlement, made up of thrifty, frugal families from the land of dykes and canals. South of the bluffs the surface of the land is rolling, the soil of peculiar richness, and the scenery, dotted as it is by finely erected farm houses, ample orchards, and well arranged shade trees, is one great beauty. A ride through the town when the harvest sun has ripened the waving grain and given the towering corn its deepest hue of green, as witnessed upon the broad fields which stretch far away on cither hand, is one of infinite pleasure, and never to be forgotton. The name of Garden Plain was rightfully and prop- erly given to this township. Nature and man have both made it a garden, and he who owns a portion of its fertile acres can congratulate himself upon being one of the favored few whose heritage is in a goodly land. The honor of naming the town is attributed to Col. Samuel M. Kilgore. The township is watered by Spring, Cedar, Lynn and Cattail creeks, and also by wells of unusual excellence. In both the east and west parts are groves of forest trees, and the same kind of trees are also scattered along the bluff.
The first settler in the town was Abel Parker, who came in the spring of 1836 from the town of Wells, Rutland county, Vermont, and made a claim and built a cabin in what is now known as Parker's Grove, preferring, like nearly all of the settlers of that day, timber land to the open prairie. A few years of experience, however, drew them out of the groves to the broad, open expanse which nature had endowed with unsurpassed fertility, and there in the luxuriant prairie grass, and among the wild prairie flowers, they began to build their homes. Soon after he made his claim, Mr. Parker brought on his family, con- sisting of six sons, David, Jacob, Truman, Francis, Edwin and Hiram, and three daughters, Clarissa, Eliza and Mina, all of whom are now living except David and Mina. Mr. Parker died in 1840. Clarissa, the eldest daughter, married Samuel Robbins in 1839, and Eliza married Henry M. Grinnold during the same
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year. Mina married John Grant some years after. Both Mrs. Robbins and Mrs. Grinnold are widows, the former living in Carroll county and the latter in the city of Fulton. Mr. Grinnold died and was buried on the plains of Colora- do, while returning from the Rocky Mountains. The sons living are still resi- dents of Garden Plain. Previous to Mr. Abel Parker's coming, a Mr. Cook had bought a claim on the bank of the Mississippi river, in the township, but as he did not reside there long he is not classed by the people as an old settler. It is supposed he purchased the claim of John Baker, the first settler of Fulton. The place is now used for a pasture by Dr. H. M. Booth, of Albany.
Charles R. Rood also came in 1836, arriving in October, at Albany, where he remained for three years. In 1839 he bought land on section 22 of the present township of Garden Plain, and improved forty acres of it the next year. In 1837 Ira Burch and Joseph Bacon bought claims on sections 12 and 13, although they resided on lands adjoining in Union Grove township. The former was the father of Messrs. Thomas J., Harrison D., and Ira S. Burch, and Mrs. George Cluff, now residing in Garden Plain. He died previous to 1840. Thomas Sey came in the same year, and settled on a part of what is now known as the Ham farm. He died soon after, and in 1839 his widow married Stephen Sweet. She died in the fall of 1862. Mr. and Mrs. Sey had an only son, named Thomas, who was killed during the late war. John Redfern also came as early as 1837, and settled near the Ham farm. Both Mr. Redfern and his wife are now dead.
Isaac Crosby and wife, with Elijah Knowlton, came from Massachusetts in 1838, and settled near Cedar creek, where they built a log cabin which stood on the same site now occupied by the house of Mrs. John Kilgore. Mr. Knowlton died in this cabin in 1838. Samuel Searle boarded with Mr. and Mrs. Crosby while they lived there, and improved a part of the farm now owned by Thomas Wilson. Mr. Crosby afterwards bought the farm, a little east of the Garden Plain Corners, on which he now resides. In 1839 James A. Sweet came from Seneca county, New York, and settled at Parker's Grove at first, and then pur- chased the farm at the Corners, where he still lives. Col. Samuel M. Kilgore also came that year, and settled in what is known as Baird's Grove. Col. Kil- gore had a family of two sons and four daughters. The two sons, Ezekiel and Samuel P., are both married and live in Iowa. The eldest daughter, now Mrs. Barnes, lives at Lacon, Ill .; the second, Mrs. Hugh Thompson, died in the win- ter of 1876; the third, Mrs. Susannah Grinnold, resides in Garden Plain, and has been a widow for several years; and Margaret, the youngest daughter, be- came the wife of Ithamar Johnson, and died some years since. Both Mr. and Mrs. Kilgore are dead, the latter dying only a few years ago at the age of 84 years. Mr. Stephen Sweet, uncle of James A. Sweet and William Minta, came in the same year. He died some years ago. Mr. Alpheus Mathews was also an early settler, arriving in 1837, and living near where the school-house now stands, in the Holland settlement. He is now a wealthy farmer, residing in the Lockhart district. After 1840 permanent settlers came in more rapidly, as the exceeding richness and fertility of the soil, and the beauty of its location, had become somewhat extensively spread.
The first white child born in the township was Mary Mathews, daughter of Alpheus and Abylene Mathews, her birth occurring on the 20th of August, 1840. She married Samuel Montgomery, and died in 1872.
The first parties entering into wedlock were Mr. Samuel Robbins and Miss Clarissa Parker, eldest daughter of Abel Parker. The happy event occurred in 1839, and was duly solemnized by Gilbert Buckingham, Esq., the then well- known Justice of the Peace, of Albany.
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