USA > Illinois > Bureau County > Past and present of Bureau County, Illinois : together with biographical sketches of many of its prominent and leading citizens and illustrious dead > Part 25
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64
GEORGE WASHINGTON HEWITT.
George Washington Hewitt is proprietor of the Hickory Grove farm, situated just at the corpora- tion limits of the village of Manlius. It comprises one hundred and eighty aeres of land which is well improved and in the further development and cultivation of this place Mr. Hewitt spends his time and energies with the result that his labors are attended with good success. He was born in Orange, Ohio, October 9. 1840, a son of William and Roxena (Metcalf) Hewitt, who were originally from Massachusetts. The father was a farmer by occupation and, emigrating westward in 1849, he passed through Bureau county. Later he returned to Cleveland, Ohio, but in 1852 he made a permanent settlement in this county. Here he engaged in farming up to the time of his death, which occurred in 1903. He had for a number of years survived his wife.
George W. Hewitt was educated in the common schools of Bureau county and farmed with his father until after the outbreak of the Civil war, when he enlisted in defense of the Union, becoming a member of the Sixty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry in 1862. The regiment was mustered in at Springfield, and he participated in the battles of Franklin, Lookout Mountain, Dalton, Resaca, Ackworth, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Moun- tain and Marietta. He was also in the siege of Atlanta and in the battle of Peach Tree Creek. Subsequent to the capitulation of Atlanta the
regiment to which Mr. Hewitt belonged marched to Jonesboro and on to Savannah, then through South Carolina to Goldsboro, North Carolina, and to Raleigh. Later they proceeded to Washington, D. C., where he participated in the grand review on the 23d of May, 1865, this being the most cele- brated military pageant ever seen on the western hemisphere. The regiment was mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, in June, 1865, and with a creditable military record Mr. Hewitt returned home.
He resumed farming in Bureau county and was thus engaged up to the time of his marriage, which was celebrated on the 17th of February, 1866, Miss Mary Martin, a daughter of James and Permelia Martin, becoming his wife. They have lost two children and have six living children : Nora, the wife of William Caskey, a resident farmer of Manlius township; Eva M., the wife of Fred A. Plumley, who follows farming in Man- lius township; Elsa P., the wife of Franklin Dab- ler, an agriculturist of the same township; Allen D., who follows farming; Frank S., who married Gertrude Plumley, a farmer of Manlius township, and Stacy H., who is on the home farm and is attending school at Princeton.
The family have an attractive and pleasant home, for the Hickory Grove farm is conven- iently situated on the eastern edge of the town of Manlius. The fields are highly cultivated and nearly the entire tract of one hundred and eighty acres is devoted to the cultivation of grain. Everything about the place is neat and thrifty in appearance and indicates the careful supervision of the owner. For thirty years Mr. Hewitt has been a school director and fraternally he is con- nected with the Grand Army of the Republic, while politically he is a republican. The family attend the Wesleyan Methodist church and are widely and favorably known in the community where they reside.
J. P. BUTLER, M. D.
Dr. J. P. Butler, who in addition to faithfully performing the duties connected with a large and growing medical and surgical practice is serving for the second term as mayor of Ladd, belongs to that class of representative men whose business interests, though extensive and important, do not exclude active participation in those inter- ests affecting the general welfare or in those movements which promote publie progress, and as mayor of Ladd Dr. Butler is giving tangible evi- dence of his devotion to the public good.
A native of New York, Dr. Butler was born in Onondaga county September 10, 1854. and is of Irish lineage. His father. Patrick Butler, was a native of Ireland. and when twenty-five years of age came to the United States, settling in the Empire state. He married Catherine Bannon, also
694
PAST AND PRESENT OF BUREAU COUNTY.
a native of the Emerald isle, and they reared their family in New York.
Dr. Butler acquired his more specifically liter- ary education in the public schools of Chittenan- go, New York, and on putting aside his text-books engaged in farm work, and in other labor of va- rious kinds, until 1883, when, ambitious to direct his energies into other channels demanding greater mentality, he took up the study of medicine and was graduated from Hahnemann Medical College, of Chicago, in the class of 1890. After one year spent in practice in Michigan he came to Illinois and entered upon the active work of the profession in Ladd, where he has since remained. He is careful and accurate in the diagnosis of a case and seldom, if ever, at error in the administration of remedial agencies, and he keeps in touch with the most advanced thought of the profession through reading and investigation, so that he is continually broadening his knowledge and promoting his effi- eency.
In puble affairs Dr. Butler has manifested a most commendable and public-spirited interest, and his re-election to the office of mayor is indica- tive of faithful, prompt and capable service dur- ing his first term. Fraternally he is connected with the Modern Woodmen, Knights of Pythias and Foresters. Happy in his home life, he was married in 1893, to Miss Catherine Lehinan, a na- tive of Putnam county, Illinois, and they now have two daughters: Mildred, born in October, 1891, and Florence, in November, 1895.
Dr. Butler, without special advantages in his youth, has gained a position of prominence in the community where he makes his home and in the profession to which he devotes his energies, and the innate strength of his character, his laud- able ambition and strong determination are the concomitants which have led to this result. He has a wide acquaintance and his friends are many.
COLONEL JOHN DUNNE.
Colonel John Dunne, engaged in general farm- ing and stock-raising, is also well known in other business connections, especially as an auctioneer and as general manager of the Empire Telephone Company, of which he is likewise one of the di- rectors. He is a native of Kings county, Ire- land, although in his infancy he was brought to the new world. His birth oeurred May 10, 1857, his parents being Michael and Julia (Ryan) Dunne, both of whom were natives of the Emerald isle, the former born in Kings county and the latter in West Meath. It was in the year 1858 that Michael Dunne crossed the Atlantic in a sailing vessel, which was six weeks and two days in making the voyage from Dublin to Quebee. He remained in Canada for a short time and then removed to Pierpont, a town situated on the Erie canal in New York. There he was employed for
some time, after which he made his way to Buf- falo by canal and on to Chi go be rail and thence to Peoria by the Illino- and Michigan canal and the Ilinois river. When they were upon the Illinois river his son, Mathew, then a youth of sixteen years, fell overboard and was drowned. Mr. Duane worked for the Peoria & Oquawka Railroad, being with the company for about one year, after which he was employed by the Bureau Valles Railroad, which is today a part of the Chicago & Rock Island Railroad sys- tem. When that line was graded he began work- ing for Peter W. Dunne as foreman of track-lay- ing, and subsequently he was employed at Oak Hill and at Edwards Station by that company. In 1858, withdrawing from the railroad service, he turned his attention to farming near Edwards Station, in Peoria county, Illinois, where he re- mained until 1865, when he came to Macon township, Bureau county, and purchased a farm upon which he resided until his death on the 8th of August, 1890, when he was eighty years of age. His wife also passed away in Macon town- ship, her death occurring November 21, 1890, when she was seventy-five years of age. He and his family were communicants of the Roman Catholic church, and in politics he was a Jackson demo- crat, who strongly advocated the war, and was a stalwart champion of the Union cause. Unto him and his wife were born six children, of whom two died in infancy in Ireland, while four came with them to this country. Three of the number are now living. James, the oldest, was a volun- teer of Company G. One Hundred and Eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served for three years and four months. He is now living in Quincy, in the Soldiers' Home, but for a number of years was a farmer of Macon town-hip and sold his property to his brother John. Joseph, who was a member of the Eleventh Illinois Cavalry for nearly four years, is also living at the Soldiers' Home in Quincy.
Colonel Dunne was brought to the United States by his parents during his infaney and acquired a public school education. When twenty-two years of age he began farming on his own ac- count in Macon township and is today carrying on general agricultural pursuits and st ck-raising, having a few full-blooded Hereford cartle, known as the Daniel Webster stock. Ile is l'kewise gen- eral manager of the Empire Telephone Company, extending over Macon, Neponset, Concord, Wya- net, Milo and Wheatland townships, and also to Saratoga, Marshall county ; Penn, Osalon and El- mira, Stark county. The company owns all of the above lines and also has conn' ting lines whereby they can do business with Chicago and in fact have unlimited long distance service. At the present time Mr. Dunne, as genera' manager, is rebuilding the Neponset exchange. The officers of this company are Cyrus Bocoek. president; James A. Briggs, vice-president ; John H. Draw-
695
PAST AND PRESENT OF BUREAU COUNTY.
yer, secretary; Sidney W. Scott, treasurer, and John Dunne, general manager; and in connection with the officers, George A. Carper and Jolin Me- Clane are serving on the board of directors. Mr. Dunne is also a stockholder in the Bradford Driv- ing Park Association, of which he was formerly a director, and he has done railroad and other contraeting and for a number of years has been well known as a leading auctioneer of this part of the state, crying many sales, in which connection he is popular as well as efficient.
On the 9th of December, 1874, Colonel Dunne was married to Miss Mary O'Connor, at Cham- paign, Illinois. She was born in Greenfield, Massachusetts, July 7, 1854, and is a daughter of Patrick and. Katherine ( Kane) O'Connor. Her father died in Champaign county, Ilinois, Decem- ber 30, 1892, at the age of seventy-two years, while his wife passed away March 31, 1891, at the age of sixty-five years. He was born in Ire- land and came to this country in 1818 on a sail- ing vessel, which was six weeks in completing the voyage between Limerick and Quebec. He pro- ceeded thenee to Greenfield, Massachusetts, where he followed farming for four years and then re- moved to Virginia, where he lived for about a year. On the expiration of that period he eame to Illinois, settling at Brimfield, where he car- ried on farming on a traet of land of one hun- dred and sixty acres. He spent his last five years as a retired farmer on the old homestead, leaving the active work of the fields to others, while he enjoyed a period of well earned rest. His political allegiance was given the democracy as advocated by Jackson and he held membership in the Roman Catholic church. He and his wife were married at Limerick, Ireland, May 3, 1848, and unto them were born seven children, three sons and four daughters, of whom three are now living, namely: Mrs. Dunne: Patrick, who re- sides in Champaign county, Illinois, and Johanna, the wife of Michael Hurley, a resident of Chicago.
Unto Colonel and Mrs. Dunne have been born eight children, seven of whom survive: Kather- ine J., who was born December 16, 1875, and is the wife of Joseph P. O'Brien, a resident of St. Joseph, Missouri; Ida G., born May 21, 1877: Josephine, who was born May 1, 1879. and died in infancy; Mary A., born March 31, 1881; Alice J., May 21, 1883; Michael J., April 14, 1885; Anna C., who was born February 27, 1888, and is a school teacher in her home district ; and Nellie T., who was born March 15, 1891.
The family are communicants of the Roman Catholic church. Mr. Dunne easts an independent ballot, and does not seek nor desire political pre- ferment. He is well and popularly known through- out the county as Colonel Dunne and is a man of genial disposition, cordial manner and undoubted sineerity. He is now closely associated with varied business interests and his labors are largely of a
character which prove not only a source of indi- vidual income, but also contribute to the business activity and enterprise of the community at large.
JOHN FREDERICK HOHERTZ.
John Frederick Hoheitz, now a pr sperolis farmer of Clarion township, is a self-made man, who came empty handed to America from Ger- many and has worked his way steadily upward by reason of his business capability and laudable am- bition. He was born in Prize, Poland, his father being Godfried Ilohertz. The mother died when her son was only a year and a half old and he knows therefore nothing of her. The father died in Germany.
Mr. Hohertz of this review spent the first twenty years of his life in the old world, acquiring his edueation and performing such labor as fell to his lot. In 1860, when a young man of twenty years, he determined to try his fortune in the United States, having heard favorable reports concerning the opportunities afforded in the new world. 1c- eordingly he made his way across the Atlantic and took up his abode in Clarion township, Barcau county, Illinois, where he worked by the month as a farm hand for five years. He was for two years in the employ of George Hatzler and one year with George Charlie and later he spent two years in the employ of Christian Betz in the village of La Moille.
On the 1th of February, 1866, Mr. Hohertz was united in marriage to Miss Hannah Knaser, who was born July 24, 1815, and was an adopted daughter of John Knauer, who lived in La Moille township. This marriage has been bles .1 with six children : Samuel J., John F., Amiel F., Wil- lie A., Mrs. Molly Keller and Mrs. Rosie Rapp. The daughters are now living in La Moille.
In the years in which he was employe I by oth- ers Mr. Hohertz carefully saved his earnings and when he had secured sufficient capital he 1. ule in- vestment in land and began farming on his own account. As his financial resources were further increased he added to his original holdings and now owns one hundred and seventy-five acres of good land in Clarion township, constituting a valu- able farm, which he has brought under a high state of cultivation. He now has a beautiful home and the shade trees which adorn the pl e were planted by his own hand. He and his two sons work the farm together and this property is the visible evidence of his life of industry aul thrift. He certainly deserves much credit for what he has accomplished, for he arrived in America with prac- tically nothing and worked most diligently and industriously in order to gain a start. Now he is enabled to enjoy the comforts and some of the luxuries of life, his farm bringing to him a good annual income. In his political views he is an earnest republican and is thoroughly in sympathy
696
PAST AND PRESENT OF BUREAU COUNTY.
with the principles of the party. For two years he served as road commissioner, but has never been active as a politician in the sense of office seeking. Both he and his wife are members of the Lutheran church.
John F. Hohertz, son of Frederick and Hannah (Knauer) Hohertz, acquired his education in the distriet schools of Clarion township. Ile was born April 7, 1869, and is living upon his father's farm. His brother, William A. Hohertz, was born in 1873 and likewise obtained his education in the public schools. l'utting aside their text-books, they became associated with their father in his farming operations and are now his active assist- ants in carrying on the home place, both being recognized as young men of good business ability and marked enterprise.
GEORGE W. HENSEL
George W. Hensel now owns and occupies what is known as the old Hensel farm in Dover town- ship. His father, James Hensel, was born in Pennsylvania, June 24, 1801, and came to Bureau county in 1853, reaching his destination on the 2d of October. He traveled by rail to La Salle county and then walked across the country to this county. He was married twice, his first wife being Lydia Fockler, who was born in 1805. His second wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Frease, was born in Pennsylvania, July 11, 1823. By the first marriage there were six children : Philip, Simon, Henry, Enoch, Sarah and Elias. The seven children born of the second marriage are John, Madison, George, Cyrus, Harvey E., Eliza and Elsie.
George W. Hensel acquired his education in the distriet schools of the county. He can remember the trip to Illinois, which was made by wagon from Ohio. The father came ahead of his wife and children and paid for the farm. Several fami- lies made the trip together, there being ten in the party. George W. Hensel, who was then a lit- tle lad, was reared to farm life, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist, and from his early youth was his father's assistant on the home place. The father prospered in his business af- fairs and became the owner of nine hundred and seventy-six acres of land. He moved to Princeton in 1886 and died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Sarah Remsburg, May 12, 1899. In 1900, when the property was divided, George W. Hensel came into possession of the old homestead, com- prising two hundred and seventeen and a half acres, which was originally the Sylvester Brigham farm, taken up by him in 1828.
Religiously Mr. Hensel belongs to the Congre- gational church and, an independent voter, he is a warm admirer of President Roosevelt. He rep- resents one of the old and prominent pioneer
families of the county and has residol in thi part of the state from pioneer times, so that he has witnessed its development from a frontier distriet into one of the best farming sections of this great commonwealth.
TIMOTHY RHYNE.
Timothy Rhyne, a farmer and stock-raiser re- siding on section 32, Selby township, Bureau county, where he owns a well improved farm of three hundred and twenty-seven aeres, was born in this county, June 13, 1856, and is a son of John C. and Russena (Searl) Rhyne. The father was born in Zanesville, Ohio, where he was reared to the age of nine years, and then left home and went south, following the river for a number of years. When about twenty or twenty-one years of age he went to Hennepin, Illinois, locating in Leepertown township, where he made his home for many years. About 1870 he removed to Selby township, Bu- reau county, which continued to be his home until he was called to his final rest in August, 1881, when he had reached the age of fifty years. He was a democrat in his political views, and served as supervisor of Leepertown township before re- moving to this county, for several years. Ile was a member of the Christian church. His wife, Russena (Searl) Rhyne, was a native of Ohio, and when a child accompanied her parents on their removal to Bureau county. They located on a farin in Selby township, a part of which is now owned by the subject of this review. Her death occurred in July, 1891. when she had reached the age of about fifty-seven years. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. John C. Rhyne were five children, of whom one daughter died in infancy, the others being Mrs. Alvaretta E. Ring, a resident of Tis- kilwa; Timothy, the subject of this review; Mrs. Mary A. Ireland, residing on a farm in Leeper- town township; and John A., who is married and carries on farming near Tiskilwa.
Timothy Rhyne was reared in mueh the usual manner of farm lads, and received his education in the Ridge school of Selby township. After put- ting aside his text-books he engaged in farming on his own account in Selby township, where he is now the owner of three hundred and twenty-seven aeres of well improved land, on which are found all modern improvements and accessories. He is also engaged in stock-raising, and finds this a very profitable business.
Mr. Rhyne was married in 1879 to Miss Lillie B. Smith, a native of Bureau county and a daugh- ter of W. R. and Susanna ( Hartzell) Smith, resi- dents of Selby township. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Rhyne have been born eight children. one of wh on, Lillian, the fourth in order of birth. died August 18, 1902, at the age of fifteen years. Those sur- viving are: Myrtle, at home; Gertrude. the wife of Kelly Richardson, residing in Nebraska, who
TIMOTHY RHYNE AND FAMILY.
-
699
PAST AND PRESENT OF BUREAU COUNTY.
is the mother of one child, Wahnita; Clyde, Charles, Hazel, Joseph and Darlene, all at home with their parents.
In his political views Mr. Rhyne is a democrat, and for twelve years served as road commissioner, on the expiration of which period he resigned the oflice. In his religious faith he is a Congrega- tionalist, attending services at Burcan and at Ridge. A native of Bureau county, Mr. Rhyne has spent his entire life here, and has, by the care- ful supervision of his business interests, become one of the prosperous and influential residents of his township, where he is held in high regard, not only in his own vicinity, but throughout the entire county.
LOUIS H. H. OBERSCHELP.
Louis II. II. Oberschelp is identified with the industrial interests of Greenville township as a manufacturer of tile and brick and is an enter- prising business man, watchful of opportunities and energetic in all that he undertakes. Ile was born in St. Louis, Missouri, October 6, 1833, a son of ITerman II. and Hannah (Niderloman) Oberschelp, in whose family were three children, but the youngest died in infancy. Gottlieb H. is a brick and tile manufacturer of Princeton. Both parents were natives of Prussia, Germany, and the mother died when our subject was quite young. The father was born August 20, 1820, and came to the United States in 1818, landing in New Or- leans. Two years later he removed to St. Louis, where he was first married, and in 1856 came to Bureau county, taking up his residence in Prince- ton. He was again married April 29, 1859, his see- ond union being with Katherine Dremann, by whom he had seven children, namely: Herman and Mina, who died young: Annie, now the wife of John Harrison, a brick and tile manufacturer of Mineral; William. also a resident of Mineral; John, who was killed on the railroad at Marys- ville, Kansas; Mary, wife of Fred Uthoff. of Princeton ; and Henry, a brick and tile manufac- turer of Ohio, Illinois.
Louis II. H. Obersehelp acquired his education in the public schools of Princeton, where he resided until 1880, when at the age of twenty-seven years he took up his abode in New Bedford. Here he established a brick and tile factory and has since conducted the business, having a well equipped plant supplied with the latest improved machinery for carrying on work of this kind. He owns thirty-six acres of choice land on section 32, Greenville township, whereon stands his brick and tile factory. In addition to this he also bas four hundred and eighty acres in Tunica county, Mississippi, valued at twenty-five dollars per acre.
On the 24th of October. 1828, Mr. Oberschelp was united in marriage to Miss Annie M. Bringer, who was born in Burlington, Iowa, March 15,
1855, and they became the parents of two chil- dren: Edward H., born November 6, 1881; and Maud I .. , September 3, 1883. Mr. Oberschelp and his family are members of the Evangelical Lutheran church and his political allegiance is given to the democracy, while fraternaby he is connected with the Modern Woodmen camp, No. 166. He has served as school trustee for six years and is now acting as supervisor of Greenville town- ship for fifteen years conspentively, his long con- tinance in office being unmistakable proof of his fidelity, capability and the trust reposed in him by his fellow townsmen. He is numbered among the prominent and influential residents of Green- ville township, who is deeply interested in the work of improvements and upbuilding here and withholds his support from no movement which he believes will prove beneficial to the county. At the same time he is carefully conducting his busi- ness interests. He had only a small inheritance when he started out in life, but he has worked hard and by good management has become one of the men of affluence in his community. His is one of the largest tile factories in the county and the output is unsurpassed in quality, so that the prod- uet finds a ready sale on the market. Ilis chief attention is given to his manufacturing interests and in this connection he has inet with well merited success.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.