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 34
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U'nto our subject and his wife have been born five children, as follows: Walter R., born March 15, 1883; Louie B., July 13, 18S !: Arthur R., March 20, 1886, and now decreased : Nellie M. September 5, 1887, and James A .. born October 20, 1892. Po- litically Mr. Kasbeer is a republican and he and his family are members of the Methodist Protes- tant church. Ile has served as school director and is interested in the educational advance- ment of his township and county. He is an en- terprising agricultorist. following modern meth- ods in all his work, and through his industry has accomplished excellent results, so that he is now the owner of extensive landed interests hoth in Illinois and Kansas, being classed among the substantial and well-to-do agriculturi-ts of Bu- reau county. He possesses many excellent traits of character which have secured to him many business and social friends and he and his esti- nible wife are numbered among the most high- Iy respected people of their community, and are now enabled to enjoy the luxuries of life.
JOHN MASON.
John Mason, deceased. was born in Deerfield, New Hampshire, January 2. 1798. When he was but four years of age his father died, and three years later he lost his mother also. He had but one sister. Anna Erwen Mason, who was born May 24. 1295. and died in 183. in Con- cord, New Hampshire, and left of daughter. now Mrs. Mary Blake. of Concord, New Hamp- shire. In early life John Mason was bound to Filmund Stevens, to learn the tanner and eur- rier's trade, and his life was such that he had but small opportunities for an education; how- over. be learned to read and write, and then to cipher. using the hides in the tannery for his slate. After serving his time of apprenticeship. he never afterward followed his trade, but en- gaged in different occupitions. In 1835 he re- moved from his then home in Pittsfell. New Hampshire, to Illinois, and landed at Pekin. Tune 15, 1835, and five of the family of seven had to be carried off the boat to the shore. on ac- count of sickn ss. This first settlement wis at
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Black Partridge Point, in what is now Wood- ford county, and the following year, 1836, the town of Metamora was laid out on land adjoin- ing his farm. In 1811 he came to Bureau coun- ty, and settled at French Grove. That year he made brick and the following year built a two- story briek house, which was the first house erected on the present site of Buda, and yet re- mains and used as a dwelling. In 18-14 he sold this and the following year settled the farm now owned by his grand-on, Orris W. Mason, and it was there he met his death May 5, 1860. He was crushed by the falling of a large stone he was trying to bury in the field.
He was married in Canterbury, New Hamp- shire, March 7, 1820, to Abigail Robey, who was born at Pittsfield, New Hampshire, December 17, 1793, and died in this county November 20, 1865. She was the mother of the following named children : William H., born August 13, 1821; Abigail A., born February 22, 1823; John W., born May 27, 1825; Stephen R., born June 18, 1827, and Cyrus P., born August 13, 1831.
William H. Mason married Phebe A. Draw- yer, January 24, 1844. She was born at Car- mel, New York, December 29, 1822, and died October 29. 1852, at the home in Macon town- ship, leaving one son, Hiram Franeis, born No- vember 28, 1844, and died in Denver, Colorado, August 25, 1874. William Mason's second mar- riage was June 27, 1853, to Mehitable Kaime, who was born in Chichester, New Hampshire, March 21, 1819, and died at the Mason home, October 14, 1886, leaving one son, William K., born September 25, 1856, who resides on the home farm in Macon township, Bureau county. His third marriage, May 2. 1889. was to Mrs. Ann Elizabeth (Read) Rhodes, who was born November 15, 1828, in Providence, Rhode Is- land, and now resides in Buda, where Mr. Ma- son died October 11. 1899. A more extended sketeh of William K. Mason appears elsewhere in this work.
Abigail Amanda Mason married Benjamin G. Rowell. May 4. 1843. He was born in Andover, New Hampshire, May 2, 1815, and died at his home in Barren Grove, June 11, 1906. To them were born six children : Lydia Abigail, born January 24, 1844, married Robert Free- land, December 21. 1861, died January 15, 1890, at Modena. Illinois; John Moses was born September 6. 1816, now resides in Oklahoma; Henrietta Abigail, born August 22, 1849, mar- ried Thaddeus S. Campbell, April 11, 1867, now resides in Neola, Iowa; James D. Robey, born June 17, 1852, resides in Neponset. Illinois: Ben- jamin Greeley. born August 27, 1857. resides on the home place in Mineral township, Bureau eoun- ty, Illinois; Addie MI., born March 10, 1864, died October 27, 1864.
John Wesley Mason married Achsah Brain- ard at Princeton, Illinois, March 19, 1817. She was born May 10, 1829, at Westfield, Ohio, and now lives with her daughter in Princeton, Illi- nois. They were the parents of seven children : Dora M., born December 28, 1847, married John F. Robey, in Buda, Illinois, January 18, 18:0, now resides in Princeton, Illinois; Charles, born May 18, 1849, died October 11, 1850; Henry Robey, born September 28, 1852, died November 2, 1893; a daughter born Septem- ber 7, 1857, died in infancy; Albert French, born February 10, 1859, resides in Buda, Ili- nois; Charles Seymour, born September 2, 1862, lives at Omaha, Nebraska; George Wesley, born Angust 3, 1861, is in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Stephen Robey Mason married Mary Ann Brainard June 10, 1852, at Providence, Illinois. She was born January 26, 1834. at Lafayette, Ohio, died March 24, 1889, at DeVall's Bluff, Arkansas. To them were horn five children: Ella Jane, born March 4, 1853, married Walter B. Allen, July 26, 1876, died June 30, 1900; Ida May, born January 16, 1855, married John Waterman March 30, 1880, now lives at Cres- ton, Iowa; Robey Ensign, born December 17, 1856, died July 30, 1888, at Brinkley, Arkan- sas. Wilber John, born November 22. 1859, lives at De Vall's Bluff, Arkansas; Harry Whit- ing, born March 14, 1863, now resides at Dan- ville, Illinois.
Cyrus Parker Mason (see separate sketch) married Sarah J. Noyes in Buda, Illinois, Jau- uary 8. 1860. She was born February 25, 1833. in Springfield, New Hampshire, and died March 3, 1900, in Buda, Illinois. Their chil- dren were Parker Noyes, (see separate sketch). born October 4, 1862, and Orris Wesley, (see separate sketch), born June 21, 1864, both resi- dents of Buda, Ilinois.
JOIIN F. CRATER.
John F. Crater, now living retired at No. 1419 South Main street, in Princeton, has been a resi- dent of Bureau county since February, 1856. He had come to the county in the previous Angust, and purchased a farm on what is now known as Vorth Prairie, and after taking up his abode permanently in the county, about a half century ago, he followed farming for many years, and is still the owner of good land, from which he de- rives a gratifying income.
He was born in German Valley, Morris county, New Jersey. August 24. 1825, his parents being Philip and Catherine ( Fritts) Crater, the former born in Morris county and the latter in Hunterdon county, New Jersey. The great-great-grandfather Fritts came from Germany, and was married to a daughter of the captain on whose vessel he sailed to the new world. He built the Lutheran church
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JOHN F. CRATER.
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in Hunterdon county and was a very prominent and influential resident there in an early epoch of the early settlement of the state. llis son, the great-grandfather, was the most prominent factor in the building of another church in that county. and the grandfather also built a church there, 30 that the Fritts family were closely associated with the carly moral development of their locality.
Philip Crater, father of our subject, spent his entire life in New Jersey, where he died when only thirty-eight or thirty-nine years of age. In early manhood he engaged in teaching school, and sub- sequently he conducted a store, while later he en- gaged in the hotel business until his death. IFis widow long survived him, reaching the advanced age of eighty-six years, passing away about 1880. She had resided in New Jersey throughout her entire life, and after the death of her first. husband she was married in Somerset county to Henry 1. Hoffman, who died some years before her death. He was prominent in community affairs in the east, and served as justice of the peace for forty or fifty years.
Mr. Crater, of this review, was one of a family of eight children, of whom three sisters are yet living: Mrs. Catherine Baker, of New York city ; Adeline, who also lives in that city, and Mrs. Mary Yawger, a widow, who is residing with a son in Brooklyn, New York, at the age of ninety- one years. The others are all now deceased, name- ly: William, George and Isaac. The last named was a photographer, conducting a gallery at No. 55 Clark strect, Chicago.
John F. Crater was reared in New Jersey, ac- quiring his early education in that state, and he afterward attended Lancaster College, in Easton, Pennsylvania. Ile was thus well equipped by lib- eral educational training for life's practical and responsible duties. In 1848 he was married in Easton to Miss Elizabeth Neighbour, the wedding ceremony being performed by Dr. Junkard, who was president of Lafayette College and was the father-in-law of Stonewall Jackson. Mrs. Crater was born in German Valley, Morris county, New Jersey, in 1827. They remained residents of the east for about eight years, and, as previously stated, took up their abode in Bureau county in February, 1856. In Angust, 1855, Mr. Crater had visited this county and purchased a farm on what is now known as North Prairie, but a year later he sold that property and bought another tract of raw land in Dover township, which he improved, having a farm there of one hundred and eighty acres, which he placed under a high state of cultivation. Hle erected a residence there and resided thereon for seven years. Ile then again sold out, after which he took up his ahode in Selby township, where he bought land and car- ried on farming for eleven years. He then once more sold his farm, and his next purchase made him owner of a tract of land in Dover township, where he lived for seven years. When he once
more sold he bought a farm in Princeton township, and afterward removed to the city of Princeton, where he has lived for twenty-one years. llis farm in Princeton was sold to Mr. Waddell, after which he purchased three hundred and thirty-five acres in Whiteside and Henry counties, which he now owns, but which he has leased. Ile visits his farm every year, but makes his home in Prince- ton. His property brings him a good income, and he is now in very comfortable financial circum- stances.
U'nto Mr. and Mrs. Crater were born five chil- dren, who survived the mother, her death oc- curring about thirty years ago. These are: Wil- Ham N., at home: Jacob A., who died of typhoid fever in California; Kate L., who is the widow of Henry Callinan, and, with her two children, resides in Bureau county, Illinois ; Luella, the wife of John F. Kaufman, a farmer residing six miles west of Princeton, and Edward B., a jeweler, of Tiskilwa, who married Alice Bryant. For his see- ond wife John F. Crater chose Angeline Neigh- bour, a sister of his first wife, and their only child died at the age of three months.
In his political views in early life Mr. Crater was a Henry Clay whig, and supported the party until its dissolution, when he joined the ranks of the new republican party and has since been one of its stalwart advocates. He joined the Presby- terian church before he was sixteen years of age, and has lived a life in consistent harmony with its teachings. When a young man he followed the tailor's trade in New York, and he thus provided for himself for several years prior to his marriage. Throughout his business connection with this coun- ty he has followed farming, and although he is now living retired he is still the owner of valuable farming interests. His life has been characterized by diligence and perseverance crowned with suc- cess. Ile has, moreover, been a witness of much of the development and growth of this county, having come to Princeton in pioneer times, and for a half century he has resided in this county, wit- nessing the changes that have occurred and bear- ing his full share in the work of general improve- ment.
SHANNON BONNELL.
Shannon Bonnell, an active representative of the farming interests of La Moille township, is one of the native sons of Pennsylvania. He was born October 18, 1852, and the following year was brought to Illinois by his parents, Silas and Mary 1. (Smith) Bonnell. The father was also a native of the Keystone state and in the middle of the nineteenth century brought his family to Illinois. There were nine children, of whom Shannon was the fourth in order of birth.
Mr. Bonnell of this review was reared to the occupation of the farm, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that devolve upon the
PAST AND PRESENT OF BUREAU COUNTY.
agriculturist as he tills his fields and harvests his crops. When not working at the plow or in the cultivation of the fields Mr. Bonnell was largely engaged in the pursuit of education, being a stu- dent in the district schools near his father's home. As he neared man's estate he began thinking of establishing a home of his own, and as a compan- ion and helpinate for life's journey he chose Miss Tena Maloy, who was born in Bartholomew county, Indiana, December 31, 1856, and who gave him her hand in marriage in Bureau county on the 11th of March, 1876. Her parents were John and Laner (Shroyer) Maloy, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Pennsylvania. In their family were seven children, five of whom are still living, Mrs. Bonnell being the eldest. Our sub- ject and his wife have three children : Everett S., born October 20, 1877; John H., January 11, 1879; and Elva A., born December 11, 1883.
The family home stands upon a farm of forty acres of fine land which is very rich and productive and which responds readily to the care and labor bestowed upon it. IFere Mr. Bonnell is engaged in raising hogs, sheep and cattle, and his annual sales of stock bring him several hundred dollars. He is a man of keen discrimination in his business affairs, and all that he possesses has been acquired through his own labor. Both he and his wife are members of the Mystic Workers at La Moille, and in his political connection he is a republican. Mr. and Mrs. Bonnell also hold membership in the Baptist church, and are people of genuine personal worth, whose lives are characterized by many good deeds and kindly actions. Their neighbors attest their integrity and speak in terms of praise of their many good qualities, and the life record of Mr. Bonnell, with its successes, is another proof of the old adage that honesty is the best policy.
FRANKLIN A. PATTEN.
Franklin A. Patten, who carries on general farming and stock-raising, owns and operates a farm of eighty acres of fine land in Macon town- ship, and in 1901 erected thereon a new resi- dence. He was born near Skowhegan, in Somer- set county, Maine, October 1, 1849. and acquired a common-school education while spending his boyhood days under the parental roof. He is a son of Isaac and Hulda ( Squares) Patten, both of whom were natives of Somerset county. Maine. The father was born in 1815, and departed this life on the 23d of March, 1898, at the age of eighty-three years. He was married at Skowhegan, Maine, to Miss Hulda Squares, who died in Au- gust, 1857. They became residents of Illinois in the spring of 1863, and located in Macon town- ship, where Mr. Patten purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land. Throughout his entire life he carried on farming and stock-raising, and after a residence of more than two decades in this
county he removed with his wife to Kansas, where Mrs. Patten died in August, 1887. He continued to reside in the Sunflower state until 1889, when he returned to Illinois, spending his remaining days here. His political allegiance was given to the republican party, and both he and his wife were consistent and faithful members of the Meth- odist Episcopal church. In their family were five children: Mary, Orrin M., Jennie M., Franklin A. and Mercy. The last named died in early womanhood.
Franklin .A. Patten spent the first four years of his life in the Pine Tree state and then accon- panied his parents on their removal westward to Bureau county. He was reared to the occupation of farming, and has always engaged in the tilling of the soil. He had no financial assistance when he started out in life for himself, but placed his dependence upon the safe and substantial qual- ities of unremitting diligence and perseverance, and with these as a foundation he has built the superstructure of his success. He is now farm- ing eighty acres of fine land, which is rich and productive and returns to him bounteous harvests. In 1901 he erected a new residence, and has made other substantial improvements upon his farm.
On the 14th of March, 1889, Me. Patten was united in marriage to Miss Louise M. Havener, who was born in Henry county, Illinois, November 29, 1867, and is a daughter of Fred and Fred- ericka (Lympke) Havener. The father's birth oe- eurred in Ambrock, Germany, April 5, 1814, while his wife was born at Altkinkendof". near Berlin, Germany. They were married in their native country on the 14th of March, 1819. and erossel the Atlantic from Bremen to New York city on a sailing vessel which was eight weeks and three days in making the voyage. They landed in July, 1861, and on the ?? 4 of that month arrived at Kewanee, Illinois. Mr. Havener rented a farm in Henry county, near Annawan, where he remained for a year and then removed to Green river, where he lived for four years. His entire life was de- voted to general agricultural pursuits and the raising of stock, and he passed away November 30, 1881, when about sixty-seven years of age. Ilis political support was given to the democracy, and he held membership in the German Lutheran church, to which his widow also belon_s. She still survives him, and is now living in Maton township. In their family were seven children, five sons and two daughters, but only two are now living: Au- gustus, who was born in Germany, January 5, 1855; and Mrs. Patten.
The home of our subject and his wife has been blessed with one daughter, Alma M., born July 25. 1890. For nine years Mr. Pattes has been a school director, and has done effective service in behalf of education. He has ser: : I as path- master, and he gives luis political support to the republican party. Fraternally he is connected with Neponset lodge, No. 803, A. F. and A. M.
PAST AND PRESENT OF BUREAU COUNTY.
lle has always stood for progress and improve- ment, and his efforts in behalf of the community have been far-reaching and effective.
HERBERT L. WHITING.
Herbert 1. Whiting, who carries on general ag- ricultural pursuits on sections 14 and 12, Indian- town township, was born in the house which he now occupies, September 19, 1858, and is a rep- resentative of one of the pioneer families of this part of the state. His paternal grandfather, San- uel Whiting, was a farmer and contractor on the Erie canal, and at one time was engaged in the lumber business on the Genesee river. He was born in Connecticut, and his mother, whose maiden name was Zilpha Mather, was a lineal descendant of Cotton Mather and also a native of Connecticut. Samuel Whiting, Sr., the great-grandfather of our subject, was a native of New England, and in early manhood served as a soldier in the con- tinental army. The Whitings are of English lin- eage, and the family was established in this coun- try in early colonial days.
Lorenzo Dow Whiting, father of our subject, was born at Arcadia, Wayne county, New York, November 12, 1819, and acquired an academic education, after which he became a salesman in a mercantile establishment at Olcott, Niagara coun- ty, New York, where he remained until eighteen years of age. He came to the west in 1838, and for four years was engaged in the patent-right business in Illinois, after which he returned to the Empire state. During the next seven years he was engaged in teaching, and also acted as town superintendent of schools in Newfayne, Niagara county, where he likewise filled the office of justice of the peace most of the time. In 1848 he re- turned to Illinois with his wife and made pur- chase of a quarter section of land near Tiskilwa. During the first three years of his residence here he was engaged in farming and teaching, after which he devoted the greater part of his time to his agricultural interests, and added to his holdings as opportunity offered, until he became the owner of six hundred acres of valuable land. He was an enterprising, wide-awake and active business man, and his close application and judicious in- vestments constituted the basis of his prosperity. He was also a prominent and influential factor in public life, and his ability well fitted him for the position of leadership which was accorded him. He served for five or six years as supervisor of Indian- town township, but still higher honors awaited him, for in 1868 he was elected to the Illinois house of representatives, in 1869 to the consti- tutional convention and in 18:0 to the state sen- ate. He was altogether a member of the general assembly for eighteen years, and left the impress of his individuality upon the legislative history of the state, and was an influential factor in pro-
moting constructive measures. In the constitu- tional convention he was the first to propose the insertion of a provision requiring the general assembly to pass laws regulating railroad charges, and as senator he was influential in securing the passage of the bill which embodied a law against unjust discrimination and extortionate charges, known as the Granger laws. Hle was the pro- jector of the Hennepin canal scheme and the originator of other bills looking to the internal improvement of the state, and few men in public life did more effective service for practical im- provement and development than Mr. Whiting. He was the author of several important laws re- lating to agriculture, roads and drainage, and the bill, which passed and became a law, ceding the Illinois and Michigan canal to the United States on certain conditions, had its authorship in him. It is said that no man in the senate possessed clearer insight into the exigencies and possibilities of a political venture or movement than Mr. Whiting or labored more zealously to secure equal rights and justice to all classes than did Lorenzo Dow Whiting. In 1869 he was among the most active in opposing the lake front selieme, whereby three railroad corporations sought to possess them- selves of the shore line of the outer and future harbor of Chicago. In 1828 he led the opposition in defeat of senate bill No. 114, which was to effect the release of a combination of railroads from a large amount of the taxes adjudged by the courts to be due to the public. His championship of measures relating to the producers, and his watchfulness of the public interests when assailed by special and corporate greed, made him known as the "farmer statesman." He was a repub- lican of democratic antecedents, and in his official service he placed the general good before parti- sanship and the welfare of his constituents before personal aggrandizement.
Lorenzo Dow Whiting was first married in 1846 to Miss Lucretia C. Clement, of Oneida county, New York, who died in 1872, leaving three chil- dren, two sons and a daughter. In 1874 he mar- ried Miss Eriphyle Robinson, of Brooklyn, New York.
On coming to Bureau county Mr. Whiting lo- cated near Wyanet, where he resided until 1854, when he removed to Indiantown township. His business connection with this county was that of a farmer and stock-raiser, and he carefully con- ducted his interests, so that a large measure of success resulted from his industry and able man- agement. IFe died October 10, 1889, respected by all who knew him. Ilis life was faultless in honor, fearless in conduet and stainless in reputation. By his first marriage there were three children, of whom Clement A., the eldest, is now a pro- fessor in the Pacific school of osteopathy, in Los Angeles, California. The daughter. Emily Lil- lian, the youngest. is living in Boston, Massa- chusetts, and is a journalist and lady of superior
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literary ability. She has written several books, including the "Life of Kate Fields" and other volumes, and she spends each summer in Europe.
Herbert L. Whiting, whose name introduces this record, was reared upon the home farm in Indian- town township, and has always resided in Bureau county. The occupation with which he became familiar in his youth he decided to make his life work, and he has since carried on general agricul- tural pursuits. He has valuable land holdings of two hundred aeres, constituting the old homestead.
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