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 56
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Charles L. Savage, having lost his mother when about two years of age, accompanied his father on his various removals and was reared to farm life, remaining at home and assisting in the operation of the home place until after he had attained his majority. He then. on the 8th of February. 1853, was united in marriage to Miss Henrietta Young, who has proved to him a faithful companion and helpinate on life's jour- ney. Ile then statred ont in life on his own ae- count and was first employed at breaking prairie and threshing. He has always been & hard- working, industrious man, and by the assistance of his estimable wife he was enabled in a few years to purchase land of his own. adjoining the vil- lage of Depue, and with the exception of four years spent in Depue continued to be their home for forty years but he recently sold this land to the Mineral Point Zine Company, which corpora- tion is expending five million dollars in the erec- tion of a model plant. In 1894 he purchased ninety acres of land. which he made his home for several years but which is now operat ! by his son Harry. In March, 1904, he bought a farm of three hundred and twenty acres known as 3. . Bon Smith farm, situated near Princeton. for w.ich he paid forty-seven thousand dollars, and in Janu- ary, 1905, he and his family removed to his
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home on section 31, Selby township. For over forty years Mr. Savage was also engaged as an auctioneer, having in 1862 taken up this line in connection with his farming interests. He has eried as high as ninety-eight sales, mostly on farm lands, in a year in northern Illinois, where his services have been highly satisfactory.
Unto Wh. and Mrs. Charles L. Savage have been born four sons: Charles Henry, born No- vember 17, 1853, is a farmer and engineer, re- siding at Depue. He is married and his children are: Warren who is married; James; Mrs. Lillie Papkee; Henrietta, the wife of John Seaburger ; and Mary. James Martin Savage, born in Jan- uary, 1855, died on the 25th of March, 1893. He had been married to Miss Betsy Olafson and of this marriage there are two daughters, Carrie, the wife of George Barnes, and Charlotte, who is the wife of John Marple. Perry Alvin Savage, born in 1809, died in 1882, when about thirteen years of age. Harry Charles Savage, born in 18:1, and now operating the home farm, was married to Miss Naney Fox and they have five children, Amanda. Morgan Charles, Lydia Carolee, Theo- dore, and baby.
Politically Mr. Savage has always been an ad- voeate of republican principles and has been a delegate to conventions of his party, and has al- way. been an active campaign worker. He was president of the Depue council for several years, served as deputy sheriff for four years under Sheriff Beatty, and as deputy provost marshal under Norton during the Civil war. He has also been a reporter for the mercantile agencies of Dunn, Douglas, Brock and others of Chicago and New York for over forty years.
Though starting out in life without eapital, he possessed a strong will and through his persever- anee and industry is now in possession of a val- uable property being classed among the well-to-do and influential citizens of Bureau county, where he and his family are highly esteemed. Over the record of his publie and private career there falls no shadow of wrong. for he has ever been most loyal to the ties of friendship and citizenship, and his history well deserves mention on the pages of this volume.
JAMES G. LAUGHLIN.
James G. Laughlin, who in former years was identified with agricultural interests in Bureau county but for the past twenty years has lived retired in Princeton, where he took up his abode in 1885, was born in Bond county, Illinois, on the 6th of October, 1824, and is therefore in the eighty-second year of his age. His parents were Samuel Davis and Rebceca ( Dunlavey) Laughlin, the latter a native of Ohio and the former of South Carolina. In the year 180: Samuel D. Laughlin left his native state and with his parents removed
to Brown county, Ohio, whyje in ive youth he learned the blacksmith's trad , which In followed until 1819. Ile then removed westward to Bond county, Illinois, where he engaged in business along the same line until 1830. In that year he became a resident of Putnam county, Illinois, and entered a fine farm of four hundred aeres near the village of Florid, where he carried on general agricultural pursuits for a few years. He after- ward lived retired until his death, which occurred in 1849, when he was fifty-two years of age. Ilis wife died a few days before but in the same weck. In their family were eight children, but only three are now living: James G., of Princeton; one a resident of Putnam county, Illinois, and another of Kewannee, Wisconsin.
James G. Laughlin attended the public schools of Putnam county. Illinois, to which place he removed with his parents in his childhood. He also spent one year as a student in Galesburg, Illinois, and received a good education. In his youth he learned the blackinith's trade with his father and was employed in that way for a short time, after which he purchased a farm in Putnam county, where he carried on general agricultural pursuits until 1851. That year witnessed his ar- rival in Bureau county and he purchased land on section 18, Bureau township, which he converted into richly improved fields, carrying on general farming there for eight years. In 1869 he re-
turned to Putnam county, Ilinois, and settled in the village of Mount Palatine, where he entered into partnership with his brother John. They established a blacksmith and wagon shop and con- ducted a large business there for eight years, on the expiration of which period Mr. Laughlin of this review sold out and again turned his attention to farming near Mount Palatine, where he owned one hundred and sixty acres of land. He was thus engaged in general farming and stock-rais- ing until 1885. He placed his fields under a high state of cultivation, carrying on his farm work along progressive, modern lines and each year he harvested rich erops, for which he found a ready sale on the market.
While residing in Putnam county Mir. Laughlin was married in Princeton on the 28th of Novem- ber, 1850, to Julia Smith, a native of Mohawk, Ilerkimer eonnty, New York, born in 1829, a daughter of Beriah 1I. Smith, who left the state of New York in 1847 and eame to the west with his family, settling in Putnam county upon a farmn. He there carried on the work of the fields until the death of his wife, after which he sold the farm and removed to Princeton, where he lived retired at the home of Mr. Laughlin until his demise. There were nine children born unto Mr. and Mrs. Laughlin : Mary, who died at the age of forty years; Charles Emmet, who is engaged in the cultivation of rice in Louisiana; Antoinetto, the wife of James A. MeNabb, who is engaged in the hardware business in the town of MeNabb, Put-
JAMES G. LAUGHLIN.
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MRS. JAMES G. LAUGHLIN.
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nam county, Illinois; John Bayard, who married Louise Fisher and is engaged in the furniture business in Mount Vernon, Washington; Adelbert, a carpenter of Wyoming; Jennie, the wife of Fred Lauder, of St. Joseph, Missouri; Samuel Fred, who married Rose Pryor and is a farmer living in Wyanet township ; Howard F., of St. Joseph, Mis- souri; and Mabel, who died at the age of two vears. Mr. and Mrs. Laughlin also have an adop- ted daughter, Amanda Ferry, now the wife of L. Clay Barr, of Holdrege, Nebraska. The children were all given good educational privileges, most of them attending high school, while two of the daughters were teachers.
Since coming to Princeton in 1885 Mr. Laugh- lin has lived a retired life. He served for some time as justice of the peace in Putnam county and in politics has always been a stalwart repub- liean. Both he and his wife are members of the Congregational church, and Mrs. Laughlin is an active worker in the Women's Christian Temper- ance Union. Their home is a nice large residence at No. 606 West South street and in addition to this property Mr. Laughlin owns a fine farm of one hundred and seventy acres in Wyatet town- ship, whereon his son resides, and another of one hundred acres in Berlin township. He and his wife have spent much time in the past years in traveling, visiting their children in the south and west, together with many places of historic interest. He is one of the leading and well-to-do retired citizens of Princeton. with a business ree- ord that is honorable as well as successful, so that he justly merits the esteem which is uniform- ly accorded him.
JOSEPH H. SHOWALTER.
Joseph H. Showalter, a veteran of the Spanish- American war and editor and proprietor of the La Moille Gazette, was born April 30, 1873, in the village which is still his home, his parents being Henry and Mary A. (Sullivan) Showalter. The father was born in Wayne county, Ohio, March 30, 1833, and became a resident of La Moille township, Bureau county, Illinois, in 1857, when a young man of twenty-four years. He was married in Mendota in 1863 to Miss Mary A. Sulli- van, whose birth occurred in the state of New York on March 25, 1838, and she became a resident of Illinois as early as 1845, the family home being established at Oquawka, on the Mississippi river. whence she afterward removed to Troy Grove and later to Mendota, La Salle county Following the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Showalter they took up their abode in La Moille and unto them were born three children-Lewis, who died in 1869, at the age of three years ; Lucy E., born May 25, 1871; and Joseph. The daughter was edu- cated in the high school of La Moille and com- pleted her studies in Dixon (Illinois) College.
After several years devoted to teaching she be- came principal of the public schools of Bristol, this state, and in 1893 she joined her brother Jo- seph in the newspaper business as an equal part- ner in the ownership of the La Moille Gacette. While visiting some relatives in Goshen, Indiana, and on the eve of her brother's departure for Cuba as a soldier of the Spanish-American war she died and thus Joseph If. Showalter was left the only surviving child of the family. The par- ents are still living in La Moille and he makes his home with them, performing every filial serv- ice and duty possible to aid and cheer them in the evening of life. The father is a blacksmith by trade and has thus long been identified with the industrial interesis of the town.
In the public schools of La Moille Joseph H. Showalter pursued his education. He remained at home through the period of his boyhood and youth and, becoming interested in military affairs, he joined Company K of the Sixth Illinois Infantry, with which he served for two years as first ser- geant, beginning in 1892. He was then elected second lieutenant of his company, was afterward appointed batallion adjutant, while subsequently he was commissioned first lieutenant He served with the latter rank throughout the Spanish- American war and his identification with the Na- tional Guard of Illinois is in the same capacity at the present time. He went with the regiment to Porto Rico under General Miles and became familiar with all the modern methods of cain- paigning.
Returning to his home, Mr. Showalter has since engaged in the publication of the La Moille Gazette, which is an excellent country newspaper, well edited and carefully published with regard to its appearance as a representative of the art preservative. He publishes the paper in the interests of the republican party and is a recog- nized leader in political eireles, taking an active part in county and state politics, both as the champion of party principles through the col- umns of the Gazette and through personal effort. He is now serving as a member of the republican county central committee and has served as a member of the village council. llis efforts in behalf of the political ideas which he indorses are effective and far-reaching and have been an ele- ment in republican sueces-es in this locality. He has also served as township treasurer and town- ship clerk and the various duties devolving upon him have been promptly and faithfully discharged. He is a member of La Moille lodge, No. 383, A. F. & A. M., and of Modern Woodmen Camp, No. 227.
In connection with his father he is the owner of three pieces of property in the villas of La Moille and also farming land in the township. Dependent upon his own resources from an early age, when he entered business eireles, he has been successful in life and at all times has displayed
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unabating energy combined with high ideals. Reading and investigation have constantly broad- ened his mind and made him one of the well in- formed men of Bureau county. Because of his ability, his enterprise and laudable ambition, the future seems to hold much in store for him and he has already made a ereditable name and place for himself as a faelor in those interests which have direct bearing upon the welfare and progress of the community and the state at large.
JACOB EIGSTI.
Jacob Eigsti, owning and controlling a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Macon township, has passed the Psalmist's allotted span of three seore years and ten, having now reached the age of seventy-three. He was born in Bavaria, Germany, August 19, 1833, and is one of a family of nine children whose parents were Nicholas and Barbara (Gasho) Eigsti, both of whom were na- tives of France, in which country they were reared and married, subsequently removing to Germany. The father died in the latter country at the age of fifty years and the mother afterward came to America, spending her last days in Ma- con township, where she passed away at the age of eighty-two. Five of their children still survive. Barbara is the widow of Joseph Burkey and lives in Nebraska. Phoebe is the widow of Christian Sear and is living in Illinois. Fannie married Andrew Hauter and their home is in Nebraska. John Eigsti is also a resident of Nebraska.
Jacob Eigsti, the other member of the family, remained a resident of the fatherland until sev- enteen years of age. when, with his widowed mother and children, he crossed the briny deep to the United States, landing at New York city. They then proceeded by rail to Chicago and by canal to La Salle and on by boat to Hennepin, from which place they journeyed by team to Bureau county. Mr. Figsti went to work as a farm hand and after a time removed to Macon township, where he invested his hard earned sav- ings in one hundred and sixty acres of wild prai- rie land, on which not a furrow had been turned or an improvement made. There was not a tree in sight, but he set out trees and now has many fine ones upon the place. In 1876 he ereeted a new residenee and in 1872 built a barn. His life has been characterized by the most unremitting toil and diligence, by close application and by ex- cellent business management. Thus he has gained a measure of prosperity that is most gratifying and at one time he was the owner of seven hun- dred acres of valuable land in this county. Gen- -erous with his family, he has given each of his children a farm and now retains for himself one hundred and sixty acres of land in Macon town- ship, constituting a good home property. from which he annually derives an income sufficient to
supply him with the necessities and comforts and some of the luxuries of life.
For many years there traveled by his side on life's journey one who was a most faithful com- panion and helpinate. She bore the maiden name of Fannie Albrecht and they were married in 1865. She was born in Hennepin, Illinois, in 1844, and for thirty-eight years they lived happily to- gether, but were separated through the death of the wife September 20, 1903. Their family num- bers a daughter and two sons-Katie, John and Will.
Mr. Eigsti holds membership in the Mennon- ite church and votes with the Democracy. He came to America with the intention of becoming a citizen of this republie and is most loyal in his attachment to the stars and stripes, still re- taining, however, a deep affection for Germany as the land of his birth. He has never had oeea- sion, however, to regret his determination to seek a home in America, for here he has found good opportunities and through their improvement has worked his way steadily upward, gaining a good- ly measure of prosperity and at the same time winning many friends in the land of his adoption.
HIORACE R. BROWN.
Ilorace R. Brown, practicing at the Bureau county bar, to which he was admitted in 1900, was born in Fairfield township, this county, on the 22d of June, 1872. Ilis father, Lee W. Brown, was a native of Vermont and in his boyhood days came to Illinois with his parents, who settled in Fairfield township, Bureau county, among the pioneer residents of this part of the state. There Lee W. Brown was reared to the occupation of farming. which he made his life work. When he had reached years of maturity he wedded Frances A. Whipple and they became the parents of five children, of whom Horace R. was the second in order of birth. Throughout his active business career the father carried on general agri- cultural pursuits and his death occurred in 1904. when he was fifty-seven years of age.
Horace R. Brown was educated in the distriet schools and in the northern Indiana Normal School at Valparaiso, completing the commercial course in that institution by graduation and also pursuing several other courses. He taught school for four years in Bureau county and during that time devoted his leisure hours to the study of law, regarding teaching merely as an initial step to other professional labor. Ile pursued his regu- lar law course in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he was graduated in 1898. On the 1st of July of the same year he came to Princeton and entered the office of Judge Skinner. In 1900 he was admit- ted to the bar upon examination before the su- preme court and entered upon practice the same year in Princeton, since which time he has been
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continuously associated with Judge Skinner. He has made an excellent record as an able lawyer, who is clear and cogent in his reasoning, forceful in the presentation of his cause and logieal in his deductions. He is seldom, if ever, at error in the application of a legal principle to the points in litigation and has won some notable forensie vie- tories for one of his years. In January, 1906, he was appointed master in chancery.
Mr. Brown is a stalwart advocate of repub- lican principles and has always worked for the success of his party, although he has never been a politician in the sense of office seeking. IIe belongs to the Masonic lodge of Princeton and is an exemplary representative of the craft, being in hearty sympathy with its teachings and pur- poses.
On the Sith of August, 1903, Mr. Brown was married to Miss Harriet Gray, a daughter of W. J. Gray of Galena, Illinois, and they have two children, Merville Lee and Marjorie Eliza. The young couple have a wide and favorable acquaint- anee in Princeton and Mr. Brown is well known in the county, where his entire life has been passed. Realizing that close application and un- remitting diligence are just as surely concomi- tants to suecess in the arduous and difficult pro- ·fession of the law as well as in other departments of business activity, he has never feared that la- borious attention to detail or the work of the office which is so necessary as a preparation for the trial of causes before the courts. He is to- day enjoying a clientage which connects him with much important litigation.
HON. OWEN LOVEJOY.
The writer never had the privilege of meeting the Hon. Owen Lovejoy, of Princeton, Hlinois, but in his boyhood days, while yet in his teens, at the old homestead nestled among the hills of Vermont, he heard and read of his noble deeds and he now recalls the admiration he then had for him. It was our privilege when but a lad to have access to the pages of the New York Tribune. and our attention was early called to those stormy scenes that were at that time agitating the whole people. And conspicuous among all the defender- of human rights stood Owen Lovejoy -- a man who had strong convictions and was ready to defend them. In the pulpit, on the rostrum and in the halls of congress Mr. Lovejoy stood like the ad- amantine rock for the cause of human justice and human freedom. Owen Lovejoy was born in Kon- nebee county. Maine, on January 6, 1811. IFe was the son of a elergyman who lived on a farm where Owen was born, and here he lived and la- bored until he was eighteen years of age, attending the public schools in the winter months and help- ing on the farm during the summer scason. He prepared himself for a teacher and subsequently.
by his own efforts, passed through the college course at Bowdoin college. In 1836 he came to Alton, Illinois, where in November, 1832, his brother, Elijah P. Lovejoy, met his tragic death. Hle fitted himself for the ministry and upon the death of his brother he moved to Jacksonville, Illinois, where he was ordained as a preacher of the gospel. In 1838 he came to the Congrega- tional church in Princeton. Here he lived and labored during the seventeen years of his pastor- ate, not only preaching the gospel but lighting error and oppression wherever found. He was a man of great physical as well as mental power. The untimely death of his martyred brother aroused his whole being and his great heart beat anew in the cause of oppression and wrong, and, kneeling upon the fresh, new earth that covered all that was mortal of him who had given his life to the cause of human liberty, he swore eternal warfare upon the institution that made it possible for such things to be. Yes, beside the great "Father of Waters" which is forever moving on and on, whose banks had drunk up the life blood of this great disciple of truth and where now the sculptured marble raises it- proud head, saying to the world that this spot was the gateway to liberty, Owen Lovejoy covenanted with his God that from that time on his life should be devoted to the abolition of American slavery, and right well did he keep it. Mr. Lovejoy, like all other reformers, had his warm friends and bitter eno- mies. His pathway was beset with thorns as well as flowers. He could truly say with the servant of old, "A night and a day I have been in the deep," but amid it all he never faltered, his strong arm never lowered and his courage never mailed while there was an opportunity to do battle for the cause that lay so close to his heart. It is not our pur- post to give an account of his personal encounters in his eventful life; his connection with what was called the underground railroad, his untiring zeal in defending those struggling for freedom. we leave for others to recount. Our desire is to place his strong and aggressive character before the reader in such a way as will best stimulate the rising generation to emulate his manly life.
Mr. Lovejoy was the candidate of the "hboral party" for congress in 1814. In 1854 he was elected to the Illinois legislature. In 1856 he was nominated, at Bloomington, for congress, after a long and bitter contest. His election was con- sidered doubtful. but by his masterly power upon the' rostrum he succeeded in turning the tide his way and was elected by a good majority. He re- mained in congress until his death, which occurred on March 25, 1861. Mr. Lovejoy's career was re- markable in many ways. He stood out before the world unique in American history. His thought was not of himself but of others. His ruling passion was to alleviate the sorrows and burdens of human life. His great soul thirsted for the liberty of the race. Fear seemingly was a thing unknown
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to him. He was the Savonarola of America and his burning words will glide down through the corridors of the coming centuries, growing grander and brighter as time rolls on. But his strong body and brilliant intellect at last felt the strain of his strenuous life and the burdens that he had carried so many years were quietly, gently and lovingly laid aside and all that was mortal of Owen Lovejoy was placed under the grateful shade at Oakland and his spirit returned to "God who gave it."
IRVING W. HOPPS.
Irving W. Hopps, one of the prosperous land- owners of Bureau county, his home being near La Moille, has demonstrated his value as a citizen not only in his business life but also through his co- operation in those movements which promote the intellectual and moral development of the com- munity, upholding the political and legal status. He was born March 4, 1854, in Clarion township, near La Moille, his parents being Martin and Hannah Maria (Little) Hopps. He comes of Ger- man and English ancestry, the latter on his graud- mother's side, the line being traved back to Gov- ernor William Bradford, of Massachusetts. Mal- tin Hopps, the father, was born in New Bruns- wick, September 12, 1812, and being reared in a timbered country he early developed a fondness for the forest and for the use of edged tools. lle worked in the pine woods in the winter months and as he grew to manhood learned the carpenter's trade. In 1836 he came to Illinois, locating at Princeton, where he had steady work at his cho-en oceupation until the year 1842. when he came to La Moille and bought a part of the farm on which he afterward made a permanent location. ITe was the owner of what was then a very commodious house at the time of his marriage to Mrs. Hannah Maria ( Little) Kendall, a native of Vermont, who came to this county in a covered wagon with her first husband, Jarub Kendall, and young son Wal- lace E., now of Waterloo, Fowa. Mr. Kendall only lived for one year after their arrival in the new country. The representatives of the present gen- eration who are western born can hardly appre- ciate the work and hardships that fell to the lot of the early settlers in giving to them at the pres- ent time so fine a heritage. Martin Hopps as a carpenter had to make all the moldings used in finishing the interior of the houses which he built, as well as the doors and window sash. His son, I. W. Hopps, still has in his possession the plane used by the father in finishing the doors in the house of the late John Bryant, and some of his work can still be seen in that beautiful home, al- though considerable remodeling has been done since its erection. As a farmer Mr. Hopps hauled dressed pork to La Salle, where the highest price that he could secure was one dollar and a quarter per hundred weight. On one trip darkness and a
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