Past and present of Iroquois County, Illinois, Part 20

Author: Kern, J. W
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 792

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ALFORD PRUTSMAN.

Alford Prutsman, controlling one of the im- portant industrial enterprises of Milford, being engaged in the manufacture of brick, is a busi- ness man of marked enterprise and determina- tion, who keeps in touch with the trend of mod- ern progress and development. A native son of the county he was born in Prairie Green town- ship, February 12, 1858, and is a son of Jasper Prutsman, who was born near Attica, in Foun- tain county, Indiana, February 12, 1836. He was one of the twelve children of David and Maxey M. (McMillan) Prutsman, natives of Pennsyl-

IROQUOIS COUNTY, ILLINOIS.

vania and Kentucky respectively. The grand- father of our subject died in Indiana in 1837. and his widow continued to reside in that state until 1852, when she came to Hlinor and made her home with her son Jasper, who in that year entered eighty acres of land from the govern- ment in Inapois county. He had no special advantages at the outset of his career but he possessed a strong character and resolute will and as the years passed achieved a goodls mean ure of success. On coming to this county he at once took up the task of transforming his wild land in Prairie Green township into a pny ductive farm, and after nine years be removed to Milford township, where he engaged in furnish- ing timber in large quantities to different cor- porations and firms. In 1872 he turned his at tention to the establishment and conduct of a brick and tile factory in Milford, operating it snc- cessfully until 1894. In 1856 he married L.n cinda Crow, a native of Kentucky and a dangh ter of David and Mary Crow, who became carly settlers of this county in 1850. Mr. Prutsman died April 7. 1000, but Mrs. Prutsman still sur- vives her husband and is living on the old home place in Milford township. He was a member of Milford lodge. No. 168. A. F. & A. M. and held membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, to which his wife vet belongs. The pe litical allegiance was given to the republican party. He was truly a self-made man and de - served all the praise which that term implied. In addition to his manufacturing interests he owned an excellent farm of one hundred and twelve deres a half mile west of Milford and there he made his home.

Afford Prutsman of this review is the client vi a family of seven children, five of whom are set living, while two have passed away. Mary M., born April 20, 1800, became the wife of George Gibbs, who died about 1888, leaving three children. Walter C. George and Leila, and by a second marriage she has two daughters, Angie. and Nellie. The other members of the Prut-man household are Malinda E. born February 9. 1862: Ora, March 8. 1804 : Walter E., April 20. 1805 : Frank, July 6. 1867 : and Arata, April 11. 1 870.

The educational privileges which Alford Prutsman enjoyed were those afforded In the

public schods. The days of lo la huel at 1 south were passed under the par stal rossi, whole at an early age he was absulted with his father m business, first in farm werk and afterwar | m the conduct of the brick and the factory ne 1804 he has been proprietor of the business an ! afterward for three years was associated in the conduct of the enterprise with his brother but is now sole proprietor. He has twenty two acres upon which has been built a plant havingg a ca. pacity of twenty thousand brick dally and irjan four to eight thousand tile. The factory is now equipped with the latest improved machiners for carrying on this work and the buildings are well tracked. Nine men are employed during the bass season and the output finds a ready sale, being largely used by the local trade. This factory has furnished the brick used in the construction of the great majority of the buildings in Milford! and the surrounding district and the product of the tile works is found on many farms, the fer- tihty of which has been greatly augmented through this method of drainage.

On the 10th of May. 1803. Mr. Prutsman was married to Miss Ida Carr, a native of this counts and a daughter of Alexander and -Amanda J Carr, who were born in Virginia but became early settlers of Iroquois county. Mr. and Mrs. Prutsman are the parents of one daughter, Hat- tie, born July 7. 1804. who is attending school in Milford.

Politically Mr Prut-man is a republican, and broad reading and investigation have kept har in touch with the important issues which have threet hearing upon the welfare of the country det he is without political aspiration. He he- long- to the Odd Fellow's lodge at Milford, in which he has passed all of the chairs, and he is likewise connected with the encampment, which was organized in too, while both he and his wife are connected with the Order of Rebekah -. in which he has served in various offices. They are much esteemed people with a large erek ci warm friends who hold them in high regard and ( xtend to them cordial hospitality. Mr. Prut- man is classed with the prominent and enter prising busmess men of Milford and Iroquois counts and is honered and respected by all not only because of the success he has achieved but also In reason of the straightforward. honmal!

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methods he has ever followed. It is true that he entered upon a business already established but in early manhood he set to work to thoroughly master the business in principle and detail. and as the years have gone by has been an active factor in enlarging its scope. He has given to the public a good product with reasonable prices and has thus secured a liberal patronage and, moreover, while winning a creditable measure of success he has sustained an unassailable reputa- tion in business circles.

GEORGE M. WILLIAMS.

A man of considerable natural ability. George M. Williams has been uniformly successful in business from the beginning of his active con- nection with agricultural, commercial and finan- cial interests in this county, and the methods which be has followed make his history one of interest to the busines world. He has persevered in the pursuit of a persistent purpose and gained a most satisfactory reward. He is energetic, prompt and notably reliable, and a genius for devising and executing the right thing at the right time, joined to everyday common sense. are his chief characteristics.

He is a son of Judge Samuel and Catherine (Body) Williams. The father's birth occurred in Adams county, Ohio, July 11. 1820. He was a son of Thomas Williams, who was born in Maryland, in 1797, and the latter was a son of Captain John Williams, a native of Maryland, who in 1801 removed to Adams county, Ohio. remaining there until 1836. when he came to Illinois, making the journey with ox teams, for it was before the era of railroad travel and only comparatively few pioneers had penetrated into this region. Captain Williams took up his abode at Rockford, which was then a hamlet contain- ing but two cabins, one on each side of the river. He remained there for six years and in 1842 came to Iroquois county, locating in what is now Belmont township, then a sparsely settled district. The Williams family were true pioneers of the county and bore an active and helpful part in the work of development and progress as the county emerged from frontier conditions and

took on all of the evidences of an improved and modern civilization. Thomas Williams entered land from the government and took up the task of developing the farm, which up to that time was entirely destitute of improvements, the land being wild and uncultivated. In politics he was a prominent democrat and did much toward shaping the early political history of this section of the state. He was also an influential worker in the Methodist Episcopal church and thus con- tributed to the moral development of the commit- nity. He continued to make his home in Iro- quois county until his death, which occurred Au- gust 18, 1857, while his wife survived him and passed away in 1880. She bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Swim and was a native of Ken- tucky, born January 2, 1800, so that at her death she was eighty years of age.

Samuel Williams was the eldest in a family of ten children, all of whom were reared to adult age upon the old homestead farm in Iroquois county. He spent fifteen years of his life in the state of his nativity and then came with his parents to Illinois. He worked in the fields and upon the home farm until twenty-four years of age, when he learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed for two years. In 1844 he purchased a homestead of one hundred and twenty acres of raw, wild land upon which the town of Woodland now stands. There he built a house and began the task of farming the property, making his home there for more than a half century. He bought additional land from time to time as his financial resources per- mitted until at his death he was the owner of over one thousand acres. Ile was a very suc- cessful man, of sound judgment and fertility of resource, and whatever he undertook he carried forward to successful completion.

In early manhood Samuel Williams wedded Miss Catherine Body, the marriage being cele- brated March 20. 1846. She was a daughter of Isaac Body, who went from Mifflin county. Pennsylvania, to Indiana in 1830, and ten years later. in 1840, removed to Iroquois county. Illi- nois. Mrs. Williams was born in Pennsylvania and was a little maiden of four summers when with her parents she left her native state. Fol- lowing his marriage Samuel Williams carefully conducted his business interests with the added

LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

SAMUEL WILLIAMS.

GEORGE M. WILLIAMS

LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

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PAST AND PRESENT OF

Decades ago when this district was a wild region of swampy land, unclaimed and uncultivated, his grandfather came to this section of the state and from that time to the present the name of Williams has been closely and honorably as- sociated with the work of progress and improve- ment here. The career of George M. Williams has reflected credit and honor upon the un- tarnished family name, for in all life's relations he has shown himself a manly man, actuated by high principles in all of his business and so- cial relations.

WILLIAM GOOSEY.

William Goosey is the owner of eighty acres of good farming land, situated on section 6. Shel- don township. and in addition to this property he likewise owns forty acres on section 36, Concord township. He was born in Cambridgeshire. England, in 1850, a son of Leavett Goosey, who was likewise a native of that country, and on his emigration with his family to the new world established his home in Concord township, oper- ating rented land for six years. Prospering in his business affairs, he at length accumulated a sum sufficient to enable him to invest in eighty acres of land on section 36, Concord township. Of this tract only ten acres had been cleared and there was not an improvement upon the place but the father cultivated the land and in due time gathered good crops as a reward for the care and labor he has bestowed upon the soil. He is now deceased, his death having occurred in Concord township. August 21, 1881.

William Goosey was a lad of ten years when he accompanied the family on their emigration from England to the United States. He was educated in the schools near his father's home and aided in the work of developing and improv- ing new land, giving his father the benefit of his services until he had attained his majority, when he began business on his own account, engaging in the occupation to which he had been reared. As he prospered in his labors, he was in due time enabled to purchase land, in 1875 becoming own- er of a tract of eighty acres, which was owned by Joiner and Vennum. This land was unim-

proved but Mr. Goosey was not unfamiliar with the arduous labor required in the development of a farm, and thus with energy and perseverance he set to work to make a valuable property. He first tiled the land, built fences, and in due course of time brought the fields under a good state of cultivation. He likewise erected a good resi-

dence, containing seven rooms, built a barn thirty by thirty-six feet. corn cribs and other outbuild- ings necessary for the care of grain and stock. He has here engaged in farming to the present time, in addition to which he raises good grades of cattle as well as Poland China hogs, and in both branches of his business he is meeting with! gratifying results.

Mr. Goosey has been twice married, his first union being with Miss Lillian Clayton, who was a native of England, but their marriage was celebrated in Michigan. She became the mother of one son, Charles, who is now a resident of Chicago. For his second wife Mr. Goosey chose Jane Davis, whom he wedded in Concord town- ship. She was born in Dearborn county. Indi- ana. and by her marriage she became the mother of two sons. George and Frank.

Since coming as a lad to the United States, Mr. Goosey has resided in Iroquois county, cov- ering a period of almost a half century, so that he is familiar with the events which have shaped the history of this section of the state, and he has given valuable aid in the development of its agricultural interests. He is a democrat in his political faith. and his wife holds membership in the Presbyterian church.

BENJAMIN P. COWAN.

Benjamin P. Cowan, one of the active and prosperous farmers of Prairie Green township. also having farming interests in South Dakota, is numbered among the pioneer settlers of Illi- nois, for he took up his abode within the borders of the state in 1855, at which time he established his home in Grundy county. A native of Eng- land, he was born in Lancashire, on the 12th of January, 1837, and there remained until he at- tained the age of eighteen years. in the meantime acquiring a fair education in the public schools.

IROQUOIS COUNTY, ILLINOIS

In 1855 be enigrated to the new world and made his way at once to Ilinois, setting in Grunds county. He had previously learned the carpen- ter's trade and in this state he was identified with building operations for a number of seats.

Mr. Cowan was married in Morris, Grundy county, Illinois, in August, 1801, to Mars A. Pride and unto them were born two wine, \\ 11. and Ben P. Mrs. Cowan was a native of Scot- land, where she was reared to the age of twelve years after which she was brought to the United States. Following the death of his first wife Mr Cowan was married about twenty seven years ago in Prairie Green township, this county, to Martha J. Guest. a native of Indiana, and by this union there are four sons and one daughter.

Following his first marriage Mr. Cowan rented land in Grunds county and in connection with his farming pursuits also carried on carpentering. He came to frompois county in 1870 and pur- chased one hundred and twenty acres of raw land, upon which he erected good buildings, while he fenced the place and transformed the land into productive fields. He also set out a grove of maple trees and planted much fruit. He like- wise tiled the land and added much to its value through systematic drainage. There is now no waste land on the place. He also put up a good windmill and pump and carefully superintended his farming operations in this county until 1882. when he left the farm and with his wife and some Went to South Dakota, where he established a tree claim. He also bought land there for him- self and for his sons. He put good buildings upon the farns and has artesian wells, from which he has an unfailing source of flowing water. The water is piped to the house and barns and is thus very convenient for the uses of the stock as well as for do- mestic purposes His principal crop is wheat and he and his sons farm about seven hundred acres of land devoted to the cultivation of wheat. flax and barley. In the year toon he had one hundred and ten acres in tlas and secured there- from a good yield. He lives upon a place of two hundred and seventy acres in Day counts, South Dakota, which he homesteadled and improved. and he also owns the old home property of one hundred and twenty acres in Prairie Green town- ship, carrying on los farming operations with the

assistance of his solls The www . his first marriage are both married and live in South Da- kota The children of the second marriage are John, who is a druggist at Grafton, North D .- kota : James, also living in South Dakota, Archie, a student in ( marga Seminars : Jec. a young mit at home, and Mary, who is now attending col- lege at Fargo, North Dakota.

In former years Mr. Cowan gave stalwart sup- port to the democracy but is now equally carnest in his- advocacy of republican principles. He has served as highway commissioner for three years and has been a member of the school board. Community interests always receive his endorse- ment and support and his labors have been of marked benefit to the locality in which he has lived. He belongs to the Baptist church, while his wife holds membership in the Christian church, and both are highly esteemed in Iremos county, where they have many friends, and also in South Dakota.

THOMAS LEGGOTT

A valuable farming property of two hundred and forty acres of section 30, Chebank township. viele yearly tribute to Mr. Leggott, who for a long period was engaged in general agricultural pursuits un that farm but is now living in Clifton, where he also owns five acres of land. in the midst of which stands his comfortable residence. A son of John and Elizabeth ( Shells) Leggott. he was born in Ludington, Lincoln- Shire, England. December 7. 1820, and was the fifth in order of birthein a family of ten children. nanohy . Jesejb. WOkam. b. Benjamin, Thon is, fre ge, Mary. Sarah, Susan ave Maria.

Mr. Jeggott spent the first twenty seven years of his life in the land of his birth and is indebted In its public school system for the educational privileges he enjoyed Investigation into busi- ress culations in America led him in seck a here in the new world and he sa led from Liver 1× 1 on the toph di Apri . 1853. landing at New York n the 20th of May following. He was ciplined at different places in the cast for at few years and finally made his way westwar! to HI nos, eventually locating in Chiton on Mar h

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1, 1861. Securing land in Chebanse township, he turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, in which he was very successful, as his present accumulation of property indicates. He worked diligently in the cultivation and development of his land, brought his fields under a high state of improvement and therefore annually harvested large crops. the sales of which added materially to his income and in the course of years made it possible for him to put aside all active business cares and enjoy life in comfort and case.

In 1858 Mr. Liggott was married to Miss . Anna Orton, and unto this union three children have been born, but Lizzie died in infancy and Henry has also passed away. The surviving son, Oliver, is a resident of Clifton. The wife and mother died in 1891 and Mr. Leggott now makes his home in Clifton with his brother Benjamin. In politics he is an independent republican-that is. he endorses the principles of the republican party. but at local elections does not consider himself bound by party ties and casts an independent ballot. He contributes to the support of churches and to all worthy movements which have for their object the welfare and upbuilding of the com- munity, and his life may well serve as a source of inspiration and encouragement to others who have regard for the true value of character and who desire to win honorable success.

CLASS ANDERSON.

Class Anderson is the owner of a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres, situated on sec- tions 11 and 12, Beaver township, where he is engaged in farming and stock-raising, being numbered among the practical and progressive citizens of this part of the state. As the name indicates, he is of Swedish birth, his natal day being December 1. 1832. His parents, John and Breta ( Lawson ) Anderson, were likewise natives of Sweden, and on emigrating to the new world the family made their way to Yorktown. Indiana, where they remained for one year, when they removed to Iroquois county, where the father entered one hundred and twenty acres of land, on sections 11 and 12, Beaver township, the year of their arrival being 1853. This land was all

wild and unimproved but the father at once de- veloped and cultivated the land and he built a double rail pen, which furnished shelter for him- self and family during the first winter, and which was subsequently replaced by a more sub- stantial frame dwelling. In the family of this worthy couple were four sons and one daughter but the only surviving member is Class, whose name introduces this record. The father passed away in this county in 1864.

Mr. Anderson was reared and educated in the land of his birth, and in 1852, when a young man of twenty years, accompanied his parents on their emigration to the new world. When he arrived in this country he had but fifteen cents in his pocket, but he was an ambitious young man, determined in his purpose, and through hard work and close application worked his way upward until he was enabled to engage in busi- ness on his own account. On arriving in the United States he made his home in Lafayette, Indiana, where he worked on the construction of the railroad which was being built between Lafayette and Indianapolis. He was then en- gaged in farming in Warren county, Indiana, for three years, operating rented land. He then came to Iroquois county in 1856 and rented his present home farm, comprising one hundred and twenty acres. He afterward bought the interests of the other heirs in his father's home farm. He has made all of the improvements which are here found, has laid four hundred rods of tiling and added many accessories necessary to farm prop- erty. In 1884 he erected a good barn, while in 1808 he built a modern country residence, con- taining eight rooms and supplied with all con- veniences and comforts, this being one of the nice homes of the locality.

On the 23d of October. 1856, in Warren county, Indiana, Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Miss Engaburg Nelson, who was likewise born in Sweden, and on the 23d of (c- tober, 1906, they celebrated their golden wed- dling, at which time all of their children and grandchildren were present, together with about one hundred neighbors and friends. Of the eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. Anderson three are now deceased, namely: Augusta .1., Cora M. and John G. Those still living are : Charles ; Frank: Emma V., who resides in Chicago; Jo-

TR AD ERS OFASS ANOIDS IN

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sepline. A bore and Friet, who is attending college at Ivanston, Ilmus

Mr Andersen gives his political support to the republican party and has served as schand director, being deeply interested in the cause of education and providing his children with gold advantages in that direction He and his tain h all hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, in the work of which he takes an active and helpful part He has now made his home in Iroquois county for more than four decades and is therefore widely and favorable known as one of the substantial and leading citizens of this section of the state

WILLIAM T. NOLIN

William T. Volim, a native son of Ironpois county and one of its extensive landowners, his real-estate possessions aggregating ten hundred and sixteen acres, of which two hundred and eighty acres are in Van Buren county, lowa, re- sides on section to. Stockland township, and it was upon this place that he was born June 1 ;. 1866. His father, Sanmel K. Nolin, was a la- tive of Ross county, Ohio, and a son of Thomas Nolin, who was born in the Buckeye state. The great-grandfather of our subject was Richard Nolin, a native ci Virginia, who removed from the Old Dominion to Kentucky and fled from the Indians to Ross county, this. In 1831 his soll. Thomas Valin, repasved from this to Fountain county, Indiana, and four years later became a resident of Benton county, Indiana where Is children were reared. He died in 1810.

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Past and present of Iroquois County, Illinois, Part 20

Author: Kern, J. W Publication date: 1907 Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Number of Pages: 792

Author: Kern, J. W
Publication date: 1907
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 792