USA > Illinois > Iroquois County > Past and present of Iroquois County, Illinois > Part 35
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colle a genius but is a young man of well and made preparation for having a home of his rounded character, giving due prominence to the own by his marriage. various interests of life which work for good citizenship and for commendable social relations as well as for business success and prominence.
THEODORE FINCIL.
Theodore Finch, living on section 23. Prairie Green township, not far from Hoopeston, is a progressive and substantial farmer and four hun- dred acres of land pays tribute to his care, labor and careful management. He has one hundred and sixty acres in his home place, constituting a very attractive farm. He was born in this town- ship, March 14. 1854, and is a son of Robert Finch, a native of Ohio, in which state he was reared. In Fountain county, Indiana, he married Sarah A. Crawford, who was born in Ohio, and 1 1852 Mr. Finch removed to Iroquois county. Illinois, purchasing land in Prairie fireen town- ship, upon which he located. He entered al- together about seven hundred acres from the government. It was raw and undeveloped but he opened up a new farm, erected substantial buildings there and in course of years developed an excellent property, which constantly increased in value and productiveness. He resided con- tinously upon that farm until 1803. when he re- moved to Colfax, Indiana, where he purchased a tract of land upon which he yet makes his home, being now a hale and hearty okl man of eighty- seven years. His wife is also living and they are a most esteemed and worthy old couple, enjoying in large measure the friendship and kindly regard of all with whom they have come in contact.
Theodore Finch was one of eight sons and three daughters, all of whom are yet living and with the exception of one son all have reared families of their own. Theodore was reared upon the old home farm in Prairie Green town- ship, which he now owns. No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for him in his boyhood days, for in the sum- mer months be worked in the fields and in the winter seasons attended school. He remained with his father until he had attained his majority
It was in Iroquois county, on the 5th of April. 1877. that Theodore Finch wedded Miss Loretta Handy, who was born in Fountain county. In- diana, but was reared in frequent county, Illinois, having been brought to this state when a child of four years. After acquiring her preliminary education in the district schools she continued her studies m Hoopeston and afterward success fully engaged in teaching for five years prior to her marriage. The young couple located upon a farm on section 20, Prairie Green township .- a place of two hundred and fifty-six acres,- which Mr. Finch cultivated for a number of years. He built a good barn and house there. laid many rods of tile and fenced the farm, also planted fruit trees and in other ways improved the property. In 1902 be rented that and located on his present farm on section 23. Praire Green township. With farming he raises good stock and he also feeds and fattens a large number of hogs for the market annually. His landed posses- sions are now extensive and valuable and he derives therefrom a financial return which as the years have passed has made him the possessor of a most comfortable competence.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Finch have been born nine children: Robert W., a farmer of Prairie Green township, who is married and has two children, Gordon and Almyra : Goldie, the wife of James Field. a resident farmer of the same township : Mabel, the wife of Chester Field, who follows farming in Prairie Green township : Ray- mond J. and Charles A .. at home: Jamie and Ruby K., twins, but the former died at the age of seven years ; and MeKinley and Hobart, twins.
The political views of Mr. Finch are in har- mony with the principles of the republican party. He has served on the school board and as town- ship school trustee, also as highway commissioner for three years, and is remiss in none of the duties of citizenship. His wife is a member of the U'nited Brethren church and both are worthy people of the community, with many friends who esteem them highly. Mr. Finch has been a resi- dent of Prairie Green township throughout his entire life. He broke the virgin sod, driving ox teams to the breaking plow, and has herded stock all over the prairies here. He has lived
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to see the advance of modern development and improvement and rejoices in what has been ac- complished, for although he has many pleasant memories of the "good old days" he yet knows that substantial advancement has been made in many ways and he has kept in touch with the trend of modern improvement.
JOHN L. MULLER.
John 1. Muller has for seventeen years re- sided on section 17. Iroquois township, where he operates eighty acres of land. He has been a director in the First National Bank of Crescent City since 1904 and is thus closely associated with the business life of this part of the county. It was in this township that his birth occurred on the 23d of December. 1858, his parents hav- ing located here the previous year. The father, John F. Muller, was born in Mechlenberg, Ger- many, and in 1857 crossed the Atlantic to the new world, locating the same year in Iroquois county, where he has since made his home. He was a farmer by occupation and became the owner of two hundred and forty acres of rich land, which he improved and brought under a high state of cultivation. He also placed sub- stantial buildings on the farm and diligently en- gaged in tilling the soil and raising stock. Thus he prospered year after year and in 1902 he re- tired from active business life and removed to Crescent City, where he is now living at the age of seventy-six years, while his wife is sixty-nine years of age. They became the parents of five children, of whom two sons and two daughters are yet living: John L .; Lewis, who married Erma Harris and lives in Iroquois township; Carrie, the wife of August Ritter, living in Iowa : and Sophia, the wife of Frank Caveney, a resi- dent farmer of Iroquois township.
John L. Muller is indebted to the public-school system of the county for the educational privi- leges afforded him in youth and when not busy with his text-books or the pleasures of the play- ground his attention was largely devoted to the work of the farm. He is now residing on his father's farm on section 17, Iroquois township. where he has lived for seventeen years. He
carried on the work of raising the cereals best adapted to the soil and climatic conditions and he also raises stock. In this work he annually adds to his income and is now a prosperous farmer.
Mr. Muller was married in 1890, to Miss Reka Kahlmetz, a native of Germany, and they have five children: Lula. Charles, John, Eddie and Harry, all yet under the parental roof. Mr. and Mrs. Muller are worthy members of the Lutheran church and are highly esteemed people. Ile affiliates with the Modern Woodmen camp at Crescent City, and his political views are in ac- cord with the principles of democracy. He has acted on the school board, but has never sought or desired office as a reward for party fealty. feeling that his time and attention are fully oc- cupied with his business interests. He has been one of the directors of the First National Bank of Crescent City since 1904. A man of good business ability and much native force of charac- ter, he is industrious and enterprising and has achieved well merited success. He is also a high- ly respected and valued citizen, and his aid is never withheld from any movement or measure calculated to upbuild or benefit the community.
FRED A. CRANDALL.
The spirit of thrift and enterprise which domi- nates Fred A. Crandall in his business life has made him owner of an excellent farm of two hundred acres on sections 21 and 22, Loda town- ship. It adjoins the corporation limits of the village of Loda, so that the privileges and ad- vantages of town life as well as those of a rural existence are easily secured. The farm which is his home was his birthplace and his natal day was May 9. 1862.
His father, Erastus R. Crandall, was a native of Lockport, New York, and a man of good edu- cation. He came west to Illinois about 1854 with his father. David S. Crandall, who was editor and publisher of the first daily newspaper ever issued at Lockport, New York. Erastus R. Crandall came west to enter the field of jour- nalism here and published the Garden State, the first paper at Loda. He and his brother after-
MRS. F. A. CRANDALL.
MRS. E. R. CRANDALL ..
E. R. CRANDALL.
F. A. CRANDALL ..
{ UNIVERSITY OF ILLMOIS
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IROQUOIS COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
ward started a paper in Urbana, Illinois, which they published for two years. Returning to Lola, the father of our subject was here mar- rie to Mary J. South, a native of New York city, who came to froguois county with her brother, Adam Smith, who was the owner of the land upon which the town of Loda now stands. For a time Mr. Crandall engaged in the realestate business and later turned his atten- tion to farming. He broke the prairie and opened up a new farm, becoming eventually the owner i five hundred acres. He enclosed this with a fenet, added many undern improvements and transformed a wild tract of land into one of rich fertility Barns, sheds and a comfortable dwell- mg were created by him and in thog he set out the true which now constitute a fine grove. Later he remove! to southern California, going to San Diego, where he resided for a number of Near- and while on a visit at his home in Loda he passed away in September. 100g. He never sought nor would be hold public office, but was well known as a most public-spirited man and the whose devotion to the general good stood as an unquestioned fact in his life. His widow survives him and still resides in California, and their only daughter, Ada, is the wife of Charles Pickard, a lawyer of Chicago.
Fred A. Crandall, the only son, was reared open the old home farm and was educated in the Lola schools and in Champaign University. Returning home, he took charge of the farm in his father, who was in poor health, and later succeeded to the ownership of this place. In the meantime, however, he had gone to lowa and had purchased three hundred and twenty acres of land in Buena Vista county, where he opened up and developed a good firm.
Mr. Crandall was married in that county, on Christmas eve of 18 to Miss Sarah E. Clem- ens, who was born, reared and educated in lowa. Mr. Crandall farmed in lowa for five years and then sold his property there, returning to Iro- quais county to take charge of the old home- stead and care for his father. He has kept everything about his place in a good condition ci repair and improvement and the farm in all of its departments indicates his carcial super- vision and progressive methods. In addition to this property he owns a hali section of land
constituting a well improved farm, which he bought in Paulding county. Ohne, He is a man of good business ability, systematic in all that he does, accurate in the management and coll- trol of his business affairs and reliable in all of his transactions.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Crandall have been born three children, Steven A .. Ahce M. and Ada F. The parents hold membership in the Baptist church, in which Mr. Crandall is serving on the board of trustees and as church treasurer. He is also connected with the Wordmen camp at Lol and m las political views is a stalwart republican. The consensus of public opinion regarding him is favorable. for his life has been characterized by activity and reliability i bu-i- ness, In loyalty in citizenship and by those traits in social life which win warm friendships.
LYMAN A. BENJAMIN.
Lyman A. Benjamin, who for almost a third of a century was connected with agricultural interests in Iroquois county, departed this lie August 12. 1807, and in his death the community lost a representative citizen and an active and honorable business man. He was born in Jeffer- son county, New York, July 18, 1820, and was descended from an old colonial family that was established in New England at an early period in the colonization of the new world. J nas Benjamin, the grandfather, was a native of Woodstock, Vermont, and served as a drummer los and solder in the war for independence. Viter the establishment of the republic he re- moved from the fireen Mountain state to Jeffer- son county. New York, settling in the midst of what was then a wilderness, for that section of the country was a frontier district, in which the work of improvement and progres had scarcely been begun.
There in a pioneer home Witham Benjamin. father of our subject, was born July 8. 1800, and under the parental roof the days of his child- how and youth were passed. Having attained his majority, he welded Charlotte Welch, a na- tive of Jefferson county and a daughter of John Welch, one of the pioncer settlers of the county.
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Her brother, Charles Welch, Jr., was the first white child born in Jefferson county. The young couple began their domestic life upon a wild tract of land, which Mr. Benjamin, how- ever, cleared and broke, transforming it into a good farm which continued his place of his residence throughout his subsequent years. He passed away in February. 1867. at the age of sixty-seven years, and his wife departed this life about ten years later. Their family numbered four sons and two daughters, who reached adult age: Lyman A .: Charles W., a farmer and contractor of Cook county, Illinois; Anson, who is a farmer of Smith county, Kansas : John, who served for three years in the Civil war and after- ward died of disease contracted in the army: Addie, the deceased wife of William Hart : and Libbie, who is the wife of Byron L. Penny, of Adams, Jefferson county, New York.
There occurred no event of special importance to vary the routine of farm life for Lyman A. Benjamin in the days of his boyhood and youth. save that he was enabled to supplement his com- mon-school education by several terms' attend- ance at Jefferson County Institute and thus ac- quired a good education. Later he engaged in teaching throughout the winter months and in the summer seasons devoted his energies to farm work. The possibilities for agricultural devel- opment and progress in the middle west attracted him and in the fall of 1855 he arrived in Illinois, purchasing a farm in Dupage county, upon which he took up his abode. He continued its improve- ment and development until November. 1864. at which time he sold the property and came to Iroquois county. He then made investment in forty acres of raw prairie land in Danforth town- ship and at once broke the fields, planted his seed and in due course of time harvested good crops. Necessary farm buildings were erected and as financial resources increased he extended the boundaries of his property until his farm cm- braced one hundred and twenty acres of rich and arable land. the fields he responding readily in golden harvests to the care and labor which he bestowed upon them. The buildings which he erected were commodious and substantial and he carried on his farm work with unremitting dili- gence and toil until his place became one of the valuable properties of Danforth township.
As a companion and helpmate for life's jour- ney Mr. Benjamin chose Miss Phoebe Ann Webb, to whom he was married in Jefferson county, New York, January 24, 1854. She was born in Washington county, that state, but was reared and educated in Jefferson county. Her father. Darius Webb, was a prominent citizen of his locality and for many years followed the millwright's trade. He died in Oswego county. New York. April 20. 1901. when almost ninety- six years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Lyman became the parents of five children : Fred, who married Miss Melissa J. Parker and resides in Watseka, is now circuit clerk of Iroquois county. He has three children: James, who is employed in a store at Forrest. Illinois : Fred P., a student in the State University : and Madge, who is attend- ing the university at Ada, Ohio. Rev. William D. Benjamin, the second of the family, is a minis- ter of the Methodist Episcopal church, now lo- cated at Bushnell, Illinois. He wedded Rose Clark. and they have two children: Ona, who is attending Hedding College, at Abingdon, Illi- nois ; and Harry, at home. Edwin N., a farmer of Sedgwick county, Kansas. wedded Katie Critser, and they have four children: Ilda, who is engaged in teaching in Sedgwick county ; Roy. Rebecca and Vera, all at home. Ida, who spent eight years as a successful teacher of Iro- quois county and two years as a teacher at Cissna Park, Illinois, is now the wife of Henry J. Landis, a resident farmer of this county, who for eight years was engaged in the drug business at Cissna Park. Charles W., who completes the family and is a farmer of Onarga township, mar- ried Miss Lydia Mitchell.
The parents were devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal church, contributing gener- ously to its support and taking an active part in its work. Mr. Benjamin served as one of the church stewards. When age confered upon him the right of franchise he cast his ballot for the candidates of the whig party and later he joined the ranks of the new republican party which he continued to support until his demise. He served as assessor for a number of years and in other positions of honor and trust, in which he was ever found as a faithful and capable official. The cause of education received his earnest sup- port and endorsement and his labors as a member
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of the school board were effective and far-reach- ing. He looked at life from a broad standpoint, recognized its possibilities and its obligations, im- proving the former and conscientiously met the latter. He continued to reside upon his farm umtil called to his final rest August 12. 1807. In his family he was a devoted husband and father and he left a record which is well worthy of em- ulation. Mrs. Benjamin still survives her hus- band and yet lives in Danforth township.
FRIEDRICH BREYMEYER.
Friedrich Breymeyer is accorded a position of prominence in agricultural circles because of his extensive farming and stock-raising interests. Heowns three well improved farms in Ash Grove township, and his success is the merited reward of his capable management, diligence and pro- gressive spirit. He came from Germany to try hi- fortune in the new world and has never had occasion to regret taking this step. for here he found good opportunities, which, by the way. are always open to ambitions young men. and in this country where labor finds its just reward he has advanced to a place among the foremost representatives of agriculture in a district where progressive farming meets with success.
Mr. Breymeyer was born in Schaumberg 1.ippe. Germany, May 18, 1847, his birthplace being the little village of Meerbeck, opening his eyes to the light of day in the same house where his father. Gotlich Breymeyer, was born. The latter spent the days of his childhood and youth there and in carly manhood wedded Marie Schoenbeck, who was likewise born in the vil- lage of Meerbeck. The father was a farmer by occupation and also engaged in the manufacture of od on a small scale with horse-power, his dual business providing him with funds neces- sary for the support of his family, which num- bered five sons and three daughters. In 1862 he made the voyage to the new world, coming direct to Illinois. In Will county he joined a sister and brother-in-law, who had previously located there and Mr. Breymeyer took up his abode upon a farm which remained his home until 1871. when he removed to Kansas, setthing west of To-
peka. "There he opened up a new farm, upon which he spent his last days, his death occurring there about 1807, when he was in his eighty - third year. Ihis wife passed away in 1895, at the age of seventy-eight years.
Friedrich Brevmeyer is the eldest surviving member of the family, the others being: Henry. who is president of the Wamego State Bank and owns nearly three thousand acres of land ; Caro- line, the wife of William Seggebruch, of Ach Grove township; Gotlieb, who is a farmer and also a stockholder and director in his brother's bank in Kansas ; Engel, the wife of Henry Saol- ter, a farmer of Kansas : and William, who car- ries on agricultural pursuits in the same neigh- borhood in the Sunflower state. Sophia died at the age of seventeen years, and Ernest at the age of fifteen years.
Friedrich Brevmeyer was a youth of fifteen when the family left the fatherland and became residents of Will county, Illinois. He was liberal- ly educated in select schools in Germany but only attended a private evening school for one month after coming to the United States, but he soon mastered the language and by reading and obser- vation has become a well informed man. He came to Iroquois county in 1872, when a young man of twenty-five years, having purchased land here before his removal. He became owner of one hundred and eleven acres which was raw and uncultivated but he soon broke the prairie and began farming.
Building a shanty on his place he kept bache- lor's hall for a year, after which he married. on the 4th of February, 1873. Miss Sophie Lucke, who was born in Will county, Illinois, and was of German parentage. They began their domestic life in a primitive home upon the farm and thus lived until about 1883, when Mr. Breymeyer, having prospered in his undertak- ings, erected a commodious and substantial two- story frame residence, making one of the at- tractive homes of the county. He likewise built a large barn and provided shelter for his grain and stock. He was one of the first to tile the land. carly realizing the value of such a move in draining the fields and thus promoting their fertility. Adding to his original holdings, he became the owner of two hundred and sixty- two acres of land in one farm and was continu-
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ously and successfully engaged in its cultivation until 1804. when he was elected county treas- urer and removed to Watseka in order to enter upon the duties of the office. He filled the posi- tion for four years, and during that period bought another parm near his homestead prop- erty, comprising one hundred and sixty acres, which was already improved. In 1899 he re- sumed agricultural pursuits on the old home- stead. Realizing that there is no better invest- ment than Illinois real estate. He has since purchased another tract of land of one hundred and forty-eight acres, also in Ash Grove town- ship, so that he now owns altogether five hun- (red and seventy acres of valuable farm land. Ile likewise purchased six acres in Woodworth, in the midst of which stands a good residence, and in the spring of 1906 he removed to the village, where he now resides. His time is devoted to the supervision of his farming in- terests, which are valuable and return to him a splendid income.
U'nto Mr. and Mrs. Breymeyer have been born four children, who are yet living but they lost their first born. Fred. at the age of three years. Those who still survive are: Sophie. the wife of Adolph Munstermann, a farmer of this county; August, who is married and lives upon one of his father's farms: John, who is married and is engaged in operating a portion of the old homestead and also in breeding and dealing in shorthorn cattle; and William. a farmer at home. The sons have all been given good educational privileges and have been stu- dents in the high school at Watscka.
In politics Mr. Breymeyer is a true blue re- publican, unfaltering in his allegiance to the party. In 1906 he was a delegate to the congres- sional convention to boom Joseph Cannon for the presidency. He was elected and served on the school board for eighteen years and for a long period was its president. lle was likewise com- missioner of highways two terms and assessor for four terms, and was elected to fill out an unexpired term as township treasurer. to which office he has been three times elected. He has now filled that position for five years, and over the record of his official service there falls no shadow of wrong nor suspicion of evil, for he has been most loyal to the trust reposed in him.
He has frequently been a delegate to the county conventions and twice to the state conventions and assisted in nominating Governor Deneen. For a long period he has been regarded as a leading citizen of Ash Grove township-a man whose word is as good as his bond and whose fidelity in all life's relations is above question. The trust reposed in him is indicated by the fact that he has been chosen to serve as guardian of minors and as administrator of estates. He was reared in the Lutheran faith and was one of the promoters of the movement toward securing the establishment of the present church at Wood- worth. He served as trustee at the time of the erection of the house of worship and has been a most generous contributor to the support of the church.
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