USA > Illinois > Iroquois County > Past and present of Iroquois County, Illinois > Part 36
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Mr. Breymeyer has traveled very extensively north, south, east and west, and has thus gained an intimate knowledge of his adopted land. Viewed in a personal light he is a strong man, strong in his honor and his good name and in his success, and in the principles which have guided his actions. The nobility of his character is above question and is conceded by all. Ilis labors have been of direct benefit to his community in many ways and all acknowledge his personal worth. Such is the record of a man who has worked his way upward from an obscure position to one of eminence in the community where he has so long resided.
JACOB J. WISE.
Jacob J. Wise is one of the extensive land- owners and successful agriculturists of Fountain Creek township, his home being on section 11. where he has three hundred and twenty acres. Hle is numbered among the early settlers of the county, for he took up his abode within its bor- ders in 1855. The work of development and im- provement had scarcely been begun then and there were various evidences of the primal con- ditions of things. The land was wet and swampy, the native forests were uncut, the streams were unbridged and there were few roads made. llere and there a hardy frontiers- man with the hope of making for himself a good
J. J. WISE.
1
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IROQUOIS COUNTY, ILLINOIS
home in the west had established hunself on a farm and thus the foundation for the present growth and prosperity of the county was being laid. Mr. Wie cast in his lot with the early settlers and aided in the work of primitive devel- opment and in the passing year- has kept in touch with the trend of modern progress. He has now reached the age of eighty years and is a vener- able and respected citizen.
He was born September 15. 1820, in what is now Grant county, West Virginia, althought at that time a part of the Old Dominion. There he was reared upon a farm and in Randolph county, that state. he was married June 19. 1855. the lady of his choice being Miss Elizabeth Moore. The succeeding autumn he started with his young bride for Illinois. He had first visited the state in 1851, at which time he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of government land. upon which he now resides. It was wet and swampy but he believed that he recognized pos- sibilities for development that would lead to sue- cess and in the fall of 1855 he came to his western possessions. Soon he broke some prairie and put in a crop. Ile built a little cabin and began to farm and as the years passed a great change was seen in the place. Some years later he bought more land, but in the early days he and his wife experienced great hardships and priva- tions. They and their children were ill all one summer and they lost one child, but they perse- vered and Mr. Wise eventually placed his land under the plow and converted it into productive fields. He also built another dwelling, together with barns and sheds. He put out an orchard and upon his farm he raised the timber which was used in building the barn. As his financial resources increased he bought more land from time to time, adding in forty-acre tracts until he is now the owner of three hundred and twenty acres in the homestead. He also has another farm on section 15. Fountain Creek township, of one hundred and sixty acres, eighty acres on see- tion to, one hundred and sixty acres on section 4. save that six acres has been taken off for rail- road purposes, and one hundred acres on section 12. Fountain Greek township. He also bought two hundred and forty acres in Stockland town- ship. He owns altogether more than one thou- sand acres of valuable Illinois land. embraced
in five improved farms. For about ten months after his arrival here in 1851 he made rails at fifty cents per hundred in order to get money to buy his first land.
Mr. Wise was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife in 1877. her death occurring on the 4th of December of that year. They were the parents of eight children : Mrs. Rebecca Blake. who is living in Watseka: Susie, the wife of L. E. Jones, of Stockland township; Samuel A., a resident farmer of Ash Grove township : Arabell, the wife of Elias Pruitt, of Urbana ; Amanda J., the wife of William P. MeCray, a farmer of Fountain Creek township: and Linnie May, the wife of Edward Beebee, of Claytonville, Illinois. They also lost two children: lemma E. who died when eight months old; and lime, who died when a young man of nineteen years. On the 13th of August. 18. Mr. Wise was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Mary M. Peddicord, the widow of T. J. Peddicord. who died in 1807. Mr. and Mrs. Peddicord had a son. William 11 .. who was drowned when nine- teen years of age. Mrs. Wise was born and reared in Kentucky and was married there, her son being ten years of age when they removed to Iroquois.
In his political views Mr. Wise has long been an earnest republican, giving unfaltering support to the party since he cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1804. He has never desired nor filled public office, save that he was highway commissioner for six years and school trustee of his township for several years. He and his wife holl membership in the United Brethren church of Fountain Creek, of which they are charter members, and he has been a most liberal contributor to the church and a public- spirited citizen, where efforts have been far- reaching and beneficial in behalf of general im- provement and progress. He has seen the whole county change from a wilderness and swamp and has himself put thousands of dollars into ditching and tiling. He has seen the best farms made from land which was once regarded as utterly worthless and as the years have gone by all the evidences of a modern and progressive civiliza- tion have been introduced and Iroquois county is toulas peopled with a prosperous and contented population, who have made this one of the rich-
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est farming districts of Illinois. Mr. Wise has advanced in line with the trend of general prog- ress and although in his early days here he suf- ferred the hardships and experienced the priva- tions of pioneer life he is today one of the most prosperous citizens and extensive landholders. Nor has his pathway been strewn with the wreck of other men's fortunes. On the contrary he has been honorable and straightforward in his busi- ness dealings and his success is the legitimate outcome of his labor and careful investment.
JOIIN WIENRANK.
John Wienrank, whose farming interests em- brace an excellent tract of land of one hundred and fifty acres on section 1. Ash Grove town- ship. is numbered among the pioneer residents of this portion of the state, having taken up his abode in Illinois in 1853. He was born in Han- over. Germany. December 2. 1840, and when a lad of about thirteen years accompanied his par- ents on their removal from the fatherland to the new world. The family home was established in Peoria county and there he was reared, re- ceiving instruction in both the German and Eng- lish schools, while in farm work he was amply trained under the direction of his father. with whom he remained until he had reached man's estate. He afterward worked by the month for several years as a farm hand and thus made his start in life. llis record therefore proves what can be accomplished by determined energy and unfaltering purpose, for although a farm hand at the outset of his career he is now the owner of a valuable property.
Mr. Wienrank was married in Woodford coun- ty, Illinois, in 1871, to Miss Antje Duitsman, a native of Germany. Following their marriage he carried on farming for several years in Wood- ford county and in 1877 came to Iroquois coun- ty, where he purchased the farm upon which he now resides. He has since greatly improved the dwelling and everything about his place presents a neat and well kept appearance, for the work of repair is being constantly carried forward and thus everything is kept in first class condition. lle has planted considerable fruit upon his place
and has employed the most modern methods of farming and tilling the fields, so that large crops are annually harvested. He also owns an ad- joining farm of one hundred and sixty acres which is likewise well improved, and he has a third farm in Belmont township, comprising a quarter section.
In 1900 Mr. Wienrank was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who passed away in March of that year and was laid to rest in the Lutheran cemetery of Woodworth. They were the parents of six children : Jacob, a resident farmer of Belmont township: John B., who as- sists his father in carrying on the home farm : Christ, who is married and is a farmer of Ash Grove township: Albert, who is associated with his father and brother: Fulke, the wife of Jacob Van Haven : and Hea, the wife of Simon Buhr. a resident farmer of Crescent township.
Mr. Wienrank and his family are members of the Lutheran church of Woodworth. In poli- tics he is a democrat and has been elected and served as township collector and as justice of the peace of Ash Grove township. Ile has likewise been a delegate to county conventions and is much interested in the party and its growth. He has made a splendid record in business circles. for although he started out empty-handed he is today the owner of three valuable farm proper- ties, from which he derives an excellent income. Investigation into his history shows most hon- orable methods. He has been watchful of his opportunities for judicious investment and throughout his life has shown that close applica- tion without which success cannot be achieved.
JOHN E. WILLS.
John E. Wills, superintendent of the Iroquois county farm, in which capacity he has charge of the operation of three hundred and ninety acres of land. is giving the utmost satisfaction in this office. Ile so capably manages the business of the institution that the farm is almost self-sup- porting and the tax for the maintenance of the poor is lower in this county than in any county in the state. In his childhood days he came to
Allions with his parents and has e ust nualls re sided in frompress county since 1871.
He was born February 20. 1800, in Jennings county. Indiana, a son of John and Amanda ( kwam) Wills, who were likewise natives of that State, the former born in Dearborn county and the latter in Jennings county. John Wills. Si was a cooper by trade. His wife was a daugh tor of Joseph Ewan, who came to Iroquois coun to a isto and was almost a centenarian at the time of his death, lacking but a few months of attaining the one hundredth anniversary of his birth. Previous to his marriage John Will. Sr. had removed to Jennings county. Indiana. and later took up his abade in Newton county, that state, where he remained for five years. Ile then removed to Iroquois county, settling in Wat- scha in 1871. He conducted a carpenter shop and comperage business for many years, being thus closely associated with the industrial life of the town. lle remained a resident of Watseka until called to his final rest in September. 1902. when seventy -six years of age, while his wife is still living in her eighty-first year and makes her home with her son John. Their family numbered nine children, eight of whom reached years of maturity.
John E. Wills was the youngest of the family and was reared in Watseka, enjoying the advan- tages offered by the city schools. When a young man he began earning his own living by farm work, being employed by the month. He worked on the county farm under Isaac W. Cast. who conducted the farm for twelve years, and during the last year of that time Mr. Wills was in his service. Mr. Cast then died but his widow re- tained the superintendency of the farm and Mr. Wills remained her chief assistant for four years.
On the toth of April. 1891, was celebrated the marriage of John E. Wills and Miss & Da Cast. a daughter of Isaac W. Cast, who was a native of Ohio and in 1850 be- came a resident of Vermilion county. Illinois. whence be removed to Iroquois county in 1857. following his marriage Mr. Wills learned the blacksmith's trade, soon became the owner of a shop and conducted business in that line for fourteen years. In fact he still owns this shop but his attention is now given to agricultural interests. In March, 1005, he was elected to the
superintendenes of the county farm, the work of which he conducts in a mit able manter Ile had been practically at its head for four years under Mrs. Cast, who died in too, at the age Đi tits - four years. He thoroughly understands the business necessary to its successful conduct, and in addition to tilling the soil he raises fine stock. keeping imported Scotch shorthorn cattle from the Withers herd.
Unto Me. and Mrs. Will have been barn six children, of whom otte died in infancy. while Clara passed away at the age of six year- Mary, the oldest, is now a student in Watseka. Bertha. Leslie and John are all under the parental roni. Mr. Wills belongs to Iroquois lodge. No. 74. 1. 11. 1. F., of Watseka, of which he is a valued representative. He is a past grand of the order and has been a member of the grand lodge, representing the local organization at Springfield in 1904. He is likewise a member of Watseka camp of the Modern Woodmen and he and his wife attend the Christian church. From his boyhood days he has resided contin- uously in this county and the consensus of public opinion regarding him is altogther favorable.
JOHN MCINTYRE.
The gentleman whose name introduces this review is one of the citizens of foreign birth who has been a valuable factor in the development and upbuilding of Iroquois county. He owns and operates a fine farm of two hundred acres, situated on section 36, Lovejoy township, all of which has been acquired through his own well directed labor and careful management. \ na- tive of the Emeraldl isle, he was born in June. 1840. and was there reared and educated. the common schools of that country affording him the advantages which he enjoyed in his youth. He remained in his native country until he had reached the age of twenty -two years, when, hav- ing heard favorable reports concerning the ad- vantages to be enjoyed across the water, he ac- cordingly sailed for the United States in 188. arriving in New York on the oth of June of that year. He secured employment at Albany, that state, where he remained for about one year.
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subsequent to which time he went to Canada. where he spent a short time, after which he made his way to Chicago, Illinois, where he was em- ployed on the construction of a railroad for a time and then secured employment on a farm near that place, working for one man for more than five years. Having carefully husbanded his re- sources, so that he felt justified in engaging in business on his own account, he made his way to Iroquois county in 1875, and purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, situated in Lovejoy township, and this has continued to be his place of residence to the present time. Only a small clearing had been made when this prop- erty came into his possession, but Mr. Mcintyre at once took up the arduous task of clearing and developing his land and in due course of time the fields brought forth rich harvests as a result of the care and labor which he bestowed upon the land. He further improved the place by the erection of suitable buildings and a good home and took up his abode thercon in 1870. He has tiled his land. built good fences and altogether has a well improved and valuable property. As his financial resources increased he added an additional tract of forty acres to his original pur- chase and now has altogether a tract of two hun- (red acres all in one body.
On the 18th of February, 1880, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Melntyre and Miss Isabella Davis. likewise a native of Ireland. where she was reared to the age of seventeen years. They have become the parents of three daughters, all of whom have been liberally educated. Gertrude is a teacher in Iroquois county. Margaret is with her parents. Daisy. the youngest of the family, is now the wife of William McIntyre, a business man of Chicago.
Mr. Mcintyre is a true blue republican, and cast his first presidential vote in 1872 in support of General Grant, and has since that time sup- ported the candidates of that party. He has never sought or desired public office, preferring to give his undivided time and attention to his private business affairs, in which he has met with very gratifying success. Although Mr. Meln- tyre was reared in the faith of the Episcopal church, he now holds membership with the Pres- byterian denomination at Wellington, to which his wife also belongs.
Mr. McIntyre has been a resident of Iroquois county for the past thirty years and during that period has been active and helpful in the agri- cultural development of this part of the state.
Taking up his abode in the new world when a young man. he soon adapted himself to the changed conditions of the new and rapidly de- veloping country and by his energy and economy has worked his way upward from a poor boy to a citizen of worth and affluence, who enjoys the favorable regard of a large acquaintance. and he and his family have many warm friends.
TIIOMAS LOVELESS.
Thomas Loveless, who is familiarly known as Squire on the streets of Milford. is one of the popular men of the town and an old settler of the state, whose life record has been creditable to the commonwealth, for he has ever upheld the legal and political status of his community and given hearty co-operation and support to those meas- ures which have direct bearing upon the welfare and improvement of a community. He has lived in Illinois since the 28th of September. 1858.
His birth had occurred nineteen years before in Pickaway county. Ohio, his natal day having been May 4, 1839. In his youth he accompanied his parents on their removal to Tippecanoe coun- ty, Indiana, where he was reared and his educa- tional privileges were those afforded by the com- mon schools, but he manifested a special aptitude in his studies and his reading in later years has constantly broadened his knowledge, making him a well informed man, so that in early manhood he was well qualified for the profession of teach- ing. which he followed first in Indiana and later in Illinois.
Mr. Loveless was married in Tippecanoe county, Indiana, in July, 1858, to Miss Harriet Funk, a native of that state, where her girlhood days were passed. In the fall of 1848 they removed to Iroquois county, settling on a farm near Milford. Mr. Loveless had visited the state in 1854 when a youth of fourteen years. After bringing his bride to the new home he engaged in farming and in raising and feeding stock. llis first purchase of land made him owner of
MR. AND MRS. THOMAS LOVELESS.
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IROQUOIS COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
hity me acres, which he brought under a In_h state of cultivation. He built a house there and continue the active work of farming until his tickets had returned to him abundant harvest- He also engaged in buying, feeding and shipping stock, carrying on that business for thirty years. He was one of the well known dealers and ship- pers of Iroquois county, for his business steadily mercased m volume and importance. Being an excellent judge of stock he was enabled to make careful purchases and profitable sales and he eventually become one of the extensive shipper- of the county. As his financial resources per- mitted he bought land from time to time and he now owns about seven hundred acres in Iroquois comity, and also a farm of three hundred acres in Tippecanoe county. Indiana, and three hundred and twenty acres in Arkansas. His farm was for many years a scene of great business activity but eventually he put aside agricultural interests. and in 1883 located in Milford, where he erected a pleasant and attractive home. He is much interested in the upbuilding and improvement of the town, and his labors have had direct bearing upon its growth and development, and in the advancement of those interests which are a mat- ter of civic virtue and of civic pride. In 1905 Mr. Loveless was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who in that year was laid to rest in Maple Grove cemetery. There are six living chil- dren by this union : George, who is married and follows farming in Tippecanoe county, Indiana : Mrs. Lydia Dalstrum, who is a widow and re- sides in Hoopeston ; William W., a resident farm- er of this county: Emma, the wife of W. T. Caldwell, a photographer of Milford : Ollie, the wife of Charles McMillen, of Tippecanoe coun- ty, Indiana : and Thomas B., who is operating the old homestead farm. They also lost two chil- dren. Elizabeth and Jacob, who died in early youth.
Mr. Loveless has the honor of belonging to that great band of young men who in 1800 cast their first vote and thereby supported Illinois greatest statesman. Abraham Lincoln. He has since voted for each nominee on the republican ticket with one exception. When on the farm he served as highway commissioner and also as township school trustee and since removing to Milford has been elected and re-elected to the
office of justice of the peace_ số that he to nell serving for the tenth consecutive year In that position. His decisions are strictly fair and im- partial and no higher testimonial of capable ser- the could be given than the fact that he has again and again been chosen by popular suffrage. He has frequently ben a delegate to comit and state conventions and at all times is a faithful and efficient officer, richly meriting the trust re- posted in him. Strong and positive in his- repub- licanism, his party fealty is not grounded on partisan prejudice and he enjoys the respect and confidence of all his associates irrespective of party. He is identified with that class in the movement toward higher politics which is com- mim to both parties and which constitutes the most hopeful political sign of the period.
lle has been identified with the Masonic fra- ternity since 1807 but is now a demitted Mason. Ile also joined the Odd Fellows lodge in 1807. served through all the chairs and is a past grand of Milford lodge, which he has likewise repre- sented in the grand lodge of the state. He was also identified with the encampment and is a grand past patriarch. For forty-eight years he has lived in Iroquois county and has seen much of its growth and development as the swamps and sloughs have been drained and the prairie cleared and cultivated. There has been no more gratifying nor substantial progress made than in agricultural lines in this direction and Mr. Loveless has borne his full share. He has a wide acquaintance in Watseka and throughout the county where he is known as a man of in- tegrity and worth, and the success which has crowned his efforts has made him one of the sub- stantial citizens of the community.
HARM SCHAUMBURG.
Harm Schaumburg, now living in Milford, was for years one of the active and prosperous farm- er- of Milford township and one of the early settlers of linois, where he has resided from carly boyhood days. More than fifty-one years have been added to the cycle of the centuries since he took up his abode in this state and front childhood to early manhood, from early manhood
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to the prime of life, he has so lived as to gain the favorable regard of a large circle of friends and acquaintances. A native of Germany, he was born in Prussia. February 19. 1846, and came to the new world with his mother and her family when a lad of nine years. The family home was established in Peoria county, Illinois, and subsequent removals took them to Tazewell. Woodford and Livingston counties.
Thus it was that the subject of this review was reared to manhood in this state. His school privileges were limited and his youth was large- ly a period of earnest and unremitting toil. He was but eighteen years of age when he responded to the country's call for aid and in May, 1864, at Quincy, Illinois, joined the boys in blue of Com- pany B. One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry. He was sent south with his regiment to Memphis and served on picket and guard duty. He participated in the battle at Memphis, Tennessee, where two hun- dred of his regiment were killed or taken prison- ers. While at the front he became ill and was in the hospital at Memphis, Tennessee, for a short time. He served until after the expiration of his term of enlistment and was then sent home and honorably discharged at Springfield, Illinois. His brother, Franz, who was one of three sons to come with the mother to the new world, was a soldier of the Eleventh Illinois Cavalry and served throughout the war. He now resides at Cruger, Illinois, while the younger brother, John, makes his home in Nebraska.
From his youth Harm Schaumburg was de- pendent upon his own resources not only for a living, but also had to assist his mother in sup- port of the family. They had to endure many hardships and privations in the early years of their residence in the new world because of their limited financial condition. When the war was over Mr. Schaumburg of this review resumed work as a farm hand by the month and was thus employed for several years, after which he was married and thus made arrangements for having a home of his own. It was in Woodford county, in 1871. that Miss Anna Lucht, a Ger- man lady, became his wife. In 1874 he removed with his little family to Milford township and with the money he had saved from his earnings purchased eighty acres of unimproved land which
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