USA > Illinois > Iroquois County > Past and present of Iroquois County, Illinois > Part 59
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In taking up the personal history of Wesley V. Brubaker we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known in this part of the county. No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for him in the days of his boyhood and youth. He was reared to agricultural pursuits and on attaining his majority he began farming on his own account, purchasing eighty acres of land from his father about twenty years ago. This is located on section 10, Sheldon township and he has placed many of the improvements upon it save the house. His father tiled the place and Mr. Brubaker has further continued its drainage and cultivation. He has always followed farming and stock-raising and his thorough knowledge of the business in which he has been engaged from his boyhood to the present time has been one of the salient elements in his success. He is now cultivating an entire
MR. AND MRS. WESLEY V. BRUBAKER.
UR. AND MRS. JOSEPH BRUBAKER.
O VITE DIVERSITY UF ALL 12
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IROQUOIS COUNTY, ILLINOIS
Half section of land and annually harvest crops.
Mr. Brubaker was married to Miss Mar Itta Lewellen, who was born in Delaware camps. Indiana, and came to this state when twove years of age with her mother. Her father. Jo- sephus Lewellen, who was a carpenter In trade. lied when she was only three years old. Mr. and Mrs. Brubaker have one child, Harry.
Mr. Brubaker has served as a school direct ir He gives his political support to the prohibition party, for he has long been a stanch advocate of the cause of temperance. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church and his faith und belief find exemplification in lis life and liis treatment of his fellowmen, who know him to be a most honorable citizen, straightforward and reliable in all of his business dealings
JACOB ALLHANDS.
Jacob Whands, living in Sheldon township. dates his residence in the state from 1854. He was born in Montgomery county, Indiana, in 1853 and was brought to Minois by his father. William J. Allhands, a native of Butler county, Ohio, born December 22, 1821. The paternal grandfather. Daniel Allhands, was a native of Virginia and for some years resided in the Back eve state, after which he removed with his family to Indiana, casting in his lot with it- phone settlers.
William J. Allhands was at that time a loud of eleven years and he was reared amid the wild scenes and environments fronter lie attended school during the winter scasas but in the summer months his servers were told upon the home tarn and he performed the anh Remaining in Indiana unti 1852, ke then cant *0 Illinois on a prospecting tour, after which le re turned to Mon tragers e ulity but in 1854 male a permanent Lectionbone and for mar sters thereafter was desey associated with fame interests in this counts. He was marred nismo. in Indiana, to Miss Martha A. Moore, a native of Ohio, and they became the parents cf clever
children. Mr. Allband's cast Ins first presidential ballet for Janes K. Polk and continued to sil- part the candidates . i democrats. He was a - was a member of the United Brethren church and his life was homer by and wright. He started out on his basiness career empty handled but he possessed resolvite purpose and unister- ing energy and these qualities have enabled hin to steadi's work his way upward until he is now numbered anlong the prosperous residents of the county, having two hundred and eighty acres of rich farming land in Belmont township.
Jaceb Vlhands began his education in the dis- trict schools and afterward benefited by instruc- tion received in Green Hill Semimars of Indiana. He was reared in Iroquois county and for about ten years engaged in teaching school, proving a capable educator, who imparted clearly and rend- il to others the knowledge that he had acquired. liter about a decade devoted to educational work he began farming upon the old home place. where he remained for two years. He sport one summer in Leadville, Colorado, and then removed to, Indiana, where he carried on genral agricultural pursuits for two years, after which he returned to Concord township and rented land for about nine years. All that time he made good use of las opportunities and also carefully saved his earnings, so that with the capital that he had acquired he bought a farm on section 20. Sheldon township, comprising one hundred and sixty acres He made this purchase from Mrs Lingh in 1803 and has A'nce put man andern and substantial improvements open th land. He has laid one thousand rods of tiling and has fenced Is fields. In the carly spring time the plow is placed in the furrows and the seed is planted. Through a later period the work i cultivation is continued and In die carr's of time good harvests are gathered because of the practical, sistemaical and progressive melor which Mr. Althands focus in carrying on his farm work Ile like- wir ralses stock and this is for unimportant branch of his business.
Mr. Allhands was married in Concord town -p. n 18-0, to Mias Resetta Hoagland, who was born in Concord township in March, 1850. And is a danelter of Igac Hoagland, who came in i Qi, in an carly diy and settled in Con-
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cord township. Mr. and Mrs. Allhands have two children, Mrs. Cynthia Markley and Goorge.
In his political views Mr. Allhands is a dem- ocrat, interested in the success of the party and its growth. He has served as school director and as road commissioner, yet has never been active as a politician in the sense of office seeking, al- though he is always glad to see good men in office and does everything in his power to ad- vance the interests of his community along lines of substantial development and improvement.
DAVID CREPS.
The history of the Lyman neighborhood on either side of the Middleport-Martinton line would be incomplete without some mention of David Creps, who is now the oldest person in the Lyman relationship, and he bears a double relation, being a stepson to one and a son-in- law to another of the pioneers of that name. David Creps, the son of Daniel and Mary Creps, was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, (c- tober 30, 1824, and has therefore passed the eighty-second milestone on life's journey. He was quite young when his father died and his mother removed to Ohio, living in Wayne and Stark counties. She was married in that state to Samuel Lyman and in 1836, when her son was a boy of twelve years, Mr. Lyman, with the members of the household, came to Iroquois county, where Mr. Creps has since resided. It was a pioneer community in the midst of a wild and largely unsettled district. The work of im- provement and progress had scarcely been begun and the Lyman family in its various branches were destined to bear an important part in the work of substantial improvement and upbuilding here. Mr. Creps, as his years and strength in- creased, more and more largely aided in the arduous task of developing a new farm and shared with the family in all of the experiences and hardships of pioneer life.
On the 24th of April, 1854, he was married to Miss Samantha Lyman, a daughter of John and Sarah Lyman. She was born November 14, 1833, and their marriage was celebrated in the vicinity of the present family homestead in Mar-
tinton township. Mr. Creps built a log cabin within a few rods of his present comfortable home, where he has all of the modern conve- niences of a model country property. His suc- cess is attributable to his own exertions, for when he staked off the claim on which he built his cabin he had no money with which to pay for it. He settled upon a tract of eighty acres of wild prairie land without the formality of receiving a deed for it and when the land office was, finally opened at Danville, Illinois, he had saved enough money to make the purchase. His capital at the beginning of his active life as an agriculturist consisted only of his two hands and a strong determination. Upon his claim he raised the crops that enabled him to pay for the property- an opportunity the present generation would gladly embrace. It will thus be seen that the pioneers certainly had some advantages together with their hardships and there was, moreover, a spirit of good cheer and hospitality among friends and neighbors that is scarcely known today. Mr. Creps broke the virgin prairie, driving seven yoke of oxen to a plow that turned a two foot furrow, and when the fields were cultivated he sold his crops and. carefully saving his earnings, at length accumulated a sufficient capital to make his purchase of land. As the years have passed he has added to the original tract until he now has a valuable property. He has never engaged to any great extent in stock-raising but has made his money through the cultivation of the cereals best adapted to soil and climate. While he was turning the sod of the prairie, often working at the breaking team for others, his wife was just as busy in the household, spinning wool. tow and fax, and the implements of her handiwork are still treasured in the househokl.
In recalling the past Mr. Creps remarked, "People nowadays don't know how we got along. We had tallow dips and beeswax candles, lard lamps, and as a result everything was black with smoke and soot." In the home are still retained the old candle molds, spinning wheels and other mementoes of pioneer life that were used by the wife and mother in days when everything needed by the family was made at home. In these days of electricity and rapid transit it seems like a page torn from the history of the past to talk with a man who had a part in the development of the
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IROQUOIS COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
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country. Mr. Crepe had the courage to Tellall where he first settled and as the result of his h. bors is now the owner of a comfortable haine and fine farming land.
The children born unto Mr and Mrs (rep- are as follows! Samuel F .. Men, David! D) .. Reuben L ... and Cassie, who since the skath of the wife and mother on the 7th of August. 1805. has been her father's constant companion as well as manager of the household. Reuben 1 .. the youngest son, lost his wife December 1. 1. and has since lived at home. helping to care for the father. As stated. Mr. Creps has reached the age of eighty-two years. He still keeps in touch with the progress of events through persnal of the daily paper- and not many men are better informed on current topics. When he first came to Iroquois county it required four weeks for a letter to come from Stark county. Ohio, but he has lived to see a rural free delivery of the daily mail -- a condition of which he did not dream when he settled here. At that time his letters came to Bunkum, later to old Middleport, and today the mail is re- ceived at his own door. When the family moved from Ohio the boy of twelve walked all the way and drove the cattle except when there was so much water that he must ride in the covered wagon, and now as he watches the heavy traffic over the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad in sight of his own home he often contrasts the present with the past in Iroquois county and the conditions and environments of pioncer life. He is a pleasant and entertaining old gentleman and numbers among his friends and contemporaries John D. Ash, Samuel Miller and other carly residents of the county.
JOHN H. BARRITT.
The man is fortunate whose lot has been cast with the agriculturists of Iroquois county be cause of the fertility of Inois soll for farming. There is no state in the Union which has a greater percentage of arable land of sie's richter crops in return for the care and her bestowed mpen the fiells, and it bas hơn through the hà provement of the opportunities here oft red that
Mr Harritt has won for line's a place de . tritt and prosperns agricultural and stock- riser He lives on section 5. Undred township. there he has one hundred and sixty acres of god Vind, and as his residence in the county covers
membered among its oll settlers.
A Native of Champaign conatt, thin, he was born June 21, 1852, a son of William Milton Bar- ritt, a native of the Buckeye state. Having reached years of maturity William M. Barritt married Miss Sarah Lagg, who Was also born and reared there. \ carpenter by trade, he also learned and followed show- making and was this dosch associated with industrial interests m Ohio until 1850, when. this king to enjoy better business opportu cities in Illinois, he made his was to Iroquois county and settled upon a farm. Subsequently he took up his abode in Unarga township, where be purchased a tract of land and opened up a farm which remamed las place of residence throughout his subsequent years. His wife sur- vived him about three years and in their death the community lost two of its representative pin- neer settlers, esteemed by all who knew them.
John 1. Barritt was one of ten children who reached mature years. The family numbered six sons and four daughters, of who five world and two daughters are set living. The subject of the review was only about four years of age at the time of the removal of the danh to this county, so that lo was reared within its borders and shared in the herdshops and privations inci- det to life on the frontier When fourteen years of age he began providing for his own support In working as a farm hand In the month and was thus employed for seven years of ut til he attainedl hi majority. his father receiving his earnings during that period.
On the 23d of November, 1873. 0 0 marga
Harper, who was born in Indiana and is a dangle ter of Mired Harper, woo enne to Iroquois county trine the Hoosier state during the io fancy at his daughter The young couple began their demestic his upon a rente farm and in the steering autumn located at their present place of residence un section 5. Varga town- ship Wt Barritt at first rented land but his
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PAST AND PRESENT OF
diligence and careful management at length brought him capital sufficient to enable him to purchase eighty acres and with renewed impetus he took up the work of tilling the soil and im- proving the property. He has erected substantial buildings thereon, including a good residence and barn, cribs and granary. He has also planted fruit and drained the place by laying many rods of tiling. After some years he purchased an adjoining eighty-acre tract, so that he now owns a quarter section of rich and productive land. Across the fields in the spring time is seen the track of the shining plow, the seed is dropped. the work of cultivation continued and in the autumn good crops are harvested. Mr. Barritt is also engaged in raising thoroughbred cattle, hogs and horses and keeps a good standard bred Percheron horse for breeding purposes. His stock-raising interests constitute an important element in his success.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Barritt have been born four children, of whom two are now living. Bertha M., who was educated at Onarga and in early womanhood engaged in teaching for several years, is now the wife of John Cox, a farmer of Onarga township, and has one child, Lawrence Glenn. James W., at home, is assisting his fa- ther in the work of the farm. Daisy and Frank both died when about five months old.
The parents are members of Prairie Chapel Methodist Episcopal church, in which Mr. Bar- ritt is serving as steward. They are interested in various church activities and do what they can to promote the growth and extend the in- fluence of this organization. In his fraternal relations Mr. Barritt is an Odd Fellow and a Woodman, belonging to both organizations at Onarga. His study of political issues and ques- tions has led him to give unfaltering support to the republican party, his first presidential vote being cast for Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876. He is a believer in good schools and the employ- ment of competent teachers and for some years he served on the school board. He filled the office of township trustee for two terms and his interest in public life and general progress is manifest in the co-operation which he gives to all measures for the general good. Great changes have occurred in Iroquois county since he took up his abode here and throughout the years he
has been recognized as a man of good business capacity and unfailing integrity and of upright character and worth. Many events which are to others matters of history were to him matters of experience in the early days which constituted the formative period in the history of the county, wherein was laid the foundation for the present prosperity and development of this portion of the state.
GEORGE F. MILLER.
The farming interests of Concord township find a worthy representative in George F. Miller, who is successfully cultivating a rich tract of land. He was born in Cook county, Illinois, in 1865. His father, Fred Miller, was a native of Germany and came to America in 1856, making his way westward to Chicago. He worked for a time at Kankakee, Illinois. Subsequently he purchased a farm in Middleport township, Iro- quois county, in 1887, thus becoming the owner of two hundred acres of land, which he has greatly improved and on which he has made his home during the past twenty years. The farm upon which his son, George F., now resides was purchased by him from Fred Potter and is lo- cated on section 3, Concord township. Through- out the greater part of his residence in America Fred Miller has been connected with agricultural pursuits and he owes his success not to any in- herited fortune or any fortunate combination of circumstances but to his own determined purpose, unfaltering will and unabating energy. His wife bore the maiden name of Mary Schroder and is also a native of Germany.
George F. Miller was reared in the parental home and at the usual age began acquiring his education in the public schools. He received ample training at farm work under the dirce- tion of his father and during the past eight years has operated his father's farm in Concord township. He has also purchased seventy-five acres on section 11 of the same township, and this he cultivates. Ile has built a corn crib and granary on the place and his fields are now well tilled and return to him generous harvests for the care and labor he bestows upon them.
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IROQUOIS COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Mr. Miller was married in Martinton, 1 March, 1802, to Miss Carrie Fraupe', a Bath of Tazewell county, Ilmo's, and they have three children : Henry, Clara and Mary Mit r. Mr Miller is connected with the Modern Wondenen camp at Iroquois, and his political allegiance is given to the republican party but he is ned a politician in the sense of office set king, preferring to concentrate his time and energies upon his business affairs, which are now being capabh conducted and are bringing to him a good finan- cial return.
SAMUEL HOUGLAND.
Samuel Ilougland, living in the town of Shel- don, is interested in farm property in Middleport township and also in Benton county, Indiana. visiting cach place at intervals. His property is the visible indication of a life of well directed effort crowned with success. He is a son of Charles and Susan Hougland. The mother died in 1846 but the father lived to a very venerable age, lacking only two years of completing a cen- tury when in 1904 he was called to his final rest. Ilis parents came to Illinois in 1845 from Cos- hocton county, Ohio, where the birth of Samuel Hougland had occurred on the ist of March. 1833. Thus he was twelve years of age when brought to Iroquois county. Ilis brothers and sisters were : John, Isaac, Masa, Sarah, Jane. Cynthia and James. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Susan Clarke, died within a year after the arrival of the family in the new coun- try. The father afterward wedded Cynthia Clarke, a sister of his first wife. There were three children of that marriage, Rachel. Susan and Charles.
No event of special importance occurred to vary the routing of far life on the frontier i ir Samuel Hougland in his boyhood and youth. He shared with the fandh in the hardshops and trials incident to a settlement on the frontier and be came familiar with all the arduous work incid it to the development of new land. He retired at home up to the ting of his marriage, which was celebrated on the 8th of January, 1880, the lady of his choice being Mrs. Ada M. Davis Unto them
was born a son, Sanudle. Houglan 1, co the 6th of August, 1883, but legal separation from his wife followed and now his interest in life centers in the life of the son, who has gone to the frontier to seek his fortune. Mr. Hongland has himself been a great wanderer and would enjoy, were it not for the weight of his years, traveling around the country with his son. He crossed the plains in 1852, driving an ox team, and remained on the Pacific coast for nineteen years, after which he returned to Colorado, bringing with him two hun- dred and eighty-one head of horses and mules. While in the west he owned several different ranches, always buying and selling stock, and as time passed he accumulated a comfortable com- potency. He is now living a life of case and re- tirement made possible by his industry in carlier years.
In 1802 Mr. Hougland returned to Iroquois county, where he expects to spend his remaining days. Although he has now passed the zenith of life he is still a hale and hearty man with keen interest in life. He greatly enjoyed his own ex- periences on the frontier and takes delight in hear- ing of those of his son, who has cast his fortunes in New Mexico among the builders of an empire in the southwest. He has had an eventful life and his history if written in detail would till a volume and give an accurate picture of experi- trees in the far west in pioneer days.
BENJAMIN SHONEMAN.
Benjamin Shoneman, engaged in general farne ing and in threshing in AAshkum township, came to Iroquois county from Germany about 1856. He was born in that country and is the only member of his father's fandh that ever came to the new wor l. Here he married Maggie Flizabeth Monk. a daughter of Henry Monk, a farmer of Ashkum and unto them have been barry ten children. natio Is : The, Henry, Kent, Suena. Dick, Cassie. Vina, Bonnie. Willie and Jennie. The family orele vet remains unbroken by the hand of death and all of the children are still under the parental Timi.
While in Germany Mr. Shoneman heard favor- alle reports concerning business opportunities in
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the new world and he therefore resolved to try his fortune in this country. He came to America empty-handed but has won a goodly measure of success here and although he had no advantages at the beginning of his business life he is today the owner of one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 21, Ashkum township. He likewise owns and operates a threshing machine and corn sheller, and is very busy during the harvest sea- son. In his political views he is an independent democrat, nor is he a member of any church but has contributed to the support of various denominations.
ROBERT LUMLEY, M. D.
Dr. Robert Lumley, the secretary of the Iro- quois County Medical Society and a practitioner at Watseka, was born in Markham, a suburb of Toronto, Canada, November 21, 1870. The Lumley family is a prominent one, connected with the English and Irish peerage, and the ancestry can be traced back to the time of the Norman conquest, the name, Ralph Lumley, be- ing found on the roll of honor at Battle Abbey. The Irish title of the family is Viscount Lumley and the English title is Earl of Scarborough. George C. Lumley, father of Dr. Lumley, was born in England and when a young man crossed the Atlantic to New York. Some time later he removed to Canada. settling at Toronto. He wedded Isabella McMackon, a native of Canada and of Scotch-Irish parentage. George C. Lum- ley departed this life in Canada in 1891.
In the public schools of his native town Dr. Lumley acquired his preliminary education and passed through successive grades until he had completed the high-school course. He afterward attended St. Thomas Collegiate Institute, the state university of Michigan and then supple- mented his more specifically literary education by study in Rush Medical College of Chicago, where he prepared for the practice of medicine and surgery. lle was graduated in 1895 and at once entered upon active practice in Chicago. where he remained as a general practitioner for three and a half years. Subsequently he spent a year and a half in Angustana Hospital of that
city, during which period he acquired valuable experience in the treatment of all kinds of sur- gical and medical cases. In 1900 he came to Watseka, where he has since been located and is recognized as one of the most able members of the medical fraternity in this part of the state. He soon demonstrated his ability to cope with the intricate problems that continually confront the physician in his efforts to restore health and pro- long life and the public trust is indicated by the liberal patronage accorded him. He has for three terms been secretary of the Watseka board of health. filling the position at the present time. and that he is accorded prominence by the med- ical fraternity is indicated by the fact that he has been chosen and is now secretary of the Iroquois County Medical Society. He is a member of the Illinois State Medical Society and holds member- ship relations with the Iroquois Club and with different fraternal organizations.
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