USA > Illinois > Marshall County > Past and present of Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 56
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > Past and present of Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 56
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THOMAS PAXSON.
Thomas Paxson, elected three times to county offices on the democratic ticket in a strongly re- publican county, is now filling the office of treas- urer, and his elections have come as a testimonial of his personal popularity and the confidence re- posed in him by his fellow townsmen-a confi- dence that is well placed, as is shown by his fidelity and capability in office-qualities which have led to his re-election. Hennepin and Put- nam county number him as a representative citizen.
Mr. Paxson was born in Belmont county, Ohio,
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February 25, 1854. His father, Thomas Paxson, Sr., was born in Loudoun county, Virginia, De- cember 14, 1801, and in early life learned and followed the shoemaker's trade, while later he worked in a paper mill at Wheeling, West Vir- ginia. Subsequently he removed to Ohio, where he carried on farming until his death. He was married to Miss Sarah McCormick, who was born in Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, in 1814. He was born and reared in the Quaker church, but in later years belonged to no denom- ination. His wife, however, was a member of the Methodist church. She was his second wife, his first wife having been a Miss Morgan, of Cin- cinnati, Ohio. They had two children, both of whom died in infancy, and following the death of the mother, Thomas Paxson, Sr., wedded Miss McCormick, by whom he had ten children, four of whom are now living: William, who resides with his brother. Thomas; Amos, who is living near Magnolia, Putnam county; and Parven, a resident of Kansas.
Thomas Paxson of this review lived with his parents through the period of his minority, spend- ing his youth on the home farm and acquiring a common-school education. When twenty-five years of age he left his parents' home and came to Illinois, working by the month as a farm hand in Marshall county. He later removed to Mag- nolia, Putnam county, and secured a clerkship in a store, where he was employed for about one year, and then resumed farming. While thus engaged he was elected to the office of sheriff of the county, and entered upon the duties of the position December 1, 1890. He served for four years and then conducted a hotel in Hennepin until 1898, when he was again elected county sheriff. Four years later he was chosen by pop- ular suffrage to the position of county treasurer. It is a law that no man shall serve for two consecutive terms in the office of either treasurer or sheriff, and thus Mr. Paxson could not be nom- inated without a lapse of time, but in 1906 he was nominated for the third term for sheriff, and his popularity and ability as an officer leave little doubt as to the outcome of the election. He was reared in the faith of the democracy, and his mature judgment has sanctioned its policy and platform, and his elections therefore are all the greater compliment from the fact that Putnam is regarded as a republican county. He has also
served as township clerk of Magnolia township, filling the office for two years before elected sheriff the first time. 'He was collector of Hen- nepin township for three years while in the sher- iff's office and one year in the hotel. Later he served for four years, so that his incumbency in that position covered altogether eight years. No official is free from mistakes, but any that Mr. Paxson may have made have been errors of judg- ment rather than an indication of incapability or infidelity. On the contrary, people of the op- position party endorse his work and give him support at the ballot box, and his official record is altogether creditable.
Mr. Paxson was married in 1884 to Miss Alice Horton, a native of Magnolia and a daughter of N. C. Horton, an early settler of Putnam county. Mr. and Mrs. Paxson now have five children : Edwin G., Sallie; Thomas, Milton and Florence, all yet at home, the eldest being in his twenty- first year. Mr. Paxson is a valued member of the Woodmen, Masonic and Odd Fellows lodges, and he has in the county a wide acquaintance and qualities which render him very popular in po- litical circles and private life. He regards a public office as a public trust-and no trust reposed in him was ever betrayed in the slightest degree.
WILLIAM M. LAUGHLIN.
William M. Laughlin, justice of the peace at Granville and one of the respected and leading citizens of the village, has been closely identified with its material progress and its community in- terests. He was born in Bond county, Illinois, July 29, 1826, and is a representative of one of the early families of the new world. During a pioneer epoch in the history of the United States three brothers of the name came from Scotland and two of them settled in Pennsylvania, while one took up his abode in South Carolina.
A grandson of the latter was S. D. Laughlin, father of our subject. He was born in South Carolina and was married in Ohio, after which he came to Illinois, settling in Bond county in the early '20s. His wife bore the maiden name of Rebecca Dunlavy and was a native of the Buck- eye state. After living for some years in Bond county the parents came to Putnam county in 1830 and remained in the log cabin of Nelson
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Shepherd, south of Florid, until they could build a cabin on their own land. Mr. Laughlin pre- empted between three and four hundred acres of land, which he secured from the government, but it was not in the market until 1835. When it came into his possession not a furrow had been turned or an improvement made upon the place, the entire tract being just as it was when it came from the hand of nature. He cut the trees, liewed the timber and sawed the lumber in a steam sawmill at Florid, after which he built a frame house. He performed much of the ardu- ous labor incident to the development and im- provement of a new farm, and as the years passed by, carefully conducted his business inter- ests up to the time of his deatlı, which was oc- casioned by pneumonia when he was fifty-two years of age. His wife died when about fifty years of age. In their family were eight chil- dren, four sons and four daughters, and the daughters are now deceased. A brother of our subject, James G. Laughlin, is living in Prince- ton, Illinois. The eldest brother died in Kansas, while the youngest brother, Addison Laughlin, is now living in Kewanee, Wisconsin.
William M. Laughlin was only four years of age when brought by his parents to Putnam county, and he began work in the fields when he was so young that he was only able to do one-half of the amount of the men employed. In early days he would frequently make trips to Chicago with wheat, doing this about twice each fall, for the winter wheat was sown and much of the farm. work for the year was done. A team of horses would be hitelied to the wagon and in that he would convey the wheat to market, it usually re- quiring about ten days to make the trip. His father owned five head of horses, which he brought with him from Bond county, but there were no fences and all of the horses strayed away with the exception of one, which, however, was gone for some time. Thus amid pioneer conditions and environments the days of his boyhood and youth were passed by Mr. Lauglilin, who con- tinued to make his home upon the old farm until his parents died.
The following year he was married to Miss Elizabeth J. Thatcher, who was born in Vermont, October 25, 1830, a daughter of Benjamin Thatcher, who settled in this county in 1845 near Union Grove church. For a year after their mar-
riage they lived upon the old homestead and Mr. Laughlin then purchased an improved farm of eighty acres, where he lived three years. He afterward developed and improved a farm south of Granville, and he continued to engage actively in agricultural pursuits until after the outbreak of the Civil war. In 1864, prompted by a spirit of patriotism, he offered his services to the gov- ernment and joined Company B, One Hundred and Thirty-ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, un- der Captain Jefferson Durley. He was in one hundred days' service and went as far south as Cairo, Illinois, being mustered out after five months. In order to go to the war he left his home and wife with four small children, the oldest not over ten years of age. Though his service was comparatively short, yet he did not know where he would be sent or what he would en- counter before he returned home, and it certainly required a great personal sacrifice on his part to leave his wife with the care of their little ones when fate held for him nothing but uncertainty.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Laughlin were born six chil- dren, of whom five are yet living: Ella C., now the wife of Robert M. Pritchett, a druggist living at Dana, Illinois; Mrs. C. C. Watts, of Rutland, , Illinois; Hattie, the wife of Allen Ramsey, who is living at Wheaton, Minnesota; Cassius, who died at the age of a year and a half; Maggie A., the wife of William A. Lake, a resident of La Salle county ; and Bessie, the wife of H. E. Raley, sheriff of Putnam county.
After the war Mr. Laughlin removed to Gran- ville, where he engaged in carpenter work until a few years ago, and many buildings in the town and vicinity were partly erected by him. He has lived a life of industry, working resolutely to pro- vide for his family, and a fair measure of suc- cess has been accorded him. In 1905 he was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 15th of May of that year. After her death he no longer cared to live in the old home and sold that property, since which time he has erected a new cottage in the east part of the town. He has served as justice of the peace for thirty years, but has held no other public office. In the justice court, however, he has proved a most capable official, and his decisions have been strictly fair and impartial, so that he has "won golden opinions from all sorts of people." When a young boy he united with the Presbyterian church and
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has always led an earnest Christian life. In 1848 he voted for Martin Van Buren, candidate for president on the free soil ticket, and since the organization of the republican party has been one of its stalwart champions.
Probably no resident of the county has resided so long within its borders, and the years of his continuous connection with this part of the state well entitle Mr. Laughlin to prominent mention in this work. He has a most retentive memory, and is considered authority on all matters relating to the early history of the community. He recalls many interesting incidents, in some of which he was an active participant. He remembers well the controversy and division in the Union Grove Presbyterian church, the Ramsey hanging and the attempt to return a runaway negro by the name of Frank. All of these were important events in the early days. His memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and the pro- gressive present, and to present in detail his ex- periences in this county would be to give a cor- rect picture of pioneer life and later progress here. Long since has the stage coach and the "prairie schooner" given way before the railroad train, the log cabin has been replaced by the commodious and substantial frame, brick or stone dwelling, crude farm machinery has been sup- planted by the reaper, the mower, the harvester and the thresher, and today there is little evidence to show that hardly more than a half century ago the county was still but very sparsely settled and the work' of improvement had scarcely begun.
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GEORGE A. McCORMICK, M. D.
Dr. George A. McCormick, the only physician of Hennepin and proprietor of a drug store there, is one of the best known and most popular resi- dents of Putnam county, and although other phy- sicians have located in Hennepin they find that Dr. McCormick is so strongly entrenched in the affections and confidence of the public at large that they must, of necessity, seek locations else- where. For forty years he has made his home in this county, and with the exception of the first year has continuously resided in the town.
A native of Knox county, Indiana, he was born October 28, 1846, and is a son of Robinson and Sarah B. (Smith) McCormick, both of whom were natives of Virginia, the former born in 1804 and the latter in 1812. When a young man Rob-
inson McCormick became a resident of Indiana, where he followed farming and stock-raising, pur- chasing and owning a tract of land, which he op- erated until his death. He attempted to join the Twenty-seventh Indiana Volunteer Infantry, but was rejected. Later he got an appointment as wagonmaker with the same regiment, and in February, 1862, contracted a cold, which resulted in his death soon afterward. He was married twice, the mother of our subject being his second wife. He had seven children by his first wife and five by the second wife, who died during his ab- sence in the army in 1861. Both were members of the Cumberland Presbyterian church and Mr. McCormick gave his early political support to the whig party, while on its dissolution he joined the ranks of the new republican party. Of the twelve children only two are living, the sister being Mrs. Steele, of Eleanor, Indiana.
Dr. McCormick was a youth of fifteen when his mother died, and the year following, his father's death occurred. He had been reared to farm work and was familiar with no other line of activity, so about the close of the war he rented land and engaged in farming on his own account, but the inflated prices brought about by the war had col- lapsed and farm products brought little money. At the end of a year he had barely enough to pay his debts, and he resolved to seek his fortune else- where. Accordingly he came to Hennepin in Sep- tember, 1866, and for a year worked on a farm, after which he found employment in a drug store in Hennepin. He served an apprenticeship, learned the business and in 1876 became pro- prietor of a drug store, which he has since con- ducted. He also owns an interest in a store in Granville, Putnam county. After three years in Bennett Medical College, of Chicago, he was graduated therefrom in 1883 and has since been practicing in Hennepin, where he has a good busi- ness. His skill and ability are widely acknowl- edged and have been demonstrated in the manner in which he has handled intricate cases with good results.
Dr. McCormick has been married twice. In 1871 he wedded Angenetta Simpson, who died in 1876, leaving three small children, two of whom are now living-Mrs. Ida B. Shepherd and Mrs. Ira Windersheidt, both living in Hennepin. In 1877 Dr. McCormick was married to Miss Mary Fitzpatrick, a native of Hennepin, and they have
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one son, George A., who is a graduate of the Chi- cago College of Pharmacy and works in his father's store.
Dr. McCormick has always given his political support to the republican party, and for years has filled the office of village trustee. Community af- fairs are of deep interest to him and his co-opera- tion can always be counted upon to further move- ments for the general good. He is an Odd Fel- low, a Mystic Worker and Woodman and exem- plifies in his life the beneficent spirit of these organizations. He has a nice home in Hennepin, together with a good business block, and has become well-to-do through the conduct of his commercial and professional interests. He is pop- ular with a large circle of friends, being a man of genial disposition and kindly spirit, so that wher- ever he is known he wins friends.
Z. E. PERRY.
For over seventy years the name of Perry has been prominently identified with the upbuilding and development of Marshall county, for as early as 1834 Elijah L. Perry, father of our subject, became a resident of this county and took an ac- tive part in reclaiming the land for the purpose of civilization. He was born in Kentucky in 1820 and on coming to this state located in Bell Plain township, Marshall county, where he fol- lowed farming throughout the remainder of his life, dying here in August, 1870. He was an active and consistent member of the Christian church and was a stanch supporter of the demo- cratic party. On the 29th of October, 1847, he married Miss Nancy A. Hatton, who was born in Virginia on the 17th of September, 1825, and is still living, making her home with her children. She, too, is an earnest member of the Christian church and is a lady highly esteemed by all who know her. She was five years of age when she accompanied her father, Forsythe Hatton, on his removal from Rockbridge county, Virginia, to Ohio, and in that state she began her education, pursuing her studies in a little old log schoolhouse near her childhood home. This was a primitive structure, one log being left out for a window and the aperture covered with greased paper. The seats were made of split logs with pegs driven in them for legs and the building was heated with a huge fireplace. At the age of nine years
she accompanied her parents on the removal to Illinois. Eleven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Perry, namely : Malinda, W. J., Sophia, Anna, Z. E., Nettie, Forsythe, Maggie, E. F., -A. E., and Cora.
Z. E. Perry was born in Bell Plain township, Marshall county, on the 18th of September, 1855, and was reared and educated in much the usual manner of farmer boys. He and his brother A. E. still live on the old home farm. with their mother, which has been their place of residence. for twenty-seven years. The mother was left a widow at an early age and had a large family to rear, but the sons have been of great assistance to her in the care of the farm and the manage- ment of her business affairs. They today own and operate a fine farm of three hundred acres, seventy acres of which is covered with timber, while the remainder is under a high state of cul- tivation and supplied with a good set of farm buildings for the shelter of grain and stock. All of the family are members of the Christian church and they occupy an enviable position in the esteem of the community. The sons support the democratic party by their ballots and F. E. and Z. E. have served on the school board. Fra- ternally they are members of the Modern Wood- men of America.
E. J. TOWNLEY.
In retrospect E. J. Townley can see Putnam county when it was but sparsely settled, when its homes were mostly log cabins and when only here and there had a farm been made, showing that the work of development had been begun in this re- gion. He is now one of the oldest citizens of Senachwine township, not only in years, but also in the length of his residence in this locality. He was born in Essex county, New Jersey, February 21, 1828, and his father, Clark Townley, was born in the same county, March 1, 1797. He married Rachel Gildersleeve, who was born in the village of Jefferson, New Jersey, on the 11th of June, 1803, and their children were six in number, four of whom died in New Jersey. The other two, E. J. and George W. Townley, the latter now a resident of Nebraska, came with their parents to Illinois in 1854, and the winter was spent at the home of Elder Gill, at Toulon, Stark county, Illi- nois. In March, 1855, they located on the farm upon which the subject of this review now resides.
T
MR. AND MRS. E. L. PERRY.
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PAST AND PRESENT OF MARSHALL AND PUTNAM COUNTIES.
The father was a shoemaker by trade and the fam- ily were poor, but they managed to purchase forty acres of land. There was a little cabin on the place, but it had no chimney, and a stovepipe was put through a hole in the roof. About ten acres of the land had been broken and fenced, and the father and sons took up the work of further de- veloping and cultivating the farm. There they lived for fifteen years and then the mother died, passing away February 8, 1869. The father after- ward removed to the village of Henry, Marshall county, where he passed away October 19, 1884, at the venerable age of eighty-seven years.
E. J. Townley was a young man of twenty-six years at the time of the removal of the family to Illinois, and he assisted in the work of the home farm, and when the father removed to Henry he and his brother took charge of the farm, which they operated together for many years. Later, however, the brother sold out and went to Ne- braska, while Mr. Townley has continued his farm- ing operations in this county, and although he is not now actively engaged in the work of the fields, he still owns valuable farming land in Putnam county.
He was married in 1857 to Miss Julia Baur, who was born in Wall street, New York, August 7, 1829. For some time she has been in poor health. Two sons and a daughter were born unto them, all yet living: John C., who is married and has a family, lives in Texas; Rachel is at home; and Arthur is in Texas.
Mr. Townley remembers well the trials and hardships of pioneer life in Putnam county, when all labor was performed by hand and when the farmer worked hard and long to till his fields and harvest his crops. His day's labor extended from sunrise to sunset, and even after that the chores had to be done. Although he has been successful in business he has always regretted that he had no better educational privileges in youth. He attend- ed only the subscription schools, and because his father had little money his school opportunities were very limited. He has, however, practical common sense, the lack of which has caused many a man to fail in business, while Mr. Townley has prospered, becoming the owner of over seven hun- dred acres of valuable land in Senachwine town- ship. He now rents his land, so that he is prac- tically living retired-and his rest is well earned. In politics he has been a republican since the or-
ganization of the party, but has never wanted or held office. About a year ago he united with the Christian church. Earnest, unremitting toil was for many years his portion, and he certainly merits the rest which has come to him in the evening of life.
C. W. DYSART.'
C. W. Dysart, a prosperous farmer of Granville township, was born January 22, 1847, on the farm which is yet his home. His parents were A. P. and Hannah J. (Hawthorne) Dysart. The father was born in Pennsylvania in September, 1808, and the mother's birth occurred in Ohio. The Dysart family is of Scotch descent, and early rec- ords give an account of the emigration to America of the first representatives of the name in the new world about 1684.
In 1838 A. P. Dysart, coming by way of the lakes, arrived at Chicago, where he purchased a horse and saddle and thence journeyed to Peru, Il- linois. There his horse and saddle were stolen from him and he walked the remaining distance to Gran- ville. He purchased fifty acres of land just south of the village, after which he went to Hennepin and then down the Illinois and Mississippi rivers and up the Ohio river to Pittsburg, whence he journeyed to his old home in Pennsylvania. He afterward made the trip across the country with teams to Illinois, driving four horses to a wagon and carrying with him tools and other effects. He then began farming on his own land and per- formed the arduous task of developing new fields. In those days it was customary to ride the near horse of the rear team and to drive all with a single line, and it was in this way that Mr. Dysart traveled across the country to his new home. The land which he purchased had been partially broken but there were no buildings upon it. He erected a log house and barn and made a home there until 1845, when he sold the property and purchased eighty acres on section 15, Granville township- the farm now occupied by his son, C. W. Dysart. Upon this place the father continued to reside until 1874, when he removed to Virginia, where his death occurred. His first wife died in 1854, at the age of twenty-nine years, and he afterward wedded Miss Hannah Orr, a native of Ireland, who died in Kansas about six years ago. A. P. Dysart had only a common-school education, but was a great reader, a ready accountant and a well
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informed man on events of local and national importance. In his religious belief he was a Pres- byterian. His political support was given to the whig party and later he became a republican. He took a prominent part in the affairs of the town- ship and county and served as highway commis- sioner for twenty years.
In the family were ten children, of whom nine are now living: Margaret, the wife of A. E. Baird, a resident of Missouri; Susan, the wife of B. W. Cook, who is living in California; C. W., of this review; Hannah, the wife of J. H. Salisbury, of Tonica, Illinois; and Jennie, the wife of John Hawthorne, of Kansas. The above were all born of the father's first marriage. The children of the second marriage were Belle, the wife of James Elkins, of Kansas; Jessie, who died at the age of twenty-two years; Helen, the wife of John Croxen, of Arkansas; Amanda, the wife of William Jones, a minister of the Presbyterian church in Cali- fornia; and Olive, the wife of J. C. Jones, of Kansas.
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