USA > Illinois > Marshall County > Past and present of Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 61
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > Past and present of Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 61
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In 1855, before leaving the fatherland, Mr. Etscheid was married to Miss Helen Katrine Cof- fee, who proved to him a faithful companion and helpmate on life's journey for about eleven years, but who died July 3, 1866, soon after they located on their own farm. He afterward wedded Mary Appel, who is still living with her son Peter on the old homestead. By his first marriage there were two children: Margaret, who was born in 1864, became the wife of Valentine Bogner and lived upon a farm in Whitefield township, Mar- shall county, up to the time of her death, which occurred in December, 1903. She left five chil-
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dren. The other member of the family was Pe- to Missouri, where he followed farming for two ter Etscheid, who is still living upon the old homestead and of whom further mention will be made later.
The father was always a most industrious work- er and thus he advanced from a humble position to one of wealth and affluence. A few years prior to his demise he removed to Henry, Illinois, where he died on the 19th of October, 1900. He had been in failing health for about a year, but was thought to be improving, and his death came as a great surprise to all, and was the occasion of widespread regret, for he had many friends in this part of the state. His remains were laid to rest in the family cemetery in Hennepin. He was a man of rather retiring disposition, entirely free from ostentation or display. He was, how- ever, always courteous and was respected and liked by all who know him. He was a lifelong communicant of the Catholic church and he gave his political allegiance to the democratic party. For nineteen years he filled the office of road commissioner and held other local positions, al- though he was not a politician in the sense of office seeking. The offices came to him unsought, but when his fellow townsmen thus manifested their desire that he should serve them in some public position he always discharged his duties with promptness and fidelitv. At the time of his death his estate consisted of seven hundred and eight acres of good land and his residence in Henry, all of which was a monument to his life of industry and thrift. He certainly deserves great credit for what he accomplished, for he came to America empty handed, possessing only strong determination and enterprise to aid him in his struggle to secure a good home and com. fortable living for his family. In this country, where labor is unhampered by caste or class, he succeeded beyond his expectations and his life record should serve as a source of inspiration and encouragement to others, showing what may be accomplished.
Peter Etscheid, the surviving son of the fam- ily, was born February 14, 1866, and still occu- pies the old homestead. He was reared upon the farm and was educated in the country schools and in Hennepin. At the age of twenty years he engaged in farming on his own account near Hennepin, where he lived for about three years. On the expiration of that period he went
years, after which he returned to Putnam county and located on the old homestead farm, where he has since resided. After his father's death he came into possession of this property and has since carried on the work of improvement and de- velopment instituted by Joseph Etscheid.
On the 14th of February, 1899, was celebrated the marriage of Peter Etscheid and Miss Lizzie Colby, who was born in Putnam county, Illinois, August 22, 1877, a daughter of August and Min- nie Colby. She died of typhoid fever in Decem- ber, 1904. One child had passed away prior to the mother's death and a son, Joseph, aged five years, and Frank, who is a son by a former mar- riage, survive and are at home with their father.
Peter Etscheid is one of the prosperous young farmers of the county and in addition to carry- ing on the work of tilling the soil he deals ex- tensively in cattle, buying and shipping through- out the year. He is a member of the Catholic church of Hennepin and he gives his political alle- giance to the democracy. For nine years he has served as road commissioner and is the present incumbent in that office. He has also acted as school director and school treasurer for several years and he manifests a public-spirited interest in everything pertaining to the welfare and im- provement of the county. Like his father, he is regarded as one of the leading agriculturists of the community and has made a creditable record in the management of his farming interests.
TIMOTHY WOOD.
Timothy Wood, who died on his farm on section 32, Senachwine township, December 20, 1905, was one of the old and honored pioneer residents of Putnam county and prospered in his undertakings as the years went by. He was largely engaged in trapping, hunting and fishing in an early day and found therein a profitable source of income which enabled him to make judicious investments in property, so that he left an estate of about eleven forty-acre tracts of land, much of it lying in the districts surrounding Lake Senachwine.
His life history began September 22, 1817, in the town of Ellisburg, Jefferson county, New York, he being the second son of James and Barbara Wood, whose family numbered thirteen children, six of whom are yet living. His father having
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TIMOTHY WOOD.
MRS. TIMOTHY WOOD.
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given him his time, he started out in life on his to Pistakee lake by wagon and spent the night in own account at an early age and entered the em- ploy of John Fish, his duty being to hoe, to ride the horse used in plowing the corn and to do chores and other work on the farm, receiving in compensation for his services a wage of six dol- lars per month. In the fall he took his wages in sheep at one dollar per head for the old ones and seventy-five cents for the lambs. In early manhood he also spent considerable time in hunt- ing, as had his father before him, for New York was then a comparatively new state and there was considerable game, there. He had often gone on trips with his father to his traps and to shoot ducks, and after leaving the employ of Mr. Fish Timothy Wood began trapping in the fall and winter for himself.
The following spring, on the General Houston, he secured a position as cook at a salary of four- teen dollars per month and late in the summer he bought a little vessel or sloop called the Dolphin and carried on the business of buying and selling fruit. Subsequently he sailed for six or seven years on different vessels and about the expiration of that period, in connection with his brother, Epenateus Wood, he bought the schooner, H. Emery, of Sandy Creek, New York. They did a general traffic with that boat, but sold it in the succeeding fall and Timothy Wood then went on the Troy and Erie canal for one season as bows- man at fifteen dollars per month. Later he spent considerable time at Ellieburg, his old home.
While there Mr. Wood was married to Fannie Garrett, January 19, 1839, and for four years they resided on a farm which they purchased in Jefferson county. There the wife died July 17, 1843, and their two children, a son and daughter, . both died in early youth.
Mr. Wood then sold his farm to his father and on the 10th of September, 1843, started from Oswego, New York, on a propeller around the Great Lakes arriving at Chicago about September 25, 1843, covering the entire distance-over four- teen hundred miles-by water. The present me- tropolis was then a small hamlet with a few log houses and an old fort, and there was a corduroy bridge over the Chicago river. The succeeding morning he arranged to ride with a teamster to Belvidere on the Kiswaukee river and on reaching his destination he began trapping, in which he did well. Later he and his cousin, John Bruce, went
an incompleted log cabin. About two inches of snow fell that night and in the morning Mr. Wood told his companion that if he would get breakfast he (Wood) would look around to see if he could find some deer tracks. He soon discovered a couple and, following them up, at length shot and killed the deer. The shot startled another lying near by and Mr. Wood also killed that. After about a month his companion, Mr. Bruce, returned to Belvidere but Mr. Wood remained, trapping and hunting in that district, taking his furs to Chi- cago to sell. He made four or five trips with furs and deer skins and after having met a fair meas- ure of success in this he started on a return trip to his old home in New York, April 15, 1844, again making the journey by water. In the suc- ceeding fall he and an old friend and partner, Nelson Gilbert, fitted out for another trip to the west, starting on the 1st of September, 1844. It was a rough passage but at length they landed at Little Fort about the last of September, after which they hired a team to take them and their boats and outfit to Fox river in Lake county, Illi- nois. They encamped between Pistakee lake and Big Rice lake and hunted and trapped through- out this lake region, and they spent the winter on the claim of the Powell brothers, and in Janu- ary Mr. Wood and his partner took their furs to Chicago. They again returned by water to New York, where Mr. Wood spent the summer and once more in the fall started for Illinois, reaching Chicago September 10, 1845.
As time passed and the country became settled the greater part of the land was being taken up for homesteads and the timber was being cleared off. He continued the work of trapping and hunting, building a cabin on the banks of Fox river, and again he succeeded in getting a large number of furs, although at different times his traps were stolen by Indians, who were numerous around the lakes. He also carried his effects into the southern part of Wisconsin, which at that time was not very largely inhabited by the white peo- ple. He trapped and bought fur from the In- dians, remaining in that locality until the spring, when he again sold his furs in Chicago and once more started for New York.
After remaining a part of the summer in his old home Mr. Wood met and married Lois A. Blan- chard, the eldest daughter of Salma and Belinda
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Blanchard, of Vermont, who had removed to New York at an early day. Mr. Wood had been acquainted with his wife from her early girlhood. Eight children were born of this marriage: Mrs. Emily Horner, who is now a widow and resides in Henry, Illinois; James T., who died when four years old; Alice, who became the wife of Emory Smith, who resided near Henry, while her death occurred in 1905; Frank, who is proprietor of a club house on the lake and owns a third interest in the Wood cstate; Bert, who died at the age of three years: Timothy, who is living in Oklahoma, where he owns a large farm; Clara, who died at the age of twenty months; and Charles, who is now living on the old family homestead, and owns a one-third interest in the Wood estate.
After his second marriage Mr. Wood started with his bride for the west on the 2d of Septem- ber, 1848, on the propeller New York. On the way the vessel stopped at Freeport, Ohio, where Mr. Wood purchased twelve barrels of apples at sev- enty-five cents per barrel, which he sold in Mil- waukee for three dollars per barrel. They landed at Little Fort, September 25, 1848, and they made their way to the home of Ting Potters, a a friend of Mrs. Wood. Having his wife here, Mr. Wood made a permanent settlement in Illi- nois, locating in the lake region. There were many geese and wild ducks around the lake. In fact they made so much noise that Mr. Wood and his wife could hardly sleep. After living in thic lake country for two years, during which time he was engaged in hunting and trapping, they removed to a place on the Fox river and again engaged in trapping and buying furs. The quan- tity of game to be had at that time is indicated by the fact that during the winter and spring he. caught two thousand nine hundred and ninety-six muskrats and three hundred minks and coons, also buying a good many, and once more he sold bis furs in the spring. For some time lic con- tinued the work of hunting and trapping in the winter time and in the spring and sununer hunted ducks, geese, prairie chickens and quails, which were sent to the Chicago market. As the supply of game became somewhat exhausted in one lo- cality he would remove to another and for about four years he lived in Aurora. On the expira- tion of that period he bought a house and seventy acres of land at Plano, Illinois, where he resided for two years and during that period Mr. Wood
came south into Putnam county, where he arrived in October, 1852. There was still plenty of game in this locality. Hardly had be arrived before Mr. Wood sighted a deer which he killed. He and his companion hunted and trapped, selling their game to the steamboats which were then com- ing down the river. In the winter he returned to Plano, where again he shot game which he shipped by stage to Chicago. In the fall of 1853, however, he again came south to Putnam county with his brother-in-law, Thomas Blanchard, and a Mr. Beecher, and the winter was spent in trap- ping and hunting, again selling their game to the steamboats. The next day after their arrival Mr. Wood and his brother-in-law concluded to visit the lakes on the west side of the river and rowed down the stream to Senachwine creek and up the creek, coming to Swan lake and to Mud lake. In this part of the county they found ample oppor- tunity to carry on business and thus the summer and winter passed. In the succeeding spring, sell- ing his farm at Plano, Mr. Wood moved his fam- ily to Putnam county. The railroad had just been completed to Peoria and they traveled by train to Henry, which at that time contained only a few houses, a hotel and several stores. He was now at home among the deer and wild turkeys and furs were also to be had in abundance, so that he did well in hunting and trapping until the river and lakes froze over. He was then induced by Mr. Sparling, also a pioncer resident, to join him in fishing business, and he and his family, in the fall of 1857, took possession of a little cabin on the bluff overlooking what is now the pleasure resort called Walnut Grove. Mr. Wood took charge of the fishing business for Mr. Spar- ling and at the same time improved the advan- tageous opportunities for buying up land around the lakes. After living on Mr. Sparling's place for four years he bought a farm about mile south, on which he built a house and barn, the family taking up their abode there in the fall of 1861, although he continued with Mr. Sparling in the fishing busi- ness for about thirty years. From time to time he purchased more land in the vicinity of Senaeh- wine and adjacent lakes, owning in addition to his homestead about six hundred and forty acres. About this time the dam was put in at Henry by the government, which raised the water and flooded six hundred and forty acres of land be- longing to Mr. Wood and also other land around
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the lakes. A law suit was instituted with the result that the government sent two members of the house and three from the senate to investigate the amount of damage done and appraised Mr. Wood's damage at six thousand six hundred and seventy dollars, but the lawyer who had the mat- ter in charge died about that time and the one who then took up the claim compromised for eight hundred and eighty dollars. Mr. Wood, however, continued owner of all of his land and carried on his hunting and trapping. In time this region, rich with game, began to attract sportsmen to it and in July, 1885, two gentlemen of Chicago negotiated with Mr. Wood for a site to build a club house and boat house for a shoot- ing club known as the Swan Lake Club. Mr. Wood leased them one hundred and twenty-five feet back from the face of the bluff and between two roads, also a place for boat and ice houses. From this there has been derived a good income continuously since. Mr. Wood was paid two shares in the club and was to have all the hay, pasture, fur-bearing animals and fishing over all the lands owned, leased or controlled by the club for the term of ninety-nine years. In addition to this property Mr. Wood continued owner of four hun- dred and forty-five acres of land which he leased for fishing purposes, receiving therefrom three hundred dollars per year. He still continuel to buy fur and had men trapping for him, and in the winter of 1896 he handled about ten thousand furs. No man has been more closely connected with the business of trapping and hunting in Illinois than Mr. Wood, who continued therein throughout his life. He started out for himself when but a mere boy, taking up his first small wages in sheep and letting them out to double in four years, showing business qualities which have constantly been developed, bringing him a meas- ure of success until he became owner or was in- terested in nearly six thousand acres of fishing and hunting property. At the time of his de- mise he owned eleven tracts of land of five thou- sand acres surrounding Lake Senachwine and this brought to him and still yields to his family a splendid income. No man was more closely associated with Illinois in pioneer times than Timothy Wood, who has hunted and trapped all over the central and northern sections of the state in its lake regions when scarcely a cabin had been built in the distriet and when the Indians
were still numerous. As the larger game was no longer found in the district he concentrated his attention upon hunting and trapping those animals which are valuable on account of the fur and later he found great profit in leasing his land for hunting and fishing purposes to those who delight in those sports.
Charles A. Wood, now residing upon the old homestead, was here born November 5, 1857. He pursued his education in the district schools and also in the German school at Henry and through- out his entire life has resided upon the home farm. On the 22d of December, 1894, Mr. Wood was married to Miss Mary M. Anderson, of Whitefield township, Marshall county, and they have five children.
Charles A. Wood is a most energetic, enter- prising farmer and he was appointed administra- tor of his father's estate. His father's land was leased to the Swan Lake Club for a period of years and beside the yearly rental the family have the use of about four thousand acres of land be- longing to the club. They use it for pasture and hay land and Charles A. Wood, in partnership with George E. Sparling, owns a ferry on the lake, connecting the island and land on the east side with the main land. From this he derives a goodly income. Like his father, he is a demo- crat in his political views and affiliation and has served as school director but has never aspired to other offices.
ROBERT MCDONOUGH.
Robert McDonough, deceased, who for many years devoted his life to general agricultural pur- suits, was a native of Washington county, Penn- . sylvania, born in 1832. His father, Henry Mc- Donough, was likewise born in Pennsylvania and was a Scotch lineage. The grandfather of our subject was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, valiantly aiding the colonists in their struggle for independence. Henry McDonough became a farmer by occupation and was a good- business man. His wife, Margaret, was also a native of Pennsylvania and they became the parents of nine children, of whom two sisters are now living in Iowa, but the others have passed away.
Robert McDonough acquired his education in the common schools of his native county, was reared to farm life and always carried on general agricultural pursuits. Leaving the east in 1856,
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when a young man of twenty-four years, he locat- ed in Saratoga township, Marshall county, and became a prosperous farmer. As the years passed he added to his possessions, and at his death left two valuable quarter sections of land in Saratoga township. He had retired from the active work of the farm in 1878 and had removed to Henry, where he lived until his death, which occurred on the 4th of June, 1906. He was then seventy-four years of age and his had been an honorable and active career, in which prosperity had been gained through diligence, perseverance and business in- tegrity. He was very conscientious in all his dealings and was never known to take advantage of the necessities of his fellowmen in any trade transaction.
In 1859 Mr. McDonough was married to Miss Mary D. Jones, who was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1842, a daughter of William and Margaret Jones, who came to Illi- nois and located in Saratoga township, Marshall county, in 1854. They were valuable pioneer residents of that locality and there they reared their family of three children: Emma J., who became the wife of David McDonough, and after his death married Charles Beardsley; Mrs. Rob- ert McDonough; and James T., who is a ranch- man in Nebraska.
Unto our subject and his wife was born a daughter, Jennie, who died in 1881 in her nine- teenth year, her loss being the occasion of deep and widespread regret to her many friends as well as to her parents. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mc- Donough held membership in the Methodist Epis- copal church and were interested in its work and growth. In politics he was an unfaltering republican and he held several township offices, . while in Henry he served as a member of the city council. His interest in public affairs was often manifest in tangible ways and his influence in be- half of general improvement was far-reaching and beneficial. He stood very high in the esteem of his neighbors and friends, and left behind him an untarnished name.
JACOB SUCHER.
Nature seems to have intended that man should enjoy a period of rest in the evening of life. In early years he possesses strong hope, laudable am- bition and almost limitless energy. In later years his labors are guided with the strength that
comes through experience and superior judgment, and if he follows a course which the world recog- nizes as leading to honorable success he can achieve a measure of prosperity which will in his declining days permit him to put aside the ardu- ous cares and responsibilities of a business life. Such a course has Jacob Sucher followed and is now living retired in the village of Granville. His birth ocurred on the 6th of March, 1829, in the village of Lopsann, Alsace, France, now a part of Germany, and in 1845, when a youth of sixteen years, he came to America in company with his parents, George B. and Margaret (Knopf) Sucher, who already had two sons and a daughter in the new world. The former had located in Dupage county, Illinois, about eighteen miles from Chi- cago, and there the parents also settled, the father purchasing a farm on which he resided until his death.
In his native country Jacob Sucher had ac- quired a fair education, and in the new world he assisted his father in the operation of the home farm until about ten years prior to the father's death, when he took charge of the farm, continu- ing its operation until after the father's demise, when in 1855 he sold the property and removed to Putnam country, where his wife's parents were living. He had been married on the 15th of Sep- tember, 1850, to Miss Catherine Krebs, who at that time was visiting in Dupage county. She, too, was born in the fatherland, her parents being Jacob and Sophia (Bender) Krebs, who lived upon a farm near the Rhine, in Alsace, and who crossed the Atlantic in 1847, at which time they estab- lished their home upon a farm in Putnam county about a half mile southeast of Granville, on sec- tion 10, Granville township. There they re- mained for a long period, and when well advanced in years took up their abode in Tonica, where the father died August 26, 1875, the mother surviving him for six months. Their family numbered three daughters: Mrs. Sucher; Salome, the wife of Henry Kammermeyer, of Peru, Illinois; and Caroline, the widow of Fred Knopf, and a resi- dent of Pontiac, this state. On coming to the United States Mr. Krebs brought with him five thousand francs in his trunk in the hold of the vessel, and he paid for his land in five franc pieces, carrying the money in a sack on his back to the courthouse in Hennepin.
Removing to this county, Mr. Sucher purchased
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an eighty-acre farm and subsequently bought one hundred and sixty acres. His property lies in Granville township, where for more than two de- cades he actively and successfuly carried on general farming, but since 1878 he has lived retired, hav- ing purchased a house and seven acres of land in the village of Granville, while his sons carry on the work of the farm. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Sucher have been born seven children, of whom six are living: Mary, who is the widow of Fred Bender, a resident of Earlville, Illinois; Frederick W., who is upon the home farm; Jacob, who was for- merly a farmer in Granville township and after- ward lived in Peoria, Illinois, but is now located in California; Anna, the wife of William Hen- shaw, of Peru, Illinois; Lewis, who died in child- hood; George, who is assistant city attorney at Peoria, Illinois, and is a graduate of Knox college, at Galesburg, after which he taught for two years in Auburn, Illinois, before being admitted to the bar; and Caroline, who is the wife of Dr. Joyn- son and is living in Granville.
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