USA > Illinois > Piatt County > Past and present of Piatt County, Illinois : together with biographical sketches of many prominent and influential citizens > Part 39
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William Leach was reared in the state of his nativity, spending his boyhood days
under the parental roof, and in the public schools of the locality he acquired his educa- tion. After arriving at years of maturity he wedded Miss Mary Ann Bowen, who was born on the IIth of September, 1851. De- termining to seek a home in the Mississippi valley they started by wagon for Illinois, driving across the country with a four-horse team. They were eighteen days upon the road, and on reaching their, destination Mr. Leach was the possessor of seventy-five dol- lars in cash and a team of horses. He went first to Grundy county, Illinois, and became identified with agricultural interests and about twenty-six years ago removed to Piatt county and began farming in this lo- cality. He purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land a mile from Mansfield, and devoted his attention to the raising of grain and hogs. He annually harvested large crops and in addition he raised many head of hogs annually, his profits in one year on his hogs amounting to fourteen hun- dred dollars. This work has been the source of his prosperity. He has never en- gaged in speculation or placed his depen- dence upon a combination of fortunate cir- cumstances, but has worked diligently and persistently and has thus acquired a com- fortable competence. He is now the owner of two hundred and sixty acres of rich farming land in Webster county, Iowa, in addition to his house and lot in Mansfield.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Leach have been born the following children: Clement, born September 2, 1852; Martha, October 29, 1859: Mary M. B., October 12, 1857 ; Wil- liam, October 1, 1860; John M., November 27, 1863; George, October 3, 1866; and Rose, November II, 1871. Martha died at the age of seven years but the others are still living and all are ·married.
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Mr. Leach usually gives his support to the Republican candidates, but votes rather for the men than for the party. He keeps well informed on the issues and questions of the day and does what he believes is for the best interest of the country in the exer- cise of his right of franchise. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist church, and his connection there- with influences his life and his treatment of his fellow men. He has always, lived up- rightly and his many excellent traits of char- acter have gained for him the regard of those with whom he has been associated.
CARL O. GILLESPIE.
Carl O. Gillespie is one of the extensive landowners of Piatt county, his possessions aggregating seven hundred and twenty acres. He lives on section 36, Blue Ridge township, and is one of its native sons, his birth having occurred in this township in 1861. His parents were H. K. and Nancy Gillespie, who are mentioned elsewhere in this volume. The father was born in the year 1828, and died in June, 1901, while his wife, whose birth occurred in 1828, is still living, making her home in Farmer City, Illinois.
In the usual manner of farm lads Carl O. Gillespie spent the days of his boyhood and youth. He attended the public schools and assisted in the care and improvement of the home farm and in 1886 he began farming on his own account on the old home place, comprising four hundred acres. The practi- cal training which he had received in his youth now proved of marked value to him. He engaged in the raising of fine cattle and
hogs which he carries on extensively and finds a profitable source of income. He raises only good grades of farm stock and he now ships about three carloads of hogs annually. In all of his farm work he is pro- gressive and enterprising, and as the years have passed he has met with a high degree of prosperity. He still resides upon the old home place, to which he is continually add- ing improvements of an important character so that his farm is one of the best in this portion of the state. He owns altogether four hundred acres of rich land, two hundred and forty located at Bethel church and one hundred and sixty near the home place. His mother owns the home place.
In 1890 Mr. Gillespie was united in mar- riage to Miss Minnie Wisegarver, a daugh- ter of George W. and Mary Wisegarver, who are living in Farmer. City. Unto our subject and his wife have been born two children who are yet living and they have also lost two, their eldest, George L., having died in infancy, while Maurine, the third, died at the age of one year. The others are Evangeline, now ten years of age; and Mary Madge, a little maiden of six summers. The parents belong to the Methodist church and take an active interest in its work. In poli- tics Mr. Gillespie is a Republican, but the honors and emoluments of office have had no attraction for him as he has preferred to give his time and attention to his business interests. He has never followed any oc- cupation save that to which he was reared and has found it to be a profitable source of income. He belongs to that class of pro- gressive agriculturists of the west who have made the county to bloom and blossom as the rose, using the latest improved machin- ery, and all modern equipments that will facilitate his work. He has a good home
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and valuable farm and deserves much credit for what he has accomplished during his business career.
WILLIAM CLARK.
Nature seems to have intended that man should enjoy a season of rest in the evening of life. In youth one is full of energy, deter- mination and bright hope, and with more ma- ture years comes sound judgment, keen in- sight and practical experience so that labor is carefully directed and brings its just re- ward. If one has carefully husbanded his resources and made the most of his oppor- tunities he will through the years of youth. and mature manhood gain capital sufficient to enable him to put aside business cares, in his later life. This Mr. Clark has done and his rest is well deserved, for his has been an honorable career characterized by industry, enterprise and integrity. He is now living in the village of Bement and is one of its most respected and worthy citizens. -
spent six months in Lorain county as a farm land. At the expiration of that period, however, he continued his journey westward and soon arrived in Piatt county, Illinois, where he has since resided, spending the greater part of this time in the village of Be- ment. He has always engaged in agricul- tural pursuits and his first farming here was. done in Cerro Gordo township. There he rented a small tract of land which he culti- vated for several years. He afterward spent sometime in working on a number of farms in the county by the month, being thus em- ployed at the time of the outbreak of the Civil war.
After coming to the United States he had informed himself thoroughly concer11- ing conditions and political issues and he noted the growing dissatisfaction in the south. In 1862, prompted by patriotic loy- alty to the Union cause, he offeredl his ser- vices to the government, enlisting in Com- pany H, One Hundred and Seventh Illinois Infantry, with which he served until the close of hostilities. He was in some of the hard- fought battles of that long and sanguinary conflict and when the war was ended re- ceived an honorable discharge at Camp But- ler near Springfield, Illinois. He was always found at his post of duty, loyal to the na- tion's starry banner and the cause it repre- sented, and with a creditable military record he returned to his home.
Mr. Clark was born in Somersetshire, England, on the 12th of June, 1828. Com- ing to the United States in the year 1855, he determined to make the most of his oppor- tunities here and win success if it could be gained through honorable persistent effort. He had obtained his early education in the subscription schools in the place of his birth On again reaching Piatt county Mr. Clark spent a short time in the village of Bement, and afterward went to Monticello township, where he again took up the occupation of farming, which he followed through several years. He has been twice married and by his first wife had five children, of whom two are still living, the others having died in in- and until his immigration to America he had always been employed as a farm hand, but de- siring to see the new world and having heard nnich of its advantages for the young men of pluck and energy, he decided to leave Eng- land and established his home in the United States. Immediately after his arrival on the Atlantic coast he made his way to Ohio and fancy. Sherman is now a resident of Iowa.
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He married Lena Bauch, and they have five children. John, the second surviving son, is employed in St. Louis. For his second wife Mr. Clark chose Mrs. Eliza Gulliford, the widow of Thomas Gulliford. She was a native of England, and a daughter of Ed- win and Anna (Bacon) Knighton, both of whom were natives of England, where they spent their entire lives. Mrs. Clark came to the United States when twenty-one years of age. Her first husband, Thomas Gulliford, was also born in England, and came to America in the same vessel in which Mr. Clark crossed the Atlantic. He made his way to Piatt county and located in Cerro Gordo township, where he carried on general farm- ing and stock-raising. He also became an ex- tensive shipper of live stock to the city mar- kets, and a well-known business man of this at the age of forty-three years, leaving a widow and two children, the sons being Wal- ter E. and Herbert. The former, who is now a farmer of Cerro Gordo township, married Edith Peel and they have one child, Katie. Herbert, who is also an agriculturist of Cerro Gordo township, wedded Mabel High and they have a son, William.
After his second marriage Mr. Clark en- gaged in the operation of the farm owned by his wife until his health failed, and dur- ing the last few years he has been leading a quiet life at his pleasant home in the vil- lage of Bement. He draws a pension in recognition of his services during the Civil war, and he is a member of the Grand Army Post at Bement. In politics he has always been a Republican, and in matters of citi- zenship he is as true and loyal to his coun- try as when he wore his blue uniform, and followed her banners upon the battlefields of the south.
ISAAC SHIVELY.
Among the prominent and successful agriculturists of Piatt county none are more deserving of mention in this volume than the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch. He was born in Montgomery coun- ty, Ohio, February 8, 1837, and there spent the first fourteen years of his life, at the end of which time he removed to Wabash coun- ty, Indiana, with his parents, Christian and Barbara (Ulery) Shively, the family loca- ting near North Manchester. His parents were also natives of Montgomery county, Ohio, and the father was a farmer by occu- pation. He assisted materially in the early development and upbuilding of Wabash county, Indiana, and spent the greater part of his life in that state, but died at the home locality. · He died in Cerro Gordo township . of our subject on section 24, Cerro Gordo
township, Piatt county, Illinois, when over . eighty-eight years of age. His wife had passed away on the old home farm near North Manchester, Indiana. In their family were eight children: Jacob died in infancy ; Esther is'the wife of John Miller, of North Manchester, Wabash county, Indiana; Sam- uel died at the age of thirty years; Isaac is next in order of birth ; Christian is a resident of Lincoln, Nebraska; Elizabeth married Samuel Blickenstaff and died in Wabash county, Indiana, leaving a family ; John H. lives in North Manchester, Indiana; and Barbara died at the age of sixteen years.
Isaac Shively received but a limited edu- cation in the common schools of Ohio as his time was almost wholly occupied by the work of the farm. At the age of twenty-two he started out in life for himself as a farmer, near North Manchester, Wabash county, Indiana, and remained there until after his marriage. He wedded Miss Margaret
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Blickenstaff, a daughter of Samuel and Mary (Gumph) Blickenstaff, and in 1871, accompanied by his wife and three children, he came to Piatt county, Illinois. He pur- chased the north half of section 24, Cerro Gordo township, some of which was under cultivation, but there were many ponds and much of the land unbroken, but he has since ditched and drained it and made many other improvements to the value of thousands of dollars. In addition to the original pur- chase he now owns one hundred and twenty acres more, which is well drained. For his first eighty acres he paid twenty-five dollars per acre, for the second eighty thirty dollars, and for the last eighty acres, adjoining it on the east, sixty dollars per acre. He now has four hundred and forty acres, and it is all worth over one hundred dollars per acre, ow-
two good barns, one, forty by sixty feet, and the other thirty by seventy-eight feet, which will accommodate sixteen head of horses and cattle, and he has corncribs which hold about six thousand bushels. His success in life is due entirely to his own well-directed ef- forts, being a man of sound judgment and good business ability. He has always made the most of his advantages, and has labored untiringly to make for himself and family a comfortable home and competence. Be- sides his property in this state, he owns a section of land southwest of Houston, Texas.
married Dora Musselman and also resides in Cerro Gordo township; Samuel, who wedded Annie Musselman, a sister of his brother's wife, and makes his home in the same township; Joseph, who married Nora Duncan and resides in Carroll county, Indiana; Jerome, Ira and Festus, all at home.
For many years Mr. Shively has served as school director and has ever taken an ac- tive interest in educational affairs, doing all in his power to secure good teachers and the best advantages along that line. He is a deacon in the German Baptist church of La- Place, in which he and his wife hold mem- bership, and they are active and sincere Christian workers. Mr. Shively is regarded as one of the representative men of his com- munity, as well as one of its most substantial ing to the rise in value and the many im- . and honored citizens, and is therefore justly provements he has made thereon. He built deserving of mention in this volume.
EUROPE L. FOSNAUGH.
Europe L. Fosnaugh is largely a promot- er of the business activity of White Heath, where he is engaged in dealing in dry goods, boots, shoes and groceries. He is also pro- prietor of the only hotel in the town and throughout this portion of the county he is very widely known, while his friends are al- most as numerous as his acquaintances. He was born upon the farm three miles north- east of the village, September 24, 1858, his parents being Ezra and Eliza (Bushee) Fos- naugh. He is of German and French de- scent. His paternal grandfather, Jacob Fos- naugh, was a native of Pennsylvania and was of German lineage, while the maternal
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Shively were born ten children, seven sons and three daughters, of whom nine are yet living: Elizabeth, the wife of Frank Etnoyer, of Cerro Gordo township; Julia, wife of Jacob Wyne, whose home is near LaPlace in Cerro Gordo town- ship; Daniel, who married May Boone and lives in Cerro Gordo township; John, who grandfather, Jacob Bushee, was of French
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extraction. The parents of our subject were natives of Fairfield county, Ohio, and in the · year 1856 came to Illinois. They journeyed westward by wagon to Macoupin county, where they remained for one winter and then continued on their way to Piatt county. Here the father carried on agricultural pursuits near White Heath until his death, which oc- curred on the Ist of October, 1873, when he was fifty years old, his birth having occurred in 1823. His wife was born in 1832 and sur- vived him until 1901. They were the par- ents of eight children: Austin, who is a merchant in Clinton, Illinois; Selina, who was the wife of George McCabe and died in 1873; Theodore, a railroad employe living in Springfield, Illinois ; Elifus, a farmer who is living five miles east of Monticello; Eu- rope L .; Dora Alice, the wife of William Dungan, of Deadwood, South Dakota; Lau- ra Belle, the wife of John Dilsaver, who re- sides upon the home farm; and Erwin, a railroad employe living in Decatur, Illinois.
Europe L. Fosnaugh pursued a common- school education in the Prairie Dell school near White Heath. His studies were pur- sued through the winter months, while dur- ing the summer he worked with his father and thus became familiar with the farm work in all its departments. He entered upon an independent business career as a farm hand, working for eighteen dollars per month, and he continued in that way for about four years. He next rented a farm which he cul- tivated for a year and subsequently he ac- cepted a clerkship in his brother's store in Lane, DeWitt county, Illinois, where he re- mained for three years. When that time had elapsed he again rented a farm for one sea- son and then embarked in business for him- self as proprietor of a pool and billiard hall in Tolono, Illinois. He conducted it for
three years, and on selling it took charge of his brother's store in Lane, this state, there continuing as a merchant for fifteen years, when he purchased the store in White Heath of which he has since been proprietor. He now carries a large and well-selected line of dry goods, boots, shoes and groceries, and has a liberal and growing patronage. On the 7th of April, 1903, he rented the only hotel in the town and has since conducted it. This hotel is well located on the main thorough- fare of the village and in this line Mr. Fos- naugh also does a profitable business.
On the 23d of March, 1874, occurred the marriage of Europe L. Fosnaugh and Miss Ida J. Graham, a daughter of George W. and Jane (Morgan) Graham. She was born February 4, 1861. Her father's birth occurred in Fairfield county, Ohio, July 8, 1824, and he was a son of William and Su- sanna (Leichleiter) Graham, natives of Vir- ginia. After arriving at years of maturity George W. Graham was united in marriage to Miss Jane Morgan, who was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, December 4, 1827, and was a daughter of John and Anna (Mc- Cleary) Morgan, of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The latter was a daughter of James and Ja- nette (McCleary) McCleary, who were cous- ins prior to their marriage., They went to Fairfield county, Ohio, in 1815, and the lat- ter died in 1862. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Fos- naugh have been born six children: Harlie, who is now at home; Garah, who is the wife of Vance Mattix, a farmer of DeWitt coun- ty ; and Grace Jane, Lucile, William and Le- ota, at home.
Mrs. Fosnaugh is a devoted member of the Christian church and a most estimable lady. Mr. Fosnaugh belongs to Mozart Lodge, No. 96, K. P., of Weldon, Illinois; to Lane Camp, No. 1782, W. M. A., of Lane;
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and the Mutual Protective League of Lane. He is likewise connected with the Royal Neighbors, and in these various societies he is a valued representative, having the good will and high regard of his brethren. Po- litically; he is a stalwart Democrat, but has never sought or desired public office, prefer; ring to devote his energies to his business af- fairs. That he has prospered is due entirely to his own labors. Realizing that there is no royal road to wealth, he has worked un- tiringly as the years have gone by, and upon the sure foundation of indefatigable industry he has builded his success.
C. T. RINEHART.
On a farm on section 25, Blue Ridge township, resides C. T. Rinehart, who is one of the worthy citizens of Piatt county that Pennsylvania has furnished to this state. He was born in Millerstown of the Keystone state in 1861, and is a son of Frederick and Mary A. Rinehart. The father was a farmer by occupation and always carried on that work in Pennsylvania. At the time of the Civil war, however, he put aside all business and personal considerations, 'enlisting in 1861 as a member of the Union Army. He participated in many of the most important engagements of the war until about the close of hostilities when he was wounded in the left shoulder, the wound proving so serious that it became necessary to amputate his arm. He spent the rest of his life in the Soldiers' Home in Virginia, and his death occurred in Millerstown, Pennsylvania, in 1893.
one of the old-time log schoolhouses. He sat upon a slab bench and conned his lessons from books that were almost as primitive as the school buildings. Later he attended school in Logan county, Illinois, for one term and he has also added to his knowledge through reading and experience until he is now a well informed man. Having come to the west in early manhood Mr. Rinehart be- gan working for himself at the age of twen- ty-one years, being first employed by the month as a farm hand in Logan county. He there worked for three years, receiving eighteen dollars per month, after which he rented a farm where his mother acted as his housekeeper. In 1886, however,Mr. Rine- hart was united in marriage to Miss Melissa J. Michaels, and unto them has been born a daughter, Bessie Fay, whose birth occurred in McLean county, Illinois, on the 18th of April, 1892, and who is now attending the home school.
Mrs. Rinehart was born in Logan . county, December 15, 1862, and is a daugh- ter of Gus Davis and Elizabeth (Barr) Michaels. Her father was a native of Ger- many, born June 6, 1822, and was twelve years of age when he came to this country. By occupation he was a farmer and both he and his wife were members of the Metho- dist Episcopal church South. She was born in De Witt county, Illinois, August 2, 1834, and died there September 27, 1893. Mr. Michaels' death occurred June 26, 1894, both passing away at the home of a daugh- ter in DeWitt county, though they made their home in Logan county for many years. Mrs. Rinehart has five sisters and one brother living.
Mr. Rinehart first became a landowner Mr. Rinehart of this review began his in 1893, when he purchased a tract of forty education in Pennsylvania as a student in acres. Two years later, having prospered
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in the meantime, he added to this eighty acres, and he now lives upon his farm which comprises one hundred and twenty acres of the rich land of Piatt county. It is situated· · of December, 1856. His parents were Wes- on section 25, Blue Ridge township, and is a good property. In 1902 he spent four thousand dollars in improving his house and barn. In his home he has many of the mod- ern equipments which are found in the city homes of the present. There is hard and soft water all through the house, being piped to the various rooms, and a hot water plant is used for heating, while the light is fur- nished by a system of acetylene gas lamps. Under the house there is a basement contaîn- ing five rooms, and altogether this home is one of the most modern and desirable in the county.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Rinehart belong to · the Methodist church and are widely known throughout the community for their ster- ling worth and upright lives. In politics Mr. Rinehart is a Democrat and has served as a school director for a number of years, the cause of education finding in him a warm friend. He is always deeply interested in everything pretaining to the welfare and progress of the community along lines of material, social, intellectual and moral de- velopment and his cooperation for the pub- lic good has been far-reaching and benefi- cial.
SYLVANUS NELSON.
Agriculture is, perhaps, the chief occu- pation of the residents of Piatt county for the lands in this portion of the state are so rich and productive that a splendid oppor- tunity is afforded for the acquirement of suc- cess by following farming. To this work
Mr. Nelson devotes his time and energies, and he is one of the native sons of Piatt coun- ty, his birth having occurred here on the 12th
ley and Nancy (Marsh) Nelson, who re- moved from Indiana to Piatt county, Illinois, at an early period in the development of this portion of the state. The father was of German lineage and the mother of Irish de- scent. He devoted his energies to the occu -· pation of farming and thus provided for his family.
On the old family homestead in the coun- ty of his nativity Sylvanus Nelson was reared, his boyhood days being spent in the usual manner of most farmer lads of the pe- riod. In his early youth he was a student in the Clinger school in Piatt county, and the remainder of his education has been ob- tained through reading and through contact with the world, whereby he has gained much valuable and practical experience. He was twenty-two years of age when he started out upon an independent business career, and well may he be called a self-made man, for all that he has acquired has been gained through his determination and energy. He has had no assistance from influential friends, nor has a fortunate combination of circumstances aided him. He first worked by . the month for Daniel Reed, receiving twenty-two dollars per month. He was thus employed for a year, at the end of which time he rented a tract of land of David Bail- ey, of New York, who owned farming in- terests in Piatt county. About 1893 Mr. Nel- son purchased a farm in Indiana, becoming the owner of eighty acres in Boone county, and later he disposed of that. He now has a farm in Blue Ridge township, and his well- developed property indicates that his career has been an active and useful one.
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