USA > Illinois > Piatt County > Past and present of Piatt County, Illinois : together with biographical sketches of many prominent and influential citizens > Part 50
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The married life of Mr. Olson was initi- ated in 1873, when on the 25th of Septem- FRED W. KEEL, D. D. S. ber he led to the altar Miss Nellie Poulson. To them have been born children as follows : Dr. Fred W. Keel, who for the past five Philip, the eldest son, married Bessie Wed- years has successfully engaged in the prac- tice of dentistry at Monticello, is a native of Illinois, born in Marion county, September dle, and is a farmer living near Paton, Iowa ; Alma became the wife of Herman Melvin, a school-teacher residing near Weldon, Illi- · 9, 1874, and is a son of Ambrose and Mary nois; Annie was educated at Normal, Illi- Jane (Connaway) Keel, who are natives of Illinois and Indiana, respectively. For some time the father was engaged in farming in Marion county, this state, but when our sub- nois, and is now one of the successful school- teachers of the county, her last school having been taught at Stringtown; Florence was
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ject was seven years of age he removed to De Witt county, locating near Weldon, where the family spent one year. At the end of that time they came to Piatt county and Mr. Keel is now residing in Cerro Gordo town- ship. He had eight children, of whom six are still living.
During his boyhood Dr. Keel received a good common-school education, and later en- tered the Western Dental College, at Kan- sas City, where he was a student in 1896, 1897 and 1898, graduating in the latter year with the degree of D. D. S. Soon after his graduation he opened an office in Monticello, where he has since engaged in practice with good success, having already secured a good patronage.
On the 22d of February, 1899, Dr. Keel was united in marriage to Miss Delta M. Parsons, of DeLand, Illinois, a daughter of Clay Parsons, now a resident of Missouri. Having lost her mother when quite small, she went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Marquiss, of DeLand, and made her home with them from the age of seven years until her marriage. The Doctor and his wife have a little son, Harold Marquiss, born August 26, 1901. They are members of the Pres- byterian church, and, fraternally, the Doctor is also a member of the Illinois State Dental Society. In his political views he is a Re- publican. To some extent he has become in- terested in the real estate business, dealing in northwestern lands mostly, but given his at- tention principally to his professional duties.
T. J. KIZER.
If those who claim that fortune has fa- vored certain individuals above others will
but investigate the cause of success and fail- ure it will be found that the former is largely due to the improvement of opportunity, the latter to the neglect of it. Fortunate envi- ronments encompass nearly every man at scme stage of his career, but the strong man and the successful man is he who realizes that the proper moment has come, that the present and not the future holds his oppor- tunity. The man who makes use of the Now and not the To Be is the one who passes on the highway of life others who, perhaps, started out ahead of him. It is this quality in Mr. Kizer that has gained him an enviable position in the business world and made him widely known as a grain dealer of Ham- mond, Illinois, and also as the president of the State Bank here. He is honored and re- spected by all who know him in both finan- cial and commercial circles, and he is justly accounted the leading citizen of the village where he has made his home for over thirty years.
Mr. Kizer is a native of Macon county, Illinois, his birth having occurred near De- catur on the 11th of June, 1847, his parents being John S. and Lydia (Davis) Kizer, the former a native of Ohio and the latter of Kentucky. The father resided in Ohio until 1835, when he came to the west, settling in Sangamon county, Illinois. There he en- gaged in carpentering until 1846, at which time he removed to Macon county, where he purchased a tract of land and again carried . on general agricultural pursuits. He made farming and carpentering his life work, but in 1888 retired from business and lived in Decatur until his death, enjoying a well-mer- ited rest. His life was ever honorable and upright, busy and useful, and the sterling traits of his character won for him the un- qualified regard and confidence of those with
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whom he associated. He passed away on in the southern part of Piatt county. He the ioth of April, 1903, at the very ad- vanced age of eighty-seven years, and his widow now resides in Decatur, making her home with her children. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kizer were born nine children, eight of whom are yet living, five being residents of Macon county, two of Hammond, and one of Rock- ford, Illinois.
Mr. Kizer received only a common- school education, attending in Macon coun- ty. In his youth he remained at home, and through the months of summer he assisted his father in the operation of a farm, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. In December, 1873, he was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Adams, a sister of Dr. Adams, of the Wesleyan University, and a daughter of Christopher B. Adams, who was a farmer, spending the greater part of his life in Macon county, where his death eventually occurred. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Kizer were born two children: Ethel, who was born on the 16th of March, 1878, is now the wife of F. E. Benard, who is engaged in general merchandising in Hammond, and they have one child, Glenn P. Loren P., born June 2, 1880, resides in Decatur, where he is connected with the Weare Grain Company.
Mr. Kizer came to Hammond in June, 1873, and embarked in the lumber trade. Four years later he also entered the grain trade, conducting both enterprises with good success until 1885. In that year he sold out the lumber business, but continued operations in the grain trade, which has since claimed considerable of his time and attention. He now owns two large grain elevators in Ham- mond, with a capacity of forty thousand bushels, and is carrying on the grain business on a more extensive scale than any other man
ships largely to Cincinnati, Indianapolis and St. Louis, makes judicious purchases and profitable sales, and in the control of his busi- ness has met with creditable and gratifying success. When the State Bank of Hammond was organized John Dighton was made its first president, but in January, 1902, Mr. Kizer succeeded him, and has since acted in that capacity. The bank is capitalized for twenty-five thousand dollars, and a general banking business is carried on along lines which have won for the institution a most en- viable reputation for reliability.
In matters of citizenshp Mr. Kizer is also progressive, and for twenty years he served as school treasurer. He gives his political . support to the Democratic party, and never fails to cast his ballot for its men and meas- ures. Both he and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Ham- mond, of which he is now serving as trustee, steward, treasurer and recording secretary. He takes much interest in church work, put- ting forth every effort in his power to extend the influence of the church and promote its permanent growth. He thoroughly enjoys home life and takes great pleasure in the so- ciety of his family and friends. He is always courteous, kindly and affable, and those who know him personally have for him warm re- gard. A man of great natural ability, his success in business, from the beginning of his residence in Piatt county, was uniform and rapid. As has been truly remarked, after all that may be done for a man in the way of giving him early opportunities for obtaining the requirements which are sought in the schools and in books, he must essentially formulate, determine and give shape to his own character; and this is what Mr. Kizer has done. He has persevered in the pursuit
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of a persistent purpose and gained the most satisfactory reward. His life is exemplary in all respects, and he has ever supported those interests which are calculated to uplift and benefit humanity, while his own high moral worth is deserving of the highest com- mendation.
MRS. PERMELIA E. STAATS.
Mrs. Permelia E. Staats, widow of John P. Staats, makes her home on section 3, Willow Branch township, where she owns a fine, well-improved farm. She is a native of Illinois, having been born two miles and a half from Lincoln in Logan county, this state, and is a daughter of John and Mary Musick, who were old settlers of that locality and were of German descent. Her father was engaged in farming in Logan county for many years, and there Mrs. Staats was reared and educated, remaining under the parental roof until her marriage, which was celebrated on the 2d of March, 1871.
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Her husband, John P. Staats, was born May 23, 1841, in Clifton, West Virginia, near the Ohio line, and was also of German lineage. His parents, Isaac and Elizabeth Staats, were lifelong resident of West Vir- ginia. He was only three years old when his. mother died, and his father passed away five years later. Thus he was left an orphan at the early age of eight years, and his edu- cational advantages were consequently lim- ited. For some time he made his home with a family by the name of Coleman, in West Virginia, and was forced to work when only The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Staats are as follows : Alma, wife of Joseph Rainey, of Willow Branch township; Mary a small boy. His sympathies being with the south he served for three years as a sol- dier in the Confederate army during the. F., wife of Hiram Starkey, who lives near
Civil war, and when hostilities ceased in 1865, he came to Illinois and settled in Lo- gan county, where he had sisters living at that time. For one year he rented the farm of Levi Musick-his brother-in-law-and at the end of that time bought a tract of land near what is now the home place in Piatt county. It was not long, however, before he sold that and bought a portion of the present farm, to which he added from time to time as his financial resources increased, until at the time of his death his landed estate consisted of three hundred and twenty acres of rich and arable land. Mr. Staats began life in this state with no capital, and when he made his first purchase he had but one hundred dollars. He was, however, a very energetic enterprising and industrious man, who made the most of his advantages, and through his own unaided efforts was able to leave his family in comfortable circumstances. He converted the wild .prairie and swamp land into well-tilled fields, tiling, fencing and breaking the land, and making many sub- stantial improvements thereon.
On the 15th of October, 1896, Mrs. Staats was called upon to mourn the loss of her husband. For many years he was a faithful and consistent member of the Cum- berland Presbyterian church, of which he was an elder, and he was a man highly re- spected and esteemed by all who knew him. ·Three of his sisters are still living, namely : Cynthia, wife of A. Blake, a resident of Fish- er, Illinois: Mrs. Elizabeth Musick, who makes her home near Lincoln, Illinois; and Rebecca, wife of David Atwell, of Mon- mouth, Illinois.
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the home place; John R., a resident of Nor- cross, Minnesota ; Cynthia I., wife of Louis Kreker, of Willow Branch township; Edith E., John D. and Raymond, all three at home with their mother. Mrs. Staats operates the farm with the assistance of her sons, and in the management of her business affairs has met with good success. Two years ago, however, she had the misfortune to lose her house by fire, but promptly rebuilt, erecting a more modern and attractive residence, which is now the home of the family. They are active members of the Cumberland Pres- byterian church and are people of promi- · nence in the community where they reside, their circle of friends and acquaintances be- ing extensive.
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JOHN BLACKER.
Jolın Blacker is a retired farmer, now liv- ing at DeLand. He was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, November 20, 1834. He can trace his ancestry back through several gen- erations to his great-grandfather, Lucas Blacker, who was born in Germany and be- came the founder of the family in America. It is believed that he was married in this country and that his wife was a native of Ireland. The grandfather of our subject emigrated to Virginia in his early days, and later took up his abode in Pickaway county, Ohio. He married Clarissa Payne, who was of Scotch descent.
Our subject's father, Augustus Blacker, was a native of West Virginia, born August 28, 1810, and in that state he resided until he was about eighteen years of age, when he removed to Pickaway county, Ohio, and se- cured work as a farm hand. He was em-
ployed in that way until 1839, when he rent- ed a tract of land and began farming on his' own account. In the meantime he had mar- ried, having wedded Miss Aner Madden, a daughter of Major and Elizabeth (Miller) Madden, the latter of German descent. The Major was a native of Ohio, while his wife went from Delaware to the Buckeye state. For many years Augustus Blacker continued to engage in farming in Pickaway county, Ohio, following that pursuit there until his life's labors were ended in death in August, 1855. His widow still survives him and now makes her home with her eldest daugh- ter, Mrs. Frank Hott, in Monticello. She was born in Belmont county, Ohio, and is now in her ninety-first year.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Blacker were born eleven children, of whom John is the eldest. The others are Elizabeth, who was born April 7, 1836, in Pickaway county, Ohio, and is the wife of F. M. Hott, of Monticello; James Madison, who was born in Ross coun- ty, January 15, 1838, and is now living re- tired upon his farm near White Heath; Jo- seph, who was born in Ross county, April 10, 1839, and is a retired farmer of Monti- cello; William, who was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, December 13, 1840, and is liv- ing retired in Monticello; Mary Jane, who was born in Kosciusko county, Indiana, in 1842, and died in early childhood; Rebecca, who was born in Kosciusko county in 1844, and died in infancy; Francis Marion, who was born in Kosciusko county, March 13, 1845, and is now following the carpenter's trade near White Heath; Helen V., who was born October 19, 1847, and is the wife of Harvey Camp, a resident of Lincoln, Logan county, Illinois ; Levi, who was born April 5, 1851, in Pickaway county, Ohio, and is a re- tired farmer living in Shelby county, Illi-
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nois; and Cynthia Jane, who was born in Pickaway county, March 27, 1854, and is the wife of John Firnish, a farmer of White Heath, Piatt county. Of this family James, Joseph and William were all soldiers of the Civil war, who valiantly fought for the de- fense of the Union.
John Blacker, whose name introduces this record, was educated in Kosciusko county, Indiana, pursuing his studies in a log school- house, in which was a puncheon floor. The seats were made of slabs and there was an immense fireplace in one end of the room ca- pable of accommodating a very large back log. He afterward continued his studies in Pickaway county, Ohio, but all the schools were conducted on the subscription plan and he had little opportunity to attend, because his parents were in limited financial circum- stances and his labors were needed to assist in support of the family. He had the privi- lege of pursuing his studies, however, to some extent in the winter months, while dur- ing the summer he worked as a farm hand until about 1857. He then worked with his father on the home place for two years, after which he was married and made preparations for having a home of his own.
It was in September, 1859, that Mr. Blacker was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Orrison, of Circleville, Ohio, at which time he rented a tract of land in Pickaway county, where he carried on agricultural pur- suits for two seasons. He then came to Piatt county, where he has since lived. Unto him and his wife were born the following chil- MRS. JACOB E. ANDREWS. dren : Frank Douglass, who is a farmer of Sangamon township, Piatt county ; Matilda, In a pleasant home in the village of Cisco live Mrs. Jacob E. Andrews and her two sons, Hanson and Harmon. The young men are proprietors of the Cisco Press, a the wife of Lewis Robinson, a farmer near DeLand in Goose Creek, township; Mary, who died on a farm in Monticello township in her twentieth year: Cynthia, who died in . weekly newspaper which they purchased in
infancy ; Henry C., a resident farmer of Be- ment township; John, who died at the age of a year and a half; Marcus, who died when but two years of age; Arthur, who is now carrying on agricultural pursuits in Monti- cello township; Jasper Augustus, who is also a farmer of Monticello township; Charles Clarence, who is engaged in the tilling of the soil in Goose Creek township; and Lena Myrtle, the wife of Ora Stiverson, who is living in Goose Creek township.
The mother of these children has been called to her final rest, and Mr. Blacker is now living with his daughter, Mrs. Ora Sti- verson. He has put aside business cares and is now enjoying a well-merited rest. For many years he was a well-known and active agriculturist of Piatt county. He came here at an early day and undertook the task of de- veloping a farm. He is a man who carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes, and in the control of his busi- ness affairs he won a comfortable compe- tence. In all his dealings he was strictly honorable and straightforward, and those with whom he was associated respect him for his genuine worth and unfaltering integ- rity. His life has been in constant harmony with manly principles and wherever he has lived he has won the good will and confidence of those whom he has met. His political sup- port is given to the Democratic party.
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1902, and which they are rapidly making a period of five years in the schools of Piatt power in their local community.
The salient points in the history of the Andrews family are as follows: Mrs. An- drews was born in Pickaway county, Ohio, March 25, 1844, the daughter of H. S. and Charlotte (Martin) Coonrod. The Coonrods were of German descent, the Martins being traced to New Jersey. The father, H. S., was brought from Virginia to Ohio in his mother's arms on horseback long before the days of wagon roads, this occurring about the year 1815. The father of the family died shortly after removing to Ohio, and H. S. was reared by the widowed mother. He was given a fair education and remained at home until his majority. He had previously pur- chased a farm near the old homestead and there in 1842 began his married life. The family remained in Ohio until 1856, thence removing to Piatt county, Illinois, where they located on what is now known as the Allerton farm. Six years later purchase was made of a farm three miles northeast of Cisco, where the family resided until 1882. Mr. Coonrod was a stock-buyer and, circumstances mak- ing it desirable to locate in Missouri, a farm was purchased in that state near Nevada. Later the family removed to Iowa and were residents of Cushing at the time of the fa- ther's death, December 6, 1899, the mother having died in Piatt county, Illinois, in 1875. Five children constituted the family-J. H., now a resident of Flandreau, South Dakota ;· J. B., of Rock Rapids, Iowa ; Lavinia, wife of Jasper Chandler, Cushing, Iowa; Fran- ces, now Mrs. George Dawson, of Monticel- lo, Illinois; and Sophronia, now Mrs. An- drews.
Mrs. Andrews received an excellent edu- caton, finishing in Mount Zion Seminary, fol- lowing which she taught successfully for a
county. Jacob E. Andrews, of Kendallville, Indiana, had come west from the Hoosier state and soon found an attraction of irre- sistible quality in . the fair Piatt county schoolma'am. Their marriage was celebrat- ed on the 29th of December, 1870. Mr. An- drews was a son of J. E. and Elizabeth (Coonrod) Andrews, and was a gentleman of many noble traits of character. He took his bride to a farm of eighty acres, two and one-half miles northeast of Cisco, where the first six years of their married life were spent. Prior to the purchase of the present home the family passed three years in the cultivation of a Champaign county farm, The years passed happily away until the 3d of September, 1894, when the husband and father was taken away, leaving the wife and three sons to mourn his death. The children living are Hanson, Harmon and Chester. The last named is now engaged in the sheep business in North Dakota. Three others are deceased-Grace M., Claud Abbie, and Les- ter. The father of these children was one of the gallant defenders of the Union in the dark days of the Civil war, having enlisted first in the hundred-day service and later in Company B, Twenty-second Indiana Volun- teer Infantry. He served faithfully in the ranks, his honorable discharge dating July 24, 1865, at Louisville, Kentucky.
The two boys, Hanson W., aged twenty- seven, and Harmon R., seven years his broth- er's junior, are still inmates of their mother's home, to whom they yield a loving fidelity. Their present business enterprise is the re- sult of their own efforts. The paper had not been a paying venture under its former own- er, and it has tested the metal of the boys to place it on its present prosperous basis. But the powers that be always, help those that
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help themselves, and with a continuance of past energetic effort and good judgment in business management the future of the Press is assured. Both they and their gentle mother have a warm place in the hearts of all to whom they are known.
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MAJOR LAWSON S. KILBORN.
No history of Piatt county would be com- plete without mention of Major Lawson S. Kilborn, for he is a self-made man, an hon- ored veteran of the Civil war and, moreover, was formerly connected in a prominent man- ner for many years with the educational in- terests of this section of the state, and is at present a representative of its journalistic in- terests. His labors have in many ways touched the activities of the world, bearing upon advancement and improvement, and to- day he is regarded as one of the representa- tive men of his adopted county.
The Major is a native of Kingston, Can- ada West, his birth having there occurred on the 28th of December, 1835. When but an infant, however, his parents removed to the Empire state, crossing Lake Ontario to Monroe county, New York, when the Major was but six weeks old. At the age of eleven the father died. The eldest daughter of the household married, and three of the older brothers had gone to Indiana to seek their fortunes, the family at home then consist- ing of the mother, two sisters, an elder brother named Hiram, and Lawson. It was arranged that the Major was to care for the home, and throughout all his spare time was to work through the day and thus supply the table of the family while Hiram, who could command high wages as a farm hand, was to
spend his time in that way and apply his earnings to paying for a home on which he had traded the family horse as a first pay- ment. Major Kilborn's first act as he started upon this independent career was to go in debt for a sack of flour, but the strength of character of the boy was shown by the promptness with which he discharged this obligation, and it also foreshadowed the cor- rect business methods which he has ever fol- lowed. He has never allowed himself to be- come burdened by debt and has ever met every trust reposed in him. Through the summer months Major Kilborn continued to work, and in the winter months attended school, his time being thus passed until his seventeenth year, when it was decided to sell the home, the members of the household be- ing disposed of in the following manner. The two youngest children were to spend a year in a near-by academy, and the mother was to visit through the winter with a mar- ried daughter, while Hiram was to go to In- diana, there to be joined by the others of the family in the following spring. Thus it was that Major Kilborn and his sister Emma be- came students in Riga Academy in the town of Riga, New York, through the winter of ·1852-3. In the spring of 1853 he came to the west in company with his mother and his eldest sister and her family, her husband having gone to Indiana the previous year with his brother-in-law, Hiram Kilborn.
On reaching Lafayette, Indiana, Lawson Kilborn began working for his brothers, who were engaged in carpentering in that city, but soon he became connected with the edu- cational interests of the west. In the winter following his arrival he was employed to teach in an old log schoolhouse about seven miles from Lafayette. The school was con- ducted on the subscription plan, and he
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realized about ten dollars per month from his labors. For some time thereafter he con- tinued his work as an educator, his third term of school-teaching being spent at Lin- den, Montgomery county, Indiana. It was during that time that the Major was mar- ried, the lady of his choice being Miss Sa- mantha Aydelott, a daughter of a farmer liv- ing near Linden. In the spring of 1860 Ma- jor Kilborn secured the position of principal of the Central school of Lafayette, and proved there a most capable and successful educator, winning popular favor and accept- ably serving until the spring of 1862. The country, however, was then engaged in civil war, and he felt a strong desire to join the army. When at length he left for the field there devolved upon his wife the care of their little children, the youngest of whom was only a month old. It was with regret that he left his family, although he so much wanted to serve his country, but when speaking on the subject to his wife, she replied : "I know how you feel, and if I were a man I should go. I and the little ones will be taken care of, never fear." This response decided him at once, and he set about recruiting a com- pany in connection with his brother-in-law, Dr. J. B. Johnson. In about a month's time the company was raised and mustered in with the Seventy-second Indiana Regiment, with Dr. Johnson as captain, H. B. Wilson, first lieutenant, and L. S. Kilborn, second lieutenant. He took a very active part in Indianapolis the Doctor was promoted to the medical deparment, Mr. Wilson became captain, and Mr. Kilborn was then made first lieutenant. He took a very active part in many important military movements with his regiment. When his captain's health failed and he resigned his command at Murfrees- boro, „Mr. Kilborn was given the vacant pc .-
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