USA > Illinois > Pike County > Past and present of Pike County, Illinois > Part 35
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99
250
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
financial 'return annually. He practices along scientific lines, keening in touch with modern re- search and his efforts have been attended with a gratifying measure of success.
On the 30th of November, 1898, Dr. Andrew was married to Miss Jennette Ramsay, who was born on Prince Edward Island and came to Amer- ica with her parents in early childhood. Her father located in Colorado and was engaged in the gro- cery business for many years at Longmont, but is now giving his attention to the commission business. The marriage of Dr. and Mrs. Andrew was celebrated in Illinois and has been blessed with two children: John Ramsay, born Septem- ber 3, 1899; and Helen, born April 18, 1901.
Dr. Andrew is a republican but has never held any office, preferring to give his undivided atten- tion to his professional duties. In addition to a large private practice he is acting as examiner of several old-line insurance companies, including the New York Mutual, the New York Life, the Equitable and the Manhattan. He belongs to the Masonic lodge at New Salem and in the line of his profession is connected with the Pike County Medical Association. He is interested in all that tends to promote the efficiency of medical practi- tioners and in his chosen work has rendered valu- able aid to his fellowmen.
AUGUSTUS DOW.
Augustus Dow, a leading representative of commercial and industrial interests in Pittsfield and also a prominent factor in public life, having been honored by election to the state legislature, where his official services reflected honor upon the constituency that had called him to office, was born in South Coventry, Tolland county, Connec- ticut, on the 9th of October, 1841. His parents, Cyrus and Charity A. (Chapman) Dow, were of Scotch descent. The father was born in the year 1800 and died in 1855, when scarcely past the prime of life, but the mother reached the ad- vanced age of ninety-three years, passing away in Connecticut on the 12th of March, 1905.
In the public schools of his native town Au- gustus Dow began his education and afterward
attended an academy, pursuing a good practical course of study. He entered upon his business career in the capacity of a clerk at Hartford, Connecticut, but wisely thinking the great west, which Illinois was then considered, would offer better opportunities to a young man of energy and determination than could be secured in the older towns of the east, he came to Pike county, Illinois, in 1858, bringing with him good busi -. ness habits, laudable ambition and strong deter- mination. He accepted a position às clerk in a store in Pittsfield and was employed in that ca- pacity until 1862, when he entered the service of the government, being appointed paying clerk of the Army of the Cumberland under Major W. E. Norris with headquarters at Louisville, Ken- tucky. There he remained until 1865. During the time that he was connected with this depart- ment he paid to the troops nine million dollars and carried as much as three hundred thousand dollars at one time. He was then about twenty- two years of age-a young man for such respon- sibility-but his duties were most faithfully dis- charged and not a cent was lost in the transac- tions.
After the. close of the war Mr. Dow returned to Pittsfield and established himself as a dry- goods merchant, continuing in the business until 1872, when he joined C. P. Chapman in the mill- ing business. He has devoted himself strictly to the work, soon gaining a full understanding of milling in all of its details, and as the years passed developed a large and profitable enter- prise. In 1898 Mr. Chapman died and Mr. Dow admitted Mr. Chapman's son-in-law, M. D. King, to a partnership, so that the firm is now Dow & King. The mill which they owned and op- erated was built in 1870 and therein their prod- ucts were manufactured until 1900, when the mill was destroyed by fire. The firm then rebuilt as soon as the insurance was adjusted. The new mill has a greater storage capacity than the old one and is one of the most modern and best equipped plants of the kind in the state, its ca- pacity being six hundred barrels per day. The old plant was built as a burr mill, but in 1883 the roller process was installed. In March, 1902, the elevator was burned, but was immediately
AUGUSTUS DOW
. LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILINOIS.
253
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
rebuilt on a more expensive scale, its capacity exceeding the old one by forty thousand bushels, its present capacity being one hundred and twenty thousand. The principal brands of flour manu- factured by the firm are Crystal Gem, Principia, Superlative and Dow's Dew Drop. The capacity of the mill is six hundred barrels of flour and the company manufactures all of its barrels, having a large brick cooper shop in the rear. They fur- nish employment to about fifty men altogether, so that the enterprise is a most creditable one to the city as well as a source of gratifying in- come to the proprietors.
Mr. Dow has figured prominently in public af- fairs and in 1892 was elected to the state legis- lature for a two-years' term. While acting as a member of the house he served. on the com- mittees on canals, river improvements, commerce, drainage, state municipality, indebtedness, and on the visiting committee to charitable institutions, and he gave to each question which came up for settlement his careful consideration and he ably represented his constituents, his course reflecting honor upon the county that honored him. In 1894 he was appointed one of the trustees of the Illinois Institution for the Blind at Jacksonville and served for four years, during which time Hon. N. W. Branson was president, while Hon. Augustus Dow and Hon. Edward Rew, of Chi- cago, were trustees and Frank H. Hall, superin- tendent of the institution. Mr. Dow is widely recognized as one of the leading republicans of Pittsfield and has been a member of the central committee. He has also figured prominently in municipal politics, being mayor of Pittsfield for four years and president of the central board for ber of the county board of supervisors, and his excellent business talents and executive ability made him an enviable official. He is one of the directors of the First National Bank of Pitts- field and was one of the trustees that built the Opera House in this city. He has been con- nected with all of the improvement of a local nature and his name stands high in financial cir- cles far beyond the limits of the county.
a number of years. He has likewise been a mem -. petence and, more than all, has that contentment
Mr. Dow has been married three times. He first wedded Miss Jennie E. Winans in 1865. She
was a native of New Jersey, born in 1841, and her death occurred in 1870. In 1872, in St. Louis, Missouri, Mr. Dow was married to Judith W. Morton, who was born in Massachusetts in 1840, and they had one son, Harry A., who spent two years as a student in the Illinois College, four years at Yale and three years in the law depart- ment of the University of Michigan at Ann Ar- bor. He is now private secretary and attorney for N. W. Harris & Company, of Chicago, the largest bond house in the United States. On the 2Ist of September, 1904, he married Miss Florence Bachelder, of Ypsilanti, and they now reside in Chicago. Mr. Dow, in company with his son Harry, traveled abroad, visiting England. Ireland, Scotland and France. Following the death of his second wife, in 1887, Mr. Dow was married to Mrs. Mary S. Bates, who had one daughter, Sarah, now the wife of Fred Utt, a druggist residing at Glen Ellyn, Illinois.
Mr. and Mrs. Dow hold membership in the Congregational church, in which he+ has been a trustee for many years. "He owns a beautiful home in Pittsfield and has been a résident of this city since 1858. He is not only well known in Pike county, but throughout this section of Illi- nois. His trade extends over a wide territory, and in this connection he has been the promoter of what has become one of the leading industrial enterprises of Pittsfield. His success has been the result of honest, persistent effort in the line of honorable and manly dealing. His aims have been to attain to the best, and he has carried for- ward to successful completion whatever he has undertaken. His life has marked a steady growth and now he is in possession of an ample com- that comes from a consciousness of having lived for an honorable purpose.
WILLIAM OLIVER SKINNER, M. D.
Dr. William Oliver Skinner, physician and surgeon of Griggsville, whose ability in the line of his profession has gained him a constantly growing practice, was born in Franklin county,
14
254
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
Pennsylvania, January I, 1848, a son of John and Ann E. (Barclay) Skinner. Both were natives of the Keystone state, the former born in 1815. He was a tanner and farmer and conducted a tannery at Fannettsburg, Pennsylvania, for many years. He was a prominent and influential resi- dent of that community and his last days were spent upon his farm in Franklin county, where he passed away in 1863, at the ageof forty-eight years. His wife long survived him and died in 1892, at the age of seventy-seven years. In the family of this worthy couple were nine children, of whom five are now living: David H., who resides in Belleville, Kansas; Mrs. Mollie Elder, a resident of Dry Run, Pennsylvania; Sadie, living at Blair's Mills, Pennsylvania; Mattie, the wife of Dr. Shope, of Dry Run, Pennsylvania, and Wil- liam O.
Dr. Skinner supplemented his early education by an academic course and prepared for his pro- fession as a medical student in the University of Pennsylvania, from which he was graduated with the class of 1874. He located for practice in Harrisonville, Pennsylvania, and afterward fol- lowed his profession in Dry Run, Pennsylvania, until 1876, when he came to Griggsville, where he has practiced continuously since the spring of 1877. He has been presi- dent of the board of pension examiners, fill- president of the board of pension examiners, fill- ing the position under President Cleveland, and he has had a large private practice, which has brought him a good financial return. Conscientious in the discharge of his duties, and manifesting strict conformity to a high standard of profes- sional ethics, he has won the trust of the general public and the respect of his professional brethren.
On the Ioth of June, 1874, Dr. Skinner was married to Miss Fannie Brown, who was born in Griggsville township, May 17, 1852, a daughter of Henry R. Brown, who first married Harriet Parks. There was one child of that marriage but the mother and child both died and Mr. Brown afterward married Elizabeth Jane Chap- man. They became the parents of eight chil- dren, of whom five are now living: John, a resident of Kansas; Mrs. Mary J. Wat- kins, who is living in Pike county; Mrs. Skinner; C. W., who is now living in Kansas ;
and William W., who resides upon the old home- stead. The father, who was a native of Ohio, died in 1902, at the venerable age of eighty-two years, while Mrs. Brown, a native of South Caro- lina, is now living on the old homestead at the age of eighty-three years, being the last survivor of a family of twenty members. Mr. Brown, hav- ing come to Illinois with his parents at an early date, started in life with little capital, but made a success at farming and stock-raising and be- came the owner of land in both Kansas and Illi- nois, and at his death left an estate valued at about seventy-five thousand dollars. Such a rec- ord should serve to inspire and encourage others, showing what can be accomplished through de- termined and earnest purpose. He never cared for public office, but voted with the republican party and gave his earnest support to the Bap- tist church, with which he long held membership.
Unto Dr. and Mrs. Skinner have been born three children : Harry R., who was born June 30, 1875, and married Blanche Wade; Floyd L., born June 7, 1879; and William K., who was born June 24, 1884, and is now attending the law de- partment of the University of Illinois.
In his political views Dr. Skinner is a demo- crat and upon the party ticket was elected mayor of Griggsville, giving to the city a public-spirited and progressive administration during his two years' incumbency. He is a public-spirited man whose devotion to the general good is mani- fest in tangible effort for all that tends to promote the material, intellectual and social progress of the city.
THOMAS B. ELLIS.
Thomas B. Ellis, a retired farmer who was formerly closely associated with agricultural in- terests in Detroit township but now resides in Pittsfield, was born in Lockport, Erie county, New York, November 8, 1832, his parents being Thomas and Elizabeth (Brooks) Ellis. The fa- ther was born in Oxfordshire, England, in 1808, and in that country was married to Miss Brooks, whose birth occurred in 1804. On the day of their marriage they started for the new world and were nine weeks in crossing the ocean on a
255
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
sailing vessel. Landing at New York in 1831, they made their way to Erie county in the Em- pire state, where they resided until 1835, when they came to Pike county, Illinois. The father . had owned a farm in Erie county which he sold on his removal to the west and on reaching Pike county he invested in school land in De- troit township, where he spent his remaining days, becoming the owner of between six and seven hundred acres. His landed possessions were thus extensive and indicated a life of use- fulness and activity. Unto him and his wife were born seven children, of whom four are now liv- ing: Thomas B .; John B., who makes his home in Detroit, Illinois ; Peter, who is living in Cali- fornia ; and Mrs. Elizabeth Blizzard, also of De- troit township. In early life the parents were followers of the Episcopal faith but in later years became members of the Methodist church. Mr. . Ellis was a republican in his political views and served as school director, taking an active inter- est in educational affairs. He died in the year 1867, while his wife passed away in 1888.
Thomas B. Ellis acquired his early education in the common schools of Detroit township, the little "temple of learning" being a log school- house. When he put aside his text-books he began farming .on the old homestead and later he purchased a farm of one hundred and forty acres on section 15, Detroit township, to the cul- tivation of which he devoted his energies with excellent success from 1857 until 1883. He then returned to the old home farm and again re- sumed the work of cultivation and improvement there. His business labors, however, were inter- rupted by active service in the Civil war, for in 1862 he enlisted in the Union army as a member of Company C, Ninety-ninth Illinois Infantry, with which he served for two years and eleven months. During the first year he acted as wagon master. The first battle in which he participated was at Vicksburg, after which he was sent to New Orleans, where his company did provost guard duty for a time. Subsequently they went to Texas on the Powder Horn and afterward were at Mobile, Alabama. When they went around the Powder Horn in Texas the company was mounted for a year under Colonel Matthews.
Being detailed, they were sent to see about a bridge, and Mr. Ellis and two comrades were captured and taken to Camp Ford in Tyler, Texas, where he was held as a prisoner of war for six months but he underwent none of the usual hard treatment which many of the Union prisoners were forced to endure. When a half year had gone by he was exchanged and re- joined his regiment on the 22d of July, 1864. He was with the Ninety-ninth Illinois at the time of the capture of Spanish Fort and then because of trouble with his eyes he was sent to the hospital at New Orleans and thence to Philadelphia and afterward to Chicago, where he. was discharged July 13, 1865. For three years thereafter the trouble with his eyes occasioned him serious in- convenience.
Following his return home Mr. Ellis resumed farming, purchasing three hundred and fifteen acres of land in Detroit township, which he still owns. He always carried on general farming pursuits and stock-raising and both branches of his business proved profitable. His fields were placed under a high state of cultivation and he raised good grades of stock so that the products of fields and pasture both brought to him a good financial return.
His wife owns a fine home in Pittsfield, where they now reside, Mr. Ellis having retired from active business cares to enjoy the rest to which his former active labor justly entitles him.
It was in 1873 that Mr. Ellis was united in marriage to Miss Frances Allen, who was born in Saline county, Missouri, February 5, 1847, a daughter of John W. and Louisa (Baker) Allen. Her father was born October 21, 1814, and the mother in 1824. The parental grandfather, Lit- tlebury Allen, was born in Henrico county, Vir- ginia, in 1767, and spent his entire life in that locality. He married Jane Austin, who was also born in that neighborhood and in the community where he lived he was regarded as a man of prominence and influence. He held various local positions of public trust and was an official in the United States Bank, a branch of which was es- tablished at Richmond, Virginia, under a char- ter by President Washington in 1796. He was afterward doorkeeper of the state senate for
256
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
. twenty-eight years and had a wide acquaintance among the distinguished men of Virginia. He died in the year 1832, having for several years survived his wife who passed away in 1821.
John W. Allen, father of Mrs. Ellis, was born in Virginia, October 21, 1814, and acquired his elementary education in the little schoolhouse at Seven Pines, while subsequently he pursued a classical course in Cold Harbor, gaining a thor- ough understanding of Latin, mathematics and surveying. At the age of nineteen years he had entered upon his business career as a school teacher in his native state and a year later went to Kentucky, where he continued to follow that profession. He made his home in the Blue Grass state until 1841 when he was married and removed to Saline county, Missouri, locating on a tract of land which he cultivated until 1847, at the same time continuing his work as a teacher. In the latter year he came to Pike county, Illinois, locating at Milton, where he taught school for a number of years and he likewise carried on farm- ing in Detroit and Montezuma townships. Throughout his entire life he was interested in agricultural pursuits and as an educator did much for the intellectual development of the lo- calities with which he was connected. He figured prominently in public affairs in Pike county and from 1861 until 1865 served as county judge. He was also supervisor of Detroit township for sev- eral years and his influence was ever on the side of progress, reform, improvement and develop- ment. In his family were twelve children, of whom five are yet living, namely : Dr. C. I. Allen, of Milton; Mrs. Ellis; Mrs. J. Morton, of St. Louis; Henry L. Allen, of Kansas; and Dr. A. R. Allen, of Bradshaw, Nebraska.
Mrs. Ellis began her education in the common · schools of Detroit township and afterward con- tinued her studies in Pittsfield and subsequently engaged in teaching for three years. She is a lady of refinement and culture and she and her husband are accorded a prominent position in social circles here. They have become the parents of seven children: Thomas H., who was born July 11, 1874, married Alberta Elliot and lives in Detroit, Illinois. John A., born October 14, 1875, married Maud Elliot and lives on the old
homestead in Detroit township. Charles I. born April 20, 1877, married Lenna Scarborough and is living in Detroit township. Elizabeth, born August 31, 1879, is in a training school for nurses in Chicago. Louise, born July 2, 1881, is at home. Arthur C., born September 21, 1883, is living on the old homestead farm with his brother. Richard M., born August 1, 1885, is attending the Gem City Business College, at Quincy, Illinois.
The parents are members of the Methodist church and Mr. Ellis belongs to Benjamin Moore post, G. A. R., of Detroit. He gives his political support to the republican party and his sons, John A. and Thomas, have each served as assessor of Detroit township. In matters of citizenship Mr. Ellis is as faithful and loyal to his home localit, his state and nation as when he followed the old flag upon Southern battle-fields. He made a cred- itable record as a soldier, doing his full duty toward the cause he espoused and in all life's relations he has manifested an unfaltering attach- ment to the principles in which he has believed and the honorable course of life which he has marked out. His business interests, honorably conducted, have brought him creditable success so that now he is enabled to enjoy a well earned rest in Pittsfield.
WILLIAM STULTS.
William Stults, living on section 14, Newburg township, is a veteran of the Civil war-one of the few remaining old soldiers who can relate from personal experience the events and happenings of the 'boys in blue" who fought for the old flag upon southern battle-fields. He is now classed with the prosperous farmers and stock-raisers of Pike county, where he owns a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He dates his residence in Newburg township from 1867, having come to this state from Ohio. His birth occurred in Highland county, Ohio, October 15, 1841. There the birth of his father, Joseph Stults, also occurred and in that county he was married to Miss Ruth Tedrow, also a native of the same locality. The
257
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
father's death occurred when his son William was very young and the mother died when he was six or seven years of age, therefore Mr. Stults of this review has depended upon his own resources from early youth, so that whatever success he has obtained is attributable entirely to his own efforts. He obtained a common-school education and worked by the month as a farm hand for several years, early learning the value of industry and enterprise as concomitant factors in a success- ful career. At the time of the Civil war, how- ever, he put aside all business and personal con- siderations, enlisting for active service on the Ist of June, 1861, as a member of Company I, Twen- ty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He joined the army for three years and did active service in Tennessee and other parts of the south. He was in the engagement at Shiloh and in the bat- tles of Stone River and Chickamauga. At the last named he was taken prisoner and was incar- cerated at Richmond and at Danville, Virginia, subsequent to which time he was sent to Ander- sonville and afterward to Charleston and Florence, thus being in five different rebel prisons, being held for one thousand four hundred and twenty days. At length he was paroled and passed through the lines at Charleston. For eight months after the term of his enlistment he continued with the army, serving until January, 1865, when he returned home after being honorably discharged at Columbus, Ohio. He made a creditable mili- tary record, never faltering in the performance of duty whether on the picket line or on the firing line.
Following the war William Stults gave his at- tention to farming in Ohio until 1867, when he came to Pike county, Illinois. Here he was again employed by the month at farm labor until he was enabled to begin farming on his own account. On the Ist of October, 1874, he wedded Miss Ellen Kiser, a native of this county, who was born and reared here and is a daughter of Jacob Kiser, one of the early settlers of Virginia, who removed from the Old Dominion to Ohio and afterward became a resident of Indiana. They have had no children but took Belle Fereman to raise when she was seven years of age. She remained with them until her marriage to George
Stephenson. She died November 9, 1905. After his marriage Mr. Stults located on the eighty acres adjoining his present farm. He first bought seventy-eight acres which he cultivated and im- proved and afterward he purchased the eighty acres upon which he is now living, having alto- gether a valuable property of one hundred and sixty acres. Here he has built a substantial resi- dence in modern style of architecture. He also has good barns upon the place and well kept fences. He carries on stock-raising, making a specialty of sheep and is well known in this regard, producing some fine animals upon his place. Politically Mr. Stults has socialistic ten- dencies. He has, however, been without aspir- ation for office and would never consent to become a candidate for political preferment. He is a member of Detroit lodge, I. O. O. F., and the Modern Woodmen camp and both he and his wife are connected with the Rebekah degree of the former. Mr. Stults is one who has achieved success in the face of difficulties and obstacles. He started out in life empty-handed but he soon came to a realization of the worth and value of earnest, persistent labor, and through his enter- prise and unfaltering diligence he has steadily worked his way upward to success.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.