USA > Illinois > Pike County > Past and present of Pike County, Illinois > Part 51
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
380
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
capitalized for four hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He has occupied this position for twenty years. The company commenced business April 8, 1876, with a capital of a little more than fifty thousand dollars and that their business has been prosperous is indicated by the fact that the poli- · cies now represent over four hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
At the time of the Civil war Mr. Wilson put aside business and personal considerations in or- der to aid his country, enlisting as a member of Company H, Seventy-third Illinois Infantry at Buckhorn on the IIth of October, 1864. He was transferred to the Forty-fourth Illinois Regiment in June, 1865, and was honorably discharged on the 5th of September of the latter year. He is a member of Perry lodge, No. 95, A. F. & A. M., and of the Grand Army post and he and his fam- ily are members of the Presbyterian church. He has always been an earnest supporter of the pub- lic schools and has labored effectively and earn- estly for the advancement of the county along material, intellectual and moral lines.
Mr. Wilson was married to Miss Cornelia E. Bradbury, who was born December 12, 1847, in Griggsville township and is the eldest child of Jotham and Mahala (Hobbs) Bradbury, the for- mer a native of Ohio, born in 1824 and the latter born in Kentucky in 1822. They became resi- dents of Illinois in early life and after their mar- riage settled on a farm in Pike county, where they remained for many years, but ultimately Mr. Bradbury put aside business cares and removed to a pleasant home in the village of Griggsville. Both were members of the Baptist church and were earnest Christian people, whose lives were in many respects worthy of emulation. Both have now passed away. In their family were seven children, of whom five are now living: Mrs. Wilson, Ernest C., Nicholas, Lillie and Lula. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were married May 13, 1868, and their union has been blessed with three children. Grace I. is the wife of Leslie Bird, by whom she has two daughters, Elizabeth and Catherine. Mr. Bird is now cashier of the State Bank of Belleville, Wisconsin. Bessie E. and Catherine J. are at home. Mr. Wilson has spent almost his entire life in this county and his
interest in community affairs finds proof in the active and helpful part which he has taken for the public good. He is watchful of business oppor- tunities and in utilizing his chances has steadily progressed until today he is well known as a rep- resentative of agricultural and financial circles in this county.
WILLIAM H. DINSMORE.
William H. Dinsmore, living on section 27, Hardin township, is one of the thrifty farmers and stock-raisers, whose farm is the proof of his industry and capable management. He owns forty acres of land and is cultivating a tract of one hundred and twenty acres, including the old family homestead. His birth occurred July 29, 1858, in this county. His father, Marshall Dins- more, was a native of Scott county, Illinois, born in March, 1826. He married Miss Martha Jan- uary, whose birth occurred in Greene county, Illi- nois, where her father, John January, had settled at a very early day. Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Dinsmore located in Har- din township, where he improved a farm and owned two hundred and eighty acres of land. He afterward bought and improved three other farms and spent his life in this county, his death oc- curring here March 2, 1890. His wife survives him and resides upon the old homestead with her son, William H., who was one of a family of four children. The eldest, Susan, is now the wife of Hayes Calvin. The others are: Mrs. Emily Couch and Mrs. Nora Harshman, of Pike county.
No event of special importance occurred to vary. the routine of farm life for William H. Dinsmore in his boyhood and youth. He assisted his father in the care and improvement of the home farm and remained in Pike county until 1890, when he spent one year in California, being employed as a farm hand there. He then returned in 1891 and took charge of the farm and business, developing the fields and also raising good horses and hogs for the market. He has displayed excellent busi- ness ability and keen discernment in his work and in estimating the value of stock his judgment is seldom, if ever, at fault.
381
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
On the IIth of October, 1884, Mr. Dinsmore was united in marriage to Miss Ella Collier, a native of Pike county and a daughter of John Collier, who was born in Indiana but later took up his abode in Pike county. There is only one son by this marriage, R. T. Dinsmore, who is now editor and proprietor of the Nebo Banner.
Politically Mr. Dinsmore is a stanch and stal- wart democrat, keeping well informed on the questions and issues of the day, but without seek- ing office. Mrs. Dinsmore, mother of our sub- ject, and Mrs. R. T. Dinsmore are both mem- bers of the Christian church. Although his life has been quietly passed William H. Dinsmore has always been recognized as a citizen of worth in the community because of his fidelity to the duties that devolve upon him and his active co- operation in many measures which have contrib- uted to the general good.
LEONARD L. WALKER.
Leonard L. Walker, whose high moral stand- ing and progressive citizenship have caused his memory to be cherished by those who were active- ly associated with him through the years of his residence in Pike county, departed this life on the 20th of February, 1889. He was born in Berlin, Rensselaer county, New York, on the 27tli of September, 1813, and was a son of Nathan and Sybil (Rix) Walker, the former a native of Con- necticut. Leonard L. Walker was reared and ed- ucated in the place of his nativity, and after ar- riving at years of maturity was married, on the 14th of November, 1840, to Miss Clarinda Rhodes, whose birth occurred November 15, 1820. She was a daughter of Jonathan and Mary (Taylor) Rhodes, both of whom were natives of Berlin, Rensselaer county, New York. Her father re- moved with his family to Shannahon, Illinois, and soon afterward was drowned. In his family were seven children, but Mrs. Walker is the only one now surviving.
Following their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wal- ker remained in their native state until 1845, when they started westward, going to Troy, New York ; thence to Buffalo; by Lake Erie to Toledo, Ohio ;
on by the Miami canal to the Ohio river and down that stream to the Mississippi. They left the Father of Waters at the Cincinnati landing and came across the country to Barry, locating on a farm of eighty acres adjacent to that city. Here Mr. Walker built a log house in which they lived until 1849. With eleven other men he made the trip overland to California, while his wife and children returned to New York, where they re- mained during the period of four years which Mr. Walker spent on the Pacific coast. He then® returned to Pike county in 1853 and the family also returned from New York the same year. He then resumed farming and later built a fine home which now stands within the city limits of Barry on the original eighty acres which he purchased on coming to Illinois. He spent his life as a farmer and stock-raiser on that land and trans- formed his property into a good farm. He laid out on a part of this land what is known as Wal- ker's addition to the city of Barry and subdivided it into town lots, which he sold at a good figure and thereby materially increased his capital.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Walker have been born two children : Horatio married Josephine Onetto and they live in Edmond, Kansas. Helen has acted as state corresponding secretary for the Wom- an's Christian Temperance Union of Illinois for six years and was state superintendent of litera- ture for the same society for a period of ten years.
Mr. Walker was a man of high and honorable principles, faithful in friendship, loyal in citizen- ship and devoted to his family. He was a mem- ber of the Baptist church and all who know him respected him. His early political support was given the whig party and when the question of slavery began to be agitated he supported the abolition party until the republican party was formed to prevent the further extension of slav- ery when he joined its ranks. Later when he felt that the temperance question had become a dominant issue he voted with the prohibition party. At all times he stood for progress, re- form, improvement and for uplifting influences for humanity. Mrs. Walker, still surviving her husband, makes her home in Barry, and on the 15th of November, 1905, celebrated the eighty-
382
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
fifth anniversary of her birth, on which occasion eighteen ladies, all over seventy years of age, gathered at her home, and the occasion was a most enjoyable one to all.
JAMES SYKES.
Barry numbers James Sykes among her rep- resentative and valuable citizens and as he has a very wide acquaintance throughout Pike county the history of his life can not fail to prove of inter- est to many of our readers. In 1888 he took up his abode in this city where he now resides and where he has continuously made his home for the past seventeen years. He is of English birth, the place of his nativity being Huddersfield, England, and the date March 9, 1819. That was the ancestral home of the family through several generations, his parents and grandparents both being born there.
His father, James Sykes, Sr., spent the early years of his life in his native county and when, quite young began working in the woolen mills, where he advanced steadily as his fidelity and capability were recognized until he became fore- man of the finishing department, but the reports that he heard concerning business opportunities in America lead him to believe that he might pro- gress more rapidly in the new world than in his native country and accordingly in 1821 he bade adieu to friends and native land and sailed for America, establishing his home in Manhattan- ville, which is now included in New York city. There he secured a position and when he found he could make a good living there he sent for his wife and three children. Some years before em- barking for the United States he had married Hannah Hirst, who was also born in Hudders- field, England, and was a daughter of William Hirst, also a native of Yorkshire, England. On receiving word that her husband wished her to join him in America she started with her three children from Liverpool, but after the vessel was out a few weeks it sprang a leak and after sailing for thirteen weeks finally managed to reach the port of Cork, Ireland. Mrs. Sykes then returned
to her old home in England and on again complet- ing her preparations started once more for the new world, arriving eventually in New York, after a voyage of seven weeks. She thus spent twenty weeks of that year upon the ocean. Mr. and Mrs. Sykes made their home in New York city, in Glenham, Dutchess county, and at Brook- lyn, New York, at different times until 1834.
In June of that year James Sykes, Sr., visited Adams county, Illinois, and being pleased with the country and its splendid prospects he made investment in four hundred and eighty acres of government land, located in Beverly township. He then rejoined his family in Brooklyn, and on the 2d of October of the same year, accompanied by his wife and children, he started once more for the Prairie state, traveling on a tow boat on the Hudson river to Albany, thence by way of the Erie canal to Buffalo, by lake to Cleveland, on the Ohio canal to Portsmouth, and there embarked again on a steamer in order to make the journey on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to Quincy. : 'On +reaching their destination they found a little town containing only a few hundred inhabitants and its" public buildings were of the most prim- itive kind, the courthouse being made of logs. There was but one brick structure in the city and that was an addition to another building. Leaving his family in the town, Mr. Sykes made his way to his claim, whereon he erected a log cabin, which was the second building in Beverly town- ship, Adams county, and between his home and Quincy there were only five houses. Soon the fam- ily were installed in the little cabin and he ener- getically took up the task of converting his claim into a productive and valuable farm, residing thereon until his death, in 1852. He lived in Adams county during the period of its pioneer development, when large herds of deer were to be seen and there was much other wild game. Only here and there had a claim been entered and the work of improvement begun, but he had faith in the future of the state and he bore an energetic and helpful part in reclaiming the wild land and in planting the seeds of improvement and civilization. Mrs. Sykes passed away about a year prior to her husband's death and Adams county thus lost two of its valuable and repre-
-
LIKHARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.
JAMES SYKES
MRS. JAMES SYKES
LIBRARY Of THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.
387
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
sentative citizens. In their family were four chil- dren : Mary, who married Jacob Funk and died in Beverly township; William, whose death also occurred in that township; James, of this review ; and John, who was born in New York city and is now living in Adams county. The father left a large estate in land that has become very val- uable and some of this is still in possession of the family.
James Sykes, whose name introduces this record, was only two years old when brought by his parents to America and was a youth of fifteen at the time of the removal of the family to Illi- nois. The remainder of his youth was therefore passed amid the wild scenes and environments of pioneer life. He shared with the family in the hardships and trials incident to the establishment of a home on the frontier and his memory forms a connecting link between the primitive past and progressive present. His reminiscences of pioneer days are most interesting for he relates clearly events of much importance in that early period, as well as the manner in which the people lived when they had to depend upon their own labors and resources for almost everything in their homes or in use upon their farms and also for their clothing. About 1852, as the people of Quincy did not wish to have the county seat removed to the center of what was then Adams county the county was divided, the eastern half being called Marquette. The people of that section, however, refused to organize into a county and for five years the singular and unheard-of condition existed of a tract of land twelve by thirty miles, well settled, and in the midst of a thriving country being with- out law or taxes and yet remaining perfectly peaceable with no officers to execute laws. The residents, however, lived quietly, settling their differences by arbitration, keeping up their roads, schools, etc., and thus the condition of affairs con- tinued for five years. In 1858 a convention was called to revise the constitution of the state and the clause inserted declaring any territory set apart from a county that did not organize within five years should revert to the county to which it formerly belonged and thus Marquette county became a part of Adams county.
Mr. Sykes is thoroughly familiar with the work of progress and improvement as it was car- ried on in those pioneer days. The nearest mill from his parents' home was about seven miles distant and was operated by ox or horse power, while the second mill in their vicinity was built close to the present site of Beverly. This mill was worked by oxen and the flour wos bolted by hand machinery. The old-fashioned wooden mold board plow was used in the fields and the grain was harvested with a cradle and then placed upon the ground and then tramped out by horses and oxen. There were no fanning mills, so that the farmers placed their grain in a measure which they. raised as high as they could and then turned it out slowly, on to the ground that the wind might blow the chaff away. Much of the farm work was done by oxen including the breaking of the prairie and the tilling of the fields, and the farmers traveled to market behind ox-teams. Mr. Sykes, possessing considerable mechanical skill . and ingenuity, was called upon to do much of the carpenter work at the old homestead and made the mold boards for the plow, the points being manufactured by blacksmiths. He remained under the parental roof until he had attained his majority, assisting in the various departments of farm labor, and on attaining his majority. he re- ceived from his father a gift of eighty acres of wild land, half prairie and half brush. Upon this he erected a frame residence which was the third of the kind built in Beverly township and it was used as a shop meeting house and public hall for two years. His natural mechan- ical skill enabled him to follow carpentering and he devoted a portion of his time to that pursuit for nearly thirty years, at the same time superin- tending the improvement of his farm, which he brought under a high state of cultivation. In 1850 he purchased a tract of wild prairie in Bever- ly township, for which he paid four dollars per acre. The following year he sowed about forty acres of this land to wheat and he has gradually become a large landowner, adding from time to time to his real estate until his possessions are extensive, embracing very valuable farm land in Adams county. There he continued to engage in general agricultural pursuits until 1888, when
20
388
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
he removed to Barry and purchased his home, which is beautifully located on Diamond Hill and is one of the fine residences of the town. He is now enjoying a rest, which is well earned and richly merited.
On September 23, 1849, occurred the marriage of James Sykes and Miss Mary Ayres, who was born in Woodridge, New Jersey, and died in Beverly township, April 1, 1873. They had be- come the parents of eleven children, five of whom have passed away, while six are yet living, name- ly : Hannah is now the wife of Aaron House and lives in Nebraska, has four children and six grandchildren. Elizabeth is the wife of James O. McLain and has five children. Her home is at Weeping Water, Nebraska. Joseph married Martha E. Holt, resides at Colorado Springs, and has one son, George. Emma is the wife of Mark Huffman and resides at Beverly, Adams county, and they have four children. Frank married Eliza Hill, lives at Hadley station in Pike county and has three children. Hattie is the wife of Frank Lawson and is living near Barry, and they have three children. After losing his first wife, Mr. Sykes was again married on the 25th of November, 1875, his second wife being Miss Martha J. Cunningham, whose birth occurred in Harrison county, Ohio, and who is a daughter of George and Mary (Humphrey) Cunningham, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of. Ohio. Mrs. Cunningham spent her entire life in her native state and after her death, in 1867, Mr. Cunningham came to Pike county, Illinois, FRANKLIN CADWELL. purchasing a farm in Hadley township, whereon he continued to make his home until his demise in the spring of 1882. He then sold his farm . in Griggsville on the 28th of January, 1906, the and took up his abode. in Barry, where he pur- chased a residence which he occupied until his death in May of the same year.
Mr. Sykes is indeed one of the typical pio- neers of this section of the state and is a man whose force of character and genuine worth have made him a valued factor in public life. His political allegiance was given to the democracy in his early manhood and his first presidential vote was cast for Martin Van Buren. When the republican party was organized he joined its ranks and has never failed to advocate its principles.
He has always kept well informed on the questions and issues of the day, politically and otherwise, and has been a broad reader and a frequent con- tributor to various papers. The cause of edu- cation has ever found in him a warm and help- ful friend and for nearly thirty years he served as a school director in Adams county and after- ward became a member of the board of education of Barry and has acted as chairman of the board of health. He has in his possession what proves to be a most interesting volume. Since 1834 he has been writing a diary, which continues to the present time. An indication of his experience in early life may be given in the following ex- tracts : "September 2, 1840, helped father tramp and clean up twelve and a half bushels of wheat." "September 3, 1840, went to Payson to muster." "September 8, ground two axes and went to the woods and cut four trees," September 10 and II. Bill and me tramped out fifteen bushels of wheat." "September 15, rainy-made a pair of pants." The same volume also contains reminiscences of his early life in the state of New York and also a splendid account of his trip on a pony up Pikes Peak on the 23d of October, 1890, when he was in his seventy-second year. He is now eighty- seven years of age and is yet a well preserved man of great mental vigor whom it is a pleasure to meet and know.
In the death of Franklin Cadwell at his home county lost one of its pioneer settlers, who assist- ed in laying the foundation for the upbuilding of western Illinois. His last years were spent in retirement from labor in his Griggsville home, but at one time he was successfully and exten- sively engaged in fruit-growing and his business interests resulted in the acquirement of a capital that now enables him to rest in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil. He was born in Kentucky, October 4, 1828, and came to Illinois in 1835 with his parents, William and Elizabeth (McFarland) Cadwell. In the father's family
389
PAST AND PRESENT OF PIKE COUNTY.
were seven children, of whom two are living: Addison, who resides in Pittsfield and has served as assessor and collector of the county; and Lu- cinda, the wife of George Crumb, a resident of Los Angeles, California. The father became one of the pioneer settlers of Pike county, arriving in Illinois in 1835. He secured a tract of land and began farming, following that occupation · until his death in his sixty-fifth year. His wife survived him and died in her seventieth year. Mr. Cadwell was a Jeffersonian democrat and was one of the esteemed and worthy early settlers of this portion of the state. He aided in reclaiming the wild land for the purposes of civilization and took a helpful part in every movement calculated to benefit the county and produce modern progress.
Franklin Cadwell was but seven years of age when brought to Pike county by his parents and was here reared amid the wild scenes, conditions and environments of pioneer life, sharing with the family in all the hardships and trials incident to the establishment of a home upon the frontier. He attended the primitive schools of that period until he reached the age of young manhood, when he learned the carpenter's. trade under Alfred Bissell, of Pittsfield, and was identified with that pursuit for several years, during which time he built a number of houses now standing in Griggs- ville. In 1850, attracted by the discovery of gold in California, he went to the far west, where he remained until 1855, when he returned to Illinois. The same year he was married and removed to Greene county, where he engaged in farming with success, accumulating a large tract of land. On returning to Griggsville he turned his attention to merchandising as a member of the firm of Cad- well & Bonnell, the junior partner being Albert Bonnell. Owing to the fact that Mr. Cadwell was not able to give to the business his entire personal attention this venture was not entirely successful and the business was closed out, Mr. Cadwell concentrating his entire energies upon his farming interests in Greene county. In this line he prospered and not only recovered the losses he had sustained by his previous venture but accumulated a competency. In a few years he returned with his family to Pike county and built
the fine brick residence east of Griggsville, now owned by his son George. As his financial re- sources increased he added to his property hold- ings until at one time he owned eight hundred acres, a part of which was covered with timber. He had an orchard of one hundred and sixty acres, and for forty years he devoted his time and attention largely to the cultivation of fruit, being the most extensive fruit-grower in the county. He made a specialty of apples, becoming one of the largest and most successful orchardists in this part of the state. Together with his sons, William and George, he owned at one time over one thousand acres of apple orchards. He made large shipments and as he produced fruit only of the best varieties all of the products of his place found a ready sale on the market. He had an orchard of sixteen acres on the old homestead in Griggsville township, while the remainder of his property he had divided among his children. In 1862 he and his wife removed to the city of Griggsville, where he remained up to the time of his death. He led a very active and busy life up to within five years of his demise, after which he largely lived retired.
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.