USA > Illinois > Peoria County > Peoria > Peoria city and county, Illinois; a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. II > Part 44
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
"The spring following their return to New York state Roswell Nurse moved with his family to their possessions in Illinois. My father being a mechanic, with plenty of work in the east and no assurance of any in his line in the west, deferred moving his family until 1843, when, with a good team of mares attached to a wagon with the box seat on springs, our family, then five in number, started on the long road to our future home, which we reached in three weeks and a half. A young man named John Champlin went through with us, driving a horse and buggy of Dr. Ashed Wilmotts who moved to Illinois the same spring. Our heavy goods which our father had drawn to Olean Point in the late winter before when they were rafted down the Ohio river in charge of uncle Lyman Robin- son, who came around by water the same spring, arriving at our destination some weeks ahead of us. The day after our arrival the goods were stored and father's family found shelter with the neighbors, and father set out for a sawmill which he found on Senatchwine creek about two miles north of Northampton. Being a millwright, he soon had it in order, and was sawing lumber for a house, Champlin drawing the lumber to the site designated for a home. In just two weeks the family was housed under its own roof. Crude as it was, it was home and we were soon enjoying life in our new environment. Being a Yankee, our father considered a barn indispensable and the second year he built a good substantial structure, enclosed with hardwood lumber of his own sawing. He secured jobs of repairing flour mills and sawmills, one near Princeton, and one near Crow creek. He also did work on the old Evans flour mill, which many of the old settlers remember as located near Kickapoo, Peoria county. Clothing was among the important articles to be provided for and a flock of sheep was among the first things to be looked after, the care of which in those early days was no small matter, as they constantly had to be protected from the preying of wolves. The wool thus grown was spun into yarn and woven into cloth by my mother's deft fingers and by her the cloth was cut and made into garments for the whole family. From her loom also came many a bolt for the neighbors, with all of whom com- fort counted more than mere style.
"The year 1840 is approximately the year of the building of the little brick schoolhouse from which many of us were graduated and the church room which the circuit rider came and held forth every four weeks. Dr. A. Wilmotts, Na- thaniel Smith and my father, with their wives, organized the Congregational church, not as a rival but as a helper in maintaining religious services. Owen Lovejoy of Princeton was at the head of the council of organization. This church worked harmoniously with the Methodist people and for the general good of all until in the process of settlement a few years later, service was moved to Lawn Ridge where the church still stands and has the honor of being the parent from which the Congregational churches of Stark, Edelstein and Speer have sprung.
"Uncle Erastus and Lucas Root joined hands with my father in an effort to set apart the only living spring of water to the general public and the same was bought and deeded to the public forever. Uncle Nathan Stowell, who with our father and brother, was making hay about three miles from home, was struck dead with lightning. Brother Orson was injured, but my father was unhurt. This uncle, with a younger brother were the first persons to be buried in Blue Ridge cemetery. My father died in 1880 in his seventy-third year, and my mother in 1889 in her eighty-first year.
394
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
"Be it said to the credit of our people in that settlement that we have no recollection of a law suit in sixty-five years. In looking back over the record of those in and around the old settlement, as early as 1846 we can count the graves of at least twelve fathers and mothers who rest side by side in the little settlement cemetery.
"Within a half mile of our old home, we wooed and won the faithful wife who had walked by our side for forty-six years. Here our first child was born. Here, when the curtain falls we expect to have our final resting place among the old neighbors, kindred and friends whom we knew so long and so well."
LUCAS I. BUTTS.
Lucas I. Butts is one of the best known and most prominent figures in Peoria today. His name is associated with every movement for the development and improvement of the city, and he uses his well established political talents for the promotion of its progress and growth. He is at present representing the Peoria district in the Illinois general assembly, and has gained a reputation throughout the state for his constant indorsement of reliable and clean legis- lation.
Lucas I. Butts is a native of Memphis, Tennessee, having been born in that city June 5, 1874. His parents were William H. and Ellen J. (Lucas) Butts. The family have been in America since pre-Revolutionary times, his great-great- grandfather, Isaac Lucas having served as a private for eight years in the War for Independence. The grandfather of the subject of this sketch, George L. Lucas, served during the entire Civil war as an Illinois volunteer in the Federal army, as surgeon with the rank of major. Lucas I. Butts' father, William H. Butts, carried on the military traditions of the family by serving as private in Company A, Seventeenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion, and was wounded at Fort Donelson.
Lucas I. Butts was educated in the grammar and high schools of Peoria, and later attended Jubilee College, at Jubilee, Illinois. After his schooling he en- gaged in the coal, lime and cement business, in the employ of the Peoria Fuel Company. He left this line of business in 1900 when he was elected clerk of Peoria county, attaining this office when but twenty-six years old, and had the distinction at that time of being the youngest clerk ever elected in Peoria county. He was elected chairman of the county board, and his work in this capacity is still remembered. His executive ability and his capacity for work stood him in good stead in this capacity, and he promptly set about applying some of his ideas to the active operation of the affairs of the board. He was instrumental in retiring county time orders in the sum of two hundred and forty-two thousand five hundred dollars, drawing from five to seven per cent interest, and reissuing twenty year bonds drawing four per cent interest, thus saving for Peoria county a large amount of money annually. This was only one of the many changes he made in the administration of affairs under his charge. He applied common sense to the management of the county business and revamped and overhauled the ancient manner of handling county affairs. Mr. Butts held the office of county clerk for six years. In the spring of 1908 he was elected chairman of the Peoria county board of supervisors, and in the following fall was elected a member of the Illinois house of representatives, which office he has held since that time, taking an active part in the affairs of the Forty-sixth and the Forty- seventh Illinois general assembly. Mr. Butts' politics are consistently republican, and his political affiliations are matters of principle and belief and not of mere partisanship. He has constantly opposed in the course of his public career every- thing that savored of boss rule and gang methods. His politics have been clean
395
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
and his dealings straightforward and he has made for himself a record in the Illinois house of representatives which few men of his age have equalled.
Mr. Butts' patriotism, which is a tradition in his family coming down to him through several generations of ancestors who fought in the various Ameri- can wars, has always been an active factor in his life. When the Spanish- American war broke out, he was a member of the Illinois Naval Reserve, and in May. 1898, he enlisted as an ordinary seaman in the United States navy. In June of the same year, he was made yeoman of the third class and sent aboard the United States Gunboat Newport. He served during his term of enlistment on the Lancaster, the Newport and the Vermont, acting as captain's writer. He was on the Newport when it blockaded Havana and Mariel, Cuba, captured several vessels as prizes, and convoyed them to New York city. He was hon- orably discharged with recommendation for reenlistment, September 13, 1898.
Fraternally, Lucas I. Butts is a member of the Masonic order, and is promi- nent in the Modern Woodmen of America. He holds membership in the Sons of the Revolution and the Spanish War Veterans. Socially, he is a prominent member of the Creve Coeur Club.
Lucas I. Butts is one of Peoria's rising politicians. The prominence which he has reached in local and state affairs is the result of his honorable methods, his constant support of popular and progressive legislation, and his consistent efforts for the betterment and improvement of municipal and state conditions.
WALTER A. CLINCH.
One of the enterprising citizens of Peoria county is Walter A. Clinch, who is a member of the banking firm of Clinch, Schenck & Lott, of Elmwood. He is a native resident of Elmwood township, born September 24, 1856, the son of Thomas and Sarah Ann ( Bobanan) Clinch, a sketch of whom appears on an- other page of this work. Walter A. Clinch received his early education in the public schools of Elmwood township, and also completed a high-school course , in Elmwood. Later he became a student of the Wesleyan University at Bloom- ington, Illinois. Subsequently he entered the law firm of James & Jack at Peoria, Illinois, remaining with them until 1878, when he was admitted to the bar. He then gave his entire time to the practice of his profession for a short time, but was forced to give up the same on account of ill health. In 1886 he entered the banking firm of Clinch, Schenck & Lott, of which his father was one of the organizers. Since then he has ever been connected with the banking business, although he gives some attention to the practice of law. He also owns a dry-goods store in Elmwood, which store is now operated by his son, Paul. All his life he has been more or less connected with farming interests, now own- ing a valuable farm which he rents to tenants.
On the 24th of September, 1884, Mr. Clinch was united in marriage with Miss Bessie Miller, a native of Burlington, Iowa, and a daughter of Rev. John Miller, who for twenty-two years was pastor of the German Reformed church at Peoria. His wife, the mother of Mrs. Clinch, was Cornelia VanDoren Camp, a native of Brunswick, Germany. Mr. Miller was born in Saxony, Germany, and came to America in 1848, when he was nineteen years of age. He followed his calling as a minister here until his death in October, 1910. His wife passed away several years before. To Mr. and Mrs. Clinch have been born two sons : Charles E., who is now in the banking business with his father : and Paul C., who operates his father's dry-goods store in this city. Both sons were educated at Knox College.
In his political views Mr. Clinch is a republican and for the past five years has served on the county board of supervisors, and at the present time is chair-
396
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
man of the same. Also, he has served as a member of the board of review. Fraternally he is identified with the Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. He has ever given much time and attention to the interests of educa- tion, and served for years as a member of the educational board of Elmwood. Mrs. Clinch belongs to the Congregational church. Mr. Clinch is interested in all that pertains to the welfare and upbuilding of the community and his labors both as a lawyer and as a banker have brought him a measure of success which is gratifying, for his prosperity is due not only to his diligence, but also to his business probity.
A. J. HENSELER.
The late A. J. Henseler, who for many years was engaged in the wholesale liquor business at 321 South Washington street, was a worthy representative of the commercial interests of Peoria. A native of Prussia, he was born in the city of Opladen, on the Ioth of September, 1849, and was a son of John Engelbert and Wilhelmina (Kirsch) Henseler, who were born, reared and married in Prussia. The paternal grandfather was a soldier under the great Napoleon from 1809 to 1813, and during that time he participated in the Spanish invasion and he was one of the footsore and weary that retreated from Moscow. To- gether with his wife and family, John Engelbert Henseler, who was an architect and builder, emigrated to the United States in 1853. Upon his arrival in this country he located in Chicago, but eighteen months later he came to Peoria, where he reared his family and passed the remainder of his life. He served for three years in the engineer corps of the Prussian army and when the Civil war broke out in 1861 he enlisted and went to the front as lieutenant of a Missouri Engineer Corps. Two years later he resigned, owing to the condition of his health, and was discharged with the rank of captain. The mother passed away in 1857.
A. J. Henseler was a child of four years when his parents emigrated to the United States, and a boy of six when they located in Peoria, where he ever after lived. In the acquirement of his education he attended the German Catholic school of St. Joseph's parish until he was thirteen, when he laid aside his text- books and began earning his own living. His first position was that of store boy for L. Rohrbach by whom he was employed for three years. He next entered the service of Muller & Kruse, dry-goods merchants, remaining with them until 1868. When he withdrew from the employment of this firm he took a position as salesman with a lightning rod company, following this occupation for a year. In 1870 he became a salesman for the wholesale liquor house of Louis Green & Company, his services in this capacity proving so acceptable that at the expiration of a year he was taken into the firm. He remained on the road as a salesman for the company until January, 1889, when he purchased the entire business, and the next year he took his brother Philip into partnership with him. Under his excellent supervision and management the business developed in a remarkable manner, the firm of A. J. Henseler becoming one of the best known wholesale liquor houses in this section of the state. He was a man of enterpris- ing and progressive methods, who not only had the faculty of winning patrons, but always accorded them such courteous and considerate treatment that he was able to retain their confidence and esteem. Far-sighted in his methods he never permitted the profits of the present to jeopardize the returns of the future, and made it a point at all times to truthfully represent his goods and to provide as good or better an article as could be put out by any other house for the same price. He was very much absorbed in the development of his business and devoted himself closely to it until late in the year 1896, when his health began to fail and after a lingering illness of ten months he passed away on the 27th of
7
A. J. HENSELER
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
399
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
June, 1897, at the age of forty-seven years. Ilis death was a loss to the entire community, as he was a man of progressive and enterprising spirit, who took an active and helpful interest in all things pertaining to the public welfare.
On the 14th of April, 1872, Mr. Henseler was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Errion, a native of Germany, whence she emigrated to America with her father in 1855. To Mr. and Mrs. Henseler there were born two children, a son and a daughter, both of whom are now deceased. William Alexander, who was born on the 2d of November, 1872, died on November 1, 1888, the day pre- ceding the sixteenth anniversary of his birth. Freda R., the daughter, was born on October 28, 1874. She became the wife of Dr. Fred Duval Waugh in August, 1900, and passed away February 13, 1911.
Fraternally he was affiliated with the Knights of Pythias, being past chan- cellor of Calantha Lodge, No: 47 ; he also belonged to Peoria Lodge, No. 20, A. O. U. W .; the Peoria Commercial Club ; the Peoria Commercial Travelers Associa- tion ; and Elks Lodge, No. 20. Nineteen years on the road in the capacity of a traveling salesman, caused him to always take an active interest in everything connected with the Travelers Association of which he was one of the strongest and most enthusiastic workers, and here as elsewhere he has been greatly missed. Mr. Henseler was a self-made man in every sense of the word, his success being entirely attributable to his energy, determination of purpose and perseverance that carried him to the goal of his ambition. His career was not distinguished by any particularly brilliant achievements but was the orderly, permanent prog- ress that characterizes the development of the man who is dependent upon his own efforts. The business of the firm he directed so capably is now under the management of his brother and partner, Philip Henseler, who is a most enter- prising business man and a worthy successor of the former head of the house. In the conduct of this concern, Philip Henseler is adhering to the policy they adopted during the life time of his brother and as a result the enterprise is pros- pering satisfactorily, cach year's receipts showing a marked advance over those of the one previous.
JOHN A. KELLY.
John A. Kelly, who has been engaged in the hotel business in Peoria for the past thirty-two years, is the proprietor of four hotels in this city, all of which are being conducted under his management. He was born in April, 1850, and is a son of James Kelly, a native of Ireland, who was a cabinet-maker by trade.
After the acquirement of a common-school education, John A. Kelly learned the cabinet-maker's trade of his father, following this occupation until he was thirty years of age. He came to Peoria on the 12th of July, 1872, and has ever since made this city his home. He was an enterprising young man of industrious habits and met with such success in following his trade that he acquired suf- ficient capital to enable him to engage in the hotel business. In 1880 he opened his first house at the corner of Fulton and Bridge streets. It has always been his policy to run a good, clean, moderate-priced hotel for the accommodation of the farmers and rural community. His efforts in this direction have succeeded and he has built up an excellent patronage, and is in all probability one of the best known men in the county, while he can boast a larger acquaintance among the farming community than any other man in Peoria. As his business devel- oped he extended the scope of his activities by establishing another hotel on Adams street, and he subsequently opened one at 110 and 112 Madison street, where he and his family live, while he has a fourth house at Jefferson and Ful- ton streets, in the Jobst block. All of these are widely known among the country population, and are well patronized by the farmers throughout the county. Vol. II-19
400
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
It has always been Mr. Kelly's aim to keep a quiet, orderly house, with neat, comfortable rooms and a substantial table, such as will appeal to the man of simple tastes who is willing to pay for comforts but does not demand extrava- gant luxuries. That he has succeeded in his effort is manifested by the excellent patronage he has built up and by the fact that he is known as the "farmers' friend." People from the rural districts for miles around never think of stop- ping anywhere but at "Kelly's," when they come to the city.
Mr. Kelly is married and has one daughter, Beatrice. He was only twenty- two years of age when he came to Peoria and here he cast his first presidential vote, which was for Horace Greeley. The polling place was on the present site of the Union Passenger Station. Mr. Kelly was quite active in politics for many years, but he no longer participates in municipal affairs, although he always makes it a point to appear at the polls on election day. He is a most agreeable man of a genial nature and cordial manner, who is intensely loyal to his friends and is at all times ready to assist those who are unfortunate. His residence in Peoria covers a period of more than a quarter of a century, and during that time he has manifested those qualities that entitle him to the respect he is accorded by all who know him.
HENRY JOHNSON KREY.
Henry Johnson Krey, who since 1903 has resided on his excellent farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Elmwood township, was born in Ostfriesland, Germany. January 23, 1858. He is the son of John and Maria Krey, both of whom were natives of that country, and the mother is still living there. The father died in 1895. He was a laborer and reared a family of ten children, six of whom are now living. They are Henry Johnson, of this review ; Aaron, who resides in Iowa; and two sons and two daughters who live in Germany. Two of his sons who came to America passed away in Peoria county.
Henry J. Krey was educated in the public schools of Germany and, being the eldest in a large family of children, it became necessary for him to work very hard in his boyhood days to help toward the support of the family. In 1885 he came to America, reaching Peoria on May 19th of that year. He here worked in a starch factory for four months, receiving as compensation for his services one dollar and ten cents per day. Afterward he was employed on a farm for two years. He then worked for a year in a boarding house and in a coal bank, at a salary of two hundred dollars per year. Subsequently he took up mining, earn- ing as a daily wage one dollar and a half for ten hours' work. Finally he rented a small farm of forty acres, on which there was a coal bank, and he engaged there in farming and coal mining for five years. Later he rented a larger farm of three hundred acres, which he operated for two years. He then farmed on a two hundred acre tract of rented land for three years. In 1903 he purchased his present home of one hundred and sixty acres of land in Elmwood township and has since resided there, being engaged in general farming, in which he is very successful.
On December 4, 1878, Mr. Krey married Miss Margaret Johnson, a native of Ostfriesland, Germany, and a daughter of John Henry and Anna Johnson, who resided all their lives in Germany. In their family were eight children, of whom two brothers and one sister are now living in Germany. To Mr. and Mrs. Krey have been born eight children, namely: Mary; Anna; John; Aaron, deceased ; Margaret ; Mina ; Henry ; and Emma, deceased. In his political views Mr. Krey is a republican, and he is a member of the Lutheran church but now attends that of the Methodist Episcopal denomination. Through his energy and per- sistence Mr. Krey has gained the confidence and good-will of all with whom he
401
HISTORY OF PEORIA COUNTY
has been brought in contact and is justly accounted among the highly honored citizens of Elmwood township. Ile has ever been thrifty and enterprising and deserves much commendation for the success he has achieved, for he started out in life empty-handed and is now the owner of an excellent home.
WILLIAM J. BUCK.
William J. Buck was long a representative of agricultural interests in Peoria county but is now living retired, occupying a comfortable and attractive home in the city. He belongs to one of the oldest pioneer families of this section and is the owner of the old homestead farm upon which his grandfather settled in 1831. Since that date the name of Buck has been associated with the de- velopment and upbuilding of this section, and the work instituted by his grand- father and continued by his father has been carried on by William J. Buck, who is a loyal supporter of all the measures and movements for the benefit and upbuilding of the community. His birth occurred January 30, 1848, on section 6, Hollis township. Ilis grandfather, Ahaliah Buck, was born in Pennsylvania, but in his boyhood accompanied his parents on their removal to Cayuga county, New York. In 1801 he was united in marriage to Miss Annis Drake, who was born in Orange county, New York. They continued residents of the Empire state until 1830 when they removed westward, arriving in Peoria county some weeks later. Mr. Buck was pleased with the country and its prospects and then returned to the old home in the Empire state, walking most of the way. Im- mediately afterward he packed his goods and with his family came overland to Illinois, establishing his home on section 6, Hollis township, in 1831. With the pioneer development of the region he was closely associated through many years, and his labors proved an effective element in reclaiming this section for the purpose of civilization. He successfully engaged in farming to the time of his death which occurred in 1855, when he was seventy-nine years of age, while his wife passed away January 13, 1861, at the very advanced age of eighty-three.
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.