Portrait and bigraphical album of Livingston County, Ill. : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, together with portraits and biographies , Part 102

Author: Chapman Brothers (Chicago) publisher
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman brothers
Number of Pages: 1208

USA > Illinois > Livingston County > Portrait and bigraphical album of Livingston County, Ill. : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, together with portraits and biographies > Part 102

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).

The wife of our subject is the daughter of Orrin and Elizabeth (Smith) Goddard, the former a na- tive of Pennsylvania and the latter of Ohio. They came to Illinois in the fall of 1848, and located in Livingston County the following year. They are now retired from active labor, and are spending their later years in a comfortable home at Manville. They were the parents of nine children-Burr B., Lizzie L., Emma, Jobn, James P., Julia, Guy, Por- ter and Frank; all except Lizzie L. are at home. Lizzie L., the wife of our subject, was born April 17, 1860, in Reading Township, this county, and by her union with Mr. Lundy has had two children

LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

-. Jessie G .. who was born Feb. 16, 1880, and Clement G., who was born Sept. 27, 1884, and died Feb. 17. 1885. Mr. Lundy votes the straight Re- publican ticket and, with bi- estimable lady, is a member in good standing of the Methodist Episco- pal Church.

As representative of the buildings of this section of the county we present on an adjoining page of this AmBuy a view of Mr. Lundy's residence and surroundings.

ILLIAM WASHFORD CRITTEN, who is actively engaged in farming and stock- raising on section 9, in Reading Township, is a native of Ohio, and was born on the 22d of Au- gust. 1824. He is a son of Christopher and Eura Eaton (Drake) Critten. The parents removed from Ohio to Indiana when our subject was about four years of age, and it was not until he was four- teen years old that he was permitted to enter a school-room. because of the distance to the nearest school-house from his home.

Mr. Critten was married, on the 5th of June, 1848. in Montgomery County, Ind., to Laura Ann Rector, who was born on the 18th of August, 1829. She was the daughter of George and Mary ( Riddle) Rector, natives of North Carolina. To her parents were born the following children: Laura Ann, wife of our subject; Matilda E., March 5, 1832; John J. was born on the 21st of October, 1834, is a farmer and resides in Fountain County, Ind; he married Catherine Laton, and they have six chil- dren. two of whom are deceased. Stephen L., born Aug. 21. 1837. is a farmer by occupation and re- side- in Indiana; he married Sarah Duncan, and they have had two children, both of whom are de- ceased. William P. married Miss C. Duncan and removed to Iowa. where he is engaged in farming. Mr. and Mrs. (ritten had one chikl, George F., born Sept. 25. 1853. The latter married Miss Emmeretta Swan, the daughter of Henry P. and Deborah Swan, Feb. 21, 1876.

1881; Laura Deborah, born Oct. 3, 1882: Adelia Pearl, Aug. 3, 1884, and Amy Luetta. Aug. 16, 1887. The wife of our subject, who was a very estimable woman and endeared herself to all who knew her, died on the 13th of May. 1854. Mr. ('ritten has never married again. His deceased wife was a member of the Methodist Church, and died in the full faith. Mr. Critten's farm consists of eighty aeres of excellent land, which is hand- somely improved and highly cultivated.

Politically our subject is a Democrat, and has served three years as Road Commissioner of Read- ing Township, and also three years as Road Super- visor, Mr. Critten became a citizen of Livingston County in the fall of 1858, and during this time has been exclusively engaged in agricultural pursuits. At the time of his first settlement in this county Ottawa was the nearest market point for the selling of grain and the purchase of supplies. He has been a witness of the progress made in the opening and developing of the county.

AMES LANGAN. A large proportion of the early residents of Sunbury Township were self-made men, and sought a home many miles from the place of their birth. Many of these crossed the Atlantic in the strength of their youth and courage, and the review of their career is intensely interesting, inasmuch as it proves to what extent a man is dependent upon his own exertions. The subject of this biography is one of the finest illustrations of the self-made man who in his youth battled with adverse circumstances, but allowed nothing to dismay hin.

In tracing the history of our subject we find that he was born in the maritime county of Mayo, Ire- land, June 15, 1828, and is the son of Patrick and Mary (Langan) Langan ; the former was the son of James Langan, and both were natives of the same county, where the grandfather spent his entire life engaged in farming pursuits. Ile married one of his youthful associates, Miss Julia Rooney, who, like her husband, remained a permanent resident of her native county. They were the parents of two

To Mr. and Mrs. George F. Critten the following children have been born: Lina Augusta, June 26, 1×77; an infant, born June 30, 1881. died July 10, , sons and three daughters. One son died when a

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youth of sixteen years, the other son, Patrick, and the three sisters married and reared families of their own. Patrick, the father of our subject, was the only one who came to America. Ile was reared to manhood on the homestead of his parents and learned the trades of bricklayer and stone-eut- ter. lle subsequently operated as a contractor and also superintended his farm, residing in Ireland until about 1868. He then, with his wife, crossed the Atlantic and spent the last years of his life at the home of our subject, his death taking place in 1872 when he was seventy-three years of age; the mother had died in Streator at the age of sixty-nine years. She was in her maidenhood Miss Mary Langan, the daughter of John and Catherine (Burke) Langan. Both danghter and parents were born in County Mayo, in which the latter passed their entire lives.

The children of Patrick and Mary Langan, five in number, consisted of four sons and one daughter, of whom our subject is the eldest. Ilis parents were in fair circumstances and gave to their chil- dren a good education. They were at the same time trained to habits of industry and frugality, and early in life learned to make themselves useful. James remained a member of his father's household until the spring of 1851. He was a youth of more than ordinary intelligence, and believed that with a fair opportunity and in a suitable locality he could make of himself what he could never expect to be under existing conditions. He had received letters from friends across the water and had eagerly pe- rused the papers relating to the advantages given the enterprising emigrant in the New World, and determined to seek its shores. One morning in July he left home with a younger brother to take a load of straw to sell in the town of Ballina. From this sale he realized £5, nearly $25, in cash. lle sent his brother home and took the next stage for Dublin and thence to Liverpool, where he en- gaged passage on the next vessel for America. Seven weeks and three days later found him disem- barking from the ship "Warbler" at the wharves of New Orleans, with a cash capital of fifty cents in his pocket. His first business was to look around for something which would increase his exchequer, but from this effort he realized only his board, being

cheated out of his week's wages. Ile then decided to leave the Crescent City, and succeeded in con- tracting to work his passage on a steamer to St. Louis and thence in a similar manner to LaSalle, Ill., where he landed still clinging to the fifty cents which he had brought with him from the okl coun- try. This he finally offered to the landlord where he stopped for his night's lodging, but the gentle- man very humanely refused to take it.

Young Langan had an mele in Lasalle County, twenty-five miles from the town, and he set out on foot for the house of his relative. Soon after reach- ing his destination he was attacked with ague and was for nearly a year unable to work. He finally presented his cherished fifty cents to one of his cousins, and was most of the time without money for twelve months thereafter. As soon as he was able he engaged as a farm laborer at $12 per month, and was thus employed for fifteen months following. Subsequently he assisted in the construction of the Rock Island Railroad and afterward performed the same duties with the Illinois Central Railroad. He worked for the latter with a shovel four weeks and then went into the stone quarry. His intelligence and industry won him the confidence and approval of his employers and not long afterward he was ap- pointed foreman over a large gang of workmen, at a salary of $60 per month, which position he re- tained nine months. He then purchased a one-half interest in a threshing-machine and the same in : McCormick reaper, both of which he operated two seasons, afterward selling out and investing the proceeds in live stock. In the summer he employed herders to look after them on the prairie and in winter hired men to cut hay for them. In the meantime he was himself engaged in breaking prai- ric for the Hlinois Central Railroad Company at $6 per day. When this job was completed he was em- ployed by the farmers around at the same work and in the mild seasons often slept on the grass on the open prairie and without shelter.

Our subject, still pursuing the climbing process and making headway at each move, now began to enlarge his sphere of action, and rented the farm of his uncle for a period of three years. He had in the meantime been married. and now located with his family on a piece of ground belonging to his

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father-in-law. He still kept his stock, and his herd steadily increased in numbers until he had nearly 100 head. In September, 1863, he visited this county and purchased 240 acres of land at $6.50 per acre in Sunbury Township, upon which he lo- cated two years later and has since remained. He made purchase- of land from time to time until he became the owner of 1.200 acres, besides town lots in Dwight. When Mr. Langan became a property owner in Sunbury Township, the larger portion of it was wild prairie, owned by non-residents, and he was appointed agent for the sale of a large propor- tion of these lands. He also dealt in real estate in Kankakee and Grundy Counties, His business talent was phenomenal, and as the conservator of large in- terests he has acquitted himself as a most valued and useful factor in the development of Sunbury Township. The intelligent and industrious class of people with whom it was soon settled came here, many of them, through his solicitations. and he smoothed the way many times out of their difficul- ties. llis example proved a stimulus to numbers, who made desperate efforts to emulate his enter- prise. Ilis home farm embraces 560 acres, with the most elegant and substantial improvements, and everything indicative of the progressive agricultur- ist and the enterprising citizen.

Mr. Langan was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Coffey, Nov. 20, 1854. Mrs. Langan was born in Jersey City, N. J., March 7, 1836, and is the daughter of Timothy and Mary (Gorman) Coffey, natives of Roscommon County, Ireland, and both now deceased. Of her mion with our sub- jeet there were born the children whose record is as follows: Thomas N. is farming in Sunbury Township: Mary i- the wife of Hugh Molanney and lives in Grundy County; Katie married William Cusick and also lives in Grundy County ; James II. is a student at Dixon College, Ill. ; one child died young.

Mr. Langan politically is a conservative Demo- crat, casting his vote at Presidental elections with the party of his choice, but in local affairs voting independently. He keeps himself well posted upon current events and takes a lively interest in every- thing pertaining to the welfare of his adopted country. He has never consented to hold office,

but beeame a Justice of the Peace for his own con- venience in transferring lands. He always, how- ever, gives his time cheerfully to the promotion of his friends at times of election. and nothing pleases him better than to see a worthy man entrusted with the interests of the people. lle was reared in the faith of the Catholic Church, in the doctrines of which his honored parents were firmly engrafted, and still eling> to the religion of his forefathers, being a member and an attendant with his wife and children of the Catholic Church in Sunbury Town- ship.

W. KENYON, one of the reliable and sub- stantial business men of Odell, which is an important station on the Chicago & Alton Road, in Livingston County, is the subject of this sketch. He is now engaged in the lumber trade, and kindred branches. lle was born in Troy, N. Y., on the 17th of December, 1824, and was the second in a family of ten children born to Daniel and Araminta (Armstrong) Kenyon, both of whom were natives of New York. The paternal grand- father was Amasa Kenyon. The maternal grand- parents were Isaac and Phoebe Armstrong, all of whom were natives of New York, The father of Mr. Kenyon was reared on a farm until he grew to manhood, and when he started in life for himself, located at Troy, N. Y., and engaged in boating on the Hudson. In 1836 he moved to Newark, Wayne County, where he followed a mercantile life for a time, and then engaged in farming until his death.

Mr. Kenyon was reared to farm life principally, and engaged in farming on his own account three years before his majority. All the education he received was obtained in the common schools. At the age of twenty-one years he was married to Mary Grant, on the 8th of October, 1845. She was the oldest in a family of five children born to Eliab T. and Eliza ( Wilkinson) Grant, who were natives of Rhode Island, and early settlers of New York.

Mr. Kenyon and his wife first settled in Newark, where he engaged in the dry-goods business, which he continued until 1866, when failing health com- pelled him to give up his business, and for two or

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three years he retired from active life. During the war he was a member of the War Committee in his district, and spent the greater part of the year in organizing troops and doing other things connected with the war recruiting service. In 1866 he sold all his interests in the East, and coming to Odell on a visit to his brother, he became interested in the lumber business with him. In 1868 he made a sec- ond visit, and was so greatly benefited in health by the climate, that he resolved to bring his family and locate for a time. In 1868 he moved, and for a number of years he and his brother were associated together in the lumber and coal business. He then bought the interest of his brother, and for the past ten years has been alone. Seven years ago he opened a second yard at Cabery, which is now man- aged by his brother, who was his former partner.

Mr. and Mrs. Kenyon are the parents of three children, two of whom are living, Willie T. and Annie M .; Charles died in childhood; Willie mar- ried Miss Abbie Supplee, and lives in Chicago, where he is with Felix & Masters in a wooden-ware establishment. Mr. Kenyon has always been more or less active in politics, usually voting the Demo- eratie ticket, and was a member of the Town Board in Newark, where he was engaged in business. Since locating in Odell, he has served as President of the Town Board, and was a Town Trustee for many terms. For the first time in many years he is now not connected with any office. His excellent wife is a member of the Universalist Church, and with the aid of her husband, has been instrumental in building up the society in all its branches.

L OUIS M. IPSON. Bornholm is an island in the Baltic Sea, lying ninety miles cast of Zealand and twenty-five miles south of the southermost point of Sweden. and belongs to Den- mark. It is about twenty-three miles long by eight- een broad, and has an area of 230 square miles. In general the coast is high. presenting perpendicu- lar cliffs, close to which is deep water, but where the cliffs do not prevail reefs and sand banks stretch out to sea, rendering approach dangerous. Excepting a heath tract near the center the land is

generally fertile. Good building stone and marble are quarried and coal is likewise produced, but it is of an inferior quality. The island has long been famous for its rock crystals, and agriculture, cattle raising, fishing and seafaring afford the chief sup- port of the inhabitants. It was at the fort of Christainson, not far from the Island of Bornholm, that the subject of this sketch, who is a farmer and stock-raiser on section 12, Rook's Creek Township, was born on the 17th of October, 1853.

Mr. Ipson is the son of Didrik Funk and Char- lotte (Larson) Ipson, and with them resided in the town of Ronne, the capital of Bornholm, until he was twenty years of age, receiving a good common- school education and also learning the trade of a shoemaker from his father. In the spring of 1873 he bade good bye to his island home and came to America. Immediately after landing he came to Livingston County, and in 1875 went to Wiseon- sin, where he remained a short time and then re- turned to Illinois. On the 23d of December, 1879, he was married to Elizabeth M., daughter of Claus and Christina B. Anderson, of Bornholm. After his marriage he rented land which he farmed for three years and then purchased eighty aeres, on which he now lives.

Mr. and Mrs. Ipson have four children, whose names are : Clarence William, who was born Oct. 19, 1880 : Agnes Luella, June 6, 1882 ; Elmer Lonis. March 2, 1884, and Charles Didrik, June 13, 1886.

Mr. Ipson is the second in a family of seven chil- dren, five of whom are living; they were named as follows: Louisa Didrikka, Louis M., Charles Peter, Magdalena Charlotte and Hansine. Louisa married Christian Oleson, has seven children, and lives in Pontiac; Charles is married and has one child: Magdalena is married and has two children ; both live in Bornholm, as also does Hansine. Mr. Ipson's father was born on the 2d of February, 1826, and his mother in 1834. The wife of our subject was born on the Island of Bornholm on the 20th of May, 1860. She and a younger sister came to this country in 1876, landing at New York on the 21st of May, after a voyage of nineteen days. They were delayed on the way two days by heavy fogs, and at one time they thought they were go- I ing to be shipwrecked. She is the fourth child in

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a family of eight. five of whom came to this coun- try. The names of the children are: Eliza Cather- ine, John Peter, Caroline Maria, Elizabeth M., Maria Christina. Hansine Wilhelmina, Annie Boeldine and James Otis. Eliza C. is married, has three children, and lives at Bornhohn : John P. i> married, has three children. and lives in Kansas; Caroline M. is mar- ried, has two children, and lives in Piatt County, Ill. : Maria C. is married, has two children, and lives in Kansas; Hansine W. and Annie B. live in Born- holm ; and James O. lives in Piatt County, Ill.

Since coming to this country Mr. Ipson has been successful in his business affairs, and his 80- aere farm is the result of his thrift and industry. lle has erected a comfortable home and his farm buildings are of good quality.

ARTIN PEARSON. Of course the early settlers of Illinois had no forests to fell and clear away in order to make their land tillable, but they had the prairie which had grown wild from the beginning of time to break and convert to a condition of cultivation. This was not an easy task, and the work had to be performed with the most primitive kind of imple- ments. for but little progress had been made in the improvement of machinery. At the time the sub- ject of this sketch came to Illinois but little of the land was under cultivation, and the prairie grass, which had been growing for centuries, had become so rank and matted together, and the roots had become so strong and tenacious that oxen or teams of four horses had to be attached to the plow in order to prepare the ground for cultivation. But when this grass was finally subdued the pioneer farmer was repaid for the arduous labor required, for the rich soil produced abundant crops. Mr. Pearson is one of the oldest pioneers in Avoca Township, and is a representative farmer and stock-raiser, re- siding on section 2 1.

Mr. Pearson is a native of Tippecanoe County, lud .. where he was born on the 224 of July, 1830. tto is the son of Lot and Sophia (Staley) Pearson, native- of Ohio and North Carolina respectively. Hi- maternal grandfather, Jacob Staley, was a sol-

(lier of the War of 1812, and his paternal ancestors were of English descent. His parents settled in Tippecanoe County, Ind., at a very early day, and both died when our subject was only about nine years of age. Of their family of children the fol- lowing are living: Meredith, of Kansas; Eli, of Avoca Township; Mary, wife of David Bodley, of Kansas, and Martin. The subject of this sketeh having been left an orphan at such a tender age, was thrown upon his own resources and con- sequently received but a limited education. At seventeen years of age he was apprentieed to the blacksmithing trade, which he followed for about thirteen years. In 1853 he came to Livingston County, where he has since resided. During the first four years of his residence here he engaged in blacksmithing, and then began farming, settling on his present farm in Avoea Township. He settled on this farm when it was raw prairie with the ex- ception of about five aeres, which had been broken, and has witnessed the development of the county from its most primitive condition until it is now one of the best improved counties in the State. In common with all pioneers the hardships which he endured were many and trying, but he nobly sur- mounted all obstacles and now owns t60 acres of land thoroughly drained, and under the most perfect state of cultivation. The farm buildings are of mod- ern architecture, and include all the conveniences.

Mr. Pearson heeded the call for men to assist in suppressing the Rebellion, and in the month of August, 1862, he enlisted in Company G, 129th Illinois Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Cumberland. During his term of service he participated in the battles of Resaca, Burnt Hick- ory, Kennesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek, the siege of Atlanta, and the battle of Nashville. Becoming sick at Atlanta he was furloughed for twenty days, and at Nashville he had a relapse which compelled him to remain in the hospital for three months. fle was honorably discharged on the 5th of July, 1865, and immediately returned to illinois.

Mr. Pearson was first married in 1852, to Clarissa Tucker, a native of Ireland. His second marriage was to Sarah L. Hefner, on the 18th of March, 1856. She is a native of Livingston County, and

RESIDENCE OF DANIEL GALLUP, SEC. 16, DWIGHT TP.

RESIDENCE OF JOHN MC GEE , SEC . 24, SUNBURY TP,

RESIDENCE FO A . G. POTTER , SEC. 5, DWIGHT TP.

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a daughter of Nicholas and Mary Hefner, who were among its pioneers. To them have been born seven children, four of whom are living- Leo W., Mattie A., the wife of Wallace Foster, Oscar E. and Eva. Hle and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he has served as Steward for a considerable time. Politically he is a Prohibitionist, and in the cause of that party he is an untiring and earnest worker. So far as official position is concerned he has served the people well, in the capacity of Justice of the Peace twelve years, Assessor two years, Collector two years, and is now serving his lif- teenth year as Road Commissioner in Avoca Township, and has likewise served five years as Township School Trustee. He has all his life been an energetic, hard-working man, and his accumula- tions testify to his industry and good management. In all matters pertaining to the welfare of the com- munity in which he lives he occupies a leading position.

ARTIN ALLEN NEWMAN, a leading farmer and stock-raiser on section 22, New- town Township, lives on a fine farm of 200 acres, which is under a good state of cul- tivation. Ile was born in Vermillion County, Ind .. on the 25th of October, 1818, and remained there until 1838.

During the boyhood days of our subject he had no educational advantages whatever, and has learned to read and write since his marriage in 1843. In 1837 he took a wagon-load of apples from Vermillion. County to Chicago, requiring four weeks to make the trip with an ox-team. In 1838 he removed to Illinois and settled in Ottawa, where he lived until he came to Livingston County, break- ing prairie and working on the ferry across the Illi- nois River during summer, and chopping wood in winter. In 1840 he returned to Indiana and brought his mother and four children to Lasalle County, where he cared for the family until 1843. On the 2d of January, 1843, Mr. Newman was married to HIannali Springer, a native of Livingston County and daughter of Job and Dorothea ( Parker)

Springer, who were old residents of Livingston County, in which they have since died. After marriage Mr. Newman engaged one year in farm- ing, but not being successful. he removed to Ot- tawa and hired out to a carpenter at $10 per month for one year. After this he worked at that trade on his own account for several years. He then ac- cepted employment from the State for some time, building the aqueduct across Fox River. While engaged in this work his health became impaired, and he was compelled to remain idle for a consid- erable time. He then engaged in peddling, in De- cember. 1847, visiting monthly during the next year almost every house in Livingston County, and meeting with good success. He then worked for Walker & llickling for a time, and in the spring of 1850 moved to what is now New Michigan, Living- ston County, and opened a store, pre-empting also a quarter section of land, on which he located the town. In 1851 he contracted to carry the mail from Ottawa to Bloomington weekly, by the way of Pontiac and Indian Grove, at $7 per trip. After this he exchanged eighty acres of his land for a tavern stand in Lexington, McLean County, which he soon afterward sold, and with the proceeds pur- chased land near Pontiac. In the spring of 1854, he purchased an interest in a mill at Ottawa, and in 1857, during the panie which swept over the country in that year, lost all of his accumulations, excepting the 160-acre farm that he now lives upon. His actual loss at the time was about $6,000. In June, 1860, he took a mail contract between this point and Odell and to Ottawa, which he hekdl six years, and then for seven years he kept the post- office at Manville, Newtown Township.

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Portrait and bigraphical album of Livingston County, Ill. : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, together with portraits and biographies , Part 102

Author: Chapman Brothers (Chicago) publisher Publication date: 1888 Publisher: Chicago : Chapman brothers Number of Pages: 1208

Author: Chapman Brothers (Chicago) publisher
Publication date: 1888
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman brothers
Number of Pages: 1208