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 105

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 105

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hibition at Philadelphia. Ob the 16th of October, 1886, he and his wife celebrated their golden wed- ding, at which there assembled all the relatives who found it possible to attend, and the people of the entire neighborhood availed themselves of this op- portunity to show their deep respect for them. Mr. Arnett is a man of much firmness of character, as is shown by his resistance of temptation to be led into intemperate babits, which were so prevalent among journeymen tailors in early days. He be- came a member of the Methodist Church in 1833, and since then has been a prominent figure in that organization. In 1885 he was elected to the ollice of Justice of the Peace, and is the incumbent at the time this sketch is written. During the exist- ence of the old Whig party he belonged to that or- ganization, and took part in the Log Cabin and Hard Cider campaign, during which he attended a barbecue on Wheeling Hill, at Wheeling, W. Va., at which Southgate, of Kentucky, was the orator, and where he saw many old soldiers of the Revohi- tionary army. Ile followed the fortunes of the Whig party until it was merged into the Republican party, and has ever since been a steadfast and firm Republican.

Mr. Arnett had one half-brother, Alfred Arnett, who fell from a tree in which he was gathering hickory nuts, and was so badly injured that he died soon after, at the age of seventeen. Ile also had a half-sister, Margaret V. Cockayne, who married Rev. William B. M.Farland, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. She died in Marshall County, W. Va., and left two daughters: Florence V., who was married to W. J. Hunsaker, and lives at Los Angeles, Cal., and Lucy W., who is unmar- ried and also lives in California.

Mr. Arnett has seven children living, named as follows: Margaret A., Hannah V., Martha A., Will- iam Il., James A., Belle J. and Edwin IT. Marga- ret A. was born June 6, 1838, and married Marion Moore, by whom she has one child living, named Ulysses S. ; her husband was wounded in the battle of Ft. Blakesley, and shortly afterward died in the hospital at New Orleans. She was a second time married. to J. A. Armstrong, and lives at West Cliff. C'ol. Hannah V., born Sept. 29, 1840, has been twice married, first to George Emery, and a

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second time to William Keever; they live at Gre- nola. Elk Co., Kan. Martha A .; born Nov. 2, 1843, married JJohn Niergarth, has six children, and lives in Woodford County. Ill. : William IL., born Aug. 26, 1816, married Mary Ann Bryson, of Des Moines County, lowa, has one child, and lives in Rook's Creek Township: James A., born Aug. 16, 1855, married Martha E. Ayres, has three children, and lives in Lane County, Kan, Belle 1 .. born May 20, 1858, married George Marks, has one child, and lives in Rook's Creek Township; Edwin H., born Jan. 10, 1862, i- unmarried and lives at home.

Mr. Arnett's maternal grandfather, Charles Me- Donald, took up about 1,100 acres of land near Moundsville, W. Va., over 100 years ago. He kept that farm, but took up his residence on au- other near Abingdon, in Southern Virginia, near the Tennessee line, where he died soon after. The great-grandfather, James McDonald, removed the widow to Fayette County, Pa. During the Revo- lutionary War James McDonald slept in his stable to protect his horses from the Tories. He was a Roman Catholic, and Charles McDonald belonged to the Baptist Church. In September, 1765, a brother of Mr. Arnett's grandmother was massa- ered by the Indians who were in ambush about eight miles below Wheeling, W. Va. He was a soldier in Capt. Foreman's company of scouts de- tailed to watch the Indians along the Ohio River. Besides the Captain twenty-one soldiers were killed. This grandmother was reared in a fort until she was live years of age, and at her father's house Gen. Washington used to stop when on his surveying tour -. Mr. Arnett's uncle, Bartholomew Melon- ald, was in the War of 1812, belonging to the reg- ulars, and at Ft. Wayne was instrumental in saving the fort from destruction after it had been set on fire by the Indians who had surrounded it. The garrison was relieved the following day by Gen. Harrison.

Mr -. Arnett i- the second in a family of six chil- dren. as follows: J. C., Elizabeth, Henry C., John, William B. and Martha J. J. C. married Rebecca E. Bonar, has six children, and lives near Onarga, Ill .; Elizabeth was born Jan. 31, 1819; Henry C. married Martha Konkle; John married Jane B. Bry- son, has two children, and lives near Panola, Wood-

ford Co., Ill .; William B. married Sarah Hedges, has four children, and lives near Overton, Nob .; Martha J. married William Holliday; both died, leaving live children, four of whom live in Rutland, Ill., and one is married and lives in Iowa. Mr. Arnett has twelve grandchildren, one of whom, Mary Margaret Niergarth, was born in Woodford County, Il., on the 23d of February, 1865. and makes her home with Mr. Arnett. She has four sisters and one brother living in Woodford County, Ill. The mother of Mrs. Arnett was born on the Ist of March, 1797, and was married on the 7th of November, 1816, to William Ward, who was born on the 27th of October. 1792, and died on the 20th of March, 1858. She is still living in her ninety- first year, enjoying such good health that there is a possibility of her being able to celebrate her one hundredth birthday.

G EORGE D. PADDOCK is a gentleman widely known throughout Livingston Coun- ty, who has held many positions of trust and honor at the hands of his neighbors. For many years he has been a resident of Saunemin, where he is universally respected and esteemed. He was born in the city of Milwaukee, Wis., on the 25th of December, 1839, and is the son of Aaron A, and Susan Paddock,

.The parents of our subject were natives of Onon- daga County, N. Y., while the paternal and ma- ternal ancestors were of Welsh and English descent respectively. Lewis Norton, the maternal grand- father, was a soldier in the War of 1812. In 1841 our subject was brought by his parents when they migrated to Lake County, Ill., where his father died on the 11th of May, 1877. To his parents were born eleven children : Elmora ; Adelia, wife of John Monroe, of Baraboo, Wis. ; Asa B., of Lake County, Ill .: Julia, wife of Samuel Lockwood, of Chicago, Ill. ; Lewis, of Lake County, Il. ; George D. ; Mar- shall, of Saunemin ; Albert, of Spencer, lowa ; Helen, wife of John Rich, of Saunemin: Ada, wife of Lewis Savage, of Antioch, Il., and Richard, of Chi- cago. Elnora is deceased.

George D. Paddock was reared in Lake County,

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Ill., where he received his education and resided until the breaking out of the var. In Angust, 1862, he enlisted in Company D: 96th Illinois Infantry, under Capt. A. Z. Blodgett. and the regi- ment soon afterward became a part of the army of the Tennessee. Mr. Paddock went with his company to Rockford, Ill., and there engaged in drill for about four weeks, and thence went to Kentucky and jolned in the pursuit of Gen. Price, participating in several skirmishes. Subsequently he was under the command of Gen. Rosecrans, and fought at the battle of Franklin, while he was in numerous minor engagements. While in Gen. Rosecrans' com- mand he contracted a disease of the heart, and it was found necessary to send him to the hospital at Tullahoma. Tenn., where he remained a short time, and was afterward in hospital at Nashville, Louis- ville, and finally at Quiney, III., where he was dis- charged on the 25th of February, 1865. After his discharge from the army he returned to Lake County and there resided until 1867, when he re- moved to Bourbon County, Kan., and there resided until 1869, in which year he came to Livingston County, and immediately engaged in general mer- cantile business, which he followed uninterruptedly fourteen years, he being the pioneer merchant of Saunemin. He was also Postmaster of the village seven years, and served as Justice of the Peace four years, and Police Magistrate four years. He is the present Treasurer of Saunemin Township, and is now serving the second year of his term. lle has also served as Clerk of the township sev- eral years, and was for four years Constable.

Mr. Paddock was married, on the 31st of Au- gust, 1869, to Miss Mary Warner, who was born on the 7th of October, 1842, in Kendall County, III. She is a daughter of Charles and Melinda ( Pierce) Warner, the father a native of the State of New York and the mother of Ohio. ller parents were among the pioneer settlers of Kendall County, and her grandfather, Thomas Warner, was a soldier in the War of 1812. The family of Mrs. Paddock's parents consisted of eight children: Daniel, of lowa; Dewey, now deceased; Sarah, wife of L. P. Barnes, of Salem, Wis; George, John and William, of Iowa; Florence, wife of David Harvey, of Iowa, and Mary. Two children have been born to Mr.

and Mrs. Paddock-Lyman, of Bluff Lake, III., and Agnes. Mr. Paddock had two brothers in the Union army, Marshall and Albert. Marshall went out as a musician and was present at the battle of Pea Ridge and numerous other engagements, and re- turned from the army with impaired health. Al- bert participated in the battles of Chattanooga, Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga, Franklin, the siege of Nashville, and was captured at Franklin and confined four months in a rebel prison pen at Ca- haba, Ala. He endured many hardships while there, but was finally properly exchanged, and subse- quently discharged at the close of the war, in April, 1865.

The farm on which Mr. Paddock and family re- side consists of 220 acres, and is under a high state of cultivation, containing good and substantial buildings, fences and other improvements. Mr. Paddock's political proclivities are Republican, and he is active in his efforts to assist that party in electing its candidates. Hle and his wife are both members of the Christian Church, and take a lively interest in church affairs. They spend the summer season principally at BInff Lake, IN., where he owns a summer residence and a steam pleasure yacht. Mr. Paddock is broad and liberal in his views, both in regard to public affairs and private enterprises. lle has always been a stanch advocate of better schools and a higher grade of morality, and so far as practicable and possible has put these views into operation.

C HRISTOPHER C. HUMPHREYS. One thing will attract the attention of whoever reads the contents of this ALBUM, and that is the number of persons now living in Livingston County who responded to the call of the Govern- ment from 1861 to 1865, for soldiers to assist in suppressing the most gigantic rebellion the wo. Id ever knew. No matter what their nativity may be, a large proportion of the biographies of the present citizens of Livingston County must record the heroic deeds of the subjects of the sketches in the war for the Union. This shows patriotism, and

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wherever the people are patriotic, there citizenship is of a high standard.

The subject of this sketch is a prominent farmer of Avoca Township, located on section 21. Ile is a native of Muskingum County. Ohio, where he was born on the 28th of April, 1830, and is the son of William and Mary Humphreys. both natives of Ireland, who settled in Muskingum County in 1818. lle is the youngest son of his father's family, and when four years of age accompanied his parents when they moved to Coshocton County, Ohio, where he was reared to manhood, receiving but a limited education owing to the meagre advantages afforded him. In the spring of 1861, while a resi- deut of Coshocton County, he enlisted in Company A. 16th Ohio Infantry, for the preliminary three months' service at the beginning of the war, and participated in a few of the engagements which soon followed in Western Virginia. On the 25th of December, 1861, his three months' term of en- listment having expired, he again enlisted, this time in Company G, 80th Ohio Infantry, and dur- ing hi- term of service participated in the sieges of Corinth and Vicksburg, and in Sherman's march to the sea until Savannah was reached. After having served through the entire war, and made an honor- able and enviable record as a soldier, he was dis- charged on the 7th of February, 1865, and then re- turned to Ohio.

On the 8th of . June, 1871, Mr. Humphreys was married to Mary R. Beyer, and they have four children-William A., John B., Mary E. and Mar- garet R. In 1881 he came to Ilinois and settled on the farm which he now occupies, consisting of 240 acres, all of which is highly cultivated, and contains good improvements. He has recently ad. ded eighty acres to his landed arca, making a total of 320 acres. In this connection we present a view of Mr. Humphreys' residence with its surroundings. Mr. Humphreys is practically a self-made man, for he had neither inheritance nor capital with which to begin the business of life, and what he possesses to-day is the result of his own industry and man- agement, seconded at all times by the best efforts of his estimable wife. In political matters Mr. Humphreys acts with the Republican party, through patriotic motives, and not with the hope of obtain-

ing office as a reward for his services. At the time this sketeh is written he is serving acceptably as School Director, and under his administration the school affairs of his district are kept in admirable condition.

Mrs. Humphreys, the very excellent wife of the subject of this sketch, is a native of Franklin County, Ohio, where she was born on the 18th of May, 1846. She is the daughter of John and Mar- garet Beyer, who were Pennsylvanians by birth, and died in Franklin County, Ohio. They had ten children, five of whom are living-Cornelia, Will- iam, David, Sarah and Mary R. Mrs. Humphreys takes a warm interest in all matters which concern and affect the society in which she moves, while she is highly esteemed and respected as a neighbor.

E DO DIRKS. This gentleman, who is vigor- ously prosecuting his farming operations on section 26, Avoca Township, is a fair repre- sentative of the substantial German element which has been so prominent and useful in the early settle- ment of this State. Ile was born in the Province of Hanover, Germany, March 26, 1842, and is the son of Luctken and Annie (Mueller) Dirks, who were also of German birth and parentage. He was reared to manhood in his native Province, and in accordance with the laws and customs of the En- pire, was placed in school at an early age and thor- oughly educated in his native tongue. He remained under the home roof until reaching manhood, and as the eldest son of the family was the first to com- mence life on his own account.

Mr. Dirks immigrated to the United States in 1870, after reaching the twenty-eighth year of his age. The voyage was made on the sailing-vessel "Leipsic," bound from Bremen to Baltimore, and after a safe passage, which consumed fifteen days, he landed in the New World. Ile started directly for the West, stopping first in Woodford County, where he remained employed as a farm laborer un- til the spring of 1882. Hle had lived economically and now had a snug sum of money, by the aid of which he secured possession of the eighty acres of land which constitutes his present farm. le over-

RESIDENCE OF C.C . HUMPHREYS, AVOCA TOWNSHIP. (Sec.21)

RESIDENCE OF EDO DIRKS, SEC.34. AVOCA TOWNSHIP

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eame the difficulties of struggling with a strange soil in a new country, and has met with excellent sue- cess in his farming operations. His straightforward methods of doing business have also secured him the confidence and esteem of the community. where he is held in the highest respect.

Mr. Dirks, after becoming a resident of Avoca Township, and finding that he could comfortably maintain a family, was united in marriage with one of his own country-women, Miss Katie Wilts, May 20, 1871, and they became the parents of three children. They have met with a great affliction, however, in the loss of two of these, Bernhardt and Maggie, having now only one child living, a son, Lonis, who was born July 15, 1883, and remains at home with his parents. The residence is a neat and sub- stantial structure, while the barn and out-buildings bear fair comparison with those of the other pro- gressive farmers of the township. Mr. Dirks after becoming a naturalized citizen identified himself with the Republican party, to which he has since given his eordial support.

As representative of the buildings in this sec- tion of country we present on an adjoining page of . this volume a view of Mr. Dirks' residence.

they settled. James K. Dunlap, the father of the subject of our sketch, came to this country in 1861. Two of his brothers, Rev. George K. Dunlap, Bishop of the Episcopal Church, diocese of Ari- zona and New Mexico, and William Dunlap, a re- tired merchant of St. Paul, Minn., had come sev- eral years before. James K. Dunlap was a stone- mason, and worked at his trade in Newport, Ky., and Cincinnati, Ohio. ITe left there in 1869 and came to Livingston County, where he engaged for a time in farming, but is now working at his trade in Dwight. While yet living in Ireland, he was married to Miss Jennie Moins, of Ireland, and of the same deseent as himself. To them were born

nine children-Thomas W., Robert, Alexander, Mattie A., George .J., James, Lydia L., Adam and Maggie.

Robert Dunlap, our subject, was born in Ireland, on the 29th of August, 1849, and came to this country with his father when a lad of thirteen years. Hle received a common-school education by dint of his own efforts, and partially learned the trade of : stonemason. When twenty years of age he located in Illinois, and rented a farm in Livingston County, where he began the chosen vocation of his life.

On the 26th of November. 1874, Mr. Dunlap was married to Miss Agnes M. Stephenson, daughter of James and Primrose ( King) Stephenson, of Union Township. Livingston County. fler parents were born in Scotland, and her mother came first to C'an- ada with her parents, and then with them, located in Pennsylvania. Upon his arrival in this country, Mr. King went directly to Pennsylvania, where they were married. Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dunlap are the parents of four children-Jennie A., Mabel R., Maud L. and Ada F.

In 1875 Mr. Dunlap rented a farm owned by Jesse Diffenbaugh, and upon this place he still re- sides, although in 1883 he purchased a farm of eighty acres in Round Grove Township, which he has leased to other parties. Mr. Dunlap is consid- ered a skillful farmer, and in this section of Liv- ingston County has earned an enviable reputation as such. There is one maxim he always lives up to, and that is, " Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well," and the system and order which

R OBERT DUNLAP, who is engaged in farm- ing on section 21, Dwight Township, is of Septeh-Irish descent, his remote ancestors emigrating from Scotland to Ireland, where . prevail about his premises prove conchisively that he fully comprehends the meaning and force of the same.

UGUSTUS E. DINET, who is engaged in the business of general merchandising in the town of Odell, was born in Alsace, then a Province of France, on the 28th of April, 1851, and is the eldest of four children born to August and Catherine (Roy) Dinet, natives of France. The father was a farmer by occupation and a cooper by trade, who left France in 1854, and settled in Syracuse, N. Y., where he remained for two years, and then sent to France for his fam-

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ily. They arrived in 1856, and he has made his home at Syracuse ever since that time, living upon a farmi.

The subject of this sketch was educated in Syra- ense. N. Y., in the common schools, and afterward attended Ames Business College for two years at Syracuse. At the age of seventeen he engaged as a elerk in a grocery store, and two years later he came West and located at Ottawa, Ill., where he engaged as a book-keeper in a general merchandise store and remained about five years, when he re- moved to Joliet and took the management of a dry- goods store, which he conducted for three years. From there he went to Chicago and entered the employ of the wholesale dry-goods firm of Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co .. and for three years represented them as a traveling salesman. He then entered the firm of Dinet. Nachbonr & Co., as its senior mem- ber, and opened a dry-goods store at Joliet. At the close of the first year he sold his interest in this firm and returned to Chicago, where he again took the road as a traveling salesman, engaging with the Chicago Corset Company, and remained in their employ six months, when a change in their plans caused him to resign his position. He then came to Odell. Ill., and in 1883 bought a general store, which was in the hands of an administrator and for sale. Since that time he has continued this business with good success.

While living in Joliet, on the 5th of September, 1882. Mr. Dinet married Katie McAllister, of Odell. who wa- the second child in a family of four born to Patrick and Mary McAllister, who were . natives of Ireland but immigrated to America at an early day, and are now residing at Odell. Mr. and Mr -. Dinet reside in a house which they built soon after marriage, and in which they are permanently settled. Mr. Dinet has been prosperous in his business affairs, and ranks with the best mercantile firins in this part of Illinois. llis varied experi- encen as clerk. merchant and traveling salesman, make him thoroughly acquainted with the details of merchandising. both as seller and buyer. Ile is a thorough-going business man. and to his affairs devotes such constant attention that he finds little time to give to polities, other than to go to The election and vote the ticket of the Democratic

party, of which he has always been a member. Ile and his excellent wife are active members of the Catholic Church, to which they are much devoted.

8 33 03

h ENRY D. FISK, Superintendent of City Schools at Dwight, is the scion of an excel- lent American family of English descent, and a gentleman eminently qualified for hi- responsible position. His first years were spent in Abington, Mass., where he was born Sept. 25, 1855. and whence he came with his parents to Illinois when a child five years of age.

Young Fisk remained on the farm with his par- ents, pursning his studies in the district school and afterward entering the city school at Chenoa. He studied until fifteen years of age, when his prospects were sadly broken in upon by the death of his father, and he was then thrown upon his own re- sources and obliged to look out for himself. Ile had thereafter not only his own living to make, but he assisted in the support of his widowed mother, employing himself at whatever he could find to do to increase the family income, while at the same time he employed much of his leisure time with his books, and when eighteen years of age was con- sidered qualified to assume the work of a teacher. Ilis first labors in this direction began in Chenoa Township, where he taught one year. Ile then taught three years in what is known as the Hogan School, Pike Township, this county ; two years in the "Ballinger" district, and then one year in the same township in which he began teaching. He removed from Chenoa in 1881 and took charge of the school at Cayuga, where he remained two years, and at the end of this time was chosen Principal of the Dwight High School. The year following he was elected City Superintendent, and for the past four years has discharged his duties in an eminently creditable and satisfactory manner.

The paternal grandfather of our subject was a New Hampshire farmer, and possessed all the staid and sturdy attributes of his New England progeni- fors. He was reared among his native hills, and in early life married a lady of his own county and

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reared a family of children. His son, William B., the father of our subject, was born and reared on the farm in the Old Granite State, but on arriving at years of maturity left the agricultural districts, and going into the city of Boston, engaged in con- tracting and building, for which work he posso -- ed natural talent. When twenty-eight years of age he was united in marriage with Miss Angeline Farrar, of Buckfield, Oxford Co., Me., and the daughter of David and Cynthia ( Waterman ) Farrar, who were also of New England birth and parentage. The two children of this union were a son and a daughter. Flora and Frank. the latter of whom died when eleven years of age. The mother passed away in early life and William B. Fisk subsequently married her sister, Sarah C. This marriage resulted in the birth of eight children, namely : Henry D., Helena, Frederick E., Clara, Webster, Albert, Howard and William B. Helena died at the age of three years, Howard at thirteen months; the others are all liv- ing. The elder Fisk followed his profession of architecture in Boston for several years, after which he removed to Abington, Plymouth County, where he remained until 1858. Ile then determined to see something of the great West and started out by team, traveling through the States of lowa, Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. The year fol- lowing he located on a farm five miles west of Chenoa, McLean County, this State, and while cul- tivating the soil continued the business of architect and builder until 1865, when he removed to the city of Chenoa, where he spent his last years. Ilis death occurred in 1870, after he had passed his fifty-first birthday.

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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 105

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