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 16

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 16

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).

- AMFEL HOKE. after a long and industri- on- life. is now a retired farmer living in the city of Odell. He was born in Me- Connellsburg, Pa .. on the 21th of April, 1×27. and was the youngest of six boy-, and the righth in a family of ten children born to JJacob and Margaret ( Lohr) Hoke. who were natives of

Pennsylvania. The father was born in Hanover, Oct. 10, 1783, and the mother in Gettysburg, April 22, 1793. The father was a mechanic, and moved to McConnellsburg about 1808, where he spent his declining years, dying on the 28th of November, 1867. Ilis excellent wife survived him, and died in Epworth, Iowa, Oct. 10, 1872, while she was visiting her daughter who resided there. Jacob Hoke was a soldier in the War of 1812, serving until its close, and was present when the British invaded Baltimore. The paternal grandfather was Henry Hoke. Our subject's maternal grandparents were Jacob and Margaret (Zeigler) Lohr, who were natives of Pennsylvania. Both grandfathers par- ticipated in the Revolutionary War.

Samuel Iloke was reared in town, and his educa- tion was almost entirely neglected. At the age of seventeen he went to Chambersburg to learn the trade of a painter, where he was apprenticed and served four years. At that time the customary rule was to board the apprentice and pay him $2 per month in cash, and while thus engaged Mr. Hoke formed his habits of prudence and economy. At the age of twenty-one years he began work for him-elf, and engaged one year in Chambersburg, after which he went to Gettysburg, where he re- mained one year. From there he went to Williams- burg, and opened a paint and cabinet-making shop, and while living at that place. met the lady who became his wife.

On the ISth of April, 1850, Mr. Hoke was mar- ried to Miss Laura M. Kenney, who was born in Martinsburg, Bedford Co., Pa., on the 22d of No- vember. 1831. She was the youngest child in a family of five, born to Alexander W. and Hannah E. (Harvey) Kenney, natives of Pennsylvania. Her father was born .June 6, 1797, in Lewistown, Mifflin Co., Pa., and was a saddler by trade, but he went into business as a merchant and grain-buyer in his later years. He died April 13, 1858, in Hol- lidaysburg, l'a. His wife, Hannah E., daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Harvey, was born June 13, 1792, in Chester County, and died in Martinsburg, June 31, 1837. A. W. Kenney was the son of Robert and Margaret Kenney, both of Pennsyl- vania.

Mr. Hoke and his wife settled in life at Williams-

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burg, where he was engaged in business and re- mained there nine years. In 1859 he sold his pos- sessions there and moved to Dwight, Livingston County, where he opened the first furniture store started in the town, and also pursued his vocation as a painter. He soon sold out his business and purchased a farm of eighty acres, on which he built a house. and in the fall of the same year he removed to this farm, which was located in I'nion Town- ship. Here Mrs. Hoke taught the second school in that township, with an enrollment of but five pu- pils, three of whom were her own children. Mr. lloke was one of the first to advocate a division of the township into districts, and being one of the Trustees, he eventually accomplished his object. In 1860 the township was laid off by Samuel Hoke. William Thompson and Arthur Marshall, into four sectional distriets, which remain to-day as they were designated then. The first school-house in the district in which Mr. Hoke resided was located on his land. Mr. Hoke continued to live on this farm until 1880, through thrift and enterprise in- creasing it to 400 acres of fine arable land, which he put under a fine state of cultivation, and man- aged with great success until he retired from act- ual business life. In 1864 he was drafted as a sol- dier in the army, but sickness prevented his re- sponding to the eall, and he provided a substitute. During his residence there he served as Assessor five years, and during nearly the entire time he was School Director. He and his wife have given up active life, and are now living comparatively at. their ease, enjoying the fruits of their early labors.

Mr. and Mrs. Iloke are the parents of seven chil- dren, six of whom are living: Alexander Rees was born Sept. 16, 1851; Hannah Margaret, Jan. 8. 1854; William Elias, Oet. 2, 1856; Charles Harvey, June 28, 1860; George Kenney, Dec. 17, 1862; Samuel Lewis, July 8, 1867, and Frank Lincoln, Nov. 11, 1871. Lewis died Jan. 19, 1887. He was a member of the Congregational Church, which he joined at the age of sixteen, and was active in the Sunday-school and meetings of that denomina- tion; he always evinced a readiness to come for- ward and identify himself with the cause of Chris- tianity. He was a teacher, and while engaged in that profession was taken sick at Belle Prairie, this

county, and remained at his post in the school-room until within five days of his death. He was grad- uated at the Odell High School, and afterward at- tended Dixon College. He had taken a high cour-( in mathematics, and prepared himself for the work of a civil engineer, but all the events of his life tended toward the ministry, which would eventu- ally have become his work had he lived. During his last school term he lived at the residence of Mr. and Mrs. D. Spence.

Mr. and Mrs. Iloke are members of the Presby- terian Church, and are active and earnest in all their Christian labors, to which they devote much of their time.

6 HOMAS J. JOHNSON, who is now a retired farmer residing in Dwight. is a native of the State of Connecticut, being born in Sterling. Windham County, March 1, 1827. lle is of Pro- testant-Irish stock, and his remote ancestors settled at a very early day in Connecticut. John L. John- son, the father of our subject, was born in Rhode Island, and was a farmer by occupation. He after- ward went to Connecticut, where he worked for James Bailey, Sr., whose daughter, Miss Eunice Bailey, he eventually married : her mother's name was also Eunice. The Baileys were of Protest- ant- Welsh origin, who settled at an early day in New England.

The parental family of our subject included eight children-Nancy, Thomas J., Henry D., Mary A., John F., Gilbert C., Jane and Alexander. After marriage, Mr. Johnson went to Oneco, Conn., where he had the management of several farms for Mr. Valentine, who was the proprietor of the extensive manufacturing establishment located there. Mr. Johnson bought ont the heirs of the Bailey estate, and lived upon that homestead for many years, and died there at the age of sixty-seven. Ile was a well-disposed man, and of religious principles, but was never a member of any religious organization. He was a representative New England farmer. mod- est and retiring in his disposition, and always de- clined to accept office.

Thomas J. Johnson was born on the farm named

LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

alove, and received a good common-sebool educa- tion. When young he had an ambition to obtain a more liberal education than the common schools of Connecticut afforded, and he worked and strug- gled by teaching school and canvassing for books in the West. to earn the money needed to gratify this worthy ambition. With the money thus pro- eured he managed to attend the Smithville Semi- pary. Rhode Island. and Phillip- Academy at And- over, Mass. He was obliged to abandon his inten- tion of obtaining a university education, on ac- count of his delicate constitution, but having natural ability as a conversationalist, he engaged with Hon. Henry Bill, a prominent and well-known publisher of Norwich, Conn., to canvass for his publications. Mr. Johnson traveled extensively in Ohio, Illinois, Missouri and Iowa, and besides canvassing himself, employed others to work for him. He was in the book trade from 1850 until 1868, and was very succe->ful. The professional book men of the United States are a class by themselves, and have distributed among the masses of the people a vast amount of useful information. They, next to the common school, the press and the pulpit, have been one of the greatest causes for the advancement of the people. Numberless valuable books have been circulated in the highways and byways, where oth- erwise few or no books would have found their way. Often situated many miles from any book- store, the people would seldom see a valuable book but for the energetic agent, who allows no obstacle to prevent his sales. The professional agents are usually men of fair education, unusual energy and intelligence, and possess perseverance and industry to a remarkable degree. After following this busi- nes- for fifteen years, and having saved a consider- able amount of money, Mr. Johnson concluded to take to himself a life partner.

On the 31st of January, 1870, Mr. Johnson was married to Miss Jennie E., daughter of Albert and Deborah (Kittle) Field, of Rhode Island. Her parents were people of English descent, who came to New England at an carly day. Immediately after marriage Mr. and Mrs. Johnson moved upon a farm in Broughton Township, Livingston Co., Ill., which he had previously purchased. They have become the parents of six children, who were named

Byron L .. Irving E., Bertie, Byron (2d), Roscoe and Florence. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have been sadly afflicted in the death of all their children ex- cepting Florence. Byron L. died at the age of three and one-half years, and in December, 1882, the four boys, Irving, Bertie, Byron (2d) and Ros- coe, died of scarlet fever within two weeks of each other, in Dwight, Ill. This severe blow has been endured with great patience and resignation. Flor- ence is now attending school at Dwight, where Mr. Johnson resides, having retired from active life.

Our subject possesses a substantial property con- sisting of two farms, together containing 375 acres of land, a good residence and thirty-two town lots in Dwight. In politics Mr. Johnson is a Democrat, but does not take an active interest in political affairs. He is a self-made man, who by intelligence and perseverance has accumulated his large prop- erty. Wide-awake and well informed on most sub- jeets, he stands well in the community in which he live -.

E PIRAIM S. CLARK, the owner of 480 acres of land located on sections 32 and 33. Read- ing Township, after a busy and successful life as a farmer, has retired from active work. IIe was born in Meigs County, Ohio, on the 27th of February, 1819, and is the son of Samuel and Phobe (Sayre) Clark. The father was the son of Samuel Clark, a native of New Jersey, and the mother was the daughter of Ephraim and Lydia (Fosett) Sayre, who were of English descent.

Samuel Clark. the father of our subject, was a volunteer soldier in the War of 1812, and also in the Black Hawk War. He was born on the 8th of March, 1792, and died on the 2d of June, 1840. Phoebe, the mother of our subject, was born Feb. 4, 1797, and died Aug. 5, 1845. To Samuel and Phoebe Clark were born fourteen children, named as follows: Mary, Lydia, Ephraim S., Hannah, Sarah, Caroline, Amos, Esther, Robert, Rosetta, Charles Wesley, Malvina, John Nelson and Eliza Ann. Mary, born Aug. 27, 1815, died Aug. 30, 1823; Lydia, born Oct. 4, 1817, married Philip Shull, and died leaving five children; Hannah. born Ort. 6, 1820, married Abram Hoffman, a farmer,

E. S. Clark

Mildrid Ann black

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has six children, and lives in Indiana; Sarah, born May 10, 1822, married Isaac F. Cashman, of Bu- reau County, IN., has five children, and resides in Iowa County, Iowa; Caroline, born March 16, 182 1, died April 18, 1824; Amos, born March 27, 1825, married Lucy Reither, and they have one child; Amos is a shoemaker by trade, but he is now a traveling salesman. Esther, born Nov. 26, 1826, was married to George Washington Grant, a far- mer, has four children, and resides in Missouri; Robert, born April 1, 1831, married Ilannah Ostran- der; they have two children, and reside in Boone County, Iowa. Rosetta, born Oct. 18, 1832, mar- ried George Hoffman; they have three children, and are residents of Holt County, Neb. Charles W., born Feb. 23, 1834, married Catherine McManus, and they have a family of four children, and reside in Southern Missouri; his occupation is that of a farmer, and he served three years during the late war in Company D, 20th Illinois Infantry. Mal- vina, born Oct 14, 1835, married Calvin Roberts, a carpenter by trade; they have six children, and re- side in Barton County, Mo. John N., born Dec. 18, 1837, enlisted in Company D, 20th Illinois In- fantry, and received a wound at Ft. Donelson, from which he died; his remains were brought home and buried in Ancona Cemetery, where his grave is marked by a fine marble monument. Eliza A., born July 22, 1839, married Henry Sultzbaugh ; they have four children, and reside in Webster County, lowa, where the husband is engaged in mining coal.

On the 10th of April, 1845, Mr. Clark was mar- ried to Mildred Ann Jones, a native of Kentucky, who was born on the 6th of November, 1822. She is the daughter of Lewis and Catherine Jones, to whom, besides the wife of our subject, were born the following-named children : Edward, Sarah Ann. Winnie Ann, Silas, Lucetta and Naney Eleanor. Edward married Mary Goodrich, and died, leaving a large family ; Sarah Ann married James McManus, and they both died, leaving one child ; Winnie Ann married Jacob Doll, a tailor by trade; they have three children, and reside in Terre Haute, Ind. Silas died when a young man in Ancona; Lucetta married James Mcintyre, a farmer and stock-raiser, who died at Ransom, Ill., leaving two children;

Nancy Eleanor married Daniel Foster, who died in Jowa, leaving five children; after the death of her first husband she was married to William McGee, a farmer, and they reside in LaSalle County, Il.

In the winter of 1828-29, our subject accom- panied his parents when they removed from Ohio to Indiana, making the trip by water in a boat built for the oceasion. When they arrived at the mouth of the White River, a considerable delay was occa- sioned on account of the water being low, and they had to remain at this point until the river arose sufficiently to permit them to continue their jour- ney to Terre Haute, their destination. At the age of ten years our subject, with his sister, began at- tending school at Mt. Carmel, Ill., in 1829, and remaining at school about three months, returned to his home in Indiana. In the fall of 1845 our subjeet, with his young wife, removed to Bureau County, Ill., where he remained for about five years, and in December, 1850, he came to Living- ston County, and at once erected a log house, cut- ting and hauling the logs and completing his house in two days.

To Mr. and Mrs. Clark have been born the fol- lowing-named children : William Talbot, Tarsina, Annice, Frank, Lycurgus, John Ephraim and Win- field Scott. William T., born March 4, 1848, mar- ried Amy Coc, who has borne him six children, five of whom are living; he is a farmer and stock- raiser by occupation, and resides in Livingston County. Tarsina, born Oct. 12, 1851, married Al- bert Coe, a farmer ; they have five children, and live in Woodson County, Kan. Annice, born March 3, 1854, married William Boatman, a farmer by occu- pation, has two children, and resides in Woodson County, Kan. ; Frank, born Jan. 8, 1856, married Kate Willoughby, who is now deceased : he resides in Livingston County, and is a prominent teacher and farmer. Lycurgus, born Dee. 22, 1857, died Jan. 19. 1859; John E., born Oct. 28, 1859, died Sept. 18, 1871 : he met his death by being kieked by a horse. Winfield S., born Oct. 17, 1862, was educateil in the common schools and at the Normal School at Valparaiso, Ind., and now resides at home.

Mr. Clark purchased land in Livingston County in the fall of 1852, paying for it with a land war- rant procured from a neighbor, which was issued

LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

for services rendered as a ranger during the Black llawk War. He first settled in Reading Township, on section 27. where the village of Ancona now stands, and from which place he hauled his grain and pork to Ottawa, and his milling to Dayton. four miles northeast of Ottawa. Mr. Clark now owns ts0 acres of excellent land. which has been well improved. and contains, besides the homestead. two tenant houses. A double-page view of his estate may be found in the pictorial department of this volume.

Mr. Clark was formerly a member of the Demo- eratie party. with which he remained up to 1856. In 1×60, however. he voted for Stephen A. Dong- las. and since that time has acted independently. He is a strong advocate of the principles of tem- perance, and never neglects an opportunity to ad- vance that cause. Ile has served twenty-six years as School Director. and six as Town Trustee, and has also served as Assessor and Justice of the Peace. Hle is one of Reading Township's foremost citizens. and has always espoused everything that tended toward the general welfare of the people. He is widely known for his benevolence and kindness as a neighbor, and indulgence as a husband and father. and enjoys the confidence of all the people of that section of Livingston County. None of those rep- resented in the portrait department of this ALBUM are more worthy of a place there than Mr. Clark. As a fitting accompaniment of his portrait we give that of his estimable wife.

ESSE DIFFENBAUGH is a prominent grain dealer of Dwight, whose transactions are so extensive as to embrace nearly all the farm product- of the section of country adjacent. He was born on the 21st of August, 1880, near Westminster. Md. The Diffenbaughs are of an old pioneer family of that State, of sturdy origin, who came to Maryland in the old Colonial times. On the maternal side Mr. Diffenbaugh is of English descent, from one of the old Baltimore families.

John Henry Diffenbaugh was the first of the name of whom we have any record, and he was brought to this country when a small boy by his father, who

was the original pioneer, and brought with him three sons. In those early days it was a long dis- tance to mill, as they were located along the creek and were far apart. One of the brothers started to mill to be absent two or three days, but never re- turned. It is supposed he was taken and carried into captivity by some wandering band of Indians. Mr. Diffenbaugh settled on a farm near Westmins- ter, Md., and was drafted as a soldier in the War of 1812, but being in ill-health he was permitted to secure a substitute. The maiden name of his wife was Bumgardner, and they were the parents of four daughters and one son-Elizabeth, Catherine, Lydia, Susan and John H. They are all now living except Lydia, who was thrown from a buggy and killed. Elizabeth is eighty-eight years of age, Catherine eighty-four, John H. eighty-one. and Susan seventy-seven, the combined ages of the four being three hundred and thirty years. The father of this family died in 1813.

John Henry, the father of our subject, was born in 1806. and followed the occupation of a farmer. Hle received a common-school education, and has for many years been a member of the Christian Church. In political opinions he was a Democrat up to the breaking out of the war, and after that he became a Republican. In 1826 he was married to Miss Elizabeth Powell, daughter of John and Eliza- beth Powell, who lived on a neighboring farm. Mr. Powell came from England when a young man, in company with his mother, one sister and two broth- ers. Mrs. Powell was a Stewart, whose mother mar- ried a Towson, who belonged to a celebrated Balti- more family during the War of 1812, in which Capt. William Towson was an officer. Mrs. Powell was a woman of superior intelligence. and is well remembered by her grandchildren as a woman pos- sessing great force of character. She was a very skillful nurse and of great service to the sick, who at that day did not have the best medical atten- dance. Mr. Diffenbaugh by his nion with Miss Powell became the father of fourteen children- John T .. Angelina, Jesse, Margaret, Catherine. Emily J., Lucinda, Adam H., Louisa, Mary, Mar- tha, and three who died in infaney. Martha mar- ried David Burns, of Maryland, and died in 1878, leaving two children, Harvey and Ernest. The

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remainder of the family are all in Maryland, ex- cepting Jesse, and Louisa, who married Isaac Perry, and is at present a resident of Dwight. Mr. Diffen- baugh was a man of sterling character and brought up his large family to principles of the strictest integrity. Mrs. Diffenbangh died in 1868, at the age of sixty-one years.

The subject of this sketch received a common- school education during his boyhood days and early learned the trade of a shoemaker. Leaving home in 1852, at the age of twenty-two, he went to Mill Creek, Pa., where he engaged as a clerk in a store for eight years. He afterward opened a store of his own, and operated a sawmill. engaging in a gen- eral lumber business, In 1860 Mr. Diffenbaugh was married to Miss Sarah Goodman, daughter of John Goodman, a farmer of Mill Creek. They have had two children, Harry J. and Nora E., of whom the latter died when about eleven years of age. In 1868 Mr. Diffenbaugh sold out his business and moved to Dwight, Ill., where he began farming on land which he had previously bought about two miles south of Dwight. In 1870 he engaged in the grain business, which he has prosecuted with suc- cess up to the present time.

In political matters Mr. Diffenbaugh acts with the Democratic party, and has been Assessor of the township for three years, and a member of the School Board. He is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, and takes an active interest in lodge matters. A life of perseverance and indus- try has earned for Mr. Diffenbaugh an excellent reputation as a business man, and he stands de- servedly high in commercial circles. In his social relations with the people he has popularized him- self with all classes, by whom he is held in the high- est esteen.

Le EWIS HOLLOWAY, dealer in dry-goods, groceries, tin and glassware in the village of Wing, Pleasant Ridge Township, was born in Hamilton County, Ohio, in 1838. He is the son of John and Mary (Massey ) Holloway, the former of whom was born in 1809 and died in 1849 in Ohio. He was a cabinet-maker by trade, and

was skillful in his calling. The father's death oc- curred one day after that of the mother, the deatlı of both being caused by cholera. They were the parents of seven children, whose names are as fol- lows: John, Ann, Lewis, William, Sarah, Edward and Emily.

Mr. Holloway came to Illinois in 1855, and lo- cated in LaSalle County, where he learned the trades of bricklaying and plastering, at which he worked for four years and then engaged in farm- ing. On the 8th of January, 1862, he enlisted in the army, and was mustered in as a private in an independent company attached to the 53d Illinois In- fantry as Company A Cavalry, and known as Will- iam Ford's Cavalry, afterward Gen. Halleck's es- cort, and later Gen. Grant's escort, and later as Company L, 15th Illinois Cavalry, and soon after- ward it participated in the siege at Corinth, where it remained for about one month. Thence it went to Shewalla, where it remained until the second siege of Corinth, in which it was engaged. The first general engagement in which this company participated was at Hatchie River on the 25th of September, 1862. The company afterward went to Glendale, where it remained until the spring of 1863. In the engagement at Hatchie River Mr. Holloway had received injuries which rendered him unfit for any service, and he was discharged for permanent disability. His discharge bears date Feb. 25, 1863. Immediately upon his discharge he re- turned home, and after recruiting his health about one year he engaged in farming. His first purchase of land was forty acres, to which he has from time to time added until he now owns 140 acres of good land on section 13, this township, and all under cultivation.

On the 24th of July, 1858, Mr. Holloway was married to Miss Mary A. Brundage, a native of Pennsylvania, who was born on the 10th of Septem- ber, 1842. Mr. and Mrs. Holloway have had ten children, eight of whom are now living: Oscar, Clarence, Alice, Ida J., Harry, Clifford, George and Alma. Mr. Holloway began his present business in May, 1880, but afterward disposed of it and went to the farm, where he staid two years. He then returned to Wing and erected another store building, which he supplied with a large and varied stock of goods,

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consisting principally of flour, boot- and shoes, dry- goods, groceries, tin and glass ware. He has built up an extensive trade with the people of that see- tion of the country, and is meeting with marked SI10CesS.

In polities Mr. Holloway acts with the Repub- lican party. and has been selected by the people to discharge the duties of various offices. Ile has filled the office of Road Commissioner nine years and has been Justice of the Peace eleven years, and during that time none of his decisions have been reversed npon an appeal to a higher court. lle has jurisdiction in certain criminal cases. and the decisions he has rendered in those cases have been approved whenever an appeal has been taken. Mr. Holloway does not belong to any church organization. but is a strong believer in religion as taught by Christ, and is a Second Adventist in belief. but his children are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is a Comrade of Post No. 114. G. A. R., at Forest, and is quite regular in hi- attendance. A> a citizen Mr. Ilollo- way i- highly esteemed, and as a prompt and cor- reet bu-ines- man has earned an enviable reputa- tion.

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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 16

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