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 20
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118 | Part 119 | Part 120 | Part 121 | Part 122 | Part 123 | Part 124 | Part 125 | Part 126 | Part 127 | Part 128 | Part 129 | Part 130 | Part 131 | Part 132 | Part 133 | Part 134 | Part 135 | Part 136 | Part 137 | Part 138 | Part 139 | Part 140 | Part 141 | Part 142 | Part 143 | Part 144 | Part 145 | Part 146 | Part 147 | Part 148
Mr. Attig is the son of German parents, who passed their youth in their native land, and emigrated to America after their marriage. Upon their arri- val in New York City they staid a few weeks, when they eame West and remained residents of Woodford County until 1878. The father then removed to Rook's Creek Township, this county, and afterward to McLean County, where he still resides, near Chenoa. The parental household in- eluded eight children, of whom the record is as follows: Catherine, the eldest daughter, became the wife of John Snyder and is a resident of Mar- shall County ; Frederick married Miss Mary Trueke- miller, has two children, and is farming in Pontiac Township; John, our subjeet, is the third child; Sa- rah, Mrs. Frank Laschen, is the mother of two children and lives in Woodford County; William is unmarried and engaged in farming in Pontiae
228
LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Township: George. Maggie and Christopher re- main under the home roof.
The subject of our notice was united in marriage with Miss Dorothea Salzman, March 4. 1886, the wedding taking place in Rook's Creek Township at the home of the bride's parents. Christopher and Mary Salzman, of whom a sketch will be found elsewhere in this ALBUM. The young people eom- meneed housekeeping at their present homestead, and have many friends in the community around them.
HOMAS M. SPENCE. This gentleman ranks among the representative farmers and stoek-growers of Rook's Creek Town- ship. lle has been a resident of the western country about thirty years, and is of the opinion that it is about the finest loeality in the world. He eommeneed life in Warren County, Ohio, Nov. 26, 1846, and is the son of James and Lucinda (Shields) Spence, who emigrated from the Buckeye State to Illinois in 1855. They lived near Pontiae about two years, when they returned to Ohio and resided there until 1870. In the meantime occurred the out- break of the Rebellion and our subject, yet but a boy, ran away from home with a companion, Caleb Whittaker, and enlisted in an Ohio regiment, re- eeiving a bounty of about $600. He was as- signed to the 13th regiment of eavalry, and with his comrades marehed to the front, meeting the enemy first at Petersburg, but not engaging in any serious conflict, as the war was nearing its elose. IIe received an honorable discharge July 4, 1865, and returned to his home in Ohio, where he eon- tinued until the death of his father, which oeeurred March 13, 1867. The following year he left home and engaged to work on a farm in Allen County six or seven months, at the expiration of which time, after a brief visit to his mother, he started for Illinois. He worked by the month in Shelby County about one year, when he came to Living- ston, where he concluded to remain. A year later he returned to Ohio for his mother, and they sub- sequently located a tract of land from a warrant which had been held by the maternal grandmother on account of the services of her husband in the
War of 1812. This land is now included in the present home of Mr. Spenee.
Our subject, in 1873, returned to his native State, and was there married to one of the compan- ions of his childhood. Miss Hannah, daughter of James and Isabella (Martin) Walker, Sept. 10, 1873. Of this union there has been one child only, a son, Franklin M., born Nov. 3, 1875.
The subject of this sketch comes from excellent Pennsylvania stoek, who afterward became resi- dents of Kentucky, where his father was born Feb. 4, 1803. The maternal aneestors were also from the Keystone State, and the mother, Mrs. Lucinda Spenee, was born in Ohio July 2, 1812. She was married to the father of our subjeet, Sept. 28, 1841, and Thomas M. was the third child in a family of six sons all living, whose record is as fol- lows: William Preston, born Aug. 25, 1842, served in the Union army one year, married, and became the father of three children now living with him near Ft. Scott, Kan; his wife is dead. Robert Franklin was born April 7, 1844, and en- listed in the 4th Indiana Cavalry, serving two years and participating in several important bat- tles. lle is married, has one ehild, and lives at Hazen, Ark .; Thomas M. is our subjeet; Calvin B., born Dec. t5, 1848, is married, has three ehil- dren, and is a resident of Ft. Seott; James C., born March 2, 1851, is a resident of Kansas, and lives with his brother William near Ft. Scott; John L., born April 19, 1854, is unmarried, and continues on the old homestead in Rook's Creek Township.
The paternal grandfather of Mr. Spenee was horn about 1756, and lived to be eighty-three years of age. He served three months in the War of 1812, and received from the Government a land warrant which his widow afterward sold. The lat- ter was born in 1771, and also lived to be eighty- three years old. Grandfather Shields was born in 1776, and died in 1846, being seventy years of age. His wife survived him eighteen years, her death taking place in 1864, when she was eighty-six years of age.
Mrs. Spence was the third child in a family of six. and was born in Ohio, June 1, 1841. Her brothers and sisters, the most of whom are in Warren County, Ohio, were named respectively,
229
LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
Mary, Sarah, Jane M., Samuel B, and Martin, and a half-brother, Scott Walker. Her father, James Walker, was born March 8, 1809, of Pennsylvania parents and ancestry ; he died in July, 1879. The mother was born April 16, 1810, and went with her parents to Ohio when a child eight years of age. They were married Dec. 25, 1834, and the mother passed away at her home in Warren County, Ohio, in 1857.
OSEPH A. BROWN, attorney-at-law, is one of the rising young members of the legal profession at Pontiac, where he commeneed practice July 22, 1884. He has been suc- cessful thus far and bids fair to become prominent as an attorney and counselor. Mr. Brown was born in Warren County, Ind., Oet. 14, 1851, and is the son of Joseph A. and Mary J. (Myers) Brown, natives respectively of Indiana and Ohio. His father was a merehaut of many years' standing, and departed this life at his home in Indianapolis in 1856, leaving a wife and two children, Henry F., now a resident of Arizona, where he is engaged in mining, and the subject of our sketch. The maternal grandparents of our subject were Will- iam and Annie (Buckels) Myers, natives of Ohio. After their marriage they emigrated to Indiana during the pioneer days of Warren County, where the father opened up a home in the wilderness and became a prominent citizen. The father of Annie Buekels was Abram Buckels, who served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and spent his last years in Warren County.
The subject of this history was reared on a farm in Warren and Benton Counties. Ind., and con- tinned with his mother until twenty years of age, receiving a practical education in the common schools. He afterward taught school in his native county five months, and the next year operated a farm on shares. The following winter was again spent in teaching, and in the spring of 1873 he en- tered upon a classical course of studies in Wabash College, in Montgomery County, Ind., where he re- mained for five years, then pursuing the same course of studies for one year longer in Butler University
at Indianapolis, Ind., from which institution he was graduated in the classical course in June, 1879; then taught school the next three years in Indiana. The total expenses of his six years' college course were defrayed by our subjeet with money earned by him before commencing the course and during college vaeations. lle came to Illinois in the fall of 1882, and was appointed Superintendent of Fairbury schools in this county, and acted as such for one year. In July, 1883, he crossed the Missis- sippi. He had heretofore employed his leisure time in reading law, and now entered the law school at lowa City, where he was graduated after a year's study, and thence returned to this county and commenced the practice of his profession July 22, 1884. Politically he is a decided Repub- liean, and took an active part in the Presidential campaign of 1884, by stumping nearly every township in Livingston County.
Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Miss Laura E. St. John, of this county, Dec. 29, 1881, at the home of the bride in Eppard's Point Town- ship. Mrs. Brown was born July 18, 1859, and is the daughter of John and Emma St. John, natives of Ohio, and residents of Illinois since 1851 or 1852. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have one child, a son, St. John Loyd, born Dec. 9, 1883, at Iowa City, Iowa.
E RNEST F. PIERCE. In a town the size of Graymont, the man who occupies the posi- tions of Postmaster, Freight, Ticket and Express Agent, and telegraph operator, comes very nearly having business transactions with every man, woman and child in the territory adjacent to the place. This is the case with the subject of this sketch, who is now serving in all the capacities named. He is the son of James H. and Rachel (Reed) Pierce, and was born in La Salle County, Ill. At the age of ten years he accompanied his father when he moved to Clifton, and engaged in the hardware and tinware business, being a tinner by trade. While living in Clifton, oar subject learned telegraphy in the railroad office at that place, and commenced working in the office at the age of nineteen. In 1879 and 1880 he was employed in
230
LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
the switching yard at Gilman, when in the fall of 1880 he took charge of the office at Graymont, where he has sinee remained, and was also ap- pointed Postmaster in the spring of 1882.
Mr. Pieree was married. on the 27th of April, 1882. to Miss Sarah Beardslee, daughter of Smilie R. and Ruth (Hebron) Beardslee. of Clifton, Ill., the ceremony being performed by George F. Weekes. To them was born a daughter on the 2d of January. 1887, upon whom they conferred the name of Ruth. Mr. Pierce is the oldest child in a family of six, the others being: Clara, Mrs. Bluford L. Starkey, living in Plano. Tulare Co., Cal. ; Harvey C. married Mary Brault. has two children, and lives in Alleyton, Mich. ; Albert H., unmarried, and lives with his father in Saugatuck, Mich .; Flora and Archie R., unmarried, live at home. Mr. Pieree's father was born in Massachusetts on the 18th of March. 1825; his mother was born near Harper's Ferry, but whether in Maryland or Vir- ginia. Mr. Pierce does not know, as she lived in both those States when a child. She came to Illi- nois with her parents when about fifteen years of age. and in La Salle County Mr. Pierce's father became acquainted with her. and there they were married. The paternal ancestors eame over in the Mayflower; the maternal ancestors were of German descent. Mr. Pierce's wife is the second child in a family of eight, the others being: Laura E., Mrs. selva Beebe. has five children and lives in Ells- worth County, Kan. ; Einma J., Mrs. Edmund A. Gardner, lives near Clifton, III., having one child, a boy : Alice C .. Mrs. Byron Osborne, has two children, and lives in Linn County, Kan .; William R., unmarried, lives in Clifton, III. ; Frank S., un- married, lives with his parents; Arthur S. married Rachel Ilall, and lives at Ashkum, III; George M., unmarried, lives at home.
The father of Mrs. Pierce was born in New York on the Ith of November, 1824, and accompanied his parents when they moved to Michigan when he was ten or twelve years of age. Her mother was born in England on the Ist of April. 1829. and came with her parents to America when she was two years of age. They located in Michigan, where in childhood she became acquainted and went to -chool with the boy who afterward became
her husband, on the 25th of December, 1849. Her maternal grandfather, William llebron. lived to be quite old, and died in 1857.
Mr. and Mrs. Pierce are both members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. to which they each attached themselves at the age of sixteen. Mr. Pieree is a Republican in polities, easting his first vote for Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876. He was appointed to the office of Postmaster under a Republican administration, and has conducted the offiee with such complete satisfaction to the people that no disposition has been manifested to displace him sinee the advent of a Demoeratie administra- tion.
Lesz
B ENJAMIN F. COLEHOWER, dealer in gen- eral merchandise at Long Point, is one of the most promising young business men of the place, and already the possessor of a good property. This ineludes his store building and the two lots on which it is located, besides three lots elsewhere, and a two-fifths interest in the Masonie Hall. He is wide-awake and energetie, one of those men who believe that the building up of his town is as much a eredit to the citizens there- of as the building up of their own personal inter- ests. He is accordingly interested in whatever per- tains to the prosperity of Long Point, and is re- garded as one of its most valued eitizens.
Mr. Colehower is a native of this State, being born in Peoria County. Sept. 22, 1854. Of his parents, John and Elizabeth Colehower, a sketch will be found elsewhere in this ALBUM. Benjamin F. received a good education, and at an early age gained a good insight into business methods, and began to lay his plans for the future. He was first employed at Long Point, and established his present business in 1882. He began in a modest manner, and increased his stoek by degrees as he became known, and there sprang up around him a good patronage from the best residents of this section. When the time came that he felt justified in taking upon himself the responsibilities of a family, he was united in marriage with the lady of his choice, Miss Jennie Phillips, who was born in Marshall County, Ill., Feb. 21, 1858, and is the daughter of James B.
RESIDENCE OF G. W. BLACKWELL, SEC.35. CHARLOTTE TOWNSHIP.
SSS
İSİSISISIS
ISSSSSS
SSSSSS
SIS
RESIDENCE OF THE LATE BENNET HUMISTON , PONTIAC.
A
233
LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
and Sarah (Clifford) Phillips, natives of Ohio, and now residents of Nebraska. The little household has been brightened by the birth of one child, Leah Blanche, born Jan. 30, 1877. They occupy a neat residence on Fourth street, and enjoy the society and friendship of a large circle of acquaintances.
OIIN R. CAPES. This country is just now passing through a period of transformation. 'The generation of ante-bellum days is pass- ing away, and is being replaced by a gener- ation of men and women who date their birth dur- ing and since the War period. This new generation is one from which much can be expected, for it partakes of the new life which received its birth and impetus when the nation started on its new era of prosperity at the death of slavery. The man who was born early in the sixties, and has become anchored in the affairs of life is amply able to fill the place in the stirring world of to-day left vacant by any one of the old generation. Among those who have come upon the stage of action with the incoming of the new era is the subject of this sketch, who is a representative young farmer and stoek-raiser on section 32 of Pontiac Township, and a native of Tazewell County, Ill., where he was born on the 30th of August, 1860, the son of Wil- loughby and Elizabeth (Milner) Capes, of Pike Township,; Livingston County. His parents are natives of England, who came to Livingston County in 1863 and settled in Pike Township, where they still reside. A large family of children was born to them, of whom the following are sur- vivors : Charles, of Pontiac; Hannah, Mrs. John Crabb, of Pike Township; George, of Livingston County ; Jennie, Mrs. J. Mott, of McLean County ; David; Louie, Mrs. George Crow, of Pike Town- ship; Sarah, Mrs. Ilerman Baxter, of Pontiac Township, and John R. and William, also of Pon- tiac. The parents were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and widely known as devoutly religious people.
John R. Capes has lived on a farm all his life, and in his youth received a rudimentary education in the district schools. For the past ten years, in
addition to his occupation as a farmer, he has en- gaged in threshing, in which business he has been quite successful. Hle was married Nov. 4, 1879, to Miss Annie Kirkpatrick, daughter of G. L. Kirk- patrick, of Kansas, and they have had three ehil- dren : George E. ; Olive F., deceased, and Elsie M. Mr. Capes owns eighty acres of land, which he suc- cessfully cultivates. lle takes a lively interest in political affairs, and in all such contests casts his influence and vote with the Republican party. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episco- pal Church, and take a warm interest, not only in church affairs, but in all matters which tend to the elevation of the people.
C YRUS G. BARR, grain dealer and farmer, of Nevada Township, was born in Bethel, Clarke Co., Ohio, Sept. 11, 1838. Ilis father, Jacob Barr, was born in Lancaster County, Pa., and his grandfather. also named Jacob Barr, was a na- tive of Germany, who came to America and settled in Lancaster County, where he died. The father was reared and married in Laneaster County, and after marriage went to Clarke County, Ohio, pur- chasing a farm in Bethel Township, where he re- sided all the last years of his life, and died in 1847. The maiden name of his wife, the mother of our subject, was Christiana Barr, but no relation of her husband, although bearing the same name. She died before her husband, on the old homestead. To them were born ten children, eight of whom grew to man and womanhood.
The subject of our sketch was the seventh child of his parents' family, and was but six years old when his mother died, and his father's death took place three years later. He then went to live with James Lamb, in Clarke County, Ohio, with whom he remained until he was fourteen years of age, and then engaged in farm work in the same county at 86.25 per month. In 1856 he came to Illinois, and on the 1st of April of that year he purchased the place where he now resides, paying for the land the sum of $7.25 per acre. It was a traet of wild, un- broken prairie, over which deer and other wild ani- mals and game roamed at will. After buying this
231
LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
land he went to Ohio, where he spent the winter. and in the spring of 1857 returned to Ilinois and be- gan the improvement of his farm. Ile first erected a hou-e. 12x12 feet, which he occupied, perform- ing his own housework up to the date of his mar- riage. Ile devoted his entire time to the improve- ment of the farm until 1881, when he went to Mansfield and engaged in the grain business one year; he then resumed farming until 1885, in which year he returned to Mansfiekl, and has since been engaged in the grain business, leaving the act- ive management of the farm to his sons.
On the Ith of September, 1861, Mr. Barr was married to Keziah Morrison, who was born in Phil- lips. Me .. Jan. 4. 1844. Her father, Stephen Morri- son, was a native of the same State, where he was reared on a farm, and when a young man went to Lowell. Mass .. and married there: afterward he re- turned to Maine, where he resided for three or four years, and then went back to Lowell. In 1848 he went to East Livermore, Me., and bought a farm, upon which he lived until 1856, in which year he moved to Illinois, and settled in DeKalb County, where he remained until the spring of 1857, at which time he moved to Livingston County, and settled in what is now Nevada Township. He pur- chased land on section 10, where he resided for a number of years, and then moved to Dwight, where he lived in retirement from active business during the last years of his life. Ile died in Dwight in July, 1876. The maiden name of his wife was Lydia Hanson, who was born about 1818, and grew to womanhood in Vermont. She is still living, and resides in Dwight.
To Mr. and Mrs. Barr have been born six chil- dren, whose names are as follows: David E., Charles W., Josiah II., Susan A .. Minnie E. and Lydia E. Mr. and Mrs. Barr are both active mein- bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and in its affairs take much interest. To the necessities of the church they are liberal givers, and in all good works which may result in the benefit of the pub- lie, they participate actively. In politics Mr. Barr is a Republican, and casts his vote and uses his in- fluence for pure nominations and a higher standard of morals in the contest for preferment. Ile has filled various offices of trust and honor in his town-
ship, and always to the satisfaction of the people, and eredit to himself. He is a gentleman of pleas- ant and affable manner, and makes friends readily wherever he goes Ile is one of those persons whom it is a pleasure to meet upon any and all oc- casions.
S TEPHIEN D. EWING. The "middle man" sustains an important position between the producer and the market, and in the in- stance of the subject of this sketch, he bears that relation in a dual capacity, buying the prod- ucts of the farm, and forwarding them to the market, and on the other hand, handling the prod- uets of the manufacturer, and finding a market for them among the producers of grain. He is a grain buyer and shipper, and dealer in agricultural implements, eval and tile, at Graymont, IHl. He is the son of John and Elizabeth (Bowers) Ewing, and was born on the 22d of September, 1862, on seetion 9, Pike Township, Livingston County. The days of his boyhood were spent upon a farm. and such education as he obtained was in the common schools. ITe remained on the farm with his parents until he was about twenty-two years of age.
On the 3d of July, 1884, Mr. Ewing was married to Nettie 1. Crow, daughter of William and Mary (Plummer) Crow, whose sketch is given in another part of this ALBUM. They have one child, born on the 2d of June. 1886, upon whom has been eon- ferred the name of Lester C. Soon after marriage Mr. Ewing moved to Graymont, where he engaged in buying grain for his father-in-law, William Crow, in whose employ he remained about two years, when Mr. Crow's lease of the elevator expired, and it was leased to Hamlin. Congdon &. Co., who re- tained Mr. Ewing in their employ, and entrusted to him the management of their affairs. On the Ist of August, 1887, the firm style was changed to Middle Division Elevator Company, and he was still continued in the employ of that company.
Mr. Ewing is the seventh in a family of eight children, whose names are as follows: Mary E., who was born Sept. 17, 1844, married Richard Mc- Millan, and they live in Esmen Township; Rosella, born Nov. 9, 1847, married Robert Ralston, has
235
LIVINGSTON COUNTY.
five children, and lives in Thayer County, Neb. ; Aurelius MeCurdy, who was born Dec. 13, 1850. married Frances Tracy; they have five children, and live in Chicago. James Loren, born July 2, 1853, married Mary II. Tracy, has three children, and lives in Pike Township; George W., born Oct. 23, 1856, died March 3, 1874, and is buried in Pike Township graveyard; Laura Matilda, born March 11, 1859; Stephen, our subject; and Will- iam C., born Feb. 12. 1865. The parents of Mr. Ewing were born in Ohio, the father on the 29th of September, 1820, and the mother on the 25th of April, 1824. They were married on the 1st of December, 1842, and came to Illinois in 1862, ar- riving on the 1st of March, and locating on section 9, where they remained until 1863, when they re- moved to their present home on section 4, consist- ing of a half section, and 240 acres on section 5.
SAAC RAMY JOHNSTON. The people who have more to do with shaping the destiny of the country than any other class are the edu- cators of the children. It is they who first mold into shape the thoughts of the child when the book of life is first opened to it. On these educators depends largely the status of the rising generation, and great responsibilities rest upon them. No matter how humble the teacher may be, nor how obscure his locality, wherever it is he is the great factor in shaping the new generation for its duties in life. To the grand army of educators belongs the subject of this sketch. He is the teacher of the school at Graymont, Ill.
Mr. Johnston is the son of Adam Mitchell and Lydia C. (Teachenor) Johnston, and was born in Adams County, Ohio, on the 9th of January, 1851. His father was a cooper by occupation, and lived in Manchester, Ohio. At a time when Mr. John- ston was about ten years of age he came with his father to a little village called Fairview. Although his educational opportunities were very limited his diligence secured him a good common-school edu- cation, and at twelve years of age he entered his father's shop for the purpose of learning the trade of a cooper, at which he worked for about
four years. llis father then moved to Missouri, where he engaged in school teaching, and Mr. Johnston was enabled to attend school for one year, after which he labored on a farm for one year in the employ of his father, and for about two years he worked by the month, giving to his father the money he thus earned. Shortly after he was twenty-one years of age he accumulated money with which to purchase a horse and wagon, and renting a farm commenced business for himself.
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.