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 22

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 22

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Clinton Co., Ohio, on the 4th of June, 1835, and is the son of Daniel and Mary (Bennett) Mills, na- tives respectively of Virginia and Kentucky. Dan- iel Mills was born April 17, 1781, and departed this life at his home in Reading Township, Feb. 6, 1868. His wife, Mary, was born April 16, 1793, and died also in this township Nov. 2, 1877. They were married in Ohio, Feb. 9, 1815, and became parents of the children bearing the following names : Thomas, Elizabeth, Louisa, James, Joshua C., Mar- tha, Elma, Maria, Mary, Margaret, Melissa, Letitia, Elvira and John W. (twins), and Louis Clark.

Mr. Mills was reared to manhood in the Buckeye State, and early in life began to lay his plans for the future. When about the age of nineteen he started for the West, and finding no place which suited him better than this county, located here and has since remained. being now a resident for a period of thirty-three years. He first took up his residence in Reading Township, and in due time made the acquaintance of Miss Lucy E. Coe, who became his wife March 31, 1864. Mrs. Mills is the daughter of John and Nancy (Wilkinson) Coe, na- tives respectively of Connecticut and Vermont, and was born Feb. 5, 1842, in Geauga County, Ohio. John Coe was born Feb. 20, 1811, and departed this life Oct. 5, 1862. His wife, Nancy, was born Aug. 13, 1813, and passed away at her home Feb. 16, 1874.

The children of the parental household of Mrs. Mills were, Daniel T., now a resident of Sheridan, La Salle Co., Ill .; Clara E., the wife of A. B. Whit- ney, of Peoria, traveling correspondent of the Transcript; Lucy E., the wife of our subject; Al- bert, who resides in Kansas; Arthur, who died when fourteen months old; Amie L., the wife of W. T. Clark, a farmer and stock-raiser of Reading Township. The parents were devoted members of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The father served one year in the Union army, being assigned to duty at Johnston's Island, near Sandusky, Ohio, where he contracted a fever which resulted in his death. He died at Columbus, Ohio. and his remains were taken to his home in Geauga County, Ohio, for burial.

The four children of Mr. and Mrs. Mills are all at home with their parents. The eldest son, Fred-

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die E .. was born July 10. 1868, and after complet- ing his studies in the common schools, entered the business college at Peoria, Ill. Ile, together with his sister, Clara E., has developed uncommon musi- cal talent, which is often utilized in the social as- semblies of their neighborhood and church. Clara Eveline was born Ang. 13. 1872; Charles Franklin, April 13, 1877, and Albert Roy, April 23, 1881.

Mr. Mills was first elected Supervisor in 1876. He has been quite prominent in the councils of his fellow-townsmen, and served as Assessor four years, besides being Commissioner, School Treasurer and School Trustee. With his estimable wife he is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and politically, affiliates with the Republican party.

We give in connection with this brief sketch of one of Livingston County's representative citi- zens, the portrait of the man of whom we write, and as an appropriate companion picture, that of his estimable wife.

OHN LOAR. "Like father like son" is an old saying. and it is a pretty trite one. The man who commences the struggle of life without anything but willing hands and a brave heart, and fights successfully through until the end. generally transmits to his children an indom- itable will, and a courage which makes them suc- cessful in life. Such can be said of the subject of this sketch, who is a farmer and stock-grower on section 18, Belle Prairie Township. Ile was born in Greene County, Pa., on the 21st of April, 1826, and is the son of John and Hester (Stephens) Loar. natives of Maryland and Pennsylvania re- spectively. The father was born on the 28th of November, 1789, and died on the 5th of May, 1873, in Pennsylvania. He was all his life a farmer by occupation, commencing his career as such without a cent of capital, and long before his death he had accumulated a competency. He and his wife were members of the Protestant Meth- odist Church, and in early times the meetings of that denomination were held at their residence. The mother was born in June, 1794, and died in

December, 1881, both dying on the same farm in . Pennsylvania. They were the parents of fourteen children, eleven of whom they reared to man and womanhood : Sarah; Jacob, who held the office of Justice of the Peace fifteen years; George, who is a minister; Appollos, a physician and Christian minis- ter in Richmond, Ind .; Adam died in childhood; Martha; John ; Henry died at the age of eight years; Dr. James Loar, of Bloomington, III .: Nancy died at the age of four years; Levi, Hester .J., Lany A. and Elizabeth.

John Loar was married to Miss Maria White on the 22d of April, 1847, the Rev. Foredyce, of the Protestant Methodist Church, officiating, She was born on the 24th of April, 1826, and is the daugh- ter of Rev. David and Leah (Straschneider) White, who were natives of Pennsylvania. The father was born in 1795, and is still living, a hale and hearty old man of ninety-two years. On the day after his ninetieth birthday he delivered a very fine discourse in the same school-house where he studied eighty years before, this house standing on the same farm where he was born and reared. He displays considerable agility, and can run and jump with nearly as much ease as he could sixty years ago. He indulges considerably in horseback riding, and in 1856 he rode from his home in Penn- sylvania to Missouri in the month of December. He has been preaching since 1820. The mother was born in 1801, and died in April, 1865. She was also a member of the Christian Church, and her husband is credited with being the oldest liv- ing minister of that denomination. They were the parents of eight children-Elizabeth, Israel, Sarah, Mariah, Eliza J., Reason, Mary A., and Christina, deceased.

Mr. and Mrs. Loar have had ten children: Thomas J., now teaching school in Kansas; Martha J., David W., Elizabeth S .; George, druggist and Postmaster in Cropsey, McLean Co., Ill .; Emma F., a school teacher; James L., a lawyer, and graduate of Ann Arbor, Mich .; Fafayette died at the age of fifteen months in the year 1868; Ida B. and Artie M. Mr. Loar came to Illi- nois in 1868 and located on a farm of 160 acres on section 18, on which he has continuously resided since. In the management of his farm and the

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raising of graded stock, he displays unusual enter- prise, and encourages all organizations that are in- tended to further the interests of the agricultur- ists and stock-raisers. He is a stockholder in the Livingston County Fair Association, and also in the Belle Prairie Farmers' Mutual Insurance Com- pany, chartered Jan. 14, 1874, for a term of twenty years. As a sample of the productiveness of his farm it may be stated that in 1871 he cut twenty- four tons of hay on ten acres of land, and sold $600 worth of apples that were raised on the same ten acres, and in 1881 the product of the orchard was $550 worth of apples. There are 600 rods of tile drain on the farm.

The family of Mr. Loar are members of the Christian Church, in which he has held the office of Elder for many years. He is a stanch Demo- crat, and upon all proper occasions gives evidence of the political faith that is in him.

AMUEL EARP, one of the pioncer farmers and stock-raisers of Livingston County, resides on section 4 of Rook's Creek Town- ship. He is the son of William Earp, and was born on the 31st of May, 1829, at New Gar- den, Columbiana Co., Ohio. In 1856 he removed to Wisconsin, where he staid one summer, and then to Livingston County, Ill., and settled in the neighborhood where he now resides.

The father of the subject of this sketch was born in England about the year 1803, and came to the United States when fourteen years of age, landing at Philadelphia on his fourteenth birthday. His memory serves him so well that he remembers the return of soldiers to England after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo. Hle witnessed the review of the American soldiers by Gen. La Fayette at Philadelphia, in 1824. He had traveled over En- gland quite extensively in his boyhood days in company with an older brother, who was engaged in selling pottery, and was present when he sold a set of chinaware to Queen Victoria, before she was crowned; while in Philadelphia he learned the trade of making boots and shoes. He was married in

Pittsburgh about 1827, and some tinie after this moved to Ohio and engaged in farming. He was the father of four sons: Samuel; James, who is single and lives in Livingston County ; Charles W. died Dec. 15, 1868; George died in infancy.

Samuel Earp received more than an ordinary education in the common schools, and attended the High School in Richmond, Jefferson Co., Ohio. He cast his first Presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and has been a constant and firm supporter of the principles of the Republican party ever since. He has filled nearly all the various township offices, having served as Commissioner of Highways a number of terms, and been three times elected as Supervisor, and each of these places of trust he has filled with such honesty and ability that great satisfaction was given the people. Mr. Earp is a man of very generous impulses, and has made it a practice throughout life to assist all worthy persons who applied to him for aid. Being a firm believer in pure Christianity and apostolic simplicity, his inclinations are toward the Christian Church. Charles Earp, a brother of Samuel, was in the Union army during the war, and served under Gen. Sherman, taking part in that memora- ble march from Atlanta to the sea. In that cam- paign he contracted consumption, from which he never recovered, and died soon after returning from the army.

On the 13th of May, 1858, Mr. Earp was mar- ried to Caroline Earp, daughter of Charles Earp, of Livingston County. She is a cousin, and was born on the 18th of February, 1834, in Norwalk, Ohio. Her mother was born on the 26th of Feb- ruary, 1811, in England, and during the first five years of her life lived in Derbyshire, and at that age accompanied her father to the United States, landing in Baltimore, and going directly to Co- lumbiana County, Ohio, by wagon. Her mother had died shortly before. John Morledge, the grandfather of Mrs. Earp, was born in England about 1774, and was a blacksmith by trade, but after he removed to the United States and settled in Ohio he became a farmer, and bought a half- section of land, which he cleared and improved, and which is now owned by John Morledge, a son by his second wife. John Morledge was a member

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of the Church of England, but his daughter Esther has never been a member of any church, but be- lieves that pure and simple religion consists in vis- iting the widow and fatherless in their affliction, and keeping unspotted from the world. Mrs. Earp is a member of the Episcopal Church.

AMES W. EISENHOWER, farmer and mer- chant clerk, is splendidly situated on sec- tion 20. Rook's Creek Township. He is the eldest son of John F. and Catherine J. (Mil- ler) Eisenhower, and was born on the 8th of No- vember, 1×35. in the State of Pennsylvania. He made the most of what common-school advantages there were in Newburg, Cumberland County, and remained with his father, who was at that time a merchant, until he was about twenty years of age, when he was married to Caroline Harlin, on the 13th of December, 1855. For two years after his marriage he was engaged as a clerk in his father's store. A son was born to him and his wife on the 20th of October. 1856. and was named Theodore B. In February, 1859, his wife died. and he moved to McLean County, Ill., leaving the child in the care of his parents. After locating in Me- Lean County. he rented a farm for one year, at the end of which time he sold what property he pos- sessel, and engaged to work by the month for nine months. but before the contract expired he enlisted in August. 1862, in the Ist Marine Artillery of New York.

During its service the regiment was mostly em- ployed in the coast defenses, and Mr. Eisenhower was actively engaged in three battles; the first at Kingston, on the Neu-e River, near Newbern, N. C., in which the Union side was successful in capt- uring 600 prisoners. Mr. Eisenhower thinks one incident of the battle i- worthy of mention. When part of the men who were doing patrol duty began to see -hot and shell coming near they concluded they had better be getting out of there, and so ex- pressed themselves. Capt. Smith, of the 17th Mas- sachusetts, reassuringly said. "Oh, no; those are from our cannon, and they won't hurt us;" but when the next one came near, pressing his head

against the side of a house which stood near, he remarked that "we had better be getting out of here." The second battle was what is known as Dudley Halls, in which the Union forces were suc- cessful. Soon after they were in the battle of Goldsboro, where they burned a bridge on the road leading from Weldon to Richmond, and de- stroyed a portion of the track in order to shut supplies out of Richmond. Mr. Eisenhower went through the service without receiving a scratch, and was honorably discharged in April, 1863.

Upon his discharge from the army, Mr. Eisen- hower returned to his home in Pennsylvania, where he again married, taking for his wife Miss Susan Gunkel (now spelled with a K instead of a G), on the 17th of September, 1863. He then came back to Illinois and farmed in McLean County until the fall of 1865, when he moved to Marshall County. where he carried on farming until the fall of 1867. In that year they moved to Woodford County, where be purchased eighty acres of land and re- mained there two years. sold out, and moved back to Marshall County, and from there to Livingston County, in the fall of 1869, where he farmed for two and one-half years on land belonging to his wife's brother. He then purchased a farm of 120 aeres, which he now owns. llis land was unim- proved when it came into his possession, but he worked upon it industriously, and soon brought it to a fine state of cultivation. It is honeycombed with tiled ditches, and where trees never grew be- fore he has planted them, and they now afford an abundance of shade. Ile has an excellent set of farm buildings, and all necessary implements and machinery required for the carrying on of agricult- ure in a first-class manner. The homestead pre- sents one of the attractive points in the landscape of Rook's Creek Township.

Mr. Eisenhower's eldest son. Theodore B .. is married, and lives in Albion, Boone Co., Neb., and is a traveling express messenger on a branch of the Union Pacific Railway. By the second marriage there have been born the following children : George A., born Ang. 1, 1864, married Lucy Ben- son, and lives in Rook's Creek Township; William A., born Aug. 27, 1865, lives in the same township; Edwin K., born Nov. 1, 1867, is single and lives at

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home. Mr. Eisenhower's sons are now conducting the farming operations, and he devotes his time to the management of Dr. J. Allen's general store in Graymont, of which he has complete control.

Mrs. Eisenhower was born on the 15th of Febru- ary, 1839, and is the daughter of George and Bar- bara (Houser) Kunkel. Her parents were natives of Lancaster County, Pa. Her brothers and sis- ters were as follows: The eldest, Martin, died in infancy ; John, William, Elizabeth, Edwin, George, Israel, Catherine and Martin.

ILLIAM F. COOK. One of the younger men and farmers who is destined to make his impress upon the history of Livingston County is the subject of this sketch, who has a farm of 100 acres on section 28, in Pontiac Town- ship. He is a native of Butler County, Ohio, where his birth took place on the 4th of July, 1853, and consequently has the rare privilege each year of celebrating the anniversary of his birth and the birth of the Nation simultaneously. He is the son of Eli and Almeda Cook, who were both natives of the State of Ohio, and were pio- neers of Butler County. The father, during most of his life in Butler County, was a grain dealer, and from him his son inherited considerable busi- ness tact. They had a family of four children- William F., Charles F., George C. and Frank J. The father died in Ohio on the 22d of June, 1885, and after his death the mother came to Livingston County and resided with her sons until the summer of 1887, when she went to Pueblo County, Col., and there resides. They both were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and were very much devoted to the welfare of that organization. So far as political matters went the father was an ardent supporter of the Republican party, and as such was widely and favorably known throughout Butler County, while the opposition in that Demo- cratic stronghold have cause to remember the blows he struck in defense of his party.

The years intervening between the birth and manhood of Mr. Cook of our notice were spent in Butler County, where he attended the common

schools regularly and pursued his studies so assidu- ously that he received more than an average edu- cation. Ilaving an inclination for the business affairs of life he took a thorough course in book- keeping at the Ilamilton Business College, of Hamilton, Ohio, in the year 1870, and was graduated from that institution with great credit to himself. For several years afterward he was associated with his father in the grain trade, and had entire charge of the books of the firm, while he became an ex- pert grain buyer. In the fall of 1873 he came to Livingston County, where for the first year of his residence he engaged in work on a farm in the em- ploy of John A. Knapp, of Pontiae. For the next three years he rented farms which he managed suc- cessfully. In 1882 he purchased the farm on which he now lives, on seetion 28, Pontiac Township, and his 100 acres are as fertile and productive as any similar body of land in Livingston County.

On the 21st of March, 1878, Mr. Cook was mar- ried to Rosalind Knapp, daughter of John A. Knapp, the gentleman for whom he worked during the first year of his residence in Livingston County. They have two children: Emma A., born Dec. 22, 1879, and Edna B., born May 3, 1881. Mr. Cook has made a success in his farming operations unusual with men who are not bred to farm life. Ever since he became a voter he has cast his ballot with the Republican party. IIe and his wife are respected members of society, and are active in all things intended to benefit the community.

UGH D. MACK. This gentleman, who lo- cated in Avoca Township eleven years ago, purchased a quarter of section 30, where he has since been engaged in farming and stock- raising, and is accounted one of its most enterpris- ing citizens. He has been a resident of the Prairie State for a period of thirty-four years, having located in MeLean County, near Bloomington, in 1853, whence he removed to this county in 1876, taking possession of his present farm.

Mr. Mack is a native of the Buckeye State, and was born in Harrison County, June 7, 1827. His parents, Samuel and Margaret (Carnes) Mack, were

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natives of Ireland, who emigrated to the United States early in life. Their household included eleven children, of whom the following are living : Isabella, Hugh D., John, David, Ellen. Lizzie. William. George and Robert. Some of these are located in Kansas, others in Ohio, where the parents are now living.

Our subject remained a member of his father's household until considerably past his majority, and after passing his thirty-fifth year, was united in marriage, on the 10th of May, 1863, to Miss Sarah A. Fosset. a native of his own State, who came to Illinois in 1853. They have three children-Edith, Robert and Edna. The youngest is now six years of age. Mr. Mack. struggling through the disad- vantages of a limited edueation, has by his own ef- forts acquired sufficient knowledge of business mat- ters to invest his money in a judicious manner, and has attained to a good position, both socially and finaneially. He and his estimable lady are mem- bers in good standing of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and are valued in the community. His land has been brought to a good state of cultivation, and the farm buildings, neat and substantial, are kept in good order, while everything about the place wears the air of comfort and plenty.

AMES L. ROBERTS, the well-known and en- terprising dealer in merchandise, and grain buyer and shipper. of the town of Graymont, Livingston Co., Ill., is the son of John and Katherine (Hlenkins) Roberts, and was born in Greene County, Pa., on the 31st of August, 1847. In 1851 he accompanied his parents to Bureau County, Ill., where they rented ground and farmed four years. In 1855 they moved to a farm in Putnam County, where the father bought ten acres of land, which he sokl in 1858, and then moved to Davis County, Mo., where they farmed rented ground until the fall of 1861, when they returned to Illinois and located in De Witt County. After remaining in this county until 1869 they came to Livingston County, where the father bought forty arres on section 28, Rook's Creek Township, one Inile south of where the town of Graymont now

stands. In 1869 the subject of this sketch bought forty aeres of land, and in 1874 still another forty adjoining on section 28. He continued to make his home at his father's and assisted on the farm until 1880. During this period he was elected Com- missioner of Highways.

On the 6th of September, 1880, Mr. Roberts was married to Miss Rachel Jane Lillie, daughter of John and Mary (Smith) Lillie, at the residence of W. F. Brydia. in Saunemin Township, Livingston County, Rev. G. W. Gue officiating. On the 23d of October, in partnership with Henry Pample & Co., he opened a stock of general merchandise un- der the firm name of Roberts, Pample & Co., in Graymont. This was among the first establish- ments for the sale of general merchandise opened in that town. This partnership continued until June, 1882, when Pample sold out to B. S. Lillie, a brother-in-law of Mr. Roberts. The firm then became Roberts & Lillie, who continued the busi- ness until February, 1884, when Mr. Roberts bought out Mr. Lillie's interest, and has since con- tinued the business by himself. In the fall of 1885 he added the buying and shipping of grain to his regular business, and was the prime mover in seeur- ing the location of Graymont at its present site, assisting also very materially in obtaining the right of way for the Kankakee Line of the Middle Divis- ion of the Illinois Central Railroad. Mr. Roberts re- ceived a very fair common-school education, and in addition to that he has further qualified himself for business affairs by learning book-keeping and mastering its various complications. He has al- ways been a man of public spirit, assisting in the building of churches throughout the surrounding country.

Mr. Roberts' parents were born in Pennsylvania, on or near the line of Greene Township, the father Nov. 27. 1811, and the mother on the 13th of July, 1820. They were married in Pennsylvania about the year 1838. The subject of this sketch is the fourth in a family of six children : the oldest, Eliza May, died in infancy; Lucretia was born July 4, 1842, is unmarried, and lives with her parents in Milford, Montgomery Co., Iowa; Elijah Peter was born on the 14th of July, 1844; he enlisted in August, 1862, in Company G. 107th Illinois In-

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fantry, and was wounded in a skirmish, dying soon after in a hospital at Baltimore, where he was buried. James L .; Margaret Susannah, born Aug. 26, 1863, and Marion Morris, born April 23, 1859, are unmarried and live with their parents.

Mr. 'Roberts' paternal grandfather, James Rob- erts. was born in Pennsylvania on the 30th of July, 1787, and his grandmother, Lucretia Morris, on the 30th of April of the same year. They were mar- ried on the 15th of May, 1807, and moved to Han- cock County, Ill., where they died. The great- grandfather was born in New Jersey and moved to Pennsylvania when a young man ; his father was a native of Wales. The maternal grandparents were born in or near Greene County, Pa., the grand- father, Elijah IIenkins, on the 22d of May, 1791, and the grandmother, Elizabeth (Brown) Henkins, July 1, 1787. They were married about 1814. The grandmother died on the 12th of August, 1875, and was buried in the Lone Tree Graveyard, Bureau County, Ill. The grandfather served as a soldier in the War of 1812, and died Ang. 6, 1887. Mr. Roberts remembers seeing his maternal great- grandmother, and says she lived two or three years at their home in Illinois, where she died and is buried in the Lone Tree Graveyard. He thinks her name was Lucretia Brown, and he says he car- ries scars which he received by falling on her iron kettle.

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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 22

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