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 32

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 32

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).

OIN POWELL. of Pontiac Township, and who is now passing down the sunset hill of earthly existence. has had little to complain of in the distribution of this world's goods, a- he has been quite successful in life and is now in the enjoyment of it- creature comforts. The prop- erty which he has accumulated is the result of his own industry and intelligent efforts put forth in | of Chenoa. In the spring of 1855 he removed to

317

LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

Pontiac Village, where he resided eight years, and then took possession of the farm which he now oc- cupies on section 24. This comprises eighty acres of valuable land, and he also owns a half interest in a brickyard located thereon. The residence and adjacent buildings are models of convenience and comfort, and the resort of the many friends whom Mr. and Mrs. Powell have gathered about them dur- ing a residence here of more than thirty years.

Mr. Powell. politically, is a stanch Prohibitionist. and with his estimable lady, a member in good standing of the Christian Church. He has served several years as School Director in his district and was formerly a member of the Town Council of Pontiac. In early manhood, while a resident of Ohio, he served as Mayor of Ilollansburg, Darke County, and has always kept himself well posted upon current events.

W ILLIAM ASKEW, who is a prominent far- mer living on section 34, Owego Township, is a native of Northamptonshire, one of the central counties of England, which is largely de- voted to agriculture and the propagation of heavy black horses, Short-horn cattle and sheep. Ile was born on the 28th of October, 1828, and is the son of John and Charlotte Askew, who were natives of England. ' Eleven children were born to his parents : Fannie, wife of Thomas Southworth, of Noble County, Ind. ; Thomas, of Oregon ; Jolm, of England ; William; Samuel, deceased: Keturah, widow of Thomas Knight, of England ; Ann. of England ; Jona- than, of Livingston County; Robert, of Noble County, Ind. : Ezra, of Livingston County ; Charlotte. wife of Mr. Wilson, in England.

Mr. Askew remained in England until he reached manhood, where he received a fair education. Ile emigrated to America in 1856. taking passage at Liverpool on a sailing-vessel, and after an ocean voyage of thirty days landed at New York City, from whence he went direct to Noble County, Ind., where he resided for about eleven years. During the first eight months of his residence in Indiana he engaged as a farm hand at $12 per month, and sub- sequently for two years, accepted employment for

$136 per year, at the end of which time he began farming for himself in Indiana, in which he engaged until the spring of 1867. when he came to Ilinois. where he remained in McLean County until 1868. in which year he came to Livingston County, and resided in Rook's Creek Township until the spring of 1886. In that year he settled on his present farm.

On the 4th of February, 1864, while residing in Indiana, Mr. AAskew was married to Miss Lucy Perks, who was born in England in June, 1829. She is a danghter of George and Maria Perks, and in 1861 emigrated to America with a party of friends and landed at Portland, Me .. from which place she went directly to Canada. and there re- mained two years. To Mr. and Mrs. Askew have been born three children: Emma E., the wife of John M. Miller, of Owego Township; William P. and Leason M. Mr. and Mrs. Askew both hokl act- ive relations with the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he has served as Steward and Trustee. By assiduously attending to business, good management and close economy, Mr. Askew has become the owner of an excellent farm of 120 acres, which each succeeding year he makes better than it was the year before. So far as public position is con- cerned he has served as Justice of the Peace eight years in Rook's Creek Township. two terms in the same township as School Trustee, and also as School Director for many years. Ile is a public-spirited man and encourages all enterprises having for their object the improvement of the condition of the peo- ple among whom he lives. Among his neighbors his word is considered as good as his bond. In business matters he adheres strictly to the Golden Rule.

E L. STRATTON is the possessor of one-half of a section in Long Point Township, lo- cated on sections 5 and 8, which, from little better than its primitive condition, he has trans- formed into a valuable and well-regulated home- stead. The fine residence is pleasantly located and surrounded with handsome grounds, while the barn and other out-buildings, neat and substantial struct- ures, are highly creditable to the taste and industry

318

LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

of the proprietor. Many of the fields are laid off with beautiful hedge, which assists greatly in em- bellishing the landscape of that section. and re- ceives due admiration from the passing traveler. The owner of this property is at once recognized as a man of good education, agreeable and well- bred, and eminently fitted to move among the in- telligent and enterprising people who have given to Central Illinois its enviable reputation.

Mr. Stratton was born near the northern bound- ary of Pennsylvania, in Tioga County, Jan. 12, 1826, and is the son of Seymour and Susan (Lowns- berry) Stratton, the former a native of Connectient and the latter of New York. Seymour Stratton was born in 1794, and departed this life at his home in Pennsylvania in 1873, after having reached the advanced age of seventy-nine years. The mother was born in 1803, and passed away several years previous to the death of her husband. in 1865. Their eleven children were named respectively, Lydia. Lafayette, E. L., Harriet, Dithton, Martin, Julia, Ruth, Josephine, Amelia and William. Six are living, and located in Pennsylvania, Iowa, Illi- noi- and California.

Our subjeet first pursued his studies in the com- mon -chool- of Tioga County, Pa., and subsequently attended the academy at Wellsboro nine months. lle wa- afterward for several years employed in con- nection with a sawmill, and gained a good insight into the lumber business. In May, 1849, after pas -- ing his twenty-third birthday, he migrated westward into La Salle County, this State, and later came to Living-ton County. where he began setting about the establishment of a future home. One of the first important steps in connection with this was his marriage with Miss Sarah A. Miller, which took place Jan. 17, 1856. Mrs. S. was born in Bradford, Pa .. Ang. 1. 1836. and is the daughter of John Wesley and Eliza (Kingsley) Miller, the latter of whom died when a young woman at her home in Pennsylvania. The father subsequently married Miss Jane Clark. of Bradford County, Pa., and they became residents of Illinois, where he died about 1865.

Mr. and Mr -. Stratton became the parents of the children whose record is as follows: Lauretta was born Oct. 7, 1858, and died Oct. 5, 1860; Ilattie

was born April 1, 1862, and remains at home with her parents; John, born April 29, 1864, died Nov. 15, 1877; Burt, born May 31. 1868, with the younger children remains at home with his parents; Carl was born June 10, 1872, and Ray June 24, 1874. Mr. Stratton in politics votes independently, and is a Senior Warden in the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Chapter No. 112, and Lodge No. 552, at Rutland, while also being connected with the fra- ternity at Long Point.

S AMUEL SIMPSON, one of the old war veterans, and now engaged in Nebraska Township, on section 2, in farming and stock-raising, is a native of Muskingum County, Ohio, where his birth took place March 29, 1824. His parents were Philip Alex and Polly (Imner) Simpson, natives of Virginia, whence they removed to Ohio during their youth, and were mar- ried in the Buckeye State. Philip Simpson was a farmer by occupation, and continued tilling the soil in Muskingum County, Ohio, until called from his earthly labors about 1863.

The mother of our subject passed to her long home while the latter was a mere child and the father was married a second time. Samuel con- tinued in his native State until about twenty-three years of age, then came to Illinois with his brother, and locating in Tazewell County, was there em- ployed as a farm laborer three years. He then changed his residence to McLean County, where he worked seven years and until after the outbreak of the late war. In August, 1861, he enlisted in the 88th Illinois Infantry, and took part in the bat- tles of Missionary Ridge, Chickamauga, Dalton and Resaca. In the last named engagement he was wounded in the left side by a piece of shell. He was rendered insensible for a time, but after re- gaining consciousness, got upon his feet and with difficulty made his way to the hospital. He re- mained there about two months and although only partially recovered, rejoined his regiment in time to participate in the battles of Stone River, Nash- ville, and several other important engagements. Ile

319

LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

fortunately escaped further injury, and continued with the army until after the surrender of Lee at Appomattox. He received his honorable discharge in May, 1865, and returning to his old haunts in McLean County, entered the employ of the same man for whom he had worked the seven years be- fore. Here he remained two years, when he re- moved to his present home.

On the 8th of August, 1867, Mr. Simpson took one of the most important steps toward the estab- lishment of a home of his own, this being his mar- riage with the lady of his choice, Miss Almedia, daughter of Joseph and Lydia ( Reese) Butler. Not long afterward he purchased the forty acres of land which he has now brought to a good state of cultiva- tion and upon which stands a neat farm dwelling, a good barn, and the various other buildings required for the successful prosecution of his labors. Mr. and Mrs. Simpson have one child only, a son, George Wesley, who was born Dec. 25, 1871. Mr. S. as part compensation for the injuries received in the army receives monthly a small pension.

n ATHAN TALBOT, a highly respected far- mer of Rook's Creek Township, is a fine illustration of the self-made man. He was thrown upon his own resources very early in life, and has attained to his present position socially and financially solely through his own industry and good judgment. He is the proprietor of a com- fortable homestead on section 5, and has been a resident of this county since a boy nine years of age, receiving a fair education at the common school, and is quite an extensive reader, keeping himself well posted upon current events.

Mr. Talbot was born in Woodford County, Ill., April 15, 1858. After coming to this county with the family of his father, the latter was removed by death in 1871, and thereafter Nathan, as far as pos- sible, took his place in supporting his mother and the younger children. The family included nine children, and our subject worked by the month for a period of ten years, discharging his filial duties in a manner reflecting great credit upon himself as a son and brother. In due time his labors were

rewarded, and he found himself gaining a foothold, and is now carrying on farming with his two younger brothers.

The father of our subject was of English birth and parentage, and emigrated to America with his parents when a child four years of age. They lived for a number of years in Baltimore, Md., and then emigrated to Illinois, locating in Woodford County, as we have stated. The mother was a native of Ohio, and came to Illinois with her par- ents when a child eight years of age. They located in Marshall County, where she became acquainted with Nathan Talbot, and they were married in 1849. They resided in Marshall County nine years and then removed to Woodford County, where they located at Scattering Point. The father died in Woodford County.

EREMIAH TRAVIS. The ranks of the men who settled in Illinois in the thirties are becoming perceptibly thinned, and like the Old Guard of Napoleon it will not be many years before they will have passed to the unknown beyond. They will be gone but not for- gotten, for the deeds they have done in the body will live after them, and perpetuate their memories without the necessity of "storied urn or animated bust." In the sisterhood of States, Illinois stands peerless, and her position could not have been at- tained had not willing hands and stout hearts per- formed their duties when she was in her infancy. No grander duty can be performed by the histor- ian and biographer than to put into imperishable print the deeds of the pioneers who have devoted their lives to the development and upbuilding of these grand Western States. No matter how hum- ble the factor in these accomplishments may be he is entitled to a niche, and it is with such feelings that we record the events in the life of a pioneer, the subject of this sketch, who is one of the repre- sentative farmers of section 5, Belle Prairie Town- ship.

Mr. Travis was born in Middle Tennessee on the 24th of August, 1821, and is the son of Jeremiah and Margaret (Peak) Travis, who were both na-

320

LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

tives of Old Virginia, and have long since passed to their reward. Mr. Travis came to Illinois in the year 1834, with his parents, who located in Belle Prairie Township. He is the owner of 245 acres of No. 1 land, which he entered, securing his title direct from the Government. In his farm- ing operations he has displayed great enterprise and has erected a splendid residence and commo- dious barns and out-buildings. For very many years he has made a specialty of fine cattle, horses and hogs. In 1882 he established a drain tile fac- tory, which has been operated with much success, there being a great demand for the tile of his manufacture.

----

In 1847 Mr. Travis was married to Miss Eunice Moore, who was born in 1826. They have had ten children : Mary M. died at the age of four years; Jonathan died at the age of nineteen years; Mary M., the second child of that name, is married to Mark Widowfield; Nicholas married Miss Eliza Deford ; Joan, deceased, was married to Robert Widowfield ; Melinda, deceased, was married to John Master- son; Lemuel L. married Miss Emma Hanks; Richard lives at home, and two children died in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Travis are members .of the Christian Church, she having united with that body twelve years ago. Mr. Travis is a believer in the Greenback doctrine, and on the subject of finance is diametrically opposed to the doctrines taught by the two old parties.

Mr. Travis' early career in Illinois was begun under many difficulties. In 1847 he drove hogs to Chicago, requiring eighteen days to make the trip, most of the distance being in slush and mud up to the top of his boots. On these trips he frequently had to cut brush and lay it down for a foundation for a bed to keep him out of the water and mud. On this pile he would place his blankets, and despite rain and storm, slept soundly. On reaching his destination the hogs were slaughtered, and after hanging for twenty-four hours they were weighed and he was paid the sum of $1.50 per hundred- weight. In early times he also engaged in driving cattle and hauling wheat and oats to the Chicago markets, and the prices received for these products were in about the same proportion as that obtained for his hogs. Mr. Travis has lived to see a complete

transformation of the condition of things. The distance which required eighteen days to traverse then with a drove of hogs can be made now in four or five hours by rail, and the city which fur- nished so scant a market in 1847 now virtually controls the markets of the world.

UGUST FREUDE, who owns a 160-acre farm on section 20, Pontiac Township, is a native of Prussia, Germany, where he was born on the 1st of April, 1854. He is the son of George and Mary M. Freude, both of whom were born in Germany, but emigrated to America in the year 1859, taking passage on the steamer at Hamburg, and after an ocean voyage of two weeks landed in New York City. Hearing of the great advantages possessed by Livingston County they bade good-bye to New York and came direct to and settled in Pontiac Township, where the family has since resided. The parents had two children, August, the subject of this sketch, and Otto. The father died on the 23d of September, 1881. lle was a devout member of the Lutheran Church, as was also the mother, and during his life gave that church and its ministry a hearty sup- port. The mother still survives, and takes great interest in church affairs. She resides on the home farm with her son. The father was a man who was much respected by all who knew him and lived an honorable and upright life, conscientious in all his transactions.

The subject of this sketch received a liberal edu- cation in his native language, and since coming to this country and learning to speak English fluently has been a constant reader of publications in the English language. Ile was married, on the 14th of February, 1880, to Augusta Oelke, also born in Germany, and the daughter of Julius and Minnie Oelke. Her father is a resident of Nebraska Town- ship, Livingston County. To Mr. and Mrs. Freude one child has been born, a bright little girl named Emma, whose birth occurred on the 31st of Janu- ary, 1881.

In connection with farming Mr. Freude also en- gages in threshing grain for the neighboring far-

321

LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

mers. He is a Democrat in polities, although not excessively active in politieal matters. He and his family are much attached to the Lutheran Church. Mr. Freude's fine farm is in a high state of cultivation, and under his intelligent manipula- tion, prodnees excellent erops. Both in his farm- ing operations and the business of grain threshing he is meeting with the success he so much deserves.

OHIN R. PORTER. There is a class of men and women who sustain a peculiar as well as important relation to society, and have much to do in molding the destiny of future gen- erations. These are the men and women who teach in the schools of the city and country. They follow a profession peculiar in its requirements. To become a successful teaeher, it is not only essential to have a good education, but a teacher should be charac- terized by a fine sense of distinction between right and wrong, a good judgment of human nature, and a large amount of tact and an evenly balaneed tem- perament. The subject of this sketch, although now engaged in agricultural pursuits, has devoted a large share of his time and attention to the school-room, and it has come to the knowledge of the writer that in the capacity of a teacher he has displayed all the vital requirements of a successful and popular in- structor, gaining the highest esteem of both pupils and parents.

Mr. Porter is now a representative farmer of Avoca Township, and resides on seetion 6. He is a native of Ohio, and was born on the 3d of July, 1834. He is the son of David and Elizabeth Porter, and was practically reared to manhood in the State of Ohio, where, by hard study, he received a good education and qualified himself for the profes- sion of school teaching. For many years he taught school in Ohio and Illinois, and in that profession was eminently successful. His first settlement in Livingston County. Ill., was in the year 1863. and he first occupied the farm on which he now resides in 1883. This farm consists of 107 aeres of good land, which under the intelligent manipulation of Mr. Porter is made to yield very remunerative crops. Mr. Porter was married in Livingston County, on

the 27th of June, 1869. to Rachel S. Scott, who was born on the 26th of July, 1849. She is the daugh- ter of John HI. Scott, formerly of Muskingum County. Ohio, and of whom a sketch appears in this ALBUM. To Mr. and Mrs. Porter have been born seven children, five of whom are living: Cora A., born July 2, 1870; Lillian M., born March 1, 1877; Iva M .. horn Feb. 17. 1880: Claudy R., born May 14. 1882: Estella M., born Oct. 8, 1884. The names of the deceased children are: Otto R., born April 16. 1872. and died Aug. 1, 1873; and Ar- thur J., born Sept. 7. 1874, and died March 18, 1879. Mrs. Porter had four brothers in the Union army, as follows: Winfield, Walter M., Wesley and Mahlon.

Mr. Porter is a member of the Democratic party. but he is not an active politician, preferring to de- vote the time which politics would require to such matters as would better the condition of the com- munity in which he lives. Mrs. Porter is a member of the Methodist Church, as is also the daughter, Cora A. The family are the center of a large circle of warm friends and acquaintances, and they all take an active interest in whatever may effect the society which surrounds them. Mr. Porter has de- voted his life to the profession of teaching. and farm- ing. and will probably in the future confine himself to the latter occupation.

ANIEL BLAKE. One of the men who have given Livingston County its great reputation as a stock-raising eounty, and as a community of the best farmers of Illinois, is the subject of this sketch, whose stock farm lies on seetion 1, Rook's Creek Township. Mr. Blake is the son of Joseph and Drusilla (Carpenter) Blake, and was born in Monroe County, Ohio, on the 16th of December, 1838. He received a com- mon-school education in the States of Ohio and Illi- nois. In company with his parents Mr. Blake left Ohio at the age of fourteen, and located in Ottawa, La Salle Co., Ill., where he assisted his father in car- rying on the farm until about his twenty-fourth year, at which age he was married to Desaline Earp, of Amity Township, Livingston County, on the

322

LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

28th of May, 1862. He had purchased eighty aeres of land, the west half of the southeast quarter of section 34 in Amity Township, in 1862, locating on it immediately after his marriage. During the next eleven years he sold the first eighty, and bought 245 acres on sections 1 and 12. Rook's Creek Town- -hip. to which he has since added until his present possessions comprise 315 acres. His land is all well drained with tile, and the farm buildings are creditable and pleasantly situated.

To Mr. and Mrs. Blake have been born thirteen children, eight of whom are living, as follows: Charles W., born Jan. 18, 1863; John Ellsworth, born Sept. 23, 1864. married Nancy E. Brown. of Pon- tiac Township: Francis G., born Oct. 25, 1869; Theron, March 31, 1871 ; Sarah E., March 18, 1873; Ida Pearl, Jan. 6, 1877; Isis F., Dec. 16, 1878; Carrie B., Aug. 12, 1881. The father of Mr. Blake was born in Maine in 1811, and moved to Ohio when a mere lad with his parents, who were natives of Maine, but with their large family moved from that State to Monroe County, Ohio, in covered wagons in 1816. They began the making of a farm in the wilderness, constructing their house of hewn log». The shoes worn by the family were made by the father, while the spinning and weaving of the goods, and the cutting and making of the garments were the work of the mother's hands. Mr. Blake's grandfather was Daniel Blake, who died in 1842, at the age of ninety years. The maternal grandfather was Robert Carpenter, who settled in Monroe County at a time when the Indians were very nu- merous. On one occasion at least, he was taken prisoner and wounded by these inhuman savages.

The parents of Mr. Blake had ten children: Rob- ert married, and lives in Kansas ; the second brother died at the age of twenty-eight; Daniel married, and lives in Rook's Creek Township; Mary Jane, Mrs. Homer Earp, has two children, and lives at Lawrence, Kan .: Margaret A. is Mrs. D. C. Mc- Clelland, has one child, and resides in Labette County, Kan .; Elizabeth A .. Mrs. Samuel Wertz, has five children. and lives in Amity Township; Winfield S. married, and lives in Pontiac; James E. has three children, and lives in Amity Town- ship; John C. married, has three children, and lives in Amity Township; Caroline J. married Samuel

Reynolds and moved to Missouri, where her hus- band was murdered, after which she returned to Livingston County, and died in 1887, leaving two children.

Mr. Blake was reared a Republican, casting his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, and voting with that party until 1872. when he began to advocate the principles of the Greenback party, to which he has since adhered. 1Ie has been a settler of this township, and has also held the office of School Director for eleven years, which position he occu- pied when this sketch was written. He is not a member of any church, but believes that every man should try to do right, living up to the Golden Rule. He is a man of liberal impulses, and has donated lands on which to erect a school-house and a church, contributing freely to the support of the minister and for all charitable purposes.

ATHIER II. W. FINCH, the regular Catholic clergyman of Pontiac. is a native of New Orleans, where he was born on the 21st of November. 1853. He is the son of Michael and Mary ( Phelan) Finch, natives of Queens County, Ireland, who came to America in 1831. and settled in New Orleans, where they remained until their death in 1879 and 1877. They had a family of twelve children. Rev. Father Finch was educated at the University of Louisiana, and studied theology in Cape Girardeau. Mo., and Milwaukee, Wis. He was ordained on the 14th of July, 1876, by Bishop Foley, and served in the capacity of priest in St. Mary's Church, at the corner of Eldridge court and Wabash avenne, Chicago. lle afterward went to Champaign, where he remained eleven months and then came to Pontiac. Ilis ministrations here have been pleasant and exceedingly successful. Since August. 1883, he has constructed a large brick church that cost $12,000, and has also bought the parochial residence, and paid for it since 1877. Hle is the first Catholic priest to reside permanently in Pontiac. His congregation now numbers between 400 and 500 members, and besides his regular serv- ice in this church he preaches every two weeks at St. Joseph's Church, at Flanagan, Il., which has

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.

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 32

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