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 38

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 38

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Mr. Trullinger has always been engaged in the vocation of a farmer, and largely depended upon his own resources. Ilis father died when he was an infant, and his mother in 1872. In 1856 he came from Indiana to Livingston County, and purchased forty acres of land, to which he has added forty acres more, making an excellent eighty-acre farm, which is well improved. On one of the forty-acre tracts there are 747 rods of tile, and the entire farm is enclosed with a good hedge fence. When Mr. Trullinger came to this county, he practically had nothing to begin on. and his success, which has been measurably good, is wholly attributable to his industry and good management.

Being Republican in politics, and one who takes an active part in local political affairs, Mr. Trullin- ger has been chosen as School Trustee of the town- ship for three years, and also served as School Director for several years. He takes great interest in the affairs of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he has for eight years been Recording Steward a:d for a considerable time a Class-Leader. Sun- day-school Superintendent and Church Trustee.

He was one of the first to inaugurate the movement which culminated in building the Lodenia Method- ist Church and parsonage, and to that enterprise his contribution was quite liberal. llis course in this matter fully illustrates his publie spirit and liberal mind. He is a representative citizen of the township, and enjoy's the esteem and respect of the citizens thereof. His life has been a busy one, and its results are such as to be satisfactory to him in his declining years.

C IIRISTOPHIER C. LEONARD is largely en- gaged in farming and stock-raising on sec- tion 34 in Newtown Township, where he owns 100 acres of good and well-improved land, besides forty acres in Amity Township. He was born in Bradford County. Pa., on the 26th of April, 1836. and is the son of Edmund D. and Elizabeth (Rem- ington) Leonard. He lived in Pennsylvania with his parents until about eleven years of age, at which time they moved to Du Page County, Ill., going hy water to Chicago, and thence by teams. Mr. Leonard began to attend subseription schools at the age of three years, and continued until his parents moved to Illinois, after which he only attended dur- ing the winter months. The parents remained in Du Page County about seven years, and then came to Livingston County, transporting their effects in wagons drawn by oxen. They located on section 33, Newtown Township, where the father entered land from the Government, and resided until his death (see sketch of Mrs. Leonard). After coming to this county the subject of our sketch attended school for three winters, when he left home at twenty-one years of age and lived in Amity Town- ship for a time, working on the land where the vil- lage of Cornell now stands. After living in the various portions of the county he permanently lo- cated in Newtown, in 1873.

Mr. Leonard was married, Feb. 4, 1858, to Mary Mason, daughter of Enoch and Elizabeth (Shinn) Mason, natives of New Jersey. The great-grand- father Mason was of Irish descent, and Elizabeth Shinn's parents were German. Enoch was born in Galloway Township, Gloucester Co., N. J., July 25,

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1804, and was there married, Aug. 28, 1825, to Elizabeth Shinn, who was born June 18, 1805. To them were born eight children, three of whom are living: Mary, the wife of our subject: Martha and George. Martha was born March 7, 1847, and was married, Sept. 20. 1866, to Orlando E. Hart; he died in 1869, and she was married to William S. Brown in June, 1871, and they live in Nebraska. George W. was born July 11, 1845, and resides in Western Iowa. The deceased members of the fam- ily are : Ilannah, born June 29, 1829, died Sept. 4. 1832; Naomi, born June 10, 1831, died Aug. 14, 1832; Henry, born June 6, 1833, died Sept. G, 1838; Elizabeth, born Oct. 10, 1836, died Aug. 26, 1858; Charles W., born April 5, 1843, died July 20, 1873; he was married to Emily M. Wilbur March 7, 1869, and enlisted in Company A, 129th Illinois Infantry, Ang. 2, 1862. His health becom- ing impaired he was discharged at the end of the first year, and lived at home one year, when he was drafted and taken to New Orleans, where he served until the close of the war. After his return home he was married and became the father of two chil- dren, named Idele May, born Dec. 16, 1869. and Chester Allen, May 13, 1872. Ile died suddenly at his home while walking from the pump in the dooryard to the house. Emily, his widow, was again married, Nov. 5, 1885, to Joshua A. Mus- grove, and lives in Kansas, The mother of these children died Jan. 4, 1868, and Enoch Mason was again married Feb. 21, 1869, the woman of his choice being Sophia Wilbur. She died June 30. 1873, and her husband followed her Sept. 12, 1874. Mary, the wife of our subject, was born Aug. G. 1838, in Monroe County, Mich., and her parents came to Illinois in 1850, and located in Newtown Township, where they resided at the time of their death. Mr. and Mrs. Leonard were married in the house in which they now live, and are the parents of the following-named children : Olivia, born Oct. 22, 1858; Lawrence, born Nov. 20, 1859, died Aug. 21, 1860; Emily A., born May 31, 1861, married John Weideman, of Newtown Township, and has three children: Edwin, born June 18, 1866; Clora A., Feb. 26, 1868; Ira G., Nov. 16, 1869; Andrew, Jan. 9, 1872: Franklin C., Oct. 18, 1873, and Fred- erick G., Dec. 12, 1875.

Christopher C. Leonard enlisted in Company A, 129th Illinois Infantry, Aug. 2, 1862, under Capt. John A. Hoskins, at Pontiac, and during his term of service participated in several of the larger en- gagements, receiving his baptism of fire at the bat- tle of Buzzard's Roost, in Georgia. At the battle of Peachtree Creek he received a slight injury, from which he soon recovered. Ile was with Sherman during his Atlanta campaign and in the march to the sea, participating in the capture of Savannah, and the battle of Bentonville. He was mustered out in Washington City .June 8, 1865, and received his discharge papers in Chicago June 17 of that year. lle immediately returned to his home in this county, and resumed the occupation of farm work.

Mr. and Mrs. Leonard are honored members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and devote con- siderable of their time to matters intended to ad- vance the best interests of the congregation. In politics Mr. Leonard is a stanch Republican, and can always be depended upon to watch over and care for the interests of that party.

LE PETERSON, of Sunbury Township, is one of the most enterprising representatives of his nationality in Livingston County. He bears the reputation of a praiseworthy and in- dustrious citizen, one who attends strictly to his own concerns, and has thereby made a success both as a farmer and business man. He has been a res- ident of Illinois for over twenty years, and located upon a tract of land which had only been partially cultivated. and which he has transformed into one of the finest homesteads in Sunbury Township.

Mr. Peterson was born in Stavanger, Norway, July 4, 1830, and is the son of Peter and Anna Peterson, natives of the same country, who there spent their entire lives. Ile attended school dur- ing his childhood until fourteen years old, and at the same time assisted his father on the farm. The agricultural operations of the Norwegian farmer in his own country are very different from those of the present agriculturists of the Prairie State. The " implements are of rude construetion, and the tiller of the soil in a country not exceedingly fertile has

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to contend with many disadvantages. The parents of our subject were people of modest means, and Ole. when a youth of sixteen, left the parental roof and started ont in life for himself. He received, for hard work, rather poor fare. the munificent sal- ary of $10 per year. and a piece of cloth for a suit of clothes.

Young Peterson had always been a serious and reflective youth, and not being satisfied with his prospects and condition in his own country, de- termined to set sail for the New World, stories of which frequently reached him from across the wa- ter. Accordingly, on the t5th of May, 1860, he set sail from the port of Stavanger accompanied by his wife and child, he having been married in 1859. After a voyage of six weeks they landed in the city of Quebec, Canada, whence they came directly to the States and at once set out for Illinois. Mr. Peterson landed in Ottawa with $15 in his pocket, but soon found employment upon a farm at $18 a month-a vast improvement upon the sum he re- ceived for the same labor on his native soil. He lived economically, and with the help of his excel- lent wife, in the course of two years bought a little herd of cattle, and hiring a cheap man to look after them, continued working as before until enabled to secure a tract of land.

Mr. Peterson decided to locate in the northern part of Livingston County, which at that time was mostly open prairie. especially the districts including the townships of Nevada and Sunbury. This made a good range for stock, and Mr. P., bringing his cattle hither, still continued hiring them herded, and rented a traet of land upon which to raise corn and wheat. lle operated upon rented land three years with excellent results, and then purchased eighty acres, which forms a part of his present homestead. For this he was to pay $1,280. Hle paid $320 cash, and gave his notes for the balance. One of his first duties was to put up a shelter for bis family, and upon the completion of this he en- tered at once upon the cultivation of the land. lle was successful from the beginning, the seasons proving favorable and the soil yielding plentifully to his worthy efforts. He invested his surplus cap- ital in additional land, buying eighty acres adjoin- ing, so that he now has a quarter section, and all

in a fine state of cultivation. It is enclosed with neat and substantial fences, and the farm buildings will bear comparison with anything of the kind in this part of the county. In 1863 Mr. P. pur- chased a pair of colts which he has worked upon his farm ever since, and now, although twenty- seven years old, they retain many of the skittish ways of their youth, giving evidence of the care and kindness with which they have been treated since coming into the possession of their present owner. It is hardly necessary to say that Mr. Pe- terson will never part with these old friends who have served him so long and so faithfully.

The wife of our subject was, in her girlhood, Miss Bertha Johnson, and became the mother of six children : Annie was born in 1861 ; Tillie, in 1863; Peter, in 1865; Bertha, in 1868; Lena, in 187] ; John, in 1879. The mother, after remaining the faithful and affectionate companion of her husband for a period of over twenty years, departed this life at her home in Sunbury Township in September, 1881, and her remains were laid to rest in Sunbury Cemetery. Mr. Peterson was subsequently mar- ried to Miss Inger Rasmusson, of Esmen Township, their wedding taking place at the home of the bride. The present wife of our subject was born in August, 1835.

Mr. Peterson was reared in the doctrines of the Lutheran Church, to which he still loyally adheres, and although interesting himself comparatively little in polities, uniformly supports Republican principles, and votes upon occasions of general elections.

E MERY WESTERVELT, accountant, and at present bookkeeper and assistant cashier for Beach & Dominy. bankers at Fairbury, is a native of Franklin County, Ohio, having been born twelve miles northeast of the city of Columbus, Oct. 7, 1824. He is a gentleman of more than or- dinary intelligence, and forms one of the important factors of a cultivated community. Ile was reared to farming pursuits, in which he engaged success- fully for a number of years, afterward obtaining a collegiate education, and was for two years Pro- fessor in Otterbein University, at Westerville, Ohio.

RESIDENCE OF SAMUEL MILLS, SEC.&, ESMEN TOWNSHIP

RESIDENCE OF CHARLES FAUST, SEC. 33, SULLIVAN TOWNSHIP.

RESIDENCE OF JOHN HARRIS, SEC. 18, SAUNEMIN TOWNSHIP.

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The parents of our subject, Mathew and Abiah (Leonard) Westervelt, were natives respectively of Dutchess County, N. Y., and Springfield, Mass. Mathew Westervelt was born June 15, 1788, and departed this life in Columbus, Ohio, Jan. 4, 1865. He followed farming his entire life, and with his ex- cellent wife, was a devoted member of the Method- ist Episcopal Church. The mother of our subject was born Aug. 24. 1792, and survived her husband twenty-two years, her death taking place Jan. 14, 1887, at the advanced age of ninety-four years. The family included ten children.

Our subject spent his boyhood on the parental homestead, pursuing his early studies at the district school, and after his connection with the university had ended, engaged in farming five years. He was subsequently married, April 24, 1850, to Miss Caro- line R. Connelly, and a few months later removed to Columbus, Ohio, and thence to Pittsburgh, Pa., where he became Superintendent of Duff's famous commercial college, and was thus engaged for two years. Afterward he was associated with the Colum- bia Oil Company, a wealthy and highly successful corporation in that city, with a capital of $2,500,- 000, as Secretary and Treasurer, which positions he retained until 1868. Then, on account of failing health he removed, first to Philadelphia, and thence to New York City, finally journeying West with the Greeley Colony to Colorado. Upon his return eastward in 1870, he resided in Fairbury, this county, four months, when he returned to Pitts- burgh, Pa., and took a position with the firm of A. French & Co., extensive manufacturers of railway car and locomotive springs. He remained with this firm three years, and in 1875 returned to Fair- bury, where he has since resided. Besides his duties in the bank, he is Secretary of the Fairbury Build- ing and Loan Association, and is rated among the representative business men of the town.

Mrs. Westervelt was born near Lancaster, Pa., Jan. 7, 1829, and is the daughter of Edward and Mary (Graham) Connelly, natives respectively of Ireland and Scotland. They resided in Franklin County, Ohio, at the time of their death, which oc- curred many years ago. The household circle of our subject and his wife includes three interesting children, named Emery E., Carrie and George P.

They occupy a snug home on Elm and Webster streets, and enjoy the esteem and confidence of a large circle of acquaintances. Mr. Westervelt, politically, is a decided Republican.

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W ILLIAM L. TATE, widely known through- out Pontiac Township as one of its repre- sentative farmers and stock-growers, owns a good property of 240 acres on section 35, where for the last twenty years he has been engaged suc- cessfully in the tilling of the soil, and making a specialty of raising grain and hay with which to feed the stock, large numbers of which pass through his hands annually. Ilis course has been marked by industry and good judgment, and more than ordinary success. He has distinguished him- self as a liberal-minded and public-spirited citi- zen, wide-awake to those measures tending to the welfare of the community and the elevation of society.

Mr. Tate, a native of Yorkshire, England, was born June 6, 1837, and is the son of Henry and Elizabeth Tate, the former deceased and the latter a resident of Lee County, this State. Our sub- ject when a child three years of age crossed the ocean with his parents to America. After a brief stay in New York City they proceeded to Franklin, Mass., where they located, and where the father followed his trade as a shoemaker. In the spring of 1853 they started for the West, and located in Peru, Ill., where the father died the following year. The family included nine children, all living, and as follows: William L., our subject, was the eldest ; Hannah H. is the wife of F. M. Tilden, of Boston, Mass. ; Samuel L., a graduate of Ann Arbor Uni- versity, and who for some time officiated as a Judge of the Circuit Court at Grand Haven, Mich., is now a resident of Sioux Falls, Dak. ; Martha A. is the wife of Tracey F. Marshall, of Marshall County, Iowa; Eliza married Charles Gratz, of Winterset, Iowa; Sarah E., Mrs. E. M. Lewis, is re- siding in Lee County, this State; Henry W., a graduate of Shurtleff College, and of the Newton (Mass.) Theological Seminary, is now a minister of the Baptist Church, and located in Tiverton, R.

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I .; John F. is a resident of Winterset, Iowa, and Eva is the wife of T. G. Smith, of Lincoln, Kan.

Mr. Tate was reared to farming pursuits from his boyhood, and after passing his twenty-seventh birthday was united in marriage with Miss Eliza- beth Cade, the wedding taking place at the home of the bride. Nov. 21, 1864. Mrs. Tate is a na- tive of the same country as her husband, and was born April 5, 1840. Her parents, Lewis and Jane Cade, emigrated to America when she was a young girl fifteen years of age, and settled first near Philadelphia, Pa. A few years later the father died, and the mother with her children came to Lee County, this State, where her death took place in 1867. The household included nine children, three living, namely, George C .; . Jane, the wife of Isaac MeIver, a resident of Reno County, Kan .: and Elizabeth, who is the wife of our subject. Mr. and Mrs. Tate became the parents of six children, namely, Alfred L., Henry A., Samuel W., Nettie E., William G. and Everette L.

As stated above, the farm of Mr. Tate embraces 240 acres of finely cultivated land with substan- tial and convenient buildings. His accumulations have been solely the result of his own industry, as he commenced at the foot of the ladder and has been dependent upon his own resources. He has been quite prominent in local affairs, serving as Road Commissioner and School Trustee, which latter po- sition he now holds. He has been distinguished principally by his strict attention to his own af- fairs, and by assisting his neighbors and fellow- townsmen whenever there was need. In politics he is an uncompromising Republican, Mr. and Mrs. Tate are members of the Baptist Church at Pontiac.

G EORGE W. STOKER. Among the well-to- do and successful farmers of Waldo Town- ship, and a gentleman who has attained suc- ces, in life through industry and economy, is the subject of this sketch. He is at present engaged in the calling which he has followed the greater por- tion of hi- life, and in addition to the cultivation of the cereals i- devoting considerable time to

stock-raising on his farm, which is located on sec- tion 32. He is the son of Jehn C. and Anna (Nibbs) Stoker, and was born in Mason County, Ky., on the 11th of March, 1827. His parents were natives of Kentucky, and of good English de- scent. They had six children, of whom our sub- ject was the second: Mary, born Jan. 26, 1824, married Eli Stephenson, and died leaving one child ; Martha E., born April 13, 1830, married Eli Ste- phenson, the husband of her deceased sister; they live in Kentucky and have several children. Cyn- thia A., born Feb. 19, 1833, married James M. Mitchel, has seven children, and lives in Gridley; Sarah B., born Jan. 3, 1836, married Rev. J. A. Windsor, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has two children; John P., born Feb. 28, 1840, en- listed in the army in 1861, and lived but a few months, dying of measles in Bowling Green, Ky.

Mr. Stoker was reared on a farm, during which time he received a fair common-school education. He remained under the parental roof, assisting his father in the management of the farm until he was twenty-five years of age, when he concluded to try his fortunes in California, and made the journey to that State by way of the Isthmus of Darien, which required about one month's time. While he was on board the vessel, he had an attack of measles, from which he recovered very slowly, and which left him in impaired health for about one year. He remained in California for about three years, and during that time was engaged in mining. Al- though he did not amass a fortune in his mining operations, he accumulated more money there then he could have done by labor in the same length of time in Kentucky. In 1856 he returned to the latter-named State, where he remained until the spring of 1857, when he came to Illinois and set- tled in Livingston County, where he purchased 160 acres of land, on which he lived for abont three years.

On the 2d of May, 1860, our subjeet was mar- ried to Miss Mary E. Jewett, daughter of Parker and Mary (Cochran) Jewett, of Livingston County. In 1861 he sold his farm to the man of whom he formerly purchased it, and lived upon a rented farm for one year. The following year he pur- chased eighty acres upon which his present home

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stands, and since then has purchased forty acres upon section 33. Mr. and Mrs. Stoker became the parents of two children-George P., born Aug. 21, 1861, and May B., May 1, 1863; both live at home. Mrs. Stoker was born near Belfast, Me., on the 11th of November, 1832, and died on the 17th of May, 1887. The father of Mrs. Stoker was born at Thetford, Vt., May 28, 1807, and the mother June 16, 1805, in Belfast, Me .; they were both of English descent. Their marriage occurred on the 27th of December, 1831, at Belfast, at which Rev. Ferris Fitch was the officiating clergyman.

Mr. Stoker cast his first political vote for Frank- lin Pierce for President, but since the war of the Rebellion he has constantly voted the Republican ticket. Since 1863, which is now nearly a quarter of a century, he has been custodian of the school fund, and it is worthy of mention that there has never been a dollar of the funds gone astray. He is a member of the Congregational Church in Grid- ley, and has for many years served as its Trustee. He is a man about six feet in height, weighs about 180 pounds, has grey eyes, and his hair was auburn before it turned grey. lle is a man of generous and social disposition, and readily makes friends who never desert him.

OHN A. CAVANAUGH, Nevada's merchant prince, belongs to the nationality which has contributed largely to the advancement of the business interests of this section. He was born in County Galway, Ireland, Sept. 25, 1845, and is the son of Patrick Cavanaugh, a native of the same county. His paternal grandfather, John Cavanaugh, was born in County Wexford, whence he moved to Galway early in life, taking up his abode at his beautiful rural home, afterward known as Knava, near the village of Eyrcourt, where his death took place in 1850.

Patrick Cavanaugh grew to manhood in bis na- tive county, and in 1844 married Miss Mary, daugh- ter of John Coyle, a farmer and magistrate for- merly of County Clare. The latter died in 1848 at the age of sixty-eight years. In the spring of 1852, when our subjeet was but a lad of seven

years, his parents decided to seek their fortunes on this side of the Atlantic. They embarked on a sailing-vessel at Liverpool, and after a voyage of five weeks landed in the city of New Orleans. Eighteen months later they removed to this State, and located. in LaSalle County. The father pur- chased a tract of wild prairie land in Eagle Town- ship, put up a dwelling, and entered industriously upon the improvement and cultivation of his pur- chase. As the result of industry and perseverance, he in due time found himself the owner of a beautiful farm of 400 acres, with all the appurtenances of a first-class country home. This he sold in 1874, and retiring from active labor, took up his residence with his son, our subject, in Nevada, where, with his estimable wife, he is spending his declining years in the ease and comfort to which he is justly entitled.

Our subject, being the elder child, and only son of his parents, the family consisting of but two children, himself and one sister, now the wife of Thomas Scanlan, Esq., a real-estate agent and loan- broker of Rock Valley, Iowa, his duties in the building up of a new home were necessarily press- ing and laborious; and hence it was that at the age of eighteen his education consisted of but a moder- ate knowledge of the rudiments acquired at the dis- trict schools of Eagle Township. Circumstances being now favorable to his aspirations, he was per- mitted to attend the Christian Brothers' School at LaSalle during a portion of the years 1864-65, still continuing to assist his father in the cultivation of the farm. In the fall of 1868, he resolved to abandon farming and become a merchant, and pre- paratory to doing so, he repaired to Chicago and entered Bryant & Stratton's Business College, for a business training, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1869. For nearly a year thereafter he was engaged in book-keeping for a wholesale grocery house. He then returned to the farm.

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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 38

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