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 77

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 77

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LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

turned to the New England coast, and young Mil- ler at the first opportunity engaged himself to the commander of a merchant vessel. They did not sail, however, until the following January, and set out for Apalachicola, Fla., with a cargo of ice. and returned to Baltimore with a load of cotton. Ile next shipped on a vessel bound for New Or- Jeans. The sea still possessed for him a wonderful fascination, and after the completion of this voyage he entered the United States Navy on the 28th of May, and started with the Perry expedition for Japan. When they reached Norfolk, Va., our hero was transferred to another vessel bound for the Mediterranean. Ile was very well satisfied with the change and continued in the naval service three years, visiting all the principal ports of that sea. He found himself once more on the New England coast in the spring of 1855, and landed in Philadel- phia May 17.

Mr. Miller now concluded he would try terra firma for a time. He accordingly east aside his sailor's suit, and donning the outfit of a landsman set out for the West. Upon arriving in Chicago he con- tinued there during the winter of 1855-56 engaged at his old trade, the manufacture of brooms. In the spring, feeling a little homesick he returned East, and in the fall of 1856 came back to Illi- nois and took up his location at Marengo, McHenry County. He there followed his trade and at the same time formed the acquaintance of Miss Kate L. Rathbun, who became his wedded wife on the 4th of June. 1857.

Mrs. Miller was born in New York State. Aug. 7, 1834, and removed with her parents when a child first to Michigan and later to Illinois. She is the daughter of Daniel and Hannah (Seeurman) Rathbun. natives of New York and New Jersey respectively. The mother is now deceased; the father still lives in Chicago, Ill. Our subject and wife began life together in a modest dwelling at Marengo. where they continued until 1859, and then Mr. Miller concluded to try Chicago once more. lle, however, spent but one winter there engaged at his trade. We next find him in the city of Detroit, where he continued with his family until March, 1863, and then came to Fairbury, of which he was a resident seven years.

Mr. Miller by a course of industry and economy, in which he was ably assisted by his excellent wife and helpmeet, had saved a little sum of money which he now wisely concluded to invest in real estate. Accordingly in the spring of 1870 he pur- chased a small traet of land. to the cultivation of which he gave all his spare time and attention, and in the meantime proseented his trade. He is now the owner of a snug farm of eighty acres, with a neat and substantial dwelling and the various con- venient out-buildings required for his comfort and the profitable management of his farm.

The household eirele of our subject and his wife was completed by the birth of four children, namely : Alice B., who was born March 10, 1858; Brenton L., Nov. 15, 1861 ; Sylvia M., April 1, 1871 ; and Cora M., who was born Jan. 20, 1868, and died March 30, 1872. Mr. Miller east his first Presidential vote for John C. Fremont, and since that day has continued a Republican of the first water. lle is regarded as one of the most intelli- gent citizens of his community, always interested in its advancement and welfare, and has served as Road Commissioner and School Director. Socially he is a member in good standing of the Masonic fraternity, belonging to Chatsworth Lodge No. 539.

E R. BURT, a leading farmer of Forest Town- ship, located on section 17, is a native of Cheshire County, N. Il., and was born on the 14th of January, 1846. He is the son of Jo- seph E. and Harriet M. (Hodskins) Burt, natives of Vermont and New Hampshire respectively. The mother died on the 26th of October, 1860, and the father on the 31st of July, 1879. The latter was engaged in farming during his life. He arrived in Illinois on the 27th of November, 1856, and first located at Brimfield, Peoria County, where he bought eighty acres to which he afterward added eighty more. On this place he followed general farming and stock-raising until his death. He was a Republican and took an active part in political affairs. He was the father of the following chil- dren: E. Roscoe, Clifford W., Laura 11., Eva 1 .. , Charles H., Cora A., Abbie U. and Alta E. C.

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W. was married to a Miss Alice Himes, and be lo- cated in Brimfield Township, Peoria County, en- gaged in farming, and died in 1876, leaving a wife and two children, named Maud and Philip, both of whom are in New York State with their mother. Laura II. died in Peoria County at the age of twenty-seven years; Eva L. died in infancy. The father was married a second time, to Mrs. Himes, and by this union there was one child, named above, Alta E., who died of typhoid fever in 1876, aged fourteen years. On the father's side the an- cestors were of Scotch-Irish descent.

The subject of our sketch remained at home in- til be was twenty-one years of age, assisting at work npon the farm and attending school nine months in the year. Upon leaving home he rented a farm in Forest Township for one year of Thomas Weeks, next of C. C. Bartlett, on which he re- mained for three years, after which he rented a farm on section 20, which he occupied and tended for one year. Dec. 23, 1871, Mr. Burt was mar- ried to Mrs. Jennie (Stuckey) Howard, daughter of Edward and Margaret (Gillett) Stuckey. The father died about 1864, and one year later the mother died. They were farmers and became residents of McLean County in 1858. They were the parents of twelve children, named as follows : George, Daniel, James, Charles, Adolphus, Mary Ann, Job, Walter, Jennie, Arthur, Thomas and An- nie. Job and Walter died while serving in the Union army, and James died after coming back from the army. Four brothers enlisted in the 52d Illinois Infantry on the 17th of September, 1861, and re- enlisted as veterans at Pulaski, Tenn., on the 25th of December, 1863. E. R. Burt, the subject of our sketch, enlisted in Company I, 146th Illinois Infantry, on the 26th of August, 1864, and was discharged on the 8th of July, 1865, at Springfield, because of the close of the war. A number of men enlisted in his company had been in the army before and were experienced soldiers.

To Mr. and Mrs. Burt have been born three children: Eva J., Sept. 29, 1872; Mabel II., Oct. 18, 1874, and Walter A., Feb. 23, 1877. Mr. Burt has been Collector of Forest Township for one year, and is at present School Director of Dis- trict No. 4, which office he has held for fifteen

years. Mrs. Burt has been married twice, her first husband being Philip Howard, with whom she was united in marriage in 1868. He was a native of New York State, a farmer by occupation and a Republican in polities. One child was born to them, on Nov. 23, 1869, named Lola L. Mr. Howard died in February, 1870.

AMES MADDEN is a man whose residence in Livingston began at a time when neigh- bors lived from thirty to forty miles apart, and the nearest mill and market for the farm products were fifty miles distant. He has witnessed the wonderful growth of one of the re- markable counties of Illinois from its birth to its full manhood. He now resides on section 5, South Sullivan Township, where he is engaged in farming and stock-raising.

Mr. Madden was born in Ohio County, Va., near the city of Wheeling, Oct. 28, 1828. He was the elder of two children born to John and Nancy (Tolan) Madden, natives of Pennsylvania. The paternal grandparents were Henry and Nancy Madden, natives of Ireland. The Tolans on the maternal side were of German descent. Grand- father Madden was a soldier in the Revolutionary army. The father of our subject was a stonema- son by trade, which occupation he followed until his death, which occurred during the cholera epi- demic in 1832, of which he was among the first victims. The mother of our subject died when he was very young.

Our subject lived at Wheeling, Va., until he was about seven years old, and in the year 1835, in company with James Kain, with whom he resided until he was twenty-one years of age, went to Put- nam County, Ill., and located at Columbia, now known as Lacon, Marshall County. They went down the Ohio River on a steamer that became dis- abled, which compelled them to re-ship on the steamboat Argos, which was bound for St. Louis. At that city they transferred to the boat Compan- ion, on which they proceeded to Lacon. Mr. Mad- den remained at that place until 1852. During the first twenty years of his life he engaged at farm

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labor, and in that time cleared out nearly 300 acres of timbered land: in the meantime he attended the common schools as much as possible, and gained a fair education. At the age of twenty he learned the trade of a carpenter. at which he worked for one year.

On the 19th of November, 1851, Mr. Madden was married to Susan llush, daughter of John and Elizabeth (Cutwright) Hush. She is a native of Ohio, born on the 24th of May, 1831 ; her paternal grandparents were Pringles. natives of Virginia. Immediately after marriage Mr. Madden and his wife moved to Livingston County, where he had entered 120 acres of wild prairie land on section 18. At the time of settling on this farin the nearest neighbor was one Mazon, twenty-three miles north, and the next was forty miles east. The nearest market place was Pontiac, and many times he had to travel fifty miles to mill. He began the improvement of eighty acres of the land, and in 1852 built a log house, in which the family lived until 1864. Mr. Madden then sold his farm, and bouglit 120 acres on section 8 and forty aeres on section 5, town 27, range 8. This farm, which was partially improved, he sold at the end of one year for the purpose of buying 160 acres on section 5, upon which he now lives. His present farm has been very much improved, and contains three dwelling-houses, in one of which Mr. Madden and his family reside. He has stocked his farm with high grades of Durham cattle and Norman horses.

has helped to build several school-houses in Sulli- van and Pleasant Ridge Townships. He was the first Congressional Township Clerk of Saunemin Township, which was subsequently divided into Saunemin, Sullivan, Pleasant Ridge and Charlotte Townships.

To Mr. and Mrs. Madden have been born ten children, six of whom are living- George W., Cas- sius M., Laura E., James C., Stella R. and Carrie L. George W. is in the grain business, and is railroad agent at Charlotte ; Cassius is married, and is farming on the old homestead; Laura, Mrs. J. H. Fellows, resides near by on section 7; James C. is on the old homestead; Stella R., now Mrs. Up- hoff, resides on section 6, Charlotte Township, and Carrie L. is still at home. Mr. Madden has given all his children good opportunities for securing an education, which they have availed themselves of to the fullest extent. Ile is a self-made man, and whatever he has of this world's goods was secured through his own efforts, hard work and good man- agement. He began his life without capital or the backing of friends, and has made the fight alone, excepting that he has been ably seconded through his entire career by the unselfish efforts of his ex- cellent wife.

OSEPH MIES, proprietor of 400 acres of valuable land in Saunemin Township, has been in possession of his present homestead on section 3 since the spring of 1869. lle is largely engaged in stock-raising, and from a modest beginning in life has accumulated quite a fortune, for which he is indebted alone to his own industry and perseverance.

During his residence in Livingston County Mr. Madden has filled many positions of trust and re- sponsibility. In 1861 he was the enrolling officer for the Government, and the military draft which was made during the latter years of the war was from his enrollment. Ile takes an active part in politics, and acts with the Republican party. He has held Central Illinois has been largely settled by the thrifty and enterprising German nationality, who possessed the sturdy resolution so essential to the development of a new country. Our subject was born in the Kingdom of Prussia, Feb. 14, 1834, and is the son of Godfried and Elizabeth (Shutz) Mies. natives of the same Province as their son. The latter received a good education in his native lan- guage, and spent his early years on the farm of his all of the various township offices, being Assessor twenty-two years, Justice of the Peace twenty years, and School Director for thirty-three years, which latter office he holds at the present time. He is now serving hi- twenty-second year as Commis- sioner of Highways. Ile has always held an im- portant relation to the schools of the township, and was one of the active men in the organization of the school district. During his official career he | father who carried on agriculture in a small way

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LIVINGSTON COUNTY.

and lived the quiet and unostentatious life of an honest man and a good citizen. Joseph remained a member of the parental household until twenty years of age, and in the spring of 1854 repaired to Antwerp and took passage on a sailing-vessel bound for America. After an ocean voyage of forty- seven days he landed in New York City, and pro- ceeded directly to Michigan, where he remained until the following year. He came to this State in 1855, locating first in LaSalle County where he re- mained until the outbreak of the late war. Ile was one of the first to respond to the call for troops to preserve intact his adopted country, enlisting on the 10th of September in Company C, 2d Califor- nia Volunteers, and was assigned to guard duty principally along the Pacific coast. He was thus occupied until in December, 1864, and his term of enlistment having expired, he received his honora- ble discharge and was mustered out.

Mr. Mies upon retiring from the army located in Omaha. He was boss carpenter on the Union Pacific Railroad and built all the water tanks along that line. On the 4th of February, 1867, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Ennenbach. They be- gan housekeeping in a modest dwelling at Omaha, where our subject engaged in farming, and from which they removed in 1869 to their present home- stead. In due time their household was enlarged by the birth of nine children, of whom eight are living, namely : William E., Henry J., John C., Frank P., George G., Jacob B., Ama E. and Joseph A. One died unmarried. The children are receiv- ing all the advantages which education and ample means can bestow, besides careful home training from wise and judicious parents. Mr. Mies was reared in the faith of the German Catholic Church, and after becoming a naturalized citizen, identified himself with the Republican party, whose principles he has since upheld with all the earnestness of his character. Socially he belongs to the G. A. R., at Saunemin, and has always been pleased to encourage by his means and influence whatever project was inaugurated for the benefit of the community around him.

The wife of our subject is a native of Prussia and was born in July. 1847. Her parents, Jacob and Anna M. Ennenbach, were natives of the same

place, whence they immigrated to America in 1817, and located in LaSalle County, this State, during its early settlement. Their family included eight children, of whom six survive, namely : Theresa, Catherine, Henry, Elizabeth, William and Frank. Mrs. Mies was reared in the same religious faith as her husband and like him continues a member of the German Catholic Church. The Mies estate is one of the finest in Saunemin Township, and as the result of the labors of the self-made man. is highly creditable to the youth who landed in America with scarcely money enough to pay for a night's lodging.

C HARLES WILSON, now engaged in farni- ing and stock-raising on section 23. Waldo Township, was born in Bloomington, Ill .. Dec. 4, 1860. He is the son of John A. and Electa A. (Holcomb) Wilson, and is the fourth child in a family of ten, as follows: John A., Jr., born Dec. 13, 1855, is unmarried and lives in Saline Connty, Kan .; Catherine, born May 12, 1867, mar- ried David Wilson, has two children, and lives in MeLean County, Ill. ; Annie, Mrs. Martin Wilson. was born Sept. 14. 1859, has three children, and lives in Missouri; Charles is our subject; Mary, born Dec. 22, 1861. lives with her father in Bloom- ington, Ill. ; she is a short-hand reporter, and writes for Ewing & Phillips, attorney>-at-law, of Blooming- ton. Leila died at the age of three years; Julia. born July 4, 1865. is a teacher in McLean County ; Ida, born March 1, 1868; William, March 26, 1869. Albert died in infancy.

The father of our subject was born in Kentucky, Feb. 5. 1828, and his mother was born in the State of New York. Sept. 24, 1833. They both moved to Bloomington, III., where they became acquainted, and were married near that city Sept. 5. 1854. They reside in Bloomington, Ill., at the present time. Alexander Wilson, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was born in Massachusetts in 1800. He moved to Kentucky where he married Eliza- beth Dorothy, and in 1854 came to Illinois, where his son had already located. and died in 1875. Our subject's maternal grandfather, Birdsy Holcomb,

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was born in Connecticut. Jan. 30. 1807. and moved to Wyoming County, N. Y., whence he came to Bloomington. Ill .. where he died on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 23. 1886.

Charle- Wilson was reared on a farm until about twelve years of age. when his father discontinued farming and engaged in the real-estate business in Normal, Ill. Here our subject lived until twenty- two years of age, attending the public schools, until he received a good common-school education. At the age of nineteen years he made a trip to Kansas for the purpose of looking after some lands which his father owned in that State. While there he purchased 160 acres of land and remained one sum- mer. After returning to Illinois, he engaged in teaming in Normal and Bloomington for about three years.

On the 20th of June, 1883, Mr. Wilson was mar- ried to Miss Polly A. Clayton, the Rev. Samuel Connor of the Christian Church, of Normal, III .. being the officiating clergyman. Mrs. Wilson was born in Orange County. Ind .. Dec. 7, 1862. and wa- the youngest child in a family of nine. Her father died when she was one and a half years of age, while her mother died in 1879, and in 1880 she came with her cousin to Edgar County, Ill .. where she remained with an unele for about two years. Her uncle afterward moved to Normal, and it was here that she became acquainted with the gentleman who is now her husband. Of the broth- ers and sisters of Mrs. Wilson there are four living : Christian J., a Union soldier during the war, is now married, has seven children. and lives in Indiana; Matilda. Mrs. William Lee, has two children. and lives in Indiana; Elijah is married. has one child, and lives in Indiana; Martha S, lives in Gridley, I11.

After Mr. Wilson's marriage, he lived on a farm, where he engaged in work by the month for abont two years, and in the spring of 1886 he moved upon the farm of George Ayres, of Gridley. where he now resides. To him and his wife has been born one child, a bright little boy named Frank C., whose birth occurred July 30. 1884. Mr. Wilson is a member of the Democratic party, and comes of Democratie stock on his father's side. His mother i- of Republican parentage. He is an active mem-

ber of the Christian Church, and for a man of his age has obtained a ereditable position and standing among the men of that section of the county, while the future evidently has a bright prospect for him.

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L UCIAN BULLARD, Postmaster. Notary Public, and otherwise a prominent and act- ive citizen of Forest, is a native of St. Law- rence County, N. Y., where he was born Oct. 31, 1831. In the fall of 1844 he came with his father's family to Bureau County, Ill., the entire distance being made in a wagon and occupying thirty days.

The parents of our subject, Luther and Sally M. ( Lee) Bullard, were natives of Vermont, where the father was born Feb. 1. 1797, and the mother Dec. 1, 1810. They were married in Fowler, N. Y., April 15, 1827, and became the parents of seven children. After their removal to Illinois the fam- ily were stricken with typhoid fever, from which the father died Nov. 25, 1847, while a son, Chessel- ton, had died twenty days before the decease of his father, Nov. 5, 1847. The other children were named respectively : Lucian, our subject; Lockhart, Barak; Delsena, the wife of D. C. Igon; Olla, who died in infancy, and Morenus. The mother sur- vived her husband nearly thirty-eight years, her death taking place at Forest, April 10, 1886, from paralysis.

After the death of his father Lucian Bullard and the family purchased eighty acres of land from the Government at $1.25 per acre. This our subject labored upon during his younger years, remaining with his mother's family until 1852. llitherto his education had been extremely limited, and desir- ous of obtaining more book knowledge he entered the academy at Granville, Ill., and afterward took up a course of study in the preparatory department of Knox College, at that time under the Presidency of Rev. Dr. Blanchard, later of Wheaton College. Young Bullard the following year, after a time spent as a teacher, took up the study of medicine at Victoria, Knox County, which, after prosecuting for a term of nine months he was obliged to aban- don on account of ill-health. Ile retired to the farm for a time, but unwilling to relinquish his idea of becoming a member of the medical profession,

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returned to his studies, which to his great disap- pointment he was compelled to give up a second time for the same reason as before.

Mr. Bullard next engaged at cabinet-making for three years, and then returned to the farm. In 1864 he disposed of his land in Bureau County and the year following came to Livingston County, and purchased the southwest quarter of section 34, in what was then township 27. In 1866 he took up his abode in the village of Forest, where he soon became prominently interested in local affairs. In 1870 he was made Notary Public, receiving his com- mission from Gov. John M. Palmer, and still holds the otlice. He has been a Republican since the or- ganization of the party. In 1875 he was appointed Postmaster under the administration of Gen. Grant, and has been continued in the office since that time, no change having been made during the general begira of Republican office-holders upon the incom- ing of the Democratic administration. Mr. Bullard, in connection with his official duties, to which it is not necessary to give his entire attention, keeps a full line of books, periodicals, stationery, notions and wall-paper, and enjoys a profitable trade. He represented Forest Township in the County Board of Supervisors one year, officiated as Justice of the Peace three years, as Town Clerk one year, Assessor fifteen years, and has been Township Treasurer for the past twelve years.

The course of Mr. Bullard has been steadily up- ward from the beginning, and in 1872 he was elected to represent the Eighteenth District in the Twenty-eighth General Assembly of the Illinois Legislature. In this body he served acceptably and with good judgment upon various important committees. llis life has been stirring and active, and his natural industry has led him to find his greatest pleasure in employing his mind and hands at something which should be of benefit not only to himself but to the world around him.

The marriage of Lucian Bullard and Miss Lizzie Clement, of Bureau County, was celebrated on the 31st of December, 1861. Mrs. Bullard is the daughter of Gilbert and Lucy Ann Clement, who came from Vermont to Lamoille, Ill., in 1836, and is the eldest of ten children. eight girls and two boys. She is a lady of much intelligence, a mem-

ber of the Congregational Church, and an enthusi- astie worker in the W. C. T. U. Four years ago she was chosen Treasurer of the Ninth District, embracing the counties of Woodford, Marshall, Livingston, Iroquois and Kankakee, in which office she is still retained. Mr. and Mrs. Bullard are the parents of two children-Nettie and Nerva. The former is the wife of Howard P. Smith, and an ac- complished teacher of vocal and instrumental music ; Nerva is a graduate of the Forest High School, and at present is the main assistant of her father in the post-office. Mr. Bullard is a warm advocate of the principles of the Masonic fraternity, and is a Knight Templar, being also for a period of five years Mas- ter of Forest Lodge.

Our subject came near being a victim of the ter- rible wreck of the Niagara excursion train on the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad on the night of Aug. 10, 1887. He narrowly escaped with his life, being terribly bruised about the chest and shoul- ders, and disabled for months afterward. The scenes of that dreadful catastrophe will never be effaced from his memory, and form an experience which comparatively few men have passed through.

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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 77

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