USA > Illinois > Henry County > Portrait and biographical album of Henry County, Illinois : containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county > Part 29
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obert F. Steele, Justice of the Peace, in- surance agent and dealer in real estate at Geneseo, came to Henry County in 1857. He was born in Antrim, Hillsborough Co., N. H., Jan. 10, 1831, and he is the son of Robert and Betsey (Temple) Steele. He was reared on a farm and received a good common school education, and afterwards attended an academy until he was liberally educated. After completing his course of study he passed his summers on the farm and his winters in teaching.
In 1856 he left his native State and went to New York. In 1857 he came to Illinois. He located at
Richard Mascall
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Geneseo, and, in company with Elihu Bryant, he embarked in a boot and shoe enterprise, under the firm style of Bryant & Steele. Their relations were in existence until May, 1860. Mr. Steele enlisted in the late war Aug. 12, 1862, enrolling in Co. I, 112th Ill. Inf. On going to the field he was appoint- ed Commissary of his regiment and was in the ser- vice until July 5, 1865. He was then mustered out at Chicago. He returned to Geneseo and com- menced to operate in the insurance business and as a loan agent, and also began his connection with traffic in real estate. In 1869 the present firm of Hosford & Steele was formed. The company rep- resents the leading insurance companies, and are doing an extensive business in loans and in real estate.
In 1867, Mr. Steele was appointed Postmaster by President Johnson and he held the office two years. In 1866 he was elected City Clerk and continued to discharge the duties of the position until 1873. He was Mayor of Geneseo during the years 1874-5-6, serving consecutively as his own successor. In 1873 he was elected Justice of the Peace. He has been re-elected ever since, covering a period of 12 years. He is also serving his third term as Assistant Super- visor. He is a Republican of most decided stripe and has been an earnest supporter of the principles and issues of the party since its organization.
He was joined in marriage to Annie E. Hardy, April 21, 1857, in Methuen, Mass. She is a native of Westminster, Vt., and is the daughter of Silas Hardy. Mr. and Mrs. Steele have one child-Abbie F. The entire family are members of the Congre- gational Church.
ichard Mascall, whose name has been for more than 40 years connected with Henry County as a factor in its business develop- ment, came hither in 1840. At that time, this section of Illinois was in its primitive condition, awaiting the application of the forces needed to open its resources. The energy and perseverance brought here by Mr. Mascall were of the right stamp to win success, and in conse- quence he is the owner of nearly 900 acres of land in the county besides his property in the village of Cambridge. He also owns 1,280 acres in Wilkins
Co., Minn, and a quarter-section in Adams Co., Neb. The accumulations of Mr. Mascall are the fruit of judicious business principles and unwavering integrity.
He was born Feb. 1, 1812, 50 miles east of the city of London, in East Kent, England, of which shire his parents, John and Elizabeth (Neeves) Mascall, were both natives. His mother bore 24 children. She was married twice, Mr. Mascall's father being her second husband, and all the chil- dren born of her first marriage died in early life. Only five of her children reached mature life. Of this number John, Mrs. Biddie Hopper and Mrs. Mary A. Thurston are deceased. Richard and James, third and fourth in order of birth, are the sole sur- vivors. The family came to the United States in 1830 and located in Litchfield, Bradford Co., Pa. He was there married June 14, 1832, to Abigail Elston. She was born June 22, 1814, in Bradford Co., Pa., and died April 8, 1873, after having be- come the mother of six children: Ransford P. de- ceased; Annie, wife of Spaulding Cody ; John H. and Moses, deceased ; Martha M. (Mrs. M. Bristol) ; and James P. Mr. Mascall contracted a second matrimonial alliance, with Mary J., daughter of 'Squire Wm. G. Heaps, of Annawan Township. Her mother's maiden name was Hester Green, and she was born in Lancaster Co., Pa., and died in Annawan Township April 12, 1885, aged 69. The family came to Adams Co., Ill., in 1842, where Mrs. Mas- call was born May 28, 1846. Her marriage was celebrated Aug. 18, 1874. She is one of 11 children born to her parents, of whom nine are living. Her father is a citizen of Annawan Township.
Mr. Mascall is a representative of a class of men who made their generation distinguished for enter- prise and achievement. Their natural ambition to get on in the world, coupled with the rumored re- sources of the undeveloped Western country, served as an incentive to test the untried fields which fancy painted, lying in broad beauty in the then trackless West. Poor in purse but rich in the qualities which are the equipment of the genuine pioneer, Mr. Mas- call turned his energies to good account in the labor of farmer in his native country and in Litchfield, Pa., until about the date of his first marriage, and af- ter that event he conducted a saw-mill in Bradford Co., Pa., until 1836. In that year he yielded to the
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pressure, partly of ambition, partly of desire to judge for himself of the value of the promises of the prairied section of this, his country, and, accompanied by his brother James, lie started for what was then the bor- der of civilization. They traveled in pioneer style, in accordance with their circumstances and frugal habits, journeying overland 140 miles to Olean Point, on the Allegheny River in the State of New York. Here he bought a quantity of dry lumber, for which he paid $to, and secured assistance to build a " float," otherwise termed a raft. On this craft the party embarked. The number included Mr. Mas- call, his wife and two oldest children, James Mas- call, William Stackhouse and another man whose name is now unknown, Jesse Elston, wife and two children, and Spencer Elston. The Elstons came only to the city of Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition to its load of humanity, the raft transported the house- hold belongings of the families. The journey to Pittsburg, Pa., was of six days' duration, and formed an episode which will live forever in the remem- brances of those who felt that it was a challenge to fate and fortune, and they watched the tide which bore them away from accustomed scenes with varied emotions. At Pittsburg, Mr. Mascall sold the raft for $40. The party took passage on a steamer at that city which was to carry them to Peoria, Ill., via the Ohio, Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.
They arrived at their destination at the end of three weeks. Mr. Mascall was seized by illness at Peoria, which proved of a lingering character, but in the latter part of August he went to Wyoming, Stark County, where he rented a farm of J. W. Agard, on which he was resident until the spring of 1837. At that date he rented a farm, which was the property of Francis Grady, situated one mile south of Toulon. After his engagement expired, at the end of two years, he re-rented property of Mr. Agard.
His father made an entry of 40 acres of land, and informed him that he (the father) would give him (the son) ten acres. Mr. Mascall relates that, though he now counts his acres by the hundreds, he has seen no moment so completely filled with con- tent as that in which he learned that he was to be- come the owner of ten acres of land ! On his taking possession, his father deeded him 25 acres, and he asserts that he would not then change places with royalty itself. He had won the highest privilege a
man can possess,-a claim on God's fair heritage to man.
In the spring of 1841, he came with his family to Henry County, and located on a farm of 25 acres in the eastern part of the township of Cambridge. He there made a success of agricultural pursuits until 1850, when he removed his family to Bishop Hill, where he operated as a buyer of grain and trader in behalf of the Swedish colony at that place. He re- mained there a year, and during that time performed services in the interests of the foreigners of incalcul- able advantage to them. He superintended the American laborers employed by the colonists, and exerted himself in protecting their property and their lives from mob violence. They were the objects of frenzied fury, and the most strenuous efforts were made by the land sharks to expel them from their estates. The time when the exertions of Mr. Mas- call were most effective, was at the period of the struggle for social and religious liberty in the Swedish colony, which is treated with graphic power in an- other portion of this work. The murder of Mr. Jansen left the Swedes practically without a leader, and they placed implicit reliance on the honor and advice of Mr. Mascall. He advised that they enter a quarter-section of land, on which extensive im- provements had been made, and which was the especial object of the greed of the land-sharks. They sent him to the land office at Dixon to nego- tiate in their interests, and he found that the tract had been entered on a land warrant. He protested, on the ground that it had been settled and was un- der cultivation, and he deposited the Government price of $200, and urged a request that the warrant be removed, which was afterwards done. To Mr. Mascall and to John Piatt, Sr., who espoused the cause of the worthy foreigners, the Swedes owe the preservation of their land claims, and, no doubt, in some instances their lives, as lynching and exterm- ination were frequently threatened.
The pioneer experiences of Mr. Mascall present a history full of interesting novelty, even though such would seem to gather a monotony through frequent repetition. He once took his fattened hogs to Peoria, where he sold them for a dollar each, and often drew his grain and pork to Chicago, when he slept on the ground from utter inability to secure the shelter of the hotels, his small returns from his
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yearly labors necessitating absolutely no expendi- ture while on his trips ! The generation of to-day would faint in view of such privations and hardships. Verily, the pioneers are worthy all admiration, honor and respect. They are the truly great, who proved their title to the soil they came to till and to secure as a heritage for their posterity. Mr. Mascall, now in the evening of life, can look back with retrospect- ive satisfaction on the course he has pursued.
In 1851, Mr. Mascall returned to the management of his farm in Cambridge where he continued to operate until his removal to the village of Cambridge, which took place in December, 1873. He had spent a year previously at that place, associated with his brother, James Mascali, in a mercantile enterprise. Since fixing his permanent abode there, he has been connected with its active business prosperity and development.
In November, 1881, on the organization of the Farmers' National Bank, he was made its President, and still (1885) continues its chief official.
In political connection, Mr. Mascall is a Demo- crat, and he exerted the energies which have char- acterized his whole life in the success of the late Presidential campaign. In 1857, he was elected Supervisor of Cambridge Township, and was the first to occupy that official position after the organi- zation of the township. He was subsequently re- elected in 1858, 1860, 1863, 1869 and 1875.
During the struggle for the removal of the county seat from Cambridge to Geneseo, in 1877-8, he took an active part in behalf of the opposition to the movement. He was made a member of the com- mittee constituted to visit Springfield, where he was influential in the defeat of the project. While Su- pervisor, he was a member of the Poor-house and County Building Committee, and was Overseer of the Poor under the county organization for several years. He has always been prominent in his inter- est and efforts in the diffusion of general education, and has acted 21 years as School Director in School District No. 1, of East Cambridge.
In religious opinions, Mr. Mascall does not en- dorse the tenets of any denominational organization, but believes in the fundamental principles which underlie the system of Christianity.
The appreciative regard in which Mr. Mascall is held by the people of Cambridge, is evidenced by
the cognomen " Uncle Dick," which is familiar to the lips of every man, woman and child within the scope of his acquaintance. The addition of his por- trait to the collated annals of Henry County will be warmly welcomed, inasmuch as it ensures a per- manent shadow of a presence long familiar to trav- elers on the thoroughfares of the municipality of which he has been so faithful and disinterested a friend. He is a representative of a class of foreign- born citizens who bring the thrift and energy which are their only heritage in their native land to this country with its great possibilities, and accomplish the best results in their application under the influ- ences of the institutions of America.
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ames H. Mitchell, Mayor of Geneseo in 1885, is a prominent business man at that place. He came to Henry County in 1872. He is a native of Ireland, and was born Dec. 22, 1843. The names of his parents were James and Ellen (Donlan) Mitchell. In the spring of 1849 the family came to the United States and made a location at Madison, Ind. Mr. Mitchell remained there until 1866, when he went to Shelby- ville, Ill., and there embarked in business. He was occupied in the management of his affairs there until 1868, when he went to Blairstown, in Iowa, and was engaged in the drug business there until his re- moval, in the year named, to Geneseo. He was a druggist at the latter place until 1878, when he closed his connection therewith and commenced operations as a dealer in real estate. He operated in that line until May 1, 1884, when he opened the business of a boot and shoe merchant, in which he is still interested.
Mr. Mitchell adopted the pains as well as the privileges of the country to which he came to enjoy the benefits its form of government afforded, and when the Nation was in the throes of a Civil War le entered the military service. He enlisted Aug. 9, 1862, in the. 67th Regt. of Vol. from Indiana, en- rolling in Co. C. A month after going to the field lie was in the hands of the rebels, captured by General Bragg in September, 1862, at Mumfordsville, Ky. He was paroled and a little later was exchanged. In
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November of the same year he again found himself in the service. He continued in the army until February, 1863, when he was discharged for dis- ability, having been seized with illness that pre- cluded the discharge of military duty. Mr. Mitchell is a Republican of decided type. He has served as Alderman of Geneseo, and was elected to that posi- tion in 1883.
The marriage of Mr. Mitchell to Mary Sharon took place at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Aug. 14, 1872. They have six children,-four sons and two daugh- ters. John P. was born Oct. 26, 1873 ; James, Sept. 13, 1875 ; Gertie, July 9, 1877; Julia, July 8, 1880; Francis, July 27, 1883. The family are Catholics. Mrs. Mitchell was born at St. Charles, Ill., and is the daughter of Frank Sharon.
rasmus Knorr, retired farmer, resident in Colona, is a citizen of the United States by adoption. He was born July 16, 1824, in Oldenburg, in the province of Saxony, Ger- many. He is the son of George and Eliza- beth (Fleischer) Knorr. From the age of six until he was 14, Mr. Knorr was an attendant at the schools of the place in which he was born, and after he liad completed the time there required by law he was apprenticed to learn the business of a flour miller. He served in that capacity until he ac- quired a thoroughly practical knowledge of the trade. When he was 20 years of age he entered the army and served four years.
In 1849 he came to the United States. He made the voyage on a sail vessel and landed at the port of New York after a passage of 72 days. He made no stop until he reached Wisconsin, where he interested himself in lead-mining. He passed three years in that business, and in 1852 went to California. He went in company with two friends. Mr. Knorr and one of the others bought three Indian ponies, which they loaded with provisions. They also procured a hand-cart, to which they contrived to attach one of the ponies, and the little procession made its way across the plains. They stopped at Placerville, where they engaged in mining for gold. With the exception of the summer season of 1858 they re-
mained at the same place until 1862. The time named they were in British Columbia.
In 1862 Mr. Knorr returned to the East. He came via the Isthmus and proceeded to Henry County. In 1863 he bought a farm on section 5, in Hanna Township. It was unimproved and he put it in thorough condition for profitable agricultural operations. The buildings are of the best type for the purposes for which they are needed and include all that are required in general farming. Mr. Knorr also set out a well assorted orchard. In 1879 the place was sold, and Mr. Knorr bought a farm on section 2, in Colona Township. This was in the same state of nature as the other had been and the proprietor put forth the same efforts to the same end as in the first instance. The place is now in a condi- tion that gives evidence of the quality of the energy and industry of the owner. In 1884 the farm was rented and the family removed to the village of Co- lona, where Mr. Knorr is the owner of a residence.
He was married in 1863 to Mrs. Amelia (Schultze) Buckholz. She was born in Prussia, and was the widow of Henry Buckholz. They were married in their native land, and after their removal to the United States the husband entered the army of the Union. He enlisted in 1862 in the 112th Ill. Vol. Inf. as a member of Co. K. He died the same year, while in the service. Their only child, T. Henry, is deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Knorr have one child,- Charles E.
eorge Wells, a retired merchant at Gene- seo, was born in Shelburne, Franklin Co., Mass., Jan. 14, 1814. He is of Puritan stock, his ancestors having come from Eng- land to the New England coast in the early history of the country, and they were among the most prominent in the exciting events of the times that "troubled men's souls." David Wells, his paternal grandfather, moved to Shelburne in 1872. He was an active participant in the War of the Revolution, and was famous for his daring and bravery. He was concerned in the entire course of the struggle for independence, and was an eye- witness of the surrender of Burgoyne. He was also a member of the Continental Congress, and died in
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his 91st year. His son, William Wells, was a Colo- nel of militia, and became prominent as a legislator, serving 30 sessions in the State Assembly of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He died at Shel- burne, at the age of 81. He was born in the State of Connecticut, which was also the native State of his wife, who, previous to her marriage, was Pru- dence May. Her family were distinguished for learning, and were among the leaders in society and in public affairs in the times in which they lived. Her father and seven of his sons and sons-in-law were graduates of Yale College. Prudence May Wells died at 94.
Mr. Wells of this sketch received a common- school education, and was brought up with a thor- ough knowledge of farming. He did not take kindly to the vocation of agriculture, and when he was 18 he went to Troy, N. Y., to accept a position as clerk in a mercantile establishment. This was in 1832, and he remained in the position until 1835. In that year he embarked in trade himself, and con- tinued to operate as a merchant there until his removal to Illinois in 1856. He settled at Geneseo, and opened a general store. He prosecuted his commercial interests about nine years, and closed his connections with active business about the time of the termination of the war.
In the early days of his political relations he was a Whig; but the issues that arose in which the fundamental principles of that element were founded caused him to adopt those of the Republican party, and he became one of its most consistent adherents on its organization.
Mr. Wells was married the first time Nov. 29, 1838, to Mary M. Coleman, at Greenfield, Mass., and they had one child, William P. He was born Jan. 6, 1839, and is now married, and a resident of the city of New York. The mother died July 20, 1849, and Mr. Wells was a second time married, April 15, 1851, to Helen Van Alen, who died with- out issue, Sept. 18, 1867. Her successor was Jane E. Stowe, of Troy, N. Y., whom he married July 1, 1869, and died Oct. 11, 1883 ; she left no children ; Mr. Wells was again married Nov. 11, 1884, to Mrs. Caroline E., widow of A. H. Barnes and daughter of Isaac Foote. Her grandfather, Isaac Foote, was a Major in the War of the Revolution. One of her maternal great-uncles was Lyman Hall, one of the
signers of the Declaration of Independence. Her family origin on both sides was of Puritan extraction. She is a member of the Congregational Church, and Mr. Wells is a man of tolerant religious views.
A ndrew Soliday has been a resident in Henry County since 1854. He has lived in the township of Yorktown since 1856. He was born in Alsace, then a province of R France, since which time it fell into the pos- session of Germany in the late war between those two powers. His birth occurred Jan. 7, 1830, and he is the son of Andrew and Margaret Soliday. His father died in his infancy, and as he was the only child his mother brought him up.
When he was six years old she came with him to America. She remained in Pennsylvania a few months after landing in the New World, and while there was married to Jacob Grose, a native of Rhen- ish Bavaria. In the February following, the new family went to Allegany County, in the State of New York, where the step-father died, five years later. The son and his mother remained there and in Liv- ingston County until 1853. He was her sole de- pendence after the death of her second husband, and he was also the maintainer of two half-sisters, who were the children of the step-father. He worked as a farm assistant to obtain the means needed for the support of the household, and he worked by the day. In the year named he came West to see if he could discover any chance for a poor man to get along in the world, and he determined to make a a trial of what he considered conditions that prom- ised the reward of effort and frugality. He returned to New York, and in 1854 he came to Illinois with his mother and two sisters. He rented the farm of his uncle in the township of Loraine, on which he operated two years. He was successful in his efforts to save what he earned, and he took possession of the land which he had bought the year in which he came to the county. It was located on section 19 of the township of Yorktown, and he built a double hewed-log house, into which the family moved in the month of January, 1856. Mr. Soliday at once entered with characteristic vigor into the work of improvement, and he made telling progress
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with his old-country industry and thrift. He was the owner of a yoke of oxen and two cows, and in a very short time he exchanged the former for horses and proceeded with his work of reclamation until he had placed the entire acreage under tillage. In 1864 he sold the place and secured another on sec- tion 31 of the same township. There was a small frame house on the place, which was the first resi- dence erected in the township, and was built by Daniel Crist ; and 50 acres had been put under the plow by him. Mr. Soliday is the proprietor of 276 acres, which is all in the best possible condition for successful agriculture, and supplied with the kind of farm buildings that show the quality of the efforts that have been exercised in Henry County, that have placed it in the ranks with those of older set- tlement in the State. Mr. Soliday is engaged in mixed husbandry.
In his political connection, he was at first a Whig. On the formation of the Republican party he became its adherent, and has been a consistent member of it ever since. He has served as Assessor and as Highway Commissioner, and has also filled the posi- tions of Constable, etc. He has acted 19 years in the capacity of School Director.
The marriage of Mr. Soliday to Mary Baker took place June 14, 1856. She was born in Warren Co., Pa. They have seven children : Mary Ellen mar- ried Henry Minch, of Yorktown Township; Jacob E., Andrew J., Esther E., Ida S., Hannah A. and Charles A. are those who are still at home.
The mother lived with her son as long as her life was spared after coming to Illinois. She died at his home, March 5, 1875. His oldest sister is named Elizabeth. Sophia married John Coplin, and they removed to Denver, Col.
iberty Stimson, now deceased, was a former resident of the township and city of Gene- seo, and came to Henry County in 1836. He was one of the most widely known and generally respected citizens of the section where he made his home from the year named until his death.
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