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 33
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Mr. Miller was born in the town of Easthampton, Suffolk Co., Long Island, N. Y., Aug. 24, 1816. He is the son of Uriah and Betsy (Baker) Miller, who were all their lives residents on the same island, where their parents were among the settlers before the land was cleared of its forest growth. Uriah Miller was born Oct. 4, 1784, in Suffolk County, and he was brought up to man's estate on the farm on which his father settled before he was born. His wife was born in the same county on the island, and their children were born as follows : Nathan, June 24, 1813, lives at Easthampton, L. I .; George L., Nov. 16, 1821, resides at Bridgehampton, L. I .; Mary B., May 26, 1824 (died March 10, 1828) ; Betsy B., Feb. 5, 1830, married William Barnes (see sketch) : Uriah Miller passed his life in the business
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of a farmer, and died in April, 1859; his wife's death occurred in September, 1872.
Abram Miller grew to manhood on the estate of his father, and before he attained his majority he learned the trade of a carpenter. In 1838 he set out westward in company with two others, with the purpose of seeking a wider field for the exercise of his abilities and ambitions than the crowded East afforded. He came to Geneseo, and has been a continuous resident of Henry County since that year, and for a period of 47 years. For 16 years he was employed at his trade, and in other capacities, as opportunity served and occasion required, until, in 1854, he commenced the business in which he has since operated without intermission, save such interruptions as are hereinafter mentioned.
The building in which he made his first experi- ment as caterer to the necessities of the public was a primitive structure, half log house and half frame, which was located on the south side of Main Street, east of State. The patronage surpassed the most sanguine expectations, ana his house was, as a rule, filled to overflowing with the miscellaneous throng of land-lookers, prospectors, settlers and travelers of all varieties incident to a newly developed section of country. May 1, 1864, the pioneer hotel of Gen- eseo was destroyed by fire, a disaster which occa- sioned a loss of $6,000 to the proprietor ; but, not being a man easily disheartened or overwhelmed by a seemingly adverse fate, he replaced the old building with a new brick edifice, which proved a wise venture and renewed the prestige of the inn of the early days. Exactly 13 years later the all- devouring flames proved the destruction of the fine building, and at that time the loss was $5,000. Pre- vious to the second " trial by fire " he had associated his two eldest sons with himself in business. They are a trio not easily daunted, and they at once set about the work of constructing the beautiful and well arranged hotel, in which they have done busi- ness since it was completed, in 1877, seven months after the burning of the second building referred to.
The Geneseo House has one of the best locations in the city. It is constructed of solid brick and stone, is four stories high, contains about 50 sleeping apartments and a full suite of other rooms necessary to the business of a first-class house, as it is in every particular. The hosts are all to the " manner
born." No guest can find just cause of complaint in the manner in which his wants are anticipated. The hosue has a reputation which will sustain its popularity while it is under its present management.
Mr. Miller was married at Spring Creek, Henry Co., Ill., Jan. 6, 1842, to Miss Sarah A. Southworth. Her parents, Samuel and Rachel (Couch) South- worth, were natives respectively of Burlington, Vt., and Ellery, Chautauqua Co., N. Y. Her father was born March 31, 1792. He was about 14 when he accompanied his parents to Chautauqua County, where he was married. The family of his wife were among the earliest of the settlers in the western part of the Empire State. Samuel Southworth and his wife had eight children, viz. : Mehitabel, Perry, Sa- rah Ann, Hiram, James, Ira, Jane M. and Char- lotte. Three only survive. James is a resident of Jamestown, Kan., which is named in his honor, as he was one of the heaviest land-holders there; Mrs. Jane M. Faxon lives in Nebraska. The parents of Samuel Southworth were named John and Char- lotte (Derby) Southworth. Rachel I. Couch was the daughter of Ira Couch. She was born at Ball- ston Springs, in the State of New York, April 12, 1793. She removed with her husband and family to the West in 1838. They remained a short time in Rock Island, and went thence to Shabbona Grove. in Henry County, where they settled on a farm, of which they were the occupants three years. In 1841 they went to Spring Creek, where they bought another place. In 1861 the family removed to Geneseo, where the parents passed the remaining years of their lives. Mr. Southworth officiated a number of years as Justice of the Peace, but was in no active business relations after his removal to Geneseo. His demise took place Oct. 16, 1876. The decease of his wife occurred Sept. 16, 1862.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller have four children. Ira Couch Miller was born Sept. 16, 1842. He was married Sept. 16, 1866, to Josephine, only child of Andrew and Keziah (McCloskey) McFarland. Their children were born as follows: Andrew A., Feb. 28, 1868; Lula Grace, Aug. 12, 1873; Percy, Oct. 8, 1880. The child last named died Dec. 31, 1882, of brain disease; Clarence Burdette was born Dec. 29, 1845, and was married Sept. 7, 1882, to Fannie, daughter of William Barnes, of Geneseo, of whom a sketch is given elsewhere. They have had one child -- June Ada, born June 5, 1885, and died the last
George binett
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day of July subsequent. De Witt Clinton Miller was born July 31, 1848, and was married Sept. 16, 1874, to Ella, daughter of Nathaniel and Eliza (Hewitt) Persons. Hattie Persons, their daughter, was born Nov. 23, 1878. D. C. Miller is the proprietor of two flourishing hotels in Minnesota, situated respectively at Faribault and Rochester. Ada, the only daughter of Mr. Miller's household, was born July 19, 1852, and married Dec. 24, 1878, to C. B. Pillsbury, a physician of Ypsilanti, Mich. The father and young- est son are Republicans. The two elder sons are Democrats.
Mr. and Mrs. Miller are among the representatives of the early days of the settlement of Henry County and are inseparably connected with its history. The first Boniface of Geneseo and the oldest in the county in his line of business, is the same consider- ate, genial gentleman whose characteristics gave his house its popularity in the olden time. Mrs. Miller, who was, nearly 50 years ago, the merest slip of a girl, has laughed her way through life with the best possible results ; and although she has nearly doubled her weight, she is as active and lithe as in the days of her girlhood. and she is still a prime favorite with young and old. Her hospitality is as noted as that of any other in the city where she lives and she is a ruling spirit in her social circle. Her closely united family are models of devotion to their home and its associations, and it is the universal hope that the home circle may long remain unbroken.
eorge Arnett, present Supervisor of Phe- nix Township, in which position he is dis- charging the duties of a second term, is a pioneer of Henry County of 1837, He was born June 6, 1833, and is the eighth son of Lewis and Clara Arnett. When he was four years of age his parents removed with their family from Warren Co., Pa., where their children were born, to Henry Co., Ill. They settled in Loraine Township, where the family residence was main- tained, with the exception of four years, until the death of the former, in 1868. The interval referred to was spent in Whiteside Co., Ill.
Mr. Arnett was reared as a son of a pioneer, and was instructed in the business of a farmer under the
direction of his father. . He remained at home until he was 20 years of age, when he went to California. He had fallen into a state of poor health, and he went to the Pacific coast for recovery, and to es- cape consumption, with which it was thought he was threatened. He set out with $50 in his posses- sion, and journeyed across the plains in company with others. The journey was made from the Mis- souri River in three months. When he reached Oregon City he was the possessor of five cents. He arrived in the season of harvest, and with health sufficiently restored to engage in work, he obtained a situation in an avenue of labor with which he was familiar-the harvest field. After two weeks he was seized with fever and ague, and an illness of four weeks consumed all the money he had earned. As soon as he had sufficiently recovered he resolved to go to California, where he had a brother, and he obtained an Indian pony as an aid to the journey of 500 miles through a trackless wilderness. He spent his days in riding the faithful, hardy little animal, and at night he slept under the trees to one of which he tied his horse. He carried the provision he consumed on the route with him. On his arrival in the Golden Gate he obtained employment of his brother, at $75 per month, and he ran a pack train to the mountains during a period of six weeks. At the expiration of that time, in company with another brother, he bought the mules and other appurte- nances of the brother for whom he had worked, and they engaged in packing goods into the mountains until 1857, without intermission except about two months, when they were in the service of the United States fighting the Indians. In the year mentioned he returned to the East, making the route thither by the isthmus and New York. He arrived at home during the last days of the month of December.
His first business venture was the purchase of his father's homestead, in Loraine Township, and he was there engaged in farming until 1865. His house was then burned, and he was an inmate of the family of his brother Joseph about two months. He had bought a farm on section II in Phenix Township, and eight weeks after the burning of his house in Loraine Township he removed to the place where he has since made his home. He purchased the latter in 1864. It contained 127 acres, and the proprietor has made such successful application of his time and abilities that he is now the owner of
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800 acres, all of which is in the best possible agri- cultural condition and finely stocked with Durham cattle and valuable grades.
Mr. Arnett was married Nov. 15, 1857, to Mar- garet, daughter of Joseph and Aboline Sieben. She was born in Germany. To her and her husband six children have been born: Harriet M. is the wife of William Hudnall, a resident of Montana; Julia, Franklin G., Minnie Alberta, Perry A. and Floyd Henry are the names of the children.
The portrait of Mr. Arnett, which is presented on a preceding page, will be welcomed by the patrons of this volume with pleasure equal to that with which the publishers insert it in the collated records of Henry County. Mr. Arnett is a worthy citizen, and his record is unblemished.
ohn P. Stewart, cashier of the Farmers' National Bank at Geneseo, was born in Rensselaer Co., N. Y., Nov. 3, 1835, and is the son of George W. and Eva (Potts) Stewart. His parents were also natives of the Empire State. He remained in his native place until his removal to Geneseo, in 1856. He interested himself at first in the capacity of a farm assistant, and passed the alternating winters in teaching, operating in this manner until the spring of 1866, when he entered upon the duties of book- keeper in the First National Bank, and continued in his connection with that institution in the capacity of accountant and as assistant cashier until the spring of 1876. He then accepted the position in which he has since officiated.
Mr. Stewart entered the Union Army during the Civil War, and served as a soldier nearly a year and a half. He enlisted in the fall of 1861, and was discharged for physical disability in February, 1863. He was promoted to the position of First Sergeant. His regiment was in the Army of the Western Division, and in the service of the Southwest.
He has been a Republican since the formation of the party, and has served the public in several local offices, among which are those of City Treasurer of Geneseo, and School Treasurer. He has officiated in the former 12 years.
He was joined in marriage, June 4, 1871, at Gene-
seo, to Helen L. Morton. She was born in Ohio, and is the daughter of S. W. Morton. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart have three children: William M. was born April 25, 1872; Anna L. Feb. 20, 1874; and John P. July 31, 1881. Mrs. Stewart is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
goung Stokes, an agriculturist of Colona Township, of extensive relations, is a resi- dent on section 3. He was born at a point near the banks of the Duck River in East Ten- nessee, Nov. 3, 1810. His parents, Edmond and Judith (Taylor) Stokes, were both born in Burke Co., Va. After their marriage they made their first settlement in North Carolina, and after a short residence there they removed to the State of Tennessee.
They were there resident until the spring of 1810, when they set out on horseback for the State of In- diana. Mr. Stokes there rented land and raised a crop. They stayed long enough to secure the re- sults of their toil, and returned to Tennessee. There their child was born, and when he was three weeks old the little household started for Illinois. The mother carried her baby in her arms, and she and her husband rode the entire distance on horseback. They located in Shawneetown, in Gallatin County, and took possession of a rented farm. On this Mr. Stokes raised a crop, and was the occupant of the place during the year 1811. In 1812 he secured a claim in White County and began the work of im- provement. At the breaking out of the war which is designated by the number of that year (1812), the place where their home was located was in constant danger from the depredations of Indian marauders, and the family removed to the fort on the Little Wa- bash River. The husband entered the service and operated for a short time as a ranger. After the declaration of peace he sold his claim and settled on a second which he made four miles below New Haven on the Wabash River, in Gallatin County. On this he also made some improvements, but did not retain his ownership therein. He sold it, and made a third claim in a portion of the county which was all in a wholly wild state. The same experi- ence he often repeated, from the same spirit which
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actuated the pioneers of those days. He died in Gallatin County in 1833. The death of the wife and mother occurred Oct. 4, 1871.
Mr. Stokes of this sketch lived with his parents until he reached the age of 18. He then became a member of the family of an aunt, with whom he lived three years. He then returned to the home of his parents and worked with his father in farming until the death of the latter, when the entire estate and the management of the affairs of his father devolved on him, as he was the oldest child. In the spring of 1834 he took possession of a farm he had bought, and he was accompanied by his mother, two brothers and a sister to his new location. The place adjoined that occupied by the aunt referred to, and he was oc- cupied in its improvement until 1843. He then went to Scott Co., Iowa, and his family then included his wife, two children, his mother, sister and a brother. The party took passage on a flat-boat to the Mississippi River, where they embarked on a steamer for the city of Davenport. Mr. Stokes had sent two teams in advance overland with his stock, consisting of 50 head of cattle and horses. He rented land the first year in Pleasant Valley, near Daven- port, which he managed one summer, and in the fall of the same year he bought a place in the same town- ship. In the fall of the next year he effected an ex- change of his property, and came to Henry County. He located on land which he bought in Hanna Town- ship, situated on section 30, on which he resided one year. He then returned to Scott County and gave his attention to the improvement of the farm there, and was thereon resident until the spring of 1850. At that date he came back to Hanna Township and lived on his farm there until 1853. From that time until 1861 he lived in Scott County. He again re- turned to Hanna Township, where he operated his farm until 1875. He then went to his Iowa farm, and was its occupant until 1880. In that year he took possession of a farm in Colona Township, which he had purchased in 1870. The property is situated on sections 3 and 10. The place was wholly. unim- proved, and Mr. Stokes built on it and put it in a well improved condition. The property is considered as valuable as any in the township, and the estate contains 318 acres. The farm in Scott Co., Iowa, is still in the possession of Mr. Stokes, and it is a fine and valuable estate, containing 250 acres of excellent and under good improvements. Its value is ma-
terially increased by the fact that it comprises about 60 acres of fine timber.
The marriage of Mr. Stokes to Lucy Niver took place in 1839. They had ten children. Julia A. married Pitt Swan, from whom she was divorced. She is now the wife of Hiram Carroll, of Trenton, Mo., being married Aug. 26, 1885. Her daughter Tinnie was married to John Fisher, of Colona, on the same day of the marriage of her mother. Her daughters are named Minnie and Linna. William occupies the farm in Scott County. Melinda is de- ceased. Mary is the wife of J. J. S. Ellingsworth, of Hanna Township, who is adequately represented by a sketch in this work. Melissa is not living. She became the wife of Levi Fenno. Her only child- Frank-lives with his grandfather. George and Young are deceased, as are two others who did not survive infancy. The mother died July 31, 1855.
One of the pioneer experiences of the family on their removal to Illinois was that they were obliged to live in a house which had no door, as the father could obtain no nails nor boards. On one occasion, when he was absent on an expedition to a distant mill, the mother was compelled to keep fire all night to protect herself and her children from the entrance of wild animals into the house!
dwin Farwell, a retired farmer living at Geneseo, came to Henry County in 1861, and to Geneseo in 1883. He was born in Wheatland, Monroe Co., N. Y., June 7, 1827, and he is the son of Hiram and Margaret (Skinner) Farwell. He was trained in a prac- tical knowledge of the business of a farmer, which has been the chief interest of his life. He was among the first to go to California, whither he went in 1849. He passed two years there in the mines and on a ranch; and, at the expiration of the time named he returned to the East and settled in the State of Michigan, whither he had removed in 1835 with his father's family. After a residence of ten years he came to Illinois.
He located in the township of Osco in which he was a resident for three years, and in 1864 he came to the township of Geneseo. He has been a farmer ever since he came to the county, and he was act- ively interested in agriculture until the time that has
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been named as that in which he removed to the city of Geneseo, to pass the closing years of his life. His farm, which he still owns, is situated on sections 33 and 34 of Geneseo Township, and contains 320 acres. It is in a valuable location and it lies but two and a half miles from the city limits, and it is in ex- cellent condition for mixed husbandry. The build- ings are of the kind most suitable for a farm of its character.
Mr. Farwell has been a Democrat from the time he first began to form his political ideas.
Mr. Farwell was married to Arvilla Rogers, in June, 1851. She was born in Lenawee Co, Mich , and is the daughter of Cary Rogers. She has borne four children-two sons and two daughters: Dolly was born in Michigan and she married G. H. Gates ; they are residents in the State of Michigan; Seth E., the eldest son, was born in Michigan, and died there in 1872; Darwin married Della Woodruff and lives in Geneseo; Lydia was born in Illinois and she re- mains unmarried.
illiam Glenn is the oldest son of the old- est living settler in Colona Township, James Glenn. A full sketch of his pa- rents and of the pioneer relations of his father to Henry County are to be found on other pages of this work. Mr. Glenn was born May 18, 1838, in Mercer Co., Ill., while his father and mother were stopping there temporarily; and when he was a few months old they returned to Henry County.
He attained to the estate of manhood in Colona Township, and was educated in the pioneer schools. As soon as he was of suitable age and size he as- sisted his father on the farm and lived at home until he was 25 years old. In 1864 he was married to Miss E. R. Reynolds. She was born Oct. 30, 1843, in the city of Moline, in Rock Island County, and is the daughter of Nazro and Sarah (Bennett) Reynolds, pioneers of the county in which she was born. Mr. Glenn settled on the farm on which he has since re- sided, at the time of his marriage. It is situated on section 31, in Colona Township, and is a magnificent place in the way of a farm, containing 285 acres, and all in first-class condition for profitable farming,
The buildings are of a type which corresponds with the other fixtures of the place. The proprietor has set out a grove and varieties of fruit-trees.
Mr. Glenn has passed one year in Texas, to which place he went with his father-in-law, who was there as a contractor on the International Railroad from Heron, Texas, to Shreveport, La. Mr. Rey- nolds was the first to cut the brush from the pro- jected line of the track. Mr. and Mrs. Glenn have one child, James Nazro by name.
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Não enry Manville, a pioneer of Henry County in 1837, was one of the colony of seven who formed a colonial organization and dis- patched three representatives hither to purchase land in their behalf in 1836. Five of the pro- jectors of the scheme came the same year to Henry County, but he was one of the two that re- mained in the State of New York until the following year. He arrived with his family on the 4th day of June, 1837.
He was born Oct. 25, 18or, in the town of White Falls, in Washington Co., N. Y., and is the son of Eliud and Hannah (Jones) Manville. He was brought up on a farm and trained in a knowledge of that occupation, and remained in the town in which he was born and where he passed the later years of his residence, in the business of a carpenter, until the year 1837, in which he formed a resolution to come to Illinois. Then he went to Bergen, in Gene- see County, in his native State. It should also be stated that from existing circumstances in Washing- ton County, he was interested in lumbering in addition to farming. He is the only surviving member of the original colonists at Geneseo. He has been a con- stant resident at that place with the exception of [2 years, in which he lived on his farm in the township of Munson. He was the builder of the first frame house in the village of Geneseo, and it was the first work as a carpenter that he did in his new home. He was also the builder of several other houses here.
Mr. Manville was formerly a Republican, but has lately adopted the views of the Prohibitionists.
His marriage to Miss Lucy Smith took place at Whitehall, N. Y., Sept. 3, 1826. They had II chil-
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dren that grew to the age of maturity,-nine sons and two daughters. A pair of twins died in infancy. Eight are still living,-six sons and two daughters. The mother died Feb. 24, 1863. Mr. Manville was again married Dec. 27, 1866, in Annawan, to Mrs. Julia Ann Loring. She was born in Penobscot Co., Me., and is the daughter of Samuel Chamberlain, of Geneseo. She was the widow of John H. Loring. By her former marriage she was the mother of four children,-two sons and two daughters. She came to Illinois in 1855.
Mr. Manville officiated several years as the Treas- urer of the school fund. He and his wife are mem- bers of the Congregational Church.
ohn Wesley Withrow, a farmer on section I of Hanna Township, is the son of one of the very first settlers in Henry County. In 1835 Neely Withrow removed his family to Henry County and passed the first summer at Red Oak Grove. The county was then un- organized, and the township of Phenix, where they settled, was designated by its number,-18. The senior Withrow entered a claim on section 29 and built a log house on it. It was his home while he lived, and he gave himself unreservedly to the work of placing his farm in the best possible condition for profitable agriculture. But his hopes were doomed to early decay, as he survived only about three years, dying in 1838 from accident. He was thrown from a sleigh on the ice and died from the effects of the injury he received. He was born in Kentucky. The mother of Mr. Withrow, whose name was Polly Eveleth before her marriage, was a native of New York. She went with her parents to White Co., Ill., when she was a small child, making the journey thither on a flat-boat on the rivers on which the emi- grants traveled from the East to the West. The children of Neely Withrow and his wife were named and are recorded as follows: Amariah lives in the township of Phenix ; James is a resident of Geneseo ; John W. is the next in order of birth; Neely is a citizen of Central City, Neb .; Lucy married Robert Barge, and they live in Merrick Co., Neb.
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