Portrait and biographical album of Henry County, Illinois : containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 68

Author:
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 850


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 68


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Mr. and Mrs. Hill are members of the Christian Church.


uman Woodward, a successful farmer of this county, residing on section 21, Osco Township, is a son of Hiram and Cynthia (Root) Woodward, natives of Vermont and Ohio. The grandfather of Mr. Woodward of this sketch, Asa Woodward, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Luman's father and moth- er after marriage settled in Licking Co., Ohio, where they resided following the vocation of farming until 1852, when they came to this county with a team and wagon and settled in Osco Township. For a more extended notice of their lives see the biogra- phy of Hiram Woodward, elsewhere in this volume. The children of the parents were nine in number.


Luman. Woodward was the eldest in order of birth of the children of his parent's family. He was born in Licking Co., Ohio, Feb. 4, 1831. The school privileges of Mr. Woodward were limited, and his accumulation of practical knowledge is due to his own individual efforts, and what education he is pos- sessed of was acquired by the same perseverance on his own part as the practical knowledge that he pos- sesses. He resided at home on his father's farm in Licking Co., Ohio, assisting him in the labors thereon until 1851. In the spring of 1855, Mr. Woodward came with his wife and one child to this county, and purchased 60 acres of land on section 21, Osco Township. He with his family settled on his land and engaged vigorously and energetically upon the task of its improvement and cultivation. He has erected fine buildings, set out numerous shade trees on his farm, and by economy and energetic labor has increased his landed interests until he is at present


the owner of a fine farm containing 140 acres, all of which is under an advanced state of cultivation.


The marriage of Mr. Woodward took place in Licking Co., Ohio, Aug. 15, 1852, and the lady chosen to accompany him through the trials of the future was Miss Laura, the accomplished daughter of Norman and Mary (Edelblute) Woodworth, na- tives of Vermont and Virginia respectively. After her parents' marriage they settled in Licking Co., Ohio, where they reared a family of six children, namely : Charles, Laura, Rebecca, Gilmore, Seibert and Norman, and where they continued to reside un- til their deaths.


Mrs. Woodward was born in Licking Co., Ohio, Aug. 11, 1834. She has borne her husband one child, Cynthia Alice, who was married to John W. Hadley, a resident of Newman, Jasper Co., Iowa, and who were the parents of two children, Mary A. and Laura M. Mary A. died April 24, 1882, in her 27th year, of diptheria, and Laura M. died in 1864.


Mr. Woodward has held the office of Commission- er of Highways, as well as other minor offices within the gift of the people of his township. Politically, he is a believer in and supporter of the principles advocated by the Republican party.


In selecting persons in different parts of the county to represent the different callings and professions in the portrait department of this work, we find in Osco Township a number of truly representative agricult- urists. Prominent among these, however, ranks Mr. Woodward, of this sketch, and we give his portrait in connection with this sketch.


ohn W. Chapman, father of Chapman Brothers, editors of the Chronicle, pub- lished at Cambridge, was born Feb. 10, 1835, in Madison, Ind. He is the son of John and Mary A. (McKin) Chapman, who were natives of the State of Ohio. The family to which he belongs is of English extraction, his grand- father, John Chapman, having descended from that nationality. The latter was a resident of Lancaster Co., Pa. His son John was the father of five child- ren,-Elizabeth V., Henry C., William (deceased), John W. and M. Frances.


John Chapman, Sr., was born in Ohio, and died in


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Madison, Ind., in 1841, at the age of 41. In early life he was a boatman on the Ohio River, and in later years he was a magistrate in the city of Madi- son. He also served as City Marshal and as City Assessor. He was a man of excellent abilities and was the recipient of general esteem.


His son, John W. Chapman, was reared in Madison, and there made himself ready for the contest of life by learning the trade of wagon-maker. March 2, 1858, he was married to Catherine Sturgis. She was the daughter of Levick and Mary (Simons) Sturgis, and died Oct. 25, 1883, at the age of 45. The three children to whom she gave birth are living, and are named William O., J. Harvey and Emma E. Mr. Chapman afterward removed to Indianapolis, where he followed his trade for eight years. In April, 1876, he came thence to Cambridge, and has since been occupied in the pursuit of his vocation here.


His sons were educated in the public schools of Indianapolis, and began their acquaintance with journalism in that city, in the capacity of newsboys, which was their occupation while attending school. In the year succeeding that in which the family came to Cambridge, William O. Chapman, of the Chronicle, entered the office of that journal, then in the hands of George C. Smithe, and began to obtain a knowledge of the trade of a printer. He passed one year subsequently in Rock Island and at Daven- port working at his trade. When Harvey Chapman reached the age of 14, he became at attache of the Chronicle office, where he also learned his trade. February 1, 1885, the two brothers took charge of the paper, and are engaged in its successful manage- ment.


red Stahl is a farmer on section 13, Mun- son Township, and is engaged in the man- agement of 144 acres of valuable land. He is a native of Germany, and was born in the Province of Holstein, Jan. 17, 1842. He attended the schools of his native country as long as the law prescribed, and at 16 he went to work on a farm. He continued in that employ until he came to America.


In 1867 he set out for a land which he had reason to believe afforded a chance for a poor man to secure


the privileges which he believed were the inherent right of every man, and he landed at Quebec, in the Dominion of Canada. After a stay of two days he left that city for Chicago. Arriving there, he made no stop, but at once set out from there for Henry County. He found a cousin-Charles Stahl-with whom he remained a short time. He speedily ob- tained work, and he operated as a farm assistant until 1869.


In that year he was married to Minnie Peterson. She is a native of Sweden, and was born Feb. I, 1841. As soon as he was married Mr. Stahl rented land and conducted his affairs after that method two years. In 1871 he bought a farm on section 13. There was a house on the place, which he has re- built, and he has also erected a good frame barn, having a stone basement. Mr. Stahl is interested in raising stock and grain.


He and his wife are the parents of four children, 1 named Emil, Jennie, Nellie and Mabel.


genry L. Goold, dealer in fine furniture, pianos and organs, at Kewanee, Ill., was born in Knox County, this State, Dec. 26, 1850. His parents, Sylvester and Ella T. (Macklin) Goold, natives of Vermont and Dela- ware respectively, reared a family of two sons and one daughter, Henry being the eldest. Sylves- ter Goold was for many years a merchant in Galva, and carried on farming and stock trading pretty ex- tensively at the same time. In 1877 he removed to San Benito Co., Cal., where he has since been en- gaged in the live-stock business.


The subject of this sketch was brought up on his father's farm and liberally educated at common schools, graduating at the Galva High School in 1869, and subsequently spending two years at the Evanston University. In the spring of 1872 he went to Cali- fornia and remained about three years teaching school, keeping books and civil-engineering. Re- turning to Illinois in 1875, he at once formed a part- nership with a Mr. Fairbanks, and engaged in his present business. In 1879 a third party was ad- mitted to the firm, changing the style to Fairbanks, Goold & Blanchard, and in 1881 Mr. Goold became sole proprietor. In addition to the furniture and


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musical instrument business, he is the most exten- sive undertaker in the village. He is largely inter- ested in agriculture in Iowa and Nebraska; is a stockholder in the "Haxtun Steam Heater Works," Kewanee, and also in the First National Bank of that place. For so young a man, Mr. Goold's suc- cess has been decidedly flattering. Not a cent has been given him. What he has he has worked for. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and prominently identified with the Meth- odist Episcopal Church.


In April, 1875, he was married at Galva, Ill., to Miss Florence F. Hurd, who died in 1881, aged about 28 years, leaving three children: Ellen Frances, Theodore, Fred and Harry. Feb. 5, 1884, at Kewanee, Mr. Goold contracted a second mar- riage, the lady being Miss Matilda Wentworth, the accomplished daughter of John Wentworth, Esq., re- tired contractor and builder, formerly of Maine, but has made his home in Kewanee since 1881.


eorge Goodrich, jeweler at Cambridge, was born in 1829, in Hamilton, Madison Co., N. Y. The family is of Scotch and English extraction. Their ancestors settled in the State of Connecticut. Henry C. Good- rich removed from the "land of wooden nut- megs" to the State of New York with his family in 1812, and there died, at the age of 65 years. His demise occurred in 1848. He was a citizen of prominence, and was active in the affairs of the State militia, in which he was a Captain. By occupation he was a farmer. He was married in Connecticut to Sally Gillett, a native of that State. She died in Hamilton, N. Y. Of the 12 children of which she became the mother seven reached maturity. Mrs. Eunice Martin is a resident of Oneida, Ill. George is the next in order. Parma still survives. Two daughters, Mary and Ellen, died in Knox Co, Ill. Five children died in the State of New York.


Mr. Goodrich was reared on a farm till he was of age. He then learned the trade of a millwright, and followed it in connection with the business of a car- penter until he came in 1849 to Victoria, Knox Co., Ill., where he was similarly occupied until the spring of 1853, when he yielded to the desire to see the El


Dorado' of the American Continent, and joined a company of 20 men, who crossed the plains to Cali- fornia. The entire trip was made without accident. In California Mr. Goodrich operated in the mines six years, but with unsatisfactory results after the first. He then went to the Redwood country, where he joined a logging camp. He passed three years there, and operated meanwhile to some extent as a mechanic. Finally he interested himself in farming, in which he passed seven years, with excellent suc- cess. He managed a cattle ranch, and owned a great number of working oxen, with which he hauled his supplies-sometimes a distance of from 30 to 150 miles, as occasion demanded. He made from $1,000 to $3,000 annually. He remained on the Pacific coast 17 years, and at the expiration of that time he returned to Knox Co., Ill. He rested there a year, and then came to Cambridge, where he embarked in the sale of drugs, and also maintained a boot and shoe store. Not long afterward he opened the busi- ness of a jeweler, in partnership with John A. Hart, now a resident of Oskaloosa, Kan. The latter rela- tion continued five years, and at the end of that time Mr. Goodrich bought the interest of his partner, and has since managed the business alone. The drug interest in which he had a share was terminated at the end of six months by its destruction by fire. During the last ten years he has been engaged in the management of a saloon and billiard hall. Mr. Goodrich has devoted much interest to the advance- ment of the business prosperity of Cambridge, and has erected a number of business buildings.


The Rebellion and its several issues made him a Republican, and he has since been unswervingly de- voted to the interests of that party.


arl Swiger is one of the representative agriculturists of the county, where he has resided since 1860. He was born in Sax- ony, Germany, Feb. 7, 1836. Carl and Chris- tina (Richter) Swiger, his parents, were also of German birth. After he passed the time required by law in attendance at school he was put to work on a farm. He was 24 when he left the land of his birth for the New World. He crossed the ocean on a sail vessel, and after a voyage of six weeks landed at the port of New Orleans. He stayed


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..


in the Crescent City two days, and proceeded thence to St. Louis. He remained there two days, and then came to Rock Island. The next day he came to Henry County. He was the possessor of $ro when he arrived in the county, where he is now an inde- pendent land-holder. He engaged in farming in Munson Township and did his first work for D. P. Merrill.


In September, in 1861, he enlisted in the Ninth Ill. Cav., enrolling in Co. B. He obtained a dis- charge for disability in June, 1862, and returned to the township from which he enlisted. For several months he was unable to do any work, and as soon as he was sufficiently recovered he again interested himself in farming. He entered the employ of the same man-Mr. Merrill. In 1867 he bought 80 acres of land on section 10, where he operated with the most unqualified success as an agriculturist. In 187 I he exchanged the property for the place where he has since lived and carried on his plans with the same good results. The farm is situated on section 9, and is supplied with good and creditable farm fix- tures. The buildings are of the same type, and the place is increased in value and appearance by the addition of fruit and shade trees. Mr. Swiger raises stock and grain, and is interested in the dairy busi- ness.


The marriage of Mr. Swiger and Miss Theresa Miller occurred Oct. 26, 1867. Their children are named Hattie and Frank. Mrs. Swiger was born in Saxony, Germany. Both herself and husband are members of the Lutheran Church.


illiam H. Terpening. The name that opens this biographical notice will be rec- ognized as that of a pioneer of Munson Township of 1851. Mr. Terpening was born in the township of Virgil, Cortland Co., N. Y., April 22, 1818. His father, Henry Ter- pening, was born in Ulster Co., N. Y., and married Sarah Byram, a native of the State of Vermont. They located their home in the county where their son was born, about the year 1812. The father was a carpenter and joiner by profession, and he purchased a tract of land which was covered with the heavy forest for which the Empire State was


noted in its primeval days, and, as he wished to follow his trade, he employed assistance in the labor of clearing the farm in Virgil Township. After some years he abandoned his business as a builder, and and gave his undivided attention to farming. His wife died on the homestead, and he was again mar- ried. He went to the village of Cortland to pass the closing years of his life, and died there, at the age of 78.


Mr. Terpening of this sketch was instructed in the details of farming, and also in those of the trade of a carpenter, by his father, and acquired a complete knowledge of both by working under the competent instructions of his sire. He was the assistant on the farm and in the work of a carpenter until he was 20, when he was released from his obligation to his par- ents and commenced the world in his own interest. He started for the West, and went to Brownsville, Union Co., Ind., where he worked as a carpenter a year. At the end of that time lie bought a saw-mill and engaged in the lumber business. He also pur- chased land and erected a commodious frame house. This was burned five years later, and he lost his mill on a judgment held against the man from whom he had bought the property, and these disasters, both coming together, nearly ruined him in a financial sense. He went to Fayette County in the Hoosier State, and there, in company with a man named Sands, he built a saw-mill two miles from Conners- ville, and operated as a business man four years. He then sold his interest in the mill, and went to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he obtained employment at his trade until the year he came to Illinois. He set- tled in Henry County in June, and made a claim on section 36, in what was then township 16, and is now included in the territory of Munson. Mr. Terpening commenced the building of a house, but did not com- plete it, as he went to Knox County, and remained until late in the month of December. He then re- turned to Henry County, and brought his family back with him. As their own abode was not ready for their accommodation, they lived in another until the following March, when Mr. Terpening completed the house he had begun on first coming to the county. They took possession of it as soon as possible, and the proprietor at once began the improvement of the land. He secured his claim from the Government, and was its occupant until 1855.


In that year he sold the place, and with his family


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started for Iowa. He was a second time a pioneer, and he settled among the first in Union County, where he entered 560 acres of land. He also bought an improved claim of 160 acres, which contained a house. He entered with energy into the work of an agriculturist on an extensive scale, and continued to increase his acreage until he was the owner of 1, 100 acres. He also took an active part in matters per- taining to the general welfare of the public, and he was elected to fill the position of Justice of the Peace and as Supervisor. After a residence there of nine years he returned to the township of Munson. He had rented the estate in Iowa, and he bought 168 acres on section 27. No improvements had been made on it, and he has placed the whole under the best type of cultivation. He has erected good build- ings and improved the acreage of the farm, and has operated in the same methods to which he has been accustomed all his life, and has increased his estate in Munson Township until he is the owner of 284 acres. Mr. Terpening is interested in raising stock and in mixed husbandry.


While a resident of Iowa he enlisted as a soldier in the cause of the Union. He was enrolled in Au- gust, 1863, in the 29th Iowa Regt., I. V. I., and after staying in the camp at Council Bluffs two months he fell ill, and was discharged as unfit for the rugged duties of a soldier. His sons, George and Clinton, enlisted in 1863, in the 12th Ill. Cav., and each served nearly three years. Both were minors at the time they enlisted, and both returned with health permanently impaired. They receive a pension of $12 monthly.


Mr. Terpening is a man of uncommon abilities. He has a well-stored mind, is a great reader and a close observer of all things that have a beneficial effect on the mental powers. In political faith he is an adherent of the National Greenback party, and holds to tolerant religious views. He is a pleasant companion socially, and has a good understanding and control of fluent speech.


June 18, 1839, Mr. Terpening was married to Eliza A. Mason. She is a native of Cincinnati, and was born May 4, 1816. The record of the children which constitute the issue of the union is as follows : Martha is the wife of Samuel Wilson, and they are living in Republic Co., Kan .; Missouri A. married William Reese, who was a soldier in the 4th Iowa Vol., and died in the military service of the United


States; she afterward married George A. Terpening, her cousin, and lives in Munson Township; George A. lives in Republic Co., Kan., and is a farmer there, and Justice of the Peace; Clinton W. is a photog- rapher in Bedford, Iowa; Francis is a prominent citizen of Washington Co., Kan .; he is a farmer and merchant at Alba, and also officiates as Postmaster ; Melissa A. married E. G. Ball, of Chicago; Minnie married William Hutchinson, and they are residents of the township of Munson ; Marion is a business man in Creston Iowa; he is a druggist and an ex- tensive farmer ; Charles S. lives in Washington Ter- ritory; he is a teacher by profession and is also interested in farming; Mary E. is married to James Orr, of Cornwall Township, this county.


ohn A. Schoettler, dealer in groceries, etc., at Cambridge, was born in the township of Concord, in Bureau Co., Ill., Aug. 26, 1852. He is the son of Frederick and Maria (Schwar- zentraub) Schoettler, both of whom were na- tives of Germany. The former was born in Hesse and the latter in Bath. The father died in Bureau County in 1879, and the mother in the same county Jan. 10 of the same year. His death took place July 30. They came to Illinois and settled in the county where they passed the remaining years of their lives, in the year 1842. They located in the vicinity of Tiskilwa. Their children were ten in number, and were named Christian L., Jacob F., Mary Eliza, Joseph W., John A., Emma F., Amelia F., Mina L., George E. and Ellen L. All are living and married, with two exceptions.


The gentleman of whom this sketch is given was educated in the county where he was born, and after passing some years in the labors of the homestead, he went to Buda, Ill., and entered the employ of B. F. Waite, who was engaged in the business of a mer- chant at that place. He operated as a clerk about 1 3 months, and then commenced to work in a similar capacity in the interests of B. N. Stevens & Sons, in Tiskilwa. He remained in their employ a year, and passed the year ensuing in farming on the home- stead. The next year he traveled in Nebraska, and when his journeying was ended he returned to Buda and passed a year in the prosecution of the work of


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a carpenter there. He came to Cambridge from the place last mentioned and operated in the capacity of Assistant Postmaster under W. J. Vannice. He filled that position two years, and next received an appointment as postal clerk on the railroad between Bureau and Peoria. He ran between the two points 15 months, and at the end of that time he came again to Cambridge. He opened the line of business in which he has since been engaged, and which he is conducting with satisfactory results.


His marriage to Eliza R. Buck took place Feb. 18, 1885. She is a native of the township of Munson, in Henry County, where she was born May 7, 1857. She is the daughter of Edmund and Margaretta (Woolsey) Buck. Her father is a pioneer of the county.


Mr. and Mrs. Schoettler are connected by mem- bership with the Congregational Church. He is a member of the I. O. G. T., and has been identified with no party in politics, but has acted independ- ently.


A ugust Samuelson, engaged in farming on section 34, is one of the prosperou's and energetic farmers of Osco Township. He was born in Sweden, Oct. 11, 1839, and came to America in 1851 with his parents, who located in Western Township, this county, where the father died. Mrs. Samuelson still sur- vives.


August is the youngest of his parents' family of ten children, and lived at home, attending the district schools in the acquisition of an English education, and actively engaged with his father in the pursuits of the farm until he was 28 years of age. At that period in life occurred one of the most important events of our subject, which was his marriage, in Rock Island County, on the 24th of October, 1867, to Matilda L. Anderson, also a native of Sweden. She was born Jan. 1, 1851, and was but a child of six years when with her grandmother they emigrated to the New World.


In the fall of 1870, August, of whom we write, made a purchase of a tract of land of 160 acres, located on section 34, Osco Township, his present site, and up- on the same entered immediately on its improvement and cultivation, and now has some of the finest land,


being in excellent condition, in his township. He has also increased his landed interests by subse- quent purchases, until he is now the possessor and proprietor of 274 acres of good tillable land in this county.


Mr. and Mrs. Samuelson have had their home blessed by the birth of five children,-Emil G., Etta A., Ely A., Lillie G. and August W. being their names. Mr. Samuelson and family are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and politically Mr. S.'s affiliations are with the Republican party.


ohn W. Crawford, of the township of Munson, has resided in Henry County since he came hither in 1850. He at that time located on section 31, of what was then town 16, and is now Munson. He is therefore justly entitled to the cognomen of a pioneer of the county.


He was born in Bowling Green, Warren Co., Ky., Sept. 18, 1828, and is the son of John and Elizabeth (Howard) Crawford. His father was a native of Vir- ginia, and was a preacher in the Cumberland Pres- byterian Church. When he was still a young man he left his native State to settle in Kentucky, where he remained until 1833, the year in which he camne to Illinois. He set out with his wife and four children, and with two pair of oxen and a wagon, in company with a party of pilgrims with the same object in view as led the great army of pioneers to the Prairie State. The entire party led the lives of gipsies while they were on the journey ; and, when it is remembered that it is a fast growing custom for the delicate and refined in higher social circles, to make such trips for the sake of their novelty and adventure, as well as for health, it may well be conjectured that the trav- elers in search of homes found something to make ' their travel pleasant and profitable. They located in Knox County. The father of Mr. Crawford bought land of the United States Government, on which the city of Abingdon is now built. He erected a log house, which had a puncheon floor and was roofed with clapboards. He was occupied with his farming and preaching at that place until his death. His widow still owns a farm in the vicinity of Abingdon, where she makes her home.




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