Portrait and biographical album of Henry County, Illinois : containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 80

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 80

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Charles G. was the youngest of a family consisting of eight sons and one daughter, six of the former and the latter still survive. The daughter and four of the sons are yet living, in West Virginia. Our sub- ject attended the district schools and worked on the homestead until he arrived at man's estate. About this time, his life was overshadowed by the death of his mother. On leaving home he followed the plastering business, which trade he had learned principally under the instructions of his father. He continued in this business in his native county for about ten years. During this time he was married near the place where he was born, Sept. 30, 1860, the ceremony being performed at the residence of the bride's parents, the lady being Miss Sarah C., eldest daughter of Caple and Susanna (Smith) Hol- land. Her parents were natives of the Keystone. State and of American parentage. Both came to West Virginia before their marriage, and after that event lived upon a farm in Monongalia County, where the father died, March 5, 1858. The mother is yet living with her youngest son, Lewis P. Holland, who lives on the old Holland homestead. Mrs. Howell was born in Monongalia County, Aug. Io, 1835. She is the mother of seven children, who have been named as follows: Rebecca J., Susan O.,

Or COUSIN'S

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Blanche B. and Jessie F. (twins), Lavina A. and Anna H., now living; and Samuel O., deceased in January, 1875.

Mr. Howell continued to reside in Monongalia County for some years after his marriage, and during the meantime added to his calling that of farming. It was while he was living in the State of Virginia, before that section where he resided was set off and called West Virginia, and while the State was under the reign of rebel sentiment, Mr. Howell bravely stepped forward to defend the stars and stripes. On the 14th of August, 1862, he enlisted in the 14th W. Va. Vol. Inf., Co. C., which joined the army of the Shenandoah Valley, under Gen. Hunter. He participated in no active engagement, but was with the regiment, being assigned to the Quartermaster's Department. He was honorably discharged at the close of the war, July 3, 1865, having served nearly three years.

In April, 1869, in order to secure a wider field in which to labor, he set out for the then far West, finding his way to Henry County, where, in Osco Township, he purchased 160 acres of well-improved land. Here he resided for 12 years, when he sold this farm and purchased another quarter-section of improved land, where he now resides and has an elegant home and a well developed farm. Mr. Howell has always had a deep interest in the schools of his township, and was a Director nearly all of the time he lived in Osco The family is connected with the Baptist Church, in which Mr. Howell is an active factor. He is a reliable and uncompromising Republican, and highly esteemed and well known throughout his section of the county.

ilson A. Minnick, of the firm of Miles & Minnick, dealers in staple and fancy gro- ceries, crockery, glassware, etc., at Ke- wanee, Ill., is a native of Mercersburg, Pa., and a son of Peter W. and Mary A. (Geyer) Minnick, also natives of Pennsylvania and of German extraction.

Wilson A. was next oldest in a fanily of three sons and four daughters, and was born Feb. 21, 1842. His elder brother, John W., was a volunteer soldier in the war for the Union, and was killed at the bat- tle of Stone River. His father, a merchant tailor in

his lifetime, died at Kewanee, in 1856, at the age of 40 years, and his mother (July, 1885) is about 67 years of age and resides in Kewanee. In 1856 the family came to Kewanee and Mr. Minnick soon af- terward began his career as a grocer's clerk, a posi- tion he continued to fill for LI consecutive years. In 1867 the firm of which he is now a member was or- ganized (see biography of Shadrach T. Miles), which hundreds of his friends patronized, and his estab- lishment took rank as among the very foremost (if not indeed the lead) in their line in Kewanee.

At Kewanee, Dec. 24, 1868, he was married to Miss Angelia E., the accomplished daughter of Asa Morrill, Esq., of North Danville, Vt. They have five children: Edwin M., Edith M., Guy F., Paul W. and Morrill. Both Mr. and Mrs. Minnick are con- sistent members of the Congregational Church, of which society at Kewanee Mr. Minnick has been Treasurer for more than a dozen years.

In the battle of life Mr. M. has depended wholly upon his own resources, the recipient of no gratui- ties, legacies or gifts ; and what he has enjoyed and has of this world's goods have been acquired by his individual effort and industry.

eorge Allen Vawter, dentist, at Cam- bridge, was born at Macomb, McDonough Co., Ill., Jan. 4, 1858. He was educated in the public schools of Macomb, and com- pleted a full course of study there, graduating ing in June, 1876. He attended school for nine years, and nine months in the year, and was never tardy, and, with the exception of one week's sickness, not absent a single day from school in all that time. In the succeeding winter after graduat- ing, he taught a term of school in the township of Bethel, in the same county. At the expiration of this engagement, in February, 1877, he commenced the study of dentistry in the office of Dr. H. H. Whissen, of Macomb. He continued under the pre- ceptorship of Dr. Whissen until the spring of 1878, when the two formed a partnership, and Mr. Vawter passed most of his time in traveling to the adjacent towns, where he practiced his profession and worked in the interest of the Macomb office until the follow- ing winter. He then again became a teacher, taking

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a school in Mound Township, McDonough County.

At the expiration of the term of school, which oc- curred in March, 1879, he came to Cambridge and commenced the practice of dentistry. He was young, and the possessor of only about $roo, and had for competition a man of age and experience ; but by a strict attention to the details of his profession he soon established a prosperous business, and has at present one of the finest dental offices in this part of the State.

He lias dealt to a considerable extent in Western lands, and also in property in Cambridge. From his profession, and by a careful investment of his earn- ings, he has succeeded in placing himself in comfort- able circumstances.

Mr. Vawter was married to Nellie I. Gould, at Cambridge, Nov. 14, 1883. Mrs. Vawter was born at Piermont, Grafton Co., N. H., Oct. 15, 1860, and is the daughter of L. Y. and O. P. Gould, of Cam- bridge. The family moved to Cambridge in the spring of 1868.

Dr. Vawter is the son of Allen T. Vawter and Florinda Elizabeth (Kellogg) Vawter. His father was born in Cumberland Co., Ky., Dec. 14, 1830, and came thence with his parents to McDonough County in the fall of 1833. Sept. 11, 1851, another removal was effected, when they moved to Macomb, where the parents still reside. In the paternal line Dr. Vawter is able to trace bis ancestors for a period of 200 years. The first progenitors of the family in this country settled in Virginia, where Russell Vawter, his great-grandfather, was born. The latter lived all his life in his native county of Culpeper. His son, Beverly Vawter, was born in Culpeper Co., Va., Sept. 22, 1782. He passed the years of his minority there, and when he had attained his legal freedom he went to North Carolina. Jan. 13, 1807, he was married to Elizabeth Hutchins. In 1813 he removed his family to Kentucky, and from thence to McDonough Co., Ill., in October, 1833. His death transpired April 21, 1845. He was a soldier in the War of 1812. Dr. Vawter's mother was born June 9, 1836. Her father was a native of the State of New York, and lost his life, in 1864, in the military service of the United States in the War of the Rebell- ion. The parents of Dr. Vawter were married March 14, 1854. They had seven children, of whom four are living.

eorge D. Elliott, manufacturer and dealer in harness and saddlery, Kewanee, Ill., was born at the United States Arsenal, Pittsburg, Pa., July 8, 1823. His parents, James, a Sergeant in the United States Army, and Mary (Mayhew) Elliott, natives of Dur- ham, Eng., and Kennebec, Maine, respectively, were married at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, and of the II chil- dren (nine sons and two daughters) born to them, the subject of this sketch was the eldest but two. James came to America in 1818, and three years afterward entered the United States Army as a private soldier and served for a period of five years. He was an only child, and his father, who was a saddler to Lord Durham, gave him an academic education. The then Lord Durham was an exten- sive coal operator, and saddler Elliott, who had ac- cumulated some money, invested it in the stocks of a rival mining company, which act so enraged his lordship that he withdrew his patronage from Elliott. The new coal company failed, and in 1826 the old gentleman followed his son to the United States. He located at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, and died before the then current year.

After leaving the army, Sergeant Elliott returned to his trade of saddler at Mt. Pleasant, and there re- mained up to 1854, at which time he came to Kewanee. A part of the farm upon which he settled here is now known as Elliott's Addition, and the rest of it was laid out by the parties to whom he sold it, and is now known as "Morse's Addition to Ke- wanee." .

The old gentleman removed to Chicago in 1870; was there during the great fire, and returned to Ke- wanee, where he died in July of the following year, aged about 76 years. His wife had died at Kewanee in 1868, aged 72 years.

George D. Elliott learned the trade of his father and of his grandfather, and, with the exception of a few years devoted to teaching in the public schools, has devoted his time to it. He was educated at Mt. Pleasant, Ohio, and was about 22 years of age when he began teaching. At the outbreak of the Mexican War, he entered the service of the United States as an artisan, and left Pittsburg in October, 1846, in the Quartermaster's Department for Mexico. At the

C. H. Brooks

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end of about six months he returned to Pittsburg, where he was employed in the Government Arsenal until the close of the war, when he made his way back to Mt. Pleasant. In 1854 he made a trip of discovery in the West, and the following year brought his family to Kewanee. Three of his brothers were in the Union Army during the Rebellion, and one of them lost his life at the battle of Mission Ridge. Since coming to Kewanee, Mr. Elliott has held var- ious offices, and at this writing (August, 1885) is serving his tenth year as a member of the School Board.

In politics he is a Republican, coming from the old Whig party; in religious views he is liberal, though identified more or less prominently with the Episcopal Church. He is a member of Kewanee Lodge, No. 159, F. & A. M., and holds the office of Scribe in Kewanee Chapter, No. 47.

At Cadiz, Ohio, April 4, 1849, he was married to Miss Adaline McCormick, a native of that town, and daughter of the Hon. Samuel McCormick, now de- ceased. Mr. and Mrs. Elliott have had born to them eight children as follows: Frank, now in busi- ness with his father; Kate, in the millinery business at Kewanee; Eric, dealer in carriage goods at Peoria, Ill. ; Maude (Mrs. A. M. Hewlett, Kewanee); Ward B., carriage trimmer, Kewanee; Harry and Addie, at home; and Dick S., agent of the American Ex- press Company, at Pacific Junction, Iowa.

yrus Houghton Brooks, a wealthy farmer residing in Galva, was born Sept. 17, 1828, in Chester, Vt., his ancestry being of English origin. Three brothers, Solomon, David and Daniel, came from the Old to the New World together. Solomon, who settled in Chester, Vt., was the father of Nathan Brooks, and his son, Solomon Brooks, Jr., was born June 13, 1769, and married Amelia Fisher, who was born Oct. 16, 1773. His oldest brother, David Brooks, was a soldier in the War of the Revolution. Mr. Solomon Brooks had five children : Cyrus, George, Mary, Martha and Elvira, the latter of whom is de- ceased. Their parents moved to Brimfield, Peoria Co., Ill., where they died. Mrs. B.'s father, Asa Fisher, was a son of Benjamin Fisher, and married

Ester Metcalf, whose mother was Abigail Colben.

George Brooks, son of Solomon, was born Dec. 2, 1802, in Chester, Windsor Co., Vt., and he is yet living, in Galva. He first came to Olney, Richland Co., Ill., arriving there Oct. 1, 1841, and after a resi- dence there of three years, in September, 1844, he removed to Brimfield, above mentioned, and in Feb- ruary, 1864, he came to Galva. He was married Nov. 8, 1824, to Clina Houghton, who was born Aug. 3, 1806, in Windsor, Vt., and she died July 24, 1877, -a woman eminent for her piety. Her father, Da- rius Houghton, was born Nov. 3, 1780, and her mother, Almira, was born July 7, 1783, and died in September, 1876, at the age of 93 years. Mrs. Clina Brooks was the mother of eight children, namely : Cyrus H. (our subject), Elzina, Orin D., Darius H., Mary, Henry (deceased), Amelia and Luther,-all the living of whom are married and have children. It is worthy of remark that only one of this family of eight children are deceased, and also of Solomon Brooks' family of five children only one is deceased. Mr. George Brooks was married the second time, July 25, 1879, to Mrs. Permelia Bradford, who was born Nov. 2, 1811.

Mr. Cyrus H. Brooks, whose name heads this no- tice, had no school advantages in early life. He was was reared on a farm, and has been a steady, hard- laboring man all his life. Coming to this State with his father, he remained with him until he was 26 years old. He bought for his father the first home farm, consisting of 80 acres of land. He has done well by his parents, and has subsequently been greatly blessed in the accumulation of this world's goods. In March, 1858, he came to Knox County and purchased 80 acres of land on section 1, in Wal- nut Grove Township, near Galva. After farming there for 20 years, in the spring of 1878, he removed into Galva, where he now resides. At present he is the owner of 883 acres in this State, Iowa and Kan- sas, viz. : 403 acres in Illinois, 320 in Iowa, and 160 in Kansas.

Mr. Brooks has been married twice. His first wife, Louisa Reed, is now deceased. His present wife, Amelia J. (Miles) Houghton, was born Feb. 19, 1857, in New York city, and is the daughter of Freeman Miles. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Brooks are five in number, and are named Le Roy L., Elsey, (deceased), Emma, Eleura and Rosa. The parents and all the children are members of the Congrega-

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tional Church; and Mr. B. is Republican in political opinion.

Mr. Brooks came to this section of Illinois when a young man. The country was then new and un- cultivated, and he went to work with a will and en- ergy characteristic of the man, and did a great deal toward transforming the wild prairie of the Military Tract into one of the most fertile spots on the globe. His memory as one of the industrious pioneers is worthy of perpetuation, and as a means of doing this, as well as to place him among the best men of the county, we insert his portrait in this volume in con- nection with this sketch.

ared C. Kinsey, grocer at Cambridge, came to Henry Co., Ill., from Coshocton Co., Ohio, in March, 1863. His family is from Bucks Co., Pa., which is as far back as he has any knowledge. Ulysses Kinsey, grandfather of Jared C., moved from Bucks County to Coshocton Co., Ohio, about the year 1820. Uriah Kinsey, son of Ulysses and father of Jared C., established a woolen mill on Paddy's Fork of Tom- ica shortly after moving to Ohio, the motive power of which was a tread-wheel propelled by oxen.

He was married Aug. 17, 1824, to Margaret Chal- fant, daughter of Mordecai and Mary Chalfant, the latter being a sister of Jacob Strawn, for years the famous Illinois cattle king. By this union seven children were born,-four sons and three daughters. Three of the children died in their infancy. Phœbe died at the age of 32, unmarried. Lydia was mar- ried twice. Her first husband was Wm. Smith, by whom she had two children, named Phebe Francis and George F. Her second husband was Isaac Camp, by whom she had one child, Andrew D. She died Dec. 27, 1861, aged 33 years. Jacob S. Kinsey studied medicine under Dr. Benj. F. Lemert, of Dresden, Ohio; graduated at the Ohio Medical Col- lege in 1859-60; entered the volunteer service as Surgeon of the gun-boat " Cincinnati;" was in the first engagement at Fort Donelson; resigned on ac- count of sickness in 1862 ; came to Cambridge and commenced the practice of medicine, in March, 1863. He so continued filling a prominent place in the medical fraternity till the time of his death, which occurred May 3, 1874, when he was 37 years of age.

The subject of this sketch, Jared C. Kinsey, was born July 12, 1834; was educated after leaving the district school at West Bedford Academy, in Coshoc- ton Co., Ohio. He read law with Judge Simmons, of Coshocton, and was admitted to the Bar in June, 1859; removed with the family to Henry Co., Ill., in March, 1863. The war demoralizing the values of almost everything, he tried his hand at farming for three years, two and one-half miles west of Cam- bridge. In December, 1866, he opened up a drug and book store in Cambridge, which he continued till July 17, 1882, when he disposed of his stock and entered upon a new field of labor, that of selling goods on the road for a Chicago firm. Tiring of this, he opened a grocery store in January, 1885, in which he is now prosperously engaged.

Oct. 2, 1855, he was married to Miss Catherine E. Kesler, of West Carlisle, Ohio, by whom he has had six children, named respectively : Addie H., Osman Leigh, Alice May, Florence, Carroll B. and Effie. His wife, Catherine E., having died in Jan- uary, 1869, he married Miss Sarah A. Hawley, of Mt. Vernon, Ohio, Oct. 18, 1869, by whom he has had five children, viz. : Infant, dead-born ; Kate, Earl S., Emma, Louise and Edith Clare, all of whom, by both wives, are living at this writing (1885) ex- ·cept the infant above noted.

Mr. Kinsey has been a believer in the Jeffersonian school of politics,-that all powers not expressly delegated to the general Government are reserved to the States.

avid N. Busenbark, retired farmer and resident at Cambridge, was born March 22, 1819, in Butler Co., Ohio. John Bus- enbark, his grandfather, was of German de- scent and belonged to a family that originally settled and lived many years in the State of New Jersey. The grandsire went to Butler Co., Ohio, where he died. He married Jane Naylor, and they reared four sons and three daughters, born in the fol- lowing order: Elizabeth, Robert, James, Reading, William, Sarah and Ellen. Robert, the eldest son, was born March 6, 1793, in New Jersey, and died Dec. 11, 1872, in Ohio, whither he removed in 1811. He became a farmer in the Buckeye State, where he was married to Margaret Stout. She was a native of

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New York city, born Feb. 25, 1799, and died in Ohio, March, 1877. Her children were named Eliza- beth, David N., Reading, Robert, Loyal F., Mary E., John, James and Margaret.

D. N. Busenbark was a resident of his native State through his boyhood, youth and manhood until 1860, and was thoroughly trained in the business of a farmer. In the year named he came to Henry County and bought 160 acres of land in Munson Township, which is still in his possession, and he is also the owner of 80 acres in Osco Township. He was a resident on his estate in the former township until his removal, in January, 1884, to Cambridge. The land on which he settled on coming to Henry County, was in a wholly wild condition, and it will now rank in agricultural advancement with the gen- eral condition of farms in the county. In political affiliation, Mr. Busenbark is a Republican.

He was married May 7, 1846, in Butler Co., Ohio, to Mary A. Smith. She was born in that county July 9, 1822, and is the daughter of Daniel and Mary (Jacobi) Smith. Her parents were native of Pennsylvania. The births of the children of Mr. and Mrs. Busenbark occurred in the following order : George S., Oct. 8, 1848; John, May 31, 1851; Rob- ert, July 25, 1853; Katie, July 7, 1856; Emma M., Nov. 5, 1859; Mary M., April 6, 1867. The latter is the only child who was born after the removal of the family to Henry County. Katie, the oldest daughter, is now Mrs. E. Ayres. Mrs. Busenbark is a member of the Christian Church.

eorge W. Cahow, agent of the American Express Company at Kewanee, was born at Akron, Ohio, Aug. 24, 1830. His par- ents, George and Nancy (Hogue) Cahow, na- tives respectively of the State of Maryland and Dublin Harbor, were married in Ohio, where their two sons were born. The senior Mr. Cahow, who was a farmer and came to Illinois in 1858, lived at the village of Cambridge the rest of his life, dying in 1863, at the age of 70 years. His wife died in Ohio, in 1841, at the age of 33 years.

George W., the subject of our sketch, after a few months' attendance at the public schools of his native State, found it impracticable in his circumstances to devote the time necessary to the acquirement of an

education; so he was compelled to begin life for himself with but a scant knowledge of books. At this writing, however, one has but to meet him to know that he has not let the weeds grow in his mind. He has read, he has studied, he has worked and he has accomplished much. At the age of 18, he learned the potter's trade at Middleburg, Ohio, and followed it afterward a few years.

In 1855 he landed in Tiskilwa, Bureau Co., Ill., and in 1858 he came to Cambridge, this county, where he farmed about four years, moving thence to Kewanee, where he engaged in the grocery business up to 1866. In December of the last named year he was appointed agent by the American Express Company, a position he has since filled, with much credit to himself and to the entire satisfaction of his employers. Mr. Cahow belongs to the Orders of Masons and Odd Fellows; is not an office-seeker nor an offensive partisan, though a substantial Dem- ocrat. Since coming here, he has served the people three or four terms as Town Trustee, which consti- tutes the sum of his office-holding.

He was married at New Portage, Ohio, in August, 1854, to Miss Mary Smith, a native of that town, and their only child, Anna, is an accomplished young lady teacher in the Kewanee public schools.

Augustus Little, one of Henry County's prominent and well-to-do farmers, resides on section 9, Wethersfield Township. He was born in Hollis, N. H., Sept. 16, 1825, and is the son of Abner B. and Nancy (Tenney) Little, both natives of New Hampshire. They came to Henry County in the spring of 1837, and settled in Wethersfield Township, where they both died, she (Mrs. Little) July 6, 1847, and the father in September, 1863, aged 90 years. Their family comprised 13 children, as follows: Mary B., Catherine M., Elizabeth B., William T., Caleb J., Henry G., Ruth C, Laura A., Caroline W., Augustus and Sarah F., and two who are deceased,-Samuel A. and one an infant.

R. Augustus, our subject, was but I1 years of age when he came to Henry County with his parents. His education was received principally in the dis- trict schools of this county, remaining at home with his parents nearly the entire time. He occupies

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their old homestead, and is the owner of 217 1/2 acres of some of the most valuable land in Wethersfield Township, most of which is tillable.

Mr. R. Augustus Little was united in marriage, April 8, 1852, the lady whom he chose"to be his companion and helpmeet through life being Lavantia Irwin, daughter of William and Catherine (Forman) Irwin, natives of New York and Pennsylvania re- spectively. They settled in [Delaware Co., N. Y., where she, the mother, died in May, 1832. He, the father, came to Henry County in the fall of 1839; he died in October, 1841. Of their union were born 12 children, namely : John, Margaret, Phebe, Jacob F., Elizabeth, Mary Jane, Caroline, William, Cath- erine D., Lavantia and Lavenia. Lavantia (Mrs. Little) was born in Courtright, Delaware Co., N. Y., May 6, 1832. Mr. and Mrs. L. are the parents of II children, viz. : , Ralph I., Walter A., Frank E., Clarence F., Lewis H., Mary A., Nancy E., Roy A., Charles T. and two deceased,-Clara and an infant.

Mr. Little has held several of the minor offices of his township. He and his wife are members of the Presbyterian Church, and he has led the choir nearly every year, in various churches, since he was 20 years of age. Mr. L. and his estimable wife are very hos- pitable and kind people, and occupy an honored position in the community where they live. In poli- tics he is identified with the Republican party.

ren H. Loomis, dealer in agricultural im- plements, and a pioneer business nian of Kewanee (in fact, the time of his begin- ning business at this place antedates that of any other man now living and in business here), was born in Coventry, Conn., June 17, 1822, and was one of three sons and five daughters born to Selah and Esther (Howard) Loomis, natives of Connecticut and Massachusetts respectively. In 1833 the family removed from Connecticut to Mich- igan, and from there 17 years later to Wethersfield, Henry Co., Ill. Later on, the senior Mr. L. re- moved into Kewanee, where he and his aged wife ended their days,-he in the year 1871, at the age of 86, and she a year earlier, at the age of 84.

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Portrait and biographical album of Henry County, Illinois : containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 80

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

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