Portrait and biographical album of Henry County, Illinois : containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 87

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 87

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

James P. was married on the roth of January, 1878, by the Rev. George M. Lewis, of the Baptist Church, to Miss Sarah E. Pettitt. Like her husband, she is also a native of Henry County, and they are perhaps the only couple living in that county as man and wife who were born and reared upon the same section. She is the daughter of Samuel Pettitt, a well-known farmer of Annawan Township, whose biography is given on another page in this volume. Mrs. Heaps was born July 29, 1856, and is the

mother of two children-Allison Ray, born Aug. 23, 1879; and Clarice Ethel, Oct. 31, 1881.

Mr. Heaps has the old farm under excellent culti- vation, and has upon it a good, substantial dwelling, with convenient out-buildings. He is thoroughly imbued with the progressive idea that the most profitable grade of stock to raise, as well as decidedly the most pleasant to handle, are the best and higher grades. He is breeding some Short-horn Durham, of full blood, which are recorded in the "Herd Book." His horses are of the Clyde and Nornian breed, while his hogs are Poland-China, and his fowls are pure-blooded Plymouth Rocks. Politically, he is a Republican.

enry Shanahan. The subject of this per- sonal sketch and one of the well-to-do and representative men of Henry County is Mr. Henry Shanahan, a resident of section 5, of Wethersfield Township, where he is engaged extensively in farming. He was born in Mary- land, Jan. 15, 1808, and is a son of James and Elizabeth (Lucas) Shanahan, natives of Maryland, and in which State the father died. The mother died in Ohio. Their family consisted of five chil- dren,-Willoughby, Henry, James, Michael and Henrietta.

Henry, at an early age, having been deprived of a father, went to live with an uncle, with whom he re- mained until he attained the age of 21 years. In the meantime they had moved to Ohio, and our subject engaged to work out by the month, which he continued for three years. At the expiration of that time he rented a farm and remained in Ohio until 1864, when he moved into Henry County, and settled in Wethersfield Township, at which place he has since resided, with the exception of two years spent in Nebraska. He is the proprietor and owner of 103 acres of good tillable land, which he has put under excellent cultivation by his industry, energy and hard labor.

Mr. Shanahan formed a matrimonial alliance in Pickaway Co., Ohio, Sept. 6, 1832, the lady whom he had chosen to be his helpmeet being Miss Jane, daughter of Nathan and Elizabeth (Hopkins) Frame, natives of Delaware. She was born in Pickaway Co., Ohio, Oct. 12, 1812. They first settled in Pickaway

HENRY COUNTY.

684

Co., Ohio, and resided there until their deaths. Of their union were born seven children,-Smith, Robert, Eliza, Jane, Painter, Lydia and Ruth.

Mr. and Mrs. Shanahan have had their home blessed by the birth of nine children : James H., born May 1, 1836; Elizabeth J., May 25, 1840; and Martha A., Oct. 6, 1842, being the only survivors. The deceased are George, born July 11, 1833, died Sept. 10, 1834 ; Smith, born April 6, 1838, died May 21, 1843 ; May, born March 28, 1845, died Aug. 17, 1850; Robert, born Sept. 19, 1849, died Aug. II, 1850; Lydia, born Aug. 29, 1847, died Dec. 5, 1866 ; and Katie, born Jan. 15, 1852, died Nov. 4, 1870.

Religiously, Mr. and Mrs. S. are members of the Presbyterian Church, and in politics Mr. S. affiliates with the Republican party.

euben B. Burn, a farmer on section 20, Atkinson Township, is a native of the State of New York, where he was born March 24, 1823. His parents were William and Margaret Burn. His father was born in For- gan, Scotland, and his mother in the State of New York. Mr. Burn was brought up to the busi- ness of a farmer, and lived in his native State until I 2 years of age, when he went to Ohio.

He was married there April 9, 1846, to Miss Helen M. Shelton. She was born Dec. 13, 1827, in the town of Park, Bradford Co., Pa., and is the daughter of James Shelton. He was born in Connecticut, April 16, 1800, and died July 22, 1841. Her mother, Clarissa M. (Hurd) Shelton, was born April 8, 1805, and was married July 2, 1823. Mrs. Burn is the second in order of birth of their three children : Charles E. was born May 3, 1824; Esther L. was born July 19, 1836; Leonard Clarke was born in 1846; the latter is the son of the second husband of the mother of Mrs. Burn, who died in 1846. After his death she married a man named Young, who died Jan. 9, 1850. She is still living and is 80 years old. Mr. and Mrs Burn have had three children : Clarissa was born Jan. 18, 1847; Reuben A. was born Dec. 15, 1852; William W. was born Sept. 8, 1858 ; Clarissa is deceased.

Mr. Burn is the proprietor of 160 acres of land, in an excellent state of cultivation. The stock on the

place consists of good grades of horses and cattle. He is in sympathy with the Republican party in political sentiment, and, in religious views, is an ad- herent of the Presbyterian Church. Mrs. Burn is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

¿* €

A lexander Murchison, one of the influential citizens and progressive farmers of this 100 county, residing upon section 13, Wethers- field Township, is a native of Scotland, having been born in Rosshire, that country, July 7, 1831. The parents of Mr. Murchison, Alex- ander and Ann (McKinzie) Murchison, emigrated to the United States in 1849 and settled in Stark County, this State, where they continued to reside until their deaths. Their family comprised three children, namely : Alexander, Jr., Jane and Donald. Jane became the wife of John McRae, and died in Stark County, and Donald is a resident of the same county. Alexander, whose biographical sketch we write, was reared on the farm, receiving the advant- ages afforded by the common schools. Arriving at the age of 17 years, he left the parental roof-tree and worked out by the month for five years. At the ex- piration of that time he engaged in breaking prairie and running a threshing-machine, which occupation he followed conjointly for several years and until the breaking out of the war. Previous to the beginning of the war he assisted in the organization of a rifle company in Stark County, and when the first call for troops was made they offered their services to the Government, but were too late to be accepted. Afterward this company was attached to the 19th Ill. Vol. Inf., and Mr. M. was commissioned. Second Lieutenant, having held the same position in the original rifle company. He was afterward promoted First Lieutenant and subsequently Captain, serving something over three years in the army. At the battle of Chickamauga he received an injury in the hand by a piece of shell, which laid him up only for a short time, and he was in command of his company the following day.

After the war was over and the cause for which Captain Murchison fought was victorious, he returned tosStark County, where he had purchased a farm, and at once entered vigorously and energetically upon the task of its improvement and continued to

685

HENRY COUNTY.

reside there for two years. In 1867 Mr. Murchison removed to Henry County and settled in Wethers- field Township, where he purchased a farm of 80 acres of land, on which he moved with his family, erected a fine residence, barn and other necessary outbuildings, and where he is at present residing. He has by laborious toil and economy increased his landed interests in the county until he is at present the owner of 240 acres in this and Stark Counties, all of which is under an advanced state of cultivation. His farm presents a fine appearance, and is indicative of good judgment and energy on the part of its pro- prietor.

Mr. Murchison was married in Elmira Township, Stark County, this State, July 3, 1866, to Margaret N. Weed, daughter of Rev. N. C. and Jane (Camp- bell) Weed, natives of North Carolina and Pennsyl- vania, respectively. Her father was a minister of the United Presbyterian Church, and he and his wife at present reside with their daughter and son- in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Murchison, of this sketch. Their children were It in number,-Eliza J., Robert C., John M , Nathaniel R., James C., Margaret N., Caroline M., Frances A., Andrew B., Elizabeth B. and Alice C. B. Margaret N., wife of the subject of this notice, was born in Indiana Co., Pa., Nov. 2, 1840. Mr. and Mrs. M. are the parents of three children,-A. Clarence, Lorena A. C. and Fannie C. J. Mr. Murchison has held the office of School Director in his school district for many years. His wife is a member of the United Presbyterian Church, and Mr. M. of the Baptist Church. Politically, he is a believer in the principles of the Republican party.

ames Riley, a citizen of Atkinson, is a farmer of the township of the same name, and is the proprietor of a fine and valuable farm of 280 acres on sections 11 and 34. Mr. Riley was born July 30, 1824, in Licking Co., Ohio. In 1834 he came to Illinois with his parents. They settled in Bureau County, near the location of the present town of Sheffield. The pre- cise locality was partly entered by Mr. Riley him- self, who, in 1847, obtained a soldier's warrant. The

document was a warrant to a soldier of the Mexican War. It was laid on the land referred to. Mr. Riley has been a resident of the State from the age of 10. He came from Bureau to Henry County in 1854, and engaged in farming. In 1880 he removed to the village where he is now living. His land is in the best condition for prosperous farming, and is fitted with good and valuable fixtures of the latest and most improved character.

In May, 1848, his marriage to Sarah Dunbar took place, and they became the parents of five daughters and three sons : Jemima was born May 21, 1851, and died Jan. 28, 1874; Mary E. died in infancy ; Will- iam was born Oct. 4, 1854; Hiram, Aug. 25, 1856; Ellery, Jan. 25, 1861 ; Laura, Sept. 2, 1865 ; Alice, Aug. 14, 1871; Nettie, born March 1, 1874, died April 1, following. Three of the children are mar- ried. The mother was born in Ohio, June 1, 1828. William was married to Elizabeth Schwabb, Feb. 24, 1875 ; Jemima was married to Benjamin McCloud, March 4, 1867 ; Ellery was married to Lottie Web- ster, Sept. 2, 1848; Laura was married to Victor McCollough Sept. 25, 1880.

Mr. and Mrs. Riley are members of the Free Methodist Church. Mr. Riley is a Republican in his political relations.

obert Broadbent, engaged in farming on section 24, Cornwall Township, is the owner of 400 acres of land. He was born Aug. 24, 1829, in Yorkshire, England. His father, James Broadbent, was a native of England, in which country he resided until his death, in 1867 ; his wife followed him in 1881.

The gentleman whose name heads this article was married May 7, 1881, to Mrs. Jane (Winter) Gasp. She is also a native of England, having been born in Lincolnshire, that country, in 1843. She has been twice married. By Mr. Modd, her first husband, she had two children-George and Sarah Ann. By Mr. Gash, she has two children-Edward and James. She has borne her present husband two children, viz .: Hannah E. and Erwin.

Mr. Broadbent is the owner of 80 acres of land on section 24, 80 acres on section 19, and So acres on section 18, Annawan Township; also 80 acres on

686

HENRY COUNTY.

section 13, and 80 acres on section 14, Cornwall Township, making his total landed interest in the county 400 acres. Mr. Broadbent is a self-made man. He emigrated to the United States, in 1855, from his native country, and came to Bureau Co., this State, and his financial condition at that time was such that he was compelled to work by the month at various occupations for a livelihood. He continued to labor in that manner for three years, putting by his savings, and hoping and trusting for better times in the future. Better times canie, and after the expiration of three years, during which time he had labored for others, he rented land and culti- vated the same for his own individual profit for four years. At this time of his life's history he was en- abled by his economy in the past to purchase 80 acres of land, to which he has been adding from time to time until he is at present the proprietor of the fine estate already referred to. In addition to the cultivation of his land, he is and has been for some time engaged in raising a good grade of Short- horn cattle, and is meeting with success in both de- partments of his farm life.

dam Dunlap, a retired farmer of Phenix Township, resident on section 28, settled in Henry County in 1854. He was born Dec. 18, 1833, in Wayne Co., Ohio, and is the second son of William and Nancy (Finley) Dunlap. His parents were pioneers of the part of the Buckeye State where the son was born, and there the father bought a timber farm and cleared it. He wasits owner and proprietor until his death, which took place Feb. 14, 1852. His wife died nine days earlier, on the fifth of the same month, and they were both buried in the same grave.

Mr. Dunlap passed the years of his minority on the farm where he was born, and he received his ed- ucation in the district schools. His home was with his parents until he became wholly orphaned by their deaths. He spent two years subsequent in his native county, and in the year already mentioned he came to Henry County. He was at first em- ployed as a farm assistant, and followed that means of obtaining a livelihood until the winter of 1862. In August of that year he entered the military ser-

vice of the United States. He enlisted in Co. K, 112th Ill. Reg. Vol. Inf., and he continued in the service until the end of the war. He received his discharge in July, 1865, and returned to Henry County.

He was married Aug 10, 1865, to Mrs. Melinda (Bartlett) Merriman, widow of Edward Merriman. She was born in Onondaga Co., N. Y., May 26, 1813. After their marriage they settled on the place which has since been their home, and which they own. The farm includes 140 acres, situated on sections 27 and 28 and sections 21 and 22. The estate is in the finest condition for profitable agriculture, and for the past few years has been rented by its proprietor.

Mr. Dunlap has been prominent in the public af- fairs of the township, and has discharged the duties of his citizenship in official positions. He has been Assessor nine years, acted as Supervisor one year, and has been Justice of the Peace three years. He has also officiated as Commissioner of Highways two terms-six years. Politically, he is a Democrat.

The parents of Mrs. Dunlap removed from the State of New York, when she was 19 years of age, to Michigan. She was married in that State to Ed- ward Merriman, who was also a native of the Empire State. Their marriage took place March 4, 1832. Mr. Merriman bought a farm in Wayne County, and they were there engaged in farming until 1838, when they removed to Henry County, driving through with their teams, and bringing with them their house- hold belongings. Ten days were consumed in the journey, and on arrival Mr. Merriman entered land on sections 27 and 28 and also on section 25 in Phe- nix Township. He built a log house on the section last named, which his family occupied two years. He then built another log house on section 27, in which he pa sed the remaining years of his life, and devoted his energies to the improvement of his fine estate. He died Feb. 14, 1858, leaving a widow and six children. William, the oldest, lives in Phenix Township. Louisa is the wife of Jay Stafford. Charles is a citizen of Blairstown, Benton Co., Iowa. Minerva lives in Geneseo. Catharine L. died in her second year. Hortense B. is the wife of Abraham Phelps, of Green Co., Iowa. Gilbert lives in the township of Phenix.

Mrs. Dunlap, who, with her husband and family, came into the county at a very early day, very graph- ically describes her arrival, and relates some inter-

687

HENRY COUNTY.

esting early history. She also gives some glimpses of the hardships endured by these early pioneers and especially by the women. We prefer to give the narrative in her own language. At that time she was Mrs. Merriman, the wife of Edward Merriman : "In 1838 my husband and myself," she says, " thought we would leave Michigan and go into Illi- nois, and see that wonderful river we had heard so much about, known as Green River. It was talked about a great deal at that time, and was really twice as large in ink, or to read about it, as it really was. We had two small children when we set out for Illinois. On the 13th of October we arrived at the residence of the late Liberty Stimpson. Here we re- ceived a cordial welcome, and stopped for three weeks. We then removed to the new residence of R. Cherry in Hanna Township. The next spring we moved back to Phenix Township, and settled on the bank of a big slough in the eastern part of the township, in a house with another family. My hus- band had built the body of a poor log house, and when we moved up there we set our beds in that part of the house. When the storm came from the West the rain poured down on us in bed, and we didn't get up, for it was of no use. There were no gable ends, no floors, no fire-place, no doors, no chimney, and I had no stove, and a serious question confronted me, Where was I to do my work? At the north side of the house I built a little room about five feet wide and eight feet long. I built it just high enough so that my husband could walk in and not bump his head. I built a nice little fire-place in it. I put it up with sod, and I prepared the sod myself. I did my work in that small room until cold weather set in. By that time my husband had a pretty large field fenced, and a crop of corn raised, the gables of the cabin in, the floor laid, and a sod chimney built, but no doors nor windows. When corn-gathering time came he had no place to put his crop, so he stored it in that house, and left me out about four feet from the hearth across the room to set my bed in and do my work.

" About that time, the late William P. Cullen, of Geneseo, with another gentleman, got lost one night, while traveling in a one-horse buggy. They came to my house and stayed over night, and were well pleased to see five little children sleeping together all in one bed. It reminded him, he said, of so many 'little pigs!' Some of these children were

mine and part of them my neighbors'. I enjoyed myself during that period as well as I ever did before. I had one near neighbor, and I was satis- fied. I constructed two one-legged bedsteads and a table out of what was called 'shakes,' and had no others for about five years.

" The fall referred to above, there were plenty of blackberries two miles away. When my neighbor and I wanted some berries, we would take our water- pails after dinner and walk to that grove and fill them. I had a child eight months old, and I would fill my bucket with my baby in my arms and walk home; and I counted that no hardship. I was then 25 years of age, stout and hearty ; and work was no dread to me."

ames Knox Blish, attorney and counselor at law, Kewanee, Ill., was born at Weth- ersfield, Henry Co., Ill .; May 2, 1843. (For parentage, etc., see sketch of Hon. C. C. Blish, this volume.) He grew to manhood upon his father's farm, alternating the sum- mers and winters with the duties incident to farm life and attendance at the winter schools. However, the High School at Kewanee and the Wethersfield and Kewanee union schools afforded the youth of this vicinity what may be fairly considered rare op- portunities for those days and in a Western State ; so, at the age of 18, young Blish was prepared to en- ter college with more than ordinary primary and pre- paratory training. He chose the Michigan State University, at Ann Arbor, for his alma mater, and at that institution graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in the class of 1866.

It may surprise a few of the many readers of this sketch to learn that the dignified and successful young attorney, as they know him, once in life es- sayed the role of theatrical manager, if indeed he did not don the buskin and the tinsel. But such is the fact. And why not? It was probably this experi- ence that inspired within him the determination to succeed at the forum, even though the mimic world did not prove what his fancy painted it. It was at Leavenworth Kan., that young Blish, soon after leav- ing college, engaged for a time in the theatrical bus- iness ; with what success does not appear. Returning

688

HENRY COUNTY.

to Kewanee, we find that he settled down to farming for a short time, going, in the meantime to Chicago- how many times cannot be remembered, even if it were essential. But, anyway, he was there on Christ- mas Day, 1867, and was married to Miss Mary E. McManus, a lovely and accomplished young lady, who was born at Sherburne, N. Y. In 1869 Mr. Blish quit farming and purchased an interest in a blank- book establishment at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and gave that his attention something like two years, when he sold out and accepted employment with the blank- book manufacturer, J. W. Middleton, of Chicago. He held this position until the great fire, when he re- turned home, and with the late Judge Howe began in earnest the study of law. This was the real be- ginning of his career. He was admitted to the Bar in 1874 and began practice at once. From that day his success was assured, and when his final biogra- phy is written, if he mistakes not, it will contain a life worthy of emulation.

In 1876 he led the " forlorn hope " as the Demo- cratic candidate for the Legislature, resulting, as it only could in a town so overwhelmingly Republican, but in no wise to the discredit of Mr. Blish. He was admited to practice in the Federal Courts June 23, 1877 ; and as his hands are full of business his pro- fession receives his entire attention. Mr. Blish is in- terested in the First National Bank and the Haxtun Heater Company, and is the attorney of both of these corporations, and is also President of the Ke- wanee Agricultural Fair Association.

Sept. 18, 1882, the Angel of Death visited his home, and his two little children, James Louis and Bertha Bell, were left motherless.

Wilson Lovejoy, of Annawan, has been a resident of Henry County since 1882. He came to Sheffield, Bureau Co., Ill., in Sep- tember, 1879, and entered the employ of Marple Brothers as an assistant in their mercantile es- tablishment. He remained in their service three years, and in the year stated canie to Anna- wan. He obtained the position of head clerk with S. N. Barker and is still occupying the situation.

He was born April 20, 1857, in Chautauqua Co., N. Y., the son of John and Emily Lovejoy. He

was brought up under the care and authority of his parents, working on the farm through the seasons for the business of agriculture and in the winters at- tending the district school. He was married Nov. 28, 1881, in Bureau County, to Alice Halliday. She was born in the State of New York, Sept 22, 1861. She died Aug. 22, 1884, and left two children,- Everett A. and Clara C. An infant daughter died soon after birth. Mr. Lovejoy formed a second mat- rimonial alliance, June 17, 1885, with Gertrude Mc- Dermond. Mrs. Lovejoy was born in Henry County, April 14, 1867.

Mr. Lovejoy is a Republican in political prefer- ence.

con. Charles C. Wilson, a distinguished at- torney and counselor at law at Kewanee, was born at North Wrentham, Mass., Sept. 18, 1829, and was the eldest of five sons and one daughter, and has one sister older than himself, the progeny of Enoch and Abigail (Richardson) Wilson. The father was also a native of North Wrentham, and the mother of Portland, Me., and of old Puritan ancestry.

Enoch Wilson's father was Jared Wilson, Sr., who is known in history as a soldier of the Revolution, in which service he, with several others from Wren- tham, was a man picked for the Marquis de La Fayette's Corps of Light Infantry. He was present at the laying of the corner-stone of Bunker Hill Monument, among the venerable men so eloquently addressed by Daniel Webster. In that battle Jared Wilson's father, Samuel Wilson, of Dover, was also a soldier. Enoch Wilson, the Judge's father, died in his native town in 1858, at the age of 69 years, and Abigail R. Wilson at the home of one of her sons at Creston, Iowa, in 1884, at the age of 84 years.

Of the four brothers of our subject we learn the following facts; and, though the province of this work is not to trace the various branches of any family, we feel justified in encroaching somewhat upon space. The youngest brother of C. C. is an attorney at Creston, Iowa, while the other three are all physicians and surgeons of more or less distinc- tion. One of them is located at Havana, Cuba, an- other at Osceola, Iowa, and a third at Creston, Iowa. C. C. Wilson was educated in the common schools

689

HENRY COUNTY.

of Massachusetts and in an academic course. In 1850 he came to Illinois, and in Stark County purchased six quarter-sections of land, which he sold in 1854, and began reading law. From 1856 to 1858 he was in his native State, attending lectures at the Harvard Law School, and in 1859 returned to Illinois to be admitted to the Bar. He began practice in Bureau County, but in 1860 removed into Kewanee, where he has since made his home. His first public ser- vice in this county was as District Attorney for the Fifth Judicial District from 1864 to 1868.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Portrait and biographical album of Henry County, Illinois : containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 87

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