Portrait and biographical album of Knox county, Illinois, Part 117

Author: Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo and Chicago; Chapman Brothers, pub
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical publishing company
Number of Pages: 1130

USA > Illinois > Knox County > Portrait and biographical album of Knox county, Illinois > Part 117

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Mr. Main was married June 15. 1865, to Elizabeth, daughter of George and Elizabeth Edwards. Miss Edwards was born Oct. 23, 1842, in Somerton, En- gland, and came with her parents to America and located in Ontario Township, where they now reside. To Mr. and Mrs. Main seven children have been born, viz .: Nellie B., April 15, 1866 ; Carrie E., Nov. 27, 1870; Addie M., June 27, 1874; Dora, Oct. 23 1876; James T., Aug. 16, 1879; Gertie E., Feb. 9,'

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1882; William A., Sept. 16, 1884. Mrs. Main is a member of the Congregational Church. Mr. Main is an upright and worthy member of the community and greatly esteemed for his integrity and all those qualities which constitute the true man and good citizen. His comfortable surroundings have been secured by unremitting industry and the exercise of that judgment which has enabled him not only to acquire, but to take good care of what he has ac- quired, so that his later years may be passed in ease and contentment.

udson W. Briggs, a progressive farmer and honored citizen of this county, residing in Maquon Township, came to Knox County in the spring of 1856, and lived in Altona for one year, and in 1857 came to Maquon. He came from Madison County, N.Y. He learned the trade of tinsmith in Oneida, Oneida Co., N. Y., and followed the same for some three years and then came to Chicago, where he worked one winter. On coming to Altona he followed the same business. Arriving in Maquon, he followed his trade for about four years, and then engaged in farming and dealing in stock, which business he is at present following.

Mr. Briggs is the owner of 1,350 acres of land in this county. He was born in Madison County, N. Y., March 18, 1837. He received a somewhat limited school education, and when he was 11 years old he worked out by the month for $4 per month. When he was about 14 years of age he was apprenticed to learn the tinsmith's trade, and after three years mas- tered the same. He was married in Maquon, Aug. 13, 1859, to Priscilla Jones, born in Meadville, Pa., and they have had four children-Ida, Charlie D., Frank and Maud. The latter died when two years old. Ida is the wife of Wm. Coffman and resides in Chestnut Township; she has two children-Nina and Henry. Charlie married Lizzie Combs and re- sides in Maquon Township. Frank resides at home.

In politics Mr. Briggs is a Republican. His parents were Cyrus and Mary A. (Tinker) Briggs, natives of New York and Connecticut respectively. They married and settled in Madison County, N. Y., where the father died when Judson W. was quite young. The mother survives and resides in New York. They

had five children-George, Cornelia, Ebenezer, Dan- iel and Judson W.

In 1883 Mr. Briggs opened a livery-stable in Ma- quon, which he has since operated. He is an exten- sive shipper of hogs, cattle and horses.

S. Bradford, of whose history we give a few brief details, is a farmer on section 3, in Haw Creek Township. He was born in the State of Maine, Sept. 27, 1809, and is the son of Charles and Elizabeth (Clark) Brown Bradford. The father of the subject of this sketch was a native of Massachusetts and his mother of Maine. The father in his younger days was a potter by trade, and removed to Ohio when his son, H. S., was four years old. There he followed farm- ing, and about the year 1833 he removed to Knox- ville, Ill., with his family. They came overland with teams. The father bought and improved land in Persifer Township, in this county, and made a home for himself and his family. He died on the home- stead about the year 1873 ; the mother died at the same place in 1833, directly after coming to Illinois.

The subject of this notice was married to Hester Whiten in 1835. To this union were born nine children, named as follows : Elizabeth, Ann M., William, Sophia, Louisa, Rufus, Alla and Olive (twins) and Emma. His son William was a soldier in the late War for the Union. Mr. Bradford has 217 acres of land in Knox County, with good and comfortable buildings of all kinds. In politics he is a Republican.

lvin H. Potter, M. D. and A. M., residing at Maquon, is a son of Sheldon and Wealthy (Baldwin) Potter, he of English- Scotch and she of English and French ances- try. They were natives of Connecticut and Massachusetts respectively. Sheldon Potter, our subject's grandfather, came from England in the time of Oliver Cromwell. There were three brothers who came to America, refugees from England. They came with the Judges, Whaley and Goffe, who sentenced King Charles I to death. On arriving here, they, with the Judges, were concealed in a cave on the Hudson River for about a year. The brothers

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then separated ; one of them, the grandfather of Sheldon Potter, settled in Connecticut. He was the original inventor of shoepegs.

Sheldon Potter became the father of six children. Their names were: Laurens B., Norman Z., Lorin E., Alvin H., Anson S. and Sherman S.

The subject of this sketch was born in what is now Erie County, N. Y., 15 miles from Buffalo, June 30, 1825. He passed his early life on his father's farm until 12 years old. He then went to live with Col. Fillmore, an uncle of ex-President Fillmore, and while with him he attended school at Aurora Acad- emy two years and graduated when 14 years of age. He then went to Ashtabula County, Ohio, to his father's, who had removed from Erie County, N. Y., and worked on a farm until he was 17 years old. He then entered Kingsville Academy at Kingsville, Ohio, and graduated three years later, at the age of 20. He entered the law office of Giddings & Wade (Joshua R. Giddings and Ben. Wade), and while at- tending school studied under their instruction for three years and was admitted to practice by the Su- preme Court of Ohio. The fall he was 20 he went to Jackson County, Mich., and taught school the following winter, and in May he entered the Michi- gan Central College, known now as Hillsdale Col- lege. He attended this college about four months, graduating the following June, and the same sum- mer he worked out by the month on a farm at $17 per month.

In 1847 Mr. Potter began the study of medicine with Dr. Colton in Jackson County, Mich., and con- tinued with him until he came West, in 1850. In October, 1850, he came to Maquon and for one year was engaged in teaching school, and read the Ho- meopathic system of medicine and also studied law at the same time. He has been located in Maquon since that time, with the exception of three months, when he was at Pekin, Ill. He graduated from the Rush Medical College at Chicago in the session of 1854-55. In 1856 he was admitted to the bar of Knox County and is still a member. His first mar- riage took place at Lenawee County, Mich., July 5, 1848, to Thankful Fowler, a niece of Prof. O. S. Fowler. She was born in Onondaga County, N. Y., Oct. 23, 1 828, and has borne him two children-Abby A. and Virgil A. Abby A. is the wife of S. Z. Mc- Culloch and resides in Maquon Township; she is the mother of seven children. Virgil is married and

resides at David City, Neb. They have three chil- dren and lost two at birth.

Mrs. Potter died at Maquon, June 30, 1858. He was again married in Knox County, June 19, 1860, to Eliza J. Moore, who is a native of Knox County, born March 4, 1842. They have two children-An- son S. and Alvin G. Anson married Amanda Housh and resides in Nebraska. Alvin resides at Maquon.

Dr. Potter has been Coroner two years. He has held the office of Justice of the Peace for 11 con- secutive years, and in April, 1885, he was again elected to that office. In politics he is a Republican. Dr. Potter is a member of the State Homeopathic Medical Society ; also a member of the Western Homeopathic Society; a member and late Presi- dent of the Central Military Tract Homeopathic Society; a member of the Missouri Homeopathic Medical Society, and a member of the Board of Cen- sors of the same society, and honorary member of the California Homeopathic Medical Society.

lbert A. Cawkins. Prominent among the well-to-do farmers of Sparta Township, who came to this county away back in 1836, and who have continued to reside here until the present time, meeting with success in their chosen vocation, is the gentleman of whom these notes are written. He is at present residing on section 2, Sparta Township, being township 12 north, range 2 east of the 4th principal meridian, where is located his fine farm of 220 fertile acres, on which there are good and substantial improvements.

Mr. Cawkins of this notice was born in Hillsdale, Columbia Co., N. Y., June 1, 1808. His parents were Stephen (the sixth generation from Hugh) and Anna (Smith) Cawkins, likewise natives of York State. The father of Stephen Cawkins was a native of Connecticut, and his distant forefather, Hugh Cawkins, born in Monmouthshire, England, in 1600, came from England to Massachusetts in the year 1640, and soon settled in Connecticut. From Hugh Cawkins comes the Cawkins family existing through- out different parts of the United States to-day. Stephen Cawkins came to Illinois, in 1838, and set- tled in Henry County, where he purchased a farm, on which he located and there lived, engaged in that

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honorable calling until his death, in 1857; his wife had died in 1843.

The subject of this notice was an inmate of the parental household until he attained the age of 23 years. He received a common-school education and diligently assisted his father in the labors of the farm, and after leaving home engaged to learn the carpen- ter's trade. This he mastered and followed for sev- eral years, when he was employed as a salesnian, to travel throughout the Southern States, and was thus occupied for three years. In 1836 our subject came to this State and at once entered 180 acres of land on section 2, Sparta Township. Subsequently he increased his landed interests by an additional pur- chase of 40 acres. When he first came here the county was sparsely settled and the hand of civili- zation was hardly visible; indeed, there was not a white man who had settled upon the broad prairie one mile from the timber, all who had made settle- ment having selected the timber. It was at this date that the Underground Railroad was being operated, and the subject of this notice at this day is not afraid to acknowledge that he was an active partici- pant. Mr. Cawkins, on settling on the land which he originally entered, at once began its improvement and cultivation, and for 50 years has continued to reside thereon, having through his own exertions and labor brought it to the high state of cultivation and value that it occupies at this writing.

In 1837, one year after his arrival in this country, he concluded that he needed a helpmate to aid him in the improvement of his home and to share in the successes which he was certain he saw in the near future. He consequently selected Miss L. M. Park as his companion. She was a native of Massachu- setts, and a daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth (Frink) Park, and bore her husband eight children, five only of whom are now living: Calvin, who mar- ried Elizabeth Berry and by whom he has had three children -- Ella, Carrie and Ida ; Leonard took to wife Flora Snell, and their children are eight in number- Ernest, Hugh, Nellie, Rufus, Eli, Abigail, Rosa and Lois M .; Dwight was the next in order of birth; Leroy married Fannie Reed, and they have one son- Willis ; Fremont L. also became a married man, the maiden name of his wife being Helen R. Parker.

In politics Mr. Cawkins is a Republican and has been one in sentiment ever since 1850. Being in- tensely Anti-slavery in sentiment, he left the Whig

party on the passage of the Fugitive-Slave law, which he considered a disgrace to civilization. While in the midst of slavery he opposed it with tongue and pen. The following is a small specimen of what he left among the slaveholders and which he wrote in 1834:

Founded on oppression, Stigma to the Nation, Without shadow of Equity,

Is held as a treasure For profit and pleasure, Hotbeds of all iniquity.

Mr. Cawkins and his wife, who, when another year shall have rolled around, will have been man and wife for 50 years, will celebrate their golden wedding. They are true and consistent members of the Bap- tist Church, and hand in hand have climbed the lad- der of difficulty until at last they are living in the enjoyment of a competency earned through honest toil. Mr. Cawkins has held the office of School Di- rector, and to him belongs the honor of calling the first school meeting ever held in Sparta Township, and he was the only one who attended that meeting who could read or write. His past career has been an honorable one, and he is one of the respected and honored citizens not only of Sparta Township, but of Knox County.

Mr. Cawkins bears the reputation of being one of the best carpenters in the country, and is a thorough- ly reliable business man. At his old home in New York he was esteemed the best posted man in mili- tary tactics, and was compelled to drill the field and staff officers of the militia regiment to which he be- longed.

ames Neely, a highly respected and well- to-do farmer, residing on section 30, Sparta Township, was born Sept. 17, 1806, in Herkimer County, N. Y. He was the son of Abraham and Hannah (Dill) Neely, both na- tives of New York. He was reared on the farm and received a common-school education. He came to Illinois in 1848, locating for a short time with what was known as the Log City Colony, and finally settling in Henderson Township, where he lived nine years. During this time he purchased the farm upon which he now resides, and cultivated and in- proved it while he lived on the Henderson Town -

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ship farm ; he also built his present dwelling in 1847, and moved the same year to the farm upon which he has since resided and carried on his agricultural pur- suits.

Mr. Neely was married in New York on the 2d day of November, 1827, to Miss Sabrina Arnold, daughter of Edward and Mercy Arnold. Miss Ar- nold was born Oct. 13, 1806, in Herkimer County, N. Y. By this union were born nine children, six of whom are living, viz .: Mandevill, Maria, Mortimer, Hannah, Lucy and Charles R.

Mr. and Mrs. Neely are members of the Congre- gational Church.

Abraham Neely, the father of our subject, was a captain in the Revolutionary War under Gen. Wash- ington, and Mrs. Neely's father also served in the War of the Revolution. Mortimer Neely, the son of Mr. and Mrs. N. of our sketch, served three years in the Union Army, and served his country fighting Indians for two years afterward, in the Far West.

The subject of our sketch, now, after a goodly number of years spent in frugal industry, is enabled to sit under " his own vine and fig-tree," obtaining satisfaction in the review of a well-spent past, and pleasure in the anticipation of a pleasant afternoon of life, to which an unvarying course of integrity and rectitude has given him abundant title.

ideon S. Hawkins, general dealer in gro- ceries, etc., at Oneida, is one of the oldest citizens of Knox County, having come to Galesburg in 1838, when that place was yet a small village, and the country around it al- most an unbroken prairie. He was the son of Jacob Hawkins, a resident of Suffolk County, N. Y., where he lived and died. He was of American pa- rentage and English ancestry. The mother, Mary Smith, was born in Setauket village, Brookhaven Township, Suffolk Co., N. Y., and spent her life in her native county. Her father was an old sea cap- tain, and is supposed to be of English descent and parentage.

The father of our subject was a successful farmer. The family consisted of nine children, six sons and three daughters. Mr. Hawkins of this notice was the fifth in order of birth. He received a common-

school education, and resided at home until 17 years of age, when he set out for New York City. There he engaged as an apprentice to learn the carpenter and joiner trade, under the instruction of Noah Tompkins, a Quaker from White Plains, N. Y. He was with Mr. Tompkins four years, receiving for his labor $25, $30, $35 and $40 respectively for each year's work, and clothed himself. After he had com- pleted his trade, he worked for Mr. Tompkins from Dec. 21, 1837, till May, 1838, when with but $1.50 in money he set out for the then Far West. He worked his way from Philadelphia across the Alle- ghanies to Pittsburg, Pa., where he took passage on a boat down the Ohio River to Cincinnati, where he got onto another boat laden with a cargo to St. Louis, Mo., on which he worked his passage to the last-named place, where he secured a job unloading the steamer, and thereby secured money enough to get to Rock Island. Thence with a rifle on his shoulder he started out in quest of work, and finally reached Henry County, where he did some carpen- ter work for George Brandenburg, his first work in this State. He remained in Henry County for some months. In the meantime he built the first house on the original site of Morristown, that county. In October, 1838, he struck out for Knox County. Some of his first work was in Knoxville, for old Deacon Chambers, who was one of the first settlers of that place. He afterward went to Henderson Township and worked for Mr. William Riley for two years. Afterward he worked in the village of Hen- derson for some time, and finally drifted into cabinet- making, which he followed in that place till 1857. In that year, while in Henderson, he became surety for a large stock of goods which he was obliged to take possession of, and he then engaged in merchan- dising with varied success for five years. He suc- ceeded in paying the indebtedness against the store, and had a small stock of goods left, and liquidated the debt on an 80-acre farm he had contracted for in Sparta Township about the time he took the store. Mr. Hawkins went on the farm then in 187 1, and added 40 acres more, operating it for nine years. In 1880 he leased the farm and went to Wataga, and one year later came to Oneida and purchased a meat-market. Six months later he sold out and en- gaged in his present business. He has since pur- chased a good house and lot in this place.

While in Henderson Township, Mr. Hawkins was

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married, in April, 1843, to Miss Margaret M. Levalley. She was born in Oswego County, N. Y., and came to Illinois with her parents, who at once settled in Henderson Township, and there died. Mrs. Haw- kins is the mother of three children-Mary E., wife of Isaac Rucker, residing in Oneida ; John A. resides at home in Oneida; Frank E., married and resides on a farm in Sparta; he was formerly an engineer.

Mrs. Hawkins is a member of the Congregational Church. Mr. Hawkins was Police Magistrate here for two years, but is now out of office. In politics he is a solid Republican, and is a Swedenborgian in religion. He is a thorough student in philosophy, and is the originator of some new ideas in regard to the cause of the earth's action and shape and the various forces of the planets in relation to each other, and he is an eloquent advocate of the sciences, whose pursuit proves to him a source of great pleas- ure and satisfaction.

D. Thomas, a farmer, residing on section 2, Victoria Township, Knox County, was born in Guernsey County, Ohio, Sept. 20, 1818. His parents were Enoch and Anna (Dilley) Thomas, natives of Pennsylvania and New Jersey respectively. They came to Ohio at an early day and settled in Guernsey County, pur- chasing 160 acres of land, to which they afterward added abont 320 acres. They had a family of 15 children, eight still living : Hannah, now Mrs. Glas- ner; Lucy A., now Mrs. Campbell; Martha A., now Mrs. A. L. Brooks : Mary C., now Mrs. King ; Will- iam D., Enoch J., James and Ephraim. The par- ents remained in Ohio until the death of the father in 1857; the mother died July 12, 1882, aged 94 years.

The subject of our sketch remained at home until 22 years old, and assisted on the farm and attended school. After leaving home he went onto a farm of 80 acres, in 1841, and lived on it until 1853. He then sold out, and purchased a woolen factory, oper- ating the same two years, then sold it and came to Illinois, by wagon, and was on the road 23 days. He settled in Knox County, on section 34, Victoria Township, and purchased 90 acres, where he lived ten years. This he sold and moved onto section 2

same township, where he now lives, and purchased 160 acres, to which he has since added 240, and is engaged in the stock business.

Mr. Thomas was married to Miss Lovina Kinney, a native of Pennsylvania, and daughter of David and Mary (Shafer) Kinney. They were natives of New Jersey and Pennsylvania respectively, and came to Ohio in 1824, settling in Guernsey County.

They had a family of six children, five still living- Peter ; Leah, now Mrs. Davis; John; Lovina, now Mrs. Thomas; Margrett, now Mrs. Morris, lives in Des Moines, Iowa. The parents lived in Ohio until their death, in 1860 and 1864 respectively.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas have a family of 11 chil- dren, nine still living : Margrett A., now Mrs. Mc- Clanahan, has five children-Edna D., Daniel, Carl D., Franklin and Bert. John F. married Elizabeth Burch, and they have three children-John D., Ella, Sanoria. William F. married Eliza Patton ; they have two children-Norris and Maud. Mary C., now Mrs. Mills, has three children-Estella, Bert and Bessie. Erastus R. lives in Nebraska ; Elwood inarried Salome Keiser; they have one child-John W. R .; Ruth, now Mrs. Guild, has one child, Elli- son, and lives in Nebraska; Abraham L. also lives in Nebraska ; Samuel.

Mr. Thomas in politics is a Greenbacker, and he and his wife are members of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. He is one of the representative and solid men of Victoria Township.

& eorge F. Edwards, senior member of the firm of Edwards & Taylor, dealers in groceries, etc., Altona, is also proprietor of the Edwards House and a first-class restau- rant. Mr. Edwards came 10 Altona in 1879, and opened up the restaurant, afterward forming a partnership with Mr. Taylor in the grocery business, purchasing, Dec. 7, 1885, the stock of Mr. Frederick. In December, 1880, Mr. Edwards bought and opened the " Edwards House," running it in connection with his other business.

George Edwards was born in Somersetshire, England, March 4, 1844, his father, George, being a farmer and native of the same shire, where he was married to Elizabeth Hilborne. After the birth of a

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family of ten children, seven sons and three daugh- ters, George, Jr, being the youngest but one, they came with all the family to America, settling in Ontario Township, where the father purchased 120 acres of good land, on which he still resides. The mother died June 23, 1885, aged nearly 65 years. Two other daughters were born to them after their arrival in Knox County.

George Edwards was 14 years old when the family came to this country, and when 18 years old began farming on his own account in Ontario Township, which he continued until 1877. During these years he had procured a good farm of So acres in that township, which he still owns, and since 1877 he has been engaged in the business in which he is at pres- ent interested.

Nov. 7, 1867, our subject was united in marriage with Miss Mary J. Noble, in Ontario Township. She was born in Cumberland, England, in 1850, and came to this country with her parents, who were farmers, when a young woman, her mother dying on Quarantine Island, N. Y., while on the way out. Her father now resides in Kansas. Mrs. Edwards is the mother of one child-Nellie, a devoted daughter, who was born Aug. 20, 1868. Mr. Ed wards is a stanch Republican, and possesses excel- lent business abilities, which he has turned to good account, and, better than all, is a useful, enterpris- ing, public-spirited citizen, accommodating and courteous and well liked by the people among whom most of his years have been passed. He is yet a young man, and many years are yet before him in which to advance the interests of and serve his fel- low-citizens.

onas Johnson, a farmer on section 9. Cop- ley Township, Knox County, was born in Sweden, Sept. 28, 1830. His parents were John and Brita (Johnson) Oleson. They were farmers and had a family of eight children. They died in their native land in 1861 and - 1857. The subject of this sketch was the youngest of the family, and remained at home until 22 years old. He received a good common-school education and assisted on the farm. In 1853 he left his native land and came to America. He sought a home in the West, and, locating in Sparta Township, Knox

County, engaged to work on the railroad and followed the same six months. He was then variously em- ployed until 1862, when he enlisted in Co. A, 47th Ill. Vol. Inf., and was in the service nine months ; he had enlisted for three years, but on account of disability was discharged. He returned to Tazewell County, and worked on a farm until 1868, when he located a homestead where he now lives.

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Portrait and biographical album of Knox county, Illinois, Part 117

Author: Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo and Chicago; Chapman Brothers, pub Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical publishing company Number of Pages: 1130

Author: Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo and Chicago; Chapman Brothers, pub
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical publishing company
Number of Pages: 1130