Portrait and biographical album of Knox county, Illinois, Part 91

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 91

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in Ohio, died in Illinois. Our subject was the son of Robert Speaks, a native of Virginia, who died in Indiana 40 years ago.

Mr. Speaks held the office of Township Collector one term in Ellison Township, Warren County, and is living on a farm owned by Morris Chase, which lies on section 1, in Orange Township. Both he and his wife are members of the United Brethren in Christ, and Mr. Speaks has served as minister in this church for 25 years. He is a man of quick observa- tion, which, united with a common-school education, tends to make him well informed and a congenial companion. In politics he adopts the doctrine of the Republican party, which organization he up- holds with voice and vote.

ohn T. Wilson, M. D., a prominent phy- sician and surgeon, resident at Galesburg, Ill., is a native of Sweden, where he was born Sept. 10, 1857. His parents, Ma- thias and Christina (Lindquist) Wilson, spent their lives in the old country. The subject of our sketch came to America in 1870, and at Lowell, Mass., finished an education begun in Sweden.

The parents of our subject left him no fortune, and, like a majority of his countrymen who have come to our shores, he was compelled to earn by his own labor a support and his school tuition. Im- mediately upon leaving school, he entered the office of Dr. Colby, at Lowell, and, under the instructions of that eminent physician, devoted a year and a half to the study of medicine. From Dr. Colby's office he began a course at the Howard Medical College, D. C., and from that institution graduated with the degree of M. D. in the spring of 1881. Leaving college, he spent a few months at Lowell, Mass., whence he came direct to Galesburg, landing here in August, 1881. Depending entirely upon his indi- vidual industry for a livelihood, Dr. Wilson was not long in locating an office and offering his services to the afflicted. From the very beginning of his prac- tice in Galesburg, fortune seems to have favored him. While almost an entire stranger, an opportu- nity offered for the display of his skill in surgery, the successful results whereof attracted to him the better class of the community and of the profession as-

well. From that day his success was assured and he has steadily grown in favor until it may be truth- fully said that no physician of his age in the county of Knox occupies a higher position in the profession than he.

The Doctor is a member of the I. O. O. F. and the A. O. U. W .; Associate Medical Director of the C. M. B. A., and Medical Director of the Scandina- vian Mutual Aid Association, and has yet a brilliant future before him.

ames Weed Cothren, Freight Agent of the C., B. & Q. R. R. Co., at Galesburg, was born in Jamestown, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., Oct. 19, 1817. He is the son of Dr. Na- thaniel and Clarinda (Weed) Cothren, the former a native of Cape Cod, Mass., a son of David and a grandson of William Cothren, a native of Plymouth, England, and who in turn was a son of William Cothren, a native of Scotland, where the name Cothren properly belongs. The Weeds were of Welsh extraction and pioneers in the State of New York, but the descent in this country and the date of settlement here are not now known.

The subject of our sketch was reared in Detroit, Mich., where as a young man he applied himself to mercantile pursuits, and spent about ten years of his life following the business throughout that State. In 1845 he accepted a position at Galesburg, Mich., in the freight department of the Michigan Central Railroad Company, and after a reputable connection of nine years with that company he accepted his present position, with which he has been worthily identified ever since.

Mr. James Weed Cothren was married in Detroit, Mich., to Christina Mackie, daughter of John Mackie, deceased, of that city. The union of our subject and wife was blest by the birth of a son and two daughters-Charles F., who is engaged in the freight department of the C, B. & Q. R. R. Co .; Mary Isabella Cothren, wife of Henry P. Ayers, banker, at Peoria; and Clara Cothren, wife of C. L. Westerman, mining operator at Breckenridge, Colo.

Mr. Cothren takes a prominent rank among those respected pioneers who have made Galesburg what it is, and who have lived to see the infant village they first located in grow to be a queenly city. He

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was a member of the first Councils, and has been more or less active in its political growth during all these years. He is a worthy member of the Masonic fraternity, and both he and his wife are devoted members of the Congregational Church. They are respected members of society, and have the pleasure of seeing their family occupying leading positions in the social and industrial life of their respective local- ities.

accheus Beatty, editor of the Republican- Register, a daily and weekly paper, pub- lished at Galesburg, was born Nov. 11, 1819. His parents, Cyrus P. and Nancy (Sarchet) Beatty, were married at Cambridge, Guernsey Co., Ohio, where their four sons and five daughters were born. Cyrus P. Beatty was a native of Maryland, and the Sarchet family came to the United States from the Island of Guernsey, in 1809, and settled in Ohio, and gave the name to Guernsey County. C. P. Beatty was a Captain in the War of 1812, and subsequently served 20 years as Clerk of the Common Pleas and Supreme Courts of Ohio. He was also a member of the Ohio Legis- lature for a number of years.

The subject of this sketch was educated at his na- tive town, and there began to learn the art of print- ing, which he finished in the State Printing-Office, at Columbus. In 1857 he came to Peoria, Ill., and worked one year on the Daily Union, and in 1858, in company with a Mr. Robinson, purchased the Knoxville Republican and published it until 1866. From here he went to Watseka, Ill., where he was connected with the Republican up to 1874, at which time he came to Galesburg, where he has since been in the newspaper business. (See history of the Re- publican-Register, this volume.) During his residence at Knoxville he held the position of Assistant United States Assessor for two years, and was afterward ap- pointed Postmaster at Watseka, which position he held several years. He has always been an ardent Republican, and during the war was prominently identified with the Union League. He is a man of wide range of information, the result of persistent reading and extensive travel. He is also an active member of the Galesburg Lodge, No. 142, I. O. O.

F., and of Colfax Encampment, No. 28. He was married at Cambridge, Ohio, Christmas Day, in 1843, to Margaret C. Fesler, a native of Pennsylvania. His family consists of himself, wife and two daughters.

rnest Smith Moulton, Ticket Agent at the C., B. & Q. R. R. Co.'s office at Gales- burg, is a noteworthy representative of his profession and of the young men who have grown up with this fair city. He is the young- est son of the family of Billings Moulton, Esq. (whose sketch appears in this work), a native to the manor born, the advent of his arrival here being dated Jan. 3, 1859.

Our subject was well-reared and educated, attend- ing Knox College up to the Senior year after having completed a good English education in the public schools of Galesburg. He clerked for awhile in the post-office, and 1878 accepted a clerkship in Master Mechanic Colville's office, which he reputably filled for about three years. Subsequently he spent a year in the ticket office of this corporation at Chicago, after which he accepted his present position at Galesburg.

Ernest Smith Moulton was united in the holy bonds of matrimony at Riverside, Cal., with Julia C., daughter of Sylvanus H. Ferris, Esq. She is a lady of estimable attainments, and has borne her husband a bright little girl, named Stella Florence. Mr. Moulton is an active and energetic official and a public-spirited citizen, and we predict for him a successful official career and a useful citizenship.

letcher Caldwell Rice, Superintendent of the Galesburg Division of the C., B. & Q. R. R., is an example of what may be at- tained by steady and persistent industry in a chosen vocation. He has risen from a subor- dinate clerkship, through steady, meritorious gradations. to his present incumbency. He was born at Palmyra, N. Y., Jan. 10, 1844. His parents, Dr. William A. and Helen M. (Galloway) Rice, were likewise natives of that State. The grandparents of our subject were from Amherst, Mass., and belong

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to a worthy line of ancestry in that State. On both sides of the parentage of our subject, we find a re- putable record of their having served with credit in the War of the Revolution. In the War of 1812, Capt. James Archer Galloway, grandfather of Mr. Rice, served with marked distinction, and during the late War of the Rebellion, although ripe in years, the old gentleman organized a regiment of soldiers from Hillsdale County, Mich. This regiment was made up of men over 45 years of age, which was tendered to Gen. Scott and Secretary Stanton. They were highly complimented and thanked for the patriotism dis- played, but Gen. Scott and Secretary Stanton de- clined to accept them on the ground that there were so many younger men volunteering that their quota was full.

Dr. William Rice settled in Beloit, Wis., about 1854, where he had moved from the State of Michi- gan. It was in Beloit and here that the subject of this notice developed into manhood and chose the railway business as his vocation. He completed the study of telegraphy in the office of the Illinois & Mississippi Telegraph Company, at Beloit. The late Civil War breaking out, young Rice, with the char- acteristic traits of his ancestors, longed to do some- thing for his country. His sympathies and instincts were for the Union his ancestors had so bravely fought to maintain, but his youth prevented his im- mediate acceptance. However, in 1862, he was ac- cepted and became a member of the 13th Ill. Cav., doing good service until he was honorably discharged in 1863. Returning from the field of strife, Mr. Rice was appointed clerk and operator in the office of the C., B. & Q., at Monmouth, which was the first position of trust he ever held in the em- ploy of that company. He held places of similar trust at different points on the line of that road until 1867, when he was sent to Galesburg and appointed Train Dispatcher, a position he reputably filled for several years. In 1877 he was made Chief Train Dispatcher and Chief Operator, and in 1878, the position of Trainmaster was added to his duties, all of which he filled with marked ability and compe- tency until August, 1881, when he received his pres- ent appointment, which he has acceptably filled.

Mr. Rice has filled all his numerous appointments to the entire satisfaction of the company, and, to his credit be it said, he never suffered an accident to occur through neglect of duty. He has always stuck

strictly to his professional pursuits and never allowed himself to become a candidate before the people for public honors or private benefit. He is pronounced in his views on all matters pertaining to the welfare of the city and locality, and is a liberal contributor to all projects he considers worthy. He holds and de- serves the highest respect as a citizen. He is an active member of the Galesburg Club, of which he was one of the organizers, and is a member of its Board of Directors. He was married in Poughkeep- sie, N. Y., to Hattie A. Leeson, a lady of estimable attainments and a great-granddaughter of Gen. Knox of Revolutionary fame. Their happy union has been blest with a son and daughter-Carrie E. and Robert. The family attend and worship at the Congregational Church.

kon. John C. Stewart, claim agent and dealer in real estate at Galesburg, was born in Mercer County, Pa., Oct. 24, 1822. His grandfather came from the North of Ire- land. settled near Fort Duquesne, now Pitts .-

- burg, and from there removed to Mercer County in 1800. His oldest son, James, father of the subject of our sketch, was born in 1797, and mar- ried Nancy McKee, in Butler County, Pa., in 1821, and by her had born to him four sons and three daughters, John C. being the oldest. The father married a second time, thereby adding to the pro- geny three sons and one daughter. He was a hotel- keeper and mail-contractor and died Oct. 3, 1876.

The subject of this sketch was educated at the Mercer County Academy, and taught school a num- ber of winters in that vicinity, and from 1845 to 1852 he was superintending a blast-furnace in his native county. From early boyhood he clerked off and on in a general store, prior to engaging in the iron-works, at his native place, and in 1855 came to Galesburg, where dealing in real estate has since formed his principal business. In the newer Western States he entered Government land, bought some improved land, sold, traded and in all cases handled his own property. It is not the province of this biographer to speak of the financial success of the subject, but in this case we feel warranted in saying that Mr. Stewart's returns have been commensurate in a rea-

LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLIN. 3

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sonable degree with his efforts. Aside from his landed interest, he is a stockholder in the two lead- ing banks in the city and Director of the Galesburg Brick and Tile Company. He has been three times elected Mayor of the city, to wit: 1859, 1877 and 1883. On the 5th of November, 1885, he was ap- pointed by Judge Blodgett Receiver of the Gales- burg Water-Works Company, and still has the prop- erty in charge.

John C. Stewart, our subject, was married at West- chester, Pa., Oct. 18, 1853, to Carrie M. McFarland, and the names of their daughters are Maud M. and Alice. The life of Mr. John C. Stewart really forms an important part of the history of Galesburg, and we refer our readers to the records of his various ad- ministrations as the chief executive officer of the city, for much that cannot be here treated, as it belongs to another department. In his political belief he is a firm adherent to the principles of the Republican party, but when in office be represented the people irrespective of party. He with his family attends the Presbyterian Church.

ndrew C. Housh, banker, Maquon, is the son of David and Elizabeth (Thornbrough) Housh. His father was a native of Ken- tucky and of Dutch ancestry, his mother of French and Irish. They settled in Putnam County, Ind., where they lived until 1836, when they removed to Knox County. They made a settlement in Haw Creek Township, where the father engaged in farming and became one of its leading men. Here his demise occurred in the latter part of . May, 1879. His widow still survives and resides at Maquon. Their family consisted of 12 children -- Joseph M., Mary, James O., Rebecca, Jacob C., Barbara, Joshua, Lilly A., Elizabeth, Daniel M., Eveline and Amanda.

Andrew C. Housh, of whom we write, was born in Putnam County, Ind., Oct. 16, 1834, and was there- fore in the second year of his age when his parents came to this county, in 1836. He remained at home, assisting his father on the farm, until he attained the age of 17 years, after which he was employed by his father in teaming and in the distillery. He had

learned the trade of distilling, at which occupation he worked for 12 years, at the same time following the occupation of a teamster. Ilis education was very limited, being acquired in the common schools. In the year 1863, he, in company with his father and two brothers, bought out the mercantile interest of Alfred Thurman (see sketch of Mr. T.), Maquon Township. They continued together in this branch of business for ten years, when our subject bought out the entire concern. He conducted it for about four years, when he disposed of it and soon after- ward engaged in the banking business, and also in the handling of stock, in which branches of business he is still engaged.

Mr. Housh is the proprietor of 530 acres of fertile land, located in Maquon Township, and which is under a very high state of cultivation. He is also the owner of village property in Maquon, besides 500 acres of fine farm land in Nebraska. He is an ex- tensive dealer in stock, and is numbered among the most successful and prosperous agriculturists and business men in the county of Knox.

At Knoxville, Nov. 11, 1857, our subject was mar- ried to Adeline Ouderkirk, daughter of Peter F. and Elizabeth (Fink) Ouderkirk. Her parents were na- tives of New York State and of Dutch ancestry. They arrived in Knox County in 1835, and settled in Maquon, afterward removing to Haw Creek Township, at which place their demise occurred. The father died in 1846, and the mother in 1863. The family consisted of six children -- John, Samuel, Adeline, Caroline, Polly and La Fayette. Adeline E. Ouderkirk, wife of our subject, was born in Onon- daga County, N. Y., Feb. 28, 1835, and was an in- fant of eight months when her parents came to Knox County. Samuel Ouderkirk enlisted in the 86th Ill. Vol. Inf., and served three years. He was in several engagements, the most important being the battle of Shiloh.

Mr. and Mrs. Housh have been blest by the birth of two children-Emma F. and E. La Fayette. Emma is the wife of Frank P. Hurd, the present Supervisor of Maquon Township, being elected April 6, 1886. Mrs. Hurd has become the mother of two children-J. Clinton and Addie L. La Fayette Housh is the husband of Leonia Libolt, also resi- dents of Maquon, and is associated with his father in the banking business. The senior Mr. Housh has been Township Clerk, Commissioner of Highways

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and School Director. He has also been a member of the Town Council. He is a prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, and in politics is a Doug- las Democrat. He belongs to Maquon Lodge, No. 530, A. F. & A. M. The father of Mr. Housh was in the War of 1812.

As one of the leading and representative men of Knox County we place the portrait of Mr. Housh in this ALBUM.

ol. Horace H. Willsie was born in Lower Canada, Jan. 27, 1827, and was the sec- ond son of John and Sabra (Hudson) Willsie, who reared a family of five boys and four girls. The senior Mr. Willsie removed from Canada to the State of Minnesota, in 1856, and died there in 1879, in his 80th year. His widow yet survives him. She resides in Fillmore County, Minn., and is in the 8rst year of her age.

The subject of our sketch spent the first 14 years of his life upon his father's farm. He was then ap- prenticed to the tanning and currying trade at Moore's Junction, N. Y., which he followed until about 25 years of age. In 1853 he left Canada and came into the States to make his home, railroading while in Missouri, spent a year in Iowa, and reached Galesburg in the fall of 1854. Here he clerked awhile in a dry goods establishment, was appointed Deputy Sheriff in the fall of 1855, and held the posi- tion for two years. The following year he engaged in the livery business, which he abandoned to again accept the appointment of Deputy Sheriff, a position he was filling when the war broke out.

In July, 1862, he entered the service of the United States as Captain of Co. D, 102d Ill. Vol. Inf., and served about one year, with the rank of major, then resigning on account of poor health. The following spring (1864), he recruited a company for the 139th Ill. Vol. Inf., and at the organization of that regiment became its Lieutenant-Colonel. He was out only about five months with this command. In February, 1865, he recruited a company for the 148th III. Vol. Inf., and was tendered the colonelcy of that regiment, with which rank he left the service in the following September. While with the 102d, he was in Ken- tucky and Tennessee; with the 139th in Kentucky and Missouri; and with the 148th in Tennessee and

Alabama. During the entire service his only injury, aside from disease, was accidental. At Tullahoma, Ala., his skull was fractured by the fall of his horse.

At four different times during the war Col. Willsie is credited with having, by his own personal influence, filled Galesburg's quota to the army. Altogether he has been six years Marshal of the city, which, aside from his Deputy Sheriffship, constitutes the sum of his civil office services. Col. Willsie has worked his way through life, and his successes are attributable only to the efforts of himself. In 1876 he engaged in his present business, that of a livery and sale stable, and his establishment is one of the best in the city.

June 5, 1855, he was married in Galesburg to Bet- sey A. Nichols, a native of Earlville, N. Y., who has borne to him five children, viz .: Wilbur F., United States Mail Service; Horace M., storekeeper's de- partment C., B & Q. R. R .; Alfred N., clerk in Master Mechanic's office C., B. & Q. R. R .; John, machinist, and one daughter, Daisy A., resides at home. In politics he has always been identified with the Republican party. Col. Willsie is a genial, whole-souled, affable gentleman, and has won hosts of friends.

"ohn N. Irwin, a successful farmer on sec- tion 1, Galesburg Township, was born in Venango County, Pa., in 1847, and came with his parents to Illinois, in 1855. They located in Whiteside County, where they re- mained one year, when they moved to Peoria and lived there some eight years, and then came to Galesburg in November, 1864. His parents were John and Emily (Newton) Irwin, natives of Pennsyl- vania, the father being born in 1808, and still living in Galesburg. The mother was born in November, 1816. They were married in 1844 and had four children, two boys and two girls, as follows: Lucy A., who married Rev. Isaac Cary ; Sarah J. married Rev. R. G. McNiece; Albert B., and John N., the subject of this sketch, married Miss Angie Mc- Master, Feb. 21, 1872.

Mrs. Irwin was born Feb. 21, 1848, and was there- fore married on her 24th birthday. They have five sons, as follows : Walter M., born Nov. 9, 1872; Herbert E., born April 19, 1875; Lynn N., born

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June 19, 1877; J. Paul, born Nov. 22, 1879, and Keith G., born March 13, 1885. The parents of Mrs. Irwin were John and Rosetta (Hobbs) Mc- Master. The father is a native of Mercer County, Pa., where he was born Oct. 6, 1815. Her mother was born in England, Oct. 8, 1818, and came to America with her parents when a small girl. They were married in Rochester, N. Y., in July, 1845. where they remained some two years, and then moved to Western Pennsylvania, where he has been preaching in different Presbyterian churches for over 40 years. Mrs. McMaster died in Erie, Pa., Jan. 17, 1877. Of their three children, Mrs. Irwin is the only one now living.

Mr. Irwin has 107 acres of good land, 80 acres in Galesburg Township and the balance in Knox Town- ship, and has a fine residence. They are both mem- bers of the Presbyterian Church of Galesburg, and he has been School Director for a great many years. In politics he is a Republican. Like many of the public-spirited citizens of Knox County, Mr. Irwin has contributed a large share of effort in promoting the material and social welfare of the community, never falling behind in the performance of those public duties which constitute the obligations of the good citizens. These good people, while having pro- vided liberally for their own household, are known as kind and obliging neighbors, ready to lend a hand whenever and wherever needed.

amnes W. McCntchen. Prominent among the agricultural class of Knox County, who have themselves made what they have of this world's goods, is he of whom these few bi- ographical facts are related. He is a promi- nent and successful farmer, of Scotch nation- ality, residing on section 4, Lynn Township, and is there industriously engaged in his independent calling.

He is the son of Rev. Robert and Rebecca (Ad- ams) Mccutchen. The father of our subject was born and reared in Armstrong County, Pa., and there lived until a young man. He then went to Venango County, Pa., and was there married, May 10, 1831. His father, Robert, grandfather of our subject, was born in the North of Ireland and was of Scotch an- cestry and parentage. He came to this country -

when a young man and located in Armstrong County, Pa., and was there married to a Miss Dixon; she was also of Scotch ancestry, and died when Rob- ert, father of our subject, was but four years of age; Robert's father dying when he, Robert, Jr., was but eight years of age. Thus we see that the father of our subject was orphaned when but a lad of eight years of age. He afterward lived with his oldest sister. Elizabeth, until he had attained the age of 16 years, in the meantime earning his own living. It was about this time that he went to Venango County, Pa., and there lived with his widowed sister, Mar- garet, occupied in various vocations. After living with her for awhile he became connected with the charcoal works of the county and continued in the same for 16 years, and during that time purchased and carried on a farm. When 20 years of age Rob- ert Mccutchen united with the Methodist Episcopal Church and was soon after ordained as a local min- ister of the Gospel. He subsequently became one of the most active ministerial laborers of that church, and during the entire remaining portion of his life was engaged in the good work. His labors in the ministry were well rewarded, and in 185 1 he moved to Peoria, settling on a farm in the vicinity of that city and a few miles north of it. He was one of the most successful ministers in that part of the State, and many denominations owe to him the honor of having increased their membership. In 1864 he sold his farm near Peoria and moved to Freeport, where he took charge of a congregation, consisting at that time of 22 members, but during the two years of his labors increased the same to 120 and built the Embury Church, of Freeport. Later he went to Indianola, Iowa, and some years afterward moved to Lyons, that State, and was there laboring in the cause, when, May 19, 1881, he was called to receive his reward in the land beyond, and having been born Jan. 4, 1810, was consequently 7 1 years of age at the date of his demise. Ten days prior to his death he celebrated his golden wedding. He was the younger of his father's family and survived all the children. His wife was born May 13, 18rt, in Venango County, Pa., and was there reared to womanhood and there married. Her father, Weldon Adams, was born in Eastern Pennsylvania, and her grandfather, James Adams, was from the North of Ireland. Her grand- parents died in Eastern Pennsylvania. Weldon Ad- ams had a family of five boys and five girls, of whom

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Portrait and biographical album of Knox county, Illinois, Part 91

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