Portrait and biographical album of Peoria County, Illinois : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 41

Author: Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo and Chicago
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1014

USA > Illinois > Peoria County > Portrait and biographical album of Peoria County, Illinois : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county > Part 41

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).

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for his future career. In entering the business world he started at the bottom of the commercial ladder. early evincing a decided talent for business, and a good insight into the best methods of con- (lueting it. He is now at the head of the largest mercantile house in the State outside of Chicago. This large business has been built up by a careful attention to details, seconded by sound common- sense, good judgment and wise discrimination.

R ICHARD LONSDALE. One of the most attractive rural abodes in Kickapoo Town- ship is situated on section 32, and was the home of the late Richard Lonsdale. It is now under the able management of his widow, Mrs. Ann ( Wadsworth) Lonsdale, who is wisely conducting affairs, keeping up all improvements upon the estate and securing from it an adequate income. It consists of between five hundred and six hundred acres, divided into fields of conven- ient size, adorned with orchards and groves, and supplied with a complete line of farm buildings,all well built and sufficiently commodious for their purposes. Crowning the whole is the family resi- dence, whose tasteful exterior shadows forth the comfort and attractiveness of its internal arrange- ments and the household economy.

Mr. Lonsdale was born in Lancashire, England, September 26, 1817, being the fifth in a family con- sisting of fourteen children. His parents, Thomas and Ellen (Holstead) Lonsdale. came to Amer- ica in 1842, settling in Peoria County, Ill., where they departed this life. Mr. Lonsdale was united in marriage with Miss Ann Wadsworth on Christ .. mas day, 1838, their marriage rites being cele- brated in his native shire. He was employed as an engineer in a cotton factory and continued to re- side in the mother country until 1819. He then emigrated to America and settling in Kickapoo Township. this county. engaged in farming the re- mainder of his life.

The death of Mr. Lonsdale took place at his home June 10, 1888. A reliable citizen and hon- Orable man was thereby removed from among men,

and a kind and devoted husband and parent from the family to which he was so dear. Ile had held the office of Highway Commissioner, creditably discharging its duties. His political adherence was given to the Democratic party. The fine estate which he left affords a standing record of his in- dustrious life and prudent management of his worldly affairs, while the place which he holds in in the memory of those who knew him is the best monument which could be reared to his personal character.

The parents of Mrs. Lonsdale were natives of Yorkshire, England, known as John and Betty (Ovenden) Wadsworth. They had eleven chil- dren, of whom Mrs. Lonsdale was the tenth in or- der of birth. She was born in Yorkshire, April 24, 1818, and under the careful training of good par- ents grew to womanhood with a mind filled with use- ful knowledge. a heart of goodness, and the habits that enabled her to worthily fill any sphere in life to which she might be called. She remained with her parents until her marriage and removal to Lancashire, in which place they afterward made their home until called hence.

Mrs. Lonsdale bore her husband twelve children, whose record is as follows: Martha is the first born ; William married Ellen Mitchell, who died in Kicka- poo Township: John married Miss Eva Manville who died in Kickapoo Township October 5, 1883. leaving two children-Myrtle A. and Minnie A. The widower subsequently married Ellen Wolsten- holme who has borne him one child .- James A. Richard married Miss Euphemia Jones; Mary H., is the wife of Charles Warner; Sarah A. is the wife of William Wolf; Ernest was killed in Peoria by an accident when twenty-one years old. The other members of the househokl band died when quite young.

The surviving children of Mrs. Lonsdale have received excellent educational advantages and the home instruction which would strengthen and de- velop their mental abilities and worthy traits of character. and by which they have been fitted for a useful and honored career in life. They are numbered among the best citizens of their re- spective localities and add to the worth of the name which they bear. Mrs. Lonsdale is a com-

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municant of the Church of England, endeavoring at all times to practice the precepts of Christianity and to deserve the "well done" when her earthly race is accomplished.

P RANK W. BAILEY. The energy and per- severance of a man's character have no where a better field for manifestation than in journalism. From a small beginning often grows a paper of importance, and it frequently happens that the very first issue establishes the reputation of the editor and indicates whether his enterprise will be a winning or losing one. This has been well exemplified in the life of Frank W. Bailey, proprietor of the spicy Chillicothe Bulletin, whose first issue appeared in 1883 and was a small but bright folio. The sheet was issued once a month in a much cheaper form than at present, but the mettle of Mr. Bailey was indicated from the start. The better class of business men, realizing the im- portance of advertising and the need of a live paper in the town, appreciated his efforts and rallied to his support.

" Mr. Bailey was able to increase the capacity of his office ere long and improve his paper, and each year found him a rung higher on the ladder of success. The small hand press in a little room was soon replaced by better machinery and a building of good dimensions placed at his disposal. This is now fitted up in the most modern style. with first- class supplies, the presses operated by steam power and supplied with job work from all over the State. The Bulletin is now a six-column quarto paper of weekly issue, with a subscription list of nearly two thousand; it moulds the sentiments of the people throughout this section and looks after the interest of Chillicothe, as only a live paper can.

Melvin II. Bailey, the father of our subject, was born near Augusta, Me., December 28, 1827. He came of a good New England family and was eare- fully reared to habits of honor and thrift. In 1852 he went to California via the isthmus and for nearly four years was occupied in mining at Volcano, eighty miles east of Sacramento. Returning to Maine via

the same route, he spent a short time there and then turned his footsteps westward, locating in Waupaca County, Wis. That section was new to settlement and the forests which covered it were nearly un- broken. For about ten years Mr. Bailey remained there, making money lumbering, but misfortune overtaking him he lost all that he had and was obliged to start anew. This being in 1866, just after the elose of the war, he decided to go to Kansas.

Locating in Bourbon County, Mr. Bailey ob- tained a piece of Government land, but his title proving faulty and the property having fallen into the hands of the railroad company, he was obliged to pay for it the second time. Ile passed through all the experiences which made the life of a Kansas pioneer so trying, including drouths and grasshop- per scourges, but he stood his ground, determinedly pursuing his course for thirteen years. He then, in November, 1879, removed to Chillicothe, Ill., and the next year suceeded Levi Booth in the furniture trade. Ile is still engaged in this business, carrying a small, but well-selected stock of furniture, and also a complete supply of undertakers' goods. He is classed among the best citizens of the town, bearing, with his wife, an active part in social af- fairs and all which will tend to the good of the com- munity.

The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Violet Ingalls. She was born near Cleveland, Ohio, March 16, 1829. She was a child of six and a half years when her parents removed to Chicago, and there she was partially reared. She subsequently lived in Waukegan, where she completed her edu- cation and became a teacher in the public schools of that place. She continued her professional la- bors until her marriage to Mr. Bailey, which took place October 22, 1857. She is descended from the old pilgrim stock which crossed the Atlantic in the "Mayflower," direct from Peregrine White, and her more immediate progenitors were highly edu- cated, with the firm characters inherited from their ancestry and strengthened by training under high moral influences.

The paternal great-grandfather of Mrs. Bailey was a Revolutionary soldier, holding the rank of an Adjutant on George Washington's staff. She still

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preserves as a precions heirloom the silver shoe buekles her ancestor wore and a razor which was used by Gen. Washington and his staff. Asa White Ingalls, the father of Mrs. Bailey, was a ripe scholar, a graduate of Amherst College, and a well-known educator. Ile was a teacher and Superintendent of Schools in Lorain County, Ohio. In 1845 he brought his family overland from Elyria to Chi- eago. He was the first teacher of what was known as the Dearborn school. He passed away April 2. 1850, after a well-spent life, and of him it may well be said "his works do follow him." His remains were interred in Lincoln Park, but later removed to a cemetery at Waukegan. llis wife, formerly Miss Fanny (Gregg) Miltimore, was of Scotch- Irish ancestry, and born in New Ilampshire. She sur- vived her first husband, subsequently marrying his brother-J. A. Ingalls. She died in Chicago April 24, 1884. J. A. Ingalls is still living in that city advanced in years and retired from active pursuits The old stock of Ingalls belong to the Presbyterian and Congregational Churches.

This outline of the parental and ancestral history of our subject will indicate a mental and moral in- heritance which armed him for a successful battle with life. He was born in Iola, Wis., April 1, 1860, carefully instructed and guided by his parents and early became acquainted with hard work on the farm. He obtained a good practical education in the public schools, and may be said to have begun his life as a printer of cards in the most primitive way. His taste for that line of work was early manifested, but he was not able to realize bis dreams until after he had learned agriculture and assisted his father through the trying times of their Kansas life.

Before he could enter an office to properly learn the printer's trade, young Bailey obtained a small press, and with a half supply of type gained much pleasure and a little profit in printing visiting cards. Although his type was not sufficient to spell out some names in the same kind of letters, he secured orders just the same, through reason of his boyish enterprise and desire to improve. Everything he did was to further his knowledge of the printer's art, and he was a happy youth when he finally entered an office. His persistence and readily-acquired skill

soon led him to the front and gave him a foremost place in the business of the house in which he was employed. His mind is deeply set upon his work, and no young man manifests more abundant energy in prosecuting his chosen avocation. The success which he is achieving is but the merited reward for his painstaking and persistent efforts, and is rejoiced in by all who know his life.

Our subject was united in marriage, in Chilli- cothe, with Miss Lizzie McMurray, who has been a true helpmate in building up his publishing busi- ness. being able to do much of the office work, and gladly assisting him. This lady was born in St. Louis, Mo., November 12, 1854, being a daughter of George and Anna (Menzies) McMurray. Her father was born in the North of Ireland but reared in Edinburgh, his parents being Scotch and of the Presbyterian faith. He was a weaver of wire cloth. He died in St. Louis and his widow removed to Chillicothe, Ill., in 1861, and is now living here with her children at an advanced age. She is a na- tive of Scotland and has been a life-long member of the Baptist Church.

Mrs. F. W. Bailey was educated in the Chilli- cothe schools and the Normal School at Peoria, and after completing her education devoted her talents to pedagogical labors. She taught in country schools three years and in those of Chillicothe six years, winning the reputation which her bright mind, ca- pable ways and good character deserve. She has borne her husband two children-Harry M. and Randolph W. She follows the careful teaching which she received in adhering to the Baptist faith.

AMES HI. STEWART, is still living in the home of his birth on section 5, Timber Town- ship, where he is a prosperous farmer and stock-breeder, making a specialty of raising Short-horn cattle of a fine grade and Poland-China hogs. His father, Walter Stewart was one of the leading pioneers of the county, was prominent in public life, and was one of the wealthy men of the township.

Our subject was born September 2, 1850, on

Dr. Belle, Kamyon

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this homestead which his father took up from the Government in 1837. entering one hundred and sixty acres of timber in the openings, in the spring of that year. He had come hither with a team, and was six or seven weeks on the way, arriving in the month of May. Ile accumulated a valuable prop- erty in this county, becoming the proprietor of two hundred and sixty acres in Timber Township, and two hundred and fifty acres in Logan Township. Before prosperity came to him, however, be ex- perienced all the trials and hardships of pioneer life, and had to make many sacrifices. When he first came here, the country was very thinly populated, and the roads, if there were any, were very bad, and he had to travel some distance to get his grain ground, going as far as Hale's Mill on the Kieka- poo. Ile was a man of considerable education, and was a pioneer school teacher, conducting one of the first schools ever opened in this township. He was a man of importance in public affairs, was Collector and Notary Public, and served on the County Board of Supervisors. He came of an old and re- spected family, as did his wife also, her maiden name being Nancy E. Turbett.

Our subject grew to man's estate on the parental homestead, where he still resides, receiving his edu- cation in the local school. He worked bis father's farm with his brothers until his marriage, and with his brother George B., now owns two hundred and ten acres of the homestead, and has besides forty acres on section 6. The farm is a very valuable one, is under fine tillage, yields large harvests, and is well stocked with cattle and hogs of a high grade. Its buildings are substantial and commodious, and here he and his wife have a home that for comfort and coziness is not surpassed by any in the com- munity.

September 1. 1881, Mr. Stewart and Miss Rhoba Phillips, were united in marriage. Mrs. Stewart was born in Limestone Township, and is a daugh- ter of Luke M. and Maria (Iloughtaling) Phillips. She is a woman of great refinement, and marked in- telligence, is highly educated, and for some years before her marriage was engaged in the teacher's profession. Her union with our subject has brought them two children, Mary E., and Walter H.

This brief record shows our subject to be an en-

terprising practical man, endowed with tact and firmness, and the capacity for carrying on his noble calling to the best advantage. lle and his wife are people of social prominence in the community, and are among the leading members of the United Presbyterian Church. in which he is Eller.

R. BELLE KENYON, who is successfully practicing her profession in Peoria, ocen- pies a leading position among the physicians of the Homopathic school in this county. She is a native of Rome, N. Y., born March 1, 1847. and is a daughter of William and Julia (Dunbar) Brackney, natives of Warren County. Pa. The Brackney family originated in Germany and came to this country many years ago. The Dunbars were of Scotch descent.

William Brackney was a prosperons miller and owned grist, saw and woolen mills on the Mohawk River, two and one-half miles from Rome. from which he derived a good income ; here our subject was born, being the youngest of eleven children, nine of whom are deceased and one sister, Mrs. Rachel West, living at Oshkosh, Wis. Mr. Brackney died April 17, 1857, thus closing at a ripe age a life that had been full of usefulness and honor. Ilis wife sur- vived him many years, dying in Dr. Kenyon's home July 31, 1888, at the venerable age of eighty-one years. She was a woman of marked characteristics, being endowed with a strong mental and physical development and the Doctor attributes much of her success to the early training given her by her mother. The family came West in 1858, and set- tled in Oshkosh, Wis.

In October. 1865, O. S. Briggs, after being mus- tered out of the United States service, be being a member of the Third United States Cavalry, was married to our subject. He was engaged in a trav- eling business. and for a number of years was ac- companied by his wife, who thus had a fine opportunity to see much of the world and she profited by it. Mr. Briggs died of consumption, the result of a cold contracted on a voyage from

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San Francisco to the Sandwich Islands, where they spent several months. Ile is buried at Minneapo- lis, Minn.

Our subject was married in the month of No- vember, 1882, to Dr. Walter Shotwell, with whom she practiced medicine two years. Charles Ken- yon. her present husband, is a native of Baldwins- ville, N. Y. He belongs to a well-known family of that State, who date their ancestry to Lord Kenyon, of England. The Doctor is endowed with a natural taste for medical studies, and after the death of her first husband entered earnestly upon the work of becoming a doctor. She entered at once the Homopathic Medical College, of Mis- souri, a school that ranks high as an institution of learning. Mrs. Kenyon graduated with a class of about seventy men in March, 1883. Her proficiency in her studies was ninety-seven and one-half per cent. and her grade third in her class. This alone speaks well for her culture and breadth of knowl- edge of medicine. She immediately opened an office in Peoria, and entered with zeal upon the duties of her profession in which she had already had both hospital and chemical experience. She is gifted with an evenly balanced mind. a strong character, a steady nerve, a keen eye, and the firm but gentle touch of the true physician; the fine suc- cess she has met justifies her choice of a profession, if any vindication were needed.

The general public is not familiar with woman in the leading professions and heretofore it has been looked upon as an experiment merely, but the pub- lie are not slow to recognize merit wherever found, and the result is that woman, when once qualified has no longer public opinion to combat and finds her patrons among the most refined and educated. It is rare to find an intellect so skillful in the analysis of the deepest problems and so completely at home in the conception and delincation of real character. The Doctor is a close observer and is familiar with many subjects that women in com- mon do not consider within their sphere, and this qualification alone renders her without a peer among her sex. The Doctor is somewhat of a writer in a modest way and has had the honor to present papers on different subjects before both the Scientific As- sociation and the Sunday Lyceum societies, known

in both the city and county. She has somewhat of a caustie pen, however, when writing and possessing ready wit is not at all backward in her defense of women when restricted by her dominant brother. She is choice of her language however, and seldom gives offence.

Dr. Kenyon is a great lover of home and has by untiring effort and application to business, sur- rounded herself with an ideal home. Possessing a cheerful disposition and with a nature broad and generous, she is beloved by all who know her best and her greatest pleasure is afforded by the little acts of love and gratitude shown by her poorer pa- tients who never seek her aid in vain. She enjoys a good practice and is often called long distances to attend some serious case. Her portrait is pre- sented on another page of the ALBUM, and repre- sents a physician of whose ability the citizens of Peoria are justly proud, and whose refinement and eulture have everywhere won for her warm friends.

C APT. HENRY DETWEILLER, a prominent and wealthy business man of Peoria, is successfully conducting a large wholesale and retail ice business at No. 108 South Adams Street. He was born June 19, 1825, in the Prov- ince of Loraine, Germany, which at that time formed a part of the domain of France. His par- ents, Christian and Catherine (Schertz) Detweiller, were natives respectively of France and Bavaria. His father accumulated a fortune in the farming, milling and transfer business, which he lost during the war of 1812 and 1813, and died in 1832 a poor man. Henry, of whom we write, is the only snr- vivor of the eighteen children borne him by his two wives.

After the death of the father, the mother of our subject came to this country with him and three daughters, landing at New York after a voyage of sixty days, and forty-two days later the travelers arrived in Peoria. They came from New York to Rochester by boat, thence to Buffalo by canal, thence by lake to Cleveland, and from there by canal to Cincinnati, thence by boat on the Ohio,

t -

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Mississippi and Illinois Rivers to Peoria-from St. Lonis on the steamer "Ark," commanded by Capt. Thomas Want-where Mrs. Detweiller's son John had located three years previously. He kept an hotel here in early days, and then went to St. Louis, where he followed the same business. and there his death occurred in 1842. The mother of our subject did not long survive her removal from her old home to this country, but died here in 1838.

The subject of this biography was only six years of age when his father died, and was scarce twelve years old when he accompanied his mother and sisters to this country. lle was reared under our institutions to a manly, vigorous manhood, and in the hour of her greatest trial he proved his loyalty and devotion to the home of his adoption, by offer- ing his services in defense of her honor and to aid in preserving the integrity of the Union. After coming here Henry was variously employed, work- ing for his brother, elerking, etc., when not attend- ing school, and at the age of fifteen he went on board the steamboat " Frontier" to train for a pilot under Milton Hasbrouck, and was on that boat until its collision with the " Panama," September 2, 1842. The following spring he shipped as second pilot under his old instructor on the steamer "Chicago," a new boat which the company had just built. He was engaged on that steamer in that capacity until 1844, when the boat was withdrawn from the river, and he then secured a similar posi- tion on the " Raritan," and the next year was ap- pointed first pilot on the new boat, "Governor Briggs;" and later was made Captain, and after June, 1846, ran her from Galena to New Albany, ou the upper Mississippi, as a mail and passenger boat. For several years following Mr. Detweiller acted as captain or pilot on a number of steam- boats, and in 1856 became part owner of the " Mo- vaster," and selling her in 1857, in 1858 became sole proprietor of the " Minnesota."

Our subject was still engaged in the steamboat business when the war broke out, and in the spring of 1862 he offered his services to the Government. Ile first commanded the "Jenny Lind." and in July, 1863, became master of the "Yankee," of which he had charge during the remainder of. his service. While commanding the Government

transports he did important work for the cause, and at times ran great hazards in his efforts to elude the enemy and takes his precious freight to a safe port. In the latter part of October, 1863, he sailed from St. Louis to New Orleans with a cargo valued at $250.000, and it was only by various devices and strategems that our ingenious captain was at last enabled to moor his boat in the New Orleans harbor, with no further damage than was sustained by one shot from the rebels.

After the war Capt. Detweiller commanded the " Beaver" until 1874, when he abandoned the water to give his attention more closely to the ice busi- ness, which he had established in 1870 in partner- ship with N. L. Woodruff. In December, 1876, he severest his connection with that gentleman, and has since managed his large and constantly increas- ing business himself, conducting both a wholesale ard retail trade. His large establishments for ice have a capacity of more than 13,500 tons.

Mr. Detweiller and Miss Magdaline Bachmann were united in marriage November 5, 1818. Mrs. Detweiller was born in the German province of Loraine on the 25th of August, 1826. She came came to this country the year prior to her marriage with our subject, which occurred at the home of his sister in Woodford County, Ill. Of their mar- riage seven children were born, of whom the fol- following four are living: Thomas H., William 11., Amelia and Matilda.

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Portrait and biographical album of Peoria County, Illinois : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 41

Author: Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo and Chicago Publication date: 1890 Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1014

Author: Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo and Chicago
Publication date: 1890
Publisher: Chicago : Biographical Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1014