Portrait and biographical album of Peoria County, Illinois : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 44

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 44

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Mr. Stevens was city Postmaster four years, fill- ing the office with satisfaction to all concerned. When he began practicing law he made up his mind to keep free from politieal aspirations, to which legal labors so frequently point. Ile works with the Republican party, and has frequently been a delegate to county and State conventions, but so far he has carried out his purpose of working only for the good of the party and the election of others. He is one of the original members of the Reformed Episcopal Church in this city, and has been Ves- tryman since its organization in 1876. He is also one of the organizers of the Farmers' Saving, Loan & Homestead Association, of which he has been President since its institution.

The legal acumen of Mr. Stevens has been called into requisition by various corporations of which he is or has been attorney. Among them are the People's Loan & Homestead Association, the First National and Commercial National Banks, and the Central Railroad Company. lle is also general counsel for the Distilling & Cattle-Feeding Asso-

ciation, for Kingman & Co., the largest agricultural implement house in the West, and for George M. Moore & Co., these two also being corporations. He likewise aets as general counsel for the Peoria. Decatur & Evansville Railroad, and the Peoria & Pekin Union Railroad Company. His partner is general counsel for the Toledo, Peoria & West- ern Railroad, and the firm are local attorneys for the Lake Erie & Western, and the Chicago, Santa Fe & California. In fact they do nearly all of the railroad business here, and have done so for a number of years.

The wife of Mr. Stevens is a native of this city, and daughter of Amos P. and Sarah M. Bart- lett, the father being one of the oldest living citi- zens and a brother of President Bartlett, of Dart- mouth College. Her mother is also living. Miss Sarah Bartlett was the recipient of good educa- tional advantages and careful home training, by which her mind and heart became the seat of in- telligence, fine principles and loving deeds. She became the wife of Mr. Stevens in 1868, and their happiness has been unmarred save by the loss of their two children, both of whom died young.

® OBERT M. FINLEY, who occupies an im- portant place in the farming community of Logan Township, where he has a well-improved farm, is a breeder of fine horses, Percheron, French and Cleveland Bay, of Short-horn eattle and Poland-China hogs. Ile is an early settler of this section of the county, and has aided in its development.

Mr. Finley was born November 25, 1817, in Adams County, Ohio. Ile came of good Revolu- tionary stock and his parents were Robert and Phoebe (Glasgow) Finley, natives respectively of Augusta and Rockbridge Counties, Va. The Fin- leys were of Irish extraction. The grandfather of our subject was a soldier in the Revolution. Hle was a Virginia planter and slaveholder. Disposing of his plantation there, he removed to Ohio, set free his negroes in an early day of its settlement and became the proprietor of landed property, and

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there passed the remainder of his life. The mother of our subject was a daughter of Robert Glasgow, the descendant of an Irish family who went from Virginia to Ohio, and was a pioneer of that State. lle was a member of the Associated Reform Church, and was a Whig in politics. He was twice married.

The father of our subject served in the War of 1812. He came from Ohio to this county in the fall of 1846, and settled on section 9, Logan Town- ship, and became one of its leading pioneers. He accumulated a valuable property and had several hundred acres of land. He died in Monmonth during the war and his widow closed her life in Fulton County, this State. He was a Whig in pol- itics and was for many years one of the leading members of the Associate Reform Church, of which he was an Elder, but he finally severed his connec- tion with that church and joined the United Pres- byterian Church. He was a son of Robert and Martha (Steele) Finley, who were natives of Penn- sylvania, and were the parents of the following children : Samuel, William, Robert, Jane, Martha, Sarah, Margaret, Mary, and Rosa. Three of their sons and four of their daughters married and reared families.

Robert Finley, our subject's father, was twice married. llis children by his first wife, the mother of our subject, were as follows: Robert M .: Erastus, who died in Iowa; Rosanna, Mrs. Smiley. who died in Iowa; Martha A., Mrs. Patton; John A., who served as Lieutenant in the late war and is now deceased; Leander, a resident of Kansas; Nancy M., now Mrs. Warwick; Phoebe, now Mrs. l'inkerton. The mother of these children died in 1832. Mr. Finley married for his second wife Mrs. Mary Warwick, nee Barr, widow of Alexander Warwick. Three children were born of that mar- riage: Samuel, a resident of Iowa; Sarah E., wife of A. Miller; and William, who was killed by guerrillas during the war.

He of whom we write was reared on a farm and was given the advantages of a common school edu- cation. His father had a large farm and required his assistance in its management, but at the age of twenty-eight he began life for himself, and in the spring of 1847 came to Logan Township, and set- tled where he now resides on one hundred acres of

land. He formerly owned land in Iowa. His farm here is in a good condition, is provided with an ex- cellent class of buildings and is well adapted to stock-raising, to which he devotes much attention, as before mentioned.

Mr. Finley has been twice married. The maiden name of his first wife was Elizabeth Hogne, and she was born in Butler County, Ohio, a daughter of John Hogue. Of the nine children, born of that marriage, one died in infancy and two, Mary A., and Robert, died in childhood. The following six are still living: John H., a resident of Iowa; Demarres, wife of Albert Pinkerton; Horace H .; Jane, wife of Joseph Karnaghan; Elmer. a resident of Iowa; and William. Mrs. Finley was a very estimable woman of a truly religious nature, and in her the United Presbyterian Church found one of its most earnest members.

The second marriage of our subject, which took place November 8, 1868, was to Mrs. Eliza J. Lo- gan, a native of Decatur County, Ind., and a daugh- ter of Thomas and Nancy (Patton) MeCracken, who were natives respectively of Kentucky and Adams County, Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Finley bave had three children : Thomas A., Edith and Clar- ence, all of whom are deceased, dying in childhood.

Our subject is a conscientious, straightforward man, who satisfactorily performs the duties that fall on him as the head of a household, as a neigh- bor and as a law-abiding citizen. He is an upright member of the United Presbyterian Church to which his good wife also belongs and both are faithful workers in the fold. In politics his views coineide with those promulgated by the Republican party.

M ATTHEW HENEBERRY was born in County Kilkenny, Ireland, September 8, 1834, and is a son of Nicholas and Anas- tasia (Carroll) Heneberry. The father was a farmer. In 1849 he emigrated to America, dy- ing in Peoria. Ill., in 1856, and his wife two years later. The parental family consisted of four sons and four daughters, the survivors being Matthew, Mrs. John Gorman, and Mrs. Thomas Daniels, all

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helix Hart

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of Peoria. At the age of sixteen years young Heneberry drove a dray for Mr. Carver. In 1851 he went into the whisky business as a porter and a year later secured a partnership with Mr. Brande- mom. After the partnership was consummated, the senior partner went to St. Louis, and three years later Mr. Heneberry took the entire business, which he has since continued.

Mr. Heneberry is interested in the First Na- tional Bank. and has been for twenty years; he is now Vice President of the institution. Ile also holds the offices of Treasurer in the Gas Company and in the Jenning Electric Light Company and is a Director of the Public Library. Ile is a mem- ber of Bishop Spakling's church. He is much in- terested in the improvement of the city in which he has spent the greater part of his life, and in which he takes pride as one in which business is flourishing and public improvements rapid.

The nuptial rites were celebrated between Mr. Ileneberry and Miss Mary Daniels May 10, 1867. The bride was born in the Emerald Isle and is a daughter of Richard Daniels. To Mr. and Mrs. lleneberry twelve children have been born, nine being now alive. Anastasia is the wife of Michael E. Began, of the First National Bank; Josie is the wife of Edward J. Cashin, a stock dealer; Mollie married Robert DeWalt, a wholesale and retail dry-goods merchant in Ft. Wayne, Ind. ; Lucy and Lida are at home; Nellie and Theodosia are at- tending the Sacred Heart Convent, at St. Louis, Mo .; Nicholas is with his father; Richard is in the First National Bank.

ELIX HART, of Chilicothe Township, is one of the leading farmers and stock raisers of Peoria County. His portrait presented on the opposite page represents an agri- culturist of more than ordinary skill and ability ; a man of quick, keen perceptions, and possessing a clear insight into the best methods of conducting agriculture, he knows well how to apply them so as to produce the best results, and in his harvest fields larger crops of grain are grown to the acre

than is usual even in this highly productive re- gion.

Mr. Hart was born in Somersetshire. England, ncar Bristol, July 15, 1826, coming of good okdl English ancestry. His parents, John and Mary (IIart) Hart, were both natives of Somersetshire, and of the same name though their families were in no way connected. They were life-long resi- dents of their native shire, the mother dying at the age of sixty years, while the father's life was prolonged to the ripe okl age of eighty-two years, when he too was gathered to his fathers. Ile was a well-known character in the place of his nativity, where he was the keeper of a public inn, and was prominent in local politics. Both he and his wife were people of more than average intelligence and capability, and were very highly thought of by all in their community. They were members of the Episcopal Church, and were active in every good work.

Our subject was the fifth child in a family of ten children, of whom only two came to America. He passed his boyhood and youth in the place of his birth, and early in life was apprenticed to a car penter; after his term of apprenticeship expired, he did journeyman work for two years. February 15, 1849, Mr. Hart took a new departure in life,as on that date he left his old friends and the parental home with its many pleasant associations, to seek on a foreign soil the prosperity that was denied him amid old environments. He took passage at Liverpool on the vessel "Mary Florence," bound for America. On the first night out the ship was nearly wrecked by a collision with another in the Irish Channel, and was obliged to put back to to Liverpool for repairs. It again set sail from that port March 3rd, and arrived at New York without further mishap April 4, 1849.

Mr. Hart immediately sought work and found it in Brooklyn, N. Y., where he remained some four years. We next hear of him in Newark, N. J., where he lived for some years. In December, 1854, with the wife that he had married there, he came to Peoria County, and after living in Peoria some years, moved to Elmwood, where he opened a carpenter's shop. He was there when the war broke out, and with patriotic ardor offered his ser-

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vices to his adopted country, but was refused on account of his small stature. For some time lie carried on his ealling in Elmwood, but finally set- tled on a farm in Knox County, and gave his at- tention to agricultural pursuits. Leaving that county in 1882 he repaired to Chillicothe Town- ship, where he has since made his home. He has a farm of four hundred and eighty acres in this county, besides other valuable property in Chilli- cothe. The land lies on sections 8 and 17, and is under admirable tillage, its broad harvest fields yielding bountiful harvests, which are the source of a handsome income; it is also provided with a neat and comfortable set of conveniently arranged farm buildings. Mr. Hart has been very success- ful in raising stock, and has his place stocked with cattle and horses of high grade. He has been greatly prospered since he became a resident of Illinois, and by his individual efforts has placed himself among the wealthy men of Chillicothe.

When in Newark, N. J., Mr. Hart had the good fortune to meet Miss Elizabeth Leynberger, a na- tive of that city, born February 4, 1831, and he was further favored by securing her as his wife. Iler parents had been reared and wedded in Alsace, then a part of France, and after marriage had come to this country, spending the remainder of their lives in Newark. Twelve children have come to bless the wedded life of our subject and his es- timable wife, of whom two are dead, Lulu and an infant; the names of the living are John H., Mary H., Mattie, A. Lincoln, George M., Eva E., Anna F., Emma J., Joseph W. and Flora E.

Mr. Hart has proved a valuable addition to the citizenship, as in all that pertains to the material, social or religious welfare of Chillicothe Township he has placed himself with those who are doing the most to forward its every interest. He and his wife are among the leading members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and their daily lives give evidence of the sincerity of their religion, as they are ever kind and helpful to all about them, and freely give of their sympathy and means if anyone is in trouble or in need of charitable assist. ance. Mr. Hart is very prominent in the councils of his church, and has held most of the offices, be- ing at present Class-Leader and Steward. He

takes an active part in politics, and is a sound Re- publican, though he does not seek for public hon- ors, and his whole course since coming to the United States has proved him one of the most loyal citizens of our great Republic.

ILLIAM CALHOUN is an old time and honored resident of Peoria County, and was one of the early settlers of Limestone Township, where he has a pleasant home, beanti- fully located on the Farmington Road, seven miles from Peoria. Here he has reclaimed a farm from the wild prairies, that is in all respects one of the most desirable estates in the vicinity, is kept un- der a high state of cultivation and is supplied with all modern improvements.

Mr. Calhoun was born in Ireland seventy years ago. a son of John and Jane (Anderson) Calhoun. The early years of his life were passed on his na- tive soil. Ambitions to see something more of the world, and to make something more of himself than he could on the old Isle, April 12, 1841, he left his parents and his seven brothers and sisters and started out on the long journey to the New World. He sailed for Quebec and from there made his way to the United States, and for six years was en- gaged in the marble works in Lenox, Mass. His wages were $1 a day, and when it was stormy he could not work, and there were but nine months in the year when the establishment where he was em- ployed was in operation. Notwithstanding the fact that ont of his small earnings he had to pay his board during the six years that he was there, he frugally saved up his money and at the end of that time, had a song little nest egg of between $600 and $700. With this little capital he deter- mined to try life in the West, and in 1847 started for Peoria, going to Albany by rail, and thence by canal to Buffalo, and from there by steamboat on the lakes to Chicago. In that city he had an opportunity to ride with a farmer who had been there with a load of wheat from Peru. Arriving at that place he embarked on a steamer for Peoria, and landed here in the month of September. He

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found Peoria searcely more than a village, with a population of three thousand people, and no indi- cation of the marvelous growth that has since taken place, making it a large and wealthy city. The first work that our subject did in Illinois was to quarry rock for the first bridge that ever span- ned the Ilinois River, which was afterward the first free bridge over that stream. He also helped to lay the stone in the piers of the bridge. 1Ie lived in Peoria for twenty years, and made money and acquired a competency, and at the end of that time moved to the farm on which he now lives. It comprises eighty acres of land of exceeding fertil- ity, which, when he purchased it, was in a wild state, but is now as fine a place as one could wish to see.

Mr. Calhoun was united in marriage with Miss Margaret Borland, April 12, 1849. She was a daughter of John and Mary (Jamieson) Borland, and was their eldest child. They were from Beith- shire, Scotland, coming to America in 1843 and to Peoria in 1848. They spent the remainder of their lives here and died leaving a large family. Mr. and Mrs. Calhoun had three children, all of whom died in infancy.

The pleasant wedded life of our subject was brought to a close by the death of his wife, No- vember 14, 1877. The removal of this tried and true companion left a vacancy in the life of our subjeet that can never be filled. Mrs. Calhoun was a woman of great patience and fortitude, of the serenest trust in God, of a discerning spirit and a kindly bearing, one who knew well how to guide the affairs of her own house so as to insure the comfort of the household. The family on both sides were of Presbyterian stock, but Mrs. Cal- houn joined the Methodist Church when she ar- rived at years of discretion and lived a true Chris- tian life, dying in full faith. When living in Scotland her minister gave her a card of recom- mendation and certificate of good standing in the church.

Mr. Calhoun possesses in a full degree those qualities of heart and intellect that mark him as a genial, kindly man, of sound cominon sense and prudent judgment. Though of foreign birth these United States of America have no more loyal and

devoted citizen thanthe. IIc said to the writer, "I love my adopted country. I became a citizen by adoption and took the oath of allegiance at Lenox. Mass., while living there, and I can truthfully say that I have ever been true to my adopted country in the darkest days of the Rebellion, and I can say with a true heart, long may the Stars and Stripes float over the best Government and conntry on the globe." In politics Mr. Calhoun is quite indepen- dent, never allowing anyone to influence his vote, aiming always to support whomsoever_he deems best fitted for office, irrespective of party.

G EORGE W. STEWART is an important member of the agricultural class as repre- sented in Trivoli Township, where he is en- gaged successfully in raising Norman horses of a high grade and full-blooded Poland-China hogs. He is of Scotch-Irish descent and his ancestors were among the first settlers of the State of Penn- sylvania. His father, James Stewart, was born in that part of the country, his birthplace being in Juniata County.

William Stewart, the grandfather of our subject, was a native of Cumberland County, Pa., and sub- sequently removed across the mountains to Juniata County in the early days of its settlement and lo- cated on Tuscarora Creek, in the woods, where he engaged in farming. One morning he went forth from his pioneer home in search of his horses, and while wandering some distance from the house was tomahawked and scalped by two Indians who lay in ambush. He had served in the Revolution while a resident of Cumberland County. After he was killed his family returned to their old home, and remained in Cumberland County a few years until the Indians had been subjugated, when they went back to Juniata County.

The father of onr subject was reared among the aborigines of the forest, and learned many of their ways and became a famous hunter with honnds. True to the Revolutionary blood of his sire, when a war sprang up with Great Britain in 1812, he of- fered his services to his country. In his early man-

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hood he located near Mifflin, in his native county, and for many years was actively engaged in clear- ing farms, which he sold at a good profit. He also used to team across the mountains to Baltimore. Hle died suddenly of colic in 1850, bis useful life thus terminating at the age of fifty-six. At the time of his death he was the owner of valuable property, including two farms. He was a strictly religious man,belonging to the Presbyterian Church. He was originally a Democrat in politics until Jackson's time, and then joined the Whigs.

The mother of our subject, whose maiden name was Rebecca Bell, was born in Juniata County, her father having settled in Pennsylvania on his arrival from Ireland. He was a follower of the Protestant religion. The mother of our subject died in her native State in 1878, having spent her last years with her children, of whom she had eight, as fol- lows: Richard S., a graduate of the Philadelphia Medical College, who died in Allegheny City, Pa .; William. who lives on the old homestead; Mary, now Mrs. Foltz, living near Mifflin, Juniata County : George W .; John, who died in Pennsylvania; Re- lecca, Mrs. Clark, who lives in LaSalle County ; Calvin, who is crippled from the effects of wounds received during the war, and lives with his brother William ; Elizabeth, Mrs. Harris, a resident of Jn- niata County. Calvin enlisted in 1861 in a Penn- sylvania cavalry regiment and served with great credit throughout the war.

George W. Stewart was born near Mifflin, Pa., November 24, 1824, and was reared on the old homestead in the beautiful valley of the Tuscarora in view of Shade Mouutain. He obtained his edu- cation in a log schoolhouse, with primitive slab benches and other rude furnishings. On the fertile soil of his father's farm he acquired a thorough insight into farming, and he used to have to tend to the burning of lime that was used as a fertilizer. Ile remained an inmate of the parental household until he was twenty-four years of age, and then married and established a home of his own, carry- ing on agriculture as a renter for some years after that. In 1852 he removed to Indiana, going by canal to Pittsburg, by boat to Cincinnati, and from there on the canal to Logansport in the Hoosier State. For awhile he dwelt in Carroll County, but

it was a very unhealthful season and everybody was siek there, and as he did not like the prospects, he returned to his native county, journeying thither by team and wagon, being three weeks and three days on the way.

Mr. Stewart bought a small farm in Juniata County after he went back there, engaged in its improvement a few years, and then sold it an ad- vance, and rented a farm until he came here and carried on trucking. In 1861 he determined to avail himself of the cheaper land in this State and the many superior advantages afforded by this sa- lubrious climate and fertile soil, and in the fall of the year he came here and purchased eighty acres of land in this township, and the following spring shipped his goods to Peoria, and soon had his household housed in a comfortable home, though it was in a log house, which constituted nearly all the improvement that had been made on the place. He broke the land and placed the soil under culti- vation, and was much prospered. In 1865 he bought thirteen and one-half acres on section 28, which was improved land, and he paid $54 an acre for it. His next purchase was of an eighty-acre tract on section 33, for which he paid $12 an acre. He cleared it and improved it, and in 1889 sold it. He then bought eighty acres on section 28, which was an improved farm. His home-farm comprises eighty acres on section 34, he having in all one hundred and seventy-three and one-half acres. His farm is under the best of cultivation, is tiled, fenced and hedged in a neat manner, and the dwell- ing is a large and conveniently arranged house, and the barn, 30x40 feet, is ample for its uses, and a fine orchard and beautiful groves adorn the place. Mr. Stewart rents all of his land, and from that source derives a comfortable income. He devotes much attention to raising high graded Norman horses, which are well bred, lacking one-eighth and one-sixteenth of being full-blooded, and he has a fine herd of fourteen horses, including some fine brood mares.

The first marriage of our subject, which took place January 1. 1848. was with Miss Phoebe A., danghter of Isaac Varnes. Her father, a native of Dauphin County, was a farmer in Juniata County, Pa., where she was born. She was a sincere Christ-

RADWans Su. W.

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ian and a member of the Baptist Church. She de- parted this life inuch lamented February 13, 1872. Her marriage with our subject resulted in the birth of nine children, of whom we have here a brief record: Winfield S. is married and resides in Wayne County, lowa; John A. died October 11, 1856, aged four years; Anna J. married Sylvester Men- denhall, and died in 1886 in Loup County, Neb .; George died here in 1889 after attaining manhood; Mary C. married John N. Eslinger, a farmer of Trivoli Township; John P. died here in 1886, at the age of twenty-six years. Ezra Doty, a finely educated young man. is Principal of the Utica schools in York County; Sarah Elizabeth married Lewis Lane, a farmer of this township; William died February 16, 1869, at the age of eight months. Ezra Stewart was a student at Bushnell College eighteen montlis, and then pursued a three years' course in the West Normal School, Shenandoah, Iowa, from which he was graduated in 1885. He was married at Farragut, Iowa, to Miss Ada A. Hall of that place.

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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 44

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