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 54
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The subject of this notice was born in Richwood Township, this county, January 5, 1844, but be- came of age in Radnor Township, where he has spent the greater part of his life. For thirteen years he lived in his native township in the neigh- borhood where his parents resided. As has been intimated, he is one who has attended to his own affairs, not seeking publie office or a prominent place among his fellow-men. He is sulliciently interested in politics to keep himself well posted regarding the issnes of the day, voting the Repub- liean ticket whenever election day comes around. Ile is a man of decided public spirit, deeply in- terested in the progress of education, every bene- volent work, and all which will increase the mate-
rial prosperity of the country. His private character is an upright one, his disposition genial and his manners courteons. He is therefore highly res- pected by those who know him.
At the home of the bride in Medina Township, May 3. 1873, the rites of wedlock were celebrated between our subject and Miss Clara E. Case. This lady is a daughter of Jerome II. and Maria (lIowe) Case, both of whom were born in Oswego County, N. Y., but were living in the West prior to their marriage. That event was celebrated in Peoria, after which they settled in Medina Township, Mrs. Case dying there in April, 1870. Their family consists of five children-Albert N., Charles N., Clara E., Flora J. and Irving J. The eldest and youngest sons live in this township which was their birthplace, and the second son in Radnor Town- ship. The younger daughter is now the wife of E. H. Divelbliss.
The birth of Mrs. Campbell took place May 30, 1849. She received an excellent education, and having been carefully reared by her parents, grew to womanhood in the possession of many womanly virtues and accomplishments. She was formerly identified with the Methodist Church, but is now a Presbyterian. She has borne her husband five children, whom they are endeavoring to rear in such a manner as to fit them for useful and honor- able careers. The interesting group bear the names of Robert J., Walter E., Olive M., Fred C. and Flora M.
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IRAM REED was reared and educated in Medina Township, having been born on the old homestead March 20, 1827. Ile became of age here and has always been a farmer. He now owns a fine estate of three hundred and seventy acres, most of which is tillable, and upon which a full line of substantial farm buildings has been erected, each being sufficiently commodious for the purpose for which it was designed and oc- eupying a convenient location upon the land.
Mr. Reed was married in Hallock Township to Miss Margaret Bland, a native of Shelby County, Ohio, whose natal day was August 22, 1837. She
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is a daughter of John and Lavina (Armstrong) Bland, natives of Ohio_and Kentucky, respectively, who were married in Shelby County, beginning their wedded life upon a farm there. The most of their large family, of which five daughters and three sons survive, were born in the county. In 1845 they removed to the Prairie State, settling in Hallock Township, this county, improving a farm upon which they resided until the death of the husband and father in 1865. Mr. Bland was then past middle age. He had made many friends dur- ing his residence in this county. His widow is now seventy-three years of age and is living with her children. She has been a member of the Baptist Church since early youth and has ever endeavored to act in a manner consistent with her belief. Mrs. Reed, who is the eldest of her parents' children, was nearly of age when the family left her native State. She possesses an intelligent mind, is a capa- ble housewife and a consistent Christian.
To Mr. and Mrs. Reed have been born four chil- dren three of whom, John W., T. LaFayette and Hiram S., are still inmates of the old home. The eldest of these is farming on his own account. The first born in the family is a danghter, Laura E., now the wife of William Snyder, who is engaged in farming in Guthrie, Oklahoma. The parents at- tend the Baptist Church. Mr. Reed is in no sense an office-sceker, but is sufficiently interested in pol- itics to cast his vote on every election day, and continue a firm believer in Democratie principles.
The paternal grandfather of our subjeet was Samuel Reed, a native of one of the New England States, whose later years were spent in New York. Among the members of his large family was a son, Thomas B., who was reared in the Empire State, and while unmarried settled in Ohio, pursuing the occupation of a farmer, to which he had been bred. Ile married Frances Wilkinson, a native of the Buckeye State, whose parents had journeyed thither from Kentucky, the land of their birth.
A few years after their marriage Thomas B. Reed and his wife came with teams from Ross County, Ohio, to Peoria County, Ill. Their journey was a long, tedious, and almost fatal one, they having been met by a raging prairie fire, which they es- caped only by seeking low land covered with water,
where they remained unhurt while the flames leaped nearly over them. After thus literally wad- ing through fire and water they settled on a por- tion of the unbroken lands of Medina Township, identifying themselves with the pioneers of the early '30s. They lived to build up a good home on section 3, to see the country fully improved and thickly populated. They died at a goodly age, Mr. Reed being more than seventy-five years old when called hence. lle had been quite prominent in the township, having served as Justice of the Peace for some years. His family included three sons and four daughters, one son and one daughter being now deceased.
12 ICHOLAS SCHAUB. This young and en- terprising farmer and stock-breeder, was born where he now resides, on section 12, Rosefield Township, June 16, 1859. His father, Jolın Schaub, was born in Germany, learned the trade of a cabinet-maker, and served according to the custom, in the German army. He was the son of Adam and Mary Schaub, having a brother Adam and a sister Mary, but being the only member of the family who came to America. Hle landed at New Orleans after a voyage of six weeks, and re- mained in the Southern metropolis nine years, work- ing at his trade. He then came to Peoria County, Ill., locating at Kickapoo, where he married Mrs. Catherine Backes, nee Klug. He then located where our subject resides, living there until his death, March 7, 1877.
The mother of our subject was born in Germany, March 7, 1816,to Peter A. and Elizabeth Klug. The Klug family comprised four sous and five daugh- ters, of whom one son and four daughters came to the United States. These were John; Sina, Mrs. Blatch; Elizabeth, Mrs. Frank Shepherd; Margaret. Mrs. Peter Backes; and the mother of our subject. Catherine Klug married Jacob Backes, with whom she came to the United States in March, 1842, hav- ing spent ten weeks on the way. They located ou eighty acres on section 12, Rosefield Township, this county, which they improved, and upon which she
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afterward resided with her second husband. Her first marriage resulted in the birth of four children, two of whom died in Germany. John and Jacob are living in this county.
The parents of our subject had five children, he of whom we write being the youngest. The others are Mary E., wife of Adam Kelch, of Kickapoo; Carrie E. who remains on the home farm; John who died leaving three sons and two daughters; and Peter, now living in Orient, Adair County, Iowa. Nicholas Schaub received a good common- school education, and being reared on the farm, early became acquainted with its management. At the age of twenty-one years he began life for him- self, taking charge of the homestead, which in the settlement of the estate fell to him, he also having the care of the family. He makes a specialty of thorough-bred Poland-China hogs, doing also gen- eral farming and stock-raising. He is a member of the Catholic Church, to which his mother be- longs, and of which his father was a communicant.
ILLIAM MOFFITT, who is extensively engaged in farming and stock-raising in Chillicothe Township, where he has one of the largest and finest managed farms in all Peo- ria County, represents one of the oldest and best known pioneer families of this part of Illinois, both his father and his father's father having been early settlers of this region, and borne a prominent part in developing the county. Our subject has also been of great assistinee in pushing forward the best Interests of the community, and is a credit to his native township and county, where he is looked upon with great respect. He is one of the noble army of veterans who fought in the late war, whose patriotism and loyal devotion to their eoun- try in her darkest hours saved her from dishonor and disunion.
Mr. Moffitt was born on his father's old home- stead in this township March 22, 1839. His father, John Moffitt, was a native of Ohio, and a son of John Moffitt, Sr., who was born in North Carolina. of Irish parentage, though some Scotch blood ran
in his veins. The grandfather of our subjeet grew to manhood in North Carolina, and at different times learned the various trades of hatter, black- smith and miller, and was thus well prepared to fight life's battles. After his marriage to Miss Lydia Cox, also a North Carolinian by birth, he came westward as far as Ohio, and settled among the pioneers of Chillicothe, in Ross County, where he built a mill which he operated some years. About 1835 or 1836 he and his wife followed their son John to this place, the latter having come here in 1834 and established a home. John Moffitt, Sr., built up a home, in which he and his wife spent their declining days in peace and comfort, he rounding out a ripe old age of more than three score years and ten. and she preceding him in death a few years, dying full of years. He had been reared in the Quaker faith, but marry- ing out of the church he was ever after a dis- senter. He was a good old man, a well-known pioneer and he held a warm place in the hearts of his associates.
The father of our subject was the third child of a large family of some twelve children, all of whom married and reared families, and in the course of time departed this life. John Moffitt became of age in Ohio and was there married to Miss Margaret Dawson, who was born in Pennsyl- vania in 1805, of Irish parentage. Her parents, after coming to this country, had settled in Penn- sylvania, whenee they afterwards moved to Ross County, Ohio, where Jolm Dawson, the father, died. His wife Margaret subsequently came to Illinois, and died in this township when an old lady past eighty years of age. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Moffitt lived at Richmond Dale, near Chillicothe. Ohio, where he owned and worked a grist and saw mill for some years. In 1833 he made a trip to this part of Illinois and secured a location both for a mill site and a home, and in the following year came here with his fam- ily. Ile became, in the years that followed, one of the most prosperous and well-to-do of the pio- neers among whom he had settled, and was a con- spicuous figure in developing the great resources of the county. Ile became a large landowner, and had in his possession about thirteen hundred
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acres of land, which was in its natural state when be purchased it. Ile lived to see it well improved and under cultivation. In their carly life here he and his wife had to endure many hardships and privations, and led a life of self-sacrifice in those pioneer times. There were hut few settle- ments in this part of the State, and he had to go away to Chicago for salt and other supplies. lle was well known all over the county, and none knew him but to revere and respect him for his great personal worth, and at his death March 1, 1882, at the age of eighty years, he left an un- blemished record as a pioneer and a citizen, and as one who in all the relations of life had been true to himself and to those about him. He was eminently fitted for the pioneer labors that he performed, as he was a man of fine physique, who scarcely knew a day of sickness, and he possessed more than ordinary powers of endurance and en- ergy. His wife, to whom he was greatly attached and who had faithfully shared with him his pioneer life and its attendant trials, and had taken an active in- terest in his success, was not long separated from him, her death occurring three days after his. She was a loving wife and a tender, devoted mother, who worked hard to rear a large family. Neither she nor her husband identified themselves with any par- ticular religious faith, but their creed was ex- pressed in the moral, upright lives that they led.
William Moffitt was the youngest but two of a family of nine children, five sons and four daugh- ters, of whom six are still living, and but one yet unmarried. Our subject received his education in the public schools of this, his native county, and was just entering upon a strong, sturdy manhood, when the hour of his country's peril called upon him to show his patriotism, and he was prompt to respond. He enlisted in the Seventh Missouri Infantry, as a member of Company I, commanded by Capt. J. S. C. Roland and Col. John D. Ste- venson. His regiment was sent to the South, and in the long and weary siege of Vicksburg he proved himself to be possessed of the fine soldierly qualities of valor, promptitude and endurance, and he did good service in many skirmishes. Dur- ing the whole course of the three years that he passed in the army he escaped unhurt from ball or
bayonet, and was never taken prisoner, and was always ready to report for duty day or night. Ile won deserved promotion to the position of Ser- geant, and was honorably discharged at St. Louis, Mo .. June 1, 1864.
Mr. Moffitt was bred to the life of a farmer, and has been actively engaged in tilling the soil and raising stock for several years. Eight years ago he came into possession of his present farm, lying partly on section 16, Chillicothe Township, and comprising about one thousand acres of as fruit- ful land as is to be found in this locality, forming as it does a part of the alluvial Illinois River bot- toms. The most of it is under cultivation, and is well stocked with cattle, horses and hogs of excel- lent breeds, while substantial, roomy buildings and many other improvements add greatly to the value of the place.
The marriage of Mr. Moffitt to Miss Abbie 1. Pond was solemnized in this township, and here they have established a very pleasant home, which is rendered very attractive to their numerous friends, or to the stranger who may happen to cross its threshold, by the kind consideration of the hostess for the welfare of her guest and the court- eous hospitality of the host. Their two sons, Philip A. and William R., complete the household circle.
Mrs. Moffitt was born in St. Clairsville, Bel- mont County, Ohio, November 22, 1850, to Lam- bert and Penelope ( Murray) Pond, natives respect- ively of New Jersey and Virginia. They were married in Ohio, but after the birth of their chil- dren came to Chillicothe, and settled here on a farm. They lived in this township some years, and then went to Sedgwick County, Kan., and lo- cated some ten miles from Wichita, and there Mrs. Pond died in December, 1888, at an advanced age. Mr. Pond is still living, he being now about four- score years old, and makes his home in Kansas. Mrs. Moffitt was reared and educated in Ohio. and and was quite a young lady when she came to this State with her parents. She and her husband are genial, social people, and are among the leaders in the community.
Our subject's career as a boy and man in this county of his nativity has been such as to jus-
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tify the confidence reposed in him, and his old friends and neighbors of many years standing, some of whom have watched his course through life, will testify to his fine personal character for unswerving integrity, truthfulness and unblem- ished honor.
AMES MONROE has accumulated a hand- some property while actively carrying on milling, mining and farming, and is one of the substantial citizens of Peoria County, of which he is a resident of many years standing, coming here in pioneer times, and since attaining manhood has made himself very useful in develop- ing the rich and varied resources of this part of Illinois. Ile has a beautiful home in Limestone Township. his fine residence on the brow of the bluff commanding a beautiful view of the city, with the court-house about four miles away.
Mr. Monroe was born October 11, 1822, in Luz- erne County, Pa., the third son and eighth child of Samuel and Lois (Brown) Monroe. His father was a native of New York, and after marriage lived for many years in Pennsylvania, whence he emigrated to this State in 1836. On the 22nd of July, that year, with a party of seventeen, inelud- himself, wife and eleven children, he embarked on a raft on the Tunkhannock Creek, and going a distance of eight miles entered the Susquehanna, down which the little company floated for one hundred and forty miles, then proceeded on the same boat one hundred and twenty-eight miles up the Juniata River to Ilolidaysburg, where they crossed the Alleghanies on the great inclined plane railway, of thirty-eight miles, to Johnstown. From there they proceeded down the Kissecommita Creek, and as the canal was out of order, they landed and took the same boat below the falls of the Ohio at Louisville, where they took the steamer ".Junius" for St. Louis. Mr. Monroe had piloted his own boat through the rapids, which was considered a very rash act by the boatmen of those days. At St. Louis the party was broken up,as Mr. Monroe's fam- ily was the only one to come in this direction. He
and his wife and children got aboard the steamer "Illinois," bound for Peoria, where they eventually landed the 5th of September, having been nearly two months on the way, traveling all the time except when it was necessary to tie up and do washing and baking. They found Peoria but a struggling vil- lage of about eight hundred people. The Mon- roes stopped in the village for a few weeks, when the father engaged himself to Orin Hamlin to run a mill, which he soon leased and out of which he made a good deal of money. For the first two years the family lived in about the same place, a squatters claim of a small piece of land, on which they erected a shanty in which all lived. The sur- rounding country was in a very uncivilized condi- tion and wild animals were numerous. Mr. Monroe has often seen wolves between their house and town, near where the Catholic Church now stands, and at night many of them were heard making the air melodious with their howls. The father of our subject made his home with him in his old age until his death, in 1860. In his political views he was a strong Democrat. Ilis name is classed among the honored pioneers of our county, who will ever be held in remembrance for what they did in de- veloping the county.
Our subject was a lad of fourteen years when he accompanied his parents to their new pioneer home and he grew to a sturdy strong manhood amid its primitive scenes. When twenty-four years of age, he and his brother John purchased the mill, which his father had leased, and operated it together until 1849, when John went to California, during the gold excitement, and died there shortly after. Mr. Monroe then continued the mill business alone for many years very prosperously, and also exten- sively engaged in mining, and has paid consider- able attention to farming. There was a quarter of a seetion of land with the mill, and our subjeet bought the most of this after his brother's death, and from time to time has disposed of it at good prices for lots. He still retains, however, twenty- five acres of it, which he has placed under exeel- lent cultivation, and has supplied it with all the best improvements. Ile built his present roomy, commodious residence in 1858, and it is one of the substantial old houses of the county.
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Mr. Monroe has been three times married, his first wife and third wife having no children. The maiden name of his second wife, the mother of his children, to whom he was married in 1857, was Mary E. Cunningham. Of the four children born to our subjeet of that union, all are married and well settled in life, as follows: John N .. a resident of Morris County, Kan., is married and has one child; Benjamin F., who is married and has one ehild, owns a farm adjoining his brother John's; Emma V. is the wife of Daniel Fisher of Peoria, and they have two children; Annie B. is the wife of E. J. Fisher, an attorney-at-law in Harper, Har- per County, Kan., and they have one child. The mother of these children departed this life in 1869.
Mr. Monroe has ever been a man of weight and influence in the county, whose development he has promoted, and he has given an impulse to many an enterprise to advance the growth and best in- terests of his adopted township, and has taken a - prominent part in the conduet of public affairs, holding many offices of trust and honor in the county. He was elected Supervisor three differ- ent times, and has been Treasurer of the School Fund for the township, and also a road official. Politically our subjeet has always voted for a Democratic candidate for the Presideney, but in county and local affairs he is not bound by party ties. Our subjeet has never identified himself with any church, but is a confirmed spiritualist in his religious views. He seeks the good of others and does what he ean to elevate humanity.
ENRY SCHENCK. It would be hard to find among the farming community of Elm- wood Township, a man who wields greater influence or has greater personal popularity than he whose name introduces this sketch. His life has been marked with no wonderful events, but has been spent in the pursuance of the peaceful calling of a farmer, and in a share in the local pub- lic affairs. His home is upon seetion 6, where he
has a fine tract of land, a substantial and attractive residence, and the various improvements which mark his estate as that of a prosperous man. In addition to his real estate, he is interested in a bank at Elmwood, his entire worldly possessions giving him a rank among the wealthy men of the town- ship.
The natal day of our subject was December 14, 1835, and his birthplace Ohio. to which his parents had removed at an early day. That worthy eou- ple, Peter P. and Catherine (Johnson) Sehenck, were natives of New Jersey, and the father was a farmer. The latter died in 1882, at an advanced age, but the mother passed away in 1859. They had five children, all now dead except our subject. Hle received a fair education in the common schools, and on the home farm learned the best methods of making the soil productive of rich results in grain and fruits of the field.
When twenty-three years old, Mr. Sehenck started out in life for himself, receiving some assistance from his father. and thus beginning his career un- der more favorable auspiees than many. His capi- tal, however, would not have accomplished mueh, had he not known how to use it to good advantage, and save, as well as spend, at proper times. Hle settled upon his present homestead in 1864, and in 1874 built the residence that now adorns it, also putting on the various improvements it bears. The estate consists of two hundred and ten aeres, and Mr. Schenck also has an interest in eleven sections in Kansas. He became connected with the banking firm of Clinch, Schenck & Lott, in 1888, but still gives his personal attention to his agricultural work.
In 1859 Mr. Schenck led to the hymeneal altar Miss Maria Catharine Kemp, who died in 1867. Her parents, David and Sarah (Snyder) Kemp, were old settlers in the Prairie State. Mr. Schenck was again married in May, 1869, on this occasion be- eoming the husband of Mrs. Susan Snyder, nee Selby. This lady, a native of Ohio, is more than ordinarily intelligent, well skilled in household arts, and with a Christian character that makes her in- fluence felt by all with whom she comes in contact. The union has been blessed by the birth of four children, two now living. These are Harry, sev-
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enteen years old, and Edna E., thirteen. Mrs. Schenek has one child yet living, by her first hus- band. All are well advanced for their years, hav- ing been encouraged to attend school and gain all they could of useful knowledge.
While living in Ohio, Mr. Schenck was a School Director. He is now Supervisor of Elmwood Town- ship. In polities he has always been interested, frequently acting as delegate to conventions, and affiliating with the Democratic party. In a town- ship that is strongly Republican, he was elected to his present position by the handsome majority of seventy-five, by which he is very much elated. This fact indicates the reputation he enjoys, and which he hopes to sustain.
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