Portrait and biographical album of Peoria County, Illinois : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 64

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 64

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).

Eleven children were born to the parents of our subject; John R., a resident of Dunlap; Robert W .; Elizabeth, Mrs. Little, of Princeville; Frances, who is deceased; Absalom, of Radnor Township; Ira D., of Madison County, Iowa; Ruth, who died in Iowa; James, of Marshall County; Paul, living near Huntsville, Ala .; Susan, Mrs. Gregery, living near Ilenry; Jesse, a resident of Marshall County, Ill. Ira served in the war one hundred days.

Robert Harrison was born in Rosefield Town-

ship. December 13, 1834. Ile was reared on a farm in Akron Township, and was early set to work driv- ing oxen, teaming wood, plowing, and at other farm labors. Ilis education was conducted in the primitive log schoolhouse of pioneer times,and when thirteen years old he went into the mill to learn the trade of a miller. He subsequently began to oper- ate the mill on shares when he was twenty years old, and was engaged at that for three years, when his father sold it. Ile then turned his attention to farming, threshing and corn shelling, and was em- ployed in those pursuits two years. In 1856 he bought eighty acres of land on section 35, Prince . ville Township, which is included in his present farm. Ile actively entered upon its improvement, and in the years that followed, developed it from a tract of wild prairie to a productive and well cul- tivated farm. In the spring of 1854 he went to Boone County, Iowa, and entered eighty acres of land, but did not settle on it, and subsequently sold it at a good advance. He located on his farm in 1856, and has since bought more land until he has increased its acreage to four hundred acres ly- ing on section 35, and he has besides one hundred acres with improvements in Jubilee Township, the price he paid for it varying from $7.50 to $60 an acre. He has two sets of buildings in his land in- elnding ample barns, granaries, etc., and his resi- dence is a substantial and well fitted up dwelling. Ilis land is well fenced, and is well watered, hav- ing windmills, tank, etc., and he has a fine orchard and valuable groves of trees, and everything about the place shows care and excellent management on the part of the owner. Besides this fine farm, Mr. Harrison owns valuable city property, is owner of the Henry Hotel, and has town property in Prince- ville. Our subject grows large quantities of grain, and raises a good deal of stock, having eighteen head of improved Norman horses, using four teams on his farm, and he has high graded cattle. feeding and selling two car-loads each year, and raising two car-loads of hogs, shipping his own stock to market; he also raises sheep.

Mr. Harrison was married in Princeville Town- ship, March 2, 1859, to Miss Elinore Lawrence, a daughter of Francis Lawrence. She was born in Mamaroneck, Westchester County, N. Y .. March

564

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

28. 1841. She received excellent school advan- tages, and remained an inmate of the parental home until her marriage. Her father was also a native of Westchester County. and was a son of Charles Lawrence. who was of English birth. Ile emi- grated to this country, and engaged in farming in New York, and there died. Mrs. Harrison's father was a stone-mason by trade, but after coming to Princeville Township, from his native State in 1854, he turned his attention to farming. He was thus engaged here two years, and then bought a farm in Jubilee Township. where he lived until his death in 1889. he having improved in the mean- time a good farm of one hundred and sixty aeres. He was a Democrat in politics, and in religion was identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church. as one of its most faithful members. The maiden name of his wife was Mary S. Rodgers, and she was born in New York, a daughter of William Rodg- ers. who was of English parentage. She lives on the old homestead at the age of seventy-one years. She was the mother of the following six children: Caroline, Mrs. Moffatt, of Monica; Charles W., a farmer in Jubilee Township; Mary F., now Mrs. Beal. of Stark County; Rachael S .. now Mrs. Har- rison, of Princeville; Frank H., living on the old homestead.

Mr. and Mrs. Harrison's pleasant wedded life has blessed to them by the birth of nine children: two died in infancy; Agatha A., Hanford J., Emma J., Minnie S., Frank H., Ada M., and Bertha L. Agatha married Theodore Pierce, a farmer of Nod- away County, Mo .; Hanford is farming on the home farm; Emma married George Smith, of Ju- bilee Township; Minnie and Ada attended Prince- ville academy, and the former has been a teacher.

Mr. Harrison was a man of marked enterprise. and possessed more than ordinary energy, taet and business talent, as shown by the fact that he had ae- quired wealth by his own exertions, and occupied a conspicuous place among the representative citi- zens of Peoria County. His publie spirit identified him with the leaders who bore an active part in promoting the material, social, and educational welfare of this part of the State, and he was active in public life. He was serving his third term as Commissioner of Highways; had been School Di-

rector for twenty-six years, with the exception of two years, and assisted in building the academy and placing it on a sound basis, and he was a mem- ber of the Detective Thief and Mutual Benefit As- sociation, had been prominent in its management, and had held the office of Lieutenant. He was one of the leading Republicans of the county. had been a delegate to Congregational and County Conven · tions, and was serving his second term as Central Committee man. He had been member of the Grand and Petit Juries. Mr. Harrison died at his home in Princeville Township, August 8, 1890.

The following obituary is taken from a local pa- per: "Robert W. Harrison was born December 13, 1834. and died August 8, 1890. His death was the result of an accident which resulted fatally in about thirty-six hours after the occurrence. The deceased often referred to his boyhood days, the difficulties and deprivations of the first settlers. He was a scion of the sturdy stock who first emigrated to Illi- nois. Like all young men in his day, he started in life with limited means. but being a careful man- ager, and very energetic, he had at the time of his death accumulated a valuable estate. He was a man avowedly in favor of moral elevation and intel- lectual advancement. He was a studious reader, and consequently well informed in the history and current events of the day. He was plain and un- . assuming in his habits, and had no taste or desire to indulge in the fashions and frivolities of the times. In his intercourse with his fellow-men, he was kind, generous and obliging, and in the matter of private or publie benefaction he never failed to respond when the object was worthy. He had fre- quently been elected to office by the voters of his town; at the time of his death he was in an official position. He was earnest and true to the princi- ples of the political party to which he belonged, and was recognized as one of its local leaders. A few weeks before his demise he was a chosen dele- gate to a convention which placed in nomination a candidate for congressional honors. As an evi- dence of the respect and esteem in which he was held, there was a very large concourse of people in attendance at his obsequies. The funeral service was conducted at the Methodist Episcopal Church, by Rev. A. Smith, the pastor, in a very appropriate

565

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

and impressive manner. His remains were laid away to rest in the Princeville cemetery -- he is numbered with the inhabitants of the silent city. The sympathies of the public are extended to his respected companion and family in their bereave- ment." M. W.

ARVEY SEYMOUR, a retired farmer, was for a long time engaged in agriculture in this county, and by his superior manage- ment of his affairs acquired a handsome property. He still owns five acres of land near the southern city limits of Chillicothe, where he has made his home for many years. He has borne an honorable part in public affairs, and is highly re- garded for his solid worth as a man and a citizen.

Mr. Seymour was born December 16, 1825, not far from the city of Auburn, N. Y., coming of ster- ling New England stock. His parents were Edward and Elizabeth (Foot) Seymour, natives of Ver- mont, where they were reared and married. Soon after that important event in their lives they set their faces toward New York, and in the wilds of that part of it where the thriving city of Auburn now stands established themselves in a pioneer home. Mr. Seymour immediately opened a smithy, he having learned the trade of a blacksmith among the Vermont hills, and was busily engaged in that occupation in that place until the time of his death, which occurred when he had scarcely passed the meridian of life, he being but little more than fifty years of age when he died. Ile left a large family, the greater part of which went with his widow to Fairfield Township, Huron County, and there the mother died at the age of seventy years. Both she and her husband were faithful members of the Baptist Church. They were the parents of seven sons and two daughters.

Our subject is the youngest but one of the family, and he and his youngest brother and two sisters are the survivors. He remained an inmate of the parental home until he had attained manhood. and then went out into the world to make his own liv- ing. He went to Rochester, N. Y., and the ensu-

ing fifteen years worked in a foundry there. In 1851 he joined the horde of emigrants from all parts of the world that were hastening by various routes to the Pacific Slope in search of gold, and he made his way thither by the way of the Isthmus of Panama, and entered the Golden Gate in the month of June. He went at once to Greenborn River, near Red Dog, and not far from the Nevada mining regions, and he was there busily engaged on one claim for two years. In spite of the enor- mous expense of living there, he made money, and finally, wearying of the rough life of the mines, turned his face homeward, traveling by the way of the Isthmus of Panama to New York, and thence to his old abode in Rochester. He lived there one year, and then made a new departure, and this time came to Illinois, and has since been a resident of this State. He lived in Champaign County five years, and in 1862 took up his permanent abode in this county. For several years he gave his atten- tion strictly to farming and stock-raising, and was so prospered in all that he undertook that he was enabled to retire with a comfortable competence ere yet the shadows of old age darkened his life.

Mr. Seymour has been twice married. He was first married in Champaign County to Miss Jane McCarty. She was a native of Scotland. who came to this country with her parents when she was two years old. The family settled in Oswego, Kendall County, where she grew to womanhood, and later removed to Champaign County, and from there came with her husband to Chillicothe. In the pleasant home that she had aided her husband in building up her death occurred in 1871, at the age of twenty-nine years. She was young to die, and her death was a sad loss to her family. She was a sincere Christian and a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. She had borne her sufferings, caused by a malady that she knew to be incurable, with a wonderful patience and sweet resignation. She was the mother of four children, two of whom, Henry and Frank, died when young; Emma J. and Charles are at home with their father. Mr. Seymour was married a second time in Chillicothe, taking as his wife Miss Agnes Willard. She was born in Michigan, and was young when she came to this State with her

566

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

parents, who settled in Chillicothe, where she received her education and grew to a noble woman- hood. Her father died some years after his settle- ment here, but her mother is still living, now past seventy years of age, making her home with a son in Princeville. Mrs. Seymour was a victim of the same terrible malady that destroyed the life of our subject's first wife, but she bravely bore her suffer- ings with cheerful submission to the inevitable, and finally succumbed to the disease in September. 1886, dying at the age of forty years. She was in all respects a model woman, and was a true mother to her step-children, who hold her in grateful re- inembrance.

Mr. Seymour is a sagacious, thrifty man, possess- ing keen perceptions and a mind well balanced, which attributes make him one of the most trusted and respected citizens of Chillicothe, and his wise counsels have been useful in the guidance of public affairs. He has been Aklerman of the city two terms, and is one of the stalwarts in the Democratic party in this county.

0 LIVER WIHITE is one of Peoria's leading citizens, and for a number of years has been variously connected with its interests as a journalist, or in some prominent official capacity, and has been very active in the work that has been carried on for several years by the most enlight- ened and progressive citizens of the city to ele- vate its literary, scientific and educational status.

Mr. White is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Tioga County, August 6, 1834, a son of Hewes and Hannah (Williamson) White, natives of New York. His father was a blacksmith. In 1837 he came to Illinois, and was an early pioneer of Stark County. He located first in Occola and afterward in Toulon.

Our subject was a small child when his parents brought him to this State, and here he was care- fully reared amid its pioneer scenes. llis educa- tion was mainly wrought out by his own force, sometimes over the blazing forge and sometimes at school, but always by the hardest and in the

thickest of the fight. He first entered the teacher's profession, but the calling of a journalist had a great attraction for him, and, in 1854, he became employed in the printing office of the Henry County Dial, of which he subsequently became editor, and was afterwards connected with differ- ent papers. He was busily engaged in his work as an editor when the war broke out, and in April, 1862, threw aside his profession to take up arms in defense of his country's honor. enlisting in the New York Marine Artillery. For a year he served in this capacity, until that arm of the service was disbanded by the War Department on account of the fraudulent enlistment of some of the men. He then resumed newspaper work at Toulon.

In 1880 Mr. White came to Peoria, and worked first on the Call. He afterward worked at differ- ent times on the staff of each of the city dailies. Under the Arthur administration he served a four years' term as Government storekeeper. Then after three years service on the Journal, he was ap- pointed Government Gauger, which position he now holds. He attained a high place in the jour- nalistic profession, his clear cut, timely editorials on all subjects of public importance, wielding a marked influence on public sentiment; and his ready, eloquent pen has often donc muchi to pro- mote the various enterprises for the common weal of the community.

September 16, 1857, Mr. White was married to Miss Isabella Rumbold, their marriage taking place in St. Louis. Their wedded life though happy was of brief duration, her death occurring May 9, 1864. Mr. White was married to his present wife, form- erly Miss M. Louise Mercer, June 27, 1865. Mrs. White is a native of Belmont County, Ohio, but was reared in Illinois, her parents having located in Bureau County, among its pioneers in 1839. Mr. and Mrs. White have one son, Whitaker Mer- cer, who is a civil engineer.

Both Mr. White and his estimable wife are prominent people socially, and are held in high consideration by a large circle of friends and ac- quaintances. A man of Mr. White's ability, learn- ing and capacity for affairs, cannot but be an important factor in the management of public inter- ests, and, as we have seen, our subject has been

Respectfully Hours Cyrus Le Berry

569

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

conspienous in the civic life of the county. For ten years he was Postmaster of Toulon, and was Deputy Provost-Marshal of the congressional dis- trict during the latter part of the war. Ile has always been influential in polities, and has ever been true to the Republican party. These brief lines do but scant justice to our subject, who is a man of profound intelleet, large culture and a broad outlook on life, possessing sntficient energy, stamina and resolution to make him a marked force in the community, and Peoria finds in him one of lier best and most useful citizens.

C YRUS L. BERRY. The name of C. L. Berry is well known far beyond the limits of Peoria, in which city he makes his home, as that of an efficient public servant and honorable man. During the past four years he has been cred- itably filling the position of Depnty United States Marshal of the Northern District of Illinois, in the Southern Division. He is a native of the Empire State, born in Ashland, Greene County, February 3, 1834. His parents, Abner and Esther ( Merwin) Berry, natives of Maine and New York respeet- ively, had seven children, of whom he is the fourth. Of the four survivors of the household band all remain in the Empire State except our subjeet. Abner Berry was of English ancestry, and was a carpenter and joiner by trade. Ile passed to his rest September 10, 1884, leaving the memory of honorable deeds as a heritage to his children.

The boyhood and early manhood of our subject were passed in his native State, and until twenty- two years of age he worked with his father in the intervals and after the conclusion of his studies. He then entered an hotel as elerk, continuing to occupy such a position seven years, after which he rented and managed a hotel eight years. In 1870 he removed to Peoria County, Ill., seeured land and devoted his attention to tilling the soil for about twelve years. He was then elected Sheriff, and moved into the city. Four years later, in 1886, he was appointed Deputy United States Marshal, hold- ing that official station until April, 1890.

The important positions above noted are not the only public offices in which Mr. Berry has served. He was Town Clerk three terms in New York. and was filling the same station in Peoria County when nominated for Sheriff, resigning the minor office when elected to the more arduous position. Prior to that time he had also been serving as Treasurer of the township in which he resided, which office he also resigned on coming to Peoria. Mr. Berry is an ardent Democrat, and has been from the time lie cast his first Presidential ballot for James Bu- chanan in 1856. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, K. of M. and R. M.

On October 29, 1860, Mr. Berry led to the hy- meneal altar Miss Mary E. DeNoyells, who, as her maiden name indicates, is of French extraction. She was born October 1, 1836, and possesses all the vivacity which is a conspicuous trait in those of French descent, together with a kindly nature and a spirit of devotion to her home and family. To Mr. and Mrs. Berry six children have been born, two of whom died in infancy-Clarence D., born July 4, 1861, died July 28, 1884. The liv- ing are: Birdsall A., born March 28, 1867; Willie R., October 8, 1868; and Erma A., March 14, 1878.

Elsewhere in this volume the reader will notice a lithographie portrait of Mr. Berry.

R ICHARD W. BURT. The Peoria Soap Works constitutes one of the leading in- dustries of the city and was established by the subject of this notice in 1888. It differs in one important feature from the majority of the enterprises of the kind, there being used in the manufacture of toilet soap especially, a vegeta- ble product obtained from the soap tree in Mexico and Central America, thus doing away with the ob- jectionable matter too often utilized in the manu- tacture of this indispensable article of commerce.

The soap tree first came to the notice of Baron Von Humboldt, the great traveler, as the natives were using it in cleansing clothing and various other articles in Central America. It was not un-

570

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

til many years afterward that it became an article of commerce and its valuable qualities adapted to general use in this country. The establishment of a factory in Peoria making a specialty of this arti- cle, has added largely to the importance of its var- ious industries and Mr. Burt is given great credit for the part which he has played in thus adding to the manufacturing interests of the city. He is an enterprising business-man, popular among the peo- ple and occupies no secondary position in either business or social circles.

A native of Orange County, N. Y., Mr. Burt was born April 23, 1823, the son of Foght and Eliza- beth (Welling) Burt, both of whom were likewise natives of the Empire State. The first representa . tives of the family in America came soon after the landing of the "Mayflower" and were familiarly known throughout New England during the Colo- nial days. They were people, honest, industrious and enterprising and mostly became well-to-do. The two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the settlement of Henry Burt, the ancestor of our sub- ject, and the founder of the family in America, at Springfield, Mass,, is to be celebrated in that city October 3, 1890.

The father of our subjeet was a hatter by trade and remained a resident of his native State until 1834. Ile then removed with his family to Ohio where he changed his occupation and turned his attention to farming, settling in Coshocton County. He followed agricultural pursuits until advancing years warned him it was time to retire from active labor, then in 1880 joined his son in Peoria and died in the eighty-seventh year of his age in November, 1887. The wife and mother had pre- ceded her husband to the silent land. her death taking place in Van Wert, Ohio, in 1878. The family consisted of three children of whom R. W., our subjeet, was the eldest; Thomas H. died a few years sinee in Michigan; Josephine is the wife of W .. O. Brown of Chicago, Ill.

The subject of this notice was a lad of eleven years when his parents removed from New York State to Ohio, where he grew up on the farm and obtained a practical education in the common school. He interested himself in farming pursuits until 1853, in the meantime keeping abreast of the

times by a course of reading and indulging bis tastes for good books and periodicals. He was especially interested in newspaper work and finally became editor of the Progressice Age,at Coshocton, which he purchased in the year mentioned and which he conducted three years. The results of this enterprise not being entirely satisfactory, Mr. Burt abandoned the newspaper field and embarked in the coal and grocery trade in which he continued until the outbreak of the Civil War. He watched the conflict a few months and then decided that he must have a hand in the preservation of the Union. lle accordingly enlisted December 3, 1861, in Com- pany G, Seventy-sixth Ohio Infantry, upon the organization of which he was elected Second Lieutenant. He went with his company to the seat of war and after the battle of Arkansas Post, was promoted to a First Lieutenancy.

At the expiration of the first term of enlistment, Lieut. Burt re-entered the ranks in March, 1864,as Captain of Company II, Seventy-sixth Ohio In- fantry, which he commanded until the close of the war and was mustered out-July 15, 1865. He par- ticipated in about thirty battles and skirmishes, in- cluding Ft. Donelson, Shiloh, Milliken's Bend, Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, Vicksburg, Jack- son, Mission Ridge, Lookout Mountain, Ringgold, Resaea, the siege of Atlanta and Jonesboro. He went with Sherman on the march to the sea and then returned up through the Carolinas to Wash- ington where he was present at the Grand Review. Mr. Burt is a poet of no mean talent and wrote many war songs, a number of which were published, including "Sherman and the Boys in Blue," "Gen- eral Logan and the Fifteenth Army Corps" and various others which served to while away many a tedious hour in camp and on the march. Prior to the Civil War Mr. Burt had served in the Mexi- can War as a private in Company B, Third Ohio Infantry, one year.

Upon leaving the service Mr. Burt established himself in the grocery business at Peoria, in which he had had considerable experience, having been a Government store-keeper for ten years. Gradually he became interested in the manufacture of soap and commenced in a modest manner, being re- markably fortunate with his experiments, and fin-

571

PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.

ally became convinced that he conld turn his talents in this direction to good advantage. He finally de- cided to make a business of this and established himself in a convenient building occupying Nos. 117 and 119 Hamilton Street, where he has all the machinery and equipments necessary for prosecu- ting the business in a successful manner. Ile gives employment to twenty-five men and girls and finds a market for his product all over the United States. Mr. F. E. Leonard became a partner March 4, 1889, the firm being known as R. W. Burt & Co.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Portrait and biographical album of Peoria County, Illinois : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 64

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