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 81
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are both engaged in the livery business on Main Street, Peoria, where they have a well conducted establishment, and having secured a large patron- age, already enjoy an assured income. Mr. Hov- enden was a zealous Democrat, and his sons are also interested in politics, and alive to the issues of the day.
OHN A. THOMAS, an honored and well- known citizen of Kickapoo Township, where he lives retired, is one of the oldest residents of Peoria County, coming here when a boy, and growing up with the county, as it were, and for many years he was one of the active members of its agricultural community, and has greatly aided his associates in performing their great work of developing the wonderful agricultural resources of this region, and has been potential in making it a wealthy and finely improved county.
Our subject comes of good old New England stock. His father, Gideon Thomas, was born near Springfield, Mass., November 29, 1789. He mar- ried Fannie Iloward, who was born either in New England or in New York, April 12, 1796, coming of English and Scotch ancestry. They settled in what is now Schuyler County, N. Y., after their marriage which occurred February 9, 1813, and were pioncers of that region. In 1834 they be- came pioneers of another State, removing to Huron County, Ohio, where they resided some two or three years. In 1838 they became pioneers of still another State, coming to Illinois in that year. They first took up their abode where Joliet now stands and in August, some six months later, located in Rosefield Township, this county. In 1844, they came to Kickapoo Township which remained their home until death, she dying December 19, 1852, and he April 14, 1861. She was a thoroughly good woman, a sincere Christian and a valued member of the Methodist Church. He was an active, wide- awake man, and a good citizen, and was regarded as a public-spirited man whose hand was felt in many enterprises for public improvement. He was one of the men who located the Knoxville road between that city and Peoria. He and his wife are
the parents of six children, three sons and three daughters.
Our subject was the youngest son of the family and the fifth child in order of birth, and is the only survivor, with the exception of his sister, Mrs. Louisa Hopkins. He was born in what was then Steuben County, now Schuyler County, N. Y., Octo- ber 19, 1825, and was twelve years old when be came to Peoria with his parents. The country was then in a wild and sparsely settled condition and he grew up amid pioneer scenes to a sturdy self- reliant manhood, and has not only witnessed the many changes brought about in making Peoria a large and flourishing city and this county one of the leading counties of the State, but he has had a hand in bringing about this wonderful transforma- tion. He has a farm of about three hundred acres of land that is under a high state of cultivation, and is provided with a substantial and well ordered set of buildings and all modern improvements that go to make a first-class farm. In the exercise of his calling Mr. Thomas has acquired a handsome competence, which enables him to live in retire- ment from the active duties of life in a home as cozy, comfortable, and attractive as may be found in this township. Mr. Thomas passed the early years of his life under the parental roof and from his father gained a thorough practical knowledge of the calling he was about to adopt later in life, and his education was otherwise chiefly attained by his own individual efforts, and to-day he is an in- telligent well-informed man.
Mr. Thomas was married in Kickapoo Township, April 3, 1856, to Miss Dielsie Stowell, daughter of Jasper and Mary Ann (known as Polly) (Myers) Stowell. Her father was born in Massachusetts and her mother near the Catskills in New York. After their marriage they first settled about five miles west of Rochester, in Monroe County. They came from there to this county in the fall of 1854, and after living here about three years, settled in Wood- ford County, where they made their home until death, he dying February 3, 1876; she in Decem- ber 1862. They had six children, three sons and three daughters. Mrs. Thomas, the third child, was born in Monroe County, N. Y., five miles west of Rochester, July 29, 1837. IIer wedded life witlı
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our subject has been blessed to them by the birth of eight children : Charles V., of Peoria, who mar- ried Miss Hattie R. Stanley; Fannie, the wife of Judson Lattin, of Chicago; Etta, Homer, Lauren, Lucy, Bertrand. Edrick A., the second child died when he was two years old.
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas are people whose personal worth, kindly manners, and unostentatious helpful- ness toward the suffering and needy have gained them a high place in the regard of the entire com- munity, and a wide circle of warm friends. Rightly judging that his able management of his own af- fairs showed that he possessed qualities that would be of value in the conduct of public affairs, his fellow-citizens have shown their confidence in him by calling him to civic office, and he has thus been Township Clerk, and has been a member of the School Board. He has been quite active in political and social matters. He is one of the prominent members of the Patrons of Husbandry, and has held some of the offices in the Grange.
OHN KLEFFMAN, a veteran of the late war, is a Pennsylvanian by birth, and was bred to the life of a farmer in the good old State of his nativity. He came to this county while it was yet in the hands of the pioneers, and has ever since been busily engaged at his occupa- tion in Logan Township, on a farm a part of which has been in his possession thirty-five years.
December 18, 1816, was the date of the birth of our subject, in Thomastown, Juniata County, Pa. Ilis parents were Justice Everhard and Johanna (Kroon) Kleffman, his father being born in Ger- many, December 7, 1774, and his mother in Am- sterdam, Holland, April 14, 1781. While they were voyaging across the Atlantic to seek a new home in this promised land, they met on board of the ship, and in the course of the six weeks con- sumed in coming to this country became. fast friends, and were married August 24, 1806. After landing on these shores, disembarking at Phila- delphia, Mr. Kleffman settled in Lancaster County, Pa., where he found employment on a farm, where
he earned money to pay for the sum he had bor- rowed to purchase his ticket to the United States, and Mrs. Kleffman also had to pay for her passage after she, arrived here. After their marriage he followed distilling, having been a brewer and a baker in the old country. Both he and his wife were devoted members of the Lutheran Church, having been reared in that faith, and were sober- minded, honest people.
They were the parents of six children, namely : Maria, who married llenry Roush, and reared three children; Catherine married John Krisher, and died in Timber Township; Elizabeth married .John Pfahler, of Pennsylvania, both being now deceased; John; Frederick W., who died in Pennsylvania, leaving a family of two sons and two daughters; Samuel H., who died in Pennsylvania, leaving four sons and three daughters. The father of our sub- ject was the only son of his father, who died in Germany, and his widow, the grandmother of our subject, married a second time, becoming the wife of Mr. Osich, who died in Baltimore. He had a son who came to the United States, and at his death left a daughter. The father of our subject died in Pennsylvania, May 30, 1844, and his mother in Illi- nois in the month of May, 1860.
The subject of this biographical sketch was reared mostly on a farm, and attended the common schools as opportunity offered. At the youthful age of twelve years he was apprenticed to learn the hatter's trade, and worked at that two years in his native village. At the age of twenty-one he began life for himself on his own account, and was em- ployed by the month on a farm until after his mar- riage. At the time that this important event in his life occurred he had already saved up money enough to establish a comfortable home and to purchase land and become more independent. He bought twenty-five acres before his marriage, and on that tract of land he and his wife began their wedded life. By steady and unremitting toil he accumulated more property, and had a good one hundred-acre farm in his possession during the lat- ter part of his stay in Pennsylvania. In the spring of 1855 he disposed of his property in his native State and came to this county, locating on section 19, Logan Township, where he has ever since
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made his home. He at first owned one hundred and forty-seven acres of land, to which he added by subsequent purchase until he had two hundred and thirty acres. He has since disposed of a part of it at a good price, and his farm now comprises one hundred and seventy acres, that is under tillage and excellent improvement, and is in every way a most desirable piece of property.
Our subject's loyalty to his country was amply proven during the trying times of the war. He enlisted in August, 1862, in Company D, Eighty- sixth Regiment Illinois Infantry, and went to the front and did good service on the field. At the battle of Perrysville he was wounded in the left arm, in the elbow joint, destroying the use of it. He was in the hospital at Louisville from October until December, and suffered much, and was then honorably discharged on account of disability. His place in this community is among our best citizens, and he is held in worthy estimation by all about him. In his political views he is a sound Repub- lican, and takes an intelligent interest in whatever concerns the public weal. He has been Constable and Collector, and in both capacities showed him- self to be possessed of keen judgment, discrimina- tion, and other qualifications that mark a good civic official.
Mr. Kleffman was first married to Sarah Posey, a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of Peter and Mary Posey. Mrs. Kleffman died December 12, 1842, Icaving one son, Samuel, now a resident of Dawson County, Neb. Mrs. Kleffman was a member of the German Reformed Church at one time, and then identified herself with the Lutheran Church.
The marriage of our subject to Eliza C. Benner took place September 12, 1844. She is a native of the same Pennsylvania town as himself, and was born October 5, 1821. Her parents were Henry and Mary (Lichenthaler) Benner, natives, respectively, of Union and Juniata Counties, Pa. They were farmers and tavern keepers, and were Lutherans in religion. Of their six children, two, Mathias and Eliza, married and reared children.
Our subject and his wife were reared in the Lutheran Church, and have ever since remained true to the religion of their fathers. Their mar-
riage has been greatly blessed to them in the birth of the following children, seven of whom grew to maturity: William H .; John T. B .; Albert L., who lives in Greenwood County, Kan .; Theodore; Mary E .; Sarah E .; Eliza C., who married Stephen A. Kelley, and died November 26. 1888, leaving one child, Eliza C., who lives with her grandparents. Thomas and Maria P. died in infancy.
OHN HOLL, a highly respected citizen of Peoria, is in the United States Revenue ser- vice as a storekeeper, to which important position he was appointed on the 15th of December, 1889. He is a veteran of the late war, and the United States had no native-born citizen more loyal to its interests than he in that trying time.
Mr. Iloll was born in Hessc-Cassel, Germany, March 22, 1825. He received an excellent educa- tion in the good schools of his native province, and in accordance with the military laws of Germany, entered the German army, and for five years served as a soldier and acted with distinction in the Revo- lution of 1848 and 1852. In the latter year he left the army, and came to America. He made his way to St. Louis, Mo., and nine months later went from there to Burlington, Iowa, thence to Knox County, Ill. In 1855 he engaged in railroad bridge build- ing on the Peoria & Oquawka, and was there em- ployed until 1861. On the breaking out of the war his early military training led him to offer his serv- ices to his adopted country, and his experience of German army life, proved very serviccable while in the South. lIe enlisted in the month of June, in the Ninth Missouri Infantry, and saw much haid service. He fought in the battle of Pea Ridge, and all through the campaign in that part of the country was a member of Jefferson C. Davis's Division, be- longing to Company A., which was commanded by Clayton Hale, now in the regular army.
Our subject was discharged by general order of Halleck, in March, 1862. He went home and 1e- enlisted in Company F., Eighty-sixth Illinois vol- unteers, and started from Lonisville, Ky., under
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M a Brocks
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command of MeCook, and went with Sherman on his famous march to the sea. Before that he had belonged to the army of the Tennessee, and was with Gen. McCook, when he was killed at Kene- saw Mountain. Mr. Holl took part in the Grand Review at Washington, in June, 1865. and thus closed a military career that was alike honorable to himself and to the land of his adoption.
After his retirement from the army, our subject returned to Knox County, and resumed his former trade. He was finally chosen to his present posi- tion, as before mentioned, and is justly considered one of the most faithful members of the revenne force. He is a prominent member of Post No. 239, G. A. R. IIe has always voted the Republican ticket, and has never been false to his party. He is an honest, upright man, and is regarded with feelings of great esteem by all about him.
Mr. Holl and Miss Salome Fremole were united in matrimony in 1856. She is a native of Craw- ford County, Pa., and is a woman who merits and receives respect and affection from all about her. She has led a pleasant wedded life with our subject, that has been blessed to them by the birth of four children, of whom two are living, one at home, both married, and our subject and his wife rejoice in the possession of three grand-children.
ILLIAM A. BROOKS, a pioneer settler of Logan Township, has greatly facilitated its growth and material prosperity by the work he has accomplished as a practical farmer. During his many years residence bere he has ac- cumulated a valuable property, and is the proprie- tor of three good farms, including his homestead, which is finely located on section 28.
A native of Ohio, our subject was born in the wilds of Highland County, August 8, 1821. His parents were William and Elizabeth (Irvin) Brooks, who were born in York County, Pa., and County Tyrone, Ireland. respectively. His father was a son of Samnel Brooks, whose children were named Samuel, Joseph, John, Sallie, Betsey and Peggie. The mother of our subject came from Ireland with
her parents and two brothers, Joseph and Samuel. and located in Pennsylvania. She was married in that State, and in 1820 removed with her husband to Highland County, Ohio, where Mr. Brooks en- gaged in farming. Ile was also a distiller and miller, and became prominent in local affairs, filling many of the township offices. In 1847 the Brooks family came to this county, traveling in wagons, and were three weeks ou the way. They settled on section 33, Logan Township, where the father had three hundred and twenty acres of choice farming land, and there he made his home until death cut short his useful career in 1854. Ilis wife preceded him to the grave, dying in 1851. They were the parents of five sons and two daughters, namely : Samuel W., Christopher I .; Sarah J., now Mrs. Stewart; Isabella MI., Mrs. Patterson; William A., Joseph O. and John H. The parents were strictly religious people, and were Presbyterians of the old school.
He of whom we write passed the early years of his life. until he was abont eighteen years of age, on his father's farm, receiving his education in the common schools. He then began to learn the trade of a blacksmith, and followed it for about fifty years. In the fall of 1845 he came to this county, and for a few months worked at his trade in Peoria, Canton and Knoxville. In the summer of 1846 he located where he now resides, on forty acres of land. He erected a smithy, and actively followed his calling as a blacksmith, and at the same time managed his farm. The pursuit of these industries has brought him a competence, and from time to time he has invested money in more land until he now has in his possession two hundred and sixty acres of choice farming land, divided into three farms, one hundred and twenty acres comprising the homestead. He has acquired the most of his property since he came to Illinois, as when he first set foot on this soil he had only about $100 in his pocket. During the war he was drafted, but sent a substitute.
November 29,1848, Mr. Brooks and Miss Rosanna F. Mccullough, a daughter of John and Martha (Glasgow) McCullongh, were united in marriage, and to her faithful assistance and frugal management of their household affairs he owes much of his present
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prosperity. The following is the record of the ten children born of their marriage: John I., a resi- dent of Arizona, was born April 15, 1850; Will- iam H., August 30, 1851; Robert W .. April 1, 1853; Martha J., wife of Edward Quinn, born February 28, 1855; James, February 31, 1857; Elizabeth, November 11, 1858; Samuel E., born January 14, 1861, died at the age of fourteen; Rosa P., wife of Henry Karstetter, born February 13, 1864; Thomas W .. March 4, 1868; Charles W., January 6, 1871.
Our subjeet and bis amiable wife are members in good standing of the Presbyterian Church, taking an active part in all its good work, and they are in every way worthy of the respect accorded to them on all sides. In connection with his personal sketch we present a portrait of Mr. Brooks.
VERY DALTON is the oldest settler of Elmwood Township now living. He was born in Pittsylvania County, Va., in 1810, his parents being Samuel and Ludah ( Mus- tain ) Dalton, likewise natives of the Old Dominion. The father was a soldier in 1812, afterward pen- sioned by the Government. He lived until 1861, but the mother passed away in 1827. They had nine children, five of whom are now living.
Although our subject helped to build many schoolhouses he never had a chance to attend one. After the death of his mother the family was broken up and he came west without a dime in his pocket. In Highland County, Ohio, he remained three years, when in the summer of 1830, he was offered the privilege of coming to Illinois with a family, to pay for which he was to drive two cows and take care of the baby. Labor and hardship were looked upon very lightly by the pioneers of those days and the vigorous young man eagerly accepted the office, firmly determined to surmount any difficul- ties he might encounter and secure for himself a home. He landed where Farmington now stands, with ten cents in his pocket which he had earned "hile en route by carrying pumpkins for one of the horses. Ilis earnest efforts to obtain employment,
were at first unsuccessful, but he finally succeeded in obtaining work for which he received three bushels of oats per day. There was no market for the grain at the time, but after keeping it a month he soll it to a neighbor for thirty-seven cents.
In the spring of 1831, young Dalton hired out at $10 per month to Parnie Owens who lived about six miles northeast of where Knoxville now stands. In order to reach the place it was necessary to cross Spoon River, and there being no bridges there was no other way but to wade or miss the opportunity of making some money. The latter alternative was not to be thought of, so divesting himself of his elothing, Mr. Dalton held it above his head and walked boldly into the water which, the month being March, was so cold it almost took his breath away. On finishing his work he received his pay, $13.50, all in silver half dollars, which was the most money he had ever possessed. Feeling anxious in regard to its safety, he stripped some bark from a tree, tied it around his pocket and fastened the other end around his neck in order that no acci- dent might deprive him of his earnings. He then walked sixteen miles home.
Mr. Dalton next worked three years for a Mr. Sargent who had offered to furnish land, seed grain and implements, and give our subject one-third of all he could raise in return for his labor. As the grain when marketed brought but little, Mr. Dal- ton bought three calves, some hogs, a colt and a few sheep and feeding all his grain to them thus se- cured a start. He enlisted in the Black Hawk War in the spring of 1832, serving through that memor- able campaign as member of a company of rangers under Gen. Stillman of Canton. Being quite an expert cook. he volunteered his services in that ca- pacity and between cooking from a scanty store of provisions and fighting Indians, was busily engaged and many are the thrilling adventures that he can narrate.
On September 10, 1835. our subject was married to his second cousin, Miss Delilah Dalton, his capi- tal at that time being a colt, four sheep, three eows and nine hogs. The bride well knew what pioneer life meant, having accompanied her parents to this section in 1829, when but eleven years old and grown to maturity on the frontier where Pottawa-
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tomie Indians still lingered, wild game abounded and settlements were few. Armed with industrious habits which she had acquired under her father's roof, and the love of a true woman for her chosen companion, she cheerfully began the wedded life, of which it can truly be said that more than half a . century of happiness has never been marred by a quarrel.
Mrs. Dalton is a daughter of Henry and Eliza- beth (Smith) Dalton, natives of Virginia and North Carolina respectively, who spent the first few years of their married life in the Buckeye State. In Highland County the wife of our subject was born May 19, 1818, being one of the three children now living in a family of five. After the removal of her parents to Illinois they resided where Farming- ton now stands, in what was then known as Mer- chants' Settlement. The little trading post at Ft. Clark then marked the site of what is now the flour- ishing city of Peoria. llenry Dalton died in 1862, and his wife in 1871.
One year after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Avery Dalton bought forty acres of land on section 19, their last cow being sold to help pay for it and rails being made by Mr. Dalton as additional as- sistance to that end. The wife did her full share in securing the home, adding by every means in her power to the joint earnings. In March, 1837, the couple located upon the farm which has now been their home for over fifty-five years. Their first dwelling was a log house which they carefully pre- servo, although long since they erected and moved into a commodious brick residence. They now have a fine farm of three hundred and sixty acres and need have no anxiety regarding their support dur- ing the remnant of their days, unless some unfore- seen misfortune overtakes them. They rejoice in good health and in the prospect of enjoying the good of life for years to come.
Mr. and Mrs. Dalton are the parents of nine children, five now living. Cicero, the oldest sur- viving child, married Delicia Dixon, has four chil- dren, and lives in Elmwood Township; he served three years during the Civil War in the Ninth Illinois Cavalry, taking part in a large number of battles and being disabled, on account of which he now draws a pension. LaFayette married Maggie
Butler and lives in Knox County, their family com- prising two children; Julius married Nellie Scott, lives in Elmwood, and has one child: Almeda is the wife of Charles Richards, of Knox County, and the mother of four children; James, who married Minnie Morris and has two children, lives on the old homestead, and is now School Director of the district.
"Uncle Avery," as he is familiarly called, has perhaps killed more deer than any man in this region, while scores of wild turkeys and other game fell before his rifle in the days when this section was all wild woods. Ile speaks the Indian language fluently and many are the stories he can tell of frontier life. lle is an uncompromising temper- ance man. has never used tobacco or sworn an oath. His motto is "as you mete out to others so it shall be meted out to you." He is a life-long Democrat, having cast his first vote for "old Hickory." Ile has been School Director, and as a private individual has ever shown deep interest in educational affairs and other objects that would advance humanity. He and his noble wife are now, in the evening of life, passing their days in happiness and content. ment side by side, enjoying the results of integrity and industry and the esteem of all who know them.
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