The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois, Part 48

Author: Clarke S. J. Publishing Company
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Chicago, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 788

USA > Illinois > Bureau County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 48
USA > Illinois > Marshall County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 48
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 48
USA > Illinois > Stark County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 48

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).

ville, and then followed Longstreet from that place to the Smoky Mountains in Georgia. It was during this time that they suffered from hun- ger and cold as their clothes were in a dilapi- dated condition. Our subject had no shoes for two months, and was compelled to tie up his feet in rags. The troops were put on pontoon boats at Chattanooga and told to make their way to Bridgeport, Alabama, where they should wait ior supplies. Tlicy started and after going a short distance would get off, build a fire and warm and then resume their journey, keeping this up until they reached Bridgeport. During the last two years of the war they had no cooking utensils except an oyster can, which they could easily carry along with them, and they received the name of Sherman's Bummers. From Atlan- ta the regiment was sent back to Virginia to be discharged in July, 1864, and on leaving they were highly commended by their colonel for their faithful and valiant service.

Although Mr. Fletcher acted in the sphere of sergeant and officer of the day, he received only private's wages, and this he always sent to his mother to aid in her support and in the sup- port of the family. With the exception of one brother and our subject, all of his relatives were on the rebel side, either in arms or sympathy. On returning to his home he resumed mining, and for the past twenty-six years has been with his present company, twenty-two years of the time opening and operating mines in Iowa. He had served as superintendent before coming to Ladd.

On the 28th of January, 1865, Mr. Fletcher was united in marriage with Miss Mary Reese, daughter of Reese Reese, of Kewanee, Illinois, where their marriage was celebrated. Nine chil- dren graced their union-Lizzie is the wife of Joseph Bentham, of Kewanee, by whom she has four children, Mary, Katie, Eliza and Isabel; Katie died at the age of one year ; Mary Jane is at home; Adam is boss driver of the mines; Hattie is at home; Henry graduated from an engineer's school in Pennsylvania, and is now engaged in repairing engines, pumps, etc .; Isaac, who dis-

plays much aptness for painting and drawing, is a painter by trade; and Samuel completes the family. They also adopted a son, Willie. Mr. Fletcher has been called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on the 8th of May, 1896. She was born February 4, 1847, and led a most exemplary Christian life, being a kind and af- fectionate mother, a devoted wife, and faithful friend and neighbor.

Socially, Mr. Fletcher affiliates with the Grand Army of the Republic, and formerly was con- nected with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- lows, the Knights of the Maccabees and the Temperance Union, being connected with some of the orders for many years. His political sup- port is given the republican party. He is ever actively interested in all measures which are cal- culated to advance the moral or material welfare of the community, and was instrumental in se- curing the first Protestant church ever erected in Ladd.

JOSEPH K. HAZEN, an agriculturist, resid- J ing on section 10, Princeton township, is numbered among the self-made men of Bureau county, his accumulations being the result of his own industry, obtained by self-denial and economy, and the exercise of a naturally good judgment, both in regard to agricultural pur- suits and business matters. He came to Bureau county in 1857, and since that time it has been the field of his operations, and the center of his interests and hopes.

His father, David W. Hazen, was born in Mor- ris county, New Jersey, in 1801, and was the son of Ziba and Katrina Hazen, also natives of the same state, while he traces his ancestry back to Edward Hazen, who came from England about two hundred years ago and settled in Connecti- cut. Upon a farm the father was reared, receiv- ing his education in the common schools, and during early life learned the trade of a wheel- wright. He married Sarah Ann Taylor, who was born in 1802, in Huntington county, New Jersey, and a daughter of Abel and Rachel (Everett) Taylor. Her paternal grandfather,

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Elijah Taylor, was a native of England, served in the English army during the Revolutionary war, and later became a resident of New Jersey. In 1857 the parents of our subject emigrated to Illinois, locating upon a wild prairie farm in Sel- by township, Bureau county, where they lived for nine years, and then removed to Malden, where both died in 1882. They were prominent and carnest members of the Methodist Episcopal church. In their family were five children, namely: Elijah E. T., a resident of Holyoke, Colorado, who is married and has three children, Clara E., James, Frank L .; Joseph K., of this review; Ziba H., of Texas; Catherine E., wife of Edson A. Wood, of Chicago, and Ann E., widow of Simon Moon, by whom she has two children -Warren and Sarah.

The birth of our subject occurred July 5, 1830, in Warren county, New Jersey, where he grew to manhood, securing his education in the schools of Hackettstown. He remained at home until twenty-five years of age. In 1855, he wedded Miss Marilda A. Trimmer, who was born in Morris county, New Jersey, in 1835, and is a daughter of Andrew and Marilda Trimmer, na- tives of that state, of German descent.

In 1856, Mr. Hazen removed to Illinois, for one year making his home in Stark county, but since that time has been a resident of Bureau county. His first farm consisted of eighty acres of prairie land in Selby township, and after liv- ing in a log cabin for one year, it was replaced by a board shanty, which continued to be the family home until 1861, when a more substantial structure was erected. He remained upon that farm until 1884, during which timc it was placed under a high state of cultivation. Hc then dis- posed of his first farm, purchased and settled on one on section 10, Princeton township, which has since been his home. It was already under cultivation, but many improvements have since been added at a cost of seven thousand dollars, including a comfortable residence erccted the year of the purchase. Besides gencral farming, Mr. Hazen makes a specialty of the raising of hogs, which has proved quite profitable.

Three children have been born to our sub- ject and his worthy wife-Emily T., now the wife of Louis F. Zearing, of Chicago, by whom she has three children, Joseph H., Louis A. and Ex. Marilda; Sarah M., deceased; and Eliza- beth D., who has completed the Latin course in the Princeton high school.

Religiously, Mr. Hazen holds membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, of which he is steward, and regularly attends the church serv- ices and Sunday school. His political support is ever given the democratic party, has been road commissioner of Selby township, and has taken a deep interest in local educational affairs. Besides his other business interests, he is also a director in the Citizens' National bank of Princc- ton. His uprightness, integrity and public- spiritedness, have won him the confidence and estecm of his neighbors, and he is classed among the respected representative citizens of Bureau county.

C HARLES KEUTZER is a prominent rep- resentative of the agricultural interests of Westfield township, Bureau county, where he owns a finc farm of one hundred and sixty acres, and is numbercd among its most enterprising and thrifty farmers. Since 1854 he has been a resident of Illinois, and has made his home in this county since 1866.

The birth of our subject occurred December 20, 1835, in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, of which province his father, John Kcutzer, was also a native and there grew to manhood and was married. For many years he continued to make his home in the fatherland, but spent his last days at the home of a son in Peru, Illinois, where his death occurred in 1891. Until six- teen years of age Charles Keutzer attended the school of his native land, but his knowledge of the English language is all self-acquired and gained since crossing the Atlantic to the United States in 1854. He first stopped at Peru, Illi- nois, and in La Salle county worked by the month for several years.

In 1861, on the president's call for troops to

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put down the rebellion, Mr. Keutzer joined Com- pany E, Fourth Illinois Cavalry, under Colonel Eli Dickey, and was made wagon-master. With his regiment he went to Belmont, Missouri, thence to Cairo, Illinois, and later participated in the following battles: Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Pittsburg Landing, Corinth, Iuka, Holly Springs, and the siege and capture of Vicksburg. From the time of the battle of Fort Henry until the surrender of Vicksburg his regiment acted as body guard to General Grant. In the fall of 1864, at Springfield, Illi- nois, he was mustered out, two months after his term of enlistment had expired.

On the 12th of September, 1865, in Bureau county, Mr. Keutzer was united in marriage with Miss Caroline Yost, also a native of Hesse-Darm- stadt, born in the same neighborhood as our subject and they were reared as boy and girl together. In that country her father died, and she accompanied her mother and stepfather to America. Five children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Keutzer, namely: George, a mechanic, who is married and resides in Chicago: Bertha, wife of John Monroe, who assists in the opera- tion of the home farm, and by whom she has one child, Raymond; Henry Otto, who is mar- ried and is engaged in the implement business in Peru, Illinois; Rudolph F., who is engaged in farming on the home place; and Adam A., also at home.

For one year after his marriage, Mr. Keutzer lived upon a rented farm, and then purchased his present place which was but slightly improved, but he at once began its further development and cultivation, and to-day has one of the best farms in the locality, improved with a substantial residence and good barns and out-buildings. His property is but the just reward of his indus- try and perseverance, aided by sound judg- ment and strict economy. On his arrival here his capital consisted of a pair of willing hands and the firm determination to succeed. Politi- cally he is identified with the republican party. Hc is a stockholder and charter member of the Pcru Farmer's Fire Insurance company, and

with his family he holds membership in the Ger- man Lutheran church of Peru. His sterling worth and upright life have gained him many warm friends throughout the community where he has so long made his home, and sketch of his life will be received with interest by all who know him.

J JAMES DAVIDSON. Quite a number of the leading and prominent citizens of Mar- shall county are of alien birth, and have trans- ported to this land of fertility and plenty the thrifty habits of their native country. Among these there is none that is better known or more widely respected than the gentleman whose name appears at the head of this sketch. Since five years of age he has made his home in this county, and is now one of the extensive farmers and stock raisers, residing on section 22, La Prairie township.

In Roxburghshire, Scotland, Mr. Davidson was born August 27, 1844, and five years later was brought to Illinois by his parents, James and Margaret (Pringle) Davidson, the latter the aunt of Robert and Andrew Pringle. George David- son, a brother of his father, had previously come to Marshall county, locating in Steuben town- ship, where he spent his remaining days. James Davidson, Sr., with his family settled on land adjoining the present farm of our subject, where he made a permanent home and there died in 1880, at the age of eighty-two years. Af- ter surviving him for about two years, the moth- er also departed this life at the age of eighty years. The father had but twenty dollars when he landed at Chillicothe, Illinois, and having a wife and six children to support, he at once se- cured land and immediately began its cultivation. He prospered in his undertakings and well de- served the success which came to him.

Our subject remained with his father until the latter's death, when in company with his brother Adam he continued to operate the old farm, to which they added more land by sub- sequent purchase. Some twelve years ago, however, he bought his present farm, a fine tract

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of one hundred and sixty acres, and also has sixty acres more a half mile distant, all of which he operates. He gives some attention to the breeding of good roadsters of the Hambletonian breed, and has sold horses which were quite noted for their speed, one going a mile in 2:26. He is also engaged in the raising of cattle and hogs.

On the 3d of February, 1887, a marriage cere- mony was performed which united the destinies of Mr. Davidson and Miss Margaret E. Howe, of Trego county, Kansas, but formerly of Chil- licothe, Illinois, where she was reared. Mr. Davidson has now acceptably served as town- ship supervisor for three years, being now on his second term, and has done much toward making La Prairie township one of the best in Marshall county. He is chairman of the pau- per committee, and so efficiently has he done his work that in his own township there is not now a

single pauper. He has also served as town- ship collector, and school director for a number of years, and road commissioner for nine years. He has ever discharged his duties, both public and private, in a most able manner. and well deserves the confidence and trust reposed in him by the people.

G EORGE H. SHAW, a farmer residing on section 30, Roberts township, is a native of Marshall county, and has here resided during his entire life. His father, George Henry Shaw, was born in Kentucky about 1798. He there grew to manhood and received a very liberal education for that day. About 1828, he came on horseback from his native state to Marshall county, and selected the present farm of our sub- ject. He then taught school at Ox Bow Prairie, Putnam county, a few terms, and then returned to his Kentucky home. In 1831, he brought his family and took up his residence on the land which he had selected on his first visit to this state. His wife bore the maiden name of Pene- lope Edwards, and was also a native of Kentucky, in which state the wedding ceremony was per- formed. Their first house in this county was

what was known as an open faced tent, in which they lived a short time, or until the erection of a substantial log cabin. In that dwelling they re- sided until 1844, when he built the brick residence now occupied by our subject.

On locating here Mr. Shaw found neighbors few and far between. Colonel Strawn lived four miles away, and Jesse S. Roberts some three and a half miles distant. The place that he selected was composed of prairie and timber and was long known as Shaw's Point. His house was an old landmark and was the temporary home of many of the early settlers in this locality. Before com- ing to this county, Mr. Shaw had learned survey- ing and his services were often in demand in this new country.

To George H. and Penelope Shaw were born seven children: Stoughton in early manhood fell from a tree and was killed; Elizabeth Ann, widow of Dr. Henry Tesmer, is now postmistress at Sparland, Marshall county; Penelope R., de- ceased, was the wife of Fielding Miles, of Kan- sas: Thomas M., is judge of the circuit court of this district; Mary, wife of H. D. Whitcomb, lives in Bloomington, Illinois; Almira is de- ceased; George H. completes the family. The mother of these children died in 1840, and the father married Emma Edwards, a sister of his first wife. She died about 1872. He survived her, dying in February, 1877.

During the first decade of the history of Mar- shall county, George H. Shaw was a prominent figure. In the Black Hawk war he served as a private soldier. In the establishment of the pres- ent school system he took a lively interest and helped organize many of the school districts of the county. Politically he was a democrat, and firmly believed in the principles of the party. For several years he served as supervisor and also collector of Roberts township. In religious be- lief he was a Universalist, though never a mem- ber of the church.

The subject of this sketch grew to manhood on the farm where he now resides and received his primary education in the district schools, after which he attended school at Lacon for one year

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and finished his course at Lombard college at Galesburg. After leaving that institution he taught the district school near his home and also in the district north. In August, 1861, he enlisted in Company I, Eleventh Illinois Volun- teer Infantry, under Captain Fort, and was ap- pointed one of the sergeants. The company was raised in this locality. It joined the regiment at Bird's Point, and served under Grant, taking part in the engagements at Fort Donelson, and also both days at Shiloh. On the Ioth of May, 1863, Mr. Shaw was promoted second lieutenant of his company, and shortly after was in the bat- tle of Champion Hills, and later in the siege of Vicksburg. The regiment was then sent to the Yazoo river, and at Liverpool Heights and Yazoo City met the enemy. It was sent in numerous expeditions from Vicksburg and was in the Jack- son, Mississippi, campaign, in which they had several fights, going and returning. . Lieutenant Shaw was in command of a force protecting a transport of two boats in tow, going to Duvall's Bluff. They landed at night, and were fired into, but came off all right.

In consequence of ill health, Lieutenant Shaw resigned his commission December 20, 1864, and returned home, and has since resided upon the old homestead, but has never been in the enjoy- ment of good health. He takes no active part in political affairs, but feels a lively interest in the various Grand Army re-unions of this dis- trict.

A RTHUR C. BOGGS. Among the leading citizens of Princeton no one is more worthy of consideration than the gentleman whose name stands at the head of this sketch. He is a pro- gressive and popular man, and since taking up his residence in Bureau county in 1867, has ex- erted a beneficial influence in promoting its prosperity and development. He is a native of West Virginia, born in Ohio county, four miles east of Wheeling, February 18, 1826, and is of Irish descent. With two brothers, his paternal grandfather came to the United States, landing at New York, where one of them settled. He

was a weaver by trade and took up a claim which is now in the heart of that city, now of great value, and in litigation by some of the heirs. The grandfather of our subject, Francis Boggs, was a native of Pennsylvania. Later he removed to Ohio county, Virginia, and took up a claim of fifty acres (which was known then as a "toma- hawk claim"), to which he added from time to time, until he had a farm of three hundred acres.

William Boggs, the father of Arthur C., was born in Ohio county, West Virginia, where he was reared, and where he engaged in farming, and was numbered among the successful and prominent agriculturists of the county. There he married Lee Ann Carter, a daughter of Arthur Carter, also a pioneer of Ohio county. In his political affiliations, Mr. Boggs was a whig, and creditably served in numerous positions of trust and honor. He was born September 7, 1789, and died July 26, 1869.

Our subject is the oldest in the family of five children, three sons and two daughters-W. J. is married and lives in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania: David B. is married and is living retired in Prince- ton, Illinois; Beth Ann, married Elijah Wadell, and removed to Christian county, Illinois, where his death occurred; Mary J., wedded the Rev. Josiah Milligan, who for a number of years was pastor of the Presbyterian church at Princeton. He died at Omaha, Nebraska, and his widow now lives in Chicago.

Arthur C. Boggs assisted his father in the labors of the home farm until his marriage, which important event in his life was celebrated in Ohio county, West Virginia, September 12, 1854, Miss Mary Milligan becoming his wife. She is a native of that county, and a daughter of Hugh Milligan. Four children were born to them, who grew to mature years, namely: Flora, who married Jacob Thompson, removed with her hus- band to a ranch near Pueblo, Colorado, where he was extensively engaged in the sheep busi- ness, and where her death occurred; Willis A., is married and is a prominent business man of Griswold, Iowa; Mary V., is at home, and Eva joined her sister in Colorado, where she remained

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until her sister Flora's death, and after her re- turn home she too was called to the land be- yond.

Mr. Boggs began his domestic life upon a farm near West Liberty, in Ohio county, West Virginia, where he remained until 1867, the year of his removal to Bureau county. He came to Princeton to visit his sister and was so pleased with the prospects of the county that he pur- chased a farm in Dover township, a well im- proved place for those days. He operated that land for two years and then sold out and re- moved to a farm in Princeton township, which he successfully cultivated for twenty years. He then bought his residence property in Princeton, where for the last fifteen years he has found a pleasant home. It is pleasantly located on Church street, nearly opposite the Methodist Episcopal church. He traded his farm in Prince- ton township for one of two hundred acres in Dover township, which is a valuable tract and improved with farm buildings.

Politically, Mr. Boggs in early life was an old line whig, casting his first presidential ballot for Zachary Taylor, and, since voting for Lin- coln in 1864, has been a stalwart republican. He has taken quite an active interest in local matters, has served as a delegate to numerous county con- ventions, has been supervisor of his township, and is the present efficient assessor of Princeton town- ship, having filled that position for nine consecu- tive years to the satisfaction of all concerned. He is one of the active and progressive men of the county, and takes great interest in all matters that are calculated to enhance its value, or to benefit his fellow men. Both himself and wife are conscientious Christian people, faithful mem- bers of the Presbyterian church of Princeton.

JAMES M'KEAN, a representative and worthy citizen of Princeton, was born in Fayette, Pennsylvania, October 20, 1820, and is a son of Thompson and Sarah (Shaw) Mckean. His maternal grandfather aided the colonies in their struggle for independence during the Revo-

lutionary war. Thompson Mckean was of Scotch descent, but came to this country from the north of Ireland at an early day. He was a man of great vigor and business sagacity, and owned and operated a blast furnace near Union- town, Fayette county, Pennsylvania, for many years. He was one of the contractors who built the national road from Baltimore to Columbus, Ohio, being superintendent of the same in 1835, and later. He was a prominent, energetic and enterprising man, taking a leading part in public affairs. His death occurred at the age of sev- enty-four years, and his wife passed away at the age of eighty-three, at the home of our subject in Buda, Bureau county, Illinois. In their fam- ily were six children-Jane, wife of Joseph L. Weily, both now deceased; Richard L., who died in Pennsylvania at the age of twenty-four years; Thomas, a resident of Criton, Missouri; James, of this sketch; John, who was superin- tendent of iron works in Virginia, where his death occurred; and William, who died at Buda, Illinois, at the age of forty, in 1869.

Our subject was employed at his father's fur- nace until coming to Tiskilwa, Bureau county, on the Ist of April, 1857, since which time he has always made his home in this county, devot- ing most of his life to farming and stock raising. He is the oldest breeder of fine horses in the county, in which business he is still engaged, and now has one horse, Oneida, for which he paid five thousand dollars. For a time he also engaged in cattle raising. His fine farm in Milo township comprises three hundred and twenty acres of valuable land, one of the best in the county, and yields bountiful returns for the care and labor expended upon it.

In 1844 Mr. McKean married Miss Minerva E. Hare, daughter of German D. Hare, of Penn- sylvania, where their marriage was celebrated, and to them were born four children-Sarah, wife of J. W. Arnold, of Tampico, Illinois; Ger- man, living in the West; Thompson, who oper- ates the home farm; and Richard L., of Boyd's Grove, Bureau county. The wife and mother died in 1854, at the age of thirty years, and in

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1856 Mr. McKean married Miss Ann Wiley,' Flavel F., aged respectively sixteen and fourteen who died in 1881. For his third wife he chose years, who are still with their mother. The father was called to his final rest February 22, 1883. Mrs. R. S. Northway, widow of Flavel North- way, who died in 1883, at the age of thirty-eight years. Since 1885 Mr. McKean has made his home in Princeton, where he has become widely and favorably known. In his political views he has ever been identified with the democratic par- ty, but is not much of a politician, caring noth- ing for office, although for several years he served as school director.

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The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois, Part 48

Author: Clarke S. J. Publishing Company Publication date: 1896 Publisher: Chicago, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Number of Pages: 788

Author: Clarke S. J. Publishing Company
Publication date: 1896
Publisher: Chicago, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Number of Pages: 788