USA > Illinois > Bureau County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 75
USA > Illinois > Marshall County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 75
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 75
USA > Illinois > Stark County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 75
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Politically Mr. Dexter was a democrat, and, while he took great interest in political affairs, he never aspired to official position, preferring to give his time and attention to business in- terests and the contemplation of a future life.
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A good musician, he was the leader of his church choir for some years, and was the com- poser of many excellent church anthems. A Master Mason in the old country, he never identified himself with the order in this land, although he still believed in its principles. In the study of astronomy he took special de- light, and his knowledge of the heavenly bodies was equal to many whose names are well known. Fowler, the great leader and father of the science of phrenology in this country, said he had as well-balanced head as any man in the country, as will be testified to by those who knew him.
Early in the summer of 1894, meeting John Wrigley, the two talked of their past lives, of the success attained by each, and the remark was made that whichever one was called first to his reward, the other would soon follow. On the 18th of July, 1894, Mr. Dexter re- ceived the summons to come up higher, and one day later his friend, too, was called to his reward. Few men in Stark county were bet- ter known, and none stood higher in the esti- mation of his fellow men than John Dexter, a man of exemplary character and sterling worth. He left a widow and one child, John R., to mourn his loss, but their grief was mingled with that of stepchildren and many friends, who will ever hold his memory in the highest regard.
JOHN JORDAN .- The deserved reward of J a well-spent life is an honored retirement from business, in which to enjoy the fruits of former toil. To-day, after a useful and benef- icent career, Mr. Jordan is quietly living at his pleasant home in Wyoming, surrounded by the comfort that earnest labor has brought him. He was born in Muskingum county, Ohio, February 20, 1832, and is a son of Charles Jordan, a native of Pennsylvania and of Scotch
origin. When a young man the father went to Ohio, where he wedded Isabel Lyons, who was born in Ireland, but when a child had re- moved to Ohio with her parents. Our subject is the youngest of their four children, who are still living.
Charles Jordan had obtained an excellent common-school education, and successfully fol- lowed the teacher's profession in Ohio, and also in Iowa, to which state he removed about 1848, locating in Decatur county. From there he came to Stark county, Illinois, about 1857, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. His death occurred in Wyoming in 1883. In religious belief he was a Baptist, and in politics was a democrat until 1864, when he voted for Lin- coln, and continued to support the republican party the remainder of his life.
When his father emigrated westward, John Jordan was employed by the month, and did not leave his native state until 1850, when he went to Hancock county, Illinois, where he re- mained until the following spring. He then returned to Ohio, but in 1852 made another trip to this state, remaining through the winter in Stark county. In 1855 he again spent three months in Illinois, and on his return to the Buckeye state was there married, January 27, 1856, the lady of his choice being Miss Frances E. McCraw, of Vinton county, Ohio, who was born in Ross county, that state, and is a daugh- ter of Alexander and Nancy (Speakman) Mc- Craw. Five children bless their union, of wohm two are deceased, Sarah and Martha. The latter was the wife of Miles A. Stancliff. The living are Julia, wife of William Ditman, a farmer of Valley township, Stark county, by whom she has two living children, John and Orpha; Laura, wife of Lincoln Snare, also a farmer of Valley township, by whom she has one son, Raymond J .; and Robert C., who lives with our subject, and is a grain-buyer in Burlington, Iowa.
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After his marriage Mr. Jordan located per- and prominent member of the Masonic frater- manently in Stark county, where he rented land for about five years, and then purchased eighty acres on section 17, Valley township, which he still owns. To the original tract he has added until he now has three hundred and sixty acres in one body, which is under a high state of cultivation and well improved. In 1877 he removed to the village of Wy- oming, and about a year later embarked in the lumber business, which he successfully followed for about eight years, but since that time has lived retired, enjoying a well-earned rest.
In February, 1865, Mr. Jordan enlisted as a private in Company B, Seventh Illinois Volun- teer Infantry, under Captain H. J. Cogswell, and was mustered into the service at Spring- field, Illinois, which place he left, joining his regiment at Raleigh, North Carolina, go- ing by way of New York, there taking a vessel for one of the southern ports. From Raleigh the regiment continued its march and was present at the surrender of Johnston. After this it was ordered to Washington, and there participated in the grand review, a fitting close to the great war. Mr. Jordan was mustered out with his regiment at Springfield, Illinois, in July, 1865, and then returned home to re- sume life as a civilian.
Mr. Jordan cast his first presidential ballot for John C. Fremont in 1856, and has never failed to support the men and measures of the republican party since that time. He capably served as supervisor of Valley township one year, and of Essex township nine years, and in the former he also held the office of highway commissioner among other minor positions of honor and trust. While a member of the board of supervisors he served as chairman for three terms, and has discharged every duty, whether public or private, with the utmost fidelity and promptness. He is an honored
nity, having taken the council degrees, and now belongs to Wyoming Lodge, No. 479, F. & A. M., and Wyoming Chapter, No. 133, R. A. M. In the former he has filled all the chairs below worshipful master, and in the latter has been captain of host and excellent king. He is a self-made man in the truest sense of that term, having from a humble position worked his way upward to a position of wealth and prominence. Upright and honorable in all things, he has gained the confidence and re- spect of all who know him, and justly deserves their high regard.
C APTAIN PHILIP BEAMER .- Among those agriculturists of Stark county whose places manifest to the most casual observer the energy and ability of their owner in his chosen calling, is the subject of this personal history, who resides on section 32, West Jer- sey township. He is a native of the Old Do- minion, born in Carroll county, May 12, 1836, and is a son of Peter L. and Mary Elizabeth (Cooley) Beamer, who spent their entire lives in that county, where the father followed the occupation of farming throughout his active business career. The paternal grandfather, Philip Beamer, was of German parentage, and was a pioneer of Carroll county.
The educational privileges provided our sub- ject during his boyhood were limited to a few months' attendance at the public schools dur- ing the winter season when his services were not needed on the home farm, where he re- mained until he had attained his majority. In early life he joined a militia company, of which he was elected captain, and when the civil war broke out, true to the principles in which he had been reared, he joined the Forty- fifth Vir- ginia Infantry, in April, 1861. He was elected lieutenant of his company, and served with
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that rank until hostilities had ceased, partici- pating in many important engagements and skirmishes, and also on detail duty. He was in the battle of Winchester and the engage- ments in the Shenandoah valley, after which he joined Lee's army, serving around Rich- mond, Petersburg and other points. With the exception of a short time when ill during the first year of the war, he was always found at his post of duty.
After the close of the war the Captain came to Illinois, in August, 1865, joining his uncle, Jeffrey Cooley, in Toulon, where for a time he engaged in the livery business. There he was married on the 25th of March, 1869, the lady of his choice being Miss Sarah Jane Gurney, a native of Belmont county. In 1851, when only a year old, she was brought to Illinois by her parents, Joseph and Jerusha (Bailey) Gurney, the former a native of England and the latter of Ohio. They settled on a farm in Stark county, where both died in 1854, leaving two children, the other being Mary Louisa, who wedded Thomas Horsley, but is now deceased. Mrs. Beamer was reared by Judge Rhodes, near Toulon, and obtained her education in the Toulon high school and the Canton schools.
Twelve children have been born to the Cap- tain and his estimable wife, six sons and six daughters, as follows: Louie V., wife of Lincoln Beiderbeck, a farmer of Stark county; Mary E., wife of James A. Barrett, a farmer of Knox and Peoria counties, Illinois; Jeffrey H., an agriculturist; and Rosa Dell, Sidney, James M., Alice E., Maud, Ralph R., Glen and Dale, twins, and Blanche, all at home.
After his marriage, Captain Beamer returned to Virginia, where he spent fourteen months in settling up some business, and on coming to Stark county in 1870 purchased fifty acres of land adjoining a tract of ninety acres belong- ing to his wife. Here they have since made
their home. Having a large amount of indus- try, perseverance and energy, he has made a noble record as a successful farmer, and stands to-day one of the substantial and reliable citi- zens of the county. All the improvements on his place are due to his own efforts, and in- clude a neat, substantial residence, two barns and all the necessary outbuildings.
In his political views, Captain Beamer is a Jacksonian Democrat, and in the fall of 1896 he voted for William J. Bryan and the free coin- age of silver. He has acceptably served as a member of the county board of supervisors, and has also been a member of the school board for some years. As a prominent and in- fluential member of the Grange, he has served as its master for two years, and is an earnest supporter of all enterprises calculated to ad- vance the interests of the community or pro- mote the general welfare.
FRANK C. HOOK is a well-known and highly-respected citizen of Toulon, Illinois, where he successfully conducts a livery, feed and sale stable, and in connection with this business he is also interested in farming. His entire life has been passed in Stark county, his birth here occurring May 1, 1856, and he is a worthy representative of one of its honored pioneer citizens.
His father, John Hook, was born in 1832, in Niagara county, New York, where his parents, Jacob and Catherine Hook, had lo- cated on crossing the Atlantic to the new world. They were natives of Switzerland, and in 1856 came west, accompanied by one son and three daughters, to visit their son John in Stark county, Illinois, and later joined another daughter in Minnesota. The father of our subject, who is the only one of the family now living, came to this state in 1854,
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and successfully engaged in agricultural pur- suits until 1873, when he removed to Toulon and embarked in the livery business. He also prospered in this undertaking, but since 1885 has lived retired, enjoying a well-earned rest. He still makes his home in Toulon, where he is surrounded by all the comforts and many of the luxuries of life. He married Nancy Jane Swartz, a daughter of Andrew Swartz, who came to Stark county from Ohio in 1838. Three children have been born to them -- Frank C., of this review; Laura, wife of C. B. Edson, of Galva, Illinois; and Bell, wife of Cyrus Worley, of Toulon. Socially, the father is a meniber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and formerly belonged to the Stark County Agricultural Society. He is a valued and representative citizen of the com- munity, widely and favorably known through- out the county.
F. C. Hook spent the days of his boyhood and youth in much the usual manner of farmer lads, and continued to actively engage in agri- cultural pursuits for some years. He has for the past eleven years, however, engaged in the livery business with great success, keeping on hand a sufficient number of horses, carri- ages and other vehicles to meet the demand of his trade in both the city and surrounding country. He has not altogether laid aside farming, but still superintends the operation of his farm.
On the 5th of July, 1879, Mr. Hook was married, the lady of his choice being Miss Bessie Byatt, a native of New York, and a daughter of Henry Byatt, of Toulon, who was born, reared and married in England. Two children grace this union-B. Fred and Eva. Socially, Mr. Hook affiliates with the Modern Woodmen of America, and politically is iden- tified with the republican party. He takes an active interest in public affairs, and gives his
support to all worthy enterprises which have for their object the good of the community, or the upbuilding of his town or county.
C APTAIN SYLVESTER T. OTMAN, of Wyoming, Illinois, needs no special in- troduction to the readers of this volume, but the work would be incomplete without the rec- ord of his life. No man in Stark county has been more prominently identified with the commercial and political history of the com- munity or has taken a more active part in its upbuilding and progress. He has ever cheer- fully given his support to those enterprises that tend to public development and, with hardly an exception, he has been connected with every interest that has promoted general wel- fare.
The Captain was born November 5, 1828, in Madison county, New York, a son of Jacob and Mary (Behrends) Otman. His father, who was a farmer by occupation, located near Utica when his son was about seven years old, and there our subject remained until 1849. He attended the common schools until sixteen, when he entered the Saquoit Academy, where he finished the English course, and later he took up the study of higher mathematics in Utica. At the age of eighteen he began teach- ing, which profession he followed for two win- ters in his home district, and also taught one term elsewhere in his native state.
On attaining his majority in 1849, Captain Otman came to Illinois, locating first in Peoria, where he engaged in teaching for six months, but in May, 1850, removed to Wyoming, Stark county, and turned his attention to agricultural pursuits. On the democratic ticket he was elected county surveyor in 1853, but during his term he joined the republican party, and as their candidate for the same office he was elected in 1855, filling that office for four suc-
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cessive terms. He was married October II, 1855, to Miss Emma Denchfield, of Wyoming.
In 1861, our subject declined a re-nomina- tion for surveyor, and in August, 1862, joined Company E, One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, of which he was one of the organizers and was elected captain. His service was mostly in Kentucky, east and cen- tral Tennessee and North Carolina. After the battle of Chickamauga, while on duty a dis- tance from his regiment, Forrest's troops came upon him and he was cut off from his command, as the horses stampeded, and he came very nearly being captured. For the last six months of his three years' service he was on General Thomas J. Henderson's staff as acting assistant inspector-general. At the battle of Franklin, Tennessee, the commanding officer was wounded and he commanded the regiment from November until the following February. In 1865 he was honorably discharged and mus- tered out at Greensboro, North Carolina. He was a gallant, fearless soldier and a popular officer, having the confidence of those under him and the respect and esteem of his fellow officers.
In 1864, while the captain was in the serv- ice, his first wife and his only daughter died, and on the 7th of January, 1867, he was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Sarah Denchfield, nee Smith, and they began their domestic life upon his farm in Stark county. One son was born to them-A. M. Otman, now manager and stockholder in the Central City Pickling establishinent. He was born in Wyoming, in 1868, obtained his pri- mary education in the public schools of that place, and at the age of fifteen entered Knox college, where he completed the English course. Subsequently he was a student in the Daven- port, Iowa, Business college, and later gradu- ated from the law department of Iowa State
university. He then engaged in practice for a couple of years prior to embarking in his pres- ent business. He married Miss Florence Sim- mons, and they now have one child, Alice May, born October 18, 1888.
Captain Otman was reared a democrat and voted for Franklin Pierce in 1852, but on the formation of the republican party he endorsed its principles, supported Fremont in 1856, and has since been one of its most ardent advo- cates. In 1866 he was elected to the legisla- ture, and during his term served on several im- portant committees, including the one on town- ship organizations and corporations.
In 1869 Captain Otinan began mercantile pursuits in partnership with A. W. King, which connection continued for five years, and for the following four years he was engaged in busi- ness with A. G. Hammond. He continued to reside upon his farm adjoining the corporation of Wyoming until 1874, when he erected his present comfortable residence on the corner of Galena avenue and Park street, where he has since made his home. In the spring of 1878 he disposed of his mercantile interests, and in the following fall was again elected to the leg- islature, serving this term as a member of the committees on rivers and canals, contingent expenses and military. On his re-election in 1880 he was made chairman of the committee on commerce, and served on committees on rivers and canals and apportionments. He ably represented his district, proving a valued member of the assembly, and left office as he had entered it, with the confidence and respect of his constituents.
In 1881 the Captain again turned his atten- tion to commercial pursuits, carrying on a lum- ber yard in the south part of the town for six years, but at the end of that time disposed of the business. He was appointed United States gauger in the revenue service of the Peoria dis-
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trict in 1889, and, although he resigned soon after President Cleveland's inauguration, his resignation was not accepted until 1894, hav- ing acceptably served for four years and ten months in that position. Political affairs have claimed his attention, and he has served as a delegate to various county, district and state conventions, representing his district in the convention which nominated Richard Yates for governor in 1860, and which also instructed the national delegates to support Abraham Lin- coln for the presidency. At this convention the Captain met the martyr president, but had previously been introduced to him at Toulon in 1858, when Lincoln spoke there.
Our subject was made a Mason at Toulon, but now holds membership in Wyoming Lodge, No. 479, F. and A. M., and has also taken the royal arch and council degrees. His son is also quite prominent in the order, being a thirty-second-degree Mason, and is now high priest at Peoria and at the head of the council at that place. His support is also given the republican party, in whose success he takes an active interest. Captain Otman is a man of much force of character, strong individuality, and his pleasant, social manner has won him a host of warm friends. Not only as a brave defender of the Union during her hour of peril has he manifested his loyalty, but also by the faithful discharge of every duty of citizenship, and by his effective and conscientious service as a public official.
J
JOSEPH SWANK, a well-known and pro-
gressive farmer and stock-raiser living on section 21, West Jersey township, Stark county, was born on the IIth of March, 1849, in North- umberland county, Pennsylvania, but the same year was brought to Illinois by his parents, Henry R. and Sarah (Roadarmel) Swank. From their old home they traveled by boat to
Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and in a one-horse wagon made the rest of the journey, bringing with them only the few things which could be conveyed in that way. The parents were ac- companied by their five children, and on their arrival in West Jersey township, Stark county, had only thirty-five cents remaining. Being a blacksmith by trade, the father found employ- ment with a cousin at West Jersey, and later started a shop of his own at that place, con- ducting the same for a number of years. In the meantime, however, he pre-empted forty acres of land on which our subject now resides, and on disposing of his blacksmith shop he re- moved to the farm, to which he added from time to time until he owned three hundred acres of rich and arable land. He continued its cultivation and improvement until called from this life. In his political affiliations he was a democrat, and, although not an office- seeker, he acceptably served as constable sev- eral terms.
Of the eight children born to Henry R. and Sarah Swank five grew to manhood and wo- manhood and are still living. Isaac died at the age of sixteen; James, a merchant of West Jersey, is married and has six children; Mary Ann is the wife of Francis Riggen and lives in Galva, Illinois; Elisha B., who owns and oper- ates two hundred and forty acres of land in West Jersey township, is married and has three children; Amos died at the age of eight years; Perry died in infancy; and Charles, a farmer of Albion, Marshall county, Iowa, is married and has two children.
Joseph Swank was reared on the home farm, early becoming familiar with agricultural pur- suits, and receiving his education in the com- mon schools of the neighborhood. When about twenty-two years of age he established a meat market in West Jersey, which he con- ducted one year, and then carried the mail
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from that place to Toulon for a few months. He next engaged as clerk in a store in West Jersey for Mr. Fox, and continued to follow that occupation for about six years, in differ- ent employ. On the expiration of that period he embarked in general merchandising on his own account, and carried on business along that line for four years. After the death of his father, in September, 1892, he purchased the old homestead, and has since turned his attention to farming, having his place of one hundred and twenty acres under a high state of cultivation.
In October, 1876, Mr. Swank led to the marriage altar Miss Jennie Dancer, of West Jersey, and to them was born one son, Hul- bert P., now about nineteen years of age. The wife and mother died in 1881 while they were still living in the village. On the 28th of Feb- ruary, 1884, Mr. Swank was again married, his second union being with Miss Ida M. Ables, by whom he has five children-Nettie Maud, Carl Oscar, Ethel May, Leslie Ray and Lena Grace.
Politically, Mr. Swank is a democrat and cast his first vote for Horace Greeley in 1872. For several years he has served as constable of his township, and was justice of the peace one term, during which time he tried many cases, and had some appealed but none reversed. He also had the honor of joining in wedlock a number of couples, from which he derived much sport. He refused to serve longer as justice of the peace, but has been town clerk, collector, and was candidate for supervisor but was defeated, as that year a people's ticket was also placed in the field. He also served as school treasurer fifteen years. Socially, he is a leading member of the West Jersey Lodge, No. 234, I. O. O. F., has filled all the chairs and also represented the order in the grand lodge of the state. He also belongs to West
Jersey Camp, No. 1441, M. W. A., in which he has filled some offices, and he and his wife are prominent members of the Home Forum, of which he has been president since its organ- ization. A public-spirited, enterprising citi- zen, he has done much to advance the inter- ests of the community.
A UGUSTUS HULSIZER, editor and pro- prietor of the Stark County Sentinel, of Toulon, Illinois, was born on the 24th of De- cember, 1842, in Warren county, New Jersey, a son of Abner and Mary (Correll) Hulsizer, who were also natives of that state, where their marriage was celebrated. By trade the father was a blacksmith, and was an excellent workman, being able to manufacture any part of the iron work used in the construction of wagons or carriages. At an early day he vis- ited Illinois, with his brother James, and in 1852 took up his residence upon a farm in Stark county, which he improved and culti- vated until the last fifteen years of his life, which he spent in Toulon. He was well and favorably known by the pioneers of the county, was an elder in the Presbyterian church, to which he belonged, and was one of the prime movers in establishing that church in West Jersey, Illinois. His wife, who has also been a life-long and active member of the same de- nomination, will be seventy-one years of age on the 4th of July, 1897. Our subject is the oldest of their seven children, the others being as follows: George, who died in infancy in New Jersey; William, a retired farmer of Tou- lon; Mary, wife of Charles Downer, of Streator, Illinois; James, a florist of Grinnell, Iowa; Sa- rah, wife of John Hubbell, of Chicago.
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