USA > Illinois > Bureau County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 85
USA > Illinois > Marshall County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 85
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 85
USA > Illinois > Stark County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 85
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Until fourteen years of age our subject at- tended the common schools of his native land, and two years later learned the weaver's trade, weaving linen in the spring and working on the farm for the rest of the year. After the death of his father he determined to try his fortune in the new world, and accordingly took passage on a sailing vessel, which reached the harbor of New York forty-two days later, being con- sidered at that time a fairly quick trip. Soon after landing he went to Chester county, Penn- sylvania, where he worked on a farm through the summer and at his trade during the winter season.
While a resident of that county, Mr. Schiebel was married, in the fall of 1849, to Miss Rosa Kloeffer, and in 1853, with his wife and two children, started for Illinois, going by boat from Pittsburg to Cincinnati, St. Louis and Peoria. Locating in Farmington, this. state, he worked at day labor for one year, and then rented a farm, which he operated with a team furnished by the owner of the place. At the
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end of a year he was able to buy a team, and after renting land for five years purchased sixty acres of wild prairie land in Peoria county, which he improved and cultivated for six years. On selling out he bought two hundred and twenty acres of his present farm in Essex township, Stark county, and has added to it until he now has a valuable place of three hun- dred and sixty-three acres of rich and fertile land, well improved with good buildings.
Of the ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. Schiebel, eight reached years of maturity and seven are still living. (1) Samuel, the eldest, is a stock-buyer living in Stark county. (2) John, born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, March 7, 1852, received a fair common-school education, and was married March 8, 1877, to Miss Rosa Schaad, a native of Peoria county, Illinois, and a daughter of Jacob and Mary (Best) Schaad. Eight children grace their union-John, Anna, Burt, Mabel, Tena, Fred- erick, Arthur and Carrie. (3) William is a farmer living in Essex township. (4) Mary is the wife of David Springer, a resident of Al- bion, Iowa, and they have four sons. (5) Em- ma is the wife of James Jackson, of Peoria county, and has three children. (6) Rosa is the wife of Frank Heggenberger, of Peoria, and has two children. (7) Otto, a resident of Verdi, Iowa, is married and has two sons. The wife of our subject was called to her final rest March 1I, 1892, and her remains were in- terred in the Schiebel burying-ground on the home farm.
Mr. Schiebel cast his first vote for Buchan- an, and has since been a stalwart democrat in politics. Although no office-seeker he has served his fellow citizens as school director. His son John cast his first presidential ballot for Tilden. In religious belief our subject is a Lutheran. He has watched with lively inter- est the growth and development of this locality
and has contributed largely to its reputation as one of the most desirable farming districts in Illinois.
C YRUS BOCOCK, a well-known business
man of Bradford, Illinois, has been a resident of the county a period of thirty-one years. At present he is engaged in the loan, collection and insurance business, and is a no- tary public and conveyancer. He was born in Highland county, Ohio, October 5, 1832, and is a son of Elijah and Barbara (Mckinney) Bocock, the former a native of Virginia and the latter of Pennsylvania, but who were mar- ried in Ohio, July 18, 1822. In 1837 they re- moved to Fulton county, Illinois, where the father purchased land consisting of heavy tim- ber, which he cleared and made a finely im- proved farm. The father was a farmer by occupation and gave his best endeavors to the improvement of his farm, never seeking nor accepting public office. A quiet and most de- sirable citizen, he strictly attended to his own business, and in his life endeavored to follow the golden rule. His death occurred in March, 1885, on his eighty-seventh birthday. His
wife died in 1879, at the age of eighty-two years. She was an active and consistent mem- ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, an in- telligent and good woman, living a long and useful life, which was the personification of much that was uplifting and ennobling.
The subject of this sketch is one of a family of seven children, three of whom are now liv- ing: Hannah M., wife of Salem Fouts, of Ottawa, Kansas; our subject, who resides in Bradford; and Nancy, wife of Levi Fouts, of Castleton, Illinois. The deceased are: Robert Mc, who died January 19, 1886; and Mary C., Anna and Daniel, who died in childhood.
Our subject was educated in the common country schools, supplemented by a short term
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CYRUS BOCOCK.
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MRS. CYRUS BOCOCK.
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at a select school. He has been much of a student all his life and got most of his educa- tion without a teacher. He was reared on a farm and followed the occupation of a farmer for many years, and still owns two hundred and forty acres of land in Illinois and four hun- dred in Iowa. His removal from Fulton county to Stark occurred in 1866, since which time he has been one of its most enterprising citizens. For some years he served as an auctioneer and sold goods all over Stark and adjoining coun- ties. He built the first store and sold the first goods, and was the first postmaster of Castle- ton. For several years he served as super- visor of his township, and in 1872 was elected a member of the legislature, and re-elected in 1874, serving two terms. While a member of that body he served on a number of the most important committees, discharging every duty in the most satisfactory manner. For about sixteen years he has been a notary public and has done a large part of the conveyancing in the northern part of Stark county and a part of Bureau county. He represented the tenth congressional district on the state board of equalization for eight years, in a very accept- able manner. At present he is the public ad- ministrator of Stark county, having received his first appointment from Governor Fifer. He has settled more estates than any other one man in the county. For two years he served as justice of the peace and then resigned. He has been a member of the village board for some years, and at present writing is serving in that capacity.
Mr. Bocock was married April 2, 1857, to Miss Eleanor Fouts, daughter of Dugan Fouts, of Fulton county, Illinois, of which county she is a native. Seven children have come to bless their union-Charles W., who married Miss Laura Markland, by whom he has one daughter; Francis M., who married Annie
Mahler and has one child; Leonard, who mar- ried Ella Christie; Emma L., at home; Sarah Ada, wife of William Malone, of Marshall county, Illinois; Cyrus Oscar, a farmer of Stark county; and Clarence E., at home.
Mr. Bocock is a member of the Masonic or- der, and is secretary of the blue lodge at Brad- ford. He is also a member of the Independ- ent Order of Odd Fellows and has filled all the chairs of the local lodge. With his wife he holds membership in the Eastern Star of the Masonic fraternity, and the Rebekah degree of Odd Fellowship. Politically he is a republic- an, and has ever been an enthusiastic advo- cate of the republican party. He has been a member of the county and congressional cen- tral committee of his party, and by his wise counsel has done much to advance its interests in both county and congressional districts. In every enterprise calculated for the upbuilding of his adopted town and county he takes a lively interest.
S AMUEL .CREE is one of the active, en- terprising and representative agriculturists of Stark county, owning a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres on section 12, West Jersey township. He is a native of the Key- stone state, born on the 27th of July, 1833, in Greene county, where his grandfather, Will- iam Cree, was one of the first settlers. There he hewed out a farm in the midst of the wil- derness, and during the Revolutionary war, in which he participated, his family were often compelled to flee to Jarret's Fort for protection from the Indians.
William Cree, Jr., the father of our subject, was also born in Greene county, Pennsylvania, in 1797, amidst the primitive scenes of frontier life, and on reaching manhood he was united in marriage with Miss Mary Ann De France, who was born and reared in Claysville, Wash-
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ington county, the same state. Throughout his active business career the father followed farming in Greene county, and there reared his family of twelve children, of whom only two are now deceased. In order of birth they are as follows: J. William, who married and settled in Greene county, where his death oc- curred; Jane, now the widow of Jeremiah Shroy; John, deceased; Polly, wife of John Christopher; Catherine, wife of James Milli- ken; Eliza, wife of Dezery Shroy; Samuel, of this review; Allison, who still resides on the old homestead in Pennsylvania; Joseph, a res- ident of northern Iowa; Hugh D., who makes his home in Jefferson county, Pennsylvania; H. C., a farmer of West Jersey township, Stark county, Illinois; and Alexander, a busi- ness man of Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. The father died in 1871, the mother surviving him some years.
Our subject remained under the parental roof until he reached man's estate, becoming thoroughly familiar with agricultural pursuits in all its departments, and obtaining a good practical education in the schools of the neighborhood. Prompted by a spirit of pa- triotism, he enlisted July 4, 1863, in Company A, Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania Infantry, and joined the regiment in South Carolina, after which he participated in the battles of Fair Oaks, Bermuda Hundred, Fort Darling, Petersburg, Fort Fisher, and numerous skir- mishes. When the war ended he was sta- tioned at a hospital in North Carolina, where he had been detailed for duty, and was discharged at Portsmouth Grove, Rhode Island, in July, 1865.
Mr. Cree rejoined his wife and children in Knox county, Illinois, where he operated rented land for four years, but in 1869 came to Stark county, locating first in Goshen township. In 1876 he purchased eighty acres of his present
farm, to which he has added from time to time until he now has two hundred and forty acres, all under a high state of cultivation and im- proved with a comfortable residence and good substantial out-buildings, making it one of the most desirable places of the locality. On com- ing to the state he was in limited circumstances, but by perseverance, energy and industry, he has steadily advanced along the highway of success until to-day he is numbered among the well-to-do and prosperous citizens of the com- munity.
In Greene county, Pennsylvania, in June, 1860, Mr. Cree was united in marriage with Miss Ruth Ellen Christopher, who was born and reared in the same neighborhood as her hus- band. She departed this life in Stark county in 1873. To them were born six children, namely: Miranda D., now the wife of George L. Milligen, of Lyons, Nebraska; Sarah N., widow of William Quinn, and a resident of Toulon, Illinois; W. J., a farmer of Ida county, Iowa; Lurena, at home; Francis M., who as- sists his father in the operation of the home farm; and Lewis, who is married and resides on the home farm. There is also an adopted daughter, Samantha Cree, whom they took as a child and reared and educated. Returning to his native county, Mr. Cree was again married, February 20, 1877, his second union being with Miss Mary A. Milligan, who was also born and reared near his old home.
Since casting his first presidential ballot for Fremont in 1856, Mr. Cree has been an ardent republican, but has never cared for the honors or emoluments of public office, preferring to give his entire time and attention to his busi- ness interests, in which he has met with such good success. As a friend of public education, he has acceptably served as a member of the school board, however, and gives his earnest support to all worthy enterprises for the good
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of the community. Socially, he affiliates with W. W. Wright Post, No. 327, G. A. R., of Toulon. He is one of the leading citizens of West Jersey township, and enjoys the high re- gard of all with whom he comes in contact.
J JOHN HAZEN has for over half a century been prominently identified with the growth and prosperity of Stark county, and is now the owner of a valuable farm of two hundred and six acres on section II, West Jersey township, pleasantly located within six miles of Toulon. Like many of the most honored and respected citizens of the commu- nity, he is a native of New Jersey, born De- cember I, 1831, of which state his grand- father, Ziba Hazen, was a prominent farmer.
Jacob and Jane (Mitchell) Hazen, the par- ents of our subject, were natives of New Jersey, where the father continued to engage in farming on the old Hazen homestead until 1841, when he emigrated to Illinois, bringing his family. With teams they made the tedi- ous trip, which required six weeks, and they first located in Fulton county, where he rented land for four years. Coming to Stark county in 1845, he purchased one hundred and twenty acres in West Jersey township, and continued its improvement and cultivation until called from this life. His wife survived him for a number of years, but they now sleep side by side in the West Jersey cemetery. In their family were four sons and two daughters, who grew to maturity, and all are still living, with the exception of one son. All are married. George M. is now living retired in Toulon; John is the next in order of birth; S. R. is living retired in Galesburg; Emeline is the wife of S. P. Shannon, of Audubon county, Iowa. Rachel is the wife of W. H. Davidson, of Calhoun county, Iowa; and Jacob was for a
time a resident of Stark county, but spent his last years in Iowa.
When a lad of ten years our subject accom- panied the family to this state, and during his early life assisted in opening up and improving the home farm. He had but little opportunity of obtaining an education, but by reading and study in later years has become a well-informed man. On arriving at man's estate he pur- chased eighty acres of his present farm and has since devoted his time and attention to agricultural pursuits with good success. The well-tilled fields and neat appearance of his place indicate the supervision of a careful and painstaking owner, and the residence and out- buildings are models of convenience. As his financial resources have increased, he has added to his original purchase until his farm now contains two hundred and six acres of rich and arable land.
In Stark county, October 17, 1858, Mr. Hazen was joined in wedlock with Miss Eliza- beth Anthony, who was born in Warren county, New Jersey, and was principally reared and educated there. She became a pioneer teacher of Stark county. (A sketch of her brother, John H. Anthony, appears elsewhere in this volume.) Mr. and Mrs. Hazen have two chil- dren. Frank M., the elder, was married, but his wife is now deceased, leaving him with two children - Ernest V. and Lewis Earl. He owns a farm adjoining the homestead, but is now living with his father. Edna V. com- pleted her education in the Toulon high school and has successfully engaged in teaching to some extent in Stark county.
Mr. Hazen is an earnest supporter of the men and measures of the democratic party, and has held the offices of supervisor and school director, but has never cared for polit- ical preferment. In religious belief Mrs. Hazen is a Presbyterian, having formerly belonged to
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the church in West Jersey. They are widely and favorably known throughout the county, with whose agricultural and business interests he has so long been identified, and they cer- tainly deserve to be numbered among the most valued and honored citizens of the community.
A MOS BENNETT, an honored pioneer and a worthy representative of the agricultural interests of Stark county, owns and occupies a fine farm of one hundred and twenty acres on sections 2 and 3, Goshen township. He dates his residence here from 1838, and in common with the other early settlers experienced all the hardships and privations incident to fron- tier life, and also bore his part of the work of transforming the land into good homes and farms.
On the 6th of November, 1832, our subject was born in Cayuga county, New York, a son of Jeremiah and Sarah (Winne) Bennett, who were born, reared and married in the Empire state, where they continued to make their home until 1833. when they removed to Penn- sylvania, there spending the following four years. During the winter of 1837-8 they came to Illinois, accompanied by Henry C. Ives and family, traveling the entire distance with teams. On arriving in Stark county, the father of our subject entered one hundred acres of wild land in Goshen township, and Mr. Ives secured an adjoining tract. The former erected a log cabin upon his place and at once began break- ing and improving his land, to which he later added more land. After residing upon that farm for several years, he sold out and pur- chased the place on which our subject now re- sides, and there made many valuable and use- ful improvements. Here he reared his family and spent his last days, dying in 1871. His estimable wife long survived him, being called to her final rest on the 3d of February, 1886,
and they now sleep side by side in the Saxon cemetery.
Amos Bennett was one of a family of three sons and six daughters, one son dying in in- fancy, the others reaching years of maturity. David married and is now deceased. Mary is the widow of Joseph Ridle and is now a resi- dent of Greene county, Iowa. Mrs. Rachel Howarter is a widow residing in Linn county, Kansas. Mrs. Olive Lester makes her home in Oregon. Jane is the wife of Marshall Dex- ter. a resident of Idaho. Sarah is the de- ceased wife of C. J. Robins. Calfania is the wife of Rev. Joseph Washburn, a Free Meth- odist minister now located in Idaho.
Since a lad of five years, Amos Bennett has made his home in Stark county, where he was reared to habits of industry upon the home farm and had fair common-school advantages. He never left the old homestead, but assumed the management of the farm and cared for his parents during their declining years. On the 4th of July, 1860, he was married, the lady of his choice being Miss Hannah Bunton, who is also a native of New York, born in Wayne county, near the city of Lyons, in 1836. Her father, Lewis Bunton, was a farmer of that county, where his death occurred. In 1856 Mrs. Bennett came to Illinois with her sister, Mrs. Mary Jane Teller, wife of Ira Teller, who first located in Knox county, but later came to Stark county.
Nine children graced the union of Mr. and Mrs. Bennett-Sarah, wife of John McClen- nan, a farmer of Elmira township, Stark county; Walter M., who is married and engaged in farming in Ringgold county, Iowa; Ella May, wife of L. D. Bennett, a business man of Wethersfield, Henry county, Illinois; Egbert L., Amos and Thomas, who are all assisting in the operation of the home farm; Lizzie Ger- trude, wife of J. L. Mulholland, of Kewanee,
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Illinois; and Laura and Emma Etta, at home. One daughter, Mary Helen, died in childhood.
Politically, Mr. Bennett and his sons are all ardent adherents of republican principles, but he has never cared for the honors or emolu- ments of public office, though, as a warm friend of public education, he has served for a ńum- ber of years on the school board. Public- spirited and progressive, he ranks among the foremost men of his community, by whom he is highly respected for his honesty and upright- ness. During his long residence here he has made hosts of warm personal friends.
A LEXANDER E. GINGRICH, one of the most prosperous and substantial citizens of Duncan, is the owner of an excellent farm on section 34, Essex township, Stark county, where he is successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits and stock-raising. He was born in that township on the 14th of May, 1840, a son of Daniel and Polly (Coleman) Gingrich, who were natives of Pennsylvania, the former born in Lancaster county, that state, of Dutch ancestry. He was about twenty-five years of age when he went to Ohio, and the mother was also grown on going to that state, where their marriage was celebrated. They first lived in Richland county, but later removed to Ashland county, and about two years after marriage came to Illinois, locating in Essex township, Stark county. They were accom- panied by a paternal uncle of our subject, Christian Gingrich, who was then a widower. From their home in Ohio they drove across the country with a three-horse wagon, and be- gan life here on a capital of three hundred dollars.
After renting a farm for a time the father purchased eighty acres of wild land on the southwest quarter of section 30, Essex town- ship, which he improved and made his home
for many years. He prospered in his under- takings, owning at one time about nine hun- dred acres, mostly in Essex township. In politics he was an ardent democrat, but cared nothing for public office, though he served for a time as road commissioner. He was reared in the Lutheran faith, but there was no church of that denomination near his home.
By his first marriage Daniel Gingrich had six children,' of whom three are still living. Alexander E. is the oldest; David H. makes his home with our subject; Ezra A., who was a member of the One Hundred and Fifty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry, died of measles in the hospital at Nashville, Tennessee; and Mary Margaret wedded H. H. Jones and lives in West Jersey township, Stark county. The second union of the father was blessed with three children, who are yet living-Alvorado A., a resident of Galesburg, Illinois, who is married and has two children; Daniel P., of Essex township, who is married and has five children; and Ophelia, wife of Arthur Hotch- kiss, by whom she has six children.
The educational privileges of our subject were such as the common schools of his native county afforded. He remained under the parental roof until twenty-five years of age, when his father removed to Toulon and left him in charge of the farm. He inherited one hundred and sixty acres of land, to which he has added from time to time until he now has five hundred and fifty-five acres in Stark county. His fine residence in Duncan was erected in 1891.
On the 4th of March, 1869, Mr. Gingrich led to the marriage altar Miss Harriet E. Caskey, of Essex township, who was born in Stark county, Ohio, and they now have seven chil- dren, as follows: Florence May, who died at the age of twenty-four years; Allen A., who was married August 6, 1895, to Columbia
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Beecher, and has one child, Beulah Harriet, born August 3, 1896; Viella D., wife of Oscar Graves, of Peoria county, Illinois, by whom she has one child, Edna May, born May 31, 1896; John J., who was born May 25, 1876, and is still at home; William Walter, at home; Frank F., who died at the age of one year; and Earl E., born January 31, 1891. Mr. Gingrich has been called upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who died June '19, 1892, and was laid to rest at Spring Valley church, in Essex township.
In his political affiliations Mr. Gingrich is a democrat, and was once elected justice of the peace, but refused to serve, preferring to give his entire time and attention to his extensive business interests. Industrious, progressive and energetic, he has met with a well-deserved success in his undertakings, and is accounted one of the most valuable and reliable citizens of the county whose interests he has done much to advance.
JOHN MICHAEL GEHRT .- It is aston- ishing to witness the success of young men who have emigrated to America without capi- tal, and from a position of comparative obscur- ity worked their way upward to a position of prominence. The readiness with which they adapt themselves to circumstances and take advantage of the opportunities offered brings to them success and wins them a place among the leading business men of the community in which they reside. Although our subject had to borrow money to proceed on his journey after reaching the new world, he has become one of the most prosperous and wealthy citi- zens of Valley township, Stark county, his home being on section 35.
A son of George and Christina ( Gabler ) Gehrt, the subject of this sketch was born May II, 1834, in Altenburg, Saxony, Ger-
many, was reared on a farm and received a good common-school education in his native tongue. On the 3d of May, 1853, with a younger brother, Ambrose, he sailed for Amer- ica, landing at Baltimore, Maryland. As they had only one dollar left they were compelled to borrow money of friends to take them to Steubenville, Ohio, where some of their coun- trymen had located. For about a year John M. Gehrt there worked on the railroad at one dollar per day, during which time he and his brother saved enough money to send for a young brother, George Martin.
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