USA > Illinois > Bureau County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 92
USA > Illinois > Marshall County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 92
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 92
USA > Illinois > Stark County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall, Putnam and Stark Counties, Illinois > Part 92
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During the Civil war Mr. Shullaw had one brother, John, in the Union army, and our sub- ject helped to clear two townships of his native county of the draft, proposing the plan which was adopted and carried out in one of them. Originally he was a whig in politics, casting his first vote for General Scott in 1852, four years later voted for John C. Fremont, the. first republican candidate, later supported Ben Butler and General Weaver on the greenback ticket, and in the fall of 1896 voted for Will- iam J. Bryan and the free coinage of silver. He has taken quite an active and prominent part in local affairs, and has been called upon to serve in several official positions of honor
and trust, being a school director for the long period of thirty years, justice of the peace for four years in Valley township, and highway commissioner for three years. He was elected on the republican ticket, overcoming a large democratic majority, a fact which plainly indi- cates his popularity and the confidence and trust his fellow citizens repose in him. He is now the efficient assessor of Valley township.
B ENJAMIN R. BROWN, an enterprising and energetic farmer of Stark county, re- siding on section 3, West Jersey township, owns and operates two hundred and sixty acres of rich and valuable land, which he has improved with excellent buildings. He is not only one of the representative agriculturists of the community, but is also one of its honored pioneers, having first located here in October, 1838, and he has taken an active and promi- nent part in the upbuilding and progress of the county.
A native of Canada, Mr. Brown was born February 13, 1835, near Brockville, Ontario, and is a son of David W. and Olive (Parish) Brown, who were born, reared and married in that country, coming in 1838 by team to Illi- nois, where her brothers had located the year previous. The father of our subject settled on section 2, Goshen township, Stark county, where, the fall previously, he had entered eighty acres of government land, but it was then a part of Knox county. There he opened up a farm, but in 1845 sold out and purchased eighty acres twenty miles west of Fort Dear- born, in Du Page county, Illinois, where he followed agricultural pursuits for eight years. On disposing of his property there he located near Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he spent his remaining days, dying in 1863. The moth- er of our subject had departed this life in Du
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Page county in 1846, after which the father was again married.
Benjamin R. Brown is one of a family of two sons and two daughters, of whom three were born in Canada before the emigration of the family to Illinois. Lucy, the oldest, is now the widow of Robert Nicholson, with whom she removed to Platte county, Nebraska, in 1870. Sarah married Joseph Watts, and also removed to that county in 1870, where her husband subsequently died. Alva W. enlisted in 1861 in Company B, Thirty-Ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, for three years, and later veteranized, joining Hancock's corps, with which he served until the close of the war. He participated in a great many important engage- ments, and received two flesh wounds while in defense of the old flag. After the war he was married in Goshen township, Stark coun- ty, but has made his home in Harrison county, Iowa, since 1866.
Our subject accompanied his parents to Stark county and later to Du Page county, but at the age of sixteen returned to the former, where he grew to manhood. His educational privileges were limited, but his training at farm work was not so meagre, and since the early age of four- teen he has made his own way in the world, working by the month for seven years, and at first receiving only six dollars and a half per month. Going to Iowa about 1853, he en- tered one hundred and sixty acres of land in Clarke county, and then returned to Stark county and purchased eighty acres of his pres- ent farm, on which he erected a small box house, where he lived for several years. He endured many hardships and privations in those early days while endeavoring to estab- lish a home of his own, and often had to pay as high as twenty per cent. on money bor- rowed to pay on his farm. At length, how- ever, prosperity crowned his efforts, and he is
now the owner of a fine farm of two hundred and sixty acres, pleasantly located five miles from Toulon. * He has a commodious and sub- stantial residence, large barns and outbuild- ings, and the neat and tasty appearance of his place testifies to his thrift and industry.
In Goshen township, on the 12th of March, 1857, Mr. Brown was united in marriage with Miss Maria Jane Cain, daughter of Joseph and Barbara (Heckard) Cain, the former of Penn- sylvania and the latter of Maryland, a native of Fulton county, Illinois. Her father located in Fulton county as early as 1831. When fif- teen years of age she came with the family to Stark county. By this marriage six children have been born: Clinton Monroe, a farmer of Henry county, Illinois, who is married and has two children; Lucy E., wife of George F. Price, of Goshen township, by whom she has one child; Charles E., who died leaving a wife and two children; Alva C., a farmer of West Jersey township, who is married and has two children; Joseph W., who assists in the opera- tion of the home farm; and Olive B., also at home.
Mr. Brown uses his right of franchise in sup- port of the men and measures of the repub- lican party, casting his first vote for John C. Fremont in 1856, and also for the first repub- lican governor of Illinois. He has served his fellow-citizens as commissioner of highways for ten years, and as a friend of public educa- tion he has been an efficient member of the school board for many years. Almost his en- tire life has been passed in Stark county, and from its primitive condition he has watched with interest its development, until to-day it ranks among the best counties of the common- wealth. He has borne an important part in this work, and at the same time has achieved remarkable success in his own undertakings, as he began life for himself with no capital or
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influential friends to aid him, but by the exer- cise of perseverance, industry, enterprise and good management he has become one of the well-to-do citizens of the community.
JOHN JACKSON, one of the active, prom- inent and most enterprising citizens of Elmira township, Stark county, is success- fully engaged in agricultural pursuits on sec- tion 35, where he owns a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres. He comes from over the sea, his birth occurring in Ross-shire, Scotland, August 15, 1836, and he is a son of Thomas and Isabella (Hyslop) Jackson, also natives of southern Scotland, where the father was engaged in the sheep industry. In 1848 the family emigrated to the new world, leav- ing Liverpool on a sailing vessel, which after a long voyage of six weeks and three days reached the harbor of Montreal, Canada, whence they proceeded by the St. Lawrence river and the Great Lakes to Chicago, arriving there about the first of August. They came at once to Stark county, where Mr. Jackson had a sister living-Mrs. Robert Turnbull, who had located here the year previous. The father of our subject secured one hundred and six acres of land, on which a small house was standing, and a few acres had been placed under culti- vation. With the assistance of his sons he at once began the further development and im- provement of his place and there spent his last days, dying in July, 1855. His wife, who long survived him, passed away in 1886, and was laid by his side in Elmira cemetery, where a neat monument marks their last resting place.
In the family of this worthy couple were six sons and two daughters, namely: Betsy, wife of Robert Turnbull, of Elmira township; Adam, who is married and is engaged in farm- ing in the same township; Colonel William,
whose sketch appears in this work; John, of this review; James, who was killed in Georgia while defending the old flag as a member of the Nineteenth Illinois Infantry; David, who is married and follows farming in Elmira town- ship; and Nellie, wife of David Fell, of Goshen township, Stark county.
John Jackson received a fair common-school education, and was a lad of about fourteen years when he came with his parents to America. He continued on the old home place with his mother until twenty-six years of age, operating the same for several years. In the fall of 1860, in Stark county, he married Miss Eliza Ann Montooth, a native of Phila- delphia, Pennsylvania, who died in the fall of I 864. They began their domestic life upon a farm in Osceola township, near Bradford, where Mr. Jackson purchased one hundred acres, but after his wife's death he sold out and returned to the old homestead.
On the 3d of July, 1869, Mr. Jackson was again married, his second union being with Miss Abbie S. Stuart, daughter of Seth Stuart, for- merly of Vermont and an early settler of Elmira township, Stark county. In the Green Mount- ain state, Mrs. Jackson was born, reared and educated. By her marriage she has become the mother of four children, namely: Myrtle J., who is engaged in farming in Elmira town- ship; Belle F., at home, who completed the high-school course and was later a student in the Toulon Academy; and Ida and Charles, who are still attending the home school. The children have all been provided with good op- portunities for securing an education, and the family is one of which the parents may be justly proud.
On the Ist of September, 1869, Mr. Jackson located on his present fine farm, whose well- tilled fields and substantial buildings testify to his thrift and industry, and he is everywhere
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recognized as one of the most progressive and energetic agriculturists of the community. Through his own unaided efforts he has secured a comfortable competence, so that he is now numbered among the substantial farmers of Elmira township. Politically he has been identified with the republican party since cast- ing his first vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, but has never aspired to office, though he has served as a member of the school board for twelve years. With the Presbyterian church of Elmira he and his wife and two daughters hold membership, and take an active and prom- inent part in its work, doing all in their power to advance the moral as well as the material interests of the community.
RICHARD YATES LACKIE is a wide- awake and energetic agriculturist residing on section 7, Osceola township, Stark county. On the farm where he still lives he was born May 10, 1866, a son of John and Sarah (Fall) Lackie. The father was a native of the Green Mountain state, born in West Barnet, Decem- ber 6, 1823, and there he was reared to man- hood upon a farm, receiving a fair education in the public schools of the neighborhood. In 1844, on attaining his majority, he came to Stark county, Illinois, where he engaged in teaching and farming for some time, and in Osceola township purchased a tract of land. In 1850, however, he left for the gold fields of California, and for some time followed mining and also operated a sawmill, remaining on the Pacific slope for about three years. On his return to Illinois he located upon his farm in Osceola township and afterward turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, in which he met with excellent success, becoming the owner of nearly three hundred and fifty acres of rich and arable land.
On the 3d of April, 1855, John Lackie led
to the marriage altar Miss Sarah Fall, of Des Moines, Iowa, with whom he had become ac- quainted in Illinois. At the age of eighteen she had accompanied her parents from her early Ohio home to this state, and later re- moved to Iowa. She received a good com- mon-school education, and is a most estimable woman. Three children were born to this union, the brother and sister of our subject being Lizzie, who is now the wife of J. Wallace House, of Elmira township, Stark county, and has two children, Edna and Mabel ; and George Edward, of the same township, who married Lizzie Otley and also has two children, Lester and Leman.
Upon the old homestead, where he still re- sides, Richard Y. Lackie early became familiar with every department of farm work, and is now successfully operating that place. At the age of eighteen he went to Geneseo, Illinois, where he completed his literary training by a two years' course in the Northwestern Normal, and was thus well fitted for the practical and responsible duties of business life. He was married March 20, 1890, the lady of his choice being Miss Anna Buswell, of Elmira township, Stark county, where she was born October 30, 1869, a daughter of Charles and Elizabeth ( Buswell ) Buswell. Two children grace their union : Harry Mervyn, born January 4, 1891 ; and Charles Burton, born July 2, 1894.
Mr. Lackie is a prominent representative of the agricultural interests of Osceola township, and occupies a high position in social as well as business circles. He has always affiliated with the republican party since casting his first vote for Benjamin Harrison in 1888, but has never cared for political preferment. His father was also an ardent supporter of the same party, and was called upon to serve in several important official positions, the duties of which he most capably discharged, winning
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the commendation of all concerned. For the long period of twenty-three years he served as supervisor of Osceola township, was justice of the peace for some time, and in 1882 was elected to the state legislature, being a promi- nent member of that body for one term. Fra- ternally he was connected with the Masonic order, and, although not a member of any church, he led an honorable, upright life and gave his support to all worthy objects for the good of the community. His death occurred January 16, 1894. His widow yet resides on the old homestead with the subject of this sketch.
JEREMIAH LYON, a representative farm- J
er of Stark county, is finely located on section 19, Toulon township, just inside the corporation limits of Toulon, where he is main- taining his place among the progressive and intelligent men around him engaged in agri- cultural pursuits. Here he has now made his home since 1880.
Mr. Lyon was born in Fulton county, New York, March 21, 1832, and is a worthy repre- sentative of a family that was early established in the Empire state. His grandfather, Ezra Lyon, a hero of the war of 1812, was a native of Connecticut, and removed to New York at an early day, accompanied by four brothers. He married Hannah Whitney, and upon a farm in Saratoga county they reared their fam- ily, among whom was Ezra Lyon, Jr., the fa- ther of our subject. Learning the blacksmith's trade, he carried on that business throughout his active life. On reaching manhood he married Hannah Bass, a native of Fulton county, New York, and a daughter of Jere- miah Bass, a pioneer of that county. There Mr. Lyon worked at his trade for some time, subsequently resided in Galloway, Saratoga county, but later returned to Fulton county,
where he spent his remaining days. A leading and influential citizen, he was appointed post- master of Galloway, and was an active mem- ber of the Baptist church, in which he served as deacon. He was twice married, having by the first union five children who grew to ma- ture years: C. M. S., deceased, a resident of Toulon, Illinois; Samuel L., who married and located in Toulon, where his death occurred; Elias, who is also married and resides in Tou- lon; Hannah, wife of Benjamin Packer, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume; and Jeremiah, of this review.
In Saratoga county, New York, Jeremiah Lyon grew to manhood, and his early educa- tional advantages were such as the common schools afforded, but he has greatly supple- mented the knowledge there acquired by read- ing, study and observation in later years. Under his father's direction he learned the blacksmith trade and continued to work with him until twenty years of age, when he went to Connecticut, where he worked in a factory, and was later similarly employed in New York state, but in 1854 came to West Jersey town- ship, Stark county, Illinois, working with his brother upon a farm for one season. In the fall, however, he returned to New York, and later found employment in the shops of the Meriden Cutlery Company, of Meriden, Con- necticut, where he remained for many years.
In Middletown, Connecticut, July 3, 1872, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Lyon and Mrs. Anna (Ross) Park, a native of that state and a daughter of James and Hannah (Neil) Ross, who were born, reared and married in Scotland. Mrs. Lyon is one of a family of three sons and two daughters, and besides herself those still living are Hannah, wife of Joseph Waldron, of Middletown, Connecticut; and William, a resident of Hartford, Connect- icut. By her first marriage she became the
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mother of one daughter, Lizzie L., who was educated in the Toulon schools and the state normal, and is now a successful teacher of Toulon, where she has been employed for four years.
For eight years Mr. Lyon continued to fol- low his trade in the east, removing to Stark county, Illinois, in 1880, and locating upon his present place in March of the following year. He is now numbered among the most successful farmers of Toulon township, is a man of good business ability and exemplary habits, and with his wife and daughter occupies a high position in the esteem and confidence of their fellow citizens. Politically he has always been a supporter of the republican party, and as a member of the school board he has ren- dered effective service for the cause of educa- tion.
H ON. WILLIAM M. PILGRIM was the senior member of the well-known firm of Pilgrim & Washburn, who successfully en- gaged in general merchandising in Brad- ford, Illinois. He has been and is distinctively a man of affairs and one who has wielded a wide influence. A strong mentality, an invin- cible courage, a most determined individuality have so entered into his make-up as to render him a natural leader of men and a director of opinion. The village may well accord honor to him.
Mr. Pilgrim was born in Lincolnshire, Eng- land, November 2, 1839, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Craft) Pilgrim, natives of Wales and England, respectively. In the latter country they were married, and in the early '50s crossed the Atlantic to America. The fa- ther, who was a farmer by occupation, bought a quarter section of land in Peoria county, Illinois, near Princeville, for which he paid six hundred dollars, but never moved thereon
as his wife's death occurred about that time, August 29, 1854. Later he wedded Mrs. Eve Mooke, and located upon a quarter section of improved land which he had purchased in Knox county, this state, near Victoria. He was widely and favorably known, especially in Galva, where he removed about 1861, and made his home until his death in 1878. There he lived retired from active labor. He was a very efficient and zealous worker in the Wes- leyan Methodist church, which his first wife also joined before her death, but she had formerly been an Episcopalian.
Our subject is the fifth in order of birth in a family of seven children. five sons and two daughters, of whom Jane died at the age of twenty-five and Jabez at the age of fifteen. The latter was killed by getting caught in the cylinder of a threshing-machine, only living for about twelve hours after the accident. The members of the family still living are Mrs. Hannah Lyons, a resident of Brimfield, Illi- nois; Croft, of Grinnell, Iowa; John, of Cres- ton, Iowa; and Charley, of northeastern Iowa.
Mr. Pilgrim, of this review, was educated in the public schools of Stark county, and was reared on a farm. He was working by the month as a farm hand when the dark cloud of war broke over our beloved country, and in August, 1861, enlisted in Company B, Thirty- seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was a part of the army of the west, under com- mand of Generals Curtis and Siegel. The first battle in which he participated was at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, and was next in the engage- ment at Springfield, Missouri, where he was left in care of the wounded. The rebels remained near that city, but the Union forces were able to hold the fort until reinforcements came, when the enemy were put to flight. Later Mr. Pilgrim was detailed at headquarters as clerk, in which capacity he served until the
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expiration of his term of service, when he was honorably discharged and returned home.
Mr. Pilgrim purchased a small farm, which he continued to operate for three years, and then removed to Bradford, where he taught both vocal and instrumental music for the fol- lowing three years. He then embarked in merchandising, but is still much interested in music, and has organized a little orchestra in his family, consisting of himself, wife and two stepsons-Walter Washburn and Fred Thomas. He finds his chief source of enjoyment in music, and possesses considerable talent along that line.
In June, 1865, Mr. Pilgrim was united in marriage with Mrs. Washburn, a native of New Hampshire, and a widow of Dr. S. T. C. Washburn, of that state. She had one son, Walter A. Washburn, who was then eight years of age, and who has been reared by our subject. Together they conducted a well- stocked general store in Bradford for some years. Mr. Washburn married Miss Lillian Hamilton, a daughter of C. F. Hamilton, of Wyoming, Illinois, and they have three chil- dren-Charles, Lizzie and Keith. Mrs. Pil- grim died in 1879, at the age of thirty-nine years. She was a Universalist in religious belief, and her father, Rev. A. Abbott, was a minister of that church.
Mr. Pilgrim was again married in 1885, his second union being with Mrs. Ada (Dewel) Thomas, widow of William Frederick Thomas, by whom she had one son, Fred Thomas, a graduate of the Bradford high school and later a clerk in Pilgrim & Washburn's store. By his second marriage, there has been born a son, Arthur O. Pilgrim.
His fellow citizens, recognizing his worth and ability, have elected Mr. Pilgrim president of the village board, which responsible position he has now acceptably filled for several terms.
He has also held the office of supervisor for four years, and in 1894 was elected to the state legislature, where, during his term, he served on several important committees. He has ever been faithful to every trust reposed in him, whether public or private, and has the confidence and high regard of all who know him. He is prominently identified with the Masonic fraternity, belonging to the blue lodge of Bradford, the Wyoming Chapter, the Peoria Commandery, and has also taken the thirty-second degree in the Peoria Consistory of the Scottish Rite. He also belongs to the Grand Army of the Republic, in which he has passed all the chairs.
E LISHA J. CULTON .- The representa- tives of the farming and stock-raising in- terests of Stark county acknowledge this gen- tleman to be one of the most important factors in bringing this section of the state to its pres- ent enviable condition. He is a man of more than ordinary business capacity, intelligent and well informed, and has identified himself with the progress and best interests of the people of his community. He now owns a good farm on section 26, Penn township, and is successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits.
A native of Illinois, Mr. Culton was born in Fulton county, near Canton, October 4, 1851. The birth of his father, John J. Culton, oc- curred near Nashville, Tennessee, April 20, 1806, but when a boy he was taken by his parents to Kentucky, locating in the neigh- borhood where Henry Clay's parents lived. Throughout their boyhood that statesman and the father of our subject were schoolmates. After his father's death, John J. Culton went to southern Indiana, where, on the 19th of Feb- ruary, 1829, he married Abigail Mitchell, who was born near Frankfort, Kentucky, May 4,
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1809, and was quite young when taken by her parents to the Hoosier State.
There the parents of our subject continued to reside for a short time after their marriage, and then came with ox teams to Illinois, locat- ing in Fulton county, where the father estab- lished a tannery. Indians were still quite nu- merous in that vicinity, and the mother at one time became badly frightened by them. She picked up two of her children and ran for her life. At length selling out his tannery, Mr. Culton turned his attention to farming. Later he removed to Macon county, Illinois, where he lived for eight years, but at the end of that time sold his farm and rented for one year the land on which Castleton, Stark county, is now located. He next purchased eighty acres in Milo township, Bureau county, but spent the last few years of his life in Bradford, Stark county, where his death occurred May 17, 1890. His wife is still living at the advanced age of eighty-eight and now makes her home with a daughter in Bradford.
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