USA > Illinois > Bureau County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 10
USA > Illinois > Marshall County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 10
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 10
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On the 15th of April, 1870, Mr. Olds led to the marriage altar Miss Annabel Cremmel, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Bureau county with her father, Samuel Cremmel, when a child, in 1856. Eight children grace this union, Bryant, who married Anna Smith, daughter of William Smith; Howard, Edna, wife of Elmer Sapp, of the bank of Wyanet; Blanche, Guy M., Lucy W., John C., and Myra D.
Mr. Olds has been called upon to fill several positions of honor and trust in the county, the duties of which he has always discharged in a prompt and able manner, serving as collector and treasurer of his township. In 1896 he was elected to the office of supervisor, which position he is now filling. In politics Mr. Olds is a demo- crat. Socially he affiliates with the Masonic fra- ternity, Wyanet lodge, No. 231, F. & A. M .; Belmont camp, No. 25. M. W. A., and the Knights of Pythias lodge, No. 429, all of Wy- anet. He is a valued and influential citizen of the community and one who is held in the high- est regard by all.
JOHN H. MILLER. To the enterprising business man of known reliability every con- munity is indebted for its progress and upbuild- ing, and to this class belongs the subject of this review, a member of the well-known lumber firm
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of H. J. Miller & Son, of Spring Valley. Their yards are the largest to be found in Bureau coun- ty,and they have ever done an extensive business, especially during the years 1886 and 1887. Busi- ness was begun under the firm name of H. J. Miller, Son & Duggan, which connection was continued until 1893, and the firm has since been H. J. Miller & Son.
Our subject is a native of Bureau county, born in Hall township, November 27, 1856, and is a son of H. J. and Mary A. J. R. (Williams) Mil- ler, whose sketch is found elsewhere in this work. His grandfather, Henry Miller, was born in North Carolina, where his father died, and he was taken by his mother, who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Detheridge, to Warren coun- ty, Kentucky, where her death occurred. There Henry Miller wedded Sally Hall, a daughter of Edward Hall, on whose tomb is written "He was a Revolutionary soldier." This sentence was sug- gested by the father of our subject, and is an inscription of which his descendants may justly be proud, knowing that they belong to the Sons and Daughters of the Revolution. The maternal grandparents of our subject, Curtis and Mary (Peter) Williams, were natives of Kentucky, whence they removed to Indiana at an early day, from there proceeding to Sangamon county, Illi- nois, and then came to Bureau county, settling in Arispie township. The grandfather was born in Warren county, Kentucky, March 16, 1797, and died September 3, 1858, while his wife was born in Washington, Kentucky, March 15, 1804.
Mr. Miller, of this review, was educated in the common schools, and later took a business course at Adrian, Michigan, under Evans & Grosscup, graduating from the college there in 1875. For a time he then engaged in farming and then started in his present business at Spring Valley. However, he still gives some attention to agri- cultural pursuits, annually raising about one hun- dred and fifty acres of corn and from fifty to seventy-five acres of smaller grain.
On the 25th of January, 1877, in Kansas, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Miller and Miss Mary E. Wilhite, a daughter of Hampton Wil-
hite, and a granddaughter of Isham Wilhite. Her family were old residents of Bureau county, and her mother, who in her maidenhood was Miss Samantha Munson, was a native of the county. The home of our subject and wife has been blessed by the birth of the following children: Henry J., Ethel, Royal, Melvin M., C. Firth and Maggie.
In politics Mr. Miller is not bound by party ties, but holds himself free to support the men and measures he deems best. He cares nothing for office, having only served as collector one term. Socially he is connected with S. M. Dal- zell Lodge, No. 805, F. & A. M., and religiously is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, while his wife holds membership with the Con- gregational church. He is a wide-awake, pro- gressive citizen, highly respected and esteemed by the entire community and looked up to as a man truly upright and honorable in all things and one whom they can depend upon as a friend.
L UTHER A. JONES, deceased, was a native of New Hampshire, born at Hillsboro, No- vember 15, 18II. He grew to manhood in his native state and received a limited education in its select schools. In 1836 he was united in marriage with Druzilla Calef, and, with his young bride, came at once to Illinois, locating eventu- ally on a farm in Cass county. He remained there, however, but a short time, and then re- moved to Iowa, where he followed farming a few years, and then again returned to Cass county, where he resumed his farming operations. Later he removed to Beardstown, on the Illinois river, where he ran a steam ferry for a number of years and where his wife died in 1869, leaving four children, Sarah E., now wife of Frank W. Tracy, president of the First National Bank of Spring- field, Illinois; Ann Eliza, wife of Louis Weaver, now of Virginia; Emma F., a teacher in the Springfield high school, and Louis Arthur, a farmer of Bluff Spring, Illinois.
After the death of his first wife, Mr. Jones left Beardstown and removed to Henry, where he spent the remainder of his life. In November,
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1872, he married Mrs. Eleanor W. White, widow of John Bradshaw White, of Henry. Mr. White was born in Washington, Vermont, February 14, 1814, and December 30, 1841, there married Miss Eleanor W. Calef, who was a cousin of Mrs. Druzilla Jones, their fathers being brothers. They came to Illinois shortly after their marriage and located on a farm in Whitefield township, seven miles from Henry. They started from their Ver- 111ont home in sleighs, but on arriving at Roches- ter, New York, exchanged their runners for wheels and continued on their journey. Mr. White had made a visit to this locality some five years previously and had selected the land which he afterward purchased. He secured what he thought was government land, but it was found that there was a flaw in the title, and others made claim to the same tract. The case was placed in the hands of attorneys and stubbornly fought by claimants and contestants, but not settled un- til after the death of Mr. White, when it was de- cided in favor of a claimant, the widow and her children thus losing all that had been invested and the result of years of toil. Realizing the un- certainty of his title, however, Mr. White pur- chased another farm, on which the family moved. This farm, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, he commenced to improve, but in 1852 he rented the place and moved to Henry, where he engaged in the lumber trade, which business he continued until his death, October 30, 1852. To Mr. and Mrs. White were born three children: Ellen Maria, now the wife of Ransom E. Greg- ory, residing at Pierce, South Dakota; John Bur- ritt, who graduated at Knox College in 1867, and died February 11, 1868, at the age of twen- ty-one years, and Asa Orville, a farmer residing near Milford, Iroquois county, Illinois.
After the death of her husband, Mrs. White returned to the farm, and with the assistance of her children continued to operate it until her marriage with Mr. Jones, when they located in Henry. She has since disposed of it and is now living in a pleasant home in the village, where she enjoys the respect and loving good will of the entire community. She is a consistent and de-
voted member of the New Jerusalem or Sweden- borgian church at Henry, and well-grounded in the faith. Mr. Jones died January 25, 1893, in his eighty-second year. He was a man well liked in the community in which he resided and his death was mourned by a large circle of friends throughout Marshall and adjoining counties and also in his old home in Cass county.
H ON. SAMUEL L. RICHMOND, deceased, was for many years one of the best known and most highly respected citizens of Marshall county, a man whose standing at the bar was second to none in the state. He was a native of Vermont, born in 1824, and removed in youth to Ohio, where he grew to manhood, received his literary education, and married Miss Susan Hunt, by whom he reared a family of five children, all of whom yet survive. Warner L., the eldest son, is now engaged in farming near Topeka, Kan- sas. Lizzie R. now resides in Peoria, and is a woman of remarkable business tact and ability, being the second lady in the state to receive the appointment of notary public, for fifteen years engaged in the fire insurance business in Peoria, and at present is employed in the internal rev- enue office in that city. Belle V. is now the wife of Henry A. Goodwin, a mechanic of Peoria. Samuel L., also residing in Peoria, as special agent for the German Fire Insurance Company. Elijah D., the present county judge of Marshall, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work.
Our subject early in life determined to make the legal profession his life work, and for that purpose went to Louisville, Kentucky, studied law, and was there admitted to the bar. After his admission to the bar he returned to Burton, Ohio. He was married in 1848 and in 1849 came to Illinois, locating at Princeton, Bureau county, where he remained one year, and then came to Lacon, where he continued to reside until his death in 1873, with the exception of one year spent in St. Paul, Minnesota, and one year in Galena, Illinois. In 1858 he became associated with Hon. John Burns, who later succeeded him as circuit judge. The partnership thus formed
S. L. RICHMOND.
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
continued until Mr. Richmond was elected judge of the twenty-third circuit in 1861. At that time he was comparatively a young man, being but thirty-seven years of age. He was, however, a man well read in the law and of a judicial turn of mind. For twelve years and until the date of his death, he occupied the bench, and no man occupying like position stood higher in the esti- mation of his associates and the bar in general. His views and judgments were usually held as good law, and few cases were appealed from his decision and a less number were reversed.
In his political views, Judge Richmond was a thorough and consistent democrat, a firm be- liever in the principles of that party. A friend of education, he served some years upon the school board of Lacon, and did all in his power to advance the interests of the public schools, often delivering lectures on the public school question in various parts of the state in response to invi- tation. He was a close student of history and a man of quick perception. His popularity was not confined to the bar, but his friends were numbered by the thousands in all the avocations of life. He was suave in manner, open-hearted, and at all times a friend of the poor. What he did was always cheerfully done and no regrets would ever afterward be expressed, if mistaken in judg- ment, which was seldom the case. A man of the people, he enjoyed the respect of the people, and his death, which occurred in his forty-ninth year, while yet in the prime of life, was a sad blow, not only to his family and personal friends, but to the general public as well. If death had not so early claimed him, he doubtless would have occupied a position on the supreme bench, his name being frequently suggested for that posi- tion. His widow now resides in Peoria.
J. P. BURNHAM a keen, practical business man of Ohio, Illinois, is engaged in the manufacture and sale of furniture, and also does undertaking. He is a native of Bureau county, born July 17, 1838, and is a son of Stephen Burn- ham, whose birth occurred in New York, Sep- tember 22, 1796. The father was one of the
honored and highly respected pioneers of Bu- reau county, to which he came before the Black Hawk war in 1832, locating first on the old John Shugart place, where he made his home for sev- eral years. Later he removed to Dover town- ship, Bureau county, and spent his last days at the home of our subject in Ohio township, where his death occurred March 15, 1873. He was a quiet, unassuming farmer, caring nothing for political office, but was an excellent, honest and valued citizen, such as give character to a com- munity. He was reared in the faith of the Bap- tist church, but later became a faithful member of the Methodist Protestant church.
On the 5th of September, 1837, Stephen Burn- ham was united in marriage with Hester Ann Coulter, who was born March 13, 1809, and died March 3, 1876. She, too, was reared in the Presbyterian church and later joined the Methodist Protestant church. She was an ear- nest, conscientious Christian, and an active church worker. Our subject is the oldest of her five children, the others being as follows: Wil- liam H., a farmer of northern Iowa, married Elizabeth James, who is a daughter of Hiram James, but is now deceased. Sarah is the wife of Joseph Havens, a farmer of Ohio township, Bureau county. Mary E. is a professional nurse, residing at Princeton. Jerusha M. is the wife of J. M. Slutz, a farmer living near Princeton.
Until twenty-four years of age Mr. Burnham, of this sketch, followed agricultural pursuits, but on the 12th of August, 1862, laid aside personal interest and enlisted in Company B, Ninety-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to the army of the southwest. Under General Grant he participated in the siege of Vicksburg, the battles of Champion Hill and Jackson, and all through the campaign of 1863. He was pres- ent at the evacuation of Vicksburg after a siege of forty-five days, and on the 4th of July, 1863, was one of the number that marched into that city, which was a most joyous day for the boys in blue. Subsequently, Mr. Burnham was placed on detached duty and sent to Rock Island, Illi- nois, to guard rebel prisoners, where he remained
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six months, after which he was on provost duty at Quincy. Later he was ordered to Milwaukee, at which place he was serving when the war end- ed, and on the 12th of July, 1865, he was honor- ably discharged, after almost three years of faith- ful and arduous service. He was never wounded nor taken prisoner, but was always found at his post of duty, gallantly defending the old flag and the cause it represented.
Since the war Mr. Burnham has follewed car- pentering and joining and also been engaged as a manufacturer and dealer in furniture and as an undertaker. He located in the village of Ohio in 1873, the year the railroad was completed to that place, and has since been prominently iden- tified with its business interests. He is also one of its leading and influential citizens.
On the 20th of February, 1867, Mr. Burnham was married to Miss Mary M. Martin, a daugh- ter of Henry and Lucinda (Burnside) Martin, and a granddaughter of Henry and Sarah Martin. Five children were born of this union, the oldest of whom died in infancy; Hattie B., a dressmaker of Ohio, Illinois; Bessie B., a graduate of the Ohio schools, who is now assisting her father in the store; Ora M., who is attending school, and Oscar W., who died April 29, 1880, at the age of five months.
Henry Martin, the father of Mrs. Burnham, was born February 10, 1811, in Kentucky, and on coming to Illinois located on a farm in Cham- paign county, where the wife of our subject was born August 19, 1844. Throughout his active business life he followed the occupation of farm- ing, but is now living retired at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Sarah Belknapp, at Creston, Ne- braska. His wife, who was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, died in 1855. In their family were the following children: Eras- mus W., who died many years ago; Bersalles, who married Ann Carl and is living at Keokuk, Iowa; Elizabeth, wife of John Elliott, a farmer of Union county, Illinois; Sarah, wife of Wes. Belknapp; Rachel, wife of Hamilton Corey, who owns and operates eight hundred acres of land in Ohio township; Mary M., wife of our subject;
Joel, who died at the age of thirty-eight, leaving a widow, now a resident of Iowa, and Harriet, wife of Amos Kegwin, of Creston, Nebraska.
Mr. and Mrs. Burnham, with their children, are worthy members of the Methodist Protestant church, of which he has been one of the trustees for a number of years. Politically he affiliates with the republican party, and although he does not take an active part in public life, he con- scientiously performs his duties as a good citizen. He and his family are people of high considera- tion in the social circles of the community and have hosts of warm friends.
H [ON. SIMON ELLIOTT, who, for almost half a century, has been prominently iden- tified with the interests of Bureau county, was born on the Ioth of February, 1827, in Clermont county, Ohio, and is a son of Simon and Maria (Robinson) Elliott, natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio, respectively. Simon was the son of John Elliott, who was born in Ireland and came to America in the early colonial days to look at the country. He was pleased with it, and returned to Ireland and brought over his family. He was a man of means and brought with him valu- able goods and considerable gold. The ship (Stewart) was wrecked off the Atlantic coast and all were drowned but two sons. They were robbed by the wreckers when the goods were washed ashore. The father asked the sons if they could get ashore with the gold, and they replied that it would be all they could do to save their lives. These sons were William and Simon.
William located near Steubenville, Ohio, and Simon settled on Copperish Creek, Fulton coun- ty, Illinois, where he died. The father, who was born in 1788, was a miller and farmer by occupation, owning a sawmill and distillery in connection with relatives, and sending their products down the rivers to New Orleans at an early day. He was quite a popular gentle- man, widely and favorably known, and a Mason of high standing. He faithfully served his coun- try through the entire war of 1812, for which he received a land warrant, that our sub-
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ject located in Bureau county in 1852, securing eighty acres, and was later captain of a militia company. He died of a cancer in Ohio in 1854, but his wife long survived him, dying in 1881. Her birth occurred in 1799. They were both ear- nest members of the New Light church. Our subject is the fourth in order of birth in their family of six children, four of whom are still living. John and Samuel still reside upon the old homestead in Ohio. Arthur died at Yellow Springs, Ohio. James lives at Manson, Iowa.
Mr. Elliott of this review was educated at Parker's Academy, Ohio, which institution fur- nished the best opportunities to be had in those early days for scholastic training. He is one of the pioneers of Bureau county, Illinois, where he entered land and removed in 1848, securing one hundred and sixty acres, then in its primitive condition. He now has a tract of two hundred acres pleasantly situated on section 7, Dover township, and devotes his attention principally to farming and shipping stock. He has raised considerable stock, particularly cattle and hogs in former years, but now has upon his place both horses and mules, having about sixty head on hand at the present writing.
On the 23d of April, 1856, Mr. Elliott led to the altar Miss Sarah A. McCoy, of Woodford county, a daughter of William McCoy, who was a strong abolitionist, and took an active part in conducting the underground railroad. Her par- ents, who are now deceased, came from Ripley, Ohio, to Illinois in the spring of 1848. Six chil- dren were born to our subject and his wife, name- ly: Edwin F., a railroad conductor on the Santa Fe railroad, now residing at Nickerson, Kansas; Alfred S., who was drowned at the age of eight years while swimming in the pond on the home farm; Kate, wife of Harry A. Gibbs, a hardware merchant of Princeton, by whom she has two children, Fred and Cathryn; Lillie, wife of B. Y. Benson, a hotel keeper of Tampa, Florida, by whom she has a son, Edwin; Minnie, at home, and Nora, who died of a cancer in the eyes at the age of two and a half years.
Mr. Elliott has ever taken a prominent part in
public affairs, and has been called upon to fill many offices in the township, county and state. For several terms he acceptably served as super- visor of his township, and on the democratic ticket at one time he ran for the office of sheriff. In 1878 he was elected on the greenback ticket to the legislature, receiving the large majority of three thousand one hundred and fifty-eight votes, and was one of the ten greenbackers in the legislature of 1879. He had the greatest battle of his life over the stock yards bill, which he piloted through the house, he being the au- thor of the same. It was lost, but the papers stated that it cost one hundred and fifty thou- sand dollars to beat the bill. Their chief op- ponent was Sol. Hopkins, of Chicago. The bill was to regulate the price charged at the yards for grains, corn being one dollar per bushel and other things accordingly. Mr. Elliott was on other important committees, but none so im- portant as this, and he faithfully served the in- terests of his constituents. For four years he has been a member of the state board of agricul- ture, and served as vice-president for the same length of time from the seventh, now the eleventh congressional district. In politics he is a free silver democrat, not agreeing with the present administration. As a representative man of the county and old pioneer he stands well, occupy- ing a high place in the estimation of all who know him. Although he has almost reached his three score years and ten, he is still active and well preserved and takes a commendable interest in public affairs.
P ROFESSOR ANDREW J. MAGEE, prin- cipal of the Buda public schools, is one of the most competent and thorough instructors in Bureau county. A native of Pennsylvania, he was born October 24, 1856, near New German- town, in Perry county, and is a son of James and Matilda (Mumper) Magee. By trade the father was a tanner. He died at Blaine, Pennsylvania, in February, 1882. His widow is now living at Topeka, Kansas. Our subject is the fifth in or- der of birth in the family of eleven children, and
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at the early age of seven years he was hired out to work on a farm, thus becoming self-support- ing. During his boyhood and youth he also con- tributed to the support of the family, and for the success which he has achieved in life he deserves much credit.
Mr. Magee had been able to attend the public schools of his native county to some extent, and at the age of seventeen years entered a select school at Blaine, Perry county, attending the same for one year. He then began teaching, though he was not yet eighteen years of age, and received twenty-three dollars per month, but had to board himself. For four years he taught through the winter, while in the summer he was a student in the schools of Blaine.
On the expiration of that time, Professor Ma- gee came west, locating first at Woodhull, Henry county, Illinois, where he worked on a farm for one summer and then secured a country school at forty dollars per month. For three years he then had charge of district schools, but in the icantime studied for one term at Hedding col- lege, Abingdon, Knox county, Illinois. His first town school was at Alpha, where he taught for one year, and was then employed at New . Wind- sor, after which he returned to Alpha, remaining there three years longer. For the following two years he followed his profession at Port Byron, Rock Island county, Illinois. On leaving that place it was his intention to give up teaching,and formed a partnership in the hardware business at Woodhull, but at the end of a year he again longed for the school room, and became con- nected with the schools of Bureau county, hav- ing charge of the schools of Wyanet for three years. In the fall of 1891 he came to Buda, where he has since served as principal of the public schools to the satisfaction of all concerned. His vacations are spent in study, attending va- rious normal schools and thus he keeps well in- formed on the latest and most improved methods of teaching. The Buda schools, under his ex- cellent management, hold high rank among the educational institutions of Bureau county, which are second to none in the state.
While at Alpha, Illinois, Professor Magee was married August 19, 1884, to Miss Annie L. Gar- ber, of Blaine, Pennsylvania, and they now have five children, Lyle, born at Alpha May 30, 1885; Grace, born at Woodhull June 28, 1887; Glenn, born at Wyanet January 4, 1889; Loyd, born at Wyanet April 28, 1890, and Gretchen, born at Buda March II, 1895. Mr. Garber is living at Blaine, Pennsylvania: his wife died in November, 1893.
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