USA > Illinois > Bureau County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 14
USA > Illinois > Marshall County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 14
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 14
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Lutheran church at Peru. For almost half a century they have made their home in Illinois, and for thirty-five years have been residents of Bureau county, during which time they have been identified with its growth and upbuilding and witnessed its transformation from a wilder- ness and swamp to one of the best counties in this great commonwealth.
W ILLIAM H. GERMAN, residing on a fine farm of two hundred acres on sec- tion 15, Hopewell township, and who is also the owner of another farm of one hundred and twen- ty acres on section 14, of the same township, while making no pretension of great ability in any particular manner, is yet a man who has drawn around him many friends who admire his honesty of heart and such qualities that go to make up the trustful man. His father, John German, was a native of Zanesville, Ohio, born in 1797, and was a son of Moses and Caroline German, natives of Pennsylvania, but of Ger- man descent.
John German grew to manhood on his fath- er's farm near Zanesville, Ohio, and there mar- ried Cassandra Smith, a native of Ohio. In 1831 they moved to Putnam county, Illinois, and settled near Magnolia. After a year he went
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back to Ohio, but returning to Putnam county for a time, rented farms in Magnolia township. They were the parents of eight children: Sam- uel, who left home many years ago, and was never afterward heard from; Moses, who lives in Iowa; Rachel, wife of Calvin Shields, of Put- nam county, Illinois; Susan, who first married Henry Hannum, and on his death married Thomas Johnson, now lives in Henry, Illinois; Elizabeth, now the wife of Y. A. Glenn, of Put- nam county; Gilla, who married Daniel Har- ney, both of whom are now deceased; William H., our subject, and Maria, who died at the age of sixteen years. The mother of these children dying, the father married Elizabeth Morris, who is now deceased, and by this marriage were three children-Joseph, now living in Iowa; Eleanor, now the wife of T. W. Stoner, of Hope- well township, and Melissa, now the wife of Wil- liam Fetter, residing in Iowa. John German was for many years a class leader in the Methodist Episcopal church, and died in the faith. He was a soldier in the Black Hawk war.
The subject of this sketch was born March 12, 1840, on Ox Bow Prairie, near Magnolia, Put- nam county, Illinois, and there grew to man- hood. His father being in limited circumstances, was unable to give him the education he de- sired and therefore his school days were but few in number and he may be said to be a self-edu- cated man. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company B, seventy-seventh Illinois volunteer infantry, and went with his regiment to the front. After a short term of service he was taken sick with the measles at Covington, Kentucky, and lost his voice for a period of three months, for which cause he was honorably discharged.
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Returning home, Mr. German resumed his occupation of farming, and November 12, 1863, married Miss Ada E. Stewart, a native of Hen- nepin, Illinois, and a daughter of John E. and Sophia H. (Chaplin) Stewart, the former a na- tive of Ohio, born in 1814, and the latter of North Carolina, born in 1817. John E. Stewart was a son of John I. Stewart, who came from Scotland. His father was a well educated man,
a surveyor by profession, and served as a sol- dier in the war of 1812. The father of Mrs. Ger- man came to Hennepin in 1832, and there en- gaged in his trade of tailoring, in which line he continued until 1845, then removed to a farm. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart were the parents of eight children, seven of whom grew to maturity-Mary Jane, now the wife of I. A. Glenn, of Putnam county ; Nancy W., now the wife of E. S. Foster, living in La Salle county, Illinois; Mrs. German; Lucinda W., now the wife of John McCloskey, living in Roberts township, Marshall county ; Kelp S., who married Rosa Belle Graves, now deceased, lives in Washington county, Kansas; Elizabeth Frances, who is now deceased and El- len, now the wife of W. A. Stoner, of Englewood, Illinois. Mrs. Stewart, who was mem- ber of the Baptist church, died April 8, 1892. Mr. Stewart resided in La Salle county, Illinois, up to the date of his death, which occurred Jan- uary 30, 1896.
To Mr. and Mrs. German eight children have been born, three of whom are now living- Charles Stewart, Moses Samuel and Edwin Schon. Immediately after marriage, Mr. and Mrs. German commenced their domestic life upon a farm in Putnam county, and there rented land until 1866. He then purchased a small farm on Clear creek, in Hennepin township, Put- nam county, which was then unimproved timber land. He at once commenced its improvement and after remaining there until 1881 sold out and removed to his present location in Hopewell township, Marshall county, where he has a fine farm of three hundred and twenty acres, all of which is well improved. Mr. German is engaged in general farming, confining himself to no par- ticular branch, and has been quite successful dur- ing the fifteen years of his residence in Marshall county. He has lately remodeled his large barn and built a fine dwelling, in which the family now reside.
While engaged in hunting on the 23d of Au- gust, 1873, Mr. German accidentally shot himself in the left arm, necessitating its amputation above the elbow. Notwithstanding this unfortunate oc-
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currence, he seems to get along as well as most men who have the use of both hands and arms. Fraternally he is a member of Lookout Mountain post, No. 94, G. A. R., and politically he is in- dependent, voting for such men and measures as he thinks will best advance the interests of his town and country. He has been assessor of Hopewell township six years; road commissioner three years, and has also served as school direc- tor for a number of years.
Mrs. German, who was born January 15, 1844, was reared on the farm and received a good edu- cation in the district schools, preparing herself as a teacher, and for several terms taught in the public schools of Putnam county, Illinois. She is a kind-hearted, intelligent woman, and has a host of friends throughout Marshall and Put- nam counties. The same can also be said of Mr. German.
L EWIS HOLMES, residing on section 18,
Macon township, Bureau county, Illinois, is a pioneer that deserves especial mention in a work of this kind. He is a native of Wind- ham county, Connecticut, born August 10, 1814. and the only child born unto Thomas and Jeru- sha (Whittemore) Holmes, both of whom were also natives of the same state. His father was an agriculturist and spent his entire life upon a farm, dying in 1815. His mother died in 1852, when about seventy years of age.
The subject of this sketch was reared upon a farm and received but a common school educa- tion. He remained at home until attaining his majority, assisting in the cultivation of the farm, after which he worked in the woolen and cotton manufactories in Rhode Island and Massachu- setts until 1838, when he emigrated to Oneida county, New York. His first year of his resi- dence in that state he worked on the Erie canal, and then returned to the woolen manufacturing business in Madison county, where he remained until 1848. He now determined to emigrate west and made the trip from his New York home by way of the Erie canal and the great lakes to Chicago, thence by the Chicago, Peru
& La Salle canal. He came direct to where the present village of Providence stands and where he had purchased a quarter section of land before leaving the east. He did not like the loca- tion, however, and accompanied by the man who had been paying the taxes on his land for some years, started out on a prospecting tour, desiring to locate where there was some timber. The present site of his farm attracted his eye and learning that it could be purchased at the gov- crnment price of a dollar and a quarter per acre, he at once laid claim to it and subsequently pur- chased it. This was the southeast quarter of section 18. There was no improvement upon the place, nor any settlers for some distance around. It was a beautiful site, with an elevation of per- haps two hundred feet, on which he afterward erected his residence. The water on the north side of this elevation finds its way into the Rock river and that of the south side into the Illinois river. His first dwelling was a little log cabin, which was about sixteen feet square, its roof cov- ered with slough grass. There was only one window in the cabin and only one door, the latter being hung on wooden hinges. The floor was Mother Earth.
At the time of Mr. Holmes' settlement in Macon township there were nine families resid- ing in the vicinity, those of Thomas Motherell, James Aiken, John Zink, Samuel Zink, George Zink, Allen Horton, Charles Wood, William Baker, Cyrus Sweet. Hennepin and Henry were the market places in those days. An incident worthy of mention is related by Mr. Holmes in this connection. William Baker and himself were shocking sod corn when an Indian was seen coming toward them. On reaching then he said: "Indian go up cabin and lie down, as there is a big storm coming." Mr. Holmes told him to go and lie down in the shade, and that night, he says, there was one of the worst thun- der storms he ever experienced in the country within the recollection of any of its people, light- ning striking five trees in succession.
The first school in the township was held just north of the present schoolhouse in -the grove.
LEWIS HOLMES.
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MRS. LEWIS HOLMES.
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It was an improvised log house, furnished with slab seats and other pioneer school furniture. Mr. Holmes engaged a teacher from Osceola, Stark county, Miss Elizabeth Hamilton. Since that day other and better school houses have been erected, and those in Macon township will compare favorably with any in Bureau county.
Mr. Holmes has been twice married, his first union being with Miss Hannah Lee, a native of Massachusetts. They were married in 1837, in Thompsontown, Windham county, Connecticut, and by this union seven children were born, five of whom are now living: Mary E. is the wife of I. W. Eaton, a farmer of Macon township, by whom she has three sons, Lewis H., William G., and George S .; William H., who resides in Brown county, South Dakota, is married and has two sons, Lewis S. and William G. He is by occupation a farmer, and politically is a re- publican; Galusha L. superintends the old home farm, and politically is a stanch republican; Han- nah is the wife of I. S. Anderson, a resident of Buda, who represents an agricultural house in Chicago; Lewis H. is their only child; Emma L. is now the wife of Henry White. She was first married to Silas Horton, by whom she had one daughter, Elsie; Lewis Benjamin, the youngest of the family, died at the age of eleven months. The mother of these children died in January. 1859, and her remains were interred in the Wal- nut Grove cemetery.
The second marriage of Mr. Holmes was with Miss Sarah Coate, a native of Essex county, England. They were married September 25. 1860, and by this union three children were born, two now living: Lewis James, who is a pros- perous farmer residing in Macon township, mar- ried Miss Etta Sanfleben, and they have five children, Lewis H., Eva B., Sadie C., Lizzie, and Grace M. In politics he is a republican; Mar- shall D., the second son, was twenty years of age when he died, his death being caused by having been run over by the cars. He was an honest, upright young man, the pride of his par- ents; George W., the third son, is a resident of Buda, and married to Miss Lizzie Mangen. Mrs.
Holmes was born August 25, 1827, and is a daughter of James and Mary (Eaton) Coate. She was educated in the common schools of her native land and was twenty-seven years of age when she took passage for the new world in the good ship Northumberland, which was six weeks and three days in making the trip. The vessel was several times becalmed and encoun- tered several severe storms. Landing at Castle Garden she came direct to Sheffield, Bureau county, with her brother. She was formerly a member of the church of England.
Politically, Mr. Holmes is a stanch republican, but in early life was a Henry Clay whig. A strong anti-slavery man, he naturally drifted into the republican party on its organization, and has since advocated its principles. His first presi- dential vote was cast for Henry Clay, and his last for William McKinley. In local affairs, however, he always votes for the man rather than the party. For forty years he has served as township assessor, a record which is probably not paralleled in the entire state. He has also served as supervisor of his township several terms and has served his fellow-citizens in other local offices. He was present at the first election after the organization of the township.
The public schools of Macon township have found in Mr. Holmes a strong and firm friend. Ile was elected as trustee and school director when the district was organized and served con- tinuously in the two offices until the state law prohibited a man from holding two offices. He was then asked which of the two he would take and responded: "I will take the directorship and act as clerk of the board," which he has done up to the present time. He has been a servant of the people for forty-six years, and now at the age of eighty-two is as bright intellectually and as quick physically as many men thirty years younger. In all this time he has had charge of school affairs, settling with all the teachers employed and the assessing and valuation of the real estate and personal property of the citizens of Macon township.
Religiously, Mr. Holmes is not a member of
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any church, but has endeavored to live an up- right life, doing as he would be done by. He has often been called upon to aid in church erec- tions and has never withheld his mite. The two first sermons preached in the township were in his log cabin. No man in Bureau county is held in greater esteem than the subject of this sketch. On leaving home he was the possessor of about five dollars and the clothes which he wore upon his back. He has always been a hard working man and little by little added to his possessions, until now, in his declining years, he is possessed of a large tract of land in one of the finest coun- ties in the great state of Illinois, with a good comfortable residence and all modern im- provements. Since coming to this coun- ty in 1848 he has resided continuously in Macon township, has never returned to his eastern home and was never away from his home at any one period more than five days, and then when he was shipping stock to Chicago. On coming to this county neither one of the great lines of railroads had been project- ed and the greater part of the entire county was in its primitive state. All the great changes have been witnessed by him, and in its transformation he has borne no inconsiderable part.
R EV. J. A. CARLSTROM, the regularly in- stalled pastor of the Swedish Lutheran church of Princeton, was born in the south of Sweden, October 3, 1857, and is the son of Carl and Catherine Swanson, who spent their entire lives in that country, the father dying at the age of fifty years and the mother when forty-three. The former led the quiet, unassuming life of a farmer, and was twice married, by his first union having three children-Matilda and Huldah, who died in childhood, and our subject. After the death of the mother of these children he mar- ried Caroline, a sister of his first wife, who is still living in Sweden. Two children were born to them-Matilda, who also makes her home in that country, and Huldah, a resident of Bos- ton, Massachusetts.
Mr. Carlstrom attended the public schools of
his native country, and was later a student in a Swedish college. For some time he there en- gaged in preaching before coming to America, but since 1886 has been connected with pas- toral work in the United States. Having com- pleted a course at the theological seminary of Rock Island, Illinois, in 1889, he was graduated and then ordained. He was connected with the work of the ministry of the Lutheran church at St. Cloud, Minnesota, from that year until 1895, when he came to Princeton, arriving here on the 5th of April, and has since had charge of the Swedish Lutheran church. He is a sincere and conscientious Christian, a faithful worker in the Master's vineyard, and has done much toward uplifting and benefiting mankind.
On the 9th of April, 1896, Mr. Carlstrom was united in marriage with Miss Maude Maria Au- gusta Dyke, who was born in Sweden, February I, 1868, and is a daughter of Nels August and Maria Katrina Dyke, who emigrated to America in 1869. The father became a prominent citizen of Princeton, where they at once located and where the mother still resides, and was officially connected with its interests for sixteen years, serving as superintendent of streets, and later as superintendent of the water works. He was born in the south of Sweden, February 12, 1842, and died December 30, 1891. The mother's birth occurred in the northern part of that country. Mrs. Carlstrom is the oldest in their family of three children. Conrad A., who graduated at the Princeton high school in 1888, attended the Gem City business college of Quincy for one year, and is a young man of fine ability, quick perception and much prominence. He has been in the employ of the Erie Dispatch, but is now resting in the hopes of regaining his usual health. Huldah H., the youngest, graduated at the Princeton high school with the class of 1894, and is now assistant deputy of the county clerk of Bureau county.
Mrs. Carlstrom was engaged in the schools of Princeton, graduating at the Princeton high school in 1885, and for over ten years taught in the union schools of Princeton, and proved an
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efficient and capable teacher. She is a lady of excellent and scholarly attainments, a deep stu- dent, and can converse easily in the Swedish, German and English languages. She is of pleas- ing presence and easy manner, and wins many friends.
In 1892, it being the four hundredth anniver- sary of the discovery of America, and great prep- arations being made for the great Columbian ex- position, the schools of Princeton requested that two of the teachers write to Italy, the birth- place of Columbus, and Spain, the country that furnished the means for his explorations, for flags-a most novel, unique and capital idea. The ladies wrote to the rulers of those coun- tries, but received no answers to their letters. The king of Sweden, Oscar II., was at the same time written to by Miss Maude Dyke (now Mrs. Carlstrom), who was authorized to do the same, and she received the following answer :
"His Majesty's the King's Bureau. Stockholm, December 7, 1892. Miss M. Dyke:
Upon his majesty's gracious command, I am pleased to inform you that your letter of the 5th of November has been received by his majesty and that it is with pleasure that he grants your request, viz .: To send to you a Swedish flag. In compliance with his majesty's command, I have sent to your address a Swedish flag, by the steamer "Thyra." I presume it will be most convenient for you to get the flag from New York, either through the general consul or the steamer's commissioner.
Receipt is enclosed, and upon its presentation the flag may be received from the authorities at New York.
ago.
The steamer "Thyra" left here a day or two With greatest respect, GUSTAF CELSING. Chief of His Majesty's Bureau."
The flag is a most beautiful one, made of the best navy bunting, is ten by six feet, and hav- ing served its purpose in the schools is now in the parlor of Mrs. Carlstrom, who has just rea-
son to be proud of the way she was treated by the king of her native land.
Rev. and Mrs. Carlstrom reside in the parson- age of the church, where they began their do- mestic life immediately after marriage. He is greatly devoted to his profession, and while he has been a resident of Princeton but a short time, he has made many warm friends and is doing good work in strengthening the spiritual interests of his people. Mrs. Carlstrom, who has been a resident of Princeton a much longer per- iod, is well and favorably known and is a worthy helpmeet to her husband and of great assistance in his pastoral work.
W ASHINGTON E. COOK, deceased, was for sixteen years county clerk of Mar- shall county, and, in due deference to all others, he may be said to have been the democratic lead- er in the county. Personally known by nearly every person having business at the county seat, he exercised an influence that was felt and ac- knowledged by all. He traced his ancestry back to one Elijah Cook, who came with the Pilgrim fathers and afterward located in Connecticut. One of the descendants of Elijah Cook, Eben- ezer, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and in a very early day settled in Oneida county, New York, and there reared a family of eleven sons and two daughters. The neighborhood was known as "Cook's corners." One of his sons, also named Ebenezer, married Leonora Combs, and to them, on the 29th of December, 1809, was born the subject of this sketch. Eben- ezer Cook, Sr., was a soldier in the war of 1812, and until her death his widow received a pension from the general government.
When our subject was but eleven years of age his father died, and soon after he commenced to learn the hatter's trade, but abandoned this and secured a position as clerk in a general store, where he remained some years, going from thence to New York city, where he served one year as clerk in a hotel. He then went to Hones- dale, Pennsylvania, where, on the 16th of May, 1832, he was united in marriage with Miss Eu-
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nice Kellogg. Here purchasing a hotel, he con- tinued in its management for four years, when he removed to Dunkirk, New York, and as- sisted in surveying the Buffalo & Erie railroad. In June, 1838, he removed to Birmingham, Ohio, where for nine years he was engaged in merchan- dising. He now determined to go still farther west, and came to Marshall county, locating three miles west of Henry, where he purchased three hundred and twenty acres of land for four dollars per acre, and commenced a farmer's life. This farm has since been known as the Harney farm, Mr. Cook disposing of it after three years' ownership.
Mr. Cook was not long a resident of the coun- ty before his abilities were known and recog- nized by his fellow citizens. In the fall of 1849 he was nominated and elected to the office of county clerk, and removed with his family to Lacon, December 1, of that year. In that city he continued to reside until his death. He was re-elected county clerk three times, serving in all sixteen years. He also served ten years as township supervisor, and in whatever position he was called upon to fill he discharged its duties with fidelity and to the satisfaction of his con- stituents.
In 1860 Mr. Cook was sent as a delegate to the Charleston convention and voted continu- ously for Stephen A. Douglas. With the re- mainder of the Illinois delegation he withdrew from the convention when it was clearly shown that their rights were not to be respected. In 1868 he was a delegate to the national demo- cratic convention, which met that year at Phila- delphia. His faith in the principles of the demo- cratic party as enunciated by Jefferson and Jack- son never wavered, and he died as he lived, a democrat.
Fraternally, Mr. Cook was a Mason and had attained the thirty-second degree of that order. For some years he was a member of Apollo com- mandery, Chicago, and was a charter member of Peoria commandery. On his death, which occurred January 7, 1879, the Masons took charge of his funeral, attending in large numbers
from Peoria and elsewhere. The circuit court, which was then in session, adjourned out of re- spect to his memory.
Mr. Cook was a self-educated man, having little opportunity to attend either public or pri- vate schools. His father dying when he was so young necessitated his shifting for himself in a great degree, but he was a great reader and kept himself thoroughly informed on all the ques- tions of the day, as well as in general literature. Few men had a greater knowledge of American history, especially its political aspect. Physical- ly he was large and strong, able to endure al- most any hardship. In Chicago, the great me- tropolis of the west, he had unlimited faith, and there invested nearly all his spare means. Some of the real estate which he there purchased yet remains in the hands of his son, George.
Notwithstanding she was almost a life-long invalid, Mrs. Cook survived her husband some sixteen years, dying March 25, 1895. Although her sufferings at times were very great, she re- mained cheerful and bore it all with Christian fortitude. For very many years she was a mem- ber of the Congregational church, and used her every talent for the advancement of the Master's cause, dying in the full assurance of faith.
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