USA > Illinois > Bureau County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 19
USA > Illinois > Marshall County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 19
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 19
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G I EORGE P. PETTEE is classed among the well-to-do and influential farmers and stock-raisers of Bureau county, owning three hundred and sixty acres of valuable land on sec- tions 9 and 10, Concord township. A native of the Green Mountain state, he was born Febru- ary 25, 1832, in Rutland county, and is a son of George W. and Eleanor (Wrisley) Pettee, both of whom were natives of Vermont. He spent his boyhood and youth after the manner of most farmers' sons, becoming familiar with plowing, sowing and reaping, and amid the quiet scenes of country life grew up with a healthy constitu- tion and a clear brain. He attended the schools of the neighborhood and obtained a good com- mon school education.
In 1855, at the age of twenty-three years, Mr. Pettee left the parental roof and the hills of his
native state to make his home on the broad prair- ies of Illinois. On coming to Bureau county he operated rented land near Princeton until 1858, when he made his first purchase of eighty acres, it being the north half of the northwest quarter of section 10, Concord township, a part of his present fine farm. To this he has added as his financial resources have increased until he now has three hundred and sixty acres. He has made all the improvements upon the place, in- cluding some fine maple trees which he planted from seed. His place is supplied with excellent farm buildings and the land is highly cultivated. yielding to the owner bountiful returns for the care and labor expended upon it. He also has three hundred and twenty acres in Buffalo coun- ty, Nebraska, which he leases.
On the 7th of July, 1857, was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Pettee and Miss Margaret, daughter of Nicholas and Johanna (Bryant) Sin- nott, of Bureau county. She, too, is a native of Vermont, where they became acquainted. Five children came to bless their union, as follows: Mary E., who, after graduating from the Shef- field schools, engaged in teaching for about eleven years, and is the wife of Frank Mock, now living at Cambridge, Henry county, Illinois; George P., a resident of Seatonville, Bureau county, is also a graduate of the Sheffield schools, and has taught for about a dozen years; he at- tended Rush Medical college of Chicago, and is a registered pharmacist; also postmaster of Sea- tonville; John C., is a farmer residing at home; Alice A., a graduate of the Princeton high school, followed the profession of teaching until her healthı failed. She died November 10, 1890. She was laid to rest in the cemetery of Princeton. William J. graduated both at the Princeton high school and at the Gem Business college of Quincy. He taught for a number of terms, but is now engaged in the insurance business in Chi- cago.
Mr. Pettee was reared a democrat, and has al- ways supported that party since casting his first presidential vote for James Buchanan in 1856. For many years he has efficiently served as a
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member of the school board. As a man he pos- sesses excellent judgment, is skillful and enter- prising in his farming operations, and in all the relations of life is accounted a useful and desir- able member of society.
R OBERT PRINGLE. Among the well known men of Scottish birth, who have done much in developing the various industries of Marshall county, especially its farming inter- ests, must be classed the subject of this sketch, who for more than forty years has resided on sec- tion 27, La Prairie township, where, with the help of his sons, he operates one of the best farms in this section. He was born in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, October 10, 1821, and is a son of An- drew and Elizabeth (Pringle) Pringle, the former a native of Selkirkshire, and the latter of Dum- friesshire, Scotland. Although bearing the same name they were not relatives. Andrew Pringle, who was by occupation a shepherd and labor- ing man, came to the United States in 1850, stop- ping for a time in New York, and in 1853 came to Marshall county, where he died at the age of seventy-seven years. His good wife survived him some years, dying in her eighty-eighth year.
The boyhood and youth of our subject were spent in Selkirkshire and Roxburghshire, where he received a limited education, but where he was inured to hard work, commencing at a very early age upon a farm, and continued in that oc- cupation the greater part of the time until com- ing to this country. While pursuing his farm work his thoughts often turned to the new world with its greater possibilities, he had learned, for the poor man. Relatives and friends had crossed the ocean and written back glowing accounts of the land which was destined to be his future home.
In 1848, when twenty-six years of age, Mr. Pringle bade farewell to the loved ones at home and set sail for the United States. Landing in New York city he proceeded to Ontario county, New York, where he remained about four years and a half, working at whatever he could find to do, and carefully saving his money. In Decem-
ber, 1852, he came to Marshall county, his rela- tives, the Davidsons, having preceded him.
While yet residing in Ontario county, New York, Mr. Pringle was united in marriage with Miss Jeannette Turnbull, a native of Roxburgh- shire, Scotland, and a sister of Robert Turnbull, who settled temporarily in New York. To them were born seven children-Beatie, who married John Titus, and died at the age of twenty-two; Lizzie, who married Robert Scoon of La Prairie township. They have four children living- Frank T., Clifford, Beatie, Jeanette; John An- drew, who married Lillie Stewart, who died Oc- tober 23, 1893, leaving one child Lillian; Mary, Adam and Jennie at home. Mrs. Pringle died August 30, 1873. She was a woman of excellent character, a loving mother and faithful wife.
It was shortly after his marriage that Mr. Pringle came to Marshall county. On his arrival he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land, a part of his present excellent homestead, for which he paid four dollars per acre. He had just money enough with which to pay for the land, but wishing to keep some for present use he only made a small cash payment. As the land was unimproved, he rented an improved farm, on which he resided until 1854, when he moved to his own land and commenced its in- provement. A little later he purchased one hun- dred and twenty acres of improved land, and his life work was well begun. In the early days wheat was a sure crop and the soil yielded large- ly, making it a profitable cercal, notwithstanding the difficulty in marketing. As wheat raising became more and more uncertain, he changed to corn and stock-raising, in which he was quite successful. For some years he fed cattle, and his shipments have annually been from one to four car loads. He was also for a time a breeder of sheep, in which line he continued until that, too, proved unprofitable, when he abandoned it, but the industry has lately been taken up by his sons, with some success, they usually having a flock of some three hundred head on hand, and annually ship from two to four car loads.
Success has generally crowned the efforts of
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Mr. Pringle in the new world. To his original purchase of one hundred and sixty acres he has added from time to time other tracts until his farm consists of seven hundred acres in one body, all of which is operated by himself and sons. While confining himself generally to farming op- erations, he has occasionally ventured his means in other channels. On the organization of the Lacon woolen mills he became a stockholder to the extent of twenty-five shares. While this has not been as profitable as might be wished, two seasons of prosperity followed the venture, that during the Crimean war and near the close of the civil war.
Politically, Mr. Pringle has always been a stanch republican, he becoming an American citizen about the time of the birth of that party. He has neither accepted nor sought official posi- tion, his tastes not running in that channel. Like most of his kith and kin, he is a great admirer of Scotland's greatest poet, Robert Burns, and in Scottish sports and festivities always has a lively interest. A good neighbor, a loyal citizen, he is . he was killed April 6, 1862. On the organization greatly esteemed by all with whom he has been brought in contact.
L UCIAN E. PAGE, a prominent and repre- sentative farmer residing on section 8, Princeton township, is a son of Eliel Page, who was born at Cambridge, Vermont, in 1809, and a grandson of Richard Page, a native of New Hampshire, and of an old New England family. His mother, who bore the maiden name of Mary A. Nye, was born in 1815, in Fairfield, Vermont, and was the daughter of Benjamin Nye, also a native of the old granite state. At Fairfield the parents were married and located upon a farm at Cambridge, where the mother died September 7, 1851. The father later removed to Lawrence, Massachusetts, but subsequently returned to Vermont, where his death occurred in 1891. After the death of his first wife he married Cyn- thia Abbott. By the first union there were seven children-Major Norman B., who was killed at the battle of Shiloh; Annette, wife of Calvin D. Warren of Hyde Park, Vermont; Nelson N.,
of Princeton, Illinois; Lucian E., of this sketch; Luman, deceased; Mary, wife of Curtis Wilcox of Des Moines, Iowa, and Martha J., deceased. The parents both held membership in the Meth- odist church.
Our subject was born at Cambridge, Vermont, May 27, 1842, and after the death of his mother lived with an uncle, while in the common schools of Cambridge he acquired his education. At the age of twenty-one years he came west with his brother, Nelson Page, in 1863. The major was in business at Malden, Bureau county, Illi- nois, when the civil war broke out, and, raising a company, he was chosen captain. On Tuesday April 30, 1861, with his company, he left for Men- dota, and was solicited to join Colonel Scales' regiment, a thirty days regiment, but refused. His company, which was known as the Bureau County Tigers, became Company B of the Fifty- seventh Illinois Volunteers, and he was promoted to the rank of major. While thus serving and commanding his regiment at the battle of Shiloh of the company the citizens of Malden presented Captain Page with a beautiful sword, sash and belt, which he used in the service, and the sword and sash are now in the possession of our subject, by whom they are cherished in loving and ten- der remembrance. The major had no children, and his widow is also now deceased.
On his arrival at Malden Mr. Page, of this re- view, obtained work in a grain house, where he remained for five years. He was married No- vember 8, 1868, to Lucetta Clark, who was born at Waterville, Vermont, November 12, 1847, and was there educated in a select school. To this worthy couple have been born three daughters. Charlotte L., graduated from the Princeton high school in the class of 1893, and is now teaching in the schools of that city; Annette M., graduat- ed at the same institution in 1895, and is also now a teacher, while Ethel F. is a student of the high school. All of the daughters possess good musical talent, and are highly cultured and at- tractive young ladies.
Seth Clark, the father of Mrs. Page, was born
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at Johnson, Vermont, in 1808, and was a son of Levi Clark, a native of Belchertown, Massachu- setts. The latter was a member of the home militia, and helped to bury the dead after the bat- tle of Plattsburg. Seth Clark married Lucretia Phillips, who was born at Chester, Vermont, in 18II, and was a daughter of Amaziah Phillips. Their marriage was celebrated at Plainfield, New Hampshire, but they settled at Waterville, Ver- mont, where the mother's death occurred August 9, 1880, and the father's in 1884. They were the parents of seven children-Nancy A., wife of Les- ter Terrill of lowa; Mary J., deceased; Helen C., deceased; Lucetta, wife of our subject; Norman P., a resident of Cass, Iowa; Isabel, deceased, and Edwin A., also of Cass, Iowa.
After his marriage Mr. Page rented a farm in Selby township, and it was nineteen years before he owned a place. Four years ago he settled upon his present place, known as the old Tucker farm, which contains the noted Tucker spring, and comprises ninety-seven acres of rich and arable land, where our subject carries on general farming. On his arrival in Bureau county, he had but twenty-seven dollars in his pocket, and with that small capital began life for himself, but he has gradually worked his way upward until he is now the possessor of a good property and is in comfortable circumstances. Socially, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and, politically, is a stanch republican, and has served as school director. Both himself and wife are earnest and devoted members of the Con- gregational church of Princeton, and in the work of both church and Sunday school take an active part. They are highly respected citizens of the community, and have many warm and admiring friends.
O RRIS S. PHELPS. One need not carry his investigations far into the history of Bu- reau county before he finds that this gentleman has long been a representative of its interests. The years that form a half century have come and gone and another decade has been added to these since he took up his residence in this section of
the state. Widely known, his career cannot fail to prove of interest to many, and his life record contains valuable lessons and demonstrates what can be accomplished through perseverance, keen foresight and careful management. Genuine suc- cess is not likely to be the result of mere chance or fortune, but is something to be labored for and sought out with consecutive effort, and thus it is that Mr. Phelps has won a place among the substantial citizens of Bureau county.
Numbered among the sons of the Green Moun- tain state, he was born in Middlebury, Vermont, May 3, 1817, and comes of a family of English origin that was founded on American soil in Massachusetts. The grandfather, Nathaniel Phelps, was there born, and during the Revolu- tionary war he served the American army as a blacksmith. The father of our subject, Burn- ham Phelps, was born in the bay state, also learned the blacksmith's trade, and for some time conducted a smithy at Middlebury, Ver- mont. He there wedded Mary Hooker, a na- tive of that state, and subsequently returned to Massachusetts, following his chosen vocation in Northampton until 1838. In 1839 he located on a farm in Dover township, and his remaining days were spent in Bureau county, Illinois. His death occurred at the home of his son-in-law, Franklin Hope, in Westfield township. In the family were two sons and three daughters, all of whom reached mature years, but O. S., and Christopher C., now a farmer of Selby township, Bureau county are the only ones living. Lovisa died in 1841, Lucy S. became the wife of Frank- lin Hope, and after her death her sister Diantha married Mr. Hope, but she is also now deceased.
Mr. Phelps of this review spent the greater part of his youth in Massachusetts, but since 1838 has been a resident of Bureau county, and is now numbered among its honored pioneers. The first summer after his arrival he worked by the month as a farm hand, and then purchased eighty acres of prairie land in Dover township, and also ten acres of timber land. Of this prop- erty only twenty acres had been broken, while the building improvements consisted of a small
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O. S. PHELPS.
MRS. MARY A. PHELPS.
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one story house, fourteen by twenty feet. In the spring of 1839, Mr. Phelps took up his resi- dence there and for several years afterward ex- perienced the usual hardships and privations of pioneer life. He had to haul his wheat to Chi- cago, where it sold for only forty-four cents per bushel, and it usually required ten or twelve days to make the trip with ox teams. After living on his first farm for nine years, Mr. Phelps sold and rented land for a year. He then bought one hun- dred and sixty acres in Westfield township, Bu- reau county, erected thereon a substantial resi- dence and two good barns and made other excel- lent improvements. He also purchased forty acres more in the same township and one hun- dred and fifty-six acres adjoining in Hall town- ship, thus adding to his property until he owned 340 acres. Mr. Phelps began life in Illinois a poor man, his cash capital consisting of thirty- five dollars, but he had a resolute heart and will- ing hands. Success follows earnest labor, perse- verance and careful management, and these qual- ities are numbered among his chief characteris- tics. He has become the owner of a valuable farm and a good home in Princeton, which stand as monuments to his former toil. In 1872 he rented his land and purchasing a comfortable home in the city, centrally located, lie has since lived retired, enjoying a rest which he richly merits.
An important event in the life of Mr. Phelps occurred in Bureau county, January 31, 1850, when he wedded Mary Ann Hills, who was born in Rockingham county, New Hampshire, No- vember 15, 1820. Her father, Josiah Hills, was a native of New Hampshire, but her grandfather, who also bore the name of Josiah, was born in England. Mrs. Phelps was reared in her native county, and came to Bureau county in 1849. She has been to her husband a most faithful com- panion and helpmeet, ably caring for the home, while he operated the farm, and now, after forty- six years of happy wedded life, they are still traveling together on that journey which leads to the land beyond. They have no children of their own, but have reared two, George and
Sarah Ledora. The latter was reared in Prince- ton, and after attending its public schools was a student in the college at Ithaca, New York, and in the Iowa City State university. She afterward successfully engaged in teaching for a number of years, but is now the wife of Hans Frederick Rhode, a lawyer of Chicago. With her children she made a trip to Europe and spent some time in visiting England.
Since the formation of the party in 1856, Mr. Phelps has been a stanch republican, and al- though he has never been an aspirant for office, he has several times been called to positions of honor and trust. He is a warm friend of the cause of temperance and deeply interested in all that pertains to the best development of the county. For many years both he and his wife have been consistent members and active work- ers in the First Baptist church of Princeton. Throughout Bureau county they are widely known and their circle of friends is limited only by the number of their acquaintances, for their lives have been so spent that all who know them have for them the most sincere regard.
J OHN W. ELLIS needs no special introduc- tion to the readers of this volume, but the work would be incomplete without the record of his life. He is a worthy representative of one of the pioneer families of Bureau county, whose identification with its history dates back to 1832, and in its development and progress they have borne an important part. Our subject is one of the wide-awake and enterprising agriculturists of Dover township, where he owns a fine farm of one hundred and seventy-four acres on section 26, pleasantly located four miles north of Prince- ton.
Dabony Ellis, his grandfather, was a native of Virginia, and from the old dominion brought his family to Illinois in 1832, being accompanied by a number of families who came through by team and settled in Dover township, Bureau county. They were among the first to locate there, the whole county being an almost unbroken wilder- ness, which abounded in wild animals of various
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kinds, and the Indians were far more numerous than the white settlers. In the family of Mr. Ellis were four sons who had reached maturity, and these entered land here and made for them- selves homes.
Abbott Ellis the father of our subject, was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, June 22, 1812, and here he married Matilda Durham, a native of Kentucky, and a daughter of John Dur- ham, also an honored pioneer of Bureau county. Mr. Ellis laid claim to the farm on which our sub- ject now resides, and with an ox team drove to Galena to enter his land. The family endured all the hardships and privations of life on the frontier, their nearest market being Chicago, and the trip there and back required several days. The father met with good success in his farming operations, became quite well-to-do, owning at one time about three hundred and forty acres. He was an active republican in politics and was called upon to do service in several positions of honor and trust. His death occurred January 31, 1894, at the age of eighty-two years, and his wife passed away in 1869. In their family were two sons and two daughters-Miletus, who grew to manhood and married, but is now deceased, dying at Denver, Colorado, where he made his home; Cynthia, who died at the age of fourteen years; Lucy, wife of Perry Walden, of Colorado, and John W., of this sketch.
Our subject's birth occurred July 13, 1861, on the farm which is still his home, and in the com- mon schools of the neighborhood acquired a good practical education, which has fitted him for responsible duties. He continued to as- sist his father in the cultivation and improve- ment of the farm, to which he succeeded after the father's death. He is actively engaged in general farming, and has one of the most high- ly improved places of the locality, the residence being large and comfortable and the barns and outbuildings neat and substantial. The land is all well fenced and tiled and in return for the care and labor expended upon it yields bountiful harvests.
In Dover township, in the fall of 1879, was
celebrated the marriage of Mr. Ellis and Miss Anna Putcamp, who was born in Wyanet town- ship, Bureau county, and was educated in Prince- ton. Her father, William Putcamp, is a native of Germany, and one of the substantial farmers of this county. Six children were born of their union, but two died in infancy. The others are Albert, Annie, Freddie and Lucy.
Mr. Ellis gives his political support to the men and measures of the republican party, and is most acceptably serving as a member of the school board and as district clerk. He takes an active interest in everything which will in any way promote the welfare of his native county, is public-spirited and enterprising, and has materi- ally aided in advancing the interests of the com- munity. Socially, he is deservedly popular, as he is affable and courteous in manner, and has the happy faculty of making friends readily and strengthening the ties of all friendships as time advances.
A NDREW J. BISHOP, one of the self-made men of Marshall county, who now makes his home in Wenona, is the possessor of valuable property, all of which has been accumulated by his own perseverance and industry. He was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, April 28, 1828, and is the son of Thomas and Mary (Heatherington) Bishop. The birth of the father occurred in the same county, in 1800, but the mother was born in Ireland, in 1801, and when three years old was brought by her father, Hugh Heatherington, to America. When a young man the maternal grandfather participated in the re- bellion in Ireland, was for over eighty years a member of the Masonic order, and died in Penn- sylvania at the extreme old age of one hundred and five years.
After their marriage, in 1824, the parents of our subject located upon a farm in the keystone state, where they spent their remaining days, the father dying in 1854, and the mother ten years later. Both held membership with the Methodist Episcopal church. In their family were eleven children, namely: Mrs. Martha Jane Blackburn;
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James, deceased; Andrew J., William H., de- ceased; John, of Mt. Palatine, Illinois; Mrs. Isa- bel Claybaugh of Pennsylvania; Thomas B .. de- ceased; Mrs. Susanna Mateer of Rutland, Illi- nois; Hiram and Margaret Ann, both deceased, and Jeremiah K., of Iowa. The last named served as a soldier in the union army during the civil war.
The education of our subject was such as the district school afforded, and although he was reared to agricultural pursuits, he also worked at the carpenter's trade. Emigrating to Putnam county, Illinois, in 1853, he worked by the month as a farm hand for one year, and after his mar- riage lived on Ox Bow Prairie, in that county, until 1861, when he removed to Evans township, Marshall county, settling on section 27. The farm of eighty acres which he purchased was all wild land, but he has now placed it under a high state of cultivation, erected good and substan- tial buildings, and added to the tract until he now has two hundred and forty acres of valuable land. For thirty-three years he made his home in one house, but since 1892 has lived retired in Wenona, where he is surrounded by many warm friends.
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