USA > Illinois > Bureau County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 32
USA > Illinois > Marshall County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 32
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 32
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as interpreter in court and his services are there- fore highly prized. He is a member of the Catholic church, and has lived an upright, honor- able life.
W ILLIAM H. MASON. a farmer, residing in Buda, Concord township, is numbered among the pioneers of 1840. He was born at Chichester, New Hampshire, August 13, 1821, and is a son of John and Abigail (Robey) Mason. He came with his parents to Illinois in 1835, when fourteen years old, his father locating on the prairie near Metamora, where he entered land from the government and commenced its improvement. On his arrival he had but two hundred dollars with which to commence life in this new country. After five years he sold out, and in 1840, located at what is now Buda, in Bureau county, and our subject helped to break the prairie where his residence now stands. In that year he helped mold the brick used in the construction of the first brick house in the neighborhood, and which was probably among the first in the county. That house is still stand- ing in a good state of preservation, and yet used as a dwelling. For some years, Mr. Mason has desired to purchase the place as a memorial of old times, but has not been able so to do. For some time after the arrival of the family in this neighborhood they secured their mail at Prince- ton.
Our subject continued to reside under the parental roof until his marriage, January 24, 1844, with Miss Phoebe Ann Drawyer, who was a native of New York. In about one year after marriage, they moved to a farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Concord township, given him by his father and which he still owns. They continued to live on that farm until 1888, and as the years went by they added to their possessions until the farm comprised two hundred and forty acres, which was placed under a high state of cultivation and with such improvements ar marks a progressive farmer. Mrs. Mason died October 31, 1852.
For his second wife, Mr. Mason married Ma-
hitable Kairne, a native of New Hampshire, by whom he had one son, William K., who resides on the old homestead. Mrs. Mason departed this life October 14, 1886.
Mr. Mason's present wife was Mrs. Elizabeth Rhodes, who is a native of Providence, Rhode Island, and there grew to maturity and married Albert Rhodes, and with him moved to near Buda, Illinois, and by him had seven children, only two of whom are now living. The eldest, Miss Amy, was a teacher for many years, and was a graduate of the Normal school at Provi- dence, Rhode Island. She married J. K. Bliss, a banker of Kewanee, Illinois, and has three children. The second daughter, Eliza, was also a teacher, and married James Pollock, a farmer of Henry county, Illinois, by whom she has three children.
Mr. Mason was originally in politics an aboli- tionist. Since the organization of the republican party, he has been one of its adherents, voting its ticket at every election. He was the first town clerk in the township of Macon, and also served as school director, and later was elected justice of the peace, but could not serve. For some years he was a member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, but in religious belief is now a Uni- tarian. He has been a strong temperance man all his life, and was probably made so from the fact that as a boy he had to carry water and whisky to the men at work on the canal from Peru to Chicago, and witnessed the effects of the liquor on those he served. A resident of Bu- reau county for a period of fifty-six years has made him intimately acquainted with all the old pioneers and with them he loves to meet and re- late the story of early days when this portion of the fair state of Illinois was but a wilderness and neighbors were few and far between.
JAMES QUINN, deceased, was a well-known citizen of Marshall county, Illinois, and his life well illustrates the possibilities of even the poorest in this free country. Born in poverty in Fermoy, county Cork, Ireland, at the age of seventeen years he came with a sister to Black-
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stone, Massachusetts, where he was soon after placed in a cotton mill, and where his young life was mainly spent, toiling early and late, with no chance of obtaining an education only in the night school. However, he gladly availed him- self of the opportunity of doing this, and in that way obtained a little knowledge, which was beneficial to him in after life, backed as it was by a strong will and a steadfast determination to succeed.
As the years went by the young Irish lad saved his earnings, which were sent across the water to his old home, and with the aid thus given, his mother, two brothers and one sister were enabled also to reach this country. On their arrival here he still continued to assist them as long as it was necessary, and a younger brother he materially assisted in obtaining an education. While still residing in the east he took out natur- alization papers, later came west and for a time worked on the levees along the Mississippi river, principally at Rock Island. The life of a com- mon day laborer, with such meager wages as were paid before the war, did not satisfy his am- bition, and he determined to seek other and bet- ter employment. Therefore he engaged in farm- ing in Menard county, Illinois, on rented land.
In order more fully to succeed in life, Mr. Quinn determined to secure a helpmeet, and we find that on the 19th of February, 1863, at Pekin, Illinois, he was united in marriage with Miss Bar- bara Wood, who was born on the Orkney Isl- ands, and came to the United States at the age of seventeen, and was employed as a domestic in various families in Menard, Mason and Taze- well counties, Illinois. That this was a happy one, and fortunate for each, their after life and the success crowning their united efforts will attest. At the time of their marriage, Mr. Quinn was the possessor of one team of common horses, an old wagon and barely enough cash with which to buy the furniture for a house, but scant- ily and economically furnished.
With faith in the future the young couple went to work, and with the proceeds of the first year's crop purchased eighty acres of land in Peru
township, Stark county, and thus laid the founda- tion for the success in life which followed them until parted by death. An additional one hun- dred and sixty acres were added to the original eighty, in Saratoga township, Marshall county, making a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres. On this farm they spent eleven years of ceaseless activity, year by year adding to their possessions, both in real estate and personal property. During all this time produce of all kinds brought a good and remunerative price, and therefore, Mr. Quinn confined himself prin- cipally to the raising of grain.
On leaving the old farm the family removed to a farm of three hundred and sixty acres in Put- nam county, and more attention was then given to stock raising, principally cattle. For years he fed and shipped from two to four cars of his own raising, and in that time his was a familiar figure in the Chicago stock yards.
On removing to Putnam county, Mr. Quinn did not dispose of his Saratoga township farm, nor did it ever pass out of his possession. In- stead of disposing of any of his landed posses- sions, he continually added to them, and at his death was the owner of about twelve hundred acres, which included the Saratoga farm of two hundred and forty acres, the Putnam county farm of three hundred and sixty acres, eighty acres in Stark county, Illinois, an additional eighty acres in Saratoga township, two hundred and twenty- five acres in Whitefield township, and the home farm of two hundred and forty acres in Henry township, all of which was valued at about sev- enty-five thousand dollars.
In 1884, Mr. Quinn removed from Putnam county to Henry township, Marshall county, where he spent the remainder of his life. His death occurred January 13, 1895, and his remains were laid to rest in the cemetery in Henry town- ship. While reared in the Catholic faith, for years before his death he ceased to believe that all goodness and righteousness were confined to those of any one belief, and was therefore liberal in his views. He was one of the charter mem- bers of Crow Meadow Grange, and was a firm be-
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liever in the principles of that organization. Farmers should combine together for their rights and without such combination he believed them at the mercy of designing men of other trades and professions. His funeral services were conducted under the auspices of the Grange, and members of the order attended in large numbers and escorted the funeral cortege from his late home to the final resting place. The active pall-bearers were James Harrison, S. L. Case, S. S. Merritt, Clarence E. Burt, of Meadow Grange, and Royal Olmstead and J. S. Town- send, of Telegraph Grange.
While at all times willing to concede the rights of others, Mr. Quinn was ever tenacious of his own rights and would never yield when he thought he was being imposed on by others. Believing the attempt made to close, a public road, running along the side of one of his farms, the result of spite work, and with the object in view of depreciating the value of his land that they might buy it cheaper, he resisted the effort to the utmost. Twice was the case tried before a justice of the peace, twice in the circuit court at Lacon, where it was decided in his favor, and was then appealed by his opponents to the su- preme court at Ottawa. The case was there argued at length, and the very morning on which Mr. Quinn died, his attorneys, Barnes & Barnes, received word that it was decided by that au- gust tribunal in his favor. In his death he was thus vindicated.
To Mr. and Mrs. Quinn, seven children were born-Mary, Edmund, Elmer, Lillie, Albert, Francis and Edith, all of whom yet reside at home, and all work together in harmony and enjoy the respect of the community in which they reside. Mrs. Quinn, the mother, yet pre- sides over the household and enjoys in full meas- ure the love of all who know her.
J OHN W. HOSIER, M. D., one of the leading members of the medical profession, who is actively and successfully engaged in the practice of his profession in Hollowayville and the sur- rounding country, is one of the oldest physicians
and surgeons in time of service in Bureau coun- ty. He is by nature a doctor, his mother being an excellent nurse, and a sister who has also read medicine is a successful practitioner, but confines her skill to practice among a few friends and neighbors.
The doctor was born in Greene county, Ohio, January 7, 1847, and is a son of John Hosier, a native of Virginia, but who, when a lad of thir- teen years, was taken to Ohio by his parents, who were of German origin. In Greene county he grew to manhood and wedded Mary Haddix, who was born in Ohio of Scotch parentage. They located upon a farm in Greene county where they reared their family of eight children, four sons and four daughters, all of whom grew to maturity, but two sons and one daughter are now deceased. The doctor is the youngest, and his only brother is Brown Hosier, who is mar- ried, and is engaged in farming in Union county. Iowa. In Greene county, Ohio, the parents con- tinued to make their home until called to the world beyond, the father dying at the advanced age of eighty-three years, and the mother sur- viving him but six months. Their remains were interred in Fairfield cemetery, where a neat and substantial monument marks their last resting place.
Dr. Hosier spent his boyhood and youth in the county of his nativity, attending the Fairfield high school, and was later a student for three years in the Ohio Wesleyan University at Dela- ware, Ohio. At the age of seventeen he began the study of medicine, which he continued for several years, taking his first course of lectures at the Ohio Medical college of Cincinnati in the winter of 1871. The next season he returned to that city, where he pursued his studies until graduating from that institution in the class of 1873.
After completing his medical course the doc- tor started westward and located at Holloway- ville, Bureau county, Illinois, where his skill and ability soon won recognition and he is now at the head of a large lucrative practice. He stands high among his professional brethren, and is
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considered one of the most successful physicians . and surgeons of Bureau county.
On the 14th of May, 1873, in Bureau county, was celebrated the marriage of Dr. Hosier and Miss Mary C. Harris, a native of the buckeye state, who when a child of only two years was brought to Illinois by her father, Jacob Harris, who lo- cated in Bureau county, where she was reared and educated. Two children have been born of their union- Alta and Robert, and they also have an adopted daughter, Vera. The family is one of prominence in the community, holding a high position in social circles, and are esteemed and beloved by all who know them.
The doctor is widely known throughout north- ern Illinois, where he ranks among the best in- formed and most skillful physicians, and is a prominent member of the Bureau County Medi- cal society and also the La Salle County Medical society. As a warm friend of the cause of temper- ance he supports the principles and men of the prohibition party, and served as a delegate to both the state and national conventions in 1896. He was the nominee of his party for congress in the fall of 1896, from the Eleventh Congressional district, and, while accepting the nomination, on account of professional duties he could give but little attention to the canvass. The democrats and populists of Bureau county also nominated him for coroner of the county, but he declined the honor as he was an out and out prohibi- tionist.
M ARK GREGORY. One of the active, prominent and enterprising citizens of Marshall county, is the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, who is at present engaged in agricultural pursuits on section 8, Henry town- ship. He made his first appearance on the stage of life beneath the roof of his parents, Harrison and Mary (Sivers) Gregory, in Ashtabula county, Ohio, March 24, 1835. The father was born in the same county in 1813, and when our subject was two years of age took his family to Auglaize county, Ohio, where he remained for six years. He then drove across the country to Illinois, and
in 1843 located upon a farm in Kickapoo town- ship, Peoria county, twelve miles west of the city of Peoria, for which he went in debt. After spending ten years in the improvement and culti- vation of that place he removed to the village of Henry, where the following three years were passed. He next settled in Whitefield township, six miles west of Henry, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres and there spent his last years. Being in ill health he started for Cali- fornia, but was taken worse while en route, and died four weeks after his arrival in Los Angeles, October 2, 1882, at the age of sixty-nine years. His wife, who was also a native of Ohio, had passed away two years previous.
The parental household included ten children, seven of whom grew to maturity, and six are now living. Mark, of this review, is the only one now living in Marshall county. Ransom makes his home in Pierre, South Dakota. Harry is in the dry goods business at Gibson City, Illinois. Martha is the widow of Frank Skinkle, of York, Nebraska. Fanny is the wife of Cyrus Hutchins, of the same place. Laura is the wife of Charles Jenkins, who is engaged in railroad work at Coolidge, New Mexico.
Mark Gregory remained at home with his father until attaining the age of twenty-three years, when he began farming in Whitefield town- ship, Marshall county, renting land for four , years. In 1863 he purchased his present place, paying twenty-five dollars per acre. It is pleas- antly located two miles northwest of Henry, and contains one hundred and sixty acres of valuable land, which he has placed under a high state of cultivation and improved with a good dwelling and substantial barns and outbuildings. He was soon able to pay for his farm and is now successfully engaged in general farming and the raising of heavy draft horses.
On the Ist of January, 1860, Mr. Gregory wedded Miss Jane Lee, of Henry, who was born in Chittenden county, Vermont, and was ten years old when brought by her parents, Harry and Sophia (Chapman) Lee, to Illinois. They were early settlers of Henry township, Marshall
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county, locating upon a farm near where our subject now resides in 1850 and there spent their remaining days. Mrs. Gregory died in 1865, leaving one son, Charles, who became a farmer of Nebraska, but on his return to Marshall coun- ty, was accidentally killed at Henry, at the age of twenty-three years. On the 25th of June, 1866, Mr. Gregory was again married, his second union being with Miss Eleanor U. Goodrich, a relative of his first wife, and also a native of Vermont, where their marriage was celebrated. In politics Mr. Gregory is a firm supporter of the men and measures of the republican party, and in all re- spects has deported himself as an honest man and good citizen.
M ARTIN KING. There are few men more worthy of representation in a work of this kind than the subject of this biography, who is now living upon a fine farm on section 32, Mag- nolia township-the same place on which he first opened his eyes to the light of day on the 15th of April, 1835. His entire life has been passed in this locality, and those who know him best are numbered among his stanchest friends.
Silas King, his father, was born in Kentucky in 1805, and was the son of Peter King. He accompanied the family to Indiana and later went to the lead mines of Galena, from which he returned to Indiana, and there married Eliza- beth Shields, a sister of Calvin Shields. After making their home for a time in Morgan county, that state, they removed to what is now Mag- nolia township, Putnam county, where they re- mained but a short time, removing to Rob- erts township, Marshall county, then a part of Putnam county, and were among the first to locate in that township, making their home in the edge of the timber. Until 1856 the father continued to improve and cultivate that tract, when he removed to section 27, Evans township, Marshall county, on a tract of raw land, which he broke and thereon erected a house. The mother of our subject died in 1838, leaving three children, the others being James C., now de- ceased, who married Mrs. Rebecca Knickerbock-
er, also now deceased, and Sarah, widow of Henry Bagby, by whom she had four children, Samuel P., James, Ida and Lizzie. The father was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Condiff, who is also now deceased, and they became the parents of three children, all of whom have been called to their final rest. Eveline, who was the wife of Selathial Hallani, by whom she had two children, Emma Hotalling and Eva Dial: Matilda, who was the wife of James Brown, and William. Two of the sons, James C. and William, were in the Union army during the Civil war. The father was a member of the Methodist church, took considerable in- terest in educational affairs and donated a log house for a school building. He passed away in February, 1858.
Martin King was reared in Marshall county, receiving his education in the district schools and early became familiar with the duties that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He continued upon the home farm until the death of his father, and after his marriage he rented land for two years. The next year was passed upon a small farm which he purchased in the timber, and then for two years lived upon his father's old farm in Evans township. Being drafted for service in the Civil war, he had to sell his land in order to pay his conscription. His next farm consisted of one hundred and sixty acres lying east of Varna, for which he went in debt. It was all raw land, but he at once began its development, erect- ed thereon a little shanty, and there made his home for twenty-four years, during which time he made many valuable improvements, includ- ing a good residence, barns and other outbuild- ings. Selling out to Jacob Lenz, he removed to his present farm in 1889, and in the fall of 1895 erected his comfortable residence. The place comprises three hundred and twenty acres, and he also owns sixty-six acres in Roberts town- ship, Marshall county, and an interest in another farm in Magnolia township. He raises a fine· grade of stock in connection with his general farm work.
On the 6th of October, 1859, Mr. King led to
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MARTIN KING.
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MRS. MARTIN KING.
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the marriage altar Miss Ellen A. Smith, who was born on section 33, Magnolia township, July 31, 1840, was there reared and was educated in the Caledonia school. They have become the par- ents of nine children, as follows: Silas, now of Iowa, who married Annie Rutan, by whom he has four children, Harry, Myrtle, Lawrence and Marion; Frank, also of Iowa, who married Jane
Rutan, by whom he has two children, Ila and Dawson; Henry B., of Magnolia township, who married Naomi Norris, by whom he has two children, Blanche L. and Leonard C .; L. Ben- jamin, of Chicago; Laura E., wife of Grant Trone of Magnolia township, and the mother of two children, Florence M. and Howard M., and Robert E., Hattie E., Annie Edith and Kate E., all at home.
Ephraim Smith, the father of Mrs. King, was born in North Carolina, in 1805, and a son of Philip and Elizabeth Smith, who were early set- tlers of Sangamon county, Illinois, where they passed their last days. At the age of twenty- one, Ephraim left home, going to the lead mines at Galena, and making the journey from Spring- field to that place with an ox team. It was in 1830 that he came to Putnam county, and was numbered among the first settlers of Magnolia township, locating upon section 33, where he made his permanent home. During the Black Hawk war he served as a ranger.
Mr. Smith first wedded Harriet Angeline Tru- man, who was born in New York in 1817, and died in July, 1857. To them were born nine children-Ervin O., who married Annie John- son, and has two children; Mrs. King; Franklin, who married Hattie Weir; Esther, deceased: Laura, wife of Casper Weber; Hattie, wife of Gil- bert Hiltabrand; Addie and Artilissa, deceased, and James C., who is also married. For his sec- ond wife Mr. Smith chose Jemima Kays, who still survives him, and to them were born three children, the oldest of whom died in infancy. The others are Katic R., wife of Vivian Haws, and Eva, wife of Cyril Haws. The father died on the Ioth of February, 1885, and was buried in Magnolia cemetery. He was an honest, in-
dustrious farmer, who attended strictly to his own affairs.
Socially, Mr. King is a member of the Ma- sonic lodge at Varna, politically is a stalwart democrat, and has served as road commissioner in Roberts township, and school director for a number of years. Both himself and wife enjoy the friendship and acquaintance of a large num- ber of the best people of Marshall and Putnam counties.
JOHN H. HANSON, one of Princeton's wide-
awake and progressive business men, now successfully carries on a livery, feed and sale stable. Hc was born in western Sweden, August 22, 1858, and is a son of P. G. and Sarah M. (Peterson) Hanson. In his native land the father followed farming, and on coming to America in 1871, settled on rented land in Wyanet township, Bureau county, Illinois, but later removed to Mineral township, where his death occurred April 5, 1882, at the age of forty-nine years. He was a member of the Lutheran church, as is also his wife who still survives him, and is now living in Manlius township. Our subject is the oldest in their family of five children, the others being Oscar T., who married Emma Picrson, and rc- sides on a farm in Selby township; Ada L., wife of Rev. John A. Edmonds, pastor of the Luther- an church at East Union, Minnesota; Fred William, who resides on the old homestead with his mother in Manlius township; and Victoria, at home.
Mr. Hanson, of this sketch began his business career as bridgeman for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad as he was a carpenter by trade, and held that position for four years. For the following ten years he operated a rented farm and then purchased one hundred and ninety-six acres on section 25, Princeton township, which he continued to cultivate and improve for five years. On the first of January, 1896, he began the livery business in Princeton and now con- ducts a first-class stable, having fourteen head of horses and buggies and carriages accordingly. His business is conveniently located at 44 and
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45 Main street, and he is meeting with a fair de- gree of success in his new undertaking.
In 1887, Mr. Hanson led to the marriage altar Miss Christina C. Anderson, daughter of Jonas and Elizabeth (Nelson) Anderson, natives of Sweden. Her father is a mechanic and a resident of Princeton. Three children now bless this union-Hazel A. E., Herman B. and Gladys E. Fraternally, Mr. Hanson is connected with the Modern Woodmen of America, and in politics is a stanch republican, believing in a high pro- tective tariff, and firmly supports Mckinley. He is an enterprising, progressive citizen, justly de- serving the high esteem in which he is held.
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