USA > Illinois > Bureau County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 36
USA > Illinois > Marshall County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 36
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 36
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Soon after their marriage, Henry Shafer and wife came to Marshall county, Illinois, and in 1846, settled upon the farm where our subject now lives. In 1850 he bought the Williamson place on which was a large brick dwelling house and there the family permanently located. He im- proved that place and there died October 22, 1873. His wife died in April, 1888. They were the parents of three children: Mary, now the widow of George Belford, of Lacon township. who is the mother of four children-Annie, Fred,
Dollie and William; Carrie, now the widow of Henry Phelps, of Springfield, Missouri; and Frank D., the subject of this sketch. Henry Shafer was an old fashioned farmer, a great reader and well posted in the various affairs of the day, especially in political matters. He was a democrat, and was very active in the councils of his party, although he would never accept pub- lic office. He was a friend of the public school system, and did all in his power to advance the interests of the public schools in the locality in which he resided. He was a successful farmer, and a man well known throughout Marshall county.
The subject of this sketch was born October 5, 1837, in Knox county, Ohio, and came with his parents to Marshall county. He was reared on the farm, and received his education in the Lacon schools. On the 3d of January, 1865, he was united in marriage with Miss Amelia Cain, a native of Richland township, Marshall county, and a daughter of James and May (Burns) Cain, the former a native of Virginia, and the later of Ireland. James Cain was a son of Abraham Cain, who was born in Pennsylvania, and who was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill. The pa- rents of Mrs. Shafer were married at Wheeling. West Virginia, and came to Marshall county in 1835, and settled in Richland township, where they made a permanent home and where he died March 7, 1888, and she in 1885. Their remains were interred in the Lacon cemetery. They were the parents of two children, Mrs. Shafer being the only survivor. Her parents, however, reared James Madden, an orphan boy, bringing him with them to this county and caring for him as their own child. He married Susan Hush, who died, leaving six children. He now lives in Liv- ingston county, Illinois, and has served as jus- tice of the peace and assessor for thirty years each.
Mr. and Mrs. Shafer are the parents of five children-Jessie, now deceased; Marie, wife of William Porterfield, living in Springfield, Mis- souri: Janies V., who married Alice Holland, and lives in Richland township; Henry B., and
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Benjamin F. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Shafer located on their present farm on sec- tion 24, Lacon township, where they have since continued to reside. All of the improvements upon the place were made by him and he has here engaged in general farming and stock raising with great success. He is the owner of six hun- dred and sixty acres of fine farming land in Mar- shall county, all of which is under improvement and has also a tract of land in Rush county, Kan- sas.
Fraternally, Mr. Shafer is a member of Lacon Lodge, No. 61, F. & A. M., and politically he is a democrat. During his entire life he has taken great interest in political matters, and is a firm believer in the principles of the democratic party as enunciated by Jefferson and Jackson. He has served his fellow-citizens in many of the local offices, having served as a member of the board of education of Lacon for seven years, twelve years as road commissioner, and is now serving his tenth year as supervisor of the town- ship. In all matters pertaining to the best in- terests of Marshall county, he is ever at the front, and has done as much as any other one man in this locality to give it front rank among the sister counties of the state. He has been a hard-work- ing, industrious man, and has been prospered much in this world's goods. Few men in Mar- shall county are better known and none more highly respected.
JOHN WEBER, one of the substantial and prominent citizens of Hall township, Bu- reau county, was for many years actively engaged in agricultural pursuits, but has now laid aside business cares and is resting in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil. The history of his life is an interesting one, his experiences varied and in his travels covering almost half the globe.
Mr. Weber was born in Prussia, Germany, July 22, 1827, a son of Adam and Elizabeth (Sneider) Weber, who never left that country. The father served as a soldier under Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo, and was with the army
in Russia. He joined the retreat, while many who remained were frozen to death. He walked back to Germany, where he later died at the age of eighty-five years. His wife there died at about the same age. Our subject was the youngest in their family of three children. Catherine came to America and married John Debus, a farmer of Iowa, where she died in 1891, at the age of. sixty-nine years. Her husband is still living in that state; Martin, the oldest of the family, died in the fatherland.
From the age of six to fourteen years, Mr. Weber, of this sketch, attended the schools of his native land, and for the following six years served as a musician in a band, playing almost any in- strument, but mostly a cornet. He traveled with the Holland navy, visiting Java and Batavia in 1845. Before and after this he traveled for four years in a circus band. Five times he has crossed the ocean, twice visiting Europe, first in 1876, and later in 1886. At the age of twenty he en- tered the German army as a musician, serving as regimental bugler for five years, and was in the revolution in Baden in 1849.
In 1854, Mr. Weber emigrated to the new world, arriving in December of that year, and for twelve years was employed in the coal mines at La Salle, Illinois. On his arrival in that place he had only fifty cents remaining with which to begin life among strangers in a strange land. He has seen much of the rough side of life, has passed through many trying experiences, but has made the most of his opportunities and ad- vantages, until he is to-day the owner of a hand- some property. Together with his sons he owns six hundred and forty acres in Bureau county, and expects soon to buy one hundred and sixty acres more. His first farm was in La Salle coun- ty, but in 1877, he sold out there and bought the E. C. Hall farm of two hundred acres on section 21, Hall township, which comprises a part of his present tract. It is one of the model farms of the county, improved with an elegant residence, sur- rounded by a lovely lawn and stately pines. There is also a good orchard and the barns and out- buildings are neat and substantial. Our subject
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now rents his land so that he may spend his de- clining years in ease and retirement.
In Germany, on the 30th of September, 1852, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Weber and Miss Julia Hamel, who died March 5, 1885, at the age of fifty-eight years and one day. She was the daughter of George and Isabel Hamel, who spent their entire lives in Germany. She had one brother in La Salle, Illinois, and another, Henry Hamel, who went to California, and is now worth more than a million.
Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Weber, the birth of the oldest occurring two months after the arrival of his parents in the United States. In order of birth, they are as follows: Henry married Elizabeth Woubben, by whom he has three children-Frank, Henry and Eddie. They live on a farm near Seatonville, Bureau county ; John H., who is residing on the Webster farm, east of Spring Valley, married Anna Herbolds- heimer, and has one son, Irvin; Emma is the wife of Fred Hummel, a hotel-keeper, of Temple- ton, Wisconsin, and they have one child, Anna: Lizzie resides with her sister in Wisconsin; Lewis married Clara Kuster, and resides on the home farm; Ida is the wife of Frank Herbolds- heimer, and lives near Princeton. The mother of these children was a member of the Lutheran church.
On the 20th of October, 1887, Mr. Weber was again married, his second union being with Miss Adella Bartlett, a daughter of Schuyler and Esther (Leigh) Bartlett, the former born in Cana- da, of Scotch parentage, and the latter at Seven Oaks, ten miles east of London, England. They now make their home in Princeton. The father was seventy-two in July, 1896, and his wife will be that age in March, 1897. Mrs. Weber is the youngest of their five daughters, the others being Eliza, wife of Levi Neirkirk, a farmer, of Carroll county, Illinois; Hattie, wife of Albert Stickel, of Princeton ; Anna, wife of Louis Van Scoyk, of Galesburg, Illinois; Amanda, wife of Charles Pierce, of the same city. One child blesses the second union of our subject, Lena, who is now attending school.
Mr. Weber and his sons, Henry, John and Louis, are all members of the Masonic fraternity, and he, with John and Louis, belong to S. M. Dalzell Lodge, No. 805, F. & A. M. In politics he votes for the best man regardless of party ties. He is a genial, courteous gentleman, and having been among strangers so much, knows how to make a stranger feel at home, therefore, as an entertainer he has few equals. He is a thorough and skillful farmer, an upright, reliable citizen, a business man of more than ordinary ability, and as such is justly entitled to a place among the representative and influential men of Bureau county.
A DOLPH SWANSON, a leading contractor and builder of Princeton, is a native of central Sweden, born on the 9th of June, 1850, near Tonkaping, and is the fifth in order of birth in the family of eight children born to Swan and Mary (Johnston) Swanson, the others still being residents of Sweden-August, a blacksmith, who married Christina Anderson; John, a farmer, who married Sarah Dandleson; Joseph, a black- smith, unmarried; Johanna, wife of John Ander- son, a well-to-do farmer; Charles, a farmer, who married Clara Johnson; Christina, wife of Justus Johnson, a grocer merchant, and Matilda, who still lives with her mother. The father of this family was a blacksmith by trade, and spent his entire life in his native land, where he was killed by accident, while cutting a tree in the woods, dying instantly. He was an upright, honorable man, temperate in all his habits, followed closely the golden rule, and was a faithful member of the Swedish Lutheran church. He was born in 1822, and died in 1893. His wife, whose birth occurred in 1815, is still living and is a member of the same church.
In the land of his nativity, Adolph Swanson learned the carpenter's trade, at which he there worked for five years, and in 1870, crossed the broad Atlantic to the new world, making his home for three years in Princeton, but at the end of that time returned to Sweden. Afer five years. however, we again find him in Princeton, where
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he has since successfully carried on the occupa- tion of carpentering. He has erected some of the largest residences in the city, besides fine busi- ness blocks, including the homes of Mr. Palmer and R. W. Phelps, and he is acknowledged as an excellent workman, and reliable business man, faithfully fulfilling his part of any contract.
On the 15th of January, 1885, Mr. Swanson was married in Bureau county, to Miss Gusta Matilda Peterson, daughter of Peter and Mary (Johnston) Falgrin, natives of Sweden, who came to the United States in 1886. Her mother died in May, 1896, at the age of seventy-two years, and her father, who has reached the age of sev- enty-six, finds a pleasant home with our sub- ject. Mrs. Swanson is the third in a family of five children, the others being Mary, wife of Alfred Sand, a farmer, residing near Gutten- burg; August, who is employed in a factory in Minnesota; Enoch, who is employed in the plow factory of Moline, Illinois, and who married Salma Peterson, and Fred, a carpenter, who is with our subject. Four children grace the union of Mr. and Mrs. Swanson-Huldah, Nannie, Vernie and Joseph R. The parents are worthy members of the Swedish Mission church, while in politics, Mr. Swanson earnestly advocates the principles of the republican party, which he has always supported since becoming a citizen of the United States, and he has the best interests of his adopted country at heart.
F ITCHYOU CUMMINGS, who resides upon section 20, Concord township, is one of the old and highly respected farmers of Bureau coun- ty, in which he has resided for over sixty-two years. He was born in Gallatin county, Illinois, May 8, 1818, and is a son of Thornton and Syl- via (Williams) Cummings, the former a native of Virginia, and the latter of Kentucky. They were among the very earliest settlers of Gallatin county, Illinois, where they resided until 1834, when they removed to Bureau county, locating at French Grove, Concord township. Here the father entered government land, consisting of two eighty acre tracts, to which he subsequently
added as he became prosperous. Our subject was but sixteen years of age when his parents removed to this county, and with them he re- mained at work upon the home farm until he reached maturity. His educational advantages were very limited, attending the common schools usually in the winter months.
On reaching maturity, Mr. Cummings entered a small tract of land which he commenced to improve. On the 16th of May, 1850, he was united in marriage with Miss Esther Garrett, of Bureau county, a native of Washington county, Ohio, born November 22, 1828, and a daughter of Horace and Abulah (Meede) Garrett, the former a native of Connecticut, born where the city of Hartford now stands. His father, the grandfather of Mrs. Cummings, laid the corner- stone of the court house at Hartford, Connecti- cut. Mrs. Abulah Garrett was born in Genesee county, New York, to which place her father removed at an early day, having gone to that county as a surveyor and engaging in that pro- fession for many years. He was a well-educated man, and stood high among his fellow-citizens in Genesee county. Soon after his marriage, however, he removed to Washington county, Ohio, and about 1837, to Bureau county, Illinois, locating in Concord township. While he was well educated his education was not obtained in the schools, but by home study. While residing in Ohio he taught school for some years, but after coming to Illinois he engaged in farming, and continued in that occupation until his death.
Soon after their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Cum- mings removed to the farm on which they now reside and which has been their home for a period of forty-six years. He has in his tract five hun- dred and fifteen acres, which are chiefly cultivated by his sons. By their union eight children were born, four of whom died in childhood-Sidney, born on the home farm, is now married and re- sides on a farm near that of his father. He has four children; Melissa Jane married E. O. Lee, who is a lawyer by profession, and they now re- side in Salt Lake City, Utah: Delia Louise mar- ried S. V. Trent, by whom she has one child,
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and they also reside in Salt Lake City, Utah; Roxy is now teaching in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Politically, Mr. Cummings has been a lifelong democrat, and cast his first presidential vote in 1840, for Martin Van Buren. He has never been an office-seeker, but has always taken a lively interest in political affairs. A farmer by profession he has gone along the even tenor of his way, striving to live at peace with all man- kind, doing his duty in all things and with the desire to live well in the estimation of his fellow- ctizens and no man is more highly esteemed by them.
H ON. JAMES T. THORNTON, a promi- nent and representative citizen of Putnam county, is now living retired in Magnolia. His father, Anthony Thornton, was a native of the Old Dominion and belonged to a good old Vir- ginian family who came from England prior to the Revolutionary war. He was the son of Dr. Henry Thornton, whose birth also occurred in Virginia.
In his native state, Anthony Thornton grew to manhood and received a good education. While still a young man he went to Kentucky, where he engaged in farming and later in hotel keeping. and there married Miss Ann Lee Barrett, who was born in Virginia, as was also her father, Francis Barret, who was a soldier in the Revolu- tionary war. She was related to the prominent and well-known Lee family of Virginia. V .. en ten years of age she accompanied her family to Kentucky, where she became acquainted with Mr. Thornton. After their marriage they lo- cated in Cumberland county, that state, and later removed to Green county, where the father served as high sheriff. His death occurred in 1826, and in 1833 the mother came to Illinois, lo- cating near Athens, in what was then a part of Sangamon county, but is now Menard county. Religiously she was a member of the Presbyterian church, and died in that faith in 1847. Her fam- ily consisted of eight children-Ann Fitzhugh, Henry Fitzhugh, Anthony, William, Mary Mit- chell and Arnold, all deceased; John F., of In-
dependence, Missouri; and James T., of this re- view.
The last named was born at Greensburg, Ken- tucky, August 4, 1823, was only three years of age at the time of his father's death, and at the age of ten came with his mother to Illinois. The night of the "falling stars," forever remembered by those who witnessed the wonderful sight, he was lost on Grand Prairie. Previously to com- ing to this state he had attended school but one year, later worked his way through a school, but is almost entirely self-educated.
In 1845 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Thornton and Miss Mary Graff, a native of Spen- cer county, Kentucky, and daughter of David and Susan (Willett) Graff. Her father was a native of Maryland, of Holland ancestry, and was an early settler in Kentucky. He came to Illinois in 1834, settled in Morgan county, where he died some years ago. Mrs. Thornton was born February 3, 1818. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Thornton lived in Menard county one season, then removed to Iowa, locating a claim in Polk county, which he improved. He was a pioneer in that locality, there making his home before the Indians left for the far west. Erecting a log cabin they lived there for three years and then returned to Menard county, Illi- nois, but later, in 1849, located at Magnolia.
On arriving at Magnolia, Mr. Thornton en- gaged in the mercantile business with his brother Arnold and they built up a large and profitable trade in general merchandise and grain. After five years he drew out of the concern and opened a drug store in the same place, which he carried on for ten years. Selling the drug store, he bought and sold stock for a time, and also pur- chased a farm. From time to time he added to his farming land, until he became one of the large land-holders in Magnolia township. He is to-day one of the oldest living settlers in the village, and is now living a retired life.
To Mr. and Mrs. Thornton four children were born, two of whom are now living. One son, George, was accidently smothered to death in an elevator at Lostant. Those living are: John
HON. JAMES T. THORNTON.
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W., who married Kate Lincoln, by whom he has two sons; and James B., who married Emma Fyffe, who died, leaving no children. Mrs. Thornton, who was a most excellent wife and mother, died August 8, 1896, her death being mourned by family and many friends.
Mr. Thornton formerly was a member of the Masonic order, with which he has not affiliated for some years. Politically, he was originally a whig and voted for Henry Clay for the presi- dency, being a great admirer of that honored statesman. He assisted in the organization of the republican party, and for many years voted that ticket, but lately has voted the democratic ticket. During the administration of President Lincoln, he served as postmaster of Magnolia. For several terms he served Magnolia township as a member of the board of supervisors of Put- nam county, and has represented his district three terms in the state legislature. He has taken a deep interest in the schools of his village and county, and has served as school director for years, and also as school trustee.
Mr. Thornton has been a hunter in the Rocky Mountains of some note, and his skill is amply attested by elk heads and horns, Rocky Mountain sheep heads and horns, and the skins of other animals which he has on exhibition at his home. As a citizen he has ever enjoyed the respect and confidence of his neighbors, and has done as much as any other one man to advance the in- terests of his adopted county.
T RUMAN SPERRY, a veteran in the late war, is a self-made man in every particular. He resides on a beautiful farm on section 29, Hopewell township. His father, Truman Sperry, was a native of Connecticut, born in 1812. He left home when quite young, going to Dayton, Ohio. In his youth he learned the marble-cut- ter's trade, and after locating in Ohio, engaged in contracting. He built a bridge across the Sciota river at Columbus. He married Miss Sarah Davidson, a native of Virginia, then resid- ing in Franklin county, Ohio. They were mar- ried at Dayton, Ohio, which place they made
their home until the death of the father in 1841. They were the parents of two children-Elias, who was a soldier in the United States regular army, and was killed at the battle of Chicka- mauga, and Truman, the subject of our sketch. After the death of her first husband, Mrs. Sperry married Charles Carroll, by whom she had one child, Samantha.
Truman Sperry, who is the only survivor of the family, was born January 7, 1840, at Dayton, Ohio. His boyhood and youth were spent in that city, and he was educated in its public schools. At the age of seventeen he went to Franklin county, Ohio, and in 1860, married Miss Leah Harris, a native of that county, and a daughter of Miller and Eleanor (Carr) Harris, both of whom were born in Ohio, the former in ISII, and the latter in 1812. In 1850 her father started across the plains to California, and died en route. The mother survived him four years, dying in 1854. They were the parents of eight children-Mrs. Nancy Pierce, Mrs. Bar- bara Pierce, Mrs. Mary Penn, Leah, William, John, Sophia and George. One son, William, served in the Forty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infan- try during the civil war.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Sperry set- tled upon a farm in Franklin county, Ohio, and he was there engaged in tilling the soil when the civil war commenced. In the fall of 1864, he joined Company E, Sixty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, at Atlanta, Georgia. Soon after join- ing the regiment it started on the campaign to Savannah, Georgia, participating in the cele- brated march to the sea, on through the Caro- linas, to Goldsboro, North Carolina, then to Raleigh, and was present at the sur- render of Johnston's army. It was then ordered to Richmond, Virginia, and from thence to Washington, D. C., where it took part in the grand review. From Washington it went to Bladensburg, where it was mustered out of service and the men honorably discharged in June, 1865. During his entire term of ser- vice, the regiment formed a part of the Twentieth army corps. While in the service he was fortunate
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in never having received a wound or being cap- tured.
Returning to his home, Mr. Sperry at once made arrangements for his removal to Illinois, and in September, 1865, located in Marshall county, where he has since continued to reside. He first settled in Richland township, and in the spring of 1889, purchased his present farm on section 29, which was but partially improved. The farm comprises one hundred and seventy- nine acres of valuable land, one hundred and for- ty acres of which are under cultivation. Since coming to this place he has remodeled the house, built the present barn and otherwise improved it.
To Mr. and Mrs. Sperry five children have been born-Frank married Clemina Winbern, by whom he has two children, Frank and Charles, and they now reside in Arkansas; Charles married Dora Shayne, and now lives in Kansas; Sherman is yet unmarried, and is liv- ing at home; Annie, who married Fred Weir, resides in Hopewell township, and they have three children-Fred, Charles and Leah; Elsie yet resides at home.
Fraternally, Mr. Sperry is a member of Lacon Post, No. 130, G. A. R., and also of the Mutual Aid society of Lacon. Politically, he was born a democrat. In local affairs, however, he votes for the man. At present he is serving as road commissioner of Hopewell township. Each of his children have received a good education in the district schools, his youngest daughter hold- ing a teacher's certificate.
Mr. Sperry came to Marshall county with but very limited means, but with the determination to succeed if success were possible. He has been a hard and persistent worker, and all that he has is the result of his own individual efforts, as- sisted by his good wife and family.
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