USA > Illinois > Bureau County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 4
USA > Illinois > Marshall County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 4
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81
The Ferris family were originally from Con-
necticut, and settled at Ferrisburg, Vermont, at a very early day. Benjamin Ferris, the grand- father of our subject, served his country in the Revolutionary war, and was in the battle of Plattsburg. He died at Ferrisburg soon after the family located at that place. The boyhood and youth of Harry were spent on the farm at Ferris- burg, and there he remained until twenty years of age, receiving a fair education in a select school.
On leaving his native state our subject went to Upper Sandusky, Ohio, where he remained one year, and in the spring of 1854, came to Princeton, which has since been his home, save for about two years spent in Russell county, Kansas. It was on the advice of an uncle, P. W. Ferris, that he made Princeton his home, and he has never regretted the step taken. His uncle was an old school teacher and dentist, and was well-known by the old citizens of Bureau county. He died many years ago.
At the close of the first summer spent in Princeton by our subject, his father came on from Vermont with the intention of purchasing a farm, but did not remain. However, after the war he again came with his family and here the parents spent the remainder of their lives, both dying at about the age of eighty years, one pre- ceding the other but a very short time.
The first business in which young Harry en- gaged in Princeton was that of buying and sell- ing real estate. The country was comparatively new, and was being rapidly settled by a thrifty class of people, and in the real estate business he was quite successful, as prices were rapidly advanced save for a period following the panic of 1857, and even then in this locality prices were well maintained, being held up to a great ex- tent by their proximity to a market made easily accessible by the completion of a railroad to Chi- cago.
Mr. Ferris was still engaged in the real estate business when the war broke out and he was one of the first to respond to his country's call, be- coming a member of Company I, Twelfth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, commanded by Captain
3İ
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Frank Ferris, a cousin. His term of enlistment under the first call was for but ninety days. When his term expired and re-enlistments were in or- der for three years, he was rejected on account of his partially crippled hand, making it difficult for him to properly handle his musket. At the battle of Shiloh Captain Frank Ferris was badly wounded and died soon after. His body was brought back and interred in the cemetery at Princeton. Ferris post at Princeton was named in his honor.
Returning home after receiving his discharge, our subject resumed his real estate business, in which he continued until 1864. In 1862, in part- nership with his brother, Benjamin S., he pur- chased the private bank of Carey, Olds & Com- pany, and under the firm name of B. S. Ferris & Company continued the business. After a period of three years' successful business. Hon. Justin S. Morrell, of Vermont, an old acquaintance and well-known politician of that state, invested with them some ten thousand dollars, and the First National bank of Princeton was organized and duly incorporated.
In the meantime a bank was started near the depot which did business under the firm name of Ferris Brothers, with Harry H. as manager. This was rendered necessary from the fact that the depot was located so far from the business center of the city that grain men and others were put to so much inconvenience in getting their checks cashed. Some years later, in 1872, the business of Ferris Brothers was merged into the Farmers' National bank, a cousin of Mr. Ferris, named Sherman, investing fifteen thous- and dollars in the institution. Mr. Ferris was elected president of the new concern, and as- sumed its active business management. The bank was organized with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars.
Benjamin S. Ferris, the brother, who was president of the First National bank, having lost his health, felt it necessary to dispose of his in- terest in 1873, which he accordingly did and re- moved to Denver, Colorado, where he died some years since. Our subject also disposed of his
stock in the First National bank at the same time, but retained his interest in the Farmers' National. Two years later, on account of im- paired health, he disposed of his interest in the Farmers' bank also, and went to Russell county, Kansas, where he invested in a flock of ten thousand sheep. For two years he spent the greater part of his time in outdoor life, when his health being fully restored, he determined to return to his old home and embark in the bank- ing business.
Returning to Princeton, Mr. Ferris assisted in organizing the Citizens' National bank, with a capital stock of fifty thousand dollars, of which he was elected vice-president, Tracy Reeve being the president. The capital stock was soon in- creased to one hundred thousand dollars, made necessary by the rapidly increasing business. Mr. Ferris continued to serve as vice-president of the bank until the death of Mr. Reeve in 1894, when he was elected president, and has since been annually re-elected. The bank has had a successful career, paying semi-annual divi- dends of five per cent, and stock is quoted at one hundred and fifty dollars. Mr. Ferris has given personal attention to the business of the bank since its organization in 1878. The bank owns the building in which it is located.
Mr. Ferris was married February 4, 1864, at Waterville, Maine, with Miss Mary S. Dunbar, a native of that state and a daughter of Otis H. Dunbar, a native of Massachusetts. She is a sister of the well-known Dunbar Brothers of Princeton. By this union five children were born-Edward S., is now cashier of the Shenan- doah (Iowa) National bank; Camilla, is a teach- er of German in the high school of Ottumwa, Iowa. She was educated at the Northwestern University, of Evanston, and later studied at Heidelburg, Germany, and at Paris, France, and is proficient in both French and German. Al- bert W., is assistant cashier of the Citizens' Na- tional bank, of Princeton; Mary is a student of the Princeton high school; Charlie, in 1895, was lost on Lake Michigan. He was in business in Chicago, and took passage on a boat at Benton
32
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Harbor, Michigan, for Chicago, and was never afterward heard from.
Mr. Ferris has improved several pieces of property in Princeton, including his own fine residence on Elm street. He has taken stock in all manufacturing enterprises, some of which have proven anything but profitable, but it has been his aim to assist struggling enterprises and aid his adopted city. In educational matters he has taken a deep interest, and for years has served as a director of the graded schools of Princeton, a most thankless office. Religiously he is liberal and attends the People's church, of Princeton. Mrs. Ferris is a member of the Con- gregational church. In politics he is a repub- lican, but takes no active part in party work.
G EO. B. HARRINGTON, A. M., the effi- cient superintendent of public schools of Bureau county, Illinois, is widely known throughout the entire state, and has an envi- able reputation in educational circles. He is a native of Vermont, born in Williams- town, January 31, 1844, and is a son of Daniel M. and Esther (Allen) Harrington, both of whom were natives of the same state, the former, born December 12, 1799, in Williams- town, and the latter in 1800, at Brookfield. They were married in Williamstown, where they spent the remainder of their lives, the husband pursu- ing the calling of a farmer. Of their family of twelve children, five are now living-Mrs. Bethiah Goodrich, of Williamstown, Vt .; Mrs. Atlanta Winchester, of Williamstown, Vt .; Na- than, of Grinnell, Iowa; Asa, of Barre, Vt., and
George B., the subject of this sketch. The father died in 1878, the mother in 1875, and their memory is cherished by family and many friends, who esteemed theni for their many excel- lent qualities of head and heart.
The Harringtons are of Scotch ancestry, the first of the name settling in Massachusetts prior to the Revolutionary war. Daniel Harrington, the grandfather of our subject, removed from Williamstown, Mass., to Williamstown, Vt., prior 10 1794, in which year he purchased the farm
which has since been in possession of some of the family. On that homestead was born Daniel M. and his entire family, including our subject. There his boyhood and youth were spent and the foundation laid for the successful career which has followed him as an instructor of youth and director of public school teachers. After leaving the primary schools of his native county he received an academic education in Randolph, Vt., and in the same institution pursued a normal course, after which he engaged in teaching in the public schools. His salary for the first term taught was eleven dollars per month. This was in his native state, and save in experience, was not satisfactory; however, he still continued to teach there until September, 1867, when he came to Bureau county, where he continued to follow his chosen profession. Here he acquired a rep- utation as a successful teacher, and in 1869, was elected principal of the Anawan, Henry county, schools, which position he held for five years. He was then called to take charge of the schools in Tiskilwa, Bureau county, and served two years, resigning on account of ill-health.
The reputation acquired as a teacher by Prof. Harrington brought him prominently be- fore the people of Bureau county, who were al- ways quick to acknowledge worth, and in 1877, he was elected county superintendent of schools, and served five years, filling the position in a most acceptable manner and doing much to ad- vance the interests of the schools. While filling this position he published a system for teaching civil government in the common schools, which was republished by the New York Tribune and New York Independent, and also by various educational journals throughout the country, and which was favorably received wherever intro- duced. He also published during this time in book form a "Helper for the Teachers of Bureau County," which proved highly beneficial to the public schools, its suggestions being very gener- ally adopted by the teachers.
After an intermission of four years, Prof. Har- rington, in 1886, was again elected county su- perintendent of schools, was re-elected in 1890,
33
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
and again in 1894. His reputation as a super- intendent is second to none in the state. His whole mind and heart is in the work, and he is often called to lecture before institutes in the different counties of the state, in which field of labor he is especially well qualified. In 1873 he passed an examination and was granted a certifi- cate as a teacher from the state superintendent of public instruction. While never attending Lombard university as a student, his merits as an educator were recognized by that institution, which in 1890 conferred on him the degree of master of arts, an honor worthily bestowed.
On the 27th of July, 1869, Prof. Harrington was united in marriage, in Bureau County, with Miss Emma V. Carpenter, a native of Orange county, Vt., and a daughter of Marshall D. and Dorcas (Conner) Carpenter, also natives of that state, who settled in Bureau county in 1852, and later removed to Humboldt county, Iowa. They were the parents of six children. (1) Lucy B., now the wife of James Briggs, a farmer, residing near Des Moines, Iowa. (2) Hon. Frank E., now residing at Livermore, Iowa, where he is engaged in farming. For two years he served his district in the legislature and is well-known in his locality. He was formerly a resident of Bureau county, and here married Miss Gertrude Woodruff. (3) Emma V., now the wife of our subject. (4) Bessie, wife of John W. Boyd, died some years ago. (5) May, wife of Eugene Heath, a farmer of Henry County, Illinois. (6) Ida L., wife of J. W. Boyd, of St. Louis, Mo. To Prof. and Mrs. Harrington, three children have been born: L. Ward, who died at the age of four years; Grace V., and a daughter who died in in- fancy. Grace has been carefully educated and has made music and painting a special study. She is gifted in both, but especially so in paint- ing, in which she excels and has at her home many evidences of her rare skill and taste.
Mrs. Harrington is a ripe scholar, a successful teacher who had great aptness for the work, and who is a most efficient helper for her husband in the official duties in the office of county superin- tendent of schools.
Few women in Bureau
county are so widely known and none are more universally esteemed. She is a worthy member of the Congregational church at Princeton, and is actively engaged in promoting the Lord's cause in that city. The professor is also an effi- cient member of the same church. Fraternally he is a member of the Free and Accepted Ma- sons, and has attained the rank of Knight Tem- plar.
Since first elected county superintendent of schools the number of teachers passing under his examination, together with the renewal of licenses, would number more than six thousand. He has seen the number of graded schools in the county increase from four to fifteen. H served for six years as a member of the State Board of Education, being first appointed by Gov. Oglesby. He was elected president of the Northern Illinois Teachers' association, at the largest session held by that body. In every posi- tion which he has been called on to fill he has dis- charged its duties conscientiously and to the en- tire satisfaction of those interested. As a citizen he is highly esteemed, and while an ardent Re- publican in politics, he numbers among his stanch friends many of the opposite party.
D R. JAMES P. LYTLE, an eminent physician and surgeon of Princeton, Illinois, was born in the southern part of the state, near East St. Louis, November 12, 1848, and is a son of Dr. Francis W. and Florida Martin (Routt) Lytle, natives of Pennsylvania and Kentucky, respect- ively. The father successfully engaged in prac- tice in Troy, Madison county, and in Lebanon, St. Clair county, Illinois, and when the civil war broke out, became assistant surgeon of the Fifty-first regiment of Illinois volunteers, but was afterwards promoted to surgeon of the Thir- ty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. After the battle of Nashville, he took charge of the hos- pital there, but was obliged to resign on account of ill-health. On his return home he took up general practice, which he conducted up to the time of his death in 1884, at the age of sixty-five years. He was a life-long elder of the Presby-
34
. THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
terian church, in which his wife was also an active and enthusiastic worker. She was born July 10, 1825, and died July 11, 1875. In the family were eight children, four still living- Anna E., wife of Dr. F. A. Salem, of Anna, 11- linois; James P., of this review ; Kate P., wife of John R. Appleman, of Fredericktown, Madison county, Missouri, and Mary A., wife of E. S. Dewey, circuit clerk of Alexander county, 11- linois. Four of the children died in infancy, and Jennie and Dora, when about seven years of age.
Dr. J. P. Lytle took the classical course at McKendree college, of Illinois, graduating with the class of 1871, receiving the degree of A. MI .. and took up the study of medicine in the medi- cal college which is now a part of the Washing. ton university, St. Louis, where he was grad- uated in 1874. He at once began the practice of his chosen profession, and by virtue of his ex- cellent scholarship on competitive examinations was appointed to a position in the St. Louis city hospital, where he remained for a year and a half. He then located at Tiskilwa, Illinois, where he engaged in practice for about eight years, and spent the two following years in Galva, but for the past eleven years has successfully en- gaged in practice at Princeton, where he has won a liberal patronage. He is also examiner for several life insurance companies, and unsolicited, was made a member of the board of health.
On the 20th of September, 1877, Dr. Lytle led to the marriage altar Miss Ida M. Sawyer, daughter of Edward and Louisa (Stevens) Saw- ver, of Tiskilwa, and they now have three chil- dren, namely: Blanche, recently graduated with high honors from the Princeton high school, be- ing valedictorian of a class of eighteen, of which she was the youngest. Owing to her excellent work in that institution she has been offered a scholarship at Lombard college, of Galesburg, free of charge; Ralph S. is a member of the sen- ior class in the high school, and James Albert completes the family. With their daughter, the parents hold membership in the Presbyterian church. Fraternally the doctor is a member of
the Masonic order, belonging to the command- ery, No. 20, K. T., of Princeton. Politically, he is independent, voting for the man whom he thinks will best fill the office, regardless of party ties. He has won an enviable position in the ranks of the medical fraternity, his skill being acknowledged by all, and as a citizen he has identified himself with the best interests of his adopted city.
W ATTS A. JOHNSON. Rising above the head of the mass are many men of ster- ling worth and value, who by sheer perseverance and pluck have conquered fortune, and by their own unaided efforts have risen from the ranks of the commonplace to eminence and positions of respect and trust; but the brilliant qualities of mind and brain which mark the great lawyer are to a certain extent God-given. Nature richly endowed the subject of this sketch with these brilliant attributes, but sterling worth and honest manliness, and a strong, resolute character, are the qualities which have enabled him to put the talents with which nature, or providence, gifted him to the best possible use. He is at present the popular state's attorney of Bureau county.
A native of Indiana, Mr. Johnson was born at Hillsboro, Dearborn county, December 16, 1857, and is a son of James J. and Minerva (Young) Johnson, natives of New York and Pennsylvania, respectively. The mother, who was a devout and active member of the Baptist church, died in 1885, at the age of fifty-three years, but the father is still living, a resident of Bureau county, and has reached the age of six- ty-seven years. By occupation he is a farmer and has led a very quiet, unobtrusive life. Like his wife he has also been a lifelong, consistent member of the Baptist church.
Our subject is the fourth in order of birth in the family of thirteen children, the others being as follows: John C., a minister of the Baptist church, married Anna Coon, by whom he had a son, Cary. He died at the age of forty-one years, and his wife has also passed away; James H., a real estate dealer of Omaha, Nebraska, married
35
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Leonora Cook, who died, leaving two children, Cook and Lyman; William H., a farmer of Bu- reau county, married Mary Bowan, and has seven children-Harry, Frank, Clay, Gray, Cal- vin, Homer, and Minerva E .; Mary is the wife of John J. Mundy, of Orleans, Nebraska, and they have three children-Frank, Claude and Darline; Nora is the wife of Samuel S. Harris, of Bureau county, and they have two children- Watts and Bernadine; Maggie is a music teacher of Princeton; Florence died at the age of twenty- four years; Alice B. is the wife of Rev. Lomanza S. Walker, a Baptist minister of Belvidere, Illi- nois, and they have two children, Owen and Leona; Leonetta died at the age of twenty years; Herbert H. is an agriculturist of Bureau coun- ty; Arstella and Minnie are still at home.
The education of Watts A. Johnson was self- acquired and obtained under many hardships, but with credit to himself. When but two years of age he was brought by his parents to Bureau county, locating upon a farm in Dover town- ship, where he attended the common schools for a time, and for a year and a half entered in teach- ing in the Madison school of that township. De- ciding to make the legal profession his life work, he began studying in the office of R. M. Skinner, after which he spent one year in the University of Chicago, and then entered the Union College of Law. During his three years' course there, he earned his way by carrying papers in the morning, and by lighting street lamps in the evening. On the completion of his course he graduated with honors in the class of 1883. Re- turning to Princeton, he at once began practice, which has now grown to flattering proportions, and he is numbered among the most prominent lawyers in this section of the state.
In 1884, Mr. Johnson was elected city attorney of Princeton, which position he acceptably filled for two terms of two years each, and at both elections was the only one on the general "no license" ticket to be elected. In the fall of 1892 he was nominated as state's attorney for Bureau county, and was elected. So ably did he dis- charge the duties of the office, that in April, 1896,
he was renominated by acclamation-the only instance of the kind in that county where the can- didate for that office received a nomination in that way in a republican convention. This speaks well for an office well filled and a public service well rendered. His present term expires in November, 1896. Mr. Johnson was the pros- ecuting attorney in the Spring Valley riot case in 1895, which was about the most important case ever tried in Bureau county, and the duties of his office at that time required more arduous service than any of his predecessors had been called upon to render. It was said that the ver- dict of the jury was certainly a very high com- pliment to him, both for the careful and efficient manner in which the papers leading up to it were drawn, and also for the ability shown in present- ing it to the court. Though Mr. Johnson did not enjoy sending so many men to the penitenti- ary, he certainly did his whole duty, and did it in a manner that won for him much admiration.
On the 2d of January, 1884, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Johnson and Miss Jennie C. Buckingham, daughter of Almus and Zerlina Buckingham, of De Kalb county, Illinois. They hold an enviable position in social circles and are members of the Baptist church, of Princeton. In politics our subject is an ardent republican, supporting McKinley, sound money and the plat- form adopted at the St. Louis convention. It is but just and merited praise to say that as a law- yer, Mr. Johnson ranks among the ablest in Bu- reau county, as a citizen is honorable, prompt and true to every engagement, and as a friend, a model worthy of all imitation.
1190747
L OUIS A. LENZ is the present efficient treasurer of Marshall county, and although a young man, he has been tried in various offi- cial capacities, and has ever proven himself worthy of public trust. He is a native of the county, born in Belle Plain township, October 2, 1865, and is the son of Jacob and Augusta (Kemnitz) Lenz, now residing in Roberts town- ship, to which place they removed in the early childhood of our subject. On the honte farını
36
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
in Roberts township, Louis grew to manhood, receiving his primary education in the common country schools, and finishing his course in a private German school. From the time he was old enough to engage in manual labor, he as- sisted in the cultivation of the home farm, attend- ing school principally during the winter months.
At the age of twenty years our subject left the parental roof and embarked in the grocery and farm implement trade in the village of Varna. In that business he was fairly successful, and while much of his time was given to public du- ties, he continued in the trade until December, 1894, when his entire stock was consumed by fire, entailing upon him a loss of three thousand five hundred dollars. For something over a vear he continued out of the mercantile trade, but in January, 1896, in company with his cousin, he embarked in the general furniture and under- taking business at Lacon, under the firm name of Lenz & Lenz. They carry a full line of staple furniture, and will always keep abreast with the times with respect to their trade, introducing such novelties as may seemingly be in demand. While in trade but a short time, they have been encouraged by the reception given them by the. public in general.
Mr. Lenz was but twenty-two years of age when first elected clerk of Roberts township. That position he continued to fill until the fall of 1890, when he resigned to accept the nomination on the democratic ticket to the office of sheriff. to which he was duly elected and served four years, or until January, 1895, when he took pos- session of the office of county treasurer, having been elected as such in the previous November. To this office he was likewise elected on the democratic ticket, being the regular nominee of the party. From the time he was first qualified .to vote, he has acted with the democratic party, and has warmly advocated its principles. He has ever taken an active interest in political af- fairs and his influence is always felt in the prim- aries of his party and at the polls.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.