USA > Illinois > Bureau County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 43
USA > Illinois > Marshall County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 43
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 43
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third auditor's office, treasury department, the following was gotten up on parchment and sent to the family of the deceased:
"Whereas; We have heard with feelings of mingled pain and sorrow of the death of our friend and co-laborer, Charles E. Blanchard, who departed this life on the 8th of December, 1867, at Chicago, Illinois, and
"Whereas; He endeared himself to all who came in contact with him by his pleasing deport- ment, affableness and kindness of heart. He was foremost in works of philanthropy; and
"Whereas; While paying homage to the shrine of our deceased friend we humbly bow beneath the chastening rod, acknowledging the decree of Him who doeth all things well.
"Resolved, that by his death we have lost a friend, the remembrance of whose many virtues and integrity of character shall remain green in our memory and the government so manfully and faithfuly served by him in the hour of its need and danger, both as an officer and as a soldier, no less than in the more peaceful duties lately rendered, has been deprived of an honest, faith- ful public servant."
(Signed): Charles P. Vickery, J. W. Swank, Peter Lamond, J. M. Smyth, J. S. Phelps, L. B. Wynne, and George W. Knox.
Mr. and Mrs. Norton have one child-Lulu Blanch, now attending the high school, a bright, intelligent young lady.
W ILLIAM H. BURR is a well-known far- mer residing on section 10, Roberts township. He was born August 30, 1857, and is the son of Ira and Eleanor (Hackelman) Burr, the former a native of New Haven, Connecticut, born in 1802, and the latter of Franklin county, Indiana, born May 31, 1818.
Ira Burr grew to manhood in his native state and then removed to Wabash county, Indiana, where he engaged in farming, and later married Eleanor Hackelman. After their marriage they continued to reside in Indiana until the fall of 1864, when they came to Marshall county, Illi- nois, and took up their residence in Lacon. In
the following spring they settled in Roberts township, where they remained two years, and then removed to Coffey county, Kansas, where he again engaged in farming, and where he con- tinued to reside until his death in 1873. His wife also died during the same year. They were the parents of twelve children-Frank, now de- ceased; Wallace and Warner, twins, now de- ceased; Thaddeus, now deceased; James H. and Jennie, twins, the former residing in Colorado and the latter in Iowa; Lucretia, now deceased; Mary T. and John, now residing in Iowa; Phoebe, deceased; William H., of this review, and Nettie, who resides in Oregon. Of the sons, Frank and James H. were soldiers in the civil war, Frank dying in the service.
The subject of this sketch came with his par- ents to Marshall county when but seven years of age, and also went with them to Coffey county, Kansas, where he attended the district schools. His father died when he was sixteen years of age, and he was then forced to commence life for himself. Returning to Marshall county, he worked by the month for various parties until the fall of 1880, when he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah S. Glenn, who was born in Mag- nolia township, Putnam county, and who is a daughter of Isaac A. and Mary J. (Stewart) Glenn, who yet reside in Magnolia township. Her parents are both natives of Putnam county, and have there spent their entire lives. In their family were eight children, three of whom are now living-Mrs. Burr, Mrs. Eliza H. Disosway, of Iroquois county, Illinois, and Mrs. Jessie E. Dunlap, of Evans township, Marshall county.
To Mr. and Mrs. Burr four children have been born-Glenn, Earl, Eleanor May, Ira Allen and Edna Jessie. Soon after their marriage they located upon section II, Roberts township, where they remained until 1882, when they re- moved to their present place of residence. Their farm now comprises four hundred and twenty- four acres, all of which is under a high state of cultivation and with modern improvements. He carries on general farming, but for the past five years has made a specialty of Aberdeen-Angus
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cattle, and now has one hundred head of this fine breed, which has no superior. For some years Mr. Burr bought and shipped hogs at Varna, but at present confines himself to his farming operations and the breeding and raising of cattle. Politically he is a republican, and takes that interest in political affairs that every true American should take. While caring nothing for official position, he has yet served his township as road commissioner, and for fifteen years has been a school director. He has always taken great interest in educational affairs and thor- oughly believes in giving the youth of the land a good common school education.
M RS. PARMELIA W. B. FASSETT, widow of the late Elisha W. Fassett, of Lamoille, was born in Hatfield, Hampshire county, Massa- chusetts, May 21, 1823, a daughter of Cotton and Nancy H. (Herrick) Morton, also natives of the Bay State. The Morton family is of Scotch ex- traction, and for many generations have made their home at Hatfield, Massachusetts. Mrs. Fassett traces her ancestry back to Richard and Ruth Morton, both of whom lived to a ripe old age, the former dying April 3. 1710, and the lat- ter December 31, 1714. Soon after their mar- riage, in about 1668 or 1669, they removed to Hatfield, Massachusetts, where, for many gen- erations, the family have resided, but the only one now living there is Silas Porter, a cousin of our subject, who is unmarried.
From Richard and Ruth Morton, tracing to- ward the present time and omitting several gen- erations, we find the honored names of Lieuten- ant Jonathan Morton, and his wife Sarah, the latter of whom died October 5, 1760, at the age of seventy-three years. In some of the early wars, probably the French and Indian, the for- mer gained his title. Jonathan Morton, the son of this worthy couple, married Eunice Smith, and their only child of whom we have any knowl- edge is William, who married Hannah Chambers June 23, 1783. He died November 12, 1837, and his wife passed away February 25, 1838.
Cotton Morton, the father of Mrs. Fassett,
was one of their family of twelve children. His death occurred February 19, 1845, at the age of forty-nine years and ten months, and his wife departed this life in 1886, at the age of eighty- six years, her birth occurring November 30, 1800. Mrs. Fassett is the oldest in their family of seven children, the others being as follows: Plina F. married Eleanor Garmon, of New Jersey, who died in October, 1895, and he now resides in California. Caroline M. was married in 1856 to George Brush, who died March 12, 1888, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and she is now mak- ing her home in Lamoille. Harriet N. is the wife of William Burnside, a resident of River- side, a suburb of Chicago. Andrew J. wedded Mary Cook, and died while on a visit to Chicago, Illinois. Nancy C. is the wife of Isaac Hark- mess, of Bloomington, Illinois. Martin V. B. married Mary Adamson, and is now living in Princeton. All of the children were born in Hatfield, Massachusetts.
On the 7th of December, 1842, was celebrated the marriage of Elisha W. Fassett and Miss Parmelia W. B. Morton, and soon afterward they came to Lamoille, where the latter has longer resided than any of its inhabitants, having now lived there for fifty-four years. She is widely known and has the love and respect of all. Since 1838 she has made her home in Bureau county, having accompanied her parents on their re- moval to Princeton in that year. She is there- fore numbered among the honored pioneers, has witnessed the complete development of this re- gion, and can relate many interesting incidents of frontier life.
Six children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Fas- sett, as follows: Hattie L. P. is the wife of J. R. Woods, a banker of Lamoille, and they have three children-Parmelia F., Riley F. and Lydia MI. Fannie died at the age of fourteen years ; Charles W. married Sarah B. Rambeau, now deceased. They had one son, Claude V. His second wife was Emma V. Boroff, by whom he has two children-Edith V. and Kittie H. Frank married Amanda Long and has two daughters, Florence Vienna and Lillian. Florence Vienna,
E. Mussett
MRS. P. W. B. FASSETT.
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
the fifth child of our subject, died at the age of twenty months. Elisha Pearl, a resident of Chi- cago, married Jennie Penfield, of Quincy, Illi- nois, and they have three children-Leon Pen- field, Elisha W. and Charles.
Mr. Fassett was a native of Cheshire county, New Hampshire, born June 23, 1823, and was a son of Elisha and Lovina (Angier) Fassett, whose birth occurred at Fitzwilliam, that state. His father was born October 20, 1792, and died in Cannon City, Colorado, November 17, 1884, while his wife passed away in Lamoille August I, 1837. In their family were three children- Nancy, Rosilla and Elisha. The parents were also old settlers of this state, where they arrived in June, 1835, locating in what was then Putnam, but is now Bureau, county. They bravely en- dured all the privations incident to pioneer life, which was a decided change from what they had been accustomed to, as they did not have all the comforts and environments of their lovely east- ern home.
Mr. Fassett was a man of more than ordinary ability, sagacious and far-sighted in business, and for many years was a successful merchant of Lamoille. He was also prominent in public affairs, and did much toward securing the Allen school building, the pride and beauty of the vil- lage. His death there occurred October 17. 1891, and was mourned by many friends as well as his immediate family. He was a consistent member of the Baptist church, to which his wife also belongs, and did all in his power for the bet- terment of mankind and for the welfare of the community, with whose interests he was so close- ly identified for many years.
A RTHUR BROOKIE. The importance of the farming interests of a county, state or nation cannot be overestimated and the repre- sentatives of this vocation form a substantial ele- ment in the prosperity and steady growth of a locality. Mr. Brookie is a worthy representative of this class, and has resided upon his present beautiful farm at the edge of Seatonville since the spring of 1877.
He was born in St. Louis, Missouri, April 29. 1850, and is a son of Dr. John and Sophia (Keedy) Brookie, the father a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and the mother of Boons- boro, Washington county, Maryland, her birth occurring within a mile and a half of the battle- field of Antietam. During that famous fight our subject was at Boonsboro, within hearing of the battle and in sight of the signals, which were given from Washington's monument on the top of South Mountain. He visited the battlefield three days later and the remembrance of that dreadful scene will never be effaced from his memory. Many of the dead were yet unburied, and one sight which particularly impressed him was that of a rebel who had crawled among the tall sprouts which grew out of a chestnut stump. The stock end of his gun was fastened to his shoulder and the other end was resting on a sprout. A rifle ball had entered his head, doing its deadly work, but his position was as upright as in life, with the exception of his bowed head.
Dr. John Brookie, the father of our subject, started out in life as a farmer, but later took up the study of medicine under Dr. McDonald, of St. Louis, and engaged in practice at that place for many years. Before going to the city he had lived with a brother-in-law, Mr. Kane, in Noble county, Illinois, and planted the first fruit tree set out within its borders-a morilla cherry. He died at Peru, Illinois, August 18, 1865, at the age of fifty-six years, from a second stroke of paralysis, the first occurring three years previous- ly. Both himself and wife were consistent mem- bers of the Christian church. Her death oc- curred in August, 1855. She was the daughter of Jacob and Priscilla Keedy, who came from Maryland to Noble county, Illinois, in 1868. where both died in 1881. Her father owned valuable property at Mt. Morris, this state.
Our subject is the seventh in order of birth in the family of eight children, the others being as follows: Sarah is the widow of James K. White- head, of Oakland, California, and is the mother of three children, Howard, Edward and Edith. Fannie is the wife of William Chamberlain, of
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Sonora, California, and they have two children- Anna Bell, now the wife of Ernest Wattress, and Dr. White Chamberlain, a physician of Oakland, California. Mary wedded Arnold Zimmerman, the inventor of the refrigerator car, and died in the fall of 1869. William T., one of the brave boys in blue of Company E, Ninety-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry was killed at Altoona, Georgia, five balls entering his body. He was shot in the morning, but was not carried off the field until two hours before his death at twelve o'clock at night. After being wounded he went to a ditch to wash his wounds, and return- ing to his loaded gun a rebel saw him and shot him again. He died soon afterward at the age of twenty-three years, and was robbed of a gold watch and many valuables. He served under General Corse, who, with two thousand men then at Marietta, Georgia, was ordered by Sherman to proceed to Altoona Pass, the latter being his sec- ond base of supply, as it was threatened. With his men, General Corsc arrived and the battle opened at nine a. m., and continued until three p. m., about which time General Sherman with re- inforcements arrived from Atlanta, and the Con- federates gave up the fort. Sherman while on the way was nervous, it is thought, fearing that General Corse could not withstand the attack made by the leading general of Hood's army. Several times General Sherman signaled to Gen- cral Corse in these historic and now poetic words : "Hold the fort." "Hold the fort." "Hold the fort, for I am coming." At a later date this be- came the popular song dear to every Christian worker. Anna, the next in order of birth, mar- ricd Theodore Coursault, a first lieutenant in the Twenty-ninth Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, making his acquaintance during the ten weeks he was on provost duty at Boonsboro, Maryland, after the battle of Antictam. During that fight his regiment was almost annihilated, losing four hun- dred mien, and at Gettysburg it lost even more. After the war, Lieutenant Coursault returned to Boonsboro, where he married Anna Brookie, and they now live at Columbus, Ohio. Eugenia is the wife of James Zimmerman, of Eldorado
county, California, where they keep a pleasure resort. James, a machinist by trade, is now en- gaged in farming near Spring Valley, Illinois.
In the common schools, Arthur Brookie ac- quired a good practical education, and his en- tire business career has been devoted to agri- cultural pursuits. He now owns a valuable place of twenty-nine acres, having laid out quite a lit- tle of his farm in village lots, which he has sold and which comprise the Brookie subdivision of Seatonville. On first coming to Illinois, Mr. Brookie located in La Salle county, but later re- turned to Maryland, where he engaged in farm- ing for three years, after which he came to Bu- reau county, clerking in his brother-in-law's store for a time, but later lived in Maryland for a year. On removing to his present location the villages of Spring Valley, Seatonville or Ladd had now been founded, and he has watched their entire de- velopment and progress. He has a most beauti- ful place, improved with a commodious dwelling, good barns and outbuildings, shade trees and lovely walks, in fact it is one of the prettiest places in Seatonville.
On the 8th of December, 1870, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Brookie and Miss Lora E. Munson, a daughter of H. W. and E. J. Munson, of Bureau county. She had four brothers and sisters, namely: Plansina, who was a boy of un- usual promise and a great student, was drowned July 4, 1862, at the mouth of Negro creek when ncarly sixteen years of age. Augusta is the wife of George Swan, Jr., who resides on the pikc a half mile above our subject's residence, and they had three children-Rosa L .. now the wife of John Linker, Jr., a farmer of Hall township, Bu- reau county; Nellie M., wife of William Linker, a farmer of the same township; and Pansina, who died at the age of sixteen years while on a visit to Chicago, in 1893, being taken ill during the night and dying in the morning: Mrs. Brookie, who is next in order of birth, is followed by William H. Munson; James, an agriculturist of Hall township, married Lydia Hall, and has three children-Howard, Beulah and Anna. Five chil- dren have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Brookie,
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as follows: Howard and John, twins, now de- ceased; Neva Myrtle, wife of G. P. Petty, who is a druggist, teacher and postmaster of Seaton- ville; and Lida Eugenia and Anna Bell, who are in school.
For the past sixteen years Mr. Brookie has efficiently served as school director, and is also filling his third term as police magistrate. The latter has proved a very important position, and during the pioneer days of the town he often held court for nine days in succession. The offices he has filled with honor to himself and to the satis- faction of his constituency and all concerned. As a member of the school board he has had much to do in shaping the educational affairs of the village. Both himself and wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church, but as there was no church of that denomination in Seaton- ville, she has recently joined the Presbyterian church. He is politically a democrat, and socially affiliates with the Uniformed Rank of Knights of Pythias, in which he has filled the chair of chancellor commander, been master of ex- chequer and also master of finance. In the sum- mer of 1892 Mr. Brookie took a trip which he will long remember on account of the pleasure derived therefrom. On Tuesday, June 28, he and George Petty left Seatonville for Denver, Colorado, on bicycles. They visited friends in various portions of Iowa and Nebraska, and ar- rived at their destination in August, in time for the opening of the Masonic conclave, where they spent a most enjoyable time, and then returned home by rail.
W ILLIAM MONIER is a highly successful and prosperous farmer, residing on sec- tion 6, Steuben township, Marshall county, who, commencing life a poor boy, by industry and economy has accumulated a competency, and if need be could banishi all care and live at ease the remainder of his days. He was born on the Isle of Man, May 1, 1834, and when fifteen years of age came with his parents to America, when they settled upon a farm twenty miles west of Peoria, in Peoria county. His father, William
Monier, Sr., was a native of the Isle of Man, but of French descent, his great-great grandfather being a native of France. He was a miller by trade, but in later years followed farming. He married Jane Quaile and their family consisted of five sons and three daughters: John, who died in Saratoga township in June, 1890, at the age of sixty-two years; William our subject; Thomas, a farmer of Whitefield township; James, a farmer of Emerson, Nebraska; Charles, en- gaged in farming in Hopkins, Missouri; Cathe- rine, who married John Neal, both now being de- ceased, the former dying in Peoria county, and the latter in Marshall county, leaving one child, named for his father, but who died at the age of twenty-four years; Anna, the second daughter, who died at the age of eighteen; and Margaret, who married Patrick Collins, and died in Feb- ruary, 1895.
On locating in Peoria county William Monier, Sr., purchased eighty acres of land and imme- diately commenced its improvement. His two elder sons, John and William, hired out to other parties, and saving their money, purchased an eighty-acre tract of partially improved land, on which was a small house. This house was the family home until the spring of 1857, when they sold out, moved to Saratoga township, Marshall county, and all worked together for one year. On this farm the parents continued to reside until death called them home, the mother dying in May, 1884, and the father November 4, of the same year, both having passed their three-score years. Their son, John, also died on that farm.
The subject of this sketch remained at home until he was twenty-five years of age, when he bought eighty acres of land near that of his brother John, in Saratoga township, and com- menced farming for himself. In due time he purchased forty acres adjoining, and still later added another forty acres, giving him a fine farm of one hundred and sixty acres. As he expresses it, this was all literally dug out of the soil; in other words, it was the result of almost ceaseless toil and the accumulation of some years.
Having now a good farm with a bright future
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before him, a helpmeet was the next thought, and on the 25th of December, 1860, Mr. Monier was united in marriage with Miss Willmina Doran, a daughter of James and Rebecca (Max- well) Doran, of La Prairie township. Her parents were from St. John, New Brunswick, where she was born July 5, 1841. They settled in La Prairie township, Marshall county, in 1850, and here remained until 1885, when they removed to Chase, Rice county, Kansas, where the father died in October, 1893. The mother still makes her home in that place. One son, Robert Doran, vet resides in La Prairie township. To Mr. and Mrs. Monier seven children have been born- Charles, Edward, Anna, Alice, Thomas, John and Halsey. The eldest son, Charles, married Miss Mina Smith, and they have three children, Charles Leland, Wallace and Robert. The sec- ond son married Miss Clara Casey.
On the farm in Saratoga township Mr. and Mrs. Monier commenced their married life, and there remained, until 1868, when he sold out and purchased their present place of residence in Steuben township, to which they at once re- moved. The farm originally comprised three ยท hundred and twenty-seven acres and was bought of Jacob Fisher, the old pork packer of Lacon. It was known as the Oak Glade farm, certainly an appropriate name for it. Since coming into possession of its present owner, extensive in- provements have been made, including the erec- tion of a large and fine dwelling, together with barns and outhouses. To his original purchase, Mr. Monier has added from time to time until his home farm now consists of five hundred and ninety-two acres, all of which is under cultiva- tion. In addition to this, he has owned three farms of one hundred and sixty acres each in La Prairie township, one-quarter section of which he has lately given his son Charles, and a half section in Milo township, Bureau county, Illi- nois, six miles southeast of Bradford, on which his son Edward now lives, one quarter having been lately deeded to him.
William Monier has made a success in life, brought about by choosing a calling for which
he felt himself adapted, and attending strictly and closely to his own affairs. He has toiled early and late, in summer's heat and winter's storm, in season and out of season, and the re- sult is shown in his fine farms, well tilled fields, sleek cattle and fine horses. He believes in the best stock of all kinds, and usually feeds and ships about five carloads of cattle per year, be- sides other stock. For several years he has en- gaged in breeding Norman horses, and has kept a fine imported stallion of that breed. He has been very successful in this line, and is a good judge of horseflesh. Shorthorn cattle has also been a favorite with him, and in his herd are generally found some fine specimens of that breed. In the Wyoming fair he has been inter- ested since its inception, and has done much to make it a success. Annually he exhibits some of his stock, and usually he is successful in win- ning some of the best prizes.
Politically Mr. Monier is a republican, his re- publicanism dating back to the organization of the party, his first presidential vote being cast for the immortal Lincoln, in 1860. He usually attends party conventions, votes the ticket, but does not desire official position. A man of peace, he has never in his life had a lawsuit.
JAMES JOHNSON, a well-known and hon- ored citizen of Princeton, and a retired far- mer, was born in Dearborn county, Indiana, near Aurora, May 29, 1828, and is a son of James and Nora (O'Connor) Johnson, the former a native of New York and the latter of England. The mother was sixteen years of age when she crossed the deep with her parents, Edward and Alcy O'Connor, and she died suddenly of heart disease in 1876, at the age of fifty-four years. She was a devout member of the Methodist Epis- copal church, as was also her husband, who was an active worker in the same. He was a mill- wright and farmer, owning several farms and his services were in great demand in early days in fixing and repairing mills. He never desired official positions, but took an active interest in political affairs, voted for William Henry Har-
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