USA > Illinois > Bureau County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 61
USA > Illinois > Marshall County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 61
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 61
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The regiment was organized at Alton under Colonel Tom Marshall, was at once sent to the front, going to St. Charles, Mexico. St. Louis
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and Jefferson City, Missouri, and then to Lexing- ton, that state, where it was placed under Colonel Mulligan, and there participated in the siege. During that engagement Mr. Beckwith was wounded in the right hand by buckshot and in ' the left shoulder by grapeshot. His company charged into the enemy and retook a piece of artillery, and it was while thus engaged that he was injured. Later the regiment surrendered, was paroled and marched to Hamilton, Mis- souri. At St. Louis they received their discharge.
After a short time spent at home the regiment reorganized at Benton Barracks, Missouri, and in April, 1862, went to Raleigh, that state. It joined General Curtis' army near the Arkansas border. Mr. Beckwith was then on guard duty until June, 1862, and while stationed as a picket at West Plains, Missouri, May 18, 1862, was wounded in the right hip by a pistol ball. He was first sent to the field hospital, later to a hospi- tal at St. Louis, Missouri, and on the 14th of July, 1862, was mustered out.
After his recovery, Mr. Beckwith re-enlisted September 4, 1862, in Company C, Fourteenth Illinois Cavalry, and was made sergeant of his company. The regiment was organized at Peoria under Colonel Horace Capron, was sent to Ken- tucky with the army of the Ohio, and took part in the engagement at Salina, that state, and as- sisted in the capture of John Morgan's command. The troops were next under Burnsides in the en- gagements in East Tennessee, and after the en- gagement at Knoxville took part in a most severe fight at Beam Station, against General Longstreet. That was the hardest experience in his army rec- ord, as he was stationed between the fires of both armies, and were then sent into North Carolina after a band of Indians, and succeeded in killing fifty and capturing fifty-five others. In the spring of 1864 the regiment joined Sherman's army at Big Shanty and was stationed on the right of that army until Atlanta was reached.
The command then participated in the Stone- man raid, going to Macon, Georgia, and Stone- man gave Colonel Capron the privilege to cut his way out. This he did, and our subject came
through safely. After being in the saddle eight days continuously, during which time they had but little sleep, they were surprised by the enemy, but with eight others Mr. Beckwith succeeded in making his escape and got back to Atlanta. After the capture of that city the regiment was sent to Louisville to be remounted, and then marched from there through Nashville and on to Hood's army. Their next engagement was with Forest. While on picket duty our subject with a comrade were cut off from the command and were six days in getting back. He next participated in the battles of Franklin, Nashville and Pulaski. For gallant service he was pro- moted second lieutenant of Company C, and as such was mustered out in May, 1865, after almost four years of most faithful and arduous service.
After his return home, Mr. Beckwith resumed farming, for four years made his home in Roberts township, and then removed to his present farm of two hundred and five acres in Evans township. In 1869 he was united in marriage with Frances Dagen, a native of Ohio, and a daughter of Charles Dagen. They now have four children- Bertha May, Herbert Horace, Charles Putnam and Mary Gaylord.
In 1891 Mr. Beckwith entered Mercy hospital at Chicago, where he underwent an operation- scraping the boneand cutting on diseased bone- and suffered intense pain from inflammation for months. He has since been compelled to use crutches. His political support is unwaveringly given the republican party; for two terms served as collector, and is an honored member of the Grand Army post at Magnolia. Both himself and wife are devoted members of the Methodist church at Cherry Point, of which he is trustee, and endeavor by their blameless lives to set good example.
J JOHN BORNEMANN. Among the sturdy and stalwart citizens of Putnam county whose place of birth was the far-away German father- land, and who, with the industry and thrift so natural to the people of their native land, have rapidly progressed toward that financial condi-
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tion so coveted by all, is the subject of this per- sonal history. He is now a leading farmer of Putnam county, residing upon section 22, Gran- ville township.
Mr. Bornemann was born in Hesse, Germany, April 13, 1829, was reared upon a farm, and in his native land served for two years as a member of the Prussian army. It was in 1852 that he took passage on a vessel bound for the new world, and after landing in this country came at once to Putnam county, Illinois, where for three or four years he worked as a farm hand, receiv- ing six dollars per month. He next rented land of Joseph Reinhardt, in this county, for several years, after which he purchased a farm near his present residence, but after two years bought the farm which he now occupies, paying thirty dollars per acre for part of it and seventy-five dollars for the remainder. He has devoted his time and attention to general farming, and has erected upon his place good and substantial buildings.
In 1858 Mr. Bornemann led to the marriage altar Miss Louisa Rompt, also a native of Hesse, Germany, and to them have been born four chil- dren-Katie, now the wife of Rev. Walter Cripps, pastor of the Lutheran church at Tinley Park, near Chicago; Carrie, wife of Robert Chinesha- fer, of Lostant, Illinois; Lizzie, at home, and Philip, who carries on the home farm. The fam- ily are consistent members of the Lutheran . silver as paramount to party ties and supported church and are people of the highest respectabil- ity and sterling worth. Mr. Bornemann is recog- nized as a valued citizen of the community, and his many virtues and pleasant ways have gained him a host of warm friends.
W ILLIAM S. MAYHALL was born in New London, Missouri, August 28, 1850. His father, Samuel W. Mayhall, was a native of Franklin county, Kentucky; was of revolution- ary stock. His mother, Louisa B. Alsop, was of Virginia blood, dating back also to participants of Valley Forge. When eleven years of age the war of the rebellion broke out, and Missouri being a border state, the unsettled condition of
the country precluded any schools until the fall of 1865. At the age of fifteen he entered the village academy. At this time he was unable to write a word and was as ignorant of figures as the wildest of savages. By close study he gained rapidly in the elementary principles of the com- mon branches. Read law for a year or more. December IT, 1870, when a few months past twenty, he was married to Miss Sarah Jane Ross, of Ohio, Bureau county, Illinois. She is the oldest daughter of Elder Andrew Ross, one of the pioneers of the county. In the spring of 1871 Mr. Mayhall located on a farm in Ohio township. This was an entire new venture, having never tried this business before. In March, 1874, with his wife and two older children, he removed to his old home in Missouri. Not succeeding in farming there, he returned to Illinois in March, 1876. In 1877 he was elected justice of the peace, in which office he served four years. In the spring of 1880 he was elected collector of the taxes for the township. In July, 1893, he pur- chased the Walnut Motor, a newspaper estab- lished in 1876. He is one of the men that can- not be driven to uphold that which he thinks is wrong. Having with one or two exceptions voted the republican ticket, he has always upheld the principles of the party. In the campaign of 1896, while holding Mr. McKinley personally in highest esteem, he regarded the free coinage of W. J. Bryan for president. Always on the side of temperance and morality, he gives more space in his paper to the churches than any other two papers in the county.
He is the father of nine children; two (one boy and one girl) died in infancy. He has one daughter, Miami, married; one daughter, Miss Georgia, attending medical college in Chicago. His two sons, Ross and Ray, are the main helps in the printing office. The three younger girls, Lucy, Louisa and Ruth, are attending school in Walnut. He has made the Motor a successful advertising medium and placed it on a paying basis, a condition it had not been in for years. He has been a member of the Christian church
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since February, 1870. His great care in life is the success and happiness of his family. His is a happy, light-hearted, cheering disposition, al- ways trying to put everyone around him in a happy mood.
P HILIP HENSEL, residing on section 2, Dover township, Bureau county, is a self- made man, who, without extraordinary family or pecuniary advantages at the commencement of life, has battled earnestly and energetically, and by indomitable courage and integrity has achieved both character and fortune. To-day he is one of the prosperous agriculturists of the community, owning two hundred acres of fine land in Dover township.
Mr. Hensel was born in York township, Tus- carawas county, Ohio, August 28, 1833, a son of James Hensel, whose birth occurred in 1807, in Somerset county, Pennsylvania. In 1814, however, the latter was taken to Tuscarawas county, Ohio, by his stepfather, Henry Shafer. who there cleared and developed a farm in the midst of the wilderness. In that county James Hensel was united in marriage with Lydia Fack- ler, a native of York county, Pennsylvania, who died in February, 1845. Besides his farming in- terests in Tuscarawas county, the father also dealt extensively in stock, carried on a cooper shop and engaged in the manufacture of lum- ber. In 1853 he came to Bureau county, Illi- nois, and bought the Ellis place in Dover town- ship, where he followed the occupation of farm- ing and also dealt to some extent in live stock. He was very successful in his undertakings, ac- cumulating about a section of land, but since 1892 has lived retired in the city of Princeton. He has now reached the advanced age of eighty- nine years. He is widely and favorably known throughout the county and universally held in high esteem.
Our subject is one of a family of eleven chil- dren, the others being as follows: Henry J., a farmer of Dodge county, Nebraska; Enoch, a farmer of Ohio township, Bureau county: Sarah Ann, wife of Isaiah Remsburg, who is living
south of the village of Ohio; John W., of Lin- coln, Nebraska; Madison, an agriculturist of Walnut township, Bureau county; George W. and Cyrus, both farmers of Dover township; Eliza, wife of George Steele, of Dover township: Elsie, wife of Gus Nichols, and Harvey E., who is living in the village of Dover.
In the common schools of Tuscarawas coun- ty, Ohio, Philip Hensel obtained his education. and remained with his father until he reached mature years. In 1856 he made his first pur- chase of land, which comprised eighty acres, to the cultivation and improvement of which he at once turned his attention, and as his resources increased added to that amount until to-day he owns a valuable place of two hundred acres of arable land, improved with a large and substan- tial residence and good outbuildings. His en- tire property has been gained through his own exertions, as he began life with limited means.
In Dover township, Mr. Hensel was married September 28, 1865, to Miss Margaret McKira- han, whose early life was passed in Belmont county, Ohio, the place of her nativity. They have five children-James Grant, a well-educated young man, now holding a responsible business position in Chicago, attended the Dover acad- emy, and later graduated at the Northwestern university, of Evanston, Illinois; Eva was also provided with good educational advantages, and is now a successful teacher of Bureau county ; George P. is engaged in farming near Kearney. Nebraska; Jennie is at home, and John S. has for the last two years been a student in the Northwestern university. One child died in in- fancy.
Politically Mr. Hensel gives his unwavering support to the republican party, with which he has always voted since casting his first presi- dential ballot for John C. Fremont in 1856. He has never sought or desired public office, but for a number of years served as a member of the school board. Mrs. Hensel is a consistent mem- ber of the Methodist protestant church, to which her husband has always been a liberal contrib- utor, although not identified with any religious
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organization. He is easily approachable, showing courtesy to all with whom he comes in contact, and is a companionable, genial gentleman, hav- ing a host of warm friends. In his home he is an indulgent father and kind and devoted hus- band, and his genuine worth and many manly virtues are widely recognized. He never acts except from honest motives and in all his varied relations in business and social life, he has main- tained a character and standing that has im- pressed all with his sincere and manly purpose to do by others as he would have others do by him.
THOMAS HARRIS, an active and energetic
business man of Princeton, is now success- fully conducting a combined bakery, grocery and restaurant, under the firm name of Harris & Sons. A native of England, he was born on the 4th of August, 1842, in Somersetshire, and is a son of William and Elizabeth E. Harris, the latter of whom is still living in Princeton, at the age of eighty-one years. Here the father's death occurred in 1857, at the age of forty-seven years. It was in the fall of 1854 that he crossed the At- lantic and brought his family to Princeton, Illi- nois, where he carried on a bakery, which has since been run by some member of the family. He was a modest, unassuming man, but highly respected by those who knew him. Of the nine children, seven are still living. One son, Edward H., owns a shoe store at Princeton, and a daugh- ter, Hattie, widow of G. R. Cottel, also resides in that city.
The primary education of our subject was re- ceived in the schools of his native land, and he completed his literary course at Princeton. For two seasons he worked upon a farm, and then entered the bakery, which at that time was con- ducted by his mother. He has engaged in the business ever since and has met with good suc- cess in his chosen calling.
On New Year's day, 1867, Mr. Harris led to the marriage altar Miss Mary E. Mathis, a daughter of Samuel Mathis, one of the earliest settlers of this locality, and to them have been
born six children-Fred and Edward, both mem- bers of the firm of Harris & Sons, the latter of whom married Nellie Dunham, of Princeton; Maggie, wife of Harry E. Phillips, of the same place, and Maud, Cassie and Blanche, who all assist in the store. The parents and three of the daughters are members of the Methodist Epis- copal church, and socially Mr. Harris affiliates with the Modern Woodmen and the Masonic fraternities, belonging to the blue lodge chapter, commandery and consistory of the latter order, while his political support is unwaveringly given the republican party. He is closely identified with the interests of his adopted country, is an active, capable business man, possessing a clear judgment, and is amply endowed with those qualities which make an honorable citizen, and secure for him the highest respect and regard of his fellow-men.
JAMES MASTERS CURTIS. New York has contributed a large quota of the sturdy, energetic agriculturists of Bureau county, and among them are to be found men of sterling worth and integrity, who have succeeded in life through their own energy and perseverance, not as the recipients of any legacy. Among this class of citizens is the subject of this notice, who began life on his own account when twenty years of age, with no means, and who by economy and diligence has accumulated a handsome property.
Mr. Curtis was born at Schaghticoke, Rens- selaer county, New York, August 2, 1822, the son of Daniel and Mehitable (Masters) Curtis, also natives of the empire state. When only a year old he was taken to Otsego county, New York, but in 1837, the family returned to the vicinity of their old home in Rensselaer county. He was reared upon a farm and at the age of sixteen began working for others, receiving seven dollars per month, which went toward the support of the family. Returning to the home farm, he gave his father the benefit of his services until twenty years of age. He obtained his edu- cation in the public schools and at the academy
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at West Poultney, Vermont, so that he was well fitted for teaching, which profession he began following when nineteen years of age.
In 1848 Mr. Curtis left the east and came to Adams county, Illinois, where he had two uncles living, and there engaged in teaching for three winters and one summer.
In the fall of 1849, he and his brother, Mark, started out on a prospecting tour for land. They went by steamboat from Quincy to St. Louis, and thence to Peoria, where they started on foot for a trip through Bureau county. After select- ing their land they footed their way to Dixon, where the government land office was located, and after making their entries, walked back to Quincy.
They selected a section of land, our subject taking the southeast quarter of section 18 and southwest quarter of 17, while his brother took the northeast and northwest quarters of those sections, in Concord township. Mr. Curtis trav- eled on foot from Peoria to St. Louis, to Dixon, Illinois, and to Quincy, with nothing in sight but government land in any direction. The nearest neighbors were William Studley and Green Reed, and old Mr. Cummings in sight a little farther south, and four families located at Devil's Grove, two miles north. This was be- fore the railroad was built.
In the spring of 1849, with his brother, Mark, he made a trip into Iowa to see the country. They walked from Quincy to Nauvoo, where they crossed the river, and walked to Muscatine, from which place they embarked on a boat for Quincy.
On the 15th of December, 1850, Mr. Curtis was united in marriage with Miss Helen Maria Stevenson, of Adams county, living ten miles east of Quincy, who was a native of Carroll county, Maryland, and had been brought when a child to Illinois in 1837. To them were born six chil- dren, namely: Clifton, now of Carson, Iowa: Harmon Edward, living upon a part of the old home farm; Jessie May, wife of Clayton C. Pervier, an agriculturist; Charles Edgar, on the home farm; Helen Maria, who died at the age of nineteen years, and Carrie Belle, wife of Brad-
ford Reed Battey, of Tiskilwa, Bureau county. After the death of his first wife, November 7, 1871, Mr. Curtis was again married January 9, 1878, his second union being with Miss Maria C. Rice, of Hannibal, Oswego county, New York. They have one son, Robert Rice, who is attending school.
In the spring of 1851, Mr. Curtis located upon his land, but his brother went to California, where he remained two years, so that he did not make a settlement until 1852. There the latter made his home until his death in January, 1872, and his wife is also deceased. They had no chil- dren. On coming to the county, our subject had two hundred and fifty dollars in cash, and he erected a small house of lumber, most of which he sawed at the Stephens mill. His near- est market on the river was Hennepin. In the year when he located here the survey was made for the railroad, and settlers began flocking in and soon dotted the prairies with their homes. It is now forty-five years since he located upon his present farm and in that time he has seen the country develop from an almost unbroken wil- derness into one of the most highly cultivated and productive tracts in the state. His present residence was erected during the war, thirty-four years ago. He was formerly engaged in feeding cattle and hogs in connection with general farm- ing. His home farm, which he had leased for nine years, contains four hundred and fifty acres, for a part of which he paid as high as thirty-five dollars per acre. This farm is now cultivated by his sons, Harmon E. and Charles F. He also has another farm of three hundred and twenty acres, and still another of one hundred and twen- ty, two miles north of his home. In connection with W. F. Lawton, he owns a valuable tract of fifteen hundred acres in Gold township.
Mr. Curtis uses his right of franchise in sup- port of the men and measures of the republican party, and though he cares nothing for public office, served for nine years as supervisor. He is one of the original members of the Unitarian church of Sheffield, which was there organized in 1869, and has been officially connected with
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the same since that time. He is a valued and highly respected citizen of the community, with whose interests he has been identified for almost half a century, and his personal honor and in- tegrity are without a blemish.
M ARION J. FRENCH, an enterprising and progressive farmer residing on section 6, Evans township, is the son of Elbridge E. and Elizabeth (Judd) French. The father was born in Maine, in 1823, was reared to manhood in that state, and came with his father, Elbridge E. French, sr., and family, to Illinois, in 1850. The mother, who was born NNovember 8, 1830, was but an infant when brought to Marshall county, and was reared on the farm where our subject now resides. She was the sister of Benjamin Judd, a sketch of whom appears elsewhere in this work. In 1855 she was called to her final rest, but the father is still living. To them were born two children-Marion J., whose name heads this sketch, and William, deceased. After the death of his mother our subject was taken to the home of his Grandmother Judd, who died April 1, 1879, at the age of seventy-five years, and on the farm where he still lives grew to manhood.
Alfred Judd, his uncle, remained single, and unselfishly devoted his life to the care of his mother. His birth occurred on the 5th of No- vember, 1822, and at the age of nine years, with his parents, he located upon the farm which was ever afterward his home. His education was such as the district schools of the neighborhood afforded, but he was always a great student, and devoted much time to general reading, so that he became one of the best posted men of the lo- cality. He made agriculture his life work, and all his interests seem to center around his farm and his home. On the death of his father, he purchased the interest of the other heirs in the old homestead, and as years advanced added to the original tract, made extensive improvements upon the place, including the present substantial building there found, and placed the land under a high state of cultivation. He accumulated much property, which at his death was left to his
brothers and sisters, or their legal heirs, his nieces and nephews, twenty-one in all. He was a man of the strictest integrity and honor, straightforward and reliable, and his advice was often sought by his neighbors, who placed in him the utmost confidence. After a long and useful life, replete with many acts of charity, his earthly career was ended on the 2d of Septem- ber, 1895, and he was laid to rest in the Cumber- land cemetery. Among his many worthy deeds was the giving of six acres, which now forms the grove lying between the cemetery and the Cum- berland Presbyterian church. He cared nothing for the honors or emoluments of public office, and the only position he would accept was that of school director, which he filled for several years.
Mr. French was born October 19, 1853, and during his boyhood and youth attended the com- mon schools of Evans township. On the 20th of May, 1880, he was united in marriage with Miss Mary E. Stratton, who was born November II. 1859, and obtained her education in the schools of Bennington township. Her parents, James and Marsha (Chalcraft) Stratton, were both born near London, England, the former in 1820, and the latter in 1826. The father crossed the At- lantic to America in 1836, settling first in In- diana, but four years later became a resident of Illinois, remaining a short time at Round Prairie, Marshall county. Later he located in Bennington township, where he was numbered among the early settlers, and upon the wild prairie improved a fine farm. There he died in 1892, but his wife, who survives him, still lives on the old homestead. In their family were ten children, namely: Mrs. Ruth A. Ball; James H., deceased; William R., David M., Mrs. French. Mrs. Sarah E. Litchfield, Mrs. Louisa M. Car- rithers, Mrs. Naomi A. Litchfield, James L. and Emma M. The mother is a faithful member of the Christian church.
To Mr. and Mrs. French have been born three children-Hattie E., Lola M., and Ralph W. and the family is pleasantly located upon the old Judd homestead on section 6, Evans township, where nearly the entire life of our subject has been
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