USA > Illinois > Bureau County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 7
USA > Illinois > Marshall County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 7
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 7
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 active political life of Dr. Boal closed with the war. He then moved his family to Peoria and engaged in general practice, which he continued successfully for twenty-eight years. As a physi- cian he was recognized by his co-laborers and the public as well, as one of the best in the state. His practice was very large, patients coming for treatment by him for many miles around. In 1882 he served as president of the State Medical association, an honor worthily bestowed.
Dr. Boal continued in the active practice of his profession until he was eighty-seven years of age, when he retired and returned to Lacon, where he now makes his home. He is a well preserved man, mentally and physically, and an inveterate smoker. A great reader, he has kept posted in the current and general literature of the day and has also been a lover of the drama. In the social circle he is always surrounded by those who love to listen to an attractive conver -. sationalist, one who can instruct as well as amuse.
OHN ALLEN KEEDY, residing on section J 10, Richland township, Marshall county, is one of the very few pioneers of the township now living. A residence here of over sixty-two years has made him familiar with the history of the county, and given him a wide knowledge of the grand men and women who, like himself, came here in poverty and endured the trials and hard- ships that tested the character of each and brought out the gold in them as by a refiner's fire. One by one he has seen them drop by the wayside "when life's fitful dream was over," until he begins to feel as did Elijah of old that he alone is left.
John A. Keedy is of German descent. His grandfather, John Keedy, being a native of Ger- many, who, with a widowed mother and two brothers, came to this country when he was but sixteen years of age. The family located in Tennessee, and the brothers of John enlisted in the service of their adopted country in the revo- lutionary war, and were never afterward heard from. John grew to manhood, married and reared a family, of whom one son, Abraham, born
53
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
in Tennessee, in 1798, married Patsy Gray, born in 1799, and a daughter of John Gray, a native of Scotland, who came to this country in 1812, and located within seven miles of the great mam- moth cave of Kentucky, and later moved to Orange county, Indiana, where the marriage of Abraham Keedy and Patsy Gray was consum- mated. Her father, after having moved to Mar- tinsville, Indiana, and there assisting in laying out the town, came to Marshall county, Illinois, about 1836. He purchased the farm now owned by William J. Ramsay, in Richland township, resided there a short time and then returned to Indiana, where his wife died. After the death of his wife he again came back to Marshall county, where he died some years later.
Abraham Keedy and his wife lived in Orange county, Indiana, until 1821, when they moved to Martinsville, in the same state, at a time when the Indians were still numerous in that locality. Here they remained until 1834, when they came to Marshall county, locating on the southeast quarter of section 16, Richland township. At that time there were but few settlers in this lo- cality and the country was in almost its primi- tive state. A rail pen was first erected, in which the family lived until a more substantial structure of logs could be erected. Abraham Keedy was by trade a blacksmith, at which he worked in connection with farming during his entire life. He built a shop on his farm and had the patron- age of the settlers for many miles around. The first season here he worked in the harvest field for Colonel John Strawn for which he received two bushels of wheat for each day's work. He resided on the farm until 1858. His wife dying the previous year, lie concluded to move to Minonk, Illinois, where lie subsequently died.
Abraham and Patsy Keedy were the parents of ten children, two of them dying in infancy be- fore leaving Indiana. Nine grew to maturity, as follows: John Allen, our subject; Polly, who married George Bell, both being now deceased; Sarah, deceased wife of Zachariah Perry, also de- ceased; Helen, who married George Harper, and both are now deceased; Virginia, who be-
came the wife of Samuel Jones, but both are now deceased; Louis who entered the service of his country with the rank of captain, and died in the discharge of his duty; Abraham and Martha, twins, both deceased, and Wesley, the youngest. The parents were both consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church in which he served as class leader and trustee for many years. In politics he was originally a whig, but became a republican on the organization of the party.
John Allen Keedy, our subject, was born in Orange county, Indiana, April 25, 1820, and was but one year old when his parents removed to Martinsville, Indiana. In his childhood he was frequently held in the arms of Indian men and women and played with the little pappooses. He was fourteen years old when the family moved to Marshall county, and well remembers the jour- ney by ox team. Here he attended the first school in the township in what was known as the Bird schoolhouse. It was a very rude affair, and the instructions imparted therein were almost as rude as the structure. He remained at home, as- sisting his father in the shop and upon the farm until June 30, 1841, when he married Caroline Matilda Thair Foster, a native of Kentucky, born October 10, 1820, and daughter of Rev. John C. Foster, a Methodist preacher, who came to this county in 1838, and died here.
After marriage our subject settled upon a farnı of thirty acres given him by his father, his entire cash capital being fourteen dollars. But what of that; he had good health, a loving wife, great hope for the future, and why should he not be happy? On that farm he remained eight years, then moved to Lacon, where he lived one year; then went to Indiana by team, railroads then being yet in the future so far as this section was concerned. He, however, soon returned, locat- ed on section 10, Richland township, where he still lives. The home farm comprises eighty acres of fine, well improved land, in addition to which he owns one hundred and sixty-five acres of tim- ber land.
Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. . Keedy, a son, Ambrose Dudley, who married
54
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Jemima Ramsey, a woman of good Christian character, a member of the Presbyterian church, who died in 1877, leaving two children, Luella M. and Margaret C., both of whom grew to womanhood. They are members of our subject's household. The daughter, Luella V., was un- married and died at the age of nineteen, having been born on the 25th of September, 1850.
John Allen Keedy is a member of the Metho- dist Episcopal church, of which body his wife was also a devout and loyal member. In the teachings of that church she spent her entire life, dying April 23, 1894, having an abiding faith in the promises of the Master and the desire to be at rest over there. Mr. Keedy has always taken a somewhat active part in the work of the church, and has served as trustee ever since the chapel was erected in his neighborhood. He is the only survivor of those originally forming the church on section 14. The work of the Sunday school has always enlisted his most earnest efforts and he has given much of his time as teacher and superintendent, in each capacity serving faithfully and well.
Politically, Mr. Keedy was originally a whig, but unlike his father, on the dissolution of the whig party, he drifted into the democratic party, with which he has since been identified. Official- ly he has served his township as assessor, col- lector and treasurer. His son Ambrose Dudley was assessor of the township seven years, and has also served as school trustee. The father and son make their home together and both are highly respected citizens of the county. The father has passed his three score and ten years, and is a well preserved man with many friends throughout Marshall and adjoining counties.
G EORGE SANWALD, now living re- tired at Lacon, was for several years numbered among the prominent and en- terprising farmers of Roberts township, who are of alien birth. Like others of his countrymen, he brought to America the habits of economy and frugality which are an inherent characteristic of his native land, and the
exercise of which, accompanied by industry and good management, raised him to a position of comparative affluence.
Mr. Sanwald was born in Wurtemburg, Ger- many, in 1824, where he grew to manhood, but with the view of benefiting his financial condi- tion he sailed for the new world, landing on the shores of this country July 25, 1854. He at once obtained work in Pennsylvania, where he re- mained for two years, at the end of which time he came to Illinois and here was employed as a farm hand for the following eight years. Having succeeded in accumulating one thousand dollars, in 1865 he invested this in land, purchasing one hundred and sixty acres in Roberts township, Marshall county, to which he later added. He has given his son Otto two hundred and thirty- three acres on sections 3 and 4, Roberts town- ship, which tract is supplied with good farming buildings, and still owns three hundred and eighty acres on section 9, which, since coming to Lacon, he has rented. He is entirely a self- made man, as on coming to this state he was without means and all that he now possesses has been acquired through his own industrious ef- forts. He was for some time extensively en- gaged in raising and feeding stock, often ship- ping four car loads of cattle to the city markets and from one to four car loads of hogs. In this business he was in partnership with his brother Jacob until about three years ago. The brother died upon the farm in the summer of 1895, and the following fall our subject removed with his family to Lacon, where he is now resting in the enjoyment of the fruits of his former toil. His farm is highly cultivated and well improved with a comfortable dwelling, good barns and other outbuildings.
In 1863 Mr. Sanwald led to the marriage altar Miss Anna Crist, a native of Hesse, Germany, who died in 1891. On the 6th of May, 1893, he was again married, his second union being with Mrs. Mary Keinath, widow of Matt Keinath, who lived for ten years in Lacon and then returned to Germany, where he died November 25, 1888, leaving one. son, John, who now makes his home
55
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
with his mother in Lacon. By his former mar- riage Mr. Sanwald had one son, Otto, who mar- ried Elizabeth Ranch, by whom he has three chil- dren, Amelia, Bernardt and an infant unnamed, and is living upon a farm near the old home- stead.
Although usually voting the democratic ticket, Mr. Sanwald is now strictly non-partisan, endea- voring to support the man best qualified for the office. He holds membership with the Lutheran church at Varna, in which he takes an active part, and enjoys the esteem and respect of all who know him.
M ARTIN R. ZEARING. For more than half a century this gentleman has been identified with the history of Bureau county and his name is inseparably connected with the agri- cultural interests of this section of the state. His thoroughly American spirit and his great energy have enabled him to mount from a lowly posi- tion to one of affluance. One of his leading char- acteristics in business affairs is his fine sense of order and the habit of giving careful attention to details, without which success in any undertak- ing is never an assured fact. He is a man of intrinsic worth, esteemed in all the relations of life, and his career is one that well entitles him to representation on the pages of the history of his adopted county.
Mr. Zearing was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, December 15, 1825, a son of Squire Martin Zearing, who was born and reared in Pennsylvania, and there learned the carpen- ter's trade, which he followed for a number of years in his native state and later in Illinois. In Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, he married Sarah Shaffer, who was born in that county and was a daughter of John Shaffer, one of the sub- stantial farmers of Cumberland county. In 1836 Mr. Zearing removed with his family to Illinois, and after a short time spent in Princeton, located near the present town of Dover, where he pur- chased a tract of wild prairie land of one hun- dred and sixty acres. In connection with his farming he followed carpentering for a few years,
but subsequently gave his entire time to the de- velopment of his property. He was elected to the office of justice of the peace, and his faithful service in that capacity was the means of his con- tinuing long in office. While in Pennsylvania he was justice of the peace for a long time. He held membership with the German Reformed church, but in Illinois became a member of the Metho- dist Episcopal church, and afterward of the Bap- tist church. He was active in religious work and deeply interested in all that pertained to the moral welfare of the community. His own life was in harmony with his professions and won him the confidence and good will of all. He died in July, 1855, and a few years later his wife was laid by his side in Dover cemetery, where a monument has been erected to their memory.
Martin R. Zearing is the oldest surviving son in a family of twelve children. All grew to ma- ture years, and four sons and three daughters are yet living. He was a lad of ten years when he came with his parents to Bureau county, and here amid the wild scenes of the frontier he was reared, early becoming familiar with the arduous task of developing a new farm. Much of the labor devolved upon him, as he was the eldest, and owing to this fact and to the poor condition of the schools in the neighborhood, he received but meagre educational privileges.
March 12, 1855, in Bureau county, Mr. Zear- ing married Miss Louisa Rackley, and soon after located on a farm in Berlin township. He pur- chased eighty acres of prairie land, fenced it, erected substantial buildings thereon and trans- formed the land into productive fields. He also purchased another eighty acres, and was soon the owner of a valuable property. At another time he purchased one hundred and twenty acres of improved land, which he operated for a few years and then sold to his son-in-law. In 1883 he purchased his comfortable home in Prince- ton, and removed to the city, but continued the supervision of his farm until 1885, since which time he has rented it. The fitting reward of a well spent life is an honored retirement from la- bor, and this he is now enjoying.
56
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
In 1877 Mr. Zearing lost his first wife, who died, leaving a daughter, Susan L., now the wife of Charles Moore, a farmer of Berlin township, by whom she has two sons and two daughters. On the 3d of April, 1879, Mr. Zearing wedded Fannie E. Garten, daughter of Richard Bran- ing, and widow of Azariah Garten. She was born, reared and educated in Springville, Indiana, and in Bureau county was first married. By that union she has five children, namely: Mary El- len, wife of William King, of Arlington; William, of Canton, Ohio; Melcord, a farmer of Ohio township, Bureau county; Emma A., wife of Wil- liam Fishel, who resides on a farm two miles from Newton, in Jasper county, Illinois, and Laura Isabel, at home.
Mr. Zearing, his wife and daughter are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Princeton, and since the organization of the party in 1856, he has been a stalwart republican. Prior to that time he was a whig, but political preferment has had no attraction for him, as he has always given his attention to his business, in which he has met with a well merited success. Honorable and persistent effort and well directed industry have been the stepping stones on which he has risen, and today he stands among the sub- stantial citizens of Princeton.
J OEL WILLIS HOPKINS, a valued and esteemed agriculturist of Putnam county, located upon his present farm in Granville town- ship as early as 1835, and has therefore wit- nessed the full and complete development of this region. He was born on the 29th of July, 1814. at Ripley, Brown county, Ohio, and is a son of William and Jane (Willis) Hopkins, the for- inter a native of Virginia, and the latter of South Carolina. When young people, however, the parents went to Ohio, where they were married, and in 1835 brought their family to Putnam county, Illinois, settling upon the farm which is now the home of our subject, and where his present residence stands was erected the first home of the family here. There the father se- cured three hundred and twenty acres of govern-
ment land, to the cultivation and improvement of which he devoted his time until his death in 1842. His wife survived him about seven years.
One son of the family, Archibald, had pre- viously come to Putnam county, locating here in 1832, and while here participated in the Indian war. His death occurred in 1836. John is a resident of Marshall county, Iowa. Stephen, who was an invalid, died at the age of thirty years. George lives in Granville. Elizabeth, who was the wife of Willis Margrave, died about two years ago at Hiawatha, Kansas. Martha married James B. McCord and died about six years ago. Margaret engaged in teach- ing for several years in Putnam and Grundy counties, Illinois, and died when past the age of thirty years. Melinda wedded Abbott Bar- ker, of Grundy county, and died about fifteen years ago. Our subject is the oldest of the fam- ily. The parents were faithful members of the Union Grove Presbyterian church, but in later life assisted in the organization of the Congre- gational church at Granville.
In 1840 was celebrated the marriage of Joel WV. Hopkins and Miss Eleanor Harrison, a sis- ter of Stephen Harrison, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. She and her brother, Richard D. Harrison, died in the same week in 1849, and in 1862 Mr. Hopkins married the widow of the latter, Mrs. Sarah Harrison, a daughter of Alba Smith, a pioneer of Bureau county, Illinois, who settled near Princeton in 1835. Mrs. Hopkins is a native of New York, and was eleven years of age when she accom- panied her father to this state. Five children were born of the first union of our subject, two of whom died in childhood, Eveline and Jennie. Those living are: Archibald W., who is living upon the home farm with his father; Helen De Armand, wife of Rev. Robert McCord, of Lake City, Iowa; and Mary Harrison, wife of Judge William W. Wright, of Toulon, Illinois. One child graces the second marriage, Martha B., at home. By her first husband Mrs. Hopkins had one son, Richard D. Harrison, who is living near Princeton in Bureau county.
JOEL W. HOPKINS.
59
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Mr. Hopkins is now the owner of over fifteen hundred acres of valuable land in Putnam and La Salle counties, which are divided into seven or eight farms, his home farm containing over eight hundred acres, much of which is used for pas- turage. At one time he also had one thousand acres of land in Iowa, which he has since given to his children, but still has an extensive tract there and also in Dakota.
Cattle dealing has been the principal business of Mr. Hopkins for many years, and he usually pastures annually from four hundred to six hun- dred head, which he ships to the markets; also kept from one hundred to five hundred head of sheep upon his place; and has been a breeder of good horses. He buys all the cattle which he feeds, raising no calves for over twenty years, but buys, grazes and feeds. His son has also taken an interest in buying jacks in Kentucky, which he raises and sells to an advantage, and has exhibited some very fine specimens of that animal. Since its organization, twelve years ago, Mr. Hopkins has been president of the Peru National bank, which is capitalized at fifty thou- sand dollars, and to that line of his business he has also given considerable attention. His land is underlaid with a fine grade of coal, from the sale of which he also derives a good income.
A leading and popular citizen, Mr. Hopkins has been called upon to fill several important positions of honor and trust, being supervisor, and for ten years county judge. He resigned the latter office in order to become a member of the twenty-sixth general assembly, being elected on the republican ticket, and acceptably served for one term. He has taken an active part in campaign work; was a delegate to the conven- tion at Cincinnati, which nominated R. B. Hayes for the presidency, and has often attended the state conventions of his party. On the repub- lican ticket his son Archibald was also elected to the legislature, being a member of the thirty- seventh and thirty-eighth general assemblies. During the dark days of the civil war, Mr. Hopkins assisted in raising money for substi- tutes and for the care of the soldiers' widows
and orphans, and took an active part in public affairs during that trying period. Both himself and wife are consistent members of the Con- gregational church at Granville, with which he is officially connected, and no couple throughout this section of the state is held in higher regard or is more worthy of the esteem in which they are held by all.
S 'AMUEL BUCK, who resides upon section 19, Richland township, while not classed specially among the pioneers, has yet spent in Marshall county nearly forty years of active busi- ness life, and is well and favorably known, not alone in his own county, but in the adjoining counties as well. He is a native of Montgomery county, Indiana, born September 25, 1831, and is a son of Andrew and Hannah (Butt) Buck, the former a native of Pennsylvania, born May 14, 1797, and the latter of Maryland. They settled in Montgomery county, Indiana, near Crawfords- ville at a very early day, and there spent the re- mainder of their lives, the mother dying April 3, 1843, when Samuel was in his youth, the father August 10, 1869. They were the parents of ten children, six sons and four daughters, all of whom grew to maturity, but three daughters and our subject are the only ones now living. One son, Daniel, was a soldier in the Mexican war, and another, Jacob, who was a soldier in the civil war, died in the service.
The subject of this sketch grew to manhood on his father's farm in Indiana, and was educated in the district schools. He there learned the making of brick, and became an expert in that industry. It was for the purpose of engaging in this industry that he came to Marshall county, Illinois, in the spring of 1857. Purchasing a small tract of land on section 19, Richland town- ship, which was then covered with timber and brush, he at once set about the improvement of the place, clearing and developing a farm. He also commenced the manufacture of brick, in which business he continued in connection with farming until 1882, a period of twenty-five years. At that time he made many thousands of superior
4
60
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
brick and sold his products for miles around. For some years he also operated a steam saw mill, and in carrying on the three lines of busi- ness it may well be conceived that he was a busy mail.
Two years after coming to this locality Mr. Buck was united in marriage with Miss Sarah J. Malone, a daughter of Joseph Malone, now de- ceased, who located here in 1843, coming from Fountain county, Indiana, where Mrs. Buck was born. On coming to this county she was but a very small child, and here she grew to lovely womanhood, and in 1859 married our subject. Three children were born of this union-Andrew, Ella and William. The daughter is now the wife of Lincoln Kunkle and resides in Richland town- ship. The mother died April 30, 1888, after a happy married life of twenty-nine years. She was an earnest Christian woman, a member of the Christian church for many years and died in the hope of the resurrection and the blessed re- union beyond the grave.
On coming to this county Mr. Buck was in limited circumstances, but he came with an ob- ject in view, and with a steadfast determination to succeed in life. From a small beginning and to his original purchase of one hundred and sixty acres of land, he added from time to time until to-day he is the owner of seven hundred and seventy-five acres of fine land, all of which is highly improved. Almost all the improvements made have been by his own hands or under his supervision. Success has crowned his efforts and he is able to enjoy the fruits of a life well spent in honest toil and the honest accumulation of years.
Samuel Buck has, from the beginning of his life in Marshall county, enjoyed the confidence and esteem of his fellow-citizens. A man of fine qualities and of excellent judgment, he has fre- quently been called upon to administer upon estates and it can be safely assumed that he never betrayed a trust, and every duty was faith- fully discharged.
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.