USA > Illinois > Bureau County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 76
USA > Illinois > Marshall County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 76
USA > Illinois > Putnam County > The Biographical record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois > Part 76
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In the spring of 1865 Mr. Cusac returned to Marshall county, where he again rented land for a number of years. Two years previous to his return, however, he had made a trip to Califor- nia, by way of New York city and the Isthmus
of Panama, being forty-three days en route, dur- ing which time they encountered several severe storms, and the machinery of the vessel breaking, they were compelled to drift. In 1887 Mr. Cusac purchased one hundred and sixty acres on sec- tion II, Bennington township, his present fine farm, which he has under a high state of cultiva- tion, and improved with good and substantial buildings.
Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Cusac, who in order of birth are as follows: William H., born April 5, 1862, was educated in the common schools, and now lives on a farm north of Wenona. He married Margaret Ship- ley, and has four children: Ethel, Berenice, Lela and Oval De Witt. Charles A., born May 20, 1854, also lives near Wenona. He married May Hunt and has one son, George. Louis Sherman, born in Marshall county, January 20, 1866, mar- ried Minnie Robinson, and has four children: Louis Sherman, Charles, Leeta Waneta and William McKinley. James Justin, born May 27, 1868, died November 12, 1891, and was buried in the Wenona cemetery. Ulysses Grant, born July 1, 1870, lives in Bennington township, and by his marriage with Georgiana Gage has one daughter, Beulah Blanche. Minnie Etta, born in Muskingum county, Ohio, June 20, 1873, is the wife of Elbert Meredith, of Tampico, White- side county, Illinois, and has two children: Or- ville De Witt and Hazel. Cora Estella, born in Marshall county, January 20, 1875, is the wife of Thomas Meredith, of Bennington township, and has one child, Oral J.
The father of our subject was a whig in poli- tics, and held various township offices, such as justice of the peace. Mr. Cusac, of this review, cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, in 1860, and has since been a stanch republican, but has never taken a very active part in political affairs, aside from attending the township caucuses. For many years he has served as school director, and was elected highway commissioner on the repub- lican ticket, although the township generally has a democratic majority of one hundred and sixty, a fact which plainly indicates his popularity and
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the confidence and trust his fellow citizens place in him. He and his estimable wife are consistent members of the Presbyterian church of Wenona, and their worth and ability are justly recognized.
R OBERT CINNAMON. Among the self- made men of Marshall county-men who have accumulated a sufficiency of this world's goods through their own energy and thrift- may be reckoned the gentleman whose name heads this sketch. He is pleasantly located on section 23, Bennington township, where he owns two hundred and forty-seven acres of rich and productive land, which is not only well culti- vated, but is improved with good and substantial farm buildings.
Mr. Cinnamon first opened his eyes to the light in County Down, Ireland, twenty miles from Belfast, in 1830, a son of John and Mary (Ma- ginnis) Cinnamon. He was the youngest in their family of eight children, and was only one month old at the time of. his mother's death, while his father died when he was in his ninth year. He then made his home with an older sis- ter until thirteen years of age, when he started out to seek his own fortune. He was given a good common education, which would fit him for the responsible duties of life, and in his na- tive land attended the Church of England.
In 1849 Mr. Cinnamon crossed the broad At- lantic to the new world, landing at Quebec, after eight weeks spent upon the water. Stopping first at Kingston, Canada, where his brother John was living, he remained there from June until October, and then came to Lacon, Illinois, his brother James being a carpenter of that place. In Marshall county he began work on a farm at eight dollars per month, but during the three years he was thus employed his wages were in- creased. Going to Lacon, he secured a position with Mr. Shinn to drive a stage and carry the mail from that place to Peoria, Kappa, Spring Bay, Hennepin, Wenona, Tonica and other points in Illinois, remaining in that service for eighteen months. The following summer he again worked by the month, after which he pur-
chased a team and broke prairie at three dollars per acre during the year 1855. His next ven- ture was in operating a thresher, which he pur- chased in Ohio and run for about nine years, and this proved a profitable investment.
It was in 1863 that Mr. Cinnamon began farm- ing on his own account, and after operating rented land for four years, purchased an eighty- acre tract of wild land-a part of his present fine farm. It was still in its primitive condition, but he erected a little house, which is now used for a granary, and at once began to break, develop and cultivate his land. To the original purchase he has added until within the boundaries of his farm are comprised two hundred and forty-seven acres of excellent and well-improved land. His present comfortable and commodious residence was built in 1886. Besides his farm he also owns property in Rutland. He has had very little time for idleness, and the success which he has achieved is but the just reward of honest toil, guided by sound judgment.
In February, 1864, Mr. Cinnamon wedded Miss Jane McLain, and to them were born six children, five of whom are still living: Emma, now the wife of Douglas Vinecore, of Rutland, Illinois, by whom she has four sons; Robert, Al- bert. Sarah and Vena. The wife and mother de- parted this life August 7, 1888.
On the 5th of March, 1891, Mr. Cinnamon was again married, his second union being with Mrs. S. A. Syfert, nee Newton, a native of Susque- hanna county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of David and Sarah Ann (Brundage) Newton. When she was an infant her mother died and her father later married again. At the age of six years she accompanied him to Stark county, Illi- nois, there grew to womanhood and received a good common school education, which fitted her to begin teaching at the age of seventeen, which profession she followed for four terms. She then married Simpson Syfert, of Shelby county, Illi- nois, by whom she had two children: William N., a farmer of Groveland, Tazewell county, Illi- nois, who is married and has three children; and Mary Ida, wife of Thomas Sudduth, of Edinburg,
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Christian county, by whom she has two children.
Mr. Cinnamon has been an ardent republican since voting for Lincoln in 1860, but has steadily declined becoming an office-seeker. He and his estimable wife, who are numbered among the most valued residents of the community, attend the Christian church, though she was reared a Baptist.
JAMES STRATTON, deceased, was for many years one of the leading agriculturists and re- spected citizens of Marshall county. He cante from over the sea, his birth occurring May 29, 1820, at Ramsay, New Fenn, Huntingtonshire, England, and was the fifth in the family of ten children born to John and Sarah (Wooley) Strat- ton. When thirteen years of age he accont- panied them on their emigration to America, com- ing in a colony who had clubbed together to make the trip. In Vanderburg county, Indiana, near Evansville, the father purchased land on the old state road, and there spent his remaining days, dying in August, 1845. He brought enough gold with him from England, which, if judicious- ly invested, would have made him a rich man, but he settled in a thicket upon a tract of land which would take a lifetime to clear and develop.
Amid pioneer scenes James Stratton grew to manhood, with no school advantages, all the education that he received being obtained in the schools of his native land before coming to the United States. The children were all kept busy by aiding in the development and improvement of the farm, where James remained until nine- teen years of age, when he obtained work in a brickyard in Evansville. On the death of his father he came into possession of eighty acres of land, but, owing to its being heavily mortgaged, derived but little benefit therefrom.
In 1846 Mr. Stratton became acquainted with Miss Marcia Chalcraft, of Posey county, Indiana, who was on a visit to a sister in Evansville, and on the 24th of December of that year they were joined in marriage. She was born in Tillford, near Farnham, Surrey, England, November 13, 1826, and was nearly twelve years of age when
she came with her parents, James and Mary (Ead) Chalcraft, to the new world. They located in Posey county, where the father had come two years previously and rented land, but in 1844 he removed to Edwards county, Illinois, where he spent his remaining days. Mrs. Stratton ob- tained a good education for those early days, which she has greatly supplemented by an ex- tensive course of reading in later life, and would often read aloud to her family on the current issues and events.
In 1853 Mr. Stratton, with his wife, two chil- dren and mother, came to Marshall county, by way of the Ohio, Mississippi and Illinois rivers to Lacon, where they landed on the 19th of March. By team they proceeded to Benning- ton township, where he located a land warrant, and also purchased government land at two dol- lars and a half per acre, in all a tract of one hun- dred and twenty acres, to which he later added eighty. He was an energetic. enterprising man, but never enjoyed robust health.
Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Strat- ton, of whom nine are still living: Ruth Ann, widow of William Ball, by whom she had four children; James Henry, who died at the age of eight years; William R., whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume; David M., of Mem- phis, Missouri, who is married and has four chil- dren; Mary E., wife of Marion J. French, who lives near Wenona, Marshall county, and by whom she has three children; Sarah E., wife of John Litchfield, of Toluca, by whom she has two children: Louise Marcia, wife of Frank Ca- rithers, of Bennington township, by whom she has three children; Ada Naomi, wife of Robert Litchfield, by whom she has four children; and James Lemuel and Emma M., both at home.
Politically, Mr. Stratton was originally a whig, and later supported the republican party. He passed away October 2, 1892, and was laid to rest in the cemetery of Rutland, Illinois. It is but just and merited praise to say that, as a citizen, he was honorable, prompt and true to every engage- ment, as a man he held the honor and esteem of all classes of citizens, and as a husband and
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father he was worthy of all imitation. He was a man of the time, broad-minded, public-spirited and progressive, and in his daily life and action was ever genial and affable. Mrs. Stratton was always his close companion, aiding and cheering him in his work, and was truly a model helpmeet. Like her husband, she is surrounded by many warm friends and has the respect of all who know her.
E LLIS K. MERCER, editor and proprietor of the Bureau County Tribune, and postmas- ter of Princeton, Illinois, was born on the farm of his grandfather, Ellis Mercer, in Center Grove, Wyanet township, in Bureau county Illinois, on the 27th of November, 1844. He was the first born of William B. Mercer and his wife, whose maiden name was Rebecca Frankeberger. His father, William B., came to Illinois with his parents from Belmont county, Ohio, in 1835, and died in Princeton, Illinois, in 1850, at the age of twenty-nine years. His mother also came to Illi- nois with her parents from Ohio, and at an early day, 1835 or 1836. Her father was William Frankeberger, who died at Wyanet in the spring of 1884, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. Mr. Mercer resided with his grandparents from child- hood: accompanied them to Webster county, Iowa, in 1855; returned to Illinois in the spring of 1861, and in the following spring, at the age of seventeen, enlisted in Captain Lash's com- pany of sixty-day men to guard prisoners at Camp Douglas, and on the next morning after his arrival at the camp re-enlisted for three years in Battery M, First Illinois Light Artillery. He accompanied his battery to Louisville in Oc- tober, 1862, and being stricken with typhoid fever a week after his arrival there, lay uncon- scious upon a sand knoll back of Louisville, while his company was chasing John Morgan over Kentucky. He joined his company in the advance on Nashville in the spring of 1863, par- ticipated in the Shelbyville campaign, and in the succeeding Chattanooga campaign, closing with the battle of Chickamauga, where he re-
ceived a wound which disabled him until the next spring. He rejoined his battery a few days before the beginning of the Atlanta campaign, into which he was initiated by being hauled with his gun-squad and gun between midnight and daylight of the 5th of May, 1864, up the precipi- tous side of Rocky-faced Ridge to try the effect of his ten-pound rifled Rodman on the famous "Buzzards' Roost." He continued in this cam- paign, which ended with the fall of Atlanta, and participated in all of its great battles and its con- tinuons fighting-continuous, because from the 5th of May until the close of the campaign at Lovejoy's Station on the 15th of the following October, he and his battery were engaged with the enemy, some time during the day or night of every day but five. After the close of the At- lanta campaign, by a general order of Major- General George H. Thomas, commanding the army of the Cumberland, Battery M, First Illi- nois Light Artillery, was relieved from all further active duty during the remaining term of its en- listment (six months) as a reward for meritorious service in the field. The remaining term of his service was spent in garrison duty, and he was mustered out with his company at Chicago in August, 1865.
After his discharge Mr. Mercer spent a term or two at school, followed bookkeeping, school teaching, grain buying and insurance, and then became a commercial traveler, which business he quit July 1, 1872, to take a one-half interest in the Bureau County Tribune, of which he is now editor and owner. He has served as secretary and chairman of the democratic county central committee, has been secretary and president of the library board, now serving his fourth year in the latter position; is also filling his third term as president of the city school board, and on the Ist of April, 1895, was appointed postmaster of Princeton, a position he fills to the satisfaction of all the patrons of the office.
On the 3Ist of December, 1873, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Mercer and Miss Juliet Sapp, who was born in Bureau county, August 19, 1850, a daughter of Solomon Sapp. Three
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children bless their union, namely: Fred, born January 25, 1875; Blanche, born September II, 1876; and Nellie, born May 28, 1881.
W TILLIAM LEMUEL BALL, who was called from earth in the midst of his use- fulness, spent his entire life in Marshall county, his birth occurring in Lacon, November 19, 1848, and his death on his farm in Bennington town- ship, August 12, 1884. His parents, Jonas L. and Elizabeth C. (Feller) Ball, continued to re- side in Lacon until he was about twelve years of age, the father following general merchandising. He then removed his family to a farm in Belle Plain township, where he became the owner of a large tract of land, on which he continued to live until about two years before his death, when he went to Bloomington, Illinois, and there passed away April 7, 1888. He was one of the honored early settlers of Marshall county, a man highly respected by all who knew him.
Besides the education received in the country schools, William L. Ball also attended school in Wenona, and completed his literary course in Eureka college, in which he was a student for several years. On leaving the school-room he was for a time a clerk in a dry goods store of Lacon, during which time he also read medicine, but at the end of a year gave up the idea of fol- lowing that profession and began farming on his own account.
On the 22d of February, 1871, Mr. Ball led to the marriage altar Miss Ruth A. Stratton, who was born in Vanderburg county, Indiana, Au- gust 10, 1848, and is a daughter of James and Marcia (Chalcraft) Stratton. Four children graced this union: Gertrude, who was born on the home farm January 3, 1872, and was mar- ried November 21, 1894, to Roscoe Vayne, of Chicago; Cora E., born September 13, 1873; Frank D., born November 5, 1875, and William J., born August 24, 1881. Cora was educated in the Normal and Eureka college, while Frank attended the last-named institution two years, and also pursued his studies for one year in Gales- burg.
Mr. and Mrs. Ball began their domestic life upon a farm of two hundred acres given him by his father, where she still resides. For three years they made their home in the old house standing there, and then erected the present com- fortable residence of the family. The land was unimproved, but to its cultivation and develop- ment Mr. Ball devoted his time and attention un- til life's labors were ended, and transformed the place into one of the most desirable farms of the locality. At the time of his death he was serv- ing as vice-president of the Wenona Union Fair association, and for years had taken an active part in promoting its interests and making it a success.
Politically, Mr. Ball was a life-long democrat, was repeatedly elected supervisor of Benning- ton township, and was a prominent and influen- tial member of the board at the time of his death. His name was often spoken of in connection with the democratic nomination for the legislature, and had he lived he would undoubtedly have been nominated and elected. He also served as school treasurer. From boyhood he was a consistent member of the Christian church, to which his wife and family also belonged, and was one of its most liberal supporters. His influence was great and always for good. His sympathy, his benevolence, his kindly greetings, will long be remembered. His duties were performed with the greatest care, and throughout his life his personal honor and integrity were without blem- ish. His home life was beautiful and exemplary. Ardent and constant in his affections, he was a most tenderly devoted husband, and an indulgent father. His body now rests in Antioch cemetery.
IRVING BROADDUS, one of the prominent and representative citizens of Lacon, Illinois, is a native of Marshall county, his birth occur- ring July 24, 1840, and is a son of Lumsford and Nancy (Gayle) Broaddus, natives of Fredericks- burg, Virginia, and honored pioneers of Illinois. He traces his ancestry back to Edward Broaddus, who came from Wales to the new world in 1715. and settled on Gwynn Island in the James river,
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Virginia. He was twice married, his second union being with Mary Shipley, by whom he had nine children, one being Reuben Broaddus, the grandfather of our subject. His great uncle, Rev. Andrew Broaddus, held a debate with Rev. Alex- ander Campbell, of the Christian church, on the subject of baptism, and was pronounced the most formidable opponent the latter ever encountered. To the Broaddus family belonged the mother of Hon. R. W. Thompson, of Indiana, a member of President Hayes' cabinet. Rev. John A. Broad- dus, D. D., LL. D., the youngest son of the founder of the family in the United States, was born in Culpeper county, Virginia, January 24, 1827, and died in 1895. He was one of the most noted divines of his day in the Baptist church in Kentucky, and rendered to both church and state valuable and noteworthy service.
Reuben Broaddus, the grandfather of our sub- ject, married Elizabeth G. Garland, and to them were born seven children, all now deceased, name- ly: Christopher, who died childless; Lumsford, father of our subject; Leland, who also died childless; Andrew S., Nancy, Lucy, who became the wife of Nathaniel Motley, and Eleanor, who married Reuben Richardson. Andrew S. Broad- dus of this family was a prominent attorney, and for several terms served in the Virginia legisla- turc. After his removal to Texas in 1854, he be- came the most noted criminal lawyer of the state, was also a member of the legislature there for several years, and later filled the office of judge.
In Virginia, about 1819, was celebrated the marriage of the parents of our subject. After the Nat Turner slave insurrection, they became dis- gusted with the institution, and determined to sell out and remove to the north. By keelboat they went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and thence by wagon route to Connersville, Indiana, where the father purchased two hundred acres of land, on which they continued to live for three years. There two of their children, Reuben and Susan, were born. In August, 1835, they arrived at La- con, Illinois, thus becoming pioneers of Marshall county. The father had the honor of naming Hopewell township, served as supervisor of the
county, and also county assessor. In religious belief he was a Universalist, was one of the best Bible students in the state, being able to quote most of it, especially the New Testament. He was a fine historian, also well read on the cur- rent events of the day, and being a good speaker, delivered the first temperance lecture in Marshall county. Besides his farming and stock raising in- torests, he also became a noted auctioneer in those early days. He purchased land in 1835, in Hopewell township, which is still in the posses- sion of our subject, and became one of the most successful farmers and stock raisers in the coun -. ty, his hogs being the best sold to the packing house owned by Jabez Fisher of Boston, and with the money thus obtained he paid his taxes. After an upright, honorable life, he passed away December 6, 1864, at the age of seventy years and six months, and his faithful wife, who was born in 1796, died in 1872.
Our subject is the youngest in their family of eleven children, six of whom are still living: Christopher, married Minerva Hall, who is still living: Eleanor, became the wife of Eli Strawn, but both are now deceased; Elizabeth, married Enoch Sawyer, and both have passed away; Helen, was married at the age of seventeen to William Strawn, who died in 1894, leaving ten children, the oldest fifty-two years of age and the youngest twenty-nine. Mrs. Strawn still resides upon a farm in Marshall county; Leland, first wedded Harriet Crane and after her death Susan Case. He lives in Hennepin, Illinois; Lucy, is the deceased wife of F. H. Bond, of Wenona, who was a noted teacher, who came to Marshall coun- ty from Massachusetts, and to whom our subject went to school in 1846; Caroline, married H. E. Wire, but both are now deceased; Reuben, wedded Mary J. Forbes, who lives in Varna, Illi- nois; Susan, is the widow of P. J. Bogardus, and a resident of Oklahoma; Andrew S., married Sarah Forbes, and after her death, Jennie Hewit. He makes his home in Lacon, and is the father of Christopher Broaddus, the present deputy sheriff of Marshall county.
After attending the common schools of his na-
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tive county for some time, Irving Broaddus pur- sied his studies in Bloomington, and on laying aside his text books turned his attention to farm- ing. which he successfully followed for forty years. He still owns his valuable farm of three hundred and twenty acres on section 31, Hope- well township, which was his home for fifty-four years, or until coming to Lacon in 1894. Besides general farming he was also an extensive stock raiser, having upon his place a fine grade of cattle, sheep and hogs, as well as horses, of which he is very fond and an excellent judge.
Since 1870, Mr. Broaddus has been one of the 'most successful and noted auctioneers of the statc, and for fifteen consecutive years his income from this source amounted to one thousand dol- lars annually. During one of his most successful seasons, from September 1, 1879, until the Ist of the following April, he made thirteen hundred dollars. On the 21st of April, 1893, he sold thir- ty-six thousand dollars worth of lots in Toluca, Illinois, and his largest sale of stock and farm products was at Magnolia, for Mr. Patterson, amounting to seven thousand eight hundred dol- lars. One day in February, 1896, he also sold for his brother in Varna six thousand nine hun- dred dollars worth of property.
Mr. Broaddus was married November 18, 1863, to Miss Ruth Forbes, who was born in Hope- well township, Marshall county, and is a daughter of Peter and Sarah (Buckingham) Forbes, the former a native of North Carolina and the latter of Pennsylvania. By occupation her father was a farmer and stockraiser, being one of the best cat- tle men in this section of the state. He died in 1860, on the day of President Lincoln's first elec- tion, at the age of forty-two years, and his wife departed this life in 1870, at the age of fifty- one. Their religious faith was that of the Uni- versalist church. In their family were seven children: Mary, who wedded John Kennedy, and died leaving seven children, three of whom are teachers; William, of Harper county, Kan- sas, who married Laura Mayes, and has two chil- dren; Mrs. Broaddus, Isaac M., of Hopewell township, Marshall county, who married Fanny
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