The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois, Part 94

Author:
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 848

USA > Illinois > Mason County > The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois > Part 94
USA > Illinois > Menard County > The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois > Part 94

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J. REISINGER, brick manufacturer, butcher and iee dealer, firm of Reisinger & Dietrich, Mason City ; born in Perry Co., Penn., July 15, 1833; raised to agricultural pur- suits until 20 years of age; he then followed farming, carpentering and running a saw-mill until 1858, when he came to . Mason Co. and located where Mason City now stands, when there were but two houses here ; le is consequently one of the oldest settlers ; he engaged in earpentering and contraeting until 1867, the last three years of which he was associated with his present partner. In 1867, they engaged in the manufacture of briek ; in 1870, they engaged in the iee business, and in September, 1878, they also engaged in the butcher business, and are conducting all of the above branches of trade. His marriage with Emily Leighner was celebrated Feb. 20, 1876 ; she was born in Snyder Co., Penn., in 1841.

B. A. ROSEBROUGH, farmer ; P. O. Mason City ; one of the early settlers of Mason Co .; born in Champaign Co., Ohio, April 16, 1832; when 17 years of age, he eame to Illinois, and located in Mason Co. in June, 1849; in 1850, he commeneed the earpenter's trade, which he followed until elected County Treasurer, when he removed to Havana and resided during his term of office, and until 1871, at which date he loeated upon his present place in Mason City Township, where he has sinee lived. He was the

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second Supervisor of this township, was re-elected again in 1875, and has since held the above office for four years ; has also held the offices of Justice of the Peace and other petty offices, and is the present Democratic candidate for the office of County Treasurer. He was united in marriage, Nov. 20, 1856, with Maria L. Tomlin; she died March 6, 1873, leaving five children-Rebecca E., Cora E., Benajah A., Frank and Maria B. He married, for his second wife, Mrs. Anna A. Sites, daughter of Abram Swing, upon the 28th of September, 1876; one child by this union-Frederick S. Mr. Rosebrough settled in Mason City in 1858, where he followed his trade until 1865, and purchased building lots at the first sale, held in 1858.

S. ROBERTSON, retired farmer, Mason City. Among the settlers of Mason Co., of 1851, we find the gentleman whose name heads this sketch ; he was born April 7, 1818, in Kentucky ; in the fall of 1836, he located in Morgan Co., Ill., and fol- lowed farming until 1851, when he sold his farm, and followed teaming and farming, near Havana, until 1854, when he purchased eighty acres of his present place, and, in 1858, located upon the spot where he now lives, just outside the limits of the corpor- ation of Mason City, which he has watched spring from the prairie, until it is now a city of upward of 2,000 inhabitants, and rcaches the boundary of his farm ; he now owns upward of 400 acres, in Mason and Tazewell Cos., and, by his hard labor and correct business habits, has become one of the large landholders and successful farmers of Mason Co. His marriage with Martha L. Jones was celebrated Dec. 10, 1848; she was born in Virginia March 5, 1831. They were the parents of five children, of whom three are now living-George S., born Oct. 28, 1852; William, Dec. 26, 1864, and Nancy A., Oct. 17, 1866 ; of the deceased, one died in infancy, the other, Eliza B., was born Aug. 1, 1857, and died Oct. 25, 1863.

F. N. SMITH, banker, firm of F. N. Smith & Co., Mason City. The sub- ject of this memoir was born in Wurtemberg, Germany, upon the 29th of August, 1841. At 18 months of age, he emigrated with his parents to America, and located in Holmes Co., Ohio ; here he was raised to farm labor, obtaining a good academical edu- cation, until 18 years of age; he then followed school-teaching two winters, and upon Sept. 9, 1862, enlisted in Co. D, 128th Ohio V. I., and went forward to battle for the Union ; after serving in the Union army two years and nine months, he was mustered out of service, and returning home, engaged as clerk in the drug business for eighteen months. In 1867, he opened a drug store at Bluffton, Ohio, selling out in 1868 and coming to Illinois ; located at Minier, Tazewell Co., where he associated in the drug trade with J. J. Stromc, continuing the same for two years. In the spring of 1870, he with liis partner, located in Mason City, under the firm name of Smith & Strome, and for three years continued doing the largest drug trade of Mason Co. In 1873, they sold out to Dr. Dunn, and Mr. Smith opened a drug store at Lincoln, which he disposed of after six months and returned to Mason City, and upon Dec. 20, 1874, associated with David Powell in the general banking business, which they have since successfully followed. A card of their business will be found in the Directory of Mason City, in another part of this work.

HAMILTON TIBBETS, firm of Ironmonger & Tibbets, millers, Mason City ; born in Shenandoah Co., Va., Dec. 11, 1818; he was raised upon a farm until 28 years of age, during which time he learned and worked at the refinery trade seven years; in 1846, he removed to Maryland and followed refining and coal mining some nine years, when he returned to Virginia and followed different branches of business until 1859, when he came to Illinois and located at Lincoln, Logan Co., where his fam- ily now resides; in 1872, he associated with his present partner and Mr. Johnson in the milling business in Mason City, and has since continued the same business under different firm names, the present firm, however, having been together since 1872. He was married, in 1844, to Lydia A. Wierman ; she was born in Page Co., Va .; they have one son now living-Benjamin, engineer of the mill.

W. F. THOMPSON, furniture dealer and undertaker, Mason City ; born in Rich- mond Co., N. Y., Feb. 18, 1833; came to Illinois in 1859 and located in Logan Co .; engaged in farming until 1871, when he removed to Mason City ; in June, 1873, he

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MASON CITY TOWNSHIP.

purchased an interest in the above business of T. J. Watkins, and carried on the same under the firm name of Watkins & Thompson until 1878, when he purchased the interest of his partner, since which time lie has conducted the business under his own name ; in 1874, he crected his three-story brick building, the whole of which is occu- pied by his business, and which is one of the finest in town.

JOSEPH TAYLOR, retired farmer, Mason City ; was born in Barren Co., Ky., Aug. 20, 1819; he went to Pike Co., Ind., in October, 1836 ; at the age of 10, he was left an orphan with no friends that could be of any pecuniary advantage to him, there- fore he had to look out for himself in procuring a livelihood ; early in life, he became an expert rider of running horses, and did a great deal of it, always to win; has ridden but few races since he came to Mason Co .; he came here in April, 1851. He married Lucinda Houchin May 16, 1838; she was born in Edmonson Co., Ky., Oct. 2, 1821 ; when they married they were not worth a dollar, but they were young and vigorous and together they determined to win or dic, and bent their united energies to good purpose, and now are among the most prosperous in worldly goods of the early settlers of Mason Co .; they have had ten children, viz., Benjamin W., born Oct. 20, 1840; John J., Jan. 29, 1842; William D., March 15, 1843, died March 28 following; Malinda E., born April 23, 1844; Lucy A., Feb. 1, 1846 ; Joseph A., March 21, 1848, died Sept. 10, 1851; Georgia A., born July 4, 1850 ; Melissa J., June 19, 1853; Reason A., Dec. 16, 1854, died July 20, 1869, and Charles E., born Feb. 14, 1861, died Jan. 17 following. Mr. Taylor moved to Mason City in 1860, and kept a livery stable a year or two, and was Assessor some eight years ; virtually he has retired from business; a few years since, he owned 1,250 acres of land in this county, but has given here and there to children, so that now he has only 486 acres, a good home and eighteen lots in Mason City. Since they married have never broken housekeeping, and he has never belonged to any order or organization.

D. W. VICKERY, farmer, Sec. 9; P. O. Mason City ; the subject of this memoir was born in Onondaga Co., N. Y., upon the 28th of February, 1838 ; he was raised to agricultural pursuits until the breaking-out of the rebellion, when he was one of the first to respond to the call for soldiers to suppress the same, enlisting April 23, 1861, in the 12th N. Y. V. I., and went forward to battle for the Union; he was in many severe battles, among which we mention both battles of Bull Run, battle of Fredericks- burg, the Peninsular campaign ; at the battle of Malvern Hill he was wounded in the chin, but continued on duty until the-expiration of his service, receiving his discharge in May, 1863; in December, following; he re-enlisted in the 15th N. Y. V. C., and served until the close of the war, serving under Gens. Custer and Sheridan; upon the night previous to the surrender of Gen. Lee, he received a wound in the right shoulder by a minic ball, from which he has and still continues to suffer severely, and for which he draws a pension; he received his discharge July 1, 1865, having served in the Union army nearly four years. He is one of our strong Republicans in politics, having never been made to see why he should not vote as he fought. After receiving his dis- charge, he returned to New York and followed farming until 1868, when he came to Mason Co. and located one mile northeast of Mason City, where he has a pleasant home of forty acres, with good buildings, and which was obtained at an expense, including buildings and improvements, of upward of $100 per acre. Upon Jan. 30, 1866, he was united in marriage with N. Ellen Garrett; she was born in Onondaga Co., N. Y., July 27, 1843; they have two children by this union-Hattie B., born April 1, 1867, and Una A., June 16, 1871.

J. H. WANDELL, Mason City ; one of the early settlers of Mason Co .; pro- prietor of the St. Nicholas Hotel and Livery Stable, Mason City. We live to eat and eat to live; therefore, to point out a good hotel, is an act of kindness to be appreciated by the hungry traveler. Of the St. Nicholas it can be said with truth, that in quality and variety of fare it is not excelled by any house on the Jacksonville Division of the Chicago & Alton Railroad, south of Bloomington. J. H. Wandell, the gentlemanly proprietor, was born in Luzerne Co., Penn., April 13, 1820 ; in early life, he learned the molder's trade, which he followed, in connection with farming, boating, etc., etc.,

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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES:

until 1849, when he came to Illinois and located in Mason Co .; he first engaged in running a saw-mill in Quiver Township, and, in 1850, entered 160 acres of land in Pennsylvania Township, in Mason Co .; in 1851, he returned to Pennsylvania, and the following year, came back, and probably through the influence of Mr. Wandell, came a large part of the settlers of Pennsylvania Township; in 1853, he had charge of a set of men and assisted in building the C. & A. R. R., and, in the fall of the same year, erected a house upon his land into which he removed and commenced improving his place ; upon the 2d of July, 1854, his house was destroyed by fire, and he again rebuilt and lived upon his place until the deceasc of his wife, after which he engaged in breaking prairie and selling patent rights until 1864, when he came to Mason City, and exchanged eighty acres of his farm for the Sherman House corner ; he then engaged in the butcher business until the fall of 1866 ; he then took charge of a gang of men and assisted in grading this division of the C. & A. R. R. until the fall of 1867; in August of the year 1867, he purchased his present hotel, and, after running the same one year, rented it until April 20, 1877, when he again took possession of the hotel, which he has since successfully run in connection with his stable; he has since erected a large, commodious brick sample-room for the use of commercial travelers, from whom he has his full share of patronage. Upon Jan. 8, 1852, he was united in marriage with Sarah E. De Pugh; she died Dec. 30, 1860; they had one child, which died in infancy ; on Dec. 30, 1865, he was united in mar- riage to Christiana A. Benscoter ; she was born in Luzerne Co., Penn., March 28, 1846.

WILLIAM WALKER, farmer,; P. O. Mason City; born in County Tyrone, Ireland, in April, 1829 or 1830; he was a son of Robert Walker, who emigrated to America about 1836 and located in Belmont Co., Ohio ; in 1862, he located in Mason Co., where he died in December, 1869; his wife died in Ohio, in April, 1858. Will- iam Walker lived with different parties from 7 years of age until Oct. 16, 1856, when he was united in marriage with Elizabeth Jarvis, in Lincoln, Logan Co., Ill .; she was born in Greenbrier Co:, W. Va., Oct. 31, 1839, and came to Ohio with her parents when 7 years of age ; they were the parents of nine children of whom two are now living- Mary I. and Anniah B .; the deceased were Eliza F., born July 23, 1859, died May 12, 1866 ; Charles F., born June 8, 1861, died Feb. 22, 1862 ; Thomas J., born July 14, 1865, died March 30, 1867 ; William V., born Nov. 16, 1867, died Aug. 26, 1869; Robert M. died in infancy ; George B. F., born Jan. 23, 1871, died Nov. 20, 1877 ; Elizabeth L., born April 23, 1876, died Nov. 18, 1877, the latter two dying within forty-eight hours of each other. Mr. Walker located in Mason Co. in 1861; in.1864, he purchased eighty acres of land and now owns 165 acres and is out of debt, having accumulated all of the above by his own hard labor and good business management, in which he has been nobly assisted by his amiable wife. Mr. Walker has shown a degree of energy and perseverance in accomplishing what he has, under the trying afflictions of sickness and death, which have been visited upon his family, which is well worthy of imitation by the young men of the present day.

J. T. WATKINS, deceased; born in Ross Co .. Ohio, March 5, 1834; in early life, he learned the carpenter's trade and for several years followed contracting and build- ing; in 1856, he removed to New Holland, and, in 1862, raised a company for the 90th Ohio V. I. and served as Captain two years; received his discharge on account of dis- ability ; he afterward served as Adjutant of the 155th Regt. Ohio National Guards ; in 1864, he located in Champaign Co .. Ill .; in July, 1866, came to Mason City and engaged in the furniture business, conducting the same with different partners until 1878, when he disposed of his business and retired from active labor ; he was the first Mayor of New Holland, Ohio, and also the first Mayor of Mason City, which office he held at the time of his decease, being the sixth year. He died April 25, 1878; the funeral was held at the Presbyterian Church, at which a large concourse of friends and citizens assembled ; the procession was formed as follows : Mason City Light Guard Band, Mason City and Havana Military Companies, hearse, pall-bearers and relatives, City Council, etc., etc., the last sad rites being performed by the Mason City Lodge, No. 403, A., F. & A. M. He was married, in 1855, to Sarah Marot, of Ohio; two children now living-Elmer E. and Grace.

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MASON CITY TOWNSHIP.

J. S. WILBURN, farmer; P. O. Mason City; one of the early pioneers of Illinois and Mason Co .; born in Cumberland Co., Ky., Aug. 25, 1805; in 1820, he came to Illinois and located twelve miles west of Springfield, in what is now Sangamon Co., where he lived.several years ; he then followed lead mining in Galena several years ; in 1830, he went to Chicago and purchased the corner where the Tremont House now stands, for $61, and, two years later, sold the same for $600; in 1831, he located at Beardstown and engaged in merchandising, milling, pork-packing, running flat-boats to New Orleans, freighting his own goods down and back, having branch stores both in New Orleans and at Galena ; he continued in this business eleven years; he then fol- lowed the merchandise trade at Springfield and Pekin, and erected and ran a flour-mill in Peoria Co., and, in 1846, came to Mason Co. and engaged in hotel-keeping and mer- chandise trading in the town of Bath; in 1848, he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court of Mason Co., which office he held for eight years ; he was then Master of Chan- cery several years, and, in 1861, removed upon his present place, where he has since lived. Mr. Wilbourne took an active part in the old Black Hawk war of 1831-32, and erected the first fort, which was located near La Salle, and was named in honor of its builder, Fort Wilbourne ; he also took up the first boat-load of provisions up the Illinois River from St. Louis to his fort, and from which place the soldiers received their provisions, etc. ; he was commissioned, by Gov. Reynolds, as Captain of Volun- teers, which office he hield during the war; during his residence in Cass Co. he was County Judge many years, aside from other military and civil offices. Mr. Wilbourne has been in active life for a period of fifty years ; he has suffered all the hardships and privations of frontier life, and, at the advanced age of 75 years, is in possession of all of his faculties ; he has suffered greatly the last few years on account of the loss of one of his limbs. He was united in marriage, in 1837, with Anna Dale; she was born in Kentucky ; they have two sous and two daughters now living, viz., Belle, Sarah A., John and Edward.

JOSEPH C. WARNOCK, editor, Mason City ; was born in Ross Co., Ohio, Jan. 16, 1840, and, in the fall of 1850, emigrated, with his parents, to Illinois, and settled in Salt Creek Township, Mason Co., and has been a resident of the county ever since ; he was reared to farm life, and pursued that avocation till about nine years ago; he obtained his education under the difficulties and unfavorable circumstances which sur- rounded the pioneers of the county, and mostly by his own unaided efforts, pursuing his studies into the "dead of night," after the day's farm work was done; he com- menced teaching school at the age of 19, which he pursued-with the exception of the winter following-for five consecutive winter terms. Having married, lie settled, in 1861, at Big Grove, Salt Creek Township, where he resided until 1871, during which time he was elected to and served as Town Clerk, Tax Collector and County Surveyor ; the latter he resigned after a little over a year's service; in the spring of 1871, he bought a half-interest in the Mason City News, which was then changed to Indepen. . dent, assumed editorial charge, which position-with the exception of a ycar at Havana, as editor of the Mason County Democrat, he has held ever since and now holds. At the session of the Legislature in 1877, Gov. Cullom appointed him one of the three Trustees of the Illinois Asylum for Feeble-Minded Children, which position he now holds. During his residence in Mason City, he has held the office of City Clerk sev- eral terms, and, at the last election, was elected Mayor, which office he now holds.

J. A. WALKER, physician and surgeon, Mason City. Among the foremost in his profession in Mason City is Dr. J. A. Walker, who is also one of the pioneers of the place ; he was born in Cass Co., Ill., in 1833; he commenced the study of his pro - fession in 1856, with Dr. J. P. Walker, at the grove which bears his name; in 1857-58, he attended the Rush Medical College at Chicago, and, in the spring of 1858, com- menced the practice of medicine at Mason City, and has been in continued practice in this place, with the exception of one year since the above date, during a period of twenty-one years, and is one of the oldest practicing physicians of Mason City, and his large and lucrative practice is conclusive evidence that he stands in the front ranks of his profession in Mason Co. During the period from 1867 to 1870, he was engaged

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in the drug trade in connection with his practice, but in no instance did he allow the mercantile branch to interfere with his professional duties ; he is a member of the State Medical Society, and Secretary of the Brainard Medical Society, which is composed of the medical profession of Mason and adjoining counties. His marriage with Eliza A. Harris was celebrated in 1862; she was born in McDonough Co., Ill., in 1842. When. Dr. Walker located here in the spring of 1858, there was but one family living where Mason City now stands; he has witnessed the remarkable growth of a city of upward of 2,000 inhabitants, embracing hundreds of acres within its corporate limits.

WILLIAM WARNOCK, JR., Mason City ; was born Oct. 2, 1833, near Bain- bridge, Ross Co., Ohio. The Warnock family were once inhabitants of the North of Ireland, but have been in this country since the beginning of the present century. They were a long-lived and hardy race, and it is narrated that the grandfather of Will- iam, Jr., was the only one out of a thousand troops at Sandusky, Ohio, in 1812, that could lift the breech of a cannon. William Warnock, Sr., was born on the same farm where his son William first saw the light. His wife, whose maiden name was Harriet Young, was a native of Ohio, and they were married Jan. 1, 1833. When he was 21 years of age, William, Jr., left the farm and went into a country store at Walker's Grove with his uncle; after two years, he removed to Hiawatha, in the same township ; after one year here, he sold out and came to Mason City. In the summer of 1859, he- applied himself to the study of medicine with Dr. J. C. Patterson, and attended lec- tures in 1860-61 at Rush Medical College. At this point in his life he determined to leave his profession and devote his time and ability to business ; he went into a store with Cortes Humes, on the corner now occupied by La Forge's block, corner of Chest- nut and Tonica streets; after three years, he was admitted into partnership and con- tinued in this business until 1868, when the firm sold to Andrews & Griffith, and dis- solved. In addition to their mercantile business, Humes & Warnock carried on an extensive exchange and banking office, and were the first bankers in Mason City, and did the largest business in that line done in Mason Co. During the war, this firm never refused credit to the families of soldiers, and when they could not get trusted for what they needed, they were always certain of accommodation there. When the town of Salt Creek was drafted, Mr. Warnock was among the number to furnish money to fill up the quota. During some of these years, the town of Mason City was nearly deserted by physicians, who were in the army; and then the early study and knowledge of medicine became exceedingly useful to Mr. Warnock, and he was enabled to relieve many suffering persons by his professional assistance; he practiced in many families, and among then some of the most eminent in the place. In 1862, he was placed on the Democratic ticket as candidate for County Superintendent of Schools, and was elected to his second public office-his first being that of Postmaster at Walker's Grove. Many teachers in Mason Co. received their first certificates from Mr. Warnock. among them . Mr. S. M. Badger, the present County Superintendent. He was naturally inclined to mathematical studies and in measuring corn by cribs was the first to introduce the measurement of 3,800 cubic inches to the busliel ; he proved this formula by weight and measurement, and used to be very often called upon to measure cribs and estimate their contents. So far, Mr. Warnock has passed through life with vigorous health of mind and body, but not without experiencing some of the vicissitudes of fortune ; he has handled large amounts of money and did much to promote the pecuniary interests of Mason City ; he has expended more than $20,000 in making permanent improvements in the place. In whatever state of circumstances, financially, Mr. Warnock has been placed, in easy times or trying times, he has always maintained the reputation of an honorable, honest man.

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KILBOURNE TOWNSHIP.

JOHN C. ADE, farmer ; P. O. Kilbourne; was born in Noriek, Wurtemberg, Germany, July 26, 1824 ; son of Michael Ade, whose wife's name prior to her marriage was Barbara Ceh. John was 32 years of age before he left home, at which time he emigrated to this country ; he came first to Hamilton Co., Ohio, where he remained three years employed as gardener ; from there he went to Middletown and stayed one year, and from there to Berlin, Sangamon Co., where he farmed five years. May 6, 1854, he married Naney Chlichtes, who was born in Neekarweimghen Ludwigsburg, Wurtemberg, March 22, 1833; they have nine children living-Mollie, Nannie, Caro- line, Julia, Charles, Rosa, Lizzie, Harry and Willie. In September, 1859, he moved to this county and located where he now resides, on Seetion 34, and has now eighty-six acres of land, which he has cleared and earned by " hard knocks," economy and good management.

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The History of Menard and Mason Counties, Illinois, Part 94

Author: Publication date: 1879 Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co. Number of Pages: 848

Author:
Publication date: 1879
Publisher: Chicago : O.L. Baskin & Co.
Number of Pages: 848