USA > Illinois > Henry County > The biographical record of Henry County, Illinois > Part 31
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terian Church and still adhere to that faith, while his daughters hold membership in the Congregational Church. The family is widely known and highly respected.
E. N. PETERSON.
Numbered among the prominent and successful young famers of Andover town- ship is E. N. Peterson, who resides on sec- tion 34, where he was born February 3. 1875. His father, C. P. Peterson, was a native of Sweden and was single on his emigration to America. Coming to Henry county, Illinois, he located in Andover township, and was one of its honored early settlers. It was in 1849 that he bought the land on which our subject now resides, it being at that time all wild prairie, which he at once began to break and improve. He was married in Andover township, in 1854. to Miss Wilhelmina Bloomberg, who was also born in Sweden, and they became the parents of four children, of whom our sub- ject is the youngest, the others being Mrs. Clara Almeda Lofgren, a resident of Knox county, Illinois; C. A., who is married and lives in Clover township, Henry county ; and Frank William, of Knox county. The mother died in 1875, during the infancy of our subject, but the father long survived her, passing away in Andover township July 4, 1897, honored and respected by all who knew him. He was one of the promi- nent Republicans of his community and took quite an active part in political affairs.
E. N. Peterson was educated in the pub- lic schools of Andover township and reared upon the old homestead which he now owns and occupies. It is a good farm of one hun-
dred and sixty acres, being well improved and under a high state of cultivation. In 1900 he built a fine barn, fifty-two by fifty-six feet, with a capacity of forty tons of hay, and has made an addition to his house, so that it is now one of the best residences in the locality. He carries on general farming and stock raising, and in his labors is meeting with excellent success.
On the 3d of June, 1897, in Andover township, Mr. Peterson was united in mar- riage with Miss Matilda V. Hultgreen, a na- tive of that township and a daughter of An- drew V. and Christina Hultgreen, pioneers of Andover. Mr. Peterson gives his polit- ical support to the Republican party and its principles, and is a member of the Lutheran Church at Andover.
GEORGE WESTON.
George Weston, deceased, was for thirty years one of the leading farmers and honor- ed citizens of Kewanee township, his home being on section 16. He was born on the 28th of January, 1827, in Morgan county, Ohio, and was a son of Jeremiah and Ma- tilda (Anderson) Weston. the former a na- tive of New Hampshire, the latter of Mary- land. In the Buckeye state he was reared to manhood and was educated in its public schools. Coming west in 1850 he first lo- cated in Iowa, but after spending a short time in that state he removed to this county, and took up his residence on section 16, Ke- wanee township, where he followed farming throughout the remainder of his life. Here he steadily prospered, and at the time of his death owned about three hundred acres of valuable farming land.
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On the 23d of October, 1863. Mr. Wes- ton was united in marriage with Mrs. Helen ( Stark ) Stephenson, widow of Henry Stephenson, who was born in New York and died in Michigan in 1856, leaving two chil- dren : Iona, wife of J. W. Adams, of Kan- sas City, Kansas, and Isett, wife of Henry Spurlock. of Kansas City, Kansas. Mrs. Weston is a native of Pennsylvania and a daughter of Stutely and Eliza Ann ( Steven- son) Stark, natives of Massachusetts and New York, respectively. Her paternal grand- father was born in Vermont and his wife in New Hampshire. In 1832 her family re- moved to Medina county, Ohio, where they made their home until coming to Illinois in 1864. when they took up their residence in Bureau county. Three years later they removed to Galesburg, where Mr. Stark lived retired until his death in 1869. By occupation he was a farmer. Subsequently his widow went to Kansas, and died in Perry, that state, in 1889. They reared a family of eight children. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Weston were born five children, name- ly Ina, wife of Warren Lester, who now lives on Mrs. Weston's farm; May, a den- tist of Kansas City, Missouri; Stutely, a farmer of Kewanee township: Tillie, wife of U. G. Pyle, of the same township; and Lee, at home with his mother. Mrs. Weston has a fine farm of three hundred and eighty acres, and from it derives a good income. She is a faithful member of the Congrega- tional Church of Kewanee, and is highly re- spected and esteemed by all who know her.
Fraternally Mr. Weston was an active member of the Grange. Ile always took a leep and commendable interest in educa- Honal affairs, and efficiently served as school ofrector in his district from the time of its alization until his death, which occurred
.August 11, 1886. He was recognized as one of the valued and useful citizens of his community, and his death was mourned by a large circle of friends and acquaintances who esteemed him highly for his sterling worth.
SIMEON HELLER.
Simeon Heller, deceased. was for many years one of the leading citizens of Loraine township, owning and operating a fine farm of two hundred acres on section 5. He was born March 21, 1821, in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, of which state his parents, David and Catherine Heller, were life-long residents. By occupation the father was a farmer.
During his boyhood and youth our sub- ject attended school only three months, the remainder of the time being devoted to the work of the home farm. On leaving the parental roof at the age of twenty-one, he came by way of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to Illinois, where his brother David was living, and worked for him for a time. At the age of twentythree he was united in marriage with Miss Maud Arnett, a native of Alsace-Loraine, France. who came with her parents to this county and settled in Whiteside county, Illinois, in the early `305.
After his marriage Mr. Heller pre- empted a tract of government land in Lo- raine township, to the improvement and cul- tivation of which he devoted his energies until the discovery of gold in California, when he crossed the plains with his wife's brothers, George, Jacob and William Ar- nett. The trip was made with an ox team and consumed six months. While engaged in mining he received news of his wife's
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death, but being penniless he was unable to return home at that time. The news was such a shock to him that for several months he was hardly conscious of where he was. He remained on the Pacific coast for twelve years, and met with good success before re- turning home. On again reaching this state he located upon the land which he had pre- empted in Henry county, and throughout the remainder of his life engaged in agricul- tural pursuits. He died on the 30th of June, 1887, honored and respected by all who knew him, and his remains were interred in Loraine cemetery. In his political views he was a Republican, and religiously he was a consistent member of the Methodist Epis- copal Church, to which his wife also be- longed.
Mr. Ileller's first wife died in the early 'fifties, leaving one child, Susan, now the wife of Peter Lininger, of Boone, Iowa. Ile was again married February 15, 1864, his second union being with Miss Mary Pobanz, a native of Prussia, Germany, where her parents, David and Mary Pobanz, were also born. In 1863 the family came to America and located in Osco township, Henry county, Illinois, where the father engaged in farming for five years, but spent the remain- der of his life in Dodge county, Nebraska. He had three children: John, deceased; Mary, now Mrs. Heller ; and a daughter, who died in infancy. By his second mar- riage Mr. Heller had twelve children, name- ly : Lewis D., who first married Josephine Egert and second Annie Wahlheim and lives in Loraine township: Emma E., a trained nurse now in St. Paul's hospital, Butte, Montana, and a member of the East- ern Star at Prophetstown, Illinois; Joseph S., who is mentioned below: William D., a barber of Twin Bridge, Montana, who 15
married Clara Polinger, and is a member of the blue lodge and Eastern Star chapter of the Masonic fraternity at Erie, Illinois; Levi A., a farmer of Dodge county, Ne- braska, who married Rose Kopisky and is a member of the Modern Woodmen of Amer- ica; Annie M., wife of Clarence Bollen, of Taylor county, Iowa; Phebe and Alice R., both at home; Louisa Matilda, who died at the age of three years; Elsie, who died at the age of four months; Perry O., at home ; and Leonard, who died at the age of one year and nine months.
Joseph S. Heller, son of our subject, was born December 1, 1867, and was edu- cated in the home school and the North- western Normal at Geneseo. He assisted in the labors of the farm until 1893, when he went to Twin Bridge, Montana, where he was on a ranch for a time, and from there went to Minnesota and Iowa. On his re- turn to this county in the spring of 1894, he took charge of the liome place and has since successfully managed the same, being a man of good business ability and sound judgment. Politically he is identified witlı the Republican party, and fraternally is a member of Bollen Lodge, No. 412, F. & A. MI., of Spring Hill, in which he has served as junior warden.
SAMUEL RUSSELL.
Samuel Russell, who is practically living a retired life in the city of Kewanee, Illinois, was born in Wilmington, Clinton county, Ohio, on the 6th of October, 1834, but was only seven years old when he removed to Delaware county, Indiana, with his parents, John and Susanna ( Wickersham) Russell,
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the former also a native of the Buckeye state, and the latter of Virginia, although she was only three years old when she be- came a resident of Ohio. Our subject's pa- ternal grandfather, James Russell, was born in Ireland, and was a lad of thirteen years when he came with his parents to the United States, the family being among the early set- tlers of Ohio, where he grew to manhood and spent the greater part of his life. His death occurred in Delaware county, Indiana. In his family were eleven children, of whom nine reached years of maturity.
John Russell, the eldest of this family and the father of our subject, received but a limited education, learning to read, write and cipher after he attained his majority. He was only able to attend school a short time during the winter and then had to wade through the snow three miles to the school house. His early life was devoted to agricul- tural pursuits, and at the age of nineteen years he learned the plasterer's and brick mason's trades, at which he worked for about twenty years. In 1841 he removed to Delaware county, Indiana, where he pur- chased eighty acres of land, and was en- gaged in farming throughout the remainder of his life. Politically he was first a Whig and an abolitionist and later a Republican, und religiously was a member of the Metho- Jist Episcopal Church, in which he served as dass leader and steward for a mumber of years. He died in 1857 at about the age of fifty two years, and his wife, who long sur- Vived him, passed away in 1881. She had made her home in Henry county, Ilinois, from 1859. They were the parents of four children, namely: James, who died at the ge of four years: Sammel, our subject ; Mirinn, wife of Jeremiah Bickford, a re- wiel citizen of Kewanee ; and Caroline, wife
of James Stafford. a retired citizen of Al- bany, Delaware county, Indiana.
When the family located in Delaware county, Indiana, that region was very wild, and on starting his children to school the father blazed the trees through the heavy forest that they might find their way home. There was scarcely a frame house in the county, outside of Muncie, the county seat. where there were a few. The dwellings were nearly all built of logs, with one door and one window, with large fire place built of rough stone and mind, the chimnies being of split sticks and mud. Nails were not known, with the exception of a few made by the blacksmith. Wooden pins were used in- stead of nails, an auger or a gimlet being ttsed to make the hole, in which the wooden pin was inserted and driven in solidly. The school houses were also built of logs, withr seats made of small logs split in two parts, wooden pins being inserted on the round side for legs, thus giving a flat surface on which to sit. There was neither back or cushion to the seats. The roofs of the houses were made of split boards about two and a half 01 three feet long called clapboards, which were laid on timbers called ribs, and held there by poles laid on them, one pole being used to a tier of clapboards. The floors were made of puncheons, that is slabs split out of large timber from three to four inches thick, while a board placed on pins formed a desk on which the scholars practiced writing about ten or fifteen minutes a day, that being all the teacher thought necessary to devote to that accomplishment. Amid such primitive surroundings, young Russell acquired his education, walking a mile and a quarter to school each morning and re- turning home at night. He was only per- mitted to attend in the winter, and never
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longer than thirty-five days in one year. At the age of eighteen his education was com- pleted, so far as his school life was con- cerned, and he then devoted his entire time to work. He remained at home until his re- moval to Illinois in 1859. with the exception of a few months spent in Minnesota and Illinois.
On the 31st of March, 1859. Mr. Rus- sell married Miss Matilda Zehner, who was born in Wayne county, Indiana, and is the third in order of birth in a family of nine children, whose parents were Benjamin and Hester Zehner, natives of Pennsylvania, and early settlers of Wayne county, Indiana. from which they later removed to Delaware county, the same state. Of the six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Russell. Francis died at the age of two years, Cora at the age of three, and Mary at the age of fourteen. John B., a graduate of Wheaton College and now superintendent of the public schools of Wheaton, Illinois, married Isabel Gunn, and they have two children, Edna L., and Ever- ett C. Frank H. is a physician, now con- nected with the Presbyterian hospital of Chicago. He is also a graduate of Wheaton College, Rush Medical College and the Theological Seminary of the Congregational Church of Chicago. Eva M. is a graduate of the Kewanee high school, and is now taking the literary course at the Chicago University.
In 1859 Mr. Russell and his family came to Henry county, Illinois, and located on a farm of one hundred and sixty acres which he had purchased in 1856 in Clover town- ship, at that time all wild and unimproved. He erected thereon a house, fourteen by twenty feet, in which he lived while break- ing his land and placing it under cultivation. On disposing of that property in 1865 he
bought a partially improved farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Wethersfield township, where he made his home until his removal to Kewanee on the first of January. 1891. During his youth he learned the brick mason's and plasterer's trades with his father, but has not followed that occupation for forty years. While engaged in farming he gave considerable attention to the raising and feeding of stock, generally keeping about one hundred hogs and twenty head of cattle. He still oversees the management of his farm, though he has retired from active labor. He is an active member and steward of the Free Methodist Church. Politically he is a Prohibitionist.
LEWIS URICK.
The subject of this sketch is a worthy representative of the agricultural interests of Loraine township, his home being on sec- tion 9, and is also prominently identified with public affairs. He was born November 5. 1860, on the farm where he still resides, his parents being Rudolph and Mary ( Shafer) Urick, the former a native of Switzerland, the latter of Germany. In his native land the father learned the mason's trade which he followed for many years. At the age of twenty-one he crossed the board Atlantic and located in Pennsylvania, where he was thus employed for five years. On coming west he settled at what is known as Dutch Bottom, Portland township, White- side county, Illinois, in 1844, and took up government land, which he operated for a few years. He then purchased a farm in Loraine township. Henry county, on which he located, and became quite a large land
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owner, though he divided his property among his children prior to his death. He died April 10, 1899, at the age of ninety years and nine months, and his remains were in- terred in Loraine cemetery. He retained his mental faculties until the last. but for fif- teen years was blind, owing to some mortar getting in his eyes while working at his trade. He continued to follow that occu- pation in connection with farming for many years, and in all his undertaking's was em- inently successful. He affiliated with the Republican party from its organization, and was an earnest member of the Evangelical Church.
Rudolph Urick was twice married, his first union being with Catherine Rapp, by whom he had six children, four still living, namely : Catherine, wife of Samuel Arnett. of Geneseo; Isaac, a resident of Portland township. Whiteside county; Jacob, a ranch- man of Colorado; and Louisa, wife of Jo- seph Kopp, a farmer of Andubon, Iowa. The mother of these children died in 1856, and the father subsequently wedded Mary Shafer. To them were born two sons : David, who married Matilda R. Huntington and is engaged in farming in Portland township, Whiteside county; and Lewis, our subject. The mother is still living at the age of seventy-seven years and lives on the old homestead with her son Lewis.
In early life our subject attended the dis- trict school near his home and remained 11n- der the parental roof. Prior to his marriage he took charge of the farm, and has since successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising. Ile also feeds cattle and hogs for market. Ile has some fine stock upon his farm, his specialty being Aberdeen Angus cattle. He is now the owner of three hundred and twenty acres of land in one
body, two hundred acres of which he re- ceived from his father, and since then has added one hundred and twenty, and is one of the most prosperous citizens of his com- munity.
On the 5th of February, 1889, Mr. Urick married Miss Hattie M. Sieben, a native of this county, and a daughter of John Sieben, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work. The children born of this union were Clarence, who died at the age of three years; Perry and Ira. Religiously the par- ents are members of the Evangelical Church, of which Mr. Urick is a trustee. In his po- litical affiliations he is a Republican, and has been a delegate to various county con- ventions. He is now serving his tenth year as township clerk, and has filled the office of school director a number of years. In the spring of 1900 he was census enumer- ator for Loraine and Phenix townships, and devoted eighteen days to the work of that office. He is quite prominent in local pol- itics and in church work, and is one of the most highly esteemed citizens of his com- munity.
AMBROSE MATHEWS.
Among the honored veterans of the Civil war and representative citizens of this county, who are now living a retired life in Wethersfield is Ambrose Mathews, who since 1845 has been a resident of Ilenry county. He was born in Seneca Falls. Seneca county, New York, on the 20th of December, 1830, and on the paternal side is of Scotch ancestry, his grandfather, Henry Mathews, being a native of Scotland and a pioneer farmer of Seneca county, New York. There the father, A. W. Mathews, was born
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and reared, and on reaching manhood mar- ried Miss Margaret Conner, a native of the same state and of Irish extraction. From his native county he removed to Geauga county, Ohio, where he engaged in farm- ing for about sixteen years and also owned and operated a saw and grist mill. He traded his farm in that county for a share in the property of the Wethersfield colony in Henry county, Illinois, receiving one hun- dred and sixty acres of prairie land, twenty acres of timber land, and a village lot of two and a half acres. By team he removed to this county, arriving here July 31, 1845. He purchased a house and lot in Wethers- field, where he made his home while his older sons improved the farm. Here he died in 1884, at the advanced age of nearly ninety- three years. His first wife, who was the mother of our subject, had passed away some years previously, and he married again, his second wife surviving him. He served as a drummer in the war of 1812.
During his boyhood and youth Ambrose Mathews attended the common schools, com- pleting his education in this county. He was seventeen years of age when he came to Illinois with his father, but after spend- ing two years here he returned to Chardon, Geange county, Ohio, where he learned the shoemaker's trade with a brother, remain- ing there two years. On his return to this county he worked at his trade in Wethers- field with his brother, who carried on a shop there for some years.
Our subject was thus employed until after the Civil war broke out, when he en- listed July 17, 1862, in Company A, One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee under command of Generals Grant and Sherman. He was first
under fire at Thompson Hill, Mississippi, and later participated in the battles of Port Gibson and Bakers Creek. He was in a hun- ning fight at Jackson Crossroads, and in the battle of Champion Hills, which was one of the most important engagements of the war. He was also in the battle of Black River Bridge and for forty-seven days par- ticipated in the siege of Vicksburg, being a member of General Logan's brigade, which was the first to enter the city after its sur- render. He has a picture of Generals Grant and Pemberton taken after the surrender and mounted in a case made from the famous Pemberton Oak, under which the surrender was made. Later Mr. Mathews was on guard and provost duty in that city for some time, and then marched with his command through Louisiana to Monroe, which place they captured, after which they returned to Vicksburg, remaining there on provost duty until the following spring, in the meantime going on several scouting expeditions to Jackson. They then went to Mobile, and took part in the siege of Spanish Fort, which lasted three weeks. They dug under the walls, and entered the fort at two o'clock in: the morning much to the surprise of the rebels. Mr. Mathews' command then marched to Montgomery, Alabama, which the rebels evacuated after rolling cotton in the streets and setting fire to it. In August they were ordered north to Chicago, where Mr. Mathews was honorably discharged August 9, 1865, and then returned to his home in Wethersfield. He entered the serv- ice as corporal, and was serving as com- missary sergeant when mustered out. He was never seriously wounded, but at Bakers Creek a ball passed through his clothing and cut his shoulder, and at Vicksburg an- other ball pierced his clothing and grazed
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the flesh. finally lodging in his cartridge belt. He kept the latter ball for several years as a sort of memento of his army life.
For two years after the war Mr. Mathews worked at his trade in Kewanee, and then followed farming in Kewanee, Burns and Wethersfield townships for sev- eral years. Subsequently he worked at the carpenter's trade and at various occupa- tions in the village of Wethersfield, but for some years has lived a retired life, enjoy- ing a well earned rest.
On the Ist of January, 1852, in Henry county, Mr. Mathews was united in marriage with Miss Maria Cline, who was born in Dutchess county, New York, but came here in 1845 during her girlhood with her brother. Her father, Abraham Cline, had died in the Empire state. Mrs. Mathews passed away August 4. 1890, and was laid to rest in the Wethersfield cemetery. By that union were born five children who are still living, namely: Cordelia, wife of James Wiley, of Wethersfield, by whom she has four children, May, Lillian, Laura and Frank G .; Edward. a mechanical engineer in the tube works at Kewanee ; Rosa, wife of George E. Dustin, of Wethersfield, by whom she has four children, Emory, Clara, George and Blanche; Melva, who is now her fa- ther's housekeeper; and John L., who is married and works in the shops of Kewanee. Jane Ann, the oldest of the family, died in early childhood.
Politically Mr. Mathews is a stalwart Republican, and has supported every presi- dential candidate of that party since casting his first vote for John C. Fremont in 1856. He has been honored with several local of- fices; was elected constable and township collector on the organization of Wethersfield
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