USA > Illinois > Henry County > The biographical record of Henry County, Illinois > Part 34
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Kewanee, and Herbert is pursuing his studies in the Wethersfield school.
Mr. and Mrs. Kellogg began their do- mestic life on a farm in Bureau county, where they made their home for a few years, and in addition to his farming opera- tions he was engaged in business there for two or three years, and also operated a corn sheller for some time. In January, 1875, he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 9, Wethersfield township, Henry county, where he has since made his home. He has made many permanent in- provements upon the place, and has suc- cessfully engaged in general farming and stock raising, his specialty being short horn cattle.
Since attaining his majority Mr. Kel- logg has always affiliated with the Republi- can party and cast his first presidential vote for General U. S. Grant, in 1872. He has been a delegate to a number of county con- ventions of his party, and has taken quite an active part in public affairs, serving as a member of the school board some years; as assessor about eight years; and justice of the peace of Wethersfield for four years. In whatever position he has been called upon to fill he has proved a faithful and efficient officer. He and his family attend the Con- gregational Church of Kewanee, and are highly respected and esteemed by all who know them.
THOMAS BRADY.
Thomas Brady, deceased, was for many years a well-known business man of Ke- wanee as a wholesale and retail dealer in liquor and cigars. He was born in county Cavan, Ireland, May 3. 1845, and was a
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son of Patrick and Catherine Brady, who tral Musical College, is now the wife of spent their entire lives in that country. In their family were eight children but Patrick is now the only survivor.
It was in 1862 that our subject emigrated to America and took up his residence in Chi- cago, where he commenced work for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company. In their employ he came to Ke- wanee, and remained with them for seven years, at the end of which time the shops were removed to Mendota. He then em- barked in the saloon business and later en- gaged in the manufacture of all sorts of carbonated beverages and soft drinks, and conducted one of the most popular saloons of the city. He has paid as high as thirteen hundred dollars for freight at one time on a shipment of ice and he did a very large and profitable business for some years.
Mr. Brady was married in Kewanee, February 3, 1866, to Miss Rosanna Trainer, a native of county Tyrone, Ireland, and a daughter of James and Mary Trainer. The father, who was a farmer by occupation, was born in the same county, October 18, 1818, and died in that country in 1866, while the mother was born in 1819. and died in 1870. They were married in 1840 and were the parents of nine children : Owen, John, Kate, Mary, James, Mary, Patrick, Katie and Rosanna. Mrs. Brady is the youngest and only one of the family now living. She was eighteen years of age when in 1866 she and her sister, Mary, came to America, landing in New York. They came direct to Kewanee, where their brother John was living, and where Mrs. Brady has since made her home.
Unto our subject and his wife were born eleven children as follows : Katie .A., a noted singer and a graduate of the Chicago Cen-
Oliver P. Hamilton, of Nashville, North Carolina, and they have one child, Mary: John P., a prominent business man of Ke- wanee, is represented on another page of this volume ; Thomas is a resident of Butte. Montana; James died at the age of twenty months: Frank married Bertha Connell and resides in Kewanee ; Mamie, living at home, is also an excellent singer and a pupil of her older sister; Rosa died at the age of eleven months; Martha is now in Asheville, North Carolina; Willie plays on the piccolo, flute and piano, and is now pursuing his musical studies at St. Bede College, Peru, Illinois; Joe is atending school in Kankakee, Illinois ; and Morris is a student in the Kewanee schools. The family are all communicants of the Catholic Church, and Mrs. Brady is also a member of the Ladies' Aid Society.
Mr. Brady died May 13, 1895. He was a man of affairs and was represented in all enterprises which he believed would prove of benefit to the city and community in which he lived. He was a stockholder in the Henry County Fair Association, and was one of the most progressive and public- spirited citizens of this section of the city. In his death the community therefore lost a most useful and valued member of society.
THOMAS TAYLOR.
Among the brave men who went to the defense of their country during the dark days of the Rebellion was the gentleman whose name introduces this sketch, now re- siding on West Main street, Geneseo, Illi- nois. He was born in Albany, New York, May 18, 1846, and from that city came to-
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Illinois at the age of eight years with his parents, Thomas and Jane ( Westbury ) Tay- lor, locating in Chicago. The father was a native of Bambryshire England, and was twenty years of age on his emigration to the United States. For some years he was en- gaged in business as a carriage manufac- turer at Albany, and in 1853 moved to Chi- cago, where he followed the same occupa- tion. for about five years. In 1858 he ac- cepted the position of overseer and master mechanic of the convict prison in Little Rock, Arkansas, where he died of yellow fever the following year, leaving a widow and five children. Two children died pre- vious to his death. The mother long sur- vived her husband, dying at her home in Chicago, April 2, 1894, at the age of sixty- nine years. She was born in Greenbush, New York, of English parentage.
Thomas Taylor, our subject, is the oldest of the family of seven children, the others being: Sarah, born in Albany, is the wife of Albert Pfangle, of Aurora, Illinois ; Elisha, born in Albany, is engaged in the tinsmith business in Geneseo, Illinois; Har- riet died at the age of thirteen years; George, born in Chicago, is a carpenter and con- tractor of that city; Mary J., born in Aurora, died in infancy; and Mrs. Harriet Smith, died at the age of twenty-two years, leaving one child, Nellie, now deceased.
Our subject was principally educated at Aurora, Illinois, where he attended Clark Seminary, and after the Civil war he was also a student at the Soldiers' State College, in Fulton, Illinois. On the Ist of January, 1863, he enlisted at Aurora, in Company B. Fifty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry for three years or during the war, and was mustered into the United States service at Springfield, Illinois, as a private, under
command of Captain David J. Lynch and Colonel William F. Lynch. The regiment was assigned to the Second Brigade, Third Division, Sixteenthi Corps, Army of the Tennessee, and was in the folowing engage- ments : Nashville, Pleasant Hill, Fort De Russey, Meridian, Iuka, Jackson, Canton and. Yellow Bayou. At Iuka Mr. Taylor was wounded by a minie ball splitting his chin; at Mayfield, Kentucky, he was also slightly wounded in the right foot; while at Yellow Bayou he was very seriously wound- ed, May 18, 1864, by the explosion of a shell, breaking his collar bone and fractur- ing his shoulder blade. This necessitated the amputation of his left arm at the shoulder. For eight months Mr. Taylor was confined at Jefferson Barracks hospital, St. Louis, Missouri, at the end of which time he was transferred to Keokuk, Iowa, where he remained until August 25, 1864, when he was honorably discharged. He was in the service one year before his en- listment, acting independently, as he was under age.
After his discharge our gallant young soldier returned to Aurora for a short time and entered the Soldiers' College at Fulton, where he pursued a four years' course and was graduated. For the following five years he was employed as clerk for the Diamond Jo Steamer Company, and then came to Geneseo, in 1874, where he has since made his home. He attended a course of lectures at the Chicago School of Psychology, and was graduated at that institution May I, 1900. Religiously he is a member of the Unitarian Church of Geneseo, and frater- nally is connected with the Modern Wood- men Camp, No. 40, and the Home Forum. As one of the honored veterans of the Civil war, and a highly esteemed citizen of Henry
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county, he is certainly deserving of promi- nent mention in this volume.
May 21, 1886, and Thomas, Jr., born in the same place August 5, 1889. Both are now attending the local schools. Mrs. Taylor is also a Unitarian in religious belief and is a member of the Eastern Star Chapter of the Masonic fraternity and the Woman's Re- lief Corps of the Grand Army of the Re- public. The family is one of prominence in Geneseo.
Mr. Taylor was married in Geneseo, in 1885, to Miss . Augusta Priebe, who was born in Germany, and was eight years old when she came to the new world with her parents, William and Rosine ( Welke) Priebe, locat- ing in Geneseo. Both in his native land and for some years after coming to America, Mr. Priebe followed the carpenter's trade, but later purchased a farm in Geneseo township, this county, just outside the corporation. HARRY A. REHERD. and turned his attention to agricultural pur- suits. There he and his wife still reside. The subject of this review is one of the younger members of the Henry county bar, but his prominence is by no means measured by his years ; on the contrary he has already won a reputation which many an older practitioner might well envy. One must work to attain greatness in any walk of life, but in this profession, probably more than in any other, success depends upon individual efforts. They are the parents of eleven children, of whom the following are still living : William F., born in Germany, married Matilda Sim- ater, and resides in Minonk, Woodford county, Illinois. He is extensively engaged in the poultry business, having about two dozen branch houses throughout the United States and also an office in England, to which he ships large quantities of poultry. Mrs. Taylor is the second in order of birth Mr. Reherd is a native of Henry county, born on his father's farm southeast of Gene- seo, July 18, 1871, his parents being Jacob Keller Reherd and Lucy Louise (Ware) Reherd, who are presented on another page of this volume. The boyhood of our subject was passed amid rural scenes. He received his early education in the country schools where he was given the credit of being a diligent and faithful student. Later he at- tended the Geneseo Collegiate Institute, graduating therefrom in the year of 1800, being president of his class. He has twice hield the position of president of the Alumni Association of that institution and was one of the speakers at the corner-stone-laying at Atkinson hall, one of its school buiklings. in this family. Herman married Lizzie Warren and is engaged in the poultry busi- ness in Bradford, Stark county, Illinois. Pauline, born in Germany, is the wife of Frederick Glawe, who is engaged in the same business in Guthrie Center, Iowa. Min- nie, born in Geneseo, is now teaching in the public schools of that place. Louis is en- gaged in farming on the home place in Geneseo township. Matilda is also at home. Henry has charge of his brother's branch house at Peoria, Illinois. Those of the chil- dren now deceased are Emil, who died in Chicago at the age of twenty-three years; Hannah, who died in Geneseo, at the age of twenty-nine; and Otilla, who died in Ger- many, in infancy. Mr. and Mrs. Taylor IIe was for several years an efficient and have two children: May, born in Geneseo, popular teacher in the public schools in the
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H. A. REHERD.
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county, reading law during vacation, in the his campaign was a remarkable one. His office of Judge George E. Waite, of Geneseo.
In September, 1895, he became a student in the law department of the State Univer- sity of Iowa, at Iowa City, where, during his year's work, he was recognized as an able student and forcible debater. A year later he entered the office of the prominent law firm of Benjamin & Morrissey, of Bloomington, Illinois, and attended the ses- sions of the Bloomington Law School. On February 24, 1897, he was admitted, with high honors, to practice law by the supreme court of Illinois, and soon after entered the law office in Geneseo, of Judge George E. Waite, master in chancery of Henry county, where he practiced for nearly two years, when he opened an office for himself in Geneseo.
Personally Mr. Reherd is a very pleasant man to meet and impresses those who come in contact with him with his energy and sincerity.
Always diligent and painstaking in his legal work, he has built up a strong law practice which is rapidly increasing. He is possessed of a strong personality, and ease of manner, a good personal appearance, and splendid self control-qualities so desirable in a successful trial lawyer.
Mr. Reherd has taken a somewhat ac- tive part in campaign work, and has more than a local reputation as a public speaker. In the fall of 1900 he was the Democratic nominee for state's attorney for Henry county. During the campaign he proved himself to be the possessor of a powerful, well-modulated voice, a good command of language, and to have the ability and energy to deliver an eloquent, argumentative speech. Although he failed of election, yet
vote was the largest ever received by a Dem- ocrat for that county office. The majority of the opposition, was reduced by over a thousand votes.
Mr. Reherd is especially interested in the educational affairs of the county. He is a man of even temperament and intensity of purpose and has been a consistent mem- ber of the First Presbyterian Church of Geneseo since November, 1889. He has always taken an active interest in public affairs and supports all enterprises which he believes will prove of public benefit. He is one of the energetic capable young men of the county who lives not for himself alone but to also use his ability and his influence for the benefit of the community in which hc resides, and the county and state of which he is a citizen.
JACOB KELLER REHERD.
Among the practical, progressive and highly esteemed farmers of Geneseo town- ship, Henry county, is numbered Jacob Keller Reherd, who was born in Harrison- burg, Rockingham county, Virginia, Sep. tember 9, 1834. and is of the good old Pennsylvania Dutch stock.
His father, William Reherd, was born in York county, Pennsylvania, in 1792. He was a man of great energy, industry and thrift and highly esteemed by those who best knew him. At the time of his death he was ninety-two years old. William Reherd in his young manhood went to Harrisonburg, Rockingham county, Virginia, and en- gaged in business and in farming. He mar- ried Anna Keller, who was born in Harri- sonburg in 1802 and died in 1867. Hers
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was a life of great usefulness and unselfish devotion to their large family of children, seven of whom are still living, one having died in infancy and one at middle age.
The boyhood of Jacob Keller Reherd was spent in the Shenandoah valley in Vir- ginia, he receiving his education in the pub- lic and private schools of Harrisonburg. In 1856 he came to Henry county, Illinois, locating on the farm on sections 26 and 27, Geneseo township, where he now resides. At that time the land was all wild and un -- improved, but he soon broke the land, fenced it, and erected good and substantial buildings thereon, making a pleasant home for himself and family.
On January 10, 1865, at Geneseo, Mr. Reherd married Lucy Louise Ware, one of the four children of Joel and Lucy ( Cros- sett ) Ware.
Joel Ware was born in Swanzey, Che- shire county, New Hampshire. June 23, 1800, of Scotch ancestry, being a direct de- scendant of Robert Bruce, of Scotland. In 1860, he came to Illinois where he taught in the public schools of the county for many years, also engaging in farming. He died at Geneseo in April, 1897, at the age of eighty-eight years. Up to the time of his death he was very active both in body and mind and was a constant student of public events, being for his age an exceptional man in this respect.
Lucy ( Crossett ) Ware was born at Prescott. Massachusetts. December 16. 1813. and is still living in Geneseo, at the age of eighty-seven, while her mother lived at Amherst, Massachusetts, to the ripe old age of one hundred and two years. On her centennial birthday her photograph was taken, showing her to be well preserved and her hair to be still black as a raven's wing.
Lucy Louise ( Ware) Reherd was born at. Wellsville, Allegany county, New York, March 2, 1844. She is a woman of in- telligence and education; the possessor of quiet, friendly, helpful ways; a woman whose "children rise up and call her blessed."
Both Mr. and Mrs. Reherd are members of the First Presbyterian Church of Gene- seo, and were among the ones who founded the church in 1868. They are the parents of five children, all grown to manhood and womanhood : William Robert, who was, un- til recently, connected with the Geneseo Arena as editor; Herbert Ware, who mar- ried Louise M. McClure, of Mediapolis, lowa. He was pastor at Milan, Illinois, for four years, and is now pastor of Bethany Presbyterian Church of Detroit, Michigan; Harry Arthur, a prominent attorney of Geneseo, who is represented on another page of this volume ; Mary Louise, a student at the State University of lowa : and Fanny Fern, a student of music at Rock Island. Illinois; all of whom are capable, indus- trions young people.
Mr. Reherd is a conservative man of good judgment and of broad intelligence. A man unselfishly devoted to his family and who has ever taken an active interest in public affairs, especially educational and political. Since attaining his majority he has been a stanch supporter of the Democ- racy and is one of the most influential rep- resentatives of the party in his community. For eight years he represented his town- ship, which is strongly Republican, as as- sistant supervisor, being for that length of time an invincible opponent to the Republi- can nominees for that office.
Mr. Reherd represented his school dis- trict as director for eighteen years, was a
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member of the Geneseo township library board for several terms, was one of the pro- moters of the Geneseo Collegiate Institute, and a member of the board of directors of that institution for over ten years. He is one of the men who has helped to make the county what it is to-day, one of the richest agricultural districts in the state, and has taken an active interest in all that tends to its improvement and the advancement of its people.
JEFFERSON W. TAYLOR.
This well-known retired agriculturist of Geneseo, is an honored representative of one of the earliest families of this state, and is a true type of the energetic, hardy men who have actively assisted in developing and im proving this beautiful and fertile agricul- tural country. In fact Mr. Taylor is a na- tive of Illinois, his birth occurring near New Haven, White county, on the 22nd of February, 1818, before the state was ad- mitted to the Union. His parents were Ephi- raim Merritt and Ebbie ( Hayes) Taylor. The father was born on the Roanoke river in Rollin county, Virginia, and when about sixteen years of age moved with his parents tc North Carolina, and later to the Blue Ridge mountains in Tennessee, where our subject's grandfather, Richard Taylor, died. The father, Ephraim Taylor, then took care of his mother, and together they came to Illinois in 1812, locating in White county, where he died in 1845, at the age of fifty- seven years. He followed the accupation of farming throughout life, and both he and his wife were earnest and consistent members of the Baptist Church. She also died in White county about a year before his
death occurred. Their family numbered seven children, of whom our subject is the eldest. (2) Hudson R., a retired farmer and carpenter, of Geneseo, wedded Mary A. Porter, and has six children, William H., George H., Frederick L., Mary Ida, John J., and Daniel .A. (3) Sarah is the widow of Rodney Liunell, a farmer, and resides in Geneseo with her daughter. Mrs. Cann. She has two children: Lucy, wife of Thomas Cann, a meat merchant of Geneseo; and Mary, wife of James Searls, a farmer of Hanna township, this county. (4) Alsadie married Irson Olinger and both are now deceased : (5) Eliza married Ephraim Mer- ritt Stokes and they are also deceased. (6) Bradley H. died at the age of forty years. (7) William died in childhood.
Being the oldest son, Jefferson W. Tay- lor was obliged to work on the farm during his boyhood and youth, and was unable to at- tend school until twenty-two years of age. He remained with his parents in White county until twenty-five, when he and his cousin came up the Mississippi river on a steamboat to Davenport, Iowa. and after passing the winter with his consin at that place, he came to Henry county, Illinois, and bought a farm in what is now Hanna township. He also purchased the ferry. which crossed the river at Cleveland, known as the Cleveland ferry, which he operated about seven years. He then sold the ferry and gave his entire attention to farming for a time, but later embarked in the dry goods business at Colona Station, where he built a store and dwelling house. Not meeting with success in that enterprise, he soon re- turned to farming in Hanna township; where he had previously purchased five hun- dred acres of wild land, though he after- ward sold two hundred acres of that amount.
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After operating his farm for about eleven years he sold the place, taking a note and mortgage on a firm in Whiteside county. After living upon the latter place for five or six years, he disposed of it and came to Geneseo, where he has since led a retired life, enjoying a well-earned rest. He has a comfortable home on South State street, which is the abode of hospitality and good cheer.
In 1845 Mr. Taylor married Miss Alfred Linnell, a daughter of Rufus and Lucy ( Melvin) Linnell. Her father was born on an island between the United States and Canada, known as Linnell's Island, which was settled by his father, a native of France. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Taylor were born six children, as follows: (1) Ephriam Mer- ritt, named for his grandfather, is now en- gaged in the insurance business at Chariton, Lucas county, Iowa. He was in the regular army for five years, taking part in Indian warfare, and lost his health in the service. For his second wife he married Eva Lewis, of Wayne county, Iowa, and they have seven children. Jefferson W., Florence, Jen- nie, Elmer, Mande, Lewis and Blaine. (2) Mary married first Elijah Gove, a farmer. and carpenter of Hanna township, by whom she had two children, Clinton D. and one who died in infancy; and for her second husband she married Wilbur Hobson. a prominent farmer of Lucas county, lowa. by whom she had one chikl, Ernest. (3) George W., station agent on the Chicago. Burlington & Quincy railroad at Burling- ton, Iowa, wedded Mary Deem and had two sons, Frank and Edwin. (4) Rilla is the wife of George Bills, a farmer of Edford pownship, this county, and they have two Cukren, Archer and Roy. (5) Lisse is the wife of George Detrick, a laundryman of
Dixon, Lee county, Illinois. (6) The youngest died in infancy unnamed.
Mr. Taylor cast his first presidential vote for William Henry Harrison, in 1840, and continued a supporter of the Whig party until the organization of the Republican party when joined its ranks and has con- tinued to fight under its banner. He has held several township offices of honor and trust, and has always faithfully performed any duty devolving upon him whether pub- lic or private. For many years he was a member of the Masonic fraternity, and in early life was connected with the Methodist Church, but is now a Presbyterian. During the long years of his residence in Henry county, Mr. Taylor has become widely known, and his many excellent traits of character have gained for him the high re- gard of many friends.
HORACE J. COMBS.
Horace J. Combs, an active and enter- prising farmer whose farm of ninety-five acres is pleasantly located on section IO, Wethersfield township, within two miles of Kewanee, was born in Marshall county, Illi- nois, November 29, 1856, and is a son of Warner Combs, who was born in West Vir- ginia, in January, 1825. The paternal grandfather, Jacob Combs, was one of the early settlers of West Virginia, and later became one of the pioneers of Wyandot county, Ohio. There the father grew to manhood and married Miss Elizabeth Wood, a native of Wyandot county, and a daughter of Francis Wood, also one of its pioneer settlers. In 1852, Warner Combs came to Illinois and located in Marshall county, where he transformed a tract of
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