USA > Illinois > Henry County > The biographical record of Henry County, Illinois > Part 55
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has achieved is certainly well merited. His knowledge of his chosen occupation has been gained by experience, and he is to-day a thorough and systematic farmer. He al- sc raises stock for the market. For a num- ber of years he has filled the office of school director, and has always taken a commenda- ble interest in public affairs. Fraternally he is a member of Brooks Camp, No. 225, M. W. A. In religious belief he is a Lu- theran, while his wife holds membership in the Catholic Church.
SWAN T. OLSON.
Although an adopted son of America, the country has no more patriotic or loyal citizen than Swan T. Olson, who fought for the preservation during the dark days of the Rebellion, and is to-day an honored citizen of Woodhull, Illinois. He was born in Blekingelan, Lister Herrad Gammaes- torp Socken, Sweden, March 3. 1838, a son of Truedson and Celia (Trulson) Olson, who came to this country in 1867. The mother died November 8. 1867. at the age of about sixty years, and the father de- parted this life in 1895. at the age of eighty.
Coming to the new world in 1856, Swan T. Olson proceeded at once to Illinois, landing in Galesburg. Knox county, on the Ioth of August. He had the misfortune to break his leg on the first day spent in that city. After his recovery, in 1857, he commenced work on the farm of Judge Ferris, west of Galesburg, and remained in his employ for nearly three years. He con- tinned to work by the month as a farm hand until the Civil war broke out.
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Feeling that the country needed his services, Mr. Olson enlisted on the first call in 1861, but the company which he joined was not accepted at that time. In August of the same year he enlisted in Company C, Forty-third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, as a private, it being a Swedish company which was organized at Camp Butler. The regiment was assigned to the Western army, and was first engaged in skirmishing in Missouri, where they spent the winter. The following spring they went to Fort Henry, and from there to Fort Donelson, the battle being mostly over when they arrived at the latter place. They participated in the engagements at Shiloh, and then marched to Corinth, and was in the siege, and later went to Jackson and Bolivar, Tennessee. They were in the fight at Salem Cemetery, and were in a number of skirmishes around Somerville, Tennes- see. They were next ordered to Vicksburg, but the city surrendered before their arri- val. They had previously been sent to Me- chanicsburg to burn the town, and after some skirmishing accomplished their ob- ject, after which they camped at Snyders Bluff. They assisted in capturing Little Rock, Arkansas, and later were engaged in guard duty until mustered out. The regi- ment was veteranized and Mr. Olson was transferred to Company A. He received an honorable discharge at Springfield, Illinois, in December. 1865. and then returned to his home with a war record of which he may be justly proud. For a month he was confined in the regimental hospital near Little Rock by illness, and then sent to the general hospital at Little Rock, where he remained until able to rejoin his regiment.
After his return home Mr. Olson lived with his brother at Woodhull. Being in ill
health, he was unable to do any work for some time, but purchased eighty acres of land of his brother on credit. In the fall of 1866 he returned to Sweden, where he spent the winter, but the following spring again came to the United States, bringing with him his parents. The mother died, however, on the 8th of November, 1867. Our subject located upon his present farm and later added to it an adjoining tract, making a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres in Oxford township, which he improved and placed under a high state of cultivation. He continued to reside thereon until 1806, when he purchased a residence in Woodhull and has since made his home there. His long and arduous ser- vice in the army so impaired his health that for a quarter of a century he has been al- most helpless, and has had no use of his limbs for the past fifteen years, but uses a wheeling chair. As a sort of compensation he now receives a pension of seventy-two dollars per month from the government.
On the Ist of January, 1871, Mr. Olson married Miss Celia Hokenson, who was born in Sweden June 16. 1844. and was reared in the same neighborhod as her hus- band. She came to America and joined some relatives in Galesburg. Illinois, July 13, 1866. Her parents, Hoken Benson and wife, crossed the Atlantic in 1873 and set- tled in Kansas, where the father died. Later the mother made her home with Mrs. Ol- son in this county, where her death oc- curred May 27, 1892. Mr. and Mrs. Olson have five children living, namely: Esther, wife of John Franceen, who now operates Mr. Olson's farm: Emma and Hattie, both at home: Ella, wife of Leon Houghton, a farmer of Henry county : and Herman, a lad of fourteen years, who is attending the
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home school. Three children are deceased : Herman, who died at the age of fifteen months; Clotelia, who died at the age of three and a half years; and a son who died in infancy.
Mr. Olson cast his first presidential vote for Lincoln in 1864, and has always been a stanch supporter of the Republican party. He secured his naturalization papers after his return from the war, and filled the office of school director for a time. He and his family are members of the Swedish Lu- theran Church, and are highly respected and esteemed by all who know them.
WILLIAM O. ALLISON.
The subject of this review owns and successfully operates a fine farm of two hundred acres adjoining the corporate lim- its of Alpha, and is also actively identified with the industrial interests of that town. A native of Pennsylvania, he was born in Derry township. Westmoreland county, January 28, 1855, and is a son of Andrew J. Allison, whose birth occurred in Arm- strong county, that state. The latter is a cousin of Senator Allison, of Iowa, and a son of Squire Allison. In his native coun- ty the father grew to manhood and married Miss Susan Dible, who was born in the same county. Later they removed to a farm in Westmoreland county, where they still reside. He was a soldier of the war of the Rebellion serving as a member of Company E. One Hundred and Eleventh Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Ile was present at Lee's surrender.
William O. Allison was reared on the home farm and had but limited educational advantages in early life. In February,
1876, he came to Henry county. Illinois, and worked as a farm hand by the month for two or three years. At Alpha, on the farm where he now resides, he was married, December 17, 1878, to Miss Phylinda Pat- terson, who was born on that place. Her father, O. H. Patterson, was one of the early settlers of the county, and from a tract of wild land developed the farm now occu- pied by Mr. Allison. There he died March 3. 1895, and his wife passed away May 25, 1893.
O. H. Patterson was born in Auster- litz, New York, June 4, 1823, and he there grew to manhood on a farm within forty rods of the Massachusetts line. While still residing there he married his first wife. Coming west, he located in Galesburg. Illi- nois, where he engaged in the manufacture of chain pumps. After residing there about one year and a half, in the spring of 1851 he came to Henry county and purchased forty acres of what is now the homestead at Alpha, on which he built and otherwise improved. His first wife having died, he married Miss Margaret Taze, who was from Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania. To his original forty he added from time to time until he had one hundred and sixty acres, which he greatly improved, and on which he carried on general farming and stock raising. Politically he was first a Whig, then a Republican, and later a Pro- hibitionist. He was one of the first mem- bers of the Baptist Church at Alpha, and was active in church work, serving as dea- con and trustee of the church. He left only one child, Mrs. Allison.
After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. . \1- lison lived on the old homestead, and Mr. Allison assisted in carrying on the farm, which they now own, and which comprises
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two hundred acres. They also own another well-improved place of one hundred and twenty acres. In 1894 he erected a large and pleasant residence, and has also built a good barn. He has set out a good young orchard, has tiled the land and made many other improvements which add greatly to the value and attractive appearance of the place. He raises a good grade of stock, and also owns and operates the Alpha broom factory, which was started here about ten years ago, and Mr. Allison has been buying the stock until he now owns it all.
Mr. and Mrs. Allison have a family of five sons, namely : Ira D., Harry O., Fred G., Raymond .A. and Wesley Merritt. Since attaining his majority our subject has been identified with the Republican party, and is a stanch supporter of its principles. He served four years as justice of the peace of Oxford township, but has never cared for political honors, preferring to give his un- divided attention to his business interests. He is an active and prominent member of the Alpha Baptist Church, to which his wife also belongs: is now serving as deacon and trustee: is also a trustee of the Rock Isl- and Baptist Association : and served as su- perintendent of the Sunday-school for eight- een years. His life is exemplary in all re- spects, and he has ever supported those in- terests which are calculated to uplift and benefit humanity, while his own high moral worth is deserving of the highest commend- ation.
JAMES C. PIERSON.
The subject of this sketch, who is one of the thrifty and enterprising agriculturists of Henry county, is the owner of a good
farm adjoining the village of Atkinson. He was born in Wyandot county, Ohio, on the 10th of May. 1836, and is a son of Daniel Pierson, a native of Pennsylvania, who removed to Ohio in early life, and near Mansfield, that state. he was united in mar- riage with Ann Cook. They continued their residence in Ohio until after the birth of three of their children, the father being engaged in farming, and in 1855 came west, driving across the country to Bureau county, Illinois. He purchased a farm not far from Tiskilwa, on which he made a number of improvements, but finally soll that place and bought another farm nearer the village. On disposing of the latter prop- erty he took up his residence in Tiskilwa, where he spent his last years in retirement from active labor, dying there in 1880. Ilis wife survived him some years, and passed away in 1895. at the age of eighty- four. In their family were four sons and three danghters, all of whom reached years of maturity, namely: Elmira and Melissa A .. both residents of Tiskilwa; James C., our subject : Philemon, of Tiskilwa; Will- iam J., of Iowa : Charles H., of Frankfort, Kansas; and Laura, who died in 1899, at about thirty-seven years of age.
James C. Pierson accompanied his pa- rents on their removal to Bureau county, Illinois, in 1855. and remained with them until he attained his majority, when he rented land in that county and commenced farming on his own account. There he was married on the 4th of March, 1862, to Miss Maria Pickard, a native of Livings- ton, New York, and a daughter of Leander and Rebecca ( Kenney ) Pickard, who were born, reared and barried in that state, and also removed to Bureau county, Illinois, in 1855, locating near Tiskilwa. After farm-
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ing there for some time Mr. Pickard came to Henry county, and purchased a place near Atkinson, but now, at the age of nine- ty years, he is living retired with his daugh- ter, Mrs. Anna Clifton, in Atkinson. Mr. and Mrs. Pierson have one daughter, Cora Belle, at home. They have lost three sons, namely: Franklin, who died at the age of thirteen years: Melville and Jesse, who both died at about the age of two and a halt years.
During the Civil war Mr. Pierson en- listed in 1864, in Company I, One Hundred and Forty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and joined his regiment at Springfield, where it was organized. They did provost duty in this state, and Company I was stationed at Peoria most of the time. At the close of the war Mr. Pierson was mustered out and honorably discharged at Springfield, July 8. 1865.
Returning home, Mr. Pierson resumed farming in Bureau county, and later pur- chased a farm three miles west of Tiskilwa. but after operating it one year he sold that place and bought his present farm in At- kinson township. Henry county, which at that time was only partially improved. Here he has made his home since 1867, and in the operation of the farm he has met with marked success. He also owns a tract of one hundred and sixty acres in Butler county, Kansas, all of which 1 erty has been acquired through his own well-directed efforts.
Since casting his first vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1860, he has supported every presidential nominee of the Republican party, and has been an earnest advocate of its prin- ciples. He has been a member of the village board of Atkinson, but has never cared for political honors. Fraternally he is a member
of the Grand Army post of Geneseo. He is one of the leading citizens of his commu- nity, and commands the respect and confi- dence of all who know him.
PETER W. WARNOCK.
Among the more prominent and enter- prising farmers and stock raisers of Alba township who are of alien birth, is the sub- ject of this review, whose home is on sec- tion 29. He was born in county Down, Ire- land, on the 19th of October, 1828, and is a son of William and Jane ( Woods) War- nock, natives of the same county, who came 'to America in 1848, accompanied by one son and three daughters and settled in Burlington, New Jersey. In their family were the following children : Mary, who wedded Henry Prichard and died in Ire- land, while his death occurred in Alba township, this county; Jane, Eliza and Will- iam, who all died in Burlington, New Jer- sey ; Anna, who married Robert Mccullough and died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Peter W., our subject: Hugh, who was a member of the Eighty-first Illinois Volun- teer Infantry during the Civil war and was killed in the battle of Vicksburg; and James, who is represented on another page of this volume. The parents both died in Burling- ton, New Jersey: the father died at about seventy and the mother at about the same age.
Peter W. Warnock was reared and ed- ucated in his native land. He attended the National schools, where he paid one penny per week tuition and helped furnish the fuel. On their way to school the scholars car- ried a lump of peat under their arms, and
MR. AND MRS. P. W. WARNOCK.
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those who brought no fuel were not allowed near the fire. Later he attended a private school which cost one pound per quarter. In 1846, at the age of seventeen years, Mr. Warnock came to America alone, being one of the passengers on the Henrietta Mary, of Belfast, a sailing vessel, which at this time was six weeks and three days in crossing the Atlantic. From New York city, where he landed, he went to Burlington, New Jersey, where he joined a cousin employed as gar- dener by Bishop Doan, and during the four years our subject remained with him he thoroughly learned the art of gardening. For three months he served as gardener for Mr. Remington, president of the Perkio- men Mining Company, near Valley Forge, and subsequently assisted laying out the Odd Fellows cemetery at Philadelphia. In the fall of the same year he entered the employ of Owen Jones, of Lower Merion township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, with whom he remained two years, and later en- gaged in gardening at Camden, New Jer- sey. until coming west in 1857.
In the meantime Mr. Warnock was mar- ried. February 23, 1854, to Miss Elizabeth Cassels, who was born in New York, Au- gust 20, 1836, and is the only child of John and Jane (Adams ) Cassels, both natives of county Down, Ireland. The father, who was captain of a ship, was lost at sea in 1838, and the mother died in New York, in 1844. To Mr. and Mrs. Warnock were born the following children: (1) Joseph, born in Camden, New Jersey, November 17, 1854, died in Nebraska, August 25. 1888, unmar- ried. (2) William, born in Camden, New Jersey, January 31, 1857. married Lyda Steele, and they have ten children, Arthur, Ray, Maud, Gracie, Floy, Howard, Warren, Aroma, Lee and Lewis. (3) Peter \'., born
in this county, August 20, 1859, resides in Idaho. He married Edna Brainard and they have three children, Mabel E., Earl and Ruth. (4) Mary J., born January 1, 1862. is the wife of Fred Detro, of Mineral, Illinois, and they have two children, Milo and Naomi E. (5) Elizabeth A., born Au- gust 6, 1866, is the wife of Albert Steele, of Annawan. (6) Hugh J., born June 25, 1869, lives near his father in Alba town- ship. He married Phenny Hirshberger, and they have four children, Verne Joseph, Nina E., Carl C. and Liffard A. (7) Helena R., born Jannary 1, 1872, is the wife of William R. Frew, who lives in Ke- wanee. (8) John C., a dentist, born March 21, 1874, resides in Wyanet, Bureau county, Illinois. He married Lenora Pottorf and they have two children, Alice H. and Oscar W. (9) Hugh James, born April 9, 1864, died April 27. 1865. (10) George, born Oc- tober 28, 1876, died the same month.
On first coming to Henry county, Illi- nois. in 1857. Mr. Warnock located in Colona township, where he followed farm- ing until the spring of 1867, when he pur- chased eighty acres of land in Alba town- ship, for which he paid twelve and a half dollars per acre. This he soon broke and placed under cultivation, and has since added to it until he now has a tract of two hundred and forty acres. He takes a great interest in horticulture, and is extensively engaged in the raising of cattle and hogs, making a specialty of the breeding of Aber- deen Angus cattle, which are considered the best in the world for beef purposes. He owns "Ides Eclipser." a full uncle of the steer "Advance" that sold at the live stock show of 1900, at Chicago, to a New York firm, for one dollar and a half per pound. He has a very fine herd upon his
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place, and is able to command the highest prices for his cattle, and has a great many pedigreed cattle.
Mr. Warnock's political support is given the Republican party, and he has been called upon to fill the offices of school trustee and director, collector, assessor and justice of the peace, having held the latter office for a number of years. He and his wife are bothi earnest members of the Methodist Episco. pal Church, and are held in warm regard by all who know them.
OLOF OLSON.
For half a century Olof Olson has been a resident of Henry county, and is to-day one of the leading farmers of Weller township, his home being on section 26. He was born in Sweden, July 13, 1843, and came to the United States with his parents. Erie and Catherine (Johnson) Olson, in 1849. It was four months from the time that they left their old home in Sweden before they ar- rived in this county, their destination being Bishop Hill, where so many of their coun- trymen had settled. Cholera having broken out in the colony they proceeded to Gales- burg, where they remained until the epidemic was over and then located at Bishop Hill. The father, who was a miner and laborer by occupation, worked around Victoria for sev- eral years. lle died on a farm in Henry county, at the age of seventy-six, but his wife is still living at the age of eighty-three years. and now makes her home with our subject. Their other children were Jonas, who lives near Nekoma, Weller township; and a daughter, who died at the age of three years.
During their boyhood the sons remained
with their mother at Bishop Hill, and are in- debted to the schools of that place for their educational privileges. As soon as old enough our subject was employed by the colony as ox boy and herdsman, and con- tinued to work there until after the Civil war broke out. Feeling that his adopted country needed his services, he enlisted in 1865 in the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and remained in the service until hostilities ceased. He then re- sumed work as a farm hand in Weller town- ship, and was thus employed until his mar- riage.
On the 22nd of December, 1866, Mr. Olson wedded Miss Mary Malmgren, who was born in Bishop Hill, December 27, 1846, being the first child born in the colony. Her parents were Jonas and Anna Malmgren, who came with the second party to this coun- try. The mother died of cholera in 1849 when Mrs. Olson was only three years old, and one daughter died in infancy. Chris- tine E., born in Sweden, is now the wife of Olof Nordstrom, of Alabama. The father was again married and by his second union had two children, of whom one daughter died in infancy. Abraham grew to manhood and died in Kewanee in 1898. The mother. Mrs. Catherine Malingren, is living in the city at the age of eighty-four years, but the father is now deceased. He was always a very ac- tive man and a hard worker. and followed the blacksmith's trade in the colony. Mr. and Mrs. Olson have three children, namely : Emma, born May 19, 1868, taught school prior to her marriage, and is now the wife of Paul L. Johnson, of Bishop Hill, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this vol- ume; Jennie, born June 18, 1871, was a stenographer prior to her marriage, and is now the wife of E. L. Swanson, of Bishop
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Hill; and Henry, born May 30, 1875, assists in the work of the home farm.
At the age of ten years the children of the colony had to go to work, and Mr. Ol- son thus early began his business career. After his marriage he located upon his present farm, and to its cultivation and im- provement has since devoted his energies un- til he now has one of the most desirable farms of its size in Weller township, it consisting of one hundred and twenty acres. In con- nection with general farming he has also engaged in stock raising with good success, and is now one of the well-to-do farmers of the community. He has held some school offices but has never aspired to political honors. Socially he is an honored member of the Modern Woodmen camp at Bishop Hill and the Grand Army post at Galva, while his son Henry is also connected with the former fraternity and the Select Knights of America. Mrs. Olson is a consistent and faithful member of the Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church of Bishop Hill and as a Sunday-school teacher takes an active part in its work. The family is one of prominence in the community where they reside.
HERMAN KRAUSE.
Many of Henry county's most enterpris- ing and industrious citizens have come from beyond the sea, among them being Herman Krause, who is successfully engaged in agri- cultural pursuits on section 10, Burns town- ship. He was born in Germany, in 1840, a son of Louis and Augusta (Marshner) Krause, natives of the same country, where they continued to make their home until 1856, when they emigrated with their fam-
ily to America. The voyage was a long and tedious one, consuming seven weeks and six days. They sailed from Bremen and landed in New York, whence they came di- rect to Kewanee, Illinois. The father was a small farmer in his native land, and after following various occupations in Kewanee, he purchased forty acres of unbroken timber land on Mud creek, in 1864, and again turned his attention to agricultural pur- suits. Subsequently he sold that place to his brother August, and bought two eighty- acre tracts, one of which he paid for, while the other was paid for by our subject. The first home of the family was merely a small shanty, but was later replaced by a good frame residence. The father died in 1872. and was buried in Cosners cemetery. He was twice married and by his first union had two sons, William and August. The chil- dren by the second marriage were Herman, Fred, Tena and Albert. The mother of these is still living and now makes her home with her son Albert.
Being principally reared in the father- land, Herman Krause obtained his educa- tion in the schools of Germany. He ac- companied the family on their removal to this country, and remained with his father until he was married, December 25, 1863. to Miss Christina Peterson, who was born in Sweden, and came to the United States with her parents. Ten children bless this union, namely : Emma, now the wife of Louis Leonard, a farmer of Burns township; Frank, who married Minnie Snyder and is also engaged in farming in Burns township; John, who married and is engaged in farm- ing at Atkinson; Charles, who married Liz- zie Hepner and is a mechanic of Kewanee; Abner, who married Ella Whitehead and follows farming; Eddie, at home; Winnie,
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wife of Taylor Monte, a farmer: and Car- rie and Samuel, both at home. The mother of these children died and for his second wife Mr. Krause married Mrs. Louisa Swechemlyne.
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