USA > Illinois > Livingston County > The biographical record of Livingston County, Illinois > Part 4
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COLONEL FRANK L. SMITH.
Colonel Frank 1. South, of Governor Tanner - staff, is one of the leaders of the Republican party m Livingston county, his large anquamtance and unbounded popu-
larity giving him an influential following. while his shrewd judgment of men and af- fairs make his counsel of value in all im- portant movements. In business circles he also takes a foremost rank, his success as a real estate dealer being all the more notable from the fact that it has been secured by his own judicious management.
This prominent citizen of Dwight. a member of the well-known firm of Romber ger & Smith, was born in that city Novem- ber 24. 1867. and is a son of Jacob J. and Jane E. ( Ketcham) Smith, natives of Ger- many and New York, respectively. The father was only four years old when brought to America by his parents, who located in Pennsylvania, but at the age of fifteen he came to Dwight, Illinois, which continued to be his home until 1891, when he removed to Chicago, where he died in 1804. His wife died nine years previous. In their family were three children.
Colonel Smith received his early educa . tion in the public schools of Dwight, and at the age of seventeen taught school in Round Grove township for about one year. after which he accepted a position in the freight department of the Chicago & Aton Railroad at Dwight, remaining with them ių a clerical capacity about four years. In 1887 he went to Chicago and accepted a similar position with the Rock Island Rail- road, being located at the Englewood sta- tion two years. Subsequently he served as cashier with P. H. Bolton & Company. com- mission merchants on South Water street. Chicago, until 1890, when he returned to Dwight and entered into partnership with W. H. Ketcham in the real estate and loan When that firm was dissolved April t. 1895. Colonel Smith became con- nected in business with C. 1 .. Romberger un-
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
der the name of Romberger & Smith, their specialty being real estate and real estate work, although they do a private banking business for the accommodation of friends and acquaintances. Without question the firm does one of the largest loan and real es- tate businesses in central Illinois, this fact being conceded by all other firms in their line. At present they are extensively inter- ested in Mississippi and Louisiana lands. Their holdings in the latter state are tim- ber lands, which the firm purchased with the view of enhancing their value, and in Jan- uary. 1900, they soll one tract of twelve thousand acres in Madison parish. This is desirable property, being accessible to steam- boats and the Vicksburg, Shreveport & Pa- cific Railroad. The Mississippi land is in the Delta country, and is also covered with hard wood timber, principally oak, pecan and gum. When cleared this will become ex- cellent cotton land. Besides this property. the firm has about fifteen hundred acres of fine farming land in Lee county, Illinois, which is well improved and under a high state of cultivation, and also operate largely in lowa and Indiana lands.
On the 8th of February, 1803. Mr. Smith was united in marriage with Miss Erminie Ahern, of Dwight, a daughter of John and Margaret Ahern, who are at pres- ent living in Ogden, Utah. Mrs. Smith is a member of St. Patrick's Catholic church, of Dwight, and the Colonel belongs to He- bron lodge. No. 75. K. P., and Dwight Camp. M. W. A. Since attaining his ma- jority he has affiliated with the Republican party, and has taken a very active and promi- nent part in political affairs, always attend- ing the county conventions and serving as a delegate to the state conventions three times. In the spring of 1900 he was offered
the nomination for state senator on his party ticket, but would not accept on account of his business interests, though the nomina- tion was equivalent to an election in his dis- trict, which is strongly Republican. Early in his career he served as city clerk in Dwight, but since then he has never been prevailed upon to accept office. In January, 1807. he was appointed colonel on Governor Tanner's staff, and in that capacity has par- ticipated in many important functions, being present at the inauguration of President Me- Kinley at Washington, D. C. in March. 1897: the unveiling of the Grant monument at New York; the unveiling of Logan's monument at Chicago ; the christening of the battleship Illinois at Newport News, Vir- ginią : and the dedication of the Illinois monument at Chattanooga. Tennessee.
LION. NELSON J. MYER.
There are in every community men of great force of character and exceptional ability, who by reason of the'r capacity for leadership become recognized as foremost citizens, and take a very important part in public affairs. Such a man is Mr. Myer. who is now so efficiently surving as superin- tendent of the Livingston county farm in Eppards Point township.
Ile was born in that township. July 30. 1851. and is a son of Judge Eli Myer. who was born and reared in Maryland. and at the age of eighteen years moved to lacking county. Ohio, locating near Newark. There he married, and continued to make it his home until after the birth of several of his children. In 1850 he came to Livingston county, Illinois, and purchased a tract of raw land in Eppards Point township, to
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
the cultivation and improvement of which he at once turned his attention. Later he bought more land and at one time owned five hundred and sixty acres, which he placed under a high state of cultivation and improved with a good set of farm buildings. He was a man of good business ability, and was one of the most prominent and influen- tial citizens of his community, being called upon to serve as associate judge, and town- ship treasurer and clerk for some years each. He died upon the old home place December 28. 1868, and his wife passed away June 5. 1875
Nelson J. Myer grew to manhood upon the farm and attended the local schols, but the knowledge there acquired has been greatly supplemented by reading and study in later years. For some time he and his brother operated the oldl homestead together. and in 1875 Mr. Moyer purchased eighty acres in sections 21 and 16, on which he lived and there made his home until 1895. when he took charge of the Livingston county farm. He has been very successful in the management of this place, and has gained an enviable reputation as one of its most efficient superintendents. When he took charge of the farm it had fifty-one in- mates, but the number has since been in- creased to eighty-four, which includes a number of insane, old and decrepit persons. In the management of the place and the care of the inmates, he has been greatly as- sisted by his estimable wife.
In this county. December 17, 1871, Mr. Myer married Miss Helen E. MeElhiney. who was born in Green county, Wisconsin. but was reared and educated in Stephenson county, Illinois. Her father was James MeElhiney. To our subject and his wife have been born two children : Nelson D. £
who is attending the Pontiac High School, and James O .. a student in the home school.
In his political affiliations Mr. Myer is a pronounced Republican, and cast his first presidential vote for General U. S. Grant in 1872. He has taken a very active and prominent part in political affairs, and has been elected to several offices, serving as township collector several years, and was justice of the peace for eight years from 1876. In 1881 he was elected supervisor, and filled that office continuously for ten years, during which time he was chairman of a number of important committees. Ile was elected to the state legislature in 1888. and so acceptably did he fill that office that he was re elected for another term, and was a member of the committees on state institutions, revenue and others. In 1893 he was again elected supervisor, was re- elected two years later and made chairman of the county board. He resigned that office to accept his present position as su- perintendent of the county farm. His offi- cial duties have always been discharged with a fidelity and promptness worthy of the highest commendation, and he is today one of the best-known and most popular citizens of the county. Religiously both he and his wife are members of the Center Methodist Episcopal church.
CHRISTOPHER W. STERRY.
Christopher W. Sterry, of Pontiac, was born in Somerset county, Maine. August 12, 1826. His father, Samuel Sterry, also a native of Maine, was born in 1782, married Ilannah Harding, in 1807, and servell through the war of 1812. dying at his home in Somerset county in 1827. When Christo-
C. W. STERRY.
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
pher was less than one year old. The pater- nal grandfather, David Sterry, was one of the heroes of the Revolutionary war, and died at his home in Maine at the advanced age of eighty-eight years and eight months.
The mother, Hannah Harding Sterry, was a devoted Christian woman. She was born in 1788, and died in Maine in 1871, when eighty-two years old. At the death of her husband she was left with five sons, the ellest less than eighteen years old and the youngest, Christopher, not a year old, to face the stern realities of life with but scant means of support. The devoted mother, after a heroic struggle for several years to keep her family of boys together, found it necessary to find homes for them. Thus the subject of this sketch, when but eight years of age, was placed among strangers, where he remained under harsh treatment and hard work, and but few op- portunities for school privileges for four years, when he could endure it no longer, and ran away. When fifteen he worked six months for twenty-five dollars, and at eighteen he went into Massachusetts and commenced work at twelve dollars and a half per month on a farm. Then he be- came engaged in manufacturing business, in which he continued until he came to Illi- nois in 1852, and located in Chicago, where he remained four years, having charge of the stone sawing works of A. S. Sherman & Company. In 1856 he was engaged as bookkeeper of the Sheffield Mining & Trans- portation Company, of Sheffield, Bureau county. It was in this year, 1856, that Mr. Sterry came into Livingston county and settled in Esmen township. where he bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres of raw prairie land, seven miles north of Pon- tiac. This he improved. erecting buildings
and making of it a pleasant home. on which he lived for many years, engaged in farm- ing and stock-raising. During this time he added one hundred and seventy acres to the homestead, which he still retains in the highest degree of cultivation, and became possessed of large business interests and property holdings in New Orleans, Louis- iana. The latter required so much atten- tion that he left his farm in 1884 and moved into Pontiac. Securing one of the finest lo- cations in the city on the north bank of pic- turesque Vermillion, Mr. Sterry erected on it one of the most elegant modern residences in Pontiac. It is located on East Water street, in the midst of spacious grounds ex- tending back to the river, and is shaded by grand old oaks and native forest trees. lIere he makes his home, though business as well as comfort calls him south during the win- ter months.
Soon after becoming a citizen of l'on- tiac, Mr. Sterry became identified with the business interests of the city, first by es- tablishing the jewelry, drug, book and wall paper firm of John S. Murphy & Company. .A little later he was one of the principal or- ganizers of the Pontiac Shoe Manufactur- ing Company, which was incorporated in 1889, taking one-third of the stock and fur- nishing financial backing to a much greater extent. He has been a director and presi- dent of the company from its organization. It is the chief industry of Pontiac, and is considered a prime factor in its prosperity and growth. Starting up in October, 1889, it has grown to a capacity of two thousand pairs of shoes per day, and furnishes em- ployment to three hundred men and women, the majority of whom are skilled workmen. The product of the factory is disposed of throughout the territory from Ohio to the
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Pacific coast on the west and the Gulf of Mexico on the south.
In 1897 Mr. Sterry purchased Riverside Park, adjoining the city on the east, and almost encircled by the Vermillion river, shaded by stately native forest trees, thus securing its use for the Pontiac Chautauqua Association, which he assisted in organizing. and in which he was the largest stockholder. Ile is also largely interested in the Pontiac State Bank, of which he has been director and vice-president since its organization. While he does not give special attention to the details of this business, yet the mere fact of his connection with its has served to increase the confidence of the business community in its conservative management. He is also president and largest stockhokler of the Riverside Irrigation Company, of Idaho, which controls some fifteen thousand acres of arable land in that state. About thirty miles of canal have been constructed and is in operation for irrigation purposes. In 18gy he erected the four-story office building on the southwest corner of Court House square. It is known as the Sterry block, and will doubtless be a landmark for years to come as its equal has not appeared in any city the size of Pontiac. It fronts eighty feet on Washington street and one hundred feet on South Mill street, and is four stories above the basement. It con- sists of two stores and the Pontiac State Bank below, and of sixty suites of offices above, which are made accessible by an elec- tric-power passenger elevator, heated by steam and supplied with city water and with electric lighting.
As a citizen Mr. Sierry has ever been ready to accept the responsibilities and per- form his duty in the most conscientious way. While as a matter of choice he would have
avoided the cares of public office, yet he has served many years in various official posi- tions. In Esmen township he served as school director, trustee, school treasurer. justice of the peace and supervisor. Ile was a member of the board of supervisors of Livingston county for several terms, and as such, aided in securing the location of the State Reform School at Pontiac.
Having been a strong advocate of anti- slavery principles even as an abolitionist, on the organization of the new party. he be- came a stanch Republican, and during the war of the Rebellon was an active member of the Union League. He continued to act with the party until the old issues were settled, and he became convinced that the new and greater issue of temperance coukl expect no real support from the old party. He then gave the Prohibition party his Eb- eral support and became an ardent supporter of that party.
Realizing in his own life what he missed through want of school privileges, he has been an ardent supporter of the public school system and also of higher education. 113 has been a supporter especially of New Or- leans University, of which he is a trustee, of Wheaton College, and of Illinois Wesleyan University.
In 1847 Mr. Sterry was married to Miss Elizabeth Day, who lived with him seven years, bearing to him three children. all of whom died in infancy, while her death oc- curred March 25, 1855.
In 1858 he married Miss Amanda Had- ley, daughter of the late James P. Hadley, a prominent farmer of Sunbury township. this county. One child was born, and lived but a short time, and the wife also was taken away after a union of a little more than one year. In 186t he was united in marriage
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
with Mrs. Mary C. Beeler. a daughter of John Ross, of Sangamon county, and she has been spared to live with him until the pres- ent time. To them have been born six children : Lida, wife of Dr. C. Il. Long. of Pontiac, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume; John L., the only son, a young man of great promise who died at the age of twenty years, in 1884, while attending the Illinois Wesleyan University at Blooming. ton, where he was preparing himself for the ministry; Hattie and Josephine, who both died in infancy; Mary E., wife of E. M. Kirkpatrick, a prominent grain merchant of Chenoa, Illinois; and Jessie, wife of Clar- ence B. Hurtt, now a resident of Roswell, Idaho, where he is serving as secretary of the Riverside Irrigation Company. They have also four grandchildren, Christopher Sterry Long, Mary Catherine Long, John Nelson Hurtt and Baby Hurtt.
Mr. Sterry early identified himself with the Methodist Episcopal church, and for many years has served in official capacity as steward, trustee and Sunday school super- intendent. While in Esmen he was instru- mental in securing the erection of the Es- men Center church. On moving to l'on- tiac he was immediately chosen as a trustee of the First Methodist Episcopal church, and on the destruction of the oldl church by fire in 1885. he aided in the building of the present church edifice. lle is president of the board of trustees, having held that office for a number of years.
For almost half a century Mr. Sterry has been a resident of Livingston county. On his arrival here the greater part of its rich land was yet unbroken, its inhabitants were few in number: widely scattered and the improvements were not of the best. He has certainly done well his part. Thor-
oughly honest and conscientious in all he does, he has won the respect and confidence of all with whom he has been brought in contact. and his lifework is worthy of emu- lation by the generations to follow.
CAPTAIN SILAS MILTON WITT.
Captain Silas Milton Witt, an honored veteran of the civil war and a prominent resident of Pontiac, Illinois, who is now liv- ing a retired life, was born in Lebanon. Boone county, Indiana. February 1, 1842. and is a son of Michael and Lohama ( Wall ) Witt, the former a native of Guilford coun- ty. North Carolina, of which state his fa- ther. a soldier of the Revolutionary war. was an early settler. The maternal grand- father, Elisha Wall. also fought for the in- dependence of the colonies. lle was a relative of Daniel Boone, who was a fre- quent visitor at his home, and they often hunted and trapped together. Later Mr. Wall went with Boone and a number of others to Kentucky, becoming pioneers of that state.
Michael Witt, our subject's father, grew to manhood on the home farm in his native state, and from there entered the service of his country during the war of 1812. sery- ing as captain of a company. Later he was commissioned colonel in the North Carolina militia, and after his removal to Indiana was an officer in the state militia there. Our subject well remembers seeing him on horseback on general training days. which at that time were the important days of the year. Soon after his marriage Mi- chael Witt and his wife removed to the ter- ritory of Indiana, and she was the first white woman to locate in Lebanon, the county
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
seat of Boone county. There he engaged in farming for a time, and after the town was started opened out an old fashioned general store, hauling his goods first from Cincinnati and later from Indianapolis and Lafayette. He became one of the successful men of that locality, owning large tracts of land. and part of the town of Lebanon was built on the first three hundred and twenty acres which he purchased. He held much of this property until his death. the land later be- coming very valuable. As a Whig he took quite an active and prominent part in local politics, and held a number of offices, in- cluding those of county judge and coroner. lle left the south on account of slavery. and also because he believed that men of moderate means could do better in the north. Both he and his wife are devout members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and his home was always the stopping place for the ministers. His first house in Lebanon was a sort of hotel for travelers journeying be- tween Lafayette and Cincinnati, and in those days he was the man of the town. He died there March 2, 1861, and was buried the day President Lincoln was first inaugurated. Our subject's mother died in Dwight, this county, in 1874. They left a family of six- teen children, of whom our subject is the youngest. Both had been married before, the mother's first husband being a Mr. Blair, of Kentucky.
Captain Witt received a good practical education in the schools of Lebanon, and aided his father in the work of the farm and store until the civil war broke out. On the night of the surrender of Fort Sumter. .April 13. 1861, he enlisted for three months as a private in Company 1, Tenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, at the president's first call for seventy-five thousand men. They
joined General MeClelland in West Vir- ginia, and with him participated in the bat- tle of Rich Mountain, July 11, which was followed by the engagement at Phillippi Tunnel Hill. When his term of enlistment expired. Captain Witt returned home and was made recruiting officer at Lebanon. where he helped recruit the Tenth, Fortieth, Eighty-sixth and One Hundred and Six- teenth Indiana Regiments, raising two com- panies for the Eighty-sixth. In the spring of 1863 he enlisted as orderly sergeant in Company G. One Hundred and Sixteenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry, and was first ordered to Dearborn. Michigan, to guard the arsenal there during the time of the Vallan- dingham trouble. Crossing the lake to Cleveland, he proceeded to Camp Nelson, Kentucky, where he joined his brigade, and later was through the east Tennessee and Knoxville campaign, capturing Cumberland Cap the last time. This was followed by the siege of Knoxville and the engagement at Walker's Ford and Tazewell. Tennessee. where his regiment was on the extreme left of Burnside's army. In March, 1864, he was mustered out and appointed deputy provost marshal with headquarters at La- fayette, Indiana, where he helped the deputy provost marshal organize a regiment. then went to Indianapolis, where he secured arms and ammunition and started in pursuit of Morgan. He spent sixty days on this expedition, and assisted in capturing some of Morgan's forces at Mt. Vernon. When the president called for troops to push the Atlanta campaign, he helped organize Com- pany E. One Hundred and Thirty-fifth In- diana Volunteer Infantry and was commis- sioned second lieutenant. They were on duty in Kentucky, Alabama and North Caro- lina, and participated in the battle of Look-
.
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TIIE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
out Mountain. Captain Witt was always with his regiment with the exception of three days when ill with fever after the bat- tle of Tazewell, but was never in the hos- pital. After being mustered out in the fall of 1864 he returned to Lebanon, Indiana.
At Lebanon Captain Witt was married, November 10, 1864, to Miss Maria L. Lan- don, a daughter of Myron and Martha (Jeffers) Landon. Her father removed from Ohio to Indiana at an early day, and was one of the first teachers in his locality. He was a prominent Mason. He died when Mrs. Witt was only a year old and her mother died two years later. Their eldest son, Albert Landon, was a prominent mem- ber of the Humane Society, of Chicago, and was the publisher of the Humane Journal until his death, a period of over thirty years. Mrs. Witt spent her early life in Shelbyville, Indianapolis and Lebanon, Indiana. To the captain and his wife were born three children, namely: Hattie A., now the wife of L. S. Baldwin, of Noblesville, Indiana ; Jessie M., wife of Philip Piper, a dentist of Pontiac; and Albert M., at home, who has been a member of the National Guard for three years, and served as corporal in Com- pany F. Third Illinois Volunteer Infantry, during the Spanish-American war.
On the 13th of November, 1864, Cap- tain Witt removed to Dwight, Illinois, where he engaged in the real estate business one year, dealing first in farm and later in village property. In 1866 he was appointed marshal of that town, and held the office thirteen years; was also deputy sheriff ten years and constable nineteen years. For a year and a half he engaged in the harness business, but at length was forced to give it up as his various official duties required his entire time. At the same time he also held
other local offices, such as school director. street commissioner, and was fire marshal fourteen years. As a Republican he has always taken an active part in political af- fairs. In 1866 on the first organization of the Grand Army Post at Dwight, under the old dispensation Captain Witt became one of the charter members, but the organiza- tion afterward went down. Since 1880 he has been a member of T. Lyle Dickey Post, of Pontiac, of which he is now past com- mander, and which he has represented in the state encampment, and was also elected to represent his district to the national en- campment at Chicago in the fall of 1900. He was a member of Dwight Lodge, I. O. O. F., and admitted to Pontiac Lodge, No. 262, in which he has filled all the chairs. He is also a member of the encampment, and was the organizer and captain of the Canton for three years. For many years he was an active member of the Independent Order of Good Templars, and was an officer in the same until the lodge disbanded.
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