USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > The biographical record of Whiteside County, Illinois.. > Part 2
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On the 12th of September, 1876, Mr. Bush married Miss Fannie E. Eaton, of Chicago, and they removed to Osage, Iowa, where he accepted the position of professor of languages in the Cedar Valley Seminary, of which his brother was at the head, while his wife had charge of the music. She had received excellent instruction both in in- strumental and vocal music and for a time played the pipe organ in several of the Chicago churches. For two years Mr. Bush was pastor of the Baptist church at Cedar Falls, Iowa, and at Waukegan, Illinois, for eleven years. The latter was a most satis- factory pastorate. There had been trou-
ble in the church, but under his leadership the congregation again became united and the church prosperous. The house of wor- ship was repaired, the membership was largely increased, and it proved a very suc- cessful and pleasant pastorate.
Mrs. Bush being in poor health the doc- tors advised a trip to the coast, and she and her husband went to Portland, Oregon, where he was pastor of the Emanuel Bap- tist church for three years. In search of a better climate they went to the beautiful city of Oakland, California, and doing the two years spent at that place Mr. Bush was assistant pastor of the First Baptist church and in charge of the city mission work. While there he received a call from the church at Morrison, Illinois, and finally ac- cepted it in May, 1895. He has built up the membership here from one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and eighty and has thoroughly organized every department of the church work .- The church edifice was extensively repaired in 1898 and is now in excellent condition. But any estimates of material progress give no indication of the great work he has done in molding and shaping to higher issues the lives of those to whom he has given his best thought. His life is entirely devoted to the ministry, and he is revered and loved, not only by his own congregation but by all who know him.
W TILLIAM D. RICHARDS, a retired carpenter and honored citizen of Morrison, where he has made his home since April, 1871, was born near Easton, Pennsylvania, November 12, 1827, and is a son of Isaac R. and Hannah Chrisline, Richards, also natives of that place. There the grandfather Richards spent his entire
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
life. He was of English descent, but our subject's maternal ancestors were of German extraction. About 1848 Isaac R. Richard brought his family to Stephenson county, Illinois, where he purchased a farm and en- gaged in agricultural pursuits until called from this life at the age of seventy-seven years. In early life he followed the car- penter's trade. The wife and mother died at the home of a son near Lena, Illinois, in 1897, aged eighty-three years. Both were members of the Evangelical church, and were held in high regard by all who knew them.
Our subject was educated in the schools of Easton, Pennsylvania, and there learned the carpenter's trade. On the 15th of April, 1853, he arrived in Stephenson county, Illinois, and located near Davis, where he worked at his trade until entering the army. In 1861 he responded to his country's call for troops, enlisting in Com- pany G, Forty-sixth Illinois Volunteer In- fantry. He was in the service four years, being on duty in Tennessee, Kentucky and as far south as New Orleans. He partici- pated in the battles of Fort Donelson and Pittsburg Landing, and was then detailed to take care of the commissary department, being stationed much of the time on Presi- dents Island until he veteranized. He then went to New Orleans and up the gulf to Fort Gaines, where with his command he remained until the battles of Fort Blakely and Spanish Fort, when they went to Mo- bile. During this time it rained almost in- cessantly and they had no tents or shelter of any kind. They were next sent to Sel- ma, Alabama, to guard some meat the rebels had failed to secure, and divided it among the darkies and poor people, after which they returned to Mobile and New
Orleans, then up the Red river to Shreves- port, Louisiana, where they were finally discharged February 12, 1866. Mr. Rich- ards returned home by way of the Missis- sippi river, and was mustered at Springfield, Illinois. After some time spent in Stephe- son county, he removed to Butler county, Iowa, where he lived for three years and a half, and then traded his farm there of two hundred and twenty acres, for his present home in Morrison, where he located April 15, 1870. Here he engaged in contracting and building until ill health forced his re- tirement from active labor.
On the 15th of April, 1855, Mr. Rich- ards was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Epley, of Davis, Illinois, who was born in Dauphin township, Centre county, Pennsylvania, April 24, 1835. Her father, Benjamin Epley, was a native of Berks county, the same state, where he made his home until attaining man's estate and then moved to Centre county, where he wedded Miss Salome Heckman, who was born in the house where their marriage was celebrated. The first thirteen years of their married life were passed in Centre county, and from there removed to Stephenson county, Illinois. The father engaged in preaching for the Evangelical church until 1851, when failing health caused his re- tirement and he turned his attention to farming. He was one of the first ministers of his denomination in Stevenson county, and the church which he established grew to be quite large under his pastorate. He also traveled over the country on horseback, preaching at various places. In 1873 he left the farm and moved to Davis, and from there went to Waverly, Iowa, in 1885. He died in the latter place in 1896, and his wife passed away November 15, 1897. She
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was the daughter of John Heckman, a and was the oldest in a family of ten chil- farmer of Centre county. Mrs. Richard's dren whose parents were Richard J. and Betsey (Burns) Tilton, also natives of that state. In connection with farming the fa- ther operated a sawmill on his place in Lick- ing county for many years. At a very early day he and his son William B. came to Illi- nois and took up government land in Ogle and Carroll counties, and also in Clyde township, Whiteside county, securing in this way about twelve hundred acres of land. The father became quite an extensive land owner, having at one time between two and three thousand acres of land, and he was a stock raiser of considerable prominence. His death occurred in 1856, the result of being kicked by a horse. His wife survived him many years, dying March 26, 1896, at the age of eighty-four. paternal grandfather was John Epley, who was born in Berks county, that state, and died young. Of the ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. Richards only three are now living. Three were born before our subject entered the army, namely: David A., now a farmer of Cherokee county, Kansas, who married Mary Angel, of Iowa, and has one child bya former marriage, R. Roy; Levi E., who died at the age of three years; and Daniel L., who died at the age of ten years. The others are Benjamin Franklin, who was born while his father was in the service and died at the age of eleven months; Jacob N., who died at the age of five years; Ellen S., who died in Iowa, at the age of four months; George W., who was born August 30, 1868, and is now a resident of Freeport, Illinois; John H., who was born December 17, 1869, and is also a resident of Freeport; Salome, who was born May 5, 1871, and is now de- ceased; and Mary E., who was born in July, 1875, and is also deceased. Formerly Mr. and Mrs. Richards were members of the Evangelical church, but as there is no church of that denomination in Morrison, she has united with the Methodist Episco- pal church. Both are earnest, consistent Christian people, and Mr. Richards believes in taking the Bible as his guide and not the word of man.
W TILLIAM B. TILTON, deceased, was one of the honored early settlers of this county, as well as one of the leading citizens and representative farmers of Clyde township, his home being on section 3, where his widow still resides. He was born in Licking county, Ohio, July 20, 1832,
William B. Tilton grew to manhood in his native state, and was provided with good educational advantages, attending first the common schools of Licking county, and later Granville College. He was about twenty years of age when he first came with his father to Illinois, making the journey in a one-horse wagon, but after four or five months spent here, he returned to Ohio, while his father remained in this state. In 1854 our subject again came to Illinois, and purchased one hundred and sixty acres of raw prairie land in Clyde township, White- side county. He was married in 1860 and for three years thereafter he made his home in his native county, but at the end of that time he took up his residence permanently in this county. He engaged in stock raising quite extensively, shipping two or three car loads of stock each year, but his principal business was that of loaning money. At the time of his death he owned the home farm of two hundred and forty acres in Clyde
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
ness activity. Of this class the subject of this sketch was a notable representative, his financial operations assuming breadth and scope which indicate the determination, persistence, sound judgment and power of combination which distinguish the born leader of men.
Mr. Smith was born in Templeton, Massachusetts, February 10, 1819, and was of good old Puritan stock. The early home of the family was in Ipswich, Massachusetts, but our subject's grandparents, Nathan and Nancy (Lamson) Smith, were both born in Mt. Vernon, New Hampshire, the former in 1777, the latter in 1782. They had only two sons, Nathan, Jr., and Leander. The father, who was a woolen manufacturer and also a farmer, removed to Templeton, Mas- sachusetts, at an early day, and in 1838 to Royalston, that state, where he died in 1849, his wife in 1854.
Leander Smith remained upon the home farm until sixteen years of age, when he entered the academy at New Ipswich, New Hampshire. He acquired a good elementary education and at the age of seventeen com- menced teaching school, a profession which he followed for six years. In the meantime he took up the study of medicine and matriculated at the medical department of Dartmouth College, from which he was graduated with the degree of M. D., in 1842, at the age of twenty-three years. For three years he was successfully engaged in prac- tice at Richmond, Vermont, but not being satisfied with the scope of profession and in order to extend his business relations he went to Tioga county, Pennsylvania, where the Inmber resources of the place were being developed and it seemed to offer a more promising field for the exercise of abilities and ambition such as Mr. Smith
possessed. He located at Elkland, and from 1845 to 1853 was identified with varied interests in the county. His pro- fessional skill won him a large and lucrative practice, and his energy and financial ability were brought to bear on other lines of business which he conducted with all the ardor demanded by the exigencies of the location. He entered heavily into the lumber business and was interested in mer- cantile trade of considerable proportions.
Exciting reports of the gold discoveries on the Pacific coast reached him and in March, 1849, Dr. Smith joined the argonauts of Cal- ifornia. At that time Sacramento was a village of tents and San Francisco con- tained but a few houses. The government was very poor as the rapid influx of all kinds of people set aside law and order and each man seemed to rule himself. Mr. Smith engaged in prospecting on the north fork of the American river for a year and rendered efficient aid to the administration of measures to secure protection of the peo- ple, the government being in a formative condition and dependent on the efficiency of authorities constituted irregularly in the absence of a systematic government.
After a year spent in California, where he met with good success, Dr. Smith re- turned to Pennsylvania in 1850 and resumed his former duties and business relations. Under the same impetus which led him to that state, he went to Vinton, Benton coun- ty, Iowa, in 1853, established practice and was soon extensively identified with the gen- eral interests of the place. Ile owned a large tract of government land, upon which he platted a part of Vinton. A year later he went to Lyons, Iowa, and engaged in practice and business there until 1856, when he came to Fulton, Whiteside county, Illi-
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
nois. Here he devoted his time to financial projects and enterprises, and was extensive- ly engaged in the manufacture and sale of lumber for ten years. He purchased large tracts of government land in Wisconsin and Minnesota, from which he cut the timber, and then sold the land to the settlers. In 1856 he established the banking house of Smith, Root & Company, of which he owned a controlling interest until 1864, in which year the financial institution of L. Smith & Company was established at Mor- rison. In 1865 the latter was converted into the First National Bank, of which he was president and A. J. Jackson, cashier. In 1876 he became a resident of Morrison, and two years later founded the banking house of Smith & Mackay. Mr. Smith was also interested in the real estate business and owned and helped improve two thou- sand acres of land in this county besides several thousand acres in Iowa, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Minnesota. He was con- ceded to be at the head of finances in this county.
On the 18th of August, 1843, at Rich- mond, New Hampshire, Mr. Smith married Miss Elizabeth Parkhurst, a daughter of Dr. John Parkhurst, of that place. She died at Elkland, Pennsylvania, January 31, 1851, and he was again married, May 2, 1855, his second union being with Miss Dolly A. Allen, a native of Cortland, New York. To them were born six children, namely: Alice; Frank L. ; Lewis W. ; Ed- ward A., a member of the firm of L. Smith & Son, and now president of the First Na- tional Bank of Morrison; and Harry W.
In 1868, Mr. Smith again visited Cali- fornia and noted the remarkable changes that had taken place in that state since his mining operations there. Socially he was a
member of the Masonic lodge at Fulton. He was reared a Jeffersonian Democrat and supported that party until 1848, when he became identified with the Free Soil inove- ment and voted for Van Buren. In 1856 he espoused the cause of the Republican party and continued one of its earnest sup- porters. In religious sentiment he favored the Baptist church, but was tolerant of all bodies based on Christianity and was gener- ous to all. He took quite an active and prominent part in public affairs, and while at Fulton was elected to the state Legisla- ture in 1862 and again in 1864. He was an able legislator, was a member of the committees on banks, corporations, state institutions and others of less importance, and introduced a number of important bills, one of which was for the building of the Rockford, Rock Island & St. Louis Rail- road, now a part of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy system. For a number of years he was a member of the city council of Ful- ton and also city treasurer, and was alder- man in Morrison for a time. On the organ- ization of the College of Northern Illinois at Fulton, he was made a member of the board of trustees and was treasurer of the same until his death, with the exception of one year, having entire charge of its endow- ment fund. He died August 7, 1889, hon- ored and respected by all who knew him.
JASON C. BOOTH, the present com- J mander of Alpheus Post, G. A. R., of Morrison, is one of the honored veterans of the Civil war whose devotion to his coun- try was tested not only by his service on the field of battle but in the still more deadly dangers of a southern prison.
This gallant soldier was born in Sin-
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clairsville, Belmont county, Ohio, March 17, 1843, a son of Caleb Evans and Lu- cinda (Cobb) Booth. The father was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, No- vember 7, 1807, and at an carly day re- moved with his father, Edmond Booth, to Ohio. The latter came to this country as a British soldier during the Revolutionary war and took part in the battle of Bunker Hill, but after serving for two years with his countrymen, he was captured by the American forces and later joined the Sixth Maryland Regiment, as a member of the company commanded first by Captain Har- vest and later by Captain Duff. After the war he settled in Cecil county, Maryland, where all of his children were born with the exception of the father of our subject. From there he removed to Lancaster coun- ty, Pennsylvania, later to Sinclairsville, Ohio, and finally to Nashville, Holmes county, Ohio, where he died in 1836, at the advanced age of ninety.two years. Throughout life he worked at his trade as a stocking weaver. In Sinclairsville, Caleb E. Booth, father of our subject, learned the carpenter's trade, which he followed until two years prior to his death. For some years he made his home in Wheeling, West Virginia, and was a man of consider- able prominence in his community. He served as justice of the peace for two years, and was depnty sheriff of Sinclairsville. He died in March, 1854, but his wife long survived him, passing away in Morrison, Illinois, March 9, 1891. She was born in Columbiana county, Ohio, October 13, 1811, and was a daughter of Pleasant and Amy (Terrill) Cobb, the former born No- vember 5, 1760, the latter November 8, 1766. Her father was quite well off, hav- ing had large landed interest in Columbiana
county, and on his removal to that place from Richmond, Carolina county, Virginia, took with him a number of slaves. Mrs. Booth was reared in the Quaker faith, but after her marriage both she and her hus- band united with the Methodist Episcopal church.
As a contractor the father lived in dif- ferent places, but principally at Wheeling, and in the common schools of those places our subject was educated. On the Presi- dent's first call for three months men to assist in putting down the rebellion he en- listed in Company E, I irst West Virginia Volunteer Infantry, under Col. B. F. Kelley, and later re-enlisted for three years in Com- pany A of the same regiment, commanded by Col. Joseph Thoburn. He was all through the campaign in the Shenandoah valley, his first engagement being the bat- tle of Winchester, where Stonewall Jack- son was defeated. At Port Republic he . was taken prisoner, June 9, 1862, and after being confined for three months in the prison at Lynchburg, Virginia, was sent to Belle Isle, where he was finally liberated. He was then taken twelve miles to Aikens Landing, on the James river, by boat to Baltimore and by railroad to Washington, D. C., where the soldiers were given a feast. Mr. Booth's health was entirely broken down and he was ill with typhoid fever in a hospital at Washington for some time, after which he was sent to the con- valescent camp at Alexandria. He finally returned to Wheeling on parole, and spent a short time at home before rejoining his regiment at North Mountain, West Virginia, where they remained from December, 1863, until Lee made his raid, in June of the fol- lowing year. They crossed into Maryland, fording the Potomac near Ilancock at night,
.
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
and arrived at Petersburg about the Ist of September. While there our subject was one of two hundred detailed, September 10, 1863, to capture a small band of rebels en- camped near Moorfield, and in the engage- ment was wounded in the left thigh .. After lying for some time where he was injured he was taken to the home of a rebel and it was two days before his wound was dressed. His brother, who was with him, finally got a man to take him to a hotel in Moorefield, eleven miles outside of the Union lines. Later he was taken by wagon to Peters- burg, a distance of eleven miles. At this time his leg was again broken and he came very nearly losing the limb. On the ap- proach of General Early with his army the other soldiers left, leaving our subject alone with his mother, who had secured a pass through the lines and had come to care for him. They were unmolested by Early, and when the Union troops returned they were taken in an ambulance to New Creek. Mr. Booth was given a thirty days' fur- lough and returned to Wheeling. At the end of that time the surgeon would not allow him to rejoin the regiment, and as his term of enlistment expired September 19, he was discharged October 19, 1864.
In 1865, Mr. Booth went to Columbiana county, Ohio, where he attended school for a time, and then started to learn the car- riagemaker's trade, but on account of his injured leg he was unable to follow the same. He lived in Alliance, Ohio, until 1866, then in Canton until 1872, when he removed to Cleveland, the same state. With his brother he came to Prophetstown, Illinois, but at the end of a year returned to Cleveland, and did not locate permanently in this state until 1876, when he brought his mother to Prophetstown. Subsequently
he lived for a time in Como, and spent three months in Chicago, after which he came to Morrison, where, in 1880, he purchased the residence which has since been his home. He was married in 1889, to Miss Isabel Hopton, of Barnesville, Ohio, who was born near Woodsfield, Monroe county, that state, and is a daughter of Edward Hopton, of Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Booth both hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal church, and he affiliates with the Repub- lican party and is a prominent member of Alpheus Clark Post, G. A. R., of which he is now master.
H ENRY E. HELMS. Only those lives are worthy of record that have been potential factors in the public progress, in promoting the general welfare or advancing the educational or moral interests of the community. Mr. Helms was ever faithful to his duties of citizenship, and by the suc- cessful conduct of his business interests not only promoted his individual success but also advanced the general prosperity.
He was born in Hanover, Germany, in I833, and came to America in 1853, settling in Whiteside county, Illinois, two years later. On his arrival in the new world he was not only without capital, but was un- familiar with the English language, but be- ing ambitious, enterprising and energetic, he soon acquired an excellent knowledge of English, and before his death became one of the prosperous and influential men of his community.
In 1860, Mr. Helms was united in mar- riage with Miss Lucy Gould, who was born in Lexington, Massachusetts, March 3, 1838, a daughter of Thomas C. and Sarah (Locke) Gould, also natives of that state. The
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THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD).
Locke family is of English origin, and was founded in the new world at a very early day, ancestors of Mrs. Gould having been buried at Lexington, Massachusetts, since 1669. Mrs. Helni's paternal grandparents were Thomas and Abigail (Chase) Gould, also representatives of old Massachusetts families. In 1837 Thomas C. Gould came to Whiteside county, leaving the family in Massachusetts, bnt in 1840 he returned to Massachusetts and started west with the family, arrived here in January, 1841, and took up their residence in Whiteside county, Illinois, where the father afterward purchased a tract of land and successfully engaged in farming. Upon that place he died in 1876, and his wife passed away in 1897, honored and respected by all who knew them. In their family were four chil- dren, two sons and two daughters, namely: Thomas C., a resident of Lyndon township, Whiteside county; Sarah L., widow of John Hazard, by whom she had two children, Jessie, wife of William Lohr; John G., a resident of Rock Island; Lucy, now Mrs. Helms and Harvey, who died in infancy. Mrs. Helms was only three years of age when brought by her parents to this county, and here she grew to womanhood and was married. Of her five children, one died in infancy; Albert E. married Samanta L. Crits and lives in Arizona; Emily T. is the wife of Charles A. Hamilton, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume; Cora E. is the wife of William Millikan, of Joplin, Missouri, and they have one child, Emily T. ; and John W. lives with his brother-in- law, Mr. Hamilton; Bertha, daughter of Kate and Deidrick Brandes, lived with Mrs. Helms from the age of eight years until she was married, in June, 1899, to H. W. Bald- ridge, a minister of Indiana. She was edu-
cated at a normal school and engaged in teaching prior to her marriage.
As a farmer Mr. Helms met with most excellent success, and became the owner of a valuable place of two hundred and forty acres, which he kept under a high state of cultivation and in first-class order. His time was devoted to stock raising and gen- eral farming and he was numbered among the best agriculturists of his locality. On locating on his farm it was only partially improved, but he soon transformed it into one of the most desirable places of its size in the county. He died February 18, 1899, and up to the time of his death continued to carry on his farmn.
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