USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > The biographical record of Whiteside County, Illinois.. > Part 23
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Dr. Ward is thoroughly identified in thought and feeling with the interests of Fulton, and has aided in her upbuilding and advancement. lle purchased a block
between Cherry and Broadway street, which he subdivided and sold half, and erected thereon four good residences. Since 1896 he has been a director of the Fulton Elect- ric Light & Power Company, and since 1898 has been vice-president of the same. He is a member of the Rock River Homeo- pathic Society; was for some time medical examiner for the Modern Woodmen of America, and is now medical examiner for the Mystic Workers of the World, of which he is a member. He also belongs to Abou Ben Adhem lodge, No. 148, 1. O. O. F., and is an active and prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he is now serving as a member of the board of trustees. He is rather independent in politics, but usually supports the Repub- lican party. He is actively interested in educational matters, and in 1892 was elect- ed a member of the board of trustees of the Northern Illinois College, of which he has been secretary of the board since 1893.
On the 5th of December, 1877, in Car- roll county, Illinois, Dr. Ward was united in marriage with Miss Dora Bashaw, a na- tive of that county and a daughter of Will- iam Bashaw and Euphrasia (Thomas) Bashaw. The father, who was a promi- nent and successful farmer of that county, died in April, 1883. The Doctor and his wife have three children: Netta M., Ada M. and Joseph J., all at home except Netta, who is attending Hahnemann Medical Col- lege and Hospital, Chicago, Illinois.
FRANK B. THOMAS is a contractor and builder of Tampico, of whose skill many notable examples are to be seen in the town and surrounding country. Thor- oughly reliable in all things, the quality of
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his work is a convincing test of his own personal worth and the same admirable trait is shown in his conscientious discharge of the duties of different positions of trust and responsibility to which he has been chosen.
A native of Whiteside county, Mr. Thomas was born in Sterling, May 20, 1857, and is a son of Henry and Hannah (Nor- ton) Thomas, both natives of Massachu- setts, where they were married. The fa- ther was born in 1812, and in early life fol- lowed the carpenter's and joiner's trade in Massachusetts and New York. Coming west in 1844, he settled in Sterling, White- side county, Illinois, but spent the follow- ing winter at his trade in St. Louis. He then returned to Sterling and sent for his family, who joined him at that place. There he successfully engaged in contracting and building for many years, but now, after a long and beneficial career, is living retired with our subject in Tampico. His wife died in May, 1891.
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Reared in Sterling, Frank B. Thomas was educated in the schools of that city. After finishing the high school course, he learned the carpenter's trade with his fa- ther, and worked with him in Sterling for about three years. On the 29th of May, 1879, in Tampico, he was united in mar- riage with Miss Ida M. Bullock, a native of Winnebago county, Illinois, and a daughter of R. M. Bullock, now a retired resident of Tampico. Mrs. Thomas was reared and educated in Sterling and was graduated from the high school of that place. By her marriage to our subject she has be- come the mother of three children: Mabel A., and Asael, all of whom who are at- tending school, and Alfred is also clerking in a grocery store.
After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas located on a farm near Tampico, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits for about eighteen years, at the same time working at his trade. For the last eight years he has been engaged in contracting and building on his own account, and has erected numerous houses and barns in this part of the county. Renting his farm in 1899, he removed to Tampico, where he bought a lot and built a residence for his own use. Although at the beginning of his business career, he received no financial aid, he has steadily prospered, owing to his industry, perseverance and good executive ability, and is now the owner of a good farm of eighty acres in Tampico township besides his property in the village.
Mr. Thomas cast his first presidential vote for Rutherford B. Hayes, and has never faltered in his allegiance to the Re- publican party. He has taken quite an act- ive and prominent part in local politics; has been a member of the school board and clerk of the district for some years; and in 1898 was elected supervisor of Tampico township. As a member of the honorable county board, he is now serving on the judiciary committee and committee of mis- cellaneous claims. Fraternally he is a prom- inent member of the Modern Woodmen Camp of Tampico, where he is serving as venerable consul; and is also supreme judge of the Knights of the Globe at that place. He and his wife hold membership in the Baptist Church of Tampico, and he has filled the office of deacon for about ten years.
THOMAS L. EASTIN, foreman of the nickel and polishing department of the Mississippi Valley Stove Works, at Fulton,
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Illinois, is at the head of one of the most important divisions of the place in which he is employed. The polishing and plating, and burnishings of platings for the high grade base burners, ranges and stoves manufact- ured by this company is a very particular work, each article going through different baths, first the potash dip, after which the scouring with pomace stone; then an acid bath, and a rinsing in clear water; then after the electroplating bath in a hot water bath; then in the buffing room the fine lus- ter that is a distinguishing feature is given ; and after these processes are finished comes a washing in a specially prepared compound, then the drying in sawdust. The castings are prepared for grinding by a bath in hy- dro-fluoric acid, and are then heated with lime to neutralize the acid. All of this labor is performed under the supervision of Mr. Eastin, who thoroughly understands every detail of the work, having had much experience therein.
He was born September 11, 1862, at Louisville, Kentucky, a son of Thomas N. Eastin, and a grandson of Zachariah Eastin, a soldier of the war of 1812. His great- grandfather Eastin was a man of note in his day, and had the distinction of being the first Unitarian minister to cross the mount- ains into Kentucky.
Thomas N. Eastin was born and bred in Paris, Bourbon county, Kentucky, his birth occurring in 1815. He spent his early life in his native place, and he and his brothers laid out many of the principal roads and pikes of the state. Later they engaged in milling at Spottsylvania, Kentucky, on the Green river. The father spent his last years as a real estate dealer and claim agent, car- rying on a large and successful business. He was a stanch Democrat in politics, a
Master Mason, and a faithful member of the Unitarian church. He was twice married, his first wife having been Penelope Churchill, a daughter of Judge O. Churchill, of Eliza- beth, Kentucky. She died in early woman- hood, leaving one child, the Rev. Churchill Eastin, pastor of the Episcopal church, at Washington, D. C. On November 27, 1866, he married Annie E. Pilcher, daugh- ter of W. S. and Dolly (Fisher) Pilcher. Her father was for some time associated in business with General Humphey, at one time mayor of the city of Louisville, and was very prominent in public life, having stumped the state three different times, and once received the nomination for lieutenant- governor. By this marriage six children were born, namely: Henry S , engaged in the brass foundry at Louisville; Thomas L , the special subject of this sketch; Robert N., a resident of Fulton, is engaged with his brother in the stove works; and three children that died in childhood.
Thomas L. Eastin completed his early education in the high school of Louisville, Kentucky, and at the age of fifteen years entered upon an apprenticeship with J. B. Williamson & Company, of that city, found- ers and finishers of fine brass work, the senior member of the firm being the first person to introduce fine etching in brass works. At the end of three years he ac- cepted a position with Bridgeford & Com- pany, with whom he remained eleven years, nine years of the time being foreman of the polishing and plating department. Going thence to Evansville, Indiana, he managed the business of the W. F. Schaffer estate for a year, doing plating and finishing in gold, silver, nickel, brass, bronze, etc. He subsequently spent a few months in St. Louis, Missouri, with the Central Union
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Brass Works, and was afterwards employed in the same city for five years in the factory of Bridge, Beach & Company, the largest stove works west of the Mississippi river, and from there went to the Belle Hickey Manufacturing Company to take charge of their polishing and plating department, the firm manufacturing chandeliers. After he had been there seven months he was offered the fine position he now holds, and on April 3, 1896, came to Fulton to assume its re- sponsibilities. His fitness for the place is amply recognized by the satisfactory work he has accomplished.
Mr. Eastin was married, May 5, 1888, at Jeffersonville, Indiana, to Lucy F. Wat- son, daughter of John and Sarah (Story) Watson, of Louisville, Kentucky. Mr. Watson was twice married, and by his first union had eight children, of whom six are now living, namely: Lucy F., now Mrs. Eastin; Ida M., wife of J. H. Morton, of Chicago; Julia, wife of Alfred Cornell, of Louisville, Kentucky; Annie L .; William H .; and Ambrose. By his second mar- riage, Mr. Watson has one son, Estes. In politics Mr. Eastin supports the principles promulgated by the Republican party. His mother has made her home with him and his wife since the death of her husband, March 16, 1884.
THOMAS NOON. Among the well-to-do and successful farmers of Whiteside county, who have accumulated a compe- tency through their own exertions and econ- omy, and who carry on their chosen calling in a most commendable manner, is the sub- ject of this biographical notice, who resides on section 30, Tampico township. He came to that county in 1874, and since then
he has through his own unaided efforts achieved success, becoming the owner of a fine farin of two hundred and eighty acres in Tampico and Prophetstown township.
Mr. Noon was born in Warwickshire, England, January 2, 1853, a son of Charles Noon, Sr., whose sketch appears on another page of this volume. In his native land our subject grew to manhood, but as he com- menced work at the early age of seven years, his educational advantages were necessarily limited. In 1874, with his father and the other members of the family, he boarded a steamer at Liverpool and sailed for the new world. After thirteen days spent upon the broad Atlantic they landed in Quebec, Can- ada, whence they proceeded at once to Whiteside county, Illinois. Here our sub- ject worked as a farm hand by the month for five years.
On the 19th of December, 1882, in this county, Mr. Noon was united in marriage with Miss Ora L. Coats, who was born, reared and educated in Ohio. Her father, Jeremiah Coats, was a leading lawyer of Gallia county, that state, and her brother, Professor C. T. Coats, is a prominent edu- cator of Ohio, now at the head of Carlton College. Mr. and Mrs. Noon have four children: Lilliam May, John S., Earl T. and Benjamin F.
For one year after his marriage, Mr. Noon operated rented land, and then pur- chased eighty acres of his present farm, to which he added five years later another eighty-acre tract, and still later one hun- dred and twenty acres. He has made many valuable and useful improvements upon the place, has placed the land under excellent cultivation, and now has one of the best farms in the neighborhood.
In his political affiliations Mr. Noon was
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formerly a Democrat, but in 1896 supported William McKinley for the presidency. He takes quite an active interest in educational affairs and for five years has served asschool director in his district. With his wife and two older children, he holds membership in the Christian church of Yorktown, and is now one of the trustees of the church, while socially he is a Master Mason and a mem- ber of the Modern Woodmen camp of Tampico. His honorable, upright life com- mends him to the confidence of all with whom he comes in contact either in business and social affairs, and his circle of friends seems only limited by his circle of acquaint- ances.
JACOB D. WILBUR, an honored citizen of Sterling, has been numbered among our representative business men for close onto two score years, during all of this time having been active in the promotion of all local enterprises. His course in life has been characterized by integrity and up- rightness, and such material prosperity as he enjoys has come to him by honest labor.
Henry Wilbur, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was of English descent. He was one of the first settlers in Wayne county, New York, going to that locality from Massachusetts. His uncle, Isaac Wil- bur, enlisted as a soldier in the war of 1812, and received wounds in one of the engagements in which he participated. George Wilbur, father of our subject, was born in Macedon, Wayne county, New York, in 1894, and his elder brother, Jere- miah, was the first white child born in the township where the family resided. He died at the age of twenty-one years. Amy P., the only sister, became the wife of L.
P. Hoag, and died at her home in Michigan. George Wilbur, who was a successful farm- er, died on the 28th of June, 1863, and was survived a few years by his wife (formerly Elizabeth Pattison), whose death occurred in June, 1870.
The birth of J. D. Wilbur occurred in Macedon, New York, April 22, 1833. In his youth he learned the millwright's trade, and having purchased a larm with the pro- ceeds of his toil, he continued to attend to its cultivation for several years. This prop- erty did not leave his possession until a few years ago, when he sold it. On the 16th of December, 1863, he arrived in White- side county, since which date he has made his home in Sterling. For two years he was engaged in the grocery business, and then turned his attention to carpentering. following that pursuit, and executing work on contracts, for many years. At different times he owned town property and Mich- igan land, being quite successful in his real estate ventures.
In 1853, Mr. Wilbur was united in mar- riage to Mary A. Green, in Victor, New York. She was born twenty years before, near Mount Clemens, Michigan, a daughter of Rice and Phoebe Green, who were na- tives of Otsego county, New York. 1864 they removed to Ogle county, Illinois; where the father carried on a farm for some years, later retiring and making his home in Rochelle, Illinois, until his death. His widow, after a few years, came to live with her daughter, Mrs. Wilbur, and here she died in 1871.
The eldest child of our subject and wife, George R., married May Coons, and resides in Winchester, Illinois. He has two sons, Percy and George Devore. Jeremiah J. was the second of our subject's children.
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Mary Ida, wife of W. S. Pattison, of Kala- mazoo, Michigan, has one daughter, May. Julia is the wife of H. L. Norwood, a Chi- cago printer, and their three children are, Cecil, Wilbur and Elizabeth. William E., whose home is at Clinton, Iowa, married Celesta Ellerston, and their children are named William E. and Celesta.
In his early manhood, Mr. Wilbur took quite a prominent part in the local affairs and politics of his own community, but since coming to the west he has contented him- self with voting for the candidates and measures of the Democratic party. Mrs. Wilbur, who is a lady of good education and social attainments, is a member of the Congregational church.
G EORGE W. CLENDENEN, M. D., supreme medical examiner for the Mys- tic Workers of the World, an insurance order which he has the honor of organizing, is the seventh son of Robert A. and Amanda (Hinchman) Clendenen, and was born in Boone county, Virginia, now West Vir- ginia, December 4, 1844. He is distantly related to ex-Postmaster-General Wilson, General Lew Wallace and ex-Comptroller of the Treasury Eckles. The family moved from Virginia to Cass county, Michigan, in March, 1847, at which time the country was comparatively new and covered with heavy forests which required a great deal of labor in removing before the soil was ready for tilling. Purchasing a farm, the father commenced the work of clearing and im- proving it, but sickness overtook him in about two years after making the purchase, and he died of flux, leaving a large family of children with a widowed mother. Dur- ing his sickness, three of his daughters also
died of the same disease, the older one, Mary Ann, being about nineteen years old, while the other two were two and four years old, respectively. The death of the four all occurred within four weeks' time. George was now but six years old.
Through the energy, perseverance and determination of the mother, the family were all kept together, and by the assistance of the older boys, the younger ones were cared for until they were able to care for themselves. During this period the facili- ties for an education were very meager in that wild and new country, but the subject of this narrative attended the common dis- trict school summer and winter until he was large enough to work on the farm in the summer months, after which time he at- tended school in the winter. With a stead- fast determination to succeed he pursued his studies until he secured such an education as enabled him to teach in the common schools of the county. By teaching winters, he procured money enough to attend the graded schools at Niles, Michigan, during the summer. After leaving the graded schools, in the winter of 1861 he taught a district school in Berrien county, Michigan, at the low rate of twenty dollars per month. The following winter he was urged to teach a larger and more advanced school in an ad- joining district at a salary of fifty-five dol- lars per month, and accepted the situation. After this he taught in various schools in Berrien and Cass counties for several years, giving good satisfaction to his patrons.
In the fall of 1868 our subject went to Tuscumbia, Alabama, where he engaged in the mercantile business for one year, after which he accepted a position as principal of the Decatur, Alabama, schools for one year. He followed the profession of teaching in
G. W. CLENDENEN, M. D.
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winters, and working on farms in summers, for some years, and then secured a position as traveling salesmen for a firm in Niles, Michigan. While traveling, his spare mo- ments were spent in reading medicine, hav- ing decided to take up the medical profes- sion as his life work. He traveled for five years, at the expiration of which time he at- tended lectures in the Bennett Medical Col- lege, Chicago, from which institution, after taking a thorough course, he graduated in 1884, having an average of one hundred in all branches of study.
Soon after his arrival in Tuscumbia, Alabama, Dr. Clendenen was united in marriage with Miss Ellen A. Ferris, who had settled in that city with her parents some two months previous to his arrival. They were married January 15, 1869, by Rev. Joseph H. Shackelford, pastor of the Baptist church, Tuscumbia. They remained in that city until in September, 1869, when they moved to Decatur, Alabama, that he might take charge of the school there, as already mentioned. After leaving Decatur, they moved to Dowagiac, Michigan.
Ellen A. (Ferris) Clendenen was the daughter of Edwin W. and Jane D. (Lee) Ferris, whose family history traces back to the Lawsons and Fitzgeralds. After more than twenty-five years of wedded life, she was stricken with an internal cancer, and on May 18. 1895, died from the effects of that terrible disease, and her remains were in- terred in the cemetery at Fulton. She was the mother of four children, two of whom died in infancy. Eddy, the only son, died of typhoid fever in Fulton, Illinois, in 1885. Katherine G., the only child living, resides with her father.
For his second wife Dr. Clendenen mar- ried Miss Mae Eno Hoover, who was born
in Ustick township, Whiteside county, Illinois, and the youngest daughter of H. H. and Mary A. Hoover, who were natives of Pennsylvania.
In 1873 Dr. Clendenen located in Fulton and in 1877 began the practice of his profes- sion, and it was but a short time before his skill as a physician was well attested and his practice began to grow. He has now been a resident of the city for twenty-six years, and his practice is a large and satisfactory one. Since coming to the place he has held the position of head physician of the Modern Woodmen of America, and during Cleve- land's administration he was examining sur- geon for soldiers' pensions, serving in both positions with distinction and honor until his term expired.
Soon after graduating in medicine, Dr. Clendenen became convinced that the treat- ment of cancer was not what it ought to be in this day and age, and being convinced that cancer was a local disease he sought to find a remedy that would virtually do away with the use of the knife on all such cases. Knowing the plaster to be far superior to the knife, he sought to improve upon the plaster by procuring a medicine that he could use with a hypodermic needle. After thorough investigation and trial of his new preparation, it proved to be far better than he at first anticipated, as the new remedy proved successful in several cases where the knife and the plaster had both failed. It can be truthfully said that Dr. Clendenen was the first person to successfully use the hypodermic needle in the cure of this loath- some disease. Other physicians that have used his treatment utterly refuse to use any other method, as it is by far the best remedy and treatment that has been brought before the medical fraternity.
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Dr. Clendenen is now the supreme med- ical examiner of the Mystic Workers of the World, of which organization he is the founder. At the present time the headquar- ters of the order are at Fulton, Illinois, and the order is one of the best of its kind in existence. It was founded in 1891, the Doc- tor writing the ritual and laws suitable for lodge work. At present the membership of the order is about twelve thousand, and it is growing rapidly.
The Doctor has always been somewhat active in politics, and a firm believer in the Jeffersonian doctrine, he is a stanch Demo- crat. He is bitterly opposed to tariffs and trusts, believing all such to be inimical to the best interests of the people. In religion he is liberal.
On his mother's side the Doctor is related to Commodore Perry of Lake Erie fame, his grandmother being a Perry. His broth- ers and sisters were Oscar F., Mary Ann, William I., Martin Van Buren, John F., David K., Andrew Irving, Martha Ann and Sarah Jane. Of those now living William I. resides on a farm near Dowagiac, Mich- igan; John Floyd is in the practice of med- icine at LaSalle, Illinois; while Andrew Irv- ing is also in the practice of medicine, his home being in Maywood, Illinois.
Fraternally, Dr. Clendenen has been a Master Mason for many years, and has filled nearly all the chairs in the blue lodge. He is a charter member of Sunlight lodge, No. 137, K. P .; a charter member of Forest camp, No. 2, M. W. A .; a member of the Knights of the Maccabees; the American Benefit Society; the Woodmen of the World; and Fraternal Brotherhood. These are in addition to the Mystic Workers of the World, of which mention has been made. He is editor of the " Mystic Worker," the
official organ of the order. The Doctor is now medical health officer of Fulton. As a physician the Doctor has been quite success- ful, and his ability is recognized by all. As a citizen he is ever ready to do his part in everything that will tend to the advancement of his city and county, and therefore he has many friends who esteem him for his worth as a man and physician.
GEORGE P. RICHMOND. The sub- ject of this biography, one of the honored sons of Massachusetts, and a most distinguished farmer and stock dealer resid- ing on section 35, Prophetstown township, is pre-eminently a self-made man. He began life with a definite purpose in view, has worked faithfully, honestly, and with a will for its accomplishment, and is now one of the wealthiest, as well as one of the most highly respected citizens of his com- munity.
Mr. Richmond was born in Berkshire county, Massachusetts, October 24, 1827, and there grew to manhood, his education being acquired in the district schools near his early home. Thinking to better his financial condition in the west, he came to Illinois in 1849, traveling by railroad to Buffalo, by the Great Lakes to Chicago, and overland to Whiteside county, where he arrived in April, of that year. He spent some time in prospecting in this state and Wisconsin, but finally returned to his county in August and entered one hundred and sixty acres of land in Prophetstown town- ship, upon which not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made. During his entire residence here he has devoted considerable attention to stock raising, his first purchase consisting of sixty head of cat-
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