USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > The biographical record of Whiteside County, Illinois.. > Part 26
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western Railway Company; William E., the special subject of this sketch; Effie, wife of Elisha Lockhart, of Garden Plain township; and Minnie, wife of W. H. Dabler, a con- ductor on the C., B. & Q. Railway, and a resident of Fulton.
William E. Allen was brought up on the home farm, and attended the district schools of the township and the Fulton high school. When seventeen years old he entered the joint office of the Milwaukee & Northwestern Railway as a telegraph operator, and when he had become an adept at telegraphing he was given a position at Meriden, Minnesota, on the Winona & St. Peter division of the road, and for three years thereafter was stationed at different places in Minnesota and Dakota. In 1880 he returned to Fulton to become night operator in the North- western office, and was subsequently in Iowa ten years, being stationed in different offices. Coming again to Fulton, he was employed as clerk in the freight department of the Northwestern office for two years, and the ensuing six years had control of the joint office at Fulton Junction. In 1893 he was installed in his present position, which he has since filled most acceptably.
In politics Mr. Allen affiliates with the Republican party, and takes a cordial inter- est in all matters relating to town, county or state. For four years he was alderman from the third ward, and in 1899 was elected to the board of education, on which he is one of the committee for securing teachers. While living in Iowa, he served as town clerk at West Side, and was a member of the town council. Fraternally he is past chancellor in the order of the Knights of Pythias, belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America, and is a member of the Mystic Workers of the World.
At Amiret, Minnesota, on September 21, 1881, Mr. Allen was united in marriage with Miss Nona Grover, daughter of Lafayette and Olive (Northrup) Grover, the former of whom was born at Blue Earth City, Minne- sota. Mr. and Mrs. Allen have two chil- dren, Fay O. and Edwin Rodney.
JACOB J. WINCHEL is successfully en- gaged in agricultural pursuits on sec- tion 36, Prophetstown township, where he owns a farm comprising two hundred and twenty acres of well-improved and valuable land. He is numbered among the self-made men of the county, his accumulations being the result of his own industry, careful man- agement and well-directed labors, and the exercise of a naturally good judgment both in regard to agricultural pursuits and busi- ness matters. In 1856 he located in Henry county, and since that time this section of the state has been the field of his operations and the center of his interests and hopes.
Mr. Winchell was born in Ulster county, New York, January 21, 1835, and belongs to a family of English origin that was early founded in that county. His grandfather, Peter Winchell, was a native of New York, and his father, Joseph Winchell, was born in Ulster county, and there married Lany Elmendorph, a native of the same county. Her father, Captain Elmendorph, was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, and in recognition of his services received a land warrant, with which he secured a tract of land in Michigan. After farming in his native county for a number of years, Joseph Winchell came west in 1857 and died here about 1873. His wife, who survived him a number of years, departed this life in 1892, at the age of seventy-seven years.
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In the county of his nativity, Jacob J. Winchell grew to manhood, acquiring an excellent knowledge of farming, but rather a meager literary education. In 1856 he came to Illinois and joined some friends in Henry county. He worked by the month for four years in that and Bureau counties. On the 19th of December, 1859, in Henry county, he led to the marriage altar Miss Sarah A. Lane, who was born in Niles, Michigan, and in 1855 removed from that state to Henry county, Illinois, with her father, Benjamin Lane. The young couple began their domestic life on a rented farm in Henry county, and there they made their home until the spring of 1864, when Mr. Winchell purchased eighty acres of land in Prophetstown township, Whiteside county, and they located thereon. After operating it for several years he traded the land for a part of his present farm, and it has now been their home since 1873. At that time only half of the one hundred and sixty acres had been placed under the plow, and an old house was about the only improvement upon the place, but to-day there is a large and pleasant residence surrounded by well-tilled fields, and everything about the farm testi- fies to the careful supervision of an owner who thoroughly understands his chosen call- ing. He has added to the farm until he has two hundred and twenty acres of rich and arable land, and he also bought and gave to his son a tract of eighty acres.
Mr. and Mrs. Winchell are the parents of five children, four sons and one daughter, namely: Flora, now the wife of Marvin Griffin, a farmer of Tampico town-hip; William, an engineer on the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy Railroad, and a resident of Galesburg, Illinois; Lewis B., a farmer of Tampico township; and Nathan and Foster,
who assist their father in the operation of the home farm. They also have an adopted daughter, Jennie May, who has found a home with them since two weeks old.
Politically Mr. Winchell has been identi- fied with the Republican party since casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lin- coln in 1860, but he has never cared for the honors or emoluments of public office, pre- ferring to give his undivided attention to his business interests. However, he takes an active interest in educational affairs, and has served as a member of the school board for twenty years. He was a charter mem- ber of Yorktown lodge, F. & A. M., and served as its secretary for some years. He and his wife are members of the Christian church of Yorktown, and are highly respected and esteemed by all who know them.
EDWARD L. CROSIER, agent for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway Company, having charge of the offices at Ly- onsand Fulton, and likewise the Fultonagent of the Adams Express Company, is an act- ive, wide-awake business man and a valued citizen of Fulton, Illinois. He was born November 15, 1862, in Mercer county, Illi- nois, near the village of Sunbeam, a son of William Crosier.
William Crosier removed from Pennsyl- vania, the state of his birth, to Mercer county at a comparatively day, and for many years was the leading contractor and builder of that part of the state. From 1868 until 1871 he resided in Clinton, Mis- souri, where he filled the office of deputy sheriff for three years. Returning from there to Mercer county, he remained until
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18SS, when he removed with his family to Kewanee, Henry county, and is there act- ively engaged at the present time as a con- tractor. He married Miss Maggie Smith, a daughter of George Smith, who was an early pioneer of Mercer county, having emigrated from Ohio to that section of the country when it was but thinly populated, and bears, deer, wolves and other wild beasts were plentiful. Of their union three chil- dren have been born, namely: George A., special police in the Fisher building, in Chicago; Edward L., the subject of this brief biographical notice; and Nellie, who lives with her parents.
Edward L. Crosier received a substan- tial common-school education, and until eighteen years of age assisted his father at the carpenter's bench. Going then into the office of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway, he learned telegraphy un- der the instruction of Fred Clark, now assistant general auditor of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Company, remaining with him fifteen months. He was then placed in charge of the night telegraph of- fices at Stanton and Villisca, both in Mont- gomery county, Iowa, where he remained until September, 1883. Going then to Da- kota, he took up a claim on which he re- sided until May, 1885, when he returned to Mercer county to accept the position of clerk in a hotel at Aledo. Mr. Crosier soon afterwards resumed work for the railroad company by taking a night office at Montgomery, Illinois, and has since been in their employ. For three years he was station agent at Ladd, Illinois, from whence, on June 1, 1892, he came to Fulton to as- sume the duties of his present office, which is quite important as it includes the picking up and setting out of all cars between Den-
rock and Fulton. That he has risen to his high position in the service of the railroad company is due to the strict attention he has paid to every little detail of business, his fidelity and general urbanity of manner making him a favorite with the officers of the road, and with all travelers on it.
Mr. Crosier has always been an active worker in the Republican ranks, and in 1897 was elected alderman from the second ward, an office he now holds. Fraternally he is a Royal Arch Mason, belonging to Fulton City lodge, No. 189, A. F. & A. M., and is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.
On April 29, 1866, Mr. Crosier married, at Burlington, Iowa, Miss Mary Starkey, who was born in Kewanee, Illinois, but then resided in Aledo, Illinois, with her parents, Irvine W. and Jeannette (Winn) Starkey. Mr. and Mrs Crosier have three children, namely: Nellie M., Edna M., and William Irvine, who was named for his two grandfathers.
C ARL S. ELLITHORPE, whome home is conveniently located on section 6, Prophetstown township, a mile and a quar - ter from the village of Prophetstown, was for many years one of the most active and progressive agriculturists of the county, as well as one of its most reliable and honora- ble citizens, and now in his declining years he is enjoying a well-earned rest, free from the cares and responsibilities of business life. Throughout the county he is widely and favorably known.
A native of New York, Mr. Ellithorpe was born in the town of Edinburg, Sara- toga county, November 21, 1833, and is a son of Sampson Ellithorpe, who was born
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in the same county, in 1806. The paternal grandfather, Wyley Ellithorpe, was also a native of New York, his father having removed to that state from Vermont and settled in Saratoga county at an early day. The family is of English origin, and its representatives were among the pioneers of Vermont. In his native county the father of our subject married Eliza Wight, who was born in Vermont, but who was reared in Saratoga county, New York. Her father, Squire Wight, spent his entire life in the Green Mountain state, where he died dur- ing her childhood. In 1839 Sampson Elli- thorpe came west by way of the Erie canal to Buffalo and the Great Lakes to Chicago, and from there he came by teams to Proph- etstown in company with his uncle, Solo- mon Ellithorpe. Near Sterling they made a claim of nearly one thousand acres of land, on which each built a hewed log house. He then returned east in the spring of 1840, and brought his family here, arriving in July, but was not long permitted to enjoy his new home, however, as he died September 5, 1840. With the Crocker family, Mrs. Elli- thorpe resided in the home on Coon creek until the fall of 1841, when she removed to the neighborhood where our subject now lives. In the spring of 1842 she married Marvin Frary. She was then living in Prophetstown, but they later moved to a farm in Portland township, but in the spring of 1845 returned to Prophetstown township. After residing upon a farm there for ten years, they removed to another farm in the same neighborhood. Mrs. Frary died in Lyndon township August 4, 1866. By her first marriage she had four children, two sons and two daughters, namely: Bethiah, deceased wife of Dr. H. C. Donaldson; Earl S., our subject; Alpheus, who died
July 11, 1854, when a young man; and Lucelia, who died in childhood. There was one child by the second marriage-Cordelia, wife of F. N. Brewer, at whose home in Lyndon township the mother died.
Our subject was not quite seven years old when he came to Whiteside county. He remained with his mother until he at- tained his majority, and received a rather limited education in the schools of this sec- tion, which at that time were much inferior to those of the present day. On the 27th of March, 1856, he married Miss Mary J. Averill, a native of Vermont, and a daugh- ter of Mark R. and Ada (Durin) Averill, also natives of that state, whence they came to Illinois in 1852, locating in 1854 on the farm in Prophetstown township, Whiteside county, where our subject now resides. Upon that place Mr. and Mrs. Ellithorpe began their married life. After renting the farm for seven years, they removed to Hume township, in 1863, and there he pur- chased three hundred and twenty acres of land, which he improved and operated for two years. Selling to a good advance, he returned to the Averill homestead, which he rented from his father-in-law for three years, and in 1867 moved to Wheatland, lowa, where he built an elevator and en- gaged in the grain and lumber business for about a year. He then purchased his pres- ent farm, and now owns four hundred and fifty acres of land which he has placed un- der a high state of cultivation and improved with good buildings, including a neat and commodious residence, four barns and other outbuildings, so that he has a valuable and attractive farm. He successfully car- ried on general farming and stock raising, making a specialty of sheep, of which he usually had from six hundred to one thou-
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*
sand upon his place, but since 1885 he has rented his farm and lived retired, enjoying the fruits of former toil.
To Mr. and Mrs. Ellithorpe was born one daughter, Luanna, who died August 10, 1895, and was laid to rest in the Prophets- town cemetery. In 1885 the family spent six months on the Pacific coast, and again in 1897, Mr. and Mrs. Ellithorpe visited California, where they remained four months, stopping at various places. He cast his first presidential vote for John C. Fremont, in 1856, and has since been un- swerving in his allegiance to the Republican party and its principles. He attends church with his wife, who is a member of the Con- gregational church, and he gives to its sup- port, although he is not a member of any religious denomination. For almost sixty years he has made his home in this county, and his name is inseparably connected with its agricultural interests, for he has labored earnestly in the development of a good farm and has been an important factor in the wonderful transformation that has taken place here during that period. Upright and honorable in all the relations of life, he well merits the high regard in which he is held by all who know him.
TRA F. AND ORIAN ABIJAH HOAK constitute the firm of Hoak Brothers and are prominent young business men Sterling. They are engaged in the manufacture of carriages, do first-class carriage painting, and all kinds of fine and difficult blacksmith- ing, general repairing, and sharpen and adjust lawn mowers. In December 1898, they patented and put on the market a new type of tire bolt cutter which met with immediate success wherever shown to car- riage builders. Another bolt cutter for use
on any surface has just been perfected by them and will shortly be placed on the market. The tools are simple, effective and cheap and will no doubt prove to be a source of large revenue to their owners to come. Their shop, a large frame structure on East Third street near Sixth avenue, be- longs to them and has been enlarged from time to time as an increase in business demanded additional room. Though the business has been established but four years it has grown to a proportion far beyond their most sanguine hopes. This rapid growth may be attributed to the fact that the work done is strictly reliable and every article producted is given an unqualified guarantee for worth.
Ira F. Hoak was born near Brookville, Ogle county, Illinois, June 20, 1869, O. A. in Whiteside county, in 1875. They were educated in the common schools of this county and were graduated from the Sterl- ing high school. After laying aside his text books the older brother learned the car- penter's trade, and later inside wood work and carriage making, while the younger took up the blacksmith's trade. They con- tinued to work for others until 1895, when they formed a partnership, and under the name of Hoak Brothers have since engaged in their present business, and are meeting with most gratifying success. They are members of the German Baptist church, and are held in high regard by all with whom they come in contact either in business or social life. O. A. Hoak married Miss Clara Journay, of Sterling, and has one child, Lloyd.
Henry S. Hoak, father of our subjects, was born ten miles from Lancaster, Penn- sylvania, January 19, 1835, and is a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Hersh) Hoak, natives
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of the same place, the former born in 1787, the latter in 1788. The grandfather was educated at Lancaster and became one of the first teachers under the free school system in that section of the country. He first taught in his own home, and finally in public school houses, and continued to fol- low that profession in connection with farm- ing for some years. He was a man of prominence and influence in his community, his advice was often sought, and he was many times called upon to serve as adminis- trator and executor of estates and also as conveyancer. He died before the birth of the father of our subjects, who was the youngest in a family of nine children, and his wife died six years later. Both were of German descent. The family was founded in America by Conrad Hoak, a native of Leipsic, Germany, who crossed the Atlantic at an early day and took up his residence in Pennsylvania, his last years being passed in Lancaster. His son Andrew was the great- grandfather of our subjects. He was only two years old when brought by his father to the new world, and he became a well-to-do and prominent farmer of Pennsylvania. He held office in the German Reformed church, of which he was a strong supporter, and all of the family have been zealous in religious work.
Henry S. Hoak attended first the pub- lic schools of his native state and later was a student at the State Normal School in Millers- ville, Lancaster county, for three years, but in the meantime he taught school at intervals in order to pay for his own education. In 1854 he entered upon that profession in Conestoga township, Lancaster county, where he taught for six months out of the year, receiving twenty-five dollars per month and his board. He taught one school in
Pequa township, the same county, for six years, and his wages there amounted to forty dollars. Later he taught in Strasburg township, the high school at Hempfield, and in other places in that section of Pennsyl- vania, where he was thus employed for six- teen years.
On the 30th of June, 1868, Mr. Hoak married Miss Letitia N. Hull, of Strasburg, a daughter of George Hull, a carpenter, who was also of German descent, and was one of the old residents of Strasburg. They have four children living, namely: Ira F .; Iva Jennie, who has been for three years a teacher in the Lincoln school, and for five years prior to that had been a teacher; Orian Abijah and Harry Leroy.
The same year of his marriage, Mr. Hoak came to Illinois, and first settled near Burr Oak Grove, in Ogle county, but in 1870 came to Whiteside county and took charge of a school in Galt. The following year he removed to Sterling, where he has since made his home with the exception of five years when teaching in Jordan township. For seventeen years he has successfully taught school in different parts of this county around Sterling, and has followed the pro- fession for thirty-three years, being the oldest teacher in point of service in the county. He has been an active and promi- nent member of the German Baptist Brethren church for ten years. In their dress and non-resistant principles they are similar to the Reformed church, with which he was connected when a boy. He and his son were the first baptized into the church after his organization here, and there were but two members prior to that time. He raised about half the money for the erection of their house of worship, and takes a very active part in all church work.
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B ARNEY MCGRADY. Among the in- fluential members of the farming com- munity of Tampico township and one of its prosperous citizens, is the gentleman whose name introduces thissketch. He is entirely a self-made man in the true sense of the word, having been the architect of his own fortunes, and his success in life is attribut- able to his untiring industry, indomitable energy and laudable ambition.
Mr. McGrady was born in Cattaraugus county, New York, November 27, 1845, a son of James and Mary McGrady, farming people of that county. In 1860 the father came to Whiteside county, Illinois, and pur- chased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Prophetstown township, where he suc- cessfully engaged in farming for a time, but finally sold his place and moved to Nebraska, spending his last years near Loup City.
The early educational advantages of our subject were somewhat meager as he began life for himself by working as a farm hand at the age of eleven years. He was fifteen when, in the fall of 1860, he removed with the family from New York to this county, and here continued to work for others at farm labor until after the Civil war broke out. In the fall of 1862, at the age of sev- enteen years, he enlisted in Company D, Seventy-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. which was assigned to the Army of the Ten- nessee, and the first battle in which he took part was the engagement at Perryville, Ken- tucky. With his command he followed Hood to Nashville; later was in the battles of Murfreesboro and Chattanooga; was in the Atlanta campaign; went with Sherman to Savannah, Georgia; and participated in the battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, - the last engagement of the war. The regi- ment then marched through Richmond to
Washington, D. C., and from there to Park- ersburg, West Virginia, and from that city proceeded by boat to Louisville, Kentucky, whence they went by railroad to Chicago, where they were honorably discharged in July, 1865. While Mr. McGrady partici- pated in many battles and skirmishes and had his clothes pierced by bullets, he fort- unately was never wounded, though he was ill for six months in the hospital at Nash- ville. He returned home with a war record of which he may be justly proud, and re- sumed his farm work.
In Prophetstown, September 11, 1867, Mr. McGrady was united in marriage with Miss Ocelia Tabor, who was born and reared on a farm in Portland township, and is a daughter of William P. Tabor, one of the prominent farmers of the county, who is represented on another page of this work. Mr. and Mrs. McGrady have become the parents of five children, namely: William, Ralph, Burt, Pearl and Florence. Ralph is married but still continues on the home farm, and the others are all under the pa- rental roof.
After his marriage, Mr. McGrady pur- chased forty acres of raw land where he now resides, and after erecting a small house thereon, he commenced to improve and cultivate his farm. To his original purchase he has added from time to time as his financial resources have permitted, at one time buying one hundred and twenty acres of the Dow estate, and now has a val- uable farm of two hundred and forty acres under a high state of cultivation and im- proved with good buildings, surrounded by fruit and shade trees. In connection with general farming, he is interested in stock raising, feeding each year quite a number of hogs and several head of cattle for market.
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While home on a furlough during the war, Mr. McGrady cast his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, in 1864, and has since been an earnest advocate and sup- porter of the Republican party and its prin- ciples. For nine consecutive years he filled the office of highway commissioner, and has been a member of the school board twenty years, serving as its president at the present time. Socially he is a Royal Arch Mason, a member of the lodge in Prophetstown, and belongs to the Grand Army post of Tampico. His residence in this county covers a period of forty years, and he has ever manifested the same loyalty in days of peace as in times of war, when he fought so valiantly for the old flag and the cause it represented.
A NDREW K. HABERER. Much of the civilization of the world has come from the Teutonic race. Continually moving westward they have taken with them the enterprise and advancement of their eastern homes and have become valued and useful citizens of various localities. In this coun- try especially they have demonstrated their power to adapt themselves to new circum- stances, retaining at the same time their progressiveness and energy, and have become true and devoted citizens. A worthy repre- sentative of this class is Andrew K. Haber- er, the present popular sheriff of Whiteside county.
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