USA > Illinois > Whiteside County > The biographical record of Whiteside County, Illinois.. > Part 50
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He was born in Clinton, Dutchess coun- ty, New York, January 18, 1818, a son of Jo- seph and Elizabeth (Ham) Albertson, also natives of that county, where they contin- ued to make their home until 1832, when they removed to western New York, settling in the town of Mendon, Monroe county.
There their son Frederick had located as early as 1820. The family made most of the journey to Monroe county by canal. There the father purchased land and made his home throughout the remainder of his life. He was a successful and progressive agriculturist and was a prominent member of the Society of Friends, for which he preached for many years.
Our subject is the twelfth in order of birth in a family of thirteen children and the only one now living, though ten reached years of maturity. He well remembers hearing his father tell of the hard winter of 1774, when the snow did not melt for over six weeks. He acquired the greater part of his education in his native county, but at- tended school for two terms after the re- moval of the family to Monroe county, New York. He then assisted his father in the operation of the home farm until his mar- riage.
On the 5th of November, 1839, Mr. Albertson married Miss Hannah De Garmo, who was born in Ulster county, New York, July 6, 1819, a daughter of Elias and Clemma (Powell) De Garmo, both natives of Dutchess county, New York, and the former of French descent. The father was a tanner by trade, as was also his father, and he followed that occupation for many years, but after his removal to Monroe county, New York, in 1833, he purchased land and turned his attention to farming. There he continued to make his home until called from this life. By his first marriage he had eight children, all of whom reached man and womanhood, Mrs. Albertson being the fifth in order of birth. She has two brothers still living. Rufus and Peter De Garmo, retired citizens of Oswego, Labette county, Kansas. Her father was again
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married and by the second union had two children, who are now residents of Rochester, New York. To Mr. and Mrs. Albertson were born three children, namely: (1) Harriet is the wife of Owen N. Hurst, a farmer of Furnace county, Nebraska, and they had two children: Frank, deceased; and Annie, who is now the wife of Charles Kerr, of Nebraska, and has four children. (2) Arthur died July 6, 1868, at the age of twenty-four years, as the result of an acci- dent. He was unmarried and at home at the time of his death. (3) Ella married John E. Woodyatt and died August 22, 1879. They had three children, Arthur, Grace and Lulu. Grace now makes her home with our subject and his wife.
After his marriage, Mr. Albertson re- mained in Monroe county, New York, until September, 1841, when he and his wife came by way of the lakes to Chicago, which at that time was little better than a mud hole. His brothers, Isaac and John, had come to this county, in 1835, and had two of their friends to meet our subject and his wife in Chicago. They remained in that city one night, just long enough to get their goods off the boat, and then started for Whiteside county in a prairie schooner, pay- ing one dollar per hundred to have their freight transferred and one dollar a piece as their fare. They were three days and a half in making the trip. On arriving here, Mr. Albertson had a claim already taken up from the government, which was being held by his brothers. This consisted of eighty acres of prairie land on section 14, Sterling township, and eight acres of timber land, with no improvements upon it. He lived the first winter with his brother, but began immediately to split rails for fences and to cut logs for his cabin, which was erected the
following spring. He had only twenty-five cents remaining after the completion of his home and that was spent for sugar to be used in the medicine for his sick child. On leaving the east he had enough money to enter his land and bring with him two two- year-old steers and two two-year-old heifers. The first year spent here proved a hard one for this pioneer family. Mr. Albertson made all the bottoms for his chairs, while he traded for the frames, and he also made his own bedstead and also a cupboard out of dry-goods boxes which he had brought with him. Wild game at that time was plentiful and furnished the family with most of their meat. Sterling at that time was two towns, known as Chatham and Harrisburg, and their combined population was only about two hundred.
Selling his first farm in 1850, Mr. Albert- son purchased his present place of one hun- dred and sixty acres from his brother, and for many years was actively and success- fully engaged in general farming. From 1885 to 1898 he rented his land and lived at the mineral springs, where he built houses, baths, barns and a pavilion, and had entire charge of the place until July, 1898, when he sold out to Hiram L. Edmunds, who conducted it in connection with his brother for a few months, at the end of which time John H. Ahrens also became interested in the enterprise. They got up subscriptions and secured a charter, forming what is now known as the Sterling Fair Association. In the fall of 1898 Mr. Albertson returned to his farm on section 14, Sterling township, where he and his wife are now living re- tired. Although past eighty years of age they still enjoy excellent health and look many years younger, Mrs. Albertson still having a complexion as fair as a girl's.
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Their home life is ideal, and they are loved and respected by all who know them. By birthright they are Quakers, but are now Spiritualists in religious belief, while in pol- itics Mr. Albertson is independent. In early life he was a Democrat until a few years prior to the Civil war, when he joined the Republican party on account of the slavery question, and remained one of its supporters until 1873, since when he votes independent. As one of the honored pio- neers and representative citizens of the county, he is certainly entitled to honorable mention in its history and this brief account of his life will be read with interest by his many friends.
D AVID G. PROCTOR, one of the hon- ored pioneer citizens of Whiteside county, and now living in Genesee town- ship, is a son of George R. and Mary (Green) Proctor, the former a native of Kentucky. The Greens were of Irish extrac- tion, and were early settlers in Pennsylva- nia, while the Proctors located in Virginia in colonial days.
The brothers and sisters of our subject were eight in number. Sarah B., the eld- est, married William Moxley, and had one child, who is deceased. Mr. Moxley died in 1863, and his wife in 1867. Margaret J. Proctor marriedL. S. Crouch, of Lee coun- ty, at the age of nineteen years. and a Illinois, and they have two daughters son. Mellissa E. died, unmarried, Mary A. is the wife of William H. Brewer, of Monroe county, Mississippi, and they have two children. The next child died in infancy, and George R. died at the age of two years. Harriet N. became the wife of Andrew J. Hurless, of Carroll county, and
has two children. Eliza married Clinton Manning, of Genesee township, and they are the parents of two children.
David G. Proctor was born in 1840, in Lawrence county, Indiana, and continued to reside there until he was fifteen years of age. His father having died in Genesee township in 1855, the young man, who was the eldest son, and was well trained as a farmer, proceeded to be his widowed moth- er's mainstay, and the supporter of his numerous brothers and sisters. He rented land in Genesee township for several years. In 1893 he purchased the sixty-acre farm which had been occupied by his mother, in this township, and which, by her death, in the year mentioned, was left to the heirs. Mr. Proctor has been very successful as a farmer, and has made many substantial improvements upon his fine homestead, which now comprises one hundred and forty-seven acres.
For a helpmate along life's journey, David G. Proctor chose Sarah Ann Hurless, a daughter of Cephus and Elizabeth (Over- holser) HInrless. She was born in Ohio, and her marriage to Mr. Proctor took place in 1865. On the paternal side, she comes of old Virginia ancestry, while on the mater- nal line, she is of German descent. Martin Overholser, the grandfather of Mrs. Proc- tor, now ninety-one years old, and a resi- dent of Coleta, is hale and hearty, not- withstanding his advanced age. He has many living descendants, as may be seen from the following: he has eight children, eighty-nine grandchildren, forty-six great- grandchildren, and seven great-great-grand- children -- a total of one hundred and fifty. Dr. Proctor's infant son, David, is of the fifth generation living to-day in Gen- csee township. Cephus and Elizabeth Hur-
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less were the parents of six children, of whom Adeline and another died in infancy; Susanna became the wife of H. C. Mc- Cray, of Carroll county, Illinois, and has two sons: Rebecca J. married Joseph Bush- man, of this township, and they have three children; and George P., of Pocohontas coun- ty, Iowa, married Carrie Wells, and has two daughters. After the death of his first wife, Cephus Hurless married Tabitha Win- ters, and had eight children by that union. Five of the number died in infancy, and three survive, namely: William, Belle and Roy. William, who wedded Annie Cona- way, and has two children, resides in Gen- esee township. Belle became the wife of Miles Wallace, of Carroll county, and they have three children. Roy, who is un- married, is engaged in teaching school, and lives in Coleta.
Seven children blessed the union of David G. Proctor and wife. Cephus E., a farmer of Clyde township, Whiteside coun- ty, married Bertha Daniels. George R., a practicing physician, whose sketch is printed elsewhere in this work, is a leading citizen of Coleta. Minnie J. is the wife of Mathias Spang, Jr., who carries on a farm situated half a mile east of Coleta. The young couple have one child. Ira R. and Richard G., unmarried, live at home and assist their father in the management of the farm. Elizabeth also lives with her parents. The youngest of the family, a boy, died in infancy.
In all local affairs, Mr. Proctor has been active and interested. He has never been an aspirant to political office, but has served as a tax collector in his township. In national politics, he sides with the Dem- ocratic party. His wife is a member of the United Brethren church, and he is lib-
eral and broad-minded in his religious views. The entire community, in which he has so long dwelt, esteems him highly, looking upon him as a representative of the sterling pioneer element, who founded this county.
S AMUEL A. THOMPSON, who is liv- ing a retired life in the city of Erie, was for many years one of the most active and enterprising farmers of Whiteside coun- ty, where he has been living for the past forty-three years. He was born in Meigs county, Ohio, July 29, 1823, and is the son of Reuben and Philinda Thompson, both of whom were natives of Vermont. They had a family of four children. The mother dy- ing when our subject was but a child, he was taken and reared by William Davis, with whom he remained until he was twenty years old. He then learned the carpenter's trade at which he worked for some years, two years of which time serving as a ship carpenter on the Mississippi river, the boat running between New Orleans and Memphis.
In 1850 Mr. Thompson made a visit to Whiteside county, at which time he pur- chased one hundred and sixty acres of land in Fenton township. In 1856 he came to the county and took up his permanent resi- dence on the land and commenced its im- provement. He became a very successful farmer, and from time to time added to the area of his land until he was the owner of seven hundred and fifty acres. While act- ively engaged in farming, he made a spec- ialty of stock raising, and was an acknowl- edged authority in the value of stock.
On the 28th of April, 1858, Mr. Thomp- son was united in marriage with Mrs. Elizabeth Bull, widow of Elijah Bull, and
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who was a native of the state of Vermont, and born March 22, 1828. By this union there were born two children: Jennie M., born December 19, 1858, now the wife of James Carr, of Omaha, Nebraska; and Reuben A., born February 25, 1869, and now residing in Fenton township. He has been twice married, his first union being with Miss Anna Casenston, who died five months after their union was solemnized. He later married Miss Nora McMurphy. By her former marriage, Mrs. S. A. Thompson had one son, George E., born April 5, 1856. Ile was adopted by Mr. Thompson, grew to manhood and married Miss Nellie Eddy, and they reside in Fenton township. Mrs. Thompson died March 13, 1890. She was a devoted member of the Christian church and died in the full assurance of faith, being greatly lamented by all who knew her.
Mr. Thompson was married the second time, his second union being with Miss Juliet Campbell, the date of the marriage being May 13, 1894. She is the daughter of Harrison and Julia A. Campbell, and is a native of Ohio, born April 5, 1845. She resided in her native state until her mar- riage with Mr. Thompson, since which time she has made her home in Erie, Illinois. Her father was a farmer in Ohio. He mar- ried Julia A. Kent, a native of Vermont, and to them were born nine children. Warren died at about the age of twenty years. Caroline married Franklin Keck, and they reside in Ohio. James B. married Eliza- beth Entsler, and they yet live in Ohio. Mary D. married William H. Carr, and they yet reside in the Buckeye state. Martha also resides in Ohio. Juliet C. is the wife of our subject. Emma E. resides in Ohio. William H. has been twice mar- 21
ried, his second wife being a Miss Charity Foster. They also reside in Ohio. Lucinda married Harvey Tripp, and their home is in Ohio. Mr. H. Campbell died in Ohio, February 20, 1891. His wife is yet living in Ohio at the ripe old age of eighty-three years.
For some years Mr. Thompson has been in ill health, in consequence of which he divided much of his property among his children and moved to the city of Eric in 1894, since which time he has been living a retired life. He is a member of the Christian church at Erie, as is also his wife. The large bell in use by that church was a present by Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, and cost about one hundred and fifty-five dollars. Few men are better known in the western part of the county than Mr. Thompson, and while his wife has not been long a resident of the place, she has made many friends and both are held in the highest esteem.
H ENRY S. LANDIS, whose farm is on sections 14 and 23, Sterling township, has been identified with the agricultural in- terests of Whiteside county, for almost half a century. He was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, March 17, 1820, a son of Dan- iel'and Margaret (Shafer) Landis, also natives of the Keystone state. The father, who was a teamster and later an innkeeper in Penn- sylvania, died when our subject was only four years old. In his family were five children, Eliza, Emanuel, Maria, Henry S. and Annie, all of whom are now deceased with the exception of Henry S.
After the death of his father our subject was bound out until fifteen years of age, and then worked for wages as a farm hand. His education was acquired in the schools
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of his native county. In 1841, he married Miss Fannie Stauffer, who was born in Lan- caster county, November 13, 1820, a daugh- ter of John and Margaret (Ebee) Landis, also natives of Pennsylvania. In early life her father was a farmer and later followed the miller's trade. He had nine children, Benjamin, Fannie, Peter, Christ, Mar- garet, John, Annie, Barbara, and one who died young. With the exception of Mrs. Landis, all of this family remained in the east. To our subject and his wife were born thirteen children, namely: Annie, Barbara, Margaret, Susanna, Amos, Maria, John, Henry, Emma, Emanuel, Fremont, Reuben and Daniel, all of whom are still living with the exception of Daniel, who died in infancy.
In 1851, Mr. Landis, accompanied by his wife and four children, came west by way of the Great Lakes to Chicago, which at that time was a small town, and by stage proceeded to Dixon. They finally reached Sterling after two days spent upon the road. After a few days spent in that town, Mr. Landis purchased a farm of one hundred and forty-seven acres from John Albertson, a part of which had been fenced and a barn erected thereon. He com- menced immediately to operate his farm, but lived in town until fall, when he moved into a log cabin upon his place, into which the snakes would often crawl. To the further improvement and cultivation of this farm he has since devoted his energies, and still owns all of the original tract with the exception of three acres and a half, which he sold to the fair association. He has had no specialty but has always engaged in general farming. Politically he is identified with the Republican party, and served as school director for many years. His wife
is a member of the Menonite church and both are held in high regard on account of their sterling worth and many excel- lencies of character.
JACOB Y. LEHMAN, D. V. S., a suc- cessful veterinary surgeon of Sterling, Illinois, was born in Columbiana, Colum- biana county, Ohio, August 22, 1844, and is a son of Jacob H. and Mary (Yoder) Lehman, both natives of Pennsylvania. The father, who was a farmer by occupation, died in Ohio in 1873, at the age of sixty-five years. In his family were fifteen children, thirteen of whom are still living, but our subject is the only one residing in Illinois. His boyhood and youth were passed upon a farm in Ohio, and he was educated in the common and high schools of that state.
When twenty years of age, Mr. Leh- man went to Indiana, where some of his brothers and sisters had located, and while there continued the study of veterinary sur- gery which he had commenced in his native state. Later he engaged in practice with an old veterinary surgeon, and still later was associated with an Englishman of that pro- fession, Dr. J. D. Selden, being engaged in practice and traveling with him for some time. In 1866 he came to Sterling, where he followed his chosen profession until the fall of 1883, when he entered the Chicago Veterinary College, which had just been established and was one of the eight students during the first term. After completing the prescribed course and receiving his degree, he returned to Ster- ling and resumed practice. He is now one of the oldest and best qualified practitioners in the county, his practice extending over a period of thirty-five years, during which
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time he has given his entire attention to his profession and built up a large and paying practice.
On the 26th of May, 1873, Dr. Lehman married Miss Harriet A. Baker, a native of Geneva, Illinois, and a daughter of John R. and Harriet A. (Foote) Baker. Her father was one of the pioneers of Kane county, this state, and is now living in Loup City, Nebraska, and a hale and hearty old gentle- man of eighty-eight years. To the Doctor and his wife were born four children, of which Charles E. died in infancy; Carl C. is now a stenographer in the First National Bank of Chicago; Olive L. is bookkeeper and cashier in Fernburg's store of Sterling; and Harriet A. is still attending school. Both the Doctor and his wife are members of the Congregational church. In politics he is a Republican. The family is well known and highly respected.
OSHUA L. HARRISON is a young and J enterprising farmer residing on section 3, Hopkins township, where he owns and operates a farm of one hundred and three acres of well improved land. He was born in Genesee township, Whiteside county, Illinois, October 2, 1869, and is the son of James H. and Julia A. (Fitzgerald) Harrison, the former also a native of Genesee town- ship, born in 1842, and the latter a native of Illinois but of Irish descent, whose par- ents, Patrick and Mary (Barry) Fitzgerald, were born in Ireland in 1805 and 1803, re- spectively, and who were married in their native country, after which they immedi- ately emigrated to America, where all their children were born. Their children were as follows: Michael B. is a contractor and builder, and also a manufacturer of brick.
He married Catherine McCarty, and they reside in Sterling. William H. was by trade a painter. He went west, married Miss Thorpe, but returned to Whiteside county in 1886, and died on the home farm in Genesee township. Mary A. married David Bryson, and they are the parents of three children. Their home is in Sioux City, Iowa, where he is engaged in the real estate business. James M. and Ellen are twins. The former married Mary McCarty, and they have one child. He is a partner with his brother in the manufacture of brick, and the family resides in Sterling. Ellen married Charles Galbraith, and they have three children. Their home is in Crawford county, Iowa, where Mr. Galbraith is en- gaged in the real estate business. Richard P. married Lizzie Wilton and they have one child. They reside in Garwin, Iowa, where he is engaged in the practice of law. John C. is a retired farmer and real estate dealer. He is married and has three chil- dren. They also reside in Garwin, Iowa. Julia A. is the mother of our subject. Frances married John D. Moore, by whom she has five children. Their home is in Rock Falls, Illinois. Thomas E. is a bridge contractor and resides in Chicago. One child died in infancy.
The paternal grandfather of our subject was born in Yorkshire, England, and in 1832 came to the United States, making his way direct to Chicago, Illinois, where he bought one hundred and sixty acres of government land, which he afterwards trad- ed for some lots in Fulton, Illinois. He later located in Sterling, where he was em- ployed for a time by Mr. Brink, after which he purchased some government land and opened up the farm where his son, James H., now resides. He married Mary Taylor,
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a southern lady, who was probably born in North Carolina. His death occurred in 1876, while his wife survived him some years, dying in September, 1885. Their family consisted of four children. Alice married Jerry Pittman, and they are the parents of eight children. Their home is in Greene county, Iowa. James H. is the father of our subject. Sarah H. married James Lynch, and they reside on the home place in Genesee township. Seven chil- dren blessed their union. Joseph E. mar- ried Margaret Pugh, and they have six chil- dren. They also live in Genesee township.
James H. Harrison grew to manhood on his father's farm in Genesee township, and was educated in its common schools. He continued at home, assisting in the farm work, until near the close of the Civil war, when he enlisted in Company G, One Hun- dred and Fifty-sixth Illinois Volunteer In- fantry, and served for eleven months, or until the close of the war. His uncle, William H. Fitzgerald, who first served three years in the United States navy, was also a mem- ber of that company and regiment, serving as orderly sergeant. Three other uncles, Richard V., John C. and James M. Fitz- gerald, also served in the Union army in the Civil war. Returning from the service, on the 30th of September, 1865, he was united in marriage with Miss Julia A. Fitz- gerald, by which union four children were born, one of whom, Francis H., died when one year old, and one died in infancy. William H., born September 4, 1867, mar- ried Lizzie A. Deets, February 16, 1889. They have two children, and live in Genesee township. Joshua L. is the subject of this sketch.
Joshua L. Harrison, of whom we now write, spent his boyhood and youth on the
farm in Genesee township. He obtained a good common-school education, and is now a practical business man of affairs. He was married December 16, 1891, to Miss Nellie J. Deets, also a native of Genesee township, born July 26, 1872. Her father, William Deets, was born in Germany, and in his youth came to America, first locating in Dayton, Ohio, where he married Cath- erine Overholzer. They later came to Whiteside county, Illinois, locating in Gen- esee township, where he became a wealthy and prosperous farmer, operating at one time about twelve hundred acres of fine farming lands. He is now living a retired life in Sterling, Illinois. His wife is a native of Ohio, of German descent. They are the parents of eleven children, of whom Nellie is fourth in order of birth.
After his marriage Mr. Harrison operated his father's farm in Genesee township for one year, together with forty acres of his own land. He then purchased the farm where he now resides, which he has under excellent improvement, it being one of the best farms in the vicinity. He also has one of the best stone quarries in Whiteside county, and has no trouble in disposing of the entire output of the quarry each year. He is doing a good business both in his quarry and on his farm, and in his farming operations he devotes himself to mixed farming.
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