Ford County, Illinois - The whole text, 1884 (part 7 of 7)

MILTON H. 'CLOUD, Paxton, the present Master in Chancery, was bora in Hamilton County, Ohio, 1842. His father, Vivian Cloud, was bora in Dearborn County, Ind., in 1812. He was married to Sarah D. Gibson, a native of Penn¬ sylvania, in 1888. The result of this union was a family of twelve children. After his marriage he resided in Hamilton County until 1850, when he came to Illinois and settled in Taze¬ well County. He remained here until 1868, then went to El Paso where he now resides. The subject of our sketch was edu¬ cated at the academy in Washington, III., and afterward at Eureka College. He oommehced the study of law in the Chi¬ cago Law School, and in the winter ,of 1866-67 read law in the office of R. T. k J. J. Cassell, at Metamora, Ill., and was admit¬ ted to the bar at Ottawa in April, 1867. He began the practice of his profession at El Paso, where he remained for two years, then came to this place, where he has since resided. He was elected City Attorney for one term, and by appointment of the County Court was County Attorney in 1872, until the election of a State's Attorney; he is now Master in Chancery. In Octo¬ ber, 1871, he was united in marriage with Alice rolhemus, of El Paso. The result of this marriage has been two children, both girls. In 1862, he enlisted in the Eighty-sixth Illinois In¬ fantry, and was in the army until wounded at the charge at Kenesaw Mountain in June, 1864, when he was honorably discharged and returned home. Mr. Cloud is considered a good and success¬ ful lawyer, possessing a lucrative practice and a fair share of the business in this and .adjoining counties.

P. A. COAL, publisher and proprietor of the Gibson En¬ terprise and Sibley Index , was bora in Washington, Washing¬ ton Co., Penn., November 28, 1854. He is a son of Dr. W. P. T. and Mary (Williams) Coal. His father was a native of Hornellsvjlle, Steuben Co., N. Y., and his mother of Kentucky. Mr. Coal came in 1859, with his parents, to Fremont, III. He never attended the public school, but at the age of about eight years entered the high school at Fremont, on a first-grade certificate, and subsequently attended the State Normal Univer¬ sity, and began teaching school before he Was fourteen years of age. Our subject has taught in McLean, Champaign and Ford Counties for over eleven years. He engaged in the newspaper business at Sibley, 111., in Deoember, 1879, publishing the Sib¬ ley Index y which he still ooutinues to edit. In June, 1888, he moved to Gibson, and started the Gibson Enterprise , which is one of the most flourishing papers in the county. Mr. Coal was married, December 28, 1879, to Sadie Black, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Dungan, and a native* of Indiana. Since the above was written, the Sibley Index has passed into the hands of M. T. Hyer.

HON. J. H. COLLIER, Gibson, was bora in Oneida County, State of New York, in 1844. Joseph Collier, father of the sub¬ ject of our sketch, was a native of England, and when a youth of nine years came to America with his parents, who settled in New York State. He removed to Lake County, Ill., in 1855, and is at present making his home with his son, Hon. J. H. Collier, in Gibson. Our subject kept a general store in Hhntiey, McHenry Co., Ill., for several years, and in 1862, at the age of eighteen, he enlisted and served in the army for the Union until 1866, and rose through all the grades of rank to that of Captain of his company. In 1871, Mr. Collier came to Ford County, settling at Gibson, which was then a small village, and embarked in the hardware and agricultural implement business, the first in that line in the town: During his residence here the people have called Mr. Collier from private to public life, and that nis services have been entirely acceptable bis many re-elections will testify. He has served from Town Clerk through the various offioee to Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. He has been elected from this district to the Thirtieth, Thirty-second and Thirty-third General Assemblies, occupying during the Thirtysecond, positions as Chairman of Committee on Labor and Manu¬ facture, and on Committees on Fees, Salaries, Penitentiaries, Militia and Senatorial Apportionment He has the credit among his constituents and brother members of being one of the best workers for the State and National good. Our subject has re¬ cently erected two very fine business rooms in the Opera Block, Gibson, one occupied by himself in the hardware trade, on the same spot where he first began business in 1871. The first wife of Mr. Collier died in 1872; their only child died one week be¬ fore the mother. He married for his seoond wife, in May, 1875, Miss Hattie McClure, daughter of B. H. McClure, one of Drum¬ mer Township's best known citisens. The result of this union has been two children. Mr. Collier is one of our best citisens, and has at all times been strictly identified with the.general busi¬ ness and social interests of Gibson.

FRANC L. COOK, Paxton, son of Col. H. D. Cook, is the present State's Attorney, and one of the leading lawyers of Pax¬ ton. His father, Col. Cook, was bora in Oneida County, N. Y., in, 1817, and was married to Johanna Hkll, a native of that county, in 1840. They removed to McLean County, HI., in 1858, and this has been their home, with the exception of some time passed in Woodford County. He was elected to the Legis¬ lature in 1860, and in 1862 entered the army as Captain in the Fourth Dlinois Cavalry, and when mustered out bore the rank of Colonel. On his return from the army, he was re-elected to the Legislature, and shortly thereafter was appointed by the Governor Financial Agent for Illinois to settle claims of this State.against the General Government In this position he procured the pay¬ ment of nearly all the amounts claimed, manifesting great business, tact and ability. When the railroad and warehouse oommis¬ sion was organised under act of the Legislature, Col. Cook was appointed by Gov. Beveridge, a member of this board, 'and at its organisation became the Chairman. This position he filled with honor to himself and satisfaction to the people until his deaths which .occurred in 1878. He left a wife, two daughters and two sons. Mrs. Cook and one son, Prof. John Cook, reside at Normal. The daughters, Mrs. A. Sample and Mrs. F. W. Gore, reside in Paxton. This is also the resideqpe of the subject of our sketch, who was bora at the old home in Oneida County, N. Y., in 1842. He* came to Dlinois with the family, and was in the employ of the Dlinois Central Railroad, as agent at Kappa, for four years. He was in the employ of this State at Washing¬ ton, from 1866 to 1870, collecting soldiers' claims; he also served as Clerk of Committee on Foreign Affairs, Gen. Banks,

Chairman, United States House of Representatives; and as Clerk of Committee on Territories, Senator Cullom, Chairman. Mr. Cook was in the oensus office of 1870, having in charge T&blo No. 8, and supervising the pay of Marshals. - He was educated at Eureka ana Knox Colleges, and graduated from the Columbia Law College at Washington, and admitted to the bar in 1871. He began the practice of nis profession in Paxton in 1872. Mr. Cook has served as City Attorney one term, and, as before stated, is the present State's Attorney of Ford County. In 1870, he was united in marriage with Mias Kate Anderson, of Blooming¬ ton. She is a.lady of exoellent culture, as visitors to their pleas¬ ant home in Paxton can testify.

JOHN H. DUNGAN was among the first settlers of Ford County, having settled on the southwest quarter of Section 13, Town 28, Range 7, now Drummer Township. He owned at one time, in addition to the homestead, the southeast quarter of Sec¬ tion 14. Our subject is a son of John R. and Ellenor Dungan, natives of Kentucky, who settled in Jefferson County, Ind., in 1811, where they resided till death overtook them. John R. Dungan died at the age of sixty-five. His widow was aged eigh¬ ty-four at the time of her death. Our subject was bora in Jef¬ ferson County, Ind., and educated at South Hanover. In 1842, he was united in marriage with Mary A. Fay, of Portage County, Ohio, daughter of Hon. Basset Fay, of Massachusetts. His home was in sight of that of the late Hon. J. A. Garfield, with whom he volunteered to go to the war, but physical disability prevented the enlistment He was one of the delegates from Portage Coun¬ ty who nominated Garfield for the State Senate, his first public position. After being rejected as a soldier, Mr. Dungan con¬ cluded to remove to Ford County, Dl., and improve lands pur¬ chased bv him in 1856. Thereupon in the fall of 1861, with his five motherless children, poor tools and little money, he located on the wild prairie. It was a hard life for the pioneer as for in¬ stance corn would be hauled to Paxton and sold for 10 cents a bushel, and cotton cloth purchased at 60 cents a yard, coffee, 40 to 60 oents a pound, and other necessaries in like proportion. On one occasion ten bushels of oorn were traded for one bushel of wild gooseberries. Schools, churches, mills, etc. were few and far between. He contributed toward the building of the first mill and the first church at Paxton, and believes he has a little stock in nine other churches in the county. He has four chil¬ dren living,*all married. Two reside in Kansas, the others in Iowa, and all in oomfortable circumstances. One son, the young¬ est, died and was buried in Gibson Cemetery. He has a fine brick residence, large frame barn, extensive orchard and grove, and farm well hedged; he built the fourth house in the town of Gibson; has been engaged in the grain and seed business for fifteen years. Mr. Dungan, by reason of his age, has retired fron^ active business, and calmly awaits the time when the final summons comes, and his remains are laid away in the Gibson Cemetery, where he has selected the place and erected a monu¬ ment.

JOHN C. DUNHAM, Paxton, was bora in Tolland County, Conn., July, 1881, son of Rev. E. and R. (Herris) Dunham, natives of Tolland County, and both children of Revolutionary sires. Mr. Dunham reoeived a New England school and academic education. At the age of twenty-two years, he went to Canada, where he pmeticea dentistry and obtained a medical education. From Canada he dame to Loda, Iroquois Co., Ill., in 1861, and here .continued the practice of dentistry for several yeare, and in 1875 started in the newspaper business, publishing the Loda Register , at Loda. Our subject had several adventures in the newspaper line during his earlier years. Mr. Dunham is at present pub¬ lishing the Eastern Illinois Register , at Paxton, Ill., in connec¬ tion with the Loda Register. He was twice married; first, to Miss Harriett McBuraey, a native of Peterboro, Canada. She died in 1878, and in 1880 Mr. Dunham was again married, on this occasion to Elisabeth G. Knapp, a native of Memphis, Tenn.

MERTON DUNLAP, Paxton, was born at Leyden, Cook Co., Dl., October 18, 1845, and has always lived in this State. He is a son of Hon. M. L. andiEmeline (Pieroe) Dunlap, natives of New York State, but who came to Dlinois in 1886. Our sub¬ ject's father was a well-known and successful fruit grower and nurseryman. For twenty-two years he was the agricultural cor¬ respondent of the, Chicago Tribune , over the nom de plume of " Rural," and for many years editor of the Illinois Farmer. He held many offices of trust, and was a member of the State Legis¬ lature when his county (Cook) had but four members. The fam¬ ily removed to Champaign County in 1857, where the father died in 1875. The mpther still lives at the old homestead at Savoy, with which is connected one of the largest orchards in the State. Merton reoeived his early education in the public schools, subse¬ quently attending the Dlinois College at Jacksonville. He has a practical knowledge of the German language, having spoken it from childhood. On attaining his majority, he became a member of the nursery firm of M. L. Dunlap k Sons, Champaign County, where he continued until 1872, when he removed to Patton Township, Ford County, and there engaged in the same business. In 1878, the question of excessive charges by the railroads agi¬ tated tiie farmers and business men of the State. Mr. Dunlap took an active interest in this-issue, becoming Secretary of the Patton Township Farmers' Club, and also Secretary of the Ford County Farmers' Association. In August of that year, he was, to his great surprise, and without any solicitation on his part, nominated for County Clerk. There were several candidates be¬ fore the convention for that office, and no one having a majority, Mr. Dunlap, who was Secretary of the convention, was taken up and nominated almost unanimously. He was elected in the fol¬ lowing November. At his second and third nominations, he had no opposition in his own party, and at his third election his political opponents made no nominations against him, and placed his name upon their tickets. This indorsement by the people, without regard to party, was a recognition of Mr. Dunlap's ability and fidelity as a public officer. During a service of ten years in his position as County Clerk, he has omlected and paid into the county treasury fees amounting to more than $7,000 above the allowance for salary. In 1880, the Board of Supervisors, recog¬ nising the increase of the business of his office, and as a matter of justice, voted to him the sum of $500 per year as clerk hire for the two remaining years of that term. His salary having been, as usual, fixed previous to his election, Mr. Dunlap declined to accept this extra allowance, but continued to pay his assistants out of his own salary. This action on his part the more firmly settled the public confidence already so strongly manifested in him. Immediately following his second election, expecting to retire from public office at the close of that term, Mr. Dunlap be¬ gan the study of law with Alfred Sample, Esq., employing all his spare hours at night in pursuit of his studies. In 1880, he was examined and admitted to the practice of the law by the Su¬ preme Court of this State, standing fourth in a class of thirty? three. Feeling that his entire services are due the people so long as he occupies his present official position, he has declined to make any effort to build up a law practice. Mr. Dunlap is a Methodist, having attended that church from youth, and for many years has been Superintendent of the Paxton Methodist Episco¬ pal Sunday School. He is a member and Secretary of the Pax¬ ton School Board. His tastes are of a literary character, and his library, where he spends nearly all of his leisure time, is quite large and very carefully selected. His chief pleasure is to be at home with his family. He married, September 26, 1867, Miss Mattie L. Beecher, a native of Connecticut, but more re¬ cently a resident of Champaign County, Ill. They have had three children - Harry, Edith and Cora. Edith, a bright child and of amiable disposition, died in 1881. Harry graduated, June ; 1884, from the Paxton High School, where Cora is still a pupil. Naturally obliging and accommodating, a true gentleman in all his relations with the public, putting forth every effort for the proper discharge of his official duties, Merton Dunlap is deserv¬ edly one of the most popular men ever called upon to devote his time and talents to the public welfare.

GEORGE S. EGGLESTON, lumber dealer, Gibson, son of Abram and Sally (Hoskins) Eggleston, was born iu St. Law¬ rence County, N. Y., May 25, 1888. In 1867, in Brooklyn, N. Y., he was united in marriage with Josephine Gerald, of Randolph, Mass. They have had five children - Warren N. (died in Gibson in 1882), Elbert Lynn, Myron Lee, Forrest C. and Wyvil Walker.

MATTHEW ELLIOTT (deceased) was born March 4, 1799, in the District of Columbia. When about twenty-one years old, he came West to Ohio, where he remained until the spring of 1850; then came to Ford County, III. (then Vermilion), and en¬ tered land in the southeast quarter of Section 25, and moved his family here from Ohio in the spring of 1852. He purchased the home place-of Benjamin Stites, who entered the land and made the first improvements where Franklin Holloway now lives, in Button Township. Mr. Elliott died August 23, 1881. They have a family of five children. W. H. H. Elliott owns and re¬ sides on the old home place. Mrs. Annie Elliott, widow of Mat¬ thew Elliott, and mother of W. H. H., is still living at the ripe old age of seventy-four, and makes her home iu Champaign City, HI.

JOSEPH P. GRAHAM, Roberts, is the youngest and only surviving son of A. B. and Louisa (Cole) Graham. He was born in Franklin County, Ohio, August 13, 1859. He moved with his parents to Warren County, IU., in 1866, and to Ford County in 1867, settling on Section 20. Here the subject of this sketch and his father own a finely improved farm of' 200 acres, pleasantly situated two miles from Roberts. Two years ago they erected their handsome residence (a sketch of which is shown in this work), the finest bouse in Lyman Township, beau¬ tifully located on a natural elevation commanding an extensive view of the surrounding oountry. Mr. Graham is Town Clerk of Lyman, and in all his business transactions has ever proven himself honorable and trustworthy, and one of the active and progressive farmers of this county.

DAVID W. GREEN, farmer, P. O. Gibson City, is ai son of David and Sarah (Skeed) Green; born in Ross County, Ohio, August 1, 1827. His parents settled in this county Octo¬ ber 5,1870, and he came seven days later. On August 15, 1851, he was united in marriage with Augusta Hynes in Ross County, Ohio. They have thirteen children - Herbert, Melvina, Julia, John, Victoria, George, Anna, Lincoln, Emma, E4a, Wilbert, Emmitt, Josie.

HENRY C. HALL, grain dealer, Paxton, was born in Fount¬ ain County, Ind., October 10, 1841, son of* James D. and Elisa (Wisman) Hall, former a native of Ross County, Ohio, latter of Virginia. At the age of three years, our subjeqt moved with his parents to WarrenCounty, where they remained four years; then came to Ford County, Ill., settling at Henderson's Grove, in Button Township. Henry C. was educated in the public schools, and in the winter of 1860 began teaching school in the Campbell District, teaching in this and the Blanchard District until 1863. In 1861, he moved to Paxton, where he now resides, and in 1865 went into partnership with his father, under the firm name of J. D. A H. C. Hall. They bought grain and stock, shipping to Chicago. In 1871,_ Mr. Hall went into partnership with D. H. Snyder, of Gibson. They had the honor of shipping the first oar of grain from that place to Chicago, also the first to ship over the L. E. A W. to Toledo. Hall A Snyder also shipped large quantities of stock. In July, 1874, they sent forty car loads of cattle and hogs from Gibson to Chicago. Mr. Snyder withdrew from the firm in 1881, and Mr. T. Ross is now in company with Mr. Hall. They have the only elevator in Gibson. Our subject was mar¬ ried, October 10* 1872, to Mary H. Pierpont, daughter of Leon¬ ard Pierpont, and a native of Litchfield County, Conn. They have three children, all girls. Mr. Hall has held the office of Town Clerk three years, Township Treasurer eighteen years, and City Alderman four years. He is one of the prominent and re¬ liable business men of Paxton.

ELI HARVEY, Siblev, was born on his father's farm in Clinton County, Ohio, in 1&39. He received his education in a log schoolhouse. In 1857, he emigrated to Malden, Ill., where he resided on a farm until 1860, when he removed to Loda, Ill. Here he commenced a career as overseer of a large landed estate, a position he has held for twenty-two consecutive years. His position at Loda was overseer, general manager and paymaster of Adam Smith's 2,000-acre farm, a position he held until 1875, with the exception * of the year 1867, when he came to Burr Oaks farm to oversee the planting of hedge fences of nearly 100 miles in extent, and as a fact worth mentioning here, Mr. Harvey put in the first hedge plant in Sullivant Township with his own hand. In 1875, he became overseer of the Burr Oaks farm, and has held that position to th'e present time. Mr. Har¬ vey may be said to be in reality a self-made roan. His educa¬ tion is a broad and generous one. His merits have been repeat¬ edly recognised by his employers, and the people have held a continual claim upon him, as we find him holding the several positions of School Director for twelve consecutive years. Town¬ ship Constable for six years, Overseer of Highways for six years. He was the first Town Clerk of Sullivant Township, which obtained its first organization through his efforts. He is one of our best citizens, and takes a pride in the advancement of all public interests.

LESTER S. HEATH, hardware, Melvin, was born near Lockport, Will Co., Ill., February 14, 1848, and is a son of Joseph and Achsah Heath, who settled in Will County in 1838. On December 28, 1870, our subject was united in marriage with Mary Jane Brown, of Joliet, Ill. They have four children - Harry Lester, Lizzie A., Amey B. and Joseph Rolla. Mr. Heath settled in Melvin in 1873.

JOHN F. G. HELMER, Paxton, Deputy Circuit Clerk, was born near the city of Ullrecehamn, 8weden, November 14, 1849. In 1867, he came to this country, settling in Paxton. He was educated in the public schools of his native place, and latterly in the colleges at Grenna and Jonkoping, Sweden. In 1869, he entered the employ of S. D. Cooper, druggist, in this city, and remained here until 1881. He was appointed Coroner of Ford County from 1874 to 1878, which office he filled with satisfaction to all. In 1881, he was appointed Deputy Circuit Clerk under Weaver White, which position he still retains. He is also agent for the leading steamship lines to Europe. Mr. Helmer is very popular in thiq, county, and is one of Paxton's prominent young men. He is considered to be the best penman among the county officers. He was married, June 4, 1879, to Augusta W. Frederickson, a native of Grenna, Sweden.

CHARLES B. HENDERSON. Samuel E. Henderson, father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Virginia. He moved to Logan County, Ohio, where he lived the remainder of his days. He died in the winter of 1877, having reached the patriarchal age of ninety-one years. . Charles E. Henderson, the subject of our sketch, was born in Loudoun County, Va., February 3, 1825. He went with his parents to Ohio, and there remained until he became a young man, receiving such education as the times and locality afforded. In 1850, he went overland to Cali¬ fornia, remaining three years, then returned to his old home in Ohio, where he was married, May 23, 1854, to Miss Ann Boggs, daughter of William Boggs, one of the early pettlers of Logan* County, Ohio, and a native of Pickaway County, Ohio.- He died at the age of eighty-two at his old home in Logan County, Ohio, where he had lived for more than fifty years. In 1855, Mr. and Mrs. Henderson came to Decatur, Dl., where he engaged in the grain business until 1858, when they again returned to their pld home in Logan County, Ohio. Here they remained until 1865, when be located in Ford County, where he has engaged in vari¬ ous avocations, chiefly farming and dealing in stocks. He was one of the incorporators of the First National Bank of Paxton in 1871. Upon his present home farm in Patton Township is a station of the Lake Erie & Western Railroad called Henderson Station, where our subject has a store and commodious grain house and telegraph office. The store and office of the railroad are under the management of his son Harry.

JAMES OSCAR HUGHES, pharmacist, Gibson, son of Lewis H. and Elizabeth Jane Hughes, was born in Woodford County, Ill., April 29, 1849. On August 18, 1873, he was united in marriage with Emma G. Livingston, at Ureka, Ill. They have one child - Walter Guy. Mr. Hughes came to this county in 1875, and in 1878 the firm of Hughes & Thompson succeeded J. R. Lott, druggist. In August, 1882, Mr. Hughes bought the interest of his partner, S. A. Thompson, since which time he has conducted the drug business alone.

JAMES KEMP, Kempton, P. O. son of Wright and Eliza¬ beth Kemp, was born in Kendall County, Ill., November 24, 1858, and came to Ford County with his parents in 1866. He was united in marriage with Carrie M. Switzer July 31, 1877, at a place called Eldridgeville, Kankakee Co., Ill. They have three children - Mary B., Ada B., Myrtie E. Mr. Kemp lives on Section 1, Sullivan Township, Livingston County, about a half mile west from the old home.

was one of the early settlers in Rogers Township, Ford County, having settled on Section* 81, in March, 1866. He* is a son ol John and Betty Kemp, and was born March 18, 1823, in New¬ tonmore, Cheshire, England. On January 22, 1843, he was united in marriage with Elizabeth Butterworth, in Middleton, England. In the year 1848, he bade adieu to his wife and three children and set sail for America, landing in New Orleans after a voyage of seven weeks from Liverpool. After a time, he made his way to Kendall County, Ill., where he had an uncle, for whom he engaged to work by the month as a farm hand. The following year he wrote for his wife and family to come to him, and in due time Mrs. Kemp with two children (one child having died since his departure from home) landed in New York, and by way of the canal and the lakes reached Morris, Grundy Co., Ill., where the re-union of husband and father with wife and family took place, A farm was rented in Kendall County, on which they settled, and for many years farmed on shares as renters. About the beginning of the war, Mr. Kemp purchased a farm, and paid a considerable money down. His corn crop was immense that year, and could not be marketed at more than 15 cents per bushel, which so discouraged him that he permitted the land to go back to the owner before him. This farm he rented one year, and an early frost materially injured the com, yet what was marketable was sold for more than $1 per bushel. The next year, he lived on a farm in Grundy County, near Nettle Creek. He purchased 160 acres of land on what is known as Grand Prairie, Ford County, and in the winter of 1865-66, he hauled lumber for a house and other buildings to be put up the following spring. On March 1,1866, the family, with house¬ hold goods and stock, left neighbors and friends in Grandy County for the new home in Ford. The roads were in a terrible con¬ dition, and streams were overflowing their banks. The journey was by way of Dwight, across the unbroken prairie, till they reached the residence of Mr. Shoemaker, where a stop was made for a few days, after which they took up their abode in a shanty three miles from the location of their new home, where the family remained till the father and Mr. Shoemaker had built the new house, known far and wide in its day as the large white boose. Some two or three years after this, he purchased 1*20 acres lying opposite, at $12.50 per acre. The town of Kempton, a station on the Kankakee & Southwestern Branch of the Illinois Central Railroad was laid out by Mr. Kemp in 1878, and so named in his honor as he materially advanced th« interests of the residents of this section by securing right of way through Rogers Town¬ ship. He afterward purchased 320 acres of land west of Kemp¬ ton, in Livingston County, on which his sons John and James now reside. Mr. Kemp purchased a house and lot in Kankakee in 1883, where he now lives with wife and youngest boy, Wright E., enjoying rest as only those can that have labored hard and earned it. Mr. and Mrs. Kemp were the parents of the follow¬ ing children: Sarah, Hannah, Elizabeth Ann, Mary Ann, Elizabeth, James, John, Francis C. and Wright E. The eldest daughter married, and lives in Newton County, Ind., where Mr. Kemp purchased 160 acres of land. The second daughter, Hannah, married Henry Benson in 1869; they live five miles east of the old home. The third daughter married John Clay¬ ton, and lived but about one year. In 1877, the oldest son mar¬ ried, and lives one-half mile west of the home place. November 24. 1879, the second son married, and lives one and ofie-half miles southwest of the old home. Francis C. is a merchant in Kempton.

FRANK G. LOHMAN, Roberts, the present Superintend¬ ent of Schools in Ford County, was born January 7, 1849, in Watertown, Wis.; son of Frank and Sophia (Vick) Lohman. The subject of our sketch received his education in the Northwestern University at WatertoWn, and after finishing his studies there he began teaching school, continuing at it for many years. In July, 1869, Mr. Lohman left Wisconsin and came to Ford County, settling on a farm in Patton Township, where he carried on the business of farming for several years. In 1875, he began teaching school again, and has been connected with school work in this county since. In 1882, he was elected by the citizens to fill the office of County Superintendent of Schools. This office he still holds, having given entire satisfaction to the people. August 22, 1878, Mr. Lohman was united in marriage with Miss Florence B. McCann, a native of Henry County, 111. This union has been blessed with two children. Mr. Lohman is at present making his home in Roberts, this county.

ALEXANDER MoELROY, Paxton, was born October 27, 1886, in Greene County, Ohio. He attended the common school and labored on a farm until fourteen years of age, when the death of both of his parents occurred. From that time until December, 1855, he attended the private and high schools of his native county, and then entered Antioch College at Yel¬ low Springs, Ohio, where he remained until the spring of 1857. Horace Mann was President of 'the latter institution during the time Mr. McElroy was a pupil there. The subject of this sketch came to Monmouth, HI., in April, 1857, and there read law with J. G. Madden until August, 1859. He removed to Paxton in November of the same year, forming a partnership with Nathan Simons, then County Clerk. Mr. McElroy was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court in 1861. Subsequently he held part¬ nership with John F. Yoss and George Toms. In 1875, he moved on a farm near Paxton on account of poor health and other causes, where he remained until June, 1878. In the spring of the latter year he was elected Justice of the Peace for Patton Township, and was re-elected to the same office in 1881. Mr. McElroy and Mary E. Hanley were united in marriage, Jan¬ uary 10,1865. They have two children - John II. and Mat^aret G.; the latter is usually known by the pet name of Daisey.

M. K. McDOWELL, live stock, etc., Gibson, a son of Thomas G. and Elizabeth (Keeney) McDowell, was born in Montgomery County, Ind., April 13, 1841, and settled with his parents in Livingston County, Ill., in 1843. On September 27,18o6, he was united in marriage with Mary Morgan, of Strawn, Livingston County. They have two children - Frank B. and Thomas C. Mr. McDowell settled in Gibson in 1878.

FRANK C. McDOWELL, live stock, etc., Gibson* a son of Thomas G. and Elisabeth (Keeney) McDowell, was born in Mont¬ gomery County, lnd., March 16, 1839; was united in marriage with Laura Morgan, of Strawn, III., March 29, 1871. They had one child, Stellie, who died February 8, 1876. Mr. Mc¬ Dowell settled in Gibson in 1873.

McDOWELL BROS. This firm was formed in 1866, and has continued uninterruptedly to this time. This firm have during the time been engaged in farming, buying and selling stock and butchering. For thirteen years past, their business has been dealing in live stock and butchering exclusively. This is the oldest firm in this line of business in the city.

HUGH MEHARRY was born in Connersville, Penn., February 12, 1797, and the next year moved with his parents to Adams County, Ohio, where he resided until 1828, when he married Miss Susan Ambrose, and afterward moved to Mont¬ gomery County, Ind., near Shawnee Mound, where he and his new bride settled for life. By industry and economy, and the great opportunity then offered for buying cheap lands of a very superior quality, he amassed a large fortune. His father died before he left Ohio. About two years after the son moved to Indiana, his mother also moved from Ohio with six more sons and one daughter, and settled at Shawnee Mound, near Hugh's. The brothers and sisters all married and settled in the neighborhood, and like their brother Hugh were very prosperous, and became wealthy, notwithstanding their large donations to churches, col¬ leges and other benevolent institutions. Prominent among his philanthropic deeds, was the endowing of a professorship in the Central Tennessee College, Nashville. He contributed largely in the building and endowing of the Asbury, now the DePouw College, of Greencastle, Ind., and the Wesleyan University of Bloomington, Ill. Wh$n this part of Illinois was comparatively new, Hugh Meharry came out here and secured a large amount of land. On his first trip through this part of Illinois, which is now Ford County, he remained over night at Ten Mile Grove with John Crothers, in a log house yet standing on the farm now owned by John M. Hanley, Esq. During the evening he got into conversation with Mr. Crothers, and Mr. Meharry made some inquiry about the health, and the morals generally of the people. Crbthers became excited, and jumped up and slapping his hands together, said : " I have lived here for sixteen years, and I thank God I have never had a preacher or doctor in my house." He l.ke his father raised a large family, all the mem¬ bers of which he settled in Illinois on good farms, excepting one son and daughter, the former owning and occupying the old homestead at Shawnee Mound, and the latter, to whom he gave

I, 400 acres of land near Ambia, Ind. When Mr. Mehfcrry was about seventy-three years old, his *wife having died some three years before, he left his old home and came to live with his chil¬ dren in Illinois, making his home with his son, F. Meharry, and his son-in-law, Robert Blacks took. He died in his eighty-fourth year, while on a visit to his son-in law, Rev. John A. Kumler, Bement, III. His remains were brought to Paxton and funeral services held in the Methodist Episcopal Church on the 27th day of December, 1881. llis remains were then taken and in¬ terred in the family cemetery at Shawnee Mound, Ind. He was an active, faithful and consistent member of the Methodist Episco¬ pal Church for sixty-nine years, and died in the full assurance that he was going to join loved ones who were safely landed on the other shore. Truly it can be said of him in the language of the Psalmist, " Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, they rest from their labor and their works do follow them."

FRANK MEHARRY, Patton Township, was born in Mont¬ gomery County, Ind., August 10, 1831. Hugh Meharry, father of Frank, was born near Connersville, Penn., February 12,1797, but was raised in Ohio. Susan Ambrose Meharry, wife of Hugh Meharry and mother of Frank, was born in Virginia, but came with her parents to Highland County, Ohio, while a child, and grew up to womanhood in that county. She died in 1835 in Mont¬ gomery County, Ind. November 9, 1854, the subject of our sketch was married to Miss Margaret Blackstock, a native of Canada, and sister of Robert Blackstock, of the Ford County Bank. After his marriage, Mr. Meharry lived in Montgomery County for five years. In 1859, he left there and came to Ford County, purchasing 640 acres of fine land of Joseph Coonts, which lays four miles west of Paxton, and is one of the choice farms of Ford County. This farm is well improved and upon it stands one of the finest residences in the county. Charles Me¬ harry, brother of Frank, came to Ford County in 1869, and re¬ sides four miles west of Paxton on a beautiful farm.

.JOHN H. MOFFETT, Paxton, was born in Clayton, Adams Co., Ill., in 1857, son of Samuel R. and Mary (Strong) Moffett, natives of South Carolina. In 1834, Samuel R. Moffett left South Carolina, and settled in Monroe County, Ind. In 1855, the family removed to Adams County, Ill. Remaining here a period of two years, they returned to Indiana, and in April, 1865, they came to this place. The subject of our sketch, re¬ ceived a good common school education, and subsequently attend¬ ed Monmouth College two years; he began his law studies with pany with Mr. Kinnear in this city, which oontinned until May, 1883, when the partnership was dissolved by mutual agreement, Mr. Kinnear removing to Seattle, Washington Territory. Mr. Moffett is now associated with Judge Tipton, of Bloomington. In 1881, he was elected City Attorney of Paxton, which office he filled for two years. In April, 1878, he was married to Mar¬ tha S. Grey, daughter of Samuel Gray, of Loda, Ill. The father of our 'subject diea in Paxton in 1879, his mother resides in this place. Mr. Moffett is a young man of integrity, industry and of unquestionable ability.

JOHN A. MONTELIUS, Piper City, real estate and grain merchant, is one of the prominent and popular business men of Ford County, well and favorably known to the public for his in¬ nate integrity of character, and his firmness in the advocacy of all good principles conducive to a high moral standard and a religious life. He was bom in Union County, Penn., May 29, 1844. Here he passed the days of his youth, and when eighteen years old began clerking in a store at Center Hall, Penn. Subse¬ quently he was in the employ of a National Bank in Philadel¬ phia. In 1866, he left Pennsylvania and came to Illinois, lo¬ cating at Piper City, Ford County, and with Dr. Piper opened the second general store in the new village. In 1873, he en¬ gaged in the banking business, and started the Piper City Bank, which he continued with good success until 1878, when he sold out to George Campbell. Since then Mr. Montelius has turned his attention principally to the real estate business, and is at the present time the largest land owner in the county, owning over 4,000 acres. He, in company with his brother, Edward, is con¬ ducting an agricultural warehouse, and they are also engaged in the grain business. In 1867, Mr. Montelius was united in mar¬ riage with Miss Kate Gast, a native of Pennsylvania. The re¬ sult of this union has been a family of six children, five of whom are living. Our subject has one of the finest places in Piper City, and is one of her most valued citizens.

S rated to Vigo or Parke Counties, Ind., when David waa about iree years old. They remained there only a few years. In 1823, the family moved to Fountain County, Ind., where Thomas Patton died. December 10, 1844, David was married to Miss -Jane Cade, daughter of William Cade, who settled in Fountain County in 1823. November 2, 1854, David Patton came to Illi¬ nois and settled in Button Township, then in Vermilion County. Here he resided until his death, February 29, 1880. He en¬ tered 480 acres of choice land in Section 33, Town 28, Range 14 west, in Button Township. There are eight children, all living near the old homestead, where the Widow Patton still resides.

WILLIAM H. PELLS. Biographies are the material of which history is made, and it will be found that when the history of this great country of ours, the home of, and the structure of the middle classes, is finally written up, that there will be ample material for the ornamental part of the edifice, but the face brick of the solid wall will be of suoh as is here presented, of good, an¬ cestral clay, tempered by industry and perseverance, molded in integrity and benevolence, and burned in necessity and responsi¬ bility. As such, the subject of this sketch, a self-made man, the best exponent of our nation's glory, and an encouragement and inspiration to all hofiest endeavor, stands a worthy example. William H. Pells was born in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., June 12, 1813. His education, which had been in the public schools of his native city, was terminated by the financial failure of persons for whom his father had indorsed, and he, at the early age of thirteen, was thrown on his own resources. He went to the city of New York, and began life for himself as the driver of a milk wagon. After six months, he obtained a situation as clerk in a grocery store, which he held until the spring of 1880. He then sought fortune in the western part of New York, then " out West." Reaching Palmyra, he found himself without a dollar, and then for three months recruited his finances by chopping wood and clearing lands. Moving on to Ridgway, he continued with his ax, and while but a boy made his mark on some of the best farms of that township. On the 19th of November, 1881, he began clerking for H. Francis, at Ridgeway. By industry and frugality, fortune's servants, he here laid the foundation of his amide fortune, which classes him, if not now, certainly will, with his energy and promised lease of life, among the millionaires. With the slow earnings of his position invested in the then cheap lands of that district, ne began to as utne the responsibilities of, and to take a lead in real life by, first, joining himself, in 1886, in the holy bonds of matrimony to Maria B. Whitaker, a native of Norfolk, England; second, after *a ten years' clerkshij), by be¬ coming a full partner in the business, in 1841, and finally, in 1846, sole proprietor, in which capacity he conducted a very successful business until 1851, when he sold a one-half interest to a brother, and the whole in 1856, thus closing his career as a merchant. In the same year, the Medina & Alabama Plank Road Company, having lost heavily on the same, Mr. Pells pur¬ chased that part leading from RidgeWay to Medina, binding himself to re-build it, and to save the company harmless from its obligations under its charter. This he did against the judgment of all, who thought that the nature of the ground was such that the cost of construction and maintenance would be a ruinous venture. However, he re-built it with stone and gravel in a most thorough manner, and at great expense. It soon was recognized as one of the best roads in the state, there probably not being more than one equal, that between Albany and Troy. This he operated until the charter expired in 1881, it pavings handsome yearly revenue from the beginning. In 1856 he journeyed westward, and, in company with R. R. Murdock ana Leander Britt, purchased and laid out Prospect City, now Paxton. He secured, in 1859, the organisation of Ford County, and in the same year the choice of Paxton by ballot to be the county seat. He gave muoh of his time, energy and means to the town he had founded, and many of its best features of business enterprise, churches and schools are due largely to his good judgment and liberal support. In 1876, during a period of rest and recreation at Petoskev, Mich., he became impressed with the salubrious cli¬ mate, the fertile soil, and the general attractiveness of the situa¬ tion, and, guided by his sound judgment, invested in some 18,000 acres of land. He has since seen the county in which it was located, Emmet, grow from a wilderness, inhabited by 100 whites and 1,100 Indians in 1875, to 7,000 whites and 800 Indians in 1880, and now there are about 12,000 whites. The extension of the G. R. k I.^R R. northward in 1882 passed near the center of Mr. Pells' tract of land, and a flourishing little village, named in honor of itsproprietor Pel Is ton, is situated on the same. There were born to William and Maria B. Pells three children, two of whom only survive - Hannah W., wife of Col. Charles Bogardus, of Paxton, with whom Mr. Pells makes his home, and Edgar Z. Pells, of Ridgeway, N. Y. This truly happy union was severed after a continuance of only nine years by the death of the wife and mother, and since that sad event almost forty years ago, Mr. Pells has made the memory of her, who was the partner and sol¬ ace of bis early trials, the companion of his old age. Such is the biography of one whom Ford County delights to honor; a man of sterling integrity, with a heart that is moved by generous impulses, a purse well filled, that opens to the cry of the needy, letting not the left hand know what the right hand doeth, and with a judgment clear and correct. He is a man with a strong sense of duty, a perception that grasps the future, a will that ar¬ gues and works out its cause, and a mind that grows with its problem. He is a faithful husband, a loving father, and a suc¬ cessful business man.

JAMES W. RAMSAY, Piper City, the efficient and nopular Sheriff of Ford County, was born in Adams County, Ohio, in 1847. His father, William C. Ramsay, was a native of Adams County, born in 1826. He * as a carpenter by trade. In 1852, he left Ohio, and settled ten miles northwest of Bloomington, Mc¬ Lean Co., Ill.; he was married to Mary Jane Baldridge, a native of Adams County, Ohio. The result of this union was nine children, eight now living. James W., or u Will," as he is familiarly called, was educated in the public schools, and at the age of seventeen, enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-fifth, Company K, 100-day men, in 1864, from Pontiac, Livingston County. In 1866, he was married to Mary E. Henry, a native of Ashland County, Ohio. This union has been blessed with a family of five children, one of whom is dead. After his mar¬ riage, our subject lived two years in Livingston County, and then moved to Piper City, this county. In 1872, he wa9 appointed Police Constable of Piper City, also was Deputy Sheriff under S. B. Lyman for eight years, and upon the latter retiring from office, he was elected to fill his place as Sheriff of Ford County ; his father died in 1867 in Chatsworth, 111., and was buried in Piper City, where his widow now resides. Mr. Ramsay is a very popular man in this county, having won the confidence of all by his strict attention to business and duty. As an officer, he is efficient and thorough, discharging all duties promptly and fearlessly. He makes the Sheriff's office what it shoula be, the protector of right and punisher of wrong.

EDWIN RICE, deceased, was born in Worcester County, Mass., December 21, 1834, son of Silas and Almira (Corey) Rice, former a native of Massachusetts. They were marriea September 12, 1825, and afterward resided at Ashburnham, Mass., where Mrs. Rice died February 26, 1848. In this small New England Village, our subject grew up to manhood. He attended an academy at New Ipswich, and later in Oxford, Mass., drawn to the latter institution by his regard for the Principal, Dr. Homer Hitchcock, now of Kalamazoo, Mich. In the spring of 1855, he came to Chicago and secured a position with D. B. Fisk k Co., where he remained only a short time; he then lo¬ cated at Lisbon, Kendall Co., Ill., and obtained a position in a dry goods store with John Moore. After several years of con¬ stant attention and close application to business, he succeeded in forming a copartnership in the mercantile trade with Mr. Moore. This partnership lasted but about one year, when Mr. Rice was compelled through failing health to retire from the dry goods bus¬ iness, and, during the remainder of his residence in Lisbon, deyoted his time to fanning, trading and other out-door pursuits. Our subject was married, August 10,1859, to Miss M. Almarine Moore, who was* raised ana educated in New York State,-a daughter of Schuyler Moore, a native of Connecticut, and who when quite young came to New York, and located at Skaneateles, where he resided until his death, which occurred in 1863. Mr. Rice spent one year in California, in 1861-65, looking after considerable property belonging to the estate of his deceased mother-in-law; and upon returning East was employed one year with a leading grain firm at Morris, Ill. In December, 1866, Mr. Rice located in Paxton, Ford Co., III., where he purchased the " Fredericks Elevator," and here engaged permanently in the grain trade, and from this time until his death managed his business in the careful, judicious and systematic manner that was certain to bring success. From time to time he extended his business and engaged in other enterprises, being one of the in¬ corporators of the first bank under national charter in Ford County, which bank surrendered its charter in 1876, and re or-

S nixed as the Ford County Bank, in which he waa a partner at e time of his decease, and was quite extensively connected with the Linseed Oil Work of Toledo, Ohio. Personal super¬ vision, keen industry, simple and eoonomical habits of life were his wont, and he was fair and honorable in every transaction. Being without family, he and his genial wife have at all times extended the hospitality of their roof to the deserving and needy. For sev¬ eral years, Mr. Rice was an invalid, and had been a great suf¬ ferer at times. He died April 24, 1884, after two months' illness and intense suffering.

ALFRED SAMPLE, so well known to the citizens of Cen¬ tral Illinois as having attained to honorable distinction in the legal profession, was born in Butler County, Ohio, November 27, 1846. His parents were James Sample, a nativq of Ken¬ tucky, and Jane (Beard) Sample, who was a native , of Virginia. His father, recently deceased, was a farmer and stock-dealer, and engaged in railroad business, and was well known in the Western country as an upright man and an excellent citizen. Our subject received his early training on the farm and at the country school, which he attended until about eleven years of age, when he gave to agricultural pursuits his entire attention. In the year 1857, he removed with his parents to Livingston County, Ill. Novem¬ ber, 1868, Mr. Sample, although but sixteen years of age, en¬ listed in Company G, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth Regiment Illinois Infantry, and immediately went into active service. He was in Gen. Sherman's campaign and march to Atlanta. In, the battle of Res&ca, he was severely and at that time supposed to be mortally wounded. He was shot in both arms and breast, on account of which, being unfitted for duty, he was honorably discharged December 6, 1864. On returning from the army, he entered Eureka College, where he remained three years, going thence to Monmouth, where he completed his education, having taken a special course in both colleges and having given special attention to the classics and mathematics. While at college, he taught school at different intervals during vacations, and for one

{rear after leaving college. Mr. Sample then began the study of aw under the instruction of Col. R. G. Ingersoll, then of Peoria, but now of Washington, D. C., which he continued until 1871, when he was admitted to the bar. During the same year, he came to Paxton, where he has since practiced with marked suc¬ cess, building up an enviable reputation as a lawyer and an active and enterprising citizen. Mr. Sample is a Republican in sentiment, but has not allowed political matters to interfere with his profession; and yet, although he has never sought polit¬ ical preferment, he was chosen a Presidential Elector in the Gar¬ field campaign, and has been State's Attorney for eight years, and City Attorney for four years - facts which testify to his pop¬ ularity. Mr. Sample was married, in September, 1875, to Miss Florence A. Cook, a daughter of Col. Cook, who is well known in State history, and who was brought prominently before the public in our late war. They have one daughter - Florence I. Sample. Mr. Sample has accumulated a handsome property, and, besides his home in Paxton, possesses other lands in, his coun¬ ty. Mr. Sample has won distinction as an attorney in railroad matters. A brief sketch of some of the more important cases will not be out of place here. During the discussion by the people of the railroad law providing for a rate of 3 cents per mile for passenger travel on roads of the class of the Illinois Central, two citizens of Ludlow were ejected from the train because they declined to pay the 4 cents per mile demanded by the company. They secured the services of Mr. Sample, who was satisfied that the company was clearly in the wrong, and that there were con¬ tinual violations of this law - in fact, the companies paid no at¬ tention to it. Shortly after this, a public meeting was held by the citizens of Paxton, at which resolutions were adopted request¬ ing Mr. Sample to take steps for the enforcement of this law. After corresponding with the Railroad and Warehouse Commis¬ sioners, Mr. Sample, in his usual energetic way, began the pre¬ liminary work. A meeting was again held at Paxton, the Com¬ missioners being present. Becoming satisfied that a vigorous prosecution of all violations of this law would speedily follow, the railroad companies decided to reduce their charges to the legal requirement, which has since that time been followed. After this, the Commissioners were troubled by the east and west lines utterly disregarding the law as to unjust discriminations on freight rates. The companies claimed that such lines as extended out of the State were not bound by the law, and defied the Com¬ missioners. Bailey A Swann ell, of Gilman, Ill., manufacturers, were discriminated against in shipping to New York City, a higher rate being charged from Gilman than from Peoria, a city eighty miles farther from New York.

The Commissioners decided to make this a test case, and suit was brought by the Attorney General in the Circuit Court of Iroquois County. This case was transferred to the United States Circuit Court at Chicago. The Commissioners, not feeling sat¬ isfied with the condition of the case, by the consent of the Attor¬ ney General, placed the whole matter in Mr. Sample's hands. Mr. Sample dismissed the case in the United States Court, as there was no probability of reaching it in that court for a long time, owing to the crowded condition of the docket.

A new oase, with a new statement of the complaint, was be¬ gun in the Ford County Circuit Court. The court held that the statute did not apply to transportation from within, but without the State, and sustained a demurrer to the declaration, from which Mr. Sample appealed to the Supreme Court. This court prompt¬ ly decided against the railroad company, and sustained the law in its application to the above case of discrimination. The case was brought back, tried on its merits, the court deciding in favor of the people and fining the defendant. From this, the company took an appeal to the Supreme Court, when the decision of the lower court was affirmed, Judge Walker filing a most elaborate, able and exhaustive opinion in the case.

HIRAM SIBLEY. It is not proposed in this sketch to place before the reader a detailed history of the career of this public-spirited man. That would require a volume in itself.

Hiram Sibley was born in North Adams, Berkshire Co., Maas., February 6, 1807. He remained there until sixteen years of age, and then came to Western New York and resided three years in Lima, Livingston County. He then removed to Mendon, where he established a manufacturing village now known as Sib¬ ley vilie. lie successfully managed a foundry and machine shop in that village for a number of years, and in 1843 was elected Sheriff, at wnich time he removed to Rochester. It is a fact well known that the chief movers of the organization of the Western Union Telegraph resided in Rochester City, and it seems that Mr. Sibley conceived the project, and was the first President. He was the first to advocate the construction of the trans conti¬ nental line of telegraph. Upon proposing this scheme, it met with disfavor from his associates in this city, whereupon he went to New York, and calling a meeting of telegraph men, laid before them his plan for connecting the Atlantic and Pacific by elec¬ tricity. A committee was appointed by the meeting to report upon the proposed plap, and they reported as follows: First, that it was next to impossible to construct such a line; second, that if accomplished, the Indian, would destroy the line in the Territo¬ ries, and lastly, that it would not be a paying enterprise. That was the decision rendered by the assembled wisdom of all the prominent telegraph men in New York City, Cyrus W. Field and Peter Cooper among the number. They, together, endeavored to persuade Mr. Sibley to drop the whole scheme as one utterly impracticable. He replied with his characteristic promptness that he should take tne evening train for Washington and en¬ deavor to get an appropriation for the construction of the line, and that it should be built if he had to do it alone. He went to Washington alone, and in spite of all obstacles obtained the nec¬ essary legislation. The line was constructed and the results show it was a grand conception. Mr. Sibley was President of the Western Union Telegraph Company sixteen years, and was suc¬ ceeded by William Orton. While engaged in promoting the Rus¬ sian extension of the Western Union, our subject visited Russia, where he made some necessary negotiations with the Czar, re¬ ceiving many distinguished honors at the hands of Alexander II. Since resigning the office of President of the Western Union, he has been largely engaged in the construction and man¬ agement of railroads in the Western and Southern States. At present he is regarded as the largest farmer in the world, being the owner of the great " Burr Oaks " farm, formerly known as the " Sullivant farm," which contained 40,000 acres lying in Ford and Livingston Counties, Ill.; is also owner of much farm and city property in this State as well as in Michigan and New York. He has about 81,000,000 invested in his business in Chi¬ cago. Mr. Sibley is a man who is greatly interested in educa¬ tion. He is one of the Trustees of Cornell University; he founded and endowed the Sibley College of mechanical arts at Ithaca, at a cost of 8100,000 ; also Sibley Hall, Library and Mu¬ seum, which he presented to the Rochester University, at Roch¬ ester, N. Y. Mrs. Sibley also manifests deep interest in all mat¬ ters of charity and benevolence, and has given largely to various charitable institutions throughout the country. She has ever cherished with tenderest recollection the place of her nativity, and a few years since erected in her native village, North Adams, Mass., St. John's Episcopal Church, at a cost of 825,000. This fine church edifice stands upon the spot where both Mr. and Mrs. Sibley were born. Although past threescore and ten, Mr. Sib¬ ley still retains the natural vigor of a hardy New England con¬ stitution, and the same active and untiring interest in his large and varied business affairs, which has characterized him through life.

NORMAN E. STEVENS. Paxton, was born in Portage County, Ohio, April 25, 1834. He lived at Franklin Mills (now Kent) in that county until fifteen years old, and then went to Oberlin, Ohio, attending a preparatory school for nearly two* years. At the end of that time he became a printer's apprentice in the office of the Elyria (Ohio) Courier. That office being destroyed by fire some months afterward, he went to Cleveland, Ohio, and served in the same capacity in the office of the Daily Foreet City , edited by Joseph Medill, now of the Chicago Tribune , for about a year, then changed to the Free Democrat. These two papers were afterward merged, making what is now the Cleveland Leader. In this office our subject completed his trade as printer, and in 1852 removed to Ashtabula County, where he purchased the Aehtabula County Democrat, which he sold in 1854, and went to Watertown, Wis., where he became a partner in the firm of Rose A Stevens, publishers of the Chronicle , supporting Fremont, the first Republican candidate for President. In August, 1857, Mr. Stevens removed to Minnesota, where he established the Wabasha Herald , and successfully conducted it for eight years. In January, 1865, he located at Paxton, and established the Record , which he has published since, with the loss of but two issues. In 1879, he was elected to serve in the Thirty-first General Assembly of Illinois, the only time in his life he was ever a candidate for office of any description other than some municipal position filled only as a matter of duty' to the public. Mr. Stevens was married to Ada H. McMillen, in Watertown, Wis., March 19, 1857, and, during his residence in Minnesota, two sons - Edgar N. and'H. Arthur - his only children - were bom, both now living. Edgar N., the oldest, being a partner with him in the publication of the Record.

DANIEL C. STONER (deceased) was boro November 27, 1808, near Fredericktown, Md. His father having died, his mother moved the following spring to Dayton, Montgomery Co., Ohio. At the age of fourteen years, he was apprenticed to the tanner's trade, serving four years. During this time he received three months' schooling each year. At the a^e of eighteen, he began teaching school and " boarding round ,T in Montgomery

County, receiving $15 a month. This was the first money he ever earned. In 1828, he left Ohio and moved to Lauramie Township, Tippecanoe Co., Ind., and began improving a 200-acre farm. In the summer of 1850, he came through this section of the country on a prospecting tour, and being well pleased with the lands in this county, he took up the identical farm of 747 acres in Sec¬ tions 8, 4, 9 and 10, Range 9, Patton. He moved his family onto this farm in the fall of 1851. Our subject was marriea, July 6, 1833, to Susan Abel, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio. Her father settled in La Fayette, Ind., in 1831, and worked at his trade of merchant tailor. This union was blessed with seven children, four now living - John F., who resides at the old home¬ stead ; Barbara Ann, wife of N. B. Day; Minerva C., wife of William Perdue, of Paxton; and Rebecca J., wife of Calvin C. Robinson, living in Kansas. Mr. Stoner was Captain of the State militia, and during an Indian scare at La Fayette in 1833, he, with his men, were ordered to La Fayette, and after remain¬ ing there several days, the scare having vanished, they returned home. For many years, our subject has figured but little in public life, but in the early days of the county, he played a con¬ spicuous part in the creation of the county, was appointed the first Assessor of Ford County, and was elected the first County Treasurer. Mr. Stoner departed this life September 21, 1882; his wife, Susan, died in March of the same year. Thus, one by one, the pioneer settlers of Ford County are passing away, and in a few years there will not be left one to tell the story of the early settlements. Mr. Stoner was an honorable and enterprising citizen, and the Stoner family justly ranks among the representative families of Ford County.

John F. Stoner, Patton Township, eldest son of Daniel C., was born December 23, 1834. He was educated at the Wes¬ leyan University in Bloomington. In November, 1868, he was married to* Sarah Perdue, a native of Virginia. They have one child - a daughter. John F. Stoner was elected Surveyor of Ford County in 1868, and served three terms.

EDWARD VAN STEEN BE RGH, Lyman Township, was born at Saugerties, Ulster Co., N. Y., in 1814. He is a son of Cornelius and Alida Van Steenbergh, who also were natives of Saugerties. Our subject was brought up on a farm lying on the Hudson River, owned by his father. When of age, he engaged in the blue stone quarry business, and after a few years bought a farm, married and settled down, continuing the quarrying in con¬ nection with farming. In 1810, he was united in marriage with Maria F. Davis, in Ulster County, >' Y. She bore him eight children, and died in March, 1870. Names of the children are: Isaac, William (deceased), Samuel, Wesley, Nathan Rice, Jen¬ nie, Thomas and Benson, all married except the two last named. In March, 1871, Mr. Van Steenbergh, for his second wife, married Emily M. Smith, boro in Otsego County, N. Y., Octo¬ ber, 1829. This marriage took place in Ulster County, N. Y., and one month later they came to Ford County and settled on Section 28, Lyman Township, where all the improvements notice¬ able at this time have since been made, there having been but few acres broken prior to their coming. In addition to one-half section of land in Section 28, 820 acres, the adjoining north half of Section 29 is owned by Mr. Van Steenbergh, who annually presses and ships large quantities of hay to Chicago and other markets.

WltLIAM ALEXANDER WE8TROPE, bookwrtler, Gibson, was boro in Morgan County, Ill., January 28, 1886, and isa son of John and Sarah Wes trope. He was united in marriage with Lucy Ettie Smith at Soottville, Ill., in 1859. They have four children - Leora Bell, Mary Ettie, Louis Everest and Cora Addie. Mr. Westrope settled in this county January 28, 1873.

WEAVER WHITE, Paxton, ^>ne of the most popular of our oounjty officials, was born March 2$, 1849, in Adams County, Ohio. When three years ef age, he with his parents removed to the western part of McLean County, Ill., where they remained until the fall of 1864, when the family oame to Foni County. Mr. White was reared on a farm and became thoroughly versed in this honorable calling. He graduated from the Paxton Graded Schools when sixteen years of age. He then attended the Illinois Industrial University at Champaign two years, obtaining the honorary scholarship of Ford County on a public competitive ex¬ amination. Mr. White taught school some two years with marked success at Drummer's Grove and vicinity, going to Gib¬ son on the construction of the railroad through that part of the county. He built the fifth house ii. that place. For about one ear he was in the employ of Messrs. Hall A Snyder in the grain usiness. The political campaign of 1872 was notable in this county on account of a very exciting contest for the office of Circuit Clerk and Recorder, there being four candidates - two Republicans, one Independent and one Democrat. Mr. White, although unacquainted with the ways of politicians, was elected, and his record as an officer proves the selection to have been wise¬ ly made. He was again chosen in 1880 to fill the same position, his majority showing the strong confidence that his faithful services had given the people. During the time he had been Circuit Clerk, in addition to raising the. amount neces¬ sary to carry on the office, he has tifrned into the county treasury several thousand dollars. He was married to Arabella Davis, September 26^ 1870, and their home is made happy by two un¬ usually bright children - Arthqy W. and Mabel. Mr. White, al¬ though very quiet and unassuming in manner, has a very strong hold on the confidence of the citizens of the county, which he has earned by devoting his time to the conscientious discharge of his official duties. He is a great lover of home and family. A careful and extensive reader, his library is well chosen, none but the best of books being admitted. Nothing greater can he said of any man in public life than this - he is faithful to duty and thoroughly reliable. His father, Patterson White, who since 1864 has lived near Paxton until his death, which occurred in 1880, bore an excellent name. His mother, one sister and four brothers still reside in this county. The superior character of the parents is well maintained by every one of their children.

CHARLES HOWARD YEOMANS, Gibson, was born near Delhi, Delaware County, N. Y., December 2, 1846. His father, James Yeomans, was of Scotch descent, and his mother, Sarah (Redfield) Yeomans, was a daughter of Hon. J. G. Redfield, of Delhi, N. Y., and a lineal decendant of the family of Theophilus and Priscilla Redfield, who came over in the " May¬ flower," and landed with the other pilgrims on the memorable " Plymouth Rock.*' Mr. Yeomans mav be considered as one of the old residents of Illinois, coming to this State with his parents when only four years old, and when there were but forty miles of railroad in the State. He was reared on the farm in De Kalb and Kane Counties until he was fourteen years old, - when he struok out in the first really independent move of his life, and from which, though but a boy, he gained that degree of self-de¬ pendence which aided and characterised all his undertakings in after life. At this time the lands along the line of the Blinois Central Railroad were being opened up, and as his father was in very poor health, and financially worsted in the panic of 1857, Charles felt the importance of making a new start in the great Prairie State. He accordingly struck out with a team and break¬ ing plow, a distance of fifty miles from home, and spent the entire season breaking prairie near the town of Peotone, Will County, Ill., which was then just starting up. He returned to this place with his father's family the following spring, and remained on the farm until eighteen years of age. By this time his younger brothers were old enough to carry on the farm work, and our subject became impatient for an education. His first financial investment was when he was eleven years old. He took a scythe, went into the marsh, mowed and put up by hand two loads of marsh hay, which he hauled to market and with the proceeds purchased two calves, which he kept and broke for oxen, selling them when three years old for |100. This constituted his entire capital and wealth when he started for oollege in the fall of 1864. He steadily and faithfully adhered to his purpose of obtaining a oollegiate education, meeting with varying successes and reverses on account of his lack of moans and his lather's inability to aid him. He entered the Freshman's class of 1867 at Ripon Col¬ lege, Wisconsin, where he maintained his standing in his class and supported himself by sawing wood, out of school hours through¬ out his oollege course, for 15 cents an hour. Two years before he graduated, being ahead of his class in some of the sciences, he undertook the study of law in addition to his other work and regular college studies, in the office of Hon. Jesse Dobbs, of Ripon, Wis., and during vacation with Hon. Charles H. Wood, of Onarga, HI. He was admitted to the Wisconsin bar upon ex¬ amination in open court October 10, 1870, and graduated from the college with the degree of A. B. in June, 1871. He received the degree of A. M. from the same college in June, 1879, on the occasion of his return to his Alma Mater to deliver the annual address before the Alumni Society. After graduating, Jie held the position of Principal of the Onarga Graded Schools for one year, declining a re-appointment for the purpose of engaging in nis chosen profession - the practice of law. He settled inGibson, this county, in July, 1872, and was admitted to the Illinois bar at the Supreme Court at Ottawa in September, 1872. During his residence in this oounly he has held various offices and posi¬ tions of trust, being at the present time Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, ana is almost constantly before the people in the discharge of public trust His life has been an open book to the people of this county, and oommenoing it we can do no better than quote wl^t is said of him by the Gibson Courier on the oc¬ casion of his oandidacy for the office of County Judge of Ford County. It says: " For ten years Mr. Yeomans has lived in our midst, and been one of our most esteemed citizens. He en¬ joys in a marked degree the respect and confidence of the com¬ munity, not only in his legal attainments, but in his character and worth as a man. Important trusts have been committed to his hands, in all of which he has proved faithful in the highest degree. His legal attainments and ability as an advocate com¬ bined with his integrity of character, and his faithfulness to the interests of his clients, have built for him a large and lucrative law practice. Personally, Mr. Yeomans is one of the most genial and pleasant of men. Being inured to labor and privations in early life, he is naturally devoid of the pride and egotism so dis¬ agreeable in some men, and is the social companion alike of the laborer and the scholar. He is the life of the social circles, and few men have more or warmer friends."

Business Directory First National Bank

GEORGE GROVE, Dealer in Lumber, Lath, Shingles, Posts, Doors, Sash, Blinds, Lime, Hair, Salt and CoaL WHITE BROS., Dealere in Lumber, Lath, Shingles, Doors, Sash and Blinds, Pitkin's Mixed Paint, Hard and Soft Coal, Lime, Hair, Cement and Stone

GEORGE W. CRUZEN, Farmed and dealer iA Hay and Stock . CHAS. C. PUTT, Importer of Clyde and Englian Draft Horses. STITES BROS., Real Estate Dealers and Farmers.

Guthrie Station

8WEN ANDERSON, Justice of the Peace, Notary Public, In¬ surance and Land Agent W. A BIOKET, Real Estate Agent ELI HARVE Y, Assistant Manager of the Sibley interests.

General Description

GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION. - Illinois is bounded on the north by Wisconsin, on the east by Lake Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky, on the south by Kentucky and Missouri, and on the west by Missouri and Iowa. It is separated from Kentucky by the Ohio River, and from Missouri and Iowa by the Mississippi. It lies between 37° 3' and 42° 30 north latitude, and between 10° 30" and 14° 25' longitude west from Washington. The greatest breadth of the State from east to west is 210 miles, and its extreme length from north to south 378 miles. The general form of the State is that of an ellipsoid, truncated at its northern extremity. The superficial area is about 55,531 square miles, or 35,539,840 acres.

FACE OF THE COUNTRY. - The surface of the country is generally level or gently rolling, although in the southern part near the large rivers it is-quite broken and hilly. Illinois is properly termed The Prairie States for, in no other part of the country are there to be found such vast expanses of level prairie as here. To the eye of the observer they mark the plane of the horizon in every direction, and Beem limitless as the ocean. As a general rule they occupy the higher grounds. The timber is principally confined to tfie lower lands, along the breaks and valleys of the streams. The highest lands in the State, are in the extreme northwestern part, and are known as The Mounds, which are about 1100 feet above the level of the sea. From Freeport southward there is a gradual descent through the entire length of the State, except where it is broken by a ridge crossing from east to west through U nion, Johnson and Pope counties. This ridge attains an elevation of about 900 feet above the sea. while the elevation at Cairo is but 350 feet.

RIVER8. - The general slope of the water-shed is to the southwest, and nearly all the principal streams, after a general course in that direction, flow into the Mississippi. A few in the southeast portion of the State empty into the Wabash, while some small ones in the extreme Bouth find their outlet in Ohio. The largest river flowing through the State is the Illinois, which is formed by the junction of the Des Planes and Kankakee, the former rising in Wiscon¬ sin and the latter in Indiana. * The Rock and Kaskaskia Rivers are streams of considerable im¬ portance - the first running through the northern and the latter through the southern portion of the State. More than three-fourths of the circumference of the State is bounded by navigable rivers the Wabash on the east, the Ohio on the south, and the Mississippi on the west. The two last-named are among the largest in the world, and afford transportation for all classes of steamers. The Mississippi, the great " Father of Waters" extends along the western boun¬ dary a distance of over 500 miles.

LAKES. - A remarkable feature of Illinois is the almost entire absence of natural lakes or ponds. A few small ones only are found in the northeastern and southwestern parts of the State. There is, however, a coast line of about 60 miles, extending along Lake Michigan, one of the largest of the five great North American lakes.

SOIL AND CLIMATE. - As an agricultural State, Illinois stands without an equal. Possessing a soil of unsurpassed fertility, and a climatic range of five and a-half degrees of lati¬ tude, it yields a greater amount and variety of botanical production than any other State in the Union. No large tracts of worthless lands, such as characterize the topography of all the other States, are to be found here, but the farmer in all portions of the commonwealth obtains a rich reward for his labor. In the northern and central portions are raised in abundance nearly all those plants which are common to the North Temperate Zone, while in the vicinity of Cairo, both the animal and vegetable productions partake of a semi-tropical character. The amount of rain which falls each year is fully one-half greater at the southern extremity of the State than at the northern, and the average difference in temperature is about 10° Fahrenheit

MINERALS. - No natural deposits of gold or silver are known to exist; yet the mineral productions of the State are not unimportant Fire-clay, potter's clay, and valuable quarries of building-stone are found in various localities. Rich mines of lead exist in the vicinity of Galena, and iron-ore in considerable quantities is obtained in the southeastern part of the State. Coal is the most valuable mineral in Illinois. The coal fields are destined to grow more and more important, as their resources are developed, and their value can hardly be overestimated. The coal-bearing strata covers more than two-thirds of the entire surface ol the State, and the mines are believed to be inexhaustible.

History

Illinois was originally a part of Florida. In 1543 it became a Spanish colony. Northern Illinois was included in the territory granted in 1620 to the Plymouth Company by King James, and was therefore claimed by Great Britain. In 1673 the Mississippi River was dis¬ covered by Marquette and Joliet In the same year they ascended the lllinojs River; and in 1679 Robert Cavalier De La Salle made farther discoveries, descending the Kankakee to its mouth. Kaskaskia and Cahokia, the oldest towns on the Mississippi River, were settled by the French in 1682. Illinois at this time contained but few white inhabitants. In 1699 it became a part of Louisiana, and so remained until 1763, when it was ceded to England. The white popula¬ tion now numbered about 3000, mostly French, the principal settlements being at Kaskaskia, Cahokia, Peoria, Prairie-Du-Rocher, Prairie-Du-Pont and Fort Charters, In 1778 Kaskaskia, Cahokia and other settlements were captured by four companies of Virginians, under Colonel Clarke, and in October of the same year an Act was passed by the Virginia Legislature, estab¬ lishing the " County of Illinois" which embraced all of Virginia northwest of the Ohio. In 1784 it was ceded by Virginia to the United States, and in 1787 Congress passed an Ordinance for the government of all territory northwest of the Ohio River, Arthur St Clair being appointed the first governor. In 1803 Indiana* including Illinois and Wisconsin, was erected into a separate territory, and six years later, the present State of Illinois became a territory by itself. In 1812 it passed from the first to the second grade of territorial government, and sent a delegate to Congress. The right of suffrage was at this time extended to the people, without regard to property qualifications. On the 3d of December, 1818, Illinois was admitted into the Union as a sovereign and independent State. One section of land in each township was at once donated for school use, and two townships in the State for the use of a seminary. Since that time, the growth of Illinois has been astonishingly rapid, and it now ranks the fourth State in the Union in wealth, population and importance The number of its white inhabitants in 1800 was only about 3000. In 1810 the number had increased to 12,282; in 1820 to 57,000; in 1830 to 157,000; in 1840 to 476,000; in 1850 to 851,470; in 1860 to 1,711,951; in 1865 to

2,141,510; in 1870 to 2,530,801; and in 1880 to 8,077,871. Chicago, its largest city, oontains a population of over 500,000. The foreign population of Illinois is largely composed of Germans, Irish, Welsh, Scotch, French, Swiss, Swedes, Danes and Poles. Of the Americanborn, the north part of the State is settled principally from New York and New England, the central from Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia, and the southern from Kentucky, Tennessee and the Carolines.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. - The works of art, though yet in their infancy, compare favorably with thoee of the older States. It is but fifty years since Illinois was ad¬ mitted into the Union, yet the number and value of her internal improvements already completed are immense. Over 8000 miles of railroad lines are in successful operation, and some 500 miles more are in process of construction. The number and character of the splen¬ did edifices which have been erected for oourt-bouses, humane institutions, seminaries of learning and churches, and the other public works which adorn the State, bespeak at once the enterprise, intelligence and moral worth of the people. No doubt the next fifty years will witness even greater improvements than have taken place in the fifty that are past.

POLITICS. - Illinois is at present a Republican State. The northern part is almost exclusively controlled by the dominant party, while the central is generally Democratic, and the extreme southern - familiarly known as Egypt - is about equally divided between the two parties.

DISTINGUISHED MEN. - Consonant with the size of its rivers, the breadth of its prairies, the vastness of its resources, and the wonderful rapidity of its growth is the caliber of its public men. No State in the Union can boast of having furnished two more celebrated statesman than were Douglas and Lincoln, and no other State sways so great an influence over the destinies of the Republic at the present time, as does Illinois through her many hon¬ ored sons.

All the surveys in Illinois are made from three established lines, known as the Second, Third and Fourth Principal Meridians. The Second Principal Meridian runs due north from the mouth of the Little Blue River in Indiana. The Third Principal Meridian, due north from the mouth of the Ohio River. The Fourth Principal Meridian starts at the mouth of the Illinois River, fallows up the stream toapointopposite Beardstown,and runs from thence due north.

Townships lying West of the 3d Principal Meridian and the Illinois River, number North and South from a Base Line which runs due West from Beardstown. All the other Townships number North and South from a Base Line which runs through the centre of St. Clair County.

Ranges number from the 4th Principal Meridian, West to the Mississippi River and East to the 3d Principal Meridian and the Illinois River, and from the 3d Principal Meridian West to the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.

Ranges East of*the 3d Principal Meridian and North of a line passing through the centre of Kankakee County, number from said Meridian East to the State Line. The other Ranges number from the 3d Principal Meridian, East to the Eastern line of Range Eleven, and West from the 2d Principal Meridian to the same line.

Each Township is 6 miles square, and is divided into Sections, which number from 1 to 36 - number l being in the Northeast corner of the Township. Each regular section contain! 640 acres. Fractional Townships are occasioned by inaccurate surveys. Fractional Section! are due to the same cause, and are usually found on the North and West side of each Town ship. Correction Lines, running East and West, are established at distances of about 30 milei apart, for the purpose of preventing such errors as would naturally be occasioned by the cur vature of the earth.

Introduction

Although appropriate care has been taken in the preparation of this Index, it is possible that errors do exist. To guide the reader to most effective use of the Index, the following is provided:

Colonel, Judge, Mr., Mrs., etc.) have been omitted, except in cases where a given name did not appear; then the title has been used as an aid to identificcation. The titles "Mrs." and "Miss" have been used where necessary to identify an ambiguous name as feminine.

Married women have been entered under married name, with the maiden name (when available) in parentheses. Maiden names also appear in their regular places in the alphabetical listing; they are not accompanied by the married name, as that information is provided in the text.

Variant spellings and printers' errors can be a source of confusion. In this Index they are generally given as they appeared. For this reason it may be helpful to scan the entire Index.