Iroquois County, Illinois - Biographical sketches, 1880 (part 4 of 20)

Alexander H. South, Watseka, was born in New Albany, Floyd county, Indiana, June 18, 1841, and is the son of Daniel and Rebecca (McCormack) South. His mother was a native of Kentucky, and his father of Ohio. Mr. South remained in New Albany until 1856, when, with his parents, he moved to Illinois and located on a farm in Ash Grove, Iroquois county. Here his father died, in 1857, with congestive chills, leaving the family in poor circumstances. Mr. South remained on the farm until the breaking out of the late civil war, when he enlisted, August 4, 1861. as corporal in Co. F, 25th 111. Vol. Inf., for three years. He participated in some of the most prominent battles of the war : Pea Ridge, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, etc. In a skirmish on June 14, 1864, he received a slight wound, and was sick but a short time. He commanded his company at Mission Ridge. From sergeant he was promoted to second sergeant, then orderly sergeant, and from this to second lieutenant of Co. F. He was transferred to Cos. G and K. He was detailed at one time to take charge of a pioneer corps. He was mustered out September, 1864, and returned to Iroquois county and farmed until 1868. In 1866 and 1867 he was tax collector of Ash Grove. In 1868 he was nominated and elected sheriff of Iroquois county by the republican party, and in 1870 and 1872 reflected to the same office. Here he won a host of friends and gave entire satisfaction, having proven himself honest and attentive to business. During Mr. South's term of office the man Martin Mera was taken from the jail and hung by a mob which overpowered Mr. South. Mr. South was a candidate for circuit clerk before the republican convention. He was unanimously nominated for sheriff in 1878, but was defeated for office. He has been alderman of the city of Watseka three years. He is a republican in politics, and ranks among the prominent ones of the party. Mr. South was married, October, 1866, at Wilmington, Ohio, to Miss Martha Orem, of Clinton county, Ohio. By this union they have had seven children, two deceased.

Thomas Vennum, banker, Watseka, was born on his father's farm in the Keystone state, Washington county, on December 25, 1833, and is the son of Christopher C. and Rosanna (Paul) Vennum, who were both natives of Pennsylvania. In 1835 the subject of this sketch, with his father and mother and two children, came west by steamboat down the Ohio river, and located on a farm in what is now known as Milford township, Iroquois coiinty, Illinois. Here Mr. Vennum remained, farming in the summer, and in the winter months attending the district school of the period, which was the first step of his acquiring a complete education. In 1856 he was nominated and elected by the republican party to the office of circuit clerk of Iroquois county. He was nominated as a compromise over two other very prominent men of the republican party. He moved toMiddleport, then the county seat, and entered upon his duties as circuit clerk. Here he gained many friends, and in 1860 and 1864 was reflected to the same office. In 1870 he served the people one term with marked ability as representative. In 1864 he moved to Watseka, which has since been his home. In 1868, in company with John L. Donovan and George A. Woodford, he commenced the banking business in Watseka, the firm being known as Donovan, Woodford & Co., doing a general banking business until October, 1874. In 1874 Mr. Vennum went to Tennessee, and was engaged at Tracy City in managing mining and shipping coal. Here he remained until 1876, when he returned to Watseka. In 1876, in company with John L. Donovan, he again commenced the general banking business in Milford, where they are now conducting one of the leading banks of Iroquois county. While Mr. Vennum was a resident of Middleport he formed the company of the well known drug firm of H. A. Tillinghast & Co. They moved to Watseka, and the firm changed to Secrest, Tillinghast & Co., Mr. Vennum still being a silent partner. He continued in the drug business for a number of years. Mr. Vennum is a republican in politics. He was married, February, 1862, in Detroit, Michigan, to Miss L. A. Tuller, daughter of Harry Tuller, and by this union they have had five children, one deceased. Mr. Vennum's father died at Onarga in 1868, being sixty-three years of age. His mother died in 1846, at the age of thirty-six. Mr. Veunum has one brother and one sister living : William, now a resident of Texas; and Sarah, who lives in Iowa.

C. H. Palmer, deceased, was born in Moscow, New York, January 1, 1818, and there he resided eight years. His father, Dr. Asa R. Palmer, removed to Vermilion county, Indiana, and two years later to Danville, Illinois. At the age of twenty-five he graduated from the Wabash College, at Crawfordsville, Indiana, and that year began a theological course in Lane Theological Seminary, of Cincinnati, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1846. Rev. LymanBeecher was at that time president of this college. He first preached in Coles county, Illinois, near Charleston, then a short time at Romney, Indiana, and in 1851 took charge of a church in Danville. He was married in 1852. Four years later he became a resident of Middleport and took charge of the Presbyterian church at that place, and remained its pastor until 1870. In 1872 he moved with his family to Deer Creek, Tazewell county. Illinois, preaching there until 1875. He then returned to Watseka, where he has since resided. He had, after his return, no church in charge, but preached occasionally in adjoining towns and neighboring counties. He died Monday, February 12, 1877, with heart disease. There never lived a more earnest Christian or more generous, noble-hearted man than Mr. Palmer, who commanded the admiration of all who knew him by his gentle disposition and exemplary conduct. His life was spent in ministering to the wants of those around him who needed assistance, and every year many a poor family received help and comfort at his hands. Mrs. Palmer and four children were left to mourn the untimely loss of a kind husband and father.

Stephen Cissna, farmer and stock-raiser, Watseka, was born in Chillicothe, Ross county, Ohio, February 9, 1815, and is the son of Stephen Cissna, who was a soldier in the war of 1812, under Gen. Hull, and received a wound in the right arm. He died when the subject of this sketch was about thirteen years of age. Mr. Cissna's grandfather, Stephen Cissna, and his four sons, were soldiers in the revolutionary war. At sixteen years of age Mr. Cissna commenced to learn the trade of a tanner in Chillicothe. From there he went to Clarksburg and Columbus, where he engaged in working at his trade. In 1836 he went to La Fayette, Indiana, and worked at his trade a short time. In 1837 he commenced farming in Warren county, Indiana, and from that he embarked in the mercantile business in Williamsport, Indiana, where he remained some five years. In 1856 Mr. Cissna came to Iroquois county, Illinois, and located in Pigeon Grove, on a farm of some 680 acres of land. Here he remained until 1867, when he moved to his present home, having purchased it from his brother, William Cissna, who had located here in 1865. This farm was improved by Mr. George King. Since Mr. Cissna's residence in Middleport township he has held several offices of trust. He was supervisor of the township for one term. He was married, April 13. 1848, in Williamsport, Indiana, to Miss Elizabeth Miller, daughter of E. W. Miller. She died August 2,' 1858. Mr. Cissna was married to his present wife, Clara Hawk, daughter of Erastus Hawk, in 1864. He is the father of one child by his first wife.

Henry T. Skeels, Watseka, was born in Franklin county, Ohio, September 23, 1837, and is the son of Truman and Betsy B. (Wiswell) Skeels. His father was engaged in farming. When Mr. Skeels was about thirteen years of age, his father and mother both died, the same week, with typhoid fever, leaving an estate to be divided among the children. Mr. Skeels remained in his native county until he was nearly fifteen years old, when he went to Stark county, and from there to Illinois, and first stopped in Onarga, where he began the study of medicine. From that he was engaged as clerk in a general store. In 1861 he went to the army, where he was for a while in the quartermaster's department, and then clerk in the suttler's store. He remained in the army about eleven months, when he returned to Iroquois county. In

1862 he went to Middleport, where lie served as deputy circuit clerk under Hon. Thos. Yennum, who was circuit clerk for a number of years. Here he came in contact with a great many men, and won a host of friends. In 1868 he was nominated and elected to the office of circuit clerk, by the republican party, by one of the largest majorities ever given to a candidate' for office. During his term of office he gave entire satisfaction. In November, 1874, he entered the banking business, in company with J. Malsenbau, forming the firm of J. Malsenbau & Co. The "Watseka bank did a general banking business, which continued until 1879, when it closed its business. Mr. Skeels was married in Middlebury, Yermont, to Helen M. Matthews, of Yermont, daughter of Darius Matthews. By this marriage they have two children : a son and a daughter.

L. N. Pittwood, physician, Watseka, is one of the pioneer physicians of Iroquois county. He was born in London, England, March 20, 1830. His parents are William and S. (Sanders) Pittwood, both natives of England. His father was a brewer in England. In 1838 Dr. Pittwood, with his parents, emigrated to America, and landed in New York city. They remained in New York state for about two and onehalf years, when, in 1841, they came west to Illinois, and stopped in Chicago about two weeks. From there they went to St. Charles, Kane county. Here Dr. Pittwood received his education, and at nineteen years of age he began the study of medicine under Dr. -George W. Richards, one of the leading physicians of St. Charles. In 1856 Dr. Pittwood commenced the study of medicine. In 1857 he came to Iroquois county and located at Gilman, where he began the practice of medicine, and remained in Gilman until 1859, when he came to Middleport, then the county seat of Iroquois county. From there he came to Watseka, which has been his home ever since. He is now the oldest practicing physician of Watseka, and perhaps of Iroquois county. Dr. Pittwood is a member of the Illinois Medical Society and the Iroquois Medical Association, of which latter he was vice-president. The Doctor has held several offices of public trust, that of school-director and alderman of Watseka. He has been married twice. His first wife was Miss Mariah Hookaway, of New York, now deceased ; and his present wife was Rachel A. Foreman, of Michigan. He is the father of four children : three by his first wife and one by the second.

Seymoure Cobb, farmer, Watseka, was born in Warren county, Indiana, January 15, 1834, and is the son of Ira Cobb, who was a farmer. Mr. Cobb was engaged in farming, in Warren county, until 1857, when he came to Iroquois county and located in Middleport township, where he has been a resident ever since. In 1870 he moved to his present farm. He owns 300 acres of land. He married Rebecca Little, of Warren county, Indiana. They have five children living. Mr. Cobb's father died when he was thirteen years of age, leaving the care of the family on his mother.

Henry A. Butzow, county clerk, Watseka, was born in Mecklenburg- Schwerin, Germany, July 9, 1834, and is the son of Ludwig and Sophia (Wille) Butzow, both natives of Germany. His father was a schoolteacher by profession. Mr. Butzow received his principal education in Germany, where he was engaged for three years in teaching school. In 1854 he started alone for America, and after landing in New York city, went to Oneida county, New York, where he worked on a farm for about sixteen months, when he came west to Illinois, and located on a farm near Qhebanse. In 1855 he rented a farm in Kankakee county, Illinois, where he remained until 1858, when he came to Iroquois county, and located in Chebanse township, and farmed until 1862. He enlisted as a private, March, 1862, in Co. G, 25th 111. Yol. Inf., for three years. He participated in the battles of Perryville, Siege of Atlanta, etc. He was wounded at the battle of Peach Tree creek, in the left breast ; the bullet struck his watch and glanced around the rib, making a painful but not serious wound. He was disabled and sent to the hospital, but was afterward placed on extra duty at Louisville, where he remained until the close of the war in 1865. He then went to St. Clair county, where he had a brother, and remained with him about six months, when he made a trip to Germany in 1866, where he married his present wife, Sophia Pfudle. He returned to America in 1866, and located on a farm in Iroquois township, Iroquois county. In 1873 he was nominated and elected to the office of county clerk by the farmers' party, receiving a majority of 300 votes. In 1877 he was reflected to the same office, on the independent ticket, by a majority of 749 votes. Mr. Butzow held the office of township clerk of Iroquois township, from 1867 to 1873, and at the close of his service in that capacity he removed to Watseka, where he has since resided. In the discharge of his duties as a public officer he has been prompt and honorable. His reputation is such as the people bestow upon a citizen and officer who has betrayed no trust, but has assisted, in all honorable ways, to further every movement resulting in the welfare of the citizen and for the public good.

Joseph C. Popper, attorney-at-law, Watseka, was born in Bohemia, October 22, 1820. He received his education at Prague, the capital of Bohemia. In 1840 he came to America. He commenced the study of law in New York city, and in 1841 he was admitted to the bar in the state of New Jersey. He commenced the practice of law in Frank- linville, and from there he came west, and was a resident of St. Louis, Missouri, for a short time. He came to Illinois in 1845, where he has remained ever since. In 1858 Mr. Popper came to Iroquois county. In 1862 he enlisted in the late civil war, as a private, in Co. F, 76th 111. Vol. Inf. He did good service, and was in a number of the most prominent battles - fourteen in all. He was wounded in the left leg at Champion Hill. On account of this wound he is receiving a pension. Mr. Popper participated in the last battle during the war, - the capture of the Blakelies and the surrender of Mobile. From private he gradually rose to the position of chief clerk of the commissary department. After the war, Mr. Popper returned to Iroquois county, where he has been a resident since.

Arnold Brothers, druggists, Watseka, are the proprietors of the pioneer drug store of Watseka. T. S. Arnold, the senior member, was born in Clinton county, Ohio, March 6, 1846, and is the son of George W. and Martha (Mills) Arnold. His mother was born in Clinton county, Ohio, and his father in Virginia, and was a wagon-maker by trade. They were married in Ohio, where they raised a family of four children, three living. In 1851 they came to Illinois, and located in Livingston county, on a farm. He died in 1854. In 1856 the family moved to Grundy county. In 1858 they came to Iroquois county, and located at Middleport. Here Mr. T. S. Arnold learned the printer's trade, and followed his profession about two years. In 1862 he enlisted as corporal in Co. I, 113th 111. Vol. Inf., for three years or during the war. He participated in several battles, and was detailed as clerk in Memphis, Tennessee. He served until the close of the war in 1865, at which time he returned to Middleport, and entered the drug firm of Secrest, Tillinghast & Co., as clerk. Here he served until 1866, when the firm moved to Watseka, and he became a partner. In 1869 Mr. Tillinghast died, and then the firm was changed to Secrest, Arnold & Co. In 1876 it changed to Arnold Bros. D.W. Arnold, the junior member, was born in Clinton county, Ohio, September 11, 1848. He was also a soldier in the late war, enlisting, in 1864, in Co. B, 134th reg., one-hnndred-days service. This regiment did garrison duty, principally in Kentucky. In 1866 he entered as a clerk in a drug store in Eureka, Illinois, with Jas. W. Finley. He was also clerking for a short time at Milford. He then came to Watseka, and in 1869 was made a partner of the above-named firm.

Hon. George C. Harrington. It is one of the designs of this work to give brief sketches of the more prominent characters whose lives and conduct have been of such a nature as to make an impress upon the historical pages of the county in which they reside. When the subject is of such a character as to present an example of honesty, industry and integrity to the younger and rising generation, pointing out to these the possibilities of the most humble among them, our sketch will serve the dual purpose of history and example. In our present subject we have such a character, as will be noted in this sketch. George C. Harrington was born in St. Lawrence county, New York, June 30, 1833, the son of Benjamin O. and Harriet E. (Langdon) Harrington, both natives of Vermont. When three years of age he came with his parents to Joliet, Illinois, where the family made their permanent home. At the age of thirteen he entered the office of the " True Democrat " (now the Joliet " Republican ") to learn " the art preservative of all arts." Here he applied himself industriously and faithfully to his chosen vocation, and acquired a thorough knowledge of the printer's trade. Having served out his apprenticeship in the composing rooms of the " True Democrat," he went to Skowhegan Falls, Maine, and there, by a proper course of study, prepared himself for college. He afterward entered Union College, Schenectady, New York, then under the presidency of the distinguished Dr. Eliphalet Nott. His career in this celebrated institution of learning was a series of marked triumphs, standing at the -head of his class in the classics, and in point of literary ability ranking first among the many able students then in attendance. From Schenectady he returned to the Great West arid rested at Davenport, Iowa, which presented an inviting field to the young student, all aglow with enthusiasm and ambitious to carve out for himself a useful and worthy career. In connection with Franc B. Wilkie (Poliuto), now of the Chicago " Times," he established the Davenport " Daily News," which soon took rank as one of the leading democratic journals of Iowa. In 1859 Mr. Harrington came to Iroquois county, and associated himself with the Iroquois "Press," a democratic newspaper. - In the following year the democracy of Iroquois county placed him in nomination as their candidate for circuit clerk, and although defeated at the ensuing election, he ran largely ahead of his ticket. He still continued his connection with the " Press" until 1862. The country was then writhing in the agonies of civil war, and as a patriotic son he felt that his services were required in the field. He consequently abandoned his editorial duties and began recruiting for the service, and after taking the first company into camp at Kankakee for the 76th Illinois regiment, assisted in filling up two other companies for the 113th. He enlisted as a private soldier, but his superior ability being recognized, the members of his company (A) elected him captain. In January, 1863, he was promoted to major. He wras, however, not permitted to serve long after this. On July 4, 1863, near Vicksburg, Mississippi, he was reluctantly obliged to resign on account of dysenter}' contracted in the army, the effects of which still linger with him, and from which he will probably never recover. On his return from the army he engaged in the hardware business at Watseka, in the firm of Woodford & Co. He was soon after appointed collector of internal revenue for Iroquois, Ford and Champaign counties, in which capacity he discharged his duties conscientiously, so that at the close of his official term not one cent of the large amounts of money handled by him was missing, and he turned over the books to his successors with a clean record. In 1869 Maj. Harrington was elected mayor of Watseka, and reflected the following year, declining the office after having served two terms, though urgently pressed to accept a third term. This evinces the high esteem in which he is held by the people of Watseka. In the year 1870, in connection with several other enterprising citizens, Maj. Harrington organized the First National Bank of Watseka, of which corporation he was promptly chosen as cashier, which office he still holds. This institution is one of the stanchest and most flourishing in the county, having, from its organization, won the confidence of the people. Maj. Harrington was married to Miss Mary L. Hutchinson, at Crawfordsville, Indiana, in 1864, and has two children living. Yery domestic in his habits, his home is a model of comfort and good taste. He has taken considerable interest in politics, though not an active politician in the usual sense of that term. He is recognized throughout the state as a prominent democrat, prominent more for his ability than his activity. At present he is a member of the democratic state central committee. Though never an office-seeker, he was, in 1876, without his consent, mentioned by several papers and prominently spoken of by eminent democrats as a candate for secretary of state ; but he induced his friends to withdraw his name from the state convention. He presided over the democratic congressional convention held at Fairbury in 1878, and on invitation of that body addressed them, making a masterly speech, which was published and scattered broadcast as a campaign document. The same convention would have nominated him as their candidate for congress, but he emphatically declined the proffered honor. His name is at this time conspicuous in several democratic journals as an available candidate for lieutenant-governor of Illinois. Maj. Harrington is an active member of the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows, and much esteemed by his brethren of the fraternity. Hon. George C. Harrington is a self-made man, having risen by his own unaided efforts to his present enviable position in life. His parents were poor, but by his indefatigable energy he acquired an education in spite of all the obstacles that darkened the path of his early years. His future promises most auspiciously, and should his life be spared the ordinary years allotted to man, we predict that his name will yet become distinguished in the annals of our state as it is in that of Iroquois county. A gentleman of culture, a fine scholar, and still a student from habit ; a man towering high among his fellows, all recognizing his superior ability and worth of character, and ever ready to pay deference to his excellent qualities, he is yet as modest and retiring as a child ; vanity is not one of his characteristics. A democrat in principle and practice, he believes, with a faith born of conviction, in the equality and brotherhood of man. He is public-spirited, liberal and charitable, ever ready to assist, with his purse or his pen, in any cause that promises good to his fellow ma'n or the public. A man of broad and comprehensive views, he looks upon the world as he finds it, and is therefore conservative rather than radical. The people of Watseka look upon him as an exemplary man, and are proud to call him their own.

Among the first and most successful business men of "Watseka, may be mentioned the late Henry A. Tillinghast, who was borfl near Norwich, Connecticut, in 1836. But very little could be learned of Mr. Tillinghast's early life. At ten years of age he entered the drug business as a clerk in a leading store in Norwich, Connecticut. From there he came west to Illinois, and accepted a similar position in Chicago, where he remained in the business until about 1859, when he came to Iroquois county and took a position as clerk. From here he engaged as a partner in the drug firm of Secrest, Tillinghast & Co., at Middleport. This firm at that time was one of the leading business houses of Iroquois county. They moved their stock of goods from Middleport to Watseka, and occupied the stand now owned by the Arnold Brothers. Here he remained in business until his death, which occurred in March, 1869. Thus passed away one of the most highly respected and honored business men of Watseka. Mr. Tillinghast, in 1860, married Miss Mary E. Arnold, who was born in Clinton county, Ohio, in 1842. By this marriage they have one child living. Mrs. Tillinghast married the second time to George E. King, a prominent attorney. By this union they have two children living.

Lovett & James, livery men, Watseka, are the proprietors of one of the leading livery stables of Watseka. Mr. H. C. Lovett was born in Rhode Island, and came west and located in Iroquois county in 1860. Here he has been engaged in farming and dealing in stock. In February, 1879, he entered partnership with Mr. G-eo. W. James, in the livery business. These gentlemen occupy the building that was once used as a school and court-house in Middleport. The building is

Lyman M. Johnson, maker of abstracts of titles, Watseka, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, June 2, 1848, and is the son of Isaac D. and Eliza A. (Sawtelle) Johnson. His father was born in Ludlow, Vermont, having moved to Ohio, and located in Cincinnati, about 1830 or 1832, being among the early settlers of that place. He engaged in the livery, in connection with the undertaking, business with J. P. Epply & Co., the largest undertakers of Cincinnati. They owned the first hearse with glass sides in the west. After Henry Clay's death, his remains were brought through Cincinnati, on their way to Kentucky, and Mr. Johnson was detailed by the committee to transfer the body through the city. He went to the extra expense of fixing and trimming up his hearse, and of selecting a number of white horses. Afterward the committee asked Mr. Johnson what his bill was, and he told them - nothing. He said he would never make any charge for serving such a true man to his country as Henry Clay. For this act of kindness, the family of Henry Clay presented Mr. Johnson with a sealring with a lock of Henry Clay's hair in it, which to-day is in the possession of the Johnson family. At the breaking out of the war Mr. Johnson was appointed, by the government, inspector of horses, mules, harness and wagons, in Cincinnati. He also filled a similar position during the Mexican war. He served the government through the war, and in 1866 died with cholera. Mr. Johnson, the subject of this sketch, remained in Cincinnati until 1861, when he moved with his parents to Iroquois county, and located on a farm near Loda, where he engaged in farming for a short time, and returned to Cincinnati and completed his college preparatory course. In 1866 he entered the Beloit College, of Beloit, Wisconsin, and graduated from this college in 1870. He returned to Iroquois county, and in 1872 came to Watseka, and entered the abstract office of Judge C. F. McNeil], where he remained about one and a half years. In 1875 he purchased the abstract business from Kay & Langlier, in which business he has been engaged ever since. Mr. Johnson has in his possession a sword-blade which was the dress-sword of President Harrison.

George A. Woodford, son of William E. and Margaret Woodford, was born in Orleans county, New York, September 28, 1834, educated in the common schools and academy of that county, and spent his youth there. He came west in the winter of 1853-4, located at Ottawa, Illinois, taught a school there that winter, and in the spring came to Middleport; engaged in farming in the county that summer, and in the fall returned to New York, remained there one year, and then came back to Middleport in September, 1855. He taught school in Middleport and neighborhood until September, 1858, when he took the position of deputy clerk, under Daniel Fry, who was then county clerk. On November 4, 1861, he was elected county clerk for Iroquois county, for the term of four years. Before his term of office expired he engaged in the hardware and grocery business, his store being located at Watseka. Soon after his term of office expired he sold his stock in trade, and became a partner with John L. Donovan and Thomas Vennum in the Watseka bank, and remained in that institution until it was sold by the firm to Matzenbaugh & Skeels. -He removed to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1875, where he now resides. He was married, May 24, 1865, to Miss Anna Hutchinson, daughter of Jonathan Hutchinson, Montgomery county, Indiana. They have no children. In politics he has been a war democrat, is a bright Mason and Odd-Fellow, and a genial, social good fellow.

Hon. Cornelius F. McNeill, attorn ey-at-1 aw and abstractor, of the c;ty of Watseka, son of John and Hannah (Mayne) McNeil], was born in Middletown valley. Frederick county, Maryland, March 20, 1822. His father was of Scotch descent, and his mother of German descent, the former born in Tuscarora valley, Pennsylvania, and the latter in Frederick county, Maryland. His father was a prominent and highly respected citizen of Frederick county, Maryland, and while residing in that county held several offices of honor and profit. Born upon a farm where his help was needed, the subject of this sketch had only such opportunities for an early education as were offered in the country schools, taught principally during the winter season, and the use of a well selected general library, owned by his father, through which means he acquired a fair education, and formed a taste for general reading and special investigation, which has followed him through life, and enabled him to become well posted in almost every branch of science and literature, and ranks him among the prominent self-made men of the county. In the fall of 1836 he, with his father's family, emigrated to the then Far West, and located at Perrysville, on the Wabash river, in Vermilion county, Indiana, where his father died in 1843, and his mother died in 1856, and where his only living brothers, John R. and George H. McNeil!, now reside. At Perrysville he commenced the study of the law, and part of the time being also engaged in teaching school ; but before having completed the study of that profession, his health failing presented to him a strong inducement to pursue the study of medicine, for his own benefit as to his health ; and after having completed the usual course of study in this profession, in the spring of 1845, he located at Concord, Tippecarioe county, Indiana, and pursued the practice of his profession at that place until the fall of 1854, having a very extensive practice. In 1852 he was nominated, by the whig convention of that county, as a candidate for the legislature of Indiana, but the whig ticket being defeated that year in that county, he was not elected. In May, 1846, he was married, at Perrysville, Indiana, to Miss Belinda Lacey, daughter of Samuel and Elizabeth Lacey, of that place. She died in August, 1847, after bearing him a son, which died a few days after its mother. On July 16, 1852, he was again married to Mrs. Mary Tatman, widow of Joseph Tatman, who had been an attorn ey-at-1 aw, of Lafayette, Indiana, and for some time the editor and proprietor of the " Lafayette Journal." The result of this last marriage is two children, a son and a daughter : Mary E. McNeill and John L. McNeill. His health failing, and for that reason desiring to abandon the practice of medicine, in November, 1854, he removed to Middleport, Iroquois county, Illinois, resided there the following winter, and the next spring located on a tract of 300 acres of land, which he had purchased, near the mouth of Spring creek, and which he improved. In the spring of 1857 he sold his farm and returned to Middleport, having been elected a justice of the peace of the town of Middleport. In 1858 he was admitted to the bar by the supreme court of Illinois. At the republican convention this year he came within one vote of being nominated as a candidate for the general assembly. In November, 1859, he became the editor and proprietor of the " Iroquois Republican," and conducted that paper in the interests of the republican party and the union cause, through the exciting campaign of 1860 and the dark days of 1861. In the spring of this year he was elected police magistrate of Middleport, and in the same year was nominated by the union convention of the county a candidate for the constitutional convention. The district was composed of Iroquois, Kankakee, Will and DuPage counties, and entitled to only three delegates; each had nominated a candidate, and in order to promote harmony in the union elements of the district, he magnanimously withdrew in favor of John ~W. Paddock, a war democrat, who had been nominated by Kankakee county. In 1862 he was appointed masterin-chancery of Iroquois county, and served in that office for three years. In 1864, 1865 and 1866 he was elected supervisor of the town of Middleport, and also appointed to fill vacancies in that office in 1872 and 1877. 'In 1866 he was chairman of the building committee appointed by the board to build the present court-house of the county. In 1862 he was appointed by Gov. Yates, surgeon of the 109th reg. 111. Vol., but his health being such as not to warrant his acceptance of active service in the field, he declined the appointment, but afterward accepted an appointment in the service of the state, in looking after the wounded soldiers, and did considerable service in that capacity during the war. In 1865 he was elected judge of the county court, for Iroquois county, Hon. Samuel Williams being his opponent, and was reflected in 1869, by a largely increased majority, over the same opponent, and served for eight years in that office, gaining the reputation of being one of the best judges in the state. In 1863 he bought the abstract books of Wm. H. Taylor, then owned by H. O. Henry, but not complete, and afterward completed a general abstract of the land titles of the county, and which is still the only complete abstract in the county. He is engaged in the abstract business and in chancery practice pertaining to land titles. In politics he was a whig up to the dissolution of that party, and since a leading radical republican, and has exerted a controlling influence in that party in his county. He is not a member of any church, but has a firm belief in the moral responsibility of man, and that exact justice will be dealt out to all by the Creator, both in this life and the great future, and from which there can be no escape. He is a prominent Mason ; joined that order in Perry Lodge, No. 37, La Fayette, Indiana, in 1847; was several years master of Lauramie Lodge, No. 32, in that state ; was the first master of Middleport Lodge, No. 289, Illinois ; is now a member of Watseka Lodge, No. 446, and a member of Watseka Chapter, No. 114, and has held the second office in that chapter. He is strongly impressed with the beauties of the symbols of the order. Being of Scotch-German descent, indicates the fact that he is a man of marked character. He has one of the best general libraries in the county, and is a great reader, and well posted in most of the affairs of life. He is quick in forming his opinions and frank in expressing them, yet,, from his legal training, he is apt to be just in his conclusions. He is intolerant of what he believes error and wrong-doing, and his outspoken manner sometimes gives offense to those who do not thoroughly understand his character, and therefore cannot appreciate him. Having acquired considerable valuable property and lands, he is comfortably circumstanced, and resides in a fine brick residence of his own, immediately west of the court-house on Second street, in the city of Watseka.

N. Jourdan, farmer, Watseka, is a native of York state, born June 27, 1820. In 1852 he came west, and located in Illinois, living in different counties. He finally located in Iroquois county, where he is engaged in farming. He formerly worked at the blacksmith trade, which he learned in his native state. Mr. Jourdan's father was in the war of 1812, participating in the battle of Sackett's Harbor. In 1849 Mr. N. Jourdan married Miss L. Koucher, a native of New York, and by this union they have six living children : Sylvester, Charles B. ; Anne, wife of Thomas Soloman ; Deforest A., Eva, Mary ; and three deceased : Elizabeth, Fremont and Delzora.

J. E. Leatherman, farmer, Watseka, was born in Putnam county, Indiana, January 7, 1833. In 1835 Mr. Leatherman's parents came to Cook county, Illinois. Mr. Leatherman remained at home working on the farm, that being his occupation. In 1856 he married Miss L. R. Hatch, daughter of E. Hatch and Phoebe (Rodgers) Hatch. In 1857 Mr. Leatherman came to his present farm. On August 12, 1862, he enlisted in Co. F, 113th 111. Vol. Inf., and was soon transported to the field of action, and took part in several engagements - the siege of Yicksburg, Arkansas Post, - then returning to Springfield, Illinois, with prisoners, but soon after rejoining his regiment. June 11, 1864, he was taken prisoner and taken to Andersonville, where he was held a prisoner-of-war about five months. While there his life was constantly in danger from exposure, starvation, and occasionally getting too close to the " dead line," which, if crossed, was sure death. After remaining there for some time, he was taken to South Carolina, and soon after paroled. Since his return home he has been engaged in farming ; he is the owner of a fine farm of 222 acres, which he and his wife have made by hard work.

Thomas Soran, son of Patrick and Ann (Carney) Soran, was born May 16, 1830, in Louth county, Ireland ; was educated in the common schools of that country, and spent his youth there in farming. He left Ireland November 25, 1849, and landed in New York city December 26, 1849. He soon engaged in work on the New Jersey Central railroad, and remained on that road about two years ; then engaged on the Delaware & Belvidere railroad, New Jersey, for about one year; left and entered the employ of the Pennsylvania Central railroad, residing at Altoona, and was so employed about fifteen months. He then came to Springfield, Illinois, and laid the track on the Great Western railroad from that city to Decatur, and remained on that road about fifteen months ; then went to Keokuk, Iowa, and worked on the Keokuk & Fort Dodge railroad, graded the first eight miles, and cleared the road to Farmington, thirty miles. On September 27, 1857, he engaged his services on the P. & O. railroad as assistant roadmaster; and on January 1, 1860, became roadmaster, and so remained until January 1, 1876. He was married, May 20, 1858, to Nancy Lyons ; has no children. He was raised a Catholic ; in politics is independent. He owns about 800 acres of land, and several houses and lots in Watseka, including a good brick store-building and stock of groceries ; also owns about 100 head of cattle and other property,

Brooks & Oren, druggists, are among the leading merchants of Watseka. The firm is composed of John B. Brooks and Asa Oren. Mr. Brooks was born in' Jackson, Michigan, in 1850, and there was engaged in the mercantile business. He came to Watseka and was in the well known house of Secrest, Arnold & Co., where he remained some three years. In 1873 he embarked in the drug business with -Mr. Bowsher, the firm being Bowsher & Brooks. In 1875 the present firm of Brooks & Oren was formed. Mr. Oren was born in Ohio, January 16, 1840, and is the son of John and Martha (Bailey) Oren, both members of the Quaker church. Mr. Oren came to Iroquois county in 1861, where he remained until 1862, when he returned to Ohio. In 1870 he came back to Iroquois county, and was made deputy sheriff, under Mr. A. South, for some five years. In 1875 he associated himself with Mr. Brooks and entered the drug business.

Abraham Andrew, Watseka, was born in Butler county, Ohio, December 20, 1835, and is the son of Jacob and Mary (Neighheart) Andrew, who were natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Capt. Andrew, the subject of our sketch, was born on the farm. When very young, with his parents, he moved to Jacksonburg, Ohio, where his father was engaged in the hotel business. From there they moved to Summerville, and thence to Indianapolis, Indiana, and subsequently to Dayton, Tippecanoe county ; in these places his father followed the hotel business. He next went on a farm, and afterward moved to Warren county. Capt. Andrew learned the harness-maker's trade at Dayton, and at this trade he worked at Williamsport. At the breaking out of the late civil war, he was the second man who enlisted in Co. B, 10th reg. Ind. Vol. Inf. for three months. This regiment did duty in Virginia, and participated in the battle of Rich Mountain, Virginia; after serving full time he was honorably mustered out. He then came to Watseka and entered his brother's harness shop. He then Entered a dry goods store, and was clerking for Daniel Fry when he and Maj. Harrington raised Co. A, of the 76th 111. Vol. Inf. He was made first lieutenant, and Maj. Harrington was made captain. Capt. Andrew participated in every battle the 76th was in ; he was made captain of Co. A, on January 4, 1863, and was known as Capt. Mice, being called this on account of being a small man in stature. He took the camp diarrhoea and was given up to die at Vicksburg, Mississippi ; and was given a leave of absence for twenty days, his old army friends never expecting to see him again. He was put on board of a Mississippi river steamer, and started for home ; here he met John Har- rington, the pilot of the boat, who gave him blackberry brandy and cured him before he arrived at Cairo. He came home, but returned to the regiment inside of twenty days. At the close of the war he returned to Watseka, where he entered the grocery business, and remained in this business about two years. After this he entered the harness business ; then for a short time farmed ; for some six years he clerked in a dry goods store, and was in the livery stable business some five years. Capt. Andrew was married, January 24, 1867, to Caroline Troup, who was born in Middleport January 2, 1849. They have had two children, one of whom is deceased.

Michael R. Emmons, blacksmith, Watseka, is one of the oldest blacksmiths in this vicinity. He was born in Burlington county, New Jersey, in 1834. His father managed a blacksmith shop, and was a farmer ; here Mr. Emmons was born. When he was a small lad he began to work at the trade of a blacksmith in Pointsville, New Jersey, where he remained until he was twenty-one years of age. At that time he set out in life and worked at his trade in Pennsylvania and Michigan, and about 1856 came to Illinois and was engaged at his trade in DeKalb and Kane counties. He finally came to Iroquois county, where they were building the Toledo, Peoria & Warsaw railroad. Mr. Emmons first located in Crescent ; he was for a short time in Indiana ; at last he located in Middleport township, where he has been engaged at his trade ever since. He worked at Pittwood from 1862 to 1879, when he came to Watseka, where he is now engaged in working at his trade. Mr. Emmons was married to Miss Margaret Stewart, of Cleveland, Ohio, and . they have six children.

John W. Riggs, circuit clerk, Watseka, was born in Chester county, in the old "Keystone State," August 24, 1834, and is the son of William and Hannah (Gutherie) Riggs, both natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. Riggs was born on his father's farm, and at two years of age, with his parents, moved to Philadelphia. While a resident there, he was engaged as bookkeeper in the missionary department of the American Sunday School Union, a large publishing house of Philadelphia, where he remained some seven years. In 1862 Mr. Riggs came west to Illinois, and located at Buckly, Iroquois county, where he was engaged in the mercantile business, and remained there some two years, when he moved to Glenwood, and was engaged in the same business some four years, after which time he returned to Buckly. In 1872 he was nominated and elected to the office of circuit clerk, by the republican party, receiving a majority of 1,200 votes. In 1876 he was reflected to the same office by a handsome majority. Mr. Riggs was for several years justice of the peace and town clerk of his township. In each of these offices he has acquitted himself in a very creditable manner. He ranks among the leading men of the republican party. Mr. Riggs was married, in 1857, to Miss Richards, of Philadelphia, and by this union they have five children. Mr. Riggs moved to Watseka in 1872.

Clinton Wade, merchant, Watseka, is one of the foremost merchants of Watseka. He was born January 22, 1829, in Wayne county, New York, and is the son of Uriah Wade, who was born in Connecticut in 1796. Uriah Wade moved west, and located in Michigan, in 1833, when that state was a territory. Here he remained engaged in farming until 1871, when he was killed by a passing freight train on the Michigan Central railroad. The subject of this sketch, with his parents, moved to Michigan, where he remained until 1852, engaged in farming. He then went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and entered the Grundy Commercial College, of Cincinnati. Here he received a full course of bookkeeping. He accepted a position as assistant bookkeeper of the Miami Powder Company, at Xenia, Ohio$ and there remained with this company, directly and indirectly, until 1857, when he went to New York city, and was engaged as a general salesman with the well known firms of Lyman, Cook & Co., and North, Sherman & Co. He remained there until after the war broke out, at which time he came west and located at Watseka, Iroquois county. He purchased a building from John Fagan, and commenced in the general-store business, being one of the first merchants of Watseka. In 1869 he went to Chicago, and commenced the jobbing trade, where he remained until 1871, when he was burnt out by the great tire. He lost sixty per cent, of his investment. He returned to Watseka, and to-day is conducting one of the best business stores of the place. Mr. Wade is at present holding office as a councilman of Watseka. This office he has held for a number of years.

Henry C. Stearns, attorn ey-at-1 aw, Watseka, was born in Walpole, New Hampshire, May 11, 1851, and is the son of J. W. Stearns. In 1863 Mr. Steams, with his parents, came west, and located in Martinton, Iroquois county, Illinois, where Mr. Stearns, in 1873, was made postmaster. He was the first postmaster at that place, and held the office until 1875. He received his education at the Watseka High School, and the Grand Prairie School at Onarga. In 1876 he graduated from the Union College of Law at Chicago, and came to Watseka and began practicing. In 1878 he formed a partnership with Mr. E. M. Amos, which continued until 1879, when, in September, 1879, he began with Mr. Free P. Morris.

county, Pennsylvania, December 25, 1834, and is the son of M. JEL Weaver, who was a leading attorney at New Berlin, the county seat of Union county. He was also editor of the " Union Star," a leading newspaper, and was a prominent politician, having held the offices of circuit clerk of the county and county surveyor. When Mr. Weaver, the subject of this sketch, was a young lad, he helped his father to survey different parts of Union count}', and at the age of twenty-one came west to Indiana, where he carried on the machine shops of the Wabash Valley railroad, near Lafayette. In 1858 he came to Illinois, and located at Paxton, where, in 1858, he began to learn the trade of a photographer. In 1863 he carne to Iroquois county, and located at Watseka, when he began the photograph business, being the first artist to locate at Watseka. Here he has remained since, and to-day he is one of the most successful, as well as finest, artists in eastern Illinois. In 1879 Mr. Weaver was elected to the office of justice of the peace. In 1873 he was made treasurer of the Iroquois County Bible Society. He he has been president for a number of years of the Iroquois County Sabbath School Association, and has been a member of the M. E. church for the last eleven years. Mr. Weaver was married, in 1858, to Miss Mary Kerr, of Indiana. They have three children.

John L. Hamilton, county treasurer, Watseka, was born in the county of Armagh, Ireland. His parents were Thomas L. and Mary Ann (McCamley) Hamilton, and were of Scotch and English descent. In 1851 Mr. Hamilton emigrated to America - New Orleans being the port of disembarkation, where he remained but a short time; then came to Illinois and located in Jersey county, when he began work on a farm by the month. He managed well, and by his industry and economy saved money enough to pay for 160 acres of land in Mason county, for which he paid $225, and afterward realized for it $47.50 per acre. He remained in. Jersey and Macoupin counties until 1864, when he came to Iroquois county and located on section 11, in Lovejoy township, where he began farming, and being a good manager and hard worker, he became one of the best farmers in that neighborhood. While a resident of Lovejoy township he held the office of school director for several years, and also the office of supervisor for a number of terms; in both of these offices he gave entire satisfaction. In 1875 he was nominated and elected to the office of county treasurer of Iroquois county, by the republican party, his majority being 300 votes. In 1877 he was reflected to the same office by a majority of 500 votes, he being the only republican on the ticket that was elected. While he received a majority of 500 votes, the opposition party elected their officers by a majority as follows: superintendent of county schools,

506; county clerk, 749; county judge, 906. In 1879, by the urgent request of the republican party, he again became their candidate for the same office, to which he was elected by a majority of 617 votes. During these terms of office Mr. Hamilton has made a host of friends, and is, perhaps, the strongest man in the republican ranks of Iroquois county. This is probably due to the honorable, upright course that he has pursued, and the plain, unaffected way in which he has received the honors that they have been willing to bestow upon him. Though he began, as before stated, poor, and worked for small wages on a farm, he is now, by his industry and careful management, one of the wealthy class of Iroquois county, and may truly be termed one of her self-made men. His portrait has been placed in this work as an honorable representative of the people. Mr. Hamilton was married, in Jersey county, Illinois, February 24, 1857, to Miss Annie Eliza Leeman, who is of Scotch-Irish descent. By this union they have had nine children, two of whom are deceased.

J. C. Anderson, miller, Woodland, was born in Mason county, Kentucky, January 19, 1818, and is the son of William C., a shoemaker by trade, and Katherine (Cook) Smalley. When he was about twelve years old he, with his parents, moved from Kentucky to Indiana, and located in Fountain county, near Attica. At sixteen years of age he commenced to learn the trade of a cabinet-maker, and served an apprenticeship of five years, after which he started a shop of his own in Attica, which he managed till 1849. For a short time he was a resident of Warren county. In 1854 he moved to Vermilion county, Illinois, near Hoopeston, on a farm, where he remained until 1864, when he came to Iroquois county, and located one and a half miles east of Woodland, in Belmont township. Here he commenced farming. He was also, in 1868, engaged in sawmilling. His first experience in this line was in Warren county, in 1851. Mr. Anderson -syas for two years in the same business in Howard county, Indiana. In 1874 he moved his saw-mill to Woodland, and in 1878 built the present flour-mill, which commenced running February, 1879. The flour-mill is a frame building, two stories high, 24x40 feet, witlj a large shed for the engine and boiler. Mr. Anderson was married in Attica, January 9, 1842, to Miss Charlotte Steel, of Ohio, and they have had eight children, six living. Mr. Anderson commenced life a poor boy, but by working at his trade, saving what he earned and investing it in land, he now owns 383 acres of land, and his saw and flour-mill property.

E. Rosenburg, grain and hardware merchant, Woodland, was born in Saxe- Weimar, Germany, November 28, 1840. When a yonng lad he entered his father's brick-yard, where he was engaged in manufac- turing brick until 1864, when he sailed for America, came west to Illinois, and located in Iroquois county, where he has been a resident since. In 1866 Mr. Rosenburg built a brewery in Watseka. The first building cost him $1,400. To this he added until he had a neat brewery, with a capacity for manufacturing eight barrels of beer. He remained in the business until 1873, when he went to Papineau and entered the hardware business, where he remained until he came to Woodland, in 1876. Here he is engaged now in the grain firm of S. Williams & Co., and with the hardware firm of Rosenburg & Zemple. Mr. Rosenburg is a member of the I.O.O.F. He holds the office of school director. The firm of S. Williams commenced in September, 1876. They have shipped from Woodland as high as 110,000 pounds of grain in one day.

Lorenzo D. Browne, farmer, Watseka, was born in Mason county, Virginia, March 3, 1822, and is the son of Martin Browne, who was born in Frederick county, Virginia. Martin Browne was a soldier of the war of 1812, under Gen. Harrison. In 1828 the subject of this sketch, with his parents, moved to Madison county, Indiana, where Martin Browne died, in 1856. Lorenzo visited Indianapolis, then a small town, in 1829. He went therewith his father to enter land, and the entering office was a small log hut. Mr. Browne was married, in 1843, to Miss Nancy Harlan, of Indiana. They remained in Madison county until 1865. Mr. Browne came to Iroquois county, Illinois, in 1864, and purchased the present homestead, and in 1865 moved his family, consisting of a wife and ten children. Here Mr. Browne remained until 1872, when he moved to Watseka for the purpose of schooling his children. He remained a resident of that place some three years, and while there was engaged in the hardware business in the store of L. C. Marsh. He subsequently moved his family back to the farm, where he has been a resident since. Mr. Browne was engaged in the mercantile business in Anderson, Indiana, about one year. Since his residence in Belmont township he has held the office of justice of the peace some eight years. Mr. Browne is a republican in politics. He is a member of the Christian church. He purchased the present farm from Aaron Moore. .He now owns 255 acres of well improved land. Mr. Browne's grandfather, Martin Browne, came to America after the close of the revolutionary war. He brought with him some books, a few copies of which are now in the possession of Mr. Browne ; one, a dictionary of English and Italian, printed in London, England, in 1727.

I. C. Wade, hardware and lumber merchant, Watseka, was born in Berry county, Michigan, January 24, 1848, and is the son of Thadeus Wade. Mr. Wade was born on the farm, but moved to Allegan,

Michigan, -when very young. Here he remained until 1863. During the late war he tried four or five times to enlist, but, on account of his being too young, was rejected. At last he went to Rochester, New York, where he enlisted as private in Co. M, 22d reg. N. Y. Yol. Cav. This regiment was with Gen. Ouster. Mr. Wade participated in thirtythree battles, some of which were the most severe of the war. His first battle was at the battle of the Wilderness, - one of the hardest of the war; he was also in the battles of Cold Harbor, Wilson's Raid, (a continuous battle - there were 8,000 men sent out on this raid, and only 3,000 returned - and considered by Gen. Grant the most bloody battle in which he was ever engaged), Fisher's Hill, Winchester, and Cedar Creek. Mr. Wade had charge of thirty men, who stood picket duty on the Potomac for sixty days in the heat of danger. During Mr. Wade's soldiering he was taken prisoner twice, but managed to make an escape each time. He was mustered out in August, 1865, when he returned to Michigan. In 1865, with his parents, he moved to Watseka. In 1870 he entered the lumber business. In 1871 and 1872 he was in the lumber business in Milford. In 1875 he commenced the hardware business in connection with his lumber business, and owns now one of the leading business establishments in Watseka. Mr. Wade was married, in 1873, to Miss Theresa Hastings, who died with the consumption in 1878. By this union they have two children living. Mr. Wade is a republican in politics. He was a delegate to the Greeley convention, held in Cincinnati in 1872.

Edward Dalton, lumber merchant, Watseka, the subject of this sketch, and whose portrait appears in this work, is a native of county Roscommon, Ireland. He is the son of James and Margaret (Mc- Guire) Dalton, and was born December 15, 1814. His father b}' his own exertions accumulated considerable property, so that young Edward was given the advantages of the common schools until the age of eleven years, and was then sent to the Latin school of Strokestown, where he remained until he was about seventeen years old. Here he made very rapid progress, and would shortly have graduated, had not his father concluded to emigrate to America, which he did, leaving our subject in charge of two farms, which were to be by him sub-rented and managed. In January, 1832, his father sailed for America, and in May, 1834, Edward, with his mother and four brothers, followed him, arriving at St. Joseph, Michigan, in the following July ; their trip being made from Buffalo, New York, on the steamer Sanduskj', which was the first lake-steamer that ever made the run into the St. Joseph river at that point. Instead of being obliged to send for him, as his father had thought, Edward arrived with 734 golden guineas, which he handed his father, they being the proceeds of his two years' management of affairs in Ireland. His father in the meantime had purchased a small farm near St. Joseph, on which Edward began work, continuing until the following March, 1835. He then started on foot for Chicago, resolving to begin life on his own account. On his arrival at Chicago he found employment in the capacity of clerk for Henry & Gurdon S. Hubbard, they at that time having the only brick store-house in the city. It was their intention to send him to Rock river, where Rockford, Illinois, now stands, and let him have charge of a store in trading with the Indians and settlers. This prospect, which was very gratifying to him, was spoiled by the Hubbards quitting the mercantile and entering the real estate business. Now young Dalton had again to look for employment, or embark in business for himself; but, having no capital, the latter seemed quite out of the question. But this obstacle was overcome by Mr. Henry Hubbard, who supplied him with a stock of goods, and offered to furnish a conveyance also. But this Mr. Dalton refused, and, taking his pack, he started out to peddle ; though he soon quit the business, squared accounts with the Hubbards, and returned to St. Joseph, Michigan, where he and his father erected a building in North St. Joseph, and opened a hotel. There he continued business until 1838, when he went to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and in the spring of 1839 he and his father went a short distance west of Grand Rapids, to a place called Sand Creek, where, in 1845, he built a saw-mill. This mill Edward ran for about one year. He then went to Chicago and opened a lumber-yard, at the corner of Clinton and Randolph streets, which he managed successfully for about one year. His father then took charge of the yard, and he went back to the mills at Sand Creek. From 1847 until 1853, his father, brothers, and himself were doing business together. In 1853 he began operating on his own account, in the manufacture of lumber at Sand Creek. In 1861 he quit milling, and, until 1865, was engaged in no active business. In 1861, when troops were being raised for the war of the rebellion, he wras offered a captain's commission in Col. St. Glair's regiment, the 14th reg. Mich. Yol. Inf. This he did not accept until too late, the commission being given to another. In 1865 he became -a resident of Watseka, where his brothers were engaged in the lumber trade. In 1868 he bought them out, and has since conducted the business alone. In the fall of 1872 he met with an accident which crippled him for life. He had been at Rankin, where he proposed opening a branch yard, and in returning to Watseka, jumped from a freight train which was in inotion, at Sheldon, and broke his left hip, injuring it so badly as to have never recovered complete use of it. This accident caused him to abandon the business at Rankin. He is now doing a small business in the lumber trade at Watseka, the principal part of his property being farm lands located in different parts of Michigan, of which he has about 1,500 acres, most of which is very valuable land. Mr. Dalton is a man possessed of a high sense of honor, and, while he is naturally unassuming, he is still a vigorous and active man, of much culture and well read. He has never been an office-seeker, though solicited many times during life by his friends to become a candidate, his attention having been given mostly to business affairs. He being naturally a shrewd business man and good financier, the result of his efforts has been success. He bears a good name and reputation, and has the respect and esteem of the community in which he resides. Mr. Dalton has never married, which, perhaps, is the only failure he has ever made in life.

Hon. Matthew Henry Peters (contributed by Maj. George C. Harrington). America is peculiarly the province of self-made men, for in no other land can the efforts and energies of an ambitious man meet with so full a reward by the appreciation of his fellow-man. To every boy, no matter how humble or discouraging may be his position in early life, the future promises a reward for his struggles and privations, providing he makes use of all the faculties he possesses, and has sufficient will-power to determine upon success. This fact is illustrated by the history of so many noble men and women who have patiently and diligently worked through the long night of doubt and discouragement, and yet lived to see the bright day of success with its attendant honors and prosperity. And he who rises to prominence from the lowest level, and conquers obstacles apparently the most insurmountable, is deserving a higher meed of praise in proportion as his struggles have been severer than those of his fellow man. An illustration of the matter in point is well shown in the history of the subject of this sketch, Matthew H. Peters, the stirring events of whose life, given in detail, would equal in interest the most dramatic tale of our best novelists. Born in Rhenish Bavaria in 1843, he was brought to New Orleans, by his parents, when a babe. His mother died a year or two after reaching America, soon followed to the grave by his two sisters, leaving his father with two small boys, a stranger in a strange land, very poor in worldly means, and unable to speak the language of the people whom he was among. In a brief time the father was carried off by the yellow fever, thus leaving the two little boys without home or friends. Samuel, the younger brother, was placed in the orphan asylum, while Matthew, the subject of this sketch, was taken by an acquaintance, who made him the subject of a series of abuses that can scarcely be realized - forcing the illy-clad and homeless orphan to steal for him, and beating him in a terrible manner if he was not successful. This man had a small tailoring shop, and kept the boy at work from early morn until 10 or 11 o'clock at night, and even Sundays, allowing him as his food but one slice of bread three times a day. In the year 1855, nearly broken down by lack of food, and by the beatings and bruises from this cruel master, he determined to escape. The night before his attempt he was given fifty cents to do the morning marketing. He arose early, took his half dollar - he had not even clothes enough to make a bundle to carry along - and started to try for himself the world. He took up his quarters in another part of the city, lived a precarious life upon the streets, slept under the wharves, old culverts and store boxes, among the bales of cotton, or bags of rice and coffee, - anywhere that offered a place to stay as night approached. The days were spent in picking up old horse-shoe nails, scattered grains of coffee or loose bits of cotton, - anything that would be bought by the junk dealer ; fishing out of the slop barrels at the St. Louis or St. Charles hotels a crust of bread, or picking up from the gutter half decayed fruit in order to escape starvation. In the March following he got employment with the cook of a Mississippi steamboat, and during this period a great change took place in his fortunes. A traveling gentleman, Henry S. Roberts, attracted by the bright appearance of the poor boy, soon learned his sad history, and took him with him to Ohio. A short period after giving him a home in his family, this kind friend also died, leaving the boy with his widowed mother, Mrs. Roberts, whose kindness and motherly love has found a full recompense, as the boy, when grown to manhood, has given this woman a home with him in her old age, where she is loved and revered as if she were indeed his own mother. For the next five or six years after reaching Ohio, Peters spent his time in farm work and odd jobs for his neighbors, working for a long time in the manufacture of brick. He was always something of a student, and while other boys spent their time at play he was devoted to his books, studying night after night by the uncertain light from the burning kiln. In 1860 he commenced teaching, in which he was eminently successful, and in which he continued until the cry of war was heard over the land, and the call for volunteers came. He promptly responded to the call, and enlisted as a private, April 23, 1861, in the Jefferson Guards of Springfield, Co. E, 16th Ohio; served in West Virginia ; was at the battles of Fhillippi, Laurel Hills and Carrick's Ford, at which latter place the first Confederate general (Garnett) was killed ; served out the term and reenlisted as a private, in December, 1861, at Xenia, Ohio, in the 74th reg. under Col. Granville Moody - the fighting parson. Walter Crook, brother of Gen. George Crook, of Indian notoriety, was captain. By him he was made orderly-sergeant of the company, and was soon afterward chosen by the company as lieutenant, and commissioned by Gov. Tod on January 7, 1862. Lieut. Peters was severely wounded at the battle of Stone River, Tennessee, December 31, 1862, and was thought to have been killed, and so reported at first, his comrades being obliged to desert him on the field. He survived, however, to fight another day, and suffered all the hardships incident to incessant campaigning. When Sherman started on his march to Atlanta, it began with a skirmish at Tunnel Hill, and was a continual battle for one hundred days before Atlanta fell. Peters was at this time adjutant of his regiment, having been appointed to that position by the colonel, on the reorganization of the 74th reg. as veterans. Adjt. Peters was wounded early in the campaign, being struck with a fragment of schrapnel-shot while charging a rebel battery on Buzzard Roost mountain, May 9, 1864. On July 13, 1864, on recommendation of his colonel, he was promoted captain for " gallant and meritorious services." While his comrades were gallantly bearing aloft the old flag, he lay, during the remainder of the summer, flat upon his back unable to move, suffering all but death ; but a vigorous constitution and a stout heart triumphed, and at last enabled him to hobble upon crutches, and soon to walk with a cane only. Restless of such inactivity, he rejoined his command at Savannah, Georgia, though scarcely able to walk. He served through the Carolinas, and had many hair-breadth escapes. He was at the last battles fought by Sherman's army at Bentonville and Averysboro, and at Greenville, North Carolina, at the surrender of Gen. Joseph Johnston. His proudest day of military life was enjoyed at the grand review of the armies at Washington, May 24 and 25, 1865. Gen. George P. Buell, commanding the brigade, detailed Capt. Peters on his staff as assistant inspector-general, in which capacity he served until notified that his regiment was to be mustered out; then asking to be relieved, rejoined his comrades on their happy march home. But before being finally mustered out of service, he was commissioned major of his regiment, July 12, 1865, - major of the same regiment in which he enlisted as a private, - promoted, not through the assistance of influential friends or political favoritism, but on his own merit. In April, 1866, Maj. Peters came to Watseka and engaged in the hardware trade, but that business was unsuited to his tastes, so he sold out to his partner, Alex. Archibald, within a year. In the spring of 1867, he opened the first book and stationery store in Watseka, and in this business he continued until November, 1879, when he turned over his stock to his worthy clerk, Henry H. Alter, who had served him faithfully for over ten years. Politically Maj. Peters was in his early days, and up to 1872, a republican ; he continued to follow in the footsteps of Horace Greeley, whom he had been taught, from his first arrival in the north, not only to honor, but to love. He was, in the same year, nominated as a candidate for circuit clerk by the Greeley republicans, his nomination being indorsed by the democrats ; but he was defeated, though by a largely reduced republican majority. In April, 1875, he was elected mayor of Watseka, and served two years to the entire satisfaction of the people, who again reflected him in October, 1877, to fill the unexpired term of Hon. Franklin Blades, who resigned to accept the circuit judgeship. In December, 1872, Maj. Peters took control of the "Iroquois Times," and for eighteen months ably managed its columns, but in July, 1874, he sold the "Times," having made it a very desirable property. He, however, repurchased the paper in July, 1878, and is its present editor and proprietor. Maj. Peters always took great pride and a very active interest in military matters, and was mainly instrumental in organizing the first militia company in Iroquois county, which was in May, 1874; of this company lie was elected captain. When the military code of Illinois became the law, the various companies of the state were organized into regiments and battalions, the "Watseka Rifles being designated as Co. A, 9th batt. I.N.G., and Capt. Peters was elected to command the battalion, by the line officers, who met at Champaign, Illinois, October 10, 1877, for that purpose. Hence his later title of colonel. Col. Peters was married to an accomplished young lady, Miss Clara M. Lyon, at Sycamore, Illinois, June 19, 1867, in the Congregational church, by Rev. J. T. Cook. Mrs. Peters is a fit companion for our worthy subject ; of a charming disposition ; she is very active, energetic, kind, generous and public-spirited ; a lady of intellect and culture. In August, 1878, Col. Peters was nominated by a convention of the nationals as their candidate for member of the legislature, and in the following November was elected by a most flattering vote. He took a prominent part in the session of the thirty-first general assembly, and acquitted himself with great credit, having won the confidence and esteem of his fellow members, and Iroquois county was proud of her representative. Col. Peters is a very active and honored member of the order of Odd-Fellows, and has represented his lodge and encampment in the grand bodies of that order. Also a prominent member of the Knights of Honor ; he represented his lodge in the grand lodge of this state, and in 1880 represented Illinois in the supreme lodge of the United States. Col. Peters is a gentleman of unbounded energy and generosity, and there is no man living more public-spirited and benevolent than he is. As a business man he is very successful, and is held in great esteem by all the citizens of Iroquois county who are acquainted with him, and there is probably no man in the county better or more favorably known.

Mrs. Jemima Walters, Watseka, is the widow of the late Ephraim Walters, who was born in Perry county, Ohio, January 6, 1827. From Ohio he moved to Indiana, and was married to Miss Jemima Good in 1849. She was born in Perry county, Ohio. They moved to Ohio and remained there until 1865, when, with nine children, they moved to Illinois, and located in Iroquois county, on the present homestead. Here they commenced farming. While a resident here, Mr. Walters held several offices of public trust : township clerk and school director, - giving entire satisfaction. He was a man who was loved and respected. He died November 28, 1872, leaving a wife and twelve children to mourn his loss. Pie followed farming through life, and by hard labor and good management he had accumulated over 350 acres of land. The sons are now engaged in farming the land.

Alexander L. Whitehall, attorney-at-law, Watseka, is perhaps one of the best known and most highly honored attorneys of Iroquois county. He was born in Newton, Fountain county, Indiana, August 29, 1845, and is the son of Nicholas and Amelia (Stephens) Whitehall. Mr. Whitehall received a common-school education in the district schools in the winter months only, as his time was taken up in the summer in working on the farm. From the farm he entered the service. From the moment Surnter was fired on, young Whitehall, though under sixteen, was eager to enlist, but, as he was the main-stay of a family of six motherless children, his father refused permission, even when his patriotic boy could have had a good non-commissioned position. In September, 1864, chafing under the restraints of his father, he had determined to enlist at all hazards, and wishing to turn his knowledge of tactics to account, he had recruited thirteen men, and was trying to secure a lieutenancy, when his father was drafted, and did not refuse to allow his patriotic son to step into his shoes as a substitute. A neighbor offered young Whitehall $1,200, a few moments before he was mustered in at the provost-marshal's office in La Fayette, if he would let his father shift for himself, and go as his substitute, which offer was indignant!}7 refused. He had only been three days from home when a call for fifty recruits was made by the officer in charge of Camp Carrington to go to the 9th reg. Ind.Vet. Inf., and young Whitehall was the first to respond to the call, and urge his new found comrades to join a regiment that " had a history." He was informed that he could stay at Camp Carrington as a drill-sergeant, but he replied that he had enlisted to go to the front, and proposed to see the "elephant." Five days after tearing himself from the five little brothers and sisters, who were nearly crazy with grief, he was in the heart of the Confederacy, as it existed in 1862, - Nashville. At Chattanooga, attracting the attention of Col. Doane, who was organizing a brigade of convalescents and substitutes, he was, despite his boyish appearance and small size, placed in command, as acting orderly-sergeant, of a company of forty-two men, and, while Hood was menacing Chattanooga, he and his company occupied a part of the defensive line of works around the city, and a few days later he marched through to Resaca, Georgia, still commanding his company. On arrival at Resaca, his battalion was broken up, and, at the head of fourteen recruits going to the 9th regiment, he went to Kingston, Georgia, and, not being allowed to go any further south with his squad, augmented to twenty-nine men, from other regiments, lie went into camp for two days there. Learning the 4:th corps was marching back to Chattanooga, he started back on a freight train, that was attacked by bushwhackers near Calhoun, and, under direction of Gen. Elliott, Whitehall took his men into a cornfield, and drove out a squad of rebels,*killing one. At Chattanooga, two days later, he reported to his brigade commander, and three days after overhauled his regiment at Bridgeport, Alabama, it having just got in from an extended scout through the mountains of north Georgia. He and seven of his fourteen men were assigned to Co. F by Col. Suman, of the 9th, and his journal shows that, as a private soldier, he was from that forward on hand wherever his company went, through " thick and thin," marching from Athens, Alabama, to Pulaski, Tennessee ; and then, as rear-guard of the retreating army of Thomas, to Spring Hill, taking part in the movements at Columbia and Duck River, and doing his whole duty as a soldier at Franklin, Tennessee, in one of the bloodiest engagements of the war, escapingunhurt, though getting his hat-rim shaved by a stray ball from the 77th Pennsylvania regiment in the rear, soon after the battle opened. In consequence of being barefooted at Pulaski, in the latter part of November, and " foraging" a pair of No. 10 brogans - "gunboats" - while loading stores the day of evacuation, which he tried to wear on a No. 4 foot while making a forty-mile inarch in fourteen hours back to Columbia, his ankles were terribly lacerated, and a month after pieces of yarn were taken out of the wounds on his ankles. At Franklin he was used up with sore feet, chronic diarrho3a, and had, with the rest of his comrades, been forty-eight hours without a wink of sleep, but for all that he and his brave comrades rendered a good account of themselves, as the history of our late war will attest. While besieged at Nashville, the 9th regiment lay behind a stone parapet to the right and near Fort Negley. A few days before the battle a terrible storm of sleet and snow fell, and, as fuel was scarcely to be had, the men lying in their shelter-tents nearly froze to death, and Whitehall, in addition to the dysentery, which had reduced his "fighting weight" to ninety-six pounds, contracted a severe cold, which terminated in lung-fever, of which disease he had nearly died while at home the winter before. On December 15 he was so sick that he coughed nearly every step as he ran upon the charges, and yet he held his place in the front rank, and captured a prisoner in the final charge on the stone redoubt on the Granny White pike. In this charge he was thrown down while clambering through an embrasure of the fort, and that night his messmates reported to Capt. Stephens, his uncle, who came over from his division (the 3d) to learn the fate of his nephew, that " poor Aleck fell just as he got into the fort ;" and they were surprised to find the " dead boy," who had wandered a part of the night alone over the battle-field, in his place at the foot of the company the morning of the second day's fight. In the battle on the 16th Corp. Beeson and Sergt. Porter were wounded on each side of Whitehall, the former touching him when struck by a piece of shell, and in the afternoon another comrade was struck, and, falling back, knocked Whitehall down. But he passed through unscathed, except the fever had so deep a hold of him that all night he was delirious, and kept the poor, brave boys of his mess awake nearly all night. Filled with excitement, he kept on with his regiment in the pursuit of Hood, to a point near Spring Hill, where, as his journal shows, he fell in a cramp and was carried to a negro cabin, and the next day rallied enough to scrawl a letter home, and send by a passing straggler to the mail office, saying: "I am dying with lung-fever in a negro cabin near Spring Hill. We whipped old Hood at Nashville badly, and the backbone of the Confederacy is broken. Good-by." He was finally taken into the post-hospital at Franklin, and from there sent to Nashville, and, though worn to a shadow, he still had the grit of a cub tiger, and Dr. Tuttle said of him at one time: "I believe, if that little boy there had been in his last gasp, and I had asked him how he felt, he would have said ' first rate.' ' All the winter of 1865 he was confined most of the time to his bed, but was cheerful, and would sit on his cot and cut paper hangings, and then get the nurses to make paste, and hang them on the framework of the hospital tent until the surgeon and wardmaster, with a good deal of pride, several times brought ladies to examine the tent, and to see the little boy that had planned to give it so homelike an appearance. Fred. Kimmer, the brawny German nurse, would pick up the poor, wasted boy in his arms and carry him as tenderly as a babe. In the spring, as he grew better, Chaplain Hoover had him deliver, in the chapel of the stone college in the grounds of Hospital No. 2, Nashville, a temperance lecture, and a temperance club was organized with Whitehall as secretary. He rejoined his regiment at Camp Harker in May, 1865, and, as head clerk of the brigade detachment, sent in the latter part of June, 1865, to Exchone barracks, Nashville, for muster out, he had the pleasure of filling out his own discharge, and July 3 he was mustered out and paid off at the Soldiers' Home, in Indianapolis. He returned to his home and remained there until 1865, when he came to Iroquois county, and taught school the first winter. The next summer he commenced farming on 30 acres of land, on which he raised 1,500 bushels of corn, and sold it for 20 cents per bushel. In 186% he entered the Michigan University, at Ann Arbor, Michigan, from which school he graduated in 1869. He returned to Watseka in April, 1869, and formed a law partnership with J. C. Steely, and commenced the practice of law. This partnership lasted until 1871. Since then Mr. Whitehall has been alone in the practice of law. In 1872 Mr. Whitehall was elected state's attorney, in which office he gave entire satisfaction. In 1873 he formed a partnership with Mr. E. Bremhall, in the publication of the "Iroquois County Republican," which continued until 1876. Mr. Whitehall was married, in 1869, to Miss Alice Roberts. They have had two children, a son and a daughter.

James Wasson, brickmaker, Watseka, was born in Butler county, Ohio, January 18, 1827, where he remained until 1839, when he moved to Delaware county, Indiana. In 1844 he first commenced working in a brick-yard in Wayne county, Indiana, at $8 per month. He worked in Wayne county about three years, and then went to Newcastle, Henry county, where he stayed six years. He subsequently removed to Monde, Indiana, where he remained until 1865, when he moved to Iroquois county and located in Middleport. He commenced the manufacture of brick in 1866, in the yard south of his present brick-yard. At that yard he made brick for the present court-house, the brick school east of Chamberlain's, and other buildings. He moved to his present yard in 1869, where he had at one time a capacity for making 15,000 bricks per day. He now employs some six men, and finds sale for his brick in the surrounding country. Mr. Wasson was engaged about one year as a contractor in building the Chicago & Eastern Illinois railroad. Like most of the contractors engaged in the building of this railroad, he lost heavily, being out of pocket some §12,000 ; but

Henry Sanders, Watseka, was born in England in 1815. He learned the shoemaker's trade at the age of fifteen, and served as an apprentice until twenty-one. In 1865 he came to America, and then came west to Illinois, and was a resident of Chicago a short time ; he then came to Iroquois county and engaged in farming; he went to Sheldon, and was working at his trade some four years. From there he moved to his present place, and he now occupies the house that was erected by the Courtrights ; it is, perhaps, one of the first built in this neighborhood. Mr. Sanders was married, in London, England, to Miss Elizabeth Gellard ; they have six children.

S. C. Munhall, postmaster, Watseka, was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, January 26, 1843, and is the son of Rev. William and Dorathy (Familton) Munhall. His mother was from England, and his father from Pennsylvania. At Urbana, Champaign county, Illinois, he learned the trade of a printer. He afterward went to Chicago, where he remained for a while, and then returned to Urbana and commenced the publication of a newspaper. He enlisted in Co. B, 76th 111. Inf., and participated in the late civil war for three years, doing good service. In 1864 he was promoted to sergeant-major; in 1865 he was mustered out. He returned to Illinois in 1866, and came to Watseka, where he was deputy county clerk for eight years. In 1874 he was appointed postmaster of Watseka by Gen. Grant ; in 1878, by President Hayes ; this office he now holds. He was married, in October, 1867, to Miss Nancy Reese, of Pennsylvania; they have one child.

H. Dodge, retired, Watseka, was born in Montgomery county, New York, October 15, 1804, and is the son of Noah and Elizabeth (Yenning) Dodge. His mother was a native of London, England, and his father of Massachusetts. Noah Dodge was a soldier of the revolutionary war. Mr. Dodge remained in New York state until 1832, engaged during the last seven years in clerking and carrying on mercantile business. In 1832 he went to Michigan, and located in Clinton. Here lie entered the mercantile business, and was also engaged in the manufacture of fanning-mills, - the first made in that state. While a resident of Michigan, he was elected to the first legislature, and took an active part in organizing that state. He was very successful in his business, and at one time owned a large lot of land ; but the panic of 1837 so crippled him, that in 1843 he was completely broken up. He then moved to Tippecanoe county, Indiana, and remained there until 1866, when he moved to Iroquois county and located in Watseka, where he has been an honored member of its society. He was married, in Clinton, Michigan, December 19, 1833, to Miss Lydia O. Hooper, of Seneca county, New York. They have one child, a daughter, wife of Win. S. Lingle, of La Fayette, Indiana. Joseph B. Lingle is now engaged in the study of law in Indianapolis under Gen. Ben Harrison, and will be admitted to the bar in 1880.

D. L. Jewett, physician, Watseka, was born in East Haddam, Connecticut, December 22, 1841, and is the son of Nathan and Lucretia (Stark) Jewett, natives of Connecticut. His father was a farmer. Dr. Jewett remained on the farm until he was about fourteen years of age. He received his principal education in his native state. In 1862 he graduated from the New York Medical College of Physicians and Surgeons. The same year he enlisted as surgeon of the 20th Conn. Yol. Inf., and served with that regiment during three years of the late civil war. This regiment was in some of the most severe battles with the army of the Potomac. In 1863 it came west with Gen. Joe Hooker, and participated in the battle of Lookout Mountain, known as the " battle above the clouds." The 20th Connecticut afterward was in a number of prominent battles in the western campaign. Dr. Jewett remained with his regiment until 1865, when he returned home east. In 1866 he came west, to Watseka, where he began the practice of medicine. Here he has remained ever since, and ranks among the leading physicians of Iroquois county. In 1870 he was appointed United States' inspecting surgeon, which place he fills at present. Dr. Jewett was married to Miss L. Brown, of Yermont. They have one child, a son.

Samuel R. Hawks, Watseka, was born in Franklin county, Massachusetts, May 2, 1811, and is the son of W. Hawks, of Massachusetts, who was engaged in farming. At the age of twenty-four he commenced to learn the trade of a stone and brick- mason. In 1835 he went to Genesee county, New York, where he remained until 1854. While a resident of that county he was married, in 1841, to Miss Betsey Dow. In 1854 they moved to Hillsdale, Michigan, where Mr. Hawks was engaged in business as a contractor and builder. He there erected the Hillsdale College, and one of the finest churghes of that city. In 1866 he moved to Iroquois county, Illinois, and located at the present homestead, where he has been an honored resident ever since. He has represented in council the second district of Watseka, since 1872, with the exception of one year. Mr. Hawks was a strong republican in politics, but he is now a greenbacker, and is recognized as one of its leaders in Iroquois county. Mr. Hawks' daughter, Dr. Yiola E. Archibald, is engaged in the practice of medicine, and is meeting with very flattering success, receiving calls from all parts of Iroquois county. She was born in Livingston county, New York, and received her principal education at the Hillsdale College, of Hillsdale, Michigan. She attended a full course of lectures at the Eclectic Medical College, of Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1877. She began the practice of medicine the same year, and to-day is perhaps the only lady practicing medicine in Iroquois county. Dr. Archibald is vice-president of the eighth congressional district branch of the Illinois Society of Social Science. She was nominated, by the independent ticket, for county school superintendent, but was defeated.