Logan County, Illinois - Chapter 28: Mt. Pulaski Township, 1886 (part 2 of 2)

Sorell Doten, farmer, was born March 16, 1821, in Barnard, Vermont, and is a son of Isaac and Rosella (Clapp) Doten. He is a descendant of Edward Doten, who came on the Mayflower, and whose name is inscribed on Plymouth Rock. Both his grandfathers were among the pioneer settlers of "Windham County, "Vermont, going there from Massachusetts at the close of the Revolution. His mother's father, Benjamin Clapp, having served with distinction in the Continental army, was elected to sixteen consecutive sessions of the Vermont Legislature. His wife was of the Le Baron family. At the age of twenty-two Sorell Doten removed to Huron County, Ohio, where he resided as a farmer until 1858, when he removed to Lincoln, Illinois. Nine years later he settled on a farm on section 2, Mount Pulaski Township, building a first-class farm house and making other substantial improvements. He sold the farm in 1883. Mr. Doten now has 320 acres in Chester and Mount Pulaski townships, and is about to erect a commodious residence. He is a member of the Universalist church, Mount Pulaski. In olden times he was a "Whig in poli- ties, and was a member of the first county convention in Ohio held under the name "Republican." This was in Huron County in 1'856, and delegates were nominated to the lirst Republican State Convention. Mr. Doten married in Huron County, Ohio, Elizabeth Nelson, born in Peru, Ohio. Her father, John Nelson, one of the pioneers of Ohio, was from Deerfield, Massachusetts, and blazed his path from Cleveland to Huron County, through the dense woods, when he was but seventeen years of age. Mrs. Doten is a member of the same church as her husband. Mr. and Mrs. Doten have five children - Mary, wife of Frank V. Nicholson, and Harry J. were born in Huron County, Ohio; Agnes L. and Elizabeth were born in Lincoln, Illinois, and Gertrude, on the Mount Pulaski homestead.

Robert Downing, farmer, section 2, was born in Woodbridge, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, December 3, 1793. He is a son of John and Hannah (Frakes) Downing, who removed to what is now Ross County, Ohio, about the commencement of the present century. Here Robert Downing grew to manhood, accustomed to farm work and wood-craft. In 1813 he enlisted in an Ohio battalion and served some months in the war of 1812. He is now one of the few surviving pensioners of that struggle. In 1822 he came with his father and two brothers from Madison County, Ohio, to Salt Creek, Logan County (then Sangamon County), Illinois. Thej' came with horse teams and covered wagons, crossing Indiana, then a wilderness, with scarce any vestige of improvement. The settlers on Salt Creek were Patrick Frakes, Nicholas Moore and James Scott, with their families. Mr. Downing entered eighty acres and began life in an unhewn log house, floored with puncheons and roofed with clapboards. Springfield, thirty miles southwest, a small " huddle " of log buildings, was the nearest " town," their county-seat and postoffice. During the first year the corn for these settlers was pounded on a log by means of a spring pole and wooden pestle. In 1824 Mr. Downing hauled a load of oats and a quantity of butter to Chicago, receiving three " bits " for oats and a " bit" for butter. Cows, pigs and chickens were almost unknown luxuries among them for a year or two. About 1826 Mr. Downing went to the " lead region," where he spent two years, and found pork worth $18 per barrel and flour at $12, and general hard times prevailing. One pair of boots lasted him all this time, and those he made himself from a rudely cut and sewed cow-hide. With money earned here he was enabled to "prove up" on hiB preemption, tlie patent, signed by Andrew Jackson, being still in the family. Mr. Downing's present homestead now comprises 540 acres. The substantial farm house was built in 1851, and the old place with its village of barns and the native timber surrounding it presents a most homelike and picturesque appearance. Robert Downing is a man who is nearing the end of life iu the enjoyment of the fullest respect of all who know him, and is a type of the brave and resolute pioneers of Illinois. His wife, Jane (Morrow) Downing, was born in the State of New York and died in 1881. She was a faithful helper in the stormy days of frontier troubles, and a trusted companion in the later and brighter days. Of their children, the eldest was John M., born on Salt Greek, September 22, 1822, dying fifty-seven years later; Hannah, born March 3, 1825, is also dead; Mary, born August 3, 1827, is the wife of George Roberts; Lorenzo, born December 27, 1829, is a farmer in Logan County; Alej^ander, born February 26, 1832, is now a carpenter in Lincoln, Illinois. He served three years in the Rebellion and came out a Sergeant of the One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Infantry; Melita, born March 26, 1834, is the widow of Thomas Downing, of Mount Pulaski Township; Clay, born August 30, 1836, enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Infantry and died in the service; Elizabeth, born February 24, 1839, is the wife of Samuel Downing, of Chester Township; Delilah, born February 10, 1842, is the wife of David Shellhamer; R. Harden Downing, born August 9, 1844, is owner of a large farm and manager of the homestead. Father and sons have been Republicans since the organization of the party.

Thomas Downing, deceased, was born in Pike County, Ohio, and is a son of Samuel and Margaret (Matthews) Downing, both Pike County people. Samuel Downing married twice, the second wife being Mary Matthews, sister of his first wife. The family came to Illinois in 1846, settling on Salt Creek, Logan County, where Samuel Downing died in 1865, aged seventy-two years. He left seven children, all born in Pike County, Ohio. The subject of this sketch, Thomas Downing, married, in 1853, Miss iSdelita, daughter of Robert Downing, a pioneer settler of Logan County, of whom a sketch can be found elsewhere in this volume. Thomas Downing was a life-long farmer, and located on the farm where his widow now lives in 1870. He died November 14, 1877, leaving six children - Mary, Melissa, Frances, George, Nelson and Lorenzo, all born in Logan County, Illinois. One daughter, Sarah, died at the age of eighteen, and four young children died before the father. Mr. Downing was an honorable man, a good citizen, and his death was regretted by all his friends. He was not a politician, though taking part in elections, and was in political faith a Democrat.

Peter Fenton was born December 21, 1836, near Baltimore, Indiana, and was reared in Hamilton County, Indiana, where his father, Benjamin Fenton, was an early settler, and where he died. In 1853 the widowed mother, with seven children, came to Logan County. The children were - Ann, Martha, Catherine, Joseph, Qharles, Peter, and Mary, who died at the age of twenty-five years. Joseph and Charles enlisted in Company I, of the One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois Infantry, and both died in the Union service. Peter married, September 20, 1859, Miss Mary M. Mier, daughter of George Mier, the first German settler in Mount Pulaski Township. Five children have been born to them - George W., Sophronia, John T., Clara B. and Chloa A. Mr. Fenton located on his present farm in 1868 and has it well fenced and tiled, with snug and commodious buildings. In politics he casts his vote for the Democratic party. He is a deacon in the Lake Fork Christian church. His mother died during the war of the Kebellion and was buried at Elkhart.

James W. Gasaway, retired farmer, was born July 29, 1818, in Ross County, Ohio. He is a son of John Gasaway, farmer, and native of Frederick County ,Ya., who married Catherine Anderson, of the same county. They settled in 1810 on the Scioto bottoms in Ross County, among the pioneers. Nine children were born to them. Of these James W. Gasaway was the pioneer of Illinois, locating on section 9, Lake Fork Township, in 1852. Here his wife died, August 7, 1877, leaving four children - Nicholas B., of Mount Pulaski; William D., of Hastings, Nebraska, and two daughters, Sciota Alice and Minerva Jane. They lost eight children - Thomas, aged seventeen ; John, aged fourteen, and the others in childhood and infancy. Since 1878 Mr. Gasaway and his daughters have resided in Mount Pulaski, though owning his Lake Fork farm. He has been a life-long farmer and is a Democrat in politics. In Lake Fork he served several years as collector, assessor, road commissioner, and justice of the peace. His son, N. B. Gasaway, married Evelyn Mann, who died December 15, 1883, leaving seven children; W. D. Gasaway married Rebecca Earner and has five children.

John B. Gordon^ of Mount Pulaski, was born 1845 in Waynesburg, Fennsylvania. His grandfather, John B. Gordon, was the author, in the State Legislature of Pennsylvania, of the bill for the building of locks and securing of river navigation between Pittsburg and Brownsville, Pennsylvania. In 1856 the father of our subject, William Gordon, formerly a contractor and builder of Waynesburg, removed his family to Mount Pulaski, and in 1861 he went to Colorado, where he lost an arm while engaged in mining operations. He was in Denver, Colorado, when the entire town, then a mere mining camp, was washed away, and witnessed the founding and growth of the present city. After spending several years in New Mexico be returned to Mount Pulaski, where he has ever since resided. Our subject went to Kansas in 1866, and was employed by McCoy Brothers, noted stockmen, in building the first stock-yards at Abilene, Kansas, for years thereafter the great emporium of the Texas cattle trade. In 1867 he had charge of their Kansas City stock yards, superintending the shipment of forty car loads of cattle per day, for five months of the year. He enjoyed the fullest confidence of these millionaire cattle kings, and on one occasion made a trip to the plains for the. capture of wild buffalo, elk, etc., for a traveling exhibit, which they proposed to inaugurate. Several specimens of buffalo were actually captured, in a trip full of exciting adventures. Mr. Gordon has seen much of frontier life and wild Western ways in Kansas and the Indian Territory. In 1871 he returned to Mount Pulaski where he has since engaged in farming, and, since 1873, in the livery business, for which he is fully equipped, having twelve to fifteen horses with a goodly stand of vehicles, 'busses and a hearse. He married, in 1873, in Mount Pulaski, Dorothea Shepard, by whom he has three children.

F. P. Heyle, Secretary and Treasurer of the Mt. Pulaski Mining Company, was born in Peoria, Illinois, November 18, 1853. His father. John C. Heyle, born in Baltimore, Maryland, removed from Columbus, Ohio, to Peoria, Illinois, about 1830, where he died in 1868. His wife, Mary (Fountain) Heyle, was born in Columbus, Ohio, and died in 1872, in Springfield, Illinois. F. P. Heyle was educated in his native city, and was for eleven years in the railroading business, being six years as station agent at Peoria, for the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad Company, and five years in the same capacity for the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railroad Company, of the same city. His wife was Adda (Collyer)

Heyle, born in Lacon, Marshall County, Illinois, daughter of Theodore Collyer, an early settler of Marshall County, and for the last sixteen years a resident of Peoria. Mr. and Mrs. Heyle have one son - Frank T.,born October 2, 1884, in Peoria, Illinois. Mr. Heyle is a Democrat in political views.

JohruM. HopMn&, City Engineer, Mt. Pulaski, was born in 184:8, in Hamilton County, Indiana. In 1862 his father, Andrew Hopkins, removed the' family to Zionsville, Indiana, where John M. receiTcd his education and learned engineering. He served seven months in the Union army in 1864-'65, as a musician in the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Indiana Infantry, though for the greater part of his time he was detailed on special service. In 1872 he came to Logan County, Illinois, locating at Chestnut, where he was employed as engineer in the saw-mill, and later in the junction elevator of Z. K. Wood, Mt. Pulaski. He was appointed to his present position September 9, 1884, and is also captain and chief engineer of the Phoenix Fire Company, Mt. Pulaski. He was married to Miss Carrie Rows, of Pickaway County, Ohio. They have one daughter - Marie M., born in Mt. Pulaski. In politics Mr. Hopkins casts his vote for the Republican party.

George Jenner, proprietor of the Green Tree saloon, Mt. Pulaski, came here as a wagon-maker, in 1871. For six years he was in partnership with his brother in that business, going then into the saloon business. His two-story brick building was erected in 1884. Mr. Jenner is noble grand of Lucas Lodge, I. O. O. F., and has been for the past three years. He was born in 1849, in Wurtemburg, where he learned wagon-making. His wife was Kate Danner, of Mt. Pulaski, and they have six children - Annie, George D., Edward J., Katie, Minnie and Carrie, the last two twins. They were all born in Mt. Pulaski.

Charles S. Landis, Justice of the Peace, Notary Public and loan and collection agent at Mt. Pulaski, was born January 15, 1842, in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1853 his father, Dr. P. K. Landis, removed with his family to Jacksonville, Illinois, where he and his daughter Juliette died of cholera in 1854. The widow and mother then removed to Mt. Pulaski Township, where our subject lived as a farmer, caring for the interests of the family for eighteen years. He then came to the village where he has since resided. His mother died in October, 1883, aged seventy-four years. Of the eleven children born to Doctor and Mrs. Landis three sons and five daughters are now living. Our subject is a leading Free Mason, belonging to the Blue Lodge, Chapter and Conimandery of Mt. Pulaski. In politics he is a Democrat, and has been elected four times assessor of his township, and served five times as deputy assessor. He was in the army sixteen months, and participated in Sherman's campaiga from Chattanooga, Tennessee, to Atlanta, Georgia, serving with Captain Johnson, Assistant Quartermaster, as issuing clerk in the Fourteenth Army Corps.

John Lincoln, grain dealer at Mt. Pulaski, is a grandson of Marshall Lincoln, and a son of Thomas and Susanna (Betz) Lincoln, all Pennsylvanians by birth. Thomas Lincoln and wife died in Pickaway County, Ohio, and are buried at Circleville, Ohio. Our subject was born November 9, 1837, in Union County, Pennsylvania. In 1842 he went to Pickaway County, Ohio, where he remained until 1856, when he came to Mt. Pulaski. He was a farmer here until 1865, when he went into the live-stock business, buying and shipping. In 1877 he leased the Mt. Pulaski mill and elevator, managing both three or four years, since which time he has devoted his time to the grain business at the elevator. He was married to Melinda Morris, born in Pickaway County, Ohio, by whom he has five children - Mary, Charles W. (now cashier of the Farmer's Bank, Mt. Pnlaski), Maud, Edward and Warren, all born in Mt. Pnlaski.

S. B. Lincoln^ farmer, of section 9, was born in 1820, in Union County, Pennsylvania. He is a grandson of Mordecai and a son of Thomas Lincoln, both Pennsylvanians. Thomas Lincoln removed his family to a farm near Circleville, Ohio, where he died. His wife, Susanna (Betz) Lincoln, born in Pennsylvania, died ten years after her husband and is buried with him at Circleville. S. B. Lincoln came from there to Illinois, in 1856, and commenced living on his present farm in 1857. A shanty and a few acres of breaking comprised the improvements at that time. To-day he has a well-improved farm, and a pleasant home protected by trees of his own planting. He married in Ohio, Arminda Morris, born in Pickaway County, Ohio, daughter of John Morris, a farmer, and a native of Virginia. He died in Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln have four children - William, a farmer of Logan County; John, in the insurance business in Lincoln, Illinois; Ellen, now Mrs. Shipman, and Samuel, at home. All were born in Pickaway County, Ohio. Mr. Lincoln belongs to the Mount Pulaski Methodist Epis-

John Lipp was born in Konigstadten, Hesse-Darmstadt, September 28, 1837. His father, Joim Lipp, was a baker. Our subject came to America in 1859, settling in Evansville, Indiana. In 1862 he came to Lincoln, Illinois, entering the employ of his brother, J. N. Lipp. During 1862-'63 he was in the United States service as a baker, and was present at Fort Donelson, Shiloh and other notable battles. Returning to Jeffersonville, he married Amelia Heier, born June 15, 1842, in that town. In 1865 he removed again to Lincoln, Illinois, where he owned and managed a bakery until 1876, when he sold his business and came to Mount Pulaski, where he opened a saloon and also a bakery and restaurant. Prior to this, in 1876, he spent four months in the Fatherland, where both his parents yet live, at the age of eighty-two years. Mr. Lipp remained in active business until 1884, when he retired. He has a beautiful home which he bought and enlarged in 1881. Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Lipp, two are now living - August Henry, born March 25, 1866, in Lincoln, Illinois, and Anna M., born in Lincoln, Illinois, May 13, 1875. Louisa, born April 5, 1869, in Jeffersonville, Indiana, died April 3, 1879. Emilie, born in Mount Pulaski, died October 8, 1880. Mr. and Mrs. Lipp are members of the Second Lutheran Church. In politics he is a Democrat.

A. H. Lucas was born on the Lucas homestead, half a mile west of his present house, on July 8, 1833. His father, Jesse K. Lucas, born in 1807, in Greene County, Ohio, was a son of Abraham and Marcy (Kelsey) Lucas. Twelve children were born to them; the sons were - Joseph, Thomas, Jesse K., James, John and Jabez. In 1825 Abraham Lucas with his family came to Sangamon County from Ohio, and three years later they removed to a farm on the Lake Fork. Here the old people died, and they and several of their children are buried in the Steenbergen cemetery. Jesse K. Lucas married, in Sangamon County, Jane Bowman, daughter of Richard and Mary Bowman, and by her had nine children - Sarah, deceased; Richard B., Abraham H., Mary J., now Mrs. R. Connaway; Arminda, now Mrs. J. Nicholson; Marcy, wife of William Chrystolier; Thomas, died in infancy; Hannah E., wife of John Roberts, and Phebe, unmarried. J. K. Lucas settled first on the present Caleb K. Lucas farm, in 1828, and about ten years later removed to the farm, where he died December 6, 1874. Our subject, A. H. Lucas, has always lived on the farm where he was born, though in 1878 he bought the Shiver farm and here built, in 1883, a tasteful and commodious residence. He now has 750 acres and is looked upon financially and in every way as one of the solid men of his native county. In politics he is a Democrat. He married in Springfield, Illinois, in 1861, Mary J. Brock, born in Madison County, Ohio. She died in 1863, leaving a son, Oscar J. Lucas, born August 22, 1862. In 1871 he married, in Mount Pulaski Township, Phebe A. Landis, a native of Indiana. Mr. and Mrs. Lucas have a daughter - Grace M. Lucas, born November 21, 1873.

C. K. Lucas is the only living son of John and Sarah (Bowman) Lucas, and was born February 14, 1833, on the Lake Fork homestead, Logan County, the farm he owns to-day. His father, John Lucas, born in Greene County, Ohio, July 31, 1801, married, at the age of twenty years, Sarah Bowman, born May 27, 1799, in Kentucky. In 1825 they came to Illinois, living for two years near Athens, Sangamon County, going from there to Fancy Creek where they spent a few months. In 1828 they settled on the present farm of C. K. Lucas, building a log house of fair dimensions, to which another was added, making the typical " double log house" of early times. This was built to the east of Mr. C. K. Lucas's present home, and an orchard and grove of ornamental trees has been grown around the site. Mr. John Lucas was elected justice of the peace at the age of twenty-one years, and held the office during most of his life. In 1844 and 1845 he was sheriff and collector of Logan County, and in the State Legislature of 1848. He died April 23, 1855, leaving eight children - Mary, wife of Isom Birks, born May 26, 1824; Elizabeth, born April 8, 1827, now Mrs. E. S. Scroggin; Hannah, born March 2, 1829, married Henry Eeed and died in Iowa, December 2, 1870; Thomas Lucas, born April 14, 1831, died February 19, 1855; Caleb K, born February 14, 1833; John, born March 3, 1835, died in February, 1869; Jane, Mrs. A. R. Dalton, of Missouri, was born February 11, 1837, and Sarah, born September 22, 1841, married Benjamin Ditzler, deceased, and now resides at Decatur, Illinois. The widow of John Lucas married again, Eev. Michael Mann, and died October 9, 1867. She 'was a daughter of Eichard and Mary (Senteney) Bowman. John Lucas was a son of Abraham Lucas, born in Morris County, New Jersey, who married there Marcy Kelsey, and removed in an early day to Ohio, living princi- pally in Greene County. Our subject, C. K. Lucas, was reared and received his education in Logan County, and is pre-eminently a farmer. His estate comprises 560 acres of fertile land, adjoining the heavy timber of Lake Fork on the north, and crossed by the section line road. On the east side of this highway Mr. Lnca* built, in 1876, an elegant three-story farm-house on the most approved of modern plans. A farm barn to correspond was built the same year. Mr. Lucas has never, in any sense, been a politician, the successful supervision of his farming and live-stock interests employing his time to more pleasure and profit. He is, however, on national issues, a Democrat politically. The breeding of English Shire Cleveland Bay horses, Cottswold and Southdown sheep, and high-grade short-horn cattle has received considerable attention from him, during the past few years. February 11, 1859, he married Miss Ellen, youngest daughter of Carter T. Scroggin, a well-known and much respected pioneer of Logan County. Mrs. Lucas was also born in Lake Fork and has spent her life in this county. They have two children - George T., born February 22, 1860, and Laura H., born April 3, 1862.

Wm. M. Martin, of the firm of Martin Brothers, merchants. Mount Pulaski, is a son of W. W. Martin, and was born November 15, 1862, in Mount Pulaski. After clerking with his father for several years he, with his brother, was admitted to partnership. They, C. A. and W. M. Martin, succeeded to the business in June, 1884. They have a double store, one department devoted to dry-goods, hats and caps, boots and shoes and family and fancy groceries, the other to flour and groctiries in bulk. The sales for 1885 will aggregate $50,000. C. A. Martin was born November 20, 1859, in Mount Pulaski, and married Miss Louie J., daughter of John W. North, of Illiopolis, Illinois. W. M. Martin married Miss Emma C. Green, daughter of George N. Green, of Baltimore, formerly of Springfield, Illinois. They have a daughter, Hazel, born in Mount Pulaski. W. "W. Martin came to Mount Pulaski in 1858, and in 1859 became one of the firm of George Mayer & Co. He served three years in the Union army, during the Rebellion, and in 1876 began business for himself. The failure of the Mount Pulaski mills dragged him down, involving him to an extent that he was forced to make an honorable assignment in 1884.

His father, "William Matthews, was born in 1811, in Pike County, Ohio, and is the son of Thomas Matthews, who came from Londonderry, Ireland, to Ohio, in 1789. William Matthews married Mary Wilday, born in Delaware. They came to Logan Coun y in 1838, settling on section 31, Chester Township, where the mother died in 1880. There were nine children - Alonzo, born in Ohio, accidentally shot and killed himself in 1854; Priscilla is the wife of Dr. T. W. Prime, of Lincoln; Jerusha is the wife of Edmund Lynch, a leading attorney of Lincoln, Illinois; Mary A. is the wife of T. B. Piatt; William L. lives on the home place not married, a^ed thirty years; Arvilla, F. K and Allen G. are all dead; and Jerry, our subject. At the age of twenty Jerry Matthews began teaching school, and taught eight years. In 1866 he began farming where he now lives, and has taught school several winters since. In 1869 he married Miss Lizzie Lawrence, born in Edgar County, Illinois, daughter of James Lawrence. She died May 23, 1875, leaving two children - Leona and Stanley. Tiie present wife, Frances A. Koonse, was born in Perry County, Ohio. Three children have been born - Stella, Emma, and Frederick "William. Politically, Mr. Matthews is a Democrat. He is a member of Logan Lodge, No. 480, F . & A. M., of Lincoln, and of the Mount Pulaski Chapter. He was elected supervisor in 1885.

Theodore Merman Otto Mattfeldt, deceased, was born June 1, 1817, in Hamburg, Germany, and was thoroughly educated in his native city. In 1837 he came to America, hiring out as a day laborer, near Detroit, Michigan, where he earned only $36 in six months. He afterward removed to Livingston County, Michigan, where he lived ten years as a farmer. Here, in 1845, he was married to Emelie Baurmann, born June 7, 1819, in Hamburg. She came to America in 1840, with her widowed mother. Mr. and Mrs. Mattfeldt came to Mount Pulaski in May, 1850, Mr. Mattfeldt working for the first year at the cooper's trade, and the following seven years as clerk in the store of Jabez Capps, Esq. He was then elected county surveyor and served three years. In 1866 he was appointed postmaster of Mount Pulaski, and held the office until April, 1869. He then opened a drug store on the south side of the square, continuing-in this business twelve years, afterward living two years on a farm in Elkhart Township. He exchanged this farm for a home in the village, where he died, January 24, 1884. He was a prominent member of the Lutheran church, in which he held an official position. He also served twelve years in the Village Council. He left four daughters - Marian, Acelia, Agnes and Amelia, and one son - Adolph, now in Molene, Kansas. The two oldest were born in Livingston County, Michigan. Mrs. Einelie Mattfeldt died January 30, 1886, at her residence in Mt. Pulaski.

George Mayer, Sr., of the firin of George Mayer & Son, grocers at Mount Pulaski was born May 15, 1820, in Kirchburg, Wurtemberg. His early days were spent in caring for the farm and vineyard of his father, John George Mayer. In May, 1838, he arrived direct from the Fatherland at Springfield, Illinois, where he entered the employ of J. G. Stewart, then recently elected to Congress. Later he worked for J. L. Lamb, taking lessons in the English language from his employer's son, John C. Lamb, now a prosperous foundryman of Springfield, he in return instructing his tutor in the German language. For five years he clerked for Mr. Lamb, and then, in 1849, came to Mount Pulaski, where he opened a small stock of groceries, the only other merchants then being Jabez Capps and Thomas P. Lushbaugh. In 1850 he was joined by his brother, John Mayer, and added dry-goods to his stock. In 1854 the present store was built. The brothers did a flourishing business up to the death of John Mayer. David Van Hise and \V. W. Martin bought the interest of the late partner and the firm of George Mayer & Co. did business for about eighteen years. Both the partners entered the Union army, leaving Mr. Mayer to attend to the business. The firm was at that time badly involved, yet within eighteen months the last dollar of indebtedness was discharged and money placed to the credit of the house. The firm dissolved in 1877, Mr, Mayer being out of active business until 1879, when the present firm was instituted. Mr. Mayer married in Springfield, Illinois, Caroline Dingle, who died in 1845. The present wife was Anna "Work, born March 29, 1814, in Strasburg, Pennsylvania. Of the five children born to them only one, Franklin Pierce Mayer, born April 5, 1853, in Mount Pulaski, now survives. He is the junior partner of the firm and in 1874 married Elizabeth Molidor, born in Cleveland, Ohio. Three children have been born to them - John Albert, Katie Emma and Louie F., all born in Mount Pnlaski. Father and son are Democratic in politics and in religion Lutheran. George Mayer was village school treasurer from 1861 to 1875 and tax collector of Mount Pulaski Township in 1877.

W. and Jacob Mayer, are sons of the late John Gr. Mayer, who was born February 25, 1809, in Wnrtemburg. Coming to America in 1832, he spent four years in Lancaster Connty, Pennsylvania, and in 1836 married Elizabeth Work, born in that county, October 21, 1812. Moving then to Springfield, he was employed in Lamb's foundry, and later in Ridgley's bank as porter. At one time the brothers, George, John and Michael Mayer, each owned and ran a dray in Springfield. In 1846 John G. Mayer removed his family to a new farm in Mount Pulaski Township, where he lived until 1850. He then went inti) mercantile business with his brother, George Mayer, continuing with him until 1859, when on account of failing health, he withdrew from the business and returned to his farm, where he died April 1, 1866, after nine years of almost constant battling with disease. His widow now resides in Mount Pulaski. There were seven children born to thetn - Samuel, born October 22, 1837; Magdalena, born February 13, 1839; George, born May 16, 1840; Anna, born January 4, 1844; John W., born August 1, 1846; Jacob, born March 16, 1850; and Henry, born June 18, 1854. Magdalena ,Mayer married Henry Fox, and died at Dwight, Illinois, October 10, 1879, and Henry Mayer died February 1, 1884. The five now living are all in Mount Pulaski and vicinity. Samuel Mayer married Mary "W". Lee, September 15, 1862, in Lincoln, Illinois. Of the seven children born to them four are living - Annie E.,born November 21, 1863; George A.,born July 19, 1867; Mary 0., born August 17, 1870, and Stella L., born April 3, 1876. Sarah O., born March 13, 1866, died November 24, 1871; Ida B., born June 5, 1869, died March 24, 1876, and Henry L., born October 2, 1872, died August 6, 1873. John W. Mayer married Mary Mattfeldt, of Michigan. Of the four children born to them, three are living - Harmon, Oscar and Clarence. Freddie died aged two years. They were all born in Mount Pulaski. Mr. Mayer began the saddlery and harness business in Mount Pulaski in 1866, forming a partnership with his brother, Jacob Mayer, in 1872. Both brothers cast their votes for the Democratic party. Jacob Mayer was married November 7, 1872, to Mary Schick, bom in Mount Pulaski, August 15, 1853. They have two children - William Walter, born July 22,- 1875, and Elmer B., born June 1, 1881, both born in Mount Pulaski. Mr. Mayer and family are members of the Lutlieran churcli. The Mayer Brothers are wellknown among stockmen as owners of the magnificent stallion. King o' the Lyons, a thoroughbred, Clydesdale horse, registered in the Scotch Clydesdale stud-book, as 1461, and in the American Clydesdale stnd-book (volume 2), as 1251. He was 'imported in 1881 by Huston Brothers, and purchased by J. Mayer & Brother in March, 1883. The horse is in color a deep, rich blood bay, with black legs, mane and tail, and weighs 2,050 pounds. He is seventeen and one-half hands high, and has taken two sweepstakes premiums at the Logan County Fair,one in a ring of twenty-one horses. His sire was Lord Lyon, ISTo. 489, dam Flora, No. 59, she by Victor, No. 892, and has a registered pedigree extending back seventyfive years. He is beyond question the best horse of his class in Logan County. General Garnet is another imported Clydesdale horse. No. 2121, in volume 5, Scotch Clydesdale stud-book, and 1238 in volume 2, of the American stud-book. He was sired by Topsman, No. 886, dam Jean, No. 645, she by Kobin, No. 703. General Garnet is a bright bay, with feet, legs and face white. He is a beautiful and extremely docile animal. He took the first prize in the ring of imported three-year-olds at the Logan County Fair, in 1884. He was imported by Huston Brothers in March, 1883, and purchased by the Mayer Brothers in December of the same year. These gentlemen have won an enviable reputation among the horsemen of this section, and their horses are recognized as among the first-class stock animals in Central Hlinois.

Oeorge Meister, Mt. Pulaski, comes of an old Bavarian family, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Kotmann) Meister. He was born July 6, 1815, in Weidersgren, Bavaria, reared a farmer, married to Catherine Klotz, and in 1844 came with his wife and two children to America. The family was forty-two days on a sailing ship from Bremen to Baltimore. From the latter city they went via Cincinnati to St. Louis, and while there Mr. Meister found employment with the owner of a brick-yard in Mt. Pulaski, to which town he removed his family for what proved to be a permanent location. In the spring of 1846 he built a small house, meanwhile working three months per year, at $12 per month, in the brick-yard. During the balance of the year he worked at whatever he could find to do - driving hogs to St. Louis at 50 cents per day, and living on two meals' per day, as an instance. During 1848 he earned $50 by working on the Urbana court-house, and with this he entered forty acres of land at $1.25 per acre. He still owns it and 200 acres additional, purchased at various times since. In 1849 he opened a brick-yard here, which supplied Mt. Pulaski with brick for thirty years. The wood used in the yard was hauled by John and Barbara Meister, the two eldest children, lu 1850 he built a small house on this land, by setting posts in the ground, siding up this primitive frame by placing the boards upright. In this was an old German clothes-chest, which served as a table, a bedstead made of rough boards, and blocks sawn off the ends of logs for seats. Beginning thus, Mr. Meister has lived to be an old man, has reared and educated a large family, and may look back with a pardonable feeling of pride to his life-work. His wife, born December 10, 1810, died January 7, 1883, and is buried in Mt. Pulaski cemetery. She left five living children - John L.; Barbara, widow of John Kreig, deceased; Elizabeth, wife of Henry Snedmier; Henry, on the homestead, and G. S. Meister.

Jokn L. Meister was born March 2, 1839, in "Weidersgren , and has lived since 1845 in Logan County. His early life was employed on his father's farm and brick-yard. On the 16th of October, 1861, he married Mary A. Lang, of Mt. Pulaski, who was born February 21, 18 - , in Germany. Mr. Meister began as a bartender at $19 per month, but within a year purchased Crosbin's saloon, paying 20 per cent.on borrowed money, but discharging the entire debt within six months. He was behind 'his own bar for twenty years. He bought his present residence at $1,900, and various pieces of town property at different times. He built a fine two-story brick block in 1882-'83, in which he has a saloon, also ruuning one in the old Jabez Capps store building, bought by him in 1879. Mr. Meister is a shrewd, energetic business man, and has large landed interests in Logan, Macon and Sangamon counties, also in Kansas and Minnesota. He is afprominent Free Mason and Odd Fellow, and a life-long Democrat. Mr. and Mrs. Meister have four children - John, George JS., Frederic W. and Anna C. , all born in Mt. Pulaski.

George Mier, section 20, was born in 1811, in Wurtemburg, and came to the United States in 1836. After spending about one year in Maryland, he came to ^Springfield, where he worked as a carpenter, and assisted in demolishing the old court-house, also helping to build the one which replaced it. He remembers taking a prize offered for certain extra work. In 1839 he came to Mt. Pulaski, where he worked at his trade among the farmers of Logan County for many years. March 4, 1840, he married Becky Laughlin, born June 21, 1823, in Pennsylvania. Her people removed to Ohio when she was [two years old, coming from there to Illinois in 1837. Her father built a good story and a half log house in the Salt Creek timber, and after residing there three years removed to Lake Fork. He died in 1857. He married Nancy Boyd, who died March 4, 1840. Mr. and Mrs. Mier began on a "forty-acre lot," in a clay-chinked log house, with a loose puncheon floor and clapboard roof. This was replaced by a comfortable frame house, and to-day we find the old couple in a two-story frame house, 24 x 32, built in 1884, and an estate comprising several hundred acres. Mr. and Mrs. Mier have nine children - John C; Mary, wife of Peter Fenton; Nancy, wife of Mr. Samuel Dyer; Bettie, now Mrs. John Shepherd; Leeds; James; Zerilda, now Mrs. John Moore; Myra, wife of J. A. Buckles, and Becky, wife of Frederick Arming, of Finney County, Kansas. All live in Logan County but the last mentioned. Mr. and Mrs. Mier belong to the Christian church. John C. Mier, the eldest son, was born February 13, 1841, on the Mount Pulaski homestead, and enlisted in July, 1862, in Company I, One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois Infantry. He was with the regiment at Grand Gulf and Jackson, Mississippi, and with General Grant through the Vicksburg campaign, at the second capture of Jackson. He then engaged in tscouting. He was captured," with 110 others, by the rebels, at Guntown, Mississippi, and held prisoner live and one-half months, part of the time in Andersonville. He suffered mnch from fever during this time, and was reduced to a mere shadow of himself. On his release he came home for a month, then re-enlisted, and going via St. Louis and New Orleans to Mobile, was a participant in the final operations resulting in the capture of that last rebel stronghold. He was mustered out at Vicksburg, August 15, 1865, returned and has ever since been a quiet Illinois farmer. September 29, 1866, he married Sarah Smith, in Lincoln, Illinois. Five children have been born to them - Allen, George, James, Charles and Elmer, all born on the Mount Pulaski farm. Mr. Mier casts his vote for the Kepublican party, and is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic.

William R. Munce was born in Natchez, Mississippi, December 14, 1830, and is a son of John and Eliza J. (Stockdale) Munce. His father, born in Ireland, was reared in Washington County, Pennsylvania. After his marriage he spent about thirty years in the South. In 1846 the family came to Sangamon County, Illinois, locating three miles southwestofWilliamsville. The family consisted of two sons and four daughters. The father died June 17, 1871, and the mother in April, 1883. Thomas Munee, brother of "W". E. Munce, lives at llliopolis. Mr. W. K. Munce married in Buffalo, New York, Mary E. Davenport, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts. They have two children - Charles Carroll,- born January 6, 18Y7, and Margaret F., born May 1, 1878. Mr. Munce lived as a farmer in Sangamon County, Illinois, until 1880, when he leased the Hay & Coleman farm on Lake Fork. This estate comprises 960 acres and employs fifteen men during the working season. There are several houses upon it, which have lately been remodeled. Mr. Munce has likewise re-fenced the farm, hung convenient gates where needed, built a barn at the home place and generally improved this valuable estate.

Constant R. Oglesby was born in 1831, in Christian County, Kentucky. His father. Walker Oglesby, a native of Virginia, removed to Kentucky and there married Sarah Durham . About 1840 they came to Illinois with their eight children, locating in what is now Saline County. C. E. Oglesby came to Logan County in 1851, hiring out as a farm hand at $13 per month. In 1854 he married Chloe Tarley, born in Mount Pulaski Township and daughter of Sanford Turley, an early settler. Of the ten children born to Mr. and Mrs. Oglesby, nine are living - Sarah E., Almeda, Charles O., Benjamin E., John T., S. Walker, Albert E., Martha A., and Otto, all born on the Mount Pulaski homestead. George W., an infant son, died in 1877. Mr. Oglesby has 156 acres, well fenced, tiled and improved, on which he has lived since 1854. His substantial two-story house was built in 1881. Politically he is a Democrat. He is a prominent member and elder of the Lake Fork Christian Church. His parents both died in Saline County.

Robert 0. Pa/ranteau^ deceased, was born in Paris, France, August 30, 1820, and is a son of Pierre and Harriet Paranteau who brought their family to Canada and settled near Montreal in 1825. Pierre Paranteau was with Sir John Franklin, and was one of the few survivors of his famous and ill-fated expeditions. For his services on this Polar trip he was given two lots in a Canadian village, the deeds for which are still in the family. Eobert 0. Paranteau went in early life to New York City and shipped thence on a vessel for the Pacific Coast. He rounded Cape Horn and landed at a Mexican seaport and thence made his way across the sterile country to the United States, finally in 1845, settling in Illinois. For several years he was employed during the session of the Legislature as a printer in tlie /State Register office at Springfield. Like the majority of his countrymen he was polished in manners, light hearted, and delighted in dancing and gay society. He taught the terpsichorean art for years in Mt. Pulaski, .which became noted for its brilliant parties and balls. Mr. Paranteau spoke with fluency both German and French. During the Rebellion he served in Company I, Twenty-Sixth Illinois Infantry. He was discharged on account of ill-health and returning to Mt. Pulaski, died, February 10, 1865. Mr. Paranteau was a charter member of Mt. Pulaski Lodge, No. 87, A. F. & A. M. In 1847 he married Miss Caroline Braucher, daughter of Colonel Isaac R. and Susan W. Braucher. Of his children, two daughters only survive him - Katie, wife of Jacob Seyfer, and Lctitia Wynn, both teachers. Since 1880 Mrs. Paranteau has resided on her farm, two miles north of Mt. Pulaski, which is managed by Mr. Seyfer. Colonel Braucher was a miller and farmer, and came from Ohio to Sangamon County, Illinois, in 1832, thence to Logan County in 1841, where he engaged in milling, building a saw and grist mill on Salt Creek, which he ran for many years. Later the mill burned and he moved to his farm one mile north, where he died in 1870. He was a charter member of Mt. Pulaski Lodge, No. 87, A. F. & A. M., also a charter member of Mt. Pulaski Chapter, No. 121, Eoyal Arch Masons. He was a man of original thought and liberal views; an energetic public-spirited citizen, and just the man needed in developing a new country. Colonel Braucher and Robert O. Paranteau are both buried in the Mt.Pulaski cemetery. Susan Wynn Braucher was born and reared near Philadelphia; died and was buried in the village of Adelphi, Ohio, in 1829.

James Poe is a son of George L. and Jane (Gasaway) Poe, who brought five children from Ross County, Ohio, to Illinois, in 1852, settling near " Two Mile Grove " where G. L. Poe died in 1865. His wife survived him until 1872. Our subject, James Poe, was born October 24, 1841, in Ross County, Ohio, and married Sarah E., daughter of Henry Mann, in 1865. Mr. and Mrs. Poe have seven children - George L., Rhoda A., Henry Franklin, James Albert, Carrie E., Dora J. and Eva F. Mr. Poe has resided in this county since 1852, living for seventeen years on the homestead, and since 1869 on his present farm of 185 acres. He has fenced and tiled this farm, erected a good barn and made other substantial improvements. He is a member of Mount

Pulaski Lodge, Chapter and Commandery, A. F. & A. M. He has two sisters living - Catherine (Mrs. James Houston,) and Mary E., wife of N. Gasaway.

John Beinders, section 10, was born November 28, 1831, in Rhenish Prussia, and received a thorough practical education in the excellent schools of the Fatherland. In 1854 he came to America with his parents and two brothers, one older and one younger than he. Two brothers died in Germany, His parents married in 1825. His mother's maiden name was Gertrude Bruckhans. The family landed at New York, coming at once to Cass County, Illinois, where they remained ten months. They then came to Mt. Pulaski. Mr. Reinders is by occupation a farmer, and politically a Democrat, and belongs with his family to the Second Lutheran Church. He owns 120 acres of land with a good house, substantial farm buildings, well fenced and tiled. In 1868 he married Anna M. Banner, daughter of Andrew Banner, one of the first settlers of Mt. Pulaski. They have seven children - Peter H., Anna M., John C, Andrew F., Fred W., Agnes M. and George W. One son, Henry B., died when a week old. All their children were born on the present home farm. Mr. Reinders served one term as tax collector, three as road commissioner, and four terms as supervisor. From 1877 to 1881 he always received good majorities over regular opponents. His mother died in 1868, aged sixty-seven years, and his father in 1879, aged eighty-five years. He tries to raise highly improved farm animals, also fowls, Toulouse geese, Pekin ducks, Bronce turkeys and pea-fowls.

S&v. Peter Reinders is a son of Peter and Gertrude (Bruckhans) Reinders, and was born in Rhenish Prussia, September 15, 1827. His parents had five sous - Gerhard, who contracted consumption in the German army and died at the age of twenty-four years; Peter, our subject; Henry, who died in early manhood; John and Bedreich. Peter Reinders served three years in the Prussian army and in April, 1854, married Agnes Ophuls. Two weeks later he started for the United States. Mr. Reinders engaged in farming about seventeen years, and since 1871 has resided in Mount Pulaski. About 1876 he took up the labors of a local preacher, in the Evangelical Association, of which he was a member. At the end of five years he was ordained by Bishop Escher, of Chicago, and has since continued in the work. Mr.

George Ring, deceased, was born in Massachusetts. His father was a distinguished officer in the Continental army, during the Revolution, and died in Massachusetts. His widow, formerly Penelope Patch, removed to Rutland, Vermont, where George Ring spent his early days. About the beginning of the present century George Ring and a party of young men made the trip, on foot, to where Lancaster, Ohio, now stands, and laid out that town. He built one of the earliest woolen mills in the State, in Fairfield County, Ohio. During the war of 1812 he was a line officer in an Ohio battalion, and the rust-eaten sword, dated 1758, which he utilized in his campaigning, is still in the possession of his daughter, Mrs. J. H. Toole. The mother of our subject died at his Fairfield County home, at the age of eighty-five years. Mr. George Ring was married three times and was the father of twenty-two children. In business life he was energetic and far-sighted, and by the exercise of these talents accumulated a fortune. He die in 1862, aged seventy-four years. His second wife, Mary Ludwig, was of a noted Ohio family, as her father, Daniel Ludwig, a Pennsylvanian, was the founder of the now thriving city of Circleville, Ohio, so called from the fact of its streets being originally laid out in circles around the old court-house, an inconvenience long since done away with. It is related of this frontier capitalist, that in looking over the beautiful prairie country about Circleville, with a party of land hunters, he was taken by them to be an unfortunate and impecunious old fellow, and, in pity for him, it was agreed to give him his choice of the lands selected, when the party was at the Chillicothe land office to make the entrees. This arrangement being communicated to him, he instantly exclaimed: "Den I takes him all," and he did. He was an enormously wealthy man and a noted character in Central Ohio.

George B. Bow, farmer, section 3, was born in 1842, in Pickaway County, Ohio. His father, Jacob Row, born in Pickaway County, married Sarah Bost, of Berks County, Pennsylvania, by whom he had nine children, eight of whom are living in Illinois, six being in Logan County. Jacob Row, with his family, came to Illinois in 1866, settling on section 3, Mount Pulaski Township, and here died August 10, 1871, his widow surviving him until January 26, 1879. The homestead, comprising 129 acres, is now the property of George B. Row. October, 1861, he enlisted in Company I,

Eifty-eiglith Ohio Infantry, and participated in the battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth and Haines's Bluff, where only eighty men came out from a regiment 475 strong. This remnant was then assigned to duty on the river flotilla, under Admiral Porter, and thus served through the Vicksburg siege. In July, 1863, the regiment was reorganized and did scouting and guarding duty up to its discharge, January 10, 1864. Private Row reenlisted in Company E at the re-enlistment of the regiment and was made Orderly Sergeant, serving in the Freedman's Bureau department until his final discharge in September, 1865. Since the war he has resided in Mount Pulaski Township as a farmer. March 5, 1884, he was married in Christian County, Illinois, to Ella Curts, born in Pickaway County, Ohio. Her father, H. Cnrts, came first to De Witt and later to Christian County. Mr. and Mrs. Row have one daughter - Lela Gertrude Row, born in Mount Pulaski Township.

William JSupp was born March 6, 1838, in Wurtemberg, and came to America, with his father's family, in 1852, settling in Logan County. The entire capital of the family, at this time, was $40. They bought a half interest in an old horse and secured another one and a wagon on credit, and then rented what is known as the Lawrence farm, west of Mount Pulaski. They moved into a log house with a slab floor and clapboard roof, and borrowing a plow, commenced farming operations. As a result of flve-years hard work, they were enabled to buy 160 acres on section 27, Laenna Township, paying $10.25 an acre for raw prairie. This farm, with the 160 acres adjoining, the half section valued at $60 an acre, is now the property of William Rupp, who lived here until March, 1884, when he bought the old Dawson farm, half a mile east of Mount Pulaski, for which he paid $18,- 200. This farm comprises 280 acres of valuable land, with fair buildings, the house standing on a rise of ground, commanding a beautiful view. Such has been the result of thirty years of industry, economy and good management, coupled with the characteristic pluck of most German farmers. Mr. Rupp married Barbara StoU, daughter ofErhard Stoil, who came to America witn his family in 1847, locating on Salt Creek the following year, and died in 1860, leaving ten children. Mr. and Mrs. Rupp have nine children - Sarali, Charles, William, George, Polly, Lillie, Carrie, JS'elie and Effie, all born in Logan County, Illinois. Katie, the second-born, died at the age of six months. Mr.

flnpp's father, George Rupp, was born in 1806, in Wurtemberg. He married Mrs. Catherine (Boetzel) Weller, who died in 1883. By her first husband she had four children - Margaret, now Mrs. George Brucker; George, a Logan Oountj- farmer; Martin, who died in 1865, and John, who came to Mount Pulaski in 1851, and died in Iowa. Mr. and Mrs. George Rupp had two sons - "William, our subject, and Christian, born May 28, 1841, and is a prosperous farmer. The father and both sons are members of the Lutheran church and are liberal Democrats in politics.

W. A. Schafer was born in 1837, in Kirchberg, "Wurtemberg. The family came to America in 1853, locating at Mount Pulaski, where the father, George Adam Schafer, died the ifollowing year. There were seven children, two of whom. Christian and Madelina Rau, were step-children. Of the four sons of George Adam Schafer, "W. A. and Gottleib are blacksmiths, C. F. is a hardware merchant, and Gottlob was killed in 1856 by the caving in of well. Paulina, a sister of our subject, married George Hanck, of Mount Pulaski, while Mary, born in Mount Pulaski, died at the age of eighteen. The subject of this sketch, "William Adam Schafer, was educated in the Fatherland, and learned the trade, which he has followed all his life, from his father. He was a Democrat in former years, but has been a Republican since 1872. In 1872 he was elected sheriff of Logan County and served till 1874. He has also served on the Village Board. He married Catherine M. Seyfer in Mount Pulaski. Of the seven children born to Mr. and Mrs. Schafer, five are living - "William G., born October 25, 1863; George P., born September 17, 1865; Caroline, born January 28, 1869; Anna, born in Lincoln, April 19, 1873, and Frederick, born March 3, 1875. A son, John, died, aged one year and seven months, and Albert, at the age of seven years, was killed by climbing upon the rear of a carriage in motion, becoming entangled in the wheels, whereby both legs were broken. Mr. Schafer and his family are members of the Evangelical Lutheran church.

Frank Schick (deceased) was born in Hesse Darmstadt, in 1813. In early life he was apprenticed to a shoemaker. In 1834 he came to America, and after remaining in Ohio for one year, came to Illinois, settling in Mount Pulaski in 1836. A few years later he built a tannery and began shoemaking in the southwestern part of the village. For a time he was in the employ of Jabez Capps, the pioneer merchant, and by good management and economy secured capital enough to open a general store in 1842. He continued the business until 1850, when he admitted Barton Starr to partnership, leaving the business in his care while he spent two years in the California gold field. Returning, he continued the business in his own name until 1879, when the firm of Frank Schick & Sons was founded. He retired from the firm April 19, 1883, and lived in retirement up to his death, June 2,

1884. The large, well-arranged, double store was erected in 1875 and is one of the first modern brick buildings in Mount Pulaski. The business was carried on by the three sons, John, Michael and Frank, until obligations, brought about by failure of crops and too great credit, forced the brothers to an honorable assignment, which they did in April, 1885. Frank Schick was twice married. The first wife was Margaret Young, who died in 1844. Only one of her four children survives - Mary, now wife of Conrad Stock, of Stonghton, Hlinois. The second wife was Catharine Young, a sister of his former wife, and by her Mr. Schick had nine children, ei^ht of whom are living - John, Michael, Frank, Conrad, Susan, Christina, Sebastian and Margaret. Of these, Susan is now Mrs. Philip Mishler, of Springfield, Illinois, and Christina is the wife of George Lechleiter, of Lincoln, Illinois. The others reside in Mount Pulaski. Gerhardt Schick, another son, was particularly distinguished for his scholastic attainments. While yet a young man, he mastered eleven diflferent languages, ancient and modern, and taught them with remarkable success in St. Louis, Philadelphia and Peoria. He died May 5, 1879, at the age of thirty-four years.

Alfred G. Scroggin, President Mount Pulaski Mining Compauy, was born in Mount Pulaski Township, Logan County, Illinois, May 14, 1842. He is the eldest son of L. K. and Levinia (Buckles) Scroggin, and has been a life-long resident of Logan County, with the exception of six years, 1867 to 1873, in Champaign County, Illinois, and two years in Butler County, Kansas. He engaged in farming in his native township up to

1885, when he became a stockholder in and president of the mining company. He married in 1865, Mary F. Phillippe, born in Champaign County, Illinois. They have three children- Nettie A., Orrin O. and Mary S., the daughters born in Logan County, and the son in Champaign County. In politics Mr. Scroggin casts his vote for the Democratic party. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. Mount Pulaski Lodge, Chapter and Commandery.

Leonard K. Soroggin is a son of Carter T. and Phebe (Shelby) Scroggin. His grandfather, Humphrey Scroggin, a Carolinian by birth, enlisted in the Continental army, at the age of seventeen, serving through the Kevolution and witnessing the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. In 1811 Carter T. Scroggin removed from his native State, Kentucky (then a Territory), to Gallatin County, Illinois. Phebe Shelby, a native of North Carolina, removed with her people to Tennessee, and thence to Pope County, Illinois, where she married Mr. Scroggin. Ten children were born to them, of whom our subject is the eldest. He was born January 25, 1819, in Gallatin County, Illinois, and in 1827 removed with his father to the southern part of what is now Mount Pulaski Township, the family living in the timber skirting Lake Fork, in an unhewn puncheon-floored log cabin. Among their neighbors were Robert Buckles (now deceased), A. Bowman, W. James Turley, G. W. Turley and Boston Finders. In the fall preceding the " deep snow" (winter of 1830 - 1831), Carter Scroggin built a comfortable hewed log house, still standing and occupied by a son. During the "deep snow" they pounded their corn in a wooden mortar and did not taste wheat bread from November until spring. On the day of the " sudden change," in 1836, Mr. C. T. Scroggin started to go to mill in a "durbin," a vehicle peculiar to those days. The morning was very warm and foggy. Before noon, rain set in and continued until nightfall, when without a second's warning and with the roar of a hurricane came the Polar blast that froze everything solid in a few minutes. Mr. Scroggin met the storm on the prairie, it tore the strong top completely off the " durbin, '' turning the team squarely about. He raced for life to the nearest house, fortunately not far off, and thus escaped what must have been certain death on the lonely, unprotected prairie. Carter Scroggin died in 1859, leaving 600 acres of valuable land and a fair competence to his ten children. In 1841 Leonard K. Scroggin was married to Levinia Buckles, daughter of Robert Buckles. He now owns 3,500 acres of farming land in Logan County, and 4,600 acres in Kansas and Nebraska, all in cultivation or under fence and improvement. He began the banking business at the Mount in May, 1872, and has since continued it. He built the bank, opera hall and Scroggin House, in 1878. He is a man of limited education, but of remarkable judgment and energy, and to his thrift and public spirit Mount Pulaski owes her finest busi- ness block. He is counted one of the wealthiest men in Central Illinois and has made every dollar by his own exertions. He is a lifelong Democrat and a member of the Christian church. His wife died in 1863, in Mount Pulaski, leaving three sons and seven daughters. Mr. Scroggin was married again, to Mrs. Rhoda A. Pickering, nee Geitman, born in Mount Pulaski Township, a daughter of George Geitman, formerly of Missouri. By the second marriage there are three children.

George Shall, section 7, was born January 15, 1847, in Mount Pulaski Township, where he has since resided as a farmer. He married, February 26, 1876, Mary Zimmerman, who came from Germany to America in 1874. They have one son - George. Mr. Shall has a farm of 280 acres, well improved, and eighty acres ot timber. In politics he is a Democrat. His father, John Shall, was one of the first of the German farmers to settle in Mount Pulaski Township. He was born March 11, 1811, in Wurtemberg, and married Catherine Mayer in 1833. They came to America, settling in Mount Pulaski Township in 1840. His wife died in 1850. In 1868 he removed to Lincoln, Illinois, wliere he died March 20, 1883. Eight children were born to them - Martha, John and Frederick born in "Wurtemberg, and Mary, Lizzie, William, George and Nancy, born in Mount Pulaski.

John Q. Seyfer was born December 8, 1842, in Wurtemberg, and came to America with his parents in 1847- He was married in Mount Pulaski to Johannetta Wilhelminna Christianna Henn, who died May 13, 1874, leaving three children - Henry, Annie and George, all born in Mount Pulaski. ^^ his second wire, Caroline (Mellsh) Seyfer, whom he married in Oregon, Missouri, he has two children - Katie and Oscar. Mr. Seyfer enlisted August 9, 1862, in the One Hundred and Sixth Illinois, in Company B, and served with the regiment through the siege of Yicksburg and the campaigns in Arkansas, and was mustered out July 12, 1865, at Piue Bluff. His arm was grazed by a cannon ball at Clarington, Arkansas, and still shows the effects of the injury. Since the war Mr. Seyfer has resided in this township as a farmer. His parents, Gottleib and Martha Seyfer, have had eleven children, eight of whom are living - Catherina, now the wife of W. A. Schafer, Mount Pulaski; John G., our subject; Caroline, born at sea, married Lewis Boetzer; John, at home with his parents; Mary is the wife of Charles Boetzer; George, William and Sophia are in Mount Pulaski, the last named being the wife of George

Eund. Frederick died in childhood. Frederica, born in Germany, and an infant sister, born in Mount Pulaski, were both killed by an accidental discharge of a shot-gun. When Mr. Gottleib Sejfer arrived in Mount Pulaski he entered the employ of Frank Schick as a shoemaker, and has followed that business since in Mount Pulaski.

James Small, mine superintendent of the Mount Pulaski Mining Company, was born in 1849 in Larkhall, Lanarkshire, Scotland, and has been a miner since his twelfth year. He is the son of John and Mary (Logan) Small. His father was a weaver. In the seventeenth century an ancestor, James Small, invented the first plow with an iron moldboard ever used in Scotland. His grandfather and grandmother lived to be eighty -eight and ninety respectively. They had nine children, all of whom are yet living in Scotland, and all over sixty years of age. In March, 1872, the subject of this sketch, James Small, came to America, and has since worked in the mines of Maryland, Beaver County, Pennsylvania ; New Lisbon, Ohio ; Bond County, Kentucky, Massillon, Ohio, and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. In 1876 he came to Minonk and was employed by Miner T. Ames as boss of the night force. Later he went to Streator, then to La Salle and thence to Eaton, New Mexico. He then returned to La Salle, going from there to Chesterfield, Illinois, where he superintended a mining force. In December, 1884, he came to Mount Pulaski, and has since held his present position. He married in Oglesby, Illinois, Agnes "Wilson, born in Stellarton, Pictou County, Nova Scotia. She is a daughter of Walter and Simpson Wilson. Mr. and Mrs. Small have two children - Jolin, born June 13, 1880, in Streator, Illinois, and Agnes, born October 11, 1882, in Oglesby.

Charles E. Snyder, of Snyder Brothers, Mt. Pulaski, is a son of William C. Snyder, aa early settler of Logan County, where Charles E. was born. In 1875 the brothers, C. E. and W. H. Snyder, purchased a twenty horse-power portable engine and portable saw-mill, with which they carried on business in Logan County until 1879, when they located the plant at Mt. Pulaski. In 1881 they built the saw-mill, 24:X 60 feet, using the same engine and machinery until the spring of 1882, when the present Ames engine of forty horse-power and a fifty-four inch saw were put in. The brothers are doing a good business, cutting mainly the native lumber, oak, hackberry, elm, sycamore, with a sprinkling of walnut and cherry, which, however, are not so plentiful as formerly.

They have a lumber-yard in connection, also a machine for cutting barrel and keg hoops, and one for the manufacture of combination wire and lath fence. Barrel and keg hoops are shipped by the car-load to Colorado, 60,000 hoops to the car. The brothers make specialty of house, barn and bridge furnishing, and when running the saw-mill, hoop factory and fence machine give employment to fifteen or twenty men. The Latham Tile Company is composed of W. C. Snyder, C. E. Snyder, W. H. Snyder and J. E. Snyder, with the latter gentleman in charge of both the tile factory and branch lumber-yard. Besides the three sons above named, of William C. Snyder, there is a daughter, Harriet H., now wife of P. L. McGrath, and another, Grace Snyder, at home. Charles E. Snyder married Miss Frances Capps, daughter of Charles Capps, Esq., of Mt. Pulaski. One daughter has been born to them, Katie, born in Mt. Pulaski. John E. Snyder married Miss Mary F. Hall, daughter of Henry Hall, of Latham; while "William H. Snyder is a single man.

Christian Suedmeier was born in Prussia, and is a son of Deidreich Suedmeier, who was born December 26, 1803, and who married Charlotte Mayer. In 1846 he came to America, landing at New Orleans. After spending the first winter at St. Louis he went to Pekin, and thence to Mt. Pulaski. He was identified with Mt. Pulaski in its earlier days, and helped to build the court-house. He is now a well-to-do farmer of Mt. Pulaski Township. His wife and three sons, William, Christian (our subject) and Henry, came to the United States in 1848, landing at New Orleans, July 4, where they thought a riot or war was in progress, on account of the firing of guns and cannon, the martial music and other accompaniments of the national holiday celebration. Arrived at Mt. Pulaski the family spent the winter, and in the spring of 1849 began farming operations on the well-known Steinbergen farm. The father was furnished with a log house and fuel free, besides being paid $144 for his year's work. The boys began the study of English under old Mr. Steinbergen, and so great was the proficiency of the two younger sons that they mastered the language in a few months. Mrs. Suedmeier was killed, the result of an accident, caused by a runaway team. The three sons are now prosperous farmers. Christian Suedmeier managed his father's^farm in Mt. Pulaski for a few years, and in February, 1872, settled on part of his present farm, building the rear wing of his present house, i He bought the land as raw prairie, and has broken it, planted every tree and erected every building on the 280 acres by his own exertions and management, and now has one of the best farms in Laenna Township. His roomy farm-house was built in 1875. June 1, 1860, he married Margaret Maus, daughter of Oonrad Maus, who came from Nassau, Gerraany, in 1853, to America, bringing his wife, Catherine (Michel) Maus, and six children with him. Mrs. Maus died in 1880. Mr. Maus is still living. Mr. and Mrs. Suedmeier have eight children - Mary, now Mrs. John Yetter; Katie, wife of Dr. Bnllard; Henry P., Lena M., Eva, Frederick "W"., George and Lottie. Annie M. died in her nineteenth year, and Edward died aged four years. The family belong to the Second Lutheran Church, of Mt. Pulaski. Politically Mr. Suedmeier affiliates with the Democratic party. He has served as highway commissioner of Mt. Pulaski Township, overseer and as school director.

Dedrich Tendick was born in the year 1846 in YlUyn, near Mors and Diisseldorf, is a son of Barnhard and Margaret Tendick. In 1850 the father came with his family to America. Leaving his family at Jacksonville he came to Logan County, and bought of James Turley the farm where our subject now resides; and while returning to his family at Jacksonville, as there was no Saturday train from Springfield to Jacksonville, he attempted to walk the distance a hot midsummer day, and being overcome by the extreme heat he died on the way. Barnhard was born in 1814, and married in 1841 Margaret Wevers, who was born in the year 1812. He left a widow and three sons - John, who died at the age of twelve years; Mathias, who took the name of his stepfather at the age of about twenty, died aged thirty-three years, leaving a widow and seven children. He also left a sister, Mrs. William flentmeister, of Mt- Pulaski Township, and two brothers living in Jacksonville. The widow of Barnhard Tendick married, in 1861, H. Schmilgen, who was born in 1813, and to this union was born one son. George, who died at the age of seven years. They moved to the west line of this (Pulaski) township in 1858, and in 1865 settled in Lincoln, where they resided nineteen years, when they broke up housekeeping on account of their advanced age, and have since made their home with our subject on the old homestead, he having built an addition to his house giving them a few rooms for their exclusive use. Dedrich Tendick was married in January, 1877, to Minnie Fichbach, who was born in Elkhart Township, in 1859. They have three sons - John Herman, born in 1877; Henry Barnhard, born in 1879; and Uriah Frederick, born in 1884. Mr. and Mrs. Tendick are members of the First Lutheran Church, of which J. T. Butgers is the present pastor. In politics Mr. Tendick affiliates with the Democratic party. He has made many substantial improvements on his farm, and in 1884 completed his present residence.

John JB. Toole, farmer, section 12, was born April 21, 1822, in Fairfield County, Ohio, and followed woolen manufacturing until coming to Illinois. He came to Logan County, Illinois, with his family in 1866, and settled on the 200-acre farm where he now lives, formerly the Bowman farm. November, 3, 1845, he was married to Miss Mary E. Ring, daughter of Major George Eing, deceased, of Fairfield County, Ohio, and Mary (Ludwig) Eing. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Toole removed to Pickaway County, Ohio, and there lived until they removed to Illinois. They have an only son, John G. Toole, born September 10, 1862, in Pickaway County, Ohio, and now manager of the homestead. Mr. John H. Toole is a member of the Masonic lodge of Mount Pulaski. Politically he is a Eepublican.

George W. Turley, deceased, one of the three founders of Mount Pulaski, was born MarcU 5, 1798, near Mount Stirling, Kentucky. His father, James Turley, a Virginian, was one of the first settlers on Lake Fork, Logan County, locating there in Territorial times. He brought his family of fourteen children with him from Kentucky. Among the Indians, with whom he was a sort of arbitrator, he was known as the " Big Chief." All of the children are now deceased, and James Turley and wife are buried in the Carlysle burying ground, five miles west of town. The subject of this sketch, G. W. Turley, was twice married, only two of his children surviving - Mrs. M. L. Beam, of Mount Pulaski, and Mrs. E. A. Parks, of Lincoln. Mr. Turley at an early day was a farmer in Mount Pulaski Township, and in 1836 interested himself, with Jabez Capps and Dr. Eobinson, in laying out the town of Mount Pulaski. He was a busy, stirring man, doing all in his power to develop the town and advance its interests. He built the house at the northwest corner of the square, now the home of Mrs. Beam, and one of the oldest houses in Mount Pulaski, and lived here until his death, which occurred February 28, 1865. In early life he was a teacher, was justice of the peace at a later day, and was known as 'Squire Turley.

settler on the Lake Fork, and one of the first white men permanently located in Logan County. He it was whom the Indians designated the " Big Chief" and " Big Bostony." He was born in Virginia, and there married Agnes Kirby. They removed to Kentucky, carrying their two first-born children in baskets, one swung on each side of a steady pack-horse. Mr. Turley came to Logan County about the time of the change from Territorial to State Government, and made as a "claim" part of the present William R. Buckles farm, building 100 rods to the east of the Buckles home, his double log house, the first ever built in the Lake Fork Valley. His second wife was Mrs. Sarah (Hoblit) Lucas, widow of Thomas Lucas. Mr. Turley was the father of a large family. His sons were - David, Samuel, William, Charles, George Washington,Jefferson and John. Charles Turley, born in Montgomery County, Kentucky, married Sarah Cheatham and came to Logan County with three children - Osben, Elizabeth and Marshall - about 1829, locating on the present Goff farm, in Elkhart Township, where he and his wife both died, and are buried in the Carlyle graveyard. He was a volunteer in the Black Hawk war. His eldest son, Osben, born in Kentucky in 1812, came to Illinois with his father and was reared in Logan County, and here he married Mary Susan Ridgeway, of Buffalo Hart Grove, born in 1813. She is described by old settlers as the prettiest girl in Logan County at that day. Three of the children born to them are living - Robert, living in Mount Pulaski ; James Osben, the subject of this sketch, and Lucy, wife of T. T. Turley. Osben Turley early developed a singular ability as a trader and dealer in live-stock. It is related that he made a rude saddle of bark and brush, with hickory thongs for stirrups, and on this rode and carried chickens to Springfield for sale. His first "horse " was a mule, and his first carter wagon, a home-made affair, was a nine-days wonder. As an auctioneer he was not excelled, and is well remembered. A self-educated man, he acquired a considerable knowledge of law, and pettifogged for the settlers of that day. His farm, now the Robert Turley farm, in Elkhart Township, was acquired by him from a penniless beginning, and such was his talent as a money-maker, that at his death in his fortieth year. May, 1852, he was ranked among the Gilletts, Lawrences and other wealthy men of this county. Many are the stories related of his "makeshifts" and original devices for bettering his woldly condition. J. O. Turley was born September 15, 184Y, in Elkhart Township, where he began for himself as a farmer and stock-dealer in 1867. He is in every sense a successful, prudent manager, and has one of the best kept and neatest appearing farms in the township. He was married first in March,

1867, and Mary Susan, born February 21, 1869. The year 1869 is one ever to be remembered sorrowfully by Mr. Turley, as in that year his wife and two little ones died. His wife, Sarah E., died May 9, 1869; Mary S., the infant daughter, died in August, and little Robert followed a month later. The result of this was that the husband and father broke up his home and after a time sold out his farm. In August, 1871, he married again, Mrs. Kittie Phipps, widow of James Phipps, who died February 18, 1869. Mrs. Turley is the only daughter of John Buckles, Esq. Mr. and Mrs. Turley have one son - John Elmer, born March 5, 1873. An infant son,Frankie,died November 18,1884. Mr. Tnrley's present farm consists of 280 acres, part of it being the old Landis farm. He has rebuilt the house, built the barn, painted, remodeled, and generally improved, until the old place is completely transformed. Mr. Turley's brother, Theodore, died a Union soldier during the Rebellion, aged twenty- two. Marshall, another brother, died when three years old. A sister, Elizabeth, married Chalton C. Buckles, and died September 18, 1 874, leaving four children - John, Charles F., Addie and Ulysses Grant.

Richard E. Turley, deceased, was the only son of George W. Turley, Esq., and Margaret (Scott) Turley, and was born July 27, 1827, near Lake Fork, Logan County, Illinois. He grew up a farmer and speculator in real estate. In 1849 he crossed the plains to California and spent two profitable years in the mines there. Returning he invested part of his capital in and about Mount Pulaski, platting at different times the additions known as R. E. Tnrley's First, Second, Third and Fourth additions to Mount Pulaski. In 1883, as an inducement to go forward with the work of sinking a coal shaft, he donated five acres of valuable land for that enterprise. He showed the same commendable public spirit on many occasions and was looked upon as one of the progressive men of his town. In July, 1862, he enlisted in Company B, of the One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Infantry and was elected Second Lieutenant of the company, he having been very active in recruiting it. He served three years, participating in all the movements and engagements of the regiment, and was mustered out in 1865, as First Lieutenant of his company, in whicli he had been very popular, both aS a soldier and officer. He then lived in comparative retirement at Mount Pulaski, until his death, September 25, 1885. His wife, who survives him, was Miss Annie Baxter, born in Knox County, Ohio. They had no children. Mr. Turley in politics, was a Republican and in religion a Universalist. Mr. Turley had been a warm exponent of Republicanism until Prohibition, as he thought, superseded it in importance and usefulness. The first had performed its mission; the latter would. He was one of twelve in Mount Pulaski Township who possessed the moral courage to vote the Prohibition ticket in 1884.

Captain David Vanhise, proprietor of the Mount Pulaski Tile Works, was born August 22, 1822, in Fairfield County, Ohio. His parents, James and Nancy (Winstead) Vanhise, were both born in Shenandoah County, Virginia. David Vanhise was reared on a farm in Fairfield County. In 1856 he came to Illinois, and entered into partnership with George Mayer and W. W. Martin, of the firm of George Mayer & Co. August, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company D, One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Infantry, but was immediately elected Captain of the company, commanding it through the movements preceding and during the siege of Vicksbnrg, and, after the surrender of that stronghold, in the guerrilla campaigns in Arkansas - a difficult, dangerous service. In 1865 he was promoted Major of the One Hundred and Sixth, and on his discharge returned to Mount Pulaski, resuming his mercantile business with Mayer and Martin. In 1876-'77- 78, he was engaged in the lumber trade here, and in 1879, instituted the tile works, which enterprise has proved to be a substantial benefit to the country about the Mount, as well as a financial success to its genial founder. Captain Vanhise, as he is best known, has been a church communicant since he was sixteen years of age and is now, with his wife, a member of the Mount Pulaski Methodist Episcopal Church. He was also a charter member of Mount Pulaski Lodge, No. 27, K. P. - now discontinued. He was married October 17, 1842, in Ohio, to Catherine Martin, of Pickaway County, that State.

John T. Walker, farmer, on section 4, was born in 1829, in Pickaway County, Ohio, and is a son of James and Margaret (Rollins) Walker. The father died in 1846, aged thirty-eight years and eight months, and the mother September 20, 1885, aged seventyeight years, four months and four days. They had eleven chilsrr dren, it proving a most remarkable family in several respects, as seven of the sons entered the Union army during the Rebellion of 1861 to 1865. Moses Walker enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixteenth Illinois and was shot through the face and head in such a way as to paralyze one side of his face; Asahel enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixth Illinois; James enlisted in the Seventh Illinois and was shot through the leg at Shiloh; Samuel enlisted in the Seventh Illinois, served three years and was killed at Alatoona, Georgia; Ezekiel enlisted in the Thirty-becond Illinois, and died at Natchez,Mi8si88ippi;William enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixth Illinois and was drowned in the Arkansas River. Our subject, John T. Walker, enlisted August, 1862, in Company D, One Hundred and Sixth Illinois Infantry. He served in the Trans- Mississippi army, participating in the siege of Yicksburg and Little Rock campaign, and was mustered out July 12, 1865, having had many narrow escapes from rebel bullets. Mr. Walker married, in 1849, Sarah J. Jackson, born in Miami County, Ohio, July 25, 1828. Of the nine children born to them, only four are living - Sarah E., Mary A., William F. and Martha S. Mr. Walker came to Illinois in 1841, living for many years in a log house in the Salt Creek timber, this county. He had lived on his present farm of eighty-seven acres for the past ten years. Mrs. Walker is a daughter of James and Sarah (Jones) Jackson and was brought by her parents to Illinois in 1830. The family wintered in a floorless log house on Round Prairie during the winter of "deep snow," and saw much hardship and many adventures during that winter and spring. The mother used a half-bushel measure for a washtub and was compelled in the spring to dig a ditch, diagonally across her cabin, to drain off the water. The family later removed to Salt Creek, then to Hurricane Point and from tiiere to Fremont. He then bought out the claim of Robert Frakes on Salt Creek. Here the father died, April 28, 1872, and the mother August 6, 1842. Of their eight children, only three survive - Mrs. Walker, Mrs. Laughlin, and William R. Jackson, who served in the Union army, in the One Hundred and Sixth Illinois. A son, Abner Jackson, died in the service.

John M. 'Whitney was born JSIovember 17, 1836, in Bolton, Massachusetts. His father, Joseph Whitney, farmer, was born in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, and married Eliza Sanders, ot West Townsend, Massachusetts. Joseph Whitney was a son of David Whitney, and a grandson of Samuel Whitney, who was one of the Coneord Committee of Safety on the day of the battle which inaugurated the American Revolution. David Whitney saw the first battle, he being fourteen years old then. The Whitneys are of English descent and the family was founded at Watertown, Massachusetts, in 1632. John M. Whitney was educated in the New England Normal Institute, and in the scientific department of Amherst College, finally taking a course in chemistry under Prof. Horsford in the Lawrence Scientific School, Harvard College. In 1865 he left his birthplace and lived two years atFitchburg, Massachusetts, one year at Dorchester, New Jersey, ££nd then settled on a fruit farm at E wing's Neck, New Jersey, where he had a fifty-acre peach-orchard. After residing here nine years his plantation was overflowed by an unusually high tide, and the labor of years was destroyed in a few hours by the salt water. Selling out here, he resolved to locate permanently at Mount Pulaski, Illinois, and go into mechanical business, for which he had always had a natural inclination. This was in 1878, and the same year he built his machine shop. This proved a success and he has since built at a convenient distance from the spring a handsome residence. In 1883 he erected a tenement house on the modern plan for the occupancy of six families. It is well built and convenient, and there is seldom a vacant room. In the following year he built a ciderraill with automatic power-press in connection with his shop. By the aid of this, his engine and two men he can make seventy-five barrels of cider per day. Mr. Whitney, preserving the characteristics of his family, has always been interested in the invention of labor-saving machinery. Among his creations may be mentioned a corn cultivator, to run astride the corn row, one of the first of its kind, patented 1858; an automatic or self-holding plow, an odometer for registering the distance a carriage-wheel passes over, etc., a pump governor and a perfectly automatic windmill, known as the "Yankee," in popular use by many Logan County farmers. He is a self-taught mechanic and feels now that he is doing that which his native inclination and ability prompted him to do long ago. Mrs. Whitney was Ellen A. Nourse, born October 27, 1834, in Bolton, Massachusetts. She is a daughter of Caleb Nourse, farmer, of Bolton, who is a son of Barnard and Hannah (Barrett) Nourse. He married Orrissa Holman, also born in Bolton. The family is descended from the Salem family of Nourses, who were so persecuted in the dark days of witch-craft. '-Mr. and Mrs. Whitney were married May 7, 1861.

Z. K. Wood, proprietor of Junction Elevator, Mount Pulaski, was born in West Yarmouth, Barnstable County, Massachusetts, September 29, 1841. In July, 1862, he enlisted as a private soldier in Company A, Forty-first Massachusetts Infantry, serving until June, 1864, when he took part in the organization of the Pirst New Orleans Infantry, of which regiment he was made Adjutant with commission of First Lieutenant. The Forty-first Massachusetts served principally in Louisiana, and during part of the time Mr. Wood was employed as clerk in the United States District Courts, under Judge Peabody and others. He was also clerk in the provost-marshal's office. From 1864 to 1865 Lieutenant Wood was in, charge of the military prisoners in New Orleans. When relieved from that duty he was assigned to duty on the staff of General T. W. Sherman as aide-de-camp. In May, 1866, he was transferred to the headquarters of General Phil. Sheridan and June 1 of that year he was mustered out of the service. Heturning East he spent some time in New York as a clerk in a mercantile house, and for about one year was in the freight auditor's office of the Chicago, Burlington & Qaincy Railroad Company, in Chicago. He then went to Kansas, where for seven years he owned and managed a cattle ranch in Pottawatomie County. During this time he rode over the greater part of Eastern Kansas, at a time when the Indian troubles of that State were by no means settled, on one occasion volunteering, with his neighbors, to help repress and punish the redskins. In 1875 he sold his Kansas property and removed to Warrensburg, Illinois, two years later beginning the grain business in Latham, Illinois. In 1881 he came to Mount Pulaski, where he rebuilt the Juntion Elevator on the site of the one burned December 16, 1880, of which he was part owner. Mr. Wood married in Macomb, Illinois, Sarah J. Chase, born in Macomb, of which place her parents, formerly from New Hampshire, were early settlers. Mr. and Mrs. Wood have two children - Harvey Chase, born in 1882, and Margaret, born in 1885, both in Mount Pulaski. Politically Mr. Wood is a Eepublican. He still buys most ot the grain at Latham, with his partner, P. Maus, in charge.

Zeiss da Bekemeyer, merchants. This firm was founded in 1880 and by its wonderful success has become one of the leading houses in the whole county. Both partners are what is usually termed "live business men," with good qualifications and of experience. They have an advantageous site at the southeast corner of the square, and a large, complete stock, full of evervthing needed to supply their unusually large trade. Their stock, originally $10,000 to $12,000, has been increased to $18,000 and $20,000, and comprises a full line of dry-goods, boots and shoes, hats and caps and a a carpet department. They also have a complete stock of family and fancy groceries, glassware and queen's ware. Captain George P. Zeiss was born in Marburg, Germany, and came to America in 1868, locating first in Rochester, New York. After quite an extensive trip over the greater part of the United States, he came to Decatur, Illinois, and engaged in the dry-goods trade for about eight years. Coming to Mount Pulaski in 1878 he opened a boot and shoe store, meeting with good success by close attention to his business. He branched out by taking in Mr. H. S. Bekemeyer as his p^irtner, and laid in a general stock of mercandise. Mr. Bekemeyer is a native of Springfield, Illinois. In 1875 he came to Mount Pulaski, and after clerking for two years for George S. Sawyer, went into the grocery business for himself. In 1880 he entered into his present partnership. The firm has a large double store, glass front, with basement of same size, and have merited the large and extensive trade now controlled by them.