Claypool, Illinois

Claypool. Our subject was the third white child born in this county, his father settling here in 1834; the latter, while hauling logs from Chicago to Morris, was kicked by his horse, from the effects of which he died October 15, 1846. Mary (Foster) Claypool, the mother of our subject, is still living. Mr. John Claypool received his education in Morris, where he attended the first day school ever organized there. He was married, April 7, 1859, to Miss Elizabeth Hume, born in England May 15, 1837, daughter of Edward Hume, who came from England with his family and settled in New York State, where they remained until about 1858, when they came to Wauponsee Township, Grundy County, 111. Here Mra. Claypool's father died, in January, 1859, and her mother September 17, 1879. Mr. and Mrs. Claypool have three children, as follows: Jennie M., born May 2, 18(50; Abel, born April 11, 1862, and John E., born July 11, 1868. Mr. C. owns 408 acres of land. He is a Republican, and has tilled a number of offices in his township.

Passage source: History of Grundy County, Illinois : Containing a History from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time ... , Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Some of the Early Settlers, Prominent Men, Etc, published 1882.

Eloiaa Electa, and one brother, Joseph Hinsdale. He lived upon his grandfather's estate, his father having charge of the several large farms into which it was divided, until sixteen years of age, in the meantime receivinor such educational advantases as the district school afforded, and also was sent one year to Union Academy, in Bennington. At the age of fom-teen, he united with the Baptist Church, and continued in the communion of this denomination until 1844, when he united with the Congregational Church, in Grand Rapids, Mich., and is now a member of that church. In 1834, his father removed to Rochester, N. Y. , where he lived four years, for the purpose, mainly, of giving his children better facilities for education, and at the same time have them at home, and here Orson was placed under the tuition of Chester Dewey, D. D., of the Rochester Collegiate Institute. He also taiight one year under Prof. Nathan Brittan, his brother-inlaw, in the Fitzhugh Street Seminary. Owing to the failing health of his mother, his father resolved to try a Western climate, in 1839, and removed to a farm near Grand Rapids, Mich. Soon after the arrival of the family there, the mother died, and the father and brother returned to Rochester, while he remained in Michigan about fifteen years, dvu'ing which time he occasionally taught school in winters, working upon the farm during summers. In this period, he served almost constantly, after attaining his majority, in the capacity of School Inspector and Township Clerk. March 9, 1843, he was married to Mary J., third daughter of Judge Mitchell Hinsdale, of Kalamazoo, who is now living. In the year 1849, he exchanged his real estate in Michigan for a small farm in Grundy County. 111., situated on the north line of the county, and two miles from Lisbon, Kendall County; he soon engaged in the nursery business, which he carried on there until his removal to his present residence, where it was at once resumed. During his residence at Lisbon, the agitation of the plan for a system of agricultural colleges took jilace, and in this project he took a deep interest, frequently writing and talking upon the subject. When the plan was finally adopted by the Congress of the United States, he was the Urst man appointed by the Governor of Illinois as a member of its Board of Trustees, to take charge of the 480,000 acres of land which fell to the share of the State, and to found a college and to start it in operation. He was elect, ed Recording Secretary of the board, which position he held until after the inauguration of the enterprise and the college was in successful operation, and remained a member of this board for the term of six years, and until the number of the members of the board was considerably reduced, by act of the Legislature. In 1864, he was elected a member of the State Board of Agriculture, and reelected in 18(36, holding the position for four yeai-s, during which time and for several years, both previous and afterward, he was Superintendent of the Horticultural Department at the State fairs. But the principal and most valuable public services rendered by Mr. Galusha were within the Illinois State Horticultural Society, This society was organized in Decatur in 1856, and Mr. Galusha elected Corresponding Secretary, which position he held till December, 1861, when he was elected to the Presidency of the society. He continued in the gratuitous service of the society, traveling thousands of miles annually as member of the " Adinterim Committee," collecting horticultui'al information for publication in the annual volume; was re-elected Corresponding and Recording Secretary in 1869, and has continued in this position until thp present time, with the exception of one year, when he declined re-eloution, on account of severe illness at the time of the annual meeting. During these years, he has annually edited and published a volume of the transactions of the society, about 400 pages each. In 1868, he sold his farm on the county line and piirchased ^rhere he now lives, three miles southeast from Morris, to which place lie removed a large portion of his nursery stock, and continues in this business, gradually reducing it, however, and planting and raising fruits for market. This eighty-acre fruit farm is known as the Evergreen Fruit Farm. Mr. and Mrs. Galusha have had two children - one a son, briried in Paris, Kent Co., Mich., who died at the age of four years; the other, a daughter, Nellie H., born October 4, 1849, and now the wife of Prof. W. H. Smith, of Peoria, 111.

Passage source: History of Grundy County, Illinois : Containing a History from the Earliest Settlement to the Present Time ... , Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Some of the Early Settlers, Prominent Men, Etc, published 1882.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Wauponsee Township - it names this place 2 more 2 times.