Chemung Township (part 1 of 3)

Chemung Township

Not till after the village of Chemung had become a point of business and this township was pretty well settled did it receive a name. It is understood that Chemung Village was named by a Mr. Seward, who came from Chemung County, N. Y., and the township was afterward named for the village.

The first settlements were made in this township in 1836. Among the first settlers we find the names of George Trumbull, M. Wheeler, Wesley Diggins, Alonzo Riley, and William Hart. It is claimed by some that the first parties who resided in the township were two brothers, by the name of David and Ransley Shaw, who came from Indiana, and after partially erecting a saw-mill, sold out to a Mr. Lewis, and they moved away. David Smith came from New York State and made Chemung Township his home till about ten years ago, when be moved to Iowa. The date of Wesley Diggins's arrival was 1838. He located where Harvard now stands. He moved to California about twenty-five years ago, and there died about the year 1879. T. B. Wakeman came in 1838. He was a lawyer, and died in Chicago about six years ago. Daniel and A.dolphus Hutchinson were among the first settlers. Adolphus died at his home in the township some twenty years ago, and Daniel is still a resident of the township.

Surface Features

This township has perhaps more acres of low land than any other in the county, but we cannot say it is less valuable than dryer lands, as they furnish fine pasturage which adapts it well to the use to which it is put, viz., dairying interests. Farming is not carried on here to the extent that it is in other townships. The Piskasaw Creek and its three branches, which unite with the main stream on sections 32 and 33, furnish abundance of water, and distribute it well over the township.

The township is traversed by two railroads, viz., the Chicago & Northwestern and the Kenosha & Rockford, making more miles of railroad in this township than any other in the' county save Algonquin. The township takes the lead in villages, being three in number, including the village of Chemung, which lies partly in Dunham.

At the village of Chemung is to be found one of the oldest burying grounds in the county, but it is seldom that a burial takes place there now; the grounds have become forsaken, both in fact and appearance; the new grounds in the same village, but situated in Dunham Township, are being used instead of the old. A small burying ground was laid at Lawrence about the time the town was laid out.

The first school was taught in the village of Chemung about 1840. We were unable to ascertain the name of first teacher. The number of children of a school age in this township is 978, it being ninety-eight more than in any other township in the county. It pays next to the highest amount of salary to teachers annually of any township in the county, $5,060.44. The number of schoolhouses is seven, and the value of the school property is $16,500.

The first marriage that took place in this township, according to the records, was that of Sanford Blodgett and Jane H. Smith, Oct. 4, 1842, by Rev. P. W. Lake.

The township officers chosen at the first election, held April 2, 1850, were as follows: J. C. Thompson, Supervisor; Edwin Hurlburt, Clerk; Lawrence Bigs by, Assessor; fm. G. Billings , Collector; A. Southerland and Asa Pease, Justices of Peace; fm. G. Billings and Chas. C. Merrick, Constables; Barrows Wilkinson, Orrin Burr and ¥m. Newman, Commissioners of Highways; Seth Johnson, Overseer of the Poor.

The present officers are: H. S. Williams, Supervisor; P. E. Saunders, Clerk; Philo Wilkinson, Collector; Chas. Armstrong, Assessor; Robert Harper, Commissioner of Highways; Jas. Rogers, Geo. Wood and W. A. Brown, School Trustees.

On Friday, May 18, 1883, this township was visited by a cyclone which will long be remembered by those who witnessed it as one o the most destructive besoms that ever swept over the land.

In another portion of this work will be found a full account of this destroyer of human life and property, hence we will here speak of only a few points along its track and note some of its queer freaks. A fourteen-year-old son of John Massas, while attempting to reach the house, was thrown against a reaping machine and badly mangled. A hay barn belonging to C. Ruggles was taken away entire, not leaving scarcely anything behind to show that a barn had once been there. At Lawrence a barn was blown down in which stood a cow. She was afterward dujj out of the rubbish and found to be unharmed. The depot at Lawrence lost its roof and east side. Dr. Clark's store received considerable damage. On the farm of Patrick Kennedy stood a fine orchard which was swept away root and branch. The out-buildings were blown against the house with such force that it went down in the twinkling of an eye. John McGuirk, who sought refuge in the cellar, was instantly killed. Here the monster bounded into the air as if frightened at its last desperate act, and did not return to the earth again till it had traveled a distance of about three miles, where it again resumed its work of destruction and death. The premises of Fred Battlings were entirely destroyed and his hired hand, Charles Stull, was instantly killed. It continued in its work of destruction till it passed out of the State into Wisconsin, where its ravages were only equaled by those in this county. In its course it utterly destroyed the school-house in District No. 3, Alden

Township. The entire distance laid waste by this destructive freak of nature was about twenty miles. It is stated that a man lost all of his poultry except one hen and she was plucked of all her feathers.

Lawrence Village

This village is situated on section 27, and was settled about the year 1855. The depot was built in 1856 and the place grew rapidly for several years and aspired to some day become a place of note. The railroad company proposed making this point the end of a division and here erect their shops, round-houses, etc. This scheme was frustrated by those owning land adjoining that of the railroad company. These land-owners not only defeated the company but themselves by placing the price of their lands beyond the reach of the purchasers.

The village received its name from Mr. Lawrence Bixby, its first merchant, who in company with a Mr. Conkling, did a big business for a time when three other stores were started which materially divided the trade. The first house in the place was built by Lawrence Bixby and Benjamin Pressy. During the excitement over the prospects of Lawrence becoming a railroad town business increased rapidly and carpenters had more than they could do in erecting private and business houses, but when Harvard was chosen by the railroad company as a place where they would establish their shops, a lull came to Lawrence - business was almost entirely suspended. Many buildings were pulled down and taken to Harvard. The hotel went with the rest, and there has never since been one in the place. During the dsfys of prosperity and high anticipation a fine grist-mill was built and did a good business for about three years when it was burned down and never rebuilt.

When the exit was made from Lawrence they took with them nearly every thing but the postoffice which still remains and is kept at the residence of Lee Anderson.

These people seemed to have the matter of education well established in their minds, and it was with them no secondary matter when the future of Lawrence seemed so bright. A large building was erected for a college and bid fair to keep pace with other enterprises of the place till the climax came, when it with other cherished institutions succumbed to the fell hand of fortune. It was afterward purchased by the Presbyteriaus who have since used it as a house of worship.

Presbyterian Church

This band of worshipers has never been great in numbers, though perhaps mighty in faith. Up till within the past four years they have supported a minister, but since then have been supplied by the preacher at Harvard giving them a part of his time. Rev. Clark, of that place, is now in charge of this church. Their first minister was Rev. Waldo, who preached to this people about two years.

Chemung Village

This village was laid out in 1844, and consequently is one of the oldest in this section of country. The village grew steadily and had become quite a business center, with a population of 400 when the railroad came to Harvard, to which place the people flocked till scarcely 200 people remained in the village. At this time there were in the village four dry-goods stores, one drug store, one hotel, besides blacksmiths and wagon shops. Though two years later the railroad came through Chemung, it never seemed to grow a particle. Harvard had gotten a start.

The first house built in this village was a log one erected by Mr. Lewis. The first store was opened by Messrs. Burge & Aisles, who came from Belvidere. At the expiration of one year they sold out to Mr. Billings. Then a Mr. Baker opened a store, and after running it a short time sold out to Messrs. Hulbert'& Bixby. Dena & Brother and "Walker & Brown opened large general stores about this date.

The first blacksmith was a Mr. Dodge, who barely got started when Jacob A. Wood bought him out and carried on the business from 1846 to 1860.

About the year 1845 Mr. Seward completed the saw-mill started by Lewis and also built a grist-mill. The saw-mill was torn down a number of years ago. The grist-mill ran about eleven years,

A cheese factory was built here in 1878 by a company who ran it two years and then sold to a Mr. "Wenager, who is at present taking in daily 6,000 pounds of milk. This factory has taken in as high as 10,000 pounds daily.

The postoffice was established here in 1845, Mr. Seward being Postmaster. He held the position about five years, when he was succeeded by George Wooster, who held the office till the winter of 1860 and 1861. Charles Hunt then had the office a short time. Then the present Postmaster, S. L. Puffer, was appointed.

The first hotel was opened shortly after the place was laid out by S. S. Parker who ran it about eighteen years when he was succeeded by D. S. Sitzer who ran it six years. Jacob Kennedy took it of him and is the present proprietor.

The first religious services were held in the log house built by Mr. Lewis. This was in 1846, and at this time the Methodist society was formed. They held their services in a school-house up till the year 1874, when they built their present house of worship. It was built through the instrumentality of Rev. fm. Clark, who preached here one year before and after the church was built. Previous to the building of the church they were supplied by circuit riders, but since then by stated ministers, who sometimes resided in Chemung and sometimes in Harvard. Rev. Swartz is the present minister. The present membership will not exceed twenty.

The following is a summary of the business interests of the village of Chemung: Agricultural implements, B. F. Cary; carpenters, A. J. DeGraw, Peter Fitzer; butter and cheese, Henry Munger; wagon manufacturer, Householder Brothers; dressmaker, Mrs. S. Battis; hotel, J. P. Kennedy; merchants, E. D. Maxon, S. L. Puffer; meat market, J. A. Little; milliner, Mrs. Jennie Alexander; mason, John Alexander; flour-mill, G. I. Sinderson; physician, "Warren Chase; painter, James Potts; shoemaker, N. Crane.

Harvard Village

This village is situated on section 35, Chemung Township. It is just sixty-three miles northwest of Chicago on the main line of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, where the Madison, Rockford & Kenosha branches connect. The place numbers in population 1,600

It is considered one of the most healthful places in the Northwest. The ground on which it is located is high and gently rolling, thus furnishing most desirable building spots and a pleasant place of residence. This land was originally purchased from the Government by Abraham Carmack and Jacob A. Davis, who sold it in 1845 to Gilbert Brainard. After the death of Mr. Brainard the estate was sold to a company of railroad men, consisting of Page, Eastman and Ayer, who laid out the town in April, 1856. The place was named by Mr. E. G. Ayer for Harvard, Mass. The act incorporating the village was approved Feb. 28, 1869.

Blackmari's Addition is located on a portion of the farm owned by Wesley Diggins, who sold out to Blackman in 1859 and moved to California where he died. The old farm house still stands on the corner of Third and Diggins streets.

Hart's Addition is a part of Wm. Hart's farm who still owns the remainder on the east side of the village. Soon after laying out the town Page & Eastman sold out to Ayer and left for new fields while A.yer remained to see the growth and development of a handsome and enterprising village; 1856 dates the earliest existence of Harvard as a village.

The first merchant to locate in the place was Charles Crawford who put a stock of goods in a railroad shanty in 1856. Messrs. Hull & Julius soon after opened a general store in a one-story log building, situated on the present site of Richardson's drug store.

The first frame building on the original plat of Harvard was a lumber office erected by J. C. Crum, on the corner of the railroad and Ayer street. It now constitutes the wing of Mr. Milligan's house.

First lumber yard was started by J. C. Crum prior to the comin of the railroad to Harvard. He purchased his lumber in Kenosha from whence he shipped it to Chicago by rail, and from thence by rail to "Woodstock, from which place he hauled it with teams to Harvard.

First blacksmith was H. Norton, who came soon after the place was laid out and remained about twenty years when he removed to Fort Dodge, Iowa.

Waxkeb House

During the season of 1856 the first part of what is now the "Walker House was put up by David Smith, who sold out to J. E. Sanford in August of the same year. Mr. Sanford built to it an addition, and in three years sold it to Milton Stevenson. The house was afterward sold to Lewis Thompson, then to William Parker, then to Schuyler Higgins, of whom it was purchased in 1866 by the present owner, Everton "Walker, who has enlarged and added to it many improvements. It 'has a fifty-foot front on Ayer street and runs back on Front street 113 feet. The house will accommodate twenty-five guests, and has a good reputation under the management of W. B. Walker.

Ayee Hotel

In 1856 Wesley Diggins began the erection of the present Ayer Hotel. The first part was built with the end toward the railroad. It was afterward turned with its side toward the track and many improvements made. In 1859 it became the property of H. C. Blackman, who immediately sold it to E. Gr. Ayer, who raised the building to its present three-story height and built the wing facing Ayer street and added to it the veranda. The property still belongs to Mr. Ayer, but it is run by his son-in-law, H. B. Minear, who has a good trade and is well calculated for the business.

Depot

In 1856 a small depot was erected, which served the purpose till 1877, when it was removed a few rods east to its present location, where it was enlarged and now constitutes one of the most comfortable depots along the line.

The first engine house was erected by the Kenosha & Rockford Railroad Company, and is now used as a blacksmith shop by the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. It contained stalls for but two engines. After the purchase of the Madison division by the

Chicago & Northwestern Railroad they shipped here from Janesville, Wis., a round-house containing stalls for six engines. Another round-house was erected, but burned down in 1875. The present round-house was built in 1875. It is a brick building ca pable of holding twenty-five engines. Repair shops are operated in connection with the round-house, using an average of $2,200 worth of material each month. For labor alone the railroad company pays out over $3,500 per month, not including dispatchers, conductors and engineers. There is paid out to meu who reside here and in the employ of the railroad over $10,000 each month. The freight receipts average per month $2,500, and for tickets they receive $1,200.

Fire Extinguishers

In 1864: the village, in connection with the railroad company purchased for the safety of their property a hand fire engine which is still in use. In 1884 the village purchased a fire engine which is operated by horses instead of men or steam.

Malt-House, No. 1. - In the fall of 1872 Messrs. Burbank & Law built a malt-house situated south of the depot about twenty rods. Its capacity is over 100 bushels per day. They sold their malt in Chicago, Milwaukee and in the State of Pennsylvania. Besides their own labor they employed three hands. They did a good business for three years when they closed out. Their property was worth about $5,000, and their annual sales exceeded 45,000 bushels. The building is now used as a grain warehouse.

Malt-House, No. 2. - Not long after the first malt-house was built a second one was erected about twenty rods south of the freight depot by a joint stock company, known by the name of Harvard Malting Company. The capacity of this malt-house is 250 bushels per day, but the business has never been carried on to that extent. The business was under the management of E. E. Ayer. After running three years with fair success this company rented the building to Pettitt & Co., of Kenosha, who are doing a large business. At present they have on hand over 60,000 bush els of malt. The original cost of this three-story stone building was $24r,000, but to-day could be bought for less than half that amount.

invented by E. L. Church when a boy. and in 1874 he secured a patent on it and got it manufactured at Rockford the year following. He then resided in Walworth, Wis., and there he sold the carriers the first year.

During the busy seas >n of the following year he made his headquarters at Rockford. He came to Harvard, August, 1877, and commenced the sale of his carrier, and continued to have them manufactured in Rockford till 1880, when he engaged in the manufacture of them himself in this place. He purchased the building located on the corner of Church and Ayer streets, and enlarged it till its present dimensions are 24 x 115 feet. He employs from four to five hands, and sells annually between 3,000 and 4,000. There are other hay carriers sold in Harvard, but this is the only establishment that manufactures them. The Church Hay Carrier is sold in every State and Territory in the Union. Daring the last year or two the sale of them in Washington Territory, Idaho and California has been immense.

Runt, Helm dc Ferris, manufacturers of the celebrated "New Star" one-way carrier, and the " Swivel Reversible" Hay Elevator and Carrier. The New Star Carrier stands at the head of oneway carriers and elevators, and has been on the market for two years. It has the ball pulley block, and the most practical and finest working lock made. It has only two pieces and works true - :no complication, no missing. There is a large demand for this carrier in barns that have but one bay, where hay is taken in at the end of the barn, and for out-door stacking. The complete Swivel Reversible is conceded by all who have seen it work to be the most practical, strongest, and most perfect carrier and elevator made. It not only possesses the quality of being reversible, but also possesses the swivel which makes it the quickest working, easiest adjusted carrier made. It has the ball pulley and a double lock of but three pi^ces, and the trip block is a simple square piece of iron. It stands at the head, without a doubt the finest, best working carrier made. Both these carriers have been patented by Messrs. Hunt, Helm & Ferris, who have the entire control of them . They are cast at Rockford and put together in Harvard. In addition to their carriers, Hunt, Helm & Ferris carry a full and complete line of the latest and most improved hay forks, hooks, etc. They have four traveling salesmen, and their carriers are sold in all parts of the United States and Canada - where they also have a patent.

Pickle Factories. - In the spring of 1883 J. A. Sawyer erected a pickle factory on the west side of the village, whose capacity is 30,000 bushels. The same year Clark & Brainard built one about the same size on the east side of the village. In the spring of 1884, Mr. Sawyer built a second factory situated near the first one, whose capacity is the same. Each of these factories is doing all the business its capacity will admit of. The pickles are usually purchased of the farmers; they seldom do a storing business.

Harvard -Flouring Mill, G. H. Wood & Co., proprietors, located north of railroad. This is a brick building, and was erected in 1857, by Jonathan "Wells for a warehouse, but shortly afterward sold it to Colonel Blandin, who in 1870 sold it to G. H. "Wood, A. S. Gurnee and P. C. Farnum, who raised it one story higher and built on additions, and placed in it machinery for grinding flour. Shortly afterward Mr. Farnum sold his interest to Gr. H. "Wood, and Mr. Gurnee sold his interest to Franklin Pierce. In 1874 the junior partner, Geo. H. "Wood, bought out Mr. Pierce's interest. Between the years 1873 and 1881 over $10,000 worth of improvements have been added to this mill. A complete set of rollers for manufacturing the choice roller flour are in use, and a steam engine runs the power. The mill is doing a big business, and is quite worthy of the patronage it receives.

Harvard Bank. - This bank was started by the present proprietor, J. C. Crum, in the year 1866, in the store of A. E. Axtell. The following year Mr. Crum bought the building which he now occupies, on the corner of Brainard and Ayer streets, and here located his business. During the first five years the business grew rapidly, but after the panic of 1873 took the course of all other business. For the past few years this bank has kept pace with the gradual and permanent growth and prosperity of the country. Deposits with the Fifth National Bank of Chicago, aggregating about $500,000 annually. In 1881 the deposits of this bank with the Importers and Traders' National Bank, of New York City, reached $46,755.04. The average amount on deposit is $65,000.

AxtelVs Bank. - In 1877 A. E. Axtell commenced to operate in exchanges in connection with his other business, and in April, 1878, he commenced to receive deposits. His integrity, and the high esteem in which the people held him, is shown in the fact that the deposits doubled annually, till now they exceed

$40,000. During the first six months of 1881 the deposits made monthly were $32,000. Drafts made on his correspondents at New York and Chicago aggregate $250,000.

Religious Interests

Immediately after the foundation of the village, the attention of the citizens was turned to the matter of religion. A Free-Will Baptist, by the name of O. S. Brown, held the first religious services of the place in the store of John Diggins, on Ayer street; the building is now occupied by a saloon. About the time of Mr. Brown's coming came also a Methodist minister, by the name of W. ,H. Richardson. As soon as Mansfield Hall was completed it was occupied by various sects as a place of worship. Not long after the village was laid out there came a minister by the name of Reed. He was followed by Rev. Howell. They were both of the Second Advent faith. During the services held by Rev. Howell, a fire broke out in the building, which resulted in the disastrous fire of 1863.

Methodist Chwrch. - During the winter of 1857-'58, the Methodist Episcopal church was organized with five members, and built their church in 1860, it being the first house of worship erected in the place. The Board of Stewards at that time consisted of Wm. H. Fuller, E. J. Sanford, L. B. "Wyant and L. M. Stephenson- W. H. Reynolds was their pastor in 1860. The same fall Rev. J. H. More became their pastor. In 1863, S. F. Demming became their pastor. Rev. C. R. Ford came in 1865, and in 1867 came Rev. G-. L. Wiley. L. Anderson took charge of the church in 1868, and in 1870 Rev. L. Hawkins took his place. He was sue. ceeded in 1871 by Samuel Cates; his successor was Rev. R. H. Wilkinson, who was succeeded the following year by Rev. Wm. Clark. In 1874 John Hichcox was their pastor, and in 1875 Moses G-. Sheldon was called but remained less than a year, on account of being silenced. Rev. C. R. Cryder completed Sheldon's year. Rev. J. W. Scott came in 1878, and remained three years. He was succeeded by Rev. Samuel Swartz in 1881, who is the present pastor. The present membership exceeds 100, and the Sabbath-school is in a flourishing condition.

Congregational Church. - This band of worshipers commenced in 1860 to hold religious services in Hart's Hall, and continued till 1866, when a society was formed under the supervision of Rev C. R. Fittz, and a house of worship erected the same year at a cost of $3,000. It is a frame building capable of seating 250 persons, and situated between University and Church streets. The present membership numbers sixty. Their present pastor, Rev. N. W". Clark, is now with them his fourth year. The Sabbath- school consists of forty scholars; Albert Thompson, Superintendent; Fred Smith, Librarian; J. Lake, Secretary and Treasurer. The first Trustees were A. C. Bingham, Samuel Richardson and Lyman Clark. The following is a list of the present church officers : A. M. Thompson, H. Allen and Dr. A. C. Bingham, Deacons; A. M. Thompson, James Lake and Dr. Bingham, Trustees.

Catholic Church. - The Roman Catholics of this place worshiped in their church at Hartland till 1867, when the St. Joseph Church at this place was completed. The first priest who officiated here was Rev. Terrance Fitzsimmons, who resided at Woodstock and also supplied Hartland church. He was sucSeeded by Rev. Patrick Riordan, now pastor of St. James Church, Chicago. The next priest was Rev. Thomas Quigley. Rev. Dominick Egan succeeded Quigley in October, 1868. He was the first pastor who resided here. The parish consists of 200 families.

They commenced with a membership of about 150 and are now one of the strongest bodies of worshipers in the place, and their house of worship, which was dedicated in 1869, is one of the finest structures in Harvard. It is a frame building, and will seat about 400 people. It cost about $5,000. In 1876 they built their fine parsonage at an expense of $3,000. Rev. T. Egan is their present pastor. He took charge of the church in 1870, and has since continued, and under his administration the church is constantly growing stronger. At the time of the organization of the church a Sabbath-school was formed which has since continued to grow in numbers and interest till now the average attendance of scholars is about seventy.

Presbyterian Church. - In 1868 those of Calvanistic faith organized themselves into a society with Messrs. H. C. Blackman, Lewis Beaner and C. Brown, Trustees. At first their membership was quite small, but at present numbers seventy. Rev. Thomas C. Easton was their first pastor. They had not been organized many years when they united with the Congregationalists, and worshiped under one pastor, occupying the Presbyterian church. The following pastors had charge of this double church : Revs. Rose, J. B. Dixon and D. M. Wooley. In 1880 they separated from the Congregationalists and secured the services of Rev. J. M. Linn, who still remains their pastor. During the winter of 1868-'69 they built a frame church which will seat about 200 people comfortably. This property is estimated to be. worth $3,000. The present church officers are as follows : T. G. Spreggs, John Forby and J. E. Watson, Elders; W. C. Wellington, T. Marshall and J. Y. Corwin, Trustees. The average attendance of the Sabbathschool is from sixty-five to seventy. The Superintendent is Kev. J. M. Linn, assisted by O. W. Onthank. Miss Mary Bagley is the Secretary, and Miss McPherson, Librarian.

Episcopal Church. - In the year 1870 Rev. Peter Arvidson, an Episcopal minister, of Algonquin, 111., began holding meetings occasionally in Hart's Hall, calling together a few of the old country people who were scattered over a large scope of the surrounding country. This was continued until, at Mr. Arvidson's request, a petition was sent to the Bishop for a stated pastor. In response Rev. A. A. Fisk came in January, 1877, and leased the Congregational church which was then vacant. This they used for the period of three years, when they were deprived further use of the church by the rupture which occurred between the Congregationalists and Presbyterians, both at that time occupying the Presbyterian church. This occurred in the spring of 1880. In September of the same year the foundation of the Episcopal church was laid on the corner of Sumner and Division streets; the frame was erected the ensuing winter and the house was first occupied Sept. 25, 1881. This church organization was the first under the Diocese of Illinois. Great credit indeed should be ascribed to Rev. Fisk for the grand results he has brought about through his indomitable will and energy. When he came here he met with only discouragement, there being virtually nothing to begin with or live upon. Rev. Arvidson had never formed a society, and the consequence was there were only three or four families who under stood their form of service. He has increased the membership to 100 and built a house of worship worth $4,000.

Woman 's Christian Temperance Union of this place was organized through the instrumentality of Miss Helen Walker, a lady who was connected with the paper known as the Union Signal, published at Chicago. She was also engaged in forming Woman's Christian Temperance Unions throughout the country. This society was formed in the fall of 1883, with the following members: Mrs.

Charles Hunt, Mrs. S. Purington, Miss Aggie Marshall, Mrs. Dr. Woodruff, Mrs. Dr. Bingham, Mrs. Samuel Kichardson, Mrs. Nellie Fuller, Mrs. S. Swartz, Mrs. Rev. Linn, Mrs. Josephine Baker and Miss Mary Baker. First officers: Mrs. Nellie Fuller, President; Mrs. Swartz. Secretary; Mrs. Baker, Treasurer. The offices are at present filled by the same parties. Their meetings are held every other Wednesday, at the residence of some of the members. Their membership has grown to thirty.

Railroad Young Herts Christian Association of Harvard was organized July 8, 1884, with the following members in office : T. C. Gay, President; S. Kichardson, Yice-President; W. I. Wooster, Secretary; James Lake, Treasurer; T. G. Sprague, William Truax, G. Brainard, N. B. Helm, A. C. Bingham, Directors. The association organized with a membership of 150. There are in all about 200 members, forty-five of them being auxiliaries.

Ancient Order United Workmen. - This society was organized Aug. 7,1879, with the following charter members : M. G. Sheldon, H. B. Minier, William Grovestien, W. I. Wooster, S. Brown, A. C. Bingham, George Wood, M. A. Adam3, H. Schutt, J. Miller, William Wheelwright, A. Bell, W. B. Quick, J. McCahel, L. E. Lines, Ezra Smith, Ed Schutt, J. S. Gould and Andrew Irwin. First officers: M. G. Sheldon, P. M. W. ; H. B. Minier, M. W. ; William Grovestien, Foreman; S. Brown, Overseer; W. I. Wooster, Recorder; A. C. Bingham, Financier; George Wood, Keceiver; M. A. Adams, Guide; H. Schutt, Inside Watch; W. J. Miller, Outside Watch. Present officers: L. R. Lines, P. M. W.; M. A. Adams, M. W. ; Thomas Welch, Foreman; E. D. Beardsley, Overseer; W. I. Wooster, Recorder; A. C. Bingham, Finaucier; H. D. Crumb, Keceiver; W. H. B. Ward, Guide; E. Smith, Inside Watch; Henry Yereck, Outside Watch. Their present membership numbers eighty. They occupy Brainard's Hall, with the Select Knights, holding meetings alternately. They meet twice each month.

Select Knights. - The organization of this society took place July 27, 1883. The following is a list of charter members: W. H. Grovestien, W. I. Wooster, A. C. Bingham, E. M. Schutt, M. Pease, E. E. Tucker, F. C. Peters, G. C. Parkhurst, E. P. Beardsley, P. Van Leshout, W. H. B. Ward, W. H. Willis, M. J. Allen, Thomas Welch, Samuel Cole, P. Sweeney, D. M. Chilson, John Heiden, H. Bretenfeldt and E. Smith. First officers: W. H. Grovestien, S. C; H. Bretenfeldt, Y. O; M. Pease, L. C; W I.

J. B. Manzer Post, No. 215, G. A. R. - This post was organized April 7, 1883, with the following charter members: Joseph LaBrec, John Forby, Edwin Rector, J. W. Groesbeck, C. W. Onthank, James White, R. J. Whittleton, R. Wheeler, Samuel Cole, H. W. Grovestien, Wm. Hollister, J. W. Seaverns, N. B. Burtch, Ed. Hancock, Burt Adderman, W. H. Grillis, Thos. Welch, D. E. Pixley, W. T. Hill, George King, Willard J. Scott, H. H. Paynter, H. T. Woodruff. The present officers are the as at first with the exception of Chaplain James White. The first chaplain died shortly after the organization. His place was filled by Rev. Linn, hence we will only give the first officers: H. T.Woodruff, P. C. ; Ed. Rector, S. V. 0.; Joseph LaBrec, J. V. C; N". B. Burtch, Adjutant; Wm. Hill, Assistant-Adjutant; J.W. Seaverns, Officer of the Day; C. W. Onthank, Q. M.; W.' J. Scott, Q. M. S.; D. E. Pixley, Officer of Guard; George King, Outside Sentinel; W. H. Grovestien, Surgeon. This is one of the best posts in the county. They number fifty members and their meetings are well attended. They hold their meetings monthly in the A. O. U. W. Hall.

Harvard Chapter, No. 91, R. A. M. was organized as the George L. Dunlap Chapter, Oct. 5, 1866, and continued as such till Oct. 27, 1874, when it was changed to the present name. The charter was given Oct. 5, 1866. The following is a list of charter members : J. G. Callender, H. B. Minier, Holland Morton, E. E. Ayer, Asel Brainard, J. C. Crumb, A. Carmack, G. M. Hull, M. Keifer, Wm. C. Lampson, Peter McElroy, John McElroy, T. B. Wakeman and H. W. Richardson. First officers were as follows: J. C. Callender M. E. H. P. ; H. B. Minier, E. K. ; H. Norton, E. S. ; T. B. Wake man, Captain of Host; G. M. Hull, P. S.; E. E. Ayer, R. A. C. J. C. Crumb, G. M. 3d V. ; A. Carmack, G. M. 2d V. ; M. Keifer G. M. IstY.; E. G. Ayer, Treas.; H. W. Richardson, Secretary A. Brainard, Sentinel. Present officers: H. B. Minier, ME. H. P. R. Coventry, E. K.; B. Corn well, E. S. ; W. C. Wellington, Cap tain of the Host; Lot P. Smith, P. S.; W. D. Hull, R. A. C. H. H. Megraw, Secretary; J. C. Crumb, Treasurer; James Logue,

G. M. 3d V.; T. P. Marshall, G. M. 2d Y.; J. D. Clark, G. M. 1st V.; James Maxwell, Tyler. This chapter is in a flourishing condition with a membership of ninety-one. Their hall is one of the finest in the Northwest and is most handsomely and expensively furnished. The society is having enlarged and framed the portraits of deceased members, and soon the walls will be beautifully ornamented with these pictures.

Harvard Lodge, No. 309, F. & A. M., was chartered Oct. 5, 1859. The following is a list of charter members: Henry T. Kice, Elbridge G. Ayer, Alonzo E. Axtell, Benjamin Lowell, Thaddeus B. Wakeman, Henry B. Minier, Hira mJackson, Enos Kellogg, Lyman Backus. The following is a list of the first officers appointed under the charter: Henry T. Rice, Master; Elbridge G. Ayer, S. "W. ; Alonzo E. Axtell, J. "W. At the first election, which was held on the third Monday of December, 1859, the following: officers were elected: T. B. "Wakeman, Master; Alonzo E. Axtell, S. W.; Joseph C. Crumb, J. W. ; Benjamin Lowell, Treas. ; Abner J. Burbank, Secretary; Henry B. Minier, S. D.; Hiram Jackson, J. D.; Holland Norton, S. S. ; George F. Crawford, J. S. ; George N. Sherwood, Tyler. Present officers: Eenus Coventry, Master; "Wallace C. Wellington, S. W. ; Albert W. Young, J. W.; Joseph C. Crumb, Treasurer; Philo Wilkinson, Secretary; Hugh H. Megraw, S. D. ; W"m. D. Hull, J. D.; Chas. M. "Wilkinson, S. S.; Morrow "W. Lake, J. S.; "Wm. H. Grovestien, Tyler. The present number of members is ninetytwo. They rent their hall of Williams Brothers who built it for the order and leased it to them for a term of years. It is beautifully frescoed, and ornamented with the frames containing the enlarged portraits of departed members in good standing. The hall is handsomely furnished at an expense of over $1,000. In 1863 their furniture was entirely destroyed by fire. Their book alone was saved. Their present regalia, badges, etc., are truly fine. The lodge is in a flourishing condition and is quite a factor in making society better and cementing together many friendships.

Harvard School

The first school of Harvard was organized in the summer of 1859 and was conducted in the building belonging to Hall & Julius till the school building was made ready. The first Principal was J. E. Young, assisted by Miss Mary Ballon. In a few years it became necessary to enlarge the school building, and a frame extension of forty feet was added to it, making a length of seventy-five feet. Again the building was found inadequate to the demands upon it, and in 1871 a wing 40 x 22 was added to it. In 1880 an imperative demand was made for more room and the district purchased the lot north of the school-house and fitted up the dwelling thereon for two departments of the school. There are now in the school nine departments. They employ eight teachers besides the principal. The school is maintained at a cost of $4,500 a year. The school property is valued at $7,000. In 1874 this was established as a graded school. The first Principal was H. B. Coe; Wm. H. Knox, the second, who was employed from 1876 to 1880. From 1880 to 1881 0. C. Orand was the Principal. Mrs. C. G. Hayner held the Principalship from 1882 till R. E. Cutler was employed, whose time has just expired. The present Principal is Ed Sweeney. The attendance of the school averages 457.

was established here in 1851. W. Randall, who has been dead for many years, was first Postmaster. The second Postmaster, R. W. M. De Lee, has also been dead many years. The third was A. E. Axtell, who still resides here. J. W. Groesbeck, the present incumbent, was appointed in 1880. First money order issued, July 13, 1869. First order paid, July 20, 1869.

Incorporation

The village of Harvard was incorporated Feb. 28, 1867. The first election was held in April, 1868, at which time the following officers were elected : E. G. Ayer, President; "William Marshall, Clerk; J. C. Crumb, Frank Cobb, Owen McGee, B. F. Groesbeck, Trustees. The following is a list of the present officers : K B. Blake, President; William Hall and George King, Marshals; J. C. Crumb, Treasurer; P. E. Saunders, Clerk; M. W. Lake, T. W. Marshall, Charles Wilkinson, John Cullen, Trustees.

The following is a list of the business interests of Harvard : Agricultural implements, Eugene O'Conner, Stearns & Peeters; banks, Harvard Bank, Joseph C. Crumb, President; Axtell's Exchange Bank, A. E. Axtell, proprietor; blacksmiths, E. J. Smith, J. H. O'Conner, W. H. Milligan, John Cullen, Thomas Collins; barbers, Albert, Edward and George Haffner, Elmer Carpenter;

Biographical

James L. Anderson, Postmaster, Lawrence, 111., was born in East Berkshire, Franklin Co., Vt., April 12, 1836, a son of Seth P. and Elvina (Stone) Anderson, natives of Yermont. There was a family of three children - Ira S., a farmer in Vermont, married Elvina Perley; James L. and Mina M., wife of Charles W. Janes, of St. Albans, Vt. James L. remained at home attending school till twenty years of age, and then came West, and bought a farm near Lawrence, McHenry Co., 111. He has been Postmaster of Law- rence since 1875. Mr. Anderson was married Oct. 25, 1859, to Lydia S. Thompson, a native of Alden, Erie Co., N. T., a daughter of James C. and Mehitable (Gould) Thompson. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have had four children - Mina E., born Feb. 4, 1863; Ida F., born July 7, 1864; Ira G., born Sept. 6, 1866, died Feb. 4 1870, and Mary E., born Sept. 29, 1868. Mina is Principal of the Chemung school; Ida is a teacher in the primary department of the High School, Harvard; Mary is Principal of the Dunham school, a mile south of Harvard. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are members of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Anderson enlisted in Company B, One Hundred and Fifty-third Illinois Infantry, and served till the close of the war. He is a member of J. B. Manzer Post, No. 215, G-. A. R, Harvard. Politically he is a Kepublican. Mr. Anderson is an extensive bee-keeper, having an apiary of 100 colonies.

Charles Armstrong, a native of Lyme, Conn., was born Jan. 11, 1815, a son of Amaziah and Hannah (Minor) Armstrong, natives of Connecticut. Charles is the second son and the third of eleven children, nine of whom are living. "When a child he went to live with an uncle, Jeremiah Stark, in Montgomery County, N Y.,and remained with him till sixteen years of age. He then worked on a farm for himself till 1842, when he came West and lived on Big Foot Prairie, Walworth Co., Wis., till 1846. In June, 1846, he sold his farm in Wisconsin, and bought one in Alden Township, McHenry Co., 111. In April, 1861, he moved to Harvard and engaged in the lumber business till July, 1862, when he enlisted in Company C, Ninety-fifth Illinois Infantry. The following November he had his ankle crushed by failing while the company were in camp at Jackson, Tenn., and lay in the hospital till Jan. 20, 1863, when he was discharged and came home. In April, 1863, before he was able to walk without the assistance of crutches, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and the next month was commissioned, and has since held the office by re-election, with the exception of the year 1877, when he resigned, but was again elected in 1878. For the past four years he has been Township Assessor. In 1870 he opened an agricultural warehouse but sold out, and, with his other duties, carries on a real estate and loan business. Politically he is a Republican. He was married Oct. 16, 1836, to Lucinda Lake, a native of Virgil, N. Y., daughter of Rev. P. W. and Rebecca Lake. Her father was a Baptist clergyman. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. She died Oct. 29>

1865. Oct. 24, 1866, Mr. Armstrong married Mary L. Lake, a niece of his first wife, and a daughter of Beardsley and Mary (Welch) Lake. To them were born five children - Lula, Charles F., De Los L. (died March 31, 1877), and Clayton C. Mrs. Armstrong died March 8, 1884.

Alonzo E. Axtell, banker, Harvard, 111., was born in Friendship, Allegany County, N. Y., Feb. 6, 1825, a son of Joseph D. and Eliza (Osman) Axtell, natives of New York. J. D. Axtell was a merchant in New York, but after his removal West he dealt extensively in grain. He died in 1873 and his wife in 1883. They had a family of six children, three of whom are living. Alonzo E. Axtell came West in 1852 and lived in Boone County, 111., engaged in the general mercantile business, six years. In 1858 he moved to Harvard and is now one of the most prominent business men of the place. He was married Dec. 10, 1846, to Mary M. Lambert, a native of Friendship, N. Y., daughter of Frederick and Sally (Porter) Lambert, natives of Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Axtell have one son - Frank F., a commission merchant of Chicago, born in Friendship, N. Y., Oct. 30, 1847. Mr. Axtell is a member of the Masonic fraternity, lodge and chapter. He has held various offices of trust in the township and has been President of the board. Politically he is a Republican. He has a record of his family dating from John Akstyle, a member of a religious order in Hertfordshire, England, about 1535. Thomas Axtell was baptized at Berhamstead, England, Jan. 2, 1619, and Daniel Axtell, probably a brother, in 1622. Thomas Axtell was undoubtedly the progenitor of all the Axtells in the United States. His daughter Mary was baptized Sept. 23, 1639, and a son Henry, Oct. 15, 1641. The family left England about 1642. Thomas died in Sudbury, Mass., in 1646. The inventory of his estate is still on record in the Probate Court. Henry, the son, took up land in the new town of Malboro, joining Sudbury, in 1660. He was married in 1665, and April 21, 1676, was killed by the Indians. He left two sons - Thomas, born in 1672, and Daniel, born in 1673. Joseph, son of Thomas, was born in 1705. His son Daniel was born in 1734, and his son Daniel, the grandfather of Alonzo E., was born in 1759, and the father of Alonzo E., Joseph D., was born in 1802.

Elbridge Gerry Ayer, the founder of the village of Harvard, or Harvard Junction, and one of the best known men in McHenry County, is a native of Haverhill, Essex Co., Mass., and a direct descendant of John Ayer, who settled in Salisbury in 1640. He removed to Ipswich and later to Haverhill, Mass., his name being on the list of those who held land in that place in 1645. In 1652 he received a share in the second division of " plough land." His name appears in the list of freemen of Haverhill in 1646. This list has the valuation of each man's property; and John Ayer's is recorded at £160, being next to the largest on the list. He died March 31, 1657. There is a complete record of his descendants, published in 1882, in the hands of our subject, E. G. Ayer. For two centuries past the Ayers have been among the prominent families of that and other counties of the "Old Bay State," and descendants of John Ayer are now found in nearly half the States of the Union, several of them residing in Chicago, 111. The father of Elbridge was Samuel Ayer, a flannel manufacturer of Andover, Mass., and one of the first men in this country to make that line of goods. His grandfather was Daniel Ayer, whose father and one of his (Daniel's) brothers took part in gaining the independence of the colonies. The mother of our subject was Polly Chase, a descendant of Aqnila Chase, also an early settler of New England. She was the mother of eight children, four sons and four daughters, Elbridge being the sixth child and youngest son. He was born in Haverhill, July 25, 1813. Now and then he goes back to the old homestead, eats pears from the trees planted when he was in short clothes, and lives over again the happy days of his childhood. He finished his education at the famous old Bradford Academy when at its head stood Professor Greenleaf, the mathematician, and author of some of our text books, quite popular forty or fifty years ago. He learned the wool-stapling business at Dedham, Mass., and at twenty years of age went to Albany, N. Y., whither his father had preceded him, and became associated with him in the grocery and provision business. About this time (1834) Mr. Ayer married Miss Mary D. Titcomb, a native of Salem, N. H. Two years after his marriage he emigrated to the West to commence fortune-seeking, locating at first in the Badger State. They landed at Pike River, afterward known as South Port, and now the city of Kenosha. Mr. Ayer took a quantity of merchandise with him and was in trade there .nearly eleven years. There his eldest child, Mary A., now the wife of Gilbert R. Smith, of Harvard, was born Nov. 25, 1836. She was the first white child born in Kenosha. In 1847 Mr. Ayer moved to Walworth, Wis., and there carried on the mercantile business ten yearp, serviug also most of the time as Postmaster. In the latter part of that period the Wisconsin division of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad was projected and he tried to put the road through to this place, but failing he came to what is now Harvard. In January, 1856, he purchased 400 acres of land, and in the following spring laid out the town of Harvard. Here he has since. resided. At first he was engaged in the mercantile business and in taking care of his real estate and encouraging settlements in the place. In 1858 he took charge of the eating house and hotel. At the end of a year he purchased and enlarged it and for eighteen years kept one of the best hotels and eating houses in this part of the State. In 1876 he rented the premises to Marcus L. Towne, the husband of his daughter Harriet L., who ran the hotel till Jan. 1, 1883, when he sold his interest to H. B. Minier and accepted the superintendency of the eating houses of the Union Pacific Railway, with headquarters at Laramie, Wyoming Territory, where he has the Thornburg House. Mr. Minier- married Mr. Ayer's third daughter, Julia A. His second daughter, Annie, married A. J. Burbank, at present station agent for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad at Harvard. His youngest daughter, Eva F., is the wife of Arthur E. Law, of St. Paul, Minn. He has two sons, Ed. E. , wholesale dealer in telegraph poles, railway ties, and posts, Chicago, 111., and lumber dealer of Arizona, and Henry C, of Flagstaff, Ariz., Secretary, Treasurer and Assistant Superintendent of the Ayer Lumber Company. These mills have a capacity of manufacturing 100,000 feet of lumber, 25,000 shingles, and 25,000 lath per day. Ed. E. Ayer was in California when the civil war broke out and was the first man in the State to enlist, and the youngest in the regiment to which he was assigned, the First California Cavalry. He enlisted as a private, but was promoted to First Lieutenant of his company. He was married Sept. 7, 1865, to Miss Emma Burbank. Politically E. G. Ayer was originally a Whig, but since the organization of the Republican party has been one of its strongest supporters. As a hotel-keeper during the war he had many opportunities to show his patriotism, and the kindness and liberality, as hundreds of soldiers, especially those of the Northwest, who were fed free of charge, can testify. The following letter was copied from the Wisconsin State Journal: wounded soldiers from Wisconsin have been detained at your place and that you have at all times treated them with great kindness, furnishing them with food when they needed it and otherwise administering to their necessities, and that you have done this without pay or expectation of reward, and that you still decline to receive any pay for the many meals furnished this class of persons, or for your services in their behalf. Few as marked cases of disinterested benevolence and goodness of heart have occurred within my observation, and I would not allow it to pass without assuring you of my appreciation of your services to these sick and wounded heroes. Permit me, sir, in behalf of the noble men whom you have comforted and served, and in behalf of the people of Wisconsin, to tender to you their sincere thanks, and to assure you that your kindness to Wisconsin soldiers will not soon be forgotten. Yours truly, Jambs T. Lewis,

Such a man is Judge Ayer, as he is familiarly called by his friends. Mr. Ayer was the first Freemason made at Kenosha, Wis., Wisconsin Lodge, No. 7. He is a Royal Arch Mason and has held several offices in the order. He has also held a few civil offices in Harvard, but has never sought such honors, contenting himself with simply bearing his share of public duties as a citizen. He has always been held in high esteem for his public spirit, his genial disposition and neighborly kindness. An old neighbor thus writes of him: " Having known him intimately for thirty years, I think he is best known for his benevolence and love of justice and right. During the war he was a most ardent supporter of the Government in all its measures. Frequently in those troublesome times he would furnish victuals for a whole company of soldiers passing through Harvard and Cairo. He then ran the eating house at Harvard, insomuch that his name and fame were household words with the Western soldiers at the front and at home. He preeminently fills the idea of Scripture where it says: ' I was hungry and he gave me meat.' "

Henry Baker, retired farmer and lumber merchant, Harvard, 111., was born in Long Me"adow, N. Y., Nov. 21, 1827. His father, Austin Baker, was born in Massachusetts, Aug. 20, 1797, and when a young man went to New York State, and as early as 1837 or 1838 came to Illinois and laid a claim near Marengo. While here he helped to build the first mill in Belvidere. He sold his claims and returned to New York, where he died November, 1882.

He was married Feb. 28, 1821, to Lovina Coney, a native of Hawley, Mass., born Feb. 28, 1802. She died in 1877. To them were born four children - Lucy, born Feb. 2, 1822, wife of Jeremiah Dorn, of Jo Daviess County, 111.; Almon W., born Oct. 12, 1825 married Betsey Fitcb, and resides in Portland, N. Y. ; Henry whose name heads this sketch, and Ann Eliza, born June 28, 1834, married Edward Elmore, of Portland, N. Y. Henry Baker remained on the home farm till 1853 when he came to Chicago, and Jan. 18, was married to Anna Eliza Da Lee, a native of Chautauqua County, N. Y., born June 9, 1833, daughter of Richard W. and Hannah M. (Minton) Da Lee, who came to McHenry County in 1852. After his marriage be returned to New York, and in the spring of 1863 moved to Harvard and engaged in the grain and lumber business till 1876 when he purchased a farm of 200 acres in Chemung Township, to which he has since added 160 acres. Mr. and Mrs. Baker have one daughter - Kate C. Monie, bom Dec. 31, 1853, now the wife of Edgar M. Titcomb, formerly a merchant of Harvard, but now traveling for a flouring mill in Pontiac, 111. She has one child - Grace Baker, born April 23, 1875. Mrs. Baker's father came to Illinois in 1852 and bought a farm in Alden Township, McHenry County. He was Postmaster of Harvard four years. Mr. Baker is a descendant of Edward Baker, who came from England and settled on the south side of " Baker's Hill," in Lynn, Mass., in 1630. He was admitted a freeman in 1638. All that is known of his wife is that her name was Joan or Jane, and that she died April 9, 1693. In 1657 he moved from Lynn to Northampton, where he had several grants of land and bought a number of lots. He held many of the town offices and lived in Northampton till his death. Mr. Baker's maternal grandfather, John R. Coney, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war.

Jacob Barth, deceased, came to McHenry County, 111., in November, 1866, and settled in Chemung Township. In 1868 he went to Nebraska and worked on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad till the fall of 1870, and then returned to McHenry County and settled on the farm where his family reside, where he died March 23, 1884. Mr. Barth was a son of Jacob and Eva (Phillippe) Barth and was born in Buffalo, N. Y., Jan. 22, 1836. His parents were natives of Paris, France. They were married in their native country and soon after came to America and settled in Newbern, N. C; subsequently moved to Erie County, N. Y. Jacob Barth was educated in New York and remained with his parents till after his marriage, and then moved to Coldwater, Mich., and remained till his removal to McHenry County. He was married Oct. 14, 1860, to Mary Eggleston, a native of Lancaster, N. Y., born Nov. 6, 1842, a daughter of Willis F. and Sarah A. (Grill) Eggleston. To them were born three children - Willis J., born in Coldwater, Mich., Aug. 26, 1861; George W., born Feb. 17, 1874; Frank A., born Feb. 11, 1879. Mr. Barth was a member of Chemung Lodge, No. 258, F. & A. M. He was an energetic farmer, and one of the representative business men of the county.

Robert Beck, farmer and stock-raiser, sections 21 and 28, Chemung Township, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, a son of John and Isabel (Maconnell) Beck, natives of County Armagh, Ireland. He is the second child and eldest son of eight sons and three daughters. When nineteen years of age he came with his brother James to America and located in McHenry County, 111. He worked at farming in Dunham and Chemung townships, McHenry County, and LeRoy Township, Boone County, and at gardening in Chicago four years and a half, and then returned to Ireland on a visit, and while there met the lady who subsequently became his wife. After a visit ot seven months he returned to America and went to Canada West, where he worked at lumbering and in a saw-mill two years; then returned to Chemung, 111., and soon after settled in Dunham Township. In 1873 he settled on the farm where he now resides. He owns 100 acres of choice land, all under cultivation. Mr. Beck is one of the leading farmers of the township, and during a residence of twenty-five years has seen the country undergo many important changes. He was married in Woodstock, 111., Feb. 25, 1867, to Anna J. Lynn, a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, daughter of William and Mary A. (Miller) Lynn. They have four sons - William J., born Jan. 10, 1868; Frederick K. E., born Sept. 23, 1871; Alexander A., born Nov. 3, 1876, and Earl H., born March 18, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Beck are members of the Episcopal church.

Robert J. Beck, Justice of the Peace, contractor and builder in brick and stone, Chemung, 111., is a native of County Armagh, Ireland, born Dec. 17, 1851, a son of Isaiah and Eliza (Bell) Beck. His parents came to America when he was six months old and settled in Chemung, where his father died Nov. 22, 1873. His mother is making her home with him. He learned the mason's trade in his youth of his father, and is one of the best workmen in the county. He was elected to the office of Justice in 1878. He owns forty acres of land in Dunham Township, adjoining Chemung, where he resides, and considerable town property. Mr. Beck was married Nov. 29, 1877, to Emma M. Puffer, a native of Chemung, daughter of Samuel L. and Lydia M. (Graves) Puffer. They have two children - Frank E., born Oct. 15, 1878, and Grace E., born Aug. 2, 1880. Mr. Beck is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and is Master of Chemung Lodge, No. 258.

Henry Benjamin, retired, is one of the oldest merchants of Harvard. He was born in Truxton, Cortland Co., N. Y., Feb. 8, 1822, the second of thirteen children of Elijah E. and Catharine (Vincent) Benjamin. When twenty-one years of age he came to Illinois, and taught school in Putnam County two years. He then returned to New York and was married April 14, 1846, to Carrie C. Hull, a native of Truxton, born Nov. 13, 1825, daughter of George and Sallie (Barnard) Hull, and came the same spring to Illinois and bought a farm near Bloomingdale, Du Page County. In 1850 he sold his farm and moved to Prospect Park, and engaged in the mercantile business till the spring of 1858, when he moved to Harvard and became associated with Hull & Julius, the first regular merchants of Harvard. In 1867 Mr. Benjamin bought the interests of the other partners and carried on the business alone till 1874, when he retired from the active cares of business. Mr. Benjamin has been one of the most enterprising and influential merchants of Harvard, and has seen its business center advance from almost nothing to its present prosperous condition. He has held many local offices of trust and responsibility. To Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin have been born two children - Herbert Elijah, born July 31, 1847, is messenger for the American Express Company, and resides at Milwaukee, Wis.; he married Emma Cheever; Alice E., born Feb. 25, 1851, married Charles C. Sperry, a physician in Chicago, 111.

David H. Bentley, farmer and stockraiser, sections 11 and 12, Chemung Township, was born in Chemung County, N. Y., Aug. 16, 1840, a son of Kodolphus and Christina ( Price) Bentley. He remained with his mother after his father's death in 1857, assisting in the care of the farm and attending school, and after his marriage took charge of the farm, which he bought in 1873. He owns 203 acres of choice land, which is well cultivated, and improved with a pleasant residence and good farm buildings. He is one of the leading farmers and representative citizens of Chemung Township, and although not a native, has been identified with the county since his earliest recollection. He was married Dec. 10, 1862, to Mary H. Thompson, a native of Otsego County, N. Y., born May 9, 1843, a daughter of Luke R. and Sarah (Sutliff) Thompson, early settlers of Walworth County, Wis., where her mother still lives, and her father died May 17, 1871. Mr. and Mrs. Bentley have had six children - Sadie, born April 27, 1864 ; Grace, born April 27, 1866, died March 13, 1869; Fred., born Feb. 26, 1868; Luke, born Oct. 4, 1871, died Oct. 11, 1871; Rodolphus, born May 21, 1875, and Angelo, born Dec. 17, 1879.

Rodolphus Bentley, deceased, was born in Berlin, Bensselaer Co., N. Y., October, 1800, a sou of Caleb and Mary (Hewitt) Bentley. He was the sixth of nine children, seven sons and two daughters. He remained in Berlin till 1833, and then moved to ChemuDg County, N. Y., and lived twelve years. In 1844 he moved to McHenry County, 111., and settled on sections 11 and 12, Chemung Township, where he died Nov. 20, 1837. He was a member of the Baptist' church, and his wife of the Methodist Episcopal church. He was married July 8, 1828, to Christina Price, a native of Greenwich, Rensselaer Co., N. Y., born May 1, 1805. She is living with her son, David H. They had a family of seven children - John H. married Augusta Cheny, and died in April, 1864, leaving two children - George and Hattie; Caleb J., ofRockton, 111., married Nettie Gibson, who died in January, 1864, leaving one son, Harry G.; he then married Florence Pollard, and they have two children - Fannie and Tina; Sarah J., wife of J. O. Lewis; James T., of Decatur, 111., married Nancy J. Murphy and has two children - William and Pauline; David H, of Chemung Township; Harriet L., wife of P. M. Ottman, of Sharon, Wis., has three children - Mary J., David R. and Tina B. ; Josephine, wife of D. E. Pixley, of Harvard. Mr. Bentley's father, Caleb Bentley, was a Captain in the Revolutionary war.

William O. Billings, deceased, was born in Pottsdam, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., Jan. 14, 1822, the eldest of three children of Charles and Rebecca (Gould) Billings. When he was fourteen years of age his father died, and he took charge of his mill till after the death of his mother. When twenty-one years of age he sold the mill and bought a farm in St. Lawrence County. In the fall of 1845 he came to Illinois and bought land in McHenry County, and took charge of the grist-mill, afterward buying an interest. In 1860 he was burned severely, and had not recovered when the war broke out. In 1864 he raised a company and was commissioned First Lieutenant. The company was assigned to the One Hundred and Forty-second Illinois Infantry, and joined it in Tennessee, near Memphis. They participated in the defense of the city against Morgan, and then Mr. Billings was detailed to assist the Brigade Quartermaster. After the expiration of his term of service he returned home, and again enlisted and helped to raise another company, of which he was appointed Captain, and in February, 1865, they joined the One Hundred and Fifty-third Illinois Infantry, and was ordered to Tullahoma. While there Captain Billings was taken sick and was obliged to return home in order to save his life, and it was several months before he was able to attend to any business. In 1870 he was appointed Deputy Internal Kevenue Collector for the Second District of Illinois, and held the position fourteen years. He died July 20, 1884, leaving a wife and three daughters to mourn his loss. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, and was Master of Chemung Lodge a number of years. He was married Nov. 2, 1842, to Fannie R. Everest, a native of Pottsdam, IS'. Y., daughter of Ethan and Fannie (Johneon) Everest. To them were born seven children; but three are living - Ella J., wife of Melville Lillibridge; Marion E., wife of Darwin E. Barrows, and Grace E., wife of Henry L. Puffer, all residents of McHenry County.

Henry W. JBinnie, dealer in foreign and domestic dry-goods, notions, carpets, boots and shoes, groceries, etc., Harvard, 111., was born in Dundee, Kane Co., 111., May 16, 1856, a son of David and Christina (Clyde) Binnie, natives of Scotland. His parents were married in their native country, and in 1849 came to America and settled in Kane County, 111., where the father died Sept. 13, 1873. The mother is living in Chicago. They had a family of ten children; six are living - Ellen, wife of Win. M. Thompson, an extensive dairyman and wholesale ice-cream dealer of Chicago; David, retired, Chicago, married Emma Ogdeu; James, a merchant now in Harvard, married Susan Elliott; Ada, wife of W. J. Reasner, a dairyman of Chicago; Henry W., our subject; Alex., of Alta, Iowa, married Grace Clarkson. Henry W. Binnie attended school till nineteen years of age, and then began farming two miles north of Elgin. A year later he bought a farm in Dunham Township, McHenry County. In the fall of 1881 he rented his farm and moved to Harvard, and bought and shipped stock till August, 1883, when he bought the store where he is now doing business. He carries a full stock of everything in his line, valued at $12,000 or

$13,000. He occupies a building 108 x 24 feet, with abasement 24 x 60 feet, and a warehouse for groceries. Mr. Binnie was married Oct. 27, 1875, to Hattie Nims, a native of Wisconsin, daughter of Orval and Hannah (Hughes) Nims. They have one child

N. E. Blake, Justice of the Peace, Harvard, 111., was born in Steuben County, N. T., June 18, 1825, a son of Zerah and Esther (Etheridge) Blake, his father a native of Litchfield, Conn., and his mother of Herkimer County, N. Y. His mother died in 1832, and his father in 1839. Of their ten children but three are living - Electa, wife of Joseph Losey, of Steuben County, N. Y.; Z. H., of Livingston County, N. Y.', married Lovica Dorr; and Nathaniel E. "When fifteen jears of age Nathaniel E. Blake began to learn the wagon- maker's trade, and when eighteen went to work in a threshing-machine factory. In 1867 he came to Illinois and located in Harvard, and has since been identified with the business interests of the town. He manufactured sash, doors and blinds till 1871, and then converted his shop into a wagon factory, which is still conducted by his son. Mr. Blake has been President of the Town Board several times in the past ten years. In 1882 he was elected Justice of the Peace. He is a member of Harvard Lodge, No. 309, F. & A. M.; Harvard Chapter, No. 91, R. A. M., and Calvary Commandery, Woodstock, No. 25, K. T. Politically he is a Republican. He was married Sept. 5, 1844, to Emeline Wellington, a native of Bethel, Yt., daughter of John and Julia (Guile) Wellington. They have three children - J. O, manager of the wagon factory, married Louisa Burdett; F. W., a blacksmith and locomotive engineer, of Socorro, N. M. ; and Lettie M. Mr. and Mrs. Blake are members of the Episcopal church.

Gilbert Brainard, one of the proprietors of Clark & Brainard's pickle factory, and one of the oldest residents of Harvard, was born in Townsend, Huron Co., Ohio, May 4, 1840, the son of Gilbert and Nancy (Giddings) Brainard, natives of. New York, who, soon after their marrage, moved to Huron County, Ohio, and in the fall of 1846 moved to McHenry County, 111., and bought a farm of 400 acres, a part of which is the present site of Harvard. The father died in September, 1849, aged forty-four years, and the mother died May 28, 1881. They had a family of ten children; six are living - Elmira, wife of E.J. San ford, of Woodstock; Asel, married Elizabeth Finney, and resides in Gary, Denel Co., Dak.; Janet, wife o

Edwin Backus, of Independence, Iowa; Marvin R., of Chicago married Emily Jackson; Gilbert, Jr.; Fletcher S., of Rockford, 111., married Ella Brown. When seventeen years of age Gilbert Brainard began clerking for Hull, Julias & Co., the first merchants of Harvard. From 1863 to 1869 he engaged in the grain trade and then, in company with C. R. Brown, opened a general store. In 1875 he bought Mr. Brown's interest, and conducted the business alone till January, 1882, when he sold out to Henry Calender. He then dealt in grain till the spring of 1883, when he formed his present partnership witli J. D. Clark. Their factory has now a capacity for making 20,000 bushels of pickles, and they are intending to enlarge it. Mr. Brainard has been identified with the interests of McHenry County since six years of age. He has always taken an active interest in all that tends toward the elevation of the county, socially and morally. He is President of the Young Men's Christian Association and of the Bible Society of Chemung Township. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. His father was formerly a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, but was turnetl out in Ohio for voting the Abolition ticket, and then joined the Wesleyan Methodist church. His mother retained her membership and was one of the organizers of the church in Harvard. Politically Mr. Brainard is a Republican, bat favors prohibition. He was married March 14, 1867, to Emma Brown, a native of Lawrence, McHenry Co., 111., daughter of Charles R. and Esther (Thompson) Brown.

Bennett S. Brown, one of the old settlers and leading farmers of McHenry County, was born in Addicon County, Vt, May 4, 1823, a son of Daniel R. and Phoebe (Lewis) Brown. "When he was sixteen years old his parents moved to St. Lawrence County, N. T., where his father died a year later, leaving seven children, of whom Bennett was the eldest son and second child. He remained with his mother till 1856, when he came to Illinois and lived in Seneca Township, McHenry County, a year; then bought a part of his present farm, to which he has since added and now owns 358 acres of choice land, on sections 28, 33 and 31, Chemung Township. He has been a resident of the county nearly twenty-nine years, and in that time has been one of the foremost in every good work. He was married Aug. 25, 1847, to Orpha C. Heaton, a native of St. Lawrence County, N. Y., born Jan. 19, 1827, a daughter of Isaac and Mary (Clark) Heaton. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have had eight children - Silas A., of Baraboo, Wis., is an engineer for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad; Mary E., died at the age of fifteen years; Eveline A., married E. C. Powers, of Harvard; Charles I., unmarried, is with his parents; George G., of Sanborn County, Dak., married Mary Orr; Lewis B., unmarried and at home; William Heaton, of Sanborn County, Dak., married Emma Hickok; Julia S., wife of Henry M. Hickok, of Sanborn County, Dak.

Charles R. Brown, one of the most extensive stock-raisers and farmers in the county, was born in Sharon, Litchfield Co., Conn., April 3, 1818, a son of Charles and Marilla (Beard) Brown. When he was three years of age his parents moved to Erie County, N. T. He was the eldest of seven children, and, his father being a poor man, he was early obliged to depend upon himself and assist in the maintenance of the family. He was married May 16, 1844, to Esther Thompson, a native of Erie County, N. Y., daughter of James C. and Mehitable (Gould) Thompson. The next fall he came to McHenry County. "When he arrived in the county he had $109. He took $100 and bought eighty acres of Government land, and with the rest commenced housekeeping. In 1857 he sold his farm and moved to Harvard and bought another in the corporation of Harvard. He owns seventy-five acres in Harvard and 465 acres outside the corporation. He raises grain, but makes a specialty of raising Norman horses and Victor hogs. He also has a fine apiary of fifty-two swarms. In addition to his farm he Jowns a large brick business block in Harvard, and ten lots with three dwelling houses. Mr. and Mrs. Brown had a family of eight daughters; five are living - Emma, wife of Gilbert Braiuard; Elleu, wife of S. F. Barnard; Mary E., wife of C. A. Griswold, a merchant of Chicago; Frances, wife of A. P. Upham, of Chicago; Alice, wife of Hugh Megraw. Mrs. Brown died Nov. 4, 1883. Mr. Brown has held several offices of trust in the township, among them Supervisor three term s, Justice of the Peace four years, and Assessor three years. He is purely a self-made man, starting when a boy to take care of himself. He has, by industry and honesty, made for himself a good property, and is now one of the representative men of the county.

William A. Brown, farmer, Chemung Township, McHenry Co. , 111., has been a resident of the township since October, 1843. He was born in Warsaw, Geneseo, now "Wyoming Co., N. Y., Jan. 31, 1821, a son of Stephen G. and Sallie (Jones) Brown, natives of New York. "William A. was the third of four children and sec- ond son, and is the only one living. He was four years of age when his mother died, andhis father subsequently married Bethnna Davis. Both are now dead. They had a family of ten children. When fifteen years of age William A. Brown went to work on a farm in Geneseo County. In 1843 he came West, and bought the farm in Chemung Township where he still resides. He has had many hardships to undergo but has been successful, and now has a fine farm, and has been one of the most successful raisers of grain and stock in the county. His farm contains 200 acres, on sections 22 and 23, with a pleasant residence and commodious farm buildings. He was married Oct. 26, 1845, to Mary S. Hutchinson, a native of Erie County, N. T., a daughter of Daniel P. and Crania (Pray) Hutchinson. To them were born three children; but one is living - George W., who runs a pack team in Colorado, with headquarters at Crested Butte. His wife died Dec. 10, 1862. April 17, 1865, he married Mrs. Julia Miller, widow of C. J. Miller, and daughter of Amasa and Marilla (Baird) Cook. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have two children - Archie D., and William A., Jr. Mr. Brown is a member of Harvard Lodge, No. 309, F. & A. M. ; Harvard Chapter, No. 91, R. A. M. His wife is a member of the Presbyterian church.

Abner J. Burbanh, station agent for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, Harvard, 111., was born in Lowell, Mass., Dec. 17, 1834, a son of Abner and Elizabeth M. (Badger) Burbank, natives of Vermont. His father was overseer of the Hamilton Corporation Cotton Factory, Lowell, Mas3. In 1847 his parents came West, and his father engaged in the grain and produce business till his death, in 1874. His wife died in 1872. Three of their six children are living - Susan B., wife of I. W. Webster; Emma, wife of Ed. E. Ayer, and A. J. After leaving school Abner worked at the machinist's trade six months and theu went to Newburjj, N. Y. , and ran a stationary engine three months; thence to Lowell, Mass., and six months later to New Market, N. H. In 1854 he came West and clerked in the dry-goods store of E. G. Ayer, at Big Foot, Wis., six months; then went to Kenosha, Wis., and attended school, read law and taught school thirteen or fourteen months. He then was employed as clerk for the contractor of the grading of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad six or eight months; then attended Chicago Commercial College, and subsequently was employed as bookkeeper till the fall of 1856, when he was appointed station agent at Harvard. He remained in the employ of the rail- road company filling different positions till 1872, when, with A. E. Low, he engaged in the manufacture of barley malt. In 1874 he was again employed by the railroad company, and in 1879 was appointed agent at Harvard. Mr. Burbankwas married Jan. 8, 1858, to Anna M. Ayer, a native of Walworth County, Wis., daughter of - Judge E. G. and Maria E. (Titcomb) Ayer. They have had three children - Elbridge A., born Sept. 10, 1859, is a portrait painter in St. Paul, Minn.; Henry C, born August, 1862; Lillie N., born April 15, 1865. Mr. Burbank is a charter member of Harvard Lodge, No. 309, F. & A. M., and Harvard Lodge, No. 147, A. 0. U. W. Politically he is a Republican.

Benjamin B. Butts, deceased, was one of the first settlers of Mc- Henry County. He was born in New Lisbon, Conn., October, 1805, the eldest of five children of Simon and Esther (Pettingill) Butts. When a boy he went with his parents to Monroe County, N. Y. He lived on the home farm till he was twenty-one years of age, and then learned the carpenter and joiner's trade. In June, 1837, he came West, and in 1838 settled on the farm on section 26, Chemung Township, where his widow still lives. He went to California in 1858 and died there in 1865, of heart disease. He was married Jan. 1, 1S34, to Eoba A. Sprague, a native of Syracuse, N. Y., born Dec. 6, 1815, the only child of Daniel and Anna (Warren) Sprague, her father a native of New York and her mother of Massachusetts. Mrs. Butts's father died in 1816, and when she was eleven years old her mother moved to Monroe County, N. Y., where she met and married Mr. Butts. To Mr. and Mrs. Butts were born three children - Frances A., born May 24, 1840, was the first white child born in Chemung Township; she married Oliver Udell, a farmer of Alden Township; Scebra M., of Harvard, born Aug. 17, 1842, married Mary Whitmarch; Harvey W., of Harvard, born Sept. 15, 1847, married Rosa Russell. There are fourteen grandchildren. Both sons enlisted in the Rebellion in a McHenry company. Mrs. Butts, as was her husband, is a member of the Advent church. She owns a fine farm of fifty-six and a half acres, which was in a wild state when she came to the county- She and her mother and sister-in-law, Mrs. Farnsworth, were the first white women in Chemung. They lived there four weeks while their house was being built. Wolves and deer were plenty, and neighbors scarce. The Indians often passed their house, but were peace able. Mrs. Butts is one of the very few living who came to Che mnng Township in 1838.

Benjamin F. Carey, dealer in organs, pianos and sewing machines, Chemung, 111., was born in Chemung, Chemung Co., N. Y., May 14, 1837. a son of Absalom and Eebecca (Tillman) Carey. Absalom Carey was a drummer boy in the war of 1812, and in the war of the Rebellion was Chaplain of the One Hundred and Third New York Infantry. He began teaching before he was twentyone years of age. He subsequently attended the Newberg Seminary, and after his graduation, was elected the first President of the Wyoming College. He was ordained a minister in the Baptist church, when a young man. He was married to Elizabeth Halleck, sister of the late General Halleck. She died leaving one son - Absalom H, who resides in Florida. Mr. Carey then married Rebecca Tillman, and to them were born five sons and two daughters; four sons and one daughter are living - Benjamin F., our subject; David W., of Dover, Del.; Peter V., Mayor of Des. Moines, Iowa; Charles M., of Wyoming, Del. ; and Ann E., of New York City, widow of Harry Lewis. His four sons were all in the Union army during the war of the Rebellion. Peter lost three fingers from his right hand, by a minie-ball. Mr. and Mrs. Carey reside in Wyoming, Del. He is now in the eighty-third year of his age. Benjamin F. Carey received a good education, finishing his studies at Roberts Seminary, Elmira, N. Y., when nineteen years of age. He then went with his brother to Fredericksburg, Va., and was an engineer on a railroad seven years. In March, 1861, he was conscripted into the rebel army, in Company A, Sixteenth Virginia Infantry. In the summer of 1862 he escaped and went to Washington and New York, and assisted in raising the Twenty-first New York Light Artillery, and was elected Second Lieutenant. They were assigned duty at Fort Schuyler, New York Harbor. After the close of the war he went to Wyoming, Del., and engaged with his brother in the fruit business. In 1869 he moved to Chemung, and has since traveled for different wholesale houses. He was married May 31, 1871, to Julia Antoinette Wooster, a native of Chemung, McHenry County, daughter of George and Susan (Devine) Wooster. They have two sons - George B., born Feb. 1, 1874, and Ralph Le Grand, born Oct. 6, 1878. Mr. Carey is a member of the Odd Fellows order, and a member of the Grand Lodge of Illinois. He was a representative of the Grand Lodge of Good Templars, of Delaware, to the Grand Lodge of the United States, in 1868. David W. Chilson, son of William and Rachel (Westfall)

Chilson, was born in Schoharie, N. Y., Oct. 25, 1842, and came witli his parents to McHenry County, 111., in the fall of 1849. "When twenty-one years of age be returned to New York, and Jan. 1, 1868, enlisted in Company L, Fifteenth New York Cavalry, and remained till the close of the war. He was thrown from a car while being transferred, and had his shoulder dislocated. After the war he returned to McHenry County, and engaged in farming till 1872, and since then has dealt in live stock, buying and shipping to the larger cities. He built his residence in Harvard in 1876. He was married Jan. 1, 1867, to Ellen Warren, of Walworth County, Wis., daughter of A. P. and Ambrosia (Gates) Warren. They have two children - Willie H., born Dec. 19, 1867, and Kittie M., born Jan. 24, 1872. Mr. and Mrs. Chilson are members of the Baptist church. He is a member of Harvard Lodge, No. 147, A. O. U. W., and Harvard Legion, No. 24, Select Knights. Politically he is a Republican.

William Chilson, farmer, was born in Schoharie County, N. Y., June 18, 1820, a son of James and Charlotte (Stevens) Chilson. When twenty-two years of age he came West, and was offered eighty acres of land where the Northwestern depot, Chicago, stands, for $200. He passed through McHenry County to Walworth County, Wis., and worked on a farm till September, 1842. Then went to Milwaukee, Wis., and from there returned East, and, Oct. 18, 1812, was married to Rachel A. Westfall, a native of Albany County, N. Y., daughter of Abraham and Eliza (Worrick) Westfall. He worked on a farm in Schoharie County till 1845, and then came West to Cook County, 111., and settled between South Grove and Deer Grove, on Squire Bradwell's farm. The next fall he came to McHenry Connty, and bought a farm in Chemung Township, about a mile from his present residence. Mr. and Mrs. Chilson have had eight children - David, of Chemung Township; William Henry, a dentist of Appleton, Wis.; Charles, enlisted in Company C, Ninety-fifth Illinois Infantry, and died from exposure while a prisoner at Andersonville; Lodemia, wife of Robert Wheeler, of Harvard; Jennie O; James K., a passenger conductor on the Santa Fr. Railroad; George, a grocer of Lawrence, married Abi Page; Libbie, at home. Mr. Chilson has a pleasant farm, near Lawrence. He has held several offices of trust in the Township.

May 10, 1850, a son of Cyrus and Emeline (Russell) Church, his father a native of Connecticut, and his mother of Ohio. Cyrus Church came West when nineteen years of age, and located on a farm in Walworth County, Wis., where he has since resided. His wife died in 1853. They had a family of six children ; five are living - Adelia V., wife of J. D. Clark; Leonard C, married Ada Porter; Hiram E., Eugene L., and David B. Mr. Church subsequently married Mary Boorman. They have three children - Howard M., Henry S. and Minnie. Eugene L. Church was brought upon the farm, and receiving an academic education, began teaching school when eighteen years of age, and taught three winters, working at the carpenter's trade in the summer. From 1871 till 1874 he traveled for a wind-mill and farm- machinery company, and then assumed the management of Forest Glen Park, Lake Geneva. In 1875 he worked at the carpenter and builder's and in the winter of 1875 invented his hay elevator and carrier, and in the spring of 1876 began their manufacture at Walworth, Wis. In June, 1876, he received his patent, and the following winter made an improvement and went to Rockford, 111., to arrange for their manufacture. June 5, 1877, he received his second patent. In August, 1877, he moved to Harvard and formed a partnership with James D. and Cyrus R. Clark, and made Harvard his headquarters, with the factory at Rockford. In October, 1878, he bought his partner's interest, and in the spring of 1881 bought his building and machinery, and has since manufactured his own machines in Harvard. His carrier is practical, made entirely of iron, simple in construction, and is the most effective, durable, and easily managed of any carrier in the market. Mr. Church commenced on limited capital, but now does an annual business of $80,000. He has sold his carriers in most of the States and Territories. He is also the owner of the Harvard Flour Mills, the leading mills of the county. He has recently refitted and furnished them throughout with the latest improved machinery, at a cost of $20,000, and has a capacity of 100 barrels of flour per day. The specialties are " Harvard's Delight," "Cream of the Harvest," and "Baker's Gem." They pay the highest market price for grain. Mr. Church was married Feb. 25, 1879, to Anna E. Hall, a native of Walworth County, Wis., daughter of Henry and Lucy (Clark) Hall. They have two children - Ethel, born June 27, 1881, and Ella, born April 26, 1883. John W. Clark, foreman of the Chicago & Northwestern shops and round-house at Harvard, is a native of Scotland, born Nov. 11, 1849, a son of John and Jane (Scotland) Clark. His parents came to America in 1853, and located in Chicago, 111., where the father was engineer for Walker & Brunson, grain merchants,, till 1862, and from that time till his death in January, 1879, worked in the machine shops of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. He, as is also his widow, was a member of the Congregational church. Of their six children, five are living - Robert S., of Chicago, married Agnes Home; John W. ; Lizzie, with her mother in Chicago; Kittie, wife of E. Anderson, of Chicago; Jennie, also with her mother. John W. Clark attended school till fourteen years of age, and then began to learn the machinist's trade in the Chicago & Northwestern shops, and was finally advanced to foreman. In 1833 he was given charge of the shops and round-house at Harvard. He was married Sept. 25, 1883, to Nellie Conner, a native of Boston, Mass. Mr. Clark is a thorough machinist, and one of the best' workmen in the employ of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. Horatio B. Coe, a former Principal of the public schools, Harvard, 111., was born in Derby, New Haven Co., Conn., Oct. 11, 1824, a son of Truman and Anna (Holbrook) Coe. His father was a teacher and gave the son the benefit of "a good education. He taught in Ohio and Connecticut, and in 1849 came West and taught a school in Geneva Lake, Wis., a year; then had charge of the grammar department of the Kenosha schools three years ; was then Principal of the Geneva schools two years; in Racine three years; in Milwaukee three years ; and again in Geneva a year. He then conducted _ the Walworth County, Wis., Institute a year. Aug. 21, 1864, he enlisted in Company A, Wisconsin Heavy Artillery, and served till the close of the war. After his return home he came to Harvard and organized the public schools, remaining two months; then went to Lawrence, Kan., and organized the public school, consisting of 1,000 scholars, and was Principal a year. In the fall of 1866 he returned to Harvard and bought property, and was Principal of the schools four years. In 1870 he taught in Evansville, Wis.; in 1871 returned to Harvard, and had charge of the schools for two years; then taught in Sterling, 111., three years, and in the fall of 1877 came again to Harvard and had charge of the school two years ; then taught music and elocution a year. Prom 1880 to 1882 he was Principal of the Algonquin schools, and iu the fall of 1882 went to Colorado and was Principal of the Del Norte and Silver Cliff schools a year each. Mr. Coe is a thorough teacher and a good disciplinarian. By example as well as by precept he taught his scholars to be honest, upright business men in all their dealings. He was married March 27, 1848, to Mary D. Gere, a native of Auburn, N. T., born March 12, 1832, daughter of Jabez and Lydia (McKee) Gere. They have had three children; but two are living - Fred H., born July 29, 1852, and Minnehaha, born Sept. 26, 1860. Fred was married Feb. 16, 1882, to Florence Benson, a native of Portland, Ore., born Feb. 28, 1862, a daughter of Nathan and Martha (Mead) Benson. He has one daughter - Madge E., born May 20, 1883. Mr. Coe, Si\, is a member of Harvard Lodge, No. 309, F. & A. M., and Harvard Chapter, No. 91, R. A. M. He traces his family back to 1620, and is supposed to be a descendant of Robert Coe, who came with Andrew "Ward from "Weathersfield, England. Mrs. Coe's descendants came over in the Mayflower. Mr. Coe's father, Truman Coe, was born in Derby, Conn., in December, 1788.. He walked ten miles three times a week to attend Tale College, and was finally rewarded by receiving the degree of Master of Arts. He established Derby Academy, and was Principal twelve years. In the meantime he made several important surveys, among them Housatonic River for a proposed canal. He lectured on astronomy and philosophy in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York six years, and subsequently studied theology with "Father Swift," of Derby. In 1832 he moved to Kirtland, Ohio, and was pastor of the Congregational church twenty-five years. Soon after his settlement in Kirtland he was instrumental in having the Western Reserve Teachers' Seminary established, and was connected with it as lecturer and adviser over ten years. He died May 22, 1858. Although a quiet, uuassuming man, his opinions were always asked and honored by both clergy and laity with whom he was associated. His wife died Nov. 12, 1845, aged fifty -five years, while visiting her daughter in Newberg, Ind. They had a pleasant married life of over thirty years, and the thirteen years that he survived her were never as bright as when her presence comforted and helped him in his labors.