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Robert FARIES
Robert Faries was born in Shelby county, Ohio, March 4, 1837. He lived on a farm near Middletown,
Ohio, from the age of six to eighteen years, going to school nearly all the year round until the age
of ten, after which he went in the winter time only. Having shown a mechanical bent by making many
playthings, such as wagons, sleds, etc., and culminating in a working stationary steam engine and boiler,
complete in every detail, it was decided that he should learn the machinist's trade and to that end
he got work in the old Madison Railroad shop at Indianapolis, Indiana, remaining there and at the
shops of the Indianapolis & Cincinnati Railroad until the spring of 1859, when he went with a
party across the plains to Colorado, known then as Pike's Peak, starting about the middle of March
and going from St. Joseph, Missouri, by ox teams. They arrived at a little cluster of sod-covered
log cabins, called Denver city the 2ist of June, remaining in this vicinity until fall, when he joined
a blacksmith in a trip to Taos, New Mexico, going with some Mexican teamsters who had brought up a
load of flour and were going back empty. They stayed there until March, i860, when they went back
to the mines. Having tried mining at first without much success, he made his living and other expenses
at gun repairing in the company of, but not in partnership with, his blacksmith friend.
In the fall of 1860, with a company of others, who like himself, had failed to make
a fortune in the short time that they had been in this new country, and had concluded that it would
never amount to anything anyway, he went back to what they were in the habit of calling "The States."
Arriving in St. Joseph late in October flat broke, he worked in a livery stable for a few weeks and
later as an engineer in a planing mill. Business was dull in consequence of the political excitement
which had just culminated in the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency of the United States.
The mill shut down and he went back to Indianapolis, working for small wages in a machine shop through
the winter. He enlisted in the fore part of March in Company II, Eleventh Indiana Volunteers for three
months. Lew Wallace, colonel. After seeing some pretty rough service in Maryland and Virginia, the
company was mustered out of service at Indianapolis, in July, after nearly four months' service.
While most of his company re-enlisted for the three years' service he had become too deaf to hear the
word of command and went to work again in the Indianapolis & Cincinnati Railroad shops, where he
remained most of the time during the war.
In 1864-5 he invented and patented a cast iron steam boiler similar to some of those that
are used now for steam and hot water heating, but as this manner of heating had not come into use at
that time, he had little other use for it than to generate steam for steam engines. Me built several
of these boilers and putt them into use in different places and at first they seemed to promise success
and he got some good testimonials from the users of them. But later they developed some faults that
caused their failure. He had sent out one of these boilers to Decatur for the use of the new firm of
Greely & Brodt, who were starting a furniture factory on Mason street (now Wabash avenue) in the
building which is now used for the Hard Plaster factory.
This brought him to Decatur in the spring of 1866. His boiler and this firm soon failing,
he got a position with the Central Iron Works (now Union Works) who, together with mill and elevator
work, built steam engines. He set up the engines they sold and worked in the shop between times, he
remained with them about three years. He then, in 1870, went to work as foreman of the machine
department of the Decatur Agricultural Works, where he remained until it went out of business in 1872.
He got permission to put up a small engine here and run part of the machinery on plow and other farm
machine repair work, he- paying a per cent of the income as rent for the use of building and tools.
This arrangement lasted only about one year when Chambers & Quinlan bought the property and Mr.
Faries worked for them for about another year. In 1875 he bought the Wilson Boiler shop, which is
now a part of the Decatur Novelty Works on Morgan and Williams streets, and bringing the plow repair
work with him, did general plow, machinery and boiler repair business and sheet iron work. In 1877
he took William L. Oakes into partnership with him in this business and in 1881 sold out his interest
to Mr. Oakes. He then put a small engine and a lathe into the basement of his residence and did some
special machine work in the winter and spring of 1882. In the spring and summer of this year he built
the nucleus of the present Faries Manufacturing Company's plant and continued the manufacture of special
machinery such as box fastener, hog-ring and checkrower wire making machines. During the winter and
spring of 1883 he made some checkrower wire for the firm of Kaylor, McClelland & Fisher and having
found that there was more money to be made by running machinery than in making it for others he continued
to do this and has gradually worked into a manufacturing business, the chief of which has been checkrower
wire. This got him into a patent law-suit, which lasted for over twelve years, costing a great deal of work,
worry and money, and although he lost in the lower courts and finally compromised by paying a considerable
sum, it was not all loss for the suit tended to deter others from going into the business in competition with
him. In 1890 he built the first addition to the factory and among other improvements put in an electric
lighting plant and in putting up fixtures for holding the lamps he devised an adjustable bracket for shifting
and holding the lamp where put. He had before this been doing considerable brass work in the way of store
window display fixtures and working lamp fixtures in with these and by continually adding to them, the
company has worked up a very large electric and gas fixture business. Most of this fixture business has
been worked up since the business was incorporated in 1894. Since the beginning twenty years ago, Mr.
Faries and the Farie Manufacturing Company have made several important special machines, the chief of
which are automatic checkrower wire machines and machines for spinning lamp shades.
A couple of years ago, 1900, Mr. Faries got up a little device for automatically tripping
of a camera shutter and which he calls an "Autopoze," by the use of which the photographer is enabled to
take his own picture, or include himself in "the group." While this is of not much importance in any
way, a good many amateurs, and especially tourists, find satisfaction in the use of it. By putting
themselves in the picture they can prove that "they were there."
In September, 1901, Mr. Faries, in company with others, started the Decatur Refrigerator
& Manufacturing Company, but as factories are to be written up separately little need be said
about this here.
Mr. Faries was married in Ohio in 1867 to Lena Bender. He has two daughters and one
son, all grown up and the daughters married. Mr. Faries says he was born and raised a Democrat and
has always been one, but as the party of that name has always been on the wrong side of the issue
ever since he has been of the voting age he has always voted the Republican ticket.
Past and Present of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois (1903), pg. 182-184
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John P. FARIS
John P. Faris, one of the representative business men of Niantic, is a native of
Highland county, Ohio, and was born on the seventh of April, 1840. The family from which he is
descended was of Welsh origin. His great-grandfather, whose name was James Faris, emigrated
from Wales and settled in Pennsylvania. He served as a soldier in the war of the Revolution,
and was killed by the Indians during the progress of that struggle. His grandfather was named
John Faris. His father Dr. E.S. Fairs, was born in Brooke county, Virginia, in the year 1807.
The family moved from Virginia to Highland county, Ohio, in the year 1815. This was just
after the close of the war with Great Britain, and they were among the pioneer settlers of
Highland county. Mr. Faris' mother's name before marriage was Lucinda Pulliam. She was a
native of the state of Kentucky.
In the year 1854, the family moved from Ohio to this state. They resided in Pike
county till 1857, when they came to Niantic. Mr. Faris was 14 years old when he became a
resident of Illinois. He attended the public schools in Ohio, and after he came to Pike county
acquiring the elements of a substantial business education. He began life on his own account
by becoming a clerk in a store in Pike county, and has been more or less identified with the
mercantile business since. For two years and a half after coming to Niantic he was clerking in
a store at that place. In the year 1861, then twenty-one years old, he embarked in business
on his own account, and began buying grain at Lanesville in Sangamon county. He commenced
operations with only a small capital, but in a short time was able to enlarge his business.
In 1864, in partnership with Thos. A. Pritchett, he opened a dry goods store at Niantic. He
sold goods with Esquire Pritchett as a partner for three years, and for two years afterward
was a partner of A.W. Pritchett. When he entered into the mercantile business he also began
the buying of grain which he has since followed.
His marriage occurred on the fourth of May, 1865, to Miss Fannie Ruby of
Lafayette, Indiana. By this marriage he has had three children. The oldest child, Edith,
died at the age of five years. The second, Charles, was nearly two years old at the time of
his death. The youngest, John B., is living, and is five years old. In his political
opinions, Mr. Faris may be called a democrat with a big "D". He is a sincere believer in the
principles of the demodratic party, and considers that they are best fitted to carry out the
ideas on which our forefathers founded this republic. He cast his first vote for President for
a democratic candidate, and voted the democratic ticket ever since. He has served as town
clerk of Niantic, and has filled other positions. He has been engaged in active business
enterprises in Niantic longer longer than almost any other resident of the town. He is now
engaged in the business of dealing in grain. He has also been employed in making collections
in that part of the county. He is a genleman of unquestioned personal standing, and of
excellent business capacity. His business training is the result of practical experience. He
began life without any capital, except his own energy and natural business qualifications. He
is an Odd Fellow, and also a member of the Masonic lodge at Illiopolis.
History of Macon Co., 1880 - p. 177
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Charles M. FARNHAM
Charles M. Farnham, who devotes his time and attention to agricultural pursuits, is the owner
of a good farm on section 5, Milam Township. He was born on the 17th of February, 1851, in Tunbridge, Vt.,
and was the youngest in a family of three children, two sons and a daughter. Hebbard, the eldest child, is
now engaged in agricultural pursuits in the Green Mountain State, and the sister died in infancy. The
father of our subject, Milo Farnham, was also born in Vermont and was of Welsh descent. His grandfather
came from Wales to this country in Colonial days and served as a soldier in the Revolutionary War, valiantly
aiding the Colonies in their struggle for independence. Milo Farnham was a mechanic by trade and spent his
entire life in the State of his nativity, where he died at the age of forty-five years. His wife, who was
of English lineage, was also a native of Vermont, and was called to the home beyond when sisty-two years of
age.
We all take up the personal history of our subject, whose well and worthily spent life
deserves a place in this volume. He was only about a year old at the time of his father's death, and then
went to live with his grandparents, with whom he remained until fourteen years of age. He then began
earning his own livelihood by working as a farm hand by the month, and was thus employed for several years,
when, in connection with his brother, he purchased a small farm, which together they cultivated until 1877.
In that year Mr. Farnham sold his interest in the farm to his brother, and, coming to Illinois, sought a
home in Macon County, where he has since resided. He hoped to better his financial condition by this
removed, and his hope has been realized.
After his arrival in this State, Mr. Farnham again worked as a farm hand by the month for a
period of two years, after which he rented land for five years. It was in Moultrie County that he first
purchased a farm, and he carried on its cultivation and development for six years. When that period had
passed by he sold his land and, coming to Macon County, his next purchase made him the possessor of the
farm on which he now resides. It comprises eighty acres of arable land, and its well-tilled fields yield
to the owner a golden tribute in return for the care and cultivation he bestows upon them.
In October, 1883, Mr. Farnham was married to Mill Ollie Bromley, of this county, a daughter
of Brewel and Laura Bromley. One child has been born of their union, Maude, a little maiden of two
summers, who is the delight of the household and the joy of her parents. In his political faith, Mr.
Farnham is a Republican. His wife is a member of the Baptist Church, and to its support he contributes
liberally, giving freely of his means, as he does to all other enterprises calculated to promote the
general welfare or aid in the upbuilding of the county.
Portrait and Biographical Record of Macon Co., IL, 1893 - p. 203-204
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Joseph W. FAWKES
The subject of the following sketch deserves to be ranked among the leading
inventors of the age. The family, on the paternal side, are of English ancestry and of Welsh
extraction on the maternal. His father, Joseph Fawkes, was a farmer, and a native of Lancaster
county, Pennsylvania. He belonged to the middle classes, and was possessed of a reasonable
amount of property. Joseph W. is the third son in a family of seven children. He was born in
Lancaster county, Pa., September 25th, 1825. His boyhood days were not different from most
boys who grow up on the farm. He received such an education as the common schools of his
county afforded. The great dream of his younger years and maturer life was to become an
inventor, and originate machinery that would benefit the large class of cultivators of the
soil, and lessen their toil, and make more pleasant and remunerative that great industry.
Added to this desire was a genius that developed early in the boy. At the age of sixteen
years he invented and made a model for cutting "shoe lasts," of irregular shape, which, with
some later improvements, has come into general use. His next invention was a "seed drill,"
which was patented and has been in general use throughout the country for many years. On the
29th of August, 1854, he received a patent for his "lime spreader." This invention was
exhibited at public fairs and in various places in the States of Pennsylvania, Virginia and
North Carolina, and whereever shown valuable premiums were awarded it. His great invention,
however, was the "steam plow," which excited favorable comment in both Europe and America.
It was patented January 28th, 1858. It was afterward improved, and two other patents on it
taken out. For this invention he now holds a number of valuable medals and testimonials. The
one he prizes the most highly is the "Scott Legacy Premium," presented by the Franklin Institute
of Philadelphia. Upon its face it bears the following inscription: "Presented to J.W. Fawkes,
of Lancaster, Pensylvania, for Steam Plow." On the other side, "Presented to the most
deserving." He also has a metal of great intrinsic value, presented him by the Agricultural
Society of Pennsylvania, and an autograph letter from James Buchanan, President of the United
States, dated at Washington January 25th, 1860, in which he informs him that "he has been
requested by the United States Agricultural Society to present Mr. Fawkes 'the Grand Gold Medal
of Honor,' awarded him at Chicago in September last." Mr. Fawkes brought his steam plow west,
and exhibited and operated it at different State Fairs in the Western States, and at all it
received favorable mention, diplo9mas, and valuable premiums. The invention was a failure so
far as getting the plow generally introduced, and also a failure in a financial way. The
trouble was, that the invention was in advance of the times. The sluggish and conservative
intellect of the masses cannot, nor do not keep pace with the active, energetic mind of the
inventor. Few of the latter class live to see the full fruition of their hopes. Yet Mr.
Fawkes does not despair of seeing in his life the steam plow introduced and successfully
operated in Illinois.
He came west to Illinois in 1863, and settled in Decatur, where he followed
house-raising, and operated a machine shop. In 1869 he purchased land in Maroa township,
Macon county, which he improved, and from that time to the present has been busily engaged
in cultivating the soil. He, however, by no means, dropped his inventions. Since living in
Illinois he has seen the great necessity of ditching the vast area of low flat lands in the
state, and with this idea in view he invented the "steam steel shovel scraper" for ditching,
which in this country may be regarded as a very valuable invention. On the 18th of October,
1853, while yet a citizen of Pennsylvania, he married Miss A.E. Baughman, a native of Lancaster
county. By this marriage there are seven children, all living--six boys and one girl. Their
names are Howard B., William C., Jacob H., Joseph W., Charles G., Leslie H., and F.F. Fawkes.
Both he and his wife are members of the M.E. Church. Politically he was orginally an old line
whig. His first preidential vote was cast for General Zachary Taylor in 1848. He afterwards
joined the republican party, and still continues a member. Upon the subject of temperance he
is a total abstinence man, and has been a worker in the temperance cause for a great many years.
At home and abroad he is a sociable and agreeable gentleman.
History of Macon Co., 1880 - p. 172-173
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Abel S. FEREE
This gentleman came to this country from the dominion of Canada. He was born January 8,
1832, and is the son of Marshall Ferre and Nancy Stephens, residents at the time near the
village of Beverly. When about three years old, his parents moved to Western Illinois, and
located in Adams county, where a farm was purchased, on which the family resided till 1864,
when another change made them residents of Shelby county, where his father died, November 12th,
1865.
Mr. Ferre had only such chances for an education as were common to the pioneers of
Illinois, and consequently he had few opportunities to satisfy a natural thirst for
knowledge. Though he did not drink deep from the perennial springs, still a sufficient amount
of education was acquired to make him a fair business calculator, and he has added from time
to time by general reading to the original stock, till he has reached a plane entitling him to
a position among our best-informed and most intelligent citizens. He attained his legal
majority in Adams county, and was there united in the holy ties of wedlock with Miss Sarah J.,
daughter of Lemuel Chapman. Her mother was formerly Martha Kansler, and at the time of her
removal from Adams county, Tenn., was a widow with five children.
Mr. Ferre bought his first farm in Adams county, but sold out and moved to Shelby county
with his parents. He did not purchase property in that county on account of the rumors of
"milk sickness," once the common terror in many sections of the state. He bought his second
farm in this township in the fall of 1865--a quarter section, which has since grown to 250
acres, under judicious management. This is in every sense one of the premium farms of
Pleasant View township, and has improvements which entitle it to rank with other first-class
estates of the county. Its owner broke the virgin soil and has expended on its improvement
and cultivation the best energies of his life. He has not only been doing a prosperous
business in general agriculture, but also in the general stock trade, for which his promises
are admirable fitted. He has not onl prospered in worldly interests, but has been blessed in
family relations. He has one married daughter, Nancy A. Price, of Piatt county, and three
children at home, namely: Abel A., Marshall, and Charles M.
Though not an extreme partisan, he is a republican in politics, believing that the
principles of his party are best adapted to the general welfare of the nation at large, and
best calculated to the growth and expansive interests of the nation, especially those newer
features developed by our increased population and vast diversity of local needs. To the
people of the county he feels, without distinction of party lines, that he lives among a noble
and energetic population, with whom he expects to labor for such a period as Providence may
permit, for the growth, development and upbuilding of a still higher form of civilization,
which will put Macon among the first counties of Illinois.
Mr. Ferre Has performed a vast amount of work with his own hands, and has shirked no duty
either toward his township or county. He has a clear record, and has so lived that there is
not a stain to dishonor his name, and we can say of him in concluding this notice, that he has
made life a success, and that the lines have fallen to him in pleasant places.
History of Macon Co., 1880 - p. 211
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John W. FLETCHER
John W. Fletcher, who is engaged in the dairy business, was born in Christian county,
Illinois, near the town of Mount Auburn, December 2, 1847, his parents being Griffin T. and Martha
(Churchill) Fletcher. His paternal grandfather was James Fletcher, a native of Kentucky, and his
last days were spent in Decatur. Griffin T. Fletcher was born in Mount Sterling, Kentucky, and at
an early period in the development and improvement of Illinois came to this state. He entered one
hundred and sixty acres of land from the government in Christian county in 1831 and there improved
a farm, upon which he made his home until 1855. In that year he removed to Sangamon county, Illinois,
where he became the owner of four hundred acres of land, which he cultivated successfully until
1872. That year witnessed his arrival in Decatur township, Macon county, Illinois, where he spent
his remaining days. While at Mount Auburn, in company with A.D. Northcutt, he purchased and sold
stock, both cattle and hogs, driving them in large numbers to the St. Louis market. This was at an
early day before the advent of the railroads and Abraham Lincoln assisted these gentlemen in driving
their stock on three different trips. In his farming and stock-dealing operations Mr. Fletcher
became very prosperous. securing a good profit as the result of his investments and labors. In
his political affairs he was an earnest Democrat and he belonged to the Masonic fraternity. He
was also a member of the Christian church in which he took a very active part. He served for some
years as one of its elders and his fine voice made him a valued addition to the musical circles
of the church. He was united in marriage on the lOth of June. 1833, to Miss Martha Churchill, a
daughter of John Churchill, who was born in Maysville, Kentucky, and at an early day came to
Illinois, settling in Sangamon county, whence he removed to Macon county in 1872. Mr. Fletcher,
who was born in 1810, passed away September 6, 1883, and his wife died on the 2d of January, 1896.
They were the parents of the following named children: Thomas, Mary, Jane, Rhoda E., David C.,
James L., John W., Willis, Abel P. and Martha Josephine. Thomas, Willis and Jane are now deceased.
Upon the home farm under the parental roof John W. Fletcher spent the days of his
boyhood. His educational privileges were somewhat limited because of the primitive condition of
the schools of that time and because his services were needed upon the home farm. He was married
in Knox county, Illinois, and then engaged in farming from 1872 until 1882. On the expiration of
that period he removed to Decatur, where he turned his attention to the dairy business and is now
the oldest representative of this line of activity in the city. He started upon his business career
without capital, but now has a comfortable home in the midst of attractive surroundings and he takes
a just pride in keeping up his place in every particular. His has been a strenuous life and his
diligence and enterprise have formed the foundation of his very desirable success.
On the 11th of May, 1870. Mr. Fletcher was united in marriage to Miss Emma Clevenger,
a daughter of David and Eliza (Taylor) Clevenger. Her father was born in Ohio near Circleville and
was a miller by trade. In 1853 he removed with his family to Bureau county, Illinois, at which time
Mrs. Fletcher was about six months old. In that county he resided for eight years and then went to
Knox county, this state, establishing his home in Abingdon. He died June 7, 1866, at the age of
forty-nine years. His religious faith was that of the Christian church and his political belief was
in accord with the principles of the Republican party. He had good knowledge of general business and
was a broad reader, gaining extended information of many subjects. He married Miss Eliza Ann Taylor
on the 15th of March, 1842. She was born in Pennsylvania and in her early girlhood days went with her
parents, William and Betsey Taylor, to Ohio and afterward removed to Knox county, Illinois. Unto Mr.
and Mrs. Fletcher were born five children: Daisy, who is the wife of E.S. Gray; Theron W.; Estella,
who died at the age of twenty-three years; Griffin Taylor: and Minnie E., the widow of Dr. J.E. Ludea,
of Crowley, Louisiana.
Mr. Fletcher holds membership relations with the Modern Woodmen of America and with
the Masonic fraternity. He was made a Mason in 1894 and is a member of Macon Lodge, No. 8, of
Decatur, while his wife and daughter Estella belong to Chapter No. 111, Order of the Eastern Star.
He belongs to the Christian church and has led a life that has reflected credit upon the church and
secret societies which he represents. His business relations have been all that is honorable between
his fellow men and himself and the success he has achieved is attributable entirely to his own
efforts, for without financial aid at the beginning of his career he has worked his way upward to
the plane of affluence.
Past and Present of Decatur and Macon County, pub. 1903, pg. 881-882
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Andrew Jackson FLOREY
One of the few remaining citizens of Eagle Point who donned the blue and went to the front
during the '60s is A.J. Florey, who for nineteen years has discharged the duties of postmaster
here. He was born in Macon county, Illinois, on the 20th of April, 1840, and is a son of
Israel and Elizabeth Florey. The father was a native of Virginia and the mother of Tennessee
but they located in Illinois in 1828, and passed the remainder of their lives on a farm in
Macon county. Ten children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Florey of whom five are still living.
A.J. Florey was reared in the state of his nativity and educated in its common schools.
When the call came for volunteers in 1861 he enlisted and went to the front as a member of
Company A, Eighth Illinois Infantry, remaining in the service until honorably discharged at
the close of hostilities. He participated in many of the notable battles of the war and was
wounded at Fort Donelson in the jaw and the thigh. He was mustered out at New Orleans in
February, 1866, and returning to Macon obtained work in a cooper shop. Feeling that he would
like to try life in the west in 1873 Mr. Florey crossed the plains to Oregon, locating at
Eagle Point and has continued to reside here. Nineteen years ago he was appointed postmaster
and has ever since been the incumbent of that office. That he has discharged his duties
efficiently is manifested by the period of his service and the regard in which he is generally
held in the community.
In 1882 Mr. Florey was united in marriage to Miss Etta A. Nye, a native of Jackson county,
and to them have been born six children: Florence E, the wife of William Vonderhellen;
Chauncey; A.J., Jr.; Margaret; Theodore R.; and Judge Taft.
Mr. Florey cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln and has ever since given his allegiance
to the Republican party. He maintains relations with his comrades of the field through the
medium of his membership in Harrison Post, No. 47, G.A.R., and has ever been loyal to its
principles. He is a man of strong convictions and much determination of purpose and in his
private as well as his public life has manifested the same high principles and stanch loyalty
to what he believes to be right, he evidenced when he went to the front in the service of his
country.
The Centennial History of Oregon, p. 473
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David FLORY
David Flory was born in 1803, in Virginia. Came to Illinois in 1825, and settled in
what is now Macon county. Came with Draper, P.D. Williams and Epperson. Was married to Isabella
Wright, who was born in Virginia. One child was born of this marriage - Jerome, who was born in
1838, now resides in Macon county. Was married a second time to Rachael Rittenhouse, who was born
in 1826. Of their children - J.W. was born in 1850. Mellissa J. was born in 1858. Franklin was
born in 1862.
History of Macon County, Ill., 1876, pg. 297-298
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David L. FOSTER
The subject of the following sketch is "to the manor born". He first saw the light of day
in Macon county, July 13th, 1848. He comes from a Scotch-Irish ancestry, and inherits from
them the characteristics of that hardy, active and industrious people. His father, John C.
Foster, was a native of Wilson county, Tennessee. The grandfather of David L. was the first
Cumberland Presbyterian minister in the county. His son, John C. came with him here from
Tennessee. He went back to his native state in 1847-8, and was married there for the second
time; then returned to Macon county, and remained there until his death, December 20th, 1859.
His first sife's name was Montgomery. By this marriage there were two children, named Robert
M. and Tabitha, wife of R.P. Wilson. In the winter of 1847, he married Miss Mary Donnell.
She was born and reared in Wilson county, Tennessee. There were two children by this latter
marriage, Samuel L., and the subject of this sketch. The latter remained at home at work upon
the farm, and attending the public-schools until he attained his majority. On the 3rd of
February, 1870, he was united in marriage to Miss Matilda A. daughter of Clayborne and Matilda
Jones. She was also born and raised in Macon county. Her parents were natives of Kentucky,
and were among the pioneers of this county. Two children have blessed the union, a boy and
girl, name Maud and George S. aged eight and four years, respectively. Both he and his wife
are members of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. Politically he is a republican. He is an
active member of the independent order of Odd Fellows, and belongs to Mt. Zion Lodge, No. 300.
He is also an advocate of temperance, and is a member of an organization whose object it is to
suppress intemperance and vice in the land. In April, 1879, he was elected justice of the
peace, and now fills that position with credit to himself, and honor to those who placed him
in that official capacity.
History of Macon Co., 1880 - p. 231
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Edward FOULKE
The ancestry of the Foulke family on the paternal side are Welsh, and on the maternal,
English. The ancestors came to America in 1698. They were Quakers, and came with William
Penn when he made his second visit to this country. The settled near Piladelphia, and frm
these have grown the present family. John M. Foulke, the father of the subject of this
sketch, was born in Montgomery county, Pa. From there he removed to Baltimore, while in his
twenty-seventh year. While a resident of Baltimore he married Ann Sinclair, who was a native
of Baltimore. Soon after his marriage he came west, traveling over the mountains by
stage-coach. He stopped in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he remained until 1840, when he returned
to Baltimore and continued there until 1857, when he came to Illinois and located on section
26, T 18, R 2 E Macon county, and here he remained until his death, which occurred March
13th, 1874. His wife, and mother of Edward Foulke, died in Baltimore in 1844. Two children
were born to John M. and Ann Foulke; Lydia A., and the subject of this sketch. The latter was
born in Hamilton county, Ohio, July 31st, 1834. He received a good education in the
common-schools, and when at the age of sixteen years he went to Norristown, Pa., where he
entered the Freemount seminary, and remained there several years under the tutorship of Rev.
Samuel Aaron, a Baptist minister. In that school he perfected his education, particularly
in agricultural chemistry, which study he has, later in life, found very useful. In 1856 he
came west, and purchased two hundred and forty acres of land in Maroa township, of the Illinois
Central Railroad company. He commenced its improvement, and there he has remained to the
present. On the 15th of October, 1864, he was united in marriage to Miss Adlaide Colladay,
a native of Philadelphia. Five children are the fruits of this union; three sons and two
daughters. Their names are Anna, John M., Edward, William Llewellyn and Caroline Edith
Foulke. Politically he is a member of the republican party. Mr. Foulke enjoys the confidence
and esteem of his friends and neighbors.
History of Macon Co., 1880 - p. 170
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David J. FREELAND
Among the names of early settlers and prominent citizens, who have aided in the improvement
and development of the rich resources of the county, we include the name of Mr. Freeland as
the representative of a family, deserving more than a passing historical notice.
The origin of the family line dates back to the sunny climes of Italy, from whence they
found their way to Ireland. In the early colonization of the United States, they left the
Emerald Isle and settled in the South; at least they were citizens of North Carolina when the
war of the American revolution threatened to sever the ties which bound the colonies to the
mother country. John Freeland, Mr. Freeland's grandfather, with six brothers, aided in the
cause of freedom, as soldiers in the continental army. At the time when Cornwallis and
Greene measured their military strength, in the battle of Guilford Court-House, he was
confined to a bed of sickness and fell into the hands of the British General, by whom he was
subsequently released. After serving his country till the close of the war, he was united in
marriage with a Miss Kate Johnson, of Orange county, in which he afterwards settled, and where
he finally died. He raised a large and respectable family on his farm, near Chapel Hill, the
site of the once renowned University of North Carolina, where graduated some of the first men
of the nation, including Benton, Polk and others, of almost equal renown. There, James, Mr.
Freeland's father, was born. He received a liberal education at the University. After
completing his course at college, he applied his attention to surveying, and for twenty-five
years performed the great mass of the work of this character for Orange county, and with an
accuracy and skill which evinced the highest degree of efficiency in this branch of science,
and at a time and in a locality, when lines were determined by "metes and bounds," and the
surveyor had none of the advantages of meridians, base-lines, etc. He was early married to
Miss Jane Strain, daughter of Alexander Strain, a well-known citizen of Orange county. In
1836 he sold out his small farm and directed his course to the then new state of Illinois
and settled the same year in that part of Moultrie, which was afterwards set off in the
formation of Macon county, near the site where his son, the subject of this notice, now
lives; and where he resided till the time of his death in 1871, in the seventy-seventh year
of his age. After settling in Illinois he gave his attention entirely to farming and
concomitant interests, and became one of the most successful men of the county, in its earlier
history. He entered and bought about eight hundred acres of land, most of which is included
in the limits of the county, and which he principally reduced to cultivation. He not only
gave his time and thought to the material industries of his settlement and community, but
being himself a Christian by profession, he sought by all accessible methods, then in
existence, the propagation and establishment of evangelical and literary agencies, which in
every community lay the foundation for everything valuable in society.
He was a close calculator, saving, economical, charitable, persevering, industrious, and in
his business transactions the very soul of honor. In all good work his wife, and estimable
Christian lady, not only seconded but aided, with a woman' delicacy, the undertakings of her
husband. They both joined the Presbyterian Church in North Carolina, and after coming to this
state, united as a matter of convenience with the Cumberland Presbyterians; in which
fellowship they continued till death put an end to their labors, she preceding him to the
grave some three years.
They brought nine children with them to this county. Three of their sons are still living:
John, a well-known citizen, and former county official of Moultrie county, now of Sullivan.
Samuel, a well-known old settler and well-to-do farmer of the same county, and the subject of
this sketch. James, a rising young misinter of the C.P. Church, and a graduate of Cumberland
University, Tennessee, died in Sullivan. William died from the effects of wounds, received in
the Union service, at the battle of Pittsburg Landing, and another son, Joseph, died when a
young man, also in Sullivan. Of the four daughters, three died in this county, and one near
Wenona, Illinois.
Of Mr. Freeland himself, we design only briefly to speak. Still an epitome of his life
and work as a citizen of the county is essential to a general family sketch. He was born
April 19th, 1819, in his father's native state. He received a fair eduction in his earlier
school days, completing an ordinary Academic course at Hillsboro, Montgomery county. He
taught some six years after attaining his majority, since which time, he has given his
attention entirely to the more congenial and active pursuits of agriculture, in which he has
been in a marked degree successful; now, owning one of the best farms in the eastern part of
the county.
He has been twice married. His first wife was Miss Sarah, the daughter of David Strain, an
early settler of Moultrie county, by whom he had one son, Alexander, a well-known citizen of
Milam township and also a soldier in the late civil war for the suppression of the rebellion,
growing out of the attempted secession of the Southern states. By his second wife, formerly
Miss Martha Sawyer, daughter of John Sawyer, an old and well-known settler of Coles county, he
has a family of nine surviving children, all being well educated, both in literature and the
methods of business, and general usefulness. Mr. Freeland joined the Presbyterian Church in
North Carolina, and with his parents united with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church on coming
to this state, a fellowship in which he has maintained a consistent standing, all his
subsequent life. His former companion lived and died in the same religious communion, and his
present wife and nearly all his children, have membership in the same order. In the history
of Mr. Freeland we have the general points embraced in most of our old pioneer homes, viz.:
industry, honesty, hospitality and a warm-hearted cordiality, fostered under the peculiar
conditions of the early days of our history. May those virtues survive
and be handed down to the remotest periods of posterity, and may the names, as well as the
social virtues of our old settlers, live in the memory of their successors for all time to
come.
History of Macon Co., Illinois, p.235
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Margaret Ann FREEMAN
Among the old and honored citizens of Macon county must be numbered Mrs.
Margaret Ann Freeman, who is one of the few remaining "snowbirds," a name given to those who
arrived here before the great snow of 1830-31. She has, therefore, witnessed almost the entire
development and improvement of this section of the state and can relate many interesting
incidents of pioneer days when this was a wild region largely covered with ponds and sloughs.
Mrs. Freeman was born on the 10th of May, 1822 in Montgomery county Virginia, a
few miles west of the Blue Ridge mountains, and one of the most pleasant recollections of her
childhood is that of the beautiful forest covered mountain range lying to the south east. Her
parents were Abraham and Barbara Allen (Maury) Sheppard, the former a native of Virginia and
the latter of Pennsylvania. The father was born on the 4th of July, 1776--the national day of
this great republic--and was a son of John Sheppard, who came to this country from England in
colonial days. After the Revolutionary war, Mrs. Freeman's father located near Newburg in
Montgomery county, Virginia, where he rented a farm of a large landowner, and in connection
with its operation he conducted a distillery, in this way using all the grain raised upon his
place. With the aid of his sons, who were half-brothers of Mrs. Freeman, he hauled the finished
product, together with cured pork fattened at the distillery, to Lynchburg, a distance of over
one hundred miles, that being the nearest available market. For his second wife Mr. Sheppard
married Barbara Allen Maury, a daughter of John and Christiana (Sprinkel) Maury. Her grandfather
Maury, was a school teacher by profession. In September, 1830, they started west, accompanied
by the smaller children of the family and a few of Mrs. Freeman's grown half-brothers. The
mother and the younger children rode in an old fashioned carryall, a wagon being the conveyance
for the remainder of the party. They were many days upon the road, but finally arrived in
Decatur, Illinois, on the 10th of October. It was impossible to find a house to live in as the
few log buildings then on the site of Decatur were then all occupied, so the family went into
camp upon some open ground adjoining the courthouse, it being the present site of the St.
Nicholas Hotel. There they remained until the weather became very cold and they were compelled
to look for better quarters. Mr. Sheppard then rented a house on the Smallwood farm near the
present city limits on the north, but as the former tenant could not move out for a few weeks,
they found temporary shelter in a blacksmith shop, which was fitted up for their accommodation.
By his first marriage Abraham Sheppard had five sons and three daughters, namely:
James, born February 9, 1786; William, born March 28, 1799; Mrs. Mary Manley, born December 1,
1801; John, born October 25, 1803; Stephen R. who was born January 11, 1806, and was first
married in Montgomery county, Virginia, January 10, 1825, to a Miss Shuffer, and second in
Macon county, Illinois, January 17, 1833, to Mary Hawks; Letitia, who was born April 24, 1808,
and died in Virginia; Russel, who was born August 16, 1810, and was married in Macon county in
1832 to Sarah Manley, but died on the 24th of June, 1839; and Rhoda, who was born December 28,
1813, and was married in Macon county to Albert Lemons. Her death occured September 27, 1836.
Five children were born unto Abraham and Barbara Allen (Maury) Sheppard, as follows: Henry
Allen born November 6, 1817, died in Montgomery county, Virginia, June 20, 1824; Margaret Ann,
now Mrs. Freeman, is the next in order of birth; Elizabeth Jane, Born July 4, 1824, married John
Spangler, of Macon county; Leurany, born March 28, 1827, married Freeman Jones and died August
6, 1901, while visitng her sister, Mrs. Freeman, and she left several children, one of whom is
Mrs. Houchin, a resident of Jefferson City, Missouri; and Rachel E., born May 19, 1829, married
John Hull, of Logan county, Illinois, and later went to Kansas, where she died in May, 1902.
Her children now live near Sabetha, that state.
Amid pioneer surroundings, Mrs. Freeman grew to womanhood and on the 11 of October
1838, she gave her hand in marriage to James Milor, of Ohio, the ceremony being performed by
Elijah Freeman, a justice of the peace, who lived on a farm adjoining that of her father, about
three miles east of Lincoln's log cabin in Harristown township, and who was the father of her
second husband, James Freeman. Mr. Milor took up government land a mile or two north of
Harristown and partially improved the place but unfortunately became ill and died in 1845
before it was proved up and it went back to the government. By that union three children were
born: William Marion Milor, born August 30, 1839, married a Miss Dunlap and in 1876 went to
Kansas. He had three sons, Franklin, Elmer and William. Saline Jane Milor, born December 11,
1841, was married January 2, 1862 to Horatio J. Eyman and spent her life on a farm about two
miles southeast of Warrensburg, where she died March 24, 1896. Mr. Eyman was born July 21,
1825, and died December 16, 1882. Their children were as follows: Lillie May, born December
9, 1862, died January 7, 1873; Charles W., born July 11, 1865, was killed in a planing mill in
Decatur, November 5, 1893; Minnie Ann, born October 11, 1867, was married April 22, 1891, to
Edwin F. Boss, of Petoskey, Michigan, where they now reside, and they have one child, L.
Cecil, born November 17, 1892; John A., born August 7, 1869, now a furniture dealer and
undertaker of Argenta, Illinois, was married November 22, 1900, to Anna B. Reynolds, of that
place, and they have one child, Neffa, born January 22, 1902; James M., born September 11,
1871, was married December 17, 1901, to Cora Culp and lives on the old home farm, which he
owns; Arthur M., born October 8, 1873, died September 18, 1874; Sarah Margaret, born August 31,
1875, was married May 31, 1903, to Dr. F.B. Baker, of Chicago, where they reside; Samuel, born
December 25, 1878, died on the same day; and Harry Horatio, born February 7, 1883, is with his
brother, John A., in Argenta. John McHenry Milor, the youngest child by Mrs. Freeman's first
marriage, was born March 11, 1843, and was married June 13, 1875, to Eliza Cathey, at
Greenville, Michigan, where he was engaged in the nursery business for several years and later
in merchandising. In April, 1879, he removed his stock of goods to Petoskey, Michigan, and
conducted the first exclusive shoe store at that place. He also carried on a general store up
to the time of his death except for a few years when engaged in the manufacture of woodenware.
He died October 15, 1899, leaving two children: Carroll, who was born in Greenville, Michigan,
August 28, 1876; and Winnie E., born in Petoskey, October 17, 1879. They now reside with their
mother in the latter city.
Left a widow at the age of twenty-three years with three small children depending
upon her, Mrs. Freeman had to fight the battle of existence in a frontier country with the
wolves howling nightly in the forest not far from her log cabin home. She was again married
on the 4th of July, 1847, her second union being with James Freeman, shortly after his return
from the Mexican war, in which he had served as a private in Company C, Fourth Illinois
Volunteer Infantry. He enlisted on the 27th of August, 1846, and was discharged on account of
illness at New Orleans, May 25, 1847, before the expiration of his term of enlistment. The
first lieutenant of his company was Richard Oglesby, who afterward became so distinguished and
beloved by the people of Illinois. The regiment saw some severe service in the campaign under
General Taylor and in the march to the City of Mexico. A relic much treasured by the children
of Mrs. Freeman is a letter from Tampico, Mexico, written by James Freeman to the young widow,
Margaret Milor, proposing marriage. This was written on his learning of the death of her first
husband. After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Freeman lived on a farm southwest of Decatur,
about three miles east of the Lincoln log cabin, until his death, which occurred on the 6th of
April, 1860.
There were seven children born of the second union, namely: Cerilda D., born
April 7, 1848, was married June 25, 1876, to I.E. Mackey, now a resident of Indianpolis,
Indiana, and their children are Margaret May, who marrid John McClintock and has one child,
Laveta Evans; and William Allen, who married Elizabeth Hoaglin and has one child, Herman
Evans. Susan Lavena, born February 7, 1850, died August 30, 1859. Joel Seth, born March 28,
1852, was named for Captain Joel S. Post, who was second Lieutenant in Mr. Freeman's company
in the Mexican war. Matilda Ann, born March 15, 1854, is the wife of William Minson, living
east of Decatur, and their children are Claud, Roy, Jessie, George, Otis and Ruth. The last
named is now deceased. James Douglas, borh April 12, 1856, entered the retail shoe business
at Petoskey, Michigan, in 1882, and continued in the same until 1893, when he accepted a
position as traveling salesman for a wholesale shoe house, with headquarters at Kalamazoo,
Michigan. He was married at October 26, 1882, to Ida M. Boss, and they have three children:
Lowell C., who was born October 25, 1884, and is now a promising student of architecture and
civil engineering; Homer D., who was born March 16, 1889, and died January 27, 1890; and
Bessie M., botn July 18, 1891. Rosella, born April 3, 1859, was married November 2, 1881, to
F.B. Ritchie, a dealer in implements and coal in Warrensburg, Illinois, and they had two
children, Litta, born February 22, 1888, and Vilas Lamar, born February 23, 1891, who died
in infancy. Rachel Emeline, born January 11, 1861, died in December of the same year.
For the past twenty years Mrs. Freeman has lived with her daughter Mrs. Ritchie
at a pleasant home in Warrensburg, where she dispenses a cordial old-fashined hospitality to
every visitor. She is remarkably vigorous for one of her years, her faculties of sight and
hearing are still keen, and being very active she still takes enjoyment in performing the
lighter household tasks. Her memory is good and she delights in telling interesting
reminiscences of pioneer days. One of these is a tale of apparent danger but with a rather
ludicrous ending. One dark night her grandfather, John Sheppard, who was then living near the
Blue Ridge mountains, was aroused by a terrible noise near the river and concluded it was a
band of marauding Indians, who were then quite hostile. Believing that they would attempt to
kill the entire family the grandmother hastened to arouse her children and prepare for
flight, but on going out to learn the cause of the noise her husband found, to his great
relief, that the disturbance was caused by two colored women who were at the river washing
clothes in the old way and who, becoming involved in a quarrel, had fallen to belaboring each
other with the heavy wooden paddles used to beat the garments on the rocks. Mrs. Freeman has
been a life-long member of the Christian church, first attending meetings in Illinois in the
old courthouse at Decatur soon after the arrival of the family in this county. She is beloved
by all who know her and has a wide circle of friends and acquaintances throughout this section
of the state where she has so long resided.
Past And Present of the City of Decatur and Macon County, Illinois, 1903, p. 416-421
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Milton P. FUNK
The subject of this biographical sketch was born in Morgan county, Illinois, June 9th,
1833. The ancestry of the Funks is German. Samuel Funk came to America in 1776, and settled
in Virginia, and from him have sprung the present family. He married Elizabeth Cordell.
Members of the family left Virginia and settled in Tennessee, where Martin C. Funk, the father
of Milton P., was born. Martin C. married Janie Lieb. She died in June, 1878. Mr. Funk left
Tennessee in 1828, and came to Illinois, and settled in Morgan county, where he improved a
farm and lived until 1845, when he died. The subject of our sketch is the eldest of the
children. Like all farmers' boys of Illinois of forty years ago, he was deprived of
educational advantages and facilities for attending good schools and receiving such learning
as now falls to the lot of the youth of the present day. His father dying while Milton was
yet in his youth, he was compelled to help support himself and others of the family, and at an
early age became a producer as well as a consumer. He grew to manhood and remained in Morgan
county until the 28th of March, 1855, when he came to Maroa township, Macon county, and
purchased eighty acres of raw land, built a cabin and went to work improving it. There he has
lived till the present time. On the 22d of September, 1853, he married Isabella Todd. She
died September 14th, 1874. By this marriage there have been three children living, named
Henry M., John N., and Mary A. Funk. On the 22d of December, 1875, he married Miss Melissa
Smith of Effingham county, Illinois. By this later marriage there is one child, named
Ibra Maud Funk. He is a member of the Christian Church, and his wife of the Presbyterian.
Politically he is a sound and thorough democrat, and gave James Buchanan his first vote in 1856.
Mr. Funk is esteemed by all who know him. He is a good man, and an enterprising and
first-class citizen.
History of Macon Co, IL, 1880 - p. 173
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