Burlington Illinois

Biography of Col. W.W. Chapman

Among men now living there are none around whom clusters so much of the history of Portland as the one whose name heads this memoir. He is the strongest link between the infant days and the stalwart manhood of our city. But the results of his labors in behalf of Portland, great and far-reaching as they have been in good, by no means complete the record of his long and useful life. Years before American civilization had gained a foot-hold in this portion of the Pacific Northwest, he had borne a leading part in laying the foundations of the State … Read more

Biography of S. S. White

S.S. WHITE. – The pioneer experiences of Judge White are of an exceptionally interesting character. This well-known and highly valued citizen of Portland was born in Franklin county, Indiana, December 14, 1811. His father was much of a frontiersman, and, after a removal to Ohio in 1815, went three years later to Sangamon county, Illinois, settling on Sugar creek, twenty miles south of Springfield. This was then a remote and unoccupied region, Mr. White’s family and those of a Mr. Ellis and Mr. Vancil being the only families within the limits of the present Sangamon and Morgan counties, and sixty … Read more