Hancock County IL

Biography of Albert D. Bauer

Albert D. Bauer. One of the veterans of the printing trade and an old time publisher in Kansas, Albert D. Bauer acquired his first experience in “the art preservative of all arts” in a Topeka print shop. That was nearly forty years ago, and for the past twenty-three years he has lived continuously in Topeka. Mr. Bauer was born in the historic old seat of the Mormons in the Middle West, Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, March 6, 1863. His grandfather John Bauer Sr. was born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, coming to America in 1820 and locating as a pioneer in … Read more

Biography of Lewis Snyder

LEWIS SNYDER. – How many of the thriftiest and most enterprising of our leading citizens have been born in Germany, and having torn themselves from the ties that bound them to native land and friends, have chosen this land as their abiding place! They are a class of which we may well be proud, and among their numbers we are led to mention the esteemed and substantial citizen, whose name is at the head of this article, who was one of the early pioneers of Union county and wrought here for many years while it was still a wild country, … Read more

Stillwell, Ira – Obituary

Ira Stillwell Dies In General Hospital Ira Stillwell died Thursday afternoon at 12:30 at the Ellensburg hospital, following an illness of several week’s duration. In an attempt to save his life a blood transfusion was made Tuesday but he failed to rally. Mr. Stillwell was born may 17, 1887 in Bowen, Illinois, and came to Ellensburg in January, 1903. He became an employe of the Northern Pacific railroad, April 23, 1908 and worked as a wiper until August 3, 1908, when he was promoted to fireman. He became a locomotive engineer March 18, 1918 and had been employed as a … Read more

Biography of William Rollin Yenawins

William Rollin Yenawins. Farming has been the business of William Rollin Yenawine. He has given to that vocation the same qualities of enterprise and energy which a successful merchant gives to his store or a manufacturer to his factory. His success has followed as a matter of course. Mr. Yenawine is now the owner of “Brook Side” farm in Ashland Township of Riley County. It is said that the really busy man has more leisure than the one who pursues every undertaking with frantic haste and wastes his efforts on small accomplishment. This is perhaps the reason why Mr. Yenawine, … Read more

Biography of Mary Pierce Van Zile

Mary Pierce Van Zile. A very important member of the faculty of the Kansas State Agricultural College is Mrs. Mary Pierce Van Zile, dean of women and dean of the division of home economics. Her name is a household word in many widely separated homes, for each year Mrs. Van Zile has under her immediate care and instruction from 800 to 900 girls. They come from many environments and are mostly in the most receptive period of their lives, and the influence exerted by Dean Van Zile largely moulds their future. Mary Pierce Van Zile was born on her father’s … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Abner McCrary

Abner McCrary is a native of Union County, Illinois, born in 1835. His parents, John and Mary (Kellar) McCrary, natives of North Carolina and South Carolina respectively, moved to Hancock County in 1844. Next they moved to Wash vine, Iowa, and in 1846 to Council Bluffs, where they remained five years. In 1851 he moved to Utah, where he remained two years, and June 5, 1854, came to California, and bought forty acres of land three miles northeast of San Bernardino, where he now lives. Mr. McCrary has dealt some in buying and selling land, and has today a fine … Read more

Ankrom, Edward Conway – Obituary

Halfway, Oregon Edward Conway Ankrom, 85, a longtime Halfway resident, died Dec. 22, 2000, at St. Elizabeth Health Services. His memorial service will be Thursday at 1 p.m. at the Halfway Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. President Lon Nalder of the LDS Church will officiate. Disposition was by cremation at the Eastern Oregon Pioneer Crematory. Mr. Ankrom was born Sept. 17, 1915, at Salem, W.Va., to Connie Eli Ankrom and Bertha Maude Matheny. While he was a young boy he, along with his family, moved to Augusta, Ill., where they lived until he was six years old. From … Read more

Biography of David S. Lamme

The history of the pioneer settlement of Payette would be incomplete without the record of this gentleman, who from the earliest founding of the town has been a prominent factor in its substantial growth and improvement. When Idaho was cut off from the advantages and comforts of the east by the long, hot stretches of sand and the high mountains, he made his way across the plains, braving all the trials and hardships of pioneer life in order to make a home in the northwest rich in its resources, vet unclaimed from the dominion of the red men. Mr. Lamme … Read more

Biography of George W. Buck

GEORGE W. BUCK. – The subject of this article is at the head of one of the largest industrial institutions of the county of Union, being proprietor and manager of the large sawmilling and lumbering establishment, where he has been enabled to turn out from three to four million feet of fine lumber annually, and in this capacity he has displayed an excellent ability and enterprise which have commended him to the esteem and confidence of the entire community, while he has also manifested a stanch character and maintained an untarnished reputation. George W. was born on March 22, 1848, … Read more

Biography of Albert Irven Decker

Albert Irven Decker. In the demands which it makes upon its devotees, educational work is exceedingly exacting. The duty of the educator, ostensibly, is to instill a practical, working knowledge into each of his pupils, but his correlative, although less direct, function of instilling character and worthy precepts through his personal influence is equally important. The duty first named calls for an individual of knowledge and specialized training, while the second demands a conscientious and capable person whose life and mode of living provide a fit criterion and example for the minds of youth. When a man is found in … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Henry King

It is not the rule for men to follow the trade or profession to which they are best adapted and to achieve the dominant ambition of their lives. This inclination and result can in absolute truth be said of Capt. Henry King. He learned the printer’s trade because the attraction was irresistible, and advanced from the composing room and hand press to the editorial desk because he must have foreseen the work he was best fitted to do. His taste and capacity were for writing, a natural force impelling him to reduce the workings of his mind to written form–and … Read more

Burnap, William David – Obituary

La Grande,Union County, Oregon William David Burnap was born in Bedford township, Meigs County, Ohio, May 10, 1842, and died at his home near LaGrande, Oregon, December 22, 1911. He was married to Mary Melvina Hoit, of West Point, Illinois, March 3, 1867, by the late Rev. William B. Finlay, of St. Albens township, Hancock County. The following children and his aged companion survie him; Rrs. Ruthanar Maud Cole of flora, Or., Marius Melvin Burnap, La Grande, Or, Albert Vinton Burnap, Walla Walla, WA, W. Eugene Burnap, Asel Hoyt Burnap of Touchet, WA, and Mrs. Ocie Vaun Frakes of Starbuck, … Read more

Biography of L. B. Hastings

L.B. HASTINGS. – Under the bluffs on the sandbank at the old place that the Frenchmen called La Dalles, in the autumn days of 1847, a company of wayworn immigrants was lying along the river side, the women at the tents, the children playing with the dogs and romping on the shore, and the ponies and cattle feeding upon the mountain. The men were at work day after day a whole month, with their axes and hammers, in making a flatboat from the pines that they cut form the hills. This company of sixty wagons had just come out of … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Andrew Lytle

Andrew Lytle, deceased, was born in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, in 1812. His parents moved to Akron, Ohio, when he was a small boy. At the age of twenty-one years he went back to Pennsylvania and married Hannah Hull. This lady was the daughter of Abner and Martha (Skinner) Hull, natives respectively of Pennsylvania and Connecticut. In 1834, two years after his marriage, he moved to Portage County, Ohio. Next he moved to Bidwell County, Missouri, and two years later to Nauvoo, Illinois. From the latter place he removed to Salt Lake, where he remained several years. In 1850 he came … Read more

Biography of Charles C. Rich

Pioneer of Utah, California and Idaho, Charles C. Rich figured prominently in the early development of these states, and took an active part in furthering the welfare and promoting the progress of the commonwealths. He was also a most able exponent of the faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and with a colony of believers he founded the beautiful and thriving little city of Paris, the County of Bear Lake, Idaho, and the Mormon colonies of southeastern Idaho. A native of Kentucky, Mr. Rich was born in Campbell County, in 1809, and was of English … Read more

Biography of Enos Fitterer

Enos Fitterer was born in Baden, Germany, July 28, 1835, and lived in his native land until 1846, when his parents emigrated to America. They settled on a farm in Butler county, Ohio, and there the subject of this sketch lived and grew to manhood. In 1856 he went to Hamilton, Ohio, to learn the baker’s trade with Messrs. Nutts & Sivers, remained with them some fifteen months, and then located in Carthage, Hancock county, Illinois, where he established himself in the bakery business and carried it on until 1861. In that year he joined the Union army, enlisting in. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Dr. John Martin

John Martin was born in Morgan county, Kentucky, February 15, 1819, and is the son of Lewis Martin, a native of Kentucky. Our subject moved with his parents to Lawrence county, Tennessee, while an infant, and lived there during fifteen years, and there received the greater part of his education. From Tennessee he moved to Illinois, and was married in Hancock county, that State, September 8, 1839. He came to this State in 1845 and has lived in various counties of Missouri since, engaged in the practice of medicine and other branches of business. He came to Jamesport about ten … Read more

Biography of Karl Marshall Geddes

Karl Marshall Geddes. In point of experience, sound knowledge of the law, and forceful ability in its practice, the firm of Leydig & Geddes occupies a conspicuous position among the leading law firms of Southern Kansas. Mr. Geddes, the junior member of this firm, had been well known in Butler County for a number of years. He is a leading republican, had held several important public offices, and is now a member of the State Legislature. His early life was spent in Hancock County, Illinois, where he was born at Fountain Green, April 13, 1882, a son of Cyrus M. … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Reuben L. Dewitt

Reuben L. Dewitt, of San Bernardino, was born in Switzerland County, Indiana, October 19, 1815, the son of John and Jane (Potter) DeWitt, natives of Indiana and New York respectively. His grandmother, Elizabeth Sheridan, was an aunt of the late General Sheridan. He was left an orphan at the age of fourteen years. For several years he traveled around in different counties of Illinois and Iowa. In 1851 he crossed the plains to Salt Lake City, where he spent two years, and from there came to San Bernardino County, where he has lived ever since. His first purchase of real … Read more

Biography of Joseph Thorn

Joseph Thorn, deceased, was a pioneer of 1854. He was born in New York State, December 22, 1811. His parents were Richard and Mary Ann (Armstrong) Thorn, the former a native of New York, the latter of England. Mr. Thorn was a blacksmith by trade. He was married at Niles, New York, June 19, 1836, to Lorana Camp, daughter of Jonah and Barbara (Keith) Camp, from near New Haven, Connecticut. About seven years after his marriage he moved with his wife and four children to Hancock County, Illinois, where he lived five years. He then moved to Council Bluffs and … Read more