Knox County IL

Knox County IL, established on January 13, 1825, from unorganized territory, is a region steeped in history and characterized by its rich agricultural landscape. Named in honor of Henry Knox, the first United States Secretary of War, Knox County reflects the early American spirit of expansion and cultivation. Galesburg, the county seat, is known for its historical significance, including being a stop on the Underground Railroad and the site of one of the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858. The geography of Knox County is predominantly rolling prairies, which have supported a strong agricultural economy since the county’s inception. The formation of Knox County, part of the Military Tract set aside to compensate veterans of the War of 1812, played a crucial role in attracting settlers and shaping the region’s development.

Biography of Fred Titterington

Few men are sufficiently versatile to successfully pursue two separate and entirely different vocations during their lives. Rare, indeed, is the farmer that becomes a dividend earning manufacturer, especially after he has attained middle age, and become a man of substance through his own efforts in tilling the soil. Such, however, has been the achievement of Fred Titterington, formerly a farmer in the vicinity of Edgington post office and now secretary and general manager of the Argillo works at Carbon Cliff. Mr. Titterington is another native of Rock Island County, having been born at Edgington September 1, 1852. He was … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William Henry Whitney

Whitney, William Henry; insurance; born, Monticello, Minn., June 21, 1860; son of Cephas Newhall and Cyrena Patch Whitney; educated, Knox College, Galesburg, Ill., classical course, 1884; married, Trinidad, Colo., 1890, Emma Gmin; issue, four children, two sons and two daughters; manager The Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Co.; member executive committee Congregational Club, 1912, and pres. of The Cleveland Congregational Brotherhood, 1911-1912; member Phi Delta Theta Fraternity.

Biography of Julius S. Waters

A distinguished jurist has said: “In the American state the great and good lawyer must always be prominent, for he is one of the forces that move and control society. Public confidence has generally been reposed in the legal profession. It has ever been the defender of popular rights, the champion of freedom regulated by law, the firm support of good government. In the times of danger it has stood like a rock and breasted the mad passions of the hour and finally resisted tumult and faction.” A review of the history of Julius Spencer Waters shows that his life … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Philologus Ely

PHILOLOGUS ELY. – This venerable pioneer was born in East Tennessee in 1825, and remained in his native state until 1834. In that year his father moved to Dewitt county, Illinois, and continued his occupation as a farmer through life. In the electric atmosphere of this young giant state of the West, Mr. Ely attained his majority, and in the meantime secured a practical education in the common schools. As a resource for his livelihood, he learned the trade of a plasterer, which, combined with his occupation of farmer, he followed in DeWitt and Knox counties. In the year 1851, … Read more

Biography of Robert A. Lovitt

Robert A. Lovitt. As president of the Saline County Bar Association, Robert A. Lovitt’s professional status with his brethren may be judged, but his reputation in business, politics, social life and on the lecture platform extends all over the state. He had been a valued resident of Salina since August 5, 1876. Robert A. Lovitt was born in his father’s primitive log cabin in Muskingum County, Ohio, October 10, 1851. His parents were Evan J. and Leah (Stamats) Lovitt, he of English ancestry and she of German revolutionary stock. The father of Mr. Lovitt was born in New Jersey, was … 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

Biographical Sketch of Buford Clark

Buford Clark, who had also been a resident of Kansas and Shawnee County since 1878, was born November 28, 1852, in Knox County, Illinois, His birth occurred in one of the log cabin homes then so typical a feature of the Illinois landscape. He received a good education at his father’s home in Abingdon, and practically his entire active carser had been spent in farming. On coming to Kansas in 1878 he remained only about sixteen months, and then returned to Knox County, Illinois. He remained in that state until 1886, but since then had made his permanent home in … Read more

Biography of William Edwin Nelson

William Edwin Nelson, who became superintendent of the public schools of Sabetha in the fall of 1917, is a thoroughly experienced educator, a native of Kansas, and for five years before removing to Sabetha was superintendent of schools at Robinson. Mr. Nelson had the qualification and training of a practical lawyer, which was the profession of his father. For many years one of the ablest attorneys of the Trego County bar was the late John A. Nelson. Born in Sweden, near Stockholm, in 1851, he was brought when an infant to the United States by his parents, who located in … Read more

Allensworth, George Verne, Jr. – Obituary

Richland, Baker County, Oregon George Verne Allensworth Jr., 76, died April 4, 2006, at St. Elizabeth Health Services. There was a celebration of George’s life Friday at the Richland Christian Church. Inurnment was at the Eagle Valley Cemetery in Richland. Friends joined the family for a reception afterward at the Richland Christian Church. George Verne Allensworth Jr. was born on Dec. 10, 1929, at Galesburg, Ill., to George Verne and Francis Marie Lander Allensworth. George was raised and educated at Galesburg. He was a Galesburg High School graduate. On Nov. 4, 1949, he married Retha Stevens at Yuma, Ariz. They … Read more

Biography of Marshall F. Price, M. D.

Among the prominent physicians of Colton, and of San Bernardino County, mention should be made of the subject of this sketch. Dr. Price was born in Portage County, Ohio, in 1834. His father, Dr. George Price, was a native of Pennsylvania, but was reared and educated in Ohio. Dr. Price remained in his native State until fourteen years old; his parents then moved to Illinois and settled in Knox County. He was given a good education, and in his young manhood he entered upon the study of medicine. In 1861, when the war of the Rebellion broke out, he was … Read more

Biography of Ason Gittings Richardson

Ason Gittings Richardson. A Kansas pioneer whose name and services were especially identified with Harvey County, Ason Gittings Richardson was one of the strong and noble men of his time. He belonged to the old abolition class of the North, was a man of resolute character and would follow his convictions even in the face of extreme personal danger. He came to Kansas in 1870 and settled in Harvey County, when that district of Kansas was practically unsettled. His home was in Richland Township. The first religious services held in the county, conducted by Rev. Mr. Roberts, were at his … Read more

Biography of William H. Shepard

William H. Shepard. When William H. Shepard left college he chose the work which seemed most congenial and for which he had the greatest apparent adaptability, and entered a bank in Illinois. For thirty consecutive years he has applied himself to the subject of banking, and his business success and prominence is largely due to this concentration of effort along one line. Mr. Shepard is now vice president of the First National Bank of Coffeyville, and is identified with several other important concerns which might be classed as public utilities in that part of Kansas. His branch of the Shepard … Read more

Biographical Sketch of Andrew Barclay Meldrum

Meldrum, Andrew Barclay; Presbyterian minister; born, Scotland, Sept. 9, 1857; son of Capt. Robert and Agnes Ness (Grant) Meldrum; educated, professionally, at Knox College and University of Toronto, graduating in Theology at the Theological Seminary of San Francisco; (D. D. Hanover College); married, in 1885, to Laura R. Rison, of Oakland, Cal.; issue, two sons and two daughters; in 1907, married Ella Hoyt Herrick, of Cleveland; pastor in San Francisco, Cal., Evansville, Ind., St. Paul, Minn., and now Old Stone Church, Cleveland; Grand Chaplain, Masonic Grand Lodge of Ohio, 1913; member Robert Burns Society of Cleveland, and Rotary Club; Chaplain … Read more

Biographical Sketch of William B. Clark

Of the two sons who continue his honorable record in the State of Kansas, William B. was born in Knox County, Illinois, November 8, 1847. He received a public school education, lived on an Illinois farm until he was nine years of age, and after reaching manhood he identified himself with agrisulture. After spending some years as a farmer in Illinois he sold out and moved to Kansas in the spring of 1878. The first year he lived on a rented farm near Lawrence, but in the spring of 1879 moved to his present place of 160 acres which had … Read more

Biography of John Aberdein

John Aberdein established his residence in Riverside in 1880, and in 1881 purchased the block between Fifth and Sixth and Lime and Lemon streets. His block contained two and one-half acres, and was devoid of any horticultural or building improvements. Mr. Aberdein immediately commenced the planting of citrus and deciduous fruit trees and the erection of his residence, and has now one of the representative homes of Riverside. His orange grove contains the choicest varieties of budded fruits, Washington Navels, Mediterranean Sweets and Malta Bloods. He also has a variety of deciduous fruits for family use. A well arranged two-story … Read more

Biography of Arthur A. Denny

ARTHUR A. DENNY. – With the history of the early settlement of Puget Sound no name is more intimately blended than that of Arthur A. Denny, the pioneer, the founder of one of its chief metropolitan cities, the volunteer in the suppression of Indian outbreaks, the legislator, the politician, the office-holder, the congressman, the successful banker, the liberal philanthropist, the honest man and good citizen. Like many more of those who were his contemporaries in rescuing Washington Territory from the wilderness, he has seen the newcomers who are enjoying those comforts of life, not to say luxuries, to which his … Read more

Biography of Joshua A. Downing

A man of ability and executive force, as is manifested in the results of his faithful endeavor, in the industrial world: a pioneer in at least two different counties of our state: a builder of Wallowa County, and a stanch and upright citizen of the same today, the subject of this article is eminently worthy to receive proper representation in this volume that purports both to chronicle the history of Union and Wallowa counties and makes mention as well of the early pioneers, as the leading citizens of today: and it is with pleasure that we accord the same to … Read more

Biography of Charles B. Bellinger

Judge Bellinger was born in Maquon, Knox County, Illinois, November 21, 1839, and at the age of eight years came to Oregon with his parents and grandparents. After receiving the advantages of a common school education, supplemented with some two years at the Willamette University, he began to read law at Salem, in the office of B. F. Bonham; at present United States Consul. at Calcutta, and was admitted to the bar at the September term of the Supreme Court, in 1863. He immediately thereafter engaged in the practice of law at Salem in partnership with J. C. Cartwright, since … Read more

Biography of Judge John T. Morgan

The gentleman whose name heads this review has been a conspicuous figure in the legislative and judicial history of two states. Probably the public life of no other illustrious citizen of Idaho has extended over as long a period as his, and certainly the life of none has been more varied in service, more constant in honor, more fearless in conduct and more stainless in reputation. His career has been one of activity, full of incidents and results. In every sphere of life in which he has been called upon to move he has made an indelible impression, and by … Read more

Biographical Sketch of George Washington Schaffer

The subject of this sketch, George Washington Schaffer, was born in St. Louis, Missouri, July 4, 1847. His parents removed, during his boyhood, to Galesburg, Illinois, where they resided several years. Returning to St. Louis, Mr. Schaffer engaged in the butcher business, and continued there until the fall of 1868. His next field of operation was Kansas City, where he followed his trade for some time. From Kansas City he went to St. Joseph, where he remained until 1874, and then returned to St. Louis. He lived in St. Louis one year, during which time he had a rib broken while … Read more