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OTHER BIOGRAPHICAL INDEXES:
BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
HISTORY OF VERMILION COUNTY,
ILLINOIS
by H. W. Beckwith
Publ. Chicago: H. H. Hill and Company, Publishers
1879
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Elwood Twp. -
A. J. DARNALL, Ridge Farm, dealer
in general merchandise, a son of Aaron Darnall, of Edgar
county, a Baptist minister of Considerable note, was born in
Edgar county, this state, on the 8th of November, 1833, and was
raised on a farm. He followed the occupation of a farmer
until twenty-three years of age, at which time he commenced
clerking in a store in Bloomfield, Edgar county. He
followed this four years and bought his employer out, and
continued there two years. He came to Ridge Farm in 1863
and continued there two years. He came to Ridge Farm in
1863 and opened a general merchandise store, which he still
continues. He carries a stock of about ten thousand
dollars' worth of good, and by honesty and fair dealing he has
established a reputation that has given him a large trade.
He also owns two hundred acres of good land, a half interest in
the flouring mill in Ridge Farm, one lot with a dwelling house,
and a lot on which is a store. Mr. Darnall
was married on the 4th of August, 1864, to Mary E. Fair.
They are the parents of five children, three living:
Minnie B., Harley and Manford. The
deceased were Frank and one infant. Mr. Darnall is
a democrat and his religious views are liberal. He belongs
to the A. F. & A. M.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 602
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Danville -
J. G. DAVIDSON, Danville, farmer, was born
in Rockbridge county, Virginia, on the 24th of June, 1817, and
is the son of John and Elizabeth (Goodbar) Davidson, of
Virginia. His father was a carpenter by trade, and
followed farming; he was also a soldier of the war of 1812.
They both died in Virginia. Mr. Davidson first went
to Ohio in 1835, and remained there until 1837, when he
came to Vermilion county, Illinois. Here he was first
engaged in school-teaching, and was the first regular
school-teacher. He organized the first singing-class in
that neighborhood which is now Catlin township. He taught
school until 1840. He married Harriet J. Rodgers,
of Butler county, Ohio, the daughter of Samuel and Annie
Rodgers. They have eleven children. Mr.
Davison has held the office of school-director for a number
of years. He had one son in the late war, John G.
who enlisted in the 125th Ill. Vol. Inf. (a history of which
regiment appears in this work); he, after serving about eight
months, took sick, and was honorably discharged.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 386 |
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Ross Twp. -
AMAZIAH
DAVIS, deceased, was born in what was then Morgan county,
Virginia, on the 2d of August, l807. He was a son of Jonathan
and Margaret (Hill) Davis. He removed with his
parents to Muskingum county, Ohio, in 1812, where he grew up and
spent his life farming till 1851, when he moved to Grant
township, Vermilion county, Illinois, and settled on a farm near
Rossville. He married, and settled on a farm near Rossville. He
was married on the 24th of April 1832, to Emily Berry.
He held the office of road commissioner several years; was a
republican in politics, liberal in his views, and universally
respected as a man and citizen. He was a prominent and
influential member of the United Brethren church over thirty
years. He owned one hundred and sixty acres of choice farming
land. His death occurred on the 10th day of May, 1879. Two of
his sons enlisted at the same time in Co. A, 125th Ill. leaving
home on the 1st of February, 1864. Their service was brief
duration, both dying of measles, the elder Charles, at
Mashville, on the lst of March following, and Elias at
Chattanooga, on the 5th. Mrs. Davis was born on
the 2nd of April, 1813 in Muskingum county, Ohio. Her parents
were James and Hannah (Williams) Berry.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 683
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Elwood Twp. -
JONAH M. DAVIS, Ridge Farm, dealer
in general merchandise, was born in North Carolina on the 2d of
March 1824. He attended boarding-school at Gilford one
year, and then went to the Bloomingdale Academy one year.
He has taught about twenty-three schools. He came to this
state in 1851, and settled near Vermilion Grove, taking charge
of the new seminary of that place. He had charge of this
for five years, and came to the Ridge, where he commenced the
mercantile business in 1856, and now carries about six thousand
dollars' worth of stock, and is doing a good business. Mr.
Davis is one of the best citizens of Vermilion. He was
married in 1875 to Ella Jenkins, who was born in Indiana on the
26th of March, 1848. Politically, Mr. Davis is a
republican. His parents were natives of North Carolina.
He belongs to the Friends church.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 599
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RUFUS H. DAVIS, Ridge Farm, farmer
and stock-dealer, was born in Carteret county, North Carolina,
and moved with his parents to Indiana when five years of age,
settling near Knightstown. He followed the occupation of a
farmer at intervals through life. His chances for an
education were good. He attended the Quaker
boarding-school at Richmond, Indiana, one year, and has taught
school about ten years. Mr. Davis taught different
languages and all the different branches. He has held the
office of justice of the peace four years; school trustee four
years; school director several years, and supervisor of township
six years. He is not only a classical scholar, but is well
known as one of the leading and prominent men of Elwood
township. Mr. Davis was married in April,
1866, to Lydia Hornaday, who was born in Clinton,
Ohio, on the 25th of December, 1835. They are the parents
of seven children, four living: Sherman, John,
Alice and Ella; the deceased were infants.
Mr. Davis is a republican and belongs to the
Friends church. He owns four hundred and thirty-five acres
of good land adjoining Ridge Farm, one lot with store-house, and
ten other lots in Ridge Farm.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 602
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Danville -
J. G. DAVIDSON, Danville, farmer, was born in Rockbridge county,
Virginia, on the 24th of June, 1817, and is the son of John
and Elizabeth (Goodbar) Davidson, of Virginia. His
father was a carpenter by trade, and followed farming; he was
also a soldier of the war of 1812. They both died in
Virginia. Mr. Davidson first went to Ohio in 1835.
They both died in Virginia. Mr. Davidson first went
to Ohio in 1835, and remained there until 1837, when he came to
Vermilion county, Illinois. Here he was first engaged in
school-teaching, and was the first regular school-teacher.
He organized the first singing-class in that neighborhood which
is now Catlin township. He taught school until 1840.
He married Harriet J. Rodgers, of Butler county, Ohio,
the daughter of Samuel and Annie Rodgers. They have
eleven children. Mr. Davidson has held the office
of school-director for a number of years. He had one son
in the late war, John G., who enlisted in the 125th Ill.
Vol. Inf. (a history of which regiment appears in this work);
he, after serving about eight months, took sick, and was
honorably discharged.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 386 ok |
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Rossville
Twp. -
JOHN DAVISON,
Rossville, collecting agent, was born in Ross township,
Vermilion
county, Illinois, on the 19th of February, 1837, and
is
the son of Robert
and Melinda (Chenowerth) Davison. He was brought up
to farm labor. In the fall of 1856 and
the
next winter he
attended school at Perrysville, Indiana, and, the following
summer, clerked
at
Myersville for Andy
Gundy. He spent the next winter at Perrysville, and the
succeeding spring at Danville, in school again.
On
the 26th of September,
1858, he was married to Maria, daughter of Joseph
Gundy.
He enlisted in
Co. F,
4th Ill. Cav.,
in
July, 1861, and was
in the battles
of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson
:
was discharged in
August, 1862. Mr. Davison returned to farming. From 1873 to 1876
he
was employed in
mercantile pursuits. He was elected justice
of
the peace in
1877,
and since then has
been in the collecting business.
He
has three living
children:
Willie
L.,
Charley
F.,
Ferdinand.
Mr. Davison
is a republican.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 677 ok
Submitted by Mary Paulius |
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Ross Twp. -
DANIEL C. DEAMUDE, Rossville, merchant, was born in
Vermilion county Illinois, on the 26th of July, 1839, and is the
son of Samuel and Eleanor (Hillery)
Deamude. He was reared a farmer.
Mr. Deamude
enrolled in Co. D, 35th Ill. Vol., on the 3d of
July, 1861, and mustered into the United States service on the
28th of August following.
These
are the chief engagements in which he participated:
Pea Ridge,
Corinth, Mumfordsville, Perryville, Stone River, Chickamauga,
Mission Edge, Charleston, Tenn.,
Rocky Face
Ridge, Buzzard Roost, Resaca and Burnt Hickory. At
Chickamauga he was slightly wounded;
received
nine bullets through his clothing, two of them taking
hair
from his head;
at Mission
Ridge he received a flesh wound in his right arm;
at Burnt
Hickory on the 26th of May, 1864 he was severely wounded in the
left side. He was mustered out with his regiment at
Springfield, Illinois, on the 27th of September, 1864. On the
1st of January of the following he recruited Co. K, 150th Ill.
Vol, and mustered in as first-lieutenant on the 14th of
February; he was mustered out early in 1866. Mr.
Deamnde married, on the 29th of November,
1866, to Harriet a Moshcr. The past ten years he
has been in the hardware trade in Rossville. He is a republican
and a Methodist.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 678 ok
Submitted by Mary Paulius |
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Ross Twp. -
WM. S. DEMAREE, Rossville, implement
dealer, was born in Park county, Indiana, on the 5th of March,
1841, and is the son of Samuel and Nancy (Curry)
Demaree. His early life was spent in cultivating a farm. On
tile 15th of September, 1861, he enlisted in Co. H, 38th Ind.
Vols., and bore an honorable part in the battles of Perryville
and Stone River. He mustered out in May, 1863, on account of
chronic diarrhea, from the effects of he still suffers in some
degree. He was married on the 30th of October, 1866, to
Perlina B. Watson. In 1871 he removed to Illinois, and
located near Rossville, Vermilion county, Illinois, where he
farmed until the spring of 1875, When he rented his place and
moved to Rossville and opened an agricultural implement house.
He is still pursuing this branch of trade. Mr. Demaree
was village trustee from May, 1875, to May, 1876, and is
now police magistrate of the town. He is the father of five
living Children: Omar I., Mary U., Nancylena, Bertha L. and
Magie W. Be is a member of the Presbyterian church, in
which he has been a ruling elder since 1874. In politics he is a
republican.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 695 ok
Submitted by Mary Paulius |
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Carroll Twp. -
DAVID DICKSON, Indianola, farmer and
stock-raiser, whose portrait appears in this work, was born in
Lewis county, Kentucky, on the 13th of December, 1806, and lived
there until March, 1824, when he came to Illinois with his
parents, and settled on his present place, locating in Carroll
township, Vermilion county. At the age of twenty he began
working for himself, going to the salt works, where he worked
until the 15th of February, 1827. He then went to Galena
and worked in the lead mines until the fall. While there
he saw the vessel on which the Winnebagoes fired and caused the
war that followed. On the 3rd of August, 1829, he married
Miss Margaret Walters. She was born in Safford
county, Virginia, and moved to Kentucky with her parents in
1824, and to Illinois in 1828, settling at Brooks' Point, this
county. They had four children, three living:
Silas, Parmelia J. and Jamima; Robert died.
Mr. Dickson being one of hte earliest settlers of this
part, knows well the meaning of pioneer life. He has
hauled produce to Chicago as early as 1835. He has driven
stock to New York and Philadelphia, going on foot, making the
trip in eighty-five days, and the fat cattle he fed in 1839 were
probably the first ever fed on the Little Vermilion. His
three living children are married and live near by. He has
four hundred acres of land, which he reserves as a competency
for himself and wife, having given one thousand acres to his
children. Among the many pleasant incidents of his life
was the golden wedding celebrated by himself and wife, on the 3d
of August, 1879.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 785 |
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Carroll Twp. -
JAMES A. DICKSON, Fairmount, farmer and
stock-raiser, was born in Vermilion county, Illinois, on the 5th
of December, 1834. His father died in 1837, and he lived
with his mother until he was twenty years of age. He then
moved near his present place and improved a farm.
Afterward he moved about three miles south, thence to his
present place. In November, 1860, he married Miss
Amanda J. Sheppard. She was born in this county.
They had four children, three living: John W., Simon A.
and Charles E. Mr. Dickson owns four hundred and
forty acres in this county, which he has principally earned by
his own labor. He hauled apples to Chicago as early as
1857. He is no office seeker, his only office being
connected with the school and road. His parents, John
and Elizabeth Doyle Dickson, were natives of Kentucky.
They were married in Kentucky, and came to Illinois in the
spring of 1824, and settled in Vermilion county, where they
lived until their death.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 789 |
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Carroll Twp. -
SILAS DICKSON, Indianola, farmer and
stock-raiser, is a native of Vermilion county, Illinois.
He was born on his father's farm in Carroll township, on the 25h
of May, 1830, and lived here until he was thirty-five years of
age, when he moved to Edgar county, and lived there seven years.
He then came to Indianola, and has lived here since. On
the 13th of October, 1864, he married Miss Frances Foos,
who was born in Ohio, and came to Vermilion county, Illinois,
with her parents. They have three children: Evalena,
Robert and Alburtus. Mr. Dickson is no
office-seeker, and has held no offices except those connected
with the schools. He owns six hundred acres of land in
this and Edgar counties, part of which adjoins the village of
Indianola.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 787 |
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Danville -
GEORGE DILLON, Danville, clerk of the
circuit court. This gentleman was born in Vermilion
county, Illinois, near Georgetown, on the 16th of January, 1837,
and is the son of Luke and Charity (Wright) Dillon.
His father was born in North Carolina in 1790, and moved at an
early day to Ohio, where he married Miss Charity Wright,
who died in Vermilion county, Illinois, in 1838. She was
the mother of ten children. From Ohio Mr. Luke Dillon
moved and located in Vermilion county, Illinois, in 1830, on a
farm near George township, where he was engaged in farming.
He married the second wife, Miss Sarah Haworth. He
died in 1852, and was interred in the cemetery of Friends, near
Georgetown, where rest the remains of his first wife, they both
having been connected during life with this religious order.
Mr. Dillon, the subject of this sketch, was engaged in
farming until the breaking out of the late war. He
enlisted as private in Co. D, 125th Ill. Vol. Inf., for three
years; he did good service, and participated in some of the most
prominent battles. He was wounded June, 1864, in a
skirmish after night near Dallas, Georgia, and from the effects
of this he lost his right arm; he was first sent to the hospital
at Chattanooga, then to Nashville, Tennessee, and finally to
Mound City, Illinois, where he received his final discharge in
1865. He returned to Vermilion county, and in 1866 he
moved to Georgetown. Mr. Dillon has held several offices
of public trust. In 1866 he was elected town clerk of
Georgetown township; in 1867 he was elected assessor and
collector of the same township, and in 1868 reelected to the
same office; in the fall of 1868 he was elected to the office he
now fills, and in which he has served since he was first
elected. He has ably and punctually discharged the duties
of these offices, and shares, as a result, a gratifying degree
of popularity. The officers of Vermilion county, more than
any other gathering of county officers in the state, are
soldiers, and to their honor be it said they are, without
exception, soldiers who earned their spurs by the faithful
performance of duty, their courage in action and their
meritorious conduct. No higher tribute could be paid to
the people of Vermilion county than to take a stranger into the
court-house, and point out the maimed heroes of the war busily
filling the positions that the people of Vermilion county have
bestowed upon them. Mr. Dillon married in Vermilion
county, on the 7th of March, 1861, Miss Desdamona Martin,
the daughter of Henry and Mary (Morgan) Martin, who made
their homes in Vermilion county in about 1818. By this
marriage they have had seven children, five living.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 386 |
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Carroll Twp. -
SAMUEL P. DONOVAN, Indianola, farmer,
farmer and stock-raiser, was born in Vermilion county, Illinois,
on the 27th of August, 1829. His father died when he was
about sixteen years of age. He continued to live with his
mother until the 17th of March, 1860, when he went to Colorado,
and took up a claim and worked it three months, clearing $700.
He then went prospecting. At one time he was one of a
party of fifty-two commanded by Kit Carson, and for one
years of the time he did not see a white woman. They
traveled in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, California, and
at the end of two years he returned to Central City, and worked
by the day for one year, receiving eight dollars per day, thus
saving $2,000. He then went in partnership with Mr.
Charles Jones, of Brandon, Vermont. They worked thirty
hands two years, then sold out for $25,000. Mr. Donovan
then came home and bought his present place. On the 28th
of September, 1865, he married Miss Lydia A. Stunkard.
She was born in Indiana, and died on the 10th of November, 1872.
On the 8th of February, 1874, he married Miss Sarah Jane
Pollard, who was born in England. They have two
children: Martha L. and William O. Mr. Donovan
owns two hundred and eighty-eight acres of land in this county.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 786 |
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Catlin Twp. -
D. B. DOUGLASS, Catlin, farmer
and stock-raiser, was born in Vermilion county, Illinois on the
11th of October, 1827, and is the son of Cyrus and
Ruby Douglass, who were natives of Virginia and
Pennsylvania, and came to the county in an early day, and were
the first couple married in the county. Mr. D. B.
Douglass made a trip to California in 1853, and in 1864 went
to the western territories, returning in 1866. He was
married on the 5th of September, 1855, to Miss Ann Downing,
a native of Kentucky, born on the 25th of December, 1825.
They have three sons and two daughters: Samuel, Eliza,
Allen, Bell and George. Mr. Douglass has
three hundred and twenty-six acres of land with good
improvements, which are the fruits of his own management and
attendance strictly to his own affairs. He has thus gained
the good will of all his neighbors, and is respected by all who
know him.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 628 ok |
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Elwood Twp. -
WILLIAM F. DUBRE, Ridge Farm,
farmer, section 26, was born in Clark county, Illinois, on the
3d of March, 1836, and raised on a farm. He has followed
that occupation through life. Mr. Dubre came to
this county in 1854, and settled in Pilot Grove, where he has
since resided. He was married in this state, on the 12th
of September, 1861, to Sarah Folger, who was born in this
county on the 19th of January, 1836. They are the parents
of eight children, four of whom are living: Rosetta,
Oscar, Allen and Hattie; deceased; Nelson R.,
Harry, Elisabeth, and one infant. The parents of
Mr. Dubre were natives of Ohio and Illinois, and those of
his wife, of North Carolina and the island of Nantucket.
He is a republican, and belongs to the Friends church.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 595
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Danville -
GEORGE DUDENHOFER, Danville, cigar
manufacturer, was born in Hesse Providence, Germany, in 1834.
He learned the trade of a cigar-maker in Germany. In 1856,
with his parents, he emigrated to America and landed in New York
city. He came west to Indiana and located in Fort Wayne,
where he remained about two years, when he went to La Fayette,
and there he remained about one year. Here he was married
to Elizabeth Burkley of Germany, who came to America when
she was about eleven years old. By this union they have
five children. In 1859 they went to Alton, and there
remained one year and then returned to La Fayette, and in 1865
came to Danville. Here Mr. Dudenhofer has remained
ever since. He employs four hands in the manufacture of
cigars, and has made as high as twenty thousand in one year, and
paid to the government $14,000 taxes on cigars for the same
length of time. He finds sale for his goods in this
vicinity. Mr. Dudenhofer enlisted in the 76th
Indiana, and was in the campaign after the guerrilla John
Morgan. His parents were George and Eliza
Dudenhofer. His father died in Germany and his mother
died in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 448 ok |
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Newell Twp. -
SAMUEL DUNCAN,
Danville, farmer and stock-dealer, was born in Newell township,
Vermilion county, Illinois,
on
the 23d of November, 1840, and is a son of
Darius and Margaret Duncan. His mother was
a daughter of 'Squire James Newell,
from whom Newell township derived its name. Mr. Duncan
has been both assessor and collector of his town. He was married
on the 23d of September, 1869, to Eldora McDoel. Mr.
Duncan's principal business has been dealing in stock. He
has one child:
Henry McDoel Duncan.
Source: History of
Vermilion County, Ohio - Chicago: H. H. Hill and Co., 1879 -
Page 959 ok
Contributed by Mary Paulius |
NOTES: |
