Defiance, wheie he spent the remainder of his life,
engaged in agricultural pursuits. He was born in
1818 and died on the 20th of .January, 18'JI,at
the age of sevent\'-three.

Thomas Shrimplin was the second in order of
birth in a family of ten children who grew to ma-
ture years. He remained on the home farm and
gave his father the benefit of his services until
about twenty-eight years of age, when, in 1870, he
came to Iroquois County and began farming. Ere
leaving the Stale of his nativity, he was united in
marriage, December 12, 1867, with Miss Anna



PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.



439



Eastbuni, daughter of Jesse R. and Tabitha (Critcli-
field) Eastljuin. The lady was born in Concord
Townshii). this county', December 20, 1850, and
three cliildren grace their union: Abram J., born
in AVillianis County, Ohio, September 29. 1868,
is a member of Paragon Lodge, K. of P., of Sheldon,
111. George W. was born in Defiance County-, Sep-
tember 30, 1870, and is a member of the s:ime
order. Ellen was born on the home farm in this
county September 6, 1876.

In his political affiliations, Mr. Shrimiilin is a
Democrat, iiaving been identified with tliat party
since he cast his first vote for George B. McClellan.
He h.as resided upon his present farm since 187.3,
when he purcliased eight}' acres of land, to which
he lias since added an additional tract of eighty
acres. His farm is now under a high state of cul-
tivation and well improved. He has laid many
rods of tiling upon it; well-kept fences separate it
into fields of convenient size, and good buildings
are numbered among its substantial improvements.
Mr. Shrimplin is an enterprising and progressive
farmer and now> ranks among the well-to-do citi-
zens of the community. He is held in high regard
by all who know liim, and during his twenty years'
residence in the county he has formed a wide cir-
cle of friends and acquaintances.



/p$, ARRISON BKOWX, M. D., who is engaged
III g— - in the practice of medicine and surger}^ at
'^i>|(! Crescent City, and is also proprietor of a
drug store at that place, was born in Wayne
County, N. Y., on the 5th of January, 1847. The
family is of English descent and is among the old-
est families of New Jerse\'. The grandfather of
our subject, Samuel Brown, was a native of that
State, and Elisha Brown, the father of the Doctor,
was there born on the 8tli of October, 1807. He
grew to manhood in the State of his nativity and
emigrated to "Wayne County, N. Y., with his fa-
ther, locating in the town of Williamson. He was
twice married, his second wife being the mother
of our subject. She bore the maiden name of
Mary Durfee and was the daughter of Stejihen



Durfee, one of the early settlers of Wayne County,
who came from Rhode Isl.and and located near
Palmyra. Elisha Brown still resides in the Em-
pire State and has reached the advanced age of
eighty-five years.

The Doctor is the eldest in a family of two sons
and two daughters; he has a half-brother and
sister, children of liis father's first marriage. He
grew to manliood in Palmyra and acquired a good
education in the public schools and academy. He
afterward engaged in teaching school for one term,
and when a young man emigrated Westward, lo-
cating in Tama County, Iowa, in 1868. He there
purchased raw land and began the development of
a farm, which he operated for two years. On the
expiration of that period, he purchased a drug and
grocery store in Waltham, and also took up the
stud}' of medicine. He attended his first course
of lectures in 1877, in Keokuk, Iowa, and was
graduated in the Class of '78 with the degree of
M. D. He then returned to Waltham, where he
engaged in practice until the following spring,
when he sold out and came to Iroquois Count}'.
Since that time he has been a resident of Crescent
Citj', and to medical practice has devoted his time
and attention with excellent success. In the fall
of 1891, he also established a drug store, which
he carries on in connection with liis son Fay.

Ere leaving Waltham, Dr. Brown was married,
on the 22d of December, 1869, to Jliss p:iizabeth
A. Hagerman, a native of Leeds Count}', Ontario,
Canada, and a daughter of Richard Hagerman.
Eight children have been born of their union, the
eldest of whom is Fay, a well-educated young man
possessed of good business ability, who is now in
business with his father; Mary and De Witt G. are
at home; II. T. Cleaver died in October, 1881, at
the age of four years. The younger members of
the family are B. F., Eva T., Ida E. and Harold T.

The Doctor is a stalwart Republican in politics,
having supjjorted that party since he cast his first
ballot for Gen. U. S. Grant, but he has never
been an aspirant for office. In his socia,! relations,
he is an Odd Fellow and has filled all the chairs of
the local lodge, now serving as Past Grand. His
wife is a member of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, In business and social circles Dr. Browji



440



POUTRAIT AND B10(^RAPI1ICAL RECORD.



ranks high. Thorough preparation fitted him for
his profession, and the experience he has gained by
practice, combined with his siiill and natu al abil-
ity, has made him one of the successful practition-
ers of this county. During his thirteen years' resi-
dence in Crescent C'itj', he has gained a liberal pat-
ronage, whicli he well deserves.



AMUEL W. MONTGOMERY, one of the
early settlers of the county, follows farming
on section 27, Belmont Township, where he
has made his home for a third of a century.
A native of Russell County, Va., he was born Ap-
ril 30, 1816. His grandfather, John Montgomery,
aided the Colonies in their struggle for indepen-
dence, serving as a scout against the Indians. He
was also Sheriff of his county.

Alex Montgomery, father of our subject, was
born and reared in the Old Dominion, and through-
out his life followed the occupation of farming.
He married Barbara Harris, and in 1817 they re-
moved to Kentucky, settling on the Licking River,
among the mountains. In 1822, they became resi-
dents of Franklin County, Ind., and in that fall
the father died. Tiie mother reared her famil}-,
keeping them all together. At length she came to
Illinois and during her last days found a pleasant
home with our subject. Her death occurred about
1861. Mr. Montgomery was a prominent member
of the Methodist Church and was always well
informed in regard to church news, reading exten-
sively the publications of his denomination. In
politics he was a Democrat. In the family of this
worthy couple were the following children: Susan,
now deceased; Lincoln, who resides in Alabama;
.John, who died in Illinois; Samuel, of this sketch;
William, who was killed by falling from a tree
when a lad; Jane, now deceased; and Margaret,
who resides in Coles County, 111.

We now take up the personal history of our sub-
ject, who is one of the county's leading citizens.
He was a lad of only six years when with his |iar-
ents he moved to Indiana, where he was reared to
mnnhood upon a farm. He aided in clearing land



and performed the arduous task of developing
a new farm, while for recreation he engaged in
hunting deer and other wild game, which were
plentiful and which furnished many a meal to the
family. He remained at home until his marriage,
which was celebrated in Fountain County, Ind., in
1836, the lady of his choice being Miss Charity
Devore, who was born in Kentuck}', but was reared
in Monroe County, Ind. For ten j'ears Mr, Mont-
gomery resided on the border line of Grant
Prairie, in Warren County, Ind., and in 1849 he
came to Iroquois County, HI. Purchasing a farm
of ninety acres in Concord Township, near Bunk-
um, he there made his home until 1860, when he
removed to his present place of residence. The
year previous he had purchased two hundred and
forty acres of hind., and afterward extended the
boundaries of his farm until it comprised four
hundred acres, but has since disposed of an eighty-
acre tract. He has been a successful agriculturist,
has placed his land under a high state of cultiva-
tion, and as the result of his industry and good
management he has acquired a handsome property.
The many improvements, both useful and orna-
mental, which he has placed upon his land have
made it one of the valuable and desirable farms of
the township.

The death of Mrs. Montgomery occurred in
August, 1840. Two children were born of that union.
Susan died in childhood; Elizabeth died after her
marriage. Mr. Montgomery was again nianied, in
Warren Count}', Ind., January 13, 1842, his second
union being with Sarah Ilerriman, who was born in
Clarke County, Ohio, and who when a 3'oung lady
went to Warren County, Ind. Her parents were
Stephen and Abigail (Buckland) Ilerriman, both
natives of Vermont. The mother died in Ohio,
when Mrs. Montgomer}' was a small child. Of the
second marriage have been born the following
children: Charity L., a native of Warren C'ount^-,
Ind., is now the wife of John GafHeld, who resides
near Sheldon, III.; Mary, born in Warren County,
is the wife of J. M. Barnes, of Iloopeston; Henry
Cla.y, who was born in Warren County, enlisted in
the Seventy-sixth Illinois Regiment, was wounded
in a charge at Ft. Chadburn. Ala., and died Nov-
ember 8, 1877, in Missouri; William was born in



PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECOM).



441



Iroquois County', and is a farmer of Belmont Town-
ship; Jolin D. died at tbe age of two 3-ears; Stephen
II. died at the age of seventeen; Margaret is ti\c
wife of Jolin Fanning, of Woodland; Alonzo I), is
a farmer of Belmont Township; Olive is now de-
ceased; and Charlie operates a farm near the old
homestead.

Mr. Montgomery" is truly a self-made man. lie
had not even good educational advantages to aid
him. He has had both to educate himself and to
make his own way in the world financially. Willi
a young man's l)right hope of tlie future and a
strong determination to succeed, he started out in
life, and lias worked his way steadily upward,
overcoming tlie obstacles in his patii by his
perseverance and enterprise. He now has a com-
fortable competence. His farm and pleasant resi-
dence are valuable property'. He was the first of
the family to vote the Whig ticket, supporting
William Henry Harrison in 1840. He voted for
Fremont in 1856, and has since been a stalwart
Republican. He served as Justice of the Peace
for about ten years and for one term as Supervisor.
His wife belongs to the United Brethren Church,
and Mr. Montgomery- is a faithful member of the
Christian Church of Woodland. His life has been
well and worthily spent, and his upright career
has won liini universal confidence. For forty-three
years he has made his home in Iroquois County, and
has ever borne his part in its upbuilding and de-
velopment. Such is the record of a valued citizen,
the honored pioneer and self-made man, .Samuel
W. Montiiomerv.



j'ONATHAN WRKHIT, one of the oldest
settlers of Iroquois County, was born at
Terre Haute, Ind., December 27, 1831. He
is a son of David C. and Ede (McKown)
Wngiit. His grandfather Wright came from Eng-
land, and served in the War of the Revolution.
He was an Elder in the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and was uuicli liiiiHiied in the Colonies.
His grandfather McKown emigrated from Ireland to



tlie United States, served in the same war, and was
wounded in the thigh, for which he received a
pension. The grandmotliers of our subject were
sisters, bearing the name of Kerl, and were of
Swedish ancestry. The father of our subject was
born in Jackson County, Ya., and his mother in
Pennsylvania, but when a girl she removed to Jack-
son County with her parents. His father served
in the War of 1812, and after his death his widow
received a pension. About the year 1828 they
came by flat-boat down the Ohio River, and l)y
steamboat they were pulled up the Wabash River
as far as Terre Haute. Mr Wright was a miller
and millwright by trade, following that for a tune
in Virginia, although farming was his chief occu-
pation, and this he followed at Terre Haute. In
18;55 he came to tlie eastern part of what is now
Douglas Township. There were but few settlers
and they were scattered along Spring Creek. He
entered one hundred and twenty acres of land, on
which he spent the rest of his life, dj'ing in his
sixty-third year. He was a life-long Democrat
and of his eight sons all save one were of the
same political faith. The mother spent her last
days with our subject and passed away at the age
of eighty-four years. In their family were ten
children, eight sons and twfi daughters, of whom
seven survive.

Mr. Wright, of this sketch, is the seventh child
in his father's famil}', and was reared on the farm,
liaving very poor advantages in the way of an
education, there being no schools in the commu-
nity at that early day. His father, who was a
smart man and well educated, taught one of the
first district schools in this ])art of the county.
Our subject worked at a hotel in Middleport for
his board, and went to school one winter. An-
other winter he did likewise, and that comprised
all the schooling lie had until after he was grown,
but throughout life he has been a student and
close observer, and has acquired a valuable fund
of knowledge which many who have superior
educational advantages might well envy. At
nineteen years of age he lost his father, and thus
tlie care of his mother and the younger members
of the family fell upon his youthful shoulders.
From boyhood he had worked at carpeutoring,



442



PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.



but on coming to Oilman he engaged in the butch-
ering business for a time and then lie with his
brother took a contract to build the bridges from
Gilman to the State line. As the county was in-
solvent, he lost about $1,000 in this enterprise.
lie has the distinction of having built the first
residence in Gilman, the house which C. Cross
now lives in. Prior to that there had been but .t
few huts and shanties erected.

In May, 1870, occurred the marriage of Mr.
Wiight to Maria Place, a native of the Empire
State, who came to Grundy ^County, 111., with her
parents when young. Mr. and Mrs. Wright have
two children: Camilla, who is a graduate of the
Gilman High School; and Elmo, who, like his fa-
ther, is a carpenter, and is his father's assistant. The
■wife and daughter are members of the Methodist
Church.

In August, 1862, Mr. "Wright enlisted in Com-
panj' A, Seventy-sixth Illinois Infantry, and was
mustered into service at Kankakee. His company
was called to the Mississippi River and Gulf De-
partment. The first engagement of importance in
which they took part was the siege of Vicksburg;
then followed the second battle of Jackson, Miss.,
Sabine Cross Roads, and the capture of Ft.
Blakely. At the last-named battle the Seventy-
sixth Regiment numbered less than three hundred,
but in twenty minutes ninety-eight of that num-
ber were either killed or wounded. Their regi-
mental flag was the first to be hoisted over the
fort. Our subject was never wounded or taken
prisoner, but at Blakel)', while pursuing a rebel,
he ran clear into the rebel lines and at that lime
and several others had very narrow escapes. He
was mustered out at Galveston, Tex., and received
his discharge at Chicago in 18(5.5, having served
three j'ears and three months as a faithful su|)-
porter of the Union.

Returning to Gilman he worked at carpentering,
also following that occupation at Watseka, Chi-
cago and Chatsworth. Shortly after the close of
the war he purchased a farm in Douglas Town-
ship, which he ran for about a year and then sold
it. He has since made his home in Gilman. He
is a Democrat in his political opinions, but has
not been au office-seeker. He has served as con-



stable, however, most acceptably for a period of
ten 3-ears. He is a member of the Gilman Post
No. 186, G. A. R. Mr. Wright owns considerable
town propertj' as the reward of his industry and
frugality. He may truly be called a self-made
man, for it is entirely owing to his own efforts
that he has acquired the property which ranks him
among the substantial citizens an<l successful busi-
ness men of the county.



<^ IVILLIAM Y. CLARK, proprietor of the
\/\Ii/ planing mill of Sheldon, was born in Eng-
VV land, April 10, 1852. He is the eldest of
a famil\' of five children who were born unto
William and Ann (Yardy) Clark, also natives of
England. When our subject was. an infant his par-
ents hade good-l\ve to their old home and crossed
the broad Atlantic to America, settling first near
Lockport, N. Y., where they resided for five years.
On the expiration of that period, they removed to
Benton County, Ind., where the mother's death
occurred in 1859. The father was afterward again
married and by that union had seven children.
He resided in Benton County for about thirty
3'ears, and in 1890 came to Sheldon, where he has
since resided. He is now a hale and hearty man
of sixt\'-four years and is a valued citizen of the
community.

The subject of this sketch spent his boyhood
days upon his father's farm and in the winter sea-
son attended the common school, while in the
summer months he worked in the fields. He gave
his father the benefit of his services until he had
attained his majority, when he started out to earn
his own livelihood. Ere leaving home, he had
learned the carpenter's trade, and in 1873 he came
to Sheldon, wiiere he followed that occupation
successfully for a number of years. He was an
expert workman and always enjo^-ed a good trade,
his services being much in demand. In 1881, he
embarked in his present business, purchasing the
planing mill of C. Corlette. The mill, however,
had for some time been operated by the Light
Bros.



LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS








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LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

URBANA



1



PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.



447



In January, 1876, Mr. Clark was united in mar-
riage witli Miss Carrie Applegate, of Indiana. Tlie
family circle now numbers four cliildren, two sons
and two daughters: Delbert, Ciiarlie, Grace and
Anna, and the circle li.is never been broken by the
hand of Death.

Success has attended the industrious and perse-
vering efforts of our subject, who is a man of good
business ability, enterprising and progressive. By
his fair and honest dealing and excellent work he
has secured a liberal patronage and is now doing a
prosperous business, which is but the just reward
of his labors. !»ocially, Mr. Clark is a member of
the Modern Woodmen of America, and he exer-
cises his right of franchise in support of the Re-
publican party. He is a well-known business man
of the community and is a prominent citizen.
During the twenty years of his residence here, he
has made many friends and won the high regard
of all by his sterling worth.



ll' AM EST. AVATKIXS, a representative farmer
residing on section 26, Middleport Town-
ship, where he owns three hundred and
sixty acres of valuable hmd, was born near
Wincliester, Va., on the 14th of November, 1836,
and is a son of Henry and Ann (Powelson) Wat-
kins. His parents were both natives of the Old
Dominion, and unto them were biirn six children,
the eldest of whom, John W., now resides with
our subject. Francis is a farmer living in Kansas;
Elizabeth is now a resident of Miginia; Hcnr3' M.
died in 1863; and Benjamin M. is engaged in agri-
cultural pursuits in Bates County, JIo. The father
of this family met his death by drowning, while
crossing the Potomac River, on the 2d of Feb-
ruary, 1850. His wife died the following year.
They were both members of the Baptist Ciuuch
and were people of sterling worth, whose upright
lives won for them manj- friends.

Mr. Watkins, our subject, was born and reared
u|)on his father's farm and acquired a good Eng-
lish education, attending school during the winter
season through the greater part of his boyhood

20



ff^



and 3-outh. He began to earn his own livelihood
when twenty-one yeavi of age, and whatever he
now possesses has been acquired through his own
efforts. When a young man, accompanied by a
friend, he made a trip over the mountains on
horseb.ick to Licking County, Ohio. That winter
he attended school, and the following spring he
hired out to a farmer for two seasons. He then
rented land and engaged in farming for himself
for one summer. The succeeding autumn he re-
turned to Virginia alone on horseback, and when
he again came to Ohio brought a drove of horses
witii him. This business of bringing horses over
the mountains to the Western States he followed
until 1862.

In that year, he responded to the countiy's call
for troops. Joining the boys in blue of Company
A, Ninety -sixth Oliio Infantry, he went to the
front and participated in the battles of Yicksburg
and Arkansas Post. In the latter Mr. Watkins
was wounded in the left leg by a shell, and was
then taken to Memphis, Tenn., where he was soon
afterward discharged on account of disability.
AVhen mustered out he returned at once to Ohio,
and afterward purchased a herd of j'oung cattle,
which he drove through to Iroquois County, 111.,
pasturing them upon the prairies of Sheldon Town-
ship. In 1865, he purchased eighty acres of land
in Sheldon Township, upon which he made his
home for a year. He then bought another eighty-
acre tract of land on section 26, Middleport Town-
ship, tlie nucleus of his present fine farm, to which
he has added from time to time until now three
hundred and sixty acres of arable land p.iy a
golden tribute to the care and cultivation he be-
stows upon it. He cleared and improved the place
himself and his farm is as a monument to his thrift
and enterprise. He now carries on general farm-
ing and stock-raising and is regarded as one of
the prosperous citizens of the community.

On the 13th of September, 1864, Mr. Watkins
was married to Miss Martha, daughter of Putnam
and Luc}' (Ilerriman) Gatlield. Her father is a
native of Vermont, born May 25, 1811, but at an
early day he left the Green Mountain State and
went to Ohio, where he was reared to manhood in
the usual manner of farmer lads, He is a man of



448



PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.



much natural ability, and in the common schools
lie acquired a good English education. He now
resides in Concord Township, Iroquois Count}'.
He came to Illinois in 18.55, and has since been an
honored citizen of this eomnuinity. He married
Miss Lucy Herriman, a native of Ohio, and their
union, which was celebrated in 1832, was blessed
with a family of nine children, two sons and seven
daughters, of whom five are yet living. Mary,
the eldest, is the wife of R. P. Case, who resides in
Iroquois village; Elmira is the wife of George R.
Dunning, a resident of Englewood, 111., who is em-
ploy ed as watchman on the crossing of the Chicago
& Eastern Illinois Railroad; Nancj' was joined in
wedlock with Isaac C. Denney, a successful and en-
terprising farmer residing in 1 ndiana; Mrs. AVatkins
is the next younger; and AViliiam completes the
famil}'. He married Miss Lizzie Flerh, and makes
his home in Englewood, being employed as a sales-
man in the stock yards at Chicago. The mother
of this family was called to her final rest in 1887.

Mrs. Watkins is a native of the Buckeye State.
vShe was born on the 9th of October, 1847, and re-
sided in Ohio until eight years of age, when she
came with her parents to Illinois. She is a lady
of many pleasant and excellent qualities, held in
high esteem by her large circle of friends, and to
her husband she has proved a valuable helpmate.
B}^ the union of our subject and his wife have
been born six children, as follows: Dicie A., who
died in 1869; Bertha M., wife of Nelson Fan^o, a
farmer residing in Middleport Township; Henry
M., Zodock P., James T. and Hattie V., who are
still under the parental roof. The family lias long
been connected with this community and its inter-
ests, and in social circles its members rank high.

In politics, Mr. Watkins is a supporter of Dem-
ocratic principles and has held the office of Road
Commissioner and School Director, discliarging
tlie duties with credit to himself and to the satis-
faction of his constituents. Socially, he is a mem-
ber of the Odd Fellows' society and he also belongs
to the Baptist Church. Himself and wife are re-
specters of everything tending to the moral im-
provement of the community, and their lives have
been to their children an example worthy of emula-
lioii, We see in Mr, Watkins a self-made man,



whose excellent success is due entirely to his own