Contributed by Chester
H. Neff
[email protected]
MARLOW, John Wesley.----The
agricultural interests of Schuyler County, Ill., have a well-known representative
in John Wesley Marlow, a native-born son of Camden Township, where practically
all of his busy and useful life has been passed. The subscription
schools of this locality afforded him such advantages as were possible
in pioneer days. The churches of the community gave him religious
training and taught him in youth the duty which he owed to God and mankind.
The soil of the township, tilled in a systematic manner, netted him a fair
income from early life and laid the foundation of his present prosperity,
enabling him from time to time to add to his possessions until at this
writing he owns 365 acres of valuable farm land.
The record of the family
appears in the sketch of Levi S. Marlow, presented upon another page of
this volume. John Wesley Marlow was born at the old homestead August
16, 1840, being a son of Hanson Marlow. After having gained a knowledge
of the three R’s in the neighboring schools, he turned his attention to
general farming, in which he acquired a through training under his father.
On Aug 15, 1861, he was united in marriage with Eliza Jane Green, Daughter
of William and Hannah (Spencer) Green, honored pioneers of Schuyler County,
but both now deceased. Of the Green family one son and one daughter
(Mrs. Ayers) alone survive, and are the residents of Camden Township.
After his marriage, Mr. Marlow settled on Section 14, Camden Township,
where he bought ninety-five acres of bottom land wholly unimproved, and
during the next five years he was busily engaged in the cultivation of
the property. While living on that farm two of his children were
born. About 1866 he sold the land and removed to Richardson County,
Neb., but in the fall returned to Schuyler County and traded his Nebraska
property for 80 acres on Section 27, Camden Township, where he has since
made his home. In 1881 he lost his first wife, by whom he had the
following children: Levi, William Ray, Mary E., Henry, Rosetti, Charles
W. and Annie. Levi was born May 31, 1862 and died January 26, 1865;
Mary E. was born October 26, 1964 and died September 11, 1876. William
R. was born February 25, 1866 and died December 8, 1868. Henry, born
February 14, 1868 is a farmer in Camden Township. He married Sophia
Weightman, by whom he has had seven children, five of whom are living.
Rosetti, was born December 10, 1869, is the wife of Albert Lung, a farmer
in Camden Township, by whom she had nine children, seven of whom are living.
Charles W., born November 18, 1871, died February 12, 1873; and Annie,
born April 18, 1874, deceased wife of Mead Clayton, left one child.
The second marriage of John
Wesley Marlow united him with Jemima Weightman, who was born in Camden
Township February 1, 1863, being a daughter of that honored pioneer, William
Weightman who is still living, his wife having died February 4, 1908.
Of this union six children were born, namely: Asa U., born December
6, 1883, who died November 2, 1903; Martha Jane, born May 10, 1885,
Getrude Victoria, born December 28, 1886, who is the wife of Burt A. Davis,
a farmer of Camden Township; John W., born March 17, 1891, who assists
his father on the farm; Minnie Elizabeth, born May 1, 1893; and Nettie
Ruth, born July 29, 1895. The hospitality of the Marlow family is
proverbial. Their guests look with especial pleasure upon a visit
to the far, whose genial owner deservedly ranks among the honored men of
the township. In local improvements he has maintained a constant
interest. His devotion to his native county is unquestioned, and
his solicitude regarding his permanent prosperity is deep In religious
work he has been faithful and generous. The Union Chapel owes its
organization and usefulness largely to his labors. To the building
fund he contributed $55 in cash and forty-five days' work, while Mr. Weightman
gave $50 and his work, the united labors of the two men being the means
of dedicating the church free from debt. Many have been the changes
his eyes have beheld since his youth. Agricultural processes have
been revolutionized. In early days he was accustomed to the tedious
task of threshing the wheat with a flail; the grain was then hauled
by wagon to Quincy, where it was sold at twenty-five cents per bushel.
The days of “dollar wheat” were then undreamed of, nor were there any prophets
to herald the coming inventions which would radically change all known
methods of harvesting and threshing. The telephone was then unheard
of, and many other conveniences, which are regarded as necessities by people
in the twentieth century, were then unknown, yet the pioneers look back
upon those days with a keen recollection of the many pleasures they enjoyed
and a vivid appreciation of their happiness in spite of the lack of modern
improvements.
Biography, John Wesley Marlow.
Reference: Chapter 32, Page 877, Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and
History of Schuyler County, edited by Newton Bateman, Paul Selby, &
Howard F. Dyson; Munsell Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908.
Submitted by Chester H. Neff, Jan. 2000.
Copyright 2000-2006 C. H. Neff;
all rights reserved. For personal use only. Commercial use of the information
contained in these pages is strictly prohibited without prior permission.
If copied, this copyright must appear with the information.
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