Dennis

    MarkBoyd    MARK BOYD, a pioneer farmer of Rushvilletownship, now retired from active labor, was born in county Armagh, Ireland,February 6, 1823, a son of William Boyd, a native of the same county. Thepaternal ancestors were natives of Scotland. William Boyd was reared tothe life of a farmer and when he had arrived at man’s estate he emigratedto America; this was previous to the war of 1812, and he remained threeyears; at the end of that period he returned to Ireland, was married, andresided there until 1838. In that year he sailed with his wife and threechildren for … Read more

   RobertB. McMaster   ROBERT B. McMASTER was born in Highland county,Ohio, February 8, 1827, a son of David McMaster, who was born in countyDown, Ireland. The paternal grandfather, John McMaster, was a native ofIreland, of Scotch ancestry. He emigrated to America in 1807, and settledin Rockbridge county, Virginia, where he lived until 1818. He removed toOhio in that year, and located in Highland county. He bought a tract ofheavily timbered land, built a log cabin in the midst of the forest, andresided there until his death. He married Jennie McKee, of County Down,Ireland; she died on the farm in … Read more

     PeterW. Rickard    PETER W. RICKARD, an intelligent and progressivefarmer of Cass county, Illinois, residing in township 19, range 9, wasborn in Windham county, Connecticut, August 26, 1823. His parents were Peter and Mary (Healy) Rickard,both natives of Massachusetts, the mother’s birth having taken place inDudley, of that State. The father died one month previous to the birthof the subject of this sketch. Grandfather Rickard was a brave and efficientsoldier in the Revolutionary war, and died in the service. The Rickardfamily is of French ancestry and took a prominent part in early Colonialtimes. Our subject’s mother was a … Read more

    PhilanderAvery    PHILANDER AVERY, one of the large land ownersof Schuyler county, resides on  section 26,  Camden  township.He first came to the county in 1832, being a native of Franklin county,Ohio, born June 13, 1823.  His parents, David and Margaret (Adams)Avery, were natives of Pennsylvania and Ohio.  The grandfather ofthe subject was born in Ireland, but came to the United States when a boyand for some time was a sailor.  He then farmed and followed the carpentertrade.  Some time after his children were settled he emigrated toIllinois, settled in Schuyler county, where he died at the age of … Read more

    O. A. Berry   O. A. BERRY, foreman of the blacksmith shops of the Rock Island and St. Louis division of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad, located at Beardstown, was born in Medina, Ohio, February 12, 1852. He came when five years of age to Aurora, Illinois, with his parents. He grew up there and received a common school education and learned his trade. His father, Thomas E. Berry, had come from England to Medina, Ohio, there learned the carpenter’s trade and was married to Anna Pierce, who was also of English birth. In 1857, Thomas Berry, … Read more

  NormanParsons  NORMAN PARSONS, now retired and living quietlyat his home at the corner of Fifth and Washington streets, is one of theold settlers, having come here in 1854. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut,November 6, 1811, and was a child only a few years old when his parents,Moses and Elsiby (Pease) Parsons, with a colony of twenty families, duringthe war of 1812, came overland with teams to Geauga county, Ohio. Theyarrived in June, 1814, and made a settlement in the heavy timber of thatnew, unbroken country, surrounded by Indians and plenty of game. He therelived until the country was … Read more

    NewtonLucas    NEWTON LUCAS, a resident of Pea Ridge township,was born in what is now Cooperstown township, December 11, 1838. His father,D. R. Lucas, was one of the pioneers of Brown county, born in Butler county,Ohio, March 21, 1810. His father, John Lucas, was born September 7, 1760,in Virginia, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. He was taken prisonerby the Indians and by them taken to Kentucky and Ohio. He was pleased withthe country, and after the close of the war located in Kentucky, but failedto secure a good title to his land and lost it, … Read more

    Mrs.William Price    MRS. WILLIAM PRICE, a resident of Rushville,Illinois, has the honor of being one of the earliest settlers of Schuylercounty, Illinois, her parents removing there in 1826. She was born in Crawfordcounty, Indiana, October 8, 1816, a daughter of Wiliam and Cassie (Frakes)McKee, whose history appears on another page of this volume. She recallsmany incidents of life on the frontier, and has not forgotten the privationsand hardships endured by those who were courageous enough to undertaketo subdue the wild land and convert it into fertile farms. She was marriedat the age of sixteen years, to William … Read more

     MrsNancy Green    MRS. NANCY GREEN wasborn in Ohio, November 30, 1824, and lived there until two or three yearsof age, and then came to Kentucky with her parent.. They were James andLovey (Tolle) Tolle, both born in Virginia, who had gone to Ohio in anearly day. In 1836 they concluded to move West and sold every thing exceptsome household goods, and with a two-horse wagon came overland and firstsettled in Schuyler county for two months. They then came to Brown countyand entered eighty acres of land and bought 160 more of that partly improved,and hewed out a … Read more

 SidneyW. Scanland  DR. SIDNEY W. SCANLAND wasborn in Carroll county, Kentucky, October 13, 1834. He was the son of ThomasB. and Agnes W. (Searcy) Scanland, who were also born in Kentucky. Thomasfollowed the trade of cooper when a young man, and was married at the ageof twenty-six, in Kentucky. In 1840 he came to Illinois. He settled firstin Elkhorn township, and lived there two years on his first farm. He built a frame house, butin 1842 he bought in section 16 120 acres, and still later bought moreland, until he had acquired nearly 400 acres. He improved his farm, builtseveral … Read more