Richard A. Warlow, a son of Benjamin Warlow, was born March 20, 1822, in Oneida County, New York. The family moved to Ohio, and in the fall of 1834 they came to Dry Grove; McLean County, Illinois. There they settled on a farm bought by Joshua Bond, an uncle to Richard. The family soon became acquainted with the people in the West, and during the fall of their arrival had a great corn-husking frolic. The inconveniences of the country were severely felt, and Mrs. Warlow often said she would be perfectly satisfied if she could only have what wheat bread she wished to eat. The paradise on earth should be prepared, if she could have an unlimited supply of wheat bread.

Mr. Warlow sustains all that has been said of the great change in the weather of 1886, and speaks of the geese which he saw frozen fast to the ice which covered the ground. In the fall of 1886 Mr. Warlow, sr., entered land a little north of Brown's Grove. There he built a little cabin of split logs, roughly notched and fitted and covered with bark. In this cabin three of the Warlow boys lived for a while, and cut rail timber and hauled it out of the grove. In February the family, which then numbered eight, moved down to their log cabin, which was twelve by fourteen feet. This cabin was near the place where R. A. Warlow now resides, in Allin township. Mr. Warlow's opportunities for obtaining an education have not been good. For two winters he attended school in Dry Grove. After he was twenty-one years of age he boarded and attended a subscription school at Dry Grove for twenty days, but at that time the school-house burned down and his school days were ended. When he began work for himself he engaged in various occupations; he worked at pump making; for many years he ran a threshing machine, and for a short time he attended to a saw-mill. He was handy at everything and suc- ceeded well.

Mr. Warlow tells a pretty hard story of the prices of things in early days. In the year 1844 he attended a sale of stock at Dry Grove, and there bid off a yearling steer for $3.50 and was allowed one year's credit. After keeping it for a year or more he sold it for nine dollars! R. A. Warlow obtained his start by raising corn and selling it in the neighborhood for twelve and a half cents per bushel. With money so obtained he bought the Clark estate at Stout's Grove. It consisted of about one hundred and thirteen acres, and he paid four hundred dollars for it. He afterwards sold out in order to enter land at Brown's Grove; but when he was ready to enter, the land office was closed. The charter had been passed for building the Illinois Central Railroad, and no land was sold until the company had selected what belonged to it. But when the Illinois Central Company at last obtained its land the remainder of the unentered government land was all sold at once. When the sale took place the speculators were numerous. They would allow a farmer to buy a hundred and sixty acres of land for a farm, but this was all. If the farmer attempted to buy more they would bid up on the land until he was driven off altogether. Mr. Warlow afterwards bought land of the railroad company, and now owns six or seven hundred acres. He has been once burned out, and has lost some money by becoming security, but otherwise has had good fortune. The good luck, which always attends the careful and industrious farmer, has been with him, and he is prosperous.

Mr. Warlow married Miss Lavinia Bosarth, April 29,1849. He has had seven children, all of which are living. They are: Leslie, John, Belle, Ellen, Julia, Charlie and Annie. Mr. Warlow is six feet and an inch and a half in height, is rather spare but muscular. He has dark and rather straight hair and dark eyes. His features are prominent, and his face is somewhat long. He is a good-natured man and very kind. He attends to his business, sees quickly what will pay, and manages all of his affairs well. He is very straightforward in his dealings.

William C. Warlow, son of Benjamin Warlow, was born June 8, 1817, in Oneida County, New York. The family came to Bloomington on the 10th of October, 1833. During the first night of their arrival they went to see a prairie fire, where the postoffice now stands. From Bloomington they went to Dry Grove, where his uncle, Jonathan Bond, entered land. Mr. Warlow lived with his father on the farm working faithfully. Mr. Warlow, sr., entered land at Brown's Grove and moved there.

On the 31st of October, 1844, W. C. Warlow married Nancy Garr, daughter of Joseph and Margaret Garr, of Old Town. After his marriage Mr. Warlow bought out John Stout at Brown's Grove, paying five hundred dollars for one hundred and twenty acres of land. On this he lived for thirteen years adding to it continually until he acquired about six hundred acres. In the fall of 1857 he moved to Bloomington and went into the dry goods business with his brother, B. W. Warlow. They had two sleeping partners by the name of Fleming, who were the cause of much trouble and at last of great financial difficulties.

Mr. Warlow did some hunting and often killed deer and wolves. Once while living on his farm he stood on his door step and killed a deer, which was standing near by. He several times killed two deer before breakfast.

At the outbreak of the war, Mr. Warlow went to Camp Butler, and was for some time a clerk for a sutler there, and for a while did quite well.

On the 1st of February, 1867, he became a hotel keeper at Peoria. On the 10th of May of the same year he was burnt out and lost everything. He had been insured for five thousand dollars in two bogus insurance companies, which could not pay one cent of his losses. He has lived in Bloomington ever since.

Mr. Warlow has a family of three children. They are:

Benjamin W., Belle and Maggie. The last named is married to Nelson Sweeney, of Bloomington. Miss Belle Warlow lives at home. Benjamin W. Warlow lives in Hiawatha, Brown County, Kansas. Mr. Warlow's domestic life has been very pleasant. His wife has been a remarkably good woman, and a supporter of her husband during their eventful life.

Mr. Warlow is six feet six inches in height, is well proportioned, has black hair, hazel eyes and a beard, which is turning gray. He is a man of great strength. He used the first reaper which worked with success in this section of country.

Amasa C. Washburn was born May 25, 1807, on a farm, in Putney township, Vermont, His ancestors came from England. He was the only son, but he was by no means at a loss for playmates, as he had four sisters. He was educated in Putney, that is, he attended a common school there until he was eighteen years of age. At that time he started on his career as a schoolmaster, and taught school in various districts in Vermont for twelve dollars a month and boarded around.

After having taught for five years in Vermont and New York he determined to come West. He went to Albany, New York, where he met a company of thirty persons, bound for the West, and joined with them. On the fifth of May, 1831, the party went aboard a canal boat for Buffalo, and Mr. Washburn was fairly started on his way to the Great West. The journey was interesting and full of adventures. Mr. Washburn’s trials began at the start. There was very little room on the canal boat for the party to lie down at night, so they took turns in sleeping. They arrived at Buffalo on the fifteenth and the next day started for Detroit in a steamboat. The steamboat was crowded. Mr. Washburn slept during the first night on some trunks, and the second night on deck on buffalo skins with some others of the party. About two o’clock in the morning it began to rain, and the party were drowned out. That night they came to Cleveland and the next day started out for Detroit but put back on account of high wind. The second time they started, although the wind blew violently. The boat rolled fearfully and the women and children on board were sea-sick. They arrive at Detroit on the nineteenth. Here a part of the company, among whom was Mr. Washburn, hired three wagons and teamsters and eight horses to carry them to Chicago, but after they had been for some time on their journey they changed their minds and went down the St. Joseph River. They started on the twenty-fourth of May. During their journey they fared very hard and their horses fared harder. On the second night the poor brutes ate up a part of the side-board of one of the wagons. The party had many difficulties in passing through sloughs, swamps and creeks, and sometimes they were obliged to lift the wagons out of the mud. When they came to the St. Joseph River, near Montville, they dismissed their teams, bought two log canoes, lashed them together, put their baggage aboard and started down stream. They went down sixty miles and then had their canoes and baggage transported by land six miles across to the Kankakee River. This stream was small, crooked and narrow, and after one day’s sailing down it they were almost in sight of their starting point. The country was desolate and marshy, and when they touched the banks with their poles they were usually saluted with rattlesnakes. During the evening of the third of June they came to where the river widened into a lake, and as darkness approached they were lost, and clouds of mosquitoes surrounded them, and it seemed as if their troubles all came at once. But they built a fire and drove off the insects, and were made to feel that they had at least some company, for the croaking of bullfrogs on every side was varied by the squealing of wild geese. At last they found where the lake became narrow and the river flowed on. But they could not land because the banks were lined by thick grass, which prevented them from coming near the shore. Soon afterwards the wind arose and the waves rolled high. In the morning the wind became more violent and drove them on with fearful velocity, and it required all their skill to save themselves from upsetting. About noon they were soaked through and through by a thunder storm. Towards night they entered a lake and became lost a second time. The lake was full of trees that grew up out of the water. But after some difficulty they found their way out and came to where the stream was narrow and rapid. Here they ran against breakers (trees in the water) but happily found a shore where they could land. On shore they were saluted by the howling of wolves in all directions, which did not make them at all cheerful. On the sixth of June they killed a deer, and felt very much encouraged. In the afternoon they saw half a dozen Indians, the first they had encountered during their journey. They sailed nearly all night being aided by an extraordinary light which appeared in the West. Mr. Washburn said it made him think of the pillar of fire which guided the children of Israel. On the eighth of June they came very near being shipwrecked by the high winds and the large waves. At night they tied up to some small bushes by the shore and made their supper of slippery-elm bark, as their provisions were now almost gone. On the next day they mixed a little wheat flour (the last they had) in water and divided it among the party. This they ate at three different times. In addition to this they had only a few roots and some shoots of grapevines and briers. That day they passed several rapids and many dangerous shoals, sand-bars and rocks. At one time they ran against a rock in rapid water and were pressed against it sideways; they became free from the rock, but had only time to turn their craft straight with the current when they went over some falls a few rods father down. Soon after this they came to what appeared an inclined plane. The water ran swiftly, and after descending for about a hundred rods, the stream united with the Desplaines River and formed the Illinois River. In the evening they spread out their buffaloes and tired to get some sleep. But they were wet through again and again by successive showers, and could do nothing but stand around the fire. In the morning they started on and came in sight of some Indian wigwams. They learned from the Indians that there was a white settler five or six miles below and they joyfully started on. About eight o’clock they “heard the lowing of cattle and the crowing of roosters.” At a log hut they obtained some milk and hasty pudding. They passed the dangerous rapids of the Illinois River, and came in the evening to a house where they received hospitable entertainment. On the tenth of June they passed the Fox River and went to the head of steamboat navigation, a little below the mouth of the Vermilion River. From there they went to Bailey’s Grove where the company wished to settle.

On the eleventh Mr. Washburn started in a wagon for Fort Clark (Peoria), where he arrived on the evening of the twelfth. The next day was Sunday, and there being no church to attend, Mr. Washburn listened to the preaching of a man called Live Forever. This old gentleman had made appointments to preach five hundred years in the future. He said it was not God’s intention that man should die, but, if they would exercise faith in Christ, they might live on the earth during all eternity.

On the fourteenth Mr. Washburn walked to Pekin, and there learned that a school teacher was wanted at Blooming Grove. Going back to Fort Clark he expected to take a stage, but being disappointed, started for Blooming Grove on foot, and arrived there on the seventeenth of June, 1831. By the twentieth he had obtained enough scholars at two dollars per quarter to commence teaching, and on that day he opened school in a log hut with “no floor, no door, and a crack all round.” In the afternoon he chose his boarding place with Mr. William Lucas, for which he was to pay thirty-seven and a half cents per week. It was the best house in the neighborhood, but it contained only one room, and in it lived Mr. Lucas and his wife, ten children, three dogs, two cats, and the school teacher! On the twenty-sixth Mr. Washington opened a Sabbath-school at Mr. Lucas’ house; it being the first ever in Blooming Grove. He was very much shocked at the ignorance of the children with regards to religious matters; one little boy declared he had never heard of such a being as God.

The crowded condition of Mr. Lucas’ house made things appear a little strange, sometimes. He had a daughter about eighteen years of age, who received a great deal of attention from a young man in the neighborhood. He made lengthy visits sometimes, and as the house contained only one room the lovers got their stools together and carried on their conversation in whispers. Sometimes the young man stayed all night and, when he did so, the school teacher was somewhat wakeful! On one occasion Mr. Washburn heard the Lucas children discussing among themselves as to which they preferred should marry their sister, the young man or the school master, and the school master received the most votes. But the fates decided that neither of them should have her.

The country was wild and game was plenty. There were prairie chickens and deer and wild turkeys. On one occasion Mr. Lucas killed a deer without stepping out of the doorway.

In September 1831 the Methodists held a camp-meeting at Randolph’s Grove, which Mr. Washburn attended. The sermons preached at this camp-meeting were more remarkable for force than elegance. One of the preachers enumerated the offenses which they should beware of, and spoke of the liar and said that to “be a liar was to act the part of a poor, mean, black devil, and for any one to be a devil was degrading!” Another preacher wished to have something done for the children and thought he must alarm the parents on the subject; he said: “How sportive are they in vice, and you often laugh instead of weep; the devil has got your children, the fiend of hell has got them and is leading them captive at his will and you smile!” The next day Mr. Latta preached, and made some very queer observations. He said: “There is a certain class of people who cannot go to hell fast enough on foot, so they must get their poor, mean pony and go to the horse-race! Even professors of religion are not guiltless in this respect, but go under the pretense that they want to see such or such a man, but they know in their own hearts that they went to see the horse-race!” But he preached a strong sermon, and when he was through one man jumped and said he was as light as a feather, another clapped his hands and when around shaking hands with everyone; some laughed, some cried and some shouted. Reverend Peter Cartwright then arose and said, he had been requested to preach a funeral sermon but would say what he pleased. He was peculiarly severe on Eastern men because of their low opinion of Western intellect and Western character. He said: “They represent this country as being a vast waste, and people as being very ignorant, but if I was going to shoot a fool I would not take aim at a Western man, but would go down to the sea-shore and cock my fusee at the imps who live on oysters!” But this sermon had a great effect and he concluded by giving a description of the glories of heaven. When he finished, some people fell down, some screamed, the children were frightened and Mr. Washburn says that he never before heard such a noise and saw such confusion. The camp-meeting was a great success and, it is to be hoped, did great good.

Mr. Washburn continued teaching and charged as quarterly tuition two dollars per scholar. But he was usually obliged to take his pay in chickens or calves, or some kind of “trade.” In December, 1831, he began teaching in the town of Bloomington. Here it had been the custom of the scholars to study their lessons as loudly as they could shout and this was the custom everywhere, for parents thought this the only way children could learn. Mr. Washburn, after teaching in Bloomington for three months in this manner, told the parents he would do so no longer. He convinced them with great difficulty, but had his own way at last.

On the fifteenth of April, 1833, Mr. Washburn started for a visit to his native home in Vermont. On the twenty-seventh he arrived at Chicago and put up at Beaubien’s Tavern. He said that at that time he “considered Chicago a very important station.” On the twenty-eighth, which was a Sunday, he was shocked to see people go about their common business. A large number were engaged in shooting pigeons in the streets of town. (Was this their common business?) On the thirtieth he visited the place were the soldiers of General Scott’s army who died of the choler the year previous, were buried. It is said that one poor fellow, who was detailed to dig graves, cursed and swore a good deal; he was taken with the cholera that day and died before night, and was buried in one of the graves which he himself had dug. On the first of May Mr. Washburn went aboard a sail vessel for Detroit, which place he reached on the evening of the ninth. On the eleventh he started for Buffalo on the boat, Sheldon Thompson. The crew got to racing with another vessel and were much the worse for liquor, but they came safely to Buffalo on the eighteenth. He started for Albany by canal but walked the last thirty-three miles of the way. He went by steamboat to Troy, and walked from there to his old home in Vermont, a distance of eighty-six miles and - found that his father had sold out and moved away. On the twenty-seventh he found him and the whole family, all well. On the fifteenth of August he married Miss Paulina Parker. On the twenty-seventh he started for the West.

Mr. Washburn was a very religious man, and about this time he read one quite remarkable passage in a book called “Flavel on Keeping the Heart,” which made a serious impression on him. “A man had taken great pains and made great efforts to amass wealth, and had been very successful. He had only one son, and this property was all designed for him. When the old gentleman was laid on his death bed he called his son to him and asked him if he loved his father. The son replied that the bonds of nature, as well as the kind indulgence he had met with obliged him to do so. Then, said the father, manifest it by holding your finger in the candle while I say Pater Noster. The son made the attempt, but could not endure the pain. The father replied: ‘I have risked my soul for you and must burn in hell forever, instead of a finger in a candle for a few short moments.’”

Very little of importance occurred on their journey home. At Chicago they found a great many Indians who had come to there to make a treaty with the government and get their pay and go to the far West. While coming from Chicago to Bloomington Mr. Washington had very little adventure; he was once soaked with rain, and the teamster was at one time incautious enough to break a wheel, but these were trifles. At Bloomington he began teaching once more. On the thirteenth of July, 1834, Mrs. Washburn, who seems to have been a very amiable lady, died.

In the spring of 1834, Mr. Washburn taught school at Buckles Grove, near Leroy, but returned to Bloomington in the fall, where he has resided ever since. On the thirtieth of September, 1834, he was elected Secretary of the McLean County Bible Society, and agent for the purpose of distributing Bibles. He was very active in the work. In 1835 he was appointed the agent of the American Sunday School Union for Illinois and worked to establish Sunday-schools all over the State.

On the thirtieth of April Mr. Washburn married Ann Packard, who has shared with him the difficulties and trials of pioneer life. From the year 1835 to 1843 Mr. Washburn followed various pursuits. For a while he kept a meat market. He kept the first regular provision store in Bloomington and continued in that business for twenty-five years. In 1868 he retired from business.

Mr. Washburn was one of the eight members who organized the First Presbyterian Church. This was in 1832. In the spring of 1833 he organized the first temperance society in McLean County. In 1833 the first Sabbath-school in connection with this church was organized with from fifteen to twenty-five scholars, but now it has from a hundred to a hundred and fifty. He has always been connected with schools and churches. His seven friends who worked with him to organize the church are now all dead, and the pastor, too, has long since joined the church above. Mr. Washburn is about five feet six or eight inches in height. He is very muscular, and has all his faculties unimpaired. He has a very honest looking countenance, and is a man of sincere piety. His hair is a little white and the crown of his head is rather bald. He never meddled with politics, has always lived very quietly and has “done unto others as he would have other do unto him.”

Edward Washburn, junior member of the enterprising young firm of Smith & Washburn, has been in business as a member of said firm since April 7, 1883. He was born in Bridgewater, Plymouth Co., Mass., Dec. 11, 1847, and is the son of Rotheus and Mary (Hayward) Washburn, also natives of New England. The father of our subject was a skillful mechanic, and remained in his native state nearly all his life. The parental household included five children, of whom only two are living: William H., a resident of Tremont, Tazewell Co., Ill., and Edward, the subject of this sketch.

Edward Washburn resided in his native State until fifteen years of age, and then accompanied his brother, William H., to Illinois. They located in Tazewell County, and in 1864, during the progress of the late war, our subject enlisted as a soldier of the Union in Co., A, 108th Ill. Vol. Inf., in which he served until the close of the war. Having enlisted late in the conflict, he was present at only one regular engagement, this being the battle of Spanish Fort, at Mobile, Ala. After retiring from the army he returned to Tazewell County, where he rented land and engaged in farming until 1871. He then purchased 160 acres in Vermilion County, this State, which he operated until 1883, then sold out and removed to Cropsey, this county, where he engaged in his present business.

Our subject was united in marriage with Miss Caroline G. Sniffin in 1871. Mrs. Washburn was born in Tazewell County, and was the daughter of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Sniffin. Of the union of our subject there have been born two children, a son who died in infancy, and George A. They occupy a pleasant and comfortable home, and enjoy the acquaintance of the best people in the town. Mr. Washburn is Republican in politics and socially belongs to the Masonic fraternity and the G. A. R.

Frank L. Washburn, of the firm of A. Washburn and Sons, florists and nurserymen, with business headquarters at 318 North Main Street., Bloomington, is a well known and successful business man of McLean County. He was born at Danvers, Ill., Jan. 11, 1869, the son of Andrew and Cordelia Washburn.

Andrew Washburn came to McLean County from Connecticut in 1866 and settled at Danvers. He was a captain in the Civil war in the 29th Rebiment, Connecticut Volunteer Infantry, and served throughout the war. There were six children in the Washburn family, as follows: Frank L., the subject of this sketch; A. Edwin, lives in Canada; Emma F., married H. H. Edmunds, superintendet of schools in Clinton, Ill.,; Edna boundy, lived in Beloit, Wis.; and Lucy Prather, lives in Bloomington.

Andrew Washburn engaged in the nursery and floral business in 1894 at Bloomington and the business is now conducted by his two sons, Frank L. and George A. Washburn. They have two large greenhouses establishments at Normal and Bloomington and have been unusually successful in their enterprise. Frank L. attended the public schools of McLean County, where he has spent his entire life. In 1907 he was married to Miss Emma S. Randolph. They have no children. The Washburn home is located two miles west of Bloomington.

Mr. Washburn is a Republican, a member of the First Baptist Church and is a 32nd degree Mason.

William Wilcox was born December 26, 1813, in Fayette County, Ohio. His father’s name was Edward Wilcox, and his mother’s name before her marriage was Sarah Richardson. Edward Wilcox was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Kentucky at an early day. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. He was one of the party sent down to bury the dead at Fort Stephenson on the Lower Sandusky, after the attack made upon it by the British and Indians. The fort was defended by Major Croghan, who commanded a little band of one hundred and sixty young men, and Edward Wilcox says that this little garrison was disproportioned to the number of men, that lay dead in the ditch in front of the fort. Many of those in the ditch lay dead without a scar of any kind, and seemed smothered in dead bodies and blood. After this battle General Harrison censured Major Croghan, as the former had sent the latter orders to retreat; but it afterwards appeared that the orders were never received. The ladies of Chillicothe presented to Major Croghan a fine sword as a reward for his bravery, and a red petticoat as a sarcasm upon General Harrison.

William Wilcox lived in Fayette County, from the time he was born until he came to Illinois, which was in the spring of 1832. On the fourth of May of that year the Wilcox family started. They came through heavy timbered country in Ohio, where scarcely any grass could be had to feed their horses, and were obliged to pay a dollar and a quarter per bushel for corn. When they arrived at the Wabash, they found many peaceable Indians with their squaws, who had come there to be as far as possible away from the scenes of the Black Hawk war. When the party arrived on the open prairie, they were much troubled by the wolves, which hung around them every night. These animals were always on the watch, and during one night attacked a colt belonging to Mr. Wilcox, and injured it so severely that it afterwards died. On the 30th of June, the family arrived at Mackinaw timber and settled where William Wilcox now lives.

Their first care was to obtain provisions, and Mr. Wilcox, jr., was sent one hundred and ten miles to Perrysville, on the Wabash, for flour. But this was simply a prelude to the travels, which he afterwards made to mill. He once went to Green’s mill, at Ottawa, and broke down his wagon with sixty bushels of wheat in the Illinois River. Three other teams were in company with him and the teamsters waded into the water and carried the sixty bushels of wheat ashore, sack by sack. This was in 1836. During the following year, he went to the Kankakee River to mill, in company with a friend, who also had a wagon load of wheat and a team. They mired down very often and were obliged to double teams and pull out. At last the friend mired down completely to the wagon bed, and even the double team would not pull the wagon out. The teamster then took off the load and carried out the wheat sack by sack, but even the double team could not stir the wagon, and the only result of pulling was to break off the tongue. The teamsters then lifted off the wagon bed and pried on the wheels, two at a time, and brought them out. The wagon was put together, the load replaced, the two wagons fastened together and the teams doubled, and in this way they proceeded on their journey. They were a complete miss of black mud from head to foot, but took a good wash at the Kankakee. While the miller was grinding their wheat, they made a tongue to replace the one which had been broken, and returned safely home.

Mr. Wilcox often went hunting after bees. In 1835, he went with a friend to Indiana after honey. On the road their horses ran away and broke to spokes out of a wheel; but they mended this little breakage and went on. When they came to timber, they hunted bees and found a very old swarm, and among the comb they found a black snake dead and carefully sealed up with wax. Its skin was finely preserved.

Mr. Wilcox has don his share of wolf hunting, and has caught these cunning and treacherous animal in pens, with dogs and horses, and in every way that ingenuity could suggest. He once went with a party after some gray wolves, and killed the mother of the pack and twelve wolves two-thirds grown. This was an unusual litter; the greater number of them were killed as they came out of a hollow log, from which they were driven by fire. One of these wolves was caught by Mr. Wilcox on foot.

He chased wolves on horseback, and once caught one after a run of nine miles; but it was so stiff, when killed, that he placed it on its feet upright and left it. Mrs. Wilcox has had her experience with these animals and one fine morning saw two of them near the barn. They did not appear at all afraid, but seemed to know that women are not usually dangerous. The dogs attacked them, but they escaped. The wolves still trouble the settlers on the Mackinaw. Mr. Wilcox has often hunted deer and had many interesting adventures. His wrists at the present time show the scars made by the prongs of a wounded deer, with which he had a severe struggle. He once had a struggle with a deer on the smooth ice of the Mackinaw. The deer kicked his knife out of his hand and sent it skipping over the ice; but he clung to the deer by one antler and one hind leg, and struggled up and down on top and under, over and around, until another hunter came to his assistance. Mr. Wilcox went hunting deer shortly after the sudden change of December, 1836. The country was an absolute glare of ice, and he hunted on foot with his dog. He started a drove of deer, which increased to more than a hundred, and they went slipping over the ice, with his dog slipping and scratching after them. They went down hill very fast, as they would spring and slide, but while going up hill they would spring and slip and slide back. The dog would frequently get hold of a deer, but as the former could not keep its foothold it would be kicked loose. Sometimes, while going up a hill, the deer in front would fall and slide back, throwing down those behind, until the whole drove would become a mass of sliding, kicking and springing animals. Mr. Wilcox became very much excited and fired at the mass without taking aim at a single one. But this was not a very effective way, for after a long day’s hunt he only killed one deer.

Mr. Wilcox has often hunted turkeys and killed as many as twelve in one day. He once chased a turkey to the bank of the Mackinaw and struck at it with his whip, as it was about to fly across, and the lash coiled around its neck and held it fast.

Mr. Wilcox has led the life of a farmer, and has been very successful in his calling. In common with many farmers, he is no great lover of railroads, particularly of high freights. In 1867, he made a visit to Iowa and as he had no baggage he took a box with seven bushels of apples and enjoyed himself by listening to the railroad officials as they used improper expressions while lifting it. It was twice broken open by rough handling, but taken through at last. In Iowa, he saw snow as deep as that spoken of by the “deep snow” settlers of McLean County. He rode over snow drifts twenty feet in depth, and at one time went over an orchard without knowing it until afterwards, as not a tree was visible above the snow.

Mr. Wilcox was married, June 12, 1845, to Mary Young. He has had two children, one of whom is living. She is Mary Ellen, wife of Andrew Steward, and lives in Gridley township.

Mr. Wilcox is about five feet and eight inches in height and is rather slim. His head is bald, but well shaped, and shows a good development of brain. His eyes are gray, his whiskers of a reddish cast, intermixed with gray. He is a remarkable man among the old settlers--remarkable for his humor and kindness of heart and his boundless hospitality. His friends are welcome under his roof, and if they visit him he will tell them the incidents of his early settlement, the fun and humor of other days, when all people were neighbors.