ILLINOIS GENEALOGY EXPRESS

Affiliated with
Ohio Genealogy Express

PIATT COUNTY
ILLINOIS

Biographies

Albert C. Edie.  Endowed by nature with strong mentality and a keen, logical power of resolving intricate problems into their component parts and thus gaining knowledge of the law which bear upon them, Albert C. Edie has won success and prominence at the bar of Piatt county, where he has practiced for almost eight years as a member of the firm of Reed & Edie.  At the present time the firm style is Reed, Edie & Reed, the son of the senior member having recently been admitted.
     Mr. Edie is one of Piatt county's native sons, his birth having occurred upon the home farm in Cerro Gordo township, on the 28th of August, 1868, his parents being William H. and Amelia J. (Funk) Edie.  The father was born in Hancock county, Ohio, in 1844, and the mother's birth occurred in Washington county, Indiana, in 1843, her father being Abraham Fun, one of the pioneer settlers of that locality.  William H. Edie served his country as a Union soldier in the Civil war, rendering valiant service on the battlefields of the south, and after receiving an honorable discharge he returned to his old home in Ohio.  Later he came to Piatt county, Illinois, and located on a farm in Cerro Gordo township, where he resided for a number of years, devoting his time and attention to the development and further improvement of his farm.  After some years had passed, during which time he acquired a comfortable competence, he came to Monticello, where both he and his wife are now living.  He has retired from business cares, and both Mr. and Mrs. Edie are numbered among the highly respected citizens of the community. 
     In the usual manner of farmer lads, Albert C. Edie was reared and in Cerro Gordo township he began his education, attending the district schools, while later he entered the Cerro Gordo school, in which he was graduated with the class of 1887.  Desirous to make the practice of law his life work, he then began preparing for the bar in the office and under the direction of W. G. Cloyd, of Bement, who was his preceptor for a year.  He then went to Decatur and spent one year in the office of Judge W. C. Johns, and in 1892 he was admitted to the bar before the supreme court at Springfield.  After his admission he took charge of the Building and Loan Association, at Cerro Gordo, remaining there for two years, and on the expiration of that period he came to Monticello, where he has since made his home.  In 1894 he entered into partnership with S. R. Reed, a distinguished member of the Piatt county bar, with whom he has since been associated in practice, and the law firm ranks first among the lawyers of the county.  Their clientage is extensive, embracing connection with the most important litigation which comes before the courts of the district.  As a lawyer, Mr. Edi has the success which might naturally be looked for where close application and immense power for work are united to mental strength and quickness, an excellent memory and a large appetite for the activities of the profession.
     In 1894 Mr. Edie was united in marriage to Miss Callie M. Fisher, of Monticello, a daughter of E. P. and Ellen M. (Ward) Fisher.  Mrs. Edie is a lady of culture and innate refinement and was educated in the schools of Monticello.  By her marriage she has become the mother of two sons, Burl A. and Willis R.  The family have a good home in Monticello and both Mr. and Mrs. Edie have the warm regard of many friends here. 
     In his political views Mr. Edie is a stalwart Republican, and for six years he served as city attorney of Monticello, his term of office expiring in May, 1903.  While the incumbent he was a most loyal official, giving most careful attention to the legal interests of the city.  Socially he is connected with Phoenix Lodge, No. 204, K. P., and he is the secretary of the Monticello Business Men's Association, and president of the board of education.  Everything pertaining to the social, intellectual, political and moral progress of his community receive his endorsement, nor has his co-operation been found lacking along lines for the general good.

Enos Farnsworth. The name of Farnsworth is indissolubly linked with the history of Piatt County, as that of one who during his life was one of its most progressive and public-spirited citizens.  Especially was he intimately connected with the rise and growth of Milmine and it gives us pleasure to place on the pages of this volume a sketch of his life and work for the benefit of his many friends.
     Our subject was a Virginian by birth, born in Oudoun County May 11, 1817.  He was a son of Jonathan and Ann (West) Farnsworth, who were of Scotch descent.  His grandfather, Jonathan Farnsworth, was a Revolutionary soldier, and Mrs. Farnsworth has in her possession an old bayonet carried by him while in the service and also a knee buckle, worn by him during the Revolution.  Mr. Farnsworth passed his early life in the State of his nativity and for a number of years after he became self-supporting he followed carpentering.  He was an ambitious, wide-awake, venturesome young man, and during the gold excitement was attracted to California, crossing the plains and mountains to his destination being three months on the way from the time he left St. Louis.  He remained in California three years and during that time did well at gold washing.  He then set his face towards home, coming by the way of the Isthmus and spending eighteen months in Central America before he finally came back to this part of the country.  Fro a time he resided in Pickaway County, Ohio came to Piatt County in 1856 with Robert Timmons whom he had assisted to drive cattle to Macon County.  After his arrival here he was pursuaded to invest the money he had made in California, in land in this county.  He then purchased eight hundred acres of land in and about the vicinity of Milmine and became the founder of that village was first called Farnsworth in honor of him.  He worked hard to secure the future prosperity of the place and his enterprise gave it a good start.  He did the grading of the south switch free of cost in order to secure railway accommodations and since that time a station has been built here.
     Our subject, through not a man of much education as his early school advantages had been limited, was the owner of a fine mind, having a clear, well balanced intellect, and possessed a large fund of information, gathered from his travels and experiences in life, and he had excellent business qualifications.  He was always fond of reading and was especially well posted in ancient history.  He was a prominent figure in the public life of Cerro Gordo Township, and for several terms represented it as a member of the County Board of Supervisors, and his influence was always felt in whatever was for its best interests.  In his political views he was a stalwart Republican.  He was more than ordinarily prospered, as he possessed a good talent for finances and was an excellent manager, and at the time of his demise left an estate valued at $50,000.  This handsome property he had accumulated solely by his own efforts as he had begun life without means.  His death occurred February 10, 1887, and was a severe loss to the citizenship of this county.  He was a man of high reputation and of unblemished honor, whom to know was to respect, and he enjoyed the full confidence of the entire community where so many years of his life were spent.  He was happy in his domestic relations, was ever a devoted husband and a loving father, and his neighbors and associates found in him a stanch friend.
     Our subject undoubtedly owed much of his success in life to his good wife, formerly Miss Susan A. Nesbitt; to whom he was married September 22, 1870.  Mrs. Farnsworth is a native of Illinois, and was born in Macon County, Sep. 21, 1849, to William and Mary (Hudgen) Nesbitt, natives respectively of Pennsylvania and Kentucky and early settlers of Macon County.  Her father was a soldier in the Mexican War.  Mr. and Mrs. Farnsworth became the parents of two children:  Anna and Emma.  Anna is the wife of George Hay, a telegraph operator and station agent at Bennington, Neb.; and Emma is the wife of Prof. C. C. Walsh, principal of the Milmine schools.
     Mrs. Farnsworth is a lady of culture and refinement, and is an interesting conversationalist, having a good knowledge of the general topics of the day.  She is possessed of more than ordinary business ability and is managing the property left by her husband with great skill.  By her energetic efforts her large state in Texas has become remunerative.  She is the owner of a large tract of land and other valuable property.  Milmine is greatly indebted to her, as she has been instrumental in promoting its growth.  She built her a handsome and commodious residence and has been the means of inducing others to build and reside in Milmine thereby adding much to its attractiveness and wealth and making it one of the most desirable locations to be found in the county.  Mrs. Farnsworth is a woman of large heart and generous nature and contributes liberally of her means towards the support of orphan children and other worthy charitable objects.  She understands well the benefits of a good education and is a stanch advocate of the public schools.