The name Daniel Beck, of Claremont township, needs very little
introduction to the people of Richland county for it is a name that has ever
been associated with the material and spiritual progress of the community
for an extended period. No aspersions can be made on any action of his
during a pilgrimage of upwards of sixty-three years. He has been one of the
original promoters of the establishment of St. James Lutheran church, and he
has lent himself at all times to all movements for the betterment and
advancement of the people of the locality in which he resides.
Daniel
Beck was born in Olney township on the 19th of October, 1845, on what was
known as the "Hooverler" farm. He was the son of Jacob and Elizabeth
(Phillips) Beck, both natives of York county, Pennsylvania, in which county
they were married. His parents at the time of their marriage soon moved to
Ohio, where they lived for a few years in Stark county. In the year 1842
they migrated overland in a one-horse wagon to Illinois, where they settled
in Richland county and moved onto the "Hooverler" farm in Olney township,
which they rented, living there for three years. In their family they reared
Bessie Hooverler for six years, for which they received sixty dollars. With
this money they entered forty acres of timber land in German township,
although they had intended to enter the land where the St. James Lutheran
parsonage now stands in Claremont township. There was not a single effort at
improvement made in the land they entered. They set to work and cleared
enough space to build a log house, after which they started to clear the
rest for farming purposes, and bring it to perfection. Here, Daniel Beck's
parents remained until the time of their deaths. His mother died in April
1872, having passed her sixtieth milestone. His father survived her several
years, dying in April, 1882, at the age of eighty-four. Both are laid to
rest in Goss cemetery, German township, which is about two miles from the
spot in which they lived for so many years. They were the parent, of ten
children, seven of whom grew to maturity, three dying in infancy. Daniel,
the subject of our present sketch, was the ninth in order of birth. He
remained with his parents on the home farm until his marriage to Susan
Ditch, which took place December 24, 1867. His wife, who was born December
25, 1851, in Stark county, Ohio, was the daughter of John and Catherine
(Boatman) Ditch, her father being a native of Pennsylvania, and her mother
of Ohio, their marriage taking place in Ohio. Her parents came to Illinois
in the spring of 1852, coming along down via the Ohio river to Evansville,
Indiana, thence overland to Illinois, where they settled on a farm in
Claremont township, Richland county, where her father bought forty acres,
for which he paid two hundred and fifty dollars, and which consisted of
unimproved land. He started in and built a log house for his family, and put
the land into the shape of a farm. Here they lived until the death of her
mother which occurred December 23, 1880, at the age of fifty-four years. Her
father survived five years longer, dying January 16, 1885, at the age of
sixty-six. Both were buried in Goss cemetery, German township. They were the
parents of fourteen children, of whom half the number arrived at maturity;
seven dying in childhood. Mrs. Daniel Beck was the seventh in order of
birth.
For a year after their marriage Daniel Beck and his wife lived
with his parents on the German township homestead. At the end of that time
Daniel took a lease on ten acres in German township. This was all timber. He
built a log house, a rather small one, and cleared the land, remaining there
for four years. He then moved upon the farm he now occupies in section 28,
Claremont township. During his early days in Richland county, as is well
known, deer and wild turkeys were very numerous, and the many wolves which
inhabited the timber made life precarious for the sheep.
In his early
days Daniel Beck met with some hardships and ill-luck which might have
daunted a weaker man. Application and industriousness brought prosperity,
however, and he has now a well kept farmstead. In order to build his house
there he cut the timber on his land, hauled it to the saw mill, and had it
sawed into lumber, and hauled it back again, unaided. He employed his
brother-in-law, John Ditch, to build the house.
He and his wife have
had six children. Four grew up and two died in early life Sarah E. is the
wife of Eli Sager in Claremont township; Rachael C. died at the age of
fifteen; Mary Matilda married Sam Cerber, deceased, and is now the wife of
Adolph Scherer in German township; John Luther died aged eight years; Ira J.
lives on a farm in Madison township; and Emma Eunice died in infancy. Daniel
Beck and his wife also reared three orphan children, two boys and one girl.
One of the boys, Charles Smith, is now married and lives in California near
Long Beach. Leslie Dickerson, the other boy, and Carrie Shaw, the girl,
still live at home on the farm. They are receiving a good education. Miss
Shaw is a graduate of home schools and possesses three diplomas.
Daniel Beck before he was quite five years old attended subscription school
in Claremont township; afterwards at a subscription school in German
township; and for another term in Claremont township with Ben Lawyer as
teacher. He attended school, off and on irregularly until his twenty-first
year. The "three R's" were principally the studies engaged in, and
considering the schooling of the day he received a very good education. The
hewn pin legged seats, without backs, were then in use, and wide planks set
against the sides of the wall were the desks used to write on.
In
politics Daniel Beck is a Democrat, with a lasting admiration for both
Stevenson (once Vice-President) and the silver-tongued William J. Bryan. He
is, or at least has been somewhat active in local affairs. He was once
elected poundmaster, an office which he declined. He served several terms as
a School Director in the school district of Hickory Point. He lives in
section No. 28. He has never sat on a jury, and though he was summoned
several times as a witness the few cases never came to trial.
He and
his wife and family have always been members and faithful workers of the St.
James Lutheran church in Claremont. He is an elder of the church, having
been chosen to fill a vacancy. He can lay the claim also, as before stated,
to be one of the originators of the church, which is now in its third
building, being at one time an old log structure.
In everyday life,
Daniel Beck is a man whose word is as good, if not better, than the bond of
many. Honesty and integrity are no meaningless words with him and his
records as a man and citizen are without blemish.
Extracted 26 Apr 2017 by Norma Hass from 1909 Biographical and Reminiscent History of Richland, Clay and Marion Counties, Illinois, pages 323-325.
| Jasper | Crawford | |
| Clay |
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Lawrence |
| Wayne | Edwards | Wabash |
