Honora Hurley, who in early womanhood gave her hand in marriage to Martin Mee. She passed away December 27, 1869, at the age of forty-three years, and like her husband, she was a communicant of the Catholic church. They had five sons and three daughters, of whom six are living: John; Margaret, the wife of J. C. Canty, of Toledo, Iowa; Catherine, the wife of David Buchan, of Waterloo, Iowa; William, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; James, of Centerville, South Dakota; and Martin, of Gladbrook, Iowa. Mary, born September 2, 1854, married John Cunniff, of Hume township, this county, and died June 11, 1891, leaving her husband and four children: John, Jr., Catherine E., Elizabeth and William M.

In taking up the personal history of John Mee we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known in Whiteside county, having come to this county with his parents when but nine years of age. Here he was reared upon a farm and in the winter months attended the district schools, while in the summer seasons he aided in the work of the fields. After completing his education he engaged in farming on his own account for three years and later engaged in the sale of sewing machines and patent medicines. He was also for a time in the shoe business, and on the 7th of June, 1875, came to Sterling. For the past ten years he has conducted a fire insurance and loan office and has secured a good clientage. He also has an income property in an excellent farm of two hundred and eighty acres in Hume township.

On the 13th of May, 1890, Mr. Mee was married to Miss Ella Rourk, a daughter of John W. and Mary (Williams) Rourk. They have two children, Thomas S. R. and Mary H. Both Mr. and Mrs. Mee are communicants of the Catholic church and his fraternal relations connect him with Sterling Camp, No. 12, M. W. A. Politically he is a democrat and has figured somewhat prominently in local political circles, having been township collector of Hume township for one term, while for two terms he represented the fifth ward in the city council. His labors in behalf of municipal progress are marked and have resulted beneficially to the city. In all of his official service he is actuated by a public-spirited devotion to the general good and his official record is altogether creditable.

WILLIAM PIMM HIDDLESON.

Few citizens of Whiteside county can claim so long a residence here as does William Pimm Hiddleson, who for the past fifty-seven years has resided within its borders. He is numbered among the substantial agriculturists of this section of the state, owning and operating a farm of one hundred and thirty acres situated on section 10, Mount Pleasant township.

He was born in Sullivan county, Pennsylvania, October 2, 1843, a son of Rufus K. and Caroline (Converse) Hiddleson, who in 1850 made the overland trip to Illinois, the father making his way to Whiteside county, where he bought a claim from a Mr. Boyer, this property being now the

home of our subject. The father was of Irish descent and the mother was a native of Vermont. After settling in Mount Pleasant township the father was engaged in general agricultural pursuits throughout the remainder of his life, his death there occurring in 1893, when he had reached an advanced age. He was well known in public life, having for several terms served as sheriff of the county, this being in the latter '50s, while he also acted as county commissioner and throughout the greater part of his residence in the county served on the school board. His wife preceded him to the home beyond, her death occurring in 1885. Their family numbered three children, the sisters of our subject being Elizabeth, a resident of the state of Washington and the widow of William Heaton, who died in Portland, Oregon, several years ago; and Lydia Jane, the widow of Henry Tucker and a resi'dent of Morrison, Illinois.

William Pimm Hiddleson was a little lad of seven years when he accompanied his parents from the Keystone state to Illinois. He was reared in Whiteside county and acquired his education in the schools of Morrison. From an early age he was trained to the duties of the home farm and thus received practical training which served him well when he undertook the management of the farm property. He is now the owner of the place on which he was reared, the place comprising one hundred and thirty acres of valuable land, situated on section 10, Mount Pleasant township. He has made many modern improvements here and is now comfortably situated in life.

Mr. Hiddleson was united in marriage to Miss Ellen R. Heaton, a native of this county, born in 1854. Her parents, Alfred and Ann Eliza (Robertson) Hiddleson, came to this state from New York about the year 1844. The mother died in 1888, but the father survived her and made his home in Morrison until March 20, 1908, when he passed away at the very advanced age of eighty-eight years. Mrs. Hiddleson is one of a family of six daughters and one son, the other members of the family being: Warren, who in 1861 enlisted for service in the Civil war as a member of the Eighth Illinois Cavalry and died in Washington in 1862; Mrs. Olive King, who resides near Merrill, Iowa; Mrs. Alfretta Babcock, a resident of Shell Lake, Wisconsin; Mrs. Ada Galentine, of Kearney, Nebraska; Mrs. Emily Thomas, of Morrison; and Katie, who died in infancy.

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Hiddleson has been blessed with a son and daughter. Charles Pimm, who is engaged in the gas business in Morrison, married Miss Margaret Spears, by whom he has two sons, Spears and Alfred, aged respectively eleven and nine years. Pearle Mae is the wife of Charles West, who is engaged in the livery business in Morrison. They have one son, Joshua Pimm West.

Mr. Hiddleson gives his political support to the men and measures of the republican party and for many years served as a member of the schoo! board. Few men are more familiar with the history of Whiteside county during the last half century than Mr. Hiddleson. As a boy he made his way across the country to Illinois, and with the family bore all the hardships and privations incident to a settlement on the frontier. Many of the now thriving cities and villages of the county were as yet not laid out and much of the

farm lands were still unclaimed. He has seen the wonderful changes that have since been wrought and with its agricultural interests has been actively identified, so that the history of the pioneer settlement of Whiteside county would be incomplete without the record of his life and it cannot fail to be of interest to our readers.

JAMES H. WOODBURN.

James H. Woodburn, residing at No. 1209 West Third street, is conducting business as a nurseryman and dealer in seeds and flowers. He has long been identified with the agricultural and horticultural interests of Sterling and Whiteside county and is thoroughly respected in business circles.

He was born in Newville, Pennsylvania, October 12, 1836, his parents being George W. and Mary (Williams) Woodburn, likewise natives of the same state. The father followed merchandising in early manhood and in 1837 came to the middle west on a prospecting tour. The land in this locality had not yet been surveyed, but the government required the settlers to fence thirty acres of their homestead, which no one could take away from them, and when the land came into market Mr. Woodburn purchased two hundred and twenty acres, on which stood a log cabin containing two rooms. He then returned to Pennsylvania and in 1838 came again to Illinois, leaving the old home in the east on the 8th of January, arriving in Sterling on the 15th of April. The trip westward was made by wagon across the country, the way often leading through the primeval forests as well as across almost trackless prairie. Mr. Woodburn engaged in farming on what is now the western edge of Sterling, concentrating his energies upon the development of a new farm. His wife died in 1846 and three years later, in 1849, he went to the far west and prospected for gold in California. About seven years were spent on the Pacific coast and in 1856 he returned to Whiteside county, where he continued to reside until his death, which occurred when he was seventy-five years of age. For his second wife he chose Phoebe Ann Shultz, who is still living.

James H. Woodburn, the only child of the father's first marriage, went to Indianapolis in his boyhood days and attended an academy there while living with his aunt, Mrs. Margaret F. (Williams) Espy. He spent six years in that city, after which he returned to his native town, becoming a student in the academy there, from which he was graduated in the class of 1854. His education completed, he returned to Sterling, where he began farming and he still lives upon the old homestead, which has been his place of residence for fifty-three years and which is now his property. The homestead contains about twenty acres, lying within the corporation limits of Sterling. He also owns forty acres of the original purchase on the creek, which is timberland. Farming and fruit-growing have been his life work and in connection therewith he has engaged in the nursery business and in floriculture. His business is profitable, having been gradually developed along