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June the prairies were starred with millions of wild flowers and in December covered with one unbroken, glistening sheet of snow.

John B. Galt was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, May 7, 1835, at the family home, bordering the Conestoga creek. Several generations of the family had previously resided in Pennsylvania. The ancestry was Scotch and the first settlement in America by any of the family was made in Pennsylvania about 1710. There is a Galt family cemetery at Piqua Valley, Pennsylvania, not far from the old Piqua Valley Presbyterian church. Robert Galt, the founder of the family in America, was the father of James Galt and the grandfather of Thomas Galt, the last named being the great-grandfather of the subject of this review. Thomas Galt and his wife, Isabelle, both died in Pennsylvania. Their son, James Galt, was born in that state, March 19, 1757, and on the 3d of February 1791, wedded Mary Martin, who was born in 1772. He died October 7, 1821, in his sixty-sixth year, while his wife passed away August 2, 1847. They were the parents of eleven.children, as follows: Eliza, William, James, Catharine, John, Alexander, Thomas, Lydia, Mary, Isabelle and Martin.

Of this family John Galt, a native of the Keystone state, followed merchandising there for a number of years prior to 1844, when he journeyed. westward to Illinois, settling in Sterling. He became one of the early merchants of the city and also purchased a farm that included the present site of the town of Galt, which was named in his honor. After residing in Sterling for two years he located upon his farm, which he purchased from Mr. Passmore. There was a log cabin of one room and thirty acres had been broken. The remainder of his farm he purchased from the state and government. The family never lived in the log cabin, however. It was in the spring of 1846 that the family removed to the farm and with characteristic energy the father began its improvement, erecting there one of the first brick houses in the county. It contained eight rooms and is still standing—one of the landmarks of the early days and a mute witness of the history that has been enacted in that part of the county. In the early days the family hauled grain to Albany on the Mississippi river and the pork market was at Galena and La Salle, where dressed pork sold for a dollar and a half per hundred. Mr. Galt of this review has known wheat to sell here for as low as twenty-five cents per bushel, and other farm products also brought very low prices. His father in the early days would go down the river to St. Louis to buy his groceries and dry goods-the frontier settlers being thus far separated from the source of supplies. John Galt continued to supervise his agricultural interests until his demise, which occurred in 1866 when he was in his sixty-sixth year. His wife long survived him, passing away in 1898 at the remarkable old age of ninety-four years. They were Presbyterians in religious faith and were numbered among the worthy pioneer people of the county, contributing in substantial measure to its early development and progress.

In their famliy were thirteen children, eight sons and five daughters, of whom four are now living: Elizabeth M., who resides in Sterling; John B., of this review; Letitia, the widow of D. M. Crawford, of Sterling; and

Frances, the widow of John Buyers, also of Sterling. The daughter Elizabeth resides with her brother John. She always remained at home with her parents, giving to them the utmost filial devotion and love, caring for them through all the years of old age, the mother being ninety-four at the time of her demise. Her kindly spirit, neighborly assistance and her many good traits of heart and mind have endeared her to those with whom she has been brought in contact. The deceased members of the family are: James; Mary, the wife of James A. Galt; Robert A., Thomas, Alexander, Joseph, William, Henry and Josephine. Thomas was a physician and at one time mayor of Rock Island. William and Henry died in infancy. Joseph was a student of medicine in New York city at the time of his death, and Robert was a farmer and merchant.

In the maternal line John B. Galt is descended from Captain Robert and Jean Buyers, the former a captain of the Continental army in the Revolutionary war. Their son, Robert Armour Buyers, was a native of Pennsylvania, but of Scotch descent. He followed the occupation of farming and as a companion and helpmate for life's journey chose Elizabeth McCalla. He died of typhoid fever at the comparatively early age of thirty-five years and his widow survived him for but a few years. They left a daughter, Mrs. Sarah Maria Galt, and two sons, John M. and James A. Buyers.

John B. Galt was only nine years of age when he came with his family to Whiteside county. One can hardly imagine the conditions that then existed here. There were only four houses on the south bank of the river beyond Sterling and the county seat was a small village, giving little promise of industrial or commercial importance. The removal of the family from the city caused Mr. Galt to spend his life in the usual manner of farm lads and while the work of the fields became familiar to him he also acquired a knowledge of the common branches of English learning as a pupil in the public schools. The first school he ever attended was at the corner of Broadway and Fourth streets in Sterling, held in a small frame building and taught by James McElmore. He later attended a school taught by Mrs. Worthington and William Cole. He likewise spent a short time as a student in Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, and then began farming on his own account, continuing in that business until he came to Sterling. He is now the owner of the original farm which his father purchased in Hopkins township upon his arrival in Whiteside county. The place comprises three hundred and twenty-nine acres of rich and productive land and John B. Galt resided thereon until about 1877, when he removed to the city. In the meantime he had made judicious and extensive investments in property in other parts of the country. He owns twenty-two hundred and forty-nine acres north of Duluth in St. Louis county, Minnesota, in the Messaubic iron range. He spent one year as a commercial traveler, but during the greater part of his life has concentrated his energies upon agricultural pursuits or investments. He has, however, traveled broadly for pleasure, visiting Alaska and many parts of the western country as well as the older east, the southern district around the gulf of Mexico and the upper sections of the country

surrounding the Great Lakes. He has no active business interests now save the supervision of his property and other investments.

Mr. Galt has never married and lives with his sister, Elizabeth M. Galt, at No. 1204 West Third street, where they own a pleasant modern residence. They are members of the Presbyterian church, of which their father was one of the founders and also the first elder. Politically Mr. Galt is a stalwart republican, casting his first presidential vote for Fremont and for every republican candidate for president since that time. Before the organization of the party he was an abolitionist, being in hearty sympathy with the movement to blot out slavery in America. He has in many instances been identified with the movements for reform and improvement and in Whiteside county is known as a representative and valued citizen. He has witnessed the transformation of the county from a wilderness to its present fine development and has borne his share in the work of progress as the years have gone by. He can remember when Sterling was but a small village and when outlying districts were largely unimproved prairie land. He has seen deer on the site of the present city and has seen them swim across the river to the island. He has lived to witness a remarkable change in all the countryside and has always cooperated in the work of improvement. The name of Galt has been long and honorably associated with the upbuilding of this section of the state, and John B. Galt, like the others of the family, has stood for all that promotes progress.

JOHN D. FENTON.

No history of Whiteside county would be complete without extended mention of John D. Fenton and the family of which he is a representative, for the name has figured in connection with the development of this part of the state from the time when the first white settlers founded homes within the borders of the county and undertook the work of reclaiming the district for the uses of the white race. Fenton township was named in honor of his father, Joseph Fenton, who was a native of Burlington county, New Jersey, and was of Irish descent. When a young lad of nine years he was bound out to a master whom he served as an apprentice until he had attained his majority. When his term of indenture had expired, he went on a flatboat to New Orleans, making the long trip down the Mississippi river at a time when all the produce was carried in that manner to the southern market. Following his return to the north he was married to Miss Elizabeth Durrell, also a native of Burlington county, New Jersey, and of Danish lineage. She was reared in a Quaker family but was not regularly bound out, as was the custom in those days, for the Quakers did not believe in that practice. Following his marriage, Joseph Fenton carried on farming in the east until his arrival in Whiteside county, Illinois. He became the first settler of what is now Fenton township, that district being named in his honor. He was a quiet home man who avoided all political contests and devoted his energies to caring for his fam

ily and making for them a comfortable home. In the early days many hardships and privations were endured such as are incident to settlement upon the frontier. Their remoteness from cities of any size or importance made it difficult for them to obtain supplies and they had to depend largely upon what was raised. Mr. Fenton raised what was known as razorback hogs but he found no market for them for some time and he had to dispose of his meat by selling one hog at a time. He made his sales to the miners working in the first lead mines near Mineral Point, Wisconsin. There he received at first one dollar and a half per hundred for the meat but later had to sell as low as fifty cents per hundred. In the early days their threshing was done by oxen, tramping out the grain on the floor of the barn. Grain was hauled to Chicago where wheat sold for twenty-five cents per bushel and sugar cost twenty-five cents per pound. The family home was a little log cabin, fourteen by twenty feet, with a puncheon floor, and they resided in this primitive dwelling for about fifteen years, or until 1850, when a house of sand and gravel was built. It is the only one in the county and is still standing today, a mute reminder of the pioneer. times and a silent witness of the facts which have shaped the history and molded the policy of the county. Alfred Fenton, a brother of our subject, was the first white male child born in Whiteside county, his natal day being May 13, 1837. In the family were the following: Elwood W., who in 1850 went with his brother, Joseph R., with two yoke of oxen, to California, where they arrived after travelling five months, spent his last days in Amador, that state; Joseph R., who, as stated, made the trip with his brother, died in Berkeley, California. John D. was the next of the family. Elizabeth died in New Jersey when about three years of age. Robert S. died in Erie. Alfred W. died in Erie in July, 1888. Mary E. is now the wife of R. E. Medhurst, a machinist of Erie. Sylvester H. and Henry C. are both residents of Erie. The father died upon the honie farm, which he had developed from the wild prairie, passing away September 28, 1874, at the age of eighty years and seven days. His wife passed away in January, 1879, at the age of about eighty years.

John D. Fenton was born near Mount Holly, Burlington county, New Jersey, November 10, 1832. On the 7th of October, 1835, his parents arrived in Whiteside county with their family of four children. They made the journey westward by canal to Buffalo, thence by schooner to Chicago, and from that point proceeded with two yoke of oxen and a "prairie schooner" to Dixon's Ferry, where a party of ten spent the night of October 6, 1835, in a little log cabin. The next day they arrived in Whiteside county, which was then a part of Jo Daviess county. Chicago was at that time a little town of no industrial or commercial importance and much of the site of the city which is now thickly covered with business blocks and residences was a swamp marked "bottomless." After reaching this county the father homesteaded a claim of about two hundred acres situated in Fenton township yet a part extending over the boundary line into Erie township. It was upon this farm that John D. Fenton was reared and experienced all of the hardships and trials incident to pioneer life. He wore the coarsest kind of cowhide shoes for which he had to pay three dollars a pair, and at times he would

go barefooted for want of the necessary foot covering. Everything in the home was made by hand, including all of the clothing for the children, and in the early days Mr. Fenton went to bed many a time in order to have his mother mend his only suit of clothes. It was very difficult to gain supplies of any kind, not only because money was scarce but also because the towns kept such a limited stock of goods, everybody depending upon what could be raised for the necessaries of life.

Mr. Fenton continued to work upon the home farm until about twentyfour years of age, assisting in the arduous task of breaking the sod and cultivating the prairie. He worked for neighbors at fifty cents per day and in 1857 was paid in money that proved to be almost worthless, bringing about fifteen cents on the dollar. Thus his wages were diminished although he had been nominally paid fifty cents per day for chopping wood. At twentyseven years of age he was married and began farming on his father's old homestead, which he continued to cultivate for several years. He then came to Erie and taught a district school at twenty-five dollars per month. He walked three miles and back each day to teach. He has since resided in Erie township. The only educational advantages which he was afforded came to him after walking to Erie and becoming a pupil, in the little log schoolhouse where the season covered the three winter months. He read law under Judge C. C. Teats but was not admitted to the bar. He has, however, practiced commercial law and has been executor and administrator of many estates. He is always found to be thoroughly reliable and no trust reposed in him has ever been betrayed in the slightest degree.

On the 14th of March, 1859, Mr. Fenton was married to Miss Marcia Wonser, who was born in Ellisville, Illinois, March 7, 1840, and came here from Fulton county, Illinois, in February, 1840, with her parents, Milden G. and Ruth M. (Churchill) Wonser. Her father died in 1883 but her mother, who was born March 12, 1813, died the evening of April 3, 1908, at the age of ninety-five years. The death of Mrs. Fenton occurred April 17, 1906, after they had traveled life's journey together for forty-seven years. She was a remarkable lady, had been a faithful companion and helpmate to her husband and wherever known she was held in the highest esteem. By her marriage she became the mother of three children but Myra Blanche, the eldest. died in infancy. Celona Isabelle engaged in teaching school in early womanhood and was a graduate of Fulton College. She became the wife of James P. Hubbart, of Erie township, and died December 18, 1899, leaving one child, Beryl Elizabeth. Ruth Elizabeth, the youngest of the family, is a teacher in the public schools of Erie and resides with her father.

Mr. Fenton cast his first presidential vote for Millard Fillmore and has been a stalwart republican since the organization of the party in 1856, always voting for its presidential candidates save in 1872, when he voted for Horace Greeley. He is now recognized as an independent and progressive republican. He does not believe in blind allegiance to the party but stands for improvement and progress in politics as well as along other lines. He served on the village board of Erie for a number of years, filling that position at the time the village was incorporated. He has also been president of the village for a