Sullivan R. Francis was born in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, in 1816, came to Illinois about 1840, and bought eighty acres of unbroken government land in Henry County, where he built a log cabin, farmed in the summers and taught in the early schools in the winters. He married three times, to Sarah Elizabeth Hayward in 1842, to Mary S. Gardner of Bedford, Massachusetts, and to Anna I. Pelton, a native of England, and he had eleven children before his death in 1901. His son Frederick, born in Kewanee Township in 1856, graduated from the State University in 1878, worked eleven years for the Elgin Watch Company, and then built a stone and brick house east of Kewanee, called Woodland Palace, entirely with his own hands. Another son, Sullivan F. Francis, born in 1877, became a horse dealer in Kewanee and in 1910 owned the homestead his father had settled about 1841. Every fact below is cited to a public-domain Henry County history.
Where the family starts
Sullivan R. Francisborn 1816Most recent in our records
Sullivan F. Francisborn 1877Tap a name to jump to that person.
Pioneer farmer and schoolteacher
SULLIVAN R. FRANCIS.
Sullivan R. Francis, who, combining farming and teaching, rounded out a useful life and had the satisfaction of knowing that his influence had always been directed toward the uplifting of his associates, was for many years numbered among the residents of Henry county. His birth occurred in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, in 1816, and he came of a family of English descent that was founded in the new world as early as 1630.
Thinking to enjoy better opportunities than were offered in New England by a removal to the west Mr. Francis came to Illinois about 1840 and soon thereafter located in Henry county, where he purchased eighty acres of land from the government. It was entirely wild and unimproved, not a furrow having been turned. On that tract he built a little log cabin and at once began farming, breaking the sod and tilling the fields so that in course of time the place returned to him bounteous harvests. Being a man of education his services were required during the winter months as teacher in the early schools and he did much toward shaping the educational progress of the county in pioneer times. His summers, however, were devoted to tilling his land and improving his home. In later years he became one of the school directors in his district.
In 1842 Sullivan R. Francis was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Elizabeth Hayward, who was born in Lunenburg, Massachusetts, and died May 30, 1845. His second wife bore the maiden name of Mary S. Gardner and was born in Bedford, Massachusetts, November 13, 1825, while her death occurred in Kewanee, October 22, 1889. For his third wife Mr. Francis those Anna I. Pelton, a native of England, who survives him and is now residing in Neponset, Illinois. His family numbered eleven children, five of whom are yet living, namely: Frederick, a resident of Kewanee township, of whom extended mention is made elsewhere in this volume; L. S., who is operating a sawmill north of Neponset; Sullivan F., who is a resident of Kewanee and a dealer in fine horses; W. R. who is living in Adrian, Michigan; and Gladys Galbraith, of Oakland, California. There are also two grandchildren: F. V. Francis, who is proprietor of pattern shops at Atlanta, Georgia; and Clara G. Matheson, whose husband died in Kewanee, December 24, 1909.
The death of Mr. Francis occurred September 1, 1901. He was a sturdy farmer of remarkable force of character, an upright and worthy man, who was brought up to hard work and strict discipline on the farm. Probably to the fact that he always worked with all his might is due his wholesome life and the positions of responsibility he was given by the people. While some would have been restricted by the limitations of rural life and pioneer conditions his interests seemed to expand as he met those conditions and shaped them for his own betterment and the common good. His ambition prompted him to make the best possible use of his opportunities and his life furnishes an example of high purpose and upright manhood. While his religious views agreed with many of the most progressive Christians, he was an ardent spiritualist, and in his last illness expressed the desire that all should know that he lived and died happy in that belief. Whatever may be said of the truth of this doctrine, it was often remarked that if his life was a sample it would be good.
As printed in the source1. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
Watchmaker, builder of Woodland Palace
Frederick Francis, with highly developed artistic perception, takes genuine pleasure in having everything about him as perfect as his own good taste and skillful fingers can make it and therefore his is an attractive home amid beautiful surroundings. The material things, however, are not given undue prominence with him but are only a feature in that existence which should present the best that can be attained along material, intellectual, artistic and moral lines. He was born in Kewanee township, January 21, 1856, and was reared upon the home farm of his parents, Sullivan R. and Mary (Gardner) Francis. During his youthful days he attended district schools and at the age of eighteen entered the State University, from which he was graduated in 1878, being the first student that Kewanee sent to that institution. When he left he had placed his mark upon the seven foot dial clock in the west tower of what is now the oldest of the university buildings, for he made the drawings for that time piece, built the escapement and assisted in setting it up and it is still keeping excellent time. The clock was donated as a memorial by the class of 1878.
Having completed his scholastic course, Mr. Francis entered the employ of the Elgin Watch Company and after eleven years spent in its factory returned to Kewanee. The love of the beautiful and the artistic has ever been a dominant quality in his life and with a desire to establish a beautiful home he secured one of the best sites in Henry county, four and a half miles east of Kewanee. Thereon he erected a residence of stone and brick after designs and plans made entirely by himself, doing every detail of the building alone, not paying out one cent for help, and the place is appropriately named Woodland Palace. It is one of the most artistic homes in the county and is supplied with many conveniences of his own design, including a filter for rain water, by means of which he secures a water supply system that provides the family with absolutely pure water. Mrs. Francis, who presides with gracious hospitality over this attractive residence, was Jeanette E. Rice and afterward Jeanette E. Crowfoot. She was formerly a resident of Elgin, Illinois, and on the loth of August, 1890, gave her hand in marriage to Mr. Francis.
Having a great love for the sixty acres of forest trees that was left him by his father, Mr. Francis has not cleared his land or done any farming but lets it only for pasture. He has been an interested student of mathematics, having among the wall decorations of his home a frame containing about a square yard of drawing paper, on which is the abbreviated form of a difficult problem of circles that was solved after eight years of seeking and then only by an original method not found in the text-books. The work required the finding of an unknown quantity, which if put in the form of an equation, would be of about the twentieth degree and contain about one thousand terms. Not content with development alone along the line of the practical, however, Mr. Francis has studied oil painting and some of his works display a high order of talent. He has also devoted considerable time to literary work and has contributed a number of articles to various magazines on the subject of physical culture.
A man of wide reading and deep thought, those questions of vital national interest have always elicited his attention and that he thinks out along original lines is indicated in an article from his pen which appeared in the Physical Culture Magazine, entitled Our Idea of Arbitration. In this he said: "I have read what you have to say about Arbitration and Japan, and it makes me wish to express an idea that I have in regard to the disarmament of nations. To illustrate, let me suppose a country of individuals without law, each carrying a gun for defense. Now somebody suggests that these individuals arbitrate instead of using guns. The difficulty is that it takes two to arbitrate and this they will do or not as they feel like. The individuals could not be expected to discard their guns unless they had something more certain than this to take their place. When law is established this supplies the need and the gims are useless. This is the principle that should be applied to the nations of the world. They should be controlled by an international law which should be as supreme over nations as the laws of a country are over its individuals. This international law should be backed by an army and navy, if necessary, which should be the only ones on earth. Any other military force would be as much out of place as an individual or set of individuals taking up arms against their government or against each other. Any nation not wishing to be controlled and protected thus would be dealt with the same as an individual who does not respect the laws of his country. He must yield for the best good of the majority. I believe this is the way and the only way that nations ever will or can be expected to disarm. The individual would be a fool to lay down his gim in a country without the law to protect him. So a nation would be foolish to disarm without a supreme international law to protect it."
That Mr. Francis possesses considerable ability as a writer of poetry as well as prose is indicated in one of his poems which he styles Early Recollections:
"No carpet of tapestry, Brussels or ingrain, In palace of millionaire, lord or of king. Can ever compare with that velvety blue grass That grew 'death my feet in life's beautiful spring.
The parlor and bedroom we had in our playhouse, In corner of that old Virginia fence, In front of the yard of our earliest homestead, Has never been equalled at any expense.
The old log stable with corn crib attachment.
That sheltered the horses so noble and grand.
That pulled the great loads with their smooth wooden collars,
Or broke up the sod of that primitive land.
And then the great hogs that were out in the hogyard, They had a log shed with the roof made of hay. And even the mud-holes where they used to allow Had wonderful charms on the long summer day.
The old stone up well that was close to the doorstep, Where water was hoisted with windlass and chain; No fear was there then of the terrible microbe, That water was cold and as pure as the rain.
And there was the attic up under the rafters.
Such a wonderful place to romp and to run;
When the raindrops came down on the roof with a matter
And added sweet music to noise and to fun.
Now with hair turning gray and with step growing sewer, We are looking again for the picture so fair; Seeking the viewpoint of life's early morning; Father Time only answers with echo of — where?
Last even while out for a short recreation, With fancies turned backward again o'er the ground, I wandered down by the home of my childhood; But alas ! what a change in the scene there I found.
A father, a mother, a brother, a sister;
I look for in vain to meet at the door;
A few decayed logs mark the site of the cabin.
They are fast disappearing and the dream will be o'er.
And so Father Time beckons onward, still onward,
Returning no moments to be lived anew;
'Tis well for us then to have this recollection,
They may come to the light when stern judgment is due.
And so to all friends and all brothers and sisters. Who still may unite on a reunion day; I would send kindest thoughts and congratulations; For soon from this earth we must all pass away."
While all this indicates much of the ability of Mr. Francis, there is perhaps nothing that so clearly indicates his position in life as the little poem clipped from one of the current magazines, entitled The Gates of Gold. Kindly and considerate, always mindful of the feelings of others, anything bordering on gossip is utterly distasteful to Mr. Francis, and the little poem given below indicates the guiding spirit of his life.
"If you are tempted to reveal
A tale some one to you has told
About another, make it pass.
Before you speak, three Gates of Gold.
Three narrow gates — first, 'Is it true?' Then, *Is it needful?' In your mind Give truthful answer. And the next Is last and narrowest, Ts it kind ?'
And if, to reach your lips at last, It passes through these gateways three, Then you may tell the tale, nor fear What the result of speech may be."
As printed in the source1. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
Horse dealer in Kewanee
SULLIVAN F. FRANCIS.
Sullivan F. Francis, a well known and prosperous young resident of Kewanee, has been successfully engaged in business as a dealer in horses since starting out in life on his own account. His birth occurred in Kewanee township, this county, on the 6th of December, 1877, his parents being S. R. and Anna I. (Barnes) Francis, who are mentioned at greater length on another page of this work. At the usual age he entered the district schools and after completing the prescribed course he spent one year as a student in the Kewanee high school. On putting aside his text-books he began dealing in horses and has since been continuously identified with that line of activity, now devoting his entire attention thereto. He employs men in Henry and adjoining counties to purchase the stock and gives his personal attention to the retail trade. He is a good judge of horses and their value and always has on hand a number of excellent specimens of the noble steel. The old homestead where he was born now belongs to him and has been in possession of the family for almost seven decades, the father of our subject having taken up his above thereon about 1841. He purchased a residence prior to buying his present home at No. 421 South Vine street, where he has resided since April, 1907.
On the 8th of June, 1904, at Galesburg, Illinois, Mr. Francis was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude Dean, a daughter of William Dean of that place. They now have two children: Dean Sullivan, who was born on the 13th of January, 1906; and Gano Elizabeth, whose natal day was August 11, 1909.
Mr. Francis cases his ballot in support of the men and measures of the republican party but aside from that takes no part in politics, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his private affairs. His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church of Kewanee, while fraternally he is identified with the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. He has remained a resident of Henry county from his birth to the present time and that his life has been honorable and worthy of public regard is indicated by the fact that many of his stanchest friends are those who have known him from boyhood.
As printed in the source1. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.
The printed record stops in the early 1900s. We pick up from there and trace your line down to you and back as far as the records go, into a written book with every source cited.
All sources are public domain. Facts only. We follow set rules to leave living people out (how).
Other family lines from the same county: