Norman R. Warner

As printed in 1910

ORMAN R. WARNER.

Orman R. Warner, formerly identified with agricultural interests and now the secretary of the Farmer's Mutual Insurance Company, of Kewanee, came to Henry county in September, 1845, and is therefore among its oldest residents in the length of time with which he has been associated with its interests.

He has lived to see remarkable changes here as wild land has been converted into rich fields, while towns and villages have been builded and all of the industrial and commercial interests of the older east have been introduced. In the work of general progress Mr. Warner has borne his part as the years have gone by and his value as a citizen is widely acknowledged. He was born in Canada, on the 22d of March, 1835, and was therefore a youth of ten years when the family home was established in Illinois. His parents were Ralph and Clara Warner, who came from Canada and on reaching their destination settled in Burns township, the father securing eighty acres of wild land from the government. Not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made upon this place, but with characteristic energy he began its development and soon converted the tract into rich fields. He continued to carry on farming there until his death, which occurred when he was fifty-eight years of age, while his wife survived to the advanced age of eighty-two years.

Orman R. Warner was educated in the country schools and remained on the farm until twenty-four years of age, during which period he became familiar with the best methods of tilling the soil and cultivating the crops. About 1869 he purchased a farm of one hundred and twenty acres adjoining his father's original tract of eighty acres and thus started out upon an independent venture as an agriculturist. For a long period he successfully carried on general farming and as his financial resources permitted invested from time to time in land until his property holdings were extensive. He has since sold all but the original eighty acres which his father took up from the government. It is his purpose never to sell this, hoping that it may be handed down from father to son through successive generations.

On the 31st of December, 1857, Mr. Warner was united in marriage to Miss Ruth Cosner, of Burns township, a daughter of Henry and Ann Cosner, who were farming people of that community. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Warner were born three children: Lartie May, now Mrs. H. C. Doty, a resident of Palmyra, Nebraska; Samuel C, a resident farmer of Bums township; and Morton K., who is a merchant of Kewanee.

Mr. Warner continued to reside upon the farm until 1888, when he removed to Kewanee and for six years thereafter lived retired, enjoying in well earned rest the fruits of his former labor. In 1894, however, he was elected secretary of the Farmers Mutual Insurance Company, which position he has since filled. He is also a director of the Kewanee Building & Loan Association and is thus prominent in a financial way in connection with important business concerns of the district. Throughout his life he has manifested keen discrimination and sound judgment, combined with unfaltering perseverance, and these qualities have brought him substantial success. The Farmers Mutual Insurance Company, of which he is now secretary, was organized in 1875 with M. R. Potter as president, Levi North, as secretary, and E. M. Vail, as treasurer. They protect against losses by fire and lightning among farmers and in the small towns, making assessments for losses. The business is owned and managed by farmers and retired farmers, and the amount of insurance now in force is one million, eight hundred thousand dollars. The present officers are: president, N. W. Tibbetts; vice president, George W. Fuller; secretary, O. R. Warner; treasurer, H. A. Calhoun.

In 1909 Mr. Warner was called upon to mourn the loss of his wife who passed away on the 6th of January, of that year. She was an exceptionally good woman, devoted to the welfare and happiness of her family, and her life was characterized by many good deeds to her friends, to the poor and needy and to all with whom she came in contact. Mr. and Mrs. Warner traveled life's journey together for more than half a century, their mutual love and confidence increasing as the years went by. At the time of her demise one of her warm friends with whom she had been intimately associated in the work of the church wrote of her:

"Mrs. Warner came to Kewanee to make her home twenty-one years ago. She united with the Methodist Episcopal church and at once identified herself with the work of the Ladies' Aid Society. In the years that have followed, in sickness and health, her interest in the welfare of her church and the work of the Aid Society has never lessened.

"For ten years she was president of this society and so faithfully did she perform the duties of the office, so highly did we value her presence and counsel that at the end of the term of active service she was unanimously elected 'honorary president of the society, an office she still held at the time of her death. The only criticism we ever heard of her was, 'she knew not how to spare herself.' So earnestly did she desire the success of every enterprise undertaken by the society that many times she carried the burdens of responsibility that should have rested upon younger, stronger shoulders. We knew so well her energy and whole-hearted interest that we have wondered if we had not become too much accustomed to her frail health and perhaps sometimes overtaxed her strength. Yet we know she loved the work and we do not believe she ever felt it burdensome.

"When the word came to us that she had passed away we did not feel that she was lost to us, but only gone before, for as the poet has sweetly said: 'There is no death! What seems so is transition: This life of mortal breath Is but a suburb of life elysian, Whose portal we call Death.'

"We will miss her presence with us, her voice in the prayer meeting, raised in testimony and prayer we will hear no more, in the home there will be a vacant chair, yet we feel that our loss is her gain. And now that she has gone and we are left to carry on the work, we earnestly desire that a double portion of her spirit may fall upon us.

"If we were asked to sum up her character in two words we would say, 'faithful and true,' and the prayer of our hearts is that we may as faithfully perform the work that is given us to do; may fill as well the nicht to which we are assigned; and when the time comes for us to lay down the cares and pleasures of life, may we, each one, as richly deserve to hear the words, Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of the Lord.'

'Rest in peace, thou gentle spirit, throne above, Souls like thine with God inherit. Life and Love.' " Mr. Warner has been somewhat active in public affairs, his fellow townsmen calling him to various offices. In 1866-67 he served as collector of Bums township and for seventeen years was it assessor. He was also school director for seventeen years and the cause of education found in him a stalwart champion. In January, 1858, he joined the Methodist Episcopal church, served as a trustee of the congregation in Burns township and upon his removal to Kewanee was made a trustee here. His life has been in strict conformity with his profession and he stands today as one whose many sterling traits have gained for him the high honor and respect which are uniformly accorded him. He well deserves mention in this volume as one of its representative pioneer citizens and his example may well serve as a source of encouragement and emulation to others.

As printed in History of Henry County, Illinois (1910). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.