| Thomas Catton | Thomas Clinch |
| John Clinch | more to come... |
CATTON, THOMAS, Farmer; born in Lincolnshire, England, in 1835; is the son of James and Mary (Clark) Catton, and a grandson of Thomas Catton, all natives of England. Thomas came to America with his brother, Holland Catton, in 1857, and voted for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. He settled on a farm in Brimfield Township and afterward bought eighty acres in Section 2 which he traded for eighty acres in Section 11. He has now two hundred and forty-seven acres of land and good buildings. He is a member of the Methodist Church; is a Republican and has served as School Director. He married Jane Hard, born in England, January 30, 1845, daughter of Joseph Hard. He came to America and settled on a farm near Columbus, Ohio, where he now lives. She died December 27, 1896, and left five children living: Ada, wife of Andrew Whittaker; Herbert, who married Martha Whittaker; Rado; Frank, who married May Shane; and Lena. One son is deceased. On September 12, 1900, Mr. Catton married Ann Pacey at Brimfield. She was born in England in 1829, daughter of Thomas and Sarah Pacey. (Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Peoria County, 1902, page 659, submitted by Janine Crandell)
CLINCH, JOHN. Postmaster, Elmwood; born Kent, England, July 26, 1849, where he was educated. His grandfathers, Thomas Clinch and William Cooper, and his parents, John and Caroline (Cooper) Clinch, were born in Kent, England; the father was born in 1819 and died in 1891; the mother died in 1856. John Clinch (Junior) came to America February 20, 1868, and was engaged in farming with Thomas Clinch in Rosefield Township for three years. He then rented a farm for five years, and afterwards bought one hundred and sixty acres of land in the same township. He came to Elmwood in 1889 and erected a large elevator, where he bought and sold grain for nine years. He was appointed Postmaster by President McKinley, receiving his commission January 12, 1899. He sold his grain elevator to Thomas Radbone. Mr. Clinch married Mary H. Manock, in Elmwood, February 7, 1872. The have two children: Carrie Viola, born May 30, 1875, and Charles Francis, born January 28, 1877. Mrs. Clinch was born in Jubilee Township, August 9, 1840 [sic], the daughter of Nathan and Ellen Manock. Her father was born in Lancashire, and the mother in Kent, England. Since removing to Elmwood, Mr. Clinch sold his farm in Rosefield Township and purchased one in Brimfield Township on Sections 6 and 7, comprising one hundred ninety-seven and one-half acres. He owns a handsome residence and seven lots known as the “Eastern Extension,” in Elmwood. Mrs. Clinch belongs to the Congregational Church. Mr. Clinch is a Republican, and is a member of Arcanum Lodge, No. 102, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. (Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Peoria County, 1902, page 688, submitted by Robin O'Neill)
THOMAS CLINCH.
More than is given to the majority who are the architects of their own fortunes.
Thomas Clinch realized his inherent aspirations for the best that his
environment made possible, and upon the supper-structure of a fine and
harmonious character, erected a success within the power of those only who are
large of heart, broad in experience and more than ordinairily [sic] endowed with
good judgment and business sagacity. Like an animate spirit of the Middle West,
he was the personification of all that radiates and develops from the fertility
of Illinois, and reflected in his accomplishments the abundant harvests,
financial soundness and multitudinous interests which have arisen and flourished
upon the prairies, redeemed from inactivity by the ingenuity of man. Nor was his
life expansion a mater of mature years and propitious opportunity, but rather
took root in the heart of a boy, inured by early misfortune to the serious and
responsible side of existence.
In Kent, the luxuriant garden spot of England, he was born January 26, 1827, and
was the oldest in a family of five children. When he was nine years old, his
father died, and, as the diminutive head of a family dependent upon their own
resources, his youthful energy was shifted to the field of support. For years he
faithfully performed his duty to those near and dear to him, and his education
was naturally curtailed by the arduous duties which filled his days.
Observation, however, played an important part and influenced the formation of
his ideas: and, in time, his ambition extended beyond the shores of his native
island, intensified by the fact that friends had preceded him to the new world,
and in Illinois had found a broader field for their activities.
To the tireless and fearless who have reached the age of twenty-two, there are
few insurmountable obstacles: and the fact that he arrived in Peoria County with
available assets amounting to two dollars and fifty cents, in no way diminished
his ardor or impoverished his expectations. The journey to the well-known faces
and voices awaiting him in Illinois was accomplished by means of such
transportation as he could command in return for services rendered, and he at
once took up the burden of life destined to broaden at the approach of his
understanding and energy. A friend in need presented himself in the person of
Nathan Kellogg, who had a large farm on the Farmington Road, and in whose
employment he remained for thirteen months, at thirteen dollars a month. A
fellow laborer and sharer of early hours and hard work was William Pitt Kellogg,
who afterwards became a politician of note and, in time, a Senator from, and a
Governor of, Louisiana.
By the exercise of frugality Mr. Clinch was enabled to save sufficient means to
permit of independent farming on land owned by the Hovendons; and, while thus
endeavoring to forge his way to the front, married, in 1854, Sarah Ann, oldest
daughter of Major S. Bohanan. The following year he removed to the southwest
corner of Elmwood Township, and, in 1860, removed to Rosefield Township, through
the simple process of building himself a house across the road from his former
residence. With the coming of succeeding summers his grain ripened under the
beneficent Illinois sun, his cattle flourished and multiplied, and the ready
disposal of his general produce eliminated more and more the possibility of
future want. From the comparatively small amount of land, his possessions
increased to three and then four hundred acres, the splendid development and
resourcefulness of which far exceeded his anticipations.
With the same vigorous mentality which had directed his farming enterprises, Mr.
Clinch entered into the affairs of Elmwood, to which place he removed in 1886.
There was immediate demand for his financial discernment, and when he entered in
partnership with Mr. W. H. Lott in the banking business, the move was correctly
construed as an advance in the general prosperity. This association was amicably
continued until the tragic demise of Mr. Lott in the Chatsworth disaster [see
note below], in
18871, after which Mr. Clinch re-organized the bank, associating with him Henry Schenck, Marshall Lott, and his son, Walter A. Clinch, the affairs of the bank
being then conducted under the firm name of Clinch, Schenck & Lott. This banking
house became one of the substantial financial concerns of Peoria County, and
though it and his various other interests, Mr. Clinch accumulated, in his own
right, about $50,000.
A staunch upholder of Republican institutions, he took an intelligent and active
interest in local affairs, and held many offices of responsibility in the
township. In 1874 he was a member of the Board of Supervisors from Rosefield
Township, and was repeatedly re-elected to the position until he removal to
Elmwood. The same office awaited him in his new location, and he was thus
serving the interests of his township and the time of his death, October 13,
1895. As chairman of the Board he was instrumental in encouraging numerous
improvements in municipal affairs, and it was partly owing to his efforts that
the new court-house was erected.
Although a member of no particular religious denomination, he was essentially
religious, and fashioned his dealings with men upon humanity and the golden
rule. He was essentially a well balanced man, and few inharmonious notes
disturbed the well-adjusted composite wholeness of his character. Life to him
was a meeting ground of friends, and a field of effort to be optimistically
regarded and faithfully canvassed, and no harshness or malice or bitterness
entered into his calculations, or disturbed the geniality and good fellowship of
his nature. At his funeral there were innumerable indications of the esteem in
which he was universally held; flowers galore breathed their tender messages;
special trains brought to Elmwood former friends and associates; business was
entirely suspended, and the flag on the court-house was at half mast.
To Mr. and Mrs. Clinch were born four children: Walter A., born September 24,
1856; Charles E., born August 11, 1858; Maud, born August 29, 1864; and Sadie
B., born May 22, 1872. Charles E. became a farmer after attaining his majority,
but died at the early age of twenty-four, of typhoid fever. Maud married H. B.
Wilkinson and died in 1893, leaving two children: Sumner and Cecil. Sadie, an
unusually promising girl, graduated from the Elmwood high-school and from the
Know College Conservatory of Music, but unfortunately contracted consumption in
1895 and died the following year. Walter A., after graduating from the Elmwood
high-school and taking a course at the Wesleyan College, Bloomington, Illinois,
studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1878. Owing to ill-health his
professional practice was of short duration, and he eventually became a member
of the firm of Clinch, Schenk & Lott, and is now the head of the firm. Through
his marriage, in 1884, with Bessie, daughter of Rev. John Miller of Peoria, two
children have been born, Charles and Paul.
Note 1: Midnight, August 10, 1887 – The train accident occurred about three
miles east of Chatsworth. The Toledo, Peoria & Western Niagara Excursion Train
from Peoria, Illinois went over an unforeseen burning railroad trestle that
collapsed under the weight of the engine. 81 people [approx.] were killed and 372 injured.
(Historical Encyclopedia
of Illinois and History of Peoria
County, 1902, page 685-686, portrait on 687, submitted by Robin O'Neill)
