GARRETT, Amasa
Amasa GARRETT, deceased, was for many years
a familiar figure in
Marshall
and adjoining counties, and was doubtless personally known by as
many men as any other person within the radius of fifty miles.
He was a native of Washington county,
Ohio, born April 14, 1818, of which
state his father, who was of French ancestry, was a pioneer. In
1836, the family removed to Bureau county, Illinois, and located in that section which
was then a part of Putnam county. Subsequently he removed to
Bulbona Grove, near the present
village
of Wyanet,
Bureau county.
In early life our subject commenced trading
in furs, in which line of business he continued for some years.
Later he engaged in the stock business, buying and shipping
cattle, principally to the
Chicago
markets. He then became an agent for the location and sale of
land lying in the Military Tract of Illinois, making the subject
of titles a study, and becoming a recognized authority on titles
of the lands. The Military Tract comprised that territory lying
between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, and north of the base line near Quincy, Illinois,
a portion of which was set aside in payment for services
rendered the general government in time of war. The operations
of Mr. GARRETT extended within a radius of forty miles, and
within that distance he invested in the military lands, owning
at one time about one thousand acres. When these lands were
mostly disposed of by the government, he turned his attention to
his farming interests and confined himself to the cultivation of
the soil and raising stock. He was a very active man and always
pushed his business until within a year or two of his death.
Mr. GARRETT was thirty years old before he
entered the married state, his union with Miss Sarah ORR,
occurring at Lacon, February 20, 1848. She is a daughter of
James and Sarah (RAMSEY) ORR, both of whom were natives of
Maryland, from which state they removed when Sarah
was but eight year old, locating in Marshall county. Her father
was by occupation a farmer and entered land one and a half miles
from the village
of Lacon, in Lacon township. This tract he
proceeded to improve, and in time was one of the best cultivated
farms in the county. Of their family of six children, Sarah was
one of the youngest, and is the only one now living. One
daughter, Mary, who married Asa THOMPSON, resided for years in
Steuben township, and died on Thanksgiving day, 1895. One
daughter, Elizabeth, married William HANCOCK and died some years
ago. The father died when upward of seventy years of age.
When the marriage of Mr. GARRETT and Sarah
ORR occurred, he was residing in Bureau county, but had
purchased land in Marshall
county, in what was known as the
Bethel
neighborhood, where he erected a house and to which he took his
young bride. On that farm he resided for twelve years, when he
removed to the farm now the home of Mrs. GARRETT in Steuben
township. Five children came to bless their union: James O.;
Josephine, who married Samuel McFARLAND, both of whom dying left
two children, Alma S. and Anna Josephine, the latter now being a
member of Mrs. GARRETT’s family; Augustus, who married Electa
SARGENT, lives near the old farm; Clara, now deceased, and
Allison, who runs the home farm.
Politically, Mr. GARRETT was a stanch
democrat, and for years served as justice of the peace, and at a
time when the office in his township was of some consequence.
For sixteen consecutive years he served as supervisor from
Steuben township, a fact that speaks well for the confidence and
esteem in which he was held by his fellow citizens. A great
admirer of the lamented Stephen A. Douglas, he followed the
fortunes of that great statesman until the death of the latter,
and served as a delegate in the Baltimore
convention which nominated Douglas
for the presidency. His face was a familiar one in the county,
state and district conventions, and his influence was great
among his fellow members. He was a candidate for county office
at a time when the party was in a hopeless minority, and while
he always made a good campaign, he yet failed of election. His
relation with W. E. COOK, also a prominent politician, was a
close and intimate one.
Mr. GARRETT was well posted on current
literature and thoroughly enjoyed the reading of good books. He
was a good neighbor and always tried to avoid strife, never
engaging in needless lawsuits, but settling all differences out
of court. He was not what is called a society man, though of a
social turn, neither did he ever affiliate with the fraternal
societies of the day. His death occurred August 24, 1891, and
his remains were interred in the
Bethel
cemetery. Mrs. GARRETT resides on the old homestead, loved and
respected by all. A member of the Methodist Episcopal church,
she lives the life of a true Christian woman, doing her duty
faithfully to her family, friends and neighbors.
Extracted May 2011 by Norma Hass from
The Biographical Record of Bureau, Marshall and Putnam Counties, Illinois, 1896.
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