from The Biographical directory of the railway officials of America
Addison Busbey.
Bushnell, William M.,General Freight Agent,
Chicago Peoria & St. Louis Ry. Office St. Louis, Mo.
Born March 7, 1864, in Stark County, Illinois. Entered railway service 1879 as office boy Cincinnati Lafayette & Chicago Rd, which was merged into the Cincinnati Indianapolis & St. Louis Ry the same year; remained with latter road until 1881, since which he has been consecutively to 1885, clerk Wabash St. Louis & Pacific Ry at Peoria, Ill.; 1885 to 1887, clerk Toleda Peoria & Western Ry at Peoria; 1887 to 1891, general agent Jacksonville Southeastern Line at Peoria; 1891 to 1893, commercial agent same line at St. Louis, Mo.; 1893 to 1894, commercial agent same line at Peoria; 1894 to date, acting general freight agent and general freight agent Chicago Peoria & St. Louis Ry.
- - The Silliman Family - -
THE SILLIMAN FAMILY
By Edwin C. Silliman, 1912
Rev. Gershom Silliman was born near Hart ft. Connecticut, May 24, 1783; married to Polly Colman of East Coventry, Oct. 6, 1809, who was born Aug. 1787. They moved to Roxbury, Delaware County. N.Y., from which place he enlisted for the war of 1812 as a Lieutenant in Capt. Denio's Company of Col. Fitzwilliams' Regiment, First New York Militia. After his discharge in 1814, he lived a short time in New York State, then moved to Salt Creek, Jackson County, Ohio, and in 1828 came to Peoria County, crossing the river at Peoria, September 25, 1828. There were ten teams in the party, and it was called "The big train." Simon Reed, who with his brother Aaron had come here in 1825, had gone back and induced his neighbors to come west, and piloted them through.
Mr. Silliman bought a farm of Hiram Cleveland. with a double log cabin upon it, on the Galena road about a mile south of Simon Reed's. This farm was later owned by Joseph Silliman and sold by him to his brother-in-law, Merrit Reed. Upon the south side of this farm is located LaSalle Cemetery, the land for it given by Gershom Silliman, and the only consideration being the reservation of a lot for the use of the Silliman family. In that cemetery lie today a large number of the early settlers of that vicinity, some of the stones dating back to 1830.
In the log house on this farm Marshall B. Silliman and Silas Allen remained for two months during the Black Hawk War in 1832. The women and children for a time were sheltered there and at the Simon Reed block-house, going out after dark into the woods to sleep for fear of the Indians. They soon moved across the river from Peoria to Meacham's Mill or, as it was later called, ''Ten Mile." For two months Silliman and Allen saw no one except a messenger now and then going from Peoria to the front near Dixon. The house was picketed, and in day time these two men looked after the stock and homes of the settlers. This Allen and his brother Samuel laid out the town of Allentown, between Chillicothe and Rome, which in its palmy days had two houses. It, like some other Western towns, was laid out to sell to Eastern speculators. In a few years the desire to be in the timber caused Mr. Silliman to move a mile and a half West near the bluff and open up a new farm, on which he resided until his death, which occurred on December 2, 1856; his wife died December 24, 1864.
Rev. Gershom Silliman was the first Baptist minister to locate permanently in Peoria County. He preached in private houses until school houses were built, and in 1838 he helped to organize the first Baptist church in the town of Chillicothe, being its first pastor. He was succeeded by Elder-Rider C. D. Merrit, Elder Bodley, and others of later years. He was a man of sterling character who left his impress on the community in which he lived. He had a large family.
Minott Silliman, his oldest son, was at the lead mines near Galena, in '31 and '32, it being the only place where one could get cash for one's labor. When the Black Hawk War came on he enlisted in a company from there. In 1834, he and his brother Marshall broke the first ground where Toulon now stands. Marshall soon returned to Peoria County where he resided until his death, but Minott lived and died in and near Toulon In 1833, he married Rhoda Smith, a daughter of Benjamin Smith who had settled in Essex Township Stark County in 1830. Minott Silliman built a log cabin on what is now the main street in Toulon. His wife died in 1841, leaving one daughter, now Mrs. Clarissa Wilcox, who lives at Blair, Nebraska. He then married Miss Henrietta Bathan, daughter of Robert Bathan, who died leaving one son, Levi Silliman, a resident of Toulon. On Nov. 4, 1847, Minott Silliman was again married to Miss Letetia Oziah, by whom he had two daughters, Mrs. Andrew Stickney of Toulon and Mrs. Sarah Stickney of Vancouver, Washington He died Jan. 6, 1894, and his wife on Jan. 2, 1907. He was the first Treasurer of Stark County, and held other offices of trust. He always took a great interest in the history of Stark and Peoria Counties, as their early history was closely interwoven.
Marshall Bennett Silliman, the second son of Gershom Silliman, was born May 12, 1812, in Delaware County, N. Y. He married on Nov. 16, 1837, Miss Clarissa Hyde, a sister of Norman Hyde, one of the first settlers in Peoria. She died Nov. 5, 1842, leaving two sons, Edwin C. Silliman of Chenoa, Ill., and Norman H. Silliman of Boulder. Colorado. The former has one son, L. L. Silliman, Cashier of the State Bank of Chenoa, and Norman has one daughter, Mrs. Flora McHarg who is an Attorney at Law in Boulder, Colorado. Marshall B. Silliman was again married Feb. 6, 1844, to Nancy Y. Hawley, a daughter of Truman Hawley. who came to Peoria County in 1834, and settled at what was called Mt. Hawley Post Office, he keeping the Post Office for years. She died, June 4, 1885, at the the homestead in Hallock Township, and he on March :11 1888, at Toulon. He held the Office of Supervisor for seven years; was an ardent advocate of temperance, and never voted to license the liquor traffic; a democrat in politics and a Universalist in belief.
Fanny Silliman Smith, born Nov. 5, 1813, married William P. Smith. (See Benjamin Smith history). Joseph Silliman, born Sept. 18, 1817, married Amy Reed, Nov. 17, 1842. She was a daughter of Thomas B. Reed who had come to Peoria County in Oct.. 1829, and occupied a cabin on his brother Simon Reed's farm. Joseph Silliman settled on the first Silliman farm, building a brick house on it in 1846, and late in life he occupied the last home of his father. He was a quiet, plain man, seeking only content and happiness in his home life. He died in March, 1873. Mrs. Silliman and son H. E. Silliman and a daughter moved to Winfield, Kansas in March, 1880, where the daughter Mrs. Lola Wortman died, March 30, 1900. Mrs. Silliman died at Winfield. April 4, 1904; was buried by the side of her husband and an infant daughter, in LaSalle Cemetery. Daniel Silliman, born Sept. 13, 1817, died May 11, 1836, of aneurism caused by lifting at a log-rolling.
Sarah Silliman, born Sept. 14, 1819, married Hiram Atwood, son of Timothy Atwood who came from Dansville, N. Y. in 1834, and settled on ''Yankee Street'' north of Chillicothe, Ill. Here Hiram Atwood and wife spent most of their lives, but both dying at James, Iowa. Two daughters and one son are dead, and one sort. Cyrus Atwood, lives at Sioux City, Iowa. Emily Silliman, born Feb. 28, 1824, married Samuel Neal of Mossville, Ill., died Oct. 20, 1849, leaving one son, Daniel Neal of Mossville. Mr. Neal afterwards married Asenath Matthews of Princeville. He died aged 83; she was killed accidentally at Mossville in 1911. Mary Silliman, born Feb. 26, 1826, married John Webster of "Yankee Street" and died soon after marriage; left no children. Phebe Silliman, born March 4, 1829, youngest child of Gershom Silliman. married Emory Daniels, of Peoria. They lived in Steuben Township, Marshall County, many years, then moved to Dexter, Iowa, and later to Azusa, Cal. Here he died and she is still living in her 84th year. being the last of the family. She has a number of children living in California and the West.
Marshall B. Silliman, father of the writer, was Postmaster (his uncle Joel Hicks held the commission as he was under age) at LaSalle Post Office in 1834, on the Galena road where they first settled. The writer has letters bearing that Postmark, dated 1835 and 1836, and his book containing names of the early settlers, who received mail at that office. Among them are Linus Scovill, John Johnson, Jeriel Root, Thomas Miner, Edwin S. Jones, John Hammett, Roland Thomas, James R. and Jefferson Tallifero, Griffith Hixon, George Sigler Samuel T. McKean, Mahlon Lupton, Samuel Allen Francis Thomas, The Reeds, Jason Hopkins, Royal M. Pitts, Zelotus Marks, Cornelius Doty, Samuel McClellan, Joseph Merideth, Nicholas Sturm, and William Lake. Jefferson Tallifero laid out the town of Rome. Edwin S. Jones, a son-in-law of Jeriel Root, kept the first store in Chillicothe. George Sigler and Samuel T. McKean went to Oregon about 1846. Sigler was in the party from about Northampton, that lost their way enroute and most of whom starved to death.
Gershom Silliman, Jeriel Root and Joel Hicks all married sisters,—Polly, Sarah, and Phebe Colman of East Coventry, near Hartford, Conn. Joel Hicks had a carding mill on the creek near his house, and later built one at Slackwater, Stark County. He and Marshall B. Silliman made the first sashplane in Peoria County. The first settlers had no glass; then later it was brought from St. Louis. This plane was used from LaSalle to Boyd's Grove and Spoon River—a name that covered a large territory at that time. The writers' father settled in 1837 on what was called ''The High Prairie" where he lived until 1885. There was but one house in sight. He bought a "tax title" with a cabin on it, for which he gave a yoke of oxen, valued at $100.00 and $30.00 in money. The cabin was valued at $100.00 and the land at $30.00. Soon after he got it a prairie fire burned the cabin and it full of wheat. The first near neighbor was William Easton who joined him on the north, and soon a brother-in-law of his, Lucas C. Hicks, bought and built adjoining him on the south. Easton married Sarah Hicks. and Lucas Hicks married Sarah Reed, a daughter of Samuel Reed of Buffalo Grove, near Dixon, Ill., and a niece of John Dixon. The families of the Reed's, Hick's, Root's and Silliman's were all connected by marriage. M. B. Silliman built a large barn in 1846, Horace Bushnell and Lyman Hitchcock being the carpenters. As it was the only barn in sight from the Peoria and Wyoming road, all the travelers came in there to get their horses in. The cabin was two stories and a tight floor, and the writer has seen eighteen men sleeping in that upper room in one night. The writer's first school was at Mt. Hawley. in a log school house with desks around the wall, in 1846. The teacher was named Peters and he was afterwards Circuit Judge in Bureau County. The writer still has the old Webster spelling book used that winter. Among the students were John Holmes; Jed. and Milo Benjamin and their sister Hattie, wife of the late Jos. Barnum; the Hawley girls,— Aaron, Jerome and Omar Hawley; Carlos Wilcox and others not now remembered. The first school in the home district was taught by Miss Belle Jones, later Mrs. Belle Easton-Wood, in 1848, and there were nine scholars on the roll.
The friends of the writer's father in early days who visited us were many: from near Princeville were George I. McGinnis, Benjamin Slane, Daniel Prince, William Stevens; and from farther south was Charley Chapman, the clock tinker; also Leonard Cornwell, Richard Scholes, James Dalrymple, G. M. Woodbury and Tom Black. All the old timers of the Spoon River country found a cordial welcome; the big fireplace with its cheery glow was the scene of many happy visits and the stories there rehearsed linger still in memory. We close this scattering and disconnected paper, only wishing that some items in it may be of historical interest to the present and to future generations.