 Photo from the collection of Alice Horner, given to her mother by Arthur Bawden
This undated photograph was probably taken between 1914 - 1920. Those pictured, left to right, are: Collan Bawden, Ellen Eliza (Preston) Downing, Wilson Day, John Henry Keech, Anna Kneale (the shorter woman, wife of William L. Kneale; he died in 1914), Anna Belle Bawden (wearing light colors and beads, wife of Collan Bawden), Harvey Loomer Downing (husband of Ellen Eliza Preston Downing, and not very visible in the photograph), and Maria Keech (wife of John Henry Keech).
Collan Bawden was born March 30, 1839 in Cornwall County , England and he died November 20, 1932 in Mt. Carroll , Carroll County , Illinois . He immigrated with his family in 1846, settling in Elizabeth , Jo Daviess County, Illinois. In 1860, he moved to Carroll County . He married Anna Belle Kneale on February 27, 1872 in Carroll County . She was the daughter of Stephen Kneale and Jemima Downing. (Jemima Downing was a sister of Sumner Downing, Harvey Loomer Downing’s father.) Anna Belle (Kneale) Bawden was born September 3, 1847 in Carroll County , Illinois and died April 20,1932 in Mt. Carroll . Collan Bawden was a carriage manufacturer. He served in the Civil War with the 92nd Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Infantry, enlisting in 1862. He was chief musician and the leader of the cornet band throughout the Civil War. Anna Belle Kneale was educated in the schoolhouse on the hill just north of Stephen Kneale’s farm in Preston Prairie, Mt. Carroll Township , Carroll County , Illinois . Collan and Anna Belle (Kneale) Bawden had three children, Grace Marie Bawden, Arthur Collan Bawden, and Stephen Richard Bawden. Grace was an artist who taught at Frances Shimer College . Arthur was a dentist, and Steven sold dental supplies. None of them married. All five Bawdens are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery , Mt. Carroll .
My mother thought I should have the Bawden experience, so she and I went to visit Art (Arthur) Bawden in the late 1950s. Steven was still alive but only Art was home that day. Art and Steven were living as they always had, in their parents home on 115 North Clay Street , at the corner of East Pleasant Ave. , Mt. Carroll . It was a two-story white wood frame house with green shutters. Walking in the front door was like walking into a genteel living room in the 1890s. Everything was exactly as it must have been in the 1890s. Art said “Papa had this house built after the war…that is, the Civil War.” When he found out I collected stamps and he reached into a small drawer at the front of his desk and gave me one about 30 years old that he may have intended to use as postage later that day, for all I knew. The house was well cared for, inside and out, clean and homey, with lots of books in bookcases and paintings on the walls. I was used to living in a home full of antiques, but Art’s house was like suddenly being thrust back in time. Mother and Art talked about family history and genealogy all afternoon. He gave her several photographs, saying she should have them since there were so few people left around Mt. Carroll who would have known who the people were or would have any interest in them. I’m sure this photograph was one of the photographs he gave her.
Ellen Eliza (Preston) Downing and her husband, Harvey Loomer Downing have been covered well throughout Genealogy Trails, Carroll County . They lived at 105 North Clay Street in Mt. Carroll , on the same side of the street and in the same block as the Bawdens, but at the corner of East Center Avenue . The photograph is taken at their house; everyone is standing on the lawn at the south side of the house.
Wilson C. Day was the son of Benjamin S. Day and Emerancia Downing, and born May 29, 1845 in Illinois (probably Carroll County ) and died May 17, 1921 in Carroll County . (Emerancia Downing, his mother, was a sister of Harvey Loomer Downing’s father, Sumner Downing.) Wilson C. Day married Elizabeth B. Grove on October 2, 1872 in Carroll County , who was the daughter of George Grove and Nancy Strickler. She was born June 30, 1843 in Franklin County, Pennsylvania and died August 11, 1914. Wilson Day attended school at the schoolhouse on the hill just north of what was the Stephen Kneale farm, in Mount Carroll Township . This was one of the very earliest schools in Mt. Carroll Township . When the History of Carroll County, Illinois was published in 1878, he owned a farm in Section 24, Mt. Carroll Township . By 1900 he lived in Mt. Carroll and worked as a house carpenter. Wilson C. Day and his wife Elizabeth had no children. Both are buried in Oak Hill Cemetery , Mt. Carroll .
John Henry Keech was born July 4, 1842 in West Chester County , Pennsylvania and died January 5, 1926 in Cedar Rapids , Linn County , Iowa . He married Maria E. Kneale in October 23, 1877. She was the daughter of Stephen and Jemima (Downing) Kneale, and so was the sister of Anna Belle (Kneale) Bawden. Maria E. Kneale was born August 12, 1850 in Carroll County and died October 29, 1930 in Cedar Rapids .
John Henry Keech moved to Mt. Carroll with his parents when he was six years old. He enlisted at age 19 and served with Company I, 92nd Illinois Mounted Infantry, serving in the Civil War. At the end of the war, he returned to Mt. Carroll and taught school for some years. He retired in 1910 and moved to Cedar Rapids , Iowa . John Henry and Maria (Kneale) Keech had one son.
Anna Kneale is probably Anna E. (Tomlinson) Kneale, whose parents were Charles W. and Eliza (Beldin) Tomlinson. She was born in 1850 in Illinois (probably Carroll County ) and died in August 19, 1934 in Chicago . On November 28, 1867 she married William L. Kneale in Carroll County . His parents were Stephen and Jemima (Downing) Kneale; William L. Kneale was a brother to Maria Kneale Keech, John Henry Keech’s wife, and Anna Belle Kneale Bawden, Collan Bawden’s wife. William L. Kneale was born February 20, 1844 in Carroll County , Illinois and died in 1914. Anna Kneale and her husband are both buried in Oak Hill Cemetery , Mt. Carroll . They had five children.
Standing, left to right: Wilson Day, John Henry Keech, Harvey Loomer Downing, Collan Bawden. Seated, left to right: Ellen Eliza ( Preston ) Downing, Anna (Kneale) Bawden, Maria (Kneale) Keech, Anna (Tomlinson) Kneale. Refer to Alice Horner's Rootsweb.com family tree,
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