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Reuben Lancaster was born on a farm twelve miles north of Georgetown, Kentucky, June 14, 1842. His father, Lewis Lancaster, was a native of same locality, and his grandfather, Reuben Lancaster, for whom the subject of our sketch was named, was born in the State of Virginia, was reared and married in the Old Dominion and from there removed to Kentucky, localing in Scott county, where he purchased a tract of timber land, and out of the wilderness developed a fine farm. At the time of his settlement on it there were no railroads in Kentucky, and Cincinnati, sixty miles distant, was the nearest market and depot for supplies. Lewis Lancaster was reared to agricultural pursuits. After reaching his majority he bought a tract of partially cleared land near the old home, and at the time of his death, which occurred in September, 1852, had amassed quite a fortune in lands and negroes. His wife, Jane Mallory, was born in Scott county, Kentucky, the daughter of Charles and Mary Mallory, and died in August, 1852, about one month prior to the death of her husband, leaving seven children: Eliza, John, Bettie, Reuben, Thomas, James and Sylvester.
After the death of his parents, the subject of our sketch lived with an uncle, Abram Mallory, one year after that with another uncle, Green Mallory, three years. He then chose as his guardian Aaron Dills, of Harrison county, Kentucky, with whom he lived until September, 1861, when he enlisted as a private in Company B, Sixth Kentucky Cavalry, in the service of the Union. In 1864, he was commissioned Captain of his company, and remained in command until after the close of the war. He participated in the battles of Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, siege of Atlanta and all of the principal engagements of the Army of the Cunberland. After the surrender of Lee, he was detached with his company to capture Jefferson Davis, and was only five miles distant when the rebel chieftain was captured, and saw him taken into Macon, Georgia, a prisoner. Captain Lancaster was honorably discharged with his regiment at Louisville, Kentucky, in September, 1865, and returned to his house in Harrison county, Kentucky. In February, 1866, he came to Cass county, Illinois, and engaged in farming near Ashland, continuing there till Cecember, 1874, when he was appointed Deputy by Sheriff William Epler, and continued as such till December, 1876, the expiration of Mr. Epler's term of office. From that time till February, 1890, he was engaged in the livery business. In 1890, he received the appointment of Postmaster, at Virginia, which position he now holds.
In March, 1880, Captain Lancaster married Miss Sue Heaton, a native of Cass county, Illinois, and a daughter of John and Mary J. Heaton. They have two children, Earl and Iva.
Politically, he has always been a stanch Republican. He is a member of Dawning Post, No. 321, G. A. R., Department of Illinois. Mrs. Lancaster is a member of the Christian Church.
pg. 352-353
Frederick C. Lang, a self-made man and one of the prominent merchants of Virginia, Illinois, belongs to that race of people--the Germans--noted this world over for their energy and thrift. By his own well-directed efforts he has risen to a position of prosperity, and at the same time has won the confidence and respect of all with whom he has had dealings, being now classed with the substantial business men and highly respected citizens of Virginai. It is with pleasure that we present the following facts in regard to his life and ancestry.
Frederick C. Lang was born on the river Tech, village of omden, in the Kingdom of Wurtemburg, Germany, September 7, 1848. His father, Christopher Frederick Lang, was born in the same locality. His grandparents, as far as known, spent their entire lives in Wurtemburg. Christopher F. Lang was reared and educated in his native land and there served an apprenticeship to the trade of a weaver, weaving at that time being chiefly done on the hand loom. He followed that trade in Germany till 1855, in the early part of which year he set sail from Havre de Grace, with his wife and three children, and landed in America in March, after a boyage of nearly three months. He went direct to Indianapolis, where he was employed at various kinds of work. Finally he secured a position as porter in a wholesale drug store, and was thus engaged for a number of years. He resided in Indianapolis until his death, in 1887. The maiden anem of his first wife, mother of Frederick C., was Mary Liebrich. She was also a native of Wurtemburg. She reared three children: Frederick C., George and Mary.
Mr. Lang, being only six years old when he came to America, remembers little of any other save his adopted country. He was educated in the public shcools of Indianapolis, was reared to habits of industry, and at the age of fifteen was apprenticed to Jacob Yoegtle, a tinsmith, of Indianapolis, and served four years. He did "jour" work in Indianapolis one year, after which he went to Jacksonville, Illinois, and was employed in the same kind of work six years. He was very industrious, saved his money, and in 1874 came to Virginia and began busines for himself. He first opened a stock of stoves and tinware, and in 1885 added hardware. He now carries a full line of shelf hardware, stoves, tinware, etc. In connection with his store he also conducts a repair shop, having first-class machinery for doing all kinds of job work, tin roofing and the like.
In 1877 Mr. Lang was united in marriage with Mary Tendick, a native of Jacosonville, Illinois, and a daughter of Deidrich and Sibilla Tendick, natives of Germany. They have four children: George, Clara, Flora and Willie.
Mr. and Mrs. Lang are members of the Presbyterian Church. Politically, he is a Republican.
pg. 340-341
Azariah Lewis, a prosperous and influential farmer of Cass county, Illinois, residing in township 18, range 9 west, was born in Washington county, Kentucky, March 15, 1813, and is a son of William and Elizabeth (Burns) Lewis. The Lewis branch of the family is of Welsh ancestry, while that of Burns descended from German ancestry. The father of our subject participated in the war of 1812, for which he also received a pension and a soldier's warrant, which were continued to his widow. He was born in Virginia, and accompanied his parents to Kentucky at an early day. He continued to reside in the latter State until 1828, and then, with his wife and seven children, started for Illinois, at that time the extreme frontier. They made the journey with a two-wheeled cart, which was drawn by a pair of small oxen, preceded by horses. They were four weeks on the journey, and most of the family came on foot. They were among the very earliest settlers of Illinois, the country being then wild and abounding with game. On their arrival in Morgan (now Cass) county, they had only fifty cents between them: and all who were able went out to work by the day and month--worked on farms, split rails, and did whatever they found to do. The homest, hard-working father was finally enabled to enter forty acres of Government land, in Mason county, where he built a small cabin, in which he resided until his death in 1844, at the age of fifty-five years. His devoted wife survived him many years, dying at the age of seventy-eight years, on the original forty acres which she had assisted in reclaiming from a wilderness. By her careful management she had accumlulated a nice little property. She was the mother of eleven children, of whom, as far as known, five now survive.
The subject of this sketch attended a subscription school for a short time in his youth, but owing to his father's limited means and the scarcity of schools he had but few educational opportunities. He continued to reside at home until his marriage, working on farms in his vicinity by the day and month. After his marriage, he settled on a farm in the eastern part of Cass county, which he rented and worked on shares by the month, where he continued for four or five years. He then bought forty acres of fertile farming land, on which he built a log cabin, 16 x 16 feet, into which he and his family moved. Here he continued to live and industriously improved his farm, for two years. At the end of this time, he sold out again rented land, on which he lived for about five years. He then bought forty more acres of partly improved land, which he continued to work for seven or eight years, when he again sold out and bought 110 acres in the immediate vicinity. On this latter place, he continued to live until 1856, at which time he purchased his present farm. Here he now has 120 acres, which he has carefully cultivated. to mixed farming, besides which he has made a specialty of stock-raising, having now some very fine specimens of cattle. By unremitting industry, able management and careful economy, he has prospered, and is now virtually retired from active business, and is enjoying in comfort the fruits of his early toil.
Mr. Lewis first was married in February, 1832, to Miss Sarah Graham, an intelligent lady, who was an orphan, and a native of Green county, Kentucky. By this marriage, there were seven children, five of whom are yet living: the elder, Elizabeth, is married and has seven children and ten grandchildren; Nancy Jane W. is married and has eleven children and sixteen grandchildren; Mary A. married, has four children and two grandchildren; Caroline, married, has five children and one grandchild; Kilbourn, married, has eight children. The devoted wife and mother died in 1863, aged forty-six years, leaving her family and many friends to mourn her loss.
October 4, 1864, Mr. Lewis was again married, his second wife being Mary E. Clark, an estimable lady, who was born in Marietta, Ohio, August 28, 1823. Her parents were John S. and Mary E. (Pearse) Clark, both natives of Ohio. Grandfather Pearse was a brave soldier in the Revolutionary war, and drew a pension for his services in that struggle. Her father was born in Cincinnati, and was an old sailor and river boatman. In 1826 he brought a boat load of salt to Illinois, landing at Beardstown. Thence he proceeded to Morgan county, where he settled on a farm, on which he continued to live until three years previous to his death. He they sold out and bought property in town, where he resided, retired from business pursuits, until his death, at the age of seventy-three years. He was a very energetic man and was popular among his associates, being widely known throughout this State. His wife died at the same place as her husband, aged sixty-five years. She was an intelligent woman of kindly impulses, and much beloved by those who knew her. They were the parents of fourteen children, of whom, as far as known, three or four now survive. By the second marriage Mr. A. Lewis has one son, Charles, born July 4, 1868, who is now married and has one child.
Whatever success has blessed Mr. Lewis' efforts is entirely due to his own persistence and intelligence, and he richly deserves the properity which he now enjoys.
pg. 292-293
John Listmann, of the firm of Ruppel & Listmann, extensive dealers in boots and shoes, located at 108 State street, Beardstown, Illinois, was born in Frischborn, Kreis Lauterbach, Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, October 26, 1853, and grew up in his native place, and passed a full course in the public schools. In 1867 he and a sister with their parents started from Bremen for America, landing in New York city after a safe trip on the steamship Atlanta. The little family came on and made a settlement at Springfield, Illinois, where an elder son and two daughters had preceeded them. The family settled at the capital for some time and then the parents located near Burlington, Iowa, where they both died, at the age of about sixty-seven and sixty-eight years respectively. The father who was a native of Hesse-Darmstadt and tiller of the soil died in the fall of 1878; and the mother, whose maiden name was Wienold, lived a few months after her husband's death; then she too died, in the early part of the year 1879.
Our subject is the youngest of a large family of whom but four are living. He continued to perfect his education, principally by self-study, and succeeded in attaining the ability to speak and write both the German and English with fluency. He learned the trade of shoemaker and formed a partnership in February, 1879, with Adam Ruppel, also a practical boot and shoemaker by trade, and these two gentlemen have carried on the business successfully ever since. Mr. Listmann had been in the employ of H. Fayart, Springfield, Illinois, and Ruppel Bros. and Adam Rupple, Beardstown, for some time before entering into the partnership above referred to. He is a stockholder in several building and loan associations, and is identified with the growth of the city. He has a host of friends. He is a Republican in politics and is an active member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Fourth Street), and was a delegate to the General Synod of the Lutheran Church, when it held its session at Altoona, Pennsylvania, in 1881. Mr. and Mrs. Listmann take great interest in the social and religious work of their church.
He was married in Beardstown, to Marie Lammers, October 20, 1881. She was born, reared and educated in Beardstown. She was the daughter of Alexander and Henrietta (Christianer) Lammers, natives of Prussia and Hanover, Germany. They are now both deceased Mr. Lammers died in February, 1879, and was eighty years of age.
Mr. and Mrs. Listmann have three children, Cora, Alice and Phoebe.
pg. 374-375
