There is no one among the pioneers of this county more deserving of honorable mention than Major Stephen Jeffers, Supervisor of Hanover Township. After many years of arduous labor, he is now living amid the comforts of a pleasant home in Hanover Village, to which he retired from his farm in 1885.** He has been one of those permitted to watch the growth of this county from it's primitive state, and has always maintained a deep and abiding interest in it's prosperity. Major Jeffers was born in Broome County, New York, Sept. 20, 1820 and is the son of Stephen and Cynthia (Coborn) Jeffers, the father a native of New Hampshire and the mother of New York State. The paternal ancestry originated in Scotland, and the first representatives in America crossed the Atlantic prior to the Revolutionary War. Grandfather John Jeffers did a good service in the struggle on behalf of the Colonists. His maternal ancestors are said to have been English, and came to America sometime during the last century.
To Stephen and Cynthia Jeffers, there were born nine children, of who six survive, namely: Stephen Jr., our subject; Charles, a resident of Mount Carroll, Ill; Clarissa, the wife of Henry Chapin, of Galena; Ellen (Mrs. Brown) a widow and living in Whiteside Co.; Sarah (Mrs. Linneus) Robinson), also of that county; and Alvah of Saline Co., Nebraska.
Our subject spent his boy-hood days in his native state, and received his education in the public schools; which were conducted under a system far less perfect than that of the present day. He would pass, however, for a well educated man, as he has improved his opportunities for reading, and kept himself posted upon matters of general interest. Before reaching the seventeenth year of his age, he came to Illinois, in the Spring of 1837, and sojourned in Whiteside County until the Fall of 1839; then coming to this county, he took up his abode in Hanover Township,and for several years thereafter was employed as farm-laborer, by the month. In the meantime, young Jeffers had saved what he could of his earnings, nnd in 1842, purchased 200 acres of land in the vicinity of Hanover, which was then called Wapello. He was married February 14, 1844, and settled upon his land in 1845. The maiden of his choice was Miss Julia Maxwell, who was born at Delhi, Delaware Co., New York on February 22, 1820. She came with Major Jeffers and others to Whiteside County in March 1837; and later returning to her childhood home, was followed by our subject, where they were married. Of this congnial union there were born five children; George, Perry, Albert, Willard, and Ellen. The latter died when eighteen months old.
Mrs. Julia (Maxwell) Jeffers departed this life at her home in Hanover Township, March 10, 1889. She was a lady possessing all the Christian virtues, her life being one of ambition and activity, and fully consurated to her home, which was a most hospitable one. She was greatly beloved by her family and friends, and was endowed with more than ordinary intelligence. During the absence of her husband and her son in the Army, she successfully managed the farm; and hastened to care for her husband when he was dangerously ill in the service. A large concourse of friends attended the funeral services rendering the last sad tribute of respect to one who had ever departed herself as a Christian wife and mother; taking the Bible as her rule of conduct,and resting her hopes of the future upon it's promises.
The uncultivated tract of land upon which Major Jeffers and his young wife settled after their marriage, now lies, upon the outskirts of Hanover Village, of which there was than barely a suspicion. But, a small portion of the farm had been brought to a state of cultivation. It was mostly prairie land, and lay dust as the Indians had left it. In the construction of the present homestead, there has been expended a large amount of labor and no small amount of money. About one-half of the Village of Hanover has been plotted from the original purchase, and the disposal of it in this manner has yielded profitable returns to the proprietor.
During the progress of the Civil War, our subject on the 6th of September, 1862, enlisted as a Union soldier in Company f, 96th Illinois Infantry, which became a part of the Army of the Cumberland. He participated in many of the important battles which followed, and made for himself the record of brave and faithful defender of his country. Upon the organization of the regiment, he was elected Quartermaster, serving as such until April 1864; when he was made Commissary of Subsistence, and ranked as Captain of that department. A few months later, he was brevetted Major, and as such received his honorable discharge on December 20, 1865.
Major Jeffers, a number of years prior to this engaged in general merchandising at Hanover, and resumed it after his return from the Army. He is owner of about 1,300 acres of land, and in connection with his farming operations, carries on stock raising quite extensively; keeping graded cattle and horses. He has likewise been largely interested in brickmaking, prosecuting this industry in this county for a period of forty years, and putting out brick of a superior quality; mostly for home consumption. He may be most properly classed among the self-made men of Northern Illinois, who have arisen to a good position socially and financially; through their own industry and perservence. Major Jeffers has been the incumbent of Office of Supervisor a number of terms which indicated the manner in which he has discharged his duties. He voted for William H. Harrison in 1840 and with equal enthusiasm for the grandson of "Old Tippecanoe" on November 1888. His politics may thus be guessed. He has officiated as Assessor and Collector of Hanover Township, and also as Justice of Peace, a number of years. He was likewise for a time, Postmaster. Socially, he belongs to the Masonic fraternity, being a member of Galena Lodge. The enterprises calculated to advance the interests of the village, township, and county, have received his uniform support. Thus, he is recognized as a man useful in his community and one whose name will be remembered after he has departed hence.
Contributed by Barbara Draper Starkey - from the History of Jo Daviess County
