BENJAMIN
BEDELL, living on section 1, Old
Town Township,
and a gentleman who has followed agricultural pursuits thus far in life, is a
son of William and Hannah (Bradbury) Bedell. The father was born on Long
Island, and the mother in England.
They were married in this country, and settled in Greene
County, N. Y., where the father followed the vocation of a farmer,
and where both heads of the family continued to reside until their death. Seven
children were born of this union, named William, Hannah, Phebe, Abram,
Benjamin, Ellen and Elizabeth.
Benjamin
Bedell was born in Greene County, N. Y., April 12, 1820. He was
reared to farm labor on his father's farm, and when twelve years of age his
parents removed to Athens, on the Hudson, and there our
subject continued to reside until 1848. He then settled on a farm in the neighborhood
of Athens, and for nine years was employed in
its cultivation and improvement, when he sold it and moved to Oneida County, N. Y. There he
purchased another farm, and continued his labors until the fall of 1866.
Disposing
of this place with the hope of bettering his financial condition in a country
farther west, he came to this county, locating in Old Town Township, where he remained for one
year. He then purchased a farm in Blue
Mound Township,
where he lived and industriously labored until 1871.
During
that year he bought a place in Old
Town Township,
moving upon it in the spring of that year, and has made it his home until the
present time. His farm consists of seventy-one and a half acres, is well
stocked, and has good buildings upon it.
The
marriage of our subject with Miss Mary A. Cook was solemnized in Albany County, N. Y., Dec. 14,
1848. She is the daughter of Charles H. and Sarah (Armstrong) Cook, natives of New York. Her parents
settled in Albany
County after their union,
and there the father engaged in farming and wagon-making, carrying on quite an
extensive business in both branches of his occupation. He died in the city of Albany, N. Y., and she in
the same county.
The
issue of their union was four children—Ransom, John W., Alexander and Mary A.
Mary A., the youngest of the family, was born in Albany County, N. Y., Jan. 26,
1826. She lived at home until her marriage with our subject, and by that union
nine children have been born, the record of whom is as follows: Elizabeth is
the wife of Justine Pierson, and they are living at Bennet, Neb.; Charles H.
died when seven years old; William departed this life when two years of age,
and Edward died in infancy; Alice is the wife of Samuel Cole and they are
living in Old Town Township; Adelaide died in the latter-named township in
1883, when twenty-three years old; Clara is the wife of William N. Cole, a
farmer of Old Town Township; Hannah and Sarah both died in infancy.
Mr. B.
has held some of the minor offices of his township. He and his wife belong to
the sect known as Friends [ed., The Religious
Society of Friends], and in politics our subject is an earnest and faithful
supporter of the principles of the Prohibition party,
but prior to its birth was a stanch Republican.
Portrait and biographical album of McLean
County, Ill. : containing full
page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative
citizens of the county, together with portraits and biographies of all the
governors of Illinois, and of the presidents
of the United States. (Chicago:
Chapman Brothers, 1887), 358. Transcribed
and annotated by Judy Rosella Edwards.
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