DANIEL DAWS, whose name many years ago became familiar to the early settlers of this county, after having performed well, his part among the busy scenes of life in a new section of country, and meeting with deserved success, is now retired from active labor, and is spending his declining years in Lena amid the surroundings of a tasteful and comfortable home. His early life was spent on the other side of the Atlantic, in Sussex County, England, where he was born June 20, 1824, on the farm of his parents, William and Mary (Davis) Daws, of whom a sketch will be found in the biography of Thomas Daws on another page of this work.

Our subject was early made acquainted with the duties and responsibilities of life, commencing to work for wages when a lad twelve years of age. He at first received but sixpence per day, which amount was increased as he grew older, and his services became more valuable. He finally received eighteen-pence, but from this was obliged to board himself. He labored thus until a youth of seventeen, when his father wisely decided to change his location, and made his preparations to emigrate to the New World. They took passage on a sailing-vessel, and after reaching American shores, proceeded to Jefferson County, N. Y., where our subject worked for $8 per month until 1847. In the fall of that year he came to this State, where his parents were already located, but a short time afterward went up into Wisconsin. A year later he returned to New York and purchased a small farm near Cape Vincent, in the vicinity of his former haunts, which he retained until 1860. Then selling out, he rejoined his father in Stephenson County, and worked the farm of the latter on shares. He finally purchased the old homestead, having been married in the meantime, and occupied it with his family until 1883, then, leaving his son in charge, he retired to Lena, where he has since lived in the enjoyment of a competency.

Mr. Daws was first married in the spring of 1847, to Miss Almeda Smith, a native of Theresa, N. Y. This lady became the mother of eight children, and departed this life in February, 1869. The eldest son, William H., is in charge of the home farm; James D. is following agriculture in Winslow Township; Jane is the wife of Howard Wales, engaged in shoemaking in Lena; Byron lives in Iowa; George died when eight years of age; Mary married Reuben Weeks, and with her husband lives on a farm in West Point Township; Lottie C. is the wife of Herbert Gishwiller, of West Point; Emma, the youngest, remains at home.

The present wife of our subject, to whom he was married in 1870, was formerly Miss Lizzie Lanterman, who was born in Blairstown, N. J., and is the daughter of John and Margaret (Snover) Lanterman, natives respectively of Warren and Sussex Counties, N. J. Mr. L. followed farming in his native State his entire life, and died there in January 1867, when nearly eighty-four years of age. The mother died in February, 1877, aged eighty-five. The parents were married Feb. 4, 1813, and had a family of nine children, of who two daughters and six sons grew to mature years, and were all married and settled in comfortable homes before the death of the mother. With the exception of Mrs. Daws, they are all residents of New Jersey. The eldest son died in Kansas when sixty-four years of age.

The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Daws, George Snover by name, was a native of Warren County, N. J., and the son of Frederick Snover, who was among the earliest settlers of that State. The maternal grandmother of Mrs. D. was Catherine, the daughter of John and Rachel Diltz, who lived to be ninety-nine and ninety-eight years of age, respectively. On the other side of the house Jacob Lanterman, the paternal grandfather, also a native of New Jersey, spent the last years of his life in Warren County. His father was born in Germany, and left the Fatherland when a young man. Upon the voyage hither, he made the acquaintance of his future wife, and they were subsequently married in New Jersey.

Mr. Daws spent the year 1856 on Grenadier Island at the foot of Lake Ontario, where he worked a farm on shares. After coming to this county, he made a specialty of full-blooded Poland-China hogs, being one of the first men to introduce that breed of swine into this section. The home of our subject and his wife in Lena, is pleasantly located, and was purchased by Mrs. Daws in 1880. She is a lady of rare intelligence and business talents, and has proved in all respects the wise counselor and true helpmeet of her husband. Too much credit cannot be given to the pioneer wives and mothers who contributed in no small degree to the building up of the country in the early days, and have left a record of which their descendants may justly be proud.

Contributed by Carol Parrish - Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Ill. (1888)