This gentleman stands at the head of one of the most prominent families of Stephenson County. He comes of substantial Pennsylvania stock, and was born in Union County, that State, Sept. 25, 1827. His father, Benjamin, and his grandfather, John Kiester, were both natives of the Keystone State, and the latter was one of the earliest settlers of Union County. During his early manhood lie served in the Revolutionary War, and was accounted among the bravest soldiers of the Colonial army. As a pioneer he was fully equal to the exigencies of those trying times, and after performing faithfully the duties of a long and faithful life, departed hence when over seventy-three years of age. He and his estimable wife looked upon the face of Gen. George Washington when they were children, and often referred to this occasion as one of the proudest events of their lives. The paternal grandmother was a woman patterned after the courageous and energetic women of that day, and had her full share of the experiences attendant upon life in a section of country largely peopled by savages, suffering the loss of a brother and sister who were taken captives by the Indians. John Kiester and his wife reared a family of children, among whom was Benjamin, the father of our subject, who grew to manhood under the parental roof, and soon after reaching his majority was united in marriage with a maiden of that region, Miss Elizabeth Reed, daughter of William Reed, a native of Pennsylvania. The latter was a tailor by trade, and when not thus employed engaged in driving a team over the mountains from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. Upon one of these occasions an eclipse of the sun occurred, at which he and many other people were greatly frightened, not understanding the phenomenon. This of course, was before the days of telescopes and signal-service, and no daily papers advised the people of what was going to happen.
After his marriage, Benjamin Kiester and his young wife located on rented land, and the father farmed in this manner for several years. He did not live to be aged, but was cut down in his prime, his death taking place not long after coming to this State. They migrated from their native hills in the spring of 1848, to this county, where their eight children were born. Uriah, of our sketch, in common with his brothers and sisters, assisted in all the labors incident to life in a new country, and when not busy in sowing or reaping, attended for a brief season each year the subscription schools. After the death of his father he became the mainstay of his widowed mother, and they continued on the farm until she was quite well advanced in years. They then sold the property, and Uriah engaged in teaming for two years following.
The next important step in the life of our subject was his marriage, and for nine years thereafter he was the lessee of the Shous farm, upon which he accumulated sufficient to purchase a farm of 110 acres. Upon this there was simply a log cabin, poorly built, through the chinks of which the snow often drifted upon their bed. They endured in common with their brother pioneers innumerable difficulties and hardships, but with them had prepared themselves for the emergency, and were resolved to conquer the obstacles in their path. The valuable and comfortable homestead which was built up from this beginning is a silent but forcible witness of the manner in which they succeeded in their undertaking.
Among the other difficulties with which the early settlers were obliged to contend was the laborious transportation of their farm produce to market by horse or ox teams. When Mr. Kiester began farming, the nearest market was at Galena or Chicago, over a long and dreary road. Dressed pork then sold for two and one-half cents per pound, and thirty or forty cents per bushel was considered a fair price for wheat. It can easily be imagined, therefore, that after the labor exercised in raising the crops and conveying them to market, their profits were very small, indeed. Mr. Kiester remembers the day when the present great city of Chicago was little more than a mudhole with a few unimportant buildings, and no indication whatever of its future importance. In many places planks were thrown down so that peple could pass over the swamp land without being submerged.
The wife of our subject, who shared with him patiently and courageously their early trials, was in her girlhood Miss Mary E. Rockey, and was twenty-two years of age at the time of her marriage. Mr. and Mrs. Kiester became the parents of five children, of whom the record is as follows: William F. is a mason by trade, and employed in the town of Orangeville; John W. resides on a farm, cultivating the land during the summer, while in winter he occupies himself as a teacher in the district schools; Quincy E. is also a teacher; Sarah is married, and lives near the old homestead; Martha Jane remains at home with her parents. The mother of our subject was a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal Church in her native New England, but later identified herself with the Dunkards. The father, although not connected with any church organization, lived honestly and uprightly, while politically he was a member of the old Whig party. Mr. and Mrs. Kiester with three of their children belong to the United Brethren Church.
Contributed by Karen Hammer
Portrait and Biographical Album of Stephenson County, Illinois Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1888 p. 762
