McDonough ILGenWeb

WHITTLESEY, Simeon, a stationary engineer, of Macomb, McDonough County, Ill., was born in Kenyon, N. H., May 14, 1845, a son of John R. and Ann (Whittier) Whittlesey, natives of New Hampshire, the former also born at Kenyon. John R. Whittlesey came with his family to Canton, Ill., at an early period, journeying by water. He was engaged in farming near Canton for eight years. Subsequently he located in the vicinity of Walnut Grove, Ill., where he bought eighty acres of land in Section 16, Walnut Grove Township, on which he continued farming.

Simeon Whittlesey is the fifth of a family of eight children, six of whom were boys. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-five years old, when he went to work at boiler making in Bushnell, Ill. He was afterward employed as engineer in a brick yard. He has worked in Bushnell and in its vicinity since 1864, except during a period of four years spent as an engineer in Iowa. His eldest brother, Duran, was fireman on the first coal-burning locomotive that was run through Macomb on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway. He first came to Macomb as engineer for the old Eagle Pottery Works, in which he was employed five years. On May 10, 1896, he went to work for the Macomb Pottery Company, where he is still engaged. His brother, Duran, is running a flouring mill in Canton, Ill., and Rush W., the brother next in age, who was a farmer in Creston, Iowa, died in 1880. The third brother, William A., was formerly Superintendent of the Bushnell Water Works. His eldest sister died in California in March, 1903. The sister next in age lives in Beatrice, Neb. His youngest brother, Alfred, who was an engineer in Bushnell, Ill., died June 22, 1891.

On December 6, 1878, Mr. Whittlesey was married to Mary A. Young, who was born and schooled in Walnut Grove Township. Two children, Osie May (Mrs. Ray Brooking) and Margaret A., resulted from this union. Mr. Whittlesey is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, politically, a Republican, and fraternally, belongs to the I. O. O. F.

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Source: The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of McDonough County, compiled by Dr. Newton Bateman, and Paul Shelby, 1907, volume 2, page 1044, extracted 26 Oct 2020 by Norma Hass.