Dick, William Franklin MAGA © 2000-2014
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HISTORY OF CASS COUNTY ILLINOIS - 1915

Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Co.



Page 878

DICK, WILLIAM FRANKLIN, one of the extensive farmers of Cass County, is conveniently located in township 18, range 11, on a farm that belonged to his father and on which he was born January 17, 1865, he being a son of James A. and Mary (Bowen) Dick. The father was born in Kentucky and the mother in Ohio. They were married in Cass County, Ill., and lived for a few years in the eastern part of the county, but about 1844 sold their property and bought the present homestead of 360 acres, all in the Sangamon River bottoms, except 160 acres on the bluff. The mother died in 1896, aged seventy-six years, but the father lived until 1902, when aged seventy-nine years. Their children were: Ellen, born in 1847, who is Mrs. James Main, of Oskaloosa, Kans.; James Martin, born in 1855, who is of Melvin, Kans.; Mary Adeline, born in 1860, who is of Beardstown; William Franklin, and five who died when young. The father was a man of prominence in Cass County and he served as sheriff for two terms, one term prior to the birth of his youngest child, and one after. During his period of service the Armstrong trial took place, and the criminal was kept a prisoner in Sheriff Dick's house instead of in the jail. When William F. Dick was still a child, his parents moved to Jefferson County, Kans., where they spent three years, but returned to their old home.

William F. Dick attended the public schools of Cass County, and took a business course at Jacksonville, Ill. After his marriage in 1888, he leased the homestead for a year, and then built a house on the farm in which he lived until the death of his mother, when he and his wife moved into the old home. When his father died, in Beardstown, Mr. Dick bought out the other heirs, and is now the owner of the property he is conducting. He is a large feeder of cattle, and carries on general farming.

On September 5, 1888, Mr. Dick married Lena Smith, born in Schuyler County, Ill., October 26, 1869, a daughter of A.N. and Jeanette (Rice) Smith, natives of Schuyler County, Ill. Their children are: Lula Jeanette, who is Mrs. N. R. McLane, of Colorado Springs, Colo.; Leah E., who is Mrs. Edwin Smith of Beardstown, Ill., and has one daughter, Frances E., born January 27, 1913; Roy Alfred, who is at home; and one who died in infancy. Mr. Dick is a Democrat. He belongs to Beardstown Lodge No. 1007, B.P.O.E., and Bluff Springs Lodge M.W.A. No. 1492, and is popular in both organizations, as he is highly respected in his community.


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