Untitled Document

WILLIAM H. COSNER.

William H. Cosner, who has lived retired since 1903, was successfully identified with farming interests in Burns township throughout his active business career and has spent his entire life in Henry county.

His birth occurred in Kewanee township on the 5th of January, 1842. His father, Jacob Cosner, who was born in Coshocton county, Ohio, on the 11th of September, 1809, there continued to reside until the year 1838, when he came to this state and took up his abode among the earliest settlers of Henry county, locating in Wethersfield township. At the end of about three years he was married and began the operation of a rented farm in Kewanee township, where his oldest son, William, was born. About 1843, he rented one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 14, Burns township, and was actively engaged in its cultivation until 1851, when he purchased a tract of eighty acres on section 11, Burns township.

Subsequently he bought an adjoining tract of fifty-five acres, thus extending the boundaries of his farm to include one hundred and thirty-five acres, and devoted his attention to its further cultivation and improvement until 1874. In that year, in association with his son William, he purchased a farm of two hundred and forty acres on section 14, Burns township, and continued to reside thereon until he 'passed away on the 3d of January, 1897, when eighty-eight years of age.

He and his son erected an entire set of new buildings, put up fences and made many other substantial improvements. He was widely and favorably known throughout the county in which he made his home for almost six decades, and when he was called to his final rest the community mourned the loss of one of its most respected and worthy pioneer settlers, whose labors had contributed in substantial measure to its agricultural development.

In early manhood he had wedded Miss Sarah Leonard, whose birth occurred in Pennsylvania on the 6th of January, 1820, and who was still but a child when she came to Henry county with her parents, who took up their abode among the pioneer settlers of Burns township and there spent the remainder of their lives. The death of ;Mrs. Sarah Cosner occurred on the 1st of July, 1896. She was the mother of ten children, as follows: William H., of this review; Sylvester R., who passed away in 1845; Abraham S., whose demise occurred in Cornwall township, when he had attained the age of fifty-six years; Benton B., who died in 1849; Sarah S., who was called to her final rest in 1855; Mathew P., who passed away September 12, 1857; Ruea Rosilia, who died September 30, 1858; Cynthia M., who passed away in young womanhood on the 6th of January, 1873; Francis M., whose demise occurred October 20, 1890; and Manda B., the wife of L. E. Wilhelm, of Kewanee.

In the acquirement of an education William H. Cosner attended the dis trict schools of Burns township and when not busy with his text-books assisted his father in the work of the home farm, thus early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculurist. He remained under the parental roof until twenty-two years of age, when he was married and be gan farming for himself on a tract of eighty acres on section 2, Burns township. After residing thereon for eleven years he disposed of the property and removed to his present farm on section 14, Burns township, where he has made his home continuously since.

He erected all new buildings with the exception of the residence, which he remodeled from time to time, put up fences and has also planted an orchard. In 1906 he built the handsome modern dwelling in which he now resides, while the original home is occpuied by one of his sons. About 1903 he retired from active life and has since enjoyed well earned rest, leaving the work of the farm to his sons. He now owns altogether one hundred and seventy-two and a half acres of rich and productive land, and the prosperity which has crowned his labors is but the merited reward of his well directed and untiring industry in former years. He is the vice president of the Henry County Telephone Company.

On the 1st of January, 1864, in Burns township, Mr. Cosner was united in marriage to Miss Adelaide A. Wedge, a daughter of Chester O. and Paulina (EUenwood) Wedge, who were natives of Connecticut and Ohio respectively and traced their ancestry to England. Rev. Abijah Wedge, the paternal grandfather of Mrs. Cosner, was a Methodist clergyman and a soldier of distinguished rank, serving in a Connecticut regiment during the war of 1812. On the 5th of January, 1809, he had wedded Miss Lucinda Halloway, who was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, on the 3Oth of July, 1787. They made their way to Marietta, Ohio, in 1817 and in 1851 came to Illinois, while the year 1855 witnessed their arrival in Henry county. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Cosner were born two sons. William O., a farmer of Burns township, lives just across the road from his father's place. Ceria C, who resides with his father, has operated the home farm since the latter's retirement.

Mr. Cosner exercises his right of franchise in support of the men and measures of the democracy and has always been an active worker in the local ranks of the party. His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth and ability, have called him to various positions of public trust, and he has ever discharged his official duties in a prompt and capable manner. He has been school director for many years, has also acted in the capacity of road commissioner and has held the office of township assessor for two terms, while for eight years he served as justice of the peace and for six years as constable.

He has been a stockholder and a director in the Kewanee Fair Association since its organization. The different members of his family attend the Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal church near Cosner's Corners and are highly esteemed throughout the community as people of genuine personal worth. A man of strong integrity and purpose, Mr. Cosner ranks high in the regard of his fellowmen, not only because of the gratifying degree of prosperity which he has attained but also by reason of excel lent traits of character and his honorable and upright manhood.

Portrait and Biographical Album of Henry County, Illinois

Submitted by the Webmaster

Illinois Ancestors