History of Fulton County, Illinois; together with
Sketches of its Cities, Villages and Townships, Educational, Religious,
Civil, Military, and Political History; Portraits of Prominent Persons
and Biographies of Representative Citizens. Chas. C. Chapman & Co.,
Peoria, Illinois, 1879, page 942, Woodland Township
Wm. Aten, farmer, sec. 7; P. O., Astoria; was born in Hancock
Co., Va., Oct. 8, 1821; married Elizabeth Pittinger, a daughter of John
Pittinger, who settled in Va. in pioneer times; in 1844 he came from he
came from Va. to Illinois, settling in Vermont tp., where he entered a
tract of land; disposing of this in 1848; he settled in Woodland tp.,
where he purchased his present farm of 160 acres, on which he has
erected a substantial brick residence. Of their 10 children 8 are
living, - Melissa, Sarah C., Emma A. (school-teacher), John P., Willie
K., Henry M., Ida M., and Mary E.
Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County,
Illinois: containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of
prominent and representative citizens of the county: together with
portraits and biographies of all the presidents of the United States,
and governors of the state; Biographical Pub. Co., Chicago, IL; 1890;
page 276–277; Transcribed by Margaret Rose Whitehurst
William Aten was a pioneer of this county, and is one of the
most highly esteemed residents of Woodland Township, with whose
agricultural growth he has been closely connected for more than forty
years. In the meantime he has developed a choice farm, pleasantly
located on section 7, from the wilderness that he found when he came
here, and has placed it under substantial improvement.
Our subject was born in that section of West Virginia known as
the Pan Handle, October 8, 1821. His father, William Aten, was a
native of New Jersey, while his grandfather, Aaron Aten, is supposed to
have been a native of Delaware. Richard Aten, the
great-grandfather of our subject, was probably a native of Long
Island. The first representative of the Aten family to come to
America came from Belgium, and landed on these shores in 1741.
The great-grandfather of our subject ran a ferry on the Delaware River,
and lived to be quite an old man. Aaron Aten served in the
Revolutionary War six months, and took part in the battles of
Brandywine and Germantown. He was once wounded in the leg.
He farmed in Delaware until 1792, and then moved to Western
Pennsylvania, and settled at the point where Beaver, Washington and
Allegheny Counties come together. He made the trip over the
mountains with a team and wagon, and was one of the very first settlers
in that part of the State. He erected a long cabin and cleared a
farm, on which he spent the remnant of his life, dying at the age of
eighty-two years. He was a very religious man, and was first a
member of the Dutch Reformed Church and later of the Presbyterian.
The father of our subject passed his early life on a farm in
Pennsylvania, and after marriage moved across the line into West
Virginia. He bought two hundred acres of land there, and cleared
half of it. He was a man of preserving industry, and by thrift
and economy became quite well-to-do. He was a faithful member of
the Presbyterian Church. His death occurred on his homestead in
West Virginia at the age of eighty-four years. Jane (Anderson)
Aten, his wife, was, so far as known, a native of Virginia. She
was a king motherly woman, and a member of the Seceders’ Church.
She died at the age of fifty-two years. Seven of the eight
children whom she bore grew to maturity: Aaron H., John C.,
Richard, Robert, William, Mary (Mrs. McClurg) and Nancy. William
Anderson, the maternal grandfather of our subject, was a native of
Ireland, and when a young man came to this country and settled in
Pennsylvania, where he engaged in his occupation as a farmer. He
was a member of the Seceders’ Church. He died in Pennsylvania,
just as he had attained the meridian of life.
William Aten, of this sketch, was reared on hi father’s farm in
Hancock County, Va., and attended the pioneer schools of the period,
taught in log schoolhouses, with slab benches, open fireplaces and
greased paper windows. When a young man he served two years at
the tailor’s bench, and so injured his health that he made a trip South
to recuperate. He spent two years in that region, and then
returned Northward. At the age of twenty-one he began life for
himself, and after that spent one year on the old home place, and then
came Westward. He landed in this county in the month of March,
1844, and entered three forty-acre tracts, walking to Quincy, Ill., a
distance of ninety miles, to make the entry at the land-office.
Two of these forty-acre tracts were in Vermont Township, and one in
Astoria. He erected a hewed log house on his land in the former
place, and cleared several acres of his homestead. Four years he
sold out, and bought the one hundred and sixty acres on section 7, in
Woodland Township on which he now resides. A log cabin, a log
barn, and a few acres cleared, constituted all the improvements, and
all else that has been done to make it what it is to-day, one of the
neatest and most attractive farms in the locality, is the work of his
own hand. He lived in the old log cabin four years, and then
replaced it by another more commodious, in which he dwelt until 1873,
when he erected his present substantial, roomy brick residence.
He has been an indefatigable worker, and has prospered
abundantly. He was always kept a book account of his sales of
produce, stock, etc., and in the forty years he has lived on this place
has sold over $40,000 worth of produce.
May 14, 1846, was the date of the marriage of our subject, with
Elizabeth Pittenger, who was born in Virginia in 1824. They have
had en children, namely: Melissa J., Sarah C., Elizabeth, Emma,
John P., William N., Frank, Henry M., Ida M. and Mary E. Mr. Aten
and his wife have been connected with the Presbyterian Church since
1841, and he has been an Elder since 1854. The sincerity of their
Christian faith is exemplified in their daily lives, which are guided
by the highest principles of right. Politically, Mr. Aten was
reared a Democrat, and was a follower of that party until 1860.
He then changed to Republicanism on account of his hatred of slavery,
and remained with the Republican party until six years ago, when he
identified himself with the Prohibitionists. He is a thoroughly
upright, moral man, and is zealous in all good works to promote the
religious and social welfare of his township. Mr. Aten has a wife
acquaintance on account of his many years residence in this county, and
occupies a warm place in the harts of the entire community, by whom he
is affectionately known as “Uncle Billy.”
