Bogue, Robert bio

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 908, Vermont Township
Robert Bogue, miller, was born in Harrison Co., O., in 1826; he was 3 years of age when his parents emigrated with him to this county. He worked in the saw-mill with his father and went to school in the winter. His teachers were James Spicer (the first in the tp.) and J. Frisbie. When of age he bought an interest in a saw-mill at Browning, which was subsequently destroyed by fire. He also assisted in the building of a grist-mill at Browning, and did a fine business from 1849 to 1868, in partnership with his cousin, John Bogue. Their flour had a great reputation, finding its way to remote parts of the Union; but in the manufacturing of wagon material they did not do so well. In 1874 he oversaw the construction of a bridge 65 feet high and 1,000 feet long over the Vermillion river at Danville, - one of the best bridges in the State. He then rented the grist-mill at Browning a year, and then returned to Vermont and took charge of the mill owned by Jesse Bouge. In 1858 he married Mary A. Marshall. Mrs. Bogue died in October, 1864; and in 1866 he married Martha J. Ramsay, daughter of Wm. Dunlap, and they have had two children, Sarah and Mary.

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 592–593; Transcribed by Margaret Rose Whitehurst
Robert Bogue, who operates the Harper & Marshall mill, is a son of one of the early pioneers of this county. He is a well-known and respected resident of Vermont, where he has made his home for several years. He was born November 3, 1826, near Freeport, Harrison County, Ohio.
Job Bogue was a native of North Carolina, where he was born January 5, 1785. He was a son of Robert Bogue, who was born in 1705, it is thought, in Wales. He was a farmer by occupation. He was three times married, and the father of our subject was a son by the third marriage, and he was the youngest child of the family, his father being eighty years old when he was born. The latter died in 1788. He was a member of the Society of Friends.
The father of our subject left his parental home when he was very young and went to live with Burden Stanton, a Quaker, who resided in Jones County, N. C. He remained with him until 1800, when he was fifteen years old, and he then started out in the world for himself, and made his way to that port of the Northwestern Territory now known as Harrison County, Ohio, of which he was one of the earliest settlers. He learned the trade of a shoemaker, which he followed for a time, and the engaged in farming. In the all of 1829 he started with a five-horse team, taking with him his wife and eight children, and his sister and her three children, and his household goods. He left Ohio, and started further westward. When he arrived at the Black Swamp, in Indiana, he became stuck, and so passed the winter there. He was very industrious, and after he was settled he engaged in teaming, gathering corn, etc., and made money by whatever means he could.
In the month of April, 1830, he again started on his westward journey and drove to Fulton County, arriving at Lewistown May 3. At that time the place was but a small hamlet, and was nearly all of log houses. He remained with friends a few days, and on May 7 settled on Ipava prairie, of which he was the earliest pioneer. He entered one hundred and sixty acres of prairie land from the Government and went to Lewistown to get assistance to raise the log house which he had erected there. At that time Indians still lingered here, and deer, wild turkeys and all kinds of game were plentiful. The Indians were frequent callers and were always hungry. The first one who called at Mr. Bogue’s log dwelling was alone, and had with him two deer, which he wanted to trade for salt, and would give him his deer for a quart of that article. Mr. Bogue, with characteristic hospitality, asked him in to supper, of which he ate heartily, and watching his opportunity would occasionally slip a slice of bread under his blanket. No railways or canals were built in this part of the country for several years after Mr. Bogue settled here, and when river traffic began the towns on the river banks were the markets.
The father of our subject broke quite a tract of land and planted an orchard, and continued to live on his first purchase until 1835, when he sold out and bought a tract of timber land in Vermont Township. It had no improvements, and was a very lonely and secluded spot, as there was not a house where Vermont now stands. He built a substantial two-story hewed log house and later a frame addition. He cleared quite a tract of land, and made his home thereon until the death of his wife, when he went to reside with his daughter, Mrs. Edith A. Marshall. He died in 1876 in his ninety-second year. He had lived to see the country develop from a wilderness to a well-settled and wealthy county, and did his share in promoting its growth, and his name will ever be cherished among its pioneers.
The maiden name of the mother of our subject was Mary A. Easley. She was born in Virginia, and was a daughter of Daniel Easley. Her death occurred on the old homestead in 1870. She reared the following eleven children: Sarah, Elizabeth, Daniel, Edith A., Jonathan, Joel H., Robert, Phoebe, Jesse, Stephen and Rhoda.
Robert Bogue, of whom we write, was but three years old when he came to this county with his parents. He has grown up with the county and remembers well the incidents of their crude life among the pioneers. He attended the pioneer schools of the county, including the first one ever taught in Vermont. The term of that school commenced in December, 1836, and was taught in a hewed log house of which the furniture was home-made. The finest bench in the establishment was made of a hewed log, which was wider than the rest. The remained of the benches were made of split poles. There were not desks in front of the seats, but in the place thereof was a plank on either side of the room, that was placed on wooden pins which were inserted into holes in the wall, which served as writing desks. As soon as large enough, Mr. Bogue began to assist in clearing land and in tilling the soil, and resided with his parents thus occupied until 1849. In that year he went to Browning’s Landing, Schuyler County, and engaged in a sawmill, and resided there until 1865. He then returned to the home farm, and carried on agriculture one year. We next hear of him in Bernadotte, where he operated a mill three months. At the expiration of that time he came to Vermont and with A. B. Kirkbride, established a spoke factory and was actively engaged in the manufacture of spokes until 1874. For the last fifteen years, with the exception of 1883, which he spent in Oregon, he has operated the Harper & Marshall mills. The first eight years he managed it in the interest of his brother Jesse, who then owned it.
Mr. Bogue has been twice married. His first marriage, in 1858, was to Mary A. Marshall. She was born in Pleasant Township, this county, and was a daughter of Joseph and Sarah Marshall. Her death occurred in October, 1864, while yet in life’s prime. The second marriage of our subject, in the month of January, 1866, was to Mrs. Martha (Dunlap) Ramsey. By his first wife Mr. Bogue had one child – Fred, who resides near Gardner, Johnson County, Kan., and by his second marriage, two children – Sarah and Mary. Mrs. Bogue is a member of the Free Methodist Church.