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 540-541; Transcribed by Margaret Rose Whitehurst
Daniel Catherman. Worthy among the pioneers of this county
stand Daniel Catherman, and early settler of Cass Township, and for
many years actively engaged in developing its agricultural interests,
improving, from the timber openings where he took up a claim a
half-century ago, a good farm. He and his estimable wife are now
living in retirement in their cozy little home, enjoying a comfortable
income from the rental of the homestead, meriting and receiving the
full respect and esteem of the entire community.
Mr. Catherman was born June 16, 1816, in Union, Pa. His
parents were Jacob and Susan (Spechelmier) Catherman, who were likewise
of Pennsylvania birth, and were life-long residents of their native
Sate, he dying in 1832 and she in 1828, when scarcely past life’s
prime. Two of the seven children born to them are now living.
The son of whom we write was by their early death left an orphan
when he most needed the care and wise counsel of a tender mother and
wise father. He was bound out to his uncle to remain with him
until he was eighteen years old, but he left him at sixteen years of
age and lived out on a farm for a few months. After that he bound
himself in apprenticeship to a carpenter, but this guardian objected to
that proceeding, so he left Schuylkill County and was employed by
William Girard to assist in digging coal. Later he worked in a
brickyard one season and then returned home, as he was taken
sick. After his recovery he went to Mercer County, in his native
State, and for one season was employed on a farm. In 1834 he made
his way to Richland County, Ohio, worked there in a brickyard two
summers and one season on a farm. He subsequently hired out to
James Kuykendall, the father of his future wife, to come to Illinois,
and in 1837 came to this State and located in Putman Township, Fulton
County.
Two years later Mr. Catherman was married, and he and his bride
began life together in Putman Township, lived there a year and then
came to Cass Township and made a dwelling for themselves in the timber
openings on section 23, where Mr. Catherman purchased eight acres of
land, on which a furrow has never been turned, and a hard task was
before him to improve it into a cultivated farm. He first built a log
cabin, and then went to work with a will to clear away the trees and
break the sod. He had to use the most primitive methods to
accomplish his work. He had one horse, and he made a wagon
himself, making the wheels of slabs. He subsequently made another
wagon, of which the wheels were split out solid from a walnut
log. The country around his home was very sparsely settled, and
many wild animals were often annoying in their depredations. He
and his wife were desperately poor, as they had begun life
empty-handed, and many were the sacrifices they had to make and the
privations they endures. But they worked with cheerful and never
failing courage until prosperity smiled on their efforts, and now those
hardships are a thing of the past, and their life is one of serenity
and comfort.
In 1842 Mr. Catherman took a load of wheat to Chicago with a
one-horse team, having in his wagon thirty-eight bushels of the grain
and oats enough to feed his horse. He was sixteen days on the
way, and sold his wheat for forty-eight cents a bushel. At one
time he took some wheat to Liverpool market, and exchanged eight bushes
for eight yards of calico to make Mrs. Catherman a dress in which to
appear at church or on festive occasions. For ordinary wear Mrs.
Catherman spun the wool for the clothes of the whole family, and she
also manufactured the flax directly from the plant into cloth of a nice
texture, she being an adept at spinning and weaving. The flax was
raised on a farm, rotted, broken, scotched, and was then ready to spin
and weave.
Our subject’s farm now comprises one hundred and sixty acres of
land, nearly all improved, and under admirable tillage, and supplied
with necessary buildings. He lived upon the farm until 1876 and
then rented it, and moved to his present place, building his neat
little dwelling the same year. While he was living on the
homestead the house was struck by lightning, and Mrs. Catherman was so
affected by the electric current that she was unconscious for a long
time. At one time she broke her ankle by a fall, and still
suffers from the injury. Mr. Catherman has also been unfortunate
in the matter of accidents. Last summer when he was taking a load
of wheat to Cuba, while crossing the track the wagon was struck by a
passenger train and demolished, and he lost his wheat, and his right
hip was seriously hurt that he was obliged to lie in bed three weeks.
Mr. and Mrs. Catherman were united in marriage December 13,
1839. Her maiden name was Abigail Kuykendall, and she is a
daughter of James and Elizabeth (Aten) Kuykendall, who were of
Pennsylvania Dutch stock and were farmers. They died in Illinois,
she dying in 1860, and he from the effects of an injury received on a
railway in 1884, at the venerable age of ninety-six. Of the nine
children born to them six are still living. Mrs. Catherman was
born in Richland County, Ohio, in 1818. Her marriage with our
subject has been blessed to them by the birth of six children:
Elizabeth, now dead; Susan, who married Mr. Henderliter, of Putman
Township, and is the mother of thirteen children; Lyman, deceased;
Margaret, who married Jerome Brown, lives on the home place and has one
child; Ira, deceased; Daniel, a resident of Kansas, who married Ellen
Ball, and is the father of three children.
Mrs. Catherman, a woman of many Christian virtues, has been a
member of the Christian Church. Mr. Catherman has long been one
of our most useful citizens, has faithfully served the township for
years as School Director, an has also been Pathmaster. He has
always been a stanch Democrat, and cast his first Presidential vote for
Martin Van Buren. He and his wife have been quite extensive
travelers in their day, having made several trips to Kansas and one to
Oregon, where they spent eleven months, and had a very enjoyable time.
