The history of Utica township would be incomplete should the name which
begins this article be omitted, since for more than thirty years he has been
actively engaged in agricultural pursuits here, and has been foremost in all
movements tending toward the general prosperity of this locality.
The father of our subject was William Bennett, who was born in Kent,
Litchfield county, Connecticut, in 1809, a son of Stephen and Diana Bennett.
The former also was a native of Litchfield county, and was of Scotch-English
extraction. William Bennett chose for a wife Sarah, a daughter of Hiram
Bronson. She was born in the same county, in the village of Warren, in 1813,
and lived to the advanced age of eighty-six years, her death taking place in
1899.
In 1852 William Bennett came with his family to LaSalle county and made a
settlement in Deer Park township, upon a farm of eighty acres which he had
purchased the preceding year. Later he bought one hundred and forty acres in
Farm Ridge township. He was accounted one of the most progressive and
prosperous farmers of Deer Park township, where he continued his residence
till he died. His sterling qualities of heart and mind won for him the
admiration and good will of his neighbors, and his death, March 22, 1868,
was deeply mourned in the community and felt to be a public loss. His widow
survived him more than thirty years, as previously stated, and she continued
to dwell upon the old homestead up to thirteen years previous to her death,
during which latter period she lived with her daughter in Normal, Illinois.
Ten children were born to this worthy couple. Those besides our subject
were: Diana C., who married the Rev. A. S. Calkins, of Normal; Isaac H., of
Deer Park; George A., of Utica; Henry F., a farmer of Deer Park township;
Charles F., a resident of California; Edgar, of Mendota, Illinois; Edwin, of
Iowa; Nelson G., of Livingston county, this state; and Emma, who died aged
four years.
The birth of George A. Bennett occurred in the town where his father and
grandfather before him had been born. The date of this event was May 25,
1837, and in his native town the lad acquired his elementary education. In
1852 he accompanied the family to this county, and until he arrived at his
majority he continued to dwell at his parental home. After coming here he
attended a district school at Bunker Hill for a period, and by private study
and reading has kept abreast of the times. In his early manhood he was very
industrious, methodical and economical, and thus made his first steps toward
an independent fortune. In 1868 he bought one hundred and twenty-eight acres
of land on section 4, Utica township, and later he purchased forty acres
more, thus making his homestead a full quarter section in extent. During the
years which have since rolled away he has made substantial improvements, and
now is the possessor of a model farm, with excellent buildings and
conveniences in keeping with the progressive spirit of the age.
In 1861 Mr. Bennett married Miss Semantha E. Shaver, of Rutland township,
LaSalle county. She is a daughter of Ephraim and Mary Ellen (Mortin) Shaver.
Ephraim Shaver was born in Rockingham county, Virginia, in 1812, and was a
son of George and Hannah (Sites) Shaver, of German extraction. When a young
man he went from his native state to Indiana, where he was married. In
January, 1839, he came to LaSalle county and settled in Rutland township,
where he died in 1888. His wife was a daughter of William and Mary (West)
Mortin. She died in 1896, aged seventy-six years. Ephraim Shaver and wife
had the following children: Semantha E., George W., Mary L., Margert H.,
Sybella N., Isadore E., Delsena V., Levi Peter and Emily G. Mrs. Bennett was
born in Rutland, Illinois, in 1839, and prior to her marriage she was
successfully engaged in teaching school for about nine years. Emma L., the
only daughter of our subject and wife, is the wife of George Sargent, of
Deer Park, and their three children are Wilbur Henry, Jetta Naomi and King
George. Dee A., the only son of Mr. Bennett, married Nancy Aiken and is an
enterprising farmer.
In his political creed Mr. Bennett is a stanch Democrat, and fraternity he
is a member of Waltham Lodge, No. 384, F. & A. M. For eight years he was the
president of the Home Mutual Insurance Company, of which organization he was
a charter member.
Extracted 17 Jul 2017 by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois, published in 1900, volume 2, pages 492-494.
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