The Ketchum family has been well known in Macoupin and adjacent counties
for many years, and Lawrence C. Ketchum, a representative of the fourth
generation of the family in Illinois, can claim a line of ancestry of which
any true American might well be proud. He was born in Chesterfield township
February 11, 1869, a son of Leonard and Jane (Hayward) Ketchum. On the
paternal side the ancestry has been traced to Ira and Rebecca (Palmer)
Ketchum, of Vermont, whose son, Ira Ketchum, was born about 1816. The son
Ira cable to Jersey county, Illinois, about 1832 with his mother and her
brother William. He lived with his uncle, William Palmer, until 1837, when
he settled on eighty acres of land preempted by the latter in Macoupin
county. Later he purchased land and became the owner of a farm of one
hundred and sixty acres, which is still in possession of the family. He
married Phoebe Fitzgerald, who was born in New Jersey about 1816 and came
with her parents to Illinois. He died on the old homestead May 5, 1853. In
the family of Mr. and Mrs. Ketchum were eleven children, nine of whom grew
to maturity, namely: Alfred, who is now living near Pasadena, California;
Daniel, who served in Company F, Thirty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry,
and now makes his home near Pattonsburg, Daviess county, Missouri; Leonard,
the father of our subject; David, who was a member of Company F,
Thirty-second Illinois Volunteers, and died from the effects of wounds
received at the battle of Shiloh; Edmund H., who participated in the Civil
war as a member of the One Hundred and Twenty-second Illinois Volunteer
Infantry and is also deceased; Franklin, who lives near Jerseyville,
Illinois; Rebecca, the wife of James Chase, of Medora; Charles, a resident
of Alton; and Ira, of Macoupin county. After the death of her first husband
Mrs. Ketchum was married to Henry Cooper, and they have one son, Eli, who is
now living at Pasadena, California.
Leonard Ketchum stayed at home
with his parents until seventeen years of age and then began working for
neighboring farmers by the month. In response to President Lincoln’s second
call for soldiers to put down the Rebellion, he enlisted in October, 1861,
in Company F, Twelfth Illinois Cavalry, and was sent with his regiment to
the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. He was present at the battle of Sharpsburg
and was captured at the surrender of Harper’s Ferry, being held under parole
for about six months. After being exchanged he rejoined his regiment and
participated in a number of battles, including that of Gettysburg. The
period of his enlistment expired in October, 1863, and he reenlisted in the
same company and regiment, being retained in service in the southwest until
1866. He received his honorable discharge at Springfield, Illinois, and
returned to Macoupin county, where he has ever since engaged in agriculture
and stock-raising. He owns the old family homestead upon which he has made
many improvements and has given it the name of the Corn Land Farm. He
devotes special attention to raising Poland China hogs and fine horses.
On the 14th of December, 1863, Mr. Ketchum was married to Miss Jane
Hayward, a daughter of Cyrus Tolman and Elizabeth Maria (Olmstead) Hayward.
The first members of this family to arrive in America were Thomas and
Susanna Hayward, who came from Kent county, England, in the ship Hercules,
in 1635, and landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts. Cyrus Tolman Hayward, father
of Mrs. Ketchum, was born in Massachusetts June 4, 1819. In 1838 he came
with his parents to Macoupin county, Illinois, and was for many years
identified with agricultural interests. On the 25th of December, 1840, he
was married to Miss Elizabeth Maria Olmstead and they had eight children:
Cyrus W., of Parsons, Kansas; Caroline Matilda, who married Frank Silsby;
Jane, who became the wife of Leonard Ketchum; William Oscar, of Parsons,
Kansas; Lucinda Cornelia, who married Melvin Loper, of Chesterfield
township, and is now deceased; Eva Josephine, who married Emmons Loper, of
Chesterfield township, and is also deceased; Eldon O., who died at the age
of three years; and Eldon Augustus, who died in infancy. The mother of these
children passed away July 8, 1856, and on the 21st of September, 1859, Mr.
Hayward was married to Mrs. Mary Ann Johnson. To this union five children
were born: Lillian O., of Medora; Herbert M., of Chesterfield township; Mary
E., the wife of William Simpson, of Marion, Indiana; Horace L., of Chicago,
Illinois; and Ida R., who died in infancy. Mrs. Hayward died on the 22d of
August, 1898, and Mr. Hayward followed her on the nth of June, 1904. The
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Ketchum were: Louis E., who is engaged in the
real-estate business at Stuttgart, Arkansas, and has three children;
Lawrence C., of this review; Eveline, the wife of A. L. Carter, of Medora,
and the mother of one son; Nellie May, who married Edward Barnes, of Jersey
county; Elizabeth, who is the wife of Cary Haynes, of Chesterfield township,
and has two daughters; James Wastler, who lives upon the home place and is
the father of one son; and Jane S., the wife of John Shields, of
Jerseyville.
Lawrence C. Ketchum possessed good advantages of
education in the public schools, and under his father became thoroughly
acquainted with the details of agriculture and stock-raising. At the age of
twenty-six he rented one hundred acres of land on his own account and later
cultivated two hundred and twenty acres in Shipman township. In 1902 he
purchased one hundred and twenty acres on section 4 of Shipman township,
where he established his homestead. He has greatly improved the place by
remodeling the family residence and erecting other buildings, and has
brought the land to a high state of cultivation. He has also set out an
orchard and provided his farm with up-to-date appliances to facilitate work
at all seasons of the year. He is a stock-raiser and feeder, and makes a
specialty of breeding coach horses, thoroughbred Cotswold sheep and Poland
China hogs.
On March 6, 1895, Mr. Ketchum was married to Miss
Adelaide A. Duckels, a daughter of John H. Duckels, of Chesterfield
township, record of whom appears elsewhere in this work. To this union four
children have been born, Edna, Ruby, Hazel and Lucile, all of whom are at
home. Politically, Mr. Ketchum is in thorough sympathy with the republican
party. He has all his life been closely identified with agricultural
interests and possessed advantages of training which assisted him very
materially in the attainment of the position he now occupies. He has made
use of modern methods and is a type of the intelligent and progressive men
who become the leaders in any community where they are to be found. The
prosperity he enjoys is the direct result of his wisely applied energy. He
is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and also holds membership in
the Baptist church.
Extracted 18 May 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Macoupin County, Illinois: Biographical and Pictorial, by Charles A. Walker, published in 1911, Volume 2, pages 128-130.
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