Grundy County IL Archives Biographies.....Caldwell, Amos B 1833 - 
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Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com March 25, 2006, 9:42 am

Author: Bio/Gen Record LaSalle/Grundy, 1900

Amos B. Caldwell

More than two-score years have passed since A. B. Caldwell cast in his lot 
with the people of Illinois, and though he has met with serious reverses at 
times he has never regretted his choice of a home. Both he and his forefathers 
have been pioneers, the family having progressed westward as the country 
became thickly settled, and their labors have accrued more to those taking 
their places than to their individual selves. They have manfully stood for 
their country and community, performing disinterested acts and contributing 
liberally of their time and means for the general welfare.

The paternal grandfather of our subject, William Caldwell, was a native of 
Pennsylvania. He removed to Ohio in 1808, and, buying land of the government, 
improved the property, and died there in 1805. He was survived by his wife, 
whose death took place in 1822. His son John, the father of A. B. Caldwell, 
was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, in the opening year of the 
century. He was consequently a lad of eight years when his father removed to 
Pickaway county, Ohio, and in that portion of the Buckeye state he passed the 
remainder of his life. He raised large quantities of wheat upon his farm, and, 
after having it ground, he shipped it by the river route to New Orleans. As he 
had learned the trade of cooper, he manufactured his own barrels, and thus his 
profits were not inconsiderable.  He died at the ripe age of eighty-four 
years, in 1884, respected and loved by a large circle of friends. The famous 
John C. Calhoun was a protégé of the Caldwell family. The mother of A. B. 
Caldwell was Elizabeth Monnett in her girlhood, her father being Isaac 
Monnett, of German extraction.

The birth of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch took place in Pickaway 
county, Ohio, December 17, 1833. Reared on his father’s farm, he continued to 
make his home there until he reached his twenty-fourth year, when he came to 
this state. Locating upon a farm in Iroquois county, he industriously tilled 
and improved the place until it became one of the finest in that section. He 
was the first person in the township to use tile for draining the land, and 
from a wilderness he saw the locality developed into a rich and productive 
region. In 1886 he went to California, on account of the failing health of his 
wife, and for seven years he dwelt with his family in that beautiful land of 
sunshine and flowers. At length he returned to his birthplace, and, having 
attended to the settling of his father’s estate and remaining there, 
altogether, a year and a half, he came back to Illinois.  Since that time he 
has lived in the town of Seneca, though some of his business interests are 
elsewhere in the county. He owns and operates a grain elevator in Norman 
township, and, in addition to this, he carries on a small grocery and is the 
postmaster at Langham. In 1898 he had the misfortune to lose his elevator, 
which was entirely destroyed by fire, but he immediately commenced the 
building of another one, much more substantial and modern than the first. 
Business enterprise and wisely directed endeavor have been the means of his 
success, as well as the absolute integrity and fairness which have 
characterized his dealings at all times. Education has found a sincere 
champion in him, and in his early manhood he taught school in winter, while he 
engaged in farming during the summer season. Politically he uses his ballot in 
favor of the Republican party.

The first marriage of Mr. Caldwell was solemnized in 1859, Miss Margaret Pineo 
becoming his bride. She was a daughter of George Pineo, of Illinois, and by 
her marriage she was the mother of one child, Eva, now the wife of Charles G. 
Watkins, of Cleveland, Ohio. Mrs. Caldwell died in 1863, and three years later 
our subject wedded Miss Lovenia Holmes, the daughter of the Rev. Jacob M. 
Holmes, of Marion, Ohio. Their eldest-born, Mamie, is deceased; Nellie is the 
wife of Dr. J. Lincoln Rogers, of Los Angeles, California; Albertus died when 
in his twentieth year, in California; Fred is now a student in the 
Northwestern University; and Charlie died at the age of three years. The wife 
and mother was summoned to the better land in 1887.

The lady who now bears the name of our subject was united to him in wedlock, 
October 24, 1895. Her maiden name was Miss Lydia A. George, and at the time of 
her marriage she was a teacher in the high schools of Circleville, Ohio, where 
she had been engaged in educational work for about a quarter of a century. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and 
are active workers in religious and benevolent enterprises.

Additional Comments:
Source:  Biographical and Genealogical Record of La Salle and Grundy County, 
Illinois, Volume 11, Chicago, 1900, p508-509

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