Biography - Frank J. Stillwell
FRANK J. STILLWELL, one of the efficient and progressive farmers of Rose
Township, Shelby County, is a son of John W. and Sarah (Templeton)
Stillwell. The former was born near Newport, Ky., and then came with his
family to Shelby County in 1866, making their home in Shelbyville and
operating a sawmill in Rose Township, which they carried on for several
years. The wife passed away in Shelbyville in 1876 and the bereaved husband
is now living a retired life. They had two children, Robert T. and Frank J.
Our subject was born near Newport, Ky., August 4, 1859, and came to Shelby
County, this State with his parents. He received his education in the common
schools and made good use of his advantages, gaining much from this
thorough, though somewhat narrow, curriculum. His marriage at Shelbyville,
April 5, 1883, united him with Miss Anna Wortman, who was born in Dry Point
Township. When they married they settled in Rose Township, where Mr.
Stillwell is engaged in farming, giving his attention to the cultivation of
two hundred and seventy acres of excellent land, and also raising
considerable good stock.
Mr. and Mrs. Stillwell are the parents of two children, Mary A. and J.
Frank. The office of School Director has been efficiently filled by Mr.
Stillwell. He is a Democrat in his political views. He is prominently
identified with the Order of Modern Woodmen of America, and with his wife is
an active member of the Baptist Church.
The parents of Mrs. Stillwell are William and Margaret (Hickman) Wortman.
Mr. Wortman was born in Shelby Township. Shelby County, October 22, 1831.
His father, Isaac Wortman, was a native of Christian County, Ky., being born
there August 26, 1865, and being the son of Michael Wortman. a Virginian by
birth and one of the first settlers of Christian County, Ky. Michael Wortman
secured a tract of timber land in that county and cleared a farm and spent
his last years there. The maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Wallace and
she was also a Virginian. She came to Shelby County after the death of her
husband.
The grandfather of Mrs. Stillwell was reared in Kentucky and resided there
until 1828, when he came to Illinois accompanied by his wife, his mother and
his brother with his wife. They brought all their household goods along with
them in their wagons and camped and cooked by the way. They arrived in
Shelby County in December, 1828, and resided in what is now known as Windsor
Township for one year and then removed to Shelby Township and entered a
tract of Government land one mile east of the city. A few log houses were
all that Shelbyville then boasted. Isaac Wortman erected a log house on his
land and commenced at once to clear away the timber. After residing there
for several years he sold his property and bought in Holland Township, where
he resided until his death in 1868. The maiden name of his wife (who was the
grandmother of Mrs. Stillwell.) was Zelinda Hall. She was born in Fayette
County, Ky., of Virginian parentage, her father and mother being Peter and
Mary (Fisher) Hall, who became pioneers of Fayette County, Ky. Mrs. Hall
died at the home of her daughter, Mrs. Emily Willis, in Shelbyville in 1872,
having been the mother of twelve children.
William Franklin Wortman resided with his parents until his marriage and
then settled on an eighty-acre tract of land which he owned on section 1 of
Dry Point Township. It was wild land at the time, forty acres of it being in
timber and the remainder in brush. He built a log house and there commenced
housekeeping and later bought other land until at one time he possessed some
two hundred and fifty acres all in one body, part of it being in Holland
Township. He improved the land, planted an orchard and erected good farm
buildings. He continued there until the fall of 1890 when he retired from
active farming and built the home where he now resides in Shelbyville. He
was married in 1856 to Margaret Hickman, who was born in Shelbyville,
February 15, 1836.
Joseph Hickman, the father of Mrs. W. F. Wortman, was a Virginian by birth,
and the son of William Hickman, who removed from that State to Shelby
County, Ky., where he continued his vocation of a farmer. He died in that
county. The maiden name of his wife was Elizabeth Talbot, who was a native
of Virginia and died in Shelby County, Ky.
Joseph Hickman, the grandfather of Mrs. Stillwell, married in Kentucky and
came from that State to Illinois in 1830, thus becoming one of the early
settlers of Shelbyville. He was one of the first teachers in the county and
was a man of more than ordinary education. He resided there for a number of
years and then bought a farm in Shelby Township, upon which he made his home
until his death. His wife (the grandmother of Mrs. Stillwell) bore the
maiden name of Ziporah Frankford. She was born in Illinois, being a daughter
of Elza and Margaret (Adams) Frankford, and died at the home of a son in
Shelby Township about the year 1868. Seven children were born to Mr. and
Mrs. Wortman, namely: Mary, Hattie, Emma, Annie, Thomas, James and Mattie.
The parents are earnest and active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church
and Mr. Wortman is a Democrat in his political views.
Mr. Stillwell's personal qualities are such as to have won for him the
respect and admiration of his fellow-citizens and he has the hearty good
will of all. His home is comfortable and pleasant and his family share with
him the good opinion of their neighbors.
Extracted 29 May 2019 by Norma Hass from 1891 Portrait and Biographical Record of Shelby and Moultrie Counties Illinois, pages 621-623.
