Parkhurst Ward Cutler (1848-1930)

Portrait from the Biographical Review of Hancock County, Illinois, 1907.

   A longtime resident of Hancock County, Illinois, Parkhurst Ward Cutler pledged allegiance to the Democratic party for a good majority of his life, until joining the Prohibition party in the mid-1880s. A Prohibition candidate for the Illinois State Board of Equalization (as well as several local offices), Cutler would also receive that party's nomination for U.S. Representative from Illinois' 14th congressional district in 1912. The son of Nathan and Hannah (Ward) Cutler, Parkhurst Ward Cutler was born in Fulton County, Illinois on February 27, 1847. The Cutler family resettled in Hancock County when their son was but five years old, and young Parkhurst would attend the "common schools" in the area, as well as working the family farm and briefly studying at the Central College in Pella, Iowa. 

   After attaining maturity, Cutler purchased 120 acres of land near Carthage, Illinois, and established himself as a farmer and stock-raiser. He would subsequently purchase additional property to expand his fields and would be later acknowledged as "probably the most extensive stock feeder in Carthage township, usually shipping about two hundred fat cattle per year." Cutler's prominence in stock-raising saw him be the first farmer to introduce Hereford cattle to Carthage township and also exhibited his stock at several fairs during his life.

   Parkhurst Cutler married on his twenty-fourth birthday in 1871 to Fannie Gage Barker (1838-1933). The couple's marriage extended nearly sixty years and their union would see the births of two sons, Nathan Barker (1873-1953) and Ward Augustus (1875-1953). 

   An adherent of the Democratic party until the mid-1880s, Cutler switched political allegiance to the Prohibition party in 1884, becoming a "stalwart champion of the cause of temperance." A candidate of that party for several local political offices, Cutler made his first run for state office in 1900, becoming a candidate for the Illinois State Board of Equalization from the 15th district. On election day he received just 878 votes, well behind Republican candidate John Cruttenden's winning total of 24,510. In 1912 Cutler returned to politics, receiving the Prohibition nomination for U.S. Representative from his state's 14th congressional district. As one of four candidates that year, Cutler garnered a meager 680 votes that November, losing out to Democratic candidate Clyde Tavenner's winning vote of 17,024. 

   A former director of the Harmony Mutual Fire Insurance Company and a longtime Baptist church member, Parkhurst W. Cutler continued to reside in Carthage, Illinois until his death at age 82 on May 3, 1930. His widow Fannie followed him to the grave three years later at age 94, and both were interred at the Moss Ridge Cemetery in Carthage.

Ashmun Asaph Knappen (1828-1909)

From "Free Masonry In Michigan: A Comprehensive History of Michigan Masonry", 1895.

    Methodist minister Ashmun Asaph Knappen is another example of an oddly named clergyman having a brief flirtation with politics, in his case being the Prohibition nominee for U.S. Representative from Michigan's 3rd district in 1896. A native of Vermont, Knappen was born in the town of Sudbury on September 4, 1828, being the son of the Rev. Mason and Clarissa (Hutchinson) Knappen. A Congregationalist minister, Mason Knappen removed with his family to Michigan in 1833 via horse-drawn wagons through Canada, a four-week trip that reportedly left the young Ashmun "deeply impressed".

    Knappen's education occurred at the Branch Academy in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and married in Kalamazoo in August 1851 to Sarah Jane "Jennie" Stafford (1830-1908), to whom he was wed until her death. The couple would later have six children, Helen, Ida, Harriett, Nelly, Frank, and George Frederick (1867-1952). Of these children Frank E. Knappen made inroads into local politics, being city prosecuting attorney for Kalamazoo from 1880-89 and a Republican Presidential Elector for Michigan in 1904. 

   Ashmun A. Knappen resided in Hastings, Michigan from 1850-57, where he edited the Barry County Pioneer newspaper. In the late 1850s, he moved to Kalamazoo, where he began studying law with Julius Caesar Burrows (1837-1915), who would go on to represent Michigan in both houses of Congress for over three decades. 

    Admitted to the state bar in 1859, Knappen established a law practice in Kalamazoo with Burrows that continued for several years, and by 1867 had formed another law firm with Rufus Grosvenor. In the following year, Knappen had a religious calling, partly influenced by his wife and friends who had "induced him to attend a business men's morning prayer meeting." Now caught between wanting to continue in the practice of law or to devote his life to religious work, Knappen decided upon the latter, and by the fall of 1868 had joined the Michigan Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

   Soon after his admittance to the Michigan Conference Knappen was dispatched to Constantine, Michigan, where he accepted a pastorate.  In 1869 he would take on another pastorate in Sturgis (remaining there until 1870) and from 1871-72 preached in Manistee. For the next decade, Knappen would preach in Coldwater, Lansing, Battle Creek, and Grand Rapids and by 1883 had settled into a pastorate in Hastings. He continued to preach until 1890 and afterward "lived a retired life at Albion."

    An active Mason in addition to his pastorate, Knappen was for many years the Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Michigan. A temperance advocate, Knappen entered the political life of Michigan in 1896 when he was nominated for the U.S. House of Representatives on the Prohibition ticket. Hoping to represent his state's 3rd congressional district, Knappen was one of three candidates that year and on election day in November lost out in a very lopsided contest, garnering only 441 votes compared to Democratic candidate Albert M. Todd's winning total of 24,466.

   A.A. Knappen continued to reside in Albion, Michigan into his twilight years and was widowed in 1908. He followed his wife Sarah in death one year later on June 17, 1909, at age 80. Both were interred at the Riverside Cemetery in Albion. 

Pennock Edwards Sharpless (1852-1935)

Pennock E. Sharpless, 1852-1935.

   A descendant of a family with roots in Delaware County, Pennsylvania extending back into the early 18th century, Pennock Edwards Sharpless was born in that county on May 15, 1852, the son of William and Sarah Ann (Yarnall) Sharpless. Young Pennock attended school in the county of his birth and studied at both the Maplewood Institute and the West Chester State Normal School. Following the completion of his schooling, Sharpless returned home to assist his father with the running of the family farm.

   After reaching his early twenties Pennock Sharpless went into business for himself, establishing a dairy that specialized in the manufacture of a "high-grade butter" for customers in Philadelphia. His success in this venture led him to establish a new creamery that would house the "Danish Western separator", a dairy implement mentioned in the History of Delaware County as being one of the "first imported separators known to have been used in the United States." 

   Pennock E. Sharpless married on Christmas Eve 1874 to Anna Phebe Bishop (1854-1938), to whom he was wed for over sixty years. The couple's lengthy union would see the births of five sons: Percival Yarnall (1875-1897), Albert Wayne (1877-1931), Casper Pennock (1878-1959), Edward D. (died in infancy in 1882), and Austin Edwards (1885-1948).

   In 1882 Pennock Sharpless removed his creamery operation to Concord, Pennsylvania, and through the succeeding years built up an impressive business, one that would extend into several branch creameries located throughout Delaware and Chester County. The P.E. Sharpless Co. organized in 1902, is recorded by the History of Delaware County as specializing in several different products, including evaporated milk and "fancy soft cheese, one thousand three pound boxes being the daily output."

   One aspect of the life of Pennock Sharpless not highlighted in the 1914 History of Delaware County is his 1898 run for the U.S. House of Representatives on the Prohibition ticket. In May 1898 Sharpless received the Prohibition nomination for Congress at the party's state convention held in Harrisburg. In that year's congressional election, Sharpless was one of several candidates vying for the seat and on election day in November 1898 received 47,543 votes, compared to Republican candidate Galusha Aaron Grow's winning total of 532, 898.

   Following his run for Congress Sharpless continued active involvement with his creameries and in 1912 served as a Presidential Elector on the Progressive Party or "Bull Moose" ticket. He was also affiliated with the Charter National Bank of Media, Pennsylvania, serving as its director. Sharpless died in Concord on July 22, 1935, at age 83. He was survived by his wife Anna, who, following her death three years later, was interred alongside him at the Cumberland Cemetery in Media, Pennsylvania. 

From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 1935.

Freeborn Garrettson Jewett (1791-1858), Freeborn Woodbury Cressy (1839-1908), Freeborn Duane Brooke (1856-1935)

Portrait from the Medico-Legal Journal, 1903.

    Receiving his name in honor of prominent American Methodist clergyman Freeborn Garrettson (1752-1827), Freeborn Garrettson Jewett was born in Sharon, Connecticut on August 4, 1791, the fifth child of ten born to Alpheus and Abigail Sears Jewett. Freeborn would attend common schools in the Sharon area and began studying law at the age of twenty. Following his admittance, Jewett married in 1814 to Fannie Warner and the couple later had one son, William (born in 1816.) The Jewett family later relocated to Skaneateles, New York and it was here that he formed a partnership with a local attorney named James Porter.
   Jewett entered the political life of New York state in 1823 when he was elected as Onondaga County Judge. He would serve in that capacity from 1824-31 and during his term pulled political double duty when he won election to the State Assembly from Onondaga County in 1825. Serving in the session of 1826, Jewett would make his first move into national politics in 183o when he was elected as Jacksonian Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives from New York, besting National Republican candidate William Jerome by a vote of 4,539 to 2,739. Shortly after leaving Congress in 1833, he was honored as the first President of the village of Skaneateles, which had recently been incorporated as a village.
   After his short stint on the national political scene, Jewett served one year (1838-1839) as the Inspector of Auburn State Prison. A brief term as Onondaga County District Attorney followed, and in 1845 continued his political ascent when he was named as an Associate Justice of the New York State Supreme Court. His time here proved to be short, due to his election to the New York State Court of Appeals in 1847. 
   Jewett was named as Chief Judge of the Appeals Court in the same year as his election and served as its head until 1850. His tenure on the court ended in 1853 when he resigned due to health concerns. He died on January 27, 1858, and was shortly thereafter interred in the Lake View Cemetery in his native town of Skaneateles. The rare photograph of Freeborn Jewett shown above was taken shortly before his death and appeared in the December 1903 edition of the Medico-Legal Journal, Volume 21.

Portrait from "Beverly: Garden City By the Sea", 1897.

    A two-term member of the Massachusetts General Court, Freeborn Woodbury Cressy was a well-to-do resident of Beverly, Massachusetts, and was a prominent leader in the civic and political life of his native city for decades. Years following his legislative service, Cressy was returned to politics in the twilight of his life, winning election as mayor of that city for one term.
   Freeborn Woodbury Cressy was born in Beverly on January 4, 1839, being the son of John and Johanna Ober Cressy. After attending local schools he began work in a shoe factory, continuing in that employ for several years. In 1873 he and a partner, Israel Lee, began developing their own furniture and upholstery company, which later underwent a name change to F.W. Cressy and William F. Lee. Cressy was also active in the local Fire King Engine Company and would serve as both a foreman and a member of its board of engineers.
   In May 1866 Freeborn Cressy married Sarah Godfrey, a native of New Hampshire. The couple would be married for over four decades and their union produced four children: Lewis W., Mary, John, and Willis. While still attentive to his business pursuits, Cressy ventured into local politics, winning election as a town selectman in 1869, an office he would continue to hold for nearly thirty years. During his time as a selectman, Cressy was an avowed leader in the development his native city's infrastructure, helping to design a new sewer system for the city, as well as bringing modern accommodations to the local fire department.
  Cressy continued his rise in Massachusetts political life with his election to the Massachusetts State House of Representatives in 1869 and two years later won a second term in that body. His service during the 1872-73 session saw him sit on the committee on the State Police, and had plenty of curiously named company amongst his fellow representatives, those men being Zoeth Snow, Southworth Harlow, Tisdale Sanford White, Liberty Dodge Packard, Eliphalet Loring Thayer, and Ludovicus French Wild!
    An "acknowledge authority in all that pertains to town and city forms of government",  Cressy was "handsomely elected" as Mayor of Beverly in 1896, serving a one year term beginning in 1897. He died in his office in Beverly on April 26, 1908, at age 69, and a burial location for him remains unknown at the time of this writing.

Cressy as he appeared during his second term in the legislature, 1872.

The Rev. Freeborn Duane Brooke.

  For many years a leading Methodist clergyman in Illinois, Freeborn Duane Brooke had fleeting involvement in politics in 1903 when he was nominated by the Prohibition Party for U.S. Representative from Illinois' 3rd congressional district. Born in Oregon, Ogle County, Illinois on December 27, 1856, Freeborn D. Brooke was the son of William and Paulina (Healy) Brooke.

 Little is known of Brooke's early life in Ogle County, excepting mention of his conversion at a Methodist camp meeting in the late 1870s. He began studying for the ministry shortly afterward and by 1882 was licensed to preach. Brooke married in 1882 to Elizabeth Bardell (1859-1921), to who he was wed for nearly forty years. The couple's union saw the births of five children, listed as follows in order of birth: Clark Harding (1882-1956), William Sullivan (1887-1937), Paulina Harriet (1889-1962), and Mae Evangel (1894-1964).

  During a ministry that extended over fifty years, Brooke traveled over two dozen circuits throughout Illinois, and in 1890 was elected as a district elder. This post saw him active in the Peoria and Joliet district for four years, and the Elgin district for six years. Beginning in the early 1900s he took office as secretary of the Old People's Rest Home at Woodstock, Illinois, and during this same period held the post of treasurer for the Chicago Industrial Home For Children, also located in Woodstock.

  In 1902 Brooke was called to politics by the Prohibition Party, and in that year received that party's nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives. One of four candidates vying for the seat, Brooke placed dead last on election day with 543 votes, polling over 13,000 votes behind winning Republican candidate William W. Wilson.

  Widowed in 1921, Freeborn D. Brooke remarried in 1925 to Bertha Wade, who survived him upon his death, which occurred in Belvidere, Illinois on January 6, 1935. He had been in ill health for some time prior to his death, and was later interred at the Memorial Park Cemetery and Crematorium in Skokie, Illinois.