Tiskilwa

Erastus P. Boyden, Tiskilwa, who is the subject of the following biography, was born February 16, 1823, in Pelham, Hampshire Co., Mass. His father, Plyna Boyden, was born November 2, 1788, in South Walpole, Mass., near Boston. He was a shoe-maker and farmer by occupation, and died September 25, 1866, in Henry County, Ill. The Boyden family is of English descent and are classed among the pioneers of New England. The mother of our subject, Clarissa Fales, was born July 6, 1793. She died June 5, 1861. She was a daughter of Joseph Fales, and was the mother of six

William H. Bloom, Tiskilwa, was born October 10, 1833, in Eaton, Green Co., Ohio. His father, Peter Bloom, a native of New Jersey, was a farmer by occupation and settled on Section 12, near Tiskilwa, where he died May 17, 1867. William Bloom, the grandfather of our subject, came from Germany to America about the year 1800. He first settled in New Jersey, but removed to Ohio, where he died. He reared a family of six boys and two girls, and was a farmer and weaver by occupation. The mother of our subject, Jane Hankins, was born at the Blue

O. W. Battey, Tiskilwa, was born June 15, 1823, in Foster, Providence, R. I. He is a son of Sampson Battey (see the preceding sketch)(of Silas Battey). Our subject received a common school education in Connecticut, where his entire life was spent on the farm. He came to Illinois with his parents, and lived several years in Peoria and LaSalle Counties. In 1854 he came to Tiskilwa, where he was appointed station agent on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, which position he has filled ever since, and is know as the oldest and most trusted agent on the