History of Lee County, Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY 275
success places him in the front rank of men of marked ability and
substantial worth in the community. He was born September 22,
1872, and is a son of Captain William S. and Sophia E. (Shaw)
Frost, the former a native of Maine and the latter of Niles, Michi-
gan. The father came to Illinois in 1837, one of the early settlers
in the state. He purchased land in Lee county, where he was
connected with agricultural interests for many years. In 1871
he moved to Bradford township and there he has since resided,
now living retired. He and his wife became tlie parents of six
children: F'rank E. ; Malinda S., the wife of A. Aschenbrenner
S. D., a resident of South Dakota; William S., of this review;
Mary Adelia, the wife of M. R. Warnick, of South Dakota; and
a child who died in infancy.
William S. Frost, Jr., spent his childhood and youth upon
the family homestead in Lee county and acquired a public-school
and a college education. When he was twenty-six he rented a
farm and he operated this for two years, following which he
bought the property which he now owns. This is known as the
Rising Sim Farm and ct)mprises two hundi'ed and eighty acres
of valuable land on section 32, Bradford township. The fields are
under a high state of cultivation, the buildings are substantial
and in good i-epair and the machinery is of the modern, laborsaving
type. Nothing about the place is ever neglected and the
property is in every respect a credit to the owner, who is an in-
telligent and progressive agriculturist. He makes a specialty of
raising and feeding stock and his interests along this line are
extensive and important. In addition to his home farm he owns
also a three hundred and twenty acre tract in South Dakota.
On the 12th of October, 1898, Mr. Frost was united in mar-
riage to Miss Genevieve Bodine, who was born in Lee Center,
November 9, 1874, a daughter of A. Z. and Katherine Bodine, in
whose family were three children: ]\Iary A., the wife of Fred
Starks of Los Angeles, California ; Leslie A., a resident of Hut-
tig, Arkansas, and Cenevieve, the wife of the subject of this review.
Mr. and Mrs. Frost have three children: Harold W.. born
May 27, 1902; Lyle B., born July 13, 1908, and Katherine Bere-
nice, born August 27, 1911. Mrs. Frost is a lady of excellent
education and was a teacher in a business college in Dixon pre-
vious to her marriage. She was also a stenographer and cor-
respondent for several years in Chicago pri