History of Lee County, Illinois - Bushnell Historical Society

HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY 321
now the wife of Fred Bork, of Ugie cuunt\-, iUiuois ; William FI.
born January 18, 1890, at home ; Frank T., whose birth occurred
November 17, 1891 ; Alta M., born AugTist 8, 1898 ; and Amanda
D., born December 12, 19U3. The parents are members of the
Lutheran church and Mr. Gleim gives his political allegiance to
the republican party, taking an intelligent interest in the advancement
and growth of Lee county, where he has resided for many
years. He is a man of enterprise and ability and has, therefore,
been carried forward into important relations with agricultu]-al
interests of this locality.
F. D. GEHANT.
No history of West Brooklyn woidd bo complete without mention
of the Gehant family, for representatives of the name have
been most active and prominent in the development, agricultural
and commercial, of this part of the county. Through all his bi;si-
ness career F. D. Gehant has borne an untarnished name, and it
has been through close ai^plication and unfaltering perseverance
that he has won the success that now enables him to live retired.
His birth occurred near Ashton, January 30, 1870, his parents
being Claude and Mary (Antoine) Gehant. The father's resi-
dence in Lee count}^ dated from 1S?>'), ouly three years after the
Black Hawk war, when settlers in this part of the county were
very few. Everything was yet in a primitive condition, and the
work of progress and improvement seemed scarcely begun. Tn
fact wild game of all kinds was to be had and there wei'e still many
traces of the Indian to be found in this part of the state. In
June the praii-ies were starred with a million wild flowers and in
December were covered with a dazzling unbi'oken sheet of snow.
The father became the owner of forty acres of wild land aud
began the development of a farm. The machinery and implements
were comparatively crude at that day aud much of the work had
to be done by hand, but as the years passed on the labors of INIr.
Gehant wrought a marveloiTS change in the ap])earance of his
place, and as his financial resources increased he kept adding to
his property until he was the owner of three hundred and twenty
acres, although he later sold forty acres of this. He brought his
fields to a high state of cultivation aud added many modern
improvements to his farm. His life's labors were ended in death