Jason W. Strevell
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On 15 August, 1858, Jason was married to Elizabeth Butler Kelly Nettleton, daughter of Dr. John Kelly, a physician and surgeon of Lake City, Minnesota. She was a recent widow with two children and a one month old baby. Their father was Zelas H. Nettleton, probably "Z. N. Nettleton", a founding father of Pontiac, also one of the five first trustees in 1857. Zelas had died in late 1857, after Elizabeth became pregnant. The marriage took place in the bride's home town. Jason moved in to the house that Nettleton had shared with Elizabeth and added on to it. The house has been restored. | On 15 August, 1858, Jason was married to Elizabeth Butler Kelly Nettleton, daughter of Dr. John Kelly, a physician and surgeon of Lake City, Minnesota. She was a recent widow with two children and a one month old baby. Their father was Zelas H. Nettleton, probably "Z. N. Nettleton", a founding father of Pontiac, also one of the five first trustees in 1857. Zelas had died in late 1857, after Elizabeth became pregnant. The marriage took place in the bride's home town. Jason moved in to the house that Nettleton had shared with Elizabeth and added on to it. The house has been restored. | ||
| + | John Nettleton was age 7 when his father died and was age 10 when Abraham Lincoln visited the home. In addition to that house, Zelus Nettleton had owned a lot of farmland and Jason Strevell also assumed ownership of that land. | ||
| − | + | After being spared by a tornado in May, a strong tornado swept through Pontiac at 4:45 o'clock on the afternoon of [[November 26, 1859]] from the southwest. The roofs of J. W. Strevell's hardware store and four other businesses were blown off. The roof of the court-house, cupulo and gable end were blown down. The two-story Sinsel house was torn to splinters, burying two women and a child, but none was seriously injured. Several other houses were either blown to pieces or were blown from their foundations and turned around. Barns all over the village were demolished. | |
| − | + | Strevell and [[Abraham Lincoln]] were close friends and shared many hours together in conversation. One of the most documented meetings between these two gentlemen occurred on the evening of [[January 27, 1860]] at the Pontiac Presbyterian church. Lincoln, earlier that same day, accepted a standing invitation to speak to the Pontiac Young Men's Literary Society, of which Strevell was president. He was in Bloomington for a trial and took an afternoon train to Pontiac. His speech was not very successful, as Lincoln was exhausted and had only decided to speak a few hours before appearing. After the presentation, Lincoln went to the Strevell house, a blaock and a half away, to spend the night, after a small reception. Strevell and Lincoln stayed up late, talking about politics, slavery, and other national and local issues of the day. During the course of the conversation, Strevell suggested that Lincoln might be selected as the Republican Party's presidential candidate at the upcoming party convention. Lincoln argued that he might be chosen as a vice-presidential candidate, but did not believe he would gain the top spot on the ticket. In less than four months from the time Mr. Lincoln delivered his lecture in Pontiac he was nominated for President of the United States by the republican convention in session in Chicago, on May 19, 1860. | |
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| + | As the conversation turned to less important topics, Strevell, who was six foot tall, said he did not believe that Lincoln was really 4 inches taller than himself. Lincoln offered to let himself be measured and stood in a doorway in his stocking feet while Strevell made a scratch in the door frame to mark Lincoln's height. Strevell then measured, from floor to the mark on the door frame, and found Lincoln to be exactly, 6 foot, 4 inches tall. One source says that Lincoln did not spend the night, but took the midnight train to Springfield. | ||
He was ordained and installed as an elder of the Presbyterian church in 1861. | He was ordained and installed as an elder of the Presbyterian church in 1861. | ||
| − | He served as a Republican in the lower house of the state legislature for four years (1864-1867) | + | He served as a Republican in the lower house of the state legislature for four years (1864-1867). This was during Lincoln's second term, at the end of the civil war. |
| − | + | The news of the assassination of President Lincoln [[15 Apr 1865]] was received in Pontiac with feelings of abject horror. Never in the history of Pontiac was there such universal mourning. True, most all of the male population of the village were in the army, but their wive's and children remained, and when word came that the special train bearing the body would pass through Pontiac on the afternoon of May 2, 1865, business was entirely suspended, schools were dismissed, and the entire population of the village and of the surrounding country marched to the Alton depot to pay their last respects. After remaining at the depot for about two hours, word came over the wire that the funeral train would not leave Chicago until 9 p. m., and the assemblage broke up and wended their way homeward. However, when the special train bearing the body of the martyred President arrived in Pontiac at midnight, there was a large gathering at the depot, as there was at nearly every station between Chicago and Springfield, giving evidence of his hold upon the heart of the nation and the universal sorrow which his revolting assassination had produced. | |
| − | + | He supported Grant as president in the 1868 election and allowed 10 year old son Charles to march in the back of the Republican marching club "Grant's Tanners", dressed in leatherette caps and capes and waving a smoky kerosene torch. | |
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| + | He served as a member of the senate 1869-1872. | ||
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| + | He was a member of the electoral college that elected Hayes to the presidency in 1876. | ||
| − | + | In 1969, when John was about 19 years old, he went on a [[Nelson Buck massacre|surveying adventure]] that almost cost him his life. A local town founder, who was a surveyor, obtained a contract to survey Indian land west of [[Fort Kearney]], Nebraska. He recruited 8 local boys to accompany him, none older than 17 years old. The traveled by rail to the Fort, but there were no soldiers available to escort them. Buck made the mistake of being impatient and set out anyway. After journeying two days westward and encountering many of the Sioux tribe, Mr. Buck became alarmed and sent young McGregor and Nettleton back to Fort Kearney with a request to the Colonel that he send an escort at once. The boys returned to the fort and delivered the message, but no troops being available they waited and finally decided to go back home. Many weeks later it was determined that the party had all been killed by Indians and the bodies were never found. | |
| − | In | + | John Nettleton, married Olive Potter in Pontiac in 1870. In 1871 he and Olive had a son name Wilson. However, in 1872 he filed suit in Livingston County as the oldest son and rightful owner of the farmland. He was granted ownership of the land, plus was given a monetary settlement for a share of the crops raised and sold over those years. John then packed up his family and moved to the Joliet-Plainfield area. |
In 1874, Strevell built a store room on the north side of the town square, as part of a building boom. | In 1874, Strevell built a store room on the north side of the town square, as part of a building boom. | ||
