The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1854-12-23
From the Prairie Farmer for November.
TIE NAPOLEON OF THE CATTLE,
.5IcOsb Slg:s,IE,

!
remarkable by success in State affairs Nor
| is it the fact that Letters and Art, and the
common branches of Science, have monopp-
! izcd, either alone, orin connection with the
/ pursuits jurt named, or without them, all
claim to the world S attention. There is room
for talent everywhere, in every pursuit and
when talent gets chance TO work in its pro-
per sphere, it is sure to make itself lct,
whether in well digging, or pyramid build
ing. Ii il II kirl Of reproach, in the eyes
, Of many, to Agriculture, that il furnishes so
little field for display; So little calculated to
catch the eyes OF the peope.-Thc charge is
in part true aud in part not.-hgriculturc is
peaceful and quiet pursuit; suited in this
regard to the needs of our universal human
nature. But there is no less a chance in it
for excellence and a scope for talent and
force Of character. In proof Of this, we
will Introduce to our readers, man who has
established il in his own personal history
Mr.. JACOB SrRAwE, Of Morgan County, Hi
nois.
MIR. Strawn is man Of about five feet and
. six inches i'll stature, stoutly built, with a
chest Of great capacity, measuring about the
breast as we are told, fifty inches in
girth. He is now Gity-four years Of age a
little upon the down-hil side of life, with
hair turning grey and, as he himself says,
getting little 'lazy;' that is, obliged TO
sleep as many as about four hours every
night. He has . large aud pleasant face, aud
is every way man Of good appearance,
! though in no wise remarkable when seen
away from home especially when not cnga-
| gcd in his iavoritc pursuits. He is then ST
| lent, and seemingly out Of his element, aud
/ It is not till lac comes into contact with "bu-
rincss," that hc wakes up and is himself
again.
! Having thus introduced the man we will
now Introduce his farm. This consists of
two tracts of land lying. firstly, in the heart
Of Morgan county, aud next in the county Of
Sangamon. The first consists Of seven
! thousand eight hundred acres in one body;
being six miles in length by three and half
in breadth the other Of eight thousand five
hundred acres; or together, something over
sixteen thousand acres, Of as good land as
, the sun and the moon ever shouc upon
These lands, with all their improvements.
stock, and fixtures, are his individual earn.
ings; being the product Of no SPECULATION
either in lands, stocks or other matters and
the result Of no rise in real estat. :" for we
have not been able to learn that Mr.. Strawn
ever sold al acre OF land since he came to
the State. Nor has he bought land for the
sake Of nonopoi1ng, or holding on" or
for traffic in realty his purchases have been
for use, and when obtained have been, and
are used.
Now we come back to our starting point.
and affirm. that no ordinary man, aud none
but a very extraordinary one, would ever
La, ~. e A,
as this now is, in any such way, and this
will VIC think appear in the sequel OF this ar.
ticle.
Jacob Strawn was born in Somerset coun.
ty, Pennsylvania. His parents we infer to
have been either poor or in such circumstan-
ces as 10 leave him to shirk pretty much for
himself lis mother we learn was terri
! blc' worker, and the boy Jacob was taught
! in her ways. We hear Of his endeayOrS at
! clearing n farm, after his first marriage,
which took place at home ia Pennsylvania !;
Of his chopping till far into the night, by the
/ light Of fires kndled by bis wife Of the fulien
trees, aud after short sleep being at it
again, after the same fashion, by the same
aid. At an early day he left PENNSYLVANIA
for Licking county, Ohio, where he remain
cd eleven years, and then pulling up stakes
agair. came to Illinois, arriving in 1881, and
pitching upon a small tract Of about three
hundred acres, where hii house now stands.
The great business of his life had however
bern long commenced. Indeed in his own
words he began it at ten years Of age, and
has driven it to this time with all the wind
and credit he could command" The great
passion Of his hic was and is--s,ee,s-cattle;
to drive them feed them, buy them, sell
them and then own other steers, TO 60
through the like process this was to him
and is yet, what books were to Kirk White,
or armies to Napoleon. lie pursued it eleven
years in Ohio, and at the end had cash
enough to purchase the aforesaid three hun.
drcd and odd acres IN Morgan county, three
miles from Jacksonville, Illinois. He got
him up a small log house, good as those Of
his neighbors, and which stands yet where
he resided till 1888, when his present dwell
ing was erected. The partner of his early
life died, however, about one year after nc
arrived in Illinois, leaving him three sons
who still survive.-Twenty years since his
present wife was joined to him, and five liv
ing children are the result Of this marriage
From that day to this, his life has been AT
undertaking pursuit of his absorbing idea
His were the first steers fed in Morgan coun
ty, and he has probably fed more since that
time than all other men in the county togcth
, er. The industry with which this busincs:
has been pursued by him, is wholly without
a parallel in all the histories of business cvcl
pursued OF heard of by us. Mr.. Strawn i,
not and never has been in any proper sens
of ths term, breeder of cattle. He bug
them, feeds them till fattcncd, and ther
! sells them. As his business increased, h,
increased his farm till it has grown to il
$ present dimensions. lie has now upon it
+. two thousand nine hundred acres of corn
sixteen hundred head of cattle, e,-having jus
, sold four hundred, whose places must sloi
be again filled; seven hundred hogs to follow
: and fatten after his cattle, about fifty hor
: ses, and from fifty TO one hundred mules
OF other stock he has little. His only cXpe
riencc in sheep, he gave as follows; III
once bought twenty.six head; the dogs kill
e ed sixteen Of them, and the balance nc sol'
: to a'butcher, who has not yet paid him.
, OF turkeys, hens or other poultry, h
), cares little or nothing. He raises few
{ steers yearly, and one Of these, one yca'
: and half old, sold the present season
: weighed thirteen hundred and fifty pounds
Ills sales of stock the present season
have amounted to something over one hun
! drcd thousand dollars; those of cattle alon
exceeding nincty.six thousand.
The style of farming pursued by Mr.
4 Strawn may en- lily be gathered from tn
. foregoing lie raises no wheat, oats, or 9th
Q or small grain; the whole surface of his do
d main is devoted to timber, grass and corn.-
Those portions which are plowcd, are fence
into fields Of convenient size, and alternate
with grass and corn. We were howevc
shown one field nov fifteen years in grass
which the plow has never touched. TWAS
piece Of rough bog lowland, given over Il
y, weeds and brush. 1t was drought t." b.
I, clearing the surface, smoothing it down, an
n being trod compacty together by an I'M
, mcnse drove of cattle. Since then it yield
! all the grass scythc can 90 through, and a
h this time is peppered all over with ha
e stacks. the corn Is FED on the a,d
common manner of raising it is, to furnis
the land TO laborer, and have the cor
: grown and put into stocks at cost to Nj