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Source: Portrait and Biographical Album of Fulton County
Biographical Publishing Co., Chicago, 1890

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The Biography of Daniel HELLER 

Pages 821 & 822, transcribed in full by Karen CRANE Goggin 

[Surnames: BAUGHMAN, BERRY, BLACK, CAMERON, HASTY, HELLER, JACKSON, LASWELL, METHENEY, PHILLIPS, TOTTEN, VAN AUKEN, WALTERS]
(Note: Portrait of Daniel HELLER precedes this biography in the book) 

    
DANIEL HELLER. On the opposite page is presented a portrait of this gentleman, who is the second oldest settler now living in Putman Township, and one of the most highly respected citizens thereof. He has resided here fifty-five years continuously, in which time he has accumulated a considerable amount of property and conducted a thriving business. He is the eldest child of John and Blandenah (Van Auken) Heller, natives of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, respectively. After their marriage they lived in New Jersey for a time and later removed to Pennsylvania. In 1813 they settled in Wayne county, Ohio, where they sojourned for ten years, and at the expiration of that time, disposed of their property, and located in Richland county, near Ashland, where they remained until 1835. In that year they came to Illinois stopping on the way at Dayton and reaching Fulton County in 1835. They made a short stop in Fairview Township, then came to Cass Township, and later to Putman Township, where they finally located upon the farm which is now the home of their son. 
    
The country was at that time very thinly settled, indeed the only settlers were Messrs. Totten, Baughman, Cameron, Thomas Walters and Laswell. The father purchased a farm upon which was a small log cabin, and of this the family took immediate possession. At that time there were six children, and the family being in very limited circumstances, the father was compelled to work early and late to gain money for their sustenance. He had been a tanner early in life, but did not follow that trade after coming to this place. Our subject was born February 28, 1811, in Northampton County, Pa., and was two years old when the family moved to Ohio, then an uncultivated tract of land, inhabited by thousands of Indians. He was about twelve years old when the family removed to Richland County, and received his educational training in the subscription schools of Ohio, where the schoolhouse was an old log cabin. 
    
Later our subject learned the business of a tanner, and worked at this trade for $8 per month. Reaching his twenty-first year, he started out in life for himself, and continued to work at his trade and also to devote much time to agricultural pursuits. He was married in 1833 to Miss Mary Black, a native of Ohio and an orphan, whose father was killed in the War of 1812. After his marriage our subject worked as before stated at the tannery business until he came to Illinois. In this State he lived one winter on the Laswell farm, where he worked very hard, and the next winter hewed timber and secured enough lumber to build a house and a tannery. Once thoroughly settled, he pursued his trade most successfully for twenty-two years, and in the meantime purchased fifty acres of land south of Cuba, for which he paid $2 per acre. He eventually bought his father's estate, and moved to this place. 
    
The subject of this sketch was, however, not without misfortunes and during the late war some of his political enemies burned his house, because of his strong Abolition sentiments. He rebuilt the house as it now stands at a cost of $5,000, but his property was not insured and the loss was heavy. When commencing life himself, he was virtually without money. His first tax was twelve and a half cents, his present one being over $500, figures which give some idea of the success which he has gained. True, his efforts have been unceasing, and he has for weeks at a time worked day and night, but now is the possessor of a considerable fortune, and while he has given to his children over twelve hundred acres of land, he still retains for himself two hundred and fifteen acres, but makes his home with his son Frank. 
    
Mr. And Mrs. Heller became the parents of eight children, four of whom are now living, namely; John, who married Miss Hannah Jackson, lives in DeWitt County and they have three children; Daniel H., who married Addie Metheney, lives in Piatt County, and is the father of four children; Frank married Sarah Hasty, a daughter of Ambrose and Mary (Berry) Hasty, and lives on the home farm, with his wife and four children; Mary Jane is the wife of William Phillips, of Cuba, and they have three children. Mrs. Heller died May 3, 1875. Mr. Heller is actively interested in politics, and cast his first vote for Jackson, was afterward a Whig, and is at the present time a member of the Republican party. He is a thoroughly moral man, an advocate of temperance, and for more than forty years has been a member of the Methodist Protestant Church, and has served as Trustee. He is at present (1890) seventy-nine years of age and is looked upon as a most valuable citizen by the residents of this township. He was connected with the underground railway and served as Trustee and Supervisor of Putman Township. 
The father of our subject was born in Pittsburg, Pa., December 12, 1812, and was the son of Richard Abbott, likewise a native of the Keystone State, and of English ancestry. Grandfather Abbott removed to Scott County, Ind., late in life, and was there gathered to his fathers. In 1837, while still a single man, John W. Abbott came to this county, and the same year married and settled in Canton. He soon after returned to Indiana and in 1847, he came back to Fulton County, and located in Farmington Township. He carried on general farming. His demise took place in 1876, and he was survived by his wife and eight children. the widow is still living, enjoying reasonably good health, and making her home on a farm in Joshua Township. Her father, Daniel Babbitt, is numbered among the early settlers of this county, to which he came in 1827.