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BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY
OF
MARION COUNTY
ILLINOIS
By PROF. J. H. 0. BRINKERHOFF
ILLUSTRATED
F. BOWEN & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA
19O9
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
In writing a history of Marion county it is necessary that the author pre-
sent a brief outline of the history of the state of which the county forms a
part, in order that the reader may refresh his memory of the conditions and
difficulties to be met and overcome by the men and women of an age which de-
manded the best and bravest and called for, not only an indomitable spirit, but a
body as well, inured to privations and hardships, inseparable from a pioneer life.
The youth of today can hardly realize, surrounded as they are by every conve-
nience and many of the luxuries of modern life, the utter lack of conveniences
and comforts that faced the pioneer of a century ago in the then wilderness of
Illinois; and brave, indeed, was the man who with his family traversed the
woodland and the plain to literally hew out with the axe the home which he
must defend with the rifle; upon which he also must largely depend for
sustenance.
Yet it is of these we must write, if we are to preserve the records of our
people and trace the character of the men of today back to its foundation in the
lives of those who have gone before, and instill into the life of coming gener-
ations that love of liberty and independence which characterized the fathers and
made the hardy American pioneer the noblest work of the Creator, unsung he-
roes and heroines whose bones rest peacefully in the soil their energy con-
quered, and left a rich heritage to succeeding generations.
J. H. G. BRINKERHOFF.
INDEX.
Carrigan
County &
Population
H>7 Jollitrt. Clievaiif-r IH Railroads
, : . . . : : ! Kit.e 30
1 . ,
Early Sports ri Public L
: Klnniiincly, . -. - Salem Township
ruindy. Towns! - of Prescii
Kighty-eishth Regiment ml, City <n
'ohm- Mt, Doctor i : ;i Towiisl:
teer iui ^n
Elec.tioua, First :
Expcution. Firsr. LVJW.\ . "i'-'st Regime
ling
Young, Samuel
Abcrua
Andrev
Andert
Adam H . ,
Balriridgn, George P.
Gfeorva R.
Frank A.
Brigham,
HrinkeT'hc
Tlronson.
James, O. A
260
Miles, Celia M
802
Robb, Mary A
. 381
Jennings Family
600
Miller, Charles
! 739
Robinson, Klbridge
. 583
603
Miller Franklin P
691
359
Jennings', Z. C
464
Moehlmann, Henry W
, 372
Rodgers, Benjamin F
,'. 528
Johnson, William T
581
Morris, Ira C
. 599
Rogers, Frank A
, . 252
Jolliff, Samuel A
750
Morris, William
. 377
Rogers, Tilman J ,
. 609
Jones Eli W
585
Morris, Samuel
, 399
Rogier, William B
575
Jones, James R
530
Morrison, Col. Napoleon B.
, 676
Rohl, Robert
, . 698
Jones, J. T
258
Morton, James S
. 58G
Rchrbough, Calendar .
, . 621
Jones, Samuel W
409
Mundwiler, George
, 511
Root, Joseph P
. 649
Jones, William A
542
McBride, H. S
733
Rosborough, J. F
, . 754
Jourdan, Joseph
819
McClelland, Andrew J
, 774
Rose, Wiley
, . 555
Joy, Thomas L
633
McCollum, Metta
. 509
Ross, J. W
, . 791
Joy, Verne E
685
McKee, Robert M
. 798
Ryman, Herbert D
.. 589
Kagy, Shannon
Kagy, Levi Monroe
Kelchner, Henry F
Kell, Charles T
366
421
607
368
McLaughlin, Joseph K. . . .
McMillan, Henry
McNicol, James
McQuinn, Robert T
, 463
. 789
. 618
221
Sanders, Charles C
Sanders, Samuel O
Saxer, Arnold
, . 512
. . 724
. 783
Kell, William R
Kilpatrick, John A
Kimberlin, James Henry . . .
Kline Calvin B
304
810
293
532
Neeper, Andrew
Neal, Thomas B
Netherton, Clark B
558
479
. 775
Schmelzer, John
Schultz, John M
Secor, F. D
See, Charles M
. 667
. . 493
. 643
Knight, George R
Knight, J. F
Kugler, Daniel
Lacey Winfleld S
762
635
758
519
Newman, William D
Nichols, David F
Noleman, Frank F
Norfleet, Benjamin F
Norris, G. E
. 715
396
. 759
477
. 580
See, Henry William, Sr. !i
See, Orcelas
See, Michael
Seley, A. "
Schaffei. J.isi-ph H
". 523
, . 388
,. 404
. 690
606
Lambert, Robert L
Lamblin, Frank P
Lane, Thomas M
392
721)
705
Orr, Hiram
Owens, Sallie
. 332
349
Shanafe)
Schanafe:i. Sa.uuel A
Shirwood. George
'. 498
. 354
. 850
Larimer. John W
Lear, I. D
Leckrone, William
Lederman, Emile R
Legreid, Severt
Leonard, Walter
Leseman, William H
Lewis, James B
442
77H
510
771
795
779
553
246
Pace. H. T
Parkinson, Joseph C
Parkinson, William K
Pan-ill, A. J
Patton, Thomas A
Peddicord, A. M
Peddicord, Andrew M
236
. 484
. 566
. 480
. 432
. 596
768
Shook. Samuel
Simcox, George B
Simer, William J
Singer, Oscar
Sisscn, George W
Skipworth, J. W
Smith, Alex. C
Smith, Benajmin M
. 653
. 313
. . 526
. . 468
. 699
. 544
. 799
. 268
Library, Centralia Public..
Livesay, Alfred
802
f,4l
i 'etrie.. T). S
Perrine. George H
'. 807
Smith, John
Smith, June C
. 525
. 766
Livesay, Harvey R
Livesay, Jackson L
Loomis, Frank
Lovell, Samuel \V.
Lucas, Aml
Luttrell, Thomas .O :
March, John t..,,
Martin, Benjamiii E., Sr. . . .
746
719
459
538
59Y
843
400
234
Pigg. James B
Phillips, Samuel F
Pittenger, Col. George L. . .
Porter, Albert G
Prusz, Frank
Prather, Joseph A
Puffer, Samuel
Pullen, Burden
Purcell, Francis M
. 490
. 686
, 619
. 736
, 452
. 521
. 707
. 364
Snodgrass, John A
Soger, John
Songer, A. W. . . . ,
Stevenson, Noah R
Stonecipher, John S
Stonecipher, Jesse
Stonecipher, Thomas
Storer, B. W
Storment, S. A
.. 711
. 838
. 285
. 346
. 324
. MI;
816
.. 697
. 315
Martin, Gen. Jaraes S
433
Purdue, James F
. o<0
Storment, William T
. 384
Martin, John C
Martin, John E
Martin, Robert
276
429
317
Quayle, J. R
Quick, Albert E
266
. 731
Stratton, George W
Spiese, Wilfred
Swalley, M. V. B
, . 557
. . 387
, . 360
Martin, William j
363
Schwartz Brothers
. 418
Mattinly, Rola.nd W
362
Raines, William F
. 790
Matthews, Leander C
307
Rainey, George S
. 318
May, Harvey D
371
Randall, Alfred J
. 717
Tate, J. W
. . 786
Meartor. Sim. n W
569
Reed, Lewis H
. 659
Telfcrd, Erastuu D
. . 311
Mragher, Tbonms F
711'
Reese, Francis M
. 376
Telford, J D
. . 445
ilank, Cen-
778
Reese, George E
Reichenbach, Jacob J
. 383
. 747
Touve, Jacob
. . 784
Meredith, Theodore F
730
Reinhardt, Julius
. 660
Trenary, G. H
. . 278
Merritt, Thomas E
489
Rennie, J. A
. 389
Tubbs, Harriet/
. . 551
Merritt, Charles D
264
Rhodes, Henry L
. 658
Tufts, C. D. . . i
. . 632
Merz, Wilfred W
Michaels, M. W
290
447
Richardson, James R
Robb, Francis M
. .469
. 617
Utterback, Jeter
.. 218
Van Patten, Martin
Vasel, Harry A
Vawter, John H . . .
Walker, Joseph H . .
Wallis, Matthew S.
Walton, Orville T. .
Warfield, Bowie C.
Warner, Harry M . .
Warner, Perry W . .
Warren, Henry . . .
Watts, Edwin L
Wells, George C . . .
788
723
443
(1 1 r,
7M
768
867
878
729
518
Well, Matthew B
Welton. Edwin L
West, Charles H
Wham, Henderson B. .
Wham, William
Wilkinson, William T.
Wild, Samuel R
Williams, John P
Williams, A. R
Williams, T. W
Wilson, George C
Wilson, Lucian O
Wilson, William G...
845
654
297
474
431
554
744
516
262
243
556
Wright, Newton
Wright, Thomas J. . . .
Wilson, Richard
Woodward, H. N
Woodard, W. R
Woods, Johns
Wooldridge, William C
Wooldridge, James R.
Wyatt, John H
582
494
515
713
836
840
487
336 Young, William J.
RELATED ILLINOIS HISTORY.
Illini, "the river of men," a title of the
confederacy of Indian tribes, occupying the
territory now included within the limits of
the state, which is known by the slightly
changed name, Illinois. Many evidences of
an earlier occupation than that of the red
men are to be found within the borders of
the state, especially along the watercourses,
in the form of earthworks or mounds, many
of which were built with the exactness of
modern science, and give undisputable evi-
dence of a civilization, crude though it may
have been, that evidenced constructive abil-
ity of no mean order, since its traces remain
although the people who wrought are lost
in the darkness of the receding centuries.
The mound builders were, but are not, and
the works of their hands are eloquent with
the silence of the ages, and the red child of
the forest and plain who occupied the land
when the white man first viewed the inland
empire, void of all save savage life, were
as ignorant of who their predecessors were
as we are today, and conjecture is useless,
as it must prove to be only conjecture still.
The reliable history of Illinois begins with
the discovery of the Indian occupants of the
soil by the white men in the year 1673. All
before is myth and mystery, the traditions of
the tribes or the imaginary events of their
people as told by their sages and medicine
men.
Shortly after Columbus had made known
the practicability of a westward passage to
what was thought to be. the Indies, but was
soon discovered to be a hitherto unknown
land, the powers of Europe planned to lay
claim to all they might be able to grasp and
hold, with an exquisite disregard of the
rights of the occupants and of each other.
In 1498 Henry Cabot, sailing under a
commission from Henry VII of England,
laid the foundations upon which was builded
the English claim to Illinois, although no
thought of the vastness of the territory
claimed had occurred to the discoverer or
his sovereign.
France based her claim to what is now
Illinois on the discoveries and explorations
of Verrazanni, who in 1525 explored the
coast from Florida to New Foundland,
claiming all territory included within those
points westward indefinitely.
In 1513 Ponce de Leon discovered Flor-
ida, and as he was an adventurer acting un-
der a grant from the government of Spain,
he, in the spirit of the times, laid claim to all
territory north, south and west, that Spain
might be able to seize and hold, and thus
setting up a right to all North America from
the lakes to the gulf, which shadowy claim
overlapped the claims of both England and
France, which in turn overlapped each oth-
er. No very serious attempt was made, how-
rS
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
ever, by Spain to contest the rights of Eng-
land and France to any part of what is now
Illinois.
The grant, by patent, in 1606, and by
charter, in 1609, by James I of England, to
a company for the purpose of colonizing
Virginia, reinforced England's claim and
as the grant extended from the forty-
fifth degree of latitude on the north
to the thirty-fourth degree on the south
and extended westward to the Pacific
Ocean, it included the territory of
the Illini, although the same territory was
claimed by the French as a part of their new
France.
In 1671, France made a treaty with the
Indian tribes of the West, by which the ter-
ritory west of the Alleghany mountains was
to become French territory, thus reinforc-
ing the claim of France to that which Eng-
land also claimed, but as the English made
no attempt to explore or occupy the North-
west, France took possession without the use
of the sword; although the English never
admitted the French title to be good.
To the spirit of the enthusiasm which filled
the soul of the French missionary priests, and
chevaliers, is due the first exploration of Il-
linois, a passion for the conversion of the
Indians was the motive which induced the
heroic spirits of Marquette, Jolliet and their
co-laborers in the labors, perils, and hard-
ships of a life, devoid of all, that to the most
of mankind is regarded necessary to exis-
tence, regardless of summer's heat, or win-
ter's cold, facing the icy blast that swept
over almost boundless prairies, or the heat-
burdened winds, dangers by flood, dangers
from a lurking, savage host, with their lives
in their hands, these heroes of the Cross
blazed the way to the present greatness of
Illinois.
INDIAN CONFEDERACY.
When the first white men visited Illinois
it was inhabited by five tribes of Indians,
which formed the confederacy of the Illini,
viz: the Mitchiganis, a tribe that had been
admitted to the confederacy from the west
side of the Mississippi river and have left
their impress on the nation in the name of
a great state Michigan.
The Kaskaskias, a powerful tribe, occu-
pied the northern portion of Illinois and
roamed as far south, perhaps, as the present
city of Shelbyville. Their name is perpetu-
ated in the largest river of the state, namely,
the Kaskaskia, or Okaw, and also in the first
capital of the state, now only a memory to be
spoken of more fully with the organization
of the state. The Peorias have their name
perpetuated in the city of Peoria, about
which site the tribe held sway. The Ameri-
can bottoms and eastward were the hunting-
grounds of the Cahokias, and for them is
named the village and creek of Cahokia and
also Cahokia mound. Southeast of the Ca-
hokias roamed the Tammarois, probably
holding what is now Marion county, as their
territory. They are remembered in the name
of the flourishing little city of Tamaroa, in
Perry county. Our state perpetuates the
name of the confederacy, and one of our
principal rivers also is called from it the
Illinois.
The confederacy, if ever strong, had lost
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
its power, to a great extent, at the time the
white men invaded their territory. Having
been a prey to the more warlike, and fiercer
tribes, to the eastward, ten or twelve thou-
sand is perhaps a just estimate of the num-
ber of Indians within the boundary of Illi-
nois, at the time the French explorers first
set foot on the soil; about 1679. Membre
estimates about seven or eight thousand
souls at the principal villages; this number
dwindled until only a remnant remained and
they confined in the southern portion of the
state. The Kaskaskias drifted to the junc-
ture of the Kaskaskia and Mississippi, under
the leadership of their Mission priest, who
had gained considerable influence over them.
This migration took place about the year
170x5, and within forty years the remnants
of the other tribes had been absorbed by
them. A numbering of the tribes in 1736
shows only about six hundred warriors, and
because of the murder of the great chief,
Pontiac, at Cahokia, by an Indian of the
Illini, this number was almost extinguished.
In 1778, Hutchins gives the total number of
the fighting men of all the original tribes of
the Illini at three hundred. In the year 1800,
according to Governor Reynolds, only about
one-half that number remained with Du
Quoin, a French half-breed, as chief. The
name of Du Quoin is perpetuated by the
prosperous city of that name in Perry
county ; after Illinois became a state and the
government of the United States took the
Indian lands by treaty, the miserable rem-
-nant of the Illini was removed to the Indian
Territory, and the new state of Oklahoma
may yet furnish even a president from the
blood of the Illini.
FIRST EXPLORERS.
Father Marquette, the chevalier, Jolliet,
and five other white men, were the first to
explore any part of Illinois, as far as au-
thentic history gives us proof. Marquette
was a Jesuit priest, and while yet a young
man, joined the colony of new France in
what is now Canada. He was filled with a
zeal for the conversion of the Indians that
amounted to a passion such a passion as
makes heroes of men, even though the re-
ward be suffering and death and an unknown
grave. Jolliet was American-born, of the
city of Quebec, and was also educated as a
priest, but became a trader, then an explorer,
and while still a young man, cast his life
with Father Marquette. Together they dis-
covered the "Father of Waters," and for a
considerable distance followed its winding.
On their return they followed the Illinois
river and thus traversed a considerable
portion of Illinois. Marquette died in
the summer of 1675, and other hands
took up his work. In the spring of
the same year a mission was estab-
lished and has had a continued existence
A mission was also founded in 1693 at
Starved Rock and the records of the church
are still preserved. But the field of research
is too rich to be further explored in a work
of this character. Suffice it to say, that the
French, in an early day, left the impress of
their lives and character of the history of II-
2O
RRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
linois, and it is doubtless due to their treat-
ment of the Indian that the soil of Illinois
was not reddened by the white men's blood
until after it had passed out of their control.
Illinois was claimed by the French, and
also by the English. Under the name of
Louisiana, the French claimed the Missis-
sippi country and all lands watered by its
tributaries, in the name of Louis XIV, bas-
ing their claim on the explorations of the
Chevalier, La Salle, who in 1682, set up a
cross and under the flag of France, took pos-
session of the country in the name of his
sovereign, and added this vast but indefinite
territory to new France, thus surrounding
the English from Nova Scotia on the north,
in a great arc, to the mouth of the Missis-
sippi, and these conflicting claims later in-
volved the colonies in three wars, and were
only definitely settled by the expulsion of
the French from Canada. Under the name
of Virginia, after the "Good Queen Bess,"
Illinois was claimed by the English and
made their claim good with the victory of
the English over the French in the last of
the French and Indian wars, in which the
colony of Virginia bore a considerable part,
both in men and money, and in the last of
which a Virginian learned the art of war
against the French, and who afterward, with
French aid, was to defeat the aggressions of
the British crown and give to the world a
new nation, bom of a new idea of human
liberty and human responsibility in a repub-
lican form of government.
THE OLD FORTS.
'When war broke out between France and
Spain, Boisbriant was sent to the Illinois
country to aid in its protection from the
Spaniards who might attack from the south-
west, where they had flourishing missions
and considerable settlements, and the inter-
vening so-called Great Desert was not reck-
oned a barrier awful enough to deter an at-
tack from that quarter by men to whom the
spirit of adventure was the very life. Bois-
briant began the erection of Fort Char-
tres, which for many years was the
strongest fortress in America. Fort Char-
tres was built on the east side of the
Mississippi, seventeen miles northwest from
Kaskaskia. The company of the west,
which had succeeded to the commer-
cial rights of the Louisiana territory,
built their warehouses near the fort also.
Fort Chartres, as described in 1770, con-
sisted of an irregular quadrangle, the sides
of the exterior quadrangle was built of
stone, two feet two inches thick, and four
hundred and ninety feet long and, being
built only for defence against Indian at-
tack, was more than strong enough to re-
sist any assault, except by artillery. There
were two portholes in the faces and two in
each bastion, around the inside, three feet
high, ran a banquette, upon which the men
could stand and fire at the foe through the
loopholes, with which the walls were pierced.
Within the walls, occupying the square, was
the commandant's house, ninety-six feet long
by thirty feet wide and was divided into a
kitchen, a dining room, a bed chamber,
one small room and five closets for the serv-
ants, and beneath a cellar, and here all the
pomp and stilted etiquette of the French
BRIXKERHOKF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
court of that day were strictly enforced, as
far as the circumstances would permit. Also
within the walls was the commissary's house,
an exact copy of the commandant's ; also a
storehouse and guardhouse, each ninety feet
long by twenty-four feet wide. The store-
house was divided into two large rooms and
was built over a large vaulted cellar, a large
room, a bed-room and a closet for the store-
keeper. The guardhouse consisted of a
guard-room for officers and soldiers, a
chapel, a bed-room and closet for the chap-
lain, and an artillery storeroom. Within
the bastion was a prison, a bakehouse and
a powder magazine. The soldiers' barracks
consisted of two rooms each, twenty-five
feet square, with a narrow hall or passage
between. About forty families lived in the
village nearby at the time of the transfer of
Illinois to the English; also the parish
church of St. Anne, under the care of a
Franciscan friar. These, with the excep-
tion of three or four families, removed across
the Mississippi river to live under the flag
of France, rather than remain under the
rule of the English, whom they hated with
an hereditary hatred.
Fort Chartres. in 1756, was nearly one-
half mile from the bank of the Mississippi.
By 1760, the river had washed away the
bank and was now within eighty yards of the
fort. A sand bar had formed and was now
an island, covered with a growth of young
cottonwoods, and the main channel, forty
feet deep, was between it and the fort. In
1772 the American bottom was covered
many feet by a great freshet, and the west
wall of the fort and two of the bastions were
carried away by the flood, and Fort Char-
tres was abandoned by the British garrison,
and the seat of government was removed to
Fort Gage, which occupied a bluff opposite
Kaskaskia on the east bank of the Kaskas-
kia. The remains of Fort Chartres are
but faintly to be traced, and now stand
about one mile from the Mississippi,
that fickle stream having again sought
a passage to the west of the then
sandbar island. A heavy growth of
timber now stands where in 1772 rolled the
turbid waters of the mighty river, and where
once the pioneer, the soldier, and the savage
mingled their joys, their sorrows, and their
fears, peaceful fields lay smiling in a sunny
silence or wrapped in the ever-changing robe
of nature's handiwork.
From 1763 until the War of the Revolu-
tion, the history of Illinois contains nothing
of grave importance, but continued much in
the same condition as before the treaty of
Paris. The Indians, under the guidance of
the priests, were partially tamed and thor-
ougly over-awed and were a sneaking, thiev-
ing set of vagabonds, but too cowardly and
too lazy to be of any serious moment and
as north, east, south and west of the Illini
tribes were fierce, powerful tribes, the Illini
sought the protecting nearness of the white
man.
The scene of the white man's activity had
shifted from the Peoria region, to the mouth
of the Kaskaskia and a church had been
erected on the point of land between the Mis-
sissippi and Kaskaskia rivers and the French
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
town of Kaskaskia became the seat of gov-
ernment, and the center of all social life as
well, while along the river to the . north,
French settlements were established at
Prairie Du Pont and Cahokia, near which it
is thought the first grist and sawmill was
built crude affairs, no doubt, but sufficient
to grind corn and cut plank to supply the
few wants of the settlers.
In 1775 active hostilities broke out be-
tween the English colonies and the mother
country, and the county of Illinois of the
colony of Virginia, was to be involved before
the conflict was brought to a close, although
a bloodless campaign, yet one filled with
hardship, privation and suffering, an account
of which reads like a romance of the heroic
age.
THE CONQUEST OF ILLINOIS.
Old Fort Gage was built on the top of a
bluff, some two hundred feet above the Mis-
sissippi and on the east side of the Kaskas-
kia, about one-half mile from and over-look-
ing the town of Kaskaskia. The town was
built on a tongue of land east of the Missis-
sippi river and west of the Kaskaskia, and
a short distance above the juncture of the
two rivers, and the town was under the di-
rect command of the fort. The fort was
built of huge logs of native wood, squared
and built upon an earthwork. It was two
hundred and eighty feet by two hundred and
fifty-one feet, oblong in form and of sufficient
strength to withstand any attack likely to be
brought against it. In 1772 only one officer
and twenty men composed the garrison. To
such a state of fear had the Indians of the
Illini been reduced that they rather re-
garded the white man as a protector
from the fierce tribes of the north and
east, than as an enemy, and thus
the savage of America, the peasant
of France, the trader and the chevalier
dwelt together, and over all the tolerant rule
of the priest, which was more the rule of a
father than of a master. It is true that a
foreign flag the English waved over
them, but the English rule was not felt so
far from English power, and English domin-
ion was but an empty name, so far as the
people were concerned. From Kaskaskia
two trails led, one to Detroit in the far
north and distant hundreds of miles, with a
wilderness of forest and prairie land between,
over which only the god of silence reigned.
The other led from Kaskaskia to Fort Vin-
cennes on the Wabash, distance about one
hundred and fifty miles direct, but by the
trail considerably farther. Both trails
crossed what is now Marion county, but
slight indications of either trail now re-
main. The French in Kaskaskia had two
well-trained companies of militia in 1772,
which, with the twenty men in Fort Gage,
was the total military strength of the Illi-
nois country. But the Treaty of Paris, in
1763, had forever extinguished the French
claim to the territory, for the possession of
which so much French energy, toil, suffer-
ing and privation had been freely bestowed ;
and never again were the Kaskaskians to see
the Lillies of France wave its protecting
folds over them as the symbol of their coun-
BRINKERIIOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
try. They had accepted British dominion in
good faith, and were, outwardly at least, con-
tent. Rumors of a struggle between the
English colonies, nearly a thousand miles to
the east of them, and the mother country
reached them, but they were secure, for a
wilderness lay between and not even an echo
of the war was likely to reach them to alarm
their fears or disturb their calm. In 1778 a
Frenchman, M. de Rochblave, was in com-
mand at Fort Gage and not a British soldier
was on duty, and the military was French-
men and Breeds, but under the English flag,
acting under the hair buyer of the English
army, General Hamilton's orders, when such
orders reached them, which was at infre-
quent intervals, and this was the situation
when General George Rogers Clark began
the march for the conquest of Illinois.
GENERAL CLARK.
General Clark was born in Albemarle
county, Virginia, November 19, 1752, and
enjoyed only such opportunities to acquire
an education, as the country afforded in that
part of Virginia. He studied surveying and
practiced his profession as opportunity of-
fered until the breaking out of the Dun-
more's war, when he enlisted as a staff offi-
cer, and served in that capacity until the
close of that war, taking part in the cam-
paign on the Scioto river during which un-
fortunate campaign he conducted himself so
gallantly as to attract attention, and for
which conduct he was offered a commission
in the British army, but the spirit of revo-
lution was in the land and the war cloud
threatened, the storm that was to burst into
action at Lexington and to rage over the
colonies through long, weary years, until
the sun of liberty rose resplendent over the
field of Yorktown, and young Clark refused
the offered commission, that his native land
might benefit by his patriotism should she
ever need his brain or brawn. The spirit
of military adventure led him to the fron-
tier, as Kentucky was then, with the expecta-
tion of finding that adventure in the struggle
of that dark and bloody ground, with the
hostile tribes then conducting a merciless
warfare with the settlers. He found the
Kentuckians greatly excited over the ques-
tion as to whether they belonged to Virginia
or as a body of land sharks maintained, be-
longed to North Carolina. Clark was instru-
mental in calling a conference of the settlers,
and a paper was prepared setting forth the
grievances of the pioneers, and Clark and
Gabriel Jones were appointed to lay the
same before the Virginia legislature, and
they started on their perilous journey, but
before reaching the capital they learned the
legislature had adjourned and Jones returned
home, but Clark continued the journey and
visited the Governor, Patrick Henry, who
was sick in Hanover county, Virginia. Gov-
ernor Henry approved of the action of the
Kentuckians and gave Clark a letter to the
council. When the legislature met in the
fall of 1776, Clark and Jones presented their
petition, and in spite of violent opposition by
the land speculators, succeeded in having the
county of Kentucky formed, with boun-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
daries coinciding with those of the present
state, Virginia also presented the new county
with five hundred pounds of powder (noth-
ing- now, but then a pearl of great price), to
the pioneers, as not only their living, but
their life depended upon the use of powder
and ball. Clark was placed at the head of
the Kentucky militia and believing the Brit-
ish at Detroit and Vincennes, as well as Kas-
kaskia, were inciting the Indians to rav-
ish and murder, sent two men More and
Dunn as spies to ascertain the truth of the
reports. They reported great activity among
the militia and Indians. Clark also believed
that the fear of the "Long Knives," as the
Americans were called, and which fear had
been instilled into the French and Indian
mind by the British emissaries, who related
tales of the fierce atrocity of the American
soldiery could be easily overcome by actual
contact and just treatment, began to plan for
the conquest of the Illinois country and to
wrest it from the grasp of the English, and
making it a part of the commonwealth of
Virginia, in fact, as it had been in theory,
since the close of the last French and Indian
war.
General Clark again visited Governor
Henry and captivated that brilliant man with
the plans he had formed and also secured the
powerful aid of Thomas Jefferson, and
Messrs. Wyth and Mason, who pledged
their aid in securing a grant of three hun-
dred acres of land as a bounty to each man
who should take part in the projected cam-
paign. And as the success of the expedi-
tion depended upon all knowledge of its ob-
ject being kept from the British, all pro-
ceedings were taken with the avowed object
of protecting the Kentucky frontiers. Gov-
ernor Henry gave Clark one thousand two
hundred pounds depreciated currency, and
an order on the commandant of Fort Pitt for
ammunition, boats and other necessary
equipments to forward the enterprise, and
also gave him two sets of instructions, one
open and public, the other secret and known
only to Clark and those close to him. The
first set of instructions authorized Clark to
raise seven companies of militia of fifty
men each, for the defense of Kentucky. The
secret intsructions were as follows:
"Lieutenant Colonel George Roger Clark:
"You are to proceed with all convenient
speed to raise seven companies of soldiers, to
consist of 50 men each, officered in the usual
manner, and armed most properly for the
enterprise ; and with this force attack the
British force at Kaskaskia. It is conjec-
tured that there are many pieces of cannon
and military stores to a considerable amount,
at that place, the taking and preservation of
which would be a valuable acquisition to the
state. If you are so fortunate, therefore, as
to succeed in your expedition, you will take
every possible measure to secure the artillery
and stores, and whatever may advantage the
state. For the transportation of the troops,
provisions, etc., down the Ohio, you are to
apply to the commanding officer at Fort Pitt
for boats, and during the whole transaction
you are to take especial care to keep the true
destination of your force secret; its success
depends upon this. Orders are therefore
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
given to Captain Smith to secure the two
men from Kaskaskia. (Evidently More and
Dunn above refered to. Editor.)
"It is earnestly desired that you show hu-
manity to such British subjects, and other
persons as fall into your hands. If the white
inhabitants of that post and neighborhood
will give undoubted evidence of their at-
tachment to this state, for it is certain they
live within its limits, by taking the test pre-
scribed by law, and by every other way and
means in their power, let them be treated as
fellow-citizens, and their persons and prop-
erty be duly respected. Assistance and pro-
tection against all enemies, whatever shall
be afforded them, and the commonwealth of
Virginia is pledged to accomplish it. But
if these people will not accede to these rea-
sonable demands, they must feel the conse-
quences of war, under that direction of hu-
manity that has hitherto distinguished Amer-
icans, and which it is expected you will ever
consider the rule of your conduct, and from
which you are in no instance to depart. The
corps you are to command are to receive the
pay and allowances of militia and to act un-
der the laws and regulations of this state
now in force as to militia. The inhabitants
of this post will be informed by you that in
case they accede to the offers of becoming
citizens of this commonwealth, a proper gar-
rison will be maintained among them, and
every attention bestowed to render their
commerce beneficial ; the fairest prospects be-
ing opened to the dominions of France and
Spain. It is in contemplation to establish a
post near the mouth of the Ohio. Cannon
will be wanted to fortify it. Part of those at
Kaskaskia will be easily brought thither or
otherwise secured as circumstances make nec-
essary. You are to apply to General Hand,
at Pittsburg, for powder and lead necessary
for this expedition. If he can not supply it,
the person who has that which Captain Sims
brought from New Orleans can. Lead is
sent to Hampshire by my orders, and that
may be delivered to you. Wishing you
success, I am your humble servant,
P. HENRY."
It will be seen from the above that the
campaign was to be of such a character
that the men themselves were not to know
more than that the service was to be on the
frontier and against the Indians and British,
as they well knew the British were secretly
in league with the Indians and furnishing
them with the munitions of their cruel and
treacherous warfare.
THE LAST FRENCH FORT.
Clark succeeded in raising three com-
panies, whose rendezvous was Corn Island,
nearly opposite the present city of Louis-
ville, then a wilderness. A part of one
company deserted, but many of them were
induced to return, and with some additional
recruits were formed into a fourth company.
Some seven or eight families with the troops
afterward founded Louisville in 1780. The
four companies totaled one hundred and
fifty-three men and were captained by Jo-
seph Bowman, John Montgomery, Leonard
Helm and Howard Harrod. On the 24th
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
day of June, 1778, as the little army which
was to wrest the empire of Illinois from the
Britton's hand were descending the Falls
of the Ohio, a total eclipse of the sun oc-
curred, and the little band took it as an
omen of success, and that they were to
forever dim the lustre of the British arms
in the Illinois. The voyage down the Ohio
was in keel boats, with a double row of
oars. Working day and night, they ar-
rived at an island near the mouth of the
Tennessee river, where they landed and had
the good fortune to meet with a party of
eight American hunters, who had been at
Kaskaskia a few days before ; Clark induced
them to join the expedition and one of them,
named John Saunders, undertook to guide
the force to Kaskaskia. On the evening of
the same day they ran their boats into a
creek about a mile above Fort Massac, which
at that time was not garrisoned but was
abandoned and falling into decay.
Fort Massac was the last of the French
forts built in the chain of forts extending
from Quebec to New Orleans like a great
bow around the English colonies. It was
built by Lieutenant Massac, in October,
1758, after the taking of Fort Duquesne
by the English, but relinquished when the
Illinois country was ceded to Great Britain
after the fall of Quebec. There is no proba-
bility that the English ever garrisoned it,
and at this time it stood a silent monument
over the dead dream of a French empire in
the new world. On the next morning the
little army took up the line of march for its
objective point, the seat of empire in the Il-
linois. The men were without uniform,
each clad in his own, in the style of the back-
woods of that day, and armed with the
rifle or musket, as circumstances had de-
creed. With ax and hunting knife at their
belt, an undisciplined force, yet all domi-
nated by a master mind and a master pres-
ence in the person of Clark. Kaskaskia was
distant about one hundred and twenty miles,
with an unbroken wilderness between. There
was no trail from Massac to Fort Gage and
each man carrying four days' supply of food,
they set their faces to the northwest and
plunged into the forest that had never
echoed to the tread of the white man's foot.
Through forest dark, dense and tangled,
across glades of intervening prairie lands
which were often covered with reed-like
grasses higher than the head of the tallest
among them, over hill and through valley,
often without water for hours, save only
that which each man carried, under the blaz-
ing of a southern Illinois summer sun, with-
out transportation of any kind, no horses,
no wagons, no tents, no baggage, no artil-
lery; this band of heroes led by a hero,
pressed on. When in the confines of what is
now Williamson county the guide, Saun-
ders, became confused and lost his bear-
ings and the troops believing he was be-
traying them, were on the point of wreaking
summary punishment on him for his sus-
picioned treachery, when he recognized a
point of timber which he said marked the
way to Kaskaskia.
The little band pressed on with clothes
ragged and soiled with the wear of the
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
march and faces scratched and bruised by
brambles and briar, footsore and weary with
the labor of forced marching and want of
proper rest, with only the sod for a bed, and
the canopy of heaven for a covering- when at
night they lay down for a few hours' sleep
in strict silence, not a shot being fired for
fear its echoes might be heard by some
prowler and the news of their approach car-
ried to the enemy, they arrived in the evening
of July 4th at the Kaskaskia river, about
three miles above the village. So secretly
had the expedition been planned and so well
had the secret been guarded that not a whis-
per had reached the ears of Rochblave, who
was in command at Kaskaskia, and who
never dreamed of any attack from the
Americans of Virginia, by way of the Ohio,
as no trail led that way, and one hundred
and twenty miles of wilderness, unbroken,
was thought to be a barrier sufficient to deter
any foe. As soon as the night grew dark
enough to cover the movement of the
troops, Clark divided his command into three
divisions of about fifty men each, and
marched silently to the ferry, about a mile
above the village, where boats sufficient to
carry two divisions across the river were
secured, while the other division was to at-
tack Fort Gage, on the bluff.
The division whose duty was to take the
fort silently crept up to the works and were
admitted, by ruse, and found the command-
ant in bed by the side of his wife, and the
first intimation he had of a foe within a hun-
dred miles was the demand for his surren-
der, which demand was instanly complied
with. The two divisions which crossed the
river surrounded the town and arrested the
authorities. Within fifteen minutes every
street was secured and runners were sent
through the town, warning the inhabitants
to keep within their houses, none being al-
lowed to appear on the streets under penalty
of death. Thus, without the firing of a gun,
without the shedding of one drop of blood,
an empire was added to Virginia, which
was destined to become one of the brightest
stars in the galaxy of states.
By daylight the next morning every in-
habitant had been disarmed and all were in
deadly fear of the terrible Long Knives,
which the British emissaries had taught
them to believe were devils in human
form, and which the harsh orders of
the night, to keep within doors on
pain of death, seemed to confirm.
Captain Helm commanded the division
that captured the town, and the after-
ward celebrated Simon Kenton, that division
which took the fort. As the morning ad-
vanced, the people requested permission to
go to the church for prayer, General Clark
granting them this permission, and when
the whole town had assembled, he took the
opportunity to address them and allay their
fears of personal violence. He assured them
that they came not in a spirit of vengeance,
but as friends, to relieve them from the
thralldom of the British yoke, and assured
them that the rumors that had reached them
of the alliance between France and the colo-
nies were true, and told them if they would
accept the American rule, they should be
28
BRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
treated as brothers, and have all the rights
of Americans. Gladly were the terms ac-
cepted, and beyond doubt faithfully ob-
served, as the dominion of England was
most cordially hated, and today, Illinois has
no more loyal citizens or truer men and
women than the descendants of those who
covenanted fealty to the American cause
with their captor, George Rogers Clark.
THE GARRISON AT FORT GAGE.
From July 4, 1778, until February 7,
1779, Clark, with a portion, at least, of his
followers, remained as the garrison of Fort
Gage, cultivating the most friendly rela-
tions with the inhabitants of Kaskaskia.
The Americans freely mixed with the peo-
ple, and friendship sprung up that later had
an influence in procuring enlistments from
the ranks of the Kaskaskians into the ranks
of the army, which Clark was in contem-
plation of raising, with a view of capturing
Fort Sackville, on the Wabash, about one
hundred and thirty miles to the east, and
north from Kaskaskia.
Clark found a few Americans at Kaskas-
kia, and they, too, aided in cementing the
friendship of the French to the American
cause. He learned that at Cahokia was an-
other party of Americans dwelling in amity
with their French neighbors. On the 5th of
July he sent a detachment of thirty men, un-
der Captain Bowman, to that settlement, and
there the American party was strong enough
to persuade all the villagers to take the oath
of allegiance. The position of Vincennes.
on the road to Detroit, made it important
that that post be held by the Americans.
Clark was assured of the friendly spirit of
the French inhabitants of that village. The
British, with singular lack of judgment, had
withdrawn most of their troops from the
west, and Vincennes was held by only the
local militia, and that was favorably inclined
toward the Americans, and would not make
a very strenuous resistance. Pierre Gibault
was the priest of the parish at Kaskaskia ; he
was much beloved by the inhabitants of the
French settlements, over which he was the
cure, and was to them, indeed, Father Gib-
ault. He was favorably disposed toward the
Americans, and the just treatment of the
French by .Clark made this broad-minded
man a partisan of the Americans. He as-
sured Clark that, as there was no British
force at Fort Sackville, that he could per-
suade the French at Vincennes to cast their
lot with the Americans, and, accompanied by
Dr. Jean Baptiste Lafont, who was to act as
civil magistrate or agent, he journeyed to
distant Vincennes, with a small company of
followers, one of whom was a spy in Clark's
employ. A proclamation was prepared to
the people of Vincennes, reciting the fact
that Governor Hamilton had issued orders
to various officers to assemble savages and
conduct them, and to furnish them with sup-
plies, and incite them to assassinate the in-
habitants of the frontiers, and that these or-
ders were being carried out, and that the
murder of women and children called for
vengeance. It seems to be a fact that Gov-
ernor Hamilton offered a bounty and paid
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
bounties for the scalps, not only of men
killed in battle, but of women and children
as well.
THE PROCLAMATION.
The proclamation, in full, was as follows :
"George Rogers Clark, colonel commanding
the troops of Virginia at the Falls of Ohio
and at the Illinois, etc., addresses the inhabi-
tants of the Post of Vincennes. The inhabi-
tants of the different British posts, from De-
troit to this post, having, on account of their
commerce and position, great influence over
the various savage nations, have been con-
sidered as persons fitted to support the tyr-
annies which have been practiced by the
British ministry from the commencement of
the present contest, the Secretary of State
for America has ordered Governor Hamil-
ton, at Detroit, to intermingle all the young
men with the different nations of savages,
to commission officers to conduct them, to
furnish them all necessary supplies, and to
do everything which depends on him to ex-
cite them to assassinate the inhabitants of
the frontiers of the United States of Ameri-
ca which orders have been put in execution
at a council held with the different savage
nations at Detroit, the I7th to the 24th day
of the month, June, 1777. The murders and
assassinations of women and children, and
the depredations and ravages which have
been committed, cry for vengeance with a
loud voice.
"Since the United States has now gained
the advantage over their British enemies,
and their plenipotentiaries have now made
and concluded treaties of commerce and al-
liance with the Kingdom of France and
other powerful nations of Europe, His Ex-
cellency, the Governor of Virginia, has or-
dered me to reduce the different posts to the
west of the Miami with a part of the troops
under my command, in order to prevent
longer responsibility for innocent blood.
According to these orders, I have taken pos-
session of this fort and the ministrations of
this country and I have caused to be pub-
lished a proclamation offering assistance and
protection to all the inhabitants against all
their enemies and promising to treat them
as the citizens of the Republic of Virginia
( in the limits of which they are, and to pro-
tect their persons and property, if it is neces-
sary, for the surety of which the faith of the
government is pledged provided the people
give certain proofs of their attachment to the
states by taking the oath of fidelity in such
case required, as prescribed by law, and by
all other means which shall be possible for
them, to which offer they have voluntarily
acceded.
"I have been charmed to learn from a let-
ter written by Governor Abbott to M. Roche-
blave that you are in general attached to the
cause of America. In consequence of which,
I invite you all to accept offers hereafter
mentioned, and to enjoy all their privileges.
If you accede to this offer, you will proceed
to the nomination of a commandant, by
choice or election, who shall raise a com-
pany and take possession of the fort and of
all the munitions of the King, in the name of
the United States of America, for the Re-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
public of Virginia, and continue to defend
the same until further orders. The person
thus nominated shall have the rank of cap-
tain, and shall have the commission as soon
as possible, and he shall draw for rations
and pay for himself and company from the
time they shall take the fort, etc., into pos-
session. If it is necessary, fortifications shall
be made, which will be also paid for by the
state.
"I have the honor of being, with much
obedient servant.
"G. R. CLARK."
THE CAPTURE OF VINCENNES.
Father Gibault and Doctor Lafont, with
this proclamation and several letters from
French Kaskaskians, proceeded to Vin-
cennes to make what was to prove a blood-
less capture of Vincennes, which was ef-
fected in a few days by their explaining the
advantage to them and by persuading them,
as Frenchmen, to join with their brothers
on the Mississippi. The entire population,
with a few exceptions, and they British
emissaries, took the oath, the few adherents
of the British immediately leaving the vicini-
ty. The oath subscribed to by one hundred
and eighty-two inhabitants was as follows :
'"You make oath on the Holy Evangel of Al-
mighty God to renounce all fidelity to George
the Third, King of Britain, and to his suc-
cessors, and to be faithful and true subjects
of the Republic of Virginia as a free and in-
dependent state and I swear that I will not
do or cause anything or matter to be done
which can be prejudicial to the liberty or in-
dependence of the said people, as prescribed
by Congress, and that I will inform some
one of the judges of the country of the said
state, of all treasons and conspiracies which
shall come to my knowledge against the said
state or some other of the United States of
America in faith of which we have signed,
at Post Vincennes, July 20, 1778."
Father Gibault and party, with a few of
the inhabitants of Vincennes, returned to
Kaskaskia early in August and brought the
oath of Vincennes and soon the French vil-
lagers were rejoicing over the news that the
Wabash country was with them in the sup-
port of the Americans against the British
This condition was of but short duration.
Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton, late in the
fall, retook Vincennes, and again became a
menace to American interests in the Illinois
country, but owing to the lateness of the sea-
son deferred operations until the next spring
and dispersed the Indians and many of his
troops, but the victory of the soldier of the
Cross, Father Gibault, was not empty, but
bore fruit in the reception of Clark by the
French in his taking of Vincennes.
Clark now saw that he must act before
the British could gather an overwhelming
force in the spring and attack him at Kas-
kaskia, and sent word to the French of Vin-
cennes to expect him, with what troops he
could raise. They kept the expected attack
from the British, and welcomed Clark when
his worn and exhausted soldiers arrived.
When Clark marched his little army from
Massac to Kaskaskia, across the glades and
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
timberlands of Southern Illinois, it was sum-
mer time. Soft winds wafted the perfume of
flower-sprinkled prairies, and the fragrance
of the woodlands about the marching troops,
the water of the streams was comparatively
low and the swamp lands were firmer to the
tread of their moccasin-clad feet. The can-
opy of sky and cloud was covering enough
by night, and while the blazing of a June
sun was far from soothing to spirits or
temper, it was not to be compared to the
hardships to which the troops on the march
to the capture of Vincennes were to en-
counter.
On the morning of February 7, 1779.
General Clark, with his little army partly
made up of re-enlistments from the men who
marched from Massac to Kaskaskia, and
partly of recruits from among the French of
the settlements, set out upon the march to
retake Fort Sackville and Vincennes. They
crossed the River Kaskaskia, or Okaw, as it
is more frequently called, in Marion county,
and followed the old trail, as most writers
affirm (and we see no good reason to think
they are mistaken) ; passing through what is
now Washington county and through the
southern part of Marion county eastward,
crossing many creeks and flatlands, at this
time submerged under the water from one to
four or five feet ; during a February, in this
most changeable climate, carrying their ac-
coutrements in packs on their backs, except-
ing the ever-ready and often necessary rifle,
which was is hand all day and at hand all
night, wet oftimes to the neck, by the icy
waters of a February thaw in southern Illi-
nois, the water-soaked ground, with mayhap
a water-soaked blanket for bed and bedding,
they crossed the Little Wabash in a canoe
they made for that purpose, on the I3th of
February, having built a scaffold on which
to put their baggage to keep it out of the
water. They proceeded as rapidly as the ex-
hausted condition of the troops would admit,
many of whom seemed to be unfit to march
a step farther. At the crossing of the Little
Wabash, Clark cheered them on, and called
to his aid an Irish drummer, celebrated for
his fund of droll and comic songs, the sing-
ing of which, at a time when the men were
chilled almost to freezing by the icy waters
through which they had been wading, some-
times for an hour, up to their armpits, would
put new life into the men, and again they
would struggle on. What a picture ! What
melody can equal the living picture of this
band of heroes or the song of this wild Irish-
man's singing? The painters of the picture
have passed away. The song of the singer is
stilled forever, but truly their works live
after them.
The party, on the i8th, heard the morning
gun of Fort Sackville, at Vincennes, and
when they reached the Wabash, below the
mouth of the Embarrass river, they were ex-
hausted, destitute, and starving literally
starving, with no means of crossing the
river, which was overflowed and was several
miles wide. On the 2oth of February, a par-
ty of French, in a boat, was hailed and came
to the little army. From them Clark learned
that the French of Vincennes were true to
the oath of Vincennes, which thev had taken
INKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
the previous summer, and that the British
garrison had no knowledge of the approach
of the expedition, indeed, had no knowledge
that an expedition had even been planned,
much less had they thought it possible that
men would undertake so hazardous an expe-
dition, and one which, if undertaken, must,
as they thought, result in the death of every
soldier from the hardships of the march.
And now, with the facts before us it seems
to us they accomplished the impossible. By
wading and rafting, they managed to cross
to the highlands, below Vincennes. Clark
immediately sent the following notice to citi-
zens of Vincennes: "To the inhabitants of
Post Vincennes: Gentlemen: Being now
within two miles of your village, with my
army, determined to take your fort tonight,
and not being willing to surprise you, I take
this method to request such of you as are
true citizens, and would enjoy the liberty I
bring you, to remain, still, in your houses.
Those, if any there be, that are friends to the
King, will instantly repair to the fort and
join the hair-buyer general, and fight like
men and such as do not go to the fort, and
shall be discovered afterwards, they may de-
pend on severe punishment. On the contra-
ry, those that are true friends to liberty shall
be treated as friends deserve. And once
more I request them to keep out of the
streets, for everyone I find in arms on my
arrival I shall treat as an enemy.
"G. R. CLARK."
Clark's army, consisting of one company
from Cahokia, commanded by Captain Mc-
Carty, and one company from Kaskaskia.
commanded by Captain Charleville, and
were composed of French, and the rest,
about seventy men, were Americans of his
old command, in all not over one hundred
and seventy men, were made to appear to the
villagers' minds as much greater by this pe-
culiar note, and to still further deceive them
and to make the garrison believe a large
force was about to attack them, Clark
marched his men back and forth among some
mounds in the prairie, changing the flags,
so that the British believed many times the
true number of fierce Kentuckians were
about to assail them, as the British only
knew them as Kentucky bordermen, and
had no thought that more than half were
Illinois French. At about sunset on Febru-
ary 23d, Lieutenant Baylay was sent with
fourteen men to make an attack on the fort.
He led his men to about thirty yards of the
fort, where they lay concealed behind a bank
of earth, protected from the guns of the fort.
Every one of the Americans was an expert
rifleman, and whenever a porthole was
opened a storm of bullets whistled in, killing
or wounding the men at the guns, so that
none would work the cannon. At nine in
the morning of the 24th, while his men were
eating the first breakfast they had had for
several days, Clark sent the following note
to the British commandant:
"Sir: In order to save yourself from the
impending storm which now threatens you,
I order you immediately to surrender your-
self, with all your garrison, stores, etc. If
I am obliged to storm, you may depend upon
JRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
33
such treatment alone, as is justly due a
murderer. Beware of destroying stores of
any kind, or any papers or letters that are in
your possession, or hurting one house in
town, for, by heaven, if you do, there shall
be no mercy shown you.
"G. R. CLARK"
This note may seem brutal to modern
minds, but when it is remembered that it was
addressed to a man who was paying a boun-
ty to the merciless savage as a reward for
the murder, not only of the American men,
but of helpless women and innocent chil-
dren, it is not too harsh. Governor Ham-
ilton was deeply impressed by this note, it
is certain, by the meek reply returned by
him, which is as follows:
"Governor Hamilton begs leave to ac-
quaint Colonel Clark that he and his garri-
son are not to i>e awed into any action un-
worthy of British subjects."
About midnight, of the 23d, Clark had cut
a ditch near the fort, and in it, secure from
the guns of the fort, the riflemen lay, with
watchful eye and unerring aim. They
poured in a steady fire, and in fifteen min-
utes had silenced two pieces of artillery and
killed every gunner approaching them or had
driven them away from their guns, horror-
stricken, at the certainty of death or of
wounds, if but the smallest portion of their
person was exposed but for an instant. This
terrible fire was kept up for eighteen hours.
This incessant fire convinced the garrison
that they would be destroyed, and Governor
Hamilton sent Clark the following note :
3
"Governor Hamilton proposes to Colonel
Clark a truce of three days, during which
time, he promises, that there shall be no de-
fensive work carried on in the garrison, on
condition that Colonel Clark will observe,
on his part, a like cessation of offensive
works, that is, he wishes to confer with
Colonel Clark, as soon as can be, and prom-
ises that whatever may pass between them
two and another person, mutually agreed on
to be present, shall remain secret until mat-
ters be finished, as he wishes whatever the
result of the conference may be, it may tend
to the honor and credit of each party. If
Colonel Clark makes a difficulty of coming
into the fort, Lieutenant-Governor Hamil-
ton will speak to him by the gate.
"HENRY HAMILTON."
February 24, 1779.
Clark replied :
"Colonel Clark's compliments to Governor
Hamilton, and begs to say that he will not
agree to any terms other than Mr. Hamilton
surrendering himself and garrison at dis-
cretion. If Mr. Hamilton wants to talk
with Colonel Clark, he will meet him at the
church, with Captain Helm."
A conference was held and Clark de-
manded a surrender, otherwise he threatened
to put the leaders to the sword for the gold
paid for American scalps. He was in earn-
est and the garrison so understood. In an
hour Clark dictated the following terms of
surrender, which Hamilton accepted:
34
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
"First Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton
agrees to deliver up to Colonel Clark, Fort
Sackville and all the stores, etc.
"Second The garrison to deliver them-
selves as prisoners of war, and to march out
with their arms and accoutrements.
"Third The garrison to be delivered up
by tomorrow, at ten o'clock.
"Four Three days are allowed the gar-
rison to settle their accounts with the inhabi-
tants and traders.
"Fifth The officers of the garrison are to
be allowed their necessary baggage.
"Signed at Post Vincennes, this 24th day
of February, 1779.
"Agreed to for the following reasons :
First, remoteness from succor; second, state
and quantity of provisions; third, the unan-
imity of the officers and men in its expedi-
ency: fourth, the honorable terms allowed,
and lastly, the confidence in a generous ene-
my.
"HENRY HAMILTON.
"Lieutenant-Governor and Superintendent.''
On the 25th, this surrender took place.
Fifty thousand dollars' worth of arms and
stores were turned over to Clark. Governor
Hamilton, Major Hay and some other offi-
cers were sent under guard to the capital of
Virginia, seventy-nine prisoners were pa-
roled and sent to Detroit. Thus ended the
conquest of Illinois, for Vincennes in the
hands of the enemy, could control, and the
conquest was completed by Illinois troops
for liberty, honor and glory of Illinois. The
heroes of that day sleep in the soil of the
land they loved and their descendants loving
it as well as they, stand ready to protect it
under all circumstances, with a devotion as
heroic as animated their fathers.
ILLINOIS COUNTY.
In 1878, all the country embraced in the
triangle formed by the great lakes on the
north, the Ohio on the east or southeast, and
the Mississippi on the west, was known as
the Illinois county, and John Todd was ap-
pointed by the Virginia legislature as
"County Commandant." By act of con-
gress, September 6, 1780, all states holding
waste or unappropriated lands, in the west-
ern country, were requested to relinquish all
claims to the same to the United States. On
January 2, 1781, Virginia made a cession of
her claims to the Illinois territory, under cer-
tain stipulations, which were accepted, and
the Northwest Territory was formed. By the
Ordinance of 1787, provisions were made
that not less than three, nor more than five,
states should be formed from this territory :
"The eastern state shall be bounded by the
Mississippi, the Ohio, and the Wabash riv-
ers, and a direct line drawn from Post Vin-
cennes north to the boundary line between
the United States and Canada." This includ-
ed Illinois and Wisconsin of today. The ordi-
nance provided for a governor, a secretary
and a court composed of three judges. The
governor and the judges, or a majority of
them, had power to make laws, subject to
approval by Congress, until a General As-
sembly should be organized. The Governor
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
35
was also commander-in-chief of the militia,
with the customary powers of such com-
mander.
On February ist. General St. Clair was
appointed Governor of the Northwest Ter-
ritory, after the revision of the Ordinance
of 1787, and its acceptance by Virginia,
St. Clair was re-appointed, and the seat of
government was established at Marietta,
Ohio. In the spring the Governor visited
Illinois and established a county, named
after himself, and was the first county estab-
lished in what is now Illinois. It covered
about one-fourth of the present state, and
embraced the present county of Marion. The
St. Clair county boundary was as follows:
"Beginning at the mouth of the Little Mich-
ilnakinack river, thence running southerly
in a direct line to the mouth of the little
river above Fort Massac, upon the Ohio
river; thence with the said river to its junc-
tion with the Mississippi, thence up the Mis-
sissippi to the mouth of the Illinois river,
to the place of beginning, with all the adja-
cest islands of said rivers Illinois and Mis-
sissippi." At this time the entire population
of Illinois was estimated at two thousand.
The same year that St. Clair county was or-
ganized, a belief in witchcraft was prevalent
among the French inhabitants of the Bot-
toms, as the flatland between the Mississippi
river and the bluffs is called, led to the
hanging of one negro and the shooting of
another for being witches. Singularly
enough, the belief confined the evil power to
African negroes, and not even the negro of
American birth was capable of becoming a
witch. This delusion never made much
headway, as the good sense of the better edu-
cated French and of the Americans put a
stop to such utter foolishness. In 1795, St.
Clair county was divided, and the southern
part was called Randolph county.
Marion was still a part of St. Clair Coun-
ty. These two counties were the only organ -
ized counties in Illinois. In 1800, what is
now the State of Ohio was cut off from the
Northwest Territory, and the rest of the
Northwest was erected into the Indiana Ter-
ritory, and Gen. W. H. Harrison, afterward
President, was appointed Governor, with
Vincennes as seat of government, and Illi-
nois sent delegates to the territorial assembly
at Vincennes. In 1809, Indiana Territory
was divided, and Illinois Territory was cre-
ated, its eastern boundary, as now, but ex-
tending north to the Canadian line. Ninian
Edwards was appointed Governor. At this
time Illinois contained about twelve thou-
sand people. In 1812, Illinois was made a
territory of the second-class and three new
counties formed from the original St. Clair.
viz: Gallatin, Johnson and Madison. New
counties were rapidly formed: Edwards, in
1814; White, in 1815; Jackson and Pope, in
1816; Crawford, in 1816; Bond, in 1817;
Franklin, Union and Washington, in 1818,
all carved out of the original St. Clair.
WHEN ILLINOIS WAS ADMITTED TO THE
UNION.
In 1818, Illinois was admitted into the sis-
terhood of states, but from the time of the
close of the Revolution to the admission of
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
the state, much interest to the citizens of Ma-
rion county took place. The settlements
were growing away from the Missisippi,
farther and farther toward the interior, and
a tide of immigration had set in, mostly
from Virginia and the South. Indian depre-
dations continued until the victory of "Mad
Anthony" Wayne broke their spirit, after
which only widely scattered murders were
committed, but some of these were most
cruel and were generally swiftly and ter-
ribly punished.
The first lawyer in the country was John
Rice Jones; the second, Isaac Darnelle, and
the first regular minister of the Protestant
faith was James Smith, a Baptist preacher,
from Kentucky, who came in 1787, to New
Design. Before his advent, in fact, in 1781,
the families of J. Moore, Shadrack Bond,
Robert Kidd, James Garrison, Larkin Ruth-
erford and J. Piggott arrived and settled
near the New Design. In 1785 they were
joined by the families of Captain Joseph
Ogle, Joseph Worley aend James Andrews.
In 1786 they were joined by James Lemon.
Sr., James McRobirth, George Atcheson,
and David Waddle, and they, or descendants
from nearly every family, had much to do
with the development of Marion county, and
many of their descendants now reside within
its borders. None of the above were mem-
bers of any church, but had been trained up
by moral and religious parents, and had been
taught to regard with reverence the day set
apart to the Lord's service. They met on
Sundays at the various houses alternately,
and services were conducted by Shadrack
Bond, Junes Piggott, and James Lemon.
who read the Scriptures, especially the
Psalms, read sermons from books, and sung
hymns. No prayers were offered at these
meetings, but order and morality were pro-
moted. When Smith came, in 1787, he
preached much to the people and was very
successful in his labors ; many of the leading
pioneers were converted, among whom were
James Ogle and James Lemon. Elder Smith
went back to Kentucky, but returned again
in 1790, and many more became deeply in-
terested in the Gospel.
On May iQth, Mr. Smith, with a Mrs.
Huff and a Frenchman, on going to the lit-
tle village, were fired on by a party of Kick-
apoo Indians. Mrs. Huff was wounded,
Smith's and the Frenchman's horses were
wounded. Smith threw his saddlebags in
the brush and crawled to the edge of the
bluff, where he prayed while the Indians
were murdering Mrs. Huff. The French-
man made his escape. Smith, who was a
large, portly man, was captured, and loaded
with spoils, was forced to rapid inarching,
and soon grew fatigued. The Indians held
a consultation and some proposed to kill
him. He opened his coat and dared them
to shoot, pointing upward. The supersti-
tions of the Indians were aroused, and as
they had found him praying, they thought
he must be a great medicine man that held
converse with the Great Spirit. They took
him to their town on the Wabash (probably
Prophets' Town), where some French
traders, from Vincennes, interceded and pro-
cured his release, the people of New Design
paying one hundred and seventy dollars-
ransom. The second minister was Rev.
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
37
Joseph Lillard, who came to Illinois in 1793.
He formed a class and appointed Capt. Jo-
sephus Ogle class leader. Several of the de-
scendants of Mr. Ogle now reside in Marion
county. The next preacher who visited Illi-
nois was. Rev. Josiah Dodge, who was on a
visit to his brother, Dr. Israel Dodge, who
was the father of Governor Dodge. Mr.
Dodge preached frequently for the people,
who were without a minister (Smith and
Lillard both being in Kentucky), and in
February, he baptized James Lemon and his
wife, Catharine, John Gibbons and Isaac
Enoch, the ice in Fountain creek being cut
that the ceremony might be performed.
Governor Reynolds says these were the first
persons ever baptized in Illinois (See
Pioneer History).
For the next two years there was no min-
ister in Illinois. The Methodists and Bap-
tists were not organized, but united to hold
prayer meetings from house to house. At
these meetings sermons were read, the Scrip-
ture was also read, prayers offered, and
hymns of praise sung to the God whom they
worshiped in their sincere, though primi-
tive way and in whom they implicitly
trusted. In 1796 the first Protestant churcli
in Illinois was established by Elder David
Badgley and Lay Elder Joseph Chance, with
twenty-eight members. The church was
also called New Design church. Mr. Chance
left numerous descendants, many of whom
reside in Marion county; some have lived
here more than sixty years and are among
those who helped make the country what it
is. This family will be more fully treated
in the chapters devoted to the county after its
organization. William Riggs came in 1803,
and was long a local preacher in the Metho-
dist church. Benjamin Young came to Illinois
in 1804 as a missionary and was the first
Methodist circuit rider under the direction
of the conference, and from this time on
there were supplied by immigration, minis-
ters enough to meet the growing demand
for religious teaching.
DEPREDATIONS OF INDIANS.
The War of 1812, so-called, was ushered
in as early as 1807 by Indian depredations
in the northwest, and in consequence, the
settlements of Illinois were in constant alarm
and required constant vigilance on the part
of the settlers. Soon after the establish-
ment of the Illinois Territory, Ninian Ed-
wards, of Maryland, was appointed Gov-
ernor. He was a lawyer, and had been for
some years living in Kentucky, where he
had become Chief Justice of the Court of
Appeals, and upon the recommendation of
Henry Clay, President Madison appointed
him Governor of the new territory. He was
reappointed in 1812 and served until the
state was admitted in 1818. He was then
elected one of the first Senators from the
state, Jesse B. Thomas being the other.
In 1811 the Indians became more trouble-
some and Governor Edwards used his
utmost power to protect the settlers, but
their safety was largely dependent upon
themselves. Companies of rangers were
formed and captains chosen and self-pro-
JRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
tection was the entire object of all military
organizations, which were indeed of the
very loosest sort, and no man was a soldier
or ranger save from choice. But by con-
stant watchfulness and prompt action, the
Indian murders were kept to an increditably
small number, under the circumstances.
Until 1799 the public lands could not be
sold in tracts of less than four thousand
acres. In 1799 General Harrison, after-
ward elected President, was elected delegate
to Congress, and succeeded in having a bill
passed permitting tracts of four hundred
and twenty acres to be sold, and afterward
this amount was reduced to forty acres as
the minimum amount of public land that
could be sold. The reduction of the amount
of land that could be bought from the pub-
lic domain was an important factor in the
growth of the territory, and immigration
was greatly stimulated.
In 1810 the census returned 12,282 inhab-
itants in Illinois, and this number increased
so rapidly that in 1818 the population had in-
creased to such an extent that the territory
was admitted into the Union as a sovereign
state. In 1820 the censusgave Illinois 55, 211.
The act admitting the state was passed
April 1 8, 1818. A convention was held in
Kaskaskia, and a state constitution was
framed, which was adopted August 26,
1818, and ratified by Congress on the 3d of
December following.
An election for state officers had been held
in the meantime and Shadrack Bond was
chosen Governor, and Pierre Menard, Lieu-
tenant-Governor. Governor Bond was in-
augurated on the 6th of October, 1818.
Kaskaskia was chosen capital of the new
state, and a new era was thus entered upon
by the people of what was soon to be one
of the great states of the American Union.
The counties of Alexander, Clark, Jeffer-
son and Wayne were formed in 1819, and
the county of Marion was a part of Jeffer-
son as then formed. The first Legislature
also selected Vandalia as the capital of the
state and the government was moved to that
place in 1820. In 1821 the counties of Law-
rence, Greene, Sangamon, Pike, Hamilton,
Montgomery and Fayette were formed.
The state now had twenty-six counties all
east and south of the Illinois river, and con-
fined to the southern half of the state, except
Pike, which embraced all of the state west
and north of the Illinois. Pike county was
more than one-third of the state in extent,
had a population in 1823 estimated at seven
or eight hundred, and Chicago, then a vil-
lage of Pike county, had about twelve
houses and about seventy inhabitants, and
now, only eighty-eight years after, that
same village of Pike numbers its people by
millions, and its commercial transactions af-
fect the markets of the world.
The first legal execution in the new state
took place at Belleville on the 3d day of
August, 1821. The circumstances leading
to the hanging were as follows : On March
8, 1819, on an occasion of a gathering of a
large number of people at Belleville, a scheme
was proposed to have a sham duel between
Alonzo C. Stuart and Timothy Bennett.
Everybody, save Bennett, understood it to
BRIXKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
39
be a hoax, for the purpose of getting a
laugh at Bennett's expense. The second?,
Jacob Short and Nathan Fike, pretended to
load the rifles, but did not put bullets in
t'lem, but Bennett, suspicious of foul play,
slipped a bullet in his gun. The principals
were placed forty yards apart, and at the
word "fire," Stuart was shot in the breast
and killed. Bennett broke out of the Belle-
ville jail and escaped, but was afterwards
captured and excuted after due trial. Thus
a foolish practical joke caused the death of
two good citizens, as citizens go, and the
remorse and regret of many others. At the
court convicting Bennett, John Reynolds
was Judge, W. A. Beard, Sheriff, and John
Hay, Clerk.
Edward Coles was elected Governor in
1822; there were three other candidates,
and the votes were so nearly equally divided
that out of 8,606 votes cast, Coles received
only 2,854 votes, yet he was elected by a
plurality. This campaign was on the
slavery issue, and although the Ordinance
of 1787 prohibited slavery, yet it kept agi-
tating the politics of the state from time to
time. Coles was anti-slavery, as was one
of the other candidates. The administration
of Governor Cole was a good one, although
somewhat troublous on account of vigorous
opposition to his plans for public improve-
ments. In 1825, General LaFayette visited
the state, being entertained at Kaskaskia.
and later at Shawneetown. During the year
1823, Edgar county was formed, January
3d; Marion county, January 24th; Fulton,
January 28th, and Morgan, January 3ist.
MARION COUNTY IN 1823.
Marion county was erected from the
north half of Jefferson county, of which it
formed a part. The bill creating Marion
county was introduced by Zadoc Casey, Rep-
resentative from Jefferson, who was instru-
mental in having it named after his father's
revered and beloved commander of the Rev-
olution, under whom he had served in the
Carolinas. The full text of the act creating
the county is as follows :
AN ACT ESTABLISHING MARION COUNTY.
"SECTION i. Be it enacted by the people
of the State of Illinois represented in the
General Assembly, That all that tract of
country lying within the following boun-
daries, to-wit : Beginning where- the base
line intersects the third principal meridian;
thence north along said third principal meri-
dian twenty-four miles; thence east along
the lines dividing townships four and five
twenty-four miles to the range line dividing
ranges four and five east ; thence south with
the said range line twenty-four miles to the
base line; thence west to the place of begin-
ning, shall constitute a separate county, to
be called Marion.
"SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That
for the purpose of fixing the permanent seat
of justice for said county, the following per-
sons are appointed commissioners, viz: An-
drew Bankson, William Hicks and John G.
Fitch, which said commissioners or a major-
ity of them, being first duly sworn before
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
some judge or justice of the peace, in this
state, faithfully to take into view the con-
venience of the people, the situation of the
settlement, with an eye to the future popu-
lation, and the eligibility of the place, shall
meet on the second Monday in May next,
at the house of James Roberts, in said coun-
ty, and proceed to examine and determine
on the place for the permanent seat of jus-
tice, and designate the same; provided the
proprietor or proprietors of the land shall
give to the said county, for the purpose of
erecting public buildings, a quantity of land
not less than twenty acres, to be laid out in
lots and sold by the county commissioners
for that purpose; but should the proprietor
or proprietors of the land refuse or neglect
to make the donation aforesaid, then, and
in that case, it shall be the duty of the com-
missioners to fix on some other place for the
seat of justice of said county, as convenient
as may be to the inhabitants of said county,
which place being fixed and determined
upon, the commissioners shall certify under
their hands and seals, and return the same to
the next county court, in the county afore-
said, which court shall cause an entry thereof
to be made in their books of record.
"SEC. 3. Be it further enacted. That
until public buildings shall be erected for the
purpose, the courts shall be held at the
house of James Young, in said county.
"SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That
the said county shall constitute a part of the
second judicial circuit, and circuit courts
shall be holden therein at such times as may
hereafter be fixed bv law.
"SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That
an election shall be held at the house of
James Young on the second Monday of
April next, for one sheriff, one coroner, and
three county commissioners for said county,
who shall hold their offices until the next
general election, and until their successors
be qualified, and that James Roberts, Joseph
Hensley and Joshua Piles be judges of said
election; provided, that said judges may ap-
point their own clerk and that said election
shall in all respects be conducted according
to the provisions of an act regulating elec-
tions, passed at the last session of the Gen-
eral Assembly.
"SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That
the citizens of Marion county shall vote for
senators and representatives to the General
Assembly in conjunction with the citizens
of Jefferson and Hamilton, at such precincts
as may be laid off by their county commis-
sioners agreeable to law.
"SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That
each of the commissioners appointed to fix
the county seat of Marion county shall re-
ceive a compensation of two dollars per day
for each and every day they may be neces-
sarily employed in performing that duty.
"Approved January 24, 1823.
"EDWARD COLES, Governor."
THE COUNTY'S POPULATION.
There were only about five hundred inhab-
itants in the county when it was established,
as the record of a census of the county, taken
in 1825, by R. C. Chance, and filed with the
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
county clerk November 26, 1825, shows the
total population to be five hundred and fifty-
seven, of which two hundred and seventy-
three were white males, two hundred and
eighty-two white females, and one negro
man and one negro woman slaves.
There were one hundred and four heads of
families, including five widows. The heads
of families in the county were as follows :
Samuel Huff, Isaac McClelland, Eli Mc-
Kinney, James Martin, Samuel Martin,
James Young, Mathew Young (son of
Samuel), Aaron Hicks, Ebenezer Daggett,
Henry Lee, Dorcas Tully, Christiania Tul-
ly, Malachi Ware, Michael Radcliffe, Wil-
liam Carrigan, D. R. Chance, Henry
Walker, William Taylor, Simon Albert,
Richard Piles, William Albert, Hardy Fos-
ter, Thos. Neal, John S. Davis, Thos. Ful-
ton, William King, Darrington Baldridge,
William Pursley, John Davidson, Samuel
Davidson, Green Depriest, John Warren,
Robert Nichols, James Piles, Henry Mc-
Donald, Jesse Griffin, William Gunnerson,
John W. Nichols, William Marshall, Joseph
Hensley, Isam Watson, Robert Snodgrass,
John Wilson, John Phillips, John Edington.
Montgomery Ingram, Nathan Huff, Jesse
Nichols, Zadock Phelps, Henry C. Nichols,
Rufus Ricker. Leonard P. Piles, Mark Tul-
ly. John Tully, William Nichols. Thomas
Ash, Robert Nichols, George Kell, William
Gaston, Henry Rodes, Jacob Fulfer, Mary
Caleton, William Ingram, Cowles Dunham,
Isaac Fulfer, William Baldwin, Patrick
Cowen, David Fulton, Abram Romine,
James Goudy, Rosana Fulton, John Boucher,
Chatsworth P. Black, Samuel Eblen,
John Eblen, Israel Jennings, Caswell Wan-
teres, Robert Bandy, Dorcas Bandy, J. P.
Gaines, Jacob Albert, Samuel Shook, Lethe
Dunkin, Nathaniel Litterell, Alfred Ray,
Henry Ware, William Tully, Pegg Brack,
Thomas How, Solomon Allen, Benjamin
Vermillion, Frederick Phelps, John Little.
Thomas Parkinson, Daniel Phelps, Wiley
Burton, G. Burton, Lodrick Phelps, John
Coles, Robert Man, Polly McKinney,
Charles Radcliffe, Josiah Fykes and
Rogers.
At this time there were but one hundred
and seventeen voters in the county. Money
was scarce and stock low in price, a good
cow not being worth more than from six to
ten dollars, and horses from twenty to forty
dollars; hogs at two cents per pound were
considered well sold, and grain in propor-
tion. Of the entire population, only one was
a mechanic G. Burton, who was a black-
smith all the rest were farmers and more
or less hunters, both as a pastime and as a
means of adding to the family larder.
IS SQUARE IN SHAPE.
Marion county is a square of twenty-four
miles on each side and has for its west line
the third principal meridian of the United
States survey, from which the ranges, every
six miles east and west, are numbered. Its
south line is the base line of the government
survey from which the towns are numbered
every six miles north and south, and con-
tains sixteen townships, six miles square, of
WNKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
thirty-six sections each, each section being
one mile square and contains six hundred
and forty acres, so the township contains
twenty-three thousand and forty acres and
the county, three hundred and sixty eight
thousand six hundred and forty acres, near-
ly every acre of which is susceptible of culti-
vation, and would support a population of
many times that now dwelling within its
borders. The towns are in all government
surveys and are numbered north and south
from the base line and the ranges east
and west from the principal meridian,
so that the southwest township is town
one, north, and range one, east. The town
north of this is town two, north, range one,
east; the next north is town three, north,
and range one, east, and the next town still
furher north is town four, north, and range
one, east, which is the northern town in
range one, in Marion county. Then again,
beginning at the base line with town one
north, and range two, east, until we reach
town four, range two, east, when again the
numbers begin on the base line with town
one, north, and range three, east, and so on
until town four, north, and range four, east,
is reached, which is the town lying in the
northeast corner of the county. The county
is, therefore, one of the few in the state that
is a perfect square. The sixteen school, or
government survey townships, are the same
in boundary and extent as the civil towns, ex-
cept townships 2 north, i east, which is di-
vided north and south through the center
into the towns of Odin and Sandoval, each,
three miles wide from east to west, and six
miles long from south to north.
The county is about two-thirds timber
land and one-third prairie, and the soil is
well adapted to all the productions of the
central temperate zone. Corn is grown in
considerable quantities, and wheat was, until
within a few years, extensively raised, but
for some reason a comparatively small acre-
age is now sown. The timber land was
thickly covered with a magnificent growth
of oaks, white, black, red ; of hickory ; wal-
nut, and maple, with numerous other woods
in lesser quantities, but these forests have
now largely disappeared and the timber of
today in this county consists mostly of elm,
sycamore and such other wood which the
pioneer regarded of no value, but which the
present owners hold as an item of consider-
able value. Small fruits thrive and produce
abundantly, so much so that the Illinois Cen-
tral and the Chicago & Eastern Illinois rail-
ways run fruit cars, and even trains, during
the season, to carry these products of the
garden and field to the markets of Chicago.
In some parts of the county vegetables:
beans, peas, beets, cabbage, etc., are raised
for shipment and usually bring fair returns
to their producers, while strawberries flour-
ish to such an extent that Centralia, in the
southwestern part of the county, is known
far and near as the "Queen of the Straw-
berry Belt." While several canning fac-
tories consume the product of many hun-
dreds of acres planted to tomatoes, beans,
corn, etc., all of which industries will be more
particularly described under the head of the
several townships. The county government
was at first under the system of County
Commissioners or, as they were called, coun-
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
43
ty judges. It will be remembered that An-
drew Bankson, William Hicks and John G.
Fitch were appointed commissioners to se-
lect a county seat and that an election was
held on the second Monday in May, 1823,
and that all the voters of the county cast
their votes at one polling place, viz : the
house of James Young, at which election,
John Edington, Benjamin Vermillion and
John Walling were elected and constituted
the first Board of Commissioners. They re-
ceived this certificate of election: "We do
hereby certify that John Edington, Benja-
min Vermillion and John Walling were
duly elected County Commissioners for the
county of Marion, at an election held at the
house of James Young, on Monday, the I4th
of April, 1823. Given under our hands
this day, above written.
"JAMES ROBERTS,
"JOSEPH HENSLEY,
"JOSHUA PILES,
"Judges."
"WILLIAM MARSHALL,
"AARON HICKS,
"Clerks."
The three commissioners took the oath of
office, which was administered by Rufus
Ricker, whom they in turn appointed Clerk
of the Commissioners' Court, or in other
words, the County Clerk. Ricker-filed his of-
ficial bond with Jesse Roberts as bondsman.
William Marshall was appointed County
Treasurer, his bondsmen were Jesse Roberts
and John Edington, and the bond was in the
penal sum of two thousand dollars, which
was quite enough when we consider that the
total value of all the property in the county
was less than fourteen thousand dollars at
this time. The same parties also went on the
bond of Jesse Wade, who was appointed
constable for East Fork. William Marshall
was recommended to the Governor as a fit-
ting citizen to be appointed justice of the
peace for the east fork of the county, and
John Walling for the Middle settlement.
The county was divided into two districts,
known as the North and South districts.
The dividing line was as follows : beginning
where Crooked creek crossed the third prin-
cipal meridian on the west line of the county,
thence up the said Crooked creek to the
range line between towns two and three,
thence east to the east line of the county.
In that day there was always present at
the humble fireside of the settler a spectre of
dread, and although no Indian troubles were
at that time existing near the county, yet
well they knew that some thieving band
might at any time commit some overt act,
hoping to escape to their towns in northern
Indiana, Wisconsin or Canada unless over-
awed by a show of military preparation for
pursuit and punishment. The County Com-
missioners ordered that all citizens subject
to military duty be organized and divided
into two companies, one in the North district
and one in the South district; also than an
election of officers be held on the 28th day
of June, in the South district at the house
of Joseph Hensley, and that Dornton Bald-
ridge, Samuel Huff and Samuel Martin act
as judges ; and on the same day, in the North
district, at James Roberts' with Alark Tully,
44
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Aaron Hicks and William Nichols as
judges. Unfortunately no record of the re-
sult of these elections is obtainable at the
present day. Samuel Huff and John Wilson
were appointed overseers of the poor for
the South district and William Nichols and
William Davidson, in the North district.
The first order for making an assessment for
a tax levy was also made on the second day
of June, 1823, and the assessor was ordered
to list for taxation. horses, cattle, sheep, hogs,
distilleries, pleasure carriages, indentured
servants and slaves, and that he extend the
tax at one-half of one per cent, at this
first meeting of the Commissioners, viz : on
June 2, 1823. The commissioners to select
a county seat, made their report. It was in
ful as follows:
"Marion Co., 111., May 13, 1823.
"We, the commissioners who were ap-
pointed by the legislature of the state of Il-
linois, to fix the seat of justice for the coun-
ty of Marion, after being duly sworn, ac-
cording to law, have proceeded to view the
situation of the county, and after examin-
ing the donations offered, have decided that
the permanent seat of justice shall be fixed
on the east half of Section n, in Town-
ship 2 north. Range 2 east, the land of
James Roberts, who donated thirty acres, to
the county for that purpose. Signed by
JOHN FITCH
WILLIAM HICKS."
DONATION FOR COUNTY SEAT.
The deed conveying the thirty acres of
land to the county was not made until June,
1826, the title to the land in the meantime
having passed to Rufus Ricker and Mark
Tully, who completed the gift by making
the following deed : "This indenture made
this 6th day of June, A. D. 1826, between
Rufus Ricker and Lydia, his wife, and Mark
Tully and Suky, his wife, all of the county
of Marion, and state of Illinois, of the first
part; and John S. Davis, Leonard P. Piles
and Benjamin Vermillion, County Commis-
sioners for the county aforesaid, witnesseth :
that in conformity with an act of the legis-
lature of the state of Illinois, passed at the
Third General Assembly of the state, en-
titled 'An Act Establishing Marion County,'
approved January 24, 1823, that the parties
of the first part have given, granted, bar-
gained and confirmed and by these presents
do give, grant, barga'T and confirm unto the
said parties of the second part, County Com-
missioners for the county of Marion, and to
their successors in office, for the use and
benefit of said county of Marion, in con-
formity with the laws of this state making
donations for county seats, all that tract or
parcel of land situate and being as follows,
to-wit: commencing at a stake standing at
the northeast quarter of section 1 1 , in
range 2 east, town two north, thence
south seventeen chains and thirty-two links
to a stake standing on the southeast quarter
of said section n, thence west seven-
teen chains and thirty-two links, thence
north seventeen chains and thirty-two
links, thence east seventeen chains and
thirty-two links, to the place of be-
ginning, containing thirty acres of
RRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
45
land, together with all and singular the
hereditaments and appurtances thereunto be-
longing or in anywise appertaining, and the
reversion and reversions, remainder and re-
mainders, rents, issues, and profits thereof,
and all the estate, right, title, interest, claim
and demand whatsoever of the parties of the
first part, either in law or equity, of, in and
to the above bargained premises, with the
said hereditaments and appurtenances, to
have and to hold the said piece of land to the
said parties of the second part, for the use
and benefit of the said county of Marion,
and to the sole and proper use and benefit
of the said county forever and the said
parties of the first part, for themselves, their
heirs, executors and administrators, do cove-
nant, grant, bargain, promise and agree to
and with the said party of the second part,
and their successors, the above bargained
premises in the quiet and peaceable posses-
sion of the party of the second part and
their successors in office against all and
every person or persons lawfully claiming or
to claim the whole or any part of the above
mentioned premises, will forever warrant
and defend.
"In witness whereof the said parties of the
first part have hereunto set our hands and
seals the day and year above written.
RUFUS RICKER (Seal),
LYDIA RICKER (Seal),
MARK TULLY (Seal),
Her
L. S. SUKY X TULLY. (Seal).
Mark.
"Signed, sealed and delivered in the pres-
ence of John Davidson and William Omel-
vany. This deed was acknowledged before
Leonard P. Piles, justice of the peace. This
deed is recorded in Book A, pages 14, 15
and 1 6, by Rufus Ricker, the first clerk and
recorder of the county."
When the report of the commissioners
was received on the I3th of June, 1823,
there was no delay on the part of the county
board, but they immediately accepted the
offer of James Roberts, and ordered that
the seat of justice for the county be known
and designated by the name of Salem. It is
generally said that the name Salem was
given to the county seat by Mark Tully, but
from the records it appears that the name
was chosen by the county court. Mr. Tully
may, however, have suggested the name to
them, and as he was a man of influence in
his clay, may have impressed the name upon
the minds of the commissioners. The clerk
was instructed to advertise the sale of thirty
lots, a part of the thirty acres promised. The
advertisement was to be in the Illinois In-
telligencer, and the sale was held on the
2d of March, 1824, and brought the county
nine hundred and eighty-six dollars and fifty
cents, in state scrip, worth three hundred
and twenty-eight dollars and eighty-three
cents in money, the state paper having at
that time depreciated to that extent.
WHEN LICENCES WERE CHEAP.
At this meeting the following business
was transacted : Jesse Roberts received a li-
cense to keep a tavern for one year, for
4 6
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
which license he paid the sum of four dol-
lars, and the board fixed the following rates :
each meal, twenty-five cents; keeping horse
all night, fifty cents ; single feed, twenty-five
cents; lodging, twelve and a half cents;
whiskey, half pint, twelve and a half cents;
rum, twenty-five cents. T. Baldridge also
got license for one year for two dollars per
year. Rufus Rick was also allowed eighteen
dollars, state paper, worth about six dollars
in specie, for books, stationery, etc., supplied
the county. This seems to be the extent of
the business done at this first meeting of the
County Commissioners of the new county of
Marion. The court, as the sessions of the
commissioners was in name and in fact, then
adjourned to July 7, 1823.
At the second, or July term, of the
county court, which met pursuant to ad-
journment, the question of a courthouse re-
ceived the attention of the court, and a con-
tract was entered into with Aaron Hicks to
build the same at a cost to the county of four
hundred and ninety-nine dollars. The speci-
fications called for a log building, without
windows, twenty by thirty feet, one and one-
half stories high, with a log partition, seven
inches thick, of hewed logs, and extending
to the roof, with good hewed or sawed joists
enough for two loose plank floors, with two
good doors, one through the partition, and
the other through the wall, with good iron
hinges and lock and key for the outside
<loor ; to be covered with boards and weight
poles (spelled polls), the cracks to be well
chinked and daubed all to be completed by
the first day of June, 1824. The contract
was let to the lowest bidder and Hicks won.
The courthouse was completed according to
plans and specifications, and received by the
commissioners on the tenth day of April,
1824, and was used as a courthouse until
August i, 1837.
The first public road laid out by the com-
missioners was petitioned for by Dornton
Baldridge. It began at the county line near
William Carrigan's and led past Samuel Eb-
len's, Israel Jennings' and Benjamin Ver-
million's, in a direct line to Crooked creek
bridge, near Gillmore's, and had been
viewed by John Bandy, Samuel Huff and
William Taylor. Dornton Baldridge was ap-
pointed supervisor of said road and William
Pursley supervisor of the northern part of
the Vandalia and Golconda road as far south
as William Marshall's, and Samuel Martin
of the south part to the county line. L. P.
Piles was made supervisor of the Vincennes
road from the east county line to the ford of
the creek, and Aaron Hicks from the ford
of the creek to the west line of the county
and also of the road from William Mar-
shall's to Crooked creek. As treasurer of
the county, William Marshall made the first
assessment of the county in 1823, for which
work he received the sum of three dollars.
The amount of taxes levied was seventy-
three dollars and forty-four cents. The
collector's commission was four dollars and
sixty-nine cents, leaving a balance to be
turned into the treasury of sixty-eight dol-
lars and seventy-five cents, which, with
twelve dollars from licenses and fines, made
up a total revenue for the county
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
47
of eighty dollars and seventy-five cents.
William Marshall resigned as Treasurer
and Assessor December i, 1823, prob-
ably because the duties and responsi-
bilities of the office far exceeded the
very scanty pay received for the same. The
first board did not fill out their full term.
John Walling was succeeded by Aaron
Hicks in October, 1823, and when John Ed-
ington resigned in January, 1824, Leonard
P. Piles was elected to fill the vacancy, the
election being held February 2, 1824. When
William Marshall resigned as assessor and
treasurer, John S. Davis was appointed to
fill his place, and for his service in making
tax lists, he received ten dollars, and for
his service as treasurer he received ten dol-
lars and twenty-four and one-half cents.
Truly a scanty recompense, but when it is re-
membered that that salary, small as it was,
was equal in value to about fifteen acres of
land, it does not appear so small.
The second board of commissioners was
composed of Benjamin Vermillion, Leonard
P. Piles and Aaron Hicks, and they were
elected to serve from 1824 to 1826, or two
years, but a vacancy was caused by the death
of Hicks, in 1825, and John L. Davis was
elected to fill out the remainder of the
term. The taxable property for the year
1825 was sixteen thousand four hundred
and sixteen dollars, and the estimated tax
for county purposes was eighty-two dollars
and eight cents, just think of it eighty-two
dollars and eight cents to run the county of
Marion for one year, only eighty years ago.
The third board was elected to serve from
1826 to 1828, and was composed of the fol-
lowing gentlemen : John Edington, William
King and C. P. Black. Edington seems to
have been quite popular, and to have re-
ceived the suffrages of his fellow-citizens
whenever he would consent to run for office.
There seems to have been a necessity
at this time for a jail and the board
contracted with William Davidson and
Henry Ware to build one at a cost of two
hundred and seventy dollars. The county
was also divided into two election precincts
by the board at this meeting, the precincts to
be the same as those before provided for the
justices of the peace, and were called the
North precinct and the South precinct, and
the South precinct was again divided in
1827 into Walnut Hill and Romine pre-
cinct. The tax list for 1826 providing coun-
ty revenues for 1827, showed a total value
of all property in the county of twenty-two
thousand two hundred and sixty dollars,
and produced a revenue of one hundred and
eleven dollars and thirty cents. The tax
was collected in full. It may be wondered
at that, with so small a revenue, a court-
house and jail had been erected, costing
many times the entire tax, but we must not
forget that all the lots in the county seat be-
longed to the county, and the public build-
ings were paid for from the proceeds from
the sale of lots from time to time.
The fourth Board of Commissioners
served for the years 1828 and 1830, the term
being two years. It was composed of
Hardy Foster, William King and L. P.
Piles. They ordered ten more lots sold,
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
which was done, and the money turned into
the county treasury.
A NEW JAIL.
The fifth Board was elected in 1830 to
serve two years and was composed of Hardy
Foster, H. W. Higgins and Abraham Ro-
mine. During this term a new jail became
a necessity and the board entered into a con-
tract with W. Tully to build one for five
hundred dollars. This jail, as described by
several old citizens, who remember it well,
was constructed of logs, laid closely togeth-
er and about twelve feet from floor to ceil-
ing. It was of one room and was covered
with great, hewed logs for a ceiling, there
were no doors or windows cut in the walls,
but a trap door in the ceiling, which was
reached from the outside by a ladder or
stair. A ladder was let down through the
trap door for the descent of prisoners, and
then the ladder withdrawn, and the prisoner
was secure, no breaking out by anyone likely
to be placed therein. The building was then
covered in the usual way, with clapboards
and poles. During the term of this board
the North Fork precinct, in the northwest
part of the county, was established June 4,
1832, and the poling place fived at the house
of Eli Jones. During this administration,
the first bridge of any size was built and
paid for partly by the state, which gave one
hundred dollars, and partly by a loan sub-
scription of seventy-nine dollars advanced
by twenty-two citizens, ranging from one
dollar, given by James Beaver, the smallest
subscriber, to thirteen dollars, by A. L.
Miles, the largest. The sixth board was
composed of Hardy Foster, Abram Romine
and James J. Richardson, who served in
1832 to 1834, and there is no record of any
action by them out of the routine business
of the county. The same may be said of the
seventh board, composed of Hardy Foster,
Abram Romine and James Gray. The
latter resigned November 28, 1835, and
Mark Tully was chosen to fill the vacancy,
to the close of that term, ending in 1836.
The eighth board, 1836 to 1838, was com-
posed of Mark Tully, Isaac McClelland and
Benjamin Vermillion. A new courthouse
was ordered by this board to be built, and
Mark Tully took the contract for six hun-
dred and fifty-five dollars, and was, by the
contract, to have it finished by August first,
1837, but for some reason, now unknown,
failed in the performance, and in March of
the following year (1838) surrendered his
contract and was excused from paying any
penalty for the non-performance of the
same, so it may be assumed that the reason
was a good one. Nathaniel Adams then
completed the building. The total cost of
the building was seven hundred and ninety-
nine dollars and forty-three cents. This
building is still standing and is in a good
state of preservation, being occupied by Mr.
Clarence Mills as a residence. It is about
thirty-eight by forty feet, two stories high,
with a "hip" roof, it is of frame construc-
tion and if built now would cost at least
three thousand dollars. It was moved from
the public square to where it now stands, to
BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
4')
make room for the present courthouse in
1849 or 1850. The old courthouse was
bought by Mr. Scott, who moved it to its
present location.
The sale of city or town lots, and the
money realized from the sale of the court-
house, kept the county treasury well sup-
plied with funds, despite the small tax levy,
and in 1838 the county board ordered that
three hundred dollars of the county money
be loaned out at twelve per cent on well se-
cured notes on four months' time. Up to the
year 1838, there had been no delinquent
taxes, but in that year the following list was
returned as not collected : Samuel Forkman,
fifty cents; John Simpson, sixty-two and a
half cents ; Abner Farthing, sixty-five cents ;
\V. Woods, sixty-seven and a half cents ; L.
Farthing, thirty-seven and a half cents;
Asa Ballard, twenty-five cents ; W. Gault-
ney, fifty cents; Isaac Barr, twelve and a
half cents; M. C. Wells, two dollars and
eighty cents; H. G. Burrow, thirty-five
cents; John Saunders, one dollar and thirty
cents; John Carter, thirty-seven and a half
cents; James Homes, twenty cents, and
Leven Wootener, one dollar and twenty
cents, making a total of nine dollars and
ninety-two and one-half cents, not collected.
The probability is that owing to the small
amounts and the remoteness of the delin-
quents from the collector's office, they were
never called upon by the collector, as the ex-
penses would be as great as the returns.
The legislature in 1837, changed the
terms of the County Commissioners from
two to three years and provided that
4
there should be one elected every
year, and that the commissioners elected
in 1838 should be one for one year,
one for two years, and one for three
years. W. H. Haynie was elected for
three years, Abram Romine for two years,
and Mark Tully for one year. From this
time until about 1849, the various boards
seem to have attended to only the ordinary
business of the county, which certainly was
well conducted, as the county was kept out
of debt by them and all bills were promptly
paid ; during all this time there had been but
a small increase in the population of the
county, as there were millions of acres of
what was called government land in Illinois
and much in Indiana, and there were no
special inducemaits for emigration.
COUNTY COURT CREATED.
The constitution, which was adopted in
1848, abolished the County Commissioners
as a court and created the county court, con-
sisting of one judge and two associate
judges. The first election under the new
constitution was held in November, 1849,
and Samuel Hull was elected the first county
judge of Marion county, with R. M. Elliot
and Alfred Ray as associates, to serve for
four years. In 1852 Elliot resigned and
Hardy Foster was elected in November of
that year to fill out the unexpired term. The
precinct of Raccoon was organized in 1851,
with a polling place at the house of James
Guilford. The second county court, pre-
sided over by Durham Tracey as judge, and
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
with Hardy Foster and L. A. Spittler as as-
sociates, was elected in 1853 ^ or f ur years.
This court, during its term, let the contract
for a new jail to D. W. Norris, of Carlyle.
This jail was built of brick, two stories high,
and had cells for prisoners, and living
rooms for the jailer and family, and was
one of the best and finest in the state,
and was used until 1884, when the present
jail was built at a cost of sixteen thousand
dollars. It cost the county three thousand
nine hundred and thirty-seven dollars and
was completed in 1854 and received on the
first clay of December of that year. This
court also, during their term of office,
caused a detailed statement of the financial
condition of the county to be prepared, in
which it appeared that up to this time the
monetary affairs had been conducted in the
same careful manner, as were those of any
county in the state.
In July, T 857, the court contracted with
Joseph A. Miller for the building of a new
courthouse at a cost to the county of thirty-
five thousand dollars. Miller fell down on
his contract and used inferior material. The
court then annuled their contract with him
and employed Messrs. Moore & Morrow,
of Salem, to complete the work for twenty-
six thousand, one hundred and fifty dollars.
The court took charge of all the material on
the ground, but in the meantime a new court
had been elected and the third county court,
composed of B. F. Marshall, judge, with J.
P. Rogers and Isaac McClelland as asso-
ciates, made the contract with Moore &
Morrow. A part of the work already done
was torn down and the house built in such
an honest way that it stands today as a mon-
ument to the skill and honesty of the con-
tractors. It is still the courthouse for Mar-
ion county, and though out of style, is yet
a substantial building, and but that modern
conveniences and comforts are lacking,
would stand a century. The building was
turned over to the county in April, 1860.
The total cost was thirty-five thousand, one
hundred and four dollars and seventy-five
cents, only one hundred and four dollars and
seventy-five cents more than the original
contract, notwithstanding the failure of
Miller to fulfill his contract. Twenty-five
thousand dollars, in ten per cent, bonds, was
issued by the authority of this court at the
December term, and then an additional five
thousand, two hundred and fifty dollars was
ordered borrowed at a special term of the
court in 1860.
The county brough suit against the or-
iginal contractor, Miller, for non-fulfillment
of contract, and recovered judgment for
eight thousand one hundred and twenty-five
dollars and fifty cents, but it was only a
paper recovery, as the money could not be
collected for the good and sufficient reason
that Miller was not worth anything finan-
cially. During this term of the county
judges the first case of capital punishment
took place, a full account of which will be
given in its appropriate chapter. The fourth
county court, 1861-1865, was composed of
John M. Oglesby, judge, with Daniel J.
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Doolin and J. P. Rogers as associates. J.
P. Rogers died on March 24, 1864, and J.
P. Huff was selected to fill out the term.
PAY FOR THE SOLDIERS.
In 1865, in February, the county court
ordered that thirty-seven thousand two
hundred dollars be issued in ten per cent,
county bonds to pay a bounty of three hun-
dred dollars to one hundred and twenty-
four volunteers who enlisted under the call
of the government of the United States to
suppress the rebellion. Under this bounty
the quota for the county was filled. Dissat-
isfaction with the couny court system of
county government had developed and had
'been steadily growing and petitions were
circulated early in 1865 and presented to
the court, asking that the question for or
against township organization be submitted
to the voters. The proposition was ordered
submitted in September, and at the ensuing
election in November was lost. A heavy
debt now burdened the county, bearing in-
terest at the high rate of ten per cent., which
at that time was not unusual.
The first foreigners, so far as the records
show, to be naturalized in the county,
took out their papers during this four years'
term of the county court. They were three
Irishmen, viz : Dennis Rooney, John Cleney
and William Steward, and one German,
Jacob Heyduck. They all made useful and
exemplary citizens. At the election in 1868,
James S. Martin was elected judge and D.
P. Snelling and J. \Y. Primmer associate
justices. Judge Martin was appointed
United States pension agent, and in May,
1869, resigned. Judge W. W. Willard filled
out the unexpired term of General Martin.
In 1868 the County Treasurer was author-
ized to borrow five thousand dollars for
bridge construction in the county. This was
the fifth county court. The precinct of
Alma was organized by this board at the
March term, 1867. Marion county was now
divided into sixteen ejection precincts as
follows: Centralia, Sandoval, Odin, Patoka,
Alma, Central City, Walnut Hill, Raccoon,
Haines, luka, Romine, Omega, Meacham.
Kimmimdy, Foster and Salem. Tilman
Raser was elected judge and with John H.
Gray and J. W. Jennings constituted the
sixth county board and only routine business
was transacted by them. The proposition to
adopt township organization was again sub-
mitted and this time carried.
The state constitutional convention, held
in 1870 reinstated the old system of coun-
ty boards, which were discontinued in 1849,
and at the expiration of the term of the
sixth board, James W. McClure, Robert
McM. Wham and J. McClelland were
elected at the general election in November,
1873, but did not take office until after the
meeting of the legislature, because of the
very defective law, which defects required
legislative action. They served only three
months when their offices were made vacant
by the election of the first Board of Super-
visors, which election was held April 22,
1874. The board, at their last regular meet-
ing, appointed Hon. T. E. Merritt, \Yilliam
BKINKKKIIOKK S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Walker and S. L. Dwight to divide the
county into townships. Of these commis-
sioners, Walker is dead, Dwight is at pres-
ent serving his second term as circuit judge,
and Merritt, after serving the people of his
county for twenty-one years in the legisla-
ture of the state as representative and sena-
tor, is still living in Salem, enjoying the love
and respect of his fellow-citizens.
The commissioners reported that they had
divided the county into sixteen townships,
to be called, respectively, as follows:
Township i North, Range i East, Cen-
tralia.
Township 2 North, Range i East, Odin.
Township 3 North, Range I East,
Carrigan.
Township 4 North, Range i East,
Patoka.
Township i North, Range 2 East,
Raccoon.
Township 2 North, Range 2 East, Salem.
Township 3 North, Range 2 East,
Fredonia.
Township 4 North, Range 2 East, Foster.
Township i North, Range 3 East,
Haines.
Township 2 North, Range 3 East,
Stevenson.
Township 3 North, Range 3 East,
Pleasant.
Township 4 North, Range 3 East,
Kimmundy.
Township i North, Range 4 East, Ro-
mine.
Township 2 North, Rage 4 East, luka.
Township 3 North, Range 4, East,
Omega.
Township 4 North, Range 4 East,
Meacham.
These names remain to the present time
with the exception of Fredonia, which is
now Tonti ; Pleasant, which is now Alma,
and Odin, which was divided into two town-
ships, the east half of which is still called
Odin and the west half is called Sandoval.
This division took place about ten years ago.
The first Board of Supervisors, from
1874 to 1875, organized by electing Eras-
mus Hull chairman, was composed of
the following members, viz: Salem, E.
Hull; Centralia, E. S. Condit and J. Mc-
Clelland; Odin, John Robinson; Carrigan,
A Steel; Patoka, J. Hudspeth; Raccoon,
James Snow ; Fredonia L. M. Bisel ; Foster,
J. W. Arnold; Haines, Robert McM.
Wham. Centralia, owing to its population,
was entitled to two members at that time,
and at the present has three members of the
Board of Supervisors, and Salem is entitled
to two, who will probably be elected in
April, 1909.
The county debt was now about seventy
thousand dollars and a feeling that the af-
fairs of the county could, and would be
more economically administered by a Board
of Supervisors than by three commissioners,
was the motive actuating the voters in mak-
ing a change, although experience has not
proven the truth of the notion. The court-
house debt, i. e., debt for building and debt
for bounty during the last year of the Civil
war, the first incurred under the administra-
tion of Judge Marsall, and the second under
the adminstration of Judge Oglesby, were
both necessary measures and reflect credit
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
53
on the gentlemen who were responsible, yet
they grew burdensome in the minds of the
people and the authorties made strenuous
efforts to pay off the indebtedness, and that
object was accomplished by heavy taxation
and for a short period. The debt was paid,
but much complaint was made of the bur-
densome tax, but the credit of the county
was maintained. The county out of debt,
and the affairs were well managed generally
but with the change in the per cent, of val-
uation, made in the revenue law of 1900.
the county did not receive revenue enough to
meet running expenses which had largely in-
creased and the county again began to ac-
cumulate a debt, which was put by the offi-
cers at about forty-five thousand dollars,
but as it was no officer's special duty to go
over the books to ascertain the amount, it
was only an estimate. In 1907, the new
County Treasurer and J. H. G. Brinkerhoff
went over the books and found the
debt to have been above eighty thou-
sand dollars, but in 1903 the Board
of Supervisors had submitted a propo-
sition to the voters for a special tax
of forty-two cents on the hundred dollars
of valuation to pay the debt and this tax has
so rapidly reduced the debt that it is certain
that the spring of 1909 will see the last dol-
lar paid and the county out of debt, besides
for the last four years the county revenues
have been ample to meet all necessary ex-
pense, thus the county again is out of debt
and that without any hardship having been
worked to the taxpayers.
A resume of the revenues of the
earlier years of the county will prove
interesting. The first revenue was from
the lots in the city of Salem, which,
as will be remembered, was a part of
the thirty acre donation made the county
by James Roberts, but conveyed to the
county in 1826 by Rufus Ricker and Mark
Tully. The first sale of lots took place
March 2, 1824, and was as follows:
Leonard B. Farr $15.50
William Maxwell 48.25
John G. Fitch 34-OO
Aaron Hicks IO -75
Chance Lee 33- 2 5
Leonard P. Piles '. . . . 7.75
D. R. Chance 2.50
William Baldwin 8.50
Benjamin Allen 8.25
The following were paid for as shown :
James Piles, March 9 $ 9.00
Joseph Hensley, March 12 10.50
John Wilson, March 20 18.25
John Phillips, April 20 13.75
William Maxwell, April 24 48.25
Aaron Hicks, May 27 3 2 -5
Chance Lee, May 27 99-75
William Davidson, June 2 2 9-3&
John Harrington, June 2 6.62
There was a total of four hundred thirty-
six dollars and seventy-five cents. The taxes
collected for the year 1823, the first year of
the county's existence, were sixty-eight dol-
lars and seventy-five cents; received for
licenses, twelve dollars, making a grand
total of five hundred seventeen dollars
and twenty-five cents. From March 2d to
June 7th, the Treasurer, paid out five hun-
54
liKIXKKRHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
dred fourteen dollars and forty-one and a
half cents, leaving two dollars and eighty
three and a half cents in the treasury. It
might be well here to state that in that day
in Illinois a coin worth twelve and a half
cents was in circulation. Its proper name
was a shilling, but it was known by the pio-
neers as a "bit," and it is quite common,
even to this day, to hear the expression "two
bits," meaning twenty-five cents, or "six
bits," meaning seventy-five cents, hence the
half cents in the reports of that day.
A SMALL BALANCE.
For the first ten years the County Treas-
urer's report shows a small balance in the
treasury, except the report for December i,
1828, which shows the county in debt nine-
ty-one and one-half cents, which he had
overpaid. When the books were examined in
1833 a balance of twelve dollars and nine
and one-half cents was reported in the hands
of the Treasurer. The total receipts for the
first ten years of Marion county's existence
were as follows :
Sale of lots in Salem $1,273.77^
Taxes 1,063.44
Licenses and fines 403.70
Estrays sold 120.08
Balance on hand, December i,
1833
Total revenue, from all sources $2,860.97^
During the same time the expenditures
were as follows:
Erection of Public Buildings . .$ 769.00
Running Expenses of County . . 2,079.90
Total $2,860.97^
From this report it will be seen that the
expense of the county administration aver-
aged two hundred seven dollars and
ninety-nine cents per year, truly a modest
beginning, but perhaps ample for the day,
and the people of that frugal time.
The population of the county increased as
shown by the census report as follows :
Assessed Wealth
Year Population Value Per Capita
1823 550 $ 14,690 $ 26.50
1830 2,125 75^50 35.60
1840 4,742 238,080 50.20
1850 6,720 482,790 71.80
1862 12,789 1,654,140 129.85
1870 20,622 3,453,098 167.45
1880 23,691 4,452,424 187.93
1890 24,341 10,707,057 444-43
1900 30,446 13-353485 438.57
1908 18,919,430
Of the population of the county in 1900,
fourteen thousand one hundred and sixteen
were residents of the nine incorporated cities
and villages, and the rest country residents,
nearly one-half therefore dwelt in the cities
and villages. It will be noticed that from
1880 to 1890 only a increase of six hun-
dred and fifty inhabitants for the ten years,
this may be accounted for by the heavy im-
igration from the county to newer fields,
farther west, during that decade. The above
table shows a steady increase in values and
per capita. In 1900 is shown a slight fall-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
55
ing off of the per capita tax, but owing to
a change in the system of assessment, it is
more apparent than real. The true value is
many millions more than shown by the
assessors' books.
PHYSICAL AND STATISTICAL FACTS OF THE
COUNTY.
The original field notes of the survey of
the county give only about three thousand
acres of swamp land in the county, and that
is not really swamp, but low lands which
could be and indeed, most of it has been,
drained and forms the most fertile farm
lands. These same notes give a total
of three hundred and sixty-four thou-
sand nine hundred and sixty-five acres
in the county. In accord with the act
of Congress, of March 4, 1854, the
county has sold of the swamp lands at
from one dollar and fifty cents to two dol-
lars and fifty cents per acre. In 1824 the
records show ownership of only one thou-
sand and forty acres, the rest all being public
domain, on which the settlers "squatted," i.
e., settled without title. The law of 1852,
granting to the Illinois Central Railroad
Company, all unsold lands in the even num-
bered sections on each side of the said road,
six sections deep, or in width east of said
road, and the same amount west of the
same, it was found that not over one hun-
dred and sixty-five thousand acres, in round
numbers, had become the property of indi-
viduals, but by the close of 1865, all the
lands in the county had been entered. The
last was eighty acres entered by John W.
Clark, April 28, 1865, it being the east half
of the northwest quarter of section 25, in
township i north, range 4 east, or in Ro-
maine township. The first sale of land after
the county was formed was by Rufus Ricker
and Lydia, his wife, who conveyed by deed,
to D. Baldridge, eighty acres, being the
east half of the northeast quarter of section
33, township i north, range i east (Cen-
tralia). The price was four hundred dollars
and the deed is dated March 18, 1823. This
land is near the city of Centralia, and is
worth in the neighborhood of one hundred
dollars per acre. In the same year the west
half of the northwest quarter of section 15,
town i north, range 2 east, was sold for
one hundred and ten dollars. This land was
farther from settlements and not much
improved.
There is no record of any land sales in
1824 and only two in 1825; one eighty-acre
piece, which sold for one hundred dollars,
and another which brought three hundred
dollars. Only one piece was sold in 1826,
it being twenty-four acres, now a part of the
city of Salem, which sold for one hundred
dollars. There were six sales in 1827, three
of these being in section n, town 2, range 2,
two of these were eighty-acre pieces
and sold for one dollar and twenty-
five cents per acre, the third was twenty
acres and brought five 'dollars per acre.
Two sales of land in what is now
Centralia township, one eighty, at two
dollars and fifty cents per acre, and another
eighty brought three dollars and seventy-five
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
cents per acre. And one eighty in Meacham
brought one dollar, eighty-seven and one-
half cents per acre. In 1828 only one sale is
recorded. It was the same eighty acres in
section 29, town i, range i, which had been
sold in 1825 for one hundred dollars, now it
brought two hundred dollars. Only one sale
is on record for 1829, it being eighty acres
in section 28, town i, range i, and brought
four dollars, thirty-seven and one-half cents
per acre. In 1830 there were three sales:
ninety-six acres near Salem for five hundred
dollars and seventy acres also near Salem,
sold for two hundred dollars, and an eighty-
acre piece in section 27, town i, range i,
was bought for two hundred dollars. In
1831 but three sales are of record, the same
eighty in section 29, town I, range I, which
already had been sold twice was sold again
at three dollars and seventy-five cents per
acre. Eighty acres in section 17, town i,
range 2, brought one dollar eighty-seven
and one-half cents per acre and eighty acres
in section 9, town 2, range 4 (luka). This
was the first land sale in this township and
the land brought five dollars per acre. There
was only one sale of land in 1832, eighty
acres in section n, town 2, range 2, which
sold for two hundred dollars.
In the first ten years of the county's ex-
istence there were only twenty sales of land,
and only fifteen hundred and sixty acres had
been transferred ; the lowest price paid was
one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre and
the highest, five dollars per acre. Land sales
were of rare occurrence until after the build-
ing of the Illinois Central Railroad and the
Ohio & Mississippi Railroad, which were
projected about the same time and which not
only opened a way for the emigrant to come
into the county easily and speedily but by
furnishing transportation for products of
the farm, added an impetus to sales of land.
In 1850 there were only four hundred and
forty acres of land that changed ownership
at an average price of four dollars and ten
cents. Other property was low also, as the
report of a few sales will show. Some ar-
tcles sold high because- of the scarcity of
manufactured articles. At an administra-
tor's sale, held by Hardy Foster, administra-
tor of Henry Whatley's estate, the following
articles were sold at the price named: one
bay mare, fifty-two dollars ; one colt, twenty-
nine dollars; one bed, seventeen dollars and
twelve and one-half cents; one saddle and
bridle, ten dollars and twelve and one-half
cents ; one beadstead, two dollars and twelve
and one-half cents ; one skillet, two dollars ;
one pair of saddlebags, one dollar and
eighty-seven and one-half cents; one razor,
fifty cents; one bottle castor oil, fifty cents;
one butcher knife, twenty-five cents. This
sale was held on the 2Oth day of January,
1828, and is the first of record in the coun-
ty, of administrator's sale. At another sale,
held in March, 1828, hogs were sold at one
dollar and twenty-five cents each; one sow
for three dollars and twenty-five cents; a
plow for four dollars ; an ax, one dollar and
fifty cents; hoe. seventy-five cents; spinning
wheel, one dollar: loom, eleven dollars; a
counteqjane, two dollars ; quilt, ninety cents ;
well rope, seventy-five cents ; yoke of steers,
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
57
eighteen dollars ; a cow, five dollars and sev-
enty-five cents; a heifer, two dollars and
fifty cents; a cart, five dollars, thirty-seven
and one-half cents; three chairs, one dollar
and fifty cents; smoothing iron, fifty cents.
It will be noticed that no guns or other
weapons were sold. Yet every household
was well supplied in that day with imple-
ments for hunting and defense, and though
this list of articles is small, it comprises the
articles found among the wealthiest citizens.
On Monday, August 2, 1824, was held the
first election for county officers, of which
any record can be found. There seems to be
only a partial return made, as the vote for
commissioner is about twice that for cor-
oner. Mark Tully, for Sheriff received fifty-
five votes ; H. C. Nichols, for the same office,
received thirty-eight votes; Samuel David-
son received thirty-four votes for coroner,
while for commissioner, three to be elected,
Benjamin Vermillion received fifty-three
votes; Israel Jennings, forty-three votes;
Aaron Hicks, fifty-one votes; Leonard P.
Piles, fifty-five votes; J. W. Nichols, thirty-
nine votes; James Piles, forty-three votes.
The following abstract of the vote was
made out :
"I, Rufus Ricker, Clerk of the County
Commissioner's court, and Joseph Hensley,
Justice of the Peace for said county, state of
Illinois, do hereby certify that the above is
a correct abstract of the votes for the officers
above mentioned, as returned of the poll
book. Given under our hands this /th day
of August, 1824. RUFUS RICKER."
Justice of the Peace Hensley failed to
sign this crude instrument and it as a record
is thus incomplete and might have led to
questioning the legality of the officers' ten-
ure of office, but it seems that in that day
the office was not worth contesting for, and
the lack of Hensley's signature was unno-
ticed. The first circuit court was held in
the house of James Young. John Reynolds,
one of the associate judges of the supreme
court of Illinois, presided as Judge, Rufus
Ricker was Clerk and Jesse Roberts was
Sheriff. Court was opened April 29, 1823,
and the following were impannelled as a
grand jury: Benjamin Vermillion, foreman,
Leonard Piles, William Nichols, William
Davidson, James Young, Mark Tully,
William Pursley, William Marshall, James
Martin, Thomas Welch, Gidion Burton,
John Wilson, John Bundy, Dornton Bald-
ridge, Thomas Neal, D. R. Chance, Mala-
chi Ware, William Albert, John Phelps,
Samuel Davidson, John Edington, Nimrod
Phelps and John Walling. The grand
jurors were sworn in and retired, but
soon returned into court with the fol-
lowing report: No business. Whereupon
the grand jury was discharged. Doubtless
the shortest session of any grand jury in the
state.
NOT SO MANY TRIALS IN THOSE DAYS.
There seems to have been no trials at this
term of court and it therefore adjourned.
The second term opened October 30. 1823,
and was presided over by Thomas Reynolds,
Chief Justice of the supreme court. Mark
Tully served as Sheriff. The grand jury at
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. ILLINOIS.
this term returned six indictments for as-
sault and battery. Fighting seems to have
been a favorite pastime \vith the settlers, and
in the early days no weapons were used save
those furnished by nature, but all that na-
ture furnished were used, fist and feet, bit-
ing, gouging, kicking, hair-pulling and any
other method of getting the best of an ad-
versary were permissible, and not often did
the vanquished resort to the law, although
forty-nine indictments for assault and bat-
tery were returned in the first seven terms
of court, but this is but a small proportion of
the fights that took place in the same time.
The first divorce was granted to Henry
Whatley from Elizabeth Whatley, Septem-
ber 27, 1827. The charge was the Scriptural
one, and the decree prohibited the defendant
from re-marrying for two years. The trial
was by jury. On the 27th of September,
1831, John G. Edmonson and William Fos-
ter were tried on an indictment for forgery,
and the following jury found both guilty:
Benjamin Vermillion, Joseph Hallowell,
William Tully, James Davis, Andrew Tay-
lor, Marcum Lovell, Wilkins Tatum, Jona-
than Williams, Jr., Illis Branson. Isaac
Anderick, Thomas Taylor and W. S.
Booth. They were sentenced to receive
twenty lashes, i. e., to be whipped, and to
be confined in jail twenty- four hours, and
to pay a fine of one dollar each. They
were whipped in public on the 28th day of
September. A special term of circuit
court was called for December, 1835,
and during this term the first mur-
der trial was held, William Burton be-
ing tried for the murder of James Gray.
The jury evidently thought the killing jus-
tifiable and acquitted Burton. Justice of the
Peace W. D. Haney was tried for palpable
omission of duty and was fined five
dollars at the March term of the court. John
Dillingham was indicted for larceny and
was tried in March, 1837. He was con-
victed, was sentenced to three years in the
penitentiary, one month in solitary confine-
ment and two years and eleven months at
hard labor. This was the first penitentiary
sentence from the county. In 1839 the
following citizens were fined for gambling:
James Bowman, Martin Crouch, John Purs-
ley and Henry C. Nichols. They were fined
ten dollars each in September of 1839. G.
W. Pace was also indicted for selling liquor
on Sunday, and was fined fifteen dollars.
Joseph Brasell was murdered in September,
1841. William Fatharll was indicted for
the crime, but escaped and fled from the
state, whereupon the Governor published
the following proclamation in the State
Journal, March 4, 1842:
"PROCLAMATION BY THE GOVERNOR.
"TVo Hundred Dollars Reward.
"State of Illinois, ss.
"WHEREAS, It has been represented to me
that William Fatharll is charged with the
murder of Joseph Brasell, of Marion county,
in this state. Now, therefore, I, Thomas
Carlin, Governor of said state, by virtue of
the powers vested in me by law, do offer a
HRINKKRMOFF S HISTORY OF MARION* COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
59
reward of two hundred dollars to any per-
son or persons who will apprehend the said
William Fatharll and deliver him to the
sheriff of said Marion county, provided the
said Fatharll shall be apprehended after the
date of this proclamation.
"In testimony whereof I have set my
hand and caused the seal of the state to be
annexed, at .Springfield, this 2d day of
March, 1842. By the Governor.
"(SEAL) THOMAS CARLIN.
"LYMAN TRUMBULL, Secretary of State."
"Said William Fatharll is represented to
be about five feet seven inches high, thirty-
five years of age, and to have dark hair, in-
clined to be rather thin on the crown
of his head, dark yellow eyes (just
what this means is beyond us. Ed.),
sandy beard and whiskers, a scar some-
where about his nose, also one on his
throat not easily seen unless his head
is raised, to be rather dark complex-
ioned, with heavy downcast countenance,
and not much inclined to talk when sober.
He had on when last seen a white fur hat, a
blue frock coat with brownish hunting shirt
over it, and had a rifle gun with percussion
lock, and tame catskin shot bag, spotted
black and white. The Illinois Sentinel,
Vandalia; The Reporter, St. Lows; The
Democrat, Chicago, will please publish two
weeks and send their bills to office of Sec-
retary of State.
"March 4, 1842."
He was never caught, and the case was
removed from the court docket in March,
1844, with leave to reinstate.
James White was tried for the murder of
Andrew J. Applegate at a saloon about half
a mile south of Salem, on the i6th of April,
1 86 1. An inquest was held by the coroner,
W. H. Fraser. Only two witnesses, \V. H.
Smith and Henry C. Thompson, were heard,
and a verdict to the effect that the deceased
came to his death by a stab from a knife in
the hands of James White on the morning
of April 16, 1861, in the grocery owned by
Benjamin Crane, one mile south of Salem,
111. White was arrested the same day by a
citizen and turned over to the sheriff.
White had a preliminary hearing before B.
F. Marshall, and John W. Merritt, two jus-
tices of the peace, and was by them re-
manded to jail without bond, to await the
action of the grand jury. White made a
very short statement, in which he said : "My
name is James White, I am nineteen years
old, I have no family, and have lived in this
county six months."
The testimony of Smith was most full, he
said : "I am twenty-seven years old, I live in
Clinton, DeWitt county, Illinois, and came
here last Monday. I never saw the prisoner
until yesterday, the i6th of April, when I
met him at the grocery south of town. (In
an early day saloons were always called gro-
ceries by the people. Ed.) Myself, the de-
ceased, the prisoner, Mr. Thompson and one
Willis Albert, were in the grocery, about
sunup. Albert Thompson and myself were
sitting on one bench, the prisoner was sit-
ting on another by himself, the deceased
was lying on a third bench, all in the same
room. Albert tried, to wake the deceased
6o
BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
up. Deceased did not like it much. Albert
left him and sat down on the bench. The
prisoner then told the deceased to get up,
but he did not get up, then the prisoner took
an iron poker and punched the deceased
gently and told him to get up. Deceased
now arose and had some conversation with
us of no importance. Deceased was angry
because he had been waked up. Deceased
and the prisoner had some words, half
angry, half in good humor. I thought it
was their way of talking together. They
talked some time when Thompson told them
to shut up and sit down. They sat down on
the same bench. Deceased said the prisoner
had been trying to impose on him. The
prisoner denied this, but said from this on
he would. They both rose up, and deceased
said he would as leave die as not, and began
pulling off his coat, but whether it was all
off or not I don't know. Deceased stepped
up towards the stove and stood there ; the
prisoner stood near, facing him, and told the
deceased not to hit him. The next thing I
saw was the prisoner drawing a knife from
the left breast of deceased. There was
blood on the knife and on the deceased's
clothes. The prisoner then jumped over
the counter and took a double-barreled shot
gun, pointing it towards the deceased. After
the deceased was struck he stood up a few
seconds and then fell forward on the floor;
he was dead from the wound. The prisoner
took a cloth and wiped the blood from his
knife and put it in its sheath, and told
Thompson to take the key of the grocery.
The prisoner then said : 'Let us all go out,'
and we all went out, and he locked the door
after us, leaving the deceased on the floor.
The prisoner left the key on a pan in the
blacksmith shop, then went away. The
knife with which the killing was done was
a bowie-knife, silver mounted; the blade
was six and one-half to eight inches long.
All this took place in Marion county."
Thompson's testimony was about the
same, the only difference is that he says that
he saw the prisoner stab the deceased twice,
and closed his testimony by saying: "I know
this man killed the deceased."
White broke out of jail but was soon re-
captured and a special grand jury was called
at a special July term of the circuit court
and found a true bill against White for
murder, signed Amos Watts, State's Attor-
ney.
Amos Watts was afterward elected cir-
cuit judge. Watts lived at Nashville, but
was State's Attorney for the whole judicial
circuit, as the law then did not provide a
prosecuting attorney for each county. Hon.
Silas L. Bryan was Circuit Judge, J. O.
Chance was Circuit Clerk, T. J. Black was
Sheriff. Judge Bryan was the father of
W. J. Bryan, late candidate for the presi-
dency. J. O. Chance was for many years
clerk of the Appellate Court at Mt. Vernon,
Illinois. The petit jury that tried White
was composed of some of the best citizens
of the county, and some of them are still
living, honored citizens of the county.
It is not strange that murder was the out-
come of the conditions. It is evident that
the night before the murder had been spent
BRIXKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
6l
by the party in the bar room. As they were
some of them, asleep at sunrise, doubt-
less a night of debauchery was followed by
a morning' of half sober bravado. White,
though so young, must have been a har-
dened criminal, or else have been rendered
reckless by drink. The proprietor, it will
be observed, was not present, which points
to a crowd of debauchees too drunk to go
home, the night before. The whole tragedy
points to a moral for young men, which it
would be wise to heed. White was the first
man tried in the new court house for a se-
rious crime, and was defended by Hon. T.
E. Merritt, of Salem, still active in his pro-
fession, and Governor Henry Warmoth, of
Louisiana, then a young attorney of Salem.
There have been many killings in the eighty
years of Marion county's history, most
of them in self-defense or justifiable
homicide, and about some of them hangs
much mystery. In 1863 Willis Black,
who was a Deputy Sheriff and keeper
of the jail, in company with two Deputy
United States marshals, was killed near
the south line of Salem township. It
is said that he, in company of the marshals,
went to arrest a deserter from the army,
when near the farm of John Cunningham
they met the deserter, who fired, striking
Black in the forehead, killing him instantly.
The deserter fled but the marshals were so
badly frightened they whipped their horses,
and with the dead body of Black lying in
the carriage drove as fast as they could to
Centralia, and thence to Salem. If any
steps were ever taken to capture the un-
known deserter they came to naught, and
even the name of the murderer is unknown.
Crime is always on the frontier, for to the
obscurity of the frontier the criminals of
older communities go to elude capture. Yet
in all Marion county not more than a half-
dozen criminals could be found in the first
thirty years of her history, and today the
proud record is that in proportion to popu-
lation she ranks with the best as a law abid-
ing, peace-loving community, whose people
believe in the supremacy of the law and the
protection of the state.
MARION COUNTY IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR.
The Black Hawk war was the first war
that called forth the militia of Marion
county. Although there was no time from
its first settlement until the close of the
Black Hawk war that the settlers were safe
from Indian attack, although from the small
number of Indians in the vicinity the danger
was not so great as in other parts of the
West, but being on the Kaskaskia and Vin-
cennes trail, was likely to be visited by rov-
ing bands, who were only kept from murder-
ing the inhabitants by a wholesome fear of
a swift and sure revenge by the whites.
Black Hawk was born in 1767 in the
Sauk village and ranked equal to such In-
dian leaders as King Philip, Brandt, Logan
and Tecumseh in his desire to obliterate the
whites, but while beyond doubt he was a
great man, his military talents fell below the
high powers of those great chieftains, and
ranked with those of the lesser leaders of
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
the red men. He was eloquent in the coun-
cils of the warriors. Like all Indians he was
grave and solemn in manner. He was ambi-
tious to be known as a great war chief. The
only road to fame in the Indian mind is the
path of war, and not until he has proven
his prowess by killing an enemy may he sit
among the warriors of his nation in the
.council room. This rank may be shown by
painting a bloody hand on his blanket,
which entitles him to the esteem of the
whole tribe. In 1810 and 1811 there was a
general uneasiness among the Indians of
the Northwest Territory, fostered by the
British agents acting under orders from
Quebec. The Sacs were invited to visit the
Prophet (Tecumseh's brother) at Prophets-
town, and were there filled with the resent-
ment against the Americans. A body of
Winnebagoes had murdered a few whites,
and a knowledge of this act excited the
Sacs under the leadership of Black Hawk,
to do likewise. A part of his band joined
a band of Winnebagoes and attacked Fort
Madison in 1811. The Indians failed in the
attack, and Black Hawk, who had led the
Sacs, thirsted for white blood to efface the
shame of failure. In 1813 British emmissa-
ries arrived at Rock Island with a large
quantity of goods and persuaded Black
Hawk and five hundred warriors to go with
Colonel Dixon to Canada. At Green Bay
they joined the assembled bands of Ottawas,
Pottawatomies. Winnebagoes and Kicka-
poos, under the leadership of Colonel
Dickson, as it can hardly be said
that he commanded them. Black Hawk
and this band took part in the bat-
tles of the Raisin River, Lower San-
dusky and other places, but he was not
content with the small amount of plunder
received, thinking the fighting out of pro-
portion with it. He, with a small band of
warriors, withdrew and returned to Sauk
Village at Rock Island, where he remained
in apparent peace until 1831, with the ex-
ception of a fight on Quiver river settlement,
Missouri, in which one white man and one
Indian were killed. It is not certain that
Black Hawk was present at this skirmish.
Early in the twenties the government had se-
cured, by various treaties, title to the
village and whole country of the Sacs and
Fox tribes. Black Hawk and his band re-
fused to remove, but determined to remain
in possession of their ancient village at or
near the junction of the Rock river with the
Father of Waters. In 1828 some of the land
had been surveyed and sold, a part of which
was in the village itself. The Indians re-
sisted the settlers' taking possession, which
led to some disturbances.
The Governor, understanding the Indian
character and knowing that they would soon
be on the warpath, made no delay, but is-
sued a call for seven hundred men from
the militia of the state. The call was issued
on May 26, 1831, and Beardstown on the
Illinois river, was the appointed place of ren-
dezvous. The call was promptly answered
and men who were familiar with Indian
warfare, and whose proficiency with the rifle
had been acquired by long practice, promptly
volunteered to protect the northern settlers.
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
These were men who knew but little of
military tactics, but were accustomed to care
for themselves in all circumstances. They
were mounted on their own horses and
equipped with their own arms. After eight
days' marching they arrived within a few-
miles of the Sacs Village, where they united
with the United States troops under General
Gaines and encamped for the night. The
next morning he marched against the In-
dian village, but found it deserted. Black
Hawk having crossed the Mississippi during
the night. General Gaines sent orders to
Black Hawk to come to Rock Island at once
and make a treaty of peace, or as an alter-
nate he would cross the river and attack him
at once. In a few days Black Hawk, with
twenty-eight of his chief men, appeared, and
on the thirtieth of June, 1831, signed a
treaty of peace, after a full council with Gov-
ernor John Reynolds and General Gaines.
This closed the Black Hawk war of 1831.
But in a few. months new troubles with
Black Hawk began. During the winter of
1831 and 1832 it became evident that the
treaty signed in June was not regarded by
the Indians. Black Hawk and his band
were restless and were evidently preparing
for a raid. A chief of the Winnebagoes,
whose village was about thirty miles up
Rock river, crossed the Mississippi, and
joined Black Hawk and his band. He made
them believe that all the Indians on the Rock
river would join them, and that they, thus
united, could defy the whites. Black
Hawk was deceived and decided to recross
the Mississippi, and early in 1832 appeared
on the east side with his warriors. Many of
the Sacs and Foxes joined him and
formed a determined and somewhat formid-
able band. He first assembled them at Fort
Madison on the Mississippi, and afterwards
marched up the river to the Banks and en-
camped April 6, 1832. The settlers were
greatly alarmed, a general panic ensued, the
whole frontier from the river to Lake Michi-
gan was in a ferment of excitement and fear.
Many settlers abandoned their homes and
fled. The Governor called out a large num-
ber of volunteers on the i6th of April, who
were to operate in conjunction with the
United States troops under General Atkin-
son, who was in command of the forces at
Rock Island. The volunteers were com-
manded to rendezvous at Beardstown, on
April 22d.
This sketch of the Black Hawk trouble
has been given because of Marion county's
part in the settlement of the difficulty. A
company was organized in this county and
was ready to march June i, 1832. The of-
ficers were: William M. Dobbins, captain;
Dr. Frazier, first lieutenant; Stephen Yo-
kum, second lieutenant ; Jesse M. Wade, or-
derly sergeant; Judge Samuel Hull, ser-
geant. Each man furnished his own horse
and arms, which consisted of a rifle, some of
which were flint-lock, hatchet or ax. where
one was owned, and the hunting-knife. There
was not a sword or pistol in the company.
Officers were expected to fight the same as
the men. Eacli man carried a sack of pro-
visions of his own or neighbor's providing.
On the day of their departure they assem-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
bled in the court-house square in Salem and
were addressed by Rev. Simeon Walker
upon the awful solemnity of the oc-
casion and admonished them to acquit
themselves like American soldiers. Upon
their arrival near Beardstown they were
placed in a battalion under Major John
Dement and placed in a brigade un-
der General Posey and were known as
Posey's brigade. They were ordered to
Rock Island and on the third night reached
Rock river and camped. The next morning
while making an early march they were met
by a courier who informed them that the
Indians were near. Thirty men were sent
before breakfast to reconnoiter and ascertain
the enemy's strength. They soon observed
three Indians running away from them and
apparently dropping something from time to
time on the ground. Two or three of the
soldiers followed the running Indians, when
a large body of savages rose up and disclosed
an ambush, cutting off the detachment. A
fight took place in which five men from the
Jefferson county company were killed. The
Indians then attacked the camp, but were re-
pulsed with considerable loss. The Indians
destroyed many of the horses belonging to
the troops. That evening the whites were
reinforced and took the offensive, pursuing
the Indians. A part of Posey's brigade
fought the battle of Bad Ax where the In-
dians were badly defeated. Cholera now
broke out among the troops and General
Scott, who had arrived, scattered the troops
to save them from the scourge. All the sol-
diers from Marion county lived to return,
but have long since passed away, the last
survivor, Judge Samuel Hull, having died
October 27, 1890. He lived honored and
respected by every citizen of the county,
who for many years kept him in office as
one who was thoroughly trusted and who
never betrayed that trust. He was the father
of E. Hull, late of Salem, deceased, of John
Hull, formerly president of the Illinois
Southern Normal School, and Dr. Darwin
Hull, of Bloomingotn, and grandfather of
Senator C. E. Hull, of Salem.
The following is the roster of the men
from Marion county in this war : Dudley
Mayberry, William McGee, Joseph Fyke,
Samuel Hays, Isaac Copple, David R.
Chance, John McGuire, Edward Young,
William Gaston, Bird M. Simpson, Stephen
Yokum, Benjamin Allen, Daniel Myers,
William Hadden, John F. Jones, Thomas
Chapman, Samuel H. Craig, Willis Smith,
James Richardson, King brothers, John
B. Ules, John Eagan, John Phelps, Cal-
vin Piles, Tod Phelps, Hamilton Fathing,
John F. Drapar, William M. Dobbins,
Jesse M. Wade, Dr. Frazier, William
Hill, Samuel Hull, N. B. Nelms, Leven
Wright, Asa Warren, James Davenport,
Green Duncan, Young P. Barbee, William
Craig and David W. Allman, almost all of
whom have descendants now living in the
county.
The Winnebagoes made a treaty in
September, 1832, by which they sold to
the government all their lands south of the
Wisconsin river and west of Green Bay.
The price paid by the United States was
BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
$70,000, in seven equal installments, schools
for the children for twenty years, besides a
liberal gift of oxen, tools, etc. A few days
later ( September 2ist) the S.acs and Fox
tribes sold to the government what is now
the state of Iowa, for which they received
twenty thousand dollars a year for twenty
years, forty kegs of tobacco, forty barrels
of salt, gunsmith and blacksmith shops ;
also six thousand bushels of corn, mostly
for the Black Hawk band. These treaties
settled the Indian troubles forever in Illinois
and only now and then was life in danger
from the Indians and then only as by any
other criminal.
The last Indian murder in this county was
of an Indian by an Indian near where the
Shanafelt school house now stands and no
proof being had as to who did the killing,
the guilty party escaped punishment, yet the
thought lingers that if the victim had been
a white man they could have found the mur-
derer.
MARION COUNTY IN THE MEXICAN WAR.
Marion county furnished men for Com-
pany C, Sixth Regiment, Illinois, for the
Mexican war. The requisition for raising a
company of infantry was received at Salem
on May 2, 1847, which in four days' time
was organized and reported for duty. On
May 1 7th, the company marched from
Salem, and on the igth arrived at Alton,
and were mustered into the service of the
United States May 2ist. On June I7th,
they left Alton and arrived at Fort Leaven-
5
worth June 29th, were equipped with arms
the next day, and were inspected by Col.
E. W. Newby. On Independence Day the
troops had a general parade, listened to the
reading of the Declaration of Independence
and were addressed by the chaplain of the
fort. The first division of the Illinois
Sixth Regiment was composed of com-
panies B, C and E, under command of
Lieutenant Colonel Boyakin. The regi-
mental officers, as far as Marion county is
interested, were Henderson P. Boyakin, who
enlisted as a private in Company C, but was
elected from the ranks to be lieutenant
colonel at Alton, in June, 1847; Daniel
Turney, surgeon by appointment of the
President; Assistant Surgeon Thomas B.
Lester, of Salem ; Drummer Thomas W.
Pace, of Salem. The company officers were
Vantramp Turner, captain; Isham N.
Haynie, Salem, first lieutenant; Leven
Wright and Benjamin F. Marshall, Salem,
second lieutenants and first sergeants was
Jesse M. Wade and the sergenats were:
Lougin J. Wnorouski, James S. Martin and
Joseph \Vham ; the corporals were : James
N. Barr, James Nelson, Dwyer Tracey and
James M. B. Gaston, while Cornelius N.
Breese and William N. Haynie were musi-
cians. The privates mustered out were:
James G. Anglin, Nathan Adams, James S.
Anderson, Richard S. Allman, George W.
Ashton, Peter Burkhout, Augustus W.
Beasley, William Beasley, Joseph A. Bar-
bee, Alexander Bundy, W. Bundy, Isaac
Bundy, Barney L. Blackburn, H. P. Cox,
Milton Cucthin, James M. Chasteen, James
66
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
W. Denton, Andrew Elliott, William Els-
ton, Marshall French, James McD. Hills,
Dennis G. Jones, Jasper N. Jones, William
Jackson, Edward King, Thomas B. Lester,
John J. Lester, William J. Lester, Lewis
Lature, James A. Marshall, Hamilton Mc-
Colgan, Jacob C. Mefford, William C. Mor-
gan, Joseph F. McGuire, George W. Mid-
dleton, Ira A. Millison, Pleasant Middle-
ton, John McGregor, Thomas Neel, Wil-
liam C. Neel, John R. Nelson, James Par-
ker, James L. Ferryman, Thomas G. Pet-
tus, William C. Roach, Samuel Rainey,
William E. Rolan, George D. Richie, Wil-
liam F. Songer, Solomon Smith, William
Smith, John Tully. John S. Torrence,
Charles Thomas, Joseph R. Tyler, John P.
Vaughn, John McM. Wham, Robert McM.
Wham, Benjamin M. Wham, Daniel A.
Winn, Joshua B. Walsh, Elijah Wallis,
John W. White and John Winn.
Companies B, C and E left Fort Leaven-
worth July 9th, with a wagon train of
thirty-three wagons, thirty others having
been sent on before. The destination was
Santa Fe. The route led across what was
then known as The Great American Desert.
Following generally the Santa Fe trail,
their way led to Shawnee Camp, thence to
Lone Elm, Bull Creek, Rock Creek, Coun-
cil Grove, Diamond Springs, Cottonwood
Creek, Turkey Creek, Plumb Point, Big
Bend on the Arkansas, Pawnee Rock, Man's
Ford, Seminole Springs, San Miguel, to
Santa Fe, where they arrived on Sunday,
the 1 2th day of September. There they
went into camp and remained until Febru-
ary 9, 1848, when, by order of General
Price, they started on the march to Albu-
querque, then a town of Mexico, eighty
miles from Santa Fe, where they arrived on
the 1 4th of February. On this march they
passed San Philipi on the Rio Grande. Al-
buquerque was a town of about one thou-
sand inhabitants and was the headquarters of
the Mexican general. Armego, whose rep-
utation as a bandit, desperado and guerrilla
was well established. They remained here
until the close of the war.
On the loth of July they received orders
from Washington that peace had been de-
clared between the United States and Mex-
ico, and on July 2Oth, they received march-
ing orders to return home, and started on
the homeward march, July 25th, and ar-
rived at Fort Leavenworth on the loth of
September, 1848. They had marched more
than two thousand miles through a barren
country, infested by a savage, treacherous
foe, had been often without water, and had
to depend largely for subsistance upon the
skill of their hunters. The only fire possible
was that made from dried "buffalo chips."
and were two months and three days mak-
ing the march from Santa Fe to Fort Leav-
enworth. Now, only sixty years later, the
journey may be made in two days with all
the comforts of a modern parlor. The death
list, during the term of service, was as fol-
lows: James Baxter died at Fort Leaven-
worth. July 14, 1847; J. W. Collins died
on march to Santa Fe, July 14, 1847; J.
Wadkins died at Fort Leavenworth, July
15, 1847; Robert Easley died on march,
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
67
August 5, 1847; William Brasel died at
Fort Leavenworth, August 19, 1847; Wil-
liam W. Jones died at Santa Fe, Septem-
ber 29, 1847; F- L. Cheeley died at Santa
Fe, November 22, 1847;. James Cooper
died at Santa Fe, February 4, 1848;
William H. Bass died at Santa Fe,
January n, 1848; J. H. White, died
at Santa Fe, January 22, 1848; U. Vaughn
died at Albuquerque, April 25, 1848.
The following were discharged before
the final muster out of the company, on
October 13, 1848: Jesse Ray, at Las Vegas,
January 9, 1848; Zachariah Young, at San-
ta Fe, January n, 1848; James M. Cox, at
Albuquerque, April n, 1848; Lorenzo Mi-
nard, Albuquerque, April n, 1848; An-
drew Ray, Las Vegas, June 8, 1848; John
Bethard, Las Vegas, June 8, 1848; John M.
Whitlock, Santa Fe, August 14, 1848;
Hart well G. Wilson, Las Vegas, August 18,
1848. Thomas W. Pace was appointed
drum major on March 6, 1847. John T.
Damon, second lieutenant of Company E,
died at Santa Fe, December 28, 1847.
James Reed was transferred to Company
B, June 27, 1847. The following were mus-
tered out October 14, 1848, at Alton, they
being Marion county men enlisted in Com-
pany E: Corporals Randolph C. Goddard
and Augustus K. Askey, and Privates John
"W. Bullock, Elijah Bums. Walter M. C.
Damon, Richard Epperson, William E.
Goddard, Samuel Springs and Joseph
Springs. The folowing died : A. J. Camp-
bell, at Fish Creek, July 20, 1847. and
Franklin J. Brown, at Santa Fe, Septem-
ber 27, 1847. Those discharged were:
Jackson Lyman, at Fort Leavenworth,
July 27, 1847; W. O. Buckner, at
Las Vegas, April 26, 1848; W. Stephen-
son, at Las Vegas, April 26, 1848.
Of those who enlisted from Marion county,
all but a very few have responded to the
roll call from the other side. The only one
known to be living in 1908 in Marion coun-
ty is William Bundy, an honored citizen,
enjoying the respect of his fellow citizens
and the well earned fruits of a good life.
Of the soldiers of the Mexican war, many
rose to distinction in after life. Isham N.
Haynie was adjutant general during the
Civil war; B. F. Marshall was elected to
county office and was for many years cash-
ier of the Salem National Bank; James S.
Martin was colonel of the One Hundred
and Eleventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry in
the Civil war; D. Tracy was Circuit Clerk
of the county for several years, and others
filled important places in life, as will more
fully appear in other chapters. Lieut-
Col. Henderson F. Boyakin was a law-
yer in Salem, and died January n, 1849,
and sleeps in the cemetery at Salem. In
life he was very popular with his fellow cit-
izens and has several namesakes among the
sons of those who inarched to Mexico,
across the plains, and the given name of
Boyakin is a monument to his worth and a
token of the esteem in which he was held by
the soldiers of the Mexican war.
MARION COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR.
Marion county furnished her full quota
during the Civil war, no less than fifteen
hundred and sixteen having enlisted in the
68
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
several regiments called out in defense of
the Union of states. One out of every eight
of the entire population being in the field.
The first enlistments from the county were
in the Eleventh Regiment of Illinois Volun-
teers. This regiment was called into service
under the proclamation of President Lin-
coln, April 1 6, 1861, and was mustered in
at Springfield, April 30, 1861, for three
months, by Captain Pope. The regiment
re-enlisted July 30, 1861, for three years and
was mustered out at Baton Rouge, Louisi-
ana. July 14, 1865, having served four
years, two months and fourteen days.
This regiment served in Missouri and
Kentucky until early in 1862. On
the jth and 8th of January it had
its first "brush" w'ith the enemy under
the celebrated Jeff Thompson. It was in
the campaign against Forts Henry and Don-
elson and at the latter fort during the
siege and final capture lost three hundred
and twenty-nine men, in killed, wounded
and missing, out of five hundred men en-
gaged, seventy-two being kilkd and one
hundred and eighty-two being wounded.
On April 6th and 7th, at the battle of Shiloh
the regiment lost twenty-seven men in killed
and wounded, out of one hundred and
fifty engaged. It was in the skirmishes at
Jackson, Tennessee. The regiment was re-
turned to Cairo to recruit in August, 1862,
and returned to the field in Northern Mis-
sissippi, April 23, 1863. The One Hundred
and Ninth regiment was transferred to the
Eleventh, increasing the number of men by
five hundred and eighty-nine and was sent
to Vicksburg, arriving May i8th and partic-
ipated in that campaign until the surrender,
July 4, 1863. On February ist, it started
on an expedition on the Yazoo river and
engaged in two skirmishes, losing four killed
and nine wounded at Liverpool Heights,
February 5th, and on March 5th, lost one
officer and eight men killed and twenty-four
wounded, twelve missing, in the skirmish
at Yazoo City. The roster is as follows:
George C. McKee, major, term expired July
30, 1864; Benjamin H. Pearson, chaplain,
resigned January 18, 1863; First Lieuten-
and Robert Jehue, killed March 5, 1864;
Second Lieutenant John Parkinson, com-
missioned, returned ; Sergeants : Charles
A. Roper, died November 18, 1861 ;
William Parkinson, promoted to first
sergeant, discharged June 7, 1863 ; John
Parkinson, promoted to first sergeant, dis-
charged September 16, 1864, term expired;
Corporals : John S. McWilliams, mustered
out July 29, 1864; Martin A. Smith, mus-
tered out July 29, 1864; Byron Parkhurst,
wounded six times, died May 10, 1862;
George Crabtree, wounded, discharged No-
vember 26, 1862 ; George Copple, promoted
to sergeant, term expired September 16,
1864; Privates: Charles Beal. discharged
August 16, 1864, term expired; John Baggs,
wounded, discharged August 18, 1862; Si-
las Baltzell, discharged June 7, 1863 ; David
L. Browder, veteran, died March 5,
1864; W. H. Carpenter, wounded, dis-
charged August i, 1862; William Copple,
wounded, discharged July 20, 1862; David
Copple, term expired August 16, 1864:
BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Simpson Copple. promoted to sergeant, term
expired August 16, 1864; John R. Copple,
killed at Clinton, Mississippi, July 7, 1864;
A. J. Crabtree, promoted to corporal, term
expired August 17, 1864; James Cain,
killed at Vicksburg, July 2, 1863: George
W. Elfretz, veteranized, transferred; Elijah
Hayes, killed at Shiloh, April 6, 1862;
James Huston, died October 22. 1861 ;
William A. Hartley, wounded, discharged
November 26, 1862; Green Hodges, mus-
tered out October i, 1864; James A. Frea-
zier, mustered out September 16, 1864:
Elijah Jolliff, veteranized, promoted to
corporal, transferred; John R. Kell, wound-
ed, discharged November 26, 1862; James
H. Kerry, killed at Shiloh April 6, 1862;
John O. Kittsapper, mustered out Septem-
ber 16, 1864; William C. Myers, disability,
discharged, January 5, 1862; John E. Mc-
Neil, discharged August 16, 1864; Charles
Xeeham, killed at Fort Donelson, February
15, 1862; Henry Nichols, veteranized, pro-
moted to corporal, transferred : John M.
Posted, died November i, 1861 ; Joel Pitts,
transferred October 27, 1863 ; Allen Roper,
veteranized, transferred; Jesse W. Roper,
discharged August 16, 1864; Enoch Rush,
killed at Fort Donelson February 15, 1862;
Isaac Rush, died October 17, 1861 ; Henry
Smith, veteranized, transferred; Jacob
Smith, discharged August 16, 1864; Benja-
min J. Sweeknerd. promoted to sergeant and
first sergeant, veteranized, transferred;
John Shaw, veteranized, promoted to
sergeant, transferred; Henry Taylor, mus-
tered out September 16, 1864; David Tay-
lor, mustered out September 16, 1864; Fred-
erick Thurston, killed at Shiloh, April 6,
1862; Joseph Wooley, no record; Zadock C.
Williams, discharged February 14, 1862 ;
Christopher Whitlow, died September 6,
1861 ; Henry H. Waymen, veteranized, pro-
moted to corporal, transferred. The follow-
ing were recruited into the regiment ; James
Camron, mustered out July 14, 1865;
George W. Garber, promoted to corporal
and transferred to the Third Colored Cav-
alry, regular army; William R. Watkins,
promoted to corporal, mustered out July
14. 1865. In Company M was George
Rowell, who deserted May 10, 1862.
In Company I was William Butler,
term expired with regiment. In Com-
pany K was recruit James Smith, who
deserted May 18, 1862. Out of the few
men from Marion county in this regiment,
eight were killed in battle; six were wound-
ed and six died, making a heavy total for
the small number of men enlisted. One
man, Jackson Budd, was in the Twelfth
Regiment and died of wounds, March 12.
1862.
In the Eighteenth Illinois Volunteer In-
fantry there were a few men. The regi-
ment was organized at Anna, Illinois, first
for thirty days in state service, by then
Capt. U. S. Grant, and was mustered into
the United States service by Capt. T. G.
Pitcher, of the regular army, May 28, 1861,
was in Missouri and Cairo, Illinois, was at
the taking of Fort Henry, February 6, 1862,
and, as a part of the First brigade, com-
manded by Col. Richard J. Oglesby,
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
marched to Fort Donelson, February 1 1 ,
1862; was in the three days' fight
at the taking of that fort, losing
many men in killed and wounded; was
in the battle of Shiloh, April 6th
and jth; was in the advance on Corinth.
The regiment was recruited and re-organ-
ized at this time and ordered into the depart-
ment of Arkansas, where they served until
the close of the war, and was mustered out
at Little Rock, Arkansas, December 16,
1865. The Marion county men were : Capt.
Joseph T. McCormick, resigned November
1 6, 1861; First Lieutenant Bedford Wi-
mer, resigned November 17, 1861 ; Privates
Jonathan Davis, no record; George Davis,
wounded, discharged, August 25, 1862;
Jacob J. Gaissman, veteranized, corporal,
mustered out December 16, 1865 ; Michael
McDermont, killed at Fort Donelson Febru-
ary 1 6, 1862; Milo Wager was a recruit
in this regiment, no record. After the
regiment was re-organized, the follow-
ing privates were in Company B: Peter
Bell, mustered out December 16, 1865;
Samuel L. Wisher, mustered out December
16, 1865; and in Company D: E. L. Stan-
berry, deserted July 4, 1865 ; John P. Whit-
low, mustered out December 16, 1865, as
corporal.
The Twenty-second Illinois Volunteer In-
fantry was organized at Belleville, Illinois,
May n, 1 86 1, and mustered into the service
of the United States for three years at
Caseyville, by Capt. T. G. Pitcher, United
States Army, June 25, 1861. Company
G, of this regiment, was raised in
Marion county and a few men also
were in other companies. The regi-
ment was at Bird's Point, Missouri, and
a part of it took part in the disastrous bat-
tle of Belmont; were under General Grant
in Missouri, in the early part of 1862; were
at Tiptonville, under General Payne, where
they intercepted and captured four thou-
sand prisoners after the fall of Island No.
10, among whom were two general officers;
were in the skirmishes at Farmington, May
3d, 5th and Qth; were at the siege of Cor-
inth, and afterward guarded the Memphis &
Charleston Railroad until August 26th,
when they fell back to Nashville by forced
marches, where they arrived September n,
1862; was in the severe, two days' battle of
Stone River, losing many men. Out of three
hundred and forty-two men going into bat-
tle, only one hundred and forty-three were
able to answer roll call, the rest, one hun-
dred and ninety-nine, being killed or wound-
ed. It was in the battle of Chickamauga,
September iQth and 2Oth, under General
Sheridan, losing one hundred and thirty-
five officers and men, out of less than three
hundred engaged. The regiment took part
in the storming of Missionary Ridge, with
a heavy loss. On March 6, 1864, full ra-
tions were issued the regiment for the first
. time in six months. They had been on the
march or in isolated places and kept out of
touch with the commissary, so that it was
impossible to keep them supplied, the
mountains of East Tennessee being the
scene of their operations during that period
(winter of 1863 and 1864); was with Sher-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
7>
man in the Atlanta campaign and in the bat-
tle of Resaca, where it had twenty men
killed and wounded. On June 10, 1864 the
regiment was ordered to Springfield, Illi-
nois, to be mustered out. The recruits and
veterans left were consolidated with the
Forty-second Illinois Volunteers. The men
from Marion county in this regiment were:
Major Probst Enadies, resigned January 16,
1862; private, Company A, Thomas J. Bor-
ing, discharged to enter the regular army;
captain, Company C, William A. Greary,
discharged July 7, 1864, term expired;
first lieutenant, Andrew J. Walsh, dis-
charged July 7, 1864, term expired; sec-
ond lieutenant, James Stansifer, honorably
discharged February 27, 1864; sergeants:
Stewart R. Smith, mustered out July
7, 1864; Charles W. Davis, died of
wounds November 8, 1861 ; Corporals
Thomas D. Stevenson, mustered out July
7, 1864; Jacob R. Cozart, discharged,
disability, January 8, 1863; Reuben J.
Hoffman, wounded at Chickamauga, mus-
tered out July 7, 1864; John W. Young,
promoted to sergeant, died from wounds
received at Chickamauga, January 10,
1864; Wagoner James Ryan, deserted De-
cember 2, 1 86 1 ; Privates John Albert, mus-
tered out July 7, 1864; Marshall Butcher,
died at Annapolis, March 17, 1863; Philip
Benedict, wounded at Belmont, transferred
to Vetem Relief Corps; Frank C. Burdick,
promoted to first sergeant, discharged for
promotion; A. H. Denny, deserted Decem-
ber 7, 1862; Frank Dosh, mustered out July
7, 1864; Thomas Foley, mustered out
July 7, 1864; Benjamin Galloup, deserted
April 24, 1862; Elder X. Hoffman, mus-
tered out July 7, 1864; Robert H. Johnson,
died at Corinth, October 20, 1862; James
Jackson, disability, discharged February 20,
1862; Moses Lampay, mustered out July
7, 1864; Fred Meinher, transferred to
Veteran Relief Corps, September 20,
1863; Edward McKinney, mustered out
July 7, 1864; Paul Nerderkam, deserted
October 13, 1862; James Morrow, de-
serted December 2, 1861 ; John Rapp,
disability, discharged March 7, 1862;
Abraham Sinerly, disability, discharged
April 4, 1863; John Taylor, died at St.
Louis, October 9, 1862; Frederick Voght,
transferred, veteranized; Edward Ward,
mustered out July 7, 1864; Michael
Wholon, mustered out July 7, 1864.
was wounded at Stone River; Bern-
hard Winkler, disability, discharged De-
cember 17, 1861 ; William Wilkins, mus-
tered out July 7, 1864; James C. Young,
mustered out July 7, 1864; Recruits George
W. Davis, left sick on field; William H.
Killen, disability, discharged June 15, 1862;
Michael O'Shaughnessy, mustered out July
7, 1864; Gotleib Voght, killed at Stone
River December 31, 1862; Henry White,
disability, discharged May 14, 1862; Com-
pany G, Captain James S. Jackson,
honorably discharged May 12, 1863; First
Lieutenant Solomon Smith, resigned April
17, 1863; Second Lieutenant Edward J.
Jackson, resigned November 27, 1861 ;
Joseph C. Murphy, resigned July 15,
1862; John G. Beasley, term expired
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. ILLINOIS.
July 7, 1864; First Sergeant Arch A.
Hamilton, reduced, dismissed June 13,
1862, for disability; John C. Morgan, killed
at Belmont November 7, 1861 ; Corporals
George W. Russell, died of wounds July 9,
1864; Robert H. Mallory, died of wounds
January i, 1863; Clinton B. Hall, died of
wounds, April 8, 1863; Isaiah Lear, wound-
ed, discharged September 26, 1862; Charles
McElwane, deserted December 2, 1861 ;
Musician Barton W. Barnes, reduced, mus-
tered out July 7, 1864; Privates Jonas
Brim, discharged October 28, 1862, for dis-
ability; James R. Britt, corporal, killed at
Chickamaugua September 19, 1863; John
Beley, veteranized, disability, discharged
June 22, 1865; Charles Blessing, trans-
ferred to gunboat; James Burge, killed
at Chickamauga September 19, 1863;
George W. Blankenship, taken prisoner,
mustered out January 6, 1863; Benja-
min F. Crossnan, veteranized, mustered
out December 16, 1865; Samuel W.
Cunningham, died of wounds February
15, 1863; Mathew R. Cunningham, muster-
ed out July 7, 1864; Michael Dawson, de-
serted April 25. 1862; John W. Day,
veteranized, transferred to First U. S.
Engineers; William \V. Elliott, discharged
to be made assistant surgeon of Fifty-
first Illinois; Oscar B. Fuller, mus-
tered out July 7, 1864; Leonard A. Fuller,
mustered out July 7, 1864; Charles
Fincham, deserted April 25, 1862; William
Gray, mustered out July 7, 1864; Michael
Hogan, mustered out July 7, 1864; John
Hensley, died of wounds March 16, 1864;
James A. Honeycutt, veteranized, de-
serted December 15, 1864; Francis M.
Hensley, mustered out July 7, 1 864 ;
William Houchen, mustered out July 7,
1864, was a wagoner; Lafayette L.
Jones, mustered out July 7, 1864; Thomas
N. Jones, wounded, discharged Decem-
ber 31, 1861 ; John R. Kell, sergeant,
wounded, discharged July 12, 1862; John J.
Kennison, discharged to enlist in the Fourth
regular cavalry; John Cline, disability, dis-
charged February 18, 1862; Charles Kook,
wounded, discharged August 29, 1861 ;
Commodore P. Lackey, transferred to
Veteran Relief Corps, September 6, 1863;
Joseph Myers, mustered out July 7, 1864;
Jonas Myers, mustered out July 7,
1864; John Morrissey, killed at Bel-
mont, November 7. 1861 ; Hugh Mc-
Elwee, disability, discharged, April 19,
1862: Francis M. McCarthy, died at
Bird's Point, November 7, 1861 ; Rob-
ert P. H. Pitcher, dishonorably discharged;
Uriah Phelps, mustered out July 7,
1864; Milton Phillips, disability, discharged
November i, 1861 ; Daniel Quinn, mustered
out July 7, 1864; James M. D. Russell, mus-
tered out July 7, 1864; Dennis Ryan, trans-
ferred to Veteran Relief Corps May 3,
1864; Frank Strickland, disability, dis-
charged February 16, 1863 ; Charles Tat-
ham, disability, discharged April 28,
1863 ; Samuel G. Tate, discharged, en-
listed in Fourth U. S. Cavalry; Ja-
cob M. Thumb, deserted September i,
1862 ; Jacob Van Patten, died of wounds
February 28, 1863; John E. White, mus-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
tered out July 7, 1864; John M. Wilson,
mustered out July 7, 1864; Adam Wim-
berly, disability, discharged November i,
1 86 1 ; Joseph Wilkinson, mustered out July
7, 1864; Samuel Young, disability, dis-
charged January 31, 1862. The following
recruits were added to the muster roll : John
Adams, killed at Belmont, November 7,
1861 ; George Anderson, deserted May 24,
1862; Denis Bloomer, deserted May 24,
1862; George Cunningham, wounded, dis-
charged August 13, 1863; Isham E.
Hodges, mustered out July 7, 1864; Thomas
Huggins, wounded, discharged May 29,
1863; Abram Kessle, deserted April 25.
1862 ; Hezekiah Lassaler, under age, dis-
charged September 30, 1861 ; Hiram Lype,
discharged, enlisted in Fourth regular
cavalry; Alvin S. Raney, disability, dis-
charged October 2, 1863 ; John M. Raney,
detached; Mathew Raney, killed at Bel-
mont November 7, 1861 ; William D.
Russell, discharged June 5, 1862; Wil-
liam Spouts, veteranized, mustered out
June 27, 1865 ; Patrick Whalen, no record.
Two privates were in Company H, viz. :
Mathew M. Gaston, and David A. Goree,
both mustered out July 7, 1864.
The Twenty-first Regiment Illinois Vol-
unteers, Grant's old regiment as it is known
among the "boys of "61," was organized at
Mattoon, Illinois, May 9, 1861. Warren E.
McMackin was the lieutenant-colonel : he
was taken prisoner at the battle of
Chickamauga, was exchanged and served
until mustered out, December 8, 1864;
Alonzo L. Mills was a commissary ser-
geant in this regiment; Joseph Wham,
afterward paymaster in the regular army,
was first lieutenant in Company G, and was
mustered out of the regiment December 16,
1865. Major Wham is now on the retired
list with rank of major; Fritz W. Brown
was second lieutenant in the same company,
mustered out December 16, 1865; George
A. Trinor was sergeant, mustered out July
5, 1864; Corporal John Myers, veteranized;
Charles S. Burrough, mustered out July 5,
1864; Samuel Lonnon, died at Baltimore,
Maryland, March 20, 1865; John Barmes,
musician, mustered out July 5, 1864: Henry
H. Davenport, disability, discharged Sep-
tember 16, 1861 ; Lucius C. Gardner, missing
since the battle of Chickamauga ; George W.
Hamilton, disability, discharged May 30,
1863 ; James R. Richardson, mustered out
July 5, 1864; T. A. M. Richardson, disa-
bility, discharged September 16, 1861 ;
George W. Richardson, mustered out July
5, 1864; Robert and John Shugart, both
mustered out July 5, 1864; Samuel W.
Shultz, veteranized ; David L. Shultz,
wounded, mustered out July 5, 1865;
John F. Watson, missing since bat-
tle of Chickamauga; Joseph W. Wham,
veteranized; Garrett J. Gilman, mustered
out December 16, 1865 ; John W. Myers,
mustered out June 14. 1865; Daniel \Y.
Harley, discharged September 27, 1864;
John F. Newson, died September 20, 1863;
Francis L. Wham, died in Andersonville
prison, July 24, 1864, grave No. 3910.
There were a number of men from
Marion county in Company K, of the Thir-
74
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
ty-first Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infan-
try. The regiment was organized at Cairo,
Illinois, September 8, 1861, by Col. John
A. Logan. Captain Pitcher, U. S. A., mus-
tered it into service. It was brigaded with
the brigade of Gen. John A. McClernand,
and took part in the battle of Belmont, No-
vember 7, 1 86 1, served in Kentucky, and
February 6th occupied Fort Henry in Ten-
nessee; was in the three days' fight at Fort
Donelson, February I3th, i/ith and I5th;
was at Pittsburg Landing and the siege of
Corinth, after which it was at Jackson a
short time, reinforced General Rosecrans at
Corinth in October, but arrived too late for
the battle; went after the enemy to Ripley;
spent the rest of the year 1862 in camp in
Mississippi. On January i, 1863, the regi-
ment was in the First Brigade, Third Di-
vision, Seventeenth Army Corps. Gen. J.
E. Smith commanded the brigade, Brig.-
Gen. John A. Logan, commanding with
Maj.-Gen. J. B. McPherson command-
ing the corps. On the I5th it started on a
tour through Tennessee and Mississippi,
and May ist went to the assistance of Gen-
eral McClernand at Thompson's Hill. The
soldiers had nothing to eat the night before
and were without rations. Notwithstand-
ing this lack of food, they marched twelve
miles in three hours and saved the day by
repulsing the enemy's right flank. On the
next day they crossed Bayou Pierre and on
the third day caught up with the enemy and
again defeated them ; continued the pursuit
of the enemy, skirmishing every day, until
the 1 2th, when they made a stand at Ray-
mond, but were driven to Jackson, where
they were defeated on the I2th, after a se-
vere fight. Again at Champion Hills they
defeated the enemy and arrived before
Vicksburg on the igth. They were in the
charge on Fort Hill and lost two officers
and eight men killed and forty wounded.
The flag of the regiment was shot to pieces,
not less than one hundred and fifty-three
shots striking it. On the 5th of January,
1864, the regiment veteranized, and on Feb-
ruary 3d started on the Meridian campaign ;
were sent home March 19, 1864, on veteran
furlough, but returned to the front in May
and joined Sherman at Actworth; was in
the Hood campaign and took part in the
March to the Sea. The regiment took part
in thirty-one battles and skirmishes, several
of which lasted two or three days. The
Marion county men in the Thirty-first were
as follows, all in Company K: Captain A.
S. Somerville, dismissed May 28, 1862;
First Lieutenant Henry T. Snider, resigned
April 24, 1862 ; Henry C. Lewis, mustered
out July 19, 1865; Second Lieutenant Pink-
ney K. Watts, resigned August 8, 1863;
Sergeants John A. Vanhiming, killed at Bel-
mont, November 7, 1861 ; Robert L. Car-
penter, veteranized, mustered out July
19, 1865; Benjamin F. Brookes, trans-
ferred to Veteran Relief Corps, Oc-
tober 27, 1863; Musician John M. Bemiss,
deserted January n, 1863; Privates Wil-
liam P. Barnet and Charles R. Barnet, no
record; John W. Boswell, transferred; Ja-
cob R. Bell, veteranized, mustered out
J-uly 19, 1865; \Vesley Blalock, no record;
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Samuel D. Billings, promoted to chief mu-
sician ; James Brofield, mustered out May
31, 1865; Patrick Cooney, veteranized,
wounded and was not at muster out on that
account; George \Y. Campbell, died March
n, 1862; Larkin Donoho, discharged Janu-
ary 8, 1864; William Denney, term expired,
mustered out January 28, 1864; Jacob
Gurick, killed at Fort Donelson February
15, 1862; John Hutchcraft, killed at Kene-
saw Mountain June 27, 1864; David Kisner,
veteranized, promoted to sergeant, mustered
out July 19, 1865; William H. Lewis, no
record; Henry C. Lewis, veteranized, pro-
moted to first lieutenant ; Aaron Mosby,
veteranized, mustered out July 19, 1865;
Andrew M. Peddicord, veteranized, mus-
tere out July 19, 1865; Benjamin F. Patter-
son, veteranized, mustered out July 19,
1865; Elijah Rector, discharged June 30,
1862; Samuel E. Sanders, veteranized, mus-
tered out July 19, 1865 ; Walter Simon; Ed-
ward Teets; Thomas Waterhouse, missing
in action July 22, 1864. The recruits of
Company K were : James H. Branch, mus-
tered out July 19, 1865; James Kelley, de-
serted June 13, 1862; John Laflin, disability,
discharged April 17, 1862; James N. Mills,
mustered out July 19, 1865 ; Martin V. Mil-
ham, mustered out July 19, 1865; John
Phelps, died June 30, 1865 ; Leander Skeen,
transferred; William Weaver; Pinkney K.
Watts, promoted to second lieutenant. Six
men from Marion county were in the Thir-
ty-third Regiment, viz. : Quartermaster
Simeon Wright, resigned August 22, 1864;
First Assistant Surgeon Nathan W. Abbott,
was mustered out for promotion ; Quarter-
master Sergeant Elmer Washburn ; Commis-
sary Sergeants Samuel Tilden, mustered out
November 24, 1864; Luther H. Prosser,
mustered out November 24, 1864; Musician
J. B. Sanders, mustered out August 12,
1862. There were also fifteen men from
Marion county in the Thirty-fourth Regi-
ment, Company I : Musician Henry Lego,
veteranized, mustered out July 12, 1865;
Privates Chris Backman, veteranized, mus-
tered out as corporal July 12, 1865;
George Fleming; William H. French, vet-
eranized, mustered out July 12, 1865: Ja-
cob Heglem, veteranized, mustered out July
12, 1865 ; John F. Heglin, veteranized, mus-
tered out July 12, 1864; Henry Houghtail-
ing, mustered out September 12, 1864;
Adam Kuhler, veteranized, transferred to
Veteran Reserve Corps December 21, 1864;
Levi Lower, mustered out September 12,
1864; George Robbins; Peter Saur, veteran-
ized, mustered out as corporal July 12,
1865; Nels Yonson, veteranized, mustered
out as corporal July 12, 1865; Recruits
Nelson W. Manning, mustered out July
12, 1865; Samuel Scott, mustered out
July 12, 1865; George W. Wells, mus-
tered out July 12, 1865. A few men
from Marion, county were in the Thir-
ty-ninth Infantry, known as the Yates
Phalanx. They were: Quartermaster
Sergeant Stewart W. Hoffman, pro-
moted to quartermaster; Captain Adol-
phus B. Hoffman, term expired December
30, 1864; First Lieutenant William Lamb,
killed in battle April 2, 1865; Sergeants
7 6
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
William Abbott, disability, discharged Au-
gust 27, 1862; Barney Mulvaney, disability,
discharged July 27, 1862; Corporals George
Babbit, term expired, discharged October
ii, 1864; George Brown, disability, dis-
charged (no date) ; John Bras, veteranized,
mustered out as sergeant December 6,
1865; Christopher Comson, veteranized,
promoted to quartermaster sergeant ; P.
Dwight, veteranized, disability, discharged
as first sergeant June 7, 1865 ; John
Harrison, died of wounds at Point Look-
out (no date) ; Dennis Kane, died at Pitts-
burg, Pennsylvania, November i, 1861 ;
William H. Lamb, veteranized, promoted to
first sergeant ; Owen Loughram, veteran-
ized, promoted to sergeant, killed October
13, 1864; Ebenezer Morse, sergeant, mus-
tered out December 6, 1865; James Nelson,
term expired, discharged October n, 1864;
James Stout, veteranized; wounded, dis-
charged October 18, 1864, Albert Stanton,
veteranized, mustered out December 6,
1865.
The Fortieth Illinois Infantry was com-
manded by Stephen G. Hicks, a Salem law-
yer, who responded to the call of the Union
early in 1861. The regiment was accepted
July 25th and went into camp at Sandoval,
Illinois, August 5th; was mustered in Au-
gust 10, 1 86 1, seven hundred strong; was
ordered to Illinois Town (now East St.
Louis) by the Ohio and Mississippi
Railroad and crossed to Jefferson Barracks.
Here they were armed with the old rifled
muskets from the arsenal at Harper's Ferry
and sent to Paducah, Kentucky. It was bri-
gaded with the Ninth Illinois, Eighth Mis-
souri and Twenty-third Indiana and was
under the command of Colonel, after Gen-
eral, W. H. L. (Lew) Wallace. The
Fortieth was at Paducah, Ky., almost all
the time until after the taking of
Fortieth was at Paducah almost all
gaded with the Forty-eighth Indiana
and Forty-sixth Ohio, and the brigade
placed under the command of Colonel Hicks,
Lieut.-Col. Boothe commanding the regi-
ment; was ordered to Savanah, Tennessee,
March 6, 1862, and soon established a per-
manent camp at Pittsburg Landing; took
part in the terrible battle at that place on
April 6th. Nearly half of the regiment was
killed or disabled; Colonel Hicks was
wounded through the left lung and shoul-
der; Captain Hooper was killed. On the
2d of June the regiment went to Corinth;
on the 7th moved to Chaville, then to La-
grange; during the month of July scouted
and took Holly Springs; reached Memphis
on the 2 ist of July and went into camp at
Fort Pickering. Here Colonel Hicks was
discharged on account of his wounds with
honorable mention. He was afterward rein-
stated at his own request. At the end of
four months he was ordered to Holly
Springs, thence to Salem and Springhill,
Lagrange and Grand Junction ; Janu-
ary 9th relieved the garrison at Davis
Mills and spent the rest of the win-
ter there. Lieut.-Col. Boothe resigned
January I3th and Adjutant Ray on
January 26th. Major Barnhill succeeded
to the lieutenant colonelcv and returned to
BRIXKERHOFF S HISTORY OF .MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
77
the regiment from detached service January
15, 1864: took part in the battle of Mis-
sionary Ridge and went into winter quar-
ters at Scottsville, Alabama.
The regiment re-enlisted January i, 1864,
345 men strong. During the two years and
five months the regiment had been out there
were 261 deaths, seventeen discharged, six
transferred, missing in action and desertions,
seventeen. The regiment was with Sherman
on his March to the Sea. Took part in the
Grand Review at Washington and was mus-
tered out July 24, 1865. Colonel Hicks, at
the close of the war, returned to Salem,
where he died on December 14, 1869, never
having regained his health after being-
wounded, but suffered continually until his
release by death. He sleeps in East Lawn
cemetery at Salem, and the "Boys" he com-
manded are fast being called to sleep at his
side, and soon the last will be gone and only
the unfeeling type will tell their story. The
roll of Marion county men is: Stephen G.
Hicks, colonel, detached when regiment was
mustered out; James W. Boothe, lieutenant
colonel, resigned January 13, 1863; Surgeon
Samuel W. Thompson, resigned June 3,
1862; William M. Elliott, resigned Febru-
ary 22, 1864; Sergeants, Major Samuel J.
Winans, killed at Missionary Ridge, No-
vember 25, 1863; Samuel B. Stokely; Mu-
sicians John Chapman, discharged August
26 (term expired), 1864; Isaac Young,
killed at Griswoldville, Georgia, November
22, 1864. Company B: Captain William
T. Sprouse, resigned August 4, 1863; John
Perkins, mustered out July 24, 1865; First
Lieutenants, Joshua Goodwin, resigned May
31, 1863; Benjamin E. Baldwin, mustered
out July 24, 1865; Second Lieutenant Wil-
liam R. Lynch, mustered out as sergeant
July 24, 1865; First Sergeant Benjamin F.
Davidson; Sergeants Robert Perkins,
George W. Mitchell, Ellis Neal, disability,
discharged at Memphis; Corporals John T.
Lyons, given sick furlough November i,
1863, never returned; Henry H. Wolf, term
expired, discharged August 9, 1864; Wil-
liam Lynch, veteranized, promoted ; James
M. Keaton, veteranized, promoted sergeant,
sergeant-major; Thomas F. Rogers; James
J. Brown; Charles M. See, veteranized,
mustered out July 24, 1864; Privates John
Arnold, veteranized, discharged June 23,
1865 ; George Arnold, veteranized, died at
Marietta, Georgia, of wounds; Thomas S.
Anderson ; Lorenzo D. Almon, discharged,
term expired August 9, 1864; William Bar-
nett, veteranized, mustered out July 24,
1865; John A. Clayton; McCager Clayton;
William Craig, veteranized, mustered out
July 24, 1865 ; John W. Climer, veteran-
ized, mustered out as corporal July 24,
1865; Fred Dietz, discharged December n,
1861 ; Samuel Ellison; William F. Eagan,
veteranized, mustered out July 24, 1865 ;
Wesley French, transferred; Wilson Gard-
ner, veteranized, mustered out July 24,
1865; Naum W. Gibbs, disability, dis-
charged; John C. Gill, term expired, dis-
charged Aug. 9, 1864; Calvin Garner, vet-
eranized, mustered out July 24, 1865 ; Ellis
S. Gibson, transferred; William T. Hamil-
ton, transferred ; Henry D. King, disability,
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
discharged March 23, 1863; John R. Hicka-
son, veteranized, mustered out July 24,
1865 ; Bruce H. Hatton, veteranized, mus-
tered out July 24, 1865; Francis M. Haley;
John F. Jarrott; John L. Jones, veteran-
ized, mustered out July 24, 1865 ; Albert C.
Johnson; David Jones, veteranized, mus-
tered out July 24, 1865; George W. Love-
less; Silas" Lock, died September 16, 1861 ;
William C. Lock, disability, discharged No-
vember 2, 1863; Henry W. Lape; Robert
P. Manion, term expired, discharged Au-
gust 9, 1864; Richard Markle, veteranized,
mustered out July 24, 1865 ; James Mc-
Daniel, veteranized, mustered out July
24, 1865; Henry D. Mahon, veteranized,
mustered out July 24, 1865 ; Calvin A. Mor-
ris, veteranized, mustered out July 24,
1865; James A. Nebins, discharged Decem-
ber 3, 1 86 1 ; Robert G. Nance, promoted;
Solomon Osborne, term expired, discharged
August 9, 1864; John Perkins, veteranized,
promoted first lieutenant; Amos Parks, vet-
eranized, died in hospital of wounds; David
K. Prewett, veteranized, absent on sick list
from May 28, 1865 ; Joseph W. Powell, vet-
eranized ; Charles Pearson, mustered out
July 24, 1865; Jacob Parks; Riley Pies-
grove; George W. Rogers; Samuel Reed;
Amos Rees; Joseph H. Schafer, veteran-
ized, mustered out July 24, 1865;
Samuel B. Stokeley, veteranized, pro-
moted ; Conrad S. Whitman, died Sep-
tember 1 8. 1863; Rilew Walsh, term
expired, discharged August 9, 1864;
Clinton Wolf, term expired, discharged
August 9, 1864; Isaac Young, pro-
moted. Recruits: James J. Ball, term ex-
pired, discharged December 25, 1864; Miles
Chapman, died of wounds August 12, 1864;
John W. Doolin, mustered out July 24,
1865 ; Thomas Evans, mustered out July 24,
1865 ; Joseph J. Gardiner, mustered out July
24, 1865; Charles Gardiner, mustered out
July 24, 1865; Bodkin D. Henly, mustered
out July 24, 1865; Calvin Marvon, mus-
tered out July 24, 1865 ; Asahel O. Trum-
ble, mustered out July 24, 1865; Silas Wil-
liamson, mustered out July 24, 1865; Cul-
breth Webb, mustered out July 24, 1865.
In Company H were : Captains Samuel D.
Stewart, honorably discharged November i,
1862; Thomas G. Kelly, mustered out as
first lieutenant April 5, 1865; First Lieuten-
ant Henry Blessing, mustered out July 24,
1865 ; Second Lieutenant Luther Scott, mus-
tered out July 24, 1865; Corporals John A.
Parkson, term expired, discharged August
9, 1864; William R. Green, veteranized,
mustered out July 24, 1865; George H.
Straight, disability, discharged August 9,
1864; Thomas G. Martin, veteranized, mus-
tered out July 24, 1865; Musician Obediah
F. Evans, wounded; Privates John L.
Birge, veteranized, killed by accident while
on furlough ; Chancy Boughton ; Henry C.
Caseloth, term expired, discharged August
9, 1864; Amos Conklin; J. B. Caseloth,
veteranized, mustered out July -24, 1865;
William T. Evans; Edmond Fouche, vet-
eranized, killed at Griswoldville, Georgia,
November 22, 1864; John M. Green; Hugh
M. Parkinson, term expired, discharged Au-
gust 9, 1864; Harden C. Rines, veteranized,
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
79
transferred to Veteran Relief Corps; Milton
G. Rudd; Theodore Sexton, veteranized,
mustered out July 24, 1865 ; James J. Wat-
son, veteranized, mustered out July 24,
1865; Recruits: John G. Burrow; John
Ekleman, veteranized, deserted May 12,
1864; John Evert, veteranized, mustered
out July 24, 1865; William M. French, vet-
eranized; Silas S. Gibson, veteranized,
transferred; John Hamilton, veteranized;
Thomas G. Johnson; William C. Jarrott;
John McCabe deserted ; M. B. Phillips, vet-
eranized, died at Lookout Mountain Octo-
ber n, 1864; A. M. Smith; transferred
from One Hundred and Third Illinois
Volunteer Infantry and all mustered
out July 24, 1865; Thomas J. Cor-
der, Ora Chapin, Charles C. Mendenhall,
William A. Ralston, James C. Ralston,
John C. Whitaker. In Company I : Second
Lieutenant J. W. Blackburn, mustered out
July 24, 1865; Privates: William Beard,
veteranized, mustered out July 24, 1865 ;
Alfred Beard, disability, discharged Febru-
ary 1 6, 1863; W. T. Perry, veteranized,
deserted March 15, 1865; F. H. Perry, vet-
eranized, mustered out July 24, 1865; B.
C. Tate, term expired, discharged August
9, 1864; S. Shadden, term expired, dis-
charged August 9, 1864; Recruits: Elijah
Beard, veteranized, mustered out July 24,
1865; John W. Blackburn, veteranized, pro-
moted; James F. Pickett, disability, dis-
charged February 17, 1863; George Shock-
man, veteranized, mustered out July 24,
1865 ; Adolphus H. Tate, veteranized, mus-
tered aut July 24, 1865. In Company K:
Second Lieutenant George A. Miller, mus-
tered out July 24, 1865 ; Sergeant Felix G.
Ross ; Musician Benjamin Martin ; Privates :
P. Mannon, veteranized, killed at Kenesaw
Mountain June 27, 1864; Miles Allen, vet-
eranized, mustered out July 24, 1865 ;
Thomas Chapman, discharged January 13,
1862; John Chapman, promoted; Daniel W.
Chapman, term expired, discharged August
27, 1864; John W. Cain; W. L. Dillon, vet-
eranized, mustered out July 24, 1865;
Henry Fisher, disability, discharged Janu-
ary 27, 1864; Josiah Gibson, veteranized,
died of wounds August 14, 1864; William
R. Meeks, veteranized, disability, discharged
July 2, 1864; George A. Miller, promoted.
The following recruits were unassigned:
William H. Ashley, James Davis, Thomas
L. Knight, J. K. P. Stanford, Charles Scott,
Joseph H. Slook, James B. Wood.
One company of the Forty-eighth Infan-
try was made up almost entirely of Marion
county men. The regiment was organized
at Camp Butler, September, 1861, by Isham
N. Haynie, a Marion county man, and num-
bered nine hundred men; arrived at Cairo
November nth, and was soon at the front;
was in the following battles, twenty-four in
number, and several of them lasting two or
three days; Fort Henry, Fort Donelson,
three days ; Shiloh, two days : before Corinth
eight or ten days ; Black River ; Jackson, six
days; Missionary Ridge, two days: at the
siege of Knoxville several days; Resaca.
three days ; at Dallas four days ; New Hope
Church, six days; before Kenesaw Moun-
tain twenty-three days ; Sandtown, seven
8o
I5RINKKRI10FF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. ILLINOIS.
days ; Decatur, one day ; Atlanta, three days,
and at the siege of that place twenty-nine
days; Jonesboro, one day; Lovejoy, two
days; Fort McAllister, one day; at the siege
of Savanah and Duck River about twenty
days; South Edisto, one day; Columbia,
two days, and Bentonville, one day, and
every day of this number were more or less
exposed to the enemy's fire. The regiment
soon became seasoned, and proved their
fighting grit in every emergency. These
Marion county men were in Company F:
Surgeon William Hill, resigned April 27,
1862; Isaac Bundy, chaplain, resigned Au-
gust 24, 1864; Commissary Sergeant Wil-
liam A. Bookins, mustered out August 15,
1865; Hospital Steward Thomas Williams,
promoted to surgeon Sixth Tennessee
Cavalry, October 4, 1862; Captain Mil-
ton H. Lydick, resigned October 12,
1864; First Lieutenants: Alexander L.
Wellman, term expired ; John A. Barr, mus-
tered out August 15, 1865; Second Lieu-
tenants: John R. Daily, dismissed by court
martial October 16, 1862; Benjamin F.
Keeler, mustered out August 15, 1865; Ser-
geants: William Precise, died at Centralia,
Illinois, November 24, 1863; Robert F. Mc-
Neill, died at Centralia, Illinois, April 13,
1862; Richard Breeze, disability, discharged
May 8, 1862; Corporals: George Terry,
mustered out November 9, 1864; Archibald
B. Scott, disabilty, discharged May 6, 1862;
William Richardson, disability, discharged
June 23, 1864; Frederick F. Benson, vet-
teranized, wounded, discharged; William G.
\Vhite, died at Chattanooga July 28, 1864;
Nathaniel A. Winks, mustered out Novem-
ber 9, 1864; William A. Hervey, mustered
out November 9, 1864; Musicians: Allin G.
Ball, died at Centralia, Illinois, December
15, 1864; August Walters, mustered out
November 9, 1864; Privates: William
Adams, mustered out August 15, 1865; Na-
than Adams, disability, discharged January
31, 1862; Thomas J. Adams, died at Sa-
vannah, Tennessee, April n, 1862; T.
Burke, veteranized, .died at Indianapolis, In-
diana, January 24, 1864; Gideon Bolton,
disability, discharged February 21, 1862;
William A. Brookins, veteranized, pro-
moted sergeant; William Breeze, disa-
bility, discharged January n, 1862; John
F. Butler, veteranized, killed at Atlanta
July 28, 1864; George H. Chorgel, vet-
eranized, disability, discharged June 25,
1865; Peter Dougherty, mustered out No-
vember 9, 1864; Phillip Davidson, died at
Cairo, Illinois, December 14, 1861 ; William
Evans, discharged September 2, 1862;
James M. Fyke, died at Centralia, Illinois,
October 19, 1861 ; Richard C. Farthing,
veteranized, mustered out August 15, 1864;
Thomas R. Falkner, veteranized, mustered
out August 15, 1864; Conadus Gray, died at
Camp Butler, Illinois, November 25, 1861 ;
Jacob E. R. Garish, died at Camp Butler,
Illinois, December 16, 1861 ; John Henshil-
wood, veteranized, mustered out August 15,
1865; Henry L. Heart, veteranized, mus-
tered out August 15, 1865; Allen H. Hays,
disability, discharged February 21, 1862;
Henry Hothen, mustered out November 9,
1864; Benjamin F. Keeler, veteranized,
BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
81
mustered out August 15, 1865; John
\Y. Lonnon, veteranized, mustered out
August 15, 1865; John McBride, mustered
out November 9, 1864; Samuel B. McNeill,
discharged May 8, 1862; John C.
Meredith, veteranized, mustered out Au-
gust 15, 1865; Pembroke Mercer, pro-
moted; William E. Purcell, promoted;
Robert W. Prosise, deserted Decem-
ber 7, 1863; Thomas Phillips, disability, dis-
charged July 22, 1862; Mathew Pender-
grass, mustered out November 9, 1864;
Charles Ruff, mustered out October 5, 1864;
Dougald Rose, mustered out November 9,
1864; James Sloss, disability, discharged
September 26, 1862; James Shaw, mustered
out November 9, 1864; William Tate, dis-
charged May 8, 1862; Thomas Tucker, vet-
eranized, mustered out August 15, 1865;
Henry Vischman, deserted April 4, 1862;
George Williamson, veteranized, died at
Rome, Georgia, October 4, 1864; Wil-
liam H. Winks, died at Savannah,
Tennessee, March 31, 1862; Preston
Willey, disability, discharged October
14, 1862; Recruits: Nathan A. Adams,
mustered out August 15, 1865 ; Willis Alex-
ander, mustered out August 15, 1865; Wil-
liam H. Burge, mustered out August 15,
1865 ; Christ M. Chrise, killed at Jonesboro,
Georgia, September i, 1864; William D.
Farthing, mustered out August 15, 1865;
Adolphus Grote, mustered out August 15,
1865 : Frederick Grote, mustered out Au-
gust 15, 1865; James Huckleberry, died at
Rome, Georgia, October 11, 1864; Charles
Kirkpatrick, discharged May 18, 1862;
6
Nicholas Lewer, mustered out August 15,
1865; James W. L. Monds, veteranized;
John Rimmer, mustered out August 15,
1865; John Reno, died at Camp Butler,
April 12, 1864; Samuel Shook, wounded,
discharged May 17, 1865; John C. Sands,
mustered out August 15, 1865; William H.
Sabin, mustered out August 15, 1865;
George Seibel, mustered out August 15,
1865; William Schroeder, died at Scotts-
boro, Alabama, April 2, 1864; Thomas Tay-
lor, mustered out August 15, 1865; Preston
Willey, mustered out August 15, 1865;
Peter E. Warren, mustered out August 15,
1865 ; James K. Warren, died before At-
lanta, Georgia, August 12, 1864; John B.
Welch, deserted June 22, 1865; Daniel
J. Wilson, mustered out August 15, 1865;
John Crutchfield was in Company K and
mustered out June 27, 1865.
The Forty-ninth had men in seven of its
companies from Marion county. The regi-
ment was organized at Camp Butler by
Colonel William R. Morrison December 31,
1 86 1 ; was ordered to Cairo in February,
1 862; was in McClernand's Division at the
capture of Fort Henry; lost fourteen men
killed and thirty-seven wounded at Fort
Donelson on February I3th. Colonel Mor-
rison, who was in command of the brigade,
was severely wounded; was present at Shi-
loh, losing seventeen killed and ninety-nine
wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Pease, after-
ward colonel, was wounded at this battle;
was at the siege of Corinth; was moved to
Bethel, June i4th, and placed in John A.
Logan's First Division; was afterward
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
placed in the Fourth Brigade, First Division,
Sixteenth Army Corps, under Maj.-Gen.
S. A. Hurlbut; was in General Steele's
expedition to Little Rock, joining the army
at Brownsville, Arkansas ; was at the capture
of Little Rock, November 10, 1863. Three-
fourths of the regiment veteranized January
15, 1864, and on January 2/th moved to
Vicksburg; was with General Sherman in
the Meridian campaign; was sent on the
Red River expedition and took part in the
capture of Fort DeRussey, March I4th, and
the battle of Pleasant Hill, April 9th. Re-
turned to Illinois June 24th, for veteran fur-
lough. Those not veteranized remained in
the field commanded by Cap. J. A. Lo-
gan, and took part in the battle of Tupelo,
July 14 and 15, 1864. The veterans re-
joined the regiment at Holly Springs; were
in the pursuit of Price through Missouri ;
Arrived at Nashville, Tennessee, in time to
take part in the battle at that place on De-
cember 1 5th and i6th; was ordered to Pa-
ducah to muster out non-veterans, and did
garrison duty until mustered out Septem-
ber 9, 1865. The muster roll contains the
names of the following Marion county men :
Phineas Pease, colonel, term expired Janu-
ary 9, 1865; Frank J. Burrows, adjutant,
was on detached service when regiment was
mustered out; Surgeon Stephen F. Mercer,
mustered out September 9, 1865; First As-
sistant Surgeon James A. Black, mustered
out September 9, 1865; Commissary Ser-
geant William Branson, reduced to ranks;
William E. Farrow, veteranized, second as-
sistant surgeon, mustered out January 9,
1865; Corporals: Fred Sternberg, mustered
out January 9, 1865; Zeh. John, mustered
out January 9. 1865; Recruits: Alexander
Ross, deserted December 6, 1864; William
Stork, mustered out September 9, 1865;
John W. Brokaw, killed at Fort Donelson
February 13, 1862; Emery B. Harlin, pro-
moted to assistant adjutant general on staff
of General Palmer; Sergeants: Thomas O.
Hess, discharged August 26, 1863 ; Albert
Marsh, transferred to gunboat February 21,
1862; Oscar W. Brokaw, veteranized; Cor-
porals : John Wilson, died at Cincinnati of
wounds March 14, 1862; Charles O'Neill,
disability, discharged June i, 1862; Wil-
liam S. McKinney, died of wounds August
n, 1862; Mathew R. Kell, died a prisoner
in Andersonville March 7, 1865; grave No.
18; Musicians: Ephraim Williams, died a
prisoner at Andersonville July 13, 1865,
grave No. 3254 ; Marion Richardson,
veteranized, mustered out September 9,
1865; Wagoner Timothy Baldwin, killed
at Shiloh April 6, 1862; Privates:
James Bradshaw, transferred to gun-
boat, February 21, 1862; Isaac Y.
Barten, veteranized, mustered out September
9, 1865 ; John G. Burggraf, veteranized,
mustered out September 9, 1865; Edward
Cuming, transferred to gunboat February
26, 1865; William Clemens, veteran-
ized, mustered out September 9, 1865;
Fred B. Eavin, mustered out Janu-
ary 9, 1865; William E. Farrow, pro-
moted; Reuben A. Grunendike, trans-
ferred to Veteran Relief Corps November
29, 1864; William Holmes, disability, dis-
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
charged November 28, 1862; Henry A.
Higgins, disability, discharged February 10,
1863 ; Carlin L. Mitchell, died at Camp But-
ler January 16, 1862; William Peters, mus-
tered out January 27, 1865 ; Thomas M.
Smith, disability, discharged July 22, 1862;
Wesley Simmonds, disability, discharged
September 27, 1863; Eben Taylor, dis-
ability, discharged September 28, 1862;
Jonathan J. Thomas, died at St. Louis May
16, 1862; Ira C. Wiggins, deserted April 14,
1863; Recruits: Samuel D. Alexander,
mustered out September 9, 1865; James W.
Alexander, died at Memphis, July 10, 1864;
James M. Butler, died at St. Louis Novem-
ber 29, 1864; Henry Elefritz, mustered out
September 9, 1865; James Ellis, mustered
out September 9, 1865; James Finley, died
at Salem September 3, 1864; John M.
Hewet, mustered out September 9, 1865;
Andrew Langdall, mustered out September
9, 1865; James H. McBride, mustered out
September 9, 1865; Charles P. Oyler, dis-
charged to be captain in One Hundred and
Twenty-fourth Colored Regiment. United
States Regulars ; James Pullen, mustered out
September 9, 1865 ; Edward Washburn, died
at home October 8, 1865; Charles J. Wei-
don, disability, discharged September 13,
1863; James Winks, mustered out Septem-
ber 9, 1865; Vincent P. Williamson, mus-
tered out September 9, 1865; Clement M.
Williams, wounded, mustered out Septem-
ber 9, 1865. Company F, recruits : George
W. Crabtree, mustered out September 9,
1865; Thomas C. Drake, died at Memphis
March 29, 1865 ; John C. Holt, mustered out
September 9, 1865 ; Arthur C. Leonard, died
January 9, 1863 ; Samuel Meyers, mustered
out September 9, 1865 ; John W. Shelton,
mustered out September 9, 1865; William
V. Shelton, mustered out September 9,
1865; Jesse West, mustered out September
9, 1865 ; Andrew Wadkins, died at Memphis
July 2, 1864. In Company G, Jonathan
Mills, mustered out September 9, 1 865 ; Re-
cruits : George W. Smith, died at Paducah,
Kentucky, April 24, 1865. In Company H,
recruits: Jacob Branch, mustered out Sep-
tember 9, 1865; Julius Jahr, mustered out
September 9, 1865 ; George Krebs, died at
Paducah, Kentucky, June 27, 1865; John
Margolf, mustered out September 9, 1865;
Daniel Morganstarr, mustered out Septem-
ber 9, 1865. In Company I, recruits: Ja-
ques Chancy, died at Memphis May 6, 1864;
James O'Donnell, mustered out July 18,
1865 ; Hiram M. Miller, mustered out Sep-
tember 9, 1865. In Company K, privates:
Jesse Hughes, veteranized, mustered out
September 9, 1865 ; Garrick McCart, died at
Camp Butler February 13, 1862; recruits:
Clark Anderson, mustered out July i , 1 865 ;
Burrell J. Blanton, mustered out September
9, 1865; Jerome Brookmann. died at Pa-
ducah, Kentucky, April 8, 1865; Henry H.
Coil, mustered out September 9, 1865 ; Ed-
mund N. Creekmur, mustered out Septem-
ber 9, 1865 ; Elzy D. Davenport, mustered
out September 9, 1865; James P. Estes,
mustered out September 9, 1865 ; William E.
Ellis, mustered out September 9, 1865 ; Eli
L. Foster, mustered out September 9, 1865;
James Garrison, mustered out September 9,
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
1865; Stephen Gossett, mustered out Sep-
tember 9, 1865; Albert Green, died at Pa-
ducah, Kentucky, March 20, 1865; Gillam
Harris, mustered out September 9, 1865 ;
William T. Keen, died at Memphis June 17,
1864; Elvis Keen, deserted September 4,
1863; Marshall McLain, deserted Septem-
ber 4, 1863; Alfred H. Meador, mustered
out September 9, 1865; Daniel W. Morris,
mustered out September 9, 1865 ; Larry L.
Nichols, mustered out September 9, 1865 ;
Benjamin B. Nichols, mustered out Sep-
tember 9, 1865; Rufus Place, mus-
tered out September 9, 1865; William
J. Phillips, mustered out September
9, 1865; Charles E. Short, mustered
out September 9, 1865; Benjamin F.
Scott, mustered out September 9, 1865;
Bartholomew Wood, mustered out Septem-
ber 9, 1865; William J. Wiggins, mustered
out September 9, 1865 ; Lafayette Wiggin-
ton, mustered out September 9, 1865 ; Isaac
W. Waters, mustered out September 9,
1865; James Widger, mustered out Septem-
ber 9, 1 865 ; unassigned recruits with the
regiment: German O. Ball, rejected; John
Conners; Frederick Just, deserted February
28, 1864; James Pearse.
Company A of the Fifty-first Regiment
enlisted in Marion county. The regiment
was organized at Chicago, Illinois, the day
before Christmas, 1861, and on the I4th of
February was ordered to Cairo, and from
there went to Missouri; was at Island No.
10, April 7th, and pursued the enemy the
next day, thus forcing the surrender of four
thousand prisoners with their commander,
General Mackall ; was in the battle of Stone
River on the 3ist day of December, 1862,
and suffered severely, losing in killed,
wounded and missing, fifty-seven men ;
lost ninety men out of two hundred and
nine at the battle of Chickamauga, Septem-
ber 19, 1863; was at Missionary Ridge,
November 24th, and lost one-fifth of the
men engaged, or thirty out of one hundred
and fifty ; was mustered in as veterans Feb-
ruary 10, 1864; was in a skirmish at Rocky-
face Ridge May gth, and at the battle of
Resaca on the i4th, losing twenty-three men
in the two fights. One officer and twenty-
three men were lost in almost continual
skirmishing up to July 1st; lost two offi-
cers and fifty-four men killed and wounded
at Kenesaw Mountain between July ist and
November 30, 1864. The regiment was
active in skirmishing with the enemy, losing
in killed and wounded ten men. At Chatta-
nooga the regiment received one hundred
and ninety-two drafted men. On Novem-
ber 30, 1864, in the fight at Franklin, it lost
fifty-three killed and wounded, and ninety-
eight missing; lost one killed and five
wounded at Nashville, December I5th and
1 6th. The regiment was in no more battles
but was marching and doing garrison duty
until mustered out, September 25, 1865,
and was paid off and discharged at Camp
Butler, Illinois, October 15, 1865. Com-
pany A: Corporal H. York, veteran-
ized, absent, sick, mustered out Sep-
tember 25, 1865; Privates: John H. Long,
Richard Bates, Richard Baursfield, William
Cornwall, veteranized, mustered out Sep-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
tember 25, 1865; William Douglas, vet-
eranized, mustered out September 25, 1865;
Daniel Gulley, veteranized, mustered out
September 25, 1865; Charles Miller,
killed at Franklin, Tennessee, November 30,
1864; George Reappel ; Frank Reitter;
Samuel Wickersham, disability, discharged
April -6, 1862; Thomas Wickersham; T.
York, veteranized, killed at Franklin, Ten-
nessee, November 30, 1864; recruits: John
Briley, discharged November 27, 1861 ; T.
Green, transferred to Thirteenth Illinois
Cavalry, November 24, 1861 ; Moses Oak-
ley, transferred to Thirteenth Illinois Cav-
alry November 24, 1861 ; Peter Walven,
mustered out September 25, 1865. Two
men, either drafted or substitutes, were
unassigned in the Fifty-third Regiment,
Company K, Daniel Brown and George
Rush, both mustered out May 8, 1865;
and Michael Craw, a veteran, was a
private in the Fifty-fourth Regiment,
Company E. A few men were in the
Sixtieth Regiment. They were: Shad-
rack Kelley, Company D, disability, dis-
charged February 23, 1865; James L. Kel-
ley died July 28, 1864, member of the same
company. Three were in Company E:
Lawrence Burke, killed at Atlanta, Georgia,
August 6, 1864; Richard Hangle, missing in
action March 19, 1865; Levi Reese, died at
Chattanooga May 27, 1864. Two were in
Company F, both veterans and both mus-
tered out July 31, 1865. They were: James
George and James Willard. Five were in
Company G, all recruits ; John H. Gains was
discharged for disability November 3, 1862.
The other four were all mustered out July
31, 1865, and were: Davis Fitzgerald, Mah-
lon C. Parker, Elijah Rector, and Jesse Ran-
kin. In Company I was George W. Smith,
veteran, who died at Wilmington, North
Carolina, March 25, 1865; and two recruits,
William Bolen and William H. Graham,
both of whom were mustered out July 31,
1865. Six men were in Company F: Henry
Ginnett, who was discharged (because he
was under size) September 26, 1862; Daniel
Hitour, William Phipps, George White,
mustered out July 31, 1865; Henry Walton,
transferred to engineer battalion, veteran-
ized July 29, 1864; Martin R. Wood, pro-
moted to captain in Fifth Tennessee
Mounted Infantry, January 31, 1865; John
Ungles, recruit, mustered out July 31, 1865.
Six men from Marion county were in the
Sixty-first regiment. In Company H were:
Robert M. Followell, veteranized, mustered
out September 8, 1864, and Edward Galla-
gher, who deserted August 18, 1862. In
Company K were James Craig, mustered out
September 8, 1864; Charles Avery (no rec-
ord), and Alfred M. Summers one recruit,
David L. Canfield, unassigned, mustered out
May n, 1865. The Sixty-second Regi-
ment had men in Companies E, F and G.
The regiment was organized at Anna, April
10, 1862, and reported at Cairo on the 22d,
at Paducah May 7th, and at Columbus
June 7th; moved into Tennessee with Ditz-
ler's Brigade, guarding the Mobile and
Ohio Railroad, with headquarters at
Kenton; were sent to Jackson, thence to
Grand Junction and Holly Springs ; skir-
86
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
mished more or less daily to the 2Oth; fol-
lowed Forest twenty miles that day and re-
turned to Jackson next day, December 2Oth.
Van Dorn captured one hundred and seventy
men of this regiment and paroled them at
Holly Springs. The regiment was placed
in Lawler's Brigade and pursued Forest
from December 3ith to February 3d, when
they overtook him too well posted at Clif-
ton to attack; returned to Jackson; were
transferred to Arkansas, and by a successful
skirmish September 10, 1863, forced the
enemy to retire, evacuating Little Rock ;
were sent to Illinois on veteran furlough,
and returned to the field November 25,
1864. Those who did not veteranize were
discharged at end of term. The regiment
was then consolidated into seven companies
and were stationed at Pine Bluff until July
28, 1865, then sent to Fort Gibson, in Indian
Territory, where it remained serving on the
frontier until mustered out at Little Rock,
Arkansas, March 6, 1866. This regiment,
although active all the term of its service,
took part in no great battle of the war. The
Marion county men were : First Lieutenant
L. L. Humphries, promoted to captain, mus-
tered out March 6, 1864; Sergeants: Jones
5. Hoover, discharged April 29, 1863;
Adolphus Mertins, promoted ; Corporals :
William Moore, mustered out March 6,
1866; Gersham Perkins, died July 4, 1862;
James M. Randall, veteranized, mustered
out March 6, 1866; Privates: Thomas All-
mon, discharged March 7, 1864; William
H. Dobbs, veteranized, mustered out March
6, 1866; Dudley Halsey, mustered out
March 6, 1866; James Kinder, mustered
out March 6, 1866; J. Kitts, veteranized,
died at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Aug. 18,
1864; Charles Miller, discharged December
3, 1863; Alexander Massy, veteranized,
mustered out March 6, 1866; A. J. Thomas,
veteranized, promoted; J. H. Tucker, died
at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, August 30, 1864;
Silas M. Wallace, mustered out March 6,
1866; R. G. Wilburn, mustered out March
6, 1866; J. M. Smith, veteranized, mustered
out March 6, 1866; Recruits Errol Allmon,
died at Little Rock, April 19, 1864; John
Garren, mustered out March 6, 1866; Eli
Garren, mustered out March 6, 1866; Wil-
liam Garren, mustered out March 6, 1866;
Charles Griffith, mustered out March 6,
1866; William Kinder, mustered out March
6, 1866; Oliver Leclair, mustered out March
6, 1866; William Marsland, mustered out
March 6, 1866; James McKinney, mustered
out March 6, 1866; John L. Sanders, dis-
ability, discharged January 31, 1866; John
W. Sanders, mustered out March 6, 1866;
Francis M. Turbiville, mustered out March
6, 1866; Philip Wolf, died at Pine Bluff, Ar-
kansas, March 5, 1865. The above were all
in Company E, and the following in Com-
pany F : Robert S.Bundy, Columbus J. Cray-
croft; David Hobbson, who died at Pine
Bluff, Arkansas, July 18, 1864; Company
G, Capt. Jas. L. Garetson, resigned April 20,
1864; Sergeant James H. Lerry, reduced,
sent to St. Louis Military Prison; Privates
Edward W. Booth, disability, discharged
September 8, 1862 ; John Rice died at Pine
Bluff, Arkansas, September 15, 1864.
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
The Eightieth Regiment Illinois Volun-
teers was organized at Centralia, Illinois,
and mustered in August 25, 1862, and im-
mediately went to the front. It partici-
pated in the battle of Perryville, Octo-
ber 8. 1862, losing fourteen killed and
fifty-eight wounded; March 20, 1863,
in a brigade fifteen hundred strong,
with two guns, while on a scouting expedi-
tion, was attacked by the celebrated John
Morgan, five thousand strong, but repulsed
them. They were attacked at Dug's Gap,
and at Sand Mountain, but in both engage-
ments repulsed the enemy, at the latter
place capturing two guns, with a loss of
only two killed and sixteen wounded from
the Eightieth ; at Blunt's Farm again re-
pulsed the enemy, .but on May 3, 1863, the
regiment surrendered to General Forest,
who with a vastly superior force cut them
off. The personal effects of officers and men
were taken from them, including blankets,
money, watches, etc. The officers were sent
to Libby Prison, the men to Richmond, Vir-
ginia, where they were exchanged June 23,
1863, and sent to St. Louis; from St.
Louis they were sent to Nashville, Ten-
nessee, and on November 24th and 25th,
took part in the battle of Mission-
ary Ridge. The regiment went through the .
Atlanta campaign and participated in most
of the fighting. They lost twenty-five men
killed, and sixty wounded, and captured
one hundred and fifty prisoners during the
campaign; were engaged in the battle of
Nashville, December 15 and 16, and took
three guns and one hundred prisoners. Only
four of the officers captured by Forest ever
returned to the regiment. The regiment
was mustered out June 10, 1865. The mus-
ter roll had on it the names of the follow-
ing Marion county men : Colonel Erastus
N. Bates, mustered out June 10, 1865 ; Major
James Cunningham, mustered out June
10, 1865; Quarter-master Sergeant H.
C. Gray, mustered out June 10, 1865;
Musician Milo Wager, mustered out
June 10, 1865; Privates, Company A.
Samuel B. Keeler, died at Chattanoo-
ga of wounds, July 8, 1864; Casey
Redburn, died at Mumfordsville, Ken-
tucky, November 22, 1862;. Company
C, Captain Henry Zeis, promoted ; Wagoner
Andreas Burgclorf, captured by enemy Jan-
uary 21, 1864, and mustered out June 10,
1865 ; Privates, James Bailey transferred to
Veteran Relief Corps, September i, trans-
ferred back; Henry Booth, mustered
out June 10, 1865; Mathias Bostwick, de-
serted June 9, 1863; Jan. B. Pulcher,
wounded, mustered out June 10, 1865;
David Eggberry, mustered out June 10,
1865; William Evans, mustered out June
10, 1865; James Franks, mustered out June
10, 1865 ; Louis Hirschberger, transferred
to Veteran Relief Corps, May i, 1864; J onn
Horn, killed at Dug's Gap, April 30, 1863;
John Isherwood, deserted June 9, 1863;
Joseph Jones, deserted June 9, 1863 ;
Joseph Gollatching, deserted September 4,
1862; Fred Muehlheims, disability, dis-
charged October 14, 1863; Frantz Osburg,
disability, discharged August 21, 1863;
William Rothemeier, disability, discharged
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
March 29, 1865; Thomas Schaefer, Cor-
poral, deserted June 9, 1863; Carsten
Schmidt, died at Mumfordsville, Kentucky,
November 26, 1862; Ferdinand Volk, de-
serted October 3, 1862; Company F, Ser-
geant, Robert Christy, disability, discharged
May 17, 1864; Corporal John W. Michaels,
mustered out June 10, 1865 ; Privates Israel
Ballinger, died November 15, 1862; Mat-
thew Cox, disability, discharged November
14, 1863; Daniel H. Moyer, mustered out
June 10, 1865; Charles McVey, disability,
discharged February 16, 1865; Robert
Pugh, deserted October 8, 1862; William
R. Shelton, mustered out June 10, 1865;
Company H, First Lieutenant James A. Mc-
Farland, mustered out June 10, 1865; Ser-
geant Thomas A. Patton, transferred to
Veteran Relief Corps, May 2, 1864; Corpor-
als James L. Patton, mustered out June 10,
1865 ; James C. Boggs, died April 18, 1863 ;
Musician William McFarland ; Privates Asa
J. Buffington, disability, discharged March
27, 1863; Thomas P. Davis, mustered out
June 10, 1865; El wood Sanders, died Janu-
ary 31, 1863; Lemon Fouts, died May 10,
1865; Josiah Harris, disability, discharged
February 27, 1863; John T. Kell, disability,
discharged April 17, 1864; John W.
McPherson, disability, discharged July
22, 1863; Joseph Patton, mustered
out June 10, 1865; Albert Richard-
son, died November 18, 1862; Hen-
ry Sanders, disability, discharged No-
vember 7, 1862; W. H. H. Smith, died
April 19, 1863 ; Isaac Smith, disability, dis-
charged February 5, 1863; Edmon H.
Short, mustered out June 10, 1865 ; Com-
pany I, Corporal David Forbes, disability,
discharged February 8, 1863; Privates John
W. Adkins, deserted October i, 1862; Lem-
uel A. Adkins, deserted October i, 1862;
George W. Bridenbecker, disability, dis-
charged March i, 1864; Richard Briden-
becker, disability, discharged January 12,
1863; Henry C. Gray, promoted Quarter
Master Sergeant ; Charles Hubbard, de-
serted November 13, 1862; John Lee, dis-
ability, discharged January 12, 1863; John
Logan, died at Chattanooga April 20, 1865 ;
Joseph Shook, transferred Veteran Relief
Corps, March i, 1863; Peter Shell, mus-
tered out June 10, 1865.
A few men also in the Eighty-eighth
Regiment were from Marion county. Com-
panies B, C and H, each had a few men
from Marion county. The regiment was
organized in Chicago and mustered in Sep-
tember 4, 1862. Its first battle was Perry-
ville, October 8, 1862, was at Stone River
to 25th of November, at Missionary Ridge,
in the Atlanta Campaign of 1864, during
which time he took part in two bat-
tles, Rocky Fall Ridge and Resaca
December 31 to January 3, 1863 ; September
19 and 20, 1863, at Chickamauga; 23d
Adairsville, New Hope Church, Pine Moun-
tain, Mud Creek, Kenesaw Mountain, Smyr-
na Camp Ground, Atlanta, Jonesboro,
Lovejoy Station, also Franklin and Nash-
ville; mustered out June 9, 1865. Company
B, Corporal Owen Brown, died at Nash-
ville, Tennessee, February 2, 1863 ; Privates
Justin Colbum, mustered out June 9, 1865;
JRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
John B. King, mustered out June 9, 1865;
Horace B. Kunne, disability, discharged
April 29, 1863; Frank P. Roe, mustered out
June 9, 1865 ; Company C, Privates Thomas
Carigan, disability, discharged January 29,
1863; Andrew Lander, disability, dis-
charged September 4, 1863; Charles Reib-
ner, deserted July i, 1863; Company H,
Sergeant Charles W. Graham, reduced, de-
serted February 3, 1863; Corporal Webster
Braman, mustered out June 9, 1865; Pri-
vates Albert Arrowsmith, wounded, dis-
charged March 10, 1865; Newell Burr,
transferred to engineer corps July 27, 1864;
Lewellyn Cunningham, wounded and taken
prisoner at Stone River, died at Annapolis,
Maryland, February i, 1863; James M.
Elrod, mustered out June 9, 1865; Samuel
McCoy, captured at Chickamauga; David
Partlow, mustered out June 9, 1865 ; Sam-
uel Robertson, wounded at Danville, Vir-
ginia, died January 5, 1864, while a prisoner
of war; Jackson Prout, mustered out June
9, 1863.
In the Ninety-eighth Infantry, six Marion
county men were enrolled, as follows : Com-
pany C, Recruit James Kent, transferred;
Company F, Recruit Thomas W. Lanbert,
transferred; Company H, Private J. A. C.
Reid, killed at Chickamauga, September 20,
1863; Company K, Recruits Levi L. Ren-
frew, discharged May 29, 1865; George W.
Renfrew, transferred; George \\ T . Melrose,
unasisgned.
Corporal Chris C. Estes was in the One
Hundred and Tenth Infantry, mustered out
June 8, 1865.
The One Hundred and Eleventh Regi-
ment was composed mostly of Marion
county men, and was mustered into the
service of the United States at Salem, Illi-
nois, September 18, 1862. At the time
of muster the regiment was eight hun-
dred and eighty-six strong, officers and
men. The regiment went into camp in the
fair grounds, called Camp Marshall, and
remained there until October 31, 1862,
when it numbered nine hundred and
thirty, officers and men; marched to
Tonti, on the Illinois Central Railroad, and
took train to Cairo, Illinois; reported to Gen-
eral Tuttle, and was ordered to Columbus,
Kentucky, next day; reported to the Post
Commandant, General Davis, and went into
camp. The winter of 1862 and '63 was
passed here, and learned the art of forag-
ing at the suggestion of their colonel, James
S. Martin. On January 12, 1863, Colonel
Martin was made post commander, and
Lieu. Col. Black commanded the regiment.
While at this post the measles broke out in
the regiment, and thirty-eight men died
from that disease. It was moved to Fort
Herman, Tennessee, arriving there March
13. May 28, Major Mabry commanding
the regiment (Colonel Black being on duty
at Columbus), was ordered to report with
the regiment to Colonel Martin, who was
then in command of the post at Paducah,
arriving at Paducah May 29th, they went
into camp and remained until October 31,
1863, when Colonel Martin was relieved of
the command of the post by General Sher-
man, and ordered to report with the
BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
regiment to him at Florence, Alabama.
While in camp at Paducah, sixteen
men died from disease. The regiment got
to Gravel Springs, where they were ordered
to go into camp instead of proceeding to
Florence. During this march two men
were wounded and four missing in skir-
mishes with the enemy. On November 7,
1 863, the One Hundred and Eleventh was as-
signed to the Second Brigade, Second Divi-
sion, Sixteenth Army Corps, and immedi-
ately set out for Chattanooga ; went into
camp at Pulaski, Tennessee, November
1 2th, and remained there until February 25,
1864, when it was ordered to Decatur Junc-
tion, Alabama; arrived opposite the town
and found a strong force of the enemy in
possession; on May 7th, moved up the
river to the mouth of Limestone creek, six
miles. The enemy evacuated Decatur, and
the regiment took possession. Captain
Clark, who had been absent on detached
duty, rejoined his command March Qth, and
was killed the same day by the accidental
discharge of a pistol. The regiment was
ordered on March i6th to report to General
Logan at Huntsville, Alabama, and on
March i8th arrived and went into camp;
moved to Larkinsville, Alabama, March
1 9th, and was placed in the First Brigade,
under Gen. Giles A. Smith. Second Division
Gen. M. L. Smith, and Fifteenth Army
Corps, Gen. John A. Logan commanding.
The regiment remained at Larkinsville until
May I, 1864, when it started on the At-
lanta campaign, and lost seven men killed
and eight wounded in skirmishes on
May loth, I2th and 13th. On the I4th
the One Hundred and Eleventh charged
the enemy at Camp Creek; the charge was
a hazardous one and the situation of
the regiment seemed so desperate
that General Logan expressed great concern
for its safety, but the enemy was driven
from their position and the works were
held until reinforcements arrived. The
commanding general highly commended
the regiment for its action during the
engagement. Until May 25th, were maneu-
vering against the .enemy under General
Johnston, who had begun falling back; on
the 25th, 26th and 27th were in stubborn
skirmishes, losing five killed and fifteen
wounded. Among the latter was Lieut.
Col. Black. On June ist they withdrew to
Dallas; skirmished June loth at Big Shanty,
and 24th near Kenesaw Mountain June
27th. In this charge Captain Andrews was
killed, Captain Walker was severely
wounded. The other losses were six-
teen wounded and one missing. They moved
by easy marches toward Atlanta, when on^
July nth, they were within nine miles of
that place engaged in cutting the railroad
and destroying the enemy's source of sup-
plies. On July 2Oth the One Hundred and
Elevetnh led in the advance against Atlanta,
being under fire all day. Colonel Martin
was placed in command of the brigade, and
Major Mabry in command of the regi-
ment. In the battle on the 22d, against
Atlanta, the loss of the regiment was
eighteen killed and forty wounded,
eighty-five men were also missing. Among
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
the killed were Captain McGuire, Lieutenant
Larimer, and Lieutenant Shull. Major
Mabry was wounded, and Captains Foster
and Gray and Lieutenants Davis and
Young were among the captured. The
regiment was now under the command of
Captain Jolliff, and on the 28th of July,
1864, engaged the enemy with a loss of ten
wounded, one missing. From the 8th of
September to the 4th of October the One
Hundred and Eleventh remanied in camp at
East Point. From the 4th of October to
the 29th were in pursuit of General Hood,
and camped November 5th on line of Chat-
tanooga & Atlanta Railroad, and remained
there until November I3th, and on the I5th
started with Sherman to the sea; was in
the assault on Fort McAllister, and the
colors of the One Hundred and Eleventh
were the first planted on the works. Two
were killed, one of whom was Lieut. G. W.
Smith, and fourteen wounded, among
whom were Lieutenant Lewis (mortally)
and Captain Foster (severely). Went
Jhrough the campaign in the Carolinas with
the loss of one man, thence to Washington,
where they participated in the Grand Re-
view. The regiment was in seven battles
and nine skirmishes, losing forty-two men
killed, one hundred and forty-eight
wounded, eighty-seven missing and one hun-
dred and ninety-one died of disease. James
S. Martin, colonel, brevet brigadier general,
mustered out June 7, 1865 ; Joseph F. Black,
lieutenant-colonel, mustered out June 7,
1865 ! William C. Stiles, adjutant, mustered
out June 7, 1865; quartermasters : Benja-
min F. Marshall, resigned April 27, 1864;
Henry Simpson, mustered out June 7, 1865 ;
First Assistant Surgeon J. K. Rainey, mus-
tered out June 7, 1865; Second Assistant
Surgeon Thomas S. Hawley, resigned June
24, 1863; Chaplain James B. Woolard, re-
signed April 14, 1865; Sergeant Major
Richard Atkin, promoted first lieutenant,
Second Alabama; quartermaster sergeants:
Peter A. Simmons, promoted to first lieuten-
ant, United States Colored Troops; H. M.
Cantine, reduced to ranks; Charles A. Neff,
mustered out June 7, 1865; hospital stew-
ards: \Villiam E. Middleton, disability,
discharged August 27, 1863; Thomas M.
Kelly, mustered out June 7, 1865; musi-
cians : Harris P. \Veir, sick, absent at mus-
ter out; Abraham Earnhart, mustered out
June 7, 1865. Company A, captains:
Amos A. Clark, killed March 9, 1864; Jacob
V. Andrews, killed in action June 27, 1864;
Robert Martin, mustered out June 6, 1865;
first lieutenants : John K. Morton, died Oc-
tober 3, 1862; Ezekiel Williams, mustered
out June 6, 1865; Second Lieutenant Wil-
liam Woods, mustered out June 6, 1865;
sergeants : Thomas Ray, mustered out
June 6, 1865; John T. Oden, mustered out
June 6, 1865; A. C. Smith, mustered out
June 22, 1865; W. H. H. Adams, promoted
to first lieutenant, United States Colored
Heavy Artillery to date from June 8, 1863 ;
corporals: Isaac Washburn, mustered out
June 6, 1865; Allen Straight, mustered out
July i, 1865, was captured; William Rush,
killed at Atlanta, Georgia, July 22, 1864;
C. R. Newman, died in prison, a prisoner of
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
war; John W. Ray, mustered out May 24,
1865; William Walker, mustered out June
6, 1865; Edwin F. Loomis, mustered out
June 6, 1865; H. H. Davenport, mustered
out June 6, 1865 ; musicians: Hugh Moore,
mustered out June 6, 1865 ; John W. Coll,
died at Mound City, Illinois, January 25,
1863; privates: E. R. Allen, disability, dis-
charged March 23, 1865; M. G. Boils, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865; J. Bundy, died at
Fort Heirman, Kentucky, April 22, 1863 ;
William Burgess, mustered out June 15,
1865; Patrick Ball, died of wounds at Pa-
ducah, Kentucky, July 5, 1865 ; Abraham
Concklin, mustered out January 13, 1865;
J. E. Cooper, mustered out June 6, 1865 ;
M. H. Carr, mustered out June 6, 1865;
Henry Clay, transferred; J. W. Doughty,
mustered out July i, 1865; A. Dodson, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865; Josiah Duncan, dis-
charged March 18, 1863; William Devlin,
sick, absent at muster out ; William A. Daw-
son, was prisoner, mustered out June 6,
1865 ; John R. Duncan, mustered out June
6, 1865; George Evans, mustered out June
6, 1865; Jesse J. Fouts, mustered out June
6, 1865 ; Andrew C. Finn, mustered out June
6, 1865; Henry Fraka, mustered out June
6, 1865 ; G. W. Forbes, deserted October 31,
1862; A. W. French, mustered out June 6,
1865 ; James Gibson, died at Paducah, Ken-
tucky, June 26, 1863; Levi Gibson, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865; John H. Goodrich,
mustered out June 6, 1865 ; John A. Gil-
more, mustered out June 6, 1865 ; Amasa
Hamlin, mustered out June 6, 1865 : J. H.
Hamilton, mustered out June 6, 1865; John
Hicklin, transferred to Veteran Relief Corps
March 24, 1865; Jacob Heaver, mustered
out June 6, 1865 ; Erastus Hull, mustered
out June 6, 1865; Urustus Hill, died at
Fort Heimen, Kentucky, April 29, 1863 ;
Thomas J. Holt, mustered out June 6, 1865 :
William L. Holmes, mustered out June 6,
1865; W. S. Johnson, killed at Kenesaw
Mountain, Georgia, June 23, 1864; John
Kline, mustered out June 6, 1865; John
King, disability, discharged January 9,
1864; Thomas M. Kell, promoted to hos-
pital steward; S. W. Kell, killed in battle
February 12, 1865; Hugh Morton, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865 ; A. M. Morton, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865; Thomas B. Morton,
died at Rome, Georgia, July 10, 1864; B.
M. Morton, died in Marion county, Illinois,
November 23, 1862; W. M. Morton, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865 ; J. W. Morton, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865 ; J. B. Myers, died at
Paducah, Kentucky, July 22, 1863; John
Morrison, mustered out June 6, 1865; J. A.
McConnaga, mustered out June 6, 1865; J.
Manchester, disability, discharged June 16,
1863; S. A. Newman, mustered out June
6, 1865; O. J. Nave, mustered out June 6,
1865 : J. B. Parvis, mustered out June 6,
1865; T. B. Parkinson, mustered out June
6, 1865; B. M. Parkinson, mustered out
June 6, 1865 ; J. R. Parkinson, disability,
discharged March 28, 1865 ; W. E. Porter,
mustered out June 6, 1865 ; Edward Riley,
mustered out June 6, 1865; J. W. Smith,
transferred to Veteran Reserve Corps De-
cember 28, 1864; H. Sims, died at home
February 5, 1863; W. C. Smith, mustered
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
93
out June 6, 1865; \V. B. Smith, died at
Camp Butler, Illinois, April n, 1865; W.
K. Stirment. mustered out June 6, 1865;
G. W. Snodgrass, killed at Resaca, Georgia,
May 14, 1864; H. T. Walker, mustered out
June 6, 1865; ,W. H. Ward, died at Rome,
Georgia, July 31, 1864; J. P. Wooters, dis-
charged March 18, 1863; John Whitman,
mustered out June 6, 1865 ; J. H. Wyatt,
mustered out June 6, 1865; James Wilson,
discharged for promotion, killed at Fort
Pillow; W. Wood, mustered out June 6,
1865, commissioned second lieutenant ; D.
L. Ward, died at home March 31, 1864;
George Watson, discharged March 5, 1863 ;
recruits: Robert Church, transferred;
Thomas J. Green, transferred, was prisoner ;
Richard Lewis, mustered out June 6, 1865 ;
Scott G. Muzzy, discharged for promotion.
( ompany D, captains : John Foster, honor-
ably discharged May 4, 1865; Robert W.
Elder, mustered out June 6, 1865; First
Lieutenant W. H. Ballance, mustered out
June 6, 1865; Second Lieutenant G. C.
Sheppard, mustered out June 6, 1865; ser-
geants: Anderson Anglin, deserted Janu-
ary 25, 1863; A. W. O'Bryant, was pris-
oner, mustered out July i, 1865; Henry B.
Jones, was prisoner, mustered out June 12,
1865; corporals: J. A. Arnold, absent
(wounded) at muster out of regiment; Da-
vid Headley, mustered out June 6, 1865;
Francis M. Jones, died at Moscow, Tennes-
see, November 6, 1862 ; Eli W. Jones, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865; Jeptha Headley,
died at Atlanta, Georgia, October 18, 1864;
James A. Arnold, discharged August 20,
1863; Robert M. Lambert, died in Confed-
erate prison November 4, 1864; James T.
Jones, mustered out June 6, 1865; Wagoner
Christopher Jones, mustered out June 6,
1865; privates: Henry L. Allmon, dis-
charged August 20, 1863; John M. Arnold,
absent (sick) at muster out; Joseph D. Bor-
ing, mustered out June 6, 1865; John L.
Cole, mustered out June 6, 1865 ; William
L. Chance, mustered out June 6, 1865; Hil-
lery D. Chance, mustered out June 6, 1865;
Joseph A. Cole, died at Fort Heiman, Ken-
tucky, April 20, 1863 ; Noah Cruse, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865; James N. Christie,
mustered out June 6, 1865; Benjamin
Doolen, mustered out June 6, 1865; Peter
M. Dents, mustered out June 6, 1865; John
Elliott, absent (wounded) at muster out;
Stephen French, mustered out June 6,
1865; Thomas J. Foster, mustered out June
6, 1865; Newton Finch, died at Columbia,
Kentucky, April 25, 1863 ; Isaac Graves,
died at Chattanooga June 15, 1864; William
C. Goldsborough, mustered out June 6,
1865; James M. Green, mustered out June
6, 1865; Eli Headley, mustered out June 6,
1865; William Holt, mustered out June 6,
1865; Hardy F. Holt, died at Fort Heiman,
Kentucky, May n, 1863; Isaac Himes,
mustered out June 6, 1865; James M. Hen-
sley, was prisoner of war, mustered out June
12, 1865; Alexander M. Hensley, trans-
ferred to Veteran Relief Corps March 18,
1865; William M. Hensley, mustered out
June 6, 1865; Thomas J. Hensley, died at
Atlanta, Georgia, October 16, 1864; Wil-
liam E. Houston, mustered out June 6,
94
BRIXKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
1865; Hiram Hamilton, mustered out June
6, 1865 ; Andrew J. Howington, mustered
out June 6, 1865 ; Joseph G. Knight, sick at
muster out of regiment; James Knight,
mustered out June 6, 1865 ; Wesley C. Law-
rence, mustered out June 6, 1865 ; David
Lee, sick, absent at muster out of regiment ;
Simon V. Meador, mustered out June 6,
1865; Richard R. Morse, mustered out
June 6, 1865 ; Lewis Myers, mustered out
June 6, 1865 ; James W. Morse, died at Fort
Heinman, Kentucky, May 10, 1863;
Stephen Neavill, died of wounds at Mos-
cow, Tennessee, November 24, 1862;
George Orgon, mustered out June 6, 1865;
Vernal F. Prewett, mustered out (was pris-
oner) June 6, 1865; John O. Parsons, was
prisoner, died November 23, 1864; Abra-
ham Pool, mustered out June 6, 1865; Wil-
liam H. Pool, mustered out June 6, 1865;
William Purdue, missing in action July 22,
1864; Abram C. Parker, mustered out June
6, 1865; Dennis N. Ray, mustered out June
6, 1865; John V. Settle, discharged March
n, 1865; Ebenezer Sackett, died at Fort
Heiman, Kentucky, April 24, 1863; John
A. Smith, died at Marietta, Georgia, Octo-
ber 7, 1864; Abraham Stine, transferred;
David M. Shipley, transferred; James M.
Thomas, mustered out June 6, 1865; Joel
L. Walton, mustered out June 6, 1865; re-
cruits: Edward H. Lee, died at Annapolis,
Maryland, December 24, 1864; Salem Neff,
died of wounds at Dallas, Georgia, May 28,
1864; George W. Ray, transferred to Vet-
eran Relief Corps, March 18, 1865. Com-
pany E, captains: Joseph McGuire, killed
in action July 22, 1864; Lewellen W. Cas-
tellow, mustered out June 6, 1865 ; First
Lieutenant John R. Smith, mustered out
June 6, 1865; second lieutenants: William
J. Young, honorably discharged May 15,
1865 ; James J. Craig, mustered out June
6, 1865; First Sergeant Jesse Delton, re-
duced to ranks, transferred to Company G;
sergeants : John R. Smith, mustered out
June 6, 1865 ; Elijah D. Rawlings, died at
Jeffersonville, Indiana, July 25, 1864;
James B. Eddings, mustered out June 6,
1865; corporals: Francis M. Smith, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865; James F. Breeze,
killed at Atlanta, Georgia, July 22, 1864;
Elvin C. Clock, died at Paducah, Kentucky,
May 10, 1863; Jacob W. Fyke, mustered
out June 6, 1865; B. N. Bosswell, died of
wounds at Resaca, Georgia, May 22, 1864;
John R. Smith, mustered out June 6, 1865;
Francis M. Burns, mustered out May 26,
1865 ; Edward J. Young, mustered out June
6, 1865; musicians: Isaac A. Beaver, died
at Columbus, Kentucky, January 16, 1863:
Fanning L. Beasley, mustered out June 6,
1865; privates: James M. Alderson, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865 ; John A. Alderson,
mustered out June 6, 1865; Bluford M. Al-
derson, died of wounds August 4, 1864:
John Barry, died at Atlanta, Georgia, Oc-
tober 20, 1864; William F. Buford, absent
(sick) at muster out of regiment; George
Beard, mustered out June 6, 1865 ; Empson
Brownfield, mustered out June 6, 1865;
William H. Beard, paroled prisoner, mus-
tered out July i, 1865; George H. Beard,
mustered out June 22, 1865 ; James M.
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Beard, mustered out June 22, 1865; Hiram
Blair, mustered out June 22, 1865; Joseph
Bostwick, mustered out June 22, 1865;
Arthur Babbs, killed at Atlanta, Georgia,
July 22, 1864; Jacob Beard, disability, dis-
charged January 29, 1863 ; Wesley Cock-
rell, disability, discharged November 7,
1863; James Cockrell, mustered out June 6,
1865; William T. Coleman, mustered out
June 6, 1865 ; Larkin T. Craid, mustered
out June 6, 1865 ; James H. Clock, died at
Paducah, Kentucky, May 13, 1863; James
Craig, mustered out June 6, 1865 ; -James
P. Chapman, mustered out June 6, 1865;
Oran H. Daggett, killed at Atlanta,
Georgia, July 22, 1864; William Donoho,
died at Columbus, Kentucky, January 26,
1863; William P. Furguson, died at Colum-
bus, Kentucky, January 10, 1863; Powell
H. Furguson, died at home February i,
1863 ; Charles Foster, mustered out June 6,
1865; James Granger, mustered out June
6, 1865; John B. Holliday, killed at. At-
lanta, Georgia, July 22, 1864; Henry J.
Hardin, mustered out June 6, 1865; John
B. Harris, mustered out June 6, 1865;
George W. Haynie, mustered out June 6,
1865 ; Henry C. Harris, mustered out June
6, 1865; William C. Henson, mustered out
June 6, 1865; William B. Henson, died of
wounds at Resaca, Georgia, May 16, 1864-,
Jesse C. Henson, transferred; William D.
Isbell, disability, discharged January 26,
1863 ; John H. Jones, mustered out June 6,
1865 ; James G. Johnson, mustered out June
<5, 1865; Horatio S. Jeeter, mustered out
June 6, 1865 5 Leonard B. Jones, mustered
out June 6, 1865; John W. Knight, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865 ; Thomas Keel, mus-
treed out June 6, 1865; Urich Knight,
killed at Dallas, Georgia, May 29, 1864;
John W. Kilts, mustered out June 6, 1865;
James W. Luse, died at Columbus, Ken-
tucky, January 26, 1863; William Loch,
died at Mound City, Illinois, January 19,
1863; Andrew H. Metts, died at Columbus,
Kentucky, January 21, 1863; Josiah Martin,
mustered out June 6, 1865 ; John J. Martin,
died of wounds July 23, 1864; Elihu Myers,
mustered out June 6, 1865; David L. May-
berry, mustered out June 6, 1865; John B.
Middleton, mustered out June 6, 1865; A.
J. Morgan, died at Columbus, Kentucky,
January 28, 1863; Charles A. Neff, pro-
moted to quartermaster; James A. Prewett,
mustered out June 6, 1865; Francis M.
Room, mustered out June 6, 1865 ; Tillmand
Rogers, mustered out June 6, 1865 ; Thomas
H. B. Ray, mustered out June 6, 1865; N.
V. D. Rawlings, mustered out June 6,
1865; Robert M. Smith, mustered out June
6, 1865; Isham Simmons, discharged Janu-
ary 29, 1863 ; John H. Smith, deserted Feb-
ruary 21, 1863; William Torrence, mustered
out June 6, 1865; Marion D. Vickroy, ab-
sent (sick) at muster out of regiment; Wil-
liam Vaughn, discharged February 25.
1863; Cyrus VanDusen, died at Mound
City, Illinois, February 3, 1863; John W.
Wheeler, killed at Jonesboro, Georgia, Au-
gust 31, 1864; George W. Weaver, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865; recruits: James
H. Isbell, July 24, 1865, to date from
May 30, 1865; Daniel W. Myers,
96
I'.RIXKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
mustered out June 6, 1865 ; Aaron Mc-
Endree, mustered out June 6, 1865; John
W. Middleton, mustered out June 6, 1865;
James T. Smith, died at Columbus, Ken-
tucky, November. 30, 1862. Company F,
captains :Abner S. Gray, discharged January
13, 1865; William H. Carpenter, mustered
out June 6, 1865 ; First Lieutenant William
C. Darvis, honorably discharged May 15,
1865; Second Lieutenant George C. Ed-
wards, mustered out June 7, 1865; ser-
geants : James D. Gray, mustered out June
7, 1865 ; Andrew C. Mitchell, died at Anna-
polis, Maryland, December 22, 1864; Benja-
min Fanner, killed at Atlanta, July 22,
1864; Jefferson Belcher, mustered out June
7, 1865; corporals: Benjamin Harrison,
died at Columbus, Kentucky, January 16,
1863; George W. Griffin, mustered out June
22, 1865; Henry Betcher, mustered out
June 22, 1865; John N. Hawkins, mus-
tered out June 22, 1865 ; Harvey B. Nichols,
mustered out June 22, 1865 ; David Moore,
died at Columbus, Kentucky, January 26,
1863; William C. Williamson, sick, absent
at muster out of regiment; Wiley Carter,
mustered out June 7, 1865 ; musicians: Har-
lin P. Beach, mustered out June 7, 1865;
John M. Johnson, died at Columbus, Ken-
tucky, June 17, 1863; Wagoner John Car-
ter, Jr. ; privates : Fenwick S. Alexander,
transferred; Jesse Altom, was prisoner,
mustered out June 7, 1865 ; Richard Atkins,
promoted to sergeant-major; William L.
Becher, mustered out June 7, 1865; Levi
Belcher, was prisoner, mustered out June 7,
1865; Daniel Britt, died at East Point,
Georgia, September 30, 1864; George W.
Bratcher, died at Paducah, Kentucky, June
8, 1863; John Bush, died at Kenesaw
Mountain, July i, 1865; Benjamin E. Car-
ver, disability, discharged October 29, 1864;
William Carter, mustered out June 7, 1865 ;
John S. Chandler, died of wounds at Resaca,
Georgia, May 16, 1864; Chakes C. Chan-
dler, mustered out June 7, 1865; William
Dexter, mustered out June 7, 1865; George
P. Edwards, mustered out June 7, 1865;
John Gaultney, mustered out June 7, 1865 ;
Alfred G. Gaultney, mustered out June 7,
1865; William A. Green, mustered out June
7, 1865; Thomas B. Gray, died at home
March I, 1865; Cyrenus M. Howell, mus-
tered out June 7, 1865; Charles G. Hurt,
killed at Atlanta, Georgia, July 22, 1864;
William Jackson, mustered out June 7,
1865; Edward Kinney, mustered out June
7, 1865; William Kissner, mustered out
June 7, 1865; Irven Laswell, killed at Re-
saca, Georgia, May 14, 1864; George W.
Lewis, died at Chattaooga, November 22,
1 864 ; Noah Linton, died at Mound City, II-
linois,February 13, 1864; Augustus McCon-
nic, mustered out June 7, 1865 ; John T. Mc-
Donald, transferred; Absalom Moore, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865 ; John Mulcahi, dis-
charged on account of wounds February 15,
1864; Lorenzo L. Newman, was prisoner,
mustered out June 7, 1865; Robert Neil,
mustered out June 7, 1865 ; Henry H.
Nichols, discharged July, ; John
R. Nelson, died at Columbus, Kentucky,
January i, 1863; Abel E. Peddicord, mus-
tered out June 7, 1865; Isaac F. Ptomy,
BRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
97
killed at Atlanta, Georgia, July 22, 1864;
James J. Sinclair, mustered out June 7,
1865; James R. .Slaton, died at Paducah,
Kentucky, January 9, 1864; Robert Strong,
absent (sick) at muster out of regiment;
Thomas J. Tabor, mustered out July 6,
1865 ; Charles W. Tabor, mustered out July
6, 1865 ; Edward Tune, mustered out July 6,
1865; Samuel Tune, mustered out July 6,
1865 ; Traverse M. Waldron, died May 29,
1863; Peter White, died at Pulaski, Tennes-
see, January 10, 1864; Abraham J. Wil-
liams, mustered out June 7, 1865 ; William
R. Wickersham, died at Paducah, Kentucky,
April 20, 1864; Benjamin M. Wilson, died
at Columbus, Kentucky, April 12, 1863;
James Williamson, died at Morehead City,
North Carolina, February i, 1865; Recruit,
John H. Adams, absent (sick) at muster out
of regiment. Company G, Captain Ruben
W. Joliff, mustered out June 6, 1865; Sec-
ond Lieutenant John W. Stover, killed in
yction, May 14, 1864; First Sergeant Jo-
seph M. Post, died of wounds received at
Resaca, Georgia, May 31, 1864; Sergeant
Henry M. Gaylord, died at Paducah, Ken-
tucky, May 16, 1863; corporals: William
Collinsworth, mustered out June 6, 1865;
Andrew T. Stover, wounded, mustered out
June 6, 1865 ; John A. Snider, died at Fort
Heiman, Kentucky, May 10, 1863; William
Williams, absent (sick) at muster out of
regiment; William R. Snider, mustered out
June 6, 1865; privates: Abner J. Alexan-
der, mustered out June 6, 1865 ; Samuel C.
Alexander, died at Columbus, February 7,
1863; Louis Ahlborn, discharged; Paulinus
7
F. Agnew, mustered out June 6, 1865 ; Gib-
son Burton, died at Big Shanty, Georgia, of
wounds, June 24, 1864; George W. Burnett,
died at Columbus, Kentucky, January 28,
1863; Samuel W. Billingsley, deserted Oc-
tober 19, 1862; Joseph Brown, killed at
Kenesaw Mountain, June 24, 1864; Jasper
N. Castleberry, disability, discharged Janu-
ary 4, 1865 ; James H. Courtney, died while
prisoner of war at Lawton, Georgia, Octo-
ber 25, 1864; John R. Finn, mustered out
June 6, 1865 ; Washington I. Haskins, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865; William Hawkins,
mustered out June 6, 1865 ; James H. Isbell,
transferred; Daniel W. Myers, transferred;
Aaron McEndree, transferred; David Me-
Endree, transferred ; John W. Middleton,
transferred; John R. Nelson, transferred;
John Schade, mustered out June 6, 1865 ;
John C. Shook, died at Columbus, Ken-
tucky, January 24, 1863; Joseph Tapping,
mustered out June 6, 1865; James G. Tap-
ping, mustered out June 6, 1865 ; James H.
Taylor, died at Mound City, Illinois, Ja'nu-
ary 18, 1863; John J. Wallace, died of
wounds at Atlanta, Georgia, November u,
1864; Granville Wilburn, died at Resaca,
of wounds, May 24, 1864; John A. Yandel,
mustered out June 19, 1865 ; recruits : Jesse
Dayton, discharged December n, 1864; M.
P. Glassford, transferred. Company H,
Captain George E. Castle, mustered out
June 6, 1865; first lieutenants: Andrew J.
Lariner, killed in battle, July 22, 1864; Rob-
ert M. Lovell, mustered out June 6, 1865 ;
Second Lieutenant James L. Gibson, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865 ; sergeants : George
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY .OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
A. Jennings, mustered out June 6, 1865;
William H. Harrison, discharged February
7, 1864, for promotion in One Hundred and
Tenth United States Colored Troops; John
H. Craig, discharged April 4, for promotion
in One Hundred and Eleventh United States
Colored Troops; corporals: James L.
Rogers, mustered out June 6, 1865 ; Henry
C. Farson, mustered out June 6, 1865;
David F. Kell, discharged on account of
wounds, January 28, 1865 ; James E. Castle,
mustered out June 6, 1865; Wilson S. Lari-
mer, mustered out June 6, 1865; William
Southward, mustered out June 6, 1865;
John Lewes, disability, discharged January
10, 1863; musicians: John J. Piles, mus-
tered out July 13, 1865; Richard Thatcher,
mustered out June 6, 1865; Wagoner,
Samuel S. Clater, mustered out June 6,
1865; privates: J. H. Adams, died at
Huntsville, Alabama, June 12, 1864; H. F.
Bosworth, killed at Resaca, Georgia, May
14, 1864; D. C. Bryant, died at Fort Hei-
man; Kentucky, April 19, 1863; John J.
Bloys, mustered out June 6, 1865; George
W. Blackburn, mustered out June 6, 1865;
Benjamin Brown, deserted December 30,
1862 ; Alfred R. Bryan, prisoner, mustered
out July i, 1865; John T. Bibb, mustered
out June 6, 1865; Charles E. Baker, dis-
charged May 25, 1864, commissioned sec-
ond lieutenant United States Heavy Ar-
tillery, Colored Troops ; James J. Brown,
mustered out June 6, 1865; James S.
Chandler, mustered out June 6. 1865:
Henry K. Cantine, discharged April 19,
1865; James B. Clater, mustered out June
6, 1865; Lewis Daggett, died at Paducah,
Kentucky, October 13, 1863; William T.
Day, died in Andersonville prison of
wounds, August 27, 1864; grave No. 7013;
Lyman Daggett, died in Confederate prison,
October 7, 1864; James Evans, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865 ; Jonas Erwin, killed
at Atlanta, Georgia, July 22, 1864; James
Foster, mustered out June 6, 1865; Robert
Foster, transferred; Albert Getty, died at
Columbus, Kentucky, February i, 1863;
William J. Hays, mustered out June 6,
1865; Quintilton H. Hays, mustered out
June 6, 1865; Mansel W. Hays, mustered
out June 6, 1865; George W. Hoskins, died
at Paducah, Kentucky, June 5, 1863;
Thomas M. Ingram, mustered out June 5.
1865; J. Jordan, wounded, absent at mus-
ter out of regiment; Isaac Johnson, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865; Joseph W. Jimeson,
mustered out June 6, 1865 ; J. G. Knight,
died at Fort Heiman, Kentucky, April 13,
1863; Hugh M. Kell, died at Chattanooga,
November 15, 1864; James Knight, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865 ; Washington J. Lut-
trell, mustered out June 6, 1865 ; Thomas
G. Luttrell, mustered out June 6, 1865 :
Daniel R. Lovell, mustered out June 6,
1865 ; Samuel W. Lovell, mustered out June
6, 1865; Thomas E. Lewis, mustered out
June 6, 1865; Willis S. Leewright, mus-
tered out June 6, 1865; Henry Moore, pro-
moted to second lieutenant, Second Alabama
Volunteers, June 23. 1864; John McMur-
ray, was prisoner, mustered out July i,
1865; John Myers, was prisoner, mustered
out July i, 1865; Samuel Puleston, mus-
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
99
tered out (was prisoner) July i, 1865; Jo-
siah Piles, mustered out June 6, 1865; W.
W. Porter, died at Resaca, Georgia, of
wounds, May 20, 1864; John B. Patterson,
disability, discharged ; Absalom Parrell,
mustered out June 6, 1865; McDonald
Phillips, mustered out June 6, 1865;
Samuel Rush, died at home, November 6,
1864; John Rush, mustered out June 6,
1865 ; Isaac Southward, mustered out June
6, 1865; Thomas Southward, mustered out
June 6, 1865; Peter A. Simonson, pro-
moted to quartermaster-sergeant ; John R.
Taylor, disability, discharged February 17,
1863; William B. K. Toland, died at Rome,
Georgia, September 15, 1864; Ira VanDu-
sen, died in Andersonville prison, Novem-
ber 27, 1864; John Wise, died at Fort
Heiman, Kentucky, May, 1863; J. H. Wat-
son, wounded, absent at muster out of regi-
ment; F. F. Watson, disabilty, discharged
February 17, 1863; W. Watson, mustered
out June 6, 1865 ; H. M. Wilson, mustered
out June 6, 1865; John Webb, mustered out
June 6, 1865 ; L. Wilson, mustered out June
6, 1865; S. E. White, mustered out June 6,
1865; C. S. Wilson, mustered out June 6,
1865; recruits: A. E. Blackburn, trans-
ferred ; John A. Clayton, transferred ; Isaiah
T. Dillon, transferred; David L. Tucker,
transferred. Company I : Second Lieuten-
ant David Nichols, mustered out June 7,
1865; corporals: Jacob R. Phillips, mus-
tered out June 7, 1865; Joseph C. Wilton,
mustered out July 27, 1865; privates: H.
A. Allen, died at Fort Heiman, Kentucky,
May 1 8, 1863; Harvey F. Bassett, mustered
out June 7, 1865; I. T. Boatwright, died at
Columbus, Kentucky, February 12, 1863;
T. M. Corzine, died at Columbus, Kentucky,
January 20, 1863; J. Clemens, died at Mari-
etta, Georgia, of wounds, August 18, 1864;
Squire Ga*ultney, absent (sick) at muster
out of regiment; Newton Hensley, died at
Columbus, Kentucky, March 29, 1863;
James W. Moon, mustered out June 7,
1865 ; John G. Quick, mustered out June
7, 1865; George Sloat, mustered out June
7, 1865; Nathan Smith, mustered out May
30, 1865 ; J. Wickenhouser, mustered out
June 7, 1865; recruits: Fenwick J. Alex-
ander, mustered out June 7, 1865 ; John Mc-
donald. Company K: Joseph Schultz,
captain, mustered out June 7, 1865; First
Lieutenant I. H. Berry, mustered out June
7, 1865; Second Lieutenant Frederick Siple,
mustered out June 7, 1865; First Sergeant
M. C. Rogers, died at Fort Heiman, Ken-
tucky, May 5, 1863; sergeants: John B.
Brasel, deserted December 6, 1865 ; John M.
Chitwood, mustered out May 5, 1865 ; E. O.
Warner, died of wounds August 13, 1864;
corporals: H. H. Spitler, died at Colum-
bus, Kentucky, February 17, 1863; W. S.
Wilkins, died at Columbus, Kentucky, Janu-
ary 21, 1863; Richard S. Hultz, disability,
discharged January 26, 1863; Charles S.
Wilkins, mustered out June 7, 1865; John
W. Alexander, mustered out June 7, 1865 :
John Guilkey, mustered out June 7, 1865;
John F. Michaels, mustered out June 7,
1865 ; Musician J. W. Spain, mustered out
June 7, 1865; privates: W. S. Alexander,
mustered out June 7, 1865; W. H. Allen,
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
mustered out June 7, 1865 ; Henry Albert,
mustered out June 7, 1865; Reuben Albert,
mustered out June 7, 1865; Marion Almon,
mustered out June 7, 1865; John H. Bur-
rows, discharged for promotion July 8,
1864; Z. Beasley, mustered out' June 7,
1865; Josiah Bryant, absent (sick) at mus-
ter out; H. M. Chitwood, deserted January
27, 1863; Joseph Craig, died at Paducah,
Kentucky, July 9, 1863; J. R. Davenport,
mustered out June 7, 1865; George E.
Daniels, mustered out June 7, 1865; A.
Earnheart, promoted to principal musician;
J. T. Eraser, deserted February 6, 1863 ;
Temple Gilman, mustered out June 7, 1865 ;
A. Hults, died at Larkinsville, Alabama,
April n, 1865; Abner C. Harney, mustered
out June 7, 1865 ; C. Harratt, killed at At-
lanta, Georgia, July 22, 1864; Andrew Hite,
deserted January 27, 1863; Charles Hadden.
mustered out June 7, 1865 ; Joseph M. Jus-
tice, died a prisoner at Annapolis, Mary-
land, December 18, 1864; Michael Kalcher,
mustered out June 7, 1865; W. S. Kagy,
mustered out June 7, 1865; H. J. Luttrell,
killed at Atlanta, Georgia, July 22, 1864;
W. McCartan, killed at Fort McAllister,
Georgia, December 13, 1864; Isaac P. Mar-
tin, mustered out June 7, 1865 ; John Mar-
tin, mustered out June 7, 1865 ; A. G. Mc-
Cartney, died while prisoner of war, about
February 17, 1865; J. D. Meek, mustered
out June 7, 1865; D. O. Malcolm, died at
Cleveland, Tennessee, February 2, 1865;
J. A. Morgan, died at Columbus, Kentucky,
January 28, 1863 ; J. McCollom, died at Co-
lumbus, Kentucky, March 22, 1863 ; A. G.
Morris, mustered out June 7, 1865 ; Jere-
miah Parks, mustered out June 7, 1865; A.
L. Riley, mustered out June 7, 1865; E.
Stonecipher, deserted December 5, 1862;
W. D. Singleton, mustered out June 7,
1865; W. H. Schanafelt, prisoner of war,
died at Lawton, Georgia, October 24, 1864;
B. S. Stribling, mustered out June 7, 1865 ;
Wilburn Stonecipher, deserted December 5,
1862; John R. Schultz, died of wounds,
June 3, 1864; David Schultz, mustered out
June 7, 1865; H. C. B. Wilkins, mustered
out June 7, 1865 ; J. H. Wilkins, died at Co-
lumbus, Kentucky, June 12, 1863; J. N.
White, discharged for promotion, April 18,
1864; recruits: J. H. Coffman, died of
wounds August 28, 1864; Christopher Mul-
vaney, transferred; Byron E. Webster,
transferred; Alexander Wilkins, trans-
ferred.
The One Hundred and Sixth Regiment
was for one hundred days, and enrolled the
following, who were mustered out October
22, 1864. The regiment saw no service in
the field and the names are here given as a
tribute to their willingness to serve: Frank-
lin Darling, James M. Lewis, John Avant.
William R. Avant, William H. Beal, David
C. Bruce, George W. Eller, Benjamin Jus-
tice, John F. Maxey, Alexander Vanfausten,
Z. C. Williams, Robert Barron, Henry But-
ler, James W. Sullivan, John W. Deets.
Eclmond Davis, Gustavus DeLand, Joseph
B. Martin, Captain John C. Scott, First
Lieutenant W. H. Wyatt, Second Lieuten-
ant John S. Hawkins, First Sergeant S. G.
Telford, J. Fowler Telford, W. F. Dodson,
BRIXKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Richard C. Wyatt, Frank Darling, P. J.
Knight, J. M. Kell, Albert Johnson, Thomas
N. Kell, J. T. Cunningham, Theodore F.
Harley, Isaac N. Charleton, S. J. Shaw,
Thomas H. Anderson, J. H. Adkins, James
W. Blair, George A. Bell, Russell B. Balt-
zell, David Blair, Fred Brisco, John R.
Cisne, M. McCastle, John R. Claybourne, C.
S. Cornwell, R. J. Cain, George W. Denny,
Alexander Dodson, D. W. Denham, John
Eastman, Henry Ellis, Irwin Foster, J. O.
Farrell, James B. Gaston, T. Glen, George
Guyetta, James Gaff, D. R. Hamilton, A.
S. Howard, W. J. Haines, W. S. Harley,
N. H. Heaton, A. Harley, B. E. Hobart,
Samuel Hays, G. W. Holmes, J. J. John-
son, A. J. Jones, C. C. McCard, A. Lance.
C. Lynch, S. D. Lester, J. Muckelroy, J. W.
Miller, S. I. Mattimore, W. A. Noleman,
J. S. Patterson, George L. Postern, L. J.
Patten, H. Rush, O. T. Richard, R. L.
Rosebrough, Albert Tong, R. M. Scott,
George M. Smith, Robert Tate, J. H.
Thomas, H. Warren, H. W. Wells, E.
Whitehead, T. A. Wilton, M. M. Walker,
A. N. Williams, Alexander Wilson, J. B.
Williamson, A. J. Williamson, James F.
Creighton, J. Hugg. Jeremiah Woods was
in the One Hundred and Forty-second Regi-
ment of the same service. In the One Hun-
dred and Forty-ninth Regiment, one year's
service, were: Adjutant Winfield S. Nor-
rcoss, Surgeon Samuel D. Mercer ; privates :
Jacob Gross, mustered out January 27,
1866; Joseph Keifter, mustered out January
27, 1866; Lawrence Schibel.
Four men from Marion countv were in
the One Hundred and Fiftieth Regiment,
one year service. All were mustered out
June 16, 1866. They were: Jacob Miller,
first lieutenant; William N. Smith, cor-
poral; and S. B. Gibson and W. Nichols,
privates. The regiment did guard duty and
garrison duty. They fought in no battles,
and lost no men from Marion county. J.
R. Hartley was in the One Hundred and
Fifty-fourth Regiment, and was mustered
out September 18, 1866.
The Sixth Cavalry had a number of
Marion county men on its rolls. It was a
service regiment, and was engaged in many
battles and skirmishes. It was a part of
the famous Grierson raid. The Marion
county men were scattered through the regi-
ment. In Company B, Noah Knight de-
serted. The muster out was November 5,
1865, and where no dates appear after the
name it will be understood the soldier was
mustered out at that time : James K. Clark,
Christen C. Dike, Jacob Newberry, W. W.
Ragan were in Company A; J. B. Cain, B.
W. Hicks, John Hough, David Shelby and
Jasper Shelby were in Company B; J. C.
McWhirter, H. Mulvaney, Thomas Renfro
and Samuel Russell were in Company C. :
William H. Grain, Henry W. Brodeck, Wil-
liam T. Steen and Frantz Swartz were
in Company D ; Lewis Cole, James K. Can-
nen, John Moore, in Company E ; Maryland
Malladay, in Company F; William Agnie,
William Estes, George W. Lesley (died at
Nashville), Benjamin F. Ragsdall, John A.
Reason, in Company -G; recruits: Francis
M. Allen. Sr., A. J. Burgaman, Reuben H.
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Burgaman, James -Evans (killed at Shelby-
ville, Tennessee, November 20, 1864), Wil-
liam H. Govee, William P. Gaston, Arthur
J. Hays, Dodson C. Hays, S. M. Hudson,
William H. Telford and James B. Watson
were in Company H ; John R. Knight, Wil-
son H. Patterson, Mathew W. Weldon
(drowned at Eastport, Mississippi, April 12,
1865), were in Company I; J. Allison, J.
Dyer, J. Henry, W. H. Herrington, W.
Jackson, W. R. Martin, Asa Mann (mus-
tered out May 23, 1865), Jesse Morrison,
Charles Neville, William H. Parker, James
Ragan, Eli Rainey, P. Slang, J. J. Short,
of Company M. The following were desert-
ers from the regiment : Noah Knight, L. S.
Fisher, F. M. Burge, T. J. Crane. W. A.
Glenn, W. F. Glenn and A. C. Harris.
The Seventh Cavalry had a few men from
Marion county in its ranks as follows:
James Anglin, Doc Carson, John Buck,
Jacob Pearl, Wiliam N. Smith, Robert
Wilkinson, A. J. Foster, H. C. Foster, Con-
rad Habbwacks, John Jacoby, Elda Jones,
John Knight, William Knight, B. B. Milton,
Jesse Tilly, Thomas Upton, Allen Clow,
John W. Wall, M. L. Jones, W. B. Morahl,
J. M. McConnell, G. Meador, Job Cruse,
Nimrod Christian, James Hulett (deserted),
Henry Myers (deserted), Simon Neff, L. P.
Nichols, D. E. Peddicord, Fred Trible, S.
R. Cathem, T. A. Wilton, James Crawford,
William R. Arant, Martin Binnion, Mathias
Gurton, James Hathaway, Nathan Moon,
Josiah H. Skilling were in the Tenth
Cavalry, mustered out August 25, 1865.
Charles S. Awl was dishonorably dis-
charged from the Eleventh Cavalry, and the
following mustered out September 3Oth
from the same regiment : John E. Bevins, Ira
A. Bishop, George Bevins, Elijah Cruse, C.
C. Carroll, A. H. Jones, Samuel McKeighan,
Mathew Orton, Erwin Reamy. In the Thir-
teenth Cavalry list appears the names of the
following Marion county men: H. Christian
(discharged under age), Thomas Green,
Moses Oakley, John I. Caudle, John Don-
houser (mustered out August 31, 1865).
John B. Adams died at Camp Butler Janu-
ary 26, 1864, and William Brown deserted
April 22, 1864. In the Sixteenth Cavalry
were: James Shaw, a prisoner, mustered
out July 1 8, 1865; James Williams, mus-
tered out May 18, 1865; John Fisher, de-
serted July n, 1863; George L. Hart, died
in Andersonville prison, June 28, 1864,
grave No. 2267; John P. Kreobs, died in
Andersonville prison, April 19, 1864, grave
No. 625 ; Aaron Wright, deserted February
19, 1863. In the First Artillery: First
Lieutenant Emmett F. Hill, honorably dis-
charged September 19, 1863. Battery M:
Alfred S. Wilson, mustered out July 24,
1865 ; Alexander D. Chancey and Mulford
VanDyke were unassigned. In the Second
Artillery, David H. Harmon, disability,
discharged. The following were mustered
out July 27, 1865 : Samuel H. Craig, John
F. Craig, Albert S. Edwards. The follow-
ing enlisted in the regular army: William
Shaw, L. Vanausdale, Peter Wigle, Henry
Willet, Henry Clay, John B. Foster, John
Stater, and in the United States Twenty-
ninth. Colored Troops: Marmaduke Stew-
BRIXKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
103
art, James George, Oliver Mahue, Samuel
Pendegrass, Hardy School, A. Brandy-
more; and in Second Regular United States
Veteran Volunteers: Charles Behler, Wil-
liam Grouse, J. B. Godel, John Ockerman,
Julius Schultz. In the Fourth United
States Veteran Volunteers, Thomas War-
man. George Cassidy and David Terpin
enlisted in the regular army in June, 1865.
Truly, Marion county sent of her best to
do battle for the Union. Her best blood was
freely offered, and the sacrifice was made
complete by the life-giving patriotism on
many a southern field. They played their
part in the great tragedy of the nation, and
when the curtain of peace fell on war's grim
stage they laid down the sword to take up
the pruning hook, exchanged the rifle for
the plow, and from the thunder and shock
of battle to the nobler avocation of home-
building, setting again the example to all
nations of armies of war turning into armies
of peace. More than forty years have
passed away since the last charge was made
since the last cannon's lips grew cold
and only a remnant is left of the men of
'61-65.
The majority, having answered "tapps"
in the camp of eternity, face the setting sun,
and with whitened brow and step feeble and
slow, but with courage as high as that which
inspired the charge up Lookout's rugged
mount, they march toward the silent river
to cross in God's own time, to be mustered
into the white-robed army of the Prince of
Peace. Nor will their life's lesson be lost,
but a patriotism by their sacrifices has been
engendered that assures the departing hero
that these sires' sons will too, in time of
need, be found not wanting but ready when
duty calls to obey her behest.
THE EARLY SETTLERS.
The early settlers of a hundred years ago
were of a class that has now passed away
forever. The only means of travel was by
wagon, on horseback, or on foot, and many
of the best families of today, who are liv-
ing in comfort, if not in luxury, are sprung
from men and women who emigrated to this
new country carrying in a "prairie
schooner," as the old-fashioned wagons
were called, all their earthly possessions,
and many, indeed, arrived without any but
the barest necessaries, of a day when even
necessaries were very few, and when the
total value of an average household furnish-
ings could be told in cents instead of dol-
lars, and the settler was considered well pro-
vided if he could call his own, besides the
ever-present and ever-necessary rifle, an ax,
a skillet, a pot, and usually an iron oven, or
a flat-bottomed iron vessel, about five inches
deep, with an iron lid fitting over the top
with a half ring or loop, by which the lid
104
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
might be lifted. This vessel set on three
legs, about two inches long, the vessel it-
self having a bail or handle by which it
might be lifted. A spinning wheel, both for
wool and flax, and sometimes for cotton,
were among the "plunder," as they univer-
sally called their household goods, if the
settler was more than average prosperous.
And these few and simple implements and
utensils met their few and simple wants.
They had known nothing of other conveni-
ences, and did not feel the need of them.
The forest furnished meat, and Indian
corn was the staff of pioneer life. "White"
bread, as bread made from wheat was
called, was almost unknown. Sugar made
from the sap of sugar trees, or wild honey,
of which there was an abundance, furnished
sweetening. As there were no rich there
could be no poor, but all were upon one com-
mon level socially, so far as this world's
goods were concerned, and the only mark
of respectability was truthfulness, helpful-
ness and bravery in times of trouble. To
have the reputation that one might be de-
pended on, was to stand high in the esti-
mation of all. As few communities were
within less than a mile of each other, a
neighborhood meant a township and friends
often miles apart, and but very few families
were reckoned by counties. Mills were at
first unknown and corn was pounded to
meal in a mortar made of a huge block off a
log, about three feet long, set on end, and
the top hollowed out cup-shaped. A sapling,
rounded at the large end and hanging above,
suspended to another sapling, so as to form
a spring, was the pestle. Near the lower
end of this pestle a hole was bored, through
which a pin was driven, forming a hand
hold on either side, so that two could work
and add force to the downward blow, soon
reducing the kernel to a course meal, which
was then poured from an elevation in the
open air to blow out the husks of the grain.
The meal was then sifted in a sieve by hand,
if the pioneer was so fortunate as to own a
sieve, if not one was soon made by tightly
stretching a piece of wet buckskin over a
hoop, which when dry was burned full of
tiny holes with a small piece of wire, thus
forming a sieve, which however crude, per-
formed its part in providing the daily bread
to the full satisfaction of the family. A
new family was welcomed with open-
hearted hospitality, and when a location was
selected the men for miles around lent a
helping hand in raising the house, which
was to be the future home, and men thought
nothing of riding many miles to assist in a
house-raising.
Almost all the genuine settlers were
deeply religious, although knowing nothing
of religious forms, as is generally true of
those who live isolated lives amid the vast-
ness of nature's unbroken domain. All had
heard in the old home the Word preached,
and many in their simple faith had "jined"
church and brought with them to the wil-
derness of Illinois the faith of their fathers.
But here distinctions were lost, and in an
age when religious intolerance ran high in
older communities, all differences, save in
name, were lost. The fervent Methodist,
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
the sedate Presbyterian, the argumentative
Baptist, met, when opportunity offered, to
listen to the preacher of whatever sect, and
forgot their differences of dogma in the joy
of worship. Nor did this spirit die until
communities grew strong enough to support
churches of the denominations, and then not
entirely, as the Union church in many com-
munities testify. Live stock increased
rapidly and had a very low money value.
As the pasturage cost nothing, stock was
permitted to run at large from spring to late
fall, when it was hunted far and near and
brought home. Each family had a mark
which was recorded and which no other
might use. It was usually a cut, or cuts.
in the ear or both ears. An under bit in
the right ear and a split in the left, or a
crop off one ear and a slit in the other, or a
hole in one and a swallow tail in the other,
and so on, and stock which had not been
seen for months was readily identified, and
as every one knew every other one's mark,
neighbors told neighbors where they had
seen their stock and thus aided the other in
the finding. My father's mark was an un-
der bit in the right ear and a crop off the
left, and the stock could be identified at
some distance without dismounting. A few
also branded, where they owned branding
irons, and as an extra precaution used a
large mark or letter on the hip and a smaller
one on the horn.
The writer well remembers an incident of
his childhood that is as fresh today as
though it happened but yesterday. An
Englishman and wife had settled in the
neighborhood, and being thrifty and having
brought some money with them, soon had a
number of steers, which they branded with
a small H on the horn and a large L on the
hip. One morning in the late fall Mrs.
rode up to my father's house, and when he
appeared in answer to her "hello," she said,
"Good morning, I'm looking up our steers.
Have you seen a big, red steer with a hoe
on his orn and a hell on his ipp?" Father
had not seen that steer. The favorite pas-
time among the boys and young men were
running, jumping, wrestling and shooting,
which last sport was often curtailed by
a scarcity of ammunition, a supply of which
must at all times be kept on hand as a pro-
tection for the family from Indian strag-
glers, and for the stock from the wild ani-
mals, and of the poultry from the "varmints,"
all of which abounded and against which
both the good man and good wife had sworn
eternal enmity; and the cabin sides were at
all times ornamented with the out-stretched
skins of the fox, the "coon," the "possum,"
the wildcat, or "bobcat," as they choose to
call it, the mink, weasel and other of the
smaller "varmints," with an occasional
wolf or "painter" hide to keep company,
tacked to the walls to dry. These pelts had
a value as furs and were often used instead
of money as a standard of value and a
medium of exchange.
\\restling was of three kinds and no rules
governed either except a general fairness.
The favorite was "side holts," in which,
after it had been agreed as to who should
have the "under holt," the champions stood
io6
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
side by side with one's right arm and the
other's left around the waist of the oppo-
nent. The other hands were clasped in front
and the struggle began, often lasting several
minutes before one or the other measured
his length on the ground. A contest of
skill of this character was sometimes, when
the contestants were well matched, an event
talked about for many a day. The second
kind was ''back holt," in which the
wrestlers stood face to face, each with his
left arm under his opponent's right, and
right over his opponent's left, with hands
clasped behind his back. Both strength and
skill were needed in this kind of a contest,
and often the struggle was long and violent,
and -not infrequently ended in one or both
receiving reminders in strained limbs or
back. The third was catch-as-catch-can,
and the result often depended on the quick-
ness and judgment, not to say luck, of the
wrestler. In this match the wrestlers stood
several feet apart and at the word ran to
each other, catching such hold of each other
as they could, and the struggle began, to be
ended only when one or the other went
down. Fighting was frequent among the
more reckless element, and bouts were ar-
ranged between the bully of one settlement
and the bully of another settlement to de-
cide which was the best man. There was
no animosity between the contestants, and
often they had never seen each other until
the day of battle. To have the name of
being the "best man" in one settlement was
sure to bring a challenge from the "best
man" in some other to decide the question
of brute supremacy. The terms being
agreed upon, at it they went with fist and
nail, foot and hand, hitting, scratching, bit-
ing, kicking and gouging. Nothing was
barred that could be done with nature's
weapons of offense or defense. No arms
or clubs were ever used, and an offer to use
anything but hands, feet or teeth would re-
sult in such a system of ostracism as would
compel the offender to leave the community
in disgrace. No blow was ever struck after
one or the other cried "nuff," which was
an acknowledgment of the other's suprem-
acy, and the victor and vanquished, with
the friends of both, would celebrate the
event with liberal potations of "black strop,"
and not infrequently the principals de-
veloped, out of so strange and strenuous an
acquaintance, a devoted friendship that
death alone could dissolve.
In the fall of the year shooting matches
were often indulged in open to all, in which
the best shot took one hind quarter of a
beef, the second best shot took the other,
while the third and fourth best took the
forequarters, respectively, while the fifth
best shot received the "fifth quarter," as the
hide and tallow were called. Cattle being so
cheap, the prize was not of so much value
as the reputation of being" the best shot.
The writer has known hunters who would
deem themselves disgraced if they shot a
squirrel anywhere but in the eye.
The'"hoss" race was another form of
amusement among the younger men. Each,
of course, would "brag" about the good
qualities of his horse until a race was ar-
HKI.XKEKIIOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
ranged. There were no rules but a place
and time to start and a point at which the
course was to end. Rarely was there any
stake other than the glory of beating the
other horse. Quarter horses were in the
highest repute, that is a horse that ran his
best race in a quarter of a mile and did not
last much beyond that distance. The horses
of that day were untrained and of no par-
ticular stock, yet some of them developed
considerable speed and good staying quali-
ties, but on a modern race course the best
of them would be sadly out of place. The
swine of that day were of the hazel-splitting,
razor-backed kind, usually, and were per-
mitted to run wild in the woods almost from
birth, with only an occasional feeding of
corn, and were frequently "mast" fattened,
as a hog fattened on nuts and acorns was
called, and a good mast year produced an
abundance of rich, juicy, well-flavored pork,
somewhat too oily, to be sure, but tooth-
some nevertheless. The hams, shoulders
and sides were salted and smoked with the
smoke from hickory wood, and had a flavor
that modern methods cannot give.
The dress of both men and women was
home made, both as to material and tailor-
ing, and was of the plainest linen for sum-
mer and linsey woolsey for the women in
winter, and jeans for the men. All were
made by hand, from the stalk of flax or the
back of the sheep, and the housewife was
kept busy from early morn to late at night
with card, or spinning wheel or loom, and
when resting the knitting needle was ever
flying in skillful fingers, fashioning the mit-
tens or socks or comforters for the men-
folks, who, in her mind, always must first be
provided for. The covering for the head was
often a cap made from the skin of a "coon"
or other animal, with the fur still on and the
tail hanging down behind as an ornament,
while the women wore a quilted hood or a
small shawl, or the eternal sunbonnet. The
footwear was homemade also. either
moccasins of deer hide, or shoes or boots
of leather, tanned at home or by some
neighbor, and made up by the head of the
family or by one more skilled, if such there
were in the neighborhood. But in summer
both men and women frequently, and chil-
dren always, went barefooted, and many a
blushing damsel would walk miles on Sun-
day morning to meeting barefooted, carrying
her shoes and stockings in her hand, and
just before coming in sight of the meeting
sit down on a log or stump and put them
on, doing this to save shoe leather, and
there be today a few grand old dames in
Marion county who had such experience as
this. Courtships were generally brief, and
usually ended in happy marriages. Divorce,
that curse of modern times, that hellish
threat against the home, was almost un-
known, and the divorcee was looked upon
with suspicion and contempt by all. The
pioneer was content with his lot, but con-
tent only because he saw in the future his
lands increase in value, his stock grow more
and more of worth, and his comforts in-
crease with the years, an honest reward for
honest toil. He saw the little clearing grow
into fertile fields, the cabin of his early
io8
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
years replaced by a larger and better home,
and the evening of life, surrounded by chil-
dren in homes of their own, cast a glow of
satisfaction over his toil that is unknown
to this more mercenary generation.
The home of the settler was at first
usually a one-room, log cabin, to which
were added a room or two as necessity and
opportunity required or permitted. Logs
were cut in the immediate vicinity of the
cabin site to the required length, and if
time was not too pressing they were hewn
to a flat surface on two opposite sides.
making a timber about six or eight inches
thick. These were "snaked" to the cabin
site, and on the set day the entire neighbor-
hood of men and boys gathered to the
"raising." The party was divided into two
squads, each under a captain, and four ex-
pert axmen, chosen as "cornermen." Pil-
lars had been placed in the ground to sup-
port the building. The first logs were
placed on opposite sides and parallel to each
other, the parts resting on the pillars being
flattened by the axmen so as to lie steadily
on the supports. On these were then
placed logs, hewn flat on one side,
at right angles to the two foundation logs,
and at spaces of about two feet apart, form-
ing the sleepers to support the floor. The
axmen now each took position at his cor-
ner, and logs were brought and rolled up
"skids" at the sides and ends alternately.
The axmen notched the ends so that the
bottom of one log fitted over the end of the
log beneath, thus binding the building to-
gether. Thus the process was repeated until
the required height was reached, when the
gables were made by making each end log
shorter than the preceding one by the length
of the clapboard, with which the roof was
to be made, the side logs being drawn in,
forming a slant for the roof. Clapboards,
which had been riven from a straight-
grained oak, were then laid from one log-
to the next above until the roof was com-
plete. Weight poles, i. e., poles laid on the
clapboards to hold them down, were placed
and pinned fast by wooden pins, holding
them securely. An opening was then cut in
one end, usually about six feet square, in
which was built a fireplace of logs, the in-
side of which was thickly coated with clay,
and a "chimbly" was built of small split
sticks, laid in clay and also coated on the
inside with clay. This clay when submitted
to the action of the fire, burned almost to the
hardness of brick, and protected the wooden
framework of the fireplace and chimney.
Xext a place for a door was cut, and a
rough door made of slats split from a log
and pinned to a crosspiece at top and bot-
tom with wooden pins. The crosspieces ex-
tended a few inches past the door on one
side and a hole was bored in the end to serve
as a hinge. The ends of the logs cut to
form the threshold were held in place by up-
rights. Pinned to the logs on these up-
rights, were fastened pieces of wood, so
shaped as to form the bottom part of the
hinge, and the door placed in position and
swinging on the pivots thus formed, a
wooden latch with a leather thong thrust
through a hole so as to hang outside, so
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
109
that by pulling it the latch was raised and
the door free to be opened. The door was
locked by pulling the string inside, so that
no one from the outside could raise the latch.
This method of fastening is handed down
to us in the hospitable phrase "that the latch
string is always out to you." A floor of
puncheons, or slabs split from logs, was
then laid and roughly hewn, and the house
was done.
A day of toil and a day of jollity was
often ended with a dance or a party for the
young people, either in the new house or
the home of some neighbor, where true
frontier hospitality was dispensed with a
lavish, if uncouth, hand. Often when the
men set a day for the "raising," the women
set the same day for a quilting at some near
home, and spent the day quilting and cook-
ing, the later often out of doors, if the
weather was warm, and improvised tables
and often wooden platters for dishes were
filled with such viands as only the frontier
can provide. Corn bread, bear meat, veni-
son, pork, beef, one or all, the succulent
succotash, i. e., green corn and string
beans cooked together, Irish and sweet po-
tatoes, pumpkin and squash as a "sass," or
in pies, with milk or tea from the root of
the sassafras, wild honey or maple molasses
furnished a meal that fitted the needs of the
hardy backwoodsman, and one to which he
did ample justice. Such a meal for twenty
hungry men could be furnished without
the outlay of a single penny, as everything
was the product of the farm or forest and
represented labor but not money, as no mar-
ket for these was within reach. Corn bread
was made in various ways. The most gen-
eral was the hoe cake and Johnny cake, and
these only differed in the method of baking.
Corn bread was baked before the fire in a
"Dutch" oven with live coals under it and a
shovelful of live coals placed on the lid.
The hoe cake was originally baked by be-
ing placed on the blade of a hoe or shovel
and placed on the live coals, the bread being
uncovered. The Johnny cake, like the hoe
cake, was molded by the hands into a
small oblong loaf and then baked before the
fire on a board, much as the planked fish of
today is cooked. The ingredients were
water, salt, meal and perhaps a little grease,
and to the veteran of pioneer days no sponge
or other cake can equal the hoe cake or the
Johnny cake of his childhood days.
Whiskey made from corn was found in
every house, and everyone drank more or
less, although it was usually confined to the
morning dram. Drunkenness was almost
unknown, and it was the custom to show
the hospitality of the home by producing
the bottle. No thought of discourtesy
entered the mind of either when the minister
was offered the contents of "Black Bettie"
after his journey through the wilderness or
the exertion of a two hours' discourse.
Whiskey was only worth about twenty cents
a gallon, and as it was made from corn that
was still cheaper, it was pure and not so
harmful as the vile chemical compound now
sold as whiskey. But with the springing up
of villages with their "doggeries," a change
of sentiment took place, and ere long the
BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
habit of whiskey drinking began to be
looked upon with disfavor, and so far as
home drinking is concerned has passed
away, we trust, forever.
An early marriage in the early day
was encouraged among folks, and it was
not uncommon for a youth of seventeen or
eighteen to marry a girl of fourteen or
fifteen. The responsibilities of life thus as-
sumed early developed a spirit of independ-
ence and self-help on the part of the young
couple, and a wedding of that day was an
event in which the whole settlement took
interest, and as everybody who heard of the
wedding was considered invited, it often as-
sumed large if not elaborate proportions.
The following description of one told by a
participant is vividly remembered and may
be taken as a standard by which to guage the
wedding festivities of an early day in the
then great West, of which Marion county
was a part. The groom's family lived in
what is now Salem township, and the bride's
home was six or seven miles distant to the
west, in what is now the McClelland or
Deadman settlement. On the morning of
the wedding day the groom, in company
with all the young people of both sex who
resided in the settlement, twenty or twenty-
five, on horseback, started to the home of
the bride's parents. Arriving in sight of
the house, the cavalcade was halted by the
master of ceremonies and two of the young
men told off to race for "Black Bettie." Off
they went, as fast as their horses could go
and yelling like wild Indians. They were
met at the door, up to which they rode, by
the man of the house who handed a squat,
black bottle to the one who first arrived.
He then rode back to the waiting party in
triumph, followed by his unsuccessful,
though by no means cast-down rival. The
bottle was presented to the groom and then
passed from hand to hand until all had
tasted, when the line of march was resumed.
When the house was reached the girls were
helped off their horses and went into the
house, where soon everyone was busy help-
ing to get dinner, while the young men at-
tended to the horses. After they had
finished this task they passed the time in
wrestling, boxing, running, jumping and
other athletic sports. At about two o'clock
dinner was "called," when the men, with
faces shining from a vigorous scrubbing in
cold water with soft soap and hair plastered
down with bear oil, seated themselves on
puncheon benches on either side of a long
table, to be waited on by the girls, who
waited until the men had eaten, when, at a
signal from the master of ceremonies, a
"grace" was said, and all turned their at-
tention to the repast that, though common
enough then, could not be duplicated now
for love or money.
The afternoon was spent in games of
various sorts, the bride-to-be keeping out of
the way to avoid the rough, though kindly,
jokes that would be "cracked" at her expense.
At about six o'clock in the evening the
preacher arrived, and with a whoop and
hurrah, the guests assembled in the largest
room in the house and a profound silence
fell upon the crowd. The groom stood be-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
in
fore the preacher and the bridesmaids led
the blushing bride to his side, and amid a
solemn stillness, the minister's voice only be-
ing heard, they were made one of twain.
Hardly were the words spoken, when with
eager steps the friends pressed forward to
offer congratulations, fervent and sincere.
Supper was then eaten, after which the
room was cleared, and to the old backwood's
tunes of "Arkansas Traveler," "Hell up the
Wabash" and the "Devil's Dream," accom-
panied by the constant pat-pat of the
fiddler's foot, the frolic began. At about
eleven o'clock a halt was called, when a bevy
of girls, who had slipped the bride away and
put her to bed in the loft, as the upper room
was called, entered. This was the signal to
the "boys," and they seized the groom and
hustled him upstairs and acted as grooms
until he too was disrobed and was tucked in,
when they returned below. The dance be-
gan again and was kept up until daylight,
or if the fiddler grew weary, they sat out the
night. Next morning, after a hearty break-
fast, the cavalcade formed with gaily decked
horses with such finery as the times afforded
and took up the line of march to the home of
the groom's parents to partake of the "in-
fare" dinner, where much the same proceed-
ings were had. On the third day the guests
went home, after appointing a time to come
and help the young people build a house,
if one had not already been built, and do
such other things as might help start the
newly married couple well on the road
toward home-building.
Births in that early day were in the hands
of the older women of the settlements and
were rarely attended with unpleasant or dan-
gerous consequences. Large families was
the rule, and it was a matter of pride to be
the parents of a dozen or more hearty girls
and boys. Sickness was rare, except chills
and fever in the fall, or, as it was generally
called, the ague, in which, in the first stage,
a coldness that no fire could warm took hold
of the victim, and he shook and shivered so
severely that the bed would shake and even
the dishes in the cupboard rattle. After an
hour or two of this paroxysm the patient
began to get warm and was soon in the
agony of a raging fever. In an hour or two
more this would pass and the patient, ap-
parently none the worse for his shake, went
about his business until the second day,
when the attack invariably returned. Qui-
nine was the remedy invariably used in this
disease, which was considered the only help-
ful remedy, and is so regarded by many to-
day. Calomel was generally taken to get
rid of the malaria. Billions fever some-
times developed, but generally yielded to the
calomel and quinine treatment, which, if
somewhat heroic, was generally successful
after the disease had run its course. Some
years the ague was much worse than others,
and at times there were not enough well to
wait on the sick. Often the entire family
would be down at once and no one to give
them even a drop of water. In winter the
most common disease was winter fever, now
known under its proper name of pneumonia.
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
It was the most fatal frontier disease, prob-
ably because of a lack of proper treatment.
Doctors at first were unknown in the set-
tlements, but soon one would locate some-
where within a day's ride of every settle-
ment, and it was a common thing for the
doctor's practice to extend over a radius of
twenty or even thirty miles. With more
cultivation of land the ague has almost dis-
appeared, and this generation cannot be-
lieve the tales told of the ague in the past
as they know of nothing like it in the pres-
ent, yet they are true as the testimony of
many witnesses will prove. Deaths oc-
curred then as now, and sickness was the
one thing that brought forth kindly sym-
pathy and help of the whole settlement.
Neighbors took time about sitting up with
the sick, acting as nurses and doing the work
of the stricken one. No thought of recom-
pense, save in kind, ever entered the mind of
any. One case is known where the men of
a neighborhood divided the time, three tak-
ing every night until the nine men had each
served, then the first three again, and so on
every third night and kept this up for more
than a year until the sufferer died, having
been bedridden the entire time.
Funerals were conducted by the settlers
themselves, no undertakers being in the lo-
cality. The coffin was generally a plain,
wooden box that some settler, handy with
tools, made, and the men of the neighbor-
hood, acted as sextons and dug the grave.
The coffin was hauled to the bury-
ing place on a sled or in a farm wagon, if
any distance, and after a prayer by some
older man of the community was deposited
in the grave, which was then filled up by
relays of the neighbors, all staying until the
little mound was shaped and smoothly
patted down by the spades of the workers.
If, as was often the case, the burial was or.
the land of the family, the body was carried
to the grave. In any case the announcement
was made that the funeral would be
preached by Brother So-and-so, at his next
visit to the settlement, often six or more
months in the future. The writer remem-
bers, that when a child he heard a funeral
preached of a woman who had been dead
more than a year. Times have changed;
the pioneer is no more in Illinois, but his
handiwork remains. They had their joys,
different from the joys of their grand-
children, but no less joys, and no less ap-
preciated. His sorrows, like our sorrows,
were no less poignant ; his hopes as high and
his desires as strong; his love as true; his
hates as bitter; his heart as brave and true
and patriotic as any that beats today. With
the ax he hewed out the pathway of empire,
and with the rifle he defended what he
gained. Honest himself, he trusted others;
hospitable, he shared his little all with who-
ever came, and no more thought of receiv-
ing pay than he would have thought of of-
fering pay. But they are gone. They sleep
on the hilltop or in the valley where loving
hands laid them, and the world moves on,
and they who labored and loved and suffered
and departed in the early days of Marion,
are only a fast disappearing vision of the
past.
BRIXKKRHOR- S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
LOCATION OF MARION COUNTY.
Marion county is in the center of what
is called "Egypt," the west line sixty-one
miles east from St. Louis, and the east line
about the same distance west from Vin-
cennes. It is as has been already stated, a
square county. Through the county from
east to west, passes the B. & O. S.-W. Rail-
way, formerly the Ohio & Mississippi Rail-
way, about two miles south of the center
and nearly parallel with an east and west
line drawn through the center. The Illinois
Central Railway passes near the west line of
the county and nearly parallel with it from
north to south, while the Chicago branch of
the Central leaves the main line at the north-
ern line of Centralia township and runs
diagonally northeast to the north line of the
county, about six miles west of the north-
east corner of the county. The Chicago
& Eastern Illinois, or the Chicago, Padu-
cah & Memphis, as it was originally called,
enters the county on the north about two
miles west of the Chicago branch of the
Central, passes south, crossing the branch
at Kinmundy, passing exactly over the cern
ter of the county to Salem, where it crosses
the B. & O. S.-W., thence southeast, leaving
the county on the south about ten miles west
of the southeast corner of the county. The
Illinois Southern Railway begins at Salem,
near the center of the county, and runs south-
west, intersecting the branch and Central at
the "Junction," i. e., at the point where the
branch leaves the main line of the Central
and passes over the Central tracks through
the city of Centralia, then on tracks of its
own leaves the county on the west near the
southwest comer of the county, making in
all exclusive of side tracks, about one hun-
dred and ten miles of railroad in the county
limits. The Illinois Central branch is double
tracked, and it, as also the C. & E. I., are
constantly being pounded by the wheels of
monster engines. At no time is one out of
sight until the smoke of another may be seen
coming or going to or from that which was
less than eighty years ago, placed on the
maps as a village of Pike county, the mar-
velous city of Chicago.
There are no navigable streams in or bor-
dering Marion county, but it is well watered
by "creeks," some of which are of consider-
able size. The largest are East Fork in the
northwest, Skillet Fork in the southeast,
and Raccoon and Crooked Creeks the south
and southwest. These with their dozens of
branches permeating every part of the
county, give an abundant water supply and
afford a splendid system of drainage. The
county occupies the water shed between the
Wabash on the east and the Okaw, or Kas-
kaskia on the west, East Fork and Crooked
Creek flowing into the Kaskaskia, and Skil-
let Fork and its branches into the Wabash.
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
MINERAL RESOURCES.
The mineral resources of the county, so
far as lias been ascertained, consist of an
abundance of bituminous coal, underlying
all parts of the country. Mines have
been developed in Centralia, Sandoval,
Odin, Kinmundy and Salem town-
ships, of which more will be said
in the description of the several townships.
It may be said here, however, that the mines
are in some parts among the deepest in the
state and produce coal of a very superior
quality. Sandstone is found in several parts
of the county, but no quarries have been
opened for commercial purposes. It is of a
very soft character when first quarried, but
hardens on exposure to the air, and will
some day be of value for building purposes.
Mineral oil, so-called petroleum, of com-
merce, has been found in various parts of the
county, notably at Alma, where a well was
bored about 1805, and about three miles
north of Centralia, where oil was struck in
October, 1908. The Alma well was a pros-
pect hole, and was never "shot," but as
soon as it was ascertained oil was present
the prospectors plugged the well and re-
moved the machinery, so it is unknown to
the public whether it is in sufficient quanti-
ties to pay or not. The well north of Cen-
tralia was "shot" and oil of a superior qual-
ity was found in good quantity. The com-
pany, which is composed of citizens of Sa-
lem, as soon as they discovered they had
struck it rich, closed the well temporarily,
and immediately began preparations to bore
another well in the near neighborhood of
the first, which second well is nearing com-
pletion. Several other wells are under con-
tract, one, a mile south of Salem, is awaiting
the completion of a well elsewhere, so that
the drilling outfit may be moved to the pro-
posed location. What the "find" will be, or
what results may be obtained from the Mar-
ion county oil field cannot be now safely
predicted, and must be left to the historian
of the future to describe. We can only say
that the oil experts say that the oil .sand
extends across the county in a northeast to
southwest direction, and is about twelve
miles wide, with Salem in the exact center
of the strip. But as the locating of oil in the
earth is not an exact science, it can only be
known what is below the surface by boring
through the stratas until oil is reached or the
work abandoned. The surface of the county
is level, slightly undulating in parts, only
breaking into hills of no great altitude near
the larger streams.
Originally about two-thirds of the county
was covered with a magnificent growth of
timber, about one-third being prairie. The
timber has been cut and sold or burned in the
logheaps of the pioneer until now, in 1908,
there is no timber worth mentioning in Mar-
ion county. The timber consisted of rock,
and black sugar maple and soft maple, four
varieties of hickory, four of ash, white and
black walnut, sycamore, aspen, cottonwood,
burr, post, white, swamp, laurel, black,
yellowbark, red, scarlet and pin oaks, sev-
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
eral species of the willows, red, white,
cork and hickory elms, with a few buck-
eye, hackberry, beach, the alders, service
berry, indigo and lead bushes, birch and
beach in localities, red bud, bitter-sweet,
button bush, dogwood, wild cherry of
three varieties, Kinnickinnick willow, the
osiers, hazelnut, haws, red and black
leatherwood, wahoo, honey locust, witch
hazel, coffeenut, a few cedars, mulberries,
woodbine, moonseed, ironwood, wild plum,
crab apple, sumach, poison ivy, wild goose-
berry, black currant, wild roses, elderberry,
sassafras, buffalo-berry, coralberry, trumpet
creeper, bass-wood, summer and win-
ter grape, prickly ash, spicebush, the
black and red raspberries and black
locust. The above list comprises all
the woody plants found native to
the county, many of which were plentifully
distributed in the timbered part of the
county. Of these many are of great
value in building and in manufacturing;
others are of great value in medicine, and
others have yet no value known to man, but
doubtless in the future a value now unknown
will be discovered.
Among the native grasses is the red
top, nimble will, bluejoint (now almost
obliterated), orchard grass, the blue
grasses, reeds, cane, raggrass, vernal
grass, canary grass, crabgrass, witch-
grass, barnyard grass, foxtail, bottle grass,
wild millet, wild oats, broonbeard grass,
of these the most common was the redtop
and blue grass of the timber land, and the
two varieties of prairie grass, one of which
grows on the higher land, the other in the
low wet lands or sloughs. The first grows
from eighteen inches to two feet high, and
has almost no stem, and is excellent for
stock food, both as pasture or when cut and
dried into "prairie hay." The other called
"bluejoint," has a jointed stem nearly as
large as a lead pencil with joints eight or
ten inches long, and often grew to the height
of eight or ten feet, and so thick that a man
on horseback could not be seen any distance.
This grass was ornamented with a feathery,
tasseled top, and waving in the sunlight was
not unlike the gentle billows of an inland
lake in its wave-like motion. It was this
grass burning that rendered the prairie fire
of an early day so feared by the settlers, and
no way was ever devised to protect the set-
tler or camper against destruction but to
fight fire with fire, that is to fire the grass
on the side from which the fire threatened,
and letting it burn toward the advancing
wall of flame, and stamping out while under
control the grass on the side which was to
be protected.
-SUCKER STAT
IGIN OF NAMES.
All southern Illinois has been called by the
nickname of "Egypt." The origin is not
far to look for. In the settlement of the
prairie portion of the state, when emigration
was pouring into its borders so fast that
famine often threatened not only the stock
of the emigrant but of the emigrant himself,
they journeyed with great wagon trains into
u6
BRINKERIJOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
the older settled portions of the state, i. e.,
southern Illionis, often a dozen neighbors
with their wagons going together to get
com enough to tide them over until the
first crop could be grown, and they likened
their journey to that of old, when the breth-
ren of Joseph went down into Egypt to buy
corn. Hence "going down into Egypt"
became a common expression, and like many
other expressions, it took root in the lan-
guage of the people and the name remains
long after the necessity which gave rise to
it has passed away. Illinois is also called
the "Sucker State," and this name, like all
others that emanate from the people, ex-
presses an idea and conveyed a meaning,
which is almost lost with the passing
of the necessity for its original use.
It is well known that in the late
summer and early fall, southern and
middle Illinois is subject to extreme
drought, often so long continued that water
is not to be found for long distances across
the prairies, except as obtained by the arts
of man. Yet while the surface water is dried
up along the sloughs, the crayfish, with un-
erring instinct, bore their tiny wells, which
they indicate by the "chimneys" which they
rear above the surface, often many inches.
These crayfish wells vary from three feet
to fourteen feet in depth, and invariably
reach an abundance of clear, sparkling
water. The early travelers, especially the
surveyors of the government land, knowing
this fact, provided themselves with long,
jointed sections of cane, such as is used for
fishing poles, and by thrusting them down
crayfish wells could suck up an ample drink
of pure, cool water, and thus be able to con-
tinue the work at a time when otherwise
they would be forced to wait for rain. This
habit or practice soon gave the name
"Sucker" to the surveying parties which
gradually became general in its application
to the whole people of the state, and thus
to the inventive genius of some unknown
chain-carrier is the great state of Illinois in-
debted for her familiar cognomen of
"Sucker State." In regard to Marion
county being in Egypt, all citizens are proud
of the appellation. The following letter will
throw some light on the subject and give
the above as the correct version of the origin
of -the name Egypt. The writer is a grand-
son of Gov. Zadock Casey, who was not
only a pioneer, but a man of great ability
and of good education and who loved all
southern Illinois, and especially Marion
county, which he always regarded as his
political child, and of which he was very
proud, and in return the name of Gov. Za-
dock Casey is held in loving memory by
those remaining of the citizens of the early
days of the county. The writer is one of
the Circuit Judges from this circuit, now on
the bench filling his second term, and a law-
yer of fine ability and great learning, and
one who has had exceptional advantages in
acquiring knowledge of the matters whereof
he speaks. The letter is as follows :
"Centralia, 111., Aug. 22nd, 1908.
"Dear Professor :
"I have often heard Gov. Zadock Casey,
my grandfather, who came to Jefferson
BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
117
county in 1817, say that southern Illinois
was called Egypt from the fact that in an
early day, the exact year I can't now recall,
but in the twenties I think, there was
throughout the central and northern part of
the state an almost total failure of the corn
crop, while in southern Illinois there was
an abundant and overflowing crop, that
people, by every then known conveyance,
came down from the central and northern
parts of the state into southern Illinois after
corn, hence the name Egypt.
"Twenty-five or more years ago Web-
ster's Unabridged Dictionary said, under the
head of Names of Fiction : Southern Illinois
sometimes called 'Egypt' on account of the
supposed ignorance of the inhabitants
thereof. I wrote the publishers that they
did great injustice to southern Illinois, and
gave them the origin of the name 'Egypt'
as it had come to me. Subsequent editions
of the dictionary eliminated the objection-
able features.
"Very truly yours,
"S. L. DWIGHT."
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
The first white man who selected Marion
county as a spot on which to build a home
was Samuel Young. The story of his life at
this time reads like a romance. He was born
and reared in Virginia, but migrated with
his family to Tennessee, where he was
blessed with a large family consisting of four
girls and two boys. The eldest, Jane Young,
married Robert Snodgrass, who was one of
the company whea the Young family moved
to Marion county. Samuel Young with his
wife and youngest child, Mathew, came to
Illinois and stopped at Shawneetown about
the year 1803, and remained there about six
years. The rest of the family, some of whom
were married, remained in Tennessee until
the father should find a suitable location,
when they were to come. About 1810 Mrs.
Young died near Shawneetown and Mr.
Young, who had not been satisfied to bring
his family there, took his son Mathew, then
a boy of eleven years, and with no other
companion traversed across southern Illi-
nois to New Madrid, Missouri, occupying
some months in the journey, stopping as
fancy dictated, and arriving at New Madrid
in the fall, where they proceeded to build
themselves a cabin, and were living there
when the New Madrid earthquake occurred
on the night of November 16, 1811. The
following description of the earthquake is
taken from the scientific writings of Russell
Hinman, an authority on earthquake phe-
nomena :
"In 1811 an earthquake shook the entire
territory between western Texas and Wash-
ington City, and the Gulf of Mexico and the
Great Lakes, an area of more than a million
n8
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
square miles. It was caused by subterra-
nean movements which occasioned the set-
tling to a depth of fifteen or twenty feet of
a large district about New Madrid, Mis-
souri, below the juncture of the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers. Portions of the sunken
district twenty miles or more in length were
afterward flooded by the river, and became
Reelfoot Lake in northwestern Tennessee,
and Big Lake between Missouri and Arkan-
sas."
The inhabitants thought the end of the
earth had come, and fled in all directions.
I have often listened to the son, Mathew,
tell of the event, as I knew him quite well,
and had the honor of preaching his funeral-
as well as that of his wife, who lived some
years longer. His recollections of that
startling event were as follows:
"My father and I heard the rumbling and
felt the earth shake the cabin. We were
frightened and gathered together what
clothes we could and ran out just in time to
escape the logs falling on us, as our cabin
fell down. People were running in all di-
rections, frightened out of their senses; we
did not know what to do nor where to go,
but when we realized that it was an earth-
quake we became less frightened and de-
termined to await the outcome, and for
about two weeks we stayed at the place. On
the morning of November I7th, when day-
light came, a strange sight met our eyes.
The ground was opened in wide cracks into
which one might have fallen; trees were
twisted like ropes and broken and splin-
tered ; great trees were split from top to bot-
tom, so that one half would be one one side
and the other half on the other side of the
crack in the earth ; every chimney was down
and nearly every house, none escaped ; some
were turned around and what few stood at
all were so badly wrecked as to be worth-
less and dangerous. The quaking continued
at intervals all winter, even as far as here,
but only light shakes. While the quake was
severest the ground rose and fell like waves
and for a time the water of the river ran up
stream."
Samuel Young and the boy, Mathew,
then eleven years old, determined to return
to Shawneetown, as they had had quite
enough of New Madrid, but concluded to
explore more of the Illinois country on the
way back. They came up the river to Kas-
kaskia, and started with the few belongings
they had saved at the time of the destruc-
tion of their New Madrid home. With a
rifle each, a little meal, a skillet or two and
a few such necessary articles as they might
carry, started on foot and alone on the old
Vincennes trace across the wilderness. They
arrived in Marion county late in December,
1811, and as there was heavy snow falling
they resolved to camp for the winter near a
band of friendly Indians. The spot selected
was on the bank of the creek southwest from
the city of Salem about six miles, not far
from where the iron bridge spans the creek
at the present time. Here they constructed
a rude camp, first selecting a huge log for
the north wall ; with poles and brush and
bark they formed the sides and top, leaving
most of the south side open, before which
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
119
they kept a fire burning, and thus in what to
them was comfort they passed the winter of
1811 and 1812. With the spring they re-
sumed their journey, and as the old man had
found a land to suit him he resolved to re-
turn to Tennessee and bring the whole fam-
ily to Illinois. This he accomplished in
1813, accompanied by his son, James Young,
his son-in-law, Robert Snodgrass, as well as
the other children, and bringing with them
such conveniences and necessaries as the
times afforded or demanded. They brought
some stock also with them, having driven
them all the way on foot. They brought
also horses, wagons and a few farm imple-
ments, the inevitable spinning wheel, as well
as seeds and provisions of meal, and that
article so necessary in all communities, salt.
They arrived in Marion county in the month
of August, 1813.
When Captain Young came to the county
in 1813 there were no white settlers on the
west nearer than Carlyle, then little more
than a fort or blockhouse, about sixteen
feet square and palisaded, and was built in
1811 as a post for the Illinois Rangers, for
the protection of outlying settlements. This
fort stood on the west bank of the Kaskas-
kia, directly east from what is now the court
house square. It was on the trail to St.
Louis, then but a small village, and this fort
soon became the center of a small settle-
ment known as Old Carlyle, so that in 1813
the nearest neighbors on the west were at
least a good twenty-five miles away, while
no fort or settlement was on Illinois soil be-
tween what is now Salem and the Wabash
river on the east. The only paths of travel
or trails as then called, crossing the county
were the Vincennes trail, the Vincennes and
St. Louis trail, which branched off from the
Vincennes and Kaskaskia trail and passed
west through the present site of Salem to
the fort at Carlyle, thence west to the settle-
ment on Silver Creek, now known as Leb-
anon, thence to St. Louis, and the trail
known as the "Goshen Road" which passed
by the fort at Carlyle and bore a southeast
direction, through Walnut Hill to the Ohio
Saltworks.
Marion county was literally overrun by
wild beasts, they having withdrawn from a
nearer proximity to the settlements. Wild
cats, bears and an occasional panther or
"painter" as the pioneers called them,
wolves, with the smaller and less dangerous
animals rendered stock raising a task that
required all the care and watchfulness of the
settler and his family. Elk, deer, buffalo,
with many other less prominent species of
wild food animals provided meats, and often
attracted large bands of Indians to the
bounteous hunting grounds of Marion
county, as many as five hundred at times
camping on some stream overran the adja-
cent county and while generally peaceable,
kept so by fear of the whites and of the
dreaded Rangers of St. Clair county, yet
they were a thieving crew and would com-
mit murder if vigilance relaxed.
The last and indeed what is believed to
be the only battle fought between the whites
and Indians here, was fought in 1813, in
Salem township, near the Stevenson town-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
ship line, between a party of Rangers from
St. Clair county, under Captain Whiteside.
A band of Indians had massacred a family
of whites near Kaskaskia. Captain White-
side in command of twenty Rangers, pur-
sued them, overtaking . them in the heavy
timber bordering the small creek about one
mile south of the present home of John M.
Green, Esq. In the fight among the trees
one white man and five Indians were slain
when night put an end to the battle. During
the night the few remaining Indians fled,
and the Rangers gave up the pursuit. It
has been sometimes erroneously stated that
it was in this battle that Captain Harvey lost
his life, but Captain Harvey was killed some
years before, at what is now known as Har-
vey's Point, and his grave may be faintly
traced a few yards west and north of the
spot where the old Harvey's Point church
stood. The circumstances of Captain Har-
vey's death are as follows: About the year
1810 horsestealing became so common in
the settlements along the Wabash from Vin-
cennes to Shawneetown and also in the
settlements along the Mississippi and Kas-
kaskia, that the pioneers decided to break
up the business at all hazards, and with this
end in view mercilessly pursued the thieves
whenever a horse was stolen. The thieves
stealing in the Wabash county would lose
themselves in the Illinois wilderness and
eventually make their way to the settlements
on the west side of the state, and the horses
stolen in the west settlement were disposed
of in the Wabash settlements, thus lessening
the chance of detection. Captain Harvey
with one companion was in chase of one of
these thieves and succeeded in capturing
him somewhere west of Marion county, and
with his companion was taking him to Vin-
cennes. They were on horseback and when
they reached the hill known since as Har-
vey's Point it was near sundown and they
concluded to camp for the night. They dis-
mounted and laid the thief, whose hands and
feet were tied, on the ground ; they then
built a fire and having placed their rifles
against a tree near at hand, while making
camp, they carelessly went to the little
"branch" a few yards away to wash and get
water. The thief had in the meantime man-
aged to get his hands out of the rope bonds,
quickly untied his feet, siezed the guns with-
out attracting the attention of his captors.
As Harvey and his companion returned
they were confronted by the outlaw who
commanded them to halt, but Harvey did
not heed the command and the outlaw fired
and killed him instantly. Thus paying with
his life the violation of the pioneer's first
law, never to leave your gun out of reach at
any time. Harvey's companion was forced
to permit the thief to mount one of the
horses and ride away. Harvey's companion
managed to get the body of his chief up into
the branches of a tree and tied it there out
of the reach of wild animals and rode to
Vincennes, collected a small force and re-
turned to the place of the murder, buried
the body and endeavored to trail the thief,
but were unsuccessful ; as he was never ap-
prehended it is supposed he hid himself in
the French or Spanish settlements west of
the Mississippi.
Another version of the death of Captain
JRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Harvey, differing only in details, is that the
thief was caught at Vincennes and they were
returning to Kaskaskia, when the tragedy
occurred, and that the companion of Harvey
buried him as best he could and returned to
Kaskaskia for a burying party, who on ar-
riving at the scene of the murder found that
the wolves had dug up the body and partly
devoured it, they gathered up the scattered
remains and buried them in a grave which
may be seen at the present time.
Shortly after Captain Young, his son
James and his son-in-law, Robert Snod-
grass, settled on Vermillion creek, just west
of Salem, or the next year, 1814, James
Pyles, another son-in-law of Samuel Young,
came to Marion county. He was a native of
Kentucky and resided near and in Salem
until 1840. when he removed to Missouri.
About the same time two brothers, Jacob
and William Albert, followed the Youngs
from the same neighborhood in Tennessee.
Jacob was married to Patsey Young in 1816
by Abia Lee, acting Justice of the Peace,
and who had come to the county about two
years before. Rufus Ricker came from
Indiana and settled at Walnut Hill in 1819,
and in 1823 moved to what is now Salem,
where he and Mark Tully settled. The lat-
ter came from Indiana in 1821, having mi-
grated from Tennessee when quite a young
man. He settled with his family about three
miles west of Salem, bought out James Rob-
erts who had donated thirty acres of land in
section 1 1 to the county. Roberts returned
to Indiana and Ricker and Tully carried out
the contract with the county that Roberts
had made, giving a deed dated June 6, 1826.
Both Ricker and Tully were very prominent
men in the early history of the county.
About this time what is known as the Roach
farm about three miles from Salem, was
settled by William Boyle and his sister An-
nis, who ran away from their home in Ken-
tucky and came to Marion county on foot.
Boyle often told of having plowed the
ground and cultivated corn where the city
of Salem now stands. Annis died in 1877,
and William passed away some years later.
Joseph Hensley was born in Virginia in
1784 and removed to Kentucky, and from
there to Illinois, and settled at Walnut Hill
in 1818. He had six children, and there are
many of his descendants still living in this
county, and are among our best people. It
is claimed that Marion Hensley was the first
child of white parentage born in the county
after its organization, and for that reason
was named Marion. Israel Jennings, Sr.,
came from Kentucky in 1819, and settled
two miles west of Walnut Hill. He was the
great-grandfather of William Jennings
Bryan. He was well-to-do for that day, and
improved a large tract of land. His family
consisted of four sons and four daughters.
He was a man of strong mind and noble
character. He represented the county in the
legislature one term and lived to be nearly-
one hundred years old, dying in 1870, leav-
ing a large landed estate to his children, a
part at least of which is still held by the
family. He kept his coffin in his house
more than forty years. This was not the
result of crankiness as it might seem, but of
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
thoughtfulness, and the event that brought
about the purchase of the coffin occurred in
a very early day, 1819 or 1820. When he
moved to the Hill in 1819 the traveling was
so bad that a part of his goods had to be left
at Shawneetown, and as soon as the family
were located and the necessary work done,
Mr. Jennings went to Shawneetown after
the things, a journey of many days through
an unsettled wilderness. Upon his return he
found that one of his daughters had died,
and that no coffin could be obtained to bury
her in, as there were as yet no saw mills and
no lumber from which to make a coffin, and
so some of the neighbors had felled a tree
and split it in two and by hollowing out the
halves, trough-like, had placed the body
therein, and thus buried it. This made such
an impression on his mind that at the first
opportunity he bought in St. Louis a metal-
lic coffin, so that in case of his death the
family might be spared the worry of procur-
ing a coffin for him, well knowing that in
the event of the death of any other member
of the family he would be able to provide.
Malachi Ware came to Marion county
from Kentucky in 1818. He had seven chil-
dren, one of whom married Mathew Young,
the boy who, in 1811, camped with the In-
dians on Crooked creek. They were married
when Mathew was not quite nineteen and
Miss Ware fourteen. This was doubtless
the first wedding in the county, but long be-
fore the county was formed. Their son,
John Young, who died in 1905, was beyond
doubt the first white child born on what is
now Marion county soil. The writer was
well acquainted with all the parties, and as
minister officiated at the funeral of all three.
James Roberts came to the county in 1818
and settled on section n, where Salem now
stands, and gave the county thirty acres of
land as a county seat, bvit as told already,
sold to Rufus Ricker and Mark Tully, who
made the deed of gift to the county. James
Roberts went back to Indiana but his son
Jesse remained and became Marion county's
first Sheriff. "Black Bear," or Benjamin
Vermillion first settled at Walnut Hill about
1818, afterward moved to Salem township
and improved a farm. He was an eccentric
character. Very dark complexioned and
famous as a bear hunter, hence the nickname
of "Black Bear." He left Marion county
and went to Missouri in the thirties, where
he died. His life was a busy one, and not-
withstanding his eccentricities was a useful
one. He was regarded as a just man and
fearless in the discharge of duty. He was
a member of the Illinois Rangers who did so
much to prevent lawlessness and to protect
the settlements from the Indians in the set-
tlement period of the state. One of the
characters of this period was William
Taylor. He was a bully of the neighbor-
hood and delighted in the rough and tumble
fights of the period, and carried many scars
as a result of his frequent battles, but like
almost all the bullies of his day was a peace-
able neighbor and not at all quarrelsome,
and only showed his fighting proclivities
when meeting fighting men or overwrought
by some injustice to himself or some weaker
party. The advent of Samuel Shook
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
123
marked an era in the annals of the county.
He came in 1820 and located in the Walnut
Hill settlement. He was a Baptist preacher,
and so far as can be ascertained was the
first regular minister to locate in Marion
county. He died shortly afterward, leaving
no family. He was said to be a good man
with ideas of a more liberal character than
many preachers of that day entertained.
The founder of the Foster family in
Marion county was "Uncle Hardy" Foster,
as everyone called him. He was a unique
character, "good as gold." He originally
came from Georgia in 1821, stopped a few
years in St. Clair county, and when Marion
county began to be settled came to the then
wilderness to hunt bears and bees, which
was his favorite occupation. With one
companion, James Jones, he struck up a
camp on the Mt. Vernon and Vandalia
road which was but a track through the
county, and hunted bears and bees most
vigorously. He afterward settled on a farm
which he "hewed from the forest," and be-
came one of the leading citizens of the
county, filling many offices and left a monu-
ment to his memory in the name of Foster
township. His companion, Jones, also set-
tled in the county, and both have a large
number of descendants in the northern part
of the county who are "good citizens and
true." Another of the original characters
among the early settlers was "Nickname"
John Boucher, so called because he never
called anybody by the right name, but nick-
named all his acquaintances. He had a
small mill run by water and ground both
wheat and corn for his neighbors, some of
whom lived fifteen or twenty miles away.
This was not the first mill in the county
but was perhaps the best equipped at that
time. It is told of him that, wishing to
catch his horse one day, he wore himself out
chasing the animal but without avail, so he
concluded to "crease" the horse and so be
able to catch him. To crease an animal is to
fire a rifle ball so as to just touch the top of
the head and "stun" them, so that they may
be caught before they recover. When
Boucher fired the horse fell as was expected,
but when Boucher got to him the horse was
dead. He had "creased" the animal too
well. Boucher left no representatives in this
county, or at least none are known now. It
is thought he moved away at an early day.
During the years 1819 and 1820 several
families settled in different parts of the
county. In the first mentioned year one
Welch settled in Walnut Hill and lived there
on a farm several years. His family con-
sisted of eight children. He went to Fulton
county in the early thirties and died there
some time after. John Wilson was one of
the first settlers in what is now Raccoon
township, and Abraham Romine in what
is now Romine township. A more extended
notice will be given these families under the
head of their respective townships. Isaac
McClelland, the founder of the large and
influential McClelland family, was born in
Pennsylvania but came to Illinois by way
of Ohio and stopped a short time at Kaskas-
kia. But in 1820 he came to Marion county
and stopped at the home of Israel Jennings.
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
He came on foot and brought all his posses-
sions with him. He remained at Walnut
Hill until he married Sallie \Yelch New
Year's day, 1824, when he went to town-
ship 2 north, i east, where he and his
wife settled on section 32. The place
is now known as the Martin farm. He af-
terward returned to Walnut Hill and then
to Central City, where he died March 19,
1881.
Frederick Phelps settled in Carrigan
township -in 1820. He died in 1845.
Major Samuel Davidson settled in the same
township in 1821. Mary Tully, of whom
mention has been made before, was born in
Tennessee in 1791. He emigrated to Indi-
ana, then to Illinois, and settled near Salem
in 1821. He had a family consisting of a
wife and four children of his own and two
stepchildren, having married a widow with
two children. Nine more children were
born to them after coming to this county,
one of whom. Uncle Ander Tully, still lives
in Salem. All the others have passed be-
yond. Thomas Fulton also came to the
county very early, about 1822. In 1821
Samuel Gaston, a native of South Carolina,
settled in Marion, twelve miles southwest
from Salem. He had eight children. In
the year of 1826 he went to help raise a
cabin for a neighbor, ten miles away, and
took cold and fell ill with winter fever
(pneumonia) and died. His children were
prominent in Marion county and left
numerous descendants who are among the
best citizens of the county. A Mr. Jamison
came from Tennessee in 1821 and settled in
luka township, on what is called from him
Jamison creek. He commenced making im-
provements but was killed by the Indians
in 1823. In 1822 Samuel Huff came from
Logan county, Tennessee, and settled in the
Walnut Hill neighborhood. He had eight
children, several living to a very old age
and leaving a numerous progeny behind, all
of whom are highly respected by their fel-
low citizens.
James Chance came from Tennessee at an
early day and settled in Salem. He was the
first blacksmith in the town. William Purs-
ley settled in what is now Tonti township
in 1822 and died shortly after, leaving a
widow whose life was full of incidents, some
of which will be given under the head of
Tonti. Cornelius Dunham, of New York,
William Tully, of Virginia ; David Fulton,
of Tennessee; and Letitia Duncan all came
to the county before 1824, as did also John
W. Nichols and Robert Nichols. William
Marshall taught school in 1825 in this
county. He lived northeast of Salem for a
time, then bought the William Nichols im-
provements. He -was a man of some edu-
cation and a splendid fiddler, or violinist as
we now call them, and he was in demand
at all gatherings for miles around. He was
a Justice of the Peace, County Surveyor and
served one term in the Legislature. He died
in Carrigan township, leaving a large
family. John Eddington and James Chance
settled on a farm in Carrigan township in
1823. Chance served two terms as Sheriff
and bore a stainless reputation. He left
a large family at his death, January 5, 1866.
tNKERHOFF's HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
125
Jeremiah Gilmore came in 1824 and died a
citizen of the county. He seems to have
left no representatives in the county.
Mathew Cunningham came from Ken-
tucky in 1824 and settled on a farm near
Walnut Hill. The county line divided the
farm, most of which was in Marion county,
but the house was just over the line in Jef-
ferson county. There were nine children,
one of whom was prominent in the develop-
ment of the county. We refer to Hon.
John Cunningham, who was a merchant in
Salem and a dealer in stock for many years.
He was a member of the Legislature and
lived to an old age. Mathew moved from
Walnut Hill to Romine township, but died
in Salem at the residence of his daughter
in May, 1878.
His wife, the mother of John Cun-
ningham, died of cholera in 1834. John
Bundy, founder of the Bundy family in
Marion county, was a North Carolinian,
having first settled in Jefferson county,
but moved to Marion county shortly after.
Three of his sons were in the Mexican war,
one, Isaac Bundy, afterward was a Metho-
dist minister for many years. One son,
William Bundy, is still a resident of this
county and is honored by all as an upright
citizen and a Christian gentleman. John
Bundy left several descendants, among
whom are his grandsons, W. F. Bundy
and John Bundy, both distinguished mem-
bers of the bar of the county.
Reuben Chance, who at the age of twenty
years came to this county in 1825, was an
influential citizen and his life was worthy
of emulation. He died in 1880 at his home
near Old Bethel camp ground. His wife,
Catherine, died in 1877. There were ten
children in this family; one son, J. Oj
Chance, was twice elected Clerk of the Su-
preme Court; another, S. S. Chance, after
serving the county in the Clerk's office for
nearly fifty years, is now living in Salem,
retired from active cares of life, a citizen
known to all and by all beloved. After the
year 1825 immigration increased rapidly
and many families settled in the county and
as far as possible they will be traced in the
sketch of their respective townships in
which they settled.
Marion county, while to a considerable
extent is a mining county so far as the
southwest portion of the county is concerned
yet on the whole it is to the farm that we
must look for the real value of the country's
products.
JUDICIARY AND ATTORNEYS.
As has been stated the first court was
held in the house of James Young May 29,
1823, Judge John Reynolds presiding. He
was of Irish parentage, born in Pennsyl-
vania, February 26, 1788. His father moved
to Tennessee when John was six years old,
and in 1800 emigrated to the Illinois coun-
try. At the age of twenty John Reynolds
126
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
went back to Tennessee to attend college,
and stayed in college two years. He
studied law two years with John
Campbell, at Knoxville, Tennessee, and
was admitted to practice in 1812 at
Kaskaskia. The examination was con-
ducted by Judges Thomas and Sprigg, of
the United States Territorial Court. In
1814 he opened an office in the county seat
of St. Clair county at that time Cahokia.
The first General Assembly of Illinois as
a state met at Kaskaskia and John Reynold?
was chosen by them as one of the Associate
Justices of the Supreme Court of the
state. Judge Reynolds was elected
Governor in 1830, and went to Con-
gress in 1834; he served in that body
seven years. In 1846 he was elected to the
General Assembly and chosen speaker in the
house. The writer remembers the vener-
able Governor as he appeared in the last
year of his life. A picture from the past
thrown by the camera of the years on the
then present. He was always a Democrat of
the Jackson stripe and died in that faith
at Belleville, Illinois, in May, 1865, in his
seventy-eighth year. The next Judge to hold
court was Thomas Reynolds, Chief Justice
of the Supreme Court, who was also
presiding justice of the circuit courts under
the then constitution. James Hall, a
scholarly man and a graceful writer,
presided at the April term, 1825.
Judge Walters presided at the October
term, and Hall again at the April term,
1826. The judges who have presided since
1 826 were as follows, given in order as they
served: Thomas C. Brown. Judge Brown
held all the courts in Marion county until
1834, except the September and October
terms, which were held by Theophilus W.
Smith, on account of the sickness of Judge
Brown. In 1835 Judge Alexander F. Grant
presided. He was succeeded by Jeptha Har-
din. From 1837 to 1847 Walter B. Scales
presided over the Marion county circuit
court. He was succeeded by William A.
Denning and he in 1850 by Samuel S.
Marshall, one of the great judicial lu-
minaries of Illinois. He resigned in 1854
and was succeeded by Downing Baugh, who
in 1856 was succeeded by Edwin Beech er.
Beecher served only a short term and in
1857 Sidney Breese, the Webster of Illinois,
occupied the bench. Judge H. R. S. O'Mel-
veney was Circuit Judge from 1858 to
1861. In 1861 Silas L. Bryan was elected
Circuit Judge. He served twelve years. For
a sketch of Judge Bryan, see special
biography. The circuit court was presided
over from 1873 by Judge Amos Watts or
William W. Snyder, or George W. Wall,
who composed the three judges of the third
judicial circuit under the law creating the
appellate court. Since which time Judge
Benjamin Burroughs, William H. Farmer.
now on the supreme bench; Judge S. L.
Dwight, Judge Rose and Judge Ames
have served. The state's attorneys for
this county number many able men
among them. The first was Henry
Eddy, who served from 1825 to
1827; again in 1832 and 1834; William
Gatewood, 1827 to 1832; Walter B. Scates
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
127
and Eddy 1833; John Dougherty 1835 and
1836; Samuel S. Marshall 1836-1838; Wil-
liam H. Stickney 1838-1842; Willis Allen
1842; Richard Nelson 1843; Willis Allen
1844; Henry W. Moore (pro tern) 1845;
Benjamin Bond, ,1846 (pro tern); Samuel
B. Marshall (pro tern), 1847-1848; Henry
Rawlings, 1849; Robert Wingate one term,
1850; W. R. Parish (pro tem) one term;
1850; Lee Turney, 1851 ; James C. Robin-
son, 1852-1857; P. P. Hamilton (pro tem),
1857 ; Amos Watts. 1858-1864 ; P. P. John-
son, 1865-1868; John Michan 1869-1872;
James S. Jackson 1873-1877; W. W. Far-
thing, 1877-1880. W. D. Farthing was
succeeded by Eugene Stoker, he by C.
E. Jennings for several terms and he by
June C. Smith, whose term is just expired
and W. D. Farthing is again taking the
office for a term of four years.
During the first half century of the coun-
ty's existence the Prosecuting Attorney was
elected or appointed for. the entire circuit
and traveled over the circuit with the Judge
and during that time may men who after-
ward became famous in state and national
affairs filled the office and no county in the
state has had abler men as public prosecu- 1
tors than Marion. Among the lawyers who
were of the Marion county bar, none were
more profound than Sidney Breese, after-
ward a Supreme Judge and perhaps the
greatest the state ever had. He attended
the first court held in the county and for
several years after was a regular attendant.
Lyman Trumbull afterward a United States
Senator from Illinois, was also a practition-
er at the bar of this county. Finney D. Pres-
ton also belonged to the Marion county
bar. W. H. Underwood afterward, Judge,
a writer on law, and ranking with Breese
and Marshall, practiced here. W. B. Henry
Edward S. Wilson and John A. McCler-
nand and afterward eminent as Judge and
as a general officer in the Civil war. Judge
Joseph Gillespie, an intimate associate of
Lincoln; Robert Wingate, of Missouri;
Richard S. Bond, Daniel W r hite, W. H.
Gray, W. AJ. Sparks, Gustave Van Hoor-
beke, Fred A. Lietze, Darius Kingsbury,
Alexander White and Harvey P. Buxton,
W. N. Parrish and Aaron Shaw, lawyers of
note, but foreign to the county, all practised
here, riding the circuit in the early day.
Of the Marion county lawyers. Gen. I.
N. Haynie was one of the most noted. He
was born in Tennessee November 18, 1824,
He came with his parents to this county in
1830, began the study of law in 1844 and
was admitted in 1846. He was a lieutenant
of Company C, Sixth Regiment of Illinois,
in the Mexican war. In 1850 he was elect-
ed to the Legislature. He took a law course
in the Louisville L'niversity and took the
highest rank in his class in 1853. In 1856
Mr. Haynie was appointed Judge of the
court of Cairo, Illinois, and removed to that
city. When the War of the Rebellion broke
out. he organized the Forty-eighth Infantry
and was given a colonel's commission by
Governor Yates. He was wounded at the
battle of Shiloh. In 1862 he was made a
brigadier general by President Lincoln, and
afterward adjutant general of Illinois which
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
office he held at the time of his death which
occurred at Springfield, March 20, 1865.
Stephen G. Hicks, a Georgian by birth,
was a lawyer of ability. He served as a
private in the Black Hawk war; was a
captain in the Third Regiment Illinois Vol-
unteers, during the war with Mexico, and
was practicing law in Salem when the war
between the states broke out. He organized
the Fortieth Regiment and was made its
colonel. He was severely wounded at the
battle of Shiloh and was brought home to
Salem, where he remained until July, 1862,
when being partially recovered, he returned
to his regiment and remained in the field
until the close of the war. He was born in
1807. and died in Salem from the effect of
his wounds, December 14, 1869. He was
buried in East Lawn cemetery, wrapped in
Hie old flag of the Fortieth Regiment as he
requested.
Basil B. Smith was born in Ohio, June
27, 1829; studied law with General Haynie
and was admitted in 1856. He was a fine
lawyer and ranked high in his profession,
the last years of his life being clouded by a
mental break-down. Dewit C. Jones prac-
ticed a short time here, but removed to
Chicago in 1875.
Thomas F. Houts came to this county ir
1840 with his parents and studied law with
Col. H. P. Boyakin in 1842. His education
was mostly obtained in the schools of Il-
linois and as a student of Rev. W. F. Boya-
kin in Salem. He formed a partnership
with General Haynie, who was then enter-
ing the practice of his profession at Salem
In 1856 Mr. Houts was licensed as a Meth-
odist preacher and for some time served in
that connection, but later united with the
Church of God, and preached for that people
until his death about 1907. His body was
brought to Salem for interment. He was
said to be at his prime the most eloquent
speaker in the Southern Illinois circuit.
W. B. Adams located at Centralia in
1858. He was a good lawyer, but his ac-
cidental death in 1863 cut short his career.
Richard S. Nelson, born in the Isle of
Wight, was a lawyer at Centralia from 1859
to his death in 1865. His forte was chan-
cery law, in which branch he was thorough-
ly equipped. E. S. Bates and George A.
Sanders were law partners at Centralia for
some years when the firm was dissolved.
Bates going to Chicago and Sanders to
Springfield. Bates was State Treasurer
two terms. W. R. Hubbarcl, J. O. Chance,
J. A. Norman, T. E. Huddle, M. T. Peters,
W. W. Willard, P. P. Hamilton, W. H.
Brazier, J. G. Lemon, A. B. Goddon and
H. P. Boyakin were all lawyers and were for
a short time resident attorneys of Salem.
Gen. James S. Martin and Benjamin F.
Marshall both practiced a short time in Sa-
lem, but retired to enter the business field
in which they were eminently successful.
Both are dead, but their memory is green
in the minds of their many friends. Til-
man Raser practiced law in this county also
from 1857 to his death in 1881.
William Stoker opened a law office in
Salem in 1845, but was compelled by an af-
fection of the eyes to cease practice for a
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
129
time, but in 1854 he opened an office in Cen-
tralia and until his death a few years ago
was ranked as the dean of the Marion
county bar. He was a Mexican war veteran
and for a few years practiced at Louisville
(from 1848 to 1854), Illinois. His son, Eu-
gene L. Stoker, was Prosecuting Attorney
of the county, and afterward removed to
Chicago, where he died. Michael Schaffer,
born in Pennsylvania in 1821, graduated at
Pennsylvania College at Gettysburg in 1846.
He studied law, taught school and followed
a commercial pursuit until 1853, when he
was admitted to the bar. In 1857 he was
associated with Silas L. Bryan and contin-
ued to practice -until 1876, when he was ap-
pointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court
of Utah Territory, which office he filled
with distinguished ability. In 1879 he re-
turned to Salem and resided here until his
death.
Henry C. Goodnow practiced law in Sa-
lem from 1859 until his death. Mr. Good-
now was a fine lawyer and took great pains
to prepare his cases.
John B. Kagy came to Salem in 1860,
and was admitted to the bar in 1861. He
was contemporary with H. C. Goodnow,
and often on opposite sides, these two, at
one time, leaders of the bar, fought battles
at law that crowded the court-houses with
citizens to witness the giants in combat.
Mr. Kagy died a few years ago full of
honors.
H. C. Feltman came when a child with
his parents from St. Louis and studied law
with John B. Kagy, but did not long prac-
9
tice, but turned his attention to business
pursuits. He was for years grand scribe
of the Grand Encampment, Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, of Illinois. He died
in 1908, at Salem, Illinois.
James S. Jackson, of luka, was born in
Kentucky in 1831, and learned the black-
smith's trade, and from his coming to the
county in 1850, to the breaking out of the
Civil war, worked at the forge. In 1861 he
was chosen captain of Company G, Twenty-
second Illinois Volunteers, and served until
March 12, 1865, when he was mustered out.
The following November he was elected
County Clerk, and while Clerk studied law
and was admitted to the bar in June, 1866.
He was State's Attorney one term and
served one term in the state Legislature. For
many years prior to his death he was par-
alyzed, and passed his time in a wheel
chair, always cheerful and always ready to
converse with friends. He was of a poetic
temperament and loved to quote Shakes-
peare, his favorite author.
Col. L. F. Casey was a native of Jefferson
county, Illinois, and was educated in Illinois
schools. He studied law with Judge Scates
in 1842, and was admitted in 1848. He
practiced his profession in Mt. Vernon un-
til 1852, when he went to Texas and opened
an office in Shelbyville. From 1854 to
1860 he was Prosecuting Attorney for seven
Texas counties. In 1866 he removed to
Centralia, Illinois, and formed a partnership
with S. L. Dwight. Colonel Casey was a
member of the Illinois Legislature in 1846-
1847. He was a brilliant man and a first
1 3 o
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
rate attorney. While in Texas he was
elected to the State Senate and served as
senator four years. He died about fifteen
years ago, after some years of poor health.
Capt. S. L. Dwight, now Circuit Judge,
was a private and rose from the ranks to the
captaincy of Company I, Sixtieth Illinois
Volunteers. His biography appears else-
where. Suffice it to say here that he is now
serving his second term as Circuit Judge,
which speaks more for his ability than pen
of mine can utter.
S. A. Frazier, of Centralia, was born in
Indiana in 1845, but came to this county in
1850. He attended the public schools of
this county, and in 1864 entered Northwest-
ern Christian University at Indianapolis,
Indiana, and took a three years' course. In
1868 he entered the office of W. L. Stoker
as a student, and was admitted to practice in
1869, and for two years he practiced with
his teacher, and in 1871 opened an office for
himself. He has confined himself mostly
to chancery and probate law, in which he has
attained an enviable reputation. He still
keeps an office in Centralia.
J. J. Schoolfield, now of luka, is a native
of Maryland, but studied law in Kentucky
with John Tierbur. He was admitted in
1866, and practiced at Brookville,Illinois. In
1872 he moved to luka where he still re-
sides in the full possession of his faculties,
and still in active practice. Captain School-
field served throughout the war between the
states on the losing side. He was a good
soldier, and like all good soldiers, surren-
dered in good faith, which faith he has kept,
and none in Marion county will more
quickly resent an insult to his country's
honor than J. J. Schoolfield.
John F. Donovan, who was brought from
New York City in childhood to Sparta, Illi-
nois, where he grew to manhood. He was
admitted to the bar in 1874, and at once
opened an office in Kinmundy, where he still
continues to practice his profession. He has
served as Mayor of Kinmundy, and several
times been appointed postmaster.
W. E. C. Lyons was a student of law in
the office of Gen. I. B. Jones, of Sparta, and
was admitted in 1874. He served as City
Attorney of Centralia for a short time, but
gave up the practice of law to enter the
commercial world, in which he has been
successful.
C. E. Jennings was born at Walnut Hill,
January 7, 1855, graduated at the old State
College at Irvington, Illinois, and graduated
in 1878 from the Union Law School of Chi-
cago. The same year he formed a partner-
ship with his uncle, Silas L. Bryan, which
continued until the death of Judge Bryan in
1880. Mr. Jennings has been several times
elected State's Attorney of the county, and is
regarded as one of the deepest students of
law at the bar. He is still in active practice.
John E. Bryan was born in Salem, July
4, 1851. He received his education at the
Salem high school and studied law under
the Hon. T. E. Merritt and S. L. Bryan. He
was admitted by the Supreme Court at Mt.
Vernon after passing the required examina-
tion. He served several terms as Master in
Chancery, and at present conducts an ab-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
stract office in connection with his law busi-
ness.
John J. Raser, Meigs R. Myer, William
R. Burton and G. Pierce Duncan each prac-
ticed law in this county for a short time, but
removal or death made their connection with
the Marion county bar too brief to require
more than passing notice. They were all
gentlemen of good attainments, and had
their connection with the bar at Salem been
of any length, would doubtless have attained
a high place among the lawyers of Marion
Bounty.
Henry C. Moore began the practice of
law at Central City in 1863, but in 1864 was
elected Circuit Clerk, and re-elected in 1868;
was appointed Master in Chancery in 1879,
and has not since engaged in the practice of
his profession. He still resides in Salem.
Dwyer Tracy, W. H. Mason, Ural Mills
and Jackson C. Doughty all were licensed
attorneys but never practiced at the bar as
such as a profession, but were in business in
other lines.
The present bar in active practice is led
by the venerable lawyer and statesman, Hon.
Thomas Emmit Merritt, the oldest, both in
years and length of practice at the Marion
county bar. Mr. Merritt was born in New
York City, but emigrated with his father's
family to Belleville, Illinois, in 1841, where
he received his first schooling. In 1844 he
went to St. Louis, Missouri, where he
worked seven years as a painter in a carriage
factory. In 1851 he came to Salem and
studied law with P. P. Hamilton, but did
not pass his examination until 1863, when
he was admitted. He was elected to the
House of Representatives in 1868, and from
that time for twenty-two years he served
the district as a legislator two terms of four
years each in the Senate. Mr. Merritt by
his energy, talents and fluency of speech,
has won for himself a reputation that is not
confined to his own state, and still in the
active practice of his profession is an effect-
ive force and a foeman to be feared.
The lawyers composing the present bar
are a "high toned", scholarly set of Ameri-
can gentlemen, and beside those already
named, are W. F. Bundy, F. F. Noleman
and J. J. Bundy, of Centralia, and all rank
with the best in the state. These gentlemen
are all in the prime of life, and are citizens
any city would be proud to claim. W. F.
Bundy served one term in the Legislature,
but the duties of his profession were more
alluring than political preferment, and he
declined further office. The other two,
while active in their party, have never as-
pired to office. June C. Smith and C. F.
Dew, both of a younger set, and Mr. Mur-
phy and Mr. Jonas, still younger, are rapidly
making reputations for themselves, as is
also Mr. Garrison. Mr. Smith is just retir-
ing from the office of State's Attorney, and
Mr. Dew from that of City Councillor of
Centralia, in which offices both so conducted
affairs as to reflect credit upon themselves.
Mr. Garrison is rapidly working up a fine
practice, and stands high in his profession.
Mr. Rodenberg, a scholarly young lawyer,
is United States Commissioner, with his of-
fice at Centralia. Ex-County Judge Patter-
132
BRINKERIIOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
son, of Sandoval, is another good lawyer,
who is quietly and effectively building both
a good practice and reputation.
The members of the bar residing at Salem
other than T. E. Merritt, C. E. Jennings and
J. E. Bryan, who have already been men-
tioned, are all of a later admission to the
bar. Of these the first in point of admission
is D. D. Haynie, a brother of Gen. I. N.
Haynie. He is just retiring from the office
of Circuit Clerk, and has associated with
him a young attorney, Mr. Lloyd Haley,
and from this union of talent and energy a
strong legal reputation will doubtless be
erected.
L. M. Kagy, a farmer boy of Marion
county, studied law and graduated in the
same class at the Chicago law school with
W. J. Bryan, with whom he was a room-
mate. Mr. Kagy is a hard-working, con-
scientious lawyer, who has attained the top
of the ladder in his profession; he is attor-
ney for all the railroads passing through the
city of Salem, and as a lawyer versed in
corporation law ranks high. Two years ago,
finding his practice too great, he formed a
partnership with Edward Vandevert, who
is, though young, a good lawyer.
George W. Smith, also a member of the
bar, has superior qualities of mind, and as
a lawyer ranks high. He was for many
years attorney for the city of Salem, and as
a criminal lawyer has succeeded in saving
his clients in several notable cases.
John S. Stonecipher, present County
Judge, has been also very successful in the
practice of his profession. He, like Mr.
Frazier, of Centralia, delights in chancery
and probate law. Both Smith and Stone-
cipher have good practices and bid fair to
build still better in the future.
Still younger ' in the profession is ex-
County Judge Charles H. Holt, still a young
man. He received his education in the Sa-
lem high school and studied law at Chicago.
When yet almost a boy he was elected
County Judge and served two terms, since
which time he has advanced so rapidly in his
profession as to be ranked among the best.
E. D. Telford, another Salem boy, grad-
uated in the Salem high school, then took a
classical course in McKendree College, after
which he spent some years in the depart-
ments at Washington, and while working
as a clerk studied law at the law school at
Georgetown University and graduated with
the honors of his class. He returned to Sa-
lem in 1905 and begun the practice of law.
He was elected City Attorney in 1907, and
still holds that office. He is a hard worker, a
good student and is fast growing into a good
practice.
Earl Huggins, of Kinmundy, is also a
young lawyer with a good knowledge of
law, and is fast growing into a good prac-
tice.
Such is the personnel of the bar of Marion
county, and no county in the state can boast
of a brainier, cleaner or more gentlemanly
set of lawyers.
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
GEOLOGY OF MARION COUNTY.
133
The rock formation of Marion county so
far as are indicated by out cropping^ are
of the upper coal measures, known as the
upper sand stone formation and overlies the
Shoal Creek limestone. A strongly cement-
ed calcareous sandstone appears in some
places, very compact. At other points the
form is of mud stone, or calcareous state,
generally full of fossils, and in some points
appearing as areno-calcareous pudding
stone or as higher class of limestone. Only
at few places does this lime stone appear of
any considerable thickness and within a
short distance varies to only an accumula-
tion of calcareous matter. There is no strata
proper, but it seems to be very irregular, at
one point it is found as a solid formation,
but within a few feet it appears as floating
blocks or thin slabs or slate of calcareous
formation. One coal bed at least underlies
the whole of the county; in many places,
three have been found by boring or mine
sinking and there is but little doubt that
other beds are still lower. We quote from
the state geological reports, the following
formation in the northwest part of the
county as developed by well sinking to the
depth of ninety-two feet : Soil and clay fif-
teen feet; hardpan, fifteen feet; blue clay,
mixed with sandstone pebbles, pieces of coal
and wood, thirty feet; pieces of limestone,
containing fossils, two feet; shales, thirty
feet.
North of East Fork there are no out-
cropping rocks in this county, but on East
Fork and on Crooked creek, further south
both on the west side of the county, we find
the same general formation of argillaceous
and arrenaceous shales with sandstone inter
calations a slate formation of at least one
foot in thickness. These slates are calcareous
and strongly fossilliferous. Below this for-
mation there is a third coal formation. Near
the mouth of Jim creek there is a deposit
of about three feet of argillaceous slaty
shales, with concretions of kidney ore, then
about one and one-half feet of coal, capped
by a layer of argillaceous rock. It resembles
the concretionary limestone found farther up
the East Fork. Along Jim creek in many
places of its lower course, the same slaty
formation is found just above the coal,
cropping out and large pieces have tumbled
from the bank. The coal is only about
eighteen inches thick. Wells dug in the
prairie lands are too shallow to reach the
rock, yet beyond doubt the same formation
exists under the whole western part of the
county. Coal has been dug up in section
27 in Foster township, the vein being about
eighteen inches thick; the same vein, doubt-
less, is found in section 26, also in
section 25, near the old mill. Here
it has been found in the bed of
the creek, the vein being about eighteen
inches thick. These coal out-croppings are
found in most of the west and north parts
of the county, but are of little commercial
value, but at a depth of from five hundred
to one thousand two hundred feet there is
134
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
beyond doubt valuable deposits which time
and necessity will alone develop. We are
assured that coal exists by mines being de-
veloped on every side in this region, as well
as within its limits. Along Crooked creek
there is the sandstone formation and slate
on both sides of the creek. The upper coal
vein has been found and from Salem, where
the mine is eight hundred and eighty-nine
feet deep to Junction City, where it is some-
thing over five hundred and fifty feet deep
on the north of the creek with about the
same as the latter depth, south of the creek.
A second or third vein has been discovered
and is the vein which is being mined.
Sandstone crops out in Salem township,
along Crooked creek, and several quarries
have been opened but none are of any great
commercial value as yet. Sandstone also
crops out along Raccoon creek, in the south-
west part of the county, and on Horse creek
and on Skillet Fork, the same general
formation as in the west part of the county
on Skillet Fork. The rock does not crop out
in the north half of Town 2, or in Town 3,
north, but from the middle of Town 2, to
the county line the out-cropping grows
bolder as the surface becomes more and
more broken and rough ; the outcrop of sand
stone at places is ten or more feet thick.
No where in the eastern two tiers of town-
ships has any effort been made to sink a
shaft for coal except in Kinmundy, where
a commercially valuable vein has been
opened. In other places we have mentioned
the recently discovered oil sand strata and
the opening of at least one well producing
oil, but as the discovery has just been made
nothing is known only that a vein of oil
sand is in at least the southern part of Town
2, north, range i, east. In one section in the
north tier of sections in Town 4, range 3,
natural gas has been discovered and has
been used in one farm house both for fuel
and light for at least ten years. This, as
well as mining, will be spoken of under the
head of the townships in which the mines
are located.
CHANGING THE GAUGE OF A RAILROAD.
When the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad,
now the Baltimore & Ohio, Southwestern,
was built, its gauge was established at six
feet, or fifteen inches wider than the stand-
ard gauge, on which other roads were
built. This proved to be a serious handi-
cap to the road, as all transfers from and to
other roads were impossible, except with
the Atlantic & Great \Vestern, which en-
tered Cincinnati over the C. H. & D., which
had four rails to accommodate the wide
trucks of the A. & G. W. and the O. & M.
At terminals cars had to be unloaded and
contents transferred by hand necessitating
great delay and expense. It was concluded
by the company that the gauge must be
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
135
changed to the standard. J. L. Gris-
wold was general superintendent and
Thomas D. Lovett chief engineer and to
them all the credit for the successful ac-
complishment of the change of gauge of the
entire road from St. Louis to Cincinnati in
one day is due. The change was made,
commencing at midnight Saturday July 21,
1871. Although the fine calculations and
provisions of every detail had been planned,
occupying months, one of the first orders
given was that the entire rolling stock
should be concentrated at three points, i. e.,
East St. Louis, Vincennes and Cochran, In-
diana, on or before midnight of the 2ist.
This was absolutely necessary, otherwise
equipment left on the line could not be
moved to the various repair shops on its
own wheels. This was not difficult with
passenger equipment and empty freight cars
but to get loaded freight cars to the termi-
nals, unload them and get them to the near-
est concentration point required prompt
handling and careful calculation.
The next important point was to evenly
distribute experienced track layers over the
entire line. Twenty men trained to this
work were placed on every five mile section.
Every workman was stationed at his post
so that promptly on the stroke of twelve,
midnight, the track was cut in seventy
places, between St. Louis and 1 Cincinnati.
Previous to this the inside spikes for the
narrower gauge had been driven partly in
and the inner spikes at the joints, centers
and quarters of the track had been drawn.
Certain of the track gang finished loosening
the rails, others threw the rail into the new
position, where a single blow on the partly
driven spikes held it fast while others fol-
lowed driving in the outside spikes. It must
be remembered that both rails had to be
moved, as the shifting of the track fifteen
inches to one side would have put out of
service nearly every platform, station, wa-
ter tank and other accessory on the entire
line. Where the track was straight, the re-
laying was comparatively simple, but the O.
& M. was an exceedingly crooked road and
as compared to the present Baltimore &
Ohio, Southwestern, like the letter "S" is to
"I." This complicated the relaying as it
necessitated the shortening of every rail in
every curve on the line, which was nearly
half the rails in use, either by cutting the
rails or replacing them with new ones of the
right length and in addition to this relaying
of the main track every frog, switch and
crossing had to be changed. While upward
of one thousand five hundred men toiled in
the pale light of a July night changing the
gauge. At the three concentration points,
East St. Louis, Vincennes and Cochran,
where the equipment was being changed to
fit the new gauge, were busy centers. Three
master mechanics, Harry Elliott (since pro-
prietor of the Elliott Frog & Switch Works
of East St. Louis. Mr. Elliott died in
1908.) was in charge at East St. Louis;
Archibald Thompson at Vincennes and J.
D. W. Potts at Cochran had charge of this
work at their several stations. Enough four
foot eight and one-half inch trucks were
in readiness for one-half the equipment and
i 3 6
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
forty new Baldwin locomotives stood in the would tax the capacity of the engineers of
round houses ready for their initial trip over today. Note the O. & M. now the B. & O.
the 5 relaid track. And the entire work of S. W., passes east and west through the
relaying was finished at about 8 o'clock a, county near its middle line. To Prof. J. E.
m., July 22d. This was considered one of Whitchurch we are indebted for facts relat-
the great engineering feats of that day and ing to the change of gauge of the O. & M.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF MARION COUNTY.
Until the year 1854 there was no really
free public school system in Illinois. That
year the Legislature inaugurated a system
providing by state and local taxation for
sufficient revenue for the support of free
schools. The Federal government had pro-
vided that one section in each township be
set apart to be sold for the use of common
schools, but as most of this land was sold
at an early day at the then low price, the
money obtained when at interest brought
but little revenue, so until 1855 when the
new law began to operate, the custom was
to eke out the term by subscription, each
patron paying so much, usually five cents
per scholar per day, and as the pupils were
few and money scarce, the inducement for a
qualified teacher was not strong. When
the new law went into effect the supply of
competent teachers was limited and at first
the requirements for a certificate were very
low and often made lower by the commis-
sioner as the chief school officer of the coun-
ty was then called in order to get teachers
enough to supply the districts, besides at
this time owing to the completion of the
Illinois Central and Ohio and Mississippi
railroads, and the building of other roads,
an unprecedented influx of emigrants to the
state was constantly increasing the demand
for more and better teachers. Marion coun-
ty took the lead in this demand and at a
meeting of the Southern Illinois teachers,
held in Centralia in 1868, a resolution was
passed stating the needs of the Southern Il-
linois counties and praying the Legislature
to provide for them by establishing a
southern normal school. The southern nor-
mal was chartered the next year and county
normal schools were also provided for, for
the fitting of teachers for the common
schools. Many changes were made in the
laws pertaining to schools at this session of
the Legislature and the laws as amended
took effect July i. 1879, in accord with the
constitution, as no emergency clause was at-
tached. It provided for the safe keeping of
all school money; made the Commissioner
County Superintendent and required him to
examine all books and accounts of the Town-
ship Treasurer yearly, to visit schools, and
advise with teachers and school officers. It
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
137
made the school month a calendar month,
and required teachers to have a certificate
before making' a contract to teach and for-
bade school directors making contracts with
the district or to do any business except at
a regular or special meeting. Graded
schools in cities were placed under boards
of education of not less than six members
and a president, all of which was a great
improvement over the law of 1854.
The Marion county teachers and school
boards gladly accepted the chance thus af-
forded to improve the schools, and a rapid
advance was begun, and the people remem-
bering the early struggle for education they
themselves had had, resolved better things
for their children. They had been forced
to be content with a few months of school,
kept in an old abandoned log cabin by an
untrained and often unlearned teacher, be-
ing often forced to walk three or four miles
each way to and from school, with rude
slab seats, few books and no accessories.
They resolved that their children should
have better teachers, better books, tetter
houses, better equipped and at least the
necessary helps to make school life not only
successful, but comfortable. The old school
building of logs chinked and daubed, some-
times with oiled paper for windows,
warmed, if we may call it warmed at all,
by a fireplace at one end, floor of puncheon,
i. e., logs split and hewn, where the earth
was not used as a floor, clapboard door,
hung on hinges made of wood and ill-fitted
in place, benches of split logs supported by
pins driven in augur holes at the ends for
legs and desks of hewn logs, supported by
pins driven into augur holes of the logs
forming the side of the house, roof of clap-
boards held in place by logs placed thereon,
through which the sky might be seen and
through which the rain beat or the snow
sifted as there was no ceiling to intervene.
The teacher could by dint of hard study
keep ahead of the pupils and if he could
read, write and "cipher" or "do sums" to
the single rule of three (now known as sim-
ple proportion) he was fully competent if he
had the further and more important quali-
fication of being able to thrash the boys and
girls. The teacher at Christmas times was
expected to treat the school by giving them
cheap candy and not to do so was to lower
himself in the estimation not only of the pu-
pil, but of the patron as well. And this
worse than silly custom is, we are sorry to
say, kept up yet in some districts of our
county, and is a pretty good evidence of lack
of proper school progress in that district.
If the teacher refused to "treat" the larger
boys would scheme to lock him out of the
school-house and often a fight ensued to the
utter destruction of the term's usefulness,
and the elders always sided with the pupils.
In my early life I passed through such
scenes in Illinois both as pupil and after-
ward as teacher. Under such conditions as
these, the fathers and mothers of Marion
county received their schooling, and being
clear-headed the majority of them hailed
the better day with rejoicing and resolved
to give far better than they had received.
In order that the present generation may
1 3 8
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
appreciate their advantages, let us draw a
picture. Let us visit a school of seventy-five
or even sixty years ago. The house has al-
ready been described. Let us enter the school
on a winter morning, the slab benches ar-
ranged on either side of the middle aisle,
filled with boys of all sizes, from little tots
of six years, to stalwart young men of
twenty on one side and girls of like ages
on the other; a huge fire in the open fire
place at one end burns one side of the body
while the other freezes. The struggle to
keep warm, to learn the lesson and to com-
mit some sort of mischief occupies the pupil.
The teacher's desk is in the middle of the
room and the teacher sits by it in calm dig-
nity, "monarch of all he surveys," as we
enter, and every pupil cranes his neck to see
who it is. and satisfied in that respect, re-
turns to his former occupation. No attempt
at quiet is made, but everyone studies in a
loud droning whisper and the hum of thirty
or forty pupils studying fills the room, but
teacher or pupil is not disturbed; they are
used to it. Suddenly up goes a hand and a
voice cries aloud, "May I go out?" The
teacher nods and the pupil goes out, slam-
ming the creaking door. Soon another
comes to the teacher with a dirty finger on
the page, pointing out a word to be pro-
nounced, the teacher giving the pronuncia-
tion. "May Bill Jones and me git a bucket
of water?" Permission being given, out goes
the boys with shout and clatter. The fire
by this time needs replenishing and the
teacher sends a couple of boys out for wood.
The little tots one by one are called to the
teacher's knee and the alphabet from A to Z
is conned, and then the class in reading
is called and ranges in a line on the floor.
The text-book is anything from the old first
reader to the Bible, and perhaps only two
or three books to a dozen pupils, but the
book is passed from one to the other until
all have read and then they pass back to the
seats and the lesson is done. "Sums" are
clone on slates and copied in blank books.
Spelling is next and the class stands up in
a long row and spells from head to foot,
turning each other down when a word is
missed which is not often, for whatever the
old system failed to do it did make spellers
and every school boasted of one or more
that could spell every word in Webster's
old blue-back speller.
Geography was taught by singing the
facts to be learned in a dreary singsong
monotone, having the facts arranged in a
rude rhyme, the effect was ludicrous in the
extreme, but neither pupil nor teacher saw
anything out of the way or funny in it. But
reader, if you are too young to have visited
a "loud" school, as they were called, you
have missed the best representation of pan-
demonium that the ingenuity of man ever
devised. A "loud" school was nothing more
or less than a school in which every pupil
was permitted to study his lessons out loud.
Imagine, if you can, thirty or forty boys
and girls of all ages, each studying his les-
son and perhaps each a different lesson in a
loud tone of voice with perhaps a
class trying to recite to the teacher,
all at the same time. Yet incredible
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
139
as it may appear, this kind of school
was not infrequent, but a change is at hand
and the boys of the old log school-house,
with its rude and inadequate equipment and
incompetent teacher demands something
better for their children even though at
more cost to themselves. So with the bet-
ter laws, the old regime passes. Neat
school buildings replace the cabins, trained
teachers take the place of the incompetents,
new furniture, adequate equipment, new
and more scientific methods, gentler and
better discipline, no more loud schools, no
more singing geography, no more haphaz-
ard recitations, but a mind-training process
has superseded and the school of today,
while not perfect, is in Marion county as
good as the best.
The first school in the county was taught
in 1819 in Walnut Hill prairie, by Jeffer-
son Dow, who was followed by Arby An-
drews from 1823 to about 1830. In 1823
Isaac Barr taught in Tennessee prairie. The
first school taught in Haines township was
in 1827 near where W. D. Hill now lives,
with Thomas Cohorn as teacher. Alexan-
der Kell taught the first school in Salem
in 1828. Stevenson township had no school
until 1833, when Otho Davenport opened
one in a log house on the Vincennes road.
William Haddon taught the first school in
Omega township in 1838. Schools in-
creased with increasing population until the
year 1846, when the first report of school
statistics were made to the Secretary of
State. This report was as follows:
Whole number of school-houses in coun-
ty, thirty-seven; whole number of schools,
thirty-two; whole number of children un-
der twenty-one, one thousand eight hundred
and thirty; whole number of scholars en-
rolled, nine hundred and sixty-six ; total
amount paid teachers, seven hundred and
sixty dollars; average monthly wages paid
teachers, twelve dollars.
The average monthly wages paid teach-
ers today is for males, fifty-four dollars and
eighty-five cents, and for females forty-
three dollars and seventy-three cents, and
as will be seen from the contribution of
Supt. J. S. Kniseley, an effort is being made
to raise both wages and the standard of ex-
cellence of Marion county schools. Marion
county has sent more students to the South-
ern Illinois Normal than any county outside
of the one in which the school is located,
and has more teachers of normal training
than any county in Southern Illinois. With
a well equipped township high school and a
city high school in Centralia; with a four-
year course accredited high school in Salem,
a good high school in Sandoval, Odin and
Kinmundy, and fine rural schools, Marion
need not go outside her own borders for
any save technical education and her sons
and daughters have only to use the means
at hand to be well rounded American
citizens.
140 BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
MARION COUNTY SCHOOLS OF THE PRESENT DAY.
By Supt. J. S. Kinseley.
The year 1909 has begun to unfold her
pages and reveal each succeeding day that
which she has in store for us, and we find
that Marion county comprises one hundred
and twenty-four schools districts, one hun-
dred and twelve one-room country schools,
three two-room schools, two three-room
schools and six with five or more rooms.
Two new districts have been formed in the
last year, one in Stevenson and the other in
luka township. The highest enrollment in
any one room is eighty-seven, the lowest is
nine. The highest wage paid to any male
teacher is one hundred and sixty-six and
two-thirds dollars per month, the lowest is
thirty-three and one-third dollars. The
highest wage paid to any female teacher is
seventy-seven dollars and fifty cents and
the lowest thirty dollars per month. The
total number of boys and girls between the
ages of six and twenty-one years is ten
thousand three hundred and sixty-nine. The
total number enrolled in school is eight
thousand one hundred and three. The to-
tal number between twelve and twenty-one
years who are unable to read and write is
thirteen. The amount of tax levy for the
support of schools for the past year is one
hundred and eleven thousand one hundred
and twenty dollars. The amount of bonded
school debt is sixty-two thousand nine hun-
dred. The amount of interest received on
township fund by the various township
treasurers is nine hundred and seventy-sev-
en dollars and twenty-three cents. Amount
paid teachers the last year is sixty-nine
thousand five hundred and seventy-four
dollars and fifty-five cents. Total expendi-
ture of the year ending June 30, 1908, is
one hundred and one thousand seven hun-
dred and six dollars and ninety-two cents.
The average monthly wages for males is
fifty- four dollars and eighty-five cents; for
females forty-three dollars and seventy-three
cents. Beyond any doubt our schools are
above the average of those of Southern Il-
linois and our teachers the most loyal to
the profession of any county in the state.
The counties of Central and Northern Il-
linois, in which land is assessed at one hun-
dred and fifty dollars to two hundred dol-
lars per acre, higher salaries with a much
lower rate of levy are maintained, which of
course tends to draw from us some of our
best teachers. The salaries paid to our
teachers at present have not kept pace with
our material growth and the advance in the
cost of living. In Centralia many of the
grade teachers are receiving forty dollars
per month, but are compelled to pay twenty
dollars per month for board. After laun-
dry bills, clothing, school journals, reading
circle books and the expense of attending
the annual institute and teachers' meetings
deducted, nothing is left for the remaining
months, when the pay ceases. How can
I5RINKERUOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
141
the country teacher who receives but forty
dollars per month and pays ten dollars of it
for board for six months of the year lay up
any money and support a family on one dol-
lar per day ? Can he afford to attend a nor-
mal school in order to advance and become
more useful as a teacher to the district un-
der these conditions ? "Chill penury freezes
the genial currents of the soul," and we are
compelled to bear with poorly prepared
teachers because of a condition established
by a custom. Why should our country
schools be the last part of our educational
system to receive attention ? Now our state
normals supported by public taxation are
supposed to furnish practical training for
our country school teachers and high school
graduates, who expect to teach school in the
country in order that the country home life
may become more vigorous and more at-
tractive for the boys and girls who are to
receive the impress of the teachers' life and
work fresh from these institutions. Better
schools cost more to be sure, but farms have
increased in value,, and farmers have been
receiving good prices for their products, im-
proving their farms, improving their stock,
improving their bank account, not satisfied
with the seed corn or seed oats or other
seed save only the best, let us not be satis-
fied with anything less than the best schools
for our boys and girls. "The best product
of the farm" good as our schools are, they
can be made better, and with a devoted
corps of teachers Marion county must come
to the front.
THE DEVELOPMEN T OF CENTRALIA.
Dating from March 13, 1852, when the
Illinois Central Railroad received its mu-
nificent grant from the state of Illinois,
events and conditions were conspiring to the
location and history of Centralia and yet
Centralia and its present location were not
in this formulative period considered, and
the final site, platting and formation of the
city of Centralia by the Illinois Central
Railroad Company was the direct result of
inability of the said company to satisfactor-
ily deal with individuals owning the sec-
tion of land north of Centralia and which
is now partially occupied by the village of
Central City, through which Crooked creek
passes. The Illinois Central intended to
put their shops and build their city on this
location owing to its favorable geographi-
cal situation, but when the owners were
approached their ideas of value failed to co-
incide with those of the railroad company
officials, therefore, they laid out the city of
Centralia, placed its shops and proceeded to
build the town.
Centralia has since that time, until quite
recently, been pre-eminently a railroad town
these interests being first represented by the
Illinois Central for division points of both
the branch and main line, later the J. S.
& E. purchased by the Chicago, Burlington
142
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
and Quincy Railroad, then the Southern
Railway, then the Illinois Southern.
The growth of Centralia since its fifty-
five years of existence has been of the con-
servative order, the city itself being largely
settled by German immigrants, necessarily
poor, partook of the necessarily slow Ger-
man character, while the surrounding coun-
try, to a very large extent, has been settled
with the easy-going Tennesseeans and Ken-
tucky people, largely satisfied with existing
conditions.
With the gradual development of the lo-
cal resources, principally coal, and the adap-
tation of farming to the soils, possibilities
have added a more American and aggres-
sive feature to the population and quick-
ened the pulse of the business life of Cen-
tralia, doubling the city's population in the
last five years, with the reasonable pos-
sibility of a like increase within the next
period of time.
Naturally the growth and development
of the city involves the intimate association
of characters who have bv their efforts and
brains to the extent of their talents, been
more or less instrumental in this result.
The natural growth and development,
seemingly slow at times, has reflected the
character of those depending upon the trade
for their sustenance and fortune, and with
the admixture of a per cent, of personal and
civic pride, has evolved a city from out the
prairie over which the Indians camped and
the wild animals roamed.
The result of any municipal improvement
can scarcely be attributed to any business
or commercial organizations, but rather to
the necessity as demanded and to the nat-
ural unanimity of action on the part of the
citizens on all public questions. This spirit
is manifested in the many beautiful reli-
gious and educational structures which in
many instances have cost much money and
would do credit to a city of much larger
size. The value of these institutions can
scarcely be measured in dollars and cents;
they will forever remain as monuments to
the Christianity and education and higher
civilization of the community.
CHURCHES OF MARION COUNTY.
Mount Moriah church is the oldest con-
gregation in the county. It was organized
as a Free Will Baptist church in 1829. For
eight years it was in name a Free Will Bap-
tist, but in 1837 it renounced the name and
leadership of such consecrated men as El-
ders William Chaffin, David R. Chance,
Samuel Shook and Charles Drennen. These
men, like many other preachers of pioneer
times, underwent hardships and dangers un-
joined in the reform movement, now known complainingly, for the truth's sake. Here the
as the Christian church, or Church of Christ, late J. A. Williams united with the church in
For many years this church was under the which he was so long to labor, and whose
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
doctrines he was to so faithfully exemplify
during a life of ninety years. Among the
preachers who have labored with this church
regularly in the earlier years of its history
were Reverends White, Brinkerhoff, Phil-
lips, Nance, Simer, Boles and others have
been preachers in charge in later years, with
others who are not. recalled. The first house
was log; since its decay three other frame
buildings have been occupied. The second
frame was a very large building and was
partly wrecked by a wind storm, but was
repaired and used until about five years ago,
when it was torn down and the present neat
chapel built. This congregation maintains
a good Sunday school and is in a healthy
condition.
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH OF SALEM.
The Christian church at Salem was or-
ganized by Elder John A. Williams in the
parlor of his home December 18. 1866. The
organization was very small, but immediate-
ly bought a small frame building that had
been used by the Cumberland Presbyterians
as a house of worship. They paid two hun-
dred and fifty dollars for it and repaired it at
a cost of one hundred and fifty dollars. This
house was used until the summer of 1879,
when it was sold for one hundred dollars.
The congregation immediately began the
building of a new house of worship. It was
of brick, thirty-four by fifty feet, with a
tower ten feet square in front. This building
cost two thousand five hundred dollars. It
was completed and dedicated in February,
1880, Elder H. R. Trickett preaching the
dedicatory sermon. Elder John A. Williams
preached for this church regularly once a
month for many years. Besides Elder Wil-
liams, John W. Manehan, John Bradley,
Elder Kite, Elder Henry, J. H. G. Brinker-
hoff and others preached for this church
until Brother Mosely was employed
as resident pastor. He was followed
by J. F. Rosborough, and he by Elder Black
ad Clark Braden, and for the last four years
F. O. Fannon has been preacher to this peo-
ple. In 1906 the congregation resolved to
build a new church and sold the old build-
ing for four hundred dollars and accepted
plans for a new building, which, complete,
cost twenty-two thousand dollars, including
a fine pipe organ ; one-half of the cost of the
organ was donated by Andrew Carnegie.
The new church is one of the most beautiful
structures in Southern Illinois. It is of buff
pressed brick, with basement under the en-
tire building, an auditorium and assembly
and class rooms, minister's study and choir
room on first floor, with kitchen, dining
room and parlors above. The congregation
now numbers two hundred and thirty nine
communicants.
THE CENTRALIA CHURCH.
The Christian church at Centralia was or-
ganized at Central City December 31. 1856.
by Elder John A. Williams, with only eight
members. They were Jacob, Harriet and
Simpson Frazier; Daniel Myers; James and
Jane McCartney; Margaret Whitton, and
144
JRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
Louisa Hawkins. But when it became ap-
parent that the center of business would be
moved to Centralia, it was advisable to move
the location of the church, and a commo-
dious frame house was built in the new city,
into which the church moved its church or-
ganization. During the Civil war the church
sustained serious injury by the bitter polit-
ical feeling that existed at that time, and did
not fully recover for many years. At this
time the membership was seventy-five males
and eighty-five females, a total of one hun-
dred and sixty. In 1866 their building was
burned and for several years they met in a
rented hall, with the inevitable consequence
of growing weaker and weaker, but in 1872
a new house of worship was built on the
same lot on which stood the old church.
This building is also of wood and cost two
thousand four hundred dollars. It is still
used, but plans have been accepted for the
building of a new church at a cost of thir-
ty thousand dollars, which will be begun in
1909. The church was reorganized February
19, 1870, from which time the church has
steadily grown, until today, under the lead-
ership of James F. Rosborough, it is one of
the strongest as well as the most united
churches in the county. Besides J. A. Wil-
liams, many of the strong preachers of the
past generation labored with this church.
Alma Christian church was organized
April 28, 1867, by Elder John Ross, with
fifteen members. This church grew stead-
ily for a time, but in 1872 a bitterness de-
veloped over opinions that for many years
retarded the growth in numbers as well as
in spirituality. In 1875 Elders Hawley and
Johnson held a meeting, adding thirty-five
members to the congregation and doing
away with much of the ill feeling, which
happily has now entirely passed away, and
the church, having passed through trouble,
is now growing strong.
Little Grove church stands just south of
the county line in Jefferson county, but most
of its membership is in Marion county. This
church was organized about 1841 and has
constantly and consistently maintained the
cause of the Master and has preaching once
every month, after the mistaken idea of most
country churches.
Level's Grove church was organized by
William Chaffen sixty years ago. It was
first known as Bee Branch, and built a small
log house, which was set on fire by a forest
fire and destroyed. The church then held
meetings for a time in the Omega school
house, and later built the present neat frame
on the Omega road about a mile east of the
original site. This church has grown in num-
bers and is one of the best country churches,
quietly doing good. It maintains regular
preaching.
Harvey's Point church, on the Salem and
old Foxville road, was established about
forty-five years ago by Elders Mulkey,
James Snow and William C. Hill. This con-
gregation built a large frame church on the
spot where Captain Harvey was killed many
years ago, hence the name, Harvey's Point.
This congregation is now weak in point of
numbers by reason of withdrawals of mem-
bership to unite with other congregations of
BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
disciples. The old house was torn down some
years ago and a small, neat church built in
its stead. Preaching is had part time.
The Christian church at Patoka was or-
ganized on the fourth Lord's day in May,
1875. by Elder Samuel Hawley, of Odin. Il-
linois. This church for five years after its
organization dragged along seemingly with-
out making much progress. On the fourth
Lord's day in May, 1880, it was reorganized
by Elder J. D. Morgan, of Odin. At this
time the total membership was twenty-nine
males and eleven females. From this time
they began to grow. A Sunday school was
organized, and in about 1882 a church build-
ing was erected, and in 1905 an addition was
built, making it one of the neatest of the
smaller churches in the county. The pres-
ent membership is one hundred and ten. and
regular preaching is maintained. A fine
Sunday school is kept up. equipped with all
necessary helps. Several of the members
are acceptable speakers and every Sunday is
meeting day with this church.
ODIN CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
On the first Sunday in March, 1878,
James M. Hawley organized the Odin Chris-
tian church, with sixteen members, in
Smith's Hall. In the fall of 1879 they built
a neat frame church, thirty-two by forty-
four feet, at a cost of two thousand dollars,
and on the first Lord's day in January the
congregation occupied their new home.
Many noted ministers have preached for this
church, and during the last fifteen years
10
regular preaching has been kept up. The
last year the pulpit has been acceptably filled
by Shorland Fannon, eldest son of Rev. F.
O. Fannon, who, though young in the work,
successfully led them to a better work. The
church now numbers about one hundred and
seventy members and is in good working
condition, with an active Sunday school and
a live Endeavor Society.
The Turkey Creek Christian church was
organized in 1867, but has not progressed
much, either in point of work or of mem-
bership. It is a country church and has
preaching only occasionally.
Sandoval Christian church was first or-
ganized by Elder A. Martin, with a mem-
bership of forty, but for several years lan-
guished and almost died, but a faithful few
held together, and about twenty years ago
employed Elder Boyer to hold a meeting in
which one hundred and seventeen additions
to the church were received. The congre-
gation immediately began to build and have
/since been housed in a beautiful modern
frame church home. They now number over
two hundred and keep a resident minister.
iN CIIURCHKS.
Within the last twenty years churches
have been organized and houses built at sev-
eral points in the county. Twenty-one years
ago a few brethren living in what is known
as the Young neighborhood resolved to or-
ganize and build. Preaching had been held
in the schoolhouse near for more than forty
years, but no regularly organized body ex-
1 4 6
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
isted. In August, 1883, Elder Brinkerhoff
laid the cornerstone, with appropriate re-
marks, and the present neat chapel, known
as Young's Chapel, was built. Between
Christmas and New Year, 1883, Elder ]. A.
Williams held a short meeting and organ-
ized, with about twenty members. Elder
Brinkerhoff was engaged to preach for them
once each month, and held this relationship
for six years. Elder Morgan, of Ashley,
preached a while also for them, and they
have steadily grown to number about eighty
members. This church has been a great
blessing to the community and is still active
in the work.
About 1886 N. G. Huff, an elder of Old
Mt. Moriah, but who lived about six or eight
miles from his church home, prevailed on
Elder Brinkerhoff to visit the Huff school-
house once a month and preach for the peo-
ple. After a year of this work they resolved
to organize and build a church. They were
organized in the school-house in the spring
and numbered forty-two members, mostly
from Mt. Moriah and Harvey's Point
churches. They immediately selected a site
and built the Gaston Grove church. The last
of August of the same year Elder Brinker-
hoff held a ten days' meeting and added
forty-two more, all by immersion, thus
doubling the membership. This church has
always prospered and is alive in all good
works, and although it has lost at least fifty
members by removals to Salem and else-
where, it is still a strong country church,
with one of the best Bible schools in the
county.
Within the last few years churches have
been built in Kell, in Donoho Prairie, at
New Union and at Scutchfield Prairie, also
at luka. Each is young and has but a small
membership.
THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH AT KINMUNDY.
In 1900 the congregations at Centralia
and , Salem loaned their pastors. Rev-
erend Smart, and Reverend Rowe, to
the little band of disciples at Kin-
mundy, to hold a meeting and or-
ganize a church. The result was so en-
couraging that a church was organized and
the present beautiful brick church was built.
From that time the church has been har-
monious and constantly growing. Elder F.
O. Fannon has for the last five years served
them half time and has made it the leading
factor in church work in Kinmundy, num-
bering about two hundred members.
This paper ought not close without a brief
sketch of the one man whose labors for more
than sixty years were largely the factors
that made this grand result possible. We
refer to that grand old soldier of the Cross,
John A. Williams, who was born in Shelby
county, Indiana, July 31, 1818, and came to
Marion county, Illinois, at the age of six-
teen. They settled near Walnut Hill and
made a farm out of the timber land one-
half mile east of the village. Mr. Williams
was converted at Mt. Moriah church and be-
gan to preach occasionally as early as 1846.
He was ordained as a minister in 1850 and
began immediately to preach the word regu-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
147
larly, often going on horseback from fifty to
one hundred miles to all parts of Illinois,
from Shelbyville to Cairo and from the
Mississippi to the Wabash, planting the good
seed everywhere. For more than sixty years
he preached constantly. Mr. Williams was
gifted with superb physical powers, being
over six feet tall and of fine physique. His
mental powers were far above the average
and his sermons were clear, logical and con-
vincing. His manner was winning and his
knowledge of the Bible profound. He died
at the home of his daughter at Sailors
Springs, Illinois, November 4, 1907, and
was buried at Salem after the body lying in
state in the beautiful new church one day.
The funeral sermon was by Elder Brinker-
hoff. assisted by Elder Roseborough. After
the sermon an opportunity was given any to
speak, when from the immense congrega-
tion, gathered from many congregations of
Southern Illinois, about twenty pronounced
eulogies on the life of one they had loved
so well. His funeral was one of the largest
and most impressive ever held in Salem.
Truly "his works live after him."
THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH SOUTH.
The Methodist Episcopal church South in
Marion county was the outgrowth of politi-
cal animosities engendered before and dur-
ing the Civil war. Political intolerance split
churches and even families into warring
fragments. Many of the Methodist faith
felt themselves aggrieved at the attitude of
the church, among whom was Rev. J. W.
Wescott, a minister of the Methodist Epis-
copal church. He withdrew from the Meth-
odist Episcopal church and called a conven-
tion to meet at the court-house in Salem
June 22, 1864. The following ministers
were present at the meeting : J. W. Wescott,
Thomas L. Middleton, William Findley,
James B. Gray, Thomas Deeds and William
Layson, and lay brethren, Thomas Borring,
Arthur Foster, Thomas Smith, Charles
Smith, James M. Charleton, John J. Holt,
J. C. McConnell, Elijah Wernberly, Isaac
Misenhammer, Mordecai Smith and a few
others. This convention organized under
the name of the Evangelical church. The
first class was organized in Romine Prairie
at the house of John J. Holt. Rev-
erend Wescott was present and led
the exercises. The second class was
organized at Old Union. The third
at Mount Zion church on North Fork,
and the fourth at Harmony. The first coun-
cil was held at Mt. Zion church in Septem-
ber, 1864. The council divided into districts.
The Salem district embraced all the county
except the Romine church, which was in-
cluded in the Xenia district. As most of the
members of Evangelical church had come
out of the Methodist Episcopal church, they,
in 1867, changed the name to Methodist and
were received into the connection of the
Methodist Eiscopal church, South, with all
the privileges of the conferences, by Bishop
David S. Daggett. Eighteen societies were
organized in the county and for a time kept
pace with other churches, but as the pas-
sions of men subside the necessity for sep-
i 4 8
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
aration of forces seems to be less apparent
and the church today seems not to have the
vigor of earlier times.
No mention of any Methodist Episcopal
church can be found of record before the
year 1830, although it is probable that
preachers of that denomination had now
and then preached to the people in passing
through, but in that year the Grand Prairie
Mission was formed, taking all the territory
between the Wabash and the Kaskaskia
rivers, and all Illinois south of Vandalia to
Maysville, except that part embraced in the
Mt. Vernon circuit, which covered a small
portion of the south part of Marion county.
In 1830 Simeon Walker was sent to this
mission field and preached the first sermon
by a Methodist minister ever preached in
Salem. In 1831 he organized the first
Methodist church in the county at the home
of a Mrs. Jones. At this time S. H. Thomp-
son was the presiding elder. In 1832 Phillip
T. Corder took the work at this point and
the next year James Graham was sent and
the name changed to Salem mission. These
men not only preached at Salem, but at
Sandy Branch, Walnut Hill and Fosterburg,
then flourishing, but now decayed and gone.
James Harsha was the next circuit rider and
as there was no church-house he preached
like his predecessors in private houses. Phil-
lip Moore succeeded Harsha in 1835, and in
time was succeeded by Justice R. Ryman,
with James H. Dickens as his colleague. Sa-
lem was then a village of about fifteen fami-
lies and the Methodist Episcopal church at
this place was at a low ebb, but the old log
court-house was bought and for many years
this was the only church on the circuit. This
year witnessed an increase of about two
hundred in the entire circuit, about twenty
of whom were to the Salem body. The old
court-house was used until 1850, when Isaac
Groves was sent to the circuit and the first
Methodist Episcopal church house was built.
It was a frame and stood where the new
Episcopal church now stands on West Main
street. It was dedicated by James Leaton,
and was used until 1865, when it was re-
moved to make room for the new church,
which was commenced that year. The first
Methodist Episcopal Sunday school was or-
ganized in 1850 in the new frame church.
In 1851 the Walnut Hill circuit was formed,
embracing the south part of the county. In
1856 conference was held in Salem and Sa-
lem was made a station, with Rev. Thomas
A. Eaton in charge. During this year a
protracted meeting was held, at which one
hundred conversions were reported. In 1858
T. F. Houts, who had left the law for the
ministry, was in charge. In 1865 Rev. Jo-
seph Harris was pastor, and to his zeal and
energy is largely due the removal of the
old frame church and the building of a large
new brick church, which was used until 1906,
when it was torn down, the lot sold and
the erection of the splendid new stone-faced
church, on land purchased just north of and
facing the court-house square. During the
two years of the building the Rev. J. G.
Tucker, in charge, was the head and fount
of the enterprise. It stands a monument of
beauty and will last for generations. It cost
about thirty thousand dollars.
As near as we can ascertain, Centralia had
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
I 49
no Methodist preaching until after the for-
mation of Walnut Hill Circuit, and probab-
ly not earlier than 1854, when the church at
Centralia was organized, and was a part of
the Walnut Hill circuit. The first house of
worship was in what is now called South
Town and was a small frame building. It
was afterward moved to South Poplar street
and used until 1865, when it was sold and a
good brick house erected on the corner of
Broadway and Elm streets. This building
cost about six thousand dollars, and at that
time was the best church house in the coun-
ty. In 1901 the quarterly conference 1 ap-
pointed a committee to build a new church
and were empowered to sell the old one.
The old church was sold in 1903 and on
July 28, 1903, a contract was entered into
with S. Legried, a Centralia contractor, for
the erection of a new building at a cost 01
about thirty thousand dollars. It is a beau-
tiful structure of mottled brick trimmed with
Bedford stone, and handsomely finished in-
side, with Sunday school rooms and all con-
veniences. The congregation is large and
composed of many influential people. The
building was dedicated in 1904.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL AT KIXMUNDY.
In the summer of 1858 a local minister
of Salem preached a few sermons at Kin-
mundy. James Woollard was the first reg-
ular pastor, and he was followed by G. W.
Waggoner, and he by John Thatcher, all
acceptable preachers. The first class was
formed during the pastorate of Woollard
and consisted of nine members, four males
and five females. It may be of interest to
know who they were, so we give their
names: Waller Hensley and wife, Samuel
Lawrence and wife, George Marsland and
wife, Malinda Sprouse and William Blur-
ton. The Kinmundy circuit was formed in
1863 and P. P. Hamilton was the preacher,
and by his efforts the frame meeting-house
was built, which was torn down about four
years ago to make room for the present
beautiful structure. The first church was
dedicated by T. F. Houts. Elias Neil was
the first superintendent of the Sunday school,
which was organized in 1862. From that
time until the present the church has had a
steady growth and now numbers about two
hundred communicants. The new church
cost about ten thousand dollars, and is an
ornament to the city as well as a monument
to the zeal and liberality of the members.
Odin and Sandoval were for many years
one charge, and in each place is a neat
church building, and at each place there is
at present a congregation of over one hun-
dred members, but no important informa-
tion that is reliable is obtainable.
Patoka circuit, formerly called Foster-
burg circuit, was cut off from the Salem cir-
cuit. Originally five neat chapels were on
this circuit and all still exist. In some places,
however, preaching is had only occasionally
and the buildings are not all properly kept
up, but in all Sunday schools are maintained.
In the village of Patoka there is a good
church building and regular services held.
The circuit is in fairly prosperous condition.
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
There is a good parsonage at Patoka and in
former years this circuit maintained one of
the best camp meeting grounds in the coun-
ty, but of late years the camp meeting has
disappeared as the necessity has disappeared
for their use. Fosterburg is no more, but
the Patoka circuit is active and doing a great
work in its particular field.
The luka circuit is the remainder of the
original Salem circuit. It has four appoint-
ments and they are all supplied from luka.
They maintain four church houses and four
Sunday schools. The membership of this
circuit is about three hundred and fifty.
There is at present in the county about
twenty-two church buildings, valued at
about two hundred thousand dollars, and a
membership of about twenty-two hundred
(estimated). The circuit rider, who in an
earlier day braved all danger that he might
carry his message of peace and love, is only
now a name. No more in this county is he
to be seen with saddlebag and Bible journey-
ing from appointment to appointment, heed-
ing not the summer's heat, nor the winter's
cold, but now the preacher comes to his ap-
pointment with horse and buggy, preaches
and drives home again. The old way has
given place to the new; may the new prove
as effective as the old.
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
The Presbyerian church never was strong
in this county, only a few congregations ex-
isting until the union a few years ago. One
at Kinmundy, one at Salem that was dis-
solved twenty years ago, one at Centralia
and later one near or at Foxville are all, so
far as we have been able to find, and no
data is at hand as to their history.
EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
There are a few Episcopal churches in
Marion county. One at Centralia, St.
John's Parish, was organized October 31,
1858. Bishop Seymour, of the Springfield
diocese, visited the parish as early as 1878
and confirmed a class of nine. This church,
never large, has, however, continued to ex-
ercise all its duties and functions to the
present time.
Salem church was organized about five
years ago and is known as St. Thomas mis-
sion. It is supplied by a rector from Car-
lyle. This mission has just completed a
beautiful though small stone church on
Main street on the lot where the Methodist
Episcopal church stood.
CATHOLIC CHURCH.
There are but five Catholic churches in
the county and only two of these have resi-
dent priests.
The Centralia church is quite strong and
has a large, beautiful church building and
school and parsonage. A priest is located
here and the church is in a flourishing con-
dition.
Sandoval also has a fairly strong congre-
gation, a good church and parsonage and a
resident priest.
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
Kinmundy, Patoka and Salem have but
small buildings and only a few adherents.
They have services by priests from other
charges once a month.
CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
Marion county belonged to the Illinois
Presbytery and the first preaching was done
by Jonathan Brittain. It was preached in
the house of Abner Stewart about 1830.
David Campbell followed in 1833 and
preached in the barroom of Ricker's Ho-
tel in Salem. These two men preached for
several years in the county, but the man
who organized nearly all the Cumberland
Presbyterian churches was Rev. William
Finley. The first church organized was at
the house of James Eagan, September 7,
1840, by Wlliam Finley. It was called Mt.
Carmel, afterward Kinmundy. In 1842 they
established a camp meeting grounds near
Kinmundy known as Mt. Carmel camp
ground, and out of the meetings held there
grew most of the congregations of the coun-
ty-
Good Hope church at Omega was organ-
ized by William Finley November 9, 1844,
and the same year Bethel was organized and
the Metcalf or Old Bethel camp ground was
long a noted point in church history.
The Salem church was also organized by
William Finley in 1846. This congregation,
largely through the efforts of Mr. Finley,
built the first house of worship of the church
in the county. This church grew rapidly and
was the strongest congregation of Cumber-
land Presbyterians in the county, and in
1901 built a beautiful brick church, the first
of the beautiful churches in Salem to be
erected. A congregation was organized at
Patoka and one at Vernon. Neither was
ever strong.
In 1905 the congregation at Salem, and as
far as we know, all in the county, voted to
unite with the Presbyterian church and drop
the name Cumberland. The Old Bethel
church built a beautiful new church two or
three miles north of the old one and virtual-
ly now has two houses, although they are
two congregations.
BAPTIST CHURCH IN MARION COUNTY.
To the Baptists belong the honor of hav-
ing the first preaching in the county and
they were also the first to organize and build
a house of worship (Mt. Moriah, now
Christian, in Raccoon township). The va-
rious kinds or classes of Baptists somewhat
confuse, as the earlier records often do not
say just what branch of the church ; s
meant. Of the eighteen Baptist churches
that have been organized in this county,
Bethel, Union, Marshall Creek. First Sa-
lem, Zion Hill and Patoka are connected
with what was known as the Vandalia, and
sometimes Centralia. Association, while
Harmony, First Centralia and Odin were in
the Louisville Association. Pleasant Grove,
Bethel and Zion were in the Salem As-
sociation, while the Second Centralia and
Second Salem were in the Mt. Olive Asso-
ciation. The last two are colored churches
and the Salem church has disappeared.
152
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
Bethel Baptist church is the oldest Mis-
sionary Baptist church in the county. Rev.
J. M. Peck and James and Moses Lemen
organized this church at the house of Col-
onel Jolliff in May- 1832, with fourteen
members. Rev. Samuel Shook was the first
preacher in charge. I. Anderick was the
clerk and James Joliff, who had organized
the Sunday school two or three years be-
fore, was made deacon. After some years
the congregation moved the house from
Central City to the country, about half way
from Odin to Centralia, where the organ-
ization is still kept up, although the mem-
bership is not large. This church . has
preaching still and has sent out to other
fields many workers in the harvest.
The Union church was organized about
1834. This church never built a church
home, but held services in a school-house
north of Sandoval in Carrigan township.
No reliable information of the formation of
this church can be obtained and the organ-
ization is virtually abandoned.
Marshall Creek Baptist church, located
seven or eight miles northwest from Salem,
was organized about 1835. John Wright,
who was visiting here, obtained the consent
of Revs. Arnot and Boyakin to hold a meet-
ing here, and Morgan Nichols and wife, al-
though not church members, opened their
little log house to hold the services in. A
meeting lasting about sixteen days was held
and an organization formed by Rev. Na-
than Arnot. This church continued to grow
and is now in good condition, both as to
numbers and spiritually. They have a very
good house and are active in Sunday school
work.
First Baptist church in Salem was or-
ganized in the old log court-house by Revs.
Arnot and Boyakin. After years in the
old court-house they moved to a new brick
church, the first brick building in the coun-
ty. The lot was owned by Mr. Lester, who
had bought the Ricker property: He offered
a lot to the first Baptist minister who would
settle in Salem, and Rev. Boyakin received
it. Mr. Boyakin was one of a committee to
locate a female seminary. Miss Rand of-
fered five hundred. dollars for this purpose,
and it was located at Salem. The church
property was deeded to the seminary trus-
tees in 1841. Elder Boyakin held a meet-
ing in this building about this time and nine
of the seminary young ladies Were added to
the church. The church continued to wor-
ship in this building until it was destroyed
by a storm in 1844. From this time until
1858 the Baptists worshiped mostly in the
Cumberland Presbyterian church, until
1858, when they built a frame church on
the old church lot. (This lot is in the east
part of town two blocks south of Main
street and two east of Broadway.) This
frame was burned on the night of January
28, 1865, from an over-heated stove. The
Christian church, the hall of the Southern
Female College and the Circuit Court room
were tendered the congregation as a place
of worship. On the 26th of March, 1870,
the congregation resolved to build again,
and on October 21, 1871. services were held
in the new building, but the church was not
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
153
dedicated until the fourth Sunday in Sep-
tember following-. G. J. Johnson, D. D., of
St. Louis, delivering the sermon. Judge Si-
las L. Bryan was long a member of this
church and by his death in 1880 the church
suffered a great loss, both from a financial
and spiritual' point of view, as he was a
most devout man and truly a God-fearing
Christian. To this church belongs the honor
of instituting the first Sunday school in
1832. Reverend Peck organized the school
and donated a number of books from the
Baptist Publication Society as a nucleus for
a library. From 1843 to 1858, while without
a church of their own, the Baptists united
with the Methodists and Presbyterians in a
union school, but from the time the new
church was built to the present they have
maintained a school of their own. This
church has suffered loss by wind and fire
and the loss of many members, who moved
farther west, yet it has kept the faith and
bravely struggled on, and now, with greater
Salem, have come new members, bringing
new cheer and the promise of a brighter day.
Pleasant Grove church, situated about a
mile east of where Foxville was, is one of
the old churches of the county, and one of
the stronger ones among the country
churches. It was established in 1840 and
has built two log and two frame houses,
each an improvement on its predecessor. It
is an active, zealous church and is keeping
pace with the growth of the community in
which it is located.
The Centralia Baptist church was organ-
ized in 1859 by J. P. Hungate in the Chris-
tian church building. During the Civil war
it virtually was out of existence, but was
reorganized in 1864 by I. S. Mahan, who
was appointed by the Baptist Home Mis-
sionary Society for that purpose. A three
thousand dollar house was built and the
church soon became the strongest in Cen-
tralia, but in 1873 the pastor resigned and
for fifteen months the church had no preach-
er and the church scattered until it was the
weakest. In March. 1874. a minister was
again employed, and from that time to this
the church has not ceased to grow. The old
church building has been replaced by a
handsome modern brick and is today one
of the strongest and best Baptist churches in
Southern Illinois.
Zion Hill church was organized in 1860
and is today an active country church, not
large, but full of good works.
The Bethlehem church, generally known
as the "Nation," was organized in 1867.
It, too, like Zion Hill, is a country church
that has kept up its organization and wor-
ship, and while not large in point of num-
bers, the congregation is faithful and zeal-
ous.
A Baptist church was organized in Pa-
toka in 1867 and struggled along until in
the eighties without a house of worship,
which greatly retarded their growth. After
the building of their church they began to
grow, and now have a good congregation.
Bethel church, five miles east of Foxville,
like Zion Hill and Bethlehem, is a country
church and keeps up its services. Its mem-
bership is quite large and they have preach-
ing regularly.
154
DRINKER 1 1 Ob' I-' S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
The Second church of Salem was a col-
ored church, but has gone out of existence,
as there is but one family of negroes in the
city.
The Second church of Centralia is also a
colored church, and since its organization in
April, 1867, has been varied in its experi-
ences. It is still in existence and doing a
good work among the colored people of the
city.
The Old School, or Primitive, Baptists
have five congregations in the county. Lib-
erty, five miles northwest from Kinmundy,
is probably the oldest. Summit Prairie, five
miles north of Salem ; Turkey Creek, two
miles south of Odin; North Fork, three
miles west of Patoka, and Pleasant Grove,
five miles south of Salem. None of these
churches are strong in numbers and some of
them have only occasional preaching, while
others have regular preaching once a month,
and all are connected with the little Wabash
Association.
NOTE The Reverend Boyakin mentioned
in these notes died in the early fall
of 1908, at the age of one hundred
years and a few months. During the
summer of 1908 he journeyed from Kan-
sas, where he had lived many years, to Illi-
nois, where he delivered an address before
a meeting of Baptists in the central part of
the state. On July 4th he delivered an ora-
tion at his home in Kansas. This remarkable
man was one of the gifted Boyakins of this
county, who are remembered by the older
citizens.
HAINES TOWNSHIP.
Haines township, the southern township
of the third tier from the west and num-
bered town i, range 3 east of the third
principal meridian, was named for Edmond
Haines, who was one of its earliest set-
tlers. Originally it was mostly timber, but
much of it has been cleared up and is cul-
tivated farm land. The extreme western
part is the watershed between the Wabash
and Kaskaskia rivers. It is a high prairie
ridge extending in the general directions
north and south. This prairie is called Ro-
mine Prairie, after the first settler, Abram
Romine. This township was a favorite
game country. John Boucher settled in the
township as early as 1815, and built a mill.
This is the same Boucher who creased the
horse as told in the county section. James
McDaniel and Jeptha Mount settled in the
south part of the township and Green De
Priest in the north part from 1818 to 1820.
In 1824 David Fulton came from Tennes-
see and settled on section 2. He was ninety-
four years old when he died in 1877. Wil-
liam Hill, with a company of about thirty,
moved from South Carolina in 1808 and
settled in Randolph county, and in 1825
came to Marion county and settled in
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
155
Haines township. He was a soldier in the
War of 1812 and in the Black Hawk war.
He was married to Jane Hill, his second
cousin, in 1819, and they lived together
over sixty years. His children, James, Sam-
uel, William and Robert, all now dead, were
all honored citizens of this township. His
son, James McD. Hill, was born on section
2 in 1827, and lived and died within a half
mile of the same spot. He died about ten
or twelve years ago and his son, W. D.
"Pete" Hill, lives on the same farm.
Mary Wilkins and her husband settled in
this township in 1829. She lived to be
about one hundred and two years old, and
died never having seen a railroad or a train
of cars. She left numerous descendants,
many of whom still live in this township.
She died in 1882 or 1883.
Ruber Chance was an early settler, but
the exact date of his locating here is
not known, but it was in the twen-
ties. Jeremiah Fields came about 1830
and Millington 'Easley and Thomas Wil-
liams settled in 1827, and about the same
year Durham Tracy came to the township.
He was a very prominent man in the af-
fairs of the county, and was County Judge
several terms. He was a very intelligent
man, fairly educated and well liked by his
neighbors. In 1829 Isaac Charlton came
by wagon and settled in the north side of
the township. He died in 1875. Joseph
Stonecipher and wife with ten children came
from Tennessee in 1834. He settled on
section 22 and was the founder of the nu-
merous Stonecipher family in this county.
The next year Joseph Wham came from
Tennessee in a wagon he himself had made,
and drawn by a couple of yoke of oxen, and
settled in section 5. He and three of his
sons served in the Mexican war and all lived
to return. Robert McM. Wham was the
last surviving son. He died about four
years ago. Benjamin died soon after his
return from Mexico from disease contracted
in the service. John Blackburn came to
Marion county in 1833. He had a family
of eleven children and his descendants are
about two hundred in this and neighboring
counties. John Storment came in 1836 and
Jarett Purdue in 1838. He was born in
Tennessee in 1799 and died in 1874, and
his family consisted of himself, wife and
eight children. They came in two ox-carts.
The family is now numerous and stand high
in their township. James Telford settled in
1836 on section 19 and William Beasley on
section 23 in 1839.
The first sermon preached in the township
was by John Benson. The early preachers
were David R. Chance and William Chaf-
fin, Christian; Reverend Pritchet, Baptist;
W. F. Boyakin, Missionary Baptist. There
are now several churches in the township.
Doctor Middleton was the first practicing
physician. David Fulton, the first wheel-
right, Thomas Cahorn the first school teach-
er. He was from Philadelphia and taught
in log school-houses in 1827. The first
grave yard was in section 2 and is known
as the Fulton graveyard. The Wham grave-
yard was laid out in 1841 by Joseph Wham
and Mrs. Wham was the first buried there.
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Old Foxville was for many years the only
"town" in Haines. Fox (S. M.) Haines
laid it out and hence called it Foxtown. The
first house was built in 1867 and the first
store was opened in 1868 by John Palmer.
It was a post-office and it is said the name
selected was Romine City. James Martin
was in Congress and when the name was to
be given Martin had forgotten, but he knew
"Fox" Haines well and called the office
after him, Foxville. Since building the C. &
E. I. Railroad a dozen years ago, Cartter,
near the north side of the township, and
Kell, near the south line, have grown on
the line of the road and Foxville is a mem-
ory only. Cartter is but a small village of
two stores and a shop or two and a dozen
houses. Kell is a thriving little town of three
or four hundred people and is a good busi-
ness point. It has several stores, a bank,
shops and three churches, and is growing
steadily.
FOSTER TOWNSHIP.
Foster township is the northernmost of
the second tier of townships, east of the west
line of the county. Its survey numbers are
town 4, range 2. This township is drained
by both the north fork and the east fork of
the Kaskaskia and many tributary creeks.
The first settler in the township was Hardy
Foster, after whom the township was
named. He was born in Georgia, but had
moved to St. Clair county, Illinois, in 1814.
and in 1823 came to this county and settled
on section 17. In 1831 he moved to the
northwest corner of the township and made
improvements en section 8. He built a stage
stand about halfway between Salem and
Vandalia on the road connecting the two
places and kept the stand many years. In
1833 a post-office was established and he
was made postmaster and held the office at
the time of his death in 1863, or thirtv
years. He was prominent in the early af-
fairs of the county; was a Justice of the
Peace many terms and a member of the
Legislature one term. He put up the first
horse mill in the township in 1833. This
mill was operated until 1850.
The next settler in the township was a
widow Jones, who with her family of four
children, all about grown, came to the town-
ship in 1826. Her sons were Eli W., Jo-
seph A., and Samuel B. Her daughter soon
after they settled here married J. F. Holt,
son of Harmon Holt, the first settler of Pa-
toka township. This was the first marriage
in the two townships. The Jones family
was very numerous in this township many
years, but is now somewhat scattered, al-
though a good representation still remain.
Andrew Foster located on section 21, in
1833, and lived in this township until his
death.
Moses Garrett. a Georgian, settled on sec-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY,
157
tion 10 in 1831, and Isaac Nichols in 1830
settled on what is now known as the Cald-
well place.
The first teacher, Thomas Moon, came
from New York and settled on section 16.
The school-house stood near his cabin on
the same section. He died about thirty-five
years ago, in Missouri.
In 1836 Mark Cole, Jonathan Green and
the Doolens, Jesse and Daniel, settled near
the north fork. They each improved farms
and raised families and their descendants
are still residents of this and adjoining
townships. Ross Jones came from Salem
to this township about 1836. M. Smith
settled in this township in 1831, and died on
the farm he settled, near the north fork,
some years ago. John Arnold, the founder
of the numerous Arnold family, came from
Georgia in 1844, and settled near the town-
ship line, between Foster and Kinmundy.
He put up a horse mill and run it many
years. He lived to be very old and died
about twenty years ago.
The first death in the township was that
of Elizabeth Morris, daughter of Thomas
and Elizabeth Morris. She was buried in a
box made of puncheons, split out of logs
and dressed, and made into a rude coffin by
the neighbors. She was buried on the old
Hardy Foster place in 1827.
The first child born in the township was
Sallie. daughter of Hardy Foster. She mar-
ried William Doolen.
On March 6, 1854, Fosterburg was laid
out by Hardy Foster. William Doolen built
a house and put in a stock of general mer-
chandise the same year. The year before,
Samuel B. Jones, William Eagan and A. H.
Foster had put up a saw-mill, which they
run many years. William Ritter and James
Arnold afterward built another mill, near
the same place. Daniel McConnel, S. B.
Jones, Thomas S. Jones and J. W. Arnold
were the store keepers. At one time Fos-
terburg was one of the most promising
towns in the county. It had three stores, a
blacksmith and wagon shop, a mill, Metho-
dist Episcopal church, physician, Dr. Wil-
liam While, and was a post town. Now
nothing remains of this village. The town
house since built is all that exists of Foster-
burg.
The following letter from our esteemed
friend. Edward J. Doolen, gives an inter-
esting sketch of Foster township :
"Foster township was named for Hardy
Foster, who was a member of the Legisla-
ture, County Judge, and a prominent man
in general. Old Fosterburg was laid out
and named for him. This old village is now
but a memory, but it was once the center of
a great tract of country. Here was the
"manse" of the Methodist circuit rider;
here dwelt the Justice; here was the sing-
ing school, the spelling school, prayer meet-
ing, preaching and all things social. On
the common, now covered by an orchard,
men as raw volunteers were marched and
counter-marched by Captains Waddell and
John Foster, and by William Crowder, once
a colonel of Tennessee militia. The site of
Hardy Foster's house which was a log one
of a story and a half and which after being
158
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
torn down and rebuilt is now doing duty as
a bam, is occupied by the residence of his
son, Harmon Foster. I have seen many
men who when young hauled grain and
drove turkeys to St. Louis and Belleville
from this place.
"On North Fork creek about eighty yards
from the bank and a half mile of Patoka
and Foster town line can be found the faint
outlines of an old well, dug about the year
1818. Where the house stood can yet be
seen. In plowing over the spot last spring
I found many pieces of dishes of the blue
flowered style. This was the residence of
Mrs. Mary Jones, grandmother of Foun-
tain, M. L. and E. W. Jones, and from
whom all of the name of Jones in our town-
ship descended. She was born March i,
1771. and died Christmas day of 1847. I
have seen two of her sons, and in tracing
lines of descent of different families I find
that she is the ancestor of nearly all in Fos-
ter township. She is buried at Sandy Branch
I have seen her grave; it is well kept and
well marked. Within a few rods of this
old house site an Indian trail crossed the
creek. It is yet very distinct in as many
as three different places in the course of a
mile. It lies in a southwest direction and
passed very near the Doojen school-house.
Northeast of the school-house about three-
fourths of a mile is a stone of considerable
size, hollowed out basin-like, where the In-
dians made meal. I have seen many per-
sons who played around this old Indian
mill. I myself have searched for it. It is in a
small tract of woodland; it is supposed the
creek (Bear creek) changed its course and
buried it. It is more than likely the trail
led by this spot. The early settlers of this
township were southerners; Foster, Holt,
Mrs. Jones, Arnold, all originally from
Georgia. Foster and Holt both married
daughters of Mrs. Jones. At the present
time no less than nineteen grandchildren
of this woman are living. Later came
others from Kentucky and Tennessee.
"EDWARD J. DOOLEN.
"Vernon, Illinois, August 25, 1908."
We wish to thank Mr. Doolen for his let-
ter and say if others had done likewise,
every township might have had a better rep-
resentation.
TONTI TOWNSHIP.
Tonti township was najned from the
Chevalier De Tonti, a contemporary of Jol-
borders and is crossed in the southeast cor-
ner by the Chicago branch of the Illinois
iet, and was one of the early French ex- Central Railroad, having one station, Tonti,
plorers of Illinois. It is north of Salem a hamlet of four or five houses, a store, a
and its survey numbers are town 3 north,
range 2 east. It has no towns within its
saw-mill and a fruit warehouse.
The first settler of Tonti township was
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
159
William Pursley, who settled on section 14
in 1820, but did not enter any land until
1823, in which year he entered the west
half of the northwest quarter of section 14.
He deeded the land to his wife, who was
Miss Lydia Little. She was the heroine of
the rescue of Thomas Higgins in his des-
perate encounter with the Indians. The fol-
lowing is an account of the fight as given by
Governor Reynolds in his pioneer history
of Illinois:
"Thomas Higgins was born in Barren
county, Kentucky, in 1790. He came to
Illinois with his relatives in 1807, and lo-
cated on Silver creek, near the Bradsley's.
He received a very limited education, as
his parents were in humble circumstances,
and he himself was not much in love with
a school-house. He possessed a good mind,
but would, in defiance of danger or any-
thing else, employ himself in harmless mis-
chief, yet he was as brave a man as ever
existed. He was in his manhood, very
strong, muscular and active. He was not
so very tall, but compactly formed for great
strength and activity. During the whole
War of 1812 he was actively engaged on
the frontiers in defending the settlements. I
personally knew him to be a member of the
company commanded by Capt. William B.
Whitesides, in most of the war. In 1814
he joined another company and was one of
the party under command of Lieut. John
Journey at Hillsfort, situated six or eight
miles southwest of the present town of
Greenville in Bond county. Journey had
eleven men in his corps, and on the 2Oth of
August, 1814, Indian signs were discovered
near the fort, and next morning at day-
break, Journey and party mounted and went
out to reconnoitre the country. They had
not marched far before they entered an am-
buscade of a large party of Indians. The
warriors fired on them and Journey and
three of his men were killed instantly, Wil-
liam Burges and John Boucher wounded,
Boucher slightly. The horse of Higgins
was shot in the neck and fell to the ground,
but soon rose again. Higgins remained a
moment "to get a pull at them," as he said.
He took deliberate aim at an Indian and
shot him dead. He then mounted his horse
and was about to return to the fort, when a
familiar voice hailed him from the grass,
and said, "Tom, you won't leave me?" Hig-
gins hollowed out to him to "come on."
"I can't, my leg is smashed to pieces," an-
swered Burges. Higgins dismounted in-
stantly and was getting the wounded man
on his horse, but the horse scared and ran
off. Higgins told Burges to limp off on
three legs and he would protect him. Bur-
ges crawled off through the grass and saved
himself, while Higgins was left behind to
fight the most bloody and terrible battle that
ever the same number of men three In-
dians and one white man were engaged in.
Higgins had loaded his gun, as soon as he
had killed the Indian, and was ready for the
enemy again, but all at once three Indians
made their appearance near him. He saw a
small ravine close to him and ran for it, so
he could defend himself against so many
Indians. While he was running, he dis-
i6o
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
covered for the first time that his leg failed
him; he was wounded at the first fire but
did not know it at the time. One of the In-
dians was a very large and stout man as
large as Higgins. The others were small
and not so courageous as the large one.
Higgins was satisfied he must receive the
fire of the large Indian, and attempted to
dodge it, but the bullet lodged in his thigh,
and he fell, but rose instantly. By this
time the other two had also fired at him, and
both balls hit him. He fell, badly wounded,
but soon again was on his feet, with his
loaded gun in his hand. The Indians threw
down their guns as they had not time to
load them again and rushed, whooping and
yelling on Higgins, with their spears, toma-
hawks and knives. When they advanced
near him, he presented his gun at them and
that kept them off a while. Higgins often
told me that the large Indian was as brave
as a lion, he could not daunt him or intim-
idate him in the least, but when the two
small ones came near him they quailed under
his furious looks. They could not look him
in the face, "but the large Indian could look
the devil in the face," as Higgins expressed
it. The bold Indian was rushing on him,
and he shot him dead. It is supposed that
the large Indian did not believe Higgins's
gun loaded, or he would not have rushed on
certain death. The Indian had a great sol-
dier (Higgins) to contend with. When the
other Indians saw their main man killed, it
made them more fierce. They raised the
war whoop louder and rushed with greater
vigor on poor wounded Higgins, who had
in his body four Indian balls, and had lost
much blood, was weak and almost exhaust-
ed, had an empty gun and no other weapon.
He was near many Indian warriors besides
the two pressing on him, who were armed
with spears, tomahawks and knives, and
were strong, having lost no blood, nor were
they wounded as Higgins was. They gave
Higgins many flesh wounds, as his shirt
and body were literally cut to pieces. One
of the Indians threw a tomahawk at him,
cutting his ear nearly off, and laid the bone
of his head and side of his neck entirely
bare. This blow knocked him down, and
when they rushed on him with their spears,
he kicked them off. When one of the In-
dians presented his spear at the breast of
Higgins, while he was stretched on the
ground, he caught the spear and the Indian
pulling it, raise Higgins up by it. Then it
was that he took his gun and literally
knocked the brains, out of one of the In-
dians. This blow broke the skull of the In-
dian and likewise Higgins's gun. It was
shattered to pieces, and the barrel was bent.
Then he had 'but one Indian to fight, but
he was nearly exhausted. During most of
this fight, it was in sight of the fort, and a
woman a Mrs. Pursley, became excited,
and said she could not stand to see so brave
a man as Higgins murdered by the Indians.
She mounted her husband's horse, and start-
ed to his rescue. The men in the fort could
not see a woman go alone and followed
her. As soon as the Indian fighting Hig-
gins saw the rangers coming, he fled. They
found Higgins prostrated on the ground,
I'.RINKKRIIOFK S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
161
nearly dead, cut and mangled, and almost
torn to pieces.
Governor Reynolds states that Higgins
never fully recovered and that he received
a pension to the full amount of the law.
Such a woman was the first white woman
to live in Tonti township. Some of her de-
scendants still live in this county. In 1823
William Marshall settled in the east part of
Tonti township. He was a farmer, teacher,
Justice of the Peace and a fiddler. It is
told of him that he would walk to the home
of a bride-to-be, perform the marriage cere-
mony, and then take his fiddle, play all night
for the wedding dance and often the fee was
not more than "two bits." Marshall was the
first County Surveyor. In 1838 he moved
to near what is now Fairman in Carrigan
township, where he died. John Eddington
also came to Tonti in 1823. William Nich-
ols also settled in the northwest part of the
township in 1823. He owned one slave and
moved to Missouri in 1826. William Mar-
shall bought his place, which afterward was
owned by John S. Martin, who was -an en-
terprising, intelligent man of considerable
means and who owned at his death about
two thousand acres of land in the neighbor-
hood of this farm. The Nichols land is
still in the Martin family. John S. Martin
was the father of Gen. James S. Martin,
who commanded the One Hundred and
Eleventh Illinois Infantry in the Civil war.
John S. Martin died at Alma in 1865.
Thomas Allmon came from Tennessee in
1827. He was the founder of the Allmon
family in this county and from him is de-
n
rived the name of the Allmon peach, noted
in this county, as one of the most perfect
of cling peaches. John Davidson was a set-
tler in 1828 and lived in this and Carrigan
township many years. Robert Nichols im-
proved a farm in this township in 1823 and
lived on it until he died in 1836. He was
the eldest of eighteen children, several of
whom lived in this county.
Britton Smith came to Tonti in 1827.
When he came to the township, there were
only seven families in the township, he mak-
ing the eighth. They were the Widow
Pursley, a sketch of whom is given above,
William Marshall, Thomas Allmon. John
Eddingten, Ross Jones, John Davidson and
Robert Nichols. Mordecai and Britton
Smith came to Salem in 1829 and their fa-
ther, Abraham Smith, followed them to Ma-
rion county in 1831 and settled in Tonti
township, where he died in 1854. Britton
was a stage driver on the Vincennes and St.
Louis route a long time. He afterward
married and settled on section 5. where
he died. Israel Jennings moved from Wal-
nut Hill and settled on section 31 about
1831.
James Black, of whom mention is made
in the county section, settled on section 17,
in 1831. He raised a family of ten chil-
dern and the Blacks and their descendants
are allied to many of the best families in the
county. Charles Purcell came from Tennes-
see in 1832 and settled on land in section 2.
He died here in 1846. He raised a family
of eight children, five sons and three
daughters, one of the sons, Thomas, still
162
UNKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS-
living on the old home, enjoying in old age
the fruits of a well spent life.
J. D. Gray, a Methodist minister located
on section 17 in 1840 and was the first min-
ister settled in the township. Lemuel Bal-
lance came in 1836 and was the founder of
the Ballance family of this township of
whom there are but few left. Gen. Josiah
Woodward came from Ohio in 1840 and
settled in Tonti, but afterward went back to
Ohio. His son, Charles, who died a couple
of years ago, lived on the place until about
1902 or 1903. William Woodward, of Sa-
lem, and Jay Woodward, of Tonti, are the
grandsons of General Woodward.
The first school-house was a log, structure
built in the heavy timber on section 10. Wil-
liam Marshall was the first teacher. The
Baptists built the first church near the school
house quite early in the forties. It was of
logs and was long since replaced by a neat
frame church known as Fredonia. Cubbage
Chapel, a neat frame church, was built aft-
erward on the Fredonia road by the Metho-
dist people. Both have good membership
and have exercised a wholesome influence.
Moriah church is also in this township and
has exerted a good influence in its neigh-
borhood. It also is a Methodist church, but
when not in use like the others is open to
any respectable minister.
The Borden farm in this township is one
of the notable things of the county. Mr.
W T . L. Borden, son of Gail Borden of con-
densed milk fame and a successor to his
father in the business, purchased a tract of
about one thousand acres of land and im-
proved it with fine buildings as a sort of
summer home. Here he built dwellings for
himself and for his help;,built barns, mills,
poultry houses, carriage houses, etc., so that
approaching one thinks he is surely coming
to a village. Mr. Borden spent over one
hundred thousand dollars beautifying the
Borden farm and as he once said to the
writer, "just for the satisfaction of having
a place where he could retire for a few
months each year and rest and be free from
business cares. The place is .still kept up
by his heir.
During the building of the Illinois Cen-
tral Railroad through this township, a sen-
sation was caused by finding, the dead body
of a man hid in a shock of fodder, by a
farmer. The circumstances were these :
During the winter the farmer had oc-
casion to haul out fodder to feed his stock.
Approaching a shock of fodder he observed
a pair of boots sticking out from under the
shock and thought some one had hidden
them there and was congratulating himself
upon finding a good pair of boots. Imagine
his horror upon pulling them out of the fod-
der to find the dead body of a laborer. The
dead man was supposed to have been killed
by other laborers on the railroad and hid-
den in the fodder. The mystery was never
cleared up.
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS. 163
SALEM TOWNSHIP.
The first settler in Salem township was
also the first settler in the county, as has
been related in the sketch of the county.
His name was Capt. Samuel Young, and
from him is derived the numerous families
of Youngs in this part of the county. He
was a widower when he came to the county
and had a large family. James Young was
his eldest son, and was a married man, and
soon the old man turned over to him the
cares of the farm, while Captain Samuel put
in his time hunting and fishing, and in other
backwoods occupations. He was an original
character and like all backwoods men, he
had a strong aversion to anything that
smacked of style, which in his later years,
was sometimes seen in the travelers on the
highway from Vincennes to St. Louis. It is
related of him that being in Salem one day
he saw a couple of young men who offended
his sense of taste by their slighting remarks.
They were easterners who were going to St.
Louis. Young hastened home and getting
his gun watched for the youths and as they
arrived about where Ike Shanafelt's house
now stands, confronted them with his gun
and made them dismount and dance a horn-
pipe for the amusement of the backwoods
man, which he made them keep up until
well-nigh exhausted, when he permitted
them to proceed on their way, while the old
man went chuckling home, but he who
laughs last laughs best, and the old man was
not done with dancing. The youths on arriv-
ing at Carlyle related the circumstance and
learning of the intention of a couple of trav-
elers to journey to Vincennes, prevailed on
them to pay the old man in his own coin,
which they did by watching for him, and at
the muzzle of a pistol made the old man
give a half-hour exhibition dance in the
middle of the road and then rode away
leaving the old man in doubt as to who had
the best of it.
The history of Salem is largely the his-
tory of the county for the first few years, so
far as civil history goes. The township was
about half timber and half prairie, but now
is largely cleared and in cultivation. The
main watercourse is Crooked creek, which
flows southwest across the township from
section 24 to 31. The Baltimore & Ohio
Southwestern Railroad runs about two
miles south of the north line of the town-
ship, and nearly parallel to it, while the old
Vincennes road parallels the railroad, about
a half mile north. The C. & E. I. Rail-
road enters the township at the northeast
corner, bends to the west about one mile to
the city of Salem, and then bends to the east,
passing out of the township near the south-
east corner of section 24.
The Illinois Southern enters the township
on the west near the southwest corner and
runs to the city of Salem, its northern ter-
minus. The Chicago branch of the Illinois
Central crosses the northwest corner of the
township, but has no station in Salem town-
ship, but Tonti in Tonti township is only
three miles from the city of Salem, and
[64
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
gives good shipping facilities, by that road.
It is said that a narrow policy held to by the
citizens of Salem when the road was being
built prevented the Central coming to Sa-
lem. If such was the policy of the fathers
it is certainly not of the sons for when the
C. P. & M. was projected, Salem citi-
zens gave eleven thousand dollars cash and.
the right of way through the township as
an inducement to deflect from a straight
line, so as to touch Salem, and they also
gave the right of way to the Illinois South-
ern, when it was extended from Centralia.
The next comers after Young and his
sons-in-law Snodgrass and Piles, did not
settle in this township for some years.
James Roberts was the first; he came from
Indiana in 1819. He brought his wife and
four children, two sons, Jesse and William,
and two daughters, both married, one Mrs.
John Walker, the other Mrs. William Frost.
This family made the second settlement and
Roberts having selected section n, began
improvements, where the city of Salem now
stands, thus increasing the population by
eight adults. Roberts sold his holdings to
Rufus Ricker and Mark Tulley in 1824 and
moved back to Indiana with his entire fam-
ily. Mark Tully, who came to the township
in 1821, was the second son of an Irish emi-
grant and wife and was born near Harpers
Ferry, Virginia, then went to Tennessee,
thence to Indiana and from there to Illinois
in 1821. He first settled about three miles
west of Salem, in the neighborhood of the
Youngs. He brought his wife and four
children of his own and two step-children,
having married ,a widow. Nine more chil-
dren were born to them after coming to this
county, one of whom is still living in Sa-
lem, and is well known to almost every citi-
zen of the county, who has been here any-
time. \Ve refer to Mr. Ander Tully, Esq.,
and from him we get most of the facts per-
taining to the family. Mr. Tully soon after
his settlement moved to a place north of
Salem and in 1824 in partnership with Ru-
fus Ricker bought out James Roberts and
confirmed the deed of gift of thirty acres of
land made by Roberts to the county in
1823, in consideration of the county seat
being located on his land. Ricker and Tul-
ly and their wives signed the deed in 1826,
Mrs. Tully signing by mark as Suckey Tul-
ly-
The Tully family by their number unites
in strains of blood more or less closely most
of the old families of Salem, among whom
are the Hulls, the Bryans and the Ogles,
and through their children, many others.
Mr. Tully was a man of fine character and
was endowed with the clear brain and kind
heart of his Irish forefathers. He was the
first Sheriff of the county and for many
years was one of the guiding spirits of the
destinies of the new county. He was left
the second of five children when quite young
to the care of his mother, made a widow by
the unprovoked murder of his father. The
story as I have it from Mr. Ander Tully is
as follows :
Shortly after the War of the Revolution
the elder Tully and his wife emigrated from
Ireland to Virginia and settled a few miles
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
165
west of what is now Harper's Ferry. They
possessed but little of this world's goods,
but with cheerful bravery proceeded to wrest
fortune from the hand of destiny. Mr. Tul-
ly was employed as a teamster for the pro-
prietor of a store, a day's journey from
the ferry, and was accustomed to take trips
lasting three or four weeks with a five horse
team and an immense freight wagon, there
being no other way to transport produce
from or goods to the country store of his
employer. On these trips Mr. Tully would
camp by the wayside to feed and cook meals
or pass the night, often not seeing a person
for days unless chancing to meet a traveler
like himself. On one occasion he was re-
turning with a load of salt, driving his five
horse team (two teams and a "spike" leader,
driven by a single line, the driver riding one
wheel horse) when noon overtook him
about six miles from his journey's end and
he stopped to feed and rest his team. While
so resting a settler passed going to the store
and spoke to Mr. Tully and passed on. Ar-
riving at the store he told the proprietor his
team would be in soon as he had passed it
some miles back. The settler did not return
that way, but went home by another route.
The storekeeper looked for the team's com-
ing, but it had not appeared at sundown. He
waited until nine o'clock, then thinking Tul-
ly must have broken down, got another
man, and taking lanterns with them started
to look for the team and driver. When
they arrived at the place where the friend
had seen Tully taking the noon hour rest,
they found the wagon and team with the
best horse missing and a worn-out horse in
its stead. A search of the ground showed
evidence of a struggle and blood stains.
They followed the track marked by blood
drippings to the ferry, which was of the flat-
boat kind, held in place by a rope across the
river and a running pulley propelled by pol-
ing. The ferryman had been absent during
the day, but his wife on being asked said a
man and woman in a one-horse wagon ac-
companied by a man on horseback, were
ferried over by her that afternoon, and be-
ing asked if she noticed anything about the
buggy, she said there was blood dripping
from the rear end, but as it was a daily oc-
currence for hunters to have a deer or bear
just killed, she thought nothing of it. She in-
dicated the way the trio went. A posse was
obtained and pursuit made the next day ami
on the morning after a pole with a man's
head stuck on it was standing on the river
bank. The murderers were the notorious
Harpe brothers known throughout the West
as Big Harpe and Little Harpe. The head
was that of Big Harpe. Little Harpe and the
woman escaped. Little Harpe was killed in
New Orleans years after and confessed be-
fore he died that he and his brother killed
Tully, and thus concluded Uncle Ander.
My father has told me many times of the
death of my grandfather and from that time
the ferry was called Harper's Ferry. Mrs.
Mark Tully died in Salem in 1857. Mr. Tul-
ly retired to his farm in Tonti township and
lived a retired life until his summons came
in 1869, October ijth, when he slept the last
sleep.
1 66
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Rufus Ricker came in 1819 from Indiana
most probably with Mark Tully, as they
were friends and associates in business, he
and Tully buying out Roberts, as has been
mentioned before. He was popular and took
prominent part in the affairs of the new
county. He was the first postmaster, being
appointed in 1825. After several years he
went to Iowa. The first marriage in the
township was Samuel Young's daughter.
Patsy, to Jacob Albert, a soldier of the sec-
ond war with Great Britain. Abia Lee, a
Justice of the Peace, performed the cere-
mony. This wedding was in 1816. The
first child born was a daughter of this cou-
ple, and the first male child was John, a son
of Matthew Young, who at the age of nine-
teen married Miss Sarah Ware. John,
or Farmer John Young, as he was
called, lived and died within a few hun-
dred yards of where his father and mother
began life together. John lived to a ripe
old age, and died in 1906. Several sons and
daughters of Matthew and Sarah Young
are still living in the county, and many
grandchildren and great grandchildren.
Matthew's wife survived him three or four
years, but died about eighteen years ago.
The writer knew them "well in life, and in
death, as minister, laid them to rest as
well as their eldest son, John Young. The
first death in the township was William, son
of Robert Snodgrass, and Jane Snodgrass,
his wife, which occurred in 1816. The de-
ceased was buried at Young's graveyard in
section 16. This was the first grave-
yard in the county. A rude log hut
was built in 1824 near James Young's
on section 16 as a school-house, and
as it was only used in summer it was
not even chinked and daubed. The first
teacher was William Hadden, who taught
the three "R's" "Readin', Ritin' and Rith-
metic." Preaching was at private houses as
often as possible and by 1825 the passing
preacher became a regular preacher, leaving
his appointments sometimes months ahead,
and today there is one preacher who had
preached every year on the same Sunday in
the year for forty-four years. We refer to
Elder J. D. Morgan, of Odin, and the place
is at Young's this township. The celebrated
Lorenzo Dow, Thomas Cole, Leonard Mad-
dux and Elder Patterson were among the
first preachers and often the funeral sermon
of a deceased friend was preached a year or
more after interment. Those of today can-
not know the toil and hardships these early
soldiers of the Cross had to bear that the
message might be brought to those hunger-
ing after the bread of life. The preaching
day was "norated" abroad and when it ar-
rived the neighborhood met at the house
where the preaching was to be, coming for
miles on foot, in oxcarts, wagons and on
horseback. The preacher at the hour of
service arose and lined the opening hymn,
sometimes reading the entire hymn first and
then lining it. This was necessary, as per-
haps the only hymn book in the audience
was that carried by the preacher. The man-
ner of lining was as follows : The preacher
would read, say,
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
167
"From Greenland's icy mountains
To India's coral strands,"
and then call the meter, long, common, or
short, and start the hymn. After these two
lines were sung, he would read the next
two:
"Where Afric's sunny fountains
Roll down the golden sands."
All immediately sang these lines and thus
alternately reading and singing, the hymn
was finished, nor was the effect so grotesque
as one might think, as practice rendered the
singers adept at beginning at the right time
with right tone and pitch. Often in my
young days in Illinois I have listened to this
kind of singing and thought it excellent.
James Roberts built the first mill. It
stood on Main street near the place where
Mat Marshall's house now stands. It was
a horse mill, but passed into the hands of
Mark Tully in 1823 and after running it
some years he made it into a steam mill. No
trace of it now remains. The township is
now fairly dotted with fine farms, good
houses and barns, large orchards, and all
that goes to make rural life worth living.
Schools are plentiful, with good school
houses and the best equipments and a fine
corps of teachers. What a change a few
short years have brought about. Where the
wild Indian whoop was heard a few years
ago is now heard only the hum of quiet in-
dustry and the silent arches by nature built
has given place to the homes of men. May
they be happy homes of virtue, love and
peace.
THE CITY OF SALEM.
The city of Salem, county seat of Marion
county, is within a mile or less from the ge-
ographic center of the county, that is, the
northeast corner of the city is within less
than a mile of the northeast corner of the
township, which is at the exact center of the
county. The original town was an exact
square around which was an alley, twenty-
feet wide. The city inside of this alley was
divided into four squares by two principal
streets at right angles to each other and
crossing each other at what is known as the
bank corner. Each square was again divid-
ed into four equal square blocks by streets
fifty feet wide, the two principal streets,
Broadway, running north and south and
Main street, running east and west, being
one hundred feet wide. The blocks in turn
were divided into eight lots each fifty-six
by one hundred and twelve feet. Block
three in square one was reserved as a coun-
ty square and is still, and forever must be
by the terms of the gift, the court-house
square. The land within the twenty foot
bordering alley, was donated to the county
in accordance with the act of the Legislature
1 68
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
creating the county, by James Roberts, who
was the owner by right of squatter sov-
ereignty and entry in 1819. Although he
did not deed the land, but left that to his
successors in title, Rufus Ricker and Mark
Tully, who confirmed the gift by deed dated
June 6, 1826. The Commissioners acting
for the county were John S. Davis, Leonard
P. Pyles and Benjamin (Blackbear) Ver-
million.
The first house in Salem was a log house
built by James Roberts ; it stood on the south
side of Main street, east of the square, but
was not in the original town. It is still
standing, having been repaired and weather-
boarded and now has the appearance of an
old frame house. The second house was
built by Mark Tully as a stopping place for
the Vincennes stage, which route was in
use as early as 1820. This house was built
about the time that Ricker and Tully bought
Roberts out and stood as the homestead
of A. R. Bryan until his death, with, how-
ever, many improvements and additions it
has sheltered three generations and still
stands a commodious and substantial build-
ing.
The first store was kept by Martin Hill.
It was in a small frame building about the
middle of the block west from the court-
house, and north of Main street ; it has dis-
appeared. Hill kept a few groceries and no-
tions, perhaps the entire stock was brought
from St. Louis by one wagon. The next
store stood where the National Bank now
stands. Thomas Higgins was the propri-
etor, and was the first to sell dry goods in
Salem.
The first church was built by the Presby-
terians. It stood northeast from the court-
house, near the old creamer) site. It was
sold to the Colored Baptists, and is now
gone. It was built in 1846.
The first school-house was built in 1840,
and stood in the same part of the town as
the Presbyterian church. It was built in
1840. It was a small frame building and
stood many years, and has only disappeared
with the last decade. It must not be in-
ferred that the children received no educa-
tion from 1823 to 1840, but during those
seventeen years school had been kept at such
times and places as teachers and patrons
could make convenient. The city did not
graw rapidly. Indeed, it was only the county
seat and a stopping place for stage coaches
for many years and consisted of some half
a dozen houses. By 1837 the hamlet had
grown so that the subject of incorporating
was agitated and a meeting was called for
July i, 1837, to consider the advisability of
incorporating Salem as a town. The meet-
ing was held in the store of Col. W. N.
Dobbins, and Uriah Mills was elected as
chairman and Thomas Ray as clerk. They
were both sworn to do the duties of their
offices to the best of their abilities. The
minutes of the meeting as preserved among
the county records are unique, and are here
copied verbatim :
"On motion of Col. W. N. Dobbins, W.
D. Haynie explained the object of the meet-
ing and on motion of N. B. Nelems, the
house proceeded to ascertain by vote the
sense of the meeting. Whareuppon William
D. Haynie, Jas. Marshal, N. B. Nelems,
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
169
William X. Dobbins, Uriah Mills, W. H. H.
Barens, John Harner, George W. Pace and
Thomas Ray, voting in favor of incorpor-
ating the said town. No opposition voats.
We certify that thare ware nine voats in
favor of incorporating the town, as above,
and none against."
"URIAH MILLS, Pres.
"THOMAS RAY, Clerk."
We have preserved this unique document
in wording and spelling that modern meth-
ods may be compared therewith. Just what
was accomplished by the meeting it is diffi-
cult to see, as no further action seems to
have been taken and there is no evidence
that the town was legally incorporated at
that time, nor was any further action taken
until 1 the spring of 1854, when a proposition
to organize as a village was submitted to
the voters. The proposition was carried by
a vote of seventy-six to thirteen against.
An election was called and the following
five trustees was elected: Thomas Day, B.
F. Marshall, S. W. Cuningham, T. O. Lef-
fingwell an Samuel Hull. W. W. Jennings
was chosen constable. Salem remained un-
der the village charter until 1865, when it
was made a city by special act of the
Legislature. W. E. McMackin (afterward
lieutenant colonel of General Grant's regi-
ment) was elected first Mayor.
In 1829 Salem contained five families,
viz., those of Rufus Ricker, Mark Tully,
James Chance, James Pyles and Martin
Hill. Ricker was Clerk of the Court and
postmaster ; Tully was Sheriff, Chance
was a blacksmith; Hill a storekeeper, and
Pyles a farmer. Today Salem has three
thousand five hundred people, three rail-
roads, three miles of brick paved streets,
about ten miles of granitoid sidewalk, a
large three-story school building, two bank
buildings, the finest in Southern Illinois;
four hotels, two steam flouring 'mills, steam
brick-making plant ; two large and six me-
dium dry goods houses, the larger carrying
a thirty thousand dollar stock, the others
from six thousand to ten thousand dollar
stocks ; three millinery stores ; one china
store: two clothing stores, each with large
stock : one machine shop, four butcher
shops, two furniture stores, one of which is
the largest establishment of its kind south
of Springfield ; ten grocery stores, one poul-
try house, two jewelry stores and two drug
stores. The city is lighted by electricity,
the city owning its own plant. Until 1905
the city's growth was very slow, the census
of 1900 giving it but one thousand six hun-
dred and forty-two inhabitants, but in 1905
the C. & E. I. Railroad removed their re-
pair shops from St. Elmo to Salem, a com-
pany of citizens buying and giving to the
company a strip of land one thousand feet
wide and two miles long for yards. The
company also made Salem a division head-
quarters with offices of superintendent, en-
gineer, freight and dispatcher's headquar-
ters of the division, thus doubling the pop-
ulation in less than a year. Salem still needs
two things to make it an ideal city: water-
works and good country roads leading to
the city limits. Both are being agitated and
both will come and that, too, in the near fu-
ture.
170
BRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Salem also boasts of the largest seed-
cleaning establishment in the state if not
in the world that makes an exclusive busi-
ness of handling Red Top seed. Thousands
and thousands of bushels are handled every
year. The seed is said to be shipped to Eu-
rope and there used in making an excellent
dye for fabric coloring.
The Salem mine, now being rebuilt after
the fire of last December is, as has been
stated, one of the deepest in the state, nine
hundred and one feet to the bottom of the
sump. The vein is four feet and six inches
thick, but of an excellent quality, burning
without clinkers and giving an intense heat,
and is equal to one and one-half times the
unit of other coal.
The city cemetery, known as East Lawn,
is situated in the eastern part of the city
and contains about twenty acres. It is
beautifully located and well cared for and
speaks well for the people's remembering
their dead. A small soldiers' monument oc-
cupies the circle in the center of the ceme-
tery. It was erected by the Woman's Re-
lief Corps to the memory of the deceased
soldiers of the Civil war. The cemetery
as a burial place dates back to 1830, and a
man by the name of Hammers is supposed
to have been the first interment.
The oldest newspaper in the county is
published in Salem. It is the Weekly Her-
ald-Advocate, owned and published by
Senator C. E. Hull.
As Centralia had her mystery of hidden
skeletons so Salem also had her mystery,
but in the case of Salem the mystery was-
speedily cleared away.
About twenty-four years ago, when the
excavation for the basement of the present
Cutler & Hays building was being dug,
the workmen dug out of an old abandoned
well the skeleton of a woman, which was
covered by .the debris that had accumulated
in the old well. As an old house had been
standing many years on the spot the report
started that someone had been murdered and
thrown into the well years before. Great
excitement prevailed and the wiseacres be-
gan to tell of this one and that one who
might have been murdered, drawing largely
upon their imaginations, and dark hints as
to who the murderers were, filled the minds
of the ever-increasing crowds. People from
the country around flocked to town day
after day until the excitement grew so great
it was thought best to clear up the mystery,
as some of the best citizens were coming
under the suspicion of the unreasoning
throng. It was quietly let leak out that the
whole thing was a grewsome joke and the
perpetrators confessed to having hid the
skeleton in the well the night before its dis-
covery. The jokers were Dr. G. S. Rainey,
now chief surgeon for the C. & E. I. 'Rail-
road; W. S. Slack, now proprietor of the
Salem Marble Works, and Dr. Will Mc-
Mackin, since dead. The crowd of excited
citizens vanished and everybody said, "I
knew it was some joke of Doctor Rainey's."
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
RACCOON TOWNSHIP.
171
Raccoon township is the southernmost of
the second tier of townships, east of the
third principal meridian. Its survey num-
bers are town i north, range 2 east. The
name is taken from one of the denizens of
the forest with which one-half of this town-
ship was once covered. Its principal stream
also bears the same name. Small glades of
prairie land project into this township
among which Walnut Hill, Romine and
Tennessee prairies form most of the open
land. Little prairie is wholly in this town-
ship and was little more than an open glade
amid the forest. Much of the timber land
has been cleared and nothing remains in
many places to show that a forest ever oc-
cupied the soil, but instead of the forest, or-
chards of apple, peach and pear trees greet
the traveler's eye. Tennessee prairie, so
called because settled by Tennesseeans, is in
the northwest and extends to Little prairie,
to which it is connected by a narrow strip.
Like all settlements of Illinois, the 'first set-
tlers chose the timber land; first, because
they found it more convenient to build and
for fuel; second, because they were used to
timber and loved its 'protection from the
summer sun and the blasts of winter ; third,
the flies with which the prairie was infested,
especially the green-heads, rendered it al-
most impossible for horses to work during
the heat of the day.
The first man to settle on Tennessee
prairie was Alfred Ray. He was a good
citizen and left several representatives, who
are good citizens of the county. Two fam-
ilies of North Carolina settled in this town-
ship near Walnut Hill. Their names were
Sherwood and McKinney. John Adams
came from Kentucky in 1828 and
settled in Raccoon township. He, his wife
and six children came in one wagon. The
children all are dead, but several grand-
children still live in various parts of the
county. John Wilson settled on section 32
in 1819. He also had six children; all are
dead, but a few grandchildren represent the
family. He was from North Carolina. Jb-
siah Fyke, a veteran of the War of 1812,
one of General Jackson's Tennesseeans, at
the battle of New Orleans, settled in section
17, in 1830. He was the first Justice of
the Peace in the township and served in the
Black Hawk war. Several of his descend-
ants still reside in this township and a few
in other townships of the county.
Samuel Hays was the founder of the large
and influential Hays family, and in 1828 he
settled on section 32, near what is now the
Bundyville school. He was from Alabama
and had a large family of seven boys and
two girls, all of whom are now dead. Elijah,
the fifth son, was a man of an exceptionally
large mind and lived until a few years ago.
His widow, of whom mention is made in
the sketch of Odin township and the Dead-
mond family, still lives on the old home farm
at the age of ninety-one. Elijah Hays was
an original Free Soil man and was one of
the two men living south of Springfield,
172
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
who voted for John G. Birney for Presi-
dent in 1852. The descendants of Samuel
Hays are numerous in the southern part of
the county and rank with our best people.
John Bundy, from North Carolina, set-
tled in Jefferson county in 1819, but moved
to Raccoon township soon after and made a
home in section 6. He had eight children.
Three of the boys were in the Mexican war
and one. Rev. Isaac Bundy, was a well
known Methodist preacher for many years.
The children are all dead but one, William
Bundy. who still 'lives, a sturdy representa-
tive of a stock that made the wilderness
blossom as a rose.
In 1822 Samuel Huff settled on section
31. He came from Tennessee and was a
noted character in the early days. He was
one of the celebrated Illinois Rangers, who
did so much to protect the frontier settle-
ments from cutthroats, who nocked to the
new settlements to hide from justice, as well
as from the Indian depredations. His home
was always the home of the traveling
preacher, who at that time was to be found
ever on the road doing his Master's work
and preaching the \Yord as opportunity of-
fered. One of these itinerant preachers who
stopped at the Huffs was the celebrated Lo-
renzo Dow, who preached from a wagon on
the text "The End of All Things Is at
Hand ; be ye, therefore, sober and watchful
unto prayer." This trait of keeping the
preacher seems to run in the family and
was kept up by the sons and daughters,
more especially by his daughter, Cynthia,
and her husband. Mr. Mercer, whose home
was the preachers' home, where an old-
fashioned welcome awaited every one who
came in the name of the Lord.
The Copple family came from Indiana in
1835, and the founder, Andrew Copple, has
numerous representatives in this and other
townships. The Telford family came in
1831. The father, Joseph Telford, brought
his family from South Carolina in a four-
horse wagon. He made his home in section
33. where he cleared a farm. This family
is also represented by numerous descendants
who are active citizens and public-spirited
men.
The Radcliffs, Boggs and Morrison fam-
ilies next came and settled in this township.
The settlers of this township were from the
first a church-loving and a church-going
people and the first thought after the home
was built was a meeting-house. The first
meeting place was either at Mt. Moriah or
Antioch, but both places claim the distinc-
tion. Certain it is they are the oldest
churches in the county and were built at the
same or about the same time: Antioch by the
Methodists and Mt. Moriah by the Baptists.
The Moriah site was a camp-meeting ground,
and was used before the church was built,
and is beyond doubt the first land set apart
for religious purposes in the county. It was
first a Baptist congregation, but at an early
day decided to call themselves Christians,
by which name it is now known. The first
church built here was a small log cabin,
eighteen by twenty-two feet, unchinked.
Other and larger houses were built from
time to time until now this historic ground
BRINKERIIOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
is occupied by a neat frame chapel, about
thirty by forty-five feet. It stands on the
original site and is surrounded by ten acres
of church land, a part of which is used as a
burial ground. This is the oldest graveyard
in the township and perhaps the second in
the county. The first grave dug was for an
Indian child who was drowned, and was
buried by the white settlers. This spot had
been used for burial purposes by the Indians
and a few graves were scattered about when
the whites came. Both of these churches
still flourish and are regarded with venera-
tion in their neighborhoods.
A coal shaft was opened in 1846, in sec-
tion 4. It did not amount to much and was
abandoned. A stone quarry was opened on
section 21 in 1834 by B: J. Crane. The
stone is a soft sandstone, which hardens by
exposure to air, but is of inferior quality,
and was only used for neighborhood pur-
poses. It has not so far developed any com-
mercial value. The old Vincennes trail
passe through this township. And across its
glades and through its forests, Clark and
his men marched on their famous expedi-
tion to conquer Vincennes. The first school
was taught by one Jeff Dow, near the pres-
ent site of the Bundy school. It was taught
in an old log cabin. The first school-house
was erected in section 18, in 1832. It had a
chimney and fire place and no floor, but
mother earth. The first teacher in this prim-
itive school-house was Robert Mayberry.
Samuel R. Martin built the first mill. It
was a horse mill and answered the needs of
the settlers for a time. This was very early,
but the date cannot now be ascertained. It
was in section 15. I^ater, in 1832, John My-
ers built a horse mill on the same section.
It was a twenty-bushel mill. Next Joseph
Baldriclge built a tread mill, run by oxen,
with a capacity of forty bushels per day.
This mill was on section 20. In 1848 a post-
office was established at Raccoon, at the
home of John Parkinson. It was afterward
moved a short distance southwest, where it
continued with a short intermission until it
was superseded by the Rural Free Delivery
system.
Raccoon township has always been a
township of religious people. The Covenant-
ers were at one time strong, while Christian,
Baptist, Methodist, each has several strong
organizations, and perhaps no township in
the county has so many places of public
worship nor so many appointed preachers.
PATOKA TOWNSHIP.
The name Patoka is of Indian origin, west tier of townships and borders on Fay-
evidently, but its significance is, so far as ette county on the north. Its survey numbers
the writer is concerned, lost. It is the fourth are town 4 north, range I east of the third
township north from the base line in the principal meridian. The Illinois Central
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Railroad passes from north to south across
the township, about two miles from the west
line, and has two stations in the township,
Patoka, toward the south side, and Vernon
on the north.
Harmon Holt was the first man to settle
in this township and he settled on section
14, in the winter of 1826. At that time the
township was an unbroken wilderness, part
timber and part prairie. Harmon Holt re-
mained on this tract until his death a few
years later. He left a widow and six chil-
dren, four of whom were daughters and
two sons, one of whom owned the old
homestead until his death less than twenty
years ago. Henry was sixteen years old
when his father came to the township.
The next spring John Cole and family
settled near the Holt cabin, but did not stay
long, and went to Arkansas and until 1829
these two families, the Holts and Coles, were
the only inhabitants of the township. In the
latter year Jeptha Meador came from Ten-
nessee and settled near Holts, on section 14.
He raised a family of eight children and his
son, Stephen, lived on the original farm
many years. There are quite a number of
his descendants living in the vicinity. The
next accession to the little colony was
Stephen Hopkins, who settled on section 13,
but he was a "mover" and did not stay long
in any place, but was continually changing
places. At last he went to Fayette county,
where he died.
Ignatius Anderson came from Clinton
county about 1833, and settled in the edge
of the timber, near Flat Creek, close to the
Fayette county line on the west, but after-
ward sold his improvements to William
Brown, who on the 3d of February entered
the forty-acre tract that he had bought of
Anderson. It was the southeast quarter of
the northeast quarter of section 6, and was
the first piece of land entered in the town-
ship. The second piece was the forty that
his father had improved and had lived on
seven years before its entry. '
Henry Holt married a daughter of Jesse
Nichols in 1832 and had a family of ten
children, all of whom but one we believe is
dead. Henry Holt and wife lived to a good
old age upon the same place where they be-
gan life together in 1832.
The farm generally known as the old
Walton place was first settled by Joseph
Meador in 1830, but in 1832 he sold it to a
man named Epperson, who lived there sev-
eral years and improved a farm on Flat
creek. He afterward went to Missouri.
Labon Gallion also settled forty acres in
section 4 in 1832. He did not enter the land
until 1836. Gallion afterward moved to
Fayette county. Ayers Conant settled on
section n in 1830. He was a man of some
education and was the first Justice of the
Peace in the township. He also was af-
flicted with the moving worm and moved
to Missouri and back in a few years and
finally died in Foster township.
Young Edwards located in the township
in 1831 and Levi Stiles in the same year,
Stiles improving the old Peter Smith place,
but after living here many years, moved
back to Tennessee. He afterward returned
BRIXKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
175
to Carrigan township. Then he moved to
Missouri, then to Texas, then back to Ma-
rion county, where he died.
Solomon Cross settled in this township on
section 23. His wife died soon after, and her
death was the first in the township. Martha
Holt was the first child born in Carrigan.
She was the daughter of J. F. and Elizabeth
Holt, and afterwards married William Ea-
gan.
The Altom family was founded by John
Altom, who came from Tennessee with his
father to Clinton county in 1842. He moved
to this county and settled in Patoka town-
ship. He died in the village of Patoka in
1877, leaving a large number of descend-
ants.
The first school-house in the township,
like those in other townships, was built of
logs. It stood on section 14. Isom Finch was
probably the first teacher. From then to
now what a change! The little log school-
house of that day is replaced by neat frame
buildings, the old slab benches have been re-
placed with patent folding desks: the old
blue-back speller and McGuffey's reader by
a dozen books if no better, at least more at-
tractive; the untrained teacher, half farmer,
half backwoods man, by more or less trained
teachers and with sanitary surroundings.
Verily, the change is great and surely for
the better.
Patoka as a village, like all the cities,
towns and villages in the west tier of town-
ships, owes its existence to the Illinois Cen-
tral Railroad. The village was laid out on
Independence Day, 1854, by Clark and
Brigham. C. F. Jones laid out an addition
May ii, 1855, and the railroad another the
same day. The beginning of the village was
the building of a station house by the Il-
linois Central Railroad, which was used as
a boarding house by them for their work-
men, while the road was building. A man
by the name of Crawford was the boarding
boss.
Cyrus Walker built the first house in Pa-
toka in 1854 and kept a small general store
in it. It afterward was a part of the Walk-
er brothers' house. Mr. Walker succeeded
Crawford as boarding boss and when the
road was built became the first agent at Pa-
toka. He was instrumental in getting a
post-office established, even before the road
was completed and the mail was for a while
carried from Fosterburg. As Walker wanted
the post-office established that he might get
his own mail regularly, he submitted the
proposition to the Government that he
would carry the mail for the proceeds of the
office. Walker could not, under the law, be
both postmaster and mail contractor, so he
obviated this difficulty by securing the ap-
pointment of a farmer by the name of Alex-
ander Rodman to be postmaster, who kept
the office in Walker's store, Walker doing
all the work of the office as well as carry-
ing the mail, but the completion of the road
soon stopped this inconvenient way of get-
ting mail. Walker also built the first pure-
ly business house in 1856 and to this build-
ing moved his stock of goods. This build-
ing was afterwards occupied by and known
as Dr. E. M. Beach's building. Walker was
176
BRINKERIIOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
a public spirited man and built many build-
ings and was prominent in building up Pa-
toka, keeping his interest in Patoka active
until his death which occurred in 1872. In
1855 Richardson and Gray opened a
produce store in Patoka. It was the second
business venture. They sold feed, flour,
meal, etc., and as the crops of 1854 in this
section were almost a total failure, they sup-
plied the farmers with feed.
Later in the same year, Williams & Kess-
ner built the third business house. All these
business houses were on the west side of the
track, Walker's residence alone being on
the east side. Patoka grew rapidly the first
few years, but then for many years ceased
to advance, but in the last three or four
years seems to be imbued with new life. In
1857 Snider and Harrison opened the first
blacksmith shop. Snider also repaired guns.
They put in a steam engine and manufac-
tured many kinds of farm implements. Cy-
rus Walker built a grist mill in 1861. It was
only a two burr mill, but the next year he
enlarged it, but sold the machinery in 1865,
and moved the building to the site of the
Patoka Milling Company. It was remodeled
and was then one of the most complete mill
properties in the county, and under the firm
name of Walker & Sons, was operated until
1873, when they were succeeded by the Pa-
toka Milling Company. The first saw-mill
began operations in 1863. Its owner was
Alexander Wickersham. Later Squire Fan-
ner and Jesse Altom opened a saw-mill, the
first of which has long since ceased opera-
tions, and the other is still working.
Patoka has six churches: the Methodist
Episcopal, the Methodist, South, the Chris-
tian, Baptist, Presbyterian and Catholic, the
latter two congregations being small. They
all have good church houses, the Christian
church building having been recently en-
larged and improved and is perhaps the
best equipped. The Ancient, Free and Ac-
cepted Masons, Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, and other lodges flourish, the Odd
Fellows having just completed a fine two-
story building with an elegant lodge room
in the upper story. Patoka has as intimated
in the preceding lines begun to take on new
life. A fine two-story brick school-house
was completed in 1907. A cannery of large
capacity went into operation in 1908. A
brick and tile works also was started a year
or two ago and in 1908, the Patoka Register
was started by Mr. Huntoon, who is making
it one of the most readable papers of the
county. There are stores and shops as well
as a bank, so that all things necessary may
be supplied at home.
VILLAGE OF VERNON.
Vernon is the most northern village in
the county, being less than a mile from the
Fayette county line. It is a station on the
Illinois Central Railroad, and was laid out
[.\KKKI I OFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
177
by I). \V. Murfin in 1872. The first build-
ing was a large hay barn, built by T. K.
Dickey in 1872. The next year Murry &
Harris opened a general store. Later three
or four other stores were opened and all
are still doing business. A good school-
house has been erected and also a Methodist
church. A neat station-house was erected in
1880, before that time an old box car served
as station. Vernon long enjoyed the dis-
tinction of being the home of the oldest man
in the county, Uncle Frank Binion, who died
in 1907, aged one hundred and seven years.
Vernon is the home of more veterans of the
Civil war than any community of like size,
known to us, and its quiet companionship
of comrades who are only awaiting the call
to come up higher is blessed with old ties
and remembrances of the long ago, but the
waiting will soon be over, for the Grand
Army is passing with the vanishing years.
CARRIGAN TOWNSHIP.
Carrigan township, named after the pio-
neer founder of the Carrigan family, is the
third township north of the base line in the
west tier of townships of the county. The
main line of the Illinois Central Railroad
traverses the west side of the township north
and south. It is drained by the East Fork
of the Okaw or Kaskaskia river, which
flows in a southwesterly direction across the
township, near the middle. East Fork is one
of the largest streams in the county and en-
ters the township near the northeast corner
and passes out at section 18. Davidson
creek, in the southeast part of the township,
drains the waters from that part into the
East Fork. Along these creeks was original-
ly a heavy growth of fine timber, but it has
been largely cleared, although much of the
land is covered with a "second growth,"
which will be of great benefit to the people.
The first man to locate in the township
was a man by the name of Jones, who in
12
1819 squatted in section 21, but who sold
out his partly finished cabin to Frederick
Phelps in 1820, and left the country. Sam-
uel Davidson came to this township with
Phelps. Phelps was a native of Tennessee,
who had moved to St. Clair in 1817. The
next year he moved to Clinton county,
where he married and moved to Carrigan
townshp in March, 1820, where, as above
stated he bought Jones's claim and settled
in section 21. In March, 1822, he entered
the first tract entered in this township, viz. :
west half of the northwest quarter of sec-
tion 21, town 3 north, range i east. Mr.
Phelps was a very conscientious man, a de-
vout member of the Baptist church and a
good manager and very industrious, and
amassed considerable property. He reared
a family of ten children to manhood and
womanhood. He died September 2, 1845, re-
spected by the entire community. His wife
survived him several vears. One son. Sam-
i 7 8
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
uel Phelps, will be remembered by the older
citizens of the county, as the genial host of
the Phelps House in Salem, many years ago.
Samuel Davidson was a native of Virginia,
but his father moved to Lincoln county,
Kentucky, when Samuel was a small child,
and there he was raised and lived until 1820
when he moved to Clinton county, where
he stayed one summer and then moved to
Carrigan township and built a cabin on sec-
tion 36. He broke and planted twenty acres
in corn the first year. This was considered a
very large crop at that day and as there
were no domestic animals within miles of
him and fences were no bar to "varmints"
which abounded all around him, he raised
this crop without fencing it. When he start-
ed from his Kentucky home he had a family
of ten children. His daughter Betsy was
married to Louis Weathers; she sickened
and died on the road, when her bereaved
husband went back to his old home in
Kentucky. All the other nine lived to be
married and make homes for themselves in
this county. The sons were William, John,
George and Samuel, Jr., three of whom were
grown when the family left Kentucky. Wil-
liam was the eldest and lived on the original
farm. He was a prominent man, having
been twice elected Sheriff of the county and
once a member of the Legislature. He was
married three times, but left only two chil-
dren, a son and a daughter. He died in
1847 from the effects of a fall from a wag-
on. The daughters of Samuel Davidson,
Sr., married as follows: Maria married
Charles Jennings and was the grandmother
of that great American, William Jennings
Bryan; Ann married Israel Jennings; Sallie
married Robert Carrigan and Nancy, James
M. Carrigan; Susan was the wife of Stew-
art W. Faridee.
Samuel Davidson, Sr., was a man who
ranked high in his old home in Kentucky.
He was a major in the regiment of Col.
Dick Johnson, during the War of 1812, and
saw much service on the frontier, with that
fearless commander and was doubtless, with
Johnson's command at the battle of the
Thames, where Tecumseh was killed by
Colonel Johnson. He died on the farm he
had improved in 1848, full of years and
honors. His wife died about 1838.
Joel Davis, the third man who settled in
Carrigan township, was a Tennessean and
remained a Tennessean about half the time,
as he moved back and forth to Tennessee
and Marion county several times. It seems
that when he had been in Illinois a year or
two he "hankered" after Tennessee and
when he had been in Tennessee a while he
longed for Carrigan township and would
pull up stakes and move, when the desire
seized him. He died, however, in Illinois,
in what is now known as Fredonia Prairie,
leaving a widow and family.
Zadock Phelps was another eccentric
character and seemed never to be content
long in any place. He came with Davis and
built a cabin on the J. M. Carrigan farm,
cleared a "truck patch" and then sold it and
started another home, built a cabin, cleared
a "truck patch" and again sold, and this he
did no less than eight times, starting eight
BRIXKKKIIOKK S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
179
farms in Carrigan township. Of course with
this restless disposition, he did not accumu-
late much property, but evidently enjoyed
moving. He was married twice and had a
large family of children with each wife and
even in old age his roving disposition did
not leave him, so he moved to Washington
county, Illinois, where he died and at last
remained in one place.
James Chance, supposed to have been an
emigrant from St. Clair county, settled in
this township about 1822 or 1823 and lo-
cated near the center of the township, and
made improvements. He was a first class
citizen and lived in this township until 1866,
when he died. He was twice elected Sheriff
of the county. He was married to a
daughter of Robert Nichols, and raised a
large family. His widow survived him many
years.
Robert Carrigan, a Georgian, settled in
1830, on section 26. The father of Robert
Carrigan settled in Clinton county in 1817,
and Robert was the man who as a lad led
the St. Clair Rangers across the country to
the home of the older Jennings, when they
rendezvoused at the Jennings homestead to
drive out the Goings gang. He died in
1834, leaving a widow and three children,
John S., Samuel R., and Nancy J. His
widow afterward married a Mr. Huff.
In December following the death of Rob-
ert, his brother, James M. Carrigan. settled
in this township. James M. raised a family
of ten children, but all are now passed away,
excepting one, William, who still resides in
the township. John M. Carrigan married one
of the Davidson family and a few years ago
his wife and Mr. Huff were the three last
representatives of pioneer days, but they
now rest from their labors and their works
do follow them, and may be seen in the
happy homes of Carrigan. Mr. Huff, who
married the widow of Robert Carrigan, was
an over-religious man and so austere and
stern that he was disliked by his step-chil-
dren, but nevertheless they treated him with
due respect and grew to manhood and
womanhood with more liberal views than
their step-father possessed. One son, Sam-
uel R., was Sheriff of the county at the
time of the death of Frank Leonard, an ac-
count of which will be given in the sketch
of Salem township, and made heroic efforts
to save the life of the unfortunate man.
Samuel R. Carrigan is still living in Car-
rigan township amidst his broad acres, be-
ing the largest land owner in the township,
having more than fifteen hundred acres and
is still a hale, active business man, taking
great interest in all the public affairs of his
township, and of the county.
Zadock Phelps. Sr., an uncle of Squatter
Zadock and father of John, built a cabin
near the spring in section 17. He died some
years later while on a visit to Lawrence
county, leaving a widow and seven children,
all of whom are long since dead. Daniel
Phelps also settled in this township in 1824.
He was something like his cousin, Zadock,
Jr., and never seemed satisfied to stay in one
place. He died in this township many years
ago. A large family, consisting of a father,
mother, nine grown daughters and three
i8o
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
grown sons, came to the northern part of
the township from Clinton county in 1825
and made the second land entry in the town-
ship. It was the southwest quarter of sec-
tion 5. Here he improved a fine farm, and
built a horse mill the year he entered his
land. One son, Wiley Burton, and a man
by the name of Joe Davis, were the first
blacksmiths in the township. Gideon Burton
and his wife were both extremely large peo-
ple, almost giants. They were from Tennes-
see and were first class people. Burton died
in 1835 on the farm he settled.
The first preaching in the township was
at the cabin of Samuel Davidson, by itiner-
ant ministers of the Methodist church, who
made the cabin of Major Davidson a stop-
ping place. The first child born was La-
vina Phelps, July, 1821, and the first death
was the wife of William Davidson in 1829.
The first school-house was built in 1833
on section 26. It was a small log affair, not
fitted as a school-house. R. M. Carrigan
was the first teacher. Three years later a bet-
ter cabin was built and the first teacher in
the new building was J. Williams. It was
fairly comfortable and was used until 1849,
when it burned down. In 1850 another
school-house was built in the place of the
burned one. It was of hewed logs and is
still standing or was a few years ago, and
is used as a sort of plunder room by Wil-
liam Carrigan.
Fairman is the only railroad station in
the township and is a hamlet of a half-dozen
houses, a store and school-house. The place
was originally called Hogback and "Hog-
back" John Wilson, one of the best of men,
formerly had a saw-mill here. John Pules-
ton also kept store here and when the post-
office was established, was the first post-
master. They both moved away and later
Leander Mathews did a flourishing business
here, but later moved to Sandoval, and
then to Kinmundy. There is still a store
here, but much of the business is diverted
to Sandoval, Odin and Patoka. Carrigan
township is strictly a rural community made
up of the best type of Americans. The
farms are large and productive, and where
a few years ago stood a cabin in a clearing,
now stands comfortable and even luxurious
homes amid smiling acres, generously re-
sponsive to the husbandman's toil. School-
houses well appointed, are at convenient
distances apart, and everything bespeaks a
prosperous community, unfretted by the
mercenary strife engendered by city life.
ODIN AND SANDOVAL TOWNSHIPS.
These townships were one until 1896, and
therefore their history is one until that time,
and will be treated as one, but the cities of
Odin and Sandoval will be given separate-
ly. The township is mostly prairie, with a
skirt of timber land in the south side. It is
a beautiful land, slightly undulating and
sloping toward the watercourses by which
BRIXKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
181
it is drained. It was early settled by an
enterprising and industrious people, and
their descendants, with additions from other
states, render it a thickly settled and pros-
perous community, with fine farms, in a
high state of cultivation, with many fine
and substantial buildings and large orchards
set to apple and other trees. To the traveler
from older communities it is hard to realize
that little more than a generation ago this
beautiful township was almost without a
white inhabitant. The Illinois Central Rail-
road, both main line and branch, crosses this
township, the main line running almost due
north about one mile from the west line of
the township, through the thriving city of
Sandoval, and the branch from the junction
just north of Crooked creek in an almost
northeast direction through the city of Odin.
Both of these cities are also on the line of
the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern Rail-
way, which runs almost due east and west
about two miles south of the north line of
the township. These little cities are rivals,
each of the other, and maintain such an even
race, both in the number of inhabitants and
material prosperity, that one cannot say
which is in the lead. This township is next
north of Centralia in the west tier of town-
ships in this county. Crooked creek runs
southwest through sections 36 and 35 and
is the drainage outlet for the larger part of
the township, while the East Fork drains
the extreme northern part of the township.
A native of Virginia, Thomas Deadmond,
was the first settler in these townships. He
arrived in the timbered part of the town-
ship near the southern line in 1827, intend-
ing to go farther north to settle, but as it
was late in the year and the weather was ex-
tremely cold, he determined to camp for
the winter, and set to work to construct a
shelter for his family, which he did by cut-
ting small logs and building a shed cabin,
the roof sloping to the north and all the
south side open. Before this open south
side he would drag logs with his team and
so maintained a burning log heap before
the cabin all winter, which served the dou-
ble purpose of keeping the shelter warm
and was a suitable fire for his wife to do her
cooking on, and in this primitive; manner
the Deadmonds spent the first winter in
their new home. The greatest drawback
to the shed as a habitation was smoke, which
at times, when there was a strong south
wind, filled the shed to almost suffocation,
but then the family could adjourn to the
other side of the burning log heap and thus
keep warm, although covered only by heav-
en's canopy of blue, but provided with plen-
ty of the hides of animals for beds and bed-
ding, they of that day feared not to sleep
on 'the ground and in the open, and as to
smoke, who has not seen the old-fashioned
fireplace when it was smoking. The early
pioneers were used to smoke and were not
inconvenienced by it in moderation. Mr.
Deamond remained on the land where he
passed the winter in section 28, township 2
north, range I east, but did not enter the
land, which he had improved, until the I2th
day of January. 1837. or ten years later,
when he entered the west half of the south-
1 82
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
east quarter of section 28. He was for a
number of years a Justice of the Peace and
lived and died on the land where he camped
in 1 827, respected and honored by his fellow
pioneers for his sterling worth. Mr. Dead-
mond raised a large family, some of whom
are still living, among them Mrs. Denisha
Hays, of Raccoon township, who in her
ninety-first year is an active, alert old lady,
taking an active interest in affairs of family
and church, of which she is an enthusiastic
attendant. Two years after Deadmond's set-
tlement Silas Barr came to the township
from Tennessee and in 1831 entered the east
half of the southeast quarter of section 27.
This was the first land entry in the township
and is in the Odin side of the township.
James N. Barr, who was born in Tennessee,
lived on this same tract which his father en-
tered. Isaac G. Barr entered, in 1836, for-
ty acres and made himself a farm in sec-
tion 26.
Isaac McClelland was born in Pennsyl-
vania and went to Ohio and from there to
Illinois and settled at Walnut Hill about
1818. He married Sallie Welch. For the
next few years he partially improved three
or four places in Centralia township, but
in 1830 he settled on section 32 (the San-
doval side of the township) and lived there
many years and raised a family of six chil-
dren. In 1839 Jonas and Jacob McClelland,
and in 1840 Alexander and Henry McClel-
land came to the township and improved
farms. Samuel McClelland settled in 1830
near Silas Barr and lived there until his
death. He left eight children, four sons and
four daughters. Isaac McClelland bought
the improvements that Isaac Smith had
made in section 32 and then entered the
land. Three brothers by the name of Wei-
burn settled here in an early day. Two of
them died here and the other went to Texas.
James Adams, Thomas Pigg and John Hill
were also early settlers and all raised fami-
lies and have descendants now living in the
county, and are respected for their honest
worth. All the farms were for many years
confined to the timber, but Bluford Dead-
mond ventured out into the prairie and
picked out a farm near the center of the
township, which he improved, but afterward
sold out and went to Oregon.
The first school was taught in an empty
cabin that stood near Silas Barr's home, in
1834, and was taught by Peter Wilburn.
The first school-house built stood near the
McClelland graveyard and was built of logs,
with puncheon seats.
The oil industry is at the present time get-
ting considerable attention in the southern
part of this township, where a company of
Salem capitalists and business men and two
plucky women have struck oil and are now
boring the second well. Other parties have
thus far failed to strike oil, but boring is
still being vigorously prosecuted, no less than
four or five companies being engaged in the
work. The oil is struck at a depth of less
than six hundred feet, but doubtless a deep-
er well will develop a more abundant sup-
ply, but we must leave the chronicle of the
success or failure of the oil fields to a fu-
ture historian.
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
In the southern part of this township one
of the most profound mysteries was devel-
oped in the year 1896, known as the Mc-
Clelland mystery. Some years before Mr.
McClelland and his youngest son disap-
peared from the county, but as Mr. Mc-
Clelland, who was a widower with no home
ties, had once or twice before gone without
saying much if anything about going, and
after a year or two had returned, and as he
had said to some of his relatives that he was
going away and not coming back, nothing
was thought of their absence, especially as
it was thought he had money enough to take
care of himself, and it was only regarded as
an eccentricity on his part. There was a
pond on the old McClelland place, which
was owned by other parties, and in 1896 it
had become somewhat filled up and the own-
er resolved to clean it out and make it deep-
er during a very dry spell. While the work
was being prosecuted the workmen found
two skeletons staked down in the bottom of
the pond, with stakes driven crossways over
the bodies. Much excitement resulted and
much discussion resulted as to whose bodies
they were, some from the first declaring they
were the bodies of McClelland and his son,
and this seems to be the settled opinion of
those best qualified to judge from the size of
the skeletons, age and teeth and the filling
of some of the teeth, and the settled convic-
tion was arrived at that the McClellands had
been murdered and the bodies disposed of in
this unique manner. Suspicion pointed her
unreasoning finger toward several parties,
mostly of kin to the missing men, and some
of them men grown old in the paths of right
and who stood as high in the county as any
men living in her borders. Indictments were
found against several parties, among whom
was another son of the elder McClelland.
One or two were tried, but the state utterly
failed to make a case, whereupon the indict-
ments were quashed and the McClelland
mystery is still as deep a mystery as ever,
and bids fair to so remain until the trump
shall sound and the grave give up her se-
crets. The two little cities, each of which
gives its name to one-half township, which is
clothed with the powers of a civil town, now
demand our attention.
CITY OF ODIN.
The thriving little city of Odin is situated
in the east side of township 2 north, range i
east, and about two miles from the north
line of the township. It is at the crossing
of the Illinois Central branch and the Bal-
timore & Ohio Southwestern railroads and
is the product of these roads, hence was
not built until the roads were. The first
building was put up by one John Hill, as a
saloon, and with Hill as a saloonkeeper ab-
sorbed much of the hard earnings of the
railway laborers. It stood south of the rail-
roads and near the tracks. The Illinois Cen-
tral built their depot in 1856 and in 1860,
1 84
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
April 5th, laid out the town, it being on a
railroad section. The house of the section
boss, David Dudy, of the Ohio & Mississip-
pi Company, was the first dwelling erected.
The first store building was erected by P. Z.
Stone, who opened a general store about
1857 or 1858. James Garretson was the
first postmaster and hotel-keeper. He built
the first hotel in 1859 and called it after him-
self, the Garretson House. It was after-
ward called the Hartley House. It still
stands, but at present is not used as a hotel.
Before 1860 one De Schan, Branson and
Lester, and George Craig had opened stores
and were doing a country trade and supply-
ing the railroad men and passengers from
one road waiting for a train on the other.
During the years of the war between the
states, 1862 to 1864, the town grew very
rapidly, many refugees from the South
making it a stopping place and many a per-
manent home. A woolen mill called the Odin
Woolen Factory was built in 1867. It was
of brick and two stories high and manufac-
tured jeans and flannel. It was destroyed
by fire in 1879, and was never rebuilt. There
was a sawmill in connection, which did not
burn at that time and was operated for some
years by W. E. Smith, but it finally was de-
stroyed by fire. In 1863 a large hay press
barn was built by A. M. Woodward & Co.,
and it was afterward enlarged until it was
one of the largest press barns in the coun-
try, but it, too, was destroyed by fire in the
nineties. It may be well to state for the in-
formation of the younger generation that
until about 1870 hay was pressed into bales
only in barns built for that purpose with
presses built in them, and these presses were
massive pieces of machinery with a heavy
weight arranged like a pile driver, which
was drawn to the top of the barn and fell
into the press and beat the loose hay solidly
together until two hundred or three hun-
dred pounds were beat into a bale, when
an immense screw operated from below com-
pressed the bale, which was then "baled" or
bound with hickory hoop-poles being passed
around them and nailed together. The hay
had to be hauled to these barns loose and
was much labor and expense. The invention
of the modern portable hay press killed the
hay barn press, but has been a blessing to the
farmer. In 1863 Captain Pierce built a two-
burr grist mill. It changed hands frequent-
ly and the firm of Morrison & Smart ran
it from 1873 to 1880, and then sold to James
Warren, the owner when the mill went out
of business. Odin has a commodious two-
story brick school building and has a corps
of six teachers and takes pride in maintain-
ing a first class school. The Methodist Epis-
copals and Protestant Methodists each have
a church in Odin, as also have the Christians
and Presbyterians, although the latter is not
used of late, only occasionally, as no minis-
ter is in charge. Odin Masonic lodge No.
503 was instituted in 1866, under dispensa-
tion from the grand master. E. B. Wilcox
was the first worshipful master; E. Sid-
well, senior warden, and O. F. Ball, junior
warden. It was organized with only eleven
members. It is now in a flourishing condi-
tion. The Modern Woodmen also have a
strong lodge in Odin, with about one hun-
dred members. In 1886 a stock company
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
was formed under the name Odin Coal Com-
pany, to sink a shaft and mine coal, which
was successful in striking a fine vein of coal
at a depth of seven hundred and fifteen feet,
with a vein of about seven feet in thickness.
After undergoing the usual ups and downs
of such stock companies, Messrs. Morrison
and Secor, with perhaps a few others, ob-
tained a controlling interest, since which
time it has been so successfully handled as
to prove a valuable and profitable property.
Some few years ago electric mining and
haulage and electric lighting was installed.
The dynamo of the mine also furnishes
electricity for lighting the city. During the
life of the mine it has been singularly free
from fatalities, but few accidents of serious
character having occurred. The railroad
crossing of the Illinois Central branch and
the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern is con-
trolled by an interlocking device controlled
from a tower built so as to give the operator
a view of both tracks.
CITY OF SANDOVAL, ODIN TOWNSHIP.
The city of Sandoval, like Centralia and
Odin, was laid out by the Illinois Central
Railroad Company on their own section of
land. It is at the crossing of the Baltimore
& Ohio Southwestern and Illinois Central
Railroad main line, and is about one mile
from the west line of the township and two
from the north line, and, like Odin, gave its
name to the west half of township 2 north,
range i east, when the township was divid-
ed. The survey and laying out of the city
was on May n, 1855. Two other addi-
tions were laid out the same year. Welcome
Martin, as early as 1853, put up a frame store
house on the Ohio & Mississippi right of
way just west of the right of way of the
Illinois Central Railroad, and sold goods to
the railroad laborers and the general pub-
lic. The first boarding house or hotel was
kept by J. B. Crawford, the original build-
ing afterward making part of the Sandoval
House. The city has a fine public school
building, in which there are employed six
teachers, and also maintains a primary room
west of the Central tracks, and like all Ma-
rion county towns, is proud of her schools.
The Catholic church has a good church
building' and parsonage and maintains an
organization in Sandoval. The Christian
and Congregational churches have each a
fine house of worship, while the Methodists
have a good, comfortable church house.
There religious bodies each maintain a resi-
dent minister and are full of good works.
The Baptist Brotherhood has recently built
a neat little church in the south part of
town. Sandoval has one of the finest parks
in the county, and here every year the an-
nual reunion of the old soldiers and sailors
is held in a three days' session, and Sando-
val spares neither energy, time nor money
to make the reunion a success. As yet they
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
have not failed, but, on the contrary, each
year the success has been more and more
pronounced, until the Sandoval reunion at-
tracts attention from all parts of the state.
In 1877 the St. Louis Sandoval Coal and
Mining Company began sinking a shaft at
Sandoval. After reaching a depth of one
hundred and fourteen feet the company
went into bankruptcy. The property was
sold at Sheriff's sale and bought by the San-
doval Coal and Mining Company, a com-
pany composed mostly of Salem men. The
new company began work on the shaft in
January, 1879, and reached a vein of coal
five and one-half feet thick in September of
the same year at a depth of six hundred and
three feet, being one hundred and twelve
feet less in depth than the Odin mine, four
miles further east, showing the "dip" of
the coal vein to be eastward about twenty-
eight feet to the mile. The company was
involved in long and expensive litigation
growing out of the bankruptcy of the St.
Louis Sandoval Company, but after years
of legal contest the Sandoval Coal and Min-
ing Company established their "right to the
property. The cause was carried to the high-
est tribunal and the Sandoval company's
leading attorney, Judge Michael Sheafer, of
the Supreme Court of Utah, made such a
strong and learned argument that it is rec-
ognized as an exposition of mining law. The
company's stock was purchased January i,
1903, by Thomas S. Marshall from the
holders, who thus became the company. The
original shaft was in the eastern part of the
city on the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern
Railroad, but an air shaft was sunk on the
Illinois Central Railroad in the southern
part of the city about a half mile from the
original shaft. This was now turned into a
hoisting shaft with a steel tipple and ma-
chine mining implements, and was consid-
ered one of the best equipped mines in the
state. The old works at the original shaft
in the meantime burned down, but were im-
mediately rebuilt. The mine at this time
was employing over three hundred and fifty
men and taking out as much as ten thou-
sand tons per day. The vast expenditure
necessary to thus equip the mine, with other
causes, involved Mr. Marshall, and he took
voluntary bankruptcy. The mine stood idle
some time, but was recently sold to Mr.
Middleton, who is running it to its greatest
capacity and is not only giving work to a
great number of men, but making it a suc-
cess financially. The Sandoval mine was
for many years, while controlled by the San-
doval company, under the superintendence
of John Robinson, then of H. R. Hall, and
later of C. E. Hull, and was one of the best
paying enterprises in the county, and it bids
fair to become so again. The Sandoval
mine had several quite serious accidents re-
sulting in the loss of life, all of them per-
haps the result of carelessness on the part
of the victims or of some fellow workman.
In the years from about 1890 to 1895*
there was a series of barn burnings in the
western part of the county, confined to the
townships of Sandoval, Odin, Carrigan,
Tonti and Salem. Several of the most val-
uable barns in the county were burned, evi-
BRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
i8 7
dently set on fire, but the incendiary invari-
ably escaped detection, and these burnings
occurred so frequently that a feeling of
dread and uneasiness prevailed over the en-
tire community. At the time there lived one
McKibbon near Sandoval. McKibbon was
a fanatic on political subjects, and although
in many respects a bright man. was un-
doubtedly insane on the subject of equality
of wealth and had brooded over the unequal
distribution of wealth until he was an anar-
chist on that subject and thought to bring
about equality by the destruction of prop-
erty, but with subtile cunning he kept his
thoughts and feelings hid from all but a
chosen few, who, like himself, were lawless
in thought and also in action when safe to
be so. McKibbon was the head center of
the clique and managed to escape even sus-
picion until he approached a youth in San-
doval whom he thought he could control.
The young man fell into McKibbon's views,
but after studying over the matter revealed
the plot to burn the store of John Robinson
to his mother, who advised him to go to the
marshal and tell what he knew. This the
young man did and was advised to carry out
the plot and keep the officers advised. A
committee of safety was formed and for
weeks kept watch armed to the teeth, but
so secretly was this done that none but the
watchers ever suspected even the organiza-
tion of the committee. They at last were
rewarded by catching the anarchists in the
act of trying to blow up Robinson's store.
McKibbon was tried and found guilty, but
the jury so misconstrued the law that they
fined him five hundred dollars. The fine was
paid after some time by McKibbon's rela-
tives and he disappeared from the county.
Barn burning ceased with the arrest of Mc-
Kibbon and farmers now and for many
years past have slept at night with no vis-
ions of burning barns and tortured stock
confined therein.
Sandoval is a center for the strawberry
industry. The celebrated Warfield berry
was originated here by Mr. Warfield, from
whom it received its name. The Sandoval
Packing Company's tomatoes, canned here,
are the best on the market, the soil being
peculiarly adapted to the raising of tomatoes
to perfection. The smelting works in the
eastern part of town is also an industry of
great importance to the city and is one of the
live industries of the county. In 1908 the
Marion County Coal Company opened a
shaft at Junction City, so called, in the south
part of the to\vnship, and at the depth of
about five hundred and sixty feet struck a
fine vein of excellent coal. In this mine pe-
troleum oil seeped in considerable quanti-
ties and led to the opening of the first oil
well, which struck oil at the depth of five
hundred and seventy-eight feet. Other wells
are being bored, but to Sandoval belongs the
honor of having the first oil well in the coun-
ty, but whether or not it will prove a com-
mercial success can only be told by the pass-
ing years.
KKIXKERIIOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
CENTRALIA TOWNSHIP.
Centralia township was first settled at
Walnut Hill in the southeast part of the
township by Joseph Hensley, probably as
early as 1816 or 1817. He planted an or-
chard on what was later known as the Cap-
tain Creed place. This was the first orchard
in the county and was set out about 1817.
Captain Hensley was fairly well educated
and a stump speaker of considerable force,
and often addressed the settlers in behalf of
his party. He was a Whig in politics and a
zealous partisan. In 1818 he built a horse
mill to supply the settlement about the hill,
which by this time had several families,
among' whom were the Vermillion, McKen-
riey, Jennings, Ricker, Taylor and Huff
families. The first land entered in the town-
ship was the west half of the southeast quar-
ter of section 28, since owned by the Cop-
pie family. Vermillion was a ranger in 1812
and later moved to a farm just out of Sa-
lem, and is the same known as Black Bear
Vermillion. He was foreman of the first
Grand Jury of Marion county. He moved
to Missouri later, where he died. The sec-
ond land entered was the west half of the
northeast quarter of section 34. This entry
was made by Daniel McKinney and was dat-
ed February 21. 1820. He had made some
improvements as a squatter, but having. sold
to Charles Jennings in January, entered the
land to make the title good. Israel Jen-
nings entered the west half of the northeast
quarter of section 34 as the third entry. It
must not be thought that these three farms
were all that were being improved in this
part of the county, but many settlers picked
out forty or eighty acres and began im-
provements, intending to enter the land as
soon as possible thereafter, and these claims
were rarely disputed or jumped by others
(It was not considered healthy). Israel Jen-
nings was from Kentucky and lived to a
good old age. He was twice married and
raised a large family. He served one term
in the Legislature. He was a man of vigor-
ous intellect, shrewd judgment and sterling
honesty. At his death he owned over a
thousand acres of land, leaving a goodly
heritage to his children, both of material
things and of the better things of character.
His son Charles entered eighty acres in sec-
27 August 24, 1821. He had bought the
McKinney place in 1820, where he took his
bride when he married, and where he con-
tinued to live until his death. Rufus Ricker
entered eighty acres in 1821. but in 1823 he
moved to Salem, where, with Mark Tully,
he bought out James Roberts, and they car-
ried out the contract between the Commis-
sioners to select a place for a permanent
county seat by deeding to the county thirty
acres of land in section 1 1 . township 2, range
2. William Taylor came to the Hill settle-
ment. He was a tough customer in a fight,
but not disposed to be quarrelsome with his
neighbors. Mr. Taylor entered eighty acres
in section 30 in 1823 and had improved or
settled on the west half of the southwest
quarter of section 29. One Daniel White, of
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
189
Clinton county, jumped the claim of Taylor
by entering the eighty upon which Taylor
had built a cabin and fenced a small tract.
This eighty was a very desirable piece of
land and Taylor was not disposed to give it
up. White knew nothing of Taylor's rep-
utation, but was soon to learn from the man
himself, for Taylor went to see White, and
his ferocious aspect, with face scarred by
many battles, one ear gone, and a double
row of teeth, which he could champ like an
enraged swine, soon convinced White that
Taylor was entitled to the land, especially
as Taylor told him he would have the land
or eat White, blood raw. White and Tay-
lor went before a Justice of the Peace and
White made over the land to Taylor, who
paid the entry fees.
Samuel Gaston, in 1818, settled at the
Hill, but was just over the line in Jeffer-
son county, but afterward the family be-
came active citizens of Marion. Samuel
Shook, a Baptist minister, and probably the
first preacher to settle in the county, settled
here in 1820. In 1823 he entered eighty
acres of land in section 23, which is still in
the family.
Thomas Kell came from South Carolina
and settled at the Hill, but just south of the
county line. Here he opened a small store,
but afterward was as much interested in
Marion as in Jefferson county. The first
school-house was built in 1821. It was made
of logs and stood east of the Jennings place
on the edge of the prairie. This school-
house had a dirt floor for several years. Wil-
liam Carrigan was the first teacher and he
began teaching before the house was chinked
and daubed. Bird M. Simpson taught the
second term and John S. Davis the third.
This school-house was also used as a meet-
ing house and ministers of the Baptist faith
frequently preached to the people there. In
those days the settlers would go many miles
to "meeting," and whenever a preacher
"norated around" that there would be
preaching, he was sure of an attentive and
large audience. Absalom Frazier came in
1839 and entered land and contracted to
have a carding mill built in section 17, but
nothing was done until the next year, when
his son, Simpson Frazier, came from Indi-
ana, when the mill was built. The machin-
ery was shipped to Shawneetown by river
from Indiana and thence hauled by oxen to
the mill site. The mill when set up was op-
erated by oxen or horses and was operated
until about 1855, when it fell into disuse. It
will be observed that the settlement of Cen-
tralia township was confined to the south-
east portion, nor did other parts of the town-
ship receive much attention from the settlers
until the Illinois Central Railroad was pro-
jected, when the eyes of the immigrants
were turned to that part of the county
through which it was to pass, and many set-
tlers took up land along the proposed line,
and Central City, in the northwest part of
the township, was started, and but for the
lack of foresight of the holders of the land
at Central City, there would be today no
Centralia. Central City is near Crooked
creek, and at that time was selected by the
railroad engineers as a division end, but the
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
land owners refused to grant such conces-
sions as the railroad demanded, and as the
officials said asked exorbitant prices for land,
thinking- the road must build shops, etc.,
near water. It will be remembered that the
act of Congress gave each alternate section
of land for some distance on both sides of
the road to the company as a bonus, so when
they could not get land on which to build
on such terms as they thought right, they
went one mile farther south and laid out
the city of Centralia on their own section
and pumped water to their shops from
Crooked creek. From the earliest settlement
of Illinois by the Americans after Clark's
conquest there had been a class of very un-
desirable citizens hovering on the borders
near Vincennes, Shawneetown and also at
Cave-in Rock, on the Ohio, and a regular
channel by which these cutthroats and rob-
bers conducted their nefarious barter was
kept open, with stations along the way, so
that property stolen in the eastern settle-
ments was sold in the west, and that stolen
in Randolph and St. Clair counties was sold
in the east at Vincennes or Shawneetown.
In 1816 an attempt to make a station for
these thieves at Walnut Hill was made and
several families of these undesirable people
settled or rather squatted near Walnut Hill,
but their neighbors soon suspected that
something was wrong, as counterfeit money
was put in circulation and many mysterious
strangers were seen to visit them. Word
was conveyed to the Rangers of St. Clair
county, whoin 1819, under Captains Thom-
as and Bankson, marched secretly to the
home of John Carrigan, who lived in Clin-
ton county near Carlyle. As the men from
St. Clair county did not know the way
across the country to Walnut Hill and as
the expedition was secret, they must have
a guide, and a young son of Carrigan's was
appointed to conduct them to the home of
Israel Jennings, which he accomplished
without any one seeing them. It was early
in the night when they arrived at the Jen-
nings homestead and young Carrigan was
dismissed, and he rode home through the
wilderness in the night. A lad of about
twelve, alone in the darkness, bravely fac-
ing a ride of thirty miles through a track-
less wilderness filled with wild beasts and
at any moment in danger of meeting law-
less men, who, if they knew his mission,
would not hesitate to murder him, but of
such mettle were the pioneers of our coun-
ty made. Young Carrigan, with his father,
soon became citizens of Carrigan township
in this county. The rangers, after reaching
the home of Jennings, divided into three
parties of fifteen men each, and quietly sur-
rounded the cabins of the outlaws and cap-
tured them without resistance, as the out-
laws perceived resistance would be useless.
The captured cutthroats were known as the
Goings gang, and consisted of William.
John and Pleasant Goings, Theophilus W.
Harring, Tarleton Kane and John Bimber-
ry and others who were not at home, but
presumably out on an expedition and not
caught. The above named, however, were
told that they must leave the country within
a given number of days, under penalty of
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. ILLINOIS.
191
death, and to impress upon their minds that
the edict must be obeyed they were all lashed
to saplings and given an unmerciful whip-
ping. By the appointed time all had depart-
ed and none ever returned. This procedure
may seem to us of the present day extremely
harsh, and when we reflect that the law was
solely in the hands of the rangers in such
remote places, and that they were organized
by authority for the protection of the fron-
tier, where the law could not reach the of-
fenders, and above all that it was effective,
we must, however, reluctantly give our ap-
proval.
THE CITY OF CENTRALIA.
The following sketch is furnished the ed-
itor by ex-Mayor S. A. Frazier, to whom
we hereby acknowledge our indebtedness.
The county of Marion was formed and
its boundaries defined by an act of the Leg-
islature of the state of Illinois, which be-
came a law on the 24th of January, 1823.
Centralia is situated near the southwest cor-
ner of the county, near the center of Seven
Mile Prairie. Central City, older by about
two years than Centralia, is located at the
point where the Illinois Central Railroad en-
ters Seven Mile Prairie from the north,
about one mile distant from the northern
limits of the corporation. In the year 1850
the inhabitants of Seven Mile Prairie could
have been counted on one's fingers. They
were located, with the exception of a half-
dozen families, at the edge of the wooded
land which surrounded the prairie, and all
lived, excepting perhaps an equal number
of families, in one-story log houses. There
is not, so far as the writer knows, a house
now standing in Seven Mile Prairie which
is a fair sample of the average residence of
the time alluded to. The house was one
story in height, the open space between the
logs being chinked with small blocks of
wood and daubed or plastered with clay.
The chimney was on the outside at the end
of the building and was composed of a
framework of logs and sticks, lined in the
lower portion with clay and stones and in
the upper portion with clay alone. The roof
and often the doors were made of clapboards
riven from the trees of the forest. The floor
was often made of puncheons split from
logs and hewed on one side. It need not be
stated that this kind of flooring was never
tongued and grooved, and the floor was
never air-tight, except when the floor was
laid on the ground. Usually these houses
contained but one room, in which the family
performed all the various offices of indoor
life. Here they dressed, talked over the
family and neighborhood affairs, received
company, courted and were given in mar-
riage and married. Here also the women
attended to those never neglected duties of
the time, knitting, spinning and weaving,
duties which have since almost lost their
places among the household arts. The ques-
192
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
tion occurs: Were these people happy amid
such rude surroundings and with such pri-
vations of the conveniences of life? We
may truly answer, yes. So emphatically
true is it that life does not consist in the
aboundance of our possessions. Ask those
who lived at that time and they will tell
you they were happy in those days, and will
probably add that the good old times were
better than the present strenuous period.
Their happiness we may not gainsay, but
as to those times being better than this pres-
ent time, that does not follow. This is an-
other question and one open to very serious
question.
In 1851 the Illinois Central Railroad was
sureyed and located, and Seven Mile Prai-
rie, in which they had been no marked im-
provement, began to exhibit more anima-
tion. Unknown faces were less rare than
formerly and citizens showed more anxiety
to increase their landed possessions. In 1852
the work of grading was begun and many
foreigners appeared upon the scene, some
of whom remained in the country and were
valuable additions to its population. The
change wrought in the appearance of the
county and the habits and pursuits of the
people was wonderful. Where before there
had been a sort of Rip Van Winkle sleep,
all was life, industry and activity. New in-
dustries became available and old ones were
stimulated by better prices and a home mar-
ket. The people began to put the good old
times behind them. Central City supple-
mented Walnut Hill as a commercial me-
tropolis of the region. That part of the city
of Centralia known as Jones, Eheninger,Mc-
Clelland and Spear's addition was laid out
in the summer of 1853. In the autumn of
the same year A. P. Crosby's addition was
laid out. In 1853 Centralia proper was laid
out by the Illinois Central Railroad Com-
pany, and some lots were sold, but no deeds
were executed until after the passage of the
law of January 14, 1855, authorizing the
railroad company to lay out towns and sell
town lots.
The first house built in Centralia was the
one-story frame house fronting north on the
west side of the last railroad crossing but
one in South Centralia, in the east end of
which McCord & Davenport sold merchan-
dise ; the west end of the same building was
used for a residence ; the next building erect-
ed in our city was a one-story frame about
ten by twelve feet in extent across the street
north from McCord & Davenport's, in which
Thomas Douglas, afterward of Sandoval,
sold dried herring and liquid refreshments.
The first house built in Centralia still stands,
but the second and third, which were imme-
diately across the railroad, east from it, be-
ing the one-story part of the Hoskins prop-
erty, built by Joseph Hensley, have long
since vanished.
The Illinois Central Railroad Company
commenced the erection of their round-
house, shops and hotel in November, 1853.
It was the desire of the railroad company
originally to erect their buildings at Cen-
tral City, and with that object in view ne-
gotiations were entered into with O'Mel-
veny and Gall, the then proprietors of the
5RINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
193
land, but failing to agree upon the price to
be paid for land on which to erect buildings
and sidetracks, the present site was fixed
upon. The work of erecting the buildings
once commenced was pushed with vigor un-
til they were fully completed. The first
house built in the city of Centralia as laid
out by the Illinois Central Railroad Com-
pany, was the two-story frame building still
standing at the southeast corner of Walnut
and First streets. The next house built was
a barn, which stood on the present site of
the Market Block, on Chestnut street. The
roof was better adapted to secure perfect
ventilation than immunity from moisture,
and in consequence the boarders slept on
rainy nights with umbrellas stretched over
their heads. The first store in Centralia
was that of McCord & Davenport, the sec-
ond that of A. P. Crosby, both located in
South Centralia. The next store was that of
J. M. O'Melveny, which stood east of the
present site of the Centralia House, but the
building was moved by the Illinois Central
Railroad Company without any interrup-
tion to the business of the occupant to the
present site of Saddler's Block. The next
store opened was that of Kohl & Warner. In
November, 1854. the first regular train over
the Illinois Central Railroad passed through
Centralia. The first school-house erected in
Centralia is a two-story frame building that
originally stood near the southern limit of
Jones, Ehminger, McClelland & Spear's ad-
dition on the east side of the railroad. It
was afterward removed to the present site
of the Welcome Hall in the south part of
13
the city. It was again removed, this time
across the street immediately east, where it
now stands, transformed into a residence.
The upper story was originally designed for
an Odd Fellows' Hall, but for some reason
was never used by that order. The first
school-house erected in Centralia proper was
a small frame building, which stood on the
ground where now stands the one-story
building occupied by the Star Laundry. The
school-houses, still in use, known as the
East Side and West Side, school-houses,
were built in 1861. The brick school-house
in South Centralia, being the same now
known as Welcome Hall, was built in 1862.
The first house of worship erected in our
city was the Methodist Episcopal church
built in Crosby's addition in 1854. It stood
on the southwest corner of the block on
which the brick now stands and fronted to
the south ; its first pastor was R. H. Manier,
who was also the first resident minister who
ever preached in Centralia. He came here
in 1855. The house was afterward re-
moved to the northeast corner of Poplar
and Fifth streets. In 1864 and 1865 the
society erected a brick building at the south-
east corner of Broadway and Elm streets.
In 1856 the Christian church erected a house
of worship, which was afterward burned
down, on the ground occupied by the pres-
ent Christian church. The present building
was erected in 1872. In 1856 the first Pres-
byterian church was erected.
The next church built was the Roman
Catholic church, in 1858. The building was
afterward increased in size. The United
i 9 4
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Presbyterian church was built in 1862, the
building being sold afterward to the Epis-
copalians. The First Baptist church was
erected in 1864, the German Evangelical
church in 1865, the Second Baptist church
(colored) was built in 1871 and the Second
Methodist Episcopal church (colored) in
1873-
. The first physicians to take up their resi-
dence in our city were G. W. Hotchkiss and
C. W. Dunning, who opened an office here
in the spring of 1854. Next came J. M.
Gaskill and J. L. Hallam, who opened an
office in South Centralia in July, 1854.
Our first lawyer was W. W. O'Melveny,
who came here in 1854. The next was W.
Stoker, who came in June following. H.
K. S. O'Melveny opened an office in Central
City in 1853. N. R. Stickney was the first
Justice of the Peace. He was elected in
1855 and assumed the duties of the office the
following December. The city was incor-
porated under a special act of the Legisla-
ture, which was passed February 22, 1859.
The formal incorporation was March i,
1859. The charter was amended in Feb-
ruary, 1861, and further amended Febru-
ary 16. 1865. The first officers of the city
were: Mayor. Mathew C. Kell. Aldermen:
First Ward, J. J. Dimick and J. G. Cormick ;
Second Ward, Samuel Storer and D. H.
McCord; Third Ward, James Cunningham
and G. V. Johnson; City Marshal, A. H.
Seley ; Street Commissioner, E. Probst ; City
Surveyor, S. Frazier: Treasurer, James
Wilson; Assessor, A. H. Crosby; Police
Magistrate, Edwin S. Condit; City Clerk,
Lewis Bunce ; Attorney, George C. McKee ;
Collector, A. H. Seley. All these officers,
with one or two exceptions, have joined the
silent majority.
At the Presidential election of 1860 the
vote for the Democratic electors was 147
against 197 for the Republican electors. In
the Centralia precinct in 1864 the Demo-
crats polled 133 and the Republicans 405
votes; 1868, Democrats 269, and Repub-
licans 544, and in 1872 Democrat and Lib-
.eral vote was 271 and O'Conner and Re-
publican 453. Until 1856 the polling place
was at Walnut Hill.
In the fall of 1856 D. A. Burton pub-
lished the first newspaper in Centralia. It
was called the Enterprise, and died after an
existence of two months. The next paper
was the Rural Press, edited and published
by M. L. McCord. It struggled along for
two years and then suspended. Then H. S.
Blanchard tried the newspaper venture, but
without success. J. D. G. Pettijohn started
the Egyptian Republic November 3, 1859.
This paper lived until after the strenuous
Presidential campaign of 1860, but went out
of existence in 1861. A Mr. Fuller then
issued a few numbers of a paper the name
of which is not remembered by any one in
Centralia as far as can be learned. The Com-
mercial, published by E. P. Thorpe, issued
its first number in April, 1867, and survived
six months. On May 28, 1868, the first
number of the Centralia Sentinel was issued,
with E. S. Condit and J. W. Fletcher as
editors, but it is said Mr. Condit's editorial
connection with the paper was only nominal.
BRINKERHOKF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
195
At the expiration of a year J. W. and F. W.
Fletcher became the editors and publishers.
Jn 1869 J. C. Cooper bought the interest of
J. W. Fletcher and the Sentinel was pub-
lished by J. C. Cooper and C. D. Fletcher
.until 1872, when L. C. Wilcox purchased
the interest of J. C. Cooper. On January
i, 1875, it passed into the hands of J. W.
and F. W. Fletcher, who were succeeded by
J. W. Kerr. and he by T. L. Joy. The latter
took charge October 20, 1888. It is now a
daily as well as weekly.
The Centralia Democrat was first pub-
lished on November 7, 1867, by W. H.
Mantz. Afterward Isaac McClelland be-
came nominally a co-editor and publisher
with Mr. Mantz. In October, 1870, the of-
fice was partially destroyed by fire, but the
press soon after came into the possession
of S. P. Tufts, by whom it was repaired,
and from the Qth day of February, 1871. the
Democrat has been published by Mr. Tufts
and his son, who succeeded as editor his
father at the latter's death some years ago.
It is now published both as a daily and
weekly.
Centralia was not surpassed in patriotism
by any city in the state during the late war.
No less than six companies were organized
and sent forward from our city, besides con-
tributing a great number of recruits to com-
panies organized at other points. The first
company was organized April 19, 1861. It
was Company C of the Eleventh Illinois In-
fantry, commanded by A. L. Rockwood as
captain. The next was Company C of the
Twenty-second Illinois Infantrv. command-
ed by E. Probst. Other companies were
organized and commanded, respectively, by
Captains Noleman, Cormick, Sommerville
and Cunningham. During the war a hos-
pital was maintained by our city for the
benefit of sick and wounded soldiers, and
many of our ladies are remembered to this
day with gratitude by our country's brave
defenders scattered over the land, for the
kindness with which they were cared for
in our city.
No other single industry up to the pres-
ent writing surpasses or indeed equals the
railroad interests of our city. Centralia has
been from the first a railroad town, being
the headquarters of a division of the Illi-
nois Central Railroad and containing as it
does shops with facilities for carrying on
every variety of railroad work, and the ac-
commodation of hundreds of employes.
During the month of May, 1876, the Illi-
nois Central Railroad Company had two
hundred and sixty-two men in its employe
who resided in Centralia, to whom the sum
of fifteen thousand seven hundred and nine-
ty-five dollars was paid in wages for that
month. The monthly payroll is now much
larger.
Next in importance is the coal industry
of Centralia. A shaft was sunk at Central
City in 1857 to the depth of one hundred
and ninety feet, passing through ten inches
of coal at the depth of fifty feet and another
seam of coal twelve inches thick at one hun-
dred and eighty feet. At one hundred and
ninety feet the shaft was discontinued and a
boring made one hundred and eighty feet.
196
BRINKERIIOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
to a total depth of three hundred and sev-
enty feet, without, however, rinding other
seams of coal. In 1857 and 1858 the Illi-
nois Central Railway Company sunk an ar-
tesian well near the machine shops in Cen-
tralia to the depth of eight hundred and
fifty-seven feet for the purpose of securing
a supply of water for their shops. The re-
port of the strata passed through in boring
that well, though subsequent events have
shown it to be unreliable, did much to en-
courage our citizens to thoroughly test the
question of the existence or non-existence
of coal in the vicinity in paying quantities.
In the fall of 1869 some citizens of our city
organized a stock company under the name
of the Centralia Coal and Mining Company,
for the purpose of testing and setting at
rest once for all, either by failure or success,
the coal question. The first and only board
of directors consisted of F. Kohl, R. D.
Noleman, M. C. Kell. E. S. Condit, H. D.
Kingsbury, J. L. Hopkins, H. Kurth, C. D.
Hay and J. C. Cooper. A contract was en-
tered into with two of our citizens, James
Wilson and Thomas Warren, to do the bor-
ing. They commenced work about the 2Oth
of February, 1870, and continued at inter-
vals until about the 2oth of April, when the
work was abandoned at a depth of two hun-
dred and nineteen feet, having passed
through six inches of coal at a depth .of
eighty feet. The Centralia Coal and Mining
Company failed to set the coal question at
rest.
On the 2ist of January, 1873, F. Kohl,
Esq., requested the citizens of Centralia to
meet at the City Hall January 25, 1873, to
consider the propriety of organizing a com-
pany to establish a nail mill, at which time
and place the meeting was held and the
project discussed. The conclusion was ar-
rived at that the proposed nail mill would be
more certainly successful if fuel could be
obtained without the cost of transportation.
At a subsequent meeting, held February i,
1873, it was decided to organize a company
to be incorporated under the general incor-
poration laws of the state, to sink a shaft to
a depth sufficient to determine with certain-
ty the question of obtaining a home supply
of coal. The company was styled the Min-
ing and Manufacturing Company of Cen-
tralia, Illinois, and was organized in April,
1873, with a capital stock of fifteen thousand
dollars. The capital stock was twice in-
creased, to the amount of five thousand dol-
lars each time. The work of sinking the
shaft was begun May 14, 1873, and was
prosecuted with varying hopes of success. At
the commencement many had strong faith
in the substantial correctness of the report
of the Illinois Central Railroad Company's
boring, but as our hopes based upon it were
one by one dissipated, Prof. Engleman, of
the Illinois Geological Survey, was appealed
to for encouragement by the leaders of the
enterprise and did much by his letters and,
as the events proved, by his accurate knowl-
edge of the geology of the region, to inspire
confidence. Finally, on the 28th of Septem-
ber, 1874, at the depth of five hundred and
sixty-four feet, a vein of coal was reached,
which proved to be seven feet in thickness
BRIXKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
I 97
and of excellent quality. At about 12 o'clock
noon on the 2gth the cannon announced the
good news to our citizens; their pluck and
energy had been fitly rewarded. Many of
them met, as if by common consent, at the
City Hall, where the enterprise had been
organized, and made arrangements for a
grand celebration of the event on Saturday.
November 7, 1874. On the day appointed
our citizens and many of the citizens of
neighboring towns as well as of the sur-
rounding country, turned out, and a grand
gala day was had. Our business interests
and mechanical arts were all represented in
the procession which that day paraded
through our city. Our coal mine has since
became and will ever remain one of the in-
stitutions of our city. In her coal interests
Centralia has a permanent industry.
Among the other institutions of our city
it is proper to mention the First National
Bank, organized in 1865, one of the sound-
est banking institutions in the state ; the gas
works, erected in 1868, and the Union Fair,
organized in 1869. There are also many
carefully conducted industries in our city.
which in time will develop into enterprises
of greater magnitude and will prove to be
productive industries in our city. Centralia
now has a state bank, also both banks are on
a solid basis and do a large, though safe and
conservative, business.
For several years the Illinois Central
Railroad was the only railroad connecting
Centralia with the outside world, but about
twenty-five years ago a new impetus was
given the little city by the building of the
Jacksonville road, and about the same time
also the Southern, the first extending south-
east and northwest, the latter more nearly
east and west, yet tending to the north. The
first extended from Jacksonville to Centra-
lia and then southeast, the latter from St.
Louis, Missouri, to Evansville, Indiana. The
Jacksonville is now a part of the Burlington
system, which absorbed the Jacksonville and
extended it south from Centralia, tapping
the rich coal deposits of Franklin, William-
son and other counties. These roads do a
large business and add much to the material
prosperity of Centralia. A fair estimate
would place one-fourth of our population di-
rectly dependent upon the various railroads.
Shortly after the building of the Southern
the Centralia & Chester Railroad was built.
Its northeast terminal was Centralia for a
number of years, but was subsequently ex-
tended to Salem, which is now the northern
terminal of the once Centralia & Chester,
but now Illinois Southern Railroad. The
coal mining industry now occupies the in-
dustry of many hundreds of men and fur-
nishes thousands of tons of coal per day,
the output of three extensive mines. The
boring for oil on the Bundy farm has de-
veloped a water supply of hitherto unsus-
pected source, but as to whether it can be of
any practical benefit to the city or not it is
too early to predict. Centralia has a factory
for the manufacture of envelopes, with an
output of millions of envelopes of every va-
riety. A township high school building of
great architectural beauty stands at the east
3RINKERHOKF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
side of town. A Carnegie Library graces
the public square, and many other evidences
of a rapidly growing city may be found. At
the close of the year 1908 the number of in-
habitants is about twelve thousand five hun-
dred and is rapidly increasing.
ALMA TOWNSHIP.
Town 3 north, range 3 east of the third
.principal meridian, is Alma. Who suggested
the name is not known, but whoever it was
evidently had a sweetheart. Big creek and
Dumb's creek drain the township ; the water
from the first named flowing into the Kas-
kaskia, from the latter into the Wabash.
Grand Prairie in the north, Summit Prairie
in the center and a very small prairie in the
southeast is called from a spring there, Red
Lick. This township was originally mostly
prairie and is now mostly cultivated, and
like Stevenson, has fine farms and farm
buildings and many orchards. The Illinois
Central, Chicago branch, passes across the
northwest corner of the township, while the
Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad
crosses it from north to south, leaving the
township at the northwest corner of Steven-
son township, just touching the southeast
corner of Tonti. This railroad was original-
ly the Chicago, Peoria & Memphis. It
enters the township in section 3 and bends
to the west and passes out as stated.
Marshall Wantland settled on section 35,
and his brother, John, on 36, in 1826. They
were from Tennessee. It is told of John
that he carried a spade and wandered over
the country for a radius of thirteen miles,
digging here and there and examining the
soil, but concluded that section 36 was the
best, so settled there. Both moved to
Omega township and later Marshall went
to Texas and John to Saline county. James
Beard, another Tennesseean, with his wife
and two children, settled in section 23, but
stayed only about ten years, when he
moved to Missouri.
A Tennesseean by the name of James
Chance, a blacksmith, settled in Salem in
1822. He had a large family. He was
elected Sheriff and, served for eight years.
He settled in section 1 1 at the expiration of
his term of office and remained until 1835
when he moved to Tonti township, where
he died in 1863.
Mrs. Letitia Duncan, the widow of a
soldier under Jackson at New Orleans, who
died in the hospital after the battle, brought
her ten children, settled in Tennessee
Prairie about 1818, but in 1833 she located
in Alma, where she died in 1846. Mark
Tully's brother William came from Vir-
ginia about 1825, and after remaining in
Salem about ten years settled on section 35.
Aterward he went to Texas. Peter Bretz
and Robert Phillips both came from Ohio
about the same time. Bretz had six chil-
3RINKERHOKF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
199
dren and Phillips had nine, among whom
were Israel and John, so long and well
known in the east side of the county. J. P.
French came from St. Clair county in 1838,
and after living in Tonti township until
1855, moved into Alma. The township was
first named Pleasant, but later changed to
Alma.
The Baptists built the first church in the
township in 1848. It stood on the line
between sections 35 ad 36. It was a small
frame house. The first preacher of this
church was X. R. Eskridge. There are
now three Methodist churches, one Bap-
tist and one Christian church, besides reg-
ular union services are held in the town hall.
The first school was held in an old aban-
doned cabin and was taught by Isaac Kagy.
The cabin stood on what is known as the
Wantland (Marshall) place. It was a sub-
scription school and the subscriptions were
paid in produce, which in turn was bartered
at Rate's store. In 1842 the first school-
house was built on the site of Pleasant
Grove Methodist Episcopal church. It was
of the pioneer type, log cabin with clap-
board roof, held on with roof poles. There
are doubtless men and women now living
in the township who remember the old
school-house of seventy years ago.
William Tullv built the first horse mill in
1836, and John Beck kept the first store.
He failed and went out of business in a
short time. He began his store-keeping in
1851, at the house of Squire Siple.
On section 35 the early settlers estab-
lished a burying ground. It was used about
fifteen years and then closed for burial pur-
poses. It was called Mound Graveyard.
This township was among the first to in-
troduce imported stock and has ever since
kept the best blood obtainable. Berkshire
hogs were introduced in 1841 ; Durham
cattle in 1840 by the Hite brothers; English
draft horses by John Cunningham in 1852,
and Southdown sheep by Thomas White in
1856.
The first doctors were Thomas L. Middle-
ton. William Haynie, Doctor Baker, T. B.
Lester and John Davenport, and they trav-
eled many miles in every direction. Their
names will be found as the first physicians
in several townships. The post-office at
Alma, established upon the completion of
the Central Branch Railroad, was the first
in the township.
In 1841 John Hammers opened a coal
mine six feet under ground by stripping,
that is, by removing six feet of surface to a
coal vein two feet thick, but when the rail-
road brought coal to Alma the mine was
abandoned.
VILLAGE OF ALMA.
The village of Alma is on the northwest was first laid out by John S. Martin, in
corner of the township on the Chicago 1854, and the Martin, French and Tilden
branch of the Illinois Central Railroad. It addition was platted about the same time.
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
It was named Rantoul, after an offi-
cer of the railroad, but another town
in the state had appropriated that name, and
it was changed to Grand Mound City, but
in 1855 the name was changed to Alma.
Doctor Hutton built the first store house
in 1853, an d was the first postmaster. Smith
and Hawkins conducted the first blacksmith
shop and John Ross the first grist and saw
mill. Jefferson Hawkins was the first
Methodist preacher; John Ross, the first
Christian preacher, and was instrumental in
building the first church in which he
preached several years and from which he
was buried, by the writer, about eighteen
years ago. The Methodist Episcopal church
was built in 1871. The first school-house
was burned and the second was built in
1866 and 1867. It was a two-room build-
ing, but it is not now used. Some of the
members of the Christian church conceived
the thought of a Christian college at Alma.
The Rosses and others gave land and money
and a good two-story school-house, or col-
lege, was built and a college opened, but
after a few years' struggle the property was
sold three years ago to the district for public
school purposes.
. Alma has grown from a hamlet to a vil-
lage of two hundred or three hundred in-
habitants and is incorporated as a village.
It has many business houses and enjoys the
trade of a large part of this, Tonti and Fos-
ter townships. On the 28th day of Decem-
ber, 1908, fire broke out in a large hay barn
and destroyed the entire business part of
Alma. Several stores, warehouses, shops
and restaurants were burned and as all
were of frame, the loss was total, but with
true American grit, the ashes were hardly
cold before the debris was being cleared
away and preparations for brick buildings
were under way. In the spring of 1908 the
large fruit cannery of Doctor Shrigley's
was burned, also quite a serious loss to the
business of the village. Alma is one of the
chief fruit shipping points of the county.
Thousands upon thousands of baskets of
tomatoes, peaches and other fruits are an-
nually shipped, while the Alma gem melon
requires two or three cars per day during
the season, and are the only rival of the
Rocky Fords on the markets.
BRUBAKER.
The station of Brubaker on the Chicago
& Eastern Illinois Railroad is an active little
hamlet. It contains two stores, a saw-mill,
blacksmith shop and the Alma town house.
It was laid out bv E. E. Brubaker, who built
a two-story store room upon the completion
of the railroad in 1895, and he has con-
ducted a flourishing business ever since.
Much produce is also shipped from here,
and also live stock. The railroad company
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY., ILLINOIS.
just after the Chicago & Eastern Illinois
took charge opened an extensive ballast-
burning experiment and acres of clay was
dug and mixed with coal and burned, but
for some reason the work was stopped, and
all that remains is a considerable body of
water, forming an artificial lake.
Red Lick Prairie is also the scene in
which is laid the "Stories of New Egypt,"
by Frank Spittler, Esq., and the tale has a
foundation in fact, which is as follows :
About 1830 or 1835, two brothers with a
small amount of money were journeying
westward from Vincennes, when they fell
in with a third young man, who had about
nine hundred dollars on his person. When
in the vicinity of Red Lick, the older
brother killed the young man and the
brothers appropriated the money and buried
the body. They settled near Red Lick
Prairie and the older brother became an ac-
tive member of the band of cutthroats and
horsethieves, with headquarters at Cave-in-
Rock, and operating all over Southern Illi-
nois, and his house was a regular stopping
place for the thieves and their plunder.
The suspicions of the rapidly increasing
population were directed to the elder brother
and he disappeared. The younger brother
lived in the township and reared a large
and respectable family. Such is the tale
handed down by the old men and women at
the fireside a generation ago, and doubtless
there is some truth at the foundation of the
story. It is impossible to say how much.
KINMUNDY TOWNSHIP.
'Town 4 north, range 3 east, is known in
civil law as Kinmundy. Its north line is
also the dividing line between Marion and
Fayette counties. The watershed between
the Kaskaskia and Wabash rivers extends
from Alma through this township, the west
side being drained by the East Fork, and the
east side by the Skillet Fork. The prairie of
Alma extends through this township, while
heavy timber was originally along the
above streams, making the township about
half timber and half prairie.
The first settler was John W. Nichols,
who settled on Howell's branch in 1823, but
went north in 1827, but soon returned and
died. Henry Howell came in 1826 and set-
tled near the Nichols claim, where he died
after several years' residence. He raised
a large family, one of whom is still living.
Abner Stewart came to the township in the
latter part of 1828, and in 1829 entered the
first land entered in this township. His
cabin stood in what is now the corporate
limits of Kinmundy city. He built a horse
mill, and after three years moved to Mis-
souri. In 1828 three brothers by the name
of Gray. James, Joseph and William, came
to Kinmundv. (These settlers were all from
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Tennessee.) James Gray settled on section
10, but died in 1835, leaving a widow and
eight children. The widow entered eighty
acres of land in section 10, February 13,
1837, and in the fall forty acres more. She
lived until 1844. Her son, the late James
H. Gray, lived until about 1899, and died
one of the wealthiest citizens of the county.
He lived and died on the old homestead.
Joseph Gray settled three or four places in
the township, but died in 1844. William
Gray built a home on section 21, but sold
out and went to Missouri in 1833. Isaac
Eagan, a single man, came to the township
with James Gray in 1828. He drove stage
for several years, but married and bought
the William Gray place of Abner Stewart,
who had bought it of John Eagan, who had
bought it of Gray, two sales before any
one had title but Uncle Sam. Abner Stew-
art entered the land in 1837, the same day
that the widow Gray entered her eighty.
Hugh Eagan came in 1829, but afterward
bought the Ross Jones claim north of Sa-
lem, where he died. Harrison Eagan, a
noted Cumberland Presbyterian minister,
was his son. John Beardin came in 1838
and located in Kinmundy. All these settlers
came originally from Tennessee.
The first school-house was built in 1837,
and Samuel Whiteside was the first to teach
in it. Although schools had been taught
in cabins before this date. The Baptists
built the first church. It was of hewed logs
and was in the Howell neighborhood. The
Cumberland Presbyterians, however, held
meetings frequently in private houses.
CITY OF KIXMUXDY.
Kinmundy, a city of about fifteen hun-
dred inhabitants, is situated on the Chicago
branch of the Illinois Central Railroad. It
was laid out in April, 1857, on section 22,
which brings it near the center of the town-
ship. W. T. Sprouse laid out the city. Isaac
Eagan laid out an addition in 1858. Other
additions have been laid out from time to
time. In 1895 trie Chicago & Eastern Illi-
nois Railroad, then the Chicago, Peoria &
Memphis, was built through the township,
and passed through the western part of the
city. The city and township are said to be
named after a Scotchman, who was a
stockholder in the Central when it was
built, and visited this part of the county.
W. B. Eagan built the first house in 1857,
in which he kept a general store and was the
first postmaster. The house was two stories
and Eagan lived above the store. Eagan
had kept a country store two or three years
at the old homestead before Kinmundy was
laid out. The Illinois depot was built in
1856, and like most Illinois Central depots
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
203
of that day, was a big barn-like structure.
Later a neat little depot was built and the
old one used as a freight room. Kinmundy,
like nearly all towns along the Illinois Cen-
tral, is built on both sides of the railroad,
and the crossing is dangerous, and deaths
from being struck by trains are too often
the result of this building of the towns.
Several deaths at Kinmundy have resulted,
among them that of Miss Cammerer, daugh-
ter of Dr. and Mrs. Cammerer, about twelve
years ago. Miss Cammerer was walking
with her mother, and stepping around the
end of a car standing on the track, was
struck by a fast train, the mother barely es-
caping the same fate. About the same time
an entire family, except one child, were
killed at the crossing at Alma. At the south
side of the town Willis Wilburn built a
small store room and sold goods for a time,
in 1855. He built a hotel south of the present
depot, about the same time. Doctor Skil-
ling kept the first drug store, and Dr. W.
W. Elliott was the first medical practitioner.
Henry Eagan was the first "village black-
smith". In 1858 Sprouse built a saw and
grist mill, but it was moved away in a short
time, but he buit another in 1864. and in
1868 Songer Brothers built the present
brick mill. It too, was moved away. An-
other mill was built in 1877 and passed into
the hands of C. Rohrbough, but it has long
since gone out of business.
The first bank was the W. T. Haymond
& Company's bank, organized in 1870. The
capital stock fully paid in was forty-five
thousand dollars. This bank was a good
business proposition, and was a stable insti-
tution. On the death of Mr. Haymond in
1899 a National bank was organized and is
at present one of the safe banks of the coun-
ty. There is a private bank called The War-
ren Bank, doing a good business.
The building of the Chicago & Eastern
Illinois Railroad gave an impetus to busi-
ness of Kinmundy, and several good brick
business houses were built, but an extensive
fire in 1904 destroyed about one-half of the
business part of the town. It has, however,
been rebuilt. A short time later another
fire destroyed a large part of the remainder
of the town. It too, has been rebuilt.
Kinmundy has six churches, the Metho-
dist Episcopal, and Christian churches are
fine, modern structures; the others are old
style frame buildings, and are xised by the
Cumberland Presbyterians, Presbyterians,
Methodist Episcopal, South, and Catholic.
The schools of Kinmundy are good, with
energetic teachers, and a high school course
of three years, but the building is old and
unsuited for modern school purposes.
204
BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTS, ILLINOIS.
IUKA TOWNSHIP.
luka township lies along the east line of
the county and north of Romine. Its sur-
vey numbers are township 2 north, range
4 east. It was a part of the Maguire pre-
cinct until 1873, when township organiza-
tion was adopted. Skillet Fork is the prin-
cipal stream. It passes north and south
near the middle of the township, and Ful-
ton, Jamison and Dumb's creeks drain into
it. This township was about three-fourths
timber, but is now cleared up and less than
one-half is in timber. Ramsey's prairie on
the east, projects into luka from Clay
county, and Romine prairie on the west
from Stevenson township. The part of Ro-
mine prairie in luka was first called Bone
prairie, on account of the many bones of
animals that littered its surface. About
1820 Patrick Conner, a noted hunter and
trapper, located in this township, which with
Romine on the south and Omega on the
north, made it a hunter's paradise. Mr.
Jamison settled on Jamison's creek in 1821,
but he was killed by the Indians in 1823.
A man by the name of Tadlock, built a
cabin on the Vincennes road in 1823. but
left no record of his life in the minds of the
people.
Leonard P. Pyles, a Tennesseean, settled
in the township in 1822. He was a man of
much force of character and was for many
years active in the forming of the new
county and directing its affairs. After seven
years' residence he moved to Missouri, as
this county was settling up too fast, and
game was getting scarce. He died in 1872.
Some of his grandchildren still live in this
county. In 1825, Jesse Tinkler moved here
from Indiana, and Solomon Smith, wife and
six children came in a four horse wagon
from Tennessee, in 1829. He died in 1846.
He first stopped near Salem, but soon
moved to luka. George and Ann McGuire
and eight children came from Tennessee in
1829. They stopped one winter in Tennes-
see prairie, then settled in luka, on section
8. They both died in 1833. Mrs. McGuire
of cholera.
Thomas L. Middleton, born in North
Carolina but raised in Tennessee, came to
Illinois in 1831, in a six horse wagon, and
was nearly lost in crossing the Ohio river.
He settled first in Haines township, but
came to luka in 1834. He was a preacher
and a doctor, and devoted to the chase. He
died in 1876, seventy-seven years old. He
had four sons and four daughters, now all
dead, but several grandchildren and great-
grandchildren are living in the county.
One of the sons, B. F. Middleton, long pre-
served a gun with which his father killed
forty-seven deer out of fifty-one shots, a rec-
ord that one might well be proud of.
John B. Middleton came from Tennessee
in 1831. but this family was unfortunate, as
most of their children died young. Eight of
them are buried in the Fulton graveyard.
Denning Baker in 1832, and Thomas
Chapman in 1838, came to luka. Chap-
man died in 1872. He had twelve children,
ten of whom grew to manhood and woman-
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
205
hood. Rolling Mattingly, a hatter, and
Jesse Breese, who was a maker of wooden
mould boards for plows, and was also a
hunter. James Songer, the father of the 1
Songers of Kinmundy, settled here very
early. He was a miller.
Between 1830 and 1842 the Litterells,
Daggetts, Eblins, Youngs, Hollidays and
the Cheeleys settled in this township, all
well known names of respectable families in
the township. The first school was a select
school taught at old Stringtown by Cynthia
Cooper, in 1841. The school-house was an
old log cabin. The first school-house was the
Cooper school in section 8. It was built of
unhewn logs, and had a puncheon floor.
The first school taught there was by Samuel
Dewel, in 1845. The first graveyard was
the McGuire burying ground, but it has not
been used for more than fifty years.
Doctor Middleton preached the first ser-
mon in a log cabin a short distance northeast
of the village of luka. The luka cemetery
now occupies the ground where he preached,
and he is buried within a few feet of the
spot on which he stood when he preached
the first sermon delivered in the township.
William Finley, the most active of the
early preachers of the Cumberland Presby-
terians, often preached in luka township.
Preacher Middleton built the first mill, and
ground corn for the settlers. The mill had
a capacity of ten or fifteen bushels per day.
The first church built in the township
was a Cumberland Presbyterian church. A.
B. Taylor was the first blacksmith and John
McGuire owned the first grocery store.
Frederickton was laid out in 1840 by
Robert Shields, and in ten years had one
hundred inhabitants. It was a stage stand,
and the largest and best business point in
the township. Being a stage point toughs
from older settlements drifted there. James
Fisher built the first house, and F. D. New-
ell was the first storekeeper. The first post-
office in the township was established here
in 1845, with John Lawson as postmaster.
After the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad was
built the town began to die, many of the
houses were moved to Xenia, and others
torn down, and today not a vestige of Fred-
erickton remains. Greendale, a flag station
on the Ohio & Mississippi, now Baltimore
& Ohio Southwestern, Railroad, was a post-
office established in 1873, but now nothing
is left of Greendale but a side track and a
house. On the completion of the Ohio &
Mississippi, now the Baltimore & Ohio
Southwestern Railroad, which runs through
the township east and west, about two miles
south of the north line and nearly parallel
with it. a town was laid out on sections 17
and 1 8, on land owned by D. J. and Alfred
Middleton, and in honor of the family, was
called Middleton. The post-office was called
New Middleton. The town was laid out by
Songer and Camp in 1856. Jerry Allmon
built a small frame house the same year, and
kept a store in it. James A. Middleton
opened another store soon after. Ned
Young kept a boarding house about this
time, and a man by the name of Coon
opened a hotel. In 1858 James S. Jackson,
afterward a lawyer and a captain in the
206
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
One Hundred and Eleventh Regiment,
opened a blacksmith shop. The Fyke
brothers built a sawmill in 1859.
Harrison Eagan was the first Cumberland
Presbyterian preacher, and T. L. Middleton
the first Methodist Episcopal minister. L.
L. Morgan and T. L. Middleton were the
first doctors, and Mary Finch the first
teacher. Miss Mina N. Lear taught a se-
lect school in 1859. Solomon Smith was
the first justice. In 1857 a post-office was
established with P. E. Cutler, founder of
Cutler & Hays, of Salem, as postmaster. In
1867 the Legislature changed the name of
Middleton to luka, at the request of the sol-
diers who had been in the battle of luka in
the Civil war, and thus the township also
got its name.
There are a Cumberland Presbvterian. a
Methodist Episcopal and a Christian church
in the village. The first was built in 1863,
the second in 1877 and the last in 1895.
In 1866 Collens Brothers built a brick-
mill of fifty barrel capacity. This mill has
changed hands several times but in all
changes the luka flour has maintained its
excellent reputation. luka is the greatest
point for shipping ties in the county, the av-
erage being about one thousand per month.
Outside of the village of luka there are
three churches in the township, a Cumber-
land Presbyterian, a Methodist Episcopal
and a German Lutheran.
The village has good schools, a bank and
a dozen business houses, and numbers about
eight hundred inhabitants, wide awake and
industrious, and with a justifiable pride in
their beautiful little village.
OMEGA TOWNSHIP.
Town 3 north, range 4 east, is known in
the civil law as Omega. Why the name of
the last letter of the Greek alphabet was
given to this township is hard to imagine,
unless for its sound, for Omega is not the
last place by any means. It is a well
watered tract, the streams being Skillet fork,
Dumbs creek, Bee branch, White Oak
creek and Mountain branch. In this town-
ship Skillet Fork has made bottoms of low
land, which often overflows and thus en-
riched there is no more fertile lands in the
county than are found in Omega. The
township was well timbered, only one-fourth
being prairie, but like the other townships,
is largely cleared and where the native wood
shaded the ground are now fine farms.
Henry T. Pyles, of Tennessee, came to
this county in 1820 and settled in String-
town in luka. In 1829 he married Rachael
Tinkler and the next year settled in Omega
township. He raised a family of nine chil-
dren, of whom three are still living : Josiah,
at Odin, Lidia Jones at luka and T. B., edi-
tor of a paper at Fountain, Colorado.
Marcum C. Lovell came from Kentucky
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
with his father in 1829, and stopped at Wal-
nut Hill Prairie, where he married Polly
Hensley, daughter of Joseph Hensley, first
settler of that section, in 1831, and moved
to this township, where he died in 1879.
His wife, Polly, had died in 1873. Four of
their children still live in the county : Wood-
son and Mrs. Frances Farson in Omega.
Mrs. Julia Lacey in Meacham and Mrs.
Mary Hammond in Salem.
Daniel Lovell moved to this township in
1832, and David England the same year;
Thomas T. Jones in 1834, Thomas C. Smith
in 1837. Henderson Hensley came in the
same year.
Nicholas Van Dusen, of Massachusetts,
moved to Ohio, then to Illinois and in 1840
settled in this township. The late Henry
A. Van Dusen, the noted Christian preacher,
was his son. Andrew Beard and his
brother, John, came in 1840, and John
Wantland from Tennessee, first settled in
Red Lick Prairie in 1826, and in 1841
moved to this township. Thomas Chapman
also settled in this township in 1841. Black-
burn Brown, son of Alexander Brown, who
was living at Stringtown as early as 1831,
came to Omega in 1845, an d died here in
1908, about ninety years of age. There
are no railroads touching Omega and the
township is strictly an agricultural one.
Henry Piles built the first house in the
township.
John Porter and Mary E. Lovell were
married by Squire Samuel Hensley in 1837.
This was the first wedding. The first death
was a young daughter of Richard Pyles.
She was the first person buried in the Mil-
lican graveyard. Small stores were opened
by Charles O'Neal, Wesley Beasley, Levi
Rollins and Captain Elder. They were
small and kept only the necessaries. Most
of the business was barter.
The first school was taught by William
Hadden in the Lovell school-house. This
was a log house with an opening on the
north side to admit light. It stood on sec-
tion 20. A log cabin with a dirt floor next
served as a school-house. It stood on section
27. A subscription school was taught here
two terms by Silas Litterell. He charged
two dollars per pupil per term of three
months.
The Presbyterians, Methodist Episcopal
and Christians now have churches in the
township and each has a large number of
communicants in the township. All of the
early preachers of the county preached in
this township, among them Doctor Middle-
ton, Joseph Helms, Cyrus Wright, John A.
Williams and David R. Chance.
A small water mill was built on Lost
creek, and was the first in the township.
The next mill was on Skillet Fork, and was
both grist and saw mill, and sawed the first
lumber cut in the township. Both are now
only a memory.
The first crime was that one so peculiarly
attached to rural districts, horse stealing.
Reuben and Robert Black stole a horse from
Richard Claflin. They were caught, but
one broke out of jail, and was retaken while
trying to cross the Illinois river. He had
208
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
stolen a gun to pay the ferryman and this late as 1874, since which time 'only a few
led to his re-arrest. Both were sent to the penaJ offenses have occurred in the town-
penitentiary for eleven years. This was as ship.
VILLAGE OF OMEGA.
In 1856 Timothy Baldwin laid out the
village of Omega, and built the first house.
Dr. Lewis Rogers was the first doctor and
Captain Elder the first store-keeper. Ralph
F. Baldwin was the first postmaster. He
was appointed when the office was estab-
lished in 1855, before the village was laid
out. A frame school-house was built in 1856
and William Duncan taught the winter term
and Kate Elder the spring term.
The village of Omega is a good point for
a country store, two being there at present,
but the village has not grown and has now
less than one hundred inhabitants, but some
day a railroad will be built through Omega,
which will make it one of the good shipping
points of the county.
MEACHAM TOWNSHIP.
4-4 in the Government survey, the north-
east township in the county is Meacham. A
little more than half of this township is
beautiful level prairie land, slightly undu-
lating in a very small part. The prairie is
all cultivated and a good part of the timber
land is cleared and in good farms. A small
part of the timber, like that of Omega, is
somewhat broken and hilly. The Chicago
branch of the Central Illinois crosses the
northwest corner, but has no station in the
township. Kinmundy and Farina in Fayette
county are its markets for the larger part, al-
though some produce is taken to Clay coun-
ty station on the Springfield branch of the
Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern.
The first settler was Cornelius Dunham.
He came with his family from New York in
1823, and located on section 13, but in 1836
he went to Iowa, leaving his family behind.
The family afterwards went to Wisconsin.
The prairie was first, occupied by a man
by the name of Ingram. He located near a
point of timber since known as Ingram
Point. This was about 1824. John Chesser
located a farm in what is now known as
Schrutchfield's Prairie. It was then called
Chesser's Prairie, but he only lived there one
year, and in 1833 so ^ to Terry Schrutch-
field, and the name changed to that of the
new settler. One Wright also located in the
same prairie about this time. Schrutchfield
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
209
lived in Xenia about ten years, having came
from Indiana in 1823. His son, John
Schrntchfield, inherited the same farm and
occupied it many years.
Felix G. Cockrell, of Morgan county,
Kentucky, came to Meacham with his wife
in 1837. They had two children at this
time and had six more born to them here,
seven of whom reached maturity. Mr.
Cockrell lived on the farm where he first
settled until his death about eighteen years
ago, near ninety years of age. Two of the
sons are still living, Hon. James Cockrell
and Clayburn Cockrell, both of this county.
Mrs. Cockrell died in 1865. Mr. Cockrell
married again in 1868, and three children
were born to them.
William Orender settled a claim in 1837,
but sold it to John Deremiah, who with his
brother, Thomas, entered in section 3, in
1837. John Orender located on what is
known as the Svvitzer place, but sold his
claim to Svvitzer in 1838. All the Orenders
moved to Fayette county, where all the fam-
ily died. George Neal and his father-in-law,
William Chaffin came to Meacham the same
year, 1837, as did also John Meacham and
his wife, Nancy, and her son-in-law, and
her single daughter, Henrietta Lilly. They
came from Tennessee in 1837. Henrietta
married William Deremiah soon after their
arrival. Meacham's house was the voting
place for the precinct and thus his name at-
tached to the township.
John W. Nichols was in early life some-
thing of a wanderer. He was born in Ten-
nessee and came to Kinmundy in 1823. At
that time his nearest neighbor was five miles
away. After four years he went to Wiscon-
sin, where he married, and the next year re-
turned to Marion county and lived just north
of the city of Kinmundy. This was in 1828.
The next year he moved to Fayette county,
and after a short stay moved to Salem, and
in 1837 he entered land in Meacham, where
he made himself a home and where he lived
many years, and where he died at a ripe old
age.
In 1839 a Mormon, who had been driven
out of Missouri, came to Meacham. His
name was George W. Orman, and he
preached at his home to such of his neigh-
bors as would come. John Schrutchfield was
converted to that faith and joined the Mor-
mon church, but the doctrine was not ac-
ceptable to the people and there were no
more converts.
A post-office was established h 1840 on
the Salem and Ewington road and called
Mount Liberty, but when an office was es-
tablished at Kinmundy, it was discontinued.
The township is now served by rural routes.
Felix Cockrell built a horse mill in 1844,
Andrew Shields a blacksmith shop about
1835. The Elder graveyard was the first
burial place. It is still used occasionally as
a place of interment. The first sermon
preached in the township was at the house of
Nancy Mitchell in 1837. by William Chaffin,
a Christian preacher. The Methodists built
the first church in 1840. It was of logs hewn
by Wesley Oliver. William Blundle was the
first preacher. During the Civil war politics
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
divided the church, and it went down and
for a time there was no church in the town-
ship, but school-houses were used. Now
churches have been built and the spiritual
needs of the people are cared for by visiting
ministers.
The first school was taught by Hiram K.
Farris at the Farris school-house. William
Deremiah was the second teacher, at the El-
der school-house. These schools were taught
early in the thirties. In 1839 the Cockrell
school-house was built and the first teacher
was Miss Susan Jones, afterward Mrs.
"Buck" Pace, of Salem. Meacham now has
good school-houses conveniently located to
meet the needs of an increasing population.
The township is purely agricultural and
ranks with the best in the county.
STEVENSON TOWNSHIP.
Samuel E. Stevenson was the leading cit-
izen of this township at its formation, and
his name was given to it. About half and
half timber and prairie, but the timber has
been ait away and now perhaps not more
than one-fourth is timber. It, like Haines,
on the south, and Alma on the north, is good
farm land, and the township has many fine
farms. Its survey numbers are town 2 north,
range 3 east of the third principal meridian.
Near the west side about half way north and
south is an elevated prairie, from which a
splendid view of nearly half the township
may be had. The Baltimore & Ohio South-
western Railroad runs across the north part
of the township from east to west, about
two miles south of the north line. There
are no towns or villages in the township.
About 1815, a man by the name of Dumb,
settled in the north part of the township on
a small creek, which has since borne his
name. John Davidson settled the Daniel
Holstlaw farm in 1821 and shortly after
Thomas Fulton settled in the south part of
the township. Richard Holstlaw, with his
wife and eight children, came from Indiana
in 1830, and settled on the old state road,
but he died three years after, but the family
left their impress on the township in after
years, through the son, Daniel, who left
eleven children, who have been prominent in
both this and luka townships, one of whom,
D. W. Holstlaw, has just begun a term as
State Senator, being elected in November,
1908.
About 1800 William Middleton left Vir-
ginia and settled in North Carolina. On
April 15, 1831, he left there and came to Ma-
rion county, Illinois, arriving in Stevenson
township the middle of May the same year.
He brought thirteen children with him, the
fourteenth, James, did not come with his
father. Joel H. settled in this township. The
rest scattered in after years. He left a nu-
merous offspring.
Samuel Gaston came to Walnut Hill
prairie in 1819, but died in 1826. He was
a soldier of the Revolution. He came from
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY,, ILLINOIS.
North Carolina to Kentucky, thence to Ma-
rion county. His son, William, married Ra-
chael Huff, and from them all the Gastons
of this township sprung. William moved to
Raccoon township in 1833, and later to Ste-
venson. He went to California in 1849, anc '
died there in 1865. The widow lived in
Stevenson township until her death in 1899,
at the age of ninety years.
David R. Chance first settled in Haines
township, but went later to Iowa, and after
a few years returned and settled in Steven-
son township. Mr. Chance was a leading-
preacher of the Christian church, among the
early settlers. His children scattered some
going to Iowa, some to Missouri, Texas,
and one to Jefferson county.
James P. Rogers came from Georgia to
Illinois by wagon in 1818 and stopped two
years at Carlyle, and in 1820 came to Wal-
nut Hill prairie. In 1834 he came to Ste-
venson and settled on section 32. He died in
1863. James Rogers, of Stevenson, and Mrs.
V. L. Harper, of Salem, are his surviving
children.
William Hix Huff came a single man to
this county in 1839, and the next year mar-
ried Mary Grain. He died in 1863. Nine
children survived him, of whom Green, Hen-
derson, and Mrs. Libbie Brazel yet live in
Stevenson, and George and Mrs. Harriett
Gaston live in Haines township. Mrs. Huff
herself is still living in Stevenson township,
very feeble, in her ninty-first year.
Reuben Chance was born in Kaskaskia,
Illinois, in 1805. He moved to Ridge Prai-
rie, St. Clair county, and to Haines township
in 1831. He went to Iowa in 1834, but re-
turned in 1843, an d settled on section 14, in
Haines township. Of his children S. S.
Chance, of Salem, for many years a faithful
county officer but now retired; Mrs. Eliza-
beth Metcalf, widow of Joshua Metcalf, and
Rachael, wife of James Hanna, both living
in Salem township, are the only living. J. O.
Chance, who was Clerk of the Supreme
Court, died at Mt. Vernon.
The Brubakers, Eli, Noah and Jacob came
in 1842, and Israel Warner came the same
year. The Brubakers are still a large fam-
ily in this township. Samuel Stevenson
came in 1846, and was at his death in 1899,
the wealthiest man in the township. His
brother, Noah, still lives in the township.
Joel Middleton was the first blacksmith,
and was a fine workman, making knives and
forks, as well as plows, with wooden moul-
boards. He built his shop in 1831, and
worked at his trade about twenty years.
The doctors who first practiced in the
township were Middleton and Hall. Richard
Holstlaw bought a mill of John Sutton, and
set it up on his farm. It was of about fifteen
bushels capacity.
The first church was built by the Baptists,
on Dumb's creek, but the first preaching was
at the house of Mr. Breese in 1831. There
are now a Christian church, Gaston Grove;
Methodist Episcopal church. Rabbit Grove;
two Presbyterian churches, old and new
Bethel, and Summit Prairie Baptist church,
and Romine Prairie German Baptist church
in the township.
The first school was kept by Othy Daven-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
port in 1833. The school-house was a log-
cabin on the Vincennes road, only three
months of school being kept.
Banister Switch on the Baltimore & Ohio
Southwestern Railroad, near the middle of
the township east and west, is a flag stopping
place for local trains. About 1869 a large
hay barn was built here by L. G. Porter and
Eli Brubaker, but they sold to John Boyn-
ton in 1875. It was blown down ',n 1880.
Mr. Boynton rebuilt a barn thirty-four by
eighty-two feet, with an ell twenty-four by
thirty feet, and baled hay for several years.
It is now gone, burned down we believe,
years ago. A town house was built near the
switch.
The farmers of Stevenson township are a
forehanded set of men, and are aiert to im-
prove their farms and their stock and have
organized horse companies to improve the
breed. The county home and farm is lo-
cated in this township about seven miles
southeast of Salem. It consists of a one-
story frame front about fifty feet long and
thirty deep, with two wings each about sixty
feet long, extending back in the form of a
capital U, surrounded by a farm of one hun-
dred and sixty acres. It is well kept and the
farm well tilled, but the buildings are old.
and but poorly calculated to serve the pur-
pose of a county home. There is in addition
a small house or two in the rear that may be
used besides barns and other outbuildings.
H. C. Pigg is the present superintendent.
The Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad
crosses the southwest corner of the town-
ship.
ROMINE TOWNSHIP.
Town i, range 4 east, is known by the
name of Romine. It lies as its numbers in-
dicate, in the southeast corner of the county.
A portion of this township is rough, broken
land, and nearly all was originally heavily
timbered. A small section of Donoho Prai-
rie lies within this township. Skillet Fork
is the principal stream. It takes a meander-
ing course across the township from near
the middle on the north to near the east line
on the south. A sn>all branch on the west is
known as Paint Rock. The soil in the low-
lands is very good, that of the hills not so
productive. Most of the timber of value has
been cut off and now nothing remains of the
once magnificent forest but "tie" timber, and
coal props. The township was named after
Abram Romine, one of the early settlers. It.
is said that a man named Adams was the
first white man to live in Romine, but no
trace of him remains. Joseph Helms and
John Dillon came to the township in 1826.
Helms located on section 28 ; Dillon did not
enter any land and left the township. Wil-
liam Brewer, of Kentucky, brought his fam-
ily in 1827 and settled on section 29. W.
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
213
P. Byers, born in Virginia, moved to Ken-
tucky and then to Tennessee, where he mar-
ried Nancy Sutton and in 1827 moved with
his family to Marion county and settled in
Romine. He left eleven children at his
death in 1873, a few of whom are still liv-
ing. William Donaho settled on the strip
of prairie extending into this township from
Haines and his memory is kept alive by the
name of the prairie where he first settled.
Ellis Branson came from Tennessee and set-
tied on section 30 in 1838, in Haines. but
moved into Romine in 1881. Ephraim
Meadows moved by ox teams from Tennes-
see in 1829, bringing his wife and six chil-
dren to Romine. He was the first County
Surveyor and a man of character.
Joseph Stonecipher, the founder of the
numerous family of Stoneciphers of this
county, came with his mother and sister
from Tennessee in 1840. They traveled by
ox team and settled on section 31.
The first school was taught at the home
of Benjamin Litteral, with Henry Darnell
as teacher. Another very early school was
taught in a miserable log hut by Thomas
Cohorn. He "boarded round" and received
ten dollars per month. The first school-
house was a log house with a sawed plank
floor. It was near the Stonecipher home.
The first church was on Donaho Prairie and
was built of logs. There are two. Baptist,
one Methodist Episcopal and one Christian
church in the township.
This township, on account of the rough,
hilly character of a portion of its territory,
was a favorite hiding place for criminals in
past days, but it is fast becoming settled so
thickly that the hiding places are disappear-
ing and the law-abiding element is largely
in the ascendant and crime is not as frequent
as in the more populous centers. The peo-
ple are a virtuous, industrious class of farm-
ers, who are content to live at peace with
each other and the world. There were two
post-offices in the township until the estab-
lishment of the rural free delivery, which
now supplies the best mail facilities to the
people. There are no towns in the township
and the only industry is agriculture and the
day is not far distant when this township
will lead in farm products.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The first wall paper ever brought to this
county was brought here by the late Martin
Buckhout. It was bought in New York in
the forties and shipped to New Orleans,
thence up the river to St. Louis and by wa-
gon to Salem. This was in the late forties.
The first piano brought to Salem, if not
to the county, was brought by river to Shaw-
neetown from Virginia by Bryan W. Lester,
grandfather of Ed., Harry and George
Lester and of Mrs. J. W. Finn, of Salem, as
a present for his daughter, the late Mrs.
214
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Herron, and brought from Shawneetown
(to which point it had been brought by
river), by John Earnhardt, father of Abe
Earnhardt, with a two-yoke ox team. Mr.
Earnhardt was ten days making the trip.
This was about 1835.
The Salem company that struck oil in a
well near Centralia in December last shot
their second well January 23, 1909, and
the indications are! that it is a paying oil
well.
Salem was a stage stopping place from
about 1824 to 1854, when the Ohio & Mis-
sissippi Railroad was built. Many drivers
lived in Salem, among whom he last living
were "Crook" Garner and "Sandy" Nelm.
The first died about fifteen years ago and
the last in 1906. They drove stage when
only one house was on the road after they
left Salem until they reached Carlyle, and
that stood on what is known as the .mound,
about half way between the two points, and
was a stage stand.
The soldiers of the Black Hawk war were
expected to furnish their own horses and
arms and all equipments, and these were
listed with the officer in charge, and if lost
or destroyed were charged to the govern-
ment, and paid for upon proper certificate
being made. The following is a list of the
losses of Marion county men: Capt. W. N.
Dobbins, horse wounded, rifle lost; First
Lieut. Steven Yocum, lost one U. S. halter;
Second Lieut. , horse killed ; John F.
Draper, lost U. S. halter; Hamilton Farth-
ing, lost one rope; William S. Booth, lost
halter ; Joseph Gray, horse killed ; Ben Allen,
lost halter; David W. Allmon, horse lost;
Welles Chandler, horse killed; Samuel
Craig, horse wounded, lost halter; Green
R. Dunkin, lost U. S. kettle; Green Fields,
horse killed, lost U. S. coffee pot; Nathan
Fields, lost U. S. frying pan ; William King,
.lost U. S. camp kettle, horse killed; James
Lovell, horse killed; Henry McDaniels,
horse lost ; John McGuire, lost U. S. halter ;
Dudley H. Mabry, horse killed, lost rifle,
also U. S. halter; Norflit B. Nelms, horse
killed; Calvin Piles, horse killed, lost hal-
ter; John Phelps, horse killed, lost halter;
J. J. Richeson, lost halter; Wellers Smith,
horse killed; Bird M. Thompson, horse
killed; John B. Uhis, horse killed; James
Williams, horse killed; Levin Wright, horse
killed, lost halter; Edwin Young, horse
killed. When a soldier's horse was killed
the soldier was immediately discharged by
the colonel or other officer. It was two Ma-
rion county men who made the trip through
the swarms of savages after the fight at
Kellogg's Grove for help. One was David
Allmon. The name of the other is unknown
to the writer, nor have I been able to ascer-
tain it. They bade their comrades farewell,
as none expected them to get through alive,
but on foot they made the journey to the
camp of the troops, more than twenty miles,
in safety, and carried word of the fight and
brought reinforcements to the defeated and
discouraged detachment.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN.
BY PROF. J. H. G. BRINKERHOFF.
William Jennings Bryan, son of Silas L.
Bryan (see biography) and Mariah Eliza-
beth (Jennings) Bryan, was born in Salem,
Illinois, March 19, 1860. As a boy he was
not different from other healthy, hearty
American boys, fond of play and fond of
good things to eat, but rather given to seri-
ous sport than to mischief. Among his earli-
est ambition was the desire to become a min-
ister, but in early youth that desire was lost
in the ambition to become a lawyer like his
father and as that ambition seemed to be
permanent his training was directed to that
end. When William was six years old the
family moved to a large farm just outside
of the corporate limits of Salem, and here
he studied, played and worked until ten
years old, his mother, a remarkably strong-
minded, clear-headed, Christian woman, be-
ing his teacher, his guide and task-master,
his work being such chores as fall to the lot
of boys in well regulated, prosperous farm
homes. At the age of ten years he entered
the Salem public school, which he attended
five years, but was not particularly bright in
his studies; his examinations show thor-
oughness rather than brilliancy, but his in-
terest in the literary and debating societies
was early developed and remained while he
attended the school and still abides, as is
shown by the Bryan oratorical contest held
annually in this school, and for which Mr.
Bryan provides a first and second prize of
ten and five dollars respectively.
In 1872 his father made the race for Con-
gress, and William, then twelve years of
age, became much interested in the cam-
paign, and from that time on he cherished
the thought of some day being a public man
and a leader of the people.
At the age of fourteen he united with the
Cumberland Presbyterian church at Salem.
While at Jacksonville he took membership
with the First Presbyterian church, and
upon his removal to Lincoln, Nebraska, he
placed his letter with the First Presbyte-
rian church of that place, and where his
membership still remains.
At fifteen years of age he entered the pre-
paratory department of Illinois College, at
Jacksonville, and for eight years was a stu-
dent in that college, spending only his vaca-
tions at home. Mr. Bryan while at college
was not a great admirer of athletic sports,
but took a mild interest in base ball and foot
ball, and was rather an enthusiastic runner
216
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
and jumper, and in a contest open to stu-
dents and alumni, three years after his grad-
uation, he won the medal for the broad
standing jump, twelve feet and four inches
being the distance covered.
While at the preparatory school the first
year he entered a prize contest and de-
claimed Patrick Henry's great speech, and
ranked near the foot. The second year he de-
claimed "The Palmetto and the Pine," and
stood third. The next year as a freshman
he tried for a prize in Latin prose and di-
vided the second prize with a competitor.
The same year he gained second prize in
declamation. In his sophomore year he
took first prize with an essay, and in his jun-
ior year first prize in oration and was there-
by made representative of his college in the
intercollegiate oratorical contest at Gales-
burg, in 1880, where he received the second
prize of fifty dollars. That great orator, Gen.
John C. Black, was one of the judges and
marked him one hundred on delivery. At
the close of his college life in 1881, Mr.
Bryan stood at the head of his class and de-
livered the valedictory. This much is given
for the encouragement of young men, show-
ing that improvement only comes with ef-
fort, and to persevere, though the first at-
tempt finds you near the foot.
In the fall of 1881 Mr. Bryan entered
Union Law College at Chicago, and spent
much of his time in the law office of Lyman
Trumbull. After graduation he returned
to Salem for a short time, and won his fee
in the county court of Marion county.
July 4, 1883. Mr. Bryan began the prac-
tice of law in Jacksonville, Illinois ; he had
desk room in the office of Brown & Kirby,
and now came the real test, waiting for busi-
ness. The first six months were trying and
he was forced to draw upon his father's es-
tate for small advances, and at one time he
seriously thought of seeking new fields, but
the beginning of the year 1884 brought
clients more frequently, and he felt encour-
aged to stay in Jacksonville, and now feeling
that he could see success, on October i,
1884, he was married to Miss Mary Baird,
of Perry, Illinois.
In the summer of 1887 business called
Mr. Bryan to the West, and he spent one
Sunday with a classmate, A. R. Talbot, who
was located in Lincoln, Nebraska. So greatly
was he impressed with the opportunities of
the growing capital of the state that he re-
turned to Illinois full of enthusiasm for the
city of Lincoln, and perfected plans for re-
moval thither. In October, 1887, a partner-
ship was formed with Mr. Talbot, and
during the next three years a paying prac-
tice resulted.
As soon as Mr. Bryan settled in Lincoln
he identified himself actively with the Demo-
cratic party, of which he had been a mem-
ber in Illinois, and to the principles of which
his whole being was bound, and made his first
political speech at Seward, in the spring of
1888. Soon after he was sent as a delegate
to the state convention, and in the canvass
of the First Congressional District he made
many speeches in favor of J. Sterling Mor-
ton, and also spoke in thirty-four counties
in favor of the state ticket. Mr. Morton
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
217
was defeated by thirty-four hundred, as the
district was strongly Republican. In 1890
there was but little hope for the Democrats
in the First District, and Mr. Bryan was
nominated without opposition. \V. J. Con-
nell was the Republican nominee. A chal-
lenge to conduct the canvass by a series of
joint debates was issued by Mr. Bryan and
accepted by Mr. Connell, and at the close
Mr. Bryan won by a plurality of six thou-
sand, seven hundred and thirteen. Mr.
Bryan was elected to Congress again from
a new district which had been formed when
the state was re-apportioned in 1891. The
Republican state ticket carried the district
by six thousand, five hundred, but Mr.
Bryan was elected by one hundred and forty
plurality. During the four years he was in
Congress, he was very active, taking part in
every important debate and speaking many
times. He declined to run again for Con-
gress but later permitted his nomination for
the Senate, but the Republicans carried the
state and Thurston was chosen Senator.
The Democratic National Convention
convened at Chicago July 4. 1896, and for
four days a battle of giants ensued over the
monetary plank in the platform. Speeches
were made for and against the free silver
coinage plank by such men of master minds
and national reputations before the conven-
tion as Senator Tillman, Senator Jones,
Senator Hill, Senator Vilas, ex-Governor
Russell. Senator Tillman favored the ma-
jority report of the committee, which fa-
vored the free coinage; all the rest opposed.
The debate was closed by Mr. Bryan in
support of the majority report in a speech
which rang so true and was such a master
piece of oratory that the convention was
swept off its feet and brought to Mr. Bryan
the nomination for the Presidency on the
fifth ballot on Friday, July loth. After a
most remarkable campaign he was defeated
by William McKinley being elected.
Four years later Mr. Bryan, greater in
defeat than other men in success, was again
the choice of the Democratic party for the
Presidency, and again suffered defeat, Mr.
McKinley being re-elected. In 1904 the
Democratic party nominated Alton B. Par-
ker, of New York, for President, and he
led the party to the most crushing defeat
ever suffered by any party since the days of
John Quincy Adams.
In 1908 the Democratic party again nom-
inated Mr. Bryan, and the Republican party
William H. Taft and again the decision was
against the former. Thrice defeated yet
with each defeat growing greater, ad-
vocating great principles which he sees his
political opponents adopt, he stands today
the greatest living American.
When in 1906 and 1907 he took a trip
around the world, he was received every-
where with such ovations as are seldom ac-
corded to any, and were never before to a
private citizen, and his welcome home in the
city of New York was a demonstration of
love and respect from Americans to an
American that has never been equalled in
the history of the nation. Mr. Bryan may
'never be President, but he has made an
impress on the nation for good that can
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
never be effaced and from his life the peo-
ples of the world have received an uplift
that will be felt to bless generations yet un-
born. In his life of moral purity, in his sin-
cere Christianity, and in his addresses on
the duties and responsibilities of life he has
given a new impulse to many a youth for
better things and if his work closed now
the one address "The Prince of Peace," will
stand a monument, more enduring than
chiseled marble or moulded brass, standing
forever as it must in the higher aims, purer
thoughts, nobler impulses and grander lives
of the men and women of the America of
the future.
JETER C. UTTERBACK.
Prominent among the leading journalists
of southern Illinois is the well known and
highly esteemed gentleman whose name fur-
nishes the caption of this article. As editor
and proprietor of one of the influential pa-
pers in his part of the state he has been a
forceful factor in moulding sentiment in his
community and directing thought along
those lines which make fof the enlighten-
ment of the public and the highest good of
his fellow men.
Jeter C. Utterback is a native of Jasper
county, Illinois, where his birth occurred on
the 8th day of August, 1873. His father,
B. C. W. Utterback, a Kentuckian by birth,
was the son of Thomas Utterback, who was
also a native of the Blue Grass state, and a
member of one of the oldest pioneer families
of Grayson county. In an early day Thomas
Utterback became prominent in the affairs
of his county and stood high in the confi-
dence and esteem of his fellow citizens. In
1836 he migrated to Illinois and settled in
the northwestern part of Richland county,
where he also became a local leader and a
man of wide influence. He was a farmer by
occupation, and in due time accumulated a
large and valuable estate in the county of
Richland, in which he spent the remainder
of his days, dying a number of years ago,
deeply lamented by the large circle of friends
and acquaintances who had learned to prize
him for his sterling worth.
B. C. W. Utterback was reared to matu-
rity in Richland county, and, like his father,
followed agricultural pursuits for a liveli-
hood. In the early seventies he disposed of
his interests in the county of Richland and
removed to Jasper county, where he contin-
ued farming and stock raising until 1878,
when heturned his land over to other hands
and took up his residence in Newton, where
he is now living a life of honorable retire-
ment. Nancy Ann Hinman, who became the
wife of B. C. W. Utterback in January, 1856,
was born in Bartholomew county, Indiana,
where her father, Titus Hinman, a native of
Ohio, settled in an early day. She bore her
husband ten children, seven of whom sur-
vive, namely : Eva, wife of George E. Hut-
son, of Dundas, Illinois; Thomas H., As-
sistant State Librarian, who lives in the
city of Springfield ; Hester, now Mrs. T. C.
Chamberlin, of Newton; Charles C. resides
in Salem; Albert L., of Caney, Kansas,
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
219
where he holds the position of postmaster;
M. T., of Newton, and Jeter C, whose name
introduces this sketch.
Jeter C. Utterback spent his early life in
the town of Newton, grew up under the
sturdy and invigorating discipline of an ex-
cellent home environment and while still a
lad laid his plans for the future with the
object of becoming something more than a
mere passive agent in the world of affairs.
In due time he entered the schools of his
native place and after attending the same
until completing the prescribed course of
study, in 1889 began learning the printer's
trade in the office of the Newton Mentor,
where he made rapid progress and soon
became quite proficient, besides obtaining a
practical knowledge of other branches of the
profession. After mastering the trade he
worked for a short time in Webb City, Mis-
souri, and then accepted a position in the
office of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, where
he continued until 1891, when he came to
Salem, Illinois, and entered the employ of
Mrs. Belle C. Johnson, editress and man-
ager of The Republican, with whom he
continued until affecting 'a co-partnership
with his brother, T. H. Utterback, for the
purchase of a paper four years later.
The Republican under the joint manage-
ment of the Utterback brothers, continued
to make its periodical visits about one year,
when the plant passed into the hands of G.
C. Harner, the subject going to the town
of Carrollton, where he followed his chosen
calling until his return to Salem in 1896,
when he again became interested in The Re-
publican, buying the paper that year from
his brother, who in the meantime had suc-
ceeded Mr. Harner as editor and proprietor.
On becoming sole proprietor of The Repub-
lican Mr. Utterback infused new life into
the paper and it was not long until its influ-
ence began to be felt throughout the county,
not only as an able political organ, but as a
clean, dignified and popular family paper,
through the columns of which appeared all
the latest news, also much of the best liter-
ature of the day, to say nothing of the
numerous productions from the pens of local
writers. Since assuming control he has
enlarged the paper as well as added to its
interest and popularity besides purchasing
new machinery, presses and other appliances
and thoroughly equipping the office until the
plant is now one of the most valuable of the
kind in Marion county, and in all that con-
stitutes a live up-to-date sheet The Repub-
lican compares favorably with any other lo-
cal paper in the southern part of the state.
Mechanically it is a model of the printer's
art, and politically is staunchly and uncom-
promisingly Republican, being the official
party organ of Marion county, while its in-
fluence in directing and controlling current
thought in relation to the leading questions
and issues of the day has brought it promi-
nently to the notice of party leaders through-
out the state.
As an editorial writer, Mr. Utterback is
clear, forceful, elegant, at times trenchant,
and in discussing the leading questions be-
fore the people he is a courteous but fearless
and formidable antagonist. On all matters
{RINKERHOFp'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
of public policy he occupies no neutral
ground, but fearlessly and honestly advo-
cates what he considers to be for the best
interest of the people and regardless of con-
sequences. In addition to its prominence
and influence as a party organ, Mr. Utter-
back has endeavored to make his paper
answer the purpose of an educational factor
and such it has indeed become, as its con-
tents, both political and general, tend to
improve the mind and cultivate the taste
rather than appeal to passion and prejudice,
after the manner of too many local sheets.
In recognition of valuable political ser-
vices as well as by reason of his fitness for
the position, Mr. Utterback in February,
1907, was appointed by President Roosevelt,
postmaster of Salem, the duties of which
responsible position he has discharged with
commendable fidelity, proving an able, cour-
teous and truly obliging public official. At
the time of his appointment the office was
in the third class with a salary of $1,700
per year, but since then the business has in-
creased to such an extent that it is now a
second class office with fair prospects of
advancing.
Since the establishment of a post-office
at Salem many years ago, no young man
was appointed postmaster until the honor
fell to Mr. Utterback, and to say that he has
been praiseworthy of the trust and dis-
charged the duties as ably and faithfully as
any of his numerous predecessors is to state
a fact of which all are cognizant, and which
all, irrespective of political alignment, most
cheerfully concede. The high esteem in
which he is held as an editor, public servant
and enterprising citizen, indicate the pos-
session of sterling manly qualities and a
character above reproach, and that he is
destined to fill a still larger place in the pub-
lic gaze and win brighter honor with the
passing of years, is the belief of his friends
and fellow citizens, based, they say, on the
able and conscientious manner in which he
has fulfilled every trust thus far confided to
him. Mr. Utterback, although a young man,
has achieved success such as few attain in
a much longer career, and the hope the peo-
ple of Salem and Marion county entertain
for his future seems fully justified and well
founded.
Mr. Utterback is a splendid type of the
intelligent, broadminded American of today,
and personally as well as through the me-
dium of the press he is doing much to foster
the material development and intellectual
growth of his city and county, besides exer-
cising an active and potential influence in
elevating the moral sentiment of the com-
munity. He holds membership with the
Pythian Lodge of Salem, and has labored
earnestly to make the organization answer
the purposes which the founders had in
view, exemplifying in his daily life and con-
duct the beautiful principles and sublime
precepts upon which the order is based. He
is a believer in revealed religion, and while
subscribing to the Methodist faith is not
narrow in his views, having faith in the
mission of all churches and to the extent of
his ability assisting the different organiza-
tions of his city, although devoutly loyal
to the one with which identified.
Mr. Utterback owns one of the most beau-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
tiful and attractive homes in Salem, which
is a favorite resort of the best social circle
of the city, and within its walls reigns an
air of genuine hospitality which sweetens
the welcome extended to every guest that
crosses the threshold. The presiding spirit
of this attractive domicile is a lady of intel-
ligence and gracious presence who presides
over the family circle with becoming grace
and dignity, and whose popularity is only
bounded by the limits of her acquaintance.
The maiden name of this estimable woman
was Charlotte B. Merritt, and the ceremony
by which it was changed to the one she now
so worthily bears as the wife and helpmeet
of the subject was solemnized on the 2nd
day of November, 1898. Mrs. Utterback
is the daughter of Hon. T. E. Merritt, of
Salem, ex- Senator from Marion county, and
a man of influence and high standing both
politically and socially. Mr. and Mrs. Ut-
terback have one child, a son, Tom C, who
was born October 17, 1901, and for whose
future his fond parents entertain many ar-
dent hopes.
ROBERT T. McQUIN.
In the pursuit of his business career Mr.
McQuin has displayed unfaltering devotion
to the principles he has learned to cherish
and his honesty and integrity have earned
him a place among the representative and
staunchest citizens of Marion county, Illi-
Robert T. McQuin was born in Johnson
county, Indiana, October 16, 1853, the son
of William I. McQuin, a native of Kentucky
who went to Indiana when a young man.
He was a carpenter by trade. He moved
from Indiana soon after our subject was
born, locating at Oconee, Shelby county, Il-
linois, where he lived for three or four years.
Then he moved to Salem, Illinois, in July,
1859. The first work he did here was on
the Park Hotel, which was built in that year
by Amos Clark and which was known then
as the Clark House. William I. McQuin
continued to live in Salem, where he was
regarded as a man of integrity and influ-
ence, until his death in October, 1899. The
mother of the subject of this sketch was
known in her maidenhood as Mary E. Stur-
geon, who was a native of Kentucky and a
woman of many estimable traits. Her moth-
er lived to reach the remarkable age of nine-
ty-seven years. One of her brothers was a
policeman in St. Louis, Missouri. She died
in April, 1908, in Denison, Texas, where
she was living with her son, Edwin S. Mc-
Quin.
The father and mother of the subject
were' the parents of nine children, five of
whom are living. Their names in order of
birth follow: Tarlton, deceased; William F.,
deceased; Robert T., our subject; James S.,
who is living at New Castle, Indiana, and
is secretary and treasurer of the Hoosier
Kitchen Cabinet Company, which is doing
an extensive business all over the world ;
Sarah E., deceased; Agnes, deceased; Ed-
win S., living at Denison, Tex., being a con-
ductor on the Missouri, Kansas & Texas
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Railroad Company's lines: John T., a car-
penter, living in St. Louis; May lives with
her brother in Denison, Texas.
These children all received every advan-
tage possible by their parents, who tried to
raise them in a wholesome home atmosphere,
setting worthy ideals before them at all
times.
Robert T. McQuin, our subject, lived with
his father until he was twenty-five years old.
assisting with the work about the place and
attending the public schools of Salem, in
which he diligently applied himself, and re-
ceived a fairly good education. When twen-
ty years old he began working as a harness
maker and two years later commenced the
shoemaker's trade, following this with much
success until 1881, when he launched into
the shoe business for himself, having con-
tinued the same ever since with satisfactory
results, building up a large and extensive
trade by reason of his honest business prin-
ciples and his uniform courtesy to custom-
ers. His trade extends to all parts of the
county and his store is well known to all
the citizens of Salem and surrounding towns
for his patrons have learned that he handles
the best grade of footwear in the market and
always gives good value. He augmented his
business in 1889 by adding a complete stock
of harness and by doing a general line of re-
pair work. He now handles a full line of
harness and similar materials. He manufac-
tures most all of his heavy harness and some
buggy harness, being recognized as the lead-
ing dealer in this line in Marion county.
Mr. McQuin was happily married to Jen-
nie Slack, October 16, 1879, the refined and
accomplished daughter of Frederick \Y.
Slack, who lived in Salem at that time. Her
family were natives of Kentucky. It was
rather singular that this family moved from
Kentucky to Oconee, Illinois, and then to
Salem simultaneously with the McQuin fam-
ily ; however the last move was made a few
years after the McQuin family came to Sa-
lem. Two children have been born to the
subject and wife, namely: Maud, who is the
wife of Dwight W. Larimer, in the abstract
business in Salem ; Ralph is the second child
and a student of the Salem public schools.
Mr. McQuin has been twice honored by
being elected City Council of Salem. He
is associated with his brother-in-law, W. S.
Slack, in the monument business in Salem,
which is also a thriving business, the firm
name being R. T. McQuin & Company.
Our subject is a Modern Woodman in his
fraternal relations and he belongs to the
Presbyterian church, having been a consist-
ent member of the same for a period of thir-
ty-four years in 1908. Mrs. McQuin also
subscribes to this faith. Our subject has
been a deacon in the church and is now a
ruling elder.
Mr. McQuin has ever been known as a
loyal citizen and has done his share in aid-
ing the march of progress and development
in this county, and during his residence in
Salem his characteristics have won for him
recognition as a man of upright dealing and
by his many virtues he has won the respect
and esteem of his fellow citizens.
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
223
WALTER C. IRWIX.
One of the progressive and well known
business men of Salem, Marion county, Illi-
nois, is the subject of this sketch, who has
spent his life in this vicinity, a life that has
been very active and useful, for he has not
lost sight of the fact that it is every man's
duty to aid in the upbuilding of his county
in all lines of development while he is ad-
vancing his own interests, and because of the
fact that he has ever taken an interest in
the public weal, has led an honorable and
consistent career, being at present one of the
best known druggists of the county, the pub-
lishers of this work are glad to give him
proper representation here.
Walter C. Irwin, of the Salem Drug Com-
pany, was born in luka, this county, in Oc-
tober, 1866, the son of Dr. J. A. Irwin, a
native of Johnson county, Missouri, who
came to luka at the close of the war, having
been a surgeon in the Confederate army un-
der General Price's command. He was at
the battle of Wilson's Creek, near Spring-
field, Missouri, and also the battle of Pea
Ridge, Arkansas, in addition to many other
smaller engagements. He successfully prac-
ticed his profession from 1865 to 1905, and
is now living at St. Augustine, Florida,
where he went in 1905 on account of his
health.
The mother of the subject was Mary
Dubbs, a native of Pennsylvania, who came
to Illinois in 1865. She was a woman of
many praiseworthy traits and passed to her
rest in 1894 at luka. Four children were
born to the parents of our subject, named in
order of birth as follows : Walter,subject of
this sketch; Byrdie, the wife of Charles A.
Bainum, cashier of the First National Bank
at Bicknell, Indiana; J. Max is practicing
medicine at St. Augustine, Florida; Maggie
Alice died in 1880.
Walter Irwin was reared at luka, where
he attended the common schools, later tak-
ing a course in Lincoln University at Lin-
coln, Illinois, which he attended for two
years, making a brilliant record as a student.
After this he attended the Business Univer-
sity at Lincoln for one year, having grad-
uated from the same. He then returned to
luka and was engaged in general merchan-
dising and the drug business until 1894,
when he came to Salem and embarked in
the drug business. While at luka he was
postmaster under Cleveland and resigned to
come to Salem, and his father was appointed
postmaster in his place. Our subject has
been in Salem ever since, with the exception
of two years spent as a traveling salesman,
when he resided in Bloomington, this state.
The Salem Drug Company was organized
August 26, 1907. Prior to that time Mr.
Irwin owned the store, having established it
in 1904, and with the exception of the two
years noted he has been continuously identi-
fied with it, building up an excellent trade
with the people of Salem and the entire coun-
ty, as the result of his unusual knowledge of
this line of business and his courteous and
impartial treatment of cutsomers.
Mr. Irwin was married in 1892 to Maggie
Stevenson, who was born in Stevenson
22 4
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
township, this county, the accomplished
daughter of Samuel E. Stevenson, now de-
ceased, for whom the township was named,
lie was a prominent citizen of the county for
many years.
One son, a bright and interesting lad, has
added cheer and comfort to the home of our
subject, who bears the name of Eugene E.,
and whose date of birth occurred November
5, 1893, while the family was residing at
luka.
Mr. Irwin has prospered as a result of his
well directed energies and has considerable
business interests besides his drug store,
among which may be mentioned a half inter-
est in the Fibernie Sweep Clean Company,
manufacturers of a preparation for cleaning
floors, carpets, etc., the main office being lo-
cated at Salem with branches in Springfield,
Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee, and Fort
Smith, Arkansas. The business of this con-
cern is growing at a rapid stride. Mr. Ir-
win is a stockholder and director in the Sa-
lem National Bank. He is also proprietor
of the White Foam Company, which manu-
factures a preparation for cleaning fabrics
without rubbing and which at present prom-
ises to become in immense demand. Our
subject is also a stockholder and director in
the Oleite Manufacturing Company, of St.
Louis, which manufactures leather dress-
ings.
Mr. Irwin has served in a most acceptable
manner as a member of the Salem Board of
Education. In his fraternal relations he is
a Mason, a member of the Knights of Py-
thias, the American Home Circle, Ben Hur
and the Eastern Star, and Mr. and Mrs. Ir-
win are members of the Presbyterian church.
They live in a modern, comfortable and
nicely furnished home, which is presided
over with rare grace and dignity by Mrs.
Irwin, who often acts as hostess to
numerous admiring friends, and every-
one who crosses its threshold is made
partaker of the good will and hos-
pitality that is always unstintingly dis-
pensed here, and because of their genuine
worth, integrity, uprightness and pleasing
manners no couple in Marion county en-
joy to a fuller extent the esteem and friend-
ship of all classes than our subject and wife.
HON. CHARLES E. HULL.
One of the notable men of his day and
generation, who has gained success and rec-
ognition for himself and at the same time
honored his county and state by distin-
guished services in important trusts, is
Hon. Charles E. Hull, of Salem, who
holds worthy prestige among the leading
business men of Southern Illinois. Distinct-
ively a man of affairs whose broad and liber-
al ideas command respect, he has long filled a
conspicuous place in the public eye, and as
a leader in many important civic enterprises
as well as a notable figure in the political
arena of his day, he has contributed much
to the welfare of his fellow men and at-
tained distinction in a field of endeavor
where sound erudition, mature judgment
and talents of a high order are required.
W I HE
'HINDIS.
BRINKERIIOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
225
Aside from his honorable standing in pri-
vate and publjc life, there is further pro-
priety in according him representation in
the work, for he is a native son of Marion
county, which has been the scene of the
greater part of his life's earnest labors, his
home being in the beautiful and attractive
little city of Salem, where he it at present
the head of a large and important business
enterprise, and where he also commands the
esteem and confidence of all classes and con-
ditions of the populace.
Mr. Hull belongs to an old and highly
esteemed family that figured in the early
history of Kentucky, to which state his
great-grandparent. John Hull, emigrated
from Xew Jersey in 1788. Here Samuel
Hull was born in 1806. About the year 1815
the Hulls disposed of their interests in the
South and migrated to Illinois, settling at
Grand Prairie, Clinton county, where John
Hull died in 1833. Before his death he sent
his son, Samuel, into what is now the county
of Marion to a place near the site of Wal-
nut Hill, where he. in 1823, at the age of
seventeen, attended the first school ever
taught in the county. At this time Marion
was created from Jefferson county and the
young man remained here, marrying in 1831
Lucy, the daughter of Mark Tully, the
founder of Salem. He was made Recorder
in 1833, which office he held until 1837,
when he was made Sheriff, filling the latter
position by successive re-elections six terms,
the most of the time without opposition.
Later in 1849 he was further honored by
being elected County Judge, this being un-
der the old law which provided for two As-
sociate Judges, but Mr. Hull's knowledge of
law together with his fitness for the position
enabled him to discharge his judicial func-
tions without much assistance from the hon-
orable gentleman who occupied the Ijencb
with him. He proved an able and judicious
judge, and during his incumbency of four
years transacted a great deal of business and
rendered a number of important decisions,
but few of which suffered reversal at the
hands of higher tribunals. Shortly after re-
tiring from the bench he was appointed by
President Pierce postmaster of Salem, and
four years later he was reappointed by
President Buchanan, holding the position
during the latter's administration, and in
this, as in the other offices with which he
was honored, proving a capable and popu-
lar public servant.
Samuel Hull was a pronounced Demo-
crat and influential meml>er of the party un-
till the breaking out of the Rebellion, when
he became a Republican and a great admirer
of President Lincoln, whom he supported in
the election of 1860. and for whom he ever
afterward entertained feeling of the most
profound regard. Me was a prominent fig-
ure in the affairs of Marion. county for over
eighty years, during which period he be-
came widely and favorably known,
and his influence was always on ttie side of
right as he saw and understood the right.
During his later years he lived a life of hon-
orable retirement at his beautiful rural home
near Salem, having purchased the land
from the Government shortlv after coming
226
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
to Marion county, building with his own
hands in 1831 a double log house, which still
stands the oldest building in Marion
county. This sterling citizen and faithful
official lived to a good purpose and his mem-
ory is cherished as a sacred heritage not
only by his immediate family and friends,
but by the entire community, all with whom
he was accustomed to mingle, feeling his
death as a personal loss. He reached a
ripe and contented old age and it is a fact
worthy of note that he and his faithful wife
and helpmeet died the same night after a
mutually happy and prosperous wedded ex-
perience of fifty-nine years. Samuel Hull
and wife were held in high esteem by near-
ly every citizen of Marion county, their cir-
cle of friends and acquaintances being large
and their names familiar sounds in almost
every household in both city and country.
He served in the Black Hawk war, besides
participating in many other exciting strug-
gles during the pioneer period, as he was a
leader among his fellow men and always
stood for law and order, sometimes, too, at
his personal risk. The land which he en-
tered and improved and on which he spent
the greater part of his life is now owned by
his grandson, Charles E. Hull. This piece
of land, now within the city limits of Sa-
lem, has the unique distinction of the few-
est transfers, it having been transferred by
purchase from Samuel direct to Charles.
Erasmus Hull, son of the aforementioned
Samuel and father of the subject of this
sketch, was born August 31, 1832, in Ma-
rion county, Illinois, and spent his entire
life near the place of his birth, having for
many years been identified with the town
of Salem, and a leader in its business and
financial interests. He was a merchant and
banker and in addition to achieving marked
success in those capacities he was also an
enterprising man of affairs, public spirited
in all the term implies and wielded a strong
influence in behalf of all measures and
movements having for their object the ma-
terial advancement of the community and
the social and moral welfare of the people.
A leading spirit in the organization of the
Salem Bank, in 1869, and one of the orig-
inal stockholders, he was a member of the
board of directors from that time until his
death, and to his mature judgment, sound
business ability and familiarity with finan-
cial matters were largely due the continued
growth and signal success of the institu-
tion. He was also interested in the Ma-
rion County Loan and Trust Company, the
predecessor of the bank, and always kept in
close touch with the finances of the state
and nation as well as with general business
affairs, on all of which he was well in-
formed and on not a few was considered an
authority.
Mr. Hull was the first Supervisor of Sa-
lem township, also Chairman of the County
Board for a number of years, besides serv-
ing a long time as School Director. In
these different capacities he discharged his
official duties faithfully and effectively, tak-
ing a leading part in educational matters
and using his influence in every laudable
way to promote the prosperity of the com-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
227
munity and the happiness of the people. In
addition to his mercantile and financial busi-
ness he was quite prominently interested in
the manufacture of flour and lumber, be-
ginning to operate a mill in 1853, and con-
tinuing the business with encouraging suc-
cess as long as he lived. He also conducted
a large packing house in Salem before the
days of trusts and combines and built up an
important and far-reaching industry, buying
nearly all the hogs in the adjacent country
and shipping his meats to the leading mar-
kets, where they commanded good prices.
He was a man of brain and of practical
ideas, combined with solid judgment, wise
foresight and he seldom failed in any of his
imdertakings. In politics he was an un-
swerving Democrat, and an influential
worker for the success of his party and its
candidates, though not a partisan in the
sense of aspiring for office. He discharged
his duties of citizenship in the spirit becom-
ing the progressive and broad minded Amer-
ican of the day in which he lived, while the
deep interest he manifested in his own lo-
cality made him a leader in all laudable en-
terprises for its advancement. His career,
which was strenuous, eminently honorable
and fraught with great good to his fellow
men and to the world, terminated with his
lamented death on the i6th day of June,
1896, in his sixty-fourth year; his taking
off, like that of his father, being keenly felt
and widely mourned in the town where he
"had so long and creditably lived, and where
his success had been achieved.
Before her marriage Mrs. Erasmus Hull
was Dicy Finley. Her father, Rev. William
Finley, a well known and remarkably suc-
cessful minister of the Cumberland Presby-
terian church, came to Marion county in an
early day and for many years labored zeal-
ously to disseminate the truths of religion
among the people and win souls to the
higher life. During the years of his activ-
ity, he traveled extensively throughout
Southern Illinois, preaching and organizing
churches, and it is said that the majority of
Cumberland Presbyterian societies in the
central and southern portions of the state
were established by him, while others and
weak congregations were strengthened and
placed upon solid footing through his ef-
forts. Mrs. Hull bore her husband three
children and departed this life on May 16,
1903. beloved and respected by all with
whom she came in contact. Of her family
one of the children died in infancy, Mrs.
Mary Bradford being the second in order
of birth, and Charles E. Hull, of Salem, the
subject of this review, the youngest of the
number.
On his father's maternal side the subject
dates his family history to the earliest set-
tlement of Illinois, his great-grandfather,
Mark Tully, migrating to what is now Ma-
rion county, while the feet of savages still
pressed the soil and settling near the site of
Salem, where there was no vestage of civili-
zation within a radius of eight or ten miles,
his rude cabin having been the first human
habitation where the thriving seat of justice
now stands. He moved here from Indiana
and entered a tract of land from which in
228
BRIXKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUXTY, ILLINOIS.
due time he cleared and developed a farm,
and later when the county of Marion was set
off and organized, he donated ground for
the seat of justice, which was surveyed and
platted in 1823, and to which he gave the
name of Salem. In honor of the town in
the Hoosier state from which he came. He
took an active part in the county organiza-
tion, was its first Sheriff and held a number
of offices from time to time, and to him be-
longs the credit of keeping the first tavern
in Salem, which appears to have been quite
well patronized, while the town was being
settled and for eighty years thereafter, being
kept after his death by a daughter. He also
erected a mill, the first in Salem, which was
highly prized by the pioneers for many
miles around, although a primitive affair
equipped with the simplest kind of machin-
ery, and originally operated by means of a
sweep. Later it was somewhat improved
and operated by horses or oxen in what was
called a tread, but after the lapse of several
years the original structure was remodeled,
a large addition built, and new and im-
proved machinery installed, and steam
power introduced, this being the first mill in
the county to be run by steam. Mr. Tully
was a true type of the sturdy, strong willed
pioneer of his day. He was energetic, pub-
lic-spirited, distinctively a man of affairs,
and to him as much perhaps as to any other,
is the town of Salem indebted for the im-
petus which added so materially to its
growth and prosperity. As a leader among
the pioneers of his time, he did a work that
few could accomplish and wielded an influ-
ence which had a decided effect in establish-
ing the social status of the community upon
a high moral plane. After a long and useful
career he was called from the scenes of his
earthly struggles and triumphs- in the year
1867, leaving a number of descendants,
some of whom still live in Marion county,
and are among the substantial and respected
people of the communities in which they re-
side.
Hon. Charles E. Hull was born Novem-
ber 7, 1862, in Salem, and spent his early
years like the majority of town lads, assist-
ing his parents where his services were re-
quired, and during certain months pursuing
his studies in the public schools. While a
mere child, he evinced a decided taste for
books and his progress in his studies was so
rapid that he completed the high school
course and was graduated at the early age
of fourteen, standing among the best stu-
dents in the class of 1877. Actuated by a
laudable desire to add to his scholastic
knowledge he subsequently entered the
Southern Illinois Normal University, at
Carbondale, where he took the full classical
course, which he finished in three years, one
year less than the prescribed time, graduat-
ing in 1880 with the class honors.
Shortly after receiving his degree from
the above institution Mr. Hull engaged in
merchandising at Salem, continued to the
present time a business established by Sam-
uel and Erasmus Hull, in 1853, and since
that time his life has been very closely iden-
tified with the business interests and general
prosperity of the town, in addition to which
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
he has conducted several mercantile estab-
lishments at other points and become a
prominent figure in the public life of Marion
county, and the state at large. Possessing
sound sense,, well balanced judgment, and a
natural aptitude for business, his mercantile
experience soon passed the experimental
stage and within a comparatively brief pe-
riod he built up a large and lucrative patron-
age, and became one of the best known and
most popular merchants of the town. Ad-
vancing with rapid strides and outstripping
all of his competitors, he was soon induced
to project his business enterprises into other
parts, accordingly, as already indicated, he
established stores in various towns and vil-
lages of the county, and at one time had
five of these establishments in successful op-
eration in addition to his large general
mercantile house in Salem, all of which
proved successful and in due season made
him one of the financially solid and reliable
men of Marion county. After some years
he closed out two of his stores but he still
retains the other three, two in Salem and
one in Kinmundy, and enjoys a well merited
reputation as one of the most enterprising
and successful business men in the southern
part of the state.
In addition to his large mercantile inter-
ests Mr. Hull is connected with other im-
portant business enterprises, having been a
director of the Salem bank since 1895, and
cashier of the institution during the years
1906-7, and in 1889 he organized the Salem
Creamery, which he operated for a period of
fifteen years, during which time he did an
extensive and lucrative business, using as
high as twenty thousand pounds of milk per
day, and making a brand of butter for which
there was always a great demand. By rea-
son of indifference on the part of the farm-
ers in the matter of supplying milk, Mr.
Hull disposed of the creamery at the expira-
tion of the period indicated, the better to de-
vote his attention to his other interests,
which have become important and far reach-
ing in their influence, adding much to the
material prosperity of the city and to his
fame as a leading spirit in business circles.
Among the various enterprises of which he
is the head, is the Salem Brick Mill, which,
under the firm name of Hull & Draper, has
become one of the successful industrial con-
cerns of the place, also the Hull Telephone
System, established in 1898, and of which
he is sole proprietor. This important and
much valued enterprise, one of the best of
the kind in Illinois, extends to all parts of
Marion county, connecting all the towns and
villages and numerous private residences,
besides having connection in the adjoining
counties, thus bringing Salem in close touch
with all the leading cities of the state and
nation, and proving of inestimable value to
the people as well as to the business interests
of the various points on the line. Under the
personal management of Mr. Hull, who has
operated the plant ever since it was estab-
lished, the system has been brought to a
degree of efficiency second to no other.
Since the year 1894, Mr. Hull has owned
The Salem Herald Advocate, the oldest
newspaper in Marion county, the history of
230
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
which dates from 1853. The paper origin-
ally was established by John W. Merritt,
and since the above year has been the best
patronized and most successful sheet in Ma-
rion county, and one of the most influential
in Southern Illinois, being the official organ
of the local Democracy, and a power in the
political affairs of this part of the state. Un-
der the management of Mr. Hull it has
steadily grown in public favor, and now has
a large and continually increasing subscrip-
tion list, a liberal advertising patronage, and
with an office well equipped with the latest
machinery and devices used in the art pre-
servative, and its columns teeming with the
news of the day as well as with able discus-
sions of the leading questions and issues
upon which men and parties are divided, it
promises to continue in the future as it has
been in the past, a strong influence in politi-
cal affairs and a power in moulding and di-
recting opinion on matters of general in-
terest to the people.
Aside from the various enterprises enu-
merated, Mr. Hull for a number of years
was quite extensively interested in the San-
doval Coal and Mining Company, of which
he was general manager until disposing of
his shares in the concern, and he is now and
long has been one of the largest holders of
real estate in Marion county, being an en-
terprising and up-to-date agriculturist. In
the midst of his numerous and pressing du-
ties, he finds time to devote to other than
his individual affairs, being interested in the
community and its advancement and in all
worthy enterprises for the good of his fel-
low men. Ever since arriving at the years
of manhood he has been a leading factor in
public matters, and in a material way has
been untiring in his efforts to promote the
prosperity of Salem and Marion county, tak-
ing an active interest in all movements and
measures with this object in view besides in-
augurating and carrying to successful issue
many enterprises which have tended greatly
to the general welfare of the community. In
political matters and kindred subjects he has
not only been interested but has risen to the
position of leader. He has been a life-long
Democrat, and since his twenty-first year
has exercised a strong influence in the polit-
ical affairs of Marion county, and became
widely and favorably known in party circles
throughout the state, a prominent figure in
local, district and state conventions, he has
borne a leading part in making platforms,
formulating policies; as a campaigner, he is
a judicious adviser in the councils of his
party, a successful worker in the ranks, and
to him as much if not more than to any
other man in Marion county, is the party in-
debted for its success in a number of ani-
mated and exciting political contests.
In 1896 Mr. Hull was elected to repre-
sent the Forty-second Senatorial District,
composed of the counties of Clay, Washing-
ton, Marion and Clinton, in the Upper
House of the State Legislature, in the cam-
paign of which memorable year he ran far in
advance in his home town of any other can-
didate on the Democratic ticket, receiving
more votes than were polled for William
Jennings Bryan, the popular head of the na-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
231
tional ticket, and the idol of Democracy.
Mr. Hull's career in the General Assembly
was eminently honorable, and he took high
rank as an industrious and useful member,
who spared no effort in behalf of his con-
stituents, besides laboring earnestly and
faithfully for the general good of his state.
In 1904 he was renominated by his party,
and in the ensuing election his Republican
competitor withdrew from the race, it being
evident that he would be overwhelmingly de-
feated. The district that year was com-
posed of the counties of Marion, Clay, Clin-
ton and Effingham. In the senate he be-
came the minority leader, and in addition
to serving on a number of important com-
mittees, took an active part in the general
deliberations of the chamber, participating
in the discussions and debates, and to him
belongs the credit of leading in the fight for
a direct primary, also of being the only mi-
nority leader who ever succeeded in holding
his party together on minority legislation.
Mr. Hull's senatorial experience is replete
with duty ably and faithfully performed,
and such was the interest he manifested for
his district that he won the confidence and
good will of the people irrespective of po-
litical alignment, all of whom speak in
praise of his honorable course and the broad
enlightenment spirit which he displayed
throughout his legislative career. As already
stated he is a familiar figure in the conven-
tions of his party, both local and state, and
for a period of twenty-eight .years he has
not missed attending a Democratic national
convention.
For several years Mr. Hull owned and
occupied the place where Mr. Bryan was
born, but after the campaign of 1896 he sold
it to Mr. Bryan, between whom and himself
the warmest friendship has ever prevailed.
The two were classmates when they at-
tended high school, since which time they
have labored for each other's interests, and
as stated above, their attachment is stronger
and more enduring than the ordinary ties
by which friends are bound together. Mr.
Hull has served the people of his city as
School Director, and for a period of two
years he was president of the Inter-State In-
dependent Telephone Association, besides
being for a number of years a member of
the executive committee. He also served for
a series of years on the executive commit-
tee for the operators on the scale of agree-
ment, with the United Mine Workers of
America, a position of great responsibility
and delicacy, as is indicated by the fact of
his having devoted one hundred and twelve
days in one year to the settlement of wage
scales and of disputes between the contend-
ing parties, besides having been called upon
repeatedly to adjust differences and har-
monize conflicting interests, which arose
from time to time, between the two organi-
zations.
The domestic chapter in the life of Mr.
Hull dates from May 10, 1883, when he
was happily married to Miss Lulu Ham-
mond, the accomplished and popular daugh-
ter of Hon. J. E. W. Hammond, the
latter a prominent merchant and influential
politician of Marion county, Illinois, who
232
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
served in the Legislature, on the County
Board of Supervisors, and for many years
was one of the public spirited men and rep-
resentative citizens of Salem. On her
mother's side Mrs. Hull traces to the Lov-
ells and Hensleys, who were among the
earliest settlers of Marion county, as is men-
tioned elsewhere in this volume. Senator
Hull's beautiful and attractive home on
North Broadway, the finest and most de-
sirable private dwelling in the city, is
brightened and rendered doubly attractive
by the presence of two intelligent and in-
teresting daughters, namely : Lovell, born
January 8, 1888, and Louise, whose birth
occurred on the 3ist day of May, 1897,
these with their parents constituting a happy
and almost ideal domestic circle.
Senator Hull's fraternal association rep-
resents the Benevolent and Protective Order
of Elks', the Knights of Pythias. Inde-
pendent Order of Red Men, and the Modern
\Yooclmen, in all of which lie has been an
active and influential worker, besides being
honored with important official positions
from time to time. In the midst of his
many strenuous duties as a business man
and public servant, the Senator has not neg-
lected the higher obligations which man
owes to his Maker, nor been unmindful of
the claims of the Christian religion to
which deep and absorbing subject he has
devoted much profound study and investi-
gation, and in the light of which he has
been led into the straight and narrow way
which leads to a higher state of being here,
and to eternal felicitv bevond death's mys-
tic stream. Subscribing to no human
creeds or man-made doctrines, he takes the
Holy Scriptures alone for his rule of faith
and practice, and as an humble and consist-
ent member of the Christian, or Disciple,
church, demonstrates by his daily life the
beauty and value of the faith which he pro-
fesses. He has been identified with the re-
ligious body since his young manhood, and
for more than twenty years has been the able
and popular superintendent of the Sunday
school, besides filling other official stations.
. Mrs. Hull is also a faithful and devout
Christian, an active member of the church,
and deeply interested in all lines of good
work under the auspices of the same. Since
her fourteenth year she has been the accom-
plished organist of the congregation in Sa-
lem, as well as an efficient and enthusiastic
teacher in the Sunday school. Senator Hull
is a liberal contributor to benevolent enter-
prises, and it was through his initiation and
influence that the present handsome temple
of worship used by the Christian church,
was erected, his contributions to the build-
ing fund being twenty-five dollars for every
one hundred dollars contributed by the con-
gregation. In addition to his munificence
already noted, the Senator has given largely
to various worthy objects of which the
world knows nothing, in this way exempli-
fying the spirit of the Master, by not letting
the left hand know what the right hand
doeth, or in other words, doing good
in secret in the name of the Father who
hath promised to reward such actions
openly.
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
233
Senator Hull is a splendid specimen of
well rounded, symmetrically developed, vi-
rile manhood, with a commanding presence
and a strong personality, being six feet in
height, weighing two hundred and thirty-
four pounds, and moving among his fellows
as one born to leadership. He is a notice-
able figure in any crowd or assemblage, and
never fails to attract attention, not only by
his powerful physique, but by the amiable
qualities of mind and heart, which show in
his face, and always make his presence pleas-
ing to all beholders. He has directed his
life along lines which could not fail to ef-
fect favorably the physical 'as well as the
mental man, having from his youth been
singularly free from thoughts which lower
and degrade self-respect, and from those in-
siduous habits which, pollute the body and
debase the soul, and which today are prov-
ing the destruction of so many young men
of whom better things have been expected.
Mr. Hull is a total abstainer in all the term
implies, having never tasted, much less taken
a drink of any kind of intoxicants, nor used
tobacco in any of its forms; neither has he
ever taken the name of God in vain. He is
pleasing and companionable, a favorite in
the social circle, and a hale and hearty spirit,
whose presence inspires good humor, and
who believes in legitimate sports and pas-
times and in the idea that fret and worry
are among the greatest enemies of happi-
ness. With duties that would crush the ordi-
nary man, he has his labors so systematized
that he experiences little or no inconveni-
ence in doing them. He believes in rest and
recreation and is an advocate of vacations,
and he invariably takes one every summer,
but not in the manner that many do, by
locking his office and hieing away to the
seaside, lake or forest, to spend the season
in tiresome sports. His vacations, which
are always enjoyable, are spent in the hay-
field, where he finds the recreation condu-
cive to good health and a contented mind.
Personally Mr. Hull is a gentleman of
unblemished reputation, and the strictest in-
tegrity and his private character and im-
portant trusts have always been above re-,
proach. He is a vigorous as well as an
independent thinker, a wide reader, and he
has the courage of his convictions upon all
subjects which he investigates. He is also
strikingly original and fearless, prosecutes
his researches after his own peculiar fash-
ion, and cares little for conventionalism or
for the sanctity attaching to person or place
by reason of artificial distinction, tradition
or the accident of birth. He is essentially
cosmopolitan in his ideas, a man of the peo-
ple in all the term implies, and in the best
sense of the word a representative type of
that strong American manhood, which
commands and retains respect by reason of
inherent merit, sound sense and correct con-
duct. He has so impressed his individuality
upon his community as to win the confidence
and esteem of his fellow-cTtizens and be-
come a strong and influential power in lead-
ing them to high and noble things.
Measured by the accepted standard of ex-
cellence, his career, though strenuous, has
been eminently honorable and useful, and
his life fraught with great good to his fel-
lows and to the world.
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
BENJAMIN E. MARTIN, SR.
It is safe to venture the assertion that no
one attains eminence in business or any pro-
fession without passing through a period of
more or less unremitting toil, of disappoint-
ments and struggles. He who has brought
his business to a successful issue through
years of work and has established it upon
a substantial basis, and yet retains the ap-
pearance of youth, who has in his step the
elasticity of younger days and shows little
trace of worry or care that too often lag the
footsteps of the direction of large affairs,
must be a man possessed of enviable char-
acteristics. Such is a brief word picture of
the worthy gentleman whose name forms the
caption of this sketch, as he now appears,
after a long, active and prosperous business
career, the peer of any of his contemporaries
in all that enters into the make-up of the suc-
cessful man of affairs or that constitutes a
leader in important business enterprises.
Therefore, by reason of the fact that Mr.
Martin has attained worthy prestige as a
business man, and also because he was one
of the patriotic sons of the North who went
forth on many a hard fought battlefield to
defend the flag in the days of the Rebellion.
and also because of his life of honor, it is
eminently fitting that he be given just rep-
resentation in a work of the province as-
signed to the one at hand.
B. E. Martin was born in what was for-
merly Estillville, now Gate City, Virginia,
February 27, 1845, tne son f John S. Mar-
tin, also a native of Virginia and the repre-
sentative of a fine old Southern family. The
father of the subject was Clerk of the Court
in his home county for a period of twenty-
four years. He moved to Illinois in 1846
and entered government land near Alma, the
land that Alma now stands on. He laid out
the town of Alma and there went into the
mercantile business, in which he remained
until the breaking out of the Civil war. He
died in that town in 1866. He was a man
of unusual business ability and became well
known in his community. The mother of
the subject was Nancy Brownlow, a native
of Virginia. She dide shortly after she
moved to Illinois. She is remembered as a
woman of gracious personality. Seven chil-
dren were born to the parents of our subject,
four sons and three daughters, named in 01-
der of birth as follows : Eliza, deceased ; Mrs.
Nancy Bradford, of Greenville, Illinois,
Emily, deceased; Robert; Mrs. Kate Ben-
nett, of Greenville, Illinois; Thompson G.,
of Salem; B. E., our subject, being the
youngest. The father of these children was
married three times, his first wife being Ma-
linda Morrison, of Estillville, Virginia, to
whom three children were born, two dying
in infancy, the one surviving becoming Col.
James S. Martin, now deceased, who lived
to be eighty years of age, a sketch of whom
appears elsewhere in this volume. The sec-
ond wife was the mother of the subject of
this sketch ; the third wife was Jane See, to
whom one child was born, who died in the
Philippine Islands.
B. E, Martin, Sr., was reared in Alma,
this state, remaining there until he was six-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
235
teen years of age, attending the local school.
When only sixteen years old he could not re-
press the patriotic feeling that prompted him
to shoulder arms in defense of the nation's
integrity, consequently on July 25, 1861, he
enlisted in the Fortieth Illinois Volunteer in-
fantry. He was in many skirmishes and en-
gagements, having fought in the great bat-
tle of Shiloh, where his regiment lost two
hundred and forty-seven men in the two
days' fight, and he was in several small en-
gagements as they advanced on Corinth.
His brother, Thomas G., was in every en-
gagement and skirmish in which this regi-
ment was involved, never being sick a day.
and never missing a roll call. He enlisted
in 1861 and at the expiration of his term of
three years re-enlisted as a veteran and
served until the close of the war. Our sub-
ject had three brothers and one half-brother
in the army.
After his career in the army Mr. Martin
went into the drug business at Greenville,
Illinois. He later went to Olathe, Johnson
county, Kansas, where he engaged in the
same line of business from 1867 to 1869;
then he returned to Marion county, Illinois,
and resumed the drug business here, in
which he remained a short time. Selling
out his stock of drugs, he began selling
agricultural implements, adding the lumber
business in connection with his brother. He
made a success of all the lines in his vari-
ous locations. In 1877 he established his
present business, that of wholesale seeds, in
which he has quite an extensive trade, hav-
ing become known as the leading seed man
in this locality, consequently his trade ex-
tends to all parts of the country. He uses
the most modern and highly improved ma-
chinery for cleaning seeds.
Our subject was united in marriage in
November, 1866, to Florida Cunningham,
who was born and reared in Salem, the
daughter of John Cunningham, then a mer-
chant of Salem. He was a man of honest
principle and influence in his community.
Eight children have been born to the sub-
ject and wife, one of whom died in infancy,
the others are now living in 1908. They
are: Mary, the wife of Charles T. Austin,'
of Indianapolis; B. E., Jr., who is engaged
in the general mercantile business in Salem;
Bertha is the wife of John Gibson, living in
Manila, Philippine Islands; Nancy is living
in Salem; John C. is cashier of the Salem
National Bank ; Edith and Gena.
The subject has achieved success in an
eminent degree owing to his well directed
energy and honesty and persistency. He is
a stockholder and director of the Salem Na-
itonal Bank. He owns a modern, comfort-
able and nicely furnished residence.
Mr. Martin has served as Supervisor of
Salem township. He discharged the duties
of this office with his usual business alacrity
and foresight. He is a Democrat and has
always been active in politics. In his fra-
ternal relations he affiliates with the Ma-
sons. He also belongs to the Grand Army
of the Republic, and is a member of the
Methodist Episcopal church, also the Gid-
eons. He is an honorary member of the
Woodmen, and he is well and favorably
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
known in lodge circles, business life and
social relations, being regarded as one of
the most trustworthy and substantial citi-
zens of Salem and Marion county.
Before closing this review it would not be
amiss to quote the following paragraph
which appeared in a Salem paper some time
since under the caption, "A Remarkable
Record" :
"There resides in this city four brothers
who have a record which is remarkable and
doubtless without a parallel among their
fellow countrymen. They were all soldiers
in the Civil war ; two enlisting in the Forti-
eth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in
1861, and the other two in the One Hundred
and Eleventh Regiment of this state in 1862.
They participated in every battle in which
their respective regiments were engaged,
were never in a hospital, and none of them
ever received the slightest wound, notwith-
standing they were in the thickest of rights
where thousands were slain or wounded. At
the battle of Shiloh nearly three hundred
of the Fortieth Regiment were killed or
wounded, but 'Tom' and 'Ben' were among
those who came out without a scratch.
These four brothers with the remarkable
record are James S., Thomas, Robert and
Benjamin E. Martin, honorable, substantial
citizens of Salem."
H. T. PACE.
A happy combination of characteristics is
possessed by the honorable gentleman of
whom the biographer now essays to write.
for he has shown during his long residence
in Salem, Marion county, Illinois, that he is
a man of rare business acumen, foresight and
sagacity, at the same time possessing lauda-
ble traits of character such as integrity, in-
dustry, sobriety and kindliness; these, com-
bined with his public spirit and model home
life, have resulted in winning for Mr. Pace
the unqualified esteem of all who know him.
li. T. Pace was born one and one-half
miles south of Salem on a farm, February
3, 1850, and, believing that better opportu-
nities awaited him right here at home, he
early decided to cast his lot with his own
people rather than seek uncertain success in
other fields, and, judging from the pro-
nounced success which has attended his sub-
sequent efforts, one must conclude that he
made a wise decision.
The subject's father was George \Y. Pace,
a native of Kentucky, who came to Jefferson
county, Illinois, when a young man. but
soon after locating here he moved to Marion
county, where he engaged in farming, late 1 ."
in the furniture business, having spent many
years in this; he also learned the tailor's
trade and conducted a tailor shop for a time
soon after coming here. He was a man of
considerable force and influence, honest,
hard working and hospitable, who spared no
pains in rearing his family in the best pos-
sible manner, always holding out high ideals
and lofty aims. He was noted as a great
story teller as well as a kindly, neighborly
man. He was born December 18. 1806. and
passed to his rest June i. 1867. He was one
of the oldest pioneers of Marion county, be-
ing one of the best known and most beloved
BRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
2 37
men in the county and familiarly called "L n-
cle George."
The mother of the subject, whose birth oc-
curred on the same clay of the month as that
of her husband, December i8th, in the year
1808. was known in her maidenhood as Ta-
bithia J. Rogers, a native of Tennessee, the
representative of a fine old Southern fam-
ily, and she "crossed over the mystic river"
to join her worthy life companion on the
other shore February 26. 1881, at the age
of seventy-three years, after closing a serene
and beautiful life of the noblest Christian at-
tributes and wholesome influence. One of
the most commendable traits in our subject
was his devotion to his mother, with whom
he lived until her death, joyfully administer-
ing to her every want and sacrificing much
in his own life that she might be comfortable
and happy. Nine children were bom to the
parents of the subject, only three of whom
are living at this writing, 1908. The living
are: O. H. Pace, of Mount Vernon. Illinois,
at the age of sixty-eight years: Mrs. O. E.
Tryner, living at Long Beach, California, at
the age of sixty years; H. T.. our subject.
The parents of the subject were married
May 13, 1830.
H. T. Pace remained under his parental
roof-tree during the lifetime of his parents.
He attended the common schools in Salem,
where he diligently applied himself and re-
ceived a good education. However, thirst-
ing for more knowledge, he attended college
at Jacksonville, Illinois, for a short time. The
stage having allurements and he having nat-
ural talents as a comedian, he traveled for
three years with some of the best companies
on the road as a black-face comedian, win-
ning wide notoriety through this medium.
Tiring of the stage, he went to Denver in
1880, where he clerked for a while in a jew-
el 17 store, later worked as a Pullman con-
ductor between Denver and Leadville over
the South Park Railroad. In 1884 Mr. Pace
came back to Salem and has remained here
ever since prospering in whatever he has un-
dertaken.
The harmonious domestic life of the sub-
ject dates from 1884, when he was united
in marriage with Alice H. Andrews, the ac-
complished and popular daughter of Samuel
Andrews, who sacrificed his life for his
country, having met death in the Union lines
while fighting in defense of the flag. At the
time of their marriage Mr. Pace was sup
posed to be on his death bed from a sudden
and serious illness. The married life of this
couple has been a most ideal one and has re-
sulted in the birth of seven children, five of
whom are living. Their names follow :
Claude S., of Salem, engine foreman at the
Chicago & Eastern Illinois shops; Effie
Jenella, Lynn Harvey, Ned R., Gladys D.,
Lowell died in infancy, as did also the last
child. Mona.
After his marriage Mr. Pace went into
the piano business, which he has since con-
ducted for twenty-five years, the greates'
success attending his efforts, his house being
known throughout Marion county, and his
trade extending- many miles in every direc-
tion, as a result of his skill in managing this
line and his uniform fairness and courteous-
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
ness to customers. His piano parlor is one
of the popular business houses of Salem. Mr.
Pace keeps a modern and up-to-date line of
musical instruments, talking machines and
similar goods.
Fraternally Mr. Pace is a member of the
Masonic order, the Knights of Pythias, the
Woodmen and the Eastern Star, being the
Worthy Patron in the latter order.
Mr. Pace is now the only member of this
worthy family in Marion county, and he is
one of the oldest native born residents of
Salem. Among his interesting collection of
relics and curios is an old clock which his
father and mother bought when they first
went to housekeeping.
In all the relations of life our subject has
been found worthy of the trust imposed in
him, being a man of rare business ability,
force of character and possessing praise-
worthy qualities of head and heart which
make him popular with all whom he meets,
and he is today regarded by all classes as be-
ing one of the staunchest, most upright and
representative citizens of Marion county.
D. D. HAYN1E.
For the high rank of her bench and bar
Illinois has always been distinguished, and
it is gratifying to note that in no section of
the commonwealth has the standard been
lowered in any epoch of its history. To the
subject of this review, who is at the time of
this writing, 1908, the popular and influen-
tial Clerk of the Circuit Court at Salem,
Marion county, we may refer with propriety
and satisfaction as being one of the able and
representative members of the legal profes-
sion of the state. He prepared himself most
carefully for the work of his exacting pro-
fession and has ever been ambitious and
self-reliant, gaining success and securing his
technical training through his own deter-
mination and well directed efforts. He not
only stands high in his profession but is a
potent factor in local politics, his advice
being often relied upon in the selection of
candidates for county offices and he has led
such a career, one upon which not the
shadow or suspicion of evil rests, that his
counsel is often sought and heeded in im-
portant movements in the county, with grati-
fying results.
D. D. Haynie was born in Marion county,
Illinois, November 22, 1848. His father
was William D. Haynie, a native of
Norfolk, Virginia, where he was born
August 29, 1798. He came with his mother
to Winchester, Tennessee, when he was ten
years old, and remained there until he
reached young manhood. He was a soldier
in the War of 1812, having performed gal-
lant service in the same, after which he re-
turned to Kentucky, settling near Hopkins-
ville, where he married Elizabeth B. Frost,
and where he lived for several years, finally
in 1832 moving to Salem, Illinois, bringing
three slaves with them, which they later lib-
erated. They lived in Salem, developing
the primitive conditions which they found,
for many years, rearing eleven children,
namely: Abner F., deceased, having died
in 1850; General Isham N., who died in
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
239
1868, having been adjutant general at the
time of his death, formerly colonel of the
Forty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry;
William M., died in 1855; Rebecca was the
wife of James Marshall, who moved to
Texas and died there about 1857; George
W., quartermaster of the Forty-eighth Illi-
nois Volunteer Regiment, who died in 1891,
when seventy years old; Mary and John B.,
both died in infancy ; Elizabeth is the widow
of Hon. B. B. Smith, who was one of
the first and best lawyers in southern Illi-
nois, and who died in 1884, his widow now
residing at Mount Vernon, Washington :
Martha J., now deceased, was the wife of
Dr. Thomas Williams, of Jacksonville, Flor-
ida, dying in Philadelphia in 1906; Sarah
C. is the wife of L. L. Adams, of Spokane,
Washington; D. D., our subject, was the
youngest of the family.
Our subject made his home with his
father until he died in 1870, the subject's
mother surviving until 1884. They were
people of excellent qualities of mind and
heart, and spared no pains in giving their
children every advantage possible, and the
wholesome home influence in which they
were reared is reflected in the characters of
the subject and the other children.
D. D. Haynie attended the common
schools when a boy, making rapid progress.
Being ambitious and thirsting for all the
book learning possible, he entered the State
Normal at Bloomington, Illinois, after a
course in which he made an excellent record,
he returned home and clerked, but believing
that his true life path lay along the higher
lines of the legal profession, he begun the
study of law and was admitted to the Salem
bar in 1871. His success was instantaneous
and he soon built up a good practice. His
unusual attributes soon attracted attention
and he was appointed clerk in the Pension
Agency located in Salem, which position he
held with much credit for a period of six
years. He then devoted some of his time to
farming with gratifying results, at the same
time continuing his law practice which had
by this time been built up to a very large
practice. He has continued with great suc-
cess ever since he first began practice in
1885. During this time he has served his
county and city in many official capacities.
He was twice elected president of the City
Board of Education, and afterward was a
member of the same for two terms ; during
his connection with the same the educational
interests of the city were greatly strength-
ened. He was elected Police Magistrate in
1904 and elected Circuit Clerk as a Repub-
lican and is serving in this capacity in 1908,
making one of the best clerks the court has
ever had. In all his political and official
career, not the least dissatisfaction has
arisen over the manner in which he has
handled the affairs entrusted to him, and he
has by this consistent record gained a host
of admiring friends throughout the county.
Mr. Haynie's happy and harmonious do-
mestic life dates from August 26, 1875,
when he was united in marriage with Emma
J. McMackin, the accomplished and cultured
daughter of W. E. McMackin, who was
lieutenant-colonel of Grant's Twenty-first
BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Illinois Regiment, and a well known and
influential man in his community.
One bright and winsome daughter was
born to the subject and wife, who was given
the name of May E., and who is now the
wife of William W. Morrow, of Oklahoma
City. The subject's wife was called to her
rest January. 21, 1878, and he was married
the second time, this wife being in her
maidenhood. Maggie Bobbitt, daughter of
Joseph J. Bobbitt, who was a soldier in the
Eighth Kentucky Regiment. She proved a
worthy helpmeet and to this union the fol-
lowing interesting children were born :
Edith M., now living in Spokane, Washing-
ton; Donald C, of Salem, Illinois, is clerk
for the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Rail-
way Company. The subject's wife died in
April 1890. The subject then married Rose
M. Haley, the daughter of Rev. J. L. Haley,
a well known Cumberland Presbyterian
minister, the date of the wedding falling
on July 14, 1891. No children have been
born to this union which has been a most
harmonious one.
Fraternally the subject has been a mem-
ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows for thirty-seven years, having occupied
the chairs of the same, and he has been a
member of the Masonic Fraternity since
1879, a chapter member.
The subject in his political activity had
occasion to become intimately acquainted
with Governor Oglesby, Gen. John A. Lo-
gan, Col. Robert G. Ingersoll. Governor
Tanner and most of the noted men of the
state.
Air. Haynie delights to recall reminis-
cences of his great grandfather on his
father's side, who was named Donald Camp-
bell, who migrated from Scotland to Nor-
folk, Virginia, where he bought up all the
land between what was then Norfolk and
the wharf, which is now known as Campbell
wharf. Mr. Campbell died in February,
1795. Mr. Haynie has in his possession a
copy of Campbell's will executed February
2, 1795. Donald Campbell's father was
Archibald Campbell, who survived his son
and died in 1802. There are many descen-
dants of the Campbell family living today
in Philadelphia and Virginia.
CHARLES H. HOLT.
The biographical annals of Marion Coun-
ty. Illinois, would he incomplete were there
failure to make specific mention of the hon-
orable gentleman, whose name introduces
this review, who is one of the county's
Ablest and most distinguished native sons,
for he had the sagacity early in youth to
see that better opportunities waited for him
right here on his native heath than other-
where, consequently his life labors have
been confined to this locality rather than in
distant and precarious fields, and judging
from the eminent success he has here at-
tained he was fortunate in coming to this
decision to remain at home. Judge Holt
has been prominently identified with the in-
dustrial, material and civic progress of the
CHARLES H. HOLT.
"
BRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
241
community, having ever stood for loyal and
public-spirited citizenship, having been a
potent factor in bringing about the wonder-
ful development in this favored section, con-
tributing his influence and energy in the
transformation which has made this one of
the leading counties of the state, with its
highly cultivated farms, thriving towns and
villages, its school-houses, churches and all
other evidences of progress and culture, and
he is today not only one of the leading attor-
neys and among the most highly honered
citizens of Salem, the beautiful and thriving
county seat, but is recognized as one of the
foremost men at the bar in the state. In all
the relations of life he has been faithful to all
the trusts reposed in him, performing his
duty conscientiously and with due regard
for the welfare of others often at the sacri-
fice of his own best interests and pleasures.
Charles H. Holt was bom near Vernon,
Marion county, Illinois, October i, 1868, the
only child of William H. Holt, and Sarah
(Parsons) Holt, the former a native of
Union county, and the latter a native of the
state of Ohio. They were married in Ma-
rion county. The mother of the subject was
called to her rest in November, 1892. Wil-
liam H. Holt is living in 1908, and making
his home with the subject in Salem. The
father was a soldier is the One Hundred
and Eleventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry,
having enlisted under Col. James S.
Martin, who aftenvard became a general.
Mr. Holt served gallantly for three years,
or until his enlistment expired, his princi-
pal services being with Sherman on his
16
march to the sea, and his campaigns around
Atlanta. William H. Holt has been a use-
ful and industrious man, scrupulously honest
and he yet exercises considerable influence
in his community. He and his worthy life
companion spared no pains in giving their
son, our subject, every possible advantage
and encouragement to make the most of life,
and many of his sterling attributes and
noble traits of character may be traced to
the wholesome home influence and uplifting
environment in which he was reared. Henry
Holt, grandfather of the subject, was one
of the first settlers of Marion county, having
come here from Tennessee, and participated
in organizing the county and many of the
county offices were indebted to his sound
judgment for their early development. He
was a public-spirited man and did an incal-
culable amount of good in furthering the
interests of his community. Like many of
the hardy pioneers of those early times, he
possessed many sterling qualities and won
the admiration of all who knew him.
Charles H. Holt, our subject, attended
the country schools during the winter
months while living on his father's farm
and later the Salem high school, from which
he graduated in the class of 1889. Being
an ambitious lad from the first he applied
himself most assiduously and outstripped
many of the less courageous plodders of his
day, making excellent grades. After leaving
the high school he engaged in teaching with
marked success for one year, then, thirsting
for more knowledge, he entered Northwest-
ern University at Chicago, taking a prepara-
242
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
tory course the first year. Believing that
his true life work lay along legal lines, he
spent three years in a law office in Chicago
and then located at Kinmundy, this county,
and while living here, where his success was
instantaneous, he became popular with his
party, which nominated him for the respon-
sible position of county judge, and he was
subsequently elected by a handsome majority
in 1898, serving two terms with entire sat-
isfaction to his constituents and all con-
cerned and in such a manner as to reflect
great credit upon his ability, manifesting
from the first that he had unmistakable judi-
cial talent and a profound knowledge of
law in its variegated phases.
In 1904 Judge Holt removed to Salem
and at the expiration of his term of office
resumed the practice of law, with a well
equipped and pleasant suite of rooms in the
Stonecipher building. He has one of the
largest and best selected libraries to be found
in Southern Illinois. Not only does the
Judge keep posted on all the late judicial de-
cisions and court rulings, but he is a well
read man on scientific, literary and current
topics, so that his conversation is at once
animated and learned.
The Judge is a strong and influential ad-
vocate of the principles embodied in the
Democratic party and is well fortified in his
convictions, always ready to lend his influ-
ence and time to the furtherance of his par-
ty's interests and assist in placing the best
men obtainable in the county offices. He
has- served as chairman of the Democratic
Central Committee of Marion county, dur-
ing which time he displayed rare acumen
and sagacity in the management of the par-
ty's affairs.
Although Mr. Holt's extensive legal prac-
tice occupied the major part of his time, he
has considerable business interests which he
manages with uniform success. He is a
stockholder in the Salem National Bank,
and also in the Farmers' and Merchants'
Bank of St. Peter, Illinois.
Judge Holt's happy and harmonious do-
mestic life dates from 1897, when he was
united in marriage to Frances W. Fox, the
accomplished and cultured daughter of Dr.
Jesse D. Fox, of Kindmundy, this county.
Doctor Fox was one of the county's most
noted physicians and best known citizens,
who died about 1881. The following chil-
dren have blessed the home of the subject
with their cheer and sunshine : Dorothy F..
who was bom in May, 1898; Ward P., born
in October, 1900; Frances S., who was born
in October, 1904; Charlotte, whose date of
birth occurred September 29, 1906. These
children are all bright and winsome, giving
promise of successful future careers. The
Holt home is a model one, the residence
being modern, commodious, well furnished
and invaded with the most wholesome at-
mosphere.
Our subject in his fraternal relations is
affiliated with the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows and the Knights of Pythias,
having occupied the chairs in both. He is
truly a strong and prominent character, and
owing to his individual personal traits,
which are highly commendable, his past
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
243
record, which is unmarred by a shadow, his
pleasing address, kindly disposition, upright-
ness and public spirit, the future augurs still
greater honors for the subject, for he has
gained the undivided esteem and confidence
of his fellow citizens throughout Marion
and adjoining counties, and such a worthy
character is seldom left alone by the public
when services of a high order are constantly
being sought.
H. D. EVANS.
H. D. Evans was born in Marion county,
this state, September 30. 1866, the son of O.
F. Evans, Police Magistrate, and a native of
this county. The mother of Mr. Evans was
Lucy J. Tingle, a native of Kentucky, who
came here in 1850. The subject's parents
are still living in 1908. They became the
parents of nine children, four sons and five
daughters.
H. D. Evans attended school in Salem, re-
maining under his parental roof until he was
twenty-two years old. He then went to To-
peka, Kansas, in 1888, and learned the car-
penter's trade, at which he worked twelve or
fourteen years, remaining in Topeka three
years. He finally returned to Salem and
worked at his trade for two years, when he
went near Terre Haute and continued at
this trade, and was there married to Nannie
Maddock, the daughter of William Mad-
dock, of Atherton, Indiana, on March 7,
1894. Two interesting and winsome chil-
dren have been born to the subject and wife,
as follows: Gladys Marie, whose date of
birth occurred June 24, 1895, an d Gretchen
Irene, who first saw the light of day on Au-
gust 19, 1899.
After his marriage Mr. Evans came to
Salem. Moving on a farm, he remained
there one and one-half years, when he moved
to Salem and engaged in contracting and the
lumber business for four years, after which
he went on the road for two and one-half
years, selling paints and varnishes. He is
now a member of the drug firm of Evans &
Harmon, which owns stores at luka, Illinois,
and Moorhouse, Missouri.
Mr. Evans is a wide awake, energetic
business man of sound judgment and mod-
ern business principles, and he has always
succeeded at whatever he undertook. He
faithfully served the city of Salem as Alder-
man several years ago. He is a Mason, a
member of the Knights of Pythias, and both
he and his wife are members of the Chris-
tian church, and are well and favorably
known to a host of friends in this commun-
ity.
T. W. WILLIAMS.
Among the strong and influential citizens
of Marion county, the record of whose lives
have become an essential part of the history
of the section, the gentleman whose name
appears above occupies a prominent place,
and for manv vears has exerted a beneficial
244 '
IJKI. \KI-.K I IOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
influence in the community in which he re-
sides.
T. \\. Williams, the well known Justice
of the Peace at Salem, Illinois, was born in
Silver Springs, Wilson county, Tennessee,
May 22, 1837, the son of W. G. Williams,
a man of sterling worth and influence, who
was born and reared at Silver Springs. He
came to Illinois in 1845, locating in the
northern part of Marion county which is
now embraced in Kinmundy township,
where he developed a farm, making a com-
fortable home and a good living during his
residence there. Thomas Williams, father
of W. G. Williams and grandfather of the
subject of this sketch, came to Illinois with
the family in 1845. He was a North Caro-
linian by birth and a fine type of the true
Southern gentleman. He followed farming
all his life. He died in Kinmundy. W. G.
Williams died in 1904, at the advanced age
of eighty-seven years. The mother of the
subject was Mary Morning, a native of old
Virginia and a woman of many estimable
traits. She passed to her rest in 1852. Mr.
and Mrs. W. G. Williams were the parents
of nine children as follows: Elizabeth,
widow of R. G. Williams, who now lives in
Foster township, Marion county; T. W.,
our subject; Othnial, who is living at
Raleigh, Saline county, Illinois, was a
soldier in the Civil war; Joseph died while
in the Union army; G. H. also died in
the Union army; George M. was killed
while in the Federal ranks ; Henry N. also
died in the Union army; Carroll died in in-
fancy; Mary Jane is the wife of John Car-
man, living at Kinmundy, this county.
The subject's father married the second
time, his last wife being Martha Boczkie-
wicz, and by this union five children were
born as follows: Piety Smith, now de-
ceased, who lived in Hamilton county, Illi-
nois; W. G., Jr., who is living in Hamilton
county; F. O., who is also a resident of
Hamilton county; John V., is a Baptist min-
ister, living at Galitia, Saline county, Illi-
nois; Priscilla died at the age of ten years.
T. W. Williams, our subject, was raised
on the farm and attended the common
schools where he diligently applied himself
and received a fairly good education. After
he reached maturity he bought and sold live
stock, making this business a success from
the start, having much natural ability as a
trader. He lived on the farm for twenty-
five years. He also made a marked success
later dealing in live stock and grain, becom-
ing widely known not only as a man of
unusual industry but also of scrupulous
honesty.
Having taken a lively interest in politics
and becoming well known throughout the
county he was sought out by his political
friends for positions of public trust, having
first served as Deputy Sheriff in 1890 of Ma-
rion county for a period of two years, with
the greatest satisfaction to all concerned and
reflecting much credit upon his innate ability
as an official. In 1893 he became Deputy
Circuit Clerk, in which capacity he ably
served for five years. Mr. Williams was
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
245
postmaster at Kinmundy, Illinois, in 1885,
during Cleveland's first administration. He
had previously been living on his farm, but
he then moved to Kinmundy and from that
town to Salem in 1900 for the purpose of
assuming the duties of Deputy Sheriff. In
all of his official career not the shadow of
suspicion of wrong has rested upon him, and
he has given uniform satisfaction to all con-
cerned in whatever place he has filled. He
was the Democratic nominee for Sheriff in
1894, but was defeated by a Republican can-
didate.
Mr. Williams' early life was devoted very
largely to school teaching, having won a
lasting reputation throughout Marion
county as an able instructor and his services
were always in great demand. He followed
this line of work from the time he was
twenty-one until he was forty years old,
having taught not only in Marion but also
Hamilton and Saline counties. He has
given his time to the duties of the office of
Justice of the Peace, to which he was elected
in 1900. He is also engaged in the hotel
business, being the present proprietor of the
Williams House, which he has managed fof
ten years. Owing to the courteous treat-
ment and excellent accommodations which
the traveling public finds at this house, it
has a liberal patronage and has become well
known to those finding it convenient to stop
at a well kept hostelry.
The domestic life of Mr. Williams began
when he was united in marriage with Juliet
Boczkiewicz on March 27. 1859. She was
a representative of a highly respected and
well known family of this county. By this
union the following interesting children
have been bom: Henrietta, the wife of
George M. Hargrove, of Fayette county, Il-
linois; Annetta, deceased; Alfe, the wife of
W. W. Newis, of Salem ; W. W., of Cen-
tralia, this state; Walter, of Ashland, Cass
county, Illinois; T. S., of Salem.
These children have received good edu-
cations and careful home training which is
clearly reflected in their lives.
Mrs. Williams was called to her rest in
1881, and Mr. Williams was married again
in 1884 to Nannie L. Williams, a daughter
of T. C. Williams, of Kinmundy, a well
known family of that place. There have
been no children by this union.
Fraternally Mr. Williams is affiliated
with the Masonic order, having belonged to
this lodge since he was twenty-five years
old. He is a member of the Baptist church,
and judging from his sober, upright, well
ordered daily life one would conclude that
he believes in carrying out the sublime pre-
cepts and doctrines embraced in both the
lodge and the church to which he belongs.
Mr. Williams is a man of striking personal-
ity, portly with a proper poise of dignity to
his military bearing which makes him a con-
spicuous figure wherever he goes. He is a
pleasant man to meet, always kind, affable,
well mannered and congenial: these com-
mendable traits coupled with his industry
and genuine worth make him a favorite in
Marion county and wherever he is known,
and he justly merits the high esteem of
which he is the recipient.
246
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
JAMES B. LEWIS.
Few men in Marion county occupy as
prominent position in public and political
affairs as the well known and deservedly
popular gentleman whose name introduces
this article. His has indeed been a busy and
successful life and the record is eminently
worthy of perusal by the student who would
learn the intrinsic essence of individuality
and its influence in moulding opinion and
giving character and stability to a commu-
nity.
James B. Lewis, editor and publisher of
The Marion County Democrat, and one of
the leading journalists of southern Illinois,
is a native of Nicholas county, Kentucky,
where his birth occurred on the i4th day of
November, 1852. His father, O. M. Lewis,
who was born and reared to manhood in the
state of New York, migrated about 1835 to
Ohio where he spent the ensuing ten years,
and at the expiration of that time removed
to Kentucky where he made his home until
his death in the year 1862. O. M. Lewis
was a man of fine mind and superior intel-
lectual atainments, having enjoyed excellent
educational advantages in his native state,
graduating when a young man from Alfred
Center College. After finishing his educa-
tion he engaged in teaching, which profes-
sion he followed with marked success in
Carlisle and Maysville, Kentucky, until the
breaking out of the war with Mexico, when
he resigned his position and entering the
army served throughout that struggle while
still in his minority. Later when the na-
tional sky became overcast with the ominous
clouds of approaching Civil war he was
among the first men of Nicholas county to
tender his services to the national govern-
ment, enlisting in 1861 in Company H,
Eighteenth Kentucky Volunteer Infantry,
in which he soon rose to the position of cap-
tain, and as such served with a brilliant
record until August, 1862, when he was
killed while bravely leading his men in the
battle of Richmond, Kentucky. This was
one of the bloodiest of the war, the Eight-
eenth Kentucky, a veteran regiment, losing
two-thirds of its men, while the losses of
several other regiments were almost if not
quite as great. Mr. Lewis is said to have
been the most popular man in his regiment,
and was almost idolized by his own com-
pany, during his entire period of service.
The Grand Army Post at Carlisle, Ken-
tucky, where he enlisted, is called the
O. M. Lewis Post in his honor. Although
a man of scholarly tastes and habits, and for
many years devoted to his books and studies
he inherited the martial instinct also being
descended from fighting stock on the ma-
ternal side, his mother having been a Law-
ton, a relative of the late General Lawton,
one of America's most distinguished heroes,
who lost his life in the Philippines. O. M.
Lewis was born on August 30, 1824, mar-
ried in 1850 to Elizabeth Mann, of Nicholas
county, Kentucky, and became the father of
eight children, only three now survive,
namely : Mrs. Louisa L. Davidson, of Pa-
toka, Illinois, James B., of this review and
Airs. Anna J. Burns who lives in Fresno,
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
247
California. In September following her
husband's death, 1863, Mrs. Lewis, with her
three children, moved to Marion county, Il-
linois, and located about two miles east of
Patoka, on a farm of one hundred and sixty
acres which had been purchased by Mr.
Lewis some years previously. In 1865 she
became the wife of George Binnion, of Mar-
ion county, who was also a soldier during
the war of the Rebellion and the son of
Francis Binnion, the second marriage result-
ing in the birth of two sons, Daniel H., and
Frank. At the time of his death, which
occurred in the month of July, 1907, at the
remarkable age of one hundred and seven
years, Francis Binnion was the oldest man
in Marion county, if not in the state.
James B. Lewis spent his childhood in the
state of his birth, and when eleven years old
was brought by his mother to Marion
county, Illinois, with the subsequent history
and progress of which his life has been very
closely interwoven. At the proper age he
entered the public schools of Patoka, where
he pursued his studies until completing the
common and high school branches, the
training thus received was in Milton, Wis-
consin, where he earned an honorable record
as a close and painstaking student. On quit-
ting college he turned his attention to teach-
ing, but after devoting several years to this
field of work and finding it not altogether to
his liking he discontinued it and took up the
study of medicine. After a course of read-
ing under the direction of competent local
talent he entered the Eclectic Medical Insti-
tute at Cincinnati, where he continued his
studies and researches until receiving his de-
gree in the year 1878, following which he
opened an office in Patoka and in due time
built up an extensive practice which proved
as successful financially as professionally,
and which earned for him an honorable
reputation among the leading physicians and
surgeons of Marion and neighboring coun-
ties.
Dr. Lewis brought to his chosen calling
a mind well disciplined by intellectual and
professional training, and it was not long
until his practice took a very wide range,
embracing not only the town and a large
area of adjacent country, but not infre-
quently were his services sought at other and
remote points for treatment of difficult and
critical cases in which a high degree of ef-
ficiency and skill were required. He con-
tinued his professional business with encour-
aging success until the fall of 1884 when he
was elected Clerk of the Marion Circuit
Court, and the better to attend to his official
functions here moved within a short time to
Salem where he has since resided. Doctor
Lewis discharged the duties of the clerkship
with credit to himself and to the satisfac-
tion of the people, and during his incum-
bency of four years won the esteem and
confidence of all who had business to trans-
act in his office, proving a most capable, ju-
dicious and obliging public servant. In
February, 1889, shortly after the expiration
of his official term he established "The Mar-
ion County Democrat," which he has since
conducted, and which under his able busi-
ness and editorial management is now one
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
of the best and most influential local papers
in the southern part of the state, in many
respects comparing' favorably with the more
pretentious sheets of the larger metropolitan
centers. The political creed of The Demo-
crat is indicated by its title, and as a party
organ it has had much to do in moulding
opinion, formulating policies and directing
public affairs, the doctor being an elegant
and forceful writer, a courteous but fearless
antagonist and in discussing the leading
questions and issues of the day he wields a
trenchant pen and makes his influence felt
not only on these but on all other matters
which the enterprising journalist is supposed
to bring to the attention of the public.
The Democrat office is well equipped with
the latest modern machinery and appliances
for first class work in the art preservative,
and in its mechanical make up the paper is
fully abreast of the times, all that constitutes
a first class newspaper being systematically
arranged and a model of neatness and typo-
graphical art. Aside from its political phase
it is designed to vibrate with the public pulse
and in addition to the news of the day, its
columns teem with much of the best current
literature and it has also became the medium
through which the productions of a number
of rising local writers are given publicity.
In brief The Democrat is a clean and dig-
nified and interesting family paper as well
as a popular and influential political organ,
and its steady growth in public favor be-
speaks for it a future of still greater prom-
ise and usefulness. Not only as an editorial
moulder of opinion does Mr. Lewis make
his influence felt in directing the affairs of
his town and county, but as an enterprising
public spirited citizen, with the welfare of
the community at heart, he has ever been
interested in whatever makes for the benefit
of his fellow men, encouraging to the extent
of his ability all worthy measures and takes
the lead in movements having for their ob-
ject the social, intellectual and moral ad-
vancement of those with whom he mingles.
On the 1 2th day of September, 1877. Mr.
Lewis was united in the bonds of wedlock
with Mona I. Quoyle, daughter of Capt. T.
H. and Rebecca Quoyle, of Salem, the mar-
riage being blessed with six children, four
of whom are living, the other two dying in
infancy. Anna L., the oldest of the family,
is the wife of E. H. Barenfauger, a con-
tractor of Salem. Orin M., the second in
order of birth is associated with his father
in The Democrat office and has achieved
honorable repute as an enterprising and
capable newspaper man. Before entering
the field of journalism he served four years
in the United States navy, having
visited nearly every country of the old
and new world, and completely encircled
the globe while with the squadron under the
command of Robley D. Evans or "Fighting
Bob," one of the most distinguished admir-
als of his time. Thomas O., the second son,
is a locomotive fireman at the Chicago &
Eastern Illinois yards in Salem, while Owen
W., the youngest of the number is also con-
nected with the Chicago & Eastern Illinois
Railway, holding the position of store
keeper at Salem. In his fraternal relations
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY,, ILLINOIS.
249
Mr. Lewis is a Mason and an Odd Fellow,
belonging to the lodges of those organiza-
tions in Salem and manifesting a lively in-
terest in their deliberations. While not
actively engaged in the practice of his pro-
fession he is fully abreast of the times on all
matters relating to medical science, being a
close and diligent student and an untiring
investigator, and by keeping in touch with
the trend of modern thought maintains not
only his interest in the healing art, but the
honorable position to which he attained
while devoting his entire time and attention
to the ills of suffering humanity.
During the entire period of his residence
in Salem as a physician, public official, edi-
tor, as the center of his family circle and
as a citizen he has made good his title to
the honored name inherited from his
ancestors, besides adding to its luster by a
strict adherence to duty in every relation to
which he has been called.
OBEDIAH F. EVANS.
The history of the loyal sons and repre-
sentative citizens of Marion county, Illinois,
would be incomplete should the name that
heads this review be omitted, for it is emi-
nently consistent that a record of his labors
and achievements, and a tribute to his
worth and high character as a business man,
public official and enterprising, broad
minded citizen be made at this place.
Obediah F. Evans, the present efficient
Police Magistrate of Salem, Illinois, is a
native son of this county, having first seen
the light of day here on March 23, 1844. His
father was James Evans, who was a grand-
son of W. W. Evans and the son of Obediah
Evans, Sr. James Evans was born in West
Virginia, December 7, 1819, and with his
father emigrated to Marion county, Illinois,
in 1830, settling near Salem, being one of
the sterling pioneers that did so much
for succeeding generations. In 1838 he
was married to Kizzire Morrison,
daughter of Joseph Morrison, of Revo-
lutionary fame. To this fortunate union
nine children were born, four sons and
five daughters. When the national govern-
ment was in need of loyal sons to save it
from disruption, this patriotic father and
three sons enlisted in its defense, he on Au-
gust 9, 1862, and the sons on August 25,
1 86 1. The father returned home in 1865
after gallant service, leaving two sons be-
hind him who had sacrificed their lives on
the altar of their country, having fallen in
battle, one at Shiloh and the other at Frank-
lin, Tennessee. The third son, Obediah,
our worthy subject, was only seventeen
years old when he enlisted. After perform-
ing conspicuous service and conducting him-
self with as much bravery and martial spirit
as the older members of his regiment, hav-
ing borne the brunt of battle at the momen-
tous and sanguinary conflict at Shiloh, Ten-
nessee, toward the close of that great
engagement he was struck by a canister and
seriously wounded so that his discharge
from the army was a necessity, greatly to
250
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
his regret. After the war Mr. Evans re-
turned to his home in Salem. James Evans
was called from his earthly labors October
24, 1898. The subject's mother, a woman
of beautiful Christian character and numer-
ous commendable attributes, was called to
her rest in 1877. Grandmother Evans was
the third person to be buried in the cemetery
at Salem, her death having occurred in
1834. Joseph Morrison, grandfather of the
subject, on his maternal side, died at the
age of seventy-six years in 1836. He is
buried at Mt. Maria church, seven miles
south of Salem. The ancestry of the subject
were numbered among the best and most in-
dustrious people of their day and generation.
Our subject's domestic life dates from
November 10, 1863, when he was married
to Lucy J. Tingle, the accomplished and
genial daughter of Lloyd Tingle, a well
known citizen of Henderson county, Ken-
tucky, and to this union nine children have
been born, namely: Charles E., born Sep-
tember 8, 1864; Harry D., president of the
Salem Drug Company, of this city, whose
date of birth occurred on August 30, 1866;
Nellie Grant, wife of J. W. Asbury, of
O'Fallon; Illinois, was born in 1868. He is
a school teacher, and they are the parents
of five sons and one daughter. Carrie Belle,
the fourth child, is the wife of Ed. F. Mu-
nier, of Springfield, Missouri, who is a ma-
chinist. She was born in 1870 and is the
mother of two sons and two daughters, one
pair of twins. Ida Frank, the fifth child,
who was born March 23, 1873, is the wife
of W. N. Huff, living on a farm south of
Salem, he being a carpenter by occupation,
and they are the parents of seven children,
three sons and four daughters ; Anna Lee,
who was born in April, 1876, is the wife of
T. M. Lutz, who is engaged in the railway
mail service at St. Louis, Missouri, and they
are the parents of two boys ; George G., who
was born in 1881 is in the United States
army now (1908) located at Camp Keeth-
ley, Philippine Islands ; Lucy Blanche, who
was born in 1883, is the wife of W. F. Peri-
man, a machinist employed by McMackin
& Vursells Hardware Company at Salem,
Illinois; Marshall J., who was born in 1887,
is single, living in Salem and a carpenter by
trade.
These nine children are comfortably situ-
ated in life and they received every care and
attention possible by their solicitous parents,
and as a result of the wholesome home en-
vironment and the uplifting influence that
was always thrown around them, all of
the children have made honorable and useful
men and women. The subject has twenty-
six grandchildren, seven sons-in-law and
daughters-in-law and one grand-son-in-law.
Neither Mr. Evans nor any of his children
has ever lost a child, a most remarkable
record for such a large family. In rearing
his family Mr. Evans did not think it at all
irksome to work fourteen hours a day, if
necessary.
Our subject was engaged in farming and
stock buying for several years after his mar-
riage, and he was engaged in buying horses
and mules for the firm of Evans & Daven-
port, the latter an old resident of Salem and
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
an uncle of Hon. W. J. Bryan. Mr. Daven-
port practiced medicine for a number of
years. After this Mr. Evans went on a farm
south of Salem and bought timber land,
having cleared over three hundred acres of
heavily timbered land and marketed it. In
1898 he retired from the farm and moved to
Salem and again engaged in buying horses
and mules. In whatever he engaged the
result was always the same gratifying suc-
cess. He was a very successful agricultur-
ist, keeping his farm up to the high stand-
ard of Marion county's valuable farms, and
he is regarded as one of the best judges of
horses and mules in the county.
In 1900 Mr. Evans was elected Justice of
the Peace and he filled this office with entire
satisfaction to all concerned, his decisions
having been at all times fair and impartial
and seldom if ever being reversed at the
hands of a higher tribunal. In the same year
Mr. Evans began to deal in real estate, open-
ing up a nicely furnished office in which he
also soon added insurance and since that
time he has devoted the major portion of his
time to the office, building up an excellent
business and becoming widely known for
the unusual fairness of his deals and the
public has been pleased to put explicit con-
fidence in him when any matters of these
lines are to be transacted.
Recognizing his innate ability as a judi-
ciary and because of his former record of
honor and his poularity, the friends of Mr.
Evans elected him Police Magistrate of the
city of Salem in 1906, having been elected
on the Citizen's ticket for a term of four
years. Our subject affiliated with the Re-
publican party up to 1884, but becoming dis-
satisfied he turned Prohibitionist for one
year, directing his efforts to the success of
this party, after which the Union Labor
party was organized in Marion county and
he cast his lot with them until 1891. At
this time he helped organize the Populist
party. He became Chairman of the County
Central Committee, Chairman of the Con-
gressional Committee, and a member of the
State Committee. In 1896 when Bryan was
first nominated for President he felt there
was no longer need of the Populist party
and he has since been a Democrat. In 1898
he was Chairman of the Populist State Com-
mittee. In 1890 he was elected Justice of
the Peace as a Democrat and served four
years. He is a great admirer of Mr. Bryan,
having known five generations of this fam-
ily.
Mr. Evans is a man of exemplary habits,
temperate in all things and a man of good
repute. He says his motto has long been,
"Meet life with a smile," and "Always say
no at the right time and in the right way
and you will always be a success." With
this end in view he has made life not only
pleasant for himself and family, but also to
those with whom he has come in contact,
being regarded by all who know him as a
pleasant, kind, affable, honest, public-spir-
ited gentleman of the highest type, and a
better, abler or more widely known and
popular man than Mr. Evans could not be
found within the borders of Marion county
where he has spent his eminently useful life
252
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
and where he has done so much for the bet-
terment of civic, educational, moral and re-
ligious movements.
FRANK A. ROGERS.
In touching upon the life history of
the subject of this sketch the writer aims
to avoid fulsome encomium and extrava-
gant praise, yet he desires to hold up
for consideration those facts , which have
shown the distinction of a true, useful and
honorable life a life characterized by per-
severance, energy, broad charity and well
defined purpose. To do this will be but to
reiterate the dictum pronounced upon Mr.
Rogers by the people who have known him
so long and well.
Frank A. Rogers, the present popular
County Treasurer of Marion county, was
born in Omega, this county, April I, 1871,
and while still a young man has left the in-
delible imprint of his strong personality
upon the locality where he has spent his
life. The father of the subject was William
A. Rogers, a native of Tennessee, who came
to this county in 1854. He was engaged all
his life in agricultural pursuits, and he was a
man of great influence in his community,
and was Supervisor of his township for fif-
teen years, also Justice of the Peace for
twenty years, and he was chairman of the
County Board at the time of his death, Feb-
ruary 24, 1891. The subject's mother was
Rebecca Chapman in her maidenhood. She
was born in Omega township, this county,
November 25, 1846, and is still living in
1908 on the old homestead. She is a woman
of refinement and gracious personality
which has won hosts of friends. To Mr.
and Mrs. William A. Rogers the following
children were bom: Leva, who died in
infancy; the second in order of birth was
our subject; Luther A., living at Welling-
ton, Kansas; Giles N., of luka, Illinois;
Daniel C, deceased; Leo Delbert, of Poca-
hontas, Iowa ; Paul, of Omega township.
The subject's father was twice married.
His first wife was Minerva Jane Craig.
Frank A. Rogers lived at home until he
was twenty-one years old, assisting with the
work about the farm until he had acquired
sufficient education to begin teaching. Be-
ing an ambitious lad he always applied him-
self diligently to his text-books and conse-
quently outstripped most of the common
plodders that made up the roll of contem-
poraneous school-fellows in his neighbor-
hood, and he has since greatly added to his
early foundation in educational matters by
coming in contact with the world and by sys-
tematic home study. But few men are to be
met with in the state of Illinois who are any
better informed on current topics of a gen-
eral nature than Mr. Rogers, for he has al-
ways been a close student of the trend of
events, politically, scientifically and in other
leading issues. He followed teaching for a
period of seventeen years in Marion county,
during which time he established an envied
reputation as an instructor and his services
were in great demand. He was not only
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
2 53
popular for his superior text-book learning,
but his kind and pleasing personality, his
peculiar insight in the characters of his pu-
pils, which made it easy for him to control
and properly direct each pupil, made him
popular with all classes of people.
Mr. Rogers always took a deep interest in
political movements, being a stanch advo-
cate of the principles and policies of the
Democratic party, with which he has been
affiliated from the time of attaining his ma-
jority, and he has ever lent his aid in fur-
thering the party's cause and is well forti-
fied in his political convictions, while he is
essentially public-spirited and progressive.
Being animated with the laudable ambition
for political preferment and his general
popularity having been long ago well estab-
lished, it is not strange that his fellow citi-
zens singled him out for offices of public
trust, and he held the office of Supervisor of
Omega township for two terms. He was also
chairman of the County Board and County
Board of Review in 1903. He was nomi-
nated for County Treasurer on the Demo-
cratic ticket August 4, 1906, by a majority
of eight hundred and was easily elected over
a strong opponent the following November,
and is serving the duties of the office with
great credit to himself and to the entire
satisfaction of all concerned, not only his
constituents but members of other parties
as well, being generally regarded as one
of the best officials the county has ever had,
especially in the Treasurer's office. The
subject has made his home in Salem since
December, following the election.
The subject's happy and harmonious do-
mestic life dates from September 25, 1892,
when he was united in marriage to Lillie M.
Kagy, who was born April 7, 1875, the
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William B. Kagy,
a well known, highly respected and influ-
ential family of Marion county. Mrs.
Rogers is a highly cultured and accom-
plished lady of pleasing manner and many
commendable attributes of mind and heart
and she presides over their comfortable and
cozy home with grace and dignity and she is
popular among the best class of Marion
county's estimable women.
The following bright and interesting chil-
dren have come into the home of our subject
and wife, thereby adding cheer and sunshine
to the family circle: Herschell, born June
28, 1894; Hazel, born October 5, 1897; Ver-
non V., born April 15, 1902, surviving only
till October 4th, the same year; Rolla, who
was born August 5, 1904.
Mr. and Mrs. Rogers are consistent mem-
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church.
They are both held in high esteem for their
friendly manners, wholesome domestic life
and upright public lives which have resulted
in winning and retaining the friendship of
all who know them.
CARLOS A. FELTMAN, M. D.
He whose name initiates this paragraph is
a representative of one of the old and
honored families of Marion county, Illinois,
254
BRINKEKHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
where he has lived from the time of his
birth and where he has gained personal
prestige and success in one of the most noble
and exacting of all vocations to which a man
may devote himself, being engaged in the
practice of his profession at Salem and con-
trolling a large business as physician and
surgeon, while he has gained precedence by
reason of his devotion to his profession and
his marked ability as an exponent of ad-
vanced and practical medical science, at the
same time establishing a record of honor.
Dr. Carlos A. Feltman was born in
Salem, Illinois, September n, 1856, the son
of Charles Feltman, a man of much sterling
worth and influence in his community who
was born in Strausburg, Germany, and was
one of the earliest German settlers in Marion
county, Illinois. He was a successful baker
for many years and later was engaged in
the mercantile business at which he was
equally successful, having built up an ex-
cellent trade with the surrounding country
districts. He spent nearly his entire life in
Salem and passed to his reward in 1875.
The subject's mother, who was a woman of
many admirable attributes, was known in
her maidenhood as Mary Appel. She was
born in Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany,
and she passed to her rest in 1888. The
parents of the subject were married in St.
Louis, Missouri. They received a fairly
good education and were people of refine-
ment and high character, having reared their
children, of whom there were eight in num-
ber, in a wholesome atmosphere which
modified and deeply influenced their subse-
quent careers. Following are the names of
their children : Emfl, deceased ; Ellen, who
married R. E. Fletcher and who died in
Grand Junction, Colorado; H. C, deceased,
was a prominent attorney at law and was
grand scribe of the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows at the time of his death ; Wil-
liam W. is deceased; the next in order of
birth was Carlos A., our subject; Lenora,
deceased; C. E., who is with the Eli Walker
Dry Goods Company, of St. Louis, Mis-
souri ; R. E., who is in the mercantile busi-
ness at Grand Junction, Colorado.
Doctor Feltman remained a member of
the home circle until he reached manhood,
having attended the common schools in
Salem until he finished the prescribed course.
Being a diligent student he made excellent
grades and received a good education. He
went into newspaper work, believing that
journalism offered peculiar attractions. He
worked as a printer for three years. In the
meantime he felt that his calling was in
another direction, the more praiseworthy
art of medicine, consequently he began
studying during spare moments and finally
entered the Louisville Medical College at
Louisville, Kentucky, where he remained
one term, after which he attended the
Eclectic Medical Institute at Cincinnati,
from which he graduated with high honor
in 1882 in the same class with Dr. M. D.
Foster, the present Congressman from this
district. Our subject showed from the time
he first entered medical college that he had
a peculiar aptitude and unusual talents for
this line of endeavor and his subsequent life.
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
255
which has been remarkably successful,
shows that he would have made a grave
mistake had he adopted any other profes-
sion as a life work.
Doctor Feltman returned to his native
community after graduation, beginning
practice at Salem. His success was in-
stantaneous and his ability became so gen-
erally known that he was selcted to the im-
portant post of United States Indian Physi-
cian at Fort Apache, Arizona, during Presi-
dent Cleveland's first administration. He
was eminently successful in this new field,
but he finally desired to return to his native
state, and in 1888 began practice at Beards-
town, Illinois, which he carried on with the
greatest success for a period of fourteen
years, building up a very large practice and
becoming City Health Officer, also a mem-
ber of the Board of Education. He was
also Secretary of the Pension Board under
Cleveland's second administration, also Cor-
oner of Cass county from 1896 to 1900;
later County Physician of Cass county. Af-
ter filling all these positions to the entire
satisfaction of all concerned, showing pro-
nounced innate executive ability as well as
superior medical skill, in 1900, greatly to
the regret of his large patronage, Doctor
Feltman moved away from Beardstown, lo-
cating at his old home in Salem. Useless
to say that his practice was large from the
first, for he had long ago firmly established
a reputation here. He is a member of the
Board of Education at Salem and is County
Physician. He was nominated by his party
for Coroner in 1908 and his nomination was
regarded by not only the Democrats, but
members of other party affiliations as well,
to be a most fortunate on. He was elected
at the ensuing election by a large majority
over his opponent.
The domestic life of Doctor Feltman
dates from January i, 1888, when he was
happily married at Salem to Mayme E.
Fulks, the refined and accomplished daugh-
ter of T. Charles Fulks. She received a
fairly good educational training and is a
representative of a well known and influ-
ential family.
Two interesting children, who, in their
youth, give promise of successful and happy
future careers, have added cheer and sun-
shine to the cozy home of Doctor and Mrs.
Feltman. Their names are Blanche and
Mabel, nineteen and seventeen years old,
respectively, in 1908. They are both apt
students and of winsome personalities.
Fraternally our subject is a member of
the Masonic Order, the Woodmen and the
Independent Order of Foresters, and his
daily life would indicate that he believes in
carrying out the sublime precepts of each.
He is a strict Presbyterian in religious faith.
However, he is not a member of any church,
although all his family subscribes to the
church in Salem.
Doctor Feltman is of a public-spirited na-
ture, genial personality, uprightness of prin-
ciple and habits of industry. He is re-
garded by the people of Marion county as
one of their ablest and most eminent
citizens.
BRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
WILLIAM KELL BUNDY.
The life of the early settlers in any com-
munity has ever contained much to interest
and entertain us. There is something ro-
mantic about the ruggedness of their lives
and the uncertainties they had to face which
holds a fascination for us today. The family
of the subject of this sketch were among the
earliest inhabitants of the county in which
they lived, and the hardworking lives they
lived were much more eventful than the life
of the average farmer of today.
William K. Bundy was born in section
No. i, Centralia township, Marion county,
Illinois, on May 4, 1827, and was the son of
Frederick and Mary Bundy. His mother,
whose maiden name was Wilson, was born
in North Carolina, coming from the region
of the famous Blue Ridge Mountains. Fred-
erick Bundy was the son of Jonathan
Bundy, of Tennessee, who came to Marion
county, Illinois, as early as 1825 or 1826,
settling near Walnut Hill, where he soon
afterward died. His wife belonged to a well
known family of Tennessee named Dorcas.
They had four children, all sons Robert,
John and William, who settled in the vicin-
ity of Walnut Hill, and the father of the
subject of our sketch, Frederick Bundy, who
settled in section No. I, Centralia township.
Frederick Bundy's father-in-law, John
Wilson, married in his native state of North
Carolina. He was a farmer who on becom-
ing attacked with the western fever, went
westward to Illinois. There he settled north-
east of Salem. On the death of his first
wife he married a widow named Jones.
Their married years must have been happy
ones, for upon a third matrimonial venture
he espoused another widow named Kelley.
After a long and active life he died on the
farm. The children by his first wife num-
bered seven. In regular order they were:
Mary, Nancy, Jane, Margaret, Samuel,
Dorrington, and Sylvester. Mary, the eld-
est daughter, was the mother of the subject
of our sketch. The children born to John
Wilson's second wife numbered three.
Frederick Bundy, living in a different
period from ours, had no chance to go to
school. His education had to be self-ob-
tained. He did not fail to sieze the oppor-
tunities which came his way, and so became
a remarkably well informed man. At the
time the family came to Illinois the journey
was made in the old time cumberous team
wagons. The family of the mother of our
sketch also arrived by means of the same
mode of travel.
Centralia township at the time Frederick
Bundy settled there in 1826, was as yet in
its original wild state. As may be supposed,
wild game and beasts of prey of many varie-
ties abounded there, particularly wolves.
He remembered the howls and blood-cur-
dling "ki-yiings" of the timber-wolves, to
which he lay awake listening on many a
night inside of the rough log-cabin which he
had built with his own hands, In time he
cleared the land and erected for himself a
suitable home, and otherwise much im-
proved the property which embraced four
hundred acres. For years he carried on an
WILLIAM BUNDY.
*' 1*018,
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
257
active farming business and raised consid-
erable amount of stock. Frederick Bundy
was politically a staunch Democrat, and in
those days he had to go over to Salem at
election times to record his vote. In reli-
gious life he was a member of the Christian
church. His wife died in February, 1848,
and the demise of the inseparable companion
of his life's journey was a great loss. He
died in the fall of 1849, having, however,
married secondly Elizabeth Walker, and
leaving a son by that marriage. He had
eight children by his first wife, the eldest
of which was the subject of this sketch,
William K. The others were: Alexander,
who married first Margaret Breeze, and
afterwards another member of that family,
and who is a farmer in Washington ; Nancy
Jane, deceased, first married James Harper,
and afterwards Reuben Alderson; Dorcas
married Sydney Harmon, both of whom
are dead; Jeanette, who married, also died;
John joined the One Hundred and Eleventh
Regiment, Company H, at the outbreak of
the Civil war and died while in the service
of his country ; Robert was also in the Civil
war, enlisting in Jefferson county, Illinois,
and died of small pox during his term of
service; Sallie, another daughter, married
Thomas J. Hollowell and lives in Washing-
ton with her husband.
The life of William Kell Bundy, the sub-
ject of this sketch, has been an adventurous
one. In early life he received the limited
education afforded at the only available local
institutions of learning the subscription
schools. He remained at home doing nee-
17
essary work on the farm until 1847, when at
that martial period he enlisted in Company
C, No. i, United States army for the Mexi-
can war. His military career began by his
being sent to Alton, Illinois, and later to
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and later par-
ticipated in the march across the desert to
Santa Fe. He was on the march sixty days,
which was a tedious one. Later he took
part in the advance upon old Albuquerque,
the Mexican capital. Here he remained
until 1848, where he did guard duty, and
finally marched back. On his return he re-
mained with his father superintending the
old homestead until the latter's death, at
which time he bought forty acres of it, on
which he lived for fifteen years. In 1863
he changed to his present abode in section
No. 6, Raccoon township. At different times
the area of his land increased until he had at
one time three hundred and fifty acres; the
greater part of which he has since divided
among his children. All the improvements
on the place have been the fruits of his
labor and supervision. He has principally
raised stock on the farm, cattle, horses,
sheep and hogs, and has also evinced an
interest in the fancy and finer breeds.
William K. Bundy married first Eliza-
beth, the daughter of Isaac and Sarah Mc-
Clelland. Isaac was an early settler in Ma-
rion county, Illinois, near Walnut Hill. He
followed the occupation of farmer and stock
dealer. On the death of his first wife, Mr.
Bundy married a second time on October
20, 1887, Mildred Annie Gaines, of Sumner
county, near Nashville, Tennessee. She was
2 5 8
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
the daughter of Henry Gaines. Her mother's
own name was Marian Bradley, of Nash-
ville, Tennessee. They came to Marion
county, Illinois, in 1850, and settled in Ste-
venson township. There Henry Gaines and
his wife farmed during the remainder of
their lives. He died in 1850, and his wife
in 1856. They had eight children, of which
Mildred Annie, the second wife of William
K. Bundy, was the seventh. Of the others,
Hazel married C. Tracy; P. D. is a farmer
in Stevenson township ; Josephine, the third,
is dead ; Martha is also dead ; Henrietta E.,
the widow of Sidney Charlton, lives in Odin
township; Agnes is still on the farmstead
and is single; Z. T. lives in Jefferson
county. The second marriage of William
K. Bundy has given him the following chil-
dren, seven in number. Mary Rebecca, the
wife of John French; Sarah Jane, who is
Mrs. Robinson, living at Sedalia, Washing-
ton; Elizabeth, who married John Lament,
since deceased, lives in Oklahoma; Joseph-
ine, who married George West, of Odin
township; Isaac M., who is a farmer in Rac-
coon township married Sarah Johnson ;
Fred, who lives at home and is unmarried,
went through the Spanish-American war as
a member of Company G, Third Regiment
U. S. another child, Catherine died young.
Though now in his eighty-second year,
William Kell Bundy possesses a mind of un-
usual transparency. He is still well able to
review in detail the memories and exploits
of a long and varied career.
In politics the subject of our sketch is a
life-long follower of the Democracy. His
first vote for a presidential candidate was
recorded years ago when it went to James
K. Polk, who figured in an eventful election.
In religion he is a member of the Christian
church, in the interests of which he has ever
been active. He is now in the mellow period
of a long life which has always been at the
service of home and country. He has ful-
filled the duties of a long life; he is sur-
rounded by an affectionate circle of sons and
daughters; he has the friendship and good
wishes of a host of friends. Is not this as
much as any of us can hope for in the even-
ing of life.
J. T. JONES, M. D.
The physician who would succeed in his
profession must possess many qualities of
head and heart not included in the curricu-
lum of the schools and colleges he may
have attended. In analyzing the career of
the successful practitioner of the healing
art it will invariably be found true that a
broad-minded sympathy with the sick and
suffering and an honest, earnest desire to
aid his afflicted fellow men have gone hand
in hand with skill and able judgment. The
gentleman to whom this brief tribute is
given fortunately embodies these necessary
qualifications in a marked degree and by
energy and application to his professional
duties is building up an enviable reputation
and drawing to himself a large and re-
munerative practice, being recognized as one
of the leading physicians of this locality and
a man of honor and integrity at all times.
BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
259
Dr. J. T. Jones was born in Foster town-
ship, Marion county, Illinois, August 26,
1861, and "his sober wishes never learned
to stray," consequently he has preferred to
remain on his native prairie rather than seek
uncertain fortunes elsewhere. His father is
Eli W. Jones, a native of the same township
and county. Grandfather James Jones was
an early pioneer of Marion county and a
man of many sterling qualities which have
outcropped in our subject to a marked de-
gree. He was a Southerner of the finest
type. His residence was used in an early
day for the purpose of holding church ser-
vices, he being an active and ardent Metho-
dist. He is living at this writing, 1908, in
Foster township on a fine farm where he
has become influential and widely known.
He was Circuit Clerk from 1872 to 1876.
He makes his home at present in Vernon.
He was a soldier in Company H, Twenty-
sixth Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry,
and he served through the war, having
marched with Sherman to the sea and lost
a leg in the final battle at Bentonville, North
Carolina, the last battle fought by Sherman.
He was in many hard fought battles of the
Army of the Tennessee, being in the Fif-
teenth Army Corps, and in all he took part
in about thirty engagements. After the
war he returned to his farm. The maiden
name of the mother of the subject was
Mary Ryman, a native of Pennsylvania.
Her father was Dr. J. R. Ryman, who was
an early Methodist minister, later becoming
a physician. He came to Marion county
when a young man, and was at one time
Circuit Clerk of the county and also School
Commissioner, being one of the founders
of the Western Christian Advocate at St.
Louis, Missouri. He died about 1877.
The mother of the subject is living at this
writing. Three children were born to these
parents, our subject being the only one now
living. The subject's maternal grandmother
was Martha Dickens, a daughter of Samuel
Dickens, a pioneer Baptist minister.
Doctor Jones spent his boyhood on his
father's farm, attending the country
schools at Fosterburg, and when the family
came to Salem in 1872 he attended school in
in Salem in 1872 he attended school in
Salem from 1872 to 1878, graduating from
the high school here in 1878 with high
honor. After leaving school he clerked one
year in a store at Vernon, but believing that
his true calling lay along medical lines
rather than the mercantile, he began the
study of medicine, making rapid progress
from the first. He entered the St. Louis
Medical College in 1880 from which he
graduated in March, 1884, having made a
brilliant record for scholarship. He lo-
cated first at Warsaw, Missouri, practicing
there with eminent success until 1889, when,
much to the regret of his many friends and
patients, he left that town and came to Ver-
non, Illinois, where he remained, building up
a lucrative practice, until 1907, in which
year he came to Salem, having moved his
family here a year previous. Doctor Jones
took a post-graduate course in the medical
department of the University of St. Louis in
1906. He has been very successful in his
260
BRINKERHOFF J S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
practice in Marion county, having a large
business at present and he is often called to
other localities on serious and important
cases where his superior medical advice is
sought by local practitioners whose skill has
been baffled, and his counsels are always
followed by gratifying results.
The domestic life of our subject dates
from April 25, 1891, when he was united
in marriage with Carrie E. Bennett, who
was born and reared in Salem, the accom-
plished and refined daughter of ]. J. Ben-
nett, an early pioneer of Marion county and
was the first president of the Salem Na-
tional Bank, which position he held until
within a few years of his death. Mary
Oglesby was the maiden name of the sub-
ject's mother, who was the first girl baby
born in Salem. Her great-grandfather,
Mark Tully, entered land on which the city
of Salem is built. He gave the site where
the court house stands. This family was
one of the best known in the early history
of the county.
Our subject and wife have two children, a
bright boy and a winsome girl, the former,
Don Paul, having been born January 28,
1892, and the latter, Nellie, was born May
22, 1895.
Doctor Jones has been thrifty and has
accumulated a fair competence as a result
of his well directed energies. He owns a
valuable and highly improved farm in Fos-
ter township, and has numerous real estate
holdings in Marion county. He is a member
of the county, state and national medical
associations, and he belongs to the Masonic
Fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, the Woodmen, the Sons of Vet-
erans and the Yeomen.
The home of Dr. and Mrs. Jones is
modern, cozy, nicely furnished and is pre-
sided over with rare grace and dignity by
the latter who is often hostess to warm
friends who hold her in high esteem. This
worthy couple is regarded by all classes as
meriting the confidence and regard which
are unqualifiedly proffered to them.
O. A. JAMES.
The subject of this sketch is not the
example of a man whom the inscrutable
caprice of fortune or fate has suddenly
placed in a conspicuous position in the busi-
ness world but he has attained to the same
through careful preparation during long
years of toil and endeavor, for he realized
early in his career that success comes to
the deserving, and that to be deserving, one
must be industrious and persistent, so he
forged ahead, surmounting obstacles that
would have daunted and diverted the course
of less courageous spirits.
O. A. James, the popular and efficient
assistant cashier of the Salem State Bank,
who has, while yet a young man, left the
indelible imprint of his personality upon
the people with whom he has come in con-
tact, was born in Salem, Illinois, in 1879.
He is the son of Joshua L. James, a native
of Middle Tennessee and the representative
JRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY. ILLINOIS.
261
of a fine old Southern family. He came to Il-
linois in 1853, settling in Williamson county,
where he lived for twenty-five years, having
been reasonably prosperous during that time
and becoming known as a hard worker and
a man of the best habits. He then came to
Marion county, settling near Alma, where
he also remained a quarter of a century, de-
veloping a good farm and making a com-
fortable living by reason of his habits of
industry and economy. Desiring to spend
the remaining years of his life in the city
and enjoy a respite from his arduous agri-
cultural pursuits, Mr. James moved to
Salem in 1902 and he has since made his
home here.
The grandfather of the subject on his
paternal side was John Wesley James, .a
native of Tennessee, and an excellent farmer
who passed to his rest about 1893 after a
long and honorable life. His death occurred
in Williamson county, this state, where he
spent the major part of his life.
Joseph L. Wnorowski, the subject's
grandfather on his mother's side, was born
in Russia and received his education in the
city of Moscow. He came to America when
thirty years old, finally settling in Salem,
Illinois, where he spent his remaining years,
dying about 1890.
The subject's mother was known in her
maidenhood as Sophia E. Wnorowski, who
was born and reared in Salem where she
received a common school education and
developed many praiseworthy character-
istics. She is living at this writing (1908).
Six children were born to the parents of the
subject, five of whom are still living,
named in order of birth as fol-
lows : Mrs. Florence Brasel, of Cartter, Illi-
nois; O. A., our subject; Mrs. Berdie E.
Stroment, living in Salem, this county ; Guy
L., of Wooden, Iowa; Mrs. Jesse Brasel,
living at Terre Haute, Indiana.
These children all received a good com-
mon schooling and were reared in a home
of the most wholesome atmosphere, conse-
quently they have developed characters of a
very commendable type.
Our subject attended the common
schools of Salem, from which he gradu-
ated in 1897. But being amibitious for
more learning and to become a teacher, he
later attended the Carbondale State Normal
School for some time. Not yet satisfied he
entered Austin College at Effmgham; then
took a course in the Eastern State Normal
at Charleston, thus gaining a splendid edu-
cation, for he made a brilliant record for
scholarship in all these institutions.
After leaving school he began teaching,
which he followed in a most successful and
pfaiseworthy manner for a period of five
years, having taught three years in Marion
county public schools, one year as principal
at Central City, Illinois, and one year as
principal of the high school' at Kinmundy,
in all of which he showed that he not only
had acquired a great fund of serviceable
knowledge which he had a penchant for
readily and clearly dispensing, but that he
possessed the other necessary prerequisites
of head and heart to make a first class and
a high grade educator, and his reputation
262
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
had overspread the bounds of Marion
county, causing his services to be in great
demand, when, much to the regret of pupils
and school boards he gave up his teaching
and accepted the position as assistant post-
master at Salem the duties of which he at-
tended to in a most able manner for a period
of two years, when he resigned to become
Deputy Circuit Clerk, having been appointed
for a period of four years, and here he
again displayed his great innate ability as
a careful and painstaking business man by
handling the duties devolving upon this po-
sition with all dispatch and alacrity and in
a most satisfactory manner to all concerned,
when after a year in this office he tendered
his resignation to become assistant cashier in
the Salem State Bank, which very respon-
sible and envied position had been proffered
by the heads of that institution after they
had carefully considered the names of many
young and talented business men for the
place, believing that Mr. James was the
best qualified to handle the work in this con-
nection, and the praiseworthy manner and
wonderful technical skill he has displayed in
this responsible position since taking up the
duties of the same, shows that the man-
agers of this institution were wise in their
decision and selection. Mr. James is still
thus connected with the Salem State Bank
and has given entire satisfaction and in-
creased the popularity and prestige of this
already popular and sound institution.
Mr. James is a member of the Independ-
ent Order of Odd Fellows and the Wood-
men, in his fraternal relations, and he is a
faithful and consistent member of the Chris-
tian church. He is known to be scrupu-
lously honest, courteous and a gentleman of
the highest address and honor and owing to
the fact that our subject is yet quite a young
man and has achieved such a place of honor
and trust the future augurs great things
for him.
AUGUSTIN ROBERT WILLIAMS.
By reason of numerous rare innate quali-
ties, together with his pleasing personal
qualities, together with his pleasing personal
address, his honesty of purpose and his
loyalty to his native community, Mr. Wil-
liams has reached a conspicuous round in
the ladder of success in his chosen field of
endeavor and justly merits the high esteem
in which he is held by all who know him.
A. R. Williams, the popular and well
known teller of the Salem State Bank,
Salem, Illinois, is a native of Marion county,
having first seen the light of day in the city
of Salem on December 15, 1875, the son of
Rowland H. Williams, a native of New
York City, who was born near Delaney
street. He early decided to leave the con-
gested metropolis and seek his fortune in
the freer and less trammeled West, and
consequently in casting about for an oppor-
tunity to properly get his initial start in the
business world he decided to try Ohio and
soon set out for Columbus and finally lo-
cated near that city, then in about 1870 he
came to Salem, Illinois, where he elected to
BRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
26 3
remain, being impressed with the superior
prospects of the place. He was proprietor of
the Salem Marble Works for a number of
years and at the time of his death, which oc-
curred on December 10, 1890, he was post-
master of Salem, this important appoint-
ment having been made in recognition of
his valuable services and his unflagging
loyalty to the principles of the party then
in power. He also showed his loyalty to
the Union by enlisting in the Eighty-fifth
Ohio Volunteer Regiment, serving with
credit throughout the war between the
states.
The grandfather of the subject on the
paternal side of the house was Robert Wil-
liams, a native of Wales, he and his good
wife having settled in New York and later
coming to Ohio. His wife, late in life, came
to Salem where she died. The grandmother
of the subject on his maternal side was a
native of Tennessee. She, too, died in
Salem where she had lived only a few years,
having been called to her eternal sleep
shortly after the war.
The mother of the subject was known in
her maidenhood as Margaret Keeney, a na-
tive of near old Foxville, Illinois, this
county, the daughter of A. W. Keeney, who
moved from Indiana to Marion county
where he settled on a farm, but moved to
Salem during the Civil war. He had a son
killed in the battle of Shiloh and this caused
him to desert the old farm homestead and
move to Salem. He was associated with
Seth Andrews in the Salem Milling Com-
pany of Salem for many years. The last few
years of his life he lived in retirement. He
passed away July 2, 1890. The mother of
the subject, a woman of many praise-
worthy traits, is still living in 1908.
Three children were born to Mr. and
Mrs. Rowland H. Williams, one having died
in infancy. Frank L. Williams, the living
brother of the subject, was born in Salem
May 25, 1 88 1, and is a well known con-
tractor.
A. R. Williams, our subject, spent his
boyhood in Salem attending the local
schools, having graduated from the Salem
high school in 1893, after making a splen-
did record for scholarship. Mr. Williams
was with Cutler & Hays in the mercantile
business, during which time he added very
much to the prestige of the firm and won
scores of customers from all over the county
by reason of his courteous treatment and
conscientious work, and the fact that his ser-
vices were so long continued by this firm
is a criterion that they were eminently satis-
factory in every particular. Desiring to bet-
ter fit himself for a business career which
he soon determined should be his life's chief
aim, he entered Brown's Business College
at Centralia, from which he graduated with
distinction in 1906.
The unusual ability of Mr. Williams was
soon known to the business people of Salem
and when the State Bank became in need
of an efficient and reliable teller, no one
worthier of the place could be found than
our subject, consequently he was en-
treated to accept this important post, which
he did on December 26, 1906, after resign-
264
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
ing his position with Cutler and Hays,
much to their regret, for they well knew
that they would have much difficulty in fill-
ing the place of such a valuable man.
Mr. Williams has shown rare business
ability in handling his new position and has
given entire satisfaction to his employers
from the first, having become known as one
of the most trusted and thoroughly efficient
bank tellers in this part of the state.
A. R. Williams was married to Miss
Olive M. Peters, of Sandoval, Illinois,
October 25, 1908. She is a daughter of D.
M. and Lydia (Neff) Peters. Fraternally
Mr. Williams is a member of the ancient
and honorable order of Masons, a member
of Cyrene Commandery No. 23, Knights
Templar, of Centralia, also a member of
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at
Salem; he is also a member of the Wood-
men and the Modern American Fraternal
Order.
Mr. Williams is strong in his religious
convictions, being a faithful member of the
Presbvterian church.
CHARLES D. MERRITT.
The subject of this sketch is the repre-
sentative of an old and influential family
which has been identified with the history of
Marion county from the pioneer days and
he is a worthy scion of such noble ancestors
as he can claim, for all the years of his
manhood have been characterized by an un-
faltering devotion to his country's good and
his interest in the improvement of his native
locality has been repeatedly shown by the
aid he has given to plans for the general
improvement and advancement. His name
is a synonym for integrity in business af-
fairs, and his life history proves conclusively
that success may be won through persever-
ance, strong determination and diligence.
Charles D. Merritt was born in Salem,
Illinois, where he now resides and where he
has spent his entire life on September 2,
1863, the son of John H. Merritt, a native
of New York City, where he was born in
1830 and where he made his home until
1850. He was a printer by trade and was
very adept in his art. The grandfather of
the subject was John W. Merritt, who was
born July 4, 1806, in New York City. He
was a lawyer by profession and achieved
considerable notoriety as an able member of
the bar. He came to Illinois about 1850
and located in Salem and where in Novem-
ber, 1851, he established The Salem Advo-
cate, which he successfully managed for a
few years, after which John H. Merritt,
father of the subject, managed the paper
with continued success for a number of years
and then disposed of it. In 1876 he es-
tablished The Marion County Herald and
in 1879 he purchased The Advocate again
and consolidated the two papers under the
name of Herald-Advocate, which he con-
tinued to successfully edit up to the time
of his death, February 3, 1888. After the
consolidation, which rendered this fearless
exponent of the people's rights one of the
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
26 5
strongest papers of its kind in this part of
the state, the property increased gradually
in value and had a wide patronage, for it
was ably managed and Mr. Merritt's edi-
torials were always eagerly read, especially
when great issues were before the local peo-
ple for settlement, for they knew that his
ideas were always of great weight and that
he was ever ready to defend the rights of
his locality.
Grandfather Merritt, after a long and
eminently useful life was called from his
earthly labors in 1879. The Merritt family
is of French descent. The grandmother of
the subject was known as Julia DeForest in
her maidenhood. She is a native of one of
the Eastern states, where she was born Feb-
ruary 14, 1808, and she passed to her
rest sometime before her husband. The
mother of our subject was formerly Mar-
garet Bumgardner, who was born in Ohio,
November 16, 1837. She is now living in
Salem and is known as a woman of high
culture and many commendable traits.
Seven children were born to the subject's
parents, two of whom are living at pres-
ent. The names of these children follow :
Willis, who was born in 1860, died in
1893; Frank, who was born in 1862, died in
infancy; Charles D.. whose name appears at
the head of this sketch ; Fred, whose date of
birth was 1865, lives in Salem; Harry, de-
ceased : Omer, who is also deceased ; Maude,
who was born in 1876, died in 1879. These
children were given every attention and ad-
vantage possible by their parents.
Charles D. Merritt, our subject, has spent
his entire life in Marion county and he
received his primary education in Sa-
lem, having made a good record in the local
cshools, completing the prescribed course.
When only sixteen years old he took a
position with C. R. Rogers as a delivery boy
and drove the first delivery wagon ever
driven in Salem. From this he went into his
father's newspaper office in 1881 and he has
been identified with the printing business
ever since. At this writing he is conducting
one of the best, most extensive and modern
job printing offices in this part of the state,
having established this plant here in 1897,
since which time he has been doing a lucra-
tive business.
When his father died in 1888 our sub-
ject became editor and proprietor of The
Herald-Advocate, which he successfully
conducted until he sold out in 1892 to
Charles E. Hull, the present proprietor.
Mr. Merritt not only understands the minute
and great art of wielding the printer's ink,
but he also understands handling the edi-
torial end of a paper, although his work has
been very largely in the mechanical de-
partment.
Our subject was united in marriage on
October 11, 1887, to Carrie Hall, the daugh-
ter of Henry R. Hall, a well known family
of Sandoval, Illinois, and four children have
been born to this union, named in order of
birth as follows : Dean, who was born
June 12, 1889; Hall, who was born Octo-
ber 4, 1891 ; Fay, who was born November
4, 1894; Margaret, whose date of birth oc-
curred March 25, 1901. These children are
266
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
all bright and give every promise of sucess-
ful futures.
Mr. Merritt has always been a public-
spirited man and he has been favored with
many offices of public trust, having filled the
office of City Treasurer of Salem for one
year and City Alderman for two years, and
while in these capacities he rendered the
city valuable services, discharging his du-
ties with the same care and detail as if it
had been private affairs and he secured
many things that were beneficial to the resi-
dents of this place, having been instrumental
in no small degree in securing the present
splendid and up-to-date electric light plant,
in fact, it will be remembered that Mr. Mer-
ritt was the Alderman who made the motion
that gave to Salem its present lighting fa-
cilities. He is now a director of the Salem
School Board and he also served for four
years as a school director some years ago.
He takes an active interest in school affairs,
and during his incumbency in these offices
he did much to strengthen the present effici-
ent system.
Our subject belongs to the following
lodges, in which he takes a just pride: Free
and Accepted Masons, Blue Lodge and
Chapter, the Salem Eastern Star; the Inde-
pendent Order of Odd Fellows, Subordinate
and Encampment, also the Rebekahs, the
Improved Order of Red Men at Odin, Illi-
nois; also the Modern Woodmen of Salem
and the Modern Americans at Salem. He
served as assistant grand scribe of the Grand
Encampment of the Odd Fellows of the
State of Illinois for two years. At the
annual session of the Grand Encampment at
Springfield, November 16, 1908, he was ap-
pointed for another term.
Mr. Merritt is an active Democrat and
has always done what he could in furthering
his party's principles. His name is indel-
ably associated with progress in the county
of his birth and among those in whose midst
he has always lived he is held in highest es-
teem as a result of his upright life and
fidelity to right principles.
J. R. QUAYLE.
The subject has always sought to in-
culcate in the minds of the young the higher
things of life, the beauties of mind and soul
known only to those who are willing to de-
vote themselves to a career of self-sacrifice,
hospitality, persistency and uprightness, and
during the long years of his professional
life Mr. Quayle succeeded in carrying out
the principles in his daily life that he sought
to impress upon others.
J. R. Quayle was born in Peoria county,
Illinois, December 5, 1859, the son of Rob-
ert Quayle, a native of the Isle of Man, a
full blooded Manxman. He was an influ-
ential and high minded man, whose sterling
traits are somewhat reflected in the life of
his son, our subject. He migrated to
America about 1856, locating first in Henry
county, Illinois, where he farmed. After
living there for a short time he moved to
Peoria county, later to Marion county in
BKIXKEKIIOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
26 7
January, 1866. He was a hard worker and
made a success of whatever he undertook.
He was called from his labors in Septem-
ber, 1879, while living in Marion county.
He was a great Bible student and he read
and talked the Manx language fluently.
James Quayle, grandfather of the subject,
was born, reared and spent his entire life
on the Isle of Man, and his death occurred
there. His wife was a Miss Harrison, who
reached the remarkable age of ninety-six
years.
The mother of the subject was Ellen
(Corlett) Quayle, also a native of the Isle
of Man, where she, too, was reared, and
where she married Robert Quayle. She
was a woman of many estimable traits, hav-
ing led a wholesome life and in her old age
was the recipient of many kindnesses at the
hands of her many friends and neighbors.
She made her home on the old homestead
near Vernon, Marion county, until her
death, September 6, 1908, where the Quayle
family moved in 1866. This family con-
sisted of the following children, named in
order of their birth: Elizabeth, who died
in 1880; J. R., our subject; Anna, the wife
of Nathan Roberts, of Patoka, this county;
Thomas E., who lives in section 12, this
county, on a farm; James C., also a farmer
in Patoka township, Marion county; Kate,
who is the wife of J. C. Bates, of Patoka
township ; Mollie, who makes her home with
her mother; Mona, the wife of G. I. Arnold,
of Foster township, Marion county.
These children are all comfortably situ-
ated in life and received good common
school education. They are all highly re-
spected and lead such well regulated lives as
their parents outlined for them in their
childhood.
J. R. Quayle, our subject, attended the
country schools east of Vernon until 1880,
working at intervals on his father's farm.
He was always a close student and made the
most of his opportunities. After complet-
ing the course in the common schools he
was not satisfied with the knowledge he had
gained and entered school in the University
at Valparaiso, Indiana, taking the teachers'
course, also a commercial course. He made
a brilliant record at this institution for
scholarship and good deportment.
Believing that teaching was his proper
field of activity Mr. Quayle began his first
school in 1878 and he taught the major part
of the time up to 1906 with the greatest
success attending his efforts, during which
time he became widely known not only in
Marion but adjoining counties as an able
instructor and his services were in great de-
mand. He was not only well grounded in
the text-books employed in the schools
where he taught but his pleasing personality
made him popular with his pupils, the vari-
ous phases of whose natures he seemed to
understand and sympathize with, so that he
inspired each one to do his best in the work
at hand, and many of his pupils have since
won distinction in various lines of endeavor,
all freely admitting that their success was
due in a large measure to the training and
influence of Mr. Quayle. The teaching of
our subject was confined to Marion county
268
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
with the exception of two years which were
spent in Fayette county, where he also be-
came popular.
Mr. Quayle has been twice married. His
first wedding occurred January 8, 1889, to
Lyda E. Livesay, the accomplished daughter
of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Livesay, a well
known family of Patoka township, Marion
county, and to this union four children were
born as follows: Guy, born in 1891, died at
the age of seven years; Gladys E., born in
1892; Fanny, now deceased, who was born,
in 1897; Roberta, who was born in 1900.
The subject's first wife was called to her
rest in June, 1906, and Mr. Quayle was
married December 15, 1907, to Ida M.
Quails, daughter of Alfred Quails. She is
a member of an influential family of Salem
and was born and reared there.
Mr. Quayle has been an influential factor
in politics in his county, always assisting in
placing the best local men available in the
county offices and his support can always
be depended upon in furthering any worthy
movement looking to the better interest of
the community and county. In 1883, 1888
and 1889 he was Tax Collector of Patoka
township, having been easily elected to this
office and performed the duties of it in a
most satisfactory manner. He was chosen
by his friends to the responsible position of
Supervisor in 1901 and 1902 and elected
County Clerk on the Democratic ticket in
1906, and is now, 1908, serving his first
term. He is said to be one of the ablest men
in this office that the county has ever had,
being careful and painstaking as well as
congenial and friendly so that all his con-
stituents are very highly pleased with his
record. They predict that he will become a
very potent factor in local politics in the
near future.
Mr. Quayle is a member of the Masonic
fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, the Eastern Star, the Rebekahs
and the Woodmen. He takes a great deal
of interest in lodge work and his daily life
would indicate that he believes in carrying
out the noble precepts of these commendable
orders.
Mr. Quayle is not only a public-spirited
and honorable man in his official and busi-
ness life, but he leads a most wholesome
home life and sets a worthy example for his
children and others, delighting in the higher
ideals of life as embraced in educational,
civic and religious matters. Both he and
his wife are members of the Methodist
Episcopal church and no people in Marion
county are the recipients of higher respect
and genuine esteem from their many friends
than thev.
BENJAMIN M. SMITH.
In studying the interesting life histories of
many of the better class of men, and the
many of the better class of these, and the
ones of unquestioned merit and honor, it
will be found that they have been compelled,
very largely, to map out their own career
and furnish their own motive force in scal-
ing the heights of success, and it is such a
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
269
one that the biographer is pleased to write
in the paragraphs that follow.
Benjamin M. Smith, the well known
cashier of the Salem State Bank, was born
in Central City, Illinois, December n, 1877,
the son of Samuel J. Smith, a native of St.
Clair county, Illinois, and a gentleman of
many sterling traits who became a man of
considerable influence in his community,
some of whose commendable characteristics
are inherited by his son, our subject. Samuel
J. Smith came to Marion county when a
young man and was engaged in the milling
business of which he made pronounced suc-
cess, having been in the county several years
when the Civil war began, and he continued
in this business during the progress of the
Rebellion. He took much interest in public
affairs. He was County Treasurer and
County Clerk for twenty years and Deputy
County Treasurer for four years. During
his long official record he conducted the af-
fairs that were entrusted to him in a manner
that reflected great credit upon his ability
and in a way that elicited much favorable
comment but no criticism from his con-
temporaries and constituents. He was
called to his rest April 5, 1906, after an emi-
nently successful and useful life.
The subject's grandfather, Benjamin J.
Smith, who was a native of the old Pine
Tree state (Maine), is remembered as a
man of unusual fortitude and courage, hav-
ing been a composite of the usual elements
that go into the makeup of pioneers. He
came west in early life and was one of the
first settlers of St. Clair county, Illinois, of
which county he was at one time Sheriff,
one of the best, in fact, that the county ever
had. He was an active business man all his
life, having been in the commission busi-
ness in Chicago for a number of years,
where he became well known in the business
circles of the city in those days. He was
born in 1801, and after a remarkably active
career, reaching a venerable age, passed to
the silent land when in his ninetieth year.
The mother of the subject was in her
maidenhood Mary E. Martin, who was born
in Ohio on a farm near Wellsville. She is
in many respects a remarkable character,
benign, affable and her influence has always
been wholesome and uplifting, so that even
in the golden evening of her life she is a
blessing to those with whom she comes in
contact. She is the mother of three chil-
dren, namely: Irene, who died in infancy;
Irma, a woman of fine traits; and Benja-
min M., our subject.
Thus after a resume of the subject's
worthy ancestors we are not surprised that
he has achieved unusual distinction in his
community, and to him the future evidently
has much of good in store.
Benjamin M. Smith attended school in
Salem, graduating from the high school
where he had made a splendid record for
scholarship and deportment. Feeling that
he was destined for a business career, and
following in the footsteps of his father and
grandfather, he early began preparations to
enter the industrial field, and in order to
prepare himself more thoroughly took a
course in the Bryant & Stratton Business
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
College at St. Louis, Missouri, standing in
the front rank of his class when he gradu-
ated in 1900. Mr. Smith has been actively
engaged in business since he was sixteen
years old and he showed at that early age
that he was destined to the highest success.
He seems to be best fitted to the manage-
ment of banking institutions, although he
turns everything into success that he under-
takes. He has been cashier of banks for
seven years in 1908. He was cashier of
the Haymond State Bank, now the First
National Bank at Kinmundy, Illinois, for
two years, during which time the business of
this institution greatly increased. Then he
came to Salem and became associated with
the Salem State Bank of which he is a
stockholder and director and one of the or-
ganizers, in fact, one of the moving spirits
of the institution. Mr. Smith was also a
director in the bank at Kinmundy and is
still a stockholder in the same. Both these
institutions recognize his unusual industrial
ability and peculiar aptitude for managing
the affairs of a banking concern and the of-
ficials are not reluctant to give him all due
credit for the great work he has done in
placing these banks on a firm foundation and
making them among the solid and well
Icnown institutions of their kind in this part
of the state.
Fraternally Mr. Smith belongs to the
Masonic Order, Knights Templar; also the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the
Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen and the
Eagles, and one would judge from his con-
sistent daily life that he believes in carrying
out the sublime principles and doctrines of
these worthy orders. In politics our subject
is a loyal Democrat, but he has not found
time to take an active part in political af-
fairs. However, he believes in placing the
best men possible in local offices and his
support can always be depended upon in
the advancement of any cause looking to
the development and betterment of his com-
munity and county.
Mr. Smith has preferred single blessed-
ness and has never assumed the responsi-
bilities of the married state.
Our subject is a very strong character in
every respect and although he is yet quite a
young man he has shown by his past excel-
lent and praiseworthy record that he is a
man of unusual industrial ability and the
future will doubtless be replete with honors
and success for him.
FRANK A. BOYNTON.
Through struggles to triumph seems to
be the maxim which holds sway for the ma-
jority of our citizens and, though it is un-
deniably true that many a one falls ex-
hausted in the conflict, a few by their in-
herent force of character and strong men-
tality rise above their environments and all
which seems to hinder them until they
reach the plane of affluence. It is not the
weaklings that accomplish worthy ends in
the face of opposition but those with nerve
and initiative whose motto is, "He never
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
271
fails who never gives up," and with this
terse aphorism ever in view, emblazoned on
the pillar of clouds, as it were, before them,
they forge ahead until the sunny summits
of life are reached and they can breath a
breath of the purer air that inspires the
souls of men in respite. Such has been the
history of Frank A. Boynton and in his life
record many useful lessons may be gained.
Mr. Boynton was born four miles east of
Salem in Stevenson township, April 18,
1 86 1, the son of John Boynton, a native of
Haverhill, Scioto county, Ohio, who came to
Illinois about 1859, settling on the farm on
which his widow now resides. John Boyn-
ton was a prosperous and influential farmer
all his life. He ably served as school di-
rector of Stevenson township for many
years, and after a very successful and useful
life he passed away in 1900.
The grandfather of the subject on his pa-
ternal side was Asa Boynton, who was a
native of Haverhill, Massachusetts, who mi-
grated to Ohio in an early day and settled
on the French "grant" in Ohio, and the
place where he settled was named Haverhill,
after the Massachusetts town from whence
he came. He was, like many of the early
pioneers, a man of sterling qualities, brave
and a hard worker.
The subject's mother was Eliza Copen-
hagen, born near Ironton, Ohio, on the land
where the town is situated. Her people
came from Virginia, having been among
the fine old Southern families who migrated
from that state to Ohio in the early days.
She has made her home on the old home-
stead in Stevenson township from that time
to the present day, and there she is held in
highest esteem by a host of acquaintances
and friends. Eight children were born to
Mr. and Mrs. John Boynton, six of whom
are living at this writing (1908). Their
names are: Asa died when fourteen years
old; Frank, our subject; Elmer, of Salem,
Illinois; Lucy who passed to her rest in
1905; Loren K., of Ruleville, Mississippi;
John Ellis, who lives with his mother in
Stevenson township; Delmont, who lives in
Stevenson township on a farm joining the
parental homestead ; Ida, who lives with her
mother.
Frank A. Boynton, our subject, spent his
boyhood under the parental roof and re-
ceived his primary education in the Bru-
baker school in Stevenson township. He
worked on the farm during his young man-
hood and he has always been identified with
farming interests ; he now owns a fine farm,
highly improved and very productive, lo-
cated in the northern part of Stevenson
township. It consists of over five hundred
acres, and no more choice land is to be
found in this locality. He went to Wheeler,
Jasper county, Illinois, in 1891, and was a
storekeeper and ganger there where he re-
mained for two years, making a success of
his enterprise, but he returned to his farm
in Stevenson township and in about 1903
came to Salem and is now engaged in the
real estate and loan business with offices in
L. M. Kagy's law office. He helped organ-
ize the Salem State Bank of which he is a
heavy stockholder and director. He operated
liKIXKKKIIOKF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
a threshing machine for twelve years with
great success in Stevenson township, and he
has been a stock shipper the greater part of
his life.
Thus we see that Mr. Boynton has been
a very busy man, and also one that had
unusual executive ability else he could not
have carried to successful issue so many ex-
tensive enterprises.
Our subject was married in 1892 to Anna
Stevenson, daughter of Samuel E. Steven-
son, a well known family of Stevenson
township. One winsome child was born to
this union, Gladys. At the time of his mar-
riage Mr. Boynton was living on his farm.
His first wife was called to her rest Febru-
ary 16, 1897, and our subject was again
married May 17, 1906, his last wife being
Ethel Stevenson. No children have been
born to this union. Mrs. Boynton presides
over their modern, commodious, beautiful
and elegantly furnished home on South
Broadway with rare grace and dignity, and
she is frequently hostess to numerous ad-
miring friends of the family.
Possessing the executive skill and pleas-
ing personality that our subject does, it is
not surprising that his friends should have
singled him out for political preferment,
consequently he has been honored with nu-
merous local offices, all of which he has ably
and creditably filled to the entire satisfac-
tion of all concerned. He has served as
Clerk of Stevenson township and later
served two terms as Supervisor of that town-
ship. He is now city Alderman from the
Second ward of Salem. Useless to say our
subject is a loyal Republican, and he was at
one time the nominee of his party for Sher-
iff, and at another time for Treasurer, but
was defeated. He, however, made a most ex-
cellent race, being defeated by only a few
votes, although the county is strongly Demo-
cratic. He is, indeed, a public-spirited citizen
and witholds his co-operation from no move-
ment which is intended to promote public
improvement. What he has achieved in life
proves the force of his character and illus-
trates his steadfastness of purpose. He is
now one of the men of affluence and his
advancement to a position of credit and
honor in the business circles of Marion
county is the direct outcome of his own
persistent and worthy labors, and it would
be hard to find a more popular or congenial
gentleman in this section of the state than
Mr. Boynton.
REV. HAMILTON N. HAYS.
In giving the following biographical
memoir of the gentleman whose name ap-
pears above, the writer aims to avoid ex-
travagant praise, but his life was so full of
good deeds and was so replete with honor
and success that it will be necessary to em-
ploy periods that are somewhat ornate in
dealing with the same ; for although the seal
has been set on the final chapter in his inter-
esting life record by the angel that summons
us all from this terrestrial sphere, his influ-
ence still pervades the lives of those with
whom he came in contact, and he still lives
in the hearts of those left behind.
MR. AND MRS. HAMILTON N. HAYS.
HUNTKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
273
Rev. Hamilton N. Hays was born in Rac-
coon township, Marion county, September
28, 1848, the son of William C. and Delilah
(Crawford) Hays, both natives of Tennes-
see, who came to Marion county, Illinois, in
1858, and lived here awhile when they went
to Texas where they died.
The subject was educated in the home
schools. Being an ambitious lad he applied
himself in a most assiduous manner and was
enabled to teach school very successfully for
several years in Marion and Jefferson coun-
ties. He also read law and learned black-
smithing and farmed in Raccoon township.
For many years he was a minister in the
Christian church, and never failed to keep
an appointment regardless of weather con-
ditions.
On March 6, 1871, Mr. Hays was happily
married to Nancy Jane Bingaman, the
daughter of Peter and Elizabeth (Hen-
dricks) Bingaman, the mother a native of
Tennessee and the father of Pennsylvania.
The subject's wife was born May 4, 1842.
Her father married three times, first to
Mary Cox, by whom he had seven children,
namely: Polly Ann, William Cox, Peter
H., Henry R., John A. J., Rosamond and
an infant. He had no children by his second
wife. The children by his third wife, Eliza-
beth (Hendricks) Bingaman, who first mar-
ried Samuel Hays, became the mother of
four children, namely: Allen K., Hen-
dricks, William J. and Mansel. The father
and mother of Mrs. Hays were the parents
of the following children : Nancy J., Adam
L., David S., and Charles P.
18
After a busy and well ordered life, replete
with success and happiness, Rev. Hamilton
N. Hays passed to his rest, December 26,
1906.
The subject and wife were faithful mem-
bers of the Christian church. He was a
member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows. No children were born to Mr. and
Mrs. Hamilton N. Hays, but they out of
their kindness of heart, reared a daughter
whom they gave as good care as if she had
been their own. She was the daughter of
Adam Bingaman, now the wife of George
Williams. They live with Mrs. Hays on
the old homestead.
Reverend Hays was a prominent man,
highly respected and well known. He
was a successful business man, being
regarded as one of the leading farm-
ers of Marion county, and he was
admired for his sterling character,
his habits of industry and sobriety,
kindness and generosity, and no man in the
county had more friends than he. Mrs.
Hays is a woman of many estimable traits
and stands high in her community, being
affable and possessing rare tact and judg-
ment, so that it is with no little degree of
pleasure that we give such worthy people
representation in this work.
HENRY WARREN.
Prominent among the energetic, far-
sighted and successful business men of
Marion county, Illinois, is the subject of this
274
1WINKEK1IOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
sketch, whose life history most happily il-
lustrates what may be attained by faithful
and continued effort in carrying out an hon-
est purpose. Integrity, activity and energy
have been the crowning points in his career
and have led to desirable and creditable suc-
cess. His connection with banking institu-
tions and various lines of business has been
of decided advantage to the entire com-
munity, promoting its welfare along various
lines in no uncertain manner, while at the
same time he has made an untarnished rec-
ord and unspotted reputation as a business
man.
Henry Warren, the widely known bank
president and gallant Civil war veteran of
Kinmundy, Marion county, Illinois, was
born in this county in 1845, the son of Asa
Warren and his mother's maiden name was
Sina Howell. Grandfather Howell was sup-
posed to have come from Virginia, settling
with the pioneers in Marion county, Illinois,
in a very early day, and spending his life
on a farm doing much for the upbuilding
of the community. He entered land from
the government on which he spent the re-
mainder of his life and on which he reared
his family. He lived to be more than
eighty years of age. He was a member of
the old Hardshell Baptist church, as was
also his wife. One of the first log churches
built in this community was erected on his
farm, of which he was one of the principal
supporters. The major portion of his
neighbors were Indians when he first came
to this county, and the woods and prairies
teemed with wild game of nearly all species
and varieties. There were but few settle-
ments in the county at that time. The
green flies were so thick and aggressive that
people could not cross the prairies in the
day time during part of the year. He man-
aged this farm until his death which then
fell to his heirs. All of the second genera-
tion of Howells have passed on to their
rest.
Asa Warren, father of our subject, came
from Tennessee to Illinois when a young
man and entered land from the government.
He sold out in time and moved to Texas
where he died when fifty-five years of age,
being survived by four children, three of
whom were boys. He was a man of much
influence, integrity and force of character.
He was a gallant soldier in the Mexican
war, having served until peace was declared
after which he returned to Illinois. He fol-
lowed farming all his life. Both he and his
wife belonged to the old school Baptists.
The subject's mother was called to her rest
at about the age of forty years. She was
a kindly and good woman in every respect.
Henry Warren, our subject, was reared in
Marion county, Illinois, having attended the
common and district schools, part of the
time in old log school-houses with their
primitive furnishings. He worked most of
the year on his father's farm during his
school days. He was about twelve years old
when he accompanied his father to Texas,
and he returned from the Lone Star state to
Illinois one year after his father's death,
the home place in Texas having been sold.
Then our subject worked out as a farm
hand, sometimes receiving only eight dol-
lars a month, continuing as a farm hand for
BRIXKERHO
i.RION COUNTY.
275
twelve years. He then rented land for two
years. Then he married and bought eighty
acres of land which he improved and made
into a good farm on which he lived for about
thirty-eight years, which were prosperous,
in the main, and during which he laid up a
competency for the future. From time to
time he added to his original eighty until
he finally had eight hundred acres, all of
which was in cultivation and kept in a high
state of improvement and efficiency. He
drained this large tract of land and securely
fenced it with wood and wire. Substantial
and modern buildings, a large dwelling,
two barns and other out buildings were
erected, and the place, which Mr. Warren
still owns, is one of Marion county's model
farms. While he still looks after the farm
he keeps it rented. When our subject gave
his personal attention to this place it was
in somewhat better condition and. he devoted
him time largely to grass and stock.
Mr. Warren moved to Kinmundy in 1896
and one year later opened under the most
favorable auspices what is known as the
Warren Banking Company's establishment,
which met with instantaneous success and
is today regarded as one of the most sub-
stantial and safest institutions of its kind
in this part of the state. He is president
of the same, having filled this position with
much credit to his ability and the satisfac-
tion of the many patrons of the bank since
its establishment. His son, Henry L., who
was made cashier at the organization of
the concern, is still ably attending to these
duties. Mr. Warren owns the substantial
building in which the business of the firm
is conducted. He also owns a large, com-
fortable, modern and elegantly furnished
dwelling house besides other buildings on
the same street where he lives in Kinmundy.
He deserves much credit for the wealth he
has amassed partly because of the fact that
he started life empty handed and has made
it unaided, and partly because he has not a
single dishonest dollar in his possession, hav-
ing always been scrupulously honest in his
dealings with his fellow men. During the
last panic and -bank depression his was the
only bank that kept open in the county.
Mr. Warren was first married in 1867 to
Mary C. Nichols, a native of this county,
the accomplished daughter of Robert
Nichols, and to this union the following
children were born : William, born October
6, 1868, now a farmer and minister in Jef-
ferson county, Illinois, to whom two chil-
dren were born; Harry L., born September
i, 1871, is living in Kinmundy associated
with his father in the banking business, and
who is married and the father of one child ;
Charley W., born March 21, 1874, is as-
sistant cashier in the bank, being married
and the father of one child, Lowel F., born
October 27, 1897.
Mr. \Varren's first wife passed to her rest
in 1903, and the subject was again married
in 1906, his last wife being Ida Shriver,
a native of Marion county and the daughter
of William Schriver, who was a native of
Ohio. One child has been born to this
union, May Margaret, whose date of birth
fell on January 14, 1908.
Mr. Warren was one of the patriotic de-
fenders of the flag during the dark days of
2 7 6
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
the sixties when the fierce fires of rebellion
were undermining the pillars of our national
government, and he enlisted in Company E,
One Hundred and Thirty-sixth Illinois
Volunteer Infantry, in which he served with
credit and distinction to the close of the war
and was honorably discharged. He draws
a disability pension of twelve dollars. One
brother, Larkin A. Warren, was also a sol-
dier, having been a member of Sixth Mis-
souri Cavalry. He died at New Orleans
while in the army, after having served out
his first enlistment of three years, and it
was toward the close of the struggle when
he was attacked by a disease while in line
of duty from which he did not recover.
Our subject is a loyal Republican and in
religious affiliations is a liberal subscriber
and supporter of the Presbyterian church.
Mr. Warren's methods are progressive and
he is quick to adopt new ideas which he be-
lieves will prove of practical value in his
work. Indolence and idleness are entirely
foreign to his nature and owing to his close
application to his business and his honorable
methods he has won prosperity that is richly
merited, while he enjoys the friendship and
esteem of the people of Marion county.
JOHN C. MARTIN.
The subject of this sketch is a native son
of Marion county, Illinois, and a represen-
tative of one of its sterling and honored
families. He is known as a young man of
fine intellectuality and marked business
acumen. He is cashier of the Salem Na-
tional Bank, one of the most substantial in-
stitutions of its kind in this part of the
state.
John C. Martin was born in Salem April
29, 1880, the son of B. E. Martin, Sr., a
sketch of whom appears upon another page
of this volume.
Our subject attended the schools of Salem
in his early youth where he applied himself
in a most assiduous manner, having made
excellent records for scholarship and general
deportment, and as a result of his well ap-
plied time to his text-books he received a
good education which has subsequently been
broadened and deepened by contact with the
world and systematic home study. After
finishing the prescribed course in the home
schools he spent two years at Jacksonville,
Illinois, one year at the Jacksonville College,
and one at Brown's Business College, hav-
ing stood high in his classes in each.
At the early age of twenty-eight years, a
period when most men are just launching
into a career or tentatively investigating the
world that lies before them in order to test
their potential powers, Mr. Martin had al-
ready shown that he is a man of marked ex-
ecutive and business ability. He assumed
the responsible and exacting position of
cashier of the Salem National Bank in April
1907, whose duties he is faithfully perform-
ing to the entire satisfaction of all con-
cerned. He is a stockholder in this institu-
tion, which is popular with all classes of
business men in Salem and throughout Mar-
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
277
ion county, where it has long maintained a
firm reputation for soundness owing to its
careful management and the unquestioned
integrity and scrupulously honest characters
of the- gentlemen who have it under control.
Fraternally Mr. Martin is a loyal mem-
ber of the Masonic Order, the Woodmen and
the Fraternal Order of Eagles. The daily
life of the subject would indicate that he
believes in carrying out the noble precepts
of these praiseworthy orders.
JAMES LLOYD HALEY.
Among the enterprising and successful
members of the legal profession in Marion
county, Illinois, who deserve especial men-
tion on account of their efficiency and
recognized character and genuine worth,
none more deserve to be given just represen-
tation than the subject of this sketch, who,
while yet a young man, scarcely more than
one-third of the years alloted to human
life, having passed over his head, has
stamped his individuality upon his commu-
nity in a manner that will be permanent and
has gained for him wide prestige and re-
sulted in splendid success attending his ef-
forts, so that he stands today as one of the
best known and most promising of the
younger professional men of his locality.
James Lloyd Haley was born in Steven-
son township, this county, near New Bethel
church, September 27, 1880, the son of Rev.
Alonzo Haley, a native of Mississippi, who
came to Illinois in 1857. He was bom in
1836 at Holly Springs, Mississippi. He
settled in Jefferson county after coming
here and he passed to his rest in 1888 at
Walshville, Montgomery county, after an
active and very useful life in the ministry
of the Presbyterian church. The subject's
mother was known in her maidenhood as
Martha Wolverton, a native of Tennessee.
The parents of the subject were married in
1850, and soon thereafter began ascending
the Mississippi river in a boat. They landed
at Cairo, Illinois, where their boat sunk and
they lost all except the clothes which they
wore at the time. The subject's mother, a
woman of strong personality and beautiful
Christian character, passed to her rest in
March 1881.
Our subject is the youngest of a family
of twelve children, only five of whom are
living at the time of this writing, 1908.
They are: Mrs. Oscar Marshall, of Salem;
Mrs. Charles Barlow, of Walshville, Illi-
nois ; Mrs. D. D. Haynie, of Salem ; Thomas
F.. of Patoka, Illinois; James L., our sub-
ject.
James L. Haley was reared in Salem and
attended the schools there, completing the
course and making a splendid record for
scholarship. He soon determined that his
talent and calling lay along the lines of the
legal profession, and he consequently set
about preparing himself for this line of work
at which he has so admirably succeeded. He
read law with D. D. Haynie, making rapid
progress from the first and giving unmis-
takable evidence of rare innate ability in
2 7 8
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
this work. He was admitted to the bar in
Kentucky on April 20, 1906, and was ad-
mitted to the bar in Illinois in March, 1907,
and has been practicing ever since, his suc-
cess having been instantaneous.
Our subject learned telegraphy and
worked for seven years in nearly every sec-
tion of the United States, covering the in-
terval between school days and his study of
law. He thus became well acquainted with
the outside world and thereby greatly
strengthened his education. He was a can-
didate for state's attorney in 1908, but was
defeated at the primaries. He is a member
of the Anchor Aerie 1828, Fraternal Order
of Eagles. In politics he is a Democrat and
he still holds membership in the Order of
Railway Telegraphers, Missouri Pacific Di-
vision No. 31. He is also a member of the
Cumberland Presbyterian church at Salem.
Mr. Haley has been admitted to practice
in the local, state and federal courts, the
name of the firm in which he is a partner
being known as Haynie & Haley, which is
regarded as a particularly strong one.
The Haley family is of southern stock.
At the commencement of the war between
the states the family divided on the slavery
question, the father of our subject sympa-
thizing with the Federal government, while
the other members of the family remained
in the South and cast their lot with the Con-
federacy. No communications have passed
between them since that time.
The firm of Haynie & Haley occupied
a handsome suite of rooms in the new Salem
National Bank the latter part of 1908. Their
library is one of the best, most complete and
up-to-date in Marion county, and the prac-
tice of this firm is rapidly growing, so that
they are not only called upon to take all
kinds of local legal matters, but are often
called to other localities to handle difficult
and important cases.
James Lloyd Haley is a man of rare busi-
ness acumen, foresight, sagacity and persis-
tence. Coupled with this is a pleasing per-
sonality and courtesy of manner that win
him friends wherever he goes, and make
him popular with all classes, so that the fu-
ture to such a man is unquestionably bright.
G. H. TRENARY.
The enterprise of the subject has been
crowned by success, as the result of rightly
applied principles which never fail in their
ultimate effect when coupled with integrity,
uprightness and a congenial disposition, as
they have been done in the present instance,
judging from the high standing of Mr. Tre-
nary among his fellow citizens whose un-
divided esteem he has justly won and re-
tained.
G. H. Trenary, the influential and popu-
lar superintendent of the Chicago & East-
ern Illinois Railroad Company, with offices
at Salem, Illinois, was born February 9,
1867, at Lafayette, Indiana, the son of Ran-
dolph B. Trenary, a native of Ohio who
came to Indiana when a boy. He was a lo-
comotive engineer, having run an engine
HR1XKF.RIIOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
during- the Civil war and he followed this
profession all his life, becoming one of the
best known railroad men in his community.
He died in February, 1904, at Stone Bluff,
Indiana. The mother of the subject was
known in her maidenhood as Mollie Nor-
duft, a native of Williamsport, Indiana, and
the representative of a well known and
highly respected family there. She passed
to her rest in 1873. They were the parents
of four children, three boys and one girl,
namely: Charles W., of Kansas City, Mis-
souri; G. H., the subject of this sketch;
Evendar H., who died in 1888; Elizabeth,
the wife of Charles Mallett, of Stone Bluff,
Indiana.
Our subject attended the common schools
at Urbana, Illinois, leaving school when in
the eighth grade for the purpose of begin-
ning the study of telegraphy at Urbana.
Becoming an exeprt at this exacting profes-
sion he followed it together with that of
agent at various stations for thirteen years
with great satisfaction to his employers who
regarded him as one of the most efficient
and reliable men in this line of work in
their employ. He spent four years at Og-
den, Illinois; one year at Urbana, one year
at Waynetown, Indiana ; one year at Cham-
paign, Illinois ; two years at LeRoy, Illinois ;
three years at Veedersburg, Indiana; one
year at Hoopestown, Illinois. From 1896
to 1899 he was chief clerk to the general
superintendent of the Chicago & Eastern
Illinois Railroad Company at Chicago. For
five years our subject held the responsible
position of superintendent at Brazil, In-
diana, from 1899 to 1904, since which time
he has been superintendent of the Illinois
division of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois
road, with headquarters at Salem. The
offices of this road were located here in De-
cember, 1906, having been removed from
St. Elmo, this state. This road employs
about five hundred people in all departments.
The local offices occupy the entire third
floor of the Salem State Bank building and
is the busiest place in Salem. Mr. Trenary's
private office is also on this floor. Every-
thing is under a splendid system.
Mr. Trenary has jurisdiction over all
transportation, a very responsible position,
indeed, and one that not only requires a
superior talent along executive lines, but a
clear brain, sound judgment and steady hab-
its, but he has performed his duties so well
that the company deems his services indis-
pensable. This road has a departmental di-
vision system.
Our subject was happily married in De-
cember, 1884, to Beulah R. Glascock, the
refined and accomplished daughter of H. J.
Glascock, an influential and highly respected
citizen of Ogden, Illinois.
The commodious, modern, cheerful and
model home of the subject and wife has
been blessed through the birth of the six
children whose names and dates of birth
follow in consecutive order: G. W., born
April 12, 1886, lives in Salem; Nell, born
December 30, 1887; Genevieve F., born
March i, 1893; Robert F., born October 22,
1895; H. Kenneth, born January 29, 1901 ;
Randolph Bryant, born January 26, 1904.
280
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
These children have received every care
and attention, been given good educations
and each gives promise of bright and suc-
cessful futures, exemplifying in their daily
lives what a wholesome home environment
and careful parental training can do in de-
veloping well rounded and highly cultivated
minds and bodies.
Mr. Trenary moved his family to Salem
in December, 1906. He has been honored
by being chosen alderman for the city of
Salem. Although a loyal Republican and
well fortified in his political beliefs and anx-
ious to see the triumph of his party's prin-
ciples, Mr. Trenary has never aspired to
positions of public trust at the hands of his
fellow voters. However, his support can al-
ways be depended upon in the advancement
of all movements looking to the public weal
in his community whether educational,
moral or civic.
In his fraternal relations, the subject is a
member of the Masonic Order and the Mod-
ern Woodmen, and one would soon conclude
by a knowledge of his consistent and gen-
tlemanly daily life that he believed in carry-
ing out the sublime precepts of these
commendable organizations. Both Mr. and
Mrs. Trenary are members of the Christian
church. They are pleasant people to meet,
and their cozy home is often the mecca for
numerous admiring friends who seek the
cheerfulness and hospitality so freely and
unstintingly dispensed here. No better or
more popular people are to be found in Mar-
ion county and they justly deserve the high
esteem in which they are held.
G. A. IDLEMAN.
The subject of this sketch is one of
those men who have met with success along
the line of his chosen calling and he is today
one of the prosperous and respected mer-
chants of Salem, Marion county, where he
conducts a modern and attractive store, hav-
ing built up an extensive and lucrative busi-
ness by reason of his peculiar adaptability
for this line of work, his honesty of business
principles and his courteous and kind treat-
ment of customers whom he numbers by the
scores.
G. A. Idleman was born in Marion
county, Ohio, in 1844, the son of Jacob J.
Idleman, a native of Virginia, who moved
with his parents to Ohio when he was a
small boy. He devoted his life principally
to agricultural pursuits, but he also devoted
much time and labor along a higher plane
of action, that of Methodist minister, becom-
ing known as an able expounder of the Gos-
pel and a man of good deeds wherever he
went. He engaged in ministerial work for
forty years, having worked hard on his
farm during the week and preached on Sun-
day, and to show that he was an extraor-
dinarily sincere men and desirous to do good
for the sake of being true to the higher life
as outlined by the lowly Nazarene, he never
accepted a cent for his ministrial labors in
all those forty years, merely preaching for
the love of the work and the good he could
do, which was an incalculable amount. He
was called to his reward by the Good Shep-
herd whom he had so faithfully followed, in
BRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
281
1887, while living on his farm in Marion
county, Illinois, where he moved in 1865,
settling two miles south of Salem where he
resided the remainder of his life.
The grandfather of the subject was Jacob
Idleman, also a native of Virginia, and also
a farmer who was known as a man of in-
tegrity and many sterling qualities. He
reached the advanced age of eighty years,
dying in Marion county, Ohio, where he had
removed in an early day when the country
was wild and unsettled. The subject's
mother was Hannah Jones, whose people
came from Pennsylvania. Her people lived
to be very old, her mother having reached
the remarkable age of ninety years. The
subject's mother, a woman of gracious per-
sonal qualities, is still living in 1908, on the
old farm homestead south of Salem at the
still more remarkable age of ninety-four
years.
Ten children constituted the family of the
parents of our subject, four having died in
infancy and two having passed away after
reaching maturity. Those living are: G.
A., our subject; Samantha, the widow of E.
\V. Thompson, of Columbus, Ohio; Mrs.
Gallic M. Kell, the widow of William Kell,
living in Salem ; Mrs. Belle Sipes, who lives
on a farm near Omega, Illinois.
G. A. Idleman, our subject, spent his boy-
hood days in Marion county, Ohio, where he
received a common school education and
where he remained until he was twenty years
old, having assisted with the farm work
while going to school. He came to Salem,
Illinois, in 1865 with his parents, and has
continued to make this his home. He fanned
until he was thirty years old, thereby getting
a good start in life. Since that time he has
been engaged from time to time in various
lines of business. He has been in the mer-
cantile business here for a period of twenty-
five years, most of the time in business for
himself, but part of the time he was asso-
ciated in business with others. He has been
engaged in the grocery business for the past
eight years, since 1900, and which he still
conducts, having built up an excellent and
lucrative trade as the result of courteous
treatment to customers and his expert
knowledge of the mercantile business, hav-
ing always made this line of work pay, not
only yielding him a comfortable living, but
enabling him to gradually increase his busi-
ness and at the same time lay up an ample
competency for his old age. His customers
are not confined to Salem and vicinity, but
he is well known throughout Marion county,
having always given his customers entire
satisfaction as to the quality of goods he
handles and to price, consequently he seldom
loses a customer. Mr. Idleman built his
present store building on First South street,
which is one of the neatest and most sub-
stantial stores in Salem.
Mr. Idleman was united in marriage in
1870 to Mattie Clark, the representative of
one of Salem's well known families. To
this union one child has been born, Mrs.
Lydia M. Hubbs, of Chicago. The subject
was married again May 14, 1902, to Agnes
Ray, the daughter of Riley Rose. She was
born and reared in Salem. They have no
282
BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARIOX COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
children. Their home is a commodious
and nicely furnished one in the most de-
sirable residence district of Salem, and is
frequently the gathering place for numerous
friends of the family.
Our subject, has served his community in
a most efficient and commendable manner as
assessor of Salem township, having been
the first Republican assessor ever elected in
this township. In his fraternal relations he
belongs to the Red Men, of Odin, Illinois.
Both he and his wife are members of the
Methodist Episcopal church. Our subject
has ever taken an active interest in the wel-
fare of the community and gives an earnest
support to every movement for the public
welfare. A man of fine personal traits, he
is highly regarded by all who know him,
and he is counted one of Salem's most pro-
gressive and worthy business men.
JOHN F. DONOVAN.
The gentleman to a review of whose life
and characteristics the reader's attention is
herewith respectfully invited, is among the
most progressive professional men of Mar-
ion county, Illinois, who by energy and cor-
rect methods has not only achieved success
for himself, but has also contributed in a
very material way to the commercial, indus-
trial, civic and moral advancement of his
place of residence. In the course of an
honorable career he has established himself
in a liberally remunerative enterprise and
won the confidence and esteem of his fellow
citizens.
John F. Donovan was bom in New York
City November i, 1847, th e son of William
and Mary Donovan. The lineage of this
family, as the name implies, is traced to
Ireland, the father of the subject having
been born there. He was a longshoreman,
and was called from his earthly labors when
our subject was young. The mother of the
subject was also born in the Emerald Isle,
and passed away comparatively young in
life. They were Roman Catholics and peo-
ple of sterling qualities and fine traits. They
became the parents of two children.
John F. Donovan, our subject, was placed
in the Juvenile Asylum in New York City,
where he remained for about five years, or
until he was twelve years old. He was then
bound to a farmer in Randolph county, Illi-
nois. After remaining in his new home for
about eighteen months he took a leave of
absence and never returned.
In 1862 our subject, feeling that he could
not conscientiously stand idly by and see the
nation in the throes of rebellion, enlisted in
1862 in Company I, One Hundred and
Tenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in which
he served for six months, when, greatly to
his regret, it became necessary to drop his
name from the company's roll on account of
physical disability ; but he later re-enlisted in
Company C, Fifty-sixth Illinois Infantry, at
Vicksburg, Mississippi, and served with dis-
tinction until the close of the war, taking
part in many hot engagements and famous
battles. He was honorably discharged. His
BRIXKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
regiment was sent to Little Rock, Arkansas,
after the grand review at Washington, and
was finally mustered out at Springfield, Illi-
nois, in August, 1865.
After his career in the army Mr. Donovan
came to Centralia, Marion county, Illinois,
where he remained for about six years, then
came to Kinmundy, where he has since re-
sided. He was always a close observer and
a diligent student, and early in life decided
that the law should be his profession, con-
sequently he began the study of the same
and was admitted to the bar in 1874, since
which time he has devoted himself almost
exclusively to the practice of law, winning a
great reputation throughout this and adjoin-
ing counties as a learned, able and careful
exponent of this profession, never erring in
his cool calculating manner in drawing or
presenting a case, whether criminal or civil,
and he is also known as an orator of no
mean ability. His success was instantane-
ous and his office has always been filled with
clients.
Our subject was appointed postmaster of
Kinmundy, first in 1877, having served in a
most acceptable manner for eight years and
was removed by President Cleveland. He
was re-appointed in 1902 and is still ably
serving in that capacity. He has been mayor
of Kinmundy at different times for fifteen
years. He was instrumental in organizing
the Marion County Grand Army of the Re-
public, being at the head of the Reunion As-
sociation. He has served as inspector
general of Illinois on the national staff, also
on the department staff, also chief mustering
officer for Illinois. Mr. Donovan was presi-
dent of the Southern Illinois Emigration
and Improvement Association, also officer
of the day of the Southern Illinois Reunion
Association. He has held various offices in
the Grand Army of the Republic.
Mr. Donovan was united in marriage No-
vember 3, 1880, to Ellen King, a native of
Marion county, the daughter of John B.
and Rebecca J. (Evans) King, a highly re-
spected and influential family whose people
were from Ohio. Her father was a soldier
in the Civil war, from Illinois, having been
a member of Company A, Eighty-eighth
Chicago Board of Trade Regiment, in which
he served throughout the war.
Mr. and Mrs. Donovan have no children.
In his fraternal relations our subject is a
member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows and the Knights of Pythias, having
filled all the chairs in the local lodges, and
he has been representative of these lodges in
the grand lodges.
Mrs. Donovan is a member of the Presby-
terian church.
Mr. Donovan is a man of distinct and
forceful individuality, of marked sagacity,
of indomitable enterprise, and always up-
right in his dealings with his fellow men,
loyal and faithful to every trust imposed in
him, public-spirited, and in manners courte-
ous and kindly, easily approachable. His
career has ever been such as to warrant the
trust and confidence of the business world,
and his activity in industrial, professional
and civic lines and financial circles forms no
unimportant chapter in the history of Mar-
ion county.
INKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
EARL C. HUGGINS.
Coupled with Mr. Muggins' innate ability
as an attorney, his unusual clearness of per-
ception, analytical tact and soundness of
theory is his courteous manners, persistency
and unswerving integrity, rendering him
one of the strong young attorneys of
this locality and one of the successful prac-
titioners of this county, and to him the fu :
ture is particularly bright owing to his nat-
ural ability and past splendid record.
Earl C. Huggins, whose law and insur-
ance office is located in Kinmundy, Illinois,
was born in Marion county, this state, Sep-
tember 9, 1877, and, unlike many of his
early companions and contemporaries, who
sought precarious fortunes in other fields,
most of them finding merely the will-o'-the-
wisp of success, Mr. Huggins preferred to
remain on his native heath, believing that
greater things awaited him right here at
home than could be found otherwhere, and,
judging from the success which has attended
his efforts, such a decision was a most for-
tunate one not only for himself, but also for
the people of this vicinity. He is the son of
Steven D. and Lena (Crundwell) Huggins,
well known and influential family for many
years in this county. Grandfather Huggins
was a Kentuckian, having come to Illinois,
settling in this county on a farm which he
purchased, and on which he remained dur-
ing the rest of his life, dying here at the age
of seventy-five years. His widow/ a grand
old lady of beautiful Christian character, is
still living in 1908, at the advanced age of
ninety years. She is a faithful member of
the Presbyterian church.
Stephen Huggins, father of the subject,
was born in Marion county, this state, at-
tending the public schools here, working on
his father's farm until he became of age,
when he was married, after which he farmed
for a time with much success, then moved to
Kinmundy and followed teaming, later en-
gaging in the coal mining business in this
vicinity, being still interested in mining.
His residence is in Kinmundy.
Mrs. Lena Huggins, mother of our sub-
ject, was brought to America from England
when a child, and her people eventually set-
tled at Salem, this county, where her parents
died when she was young. She attended the
public schools in Salem, where she remained
until the age of sixteen. After the death of
her parents she was taken into the family of
Wily Cunningham, who was a soldier, hav-
ing been killed in battle during the Civil
war. After the death of Mr. Cunningham
his widow married again, her second hus-
band having been Mr. Samuel Jones. They
moved to Stevenson township, Marion
county, where our subject's mother re-
mained until her marriage.
The following children have been bom to
the subject's parents: Roy, whose date
of birth occurred March 21, 1876, is a pain-
ter by trade, living at Granite City, Madi-
son county. Illinois; and Earl C., our
subject.
Earl C. Huggins received his early edu-
cation in Kinmundy, graduating from the
high school here in 1897. after making a
E. C. HUGGINS.
UNIVERSITY W
BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
brilliant record for scholarship. Following
this he clerked in the post-office for one
year, then he acted as clerk in a grocery
store for a period of one year, being an effi-
cient clerk in both, but believing that his
true calling lay along more worthy planes,
he began the study of law under Judge C.
H. Holt, at that time a resident of Kin-
mundy, being County Judge at the time. He
made rapid progress in his studies and en-
tered the Illinois Wesleyan University, Col-
lege of Law, from which he graduated high
in his class in 1903, having won a record as
one of the ablest pupils that ever passed
through this well known institution. After
leaving the law school, Mr. Huggins formed
a partnership with his former instructor,
Judge Holt, the partnership being a particu-
larly strong one, and continuing in a most
successful manner until August, 1904, when
the judge moved to Salem, the county seat.
Since that time our subject has continued
the practice of law with his office in Kin-
mundy, but the volume of business has been
very large for one man to handle. However,
Mr. Huggins has ably dispensed with it all
and is keeping his usual large number of
clients, his business extending well over
Marion county and invading surrounding
counties, being general in its nature. He is
known as a very careful and conscientious
worker.
Although Mr. Huggins does not aspire
to positions of official preferment, he is at
present serving very efficiently as city attor-
ney of Kinmundy, being in his second term.
In politics he is a loyal Republican, and his
influence can always be depended upon in
placing the best men in the county offices
and in support of all movements looking to
the development of the community at large,
whether political, educational or moral.
Fraternally our subject is affiliated with
the Masonic Order and the Knights of Pyth-
ias, having filled the chairs in the latter, and
one would judge from a study of his daily
life that he advocates the sublime principles
of these praiseworthy orders.
A. W. SONGER.
Our subject possesses untiring energy, is
quick of perception, forms his plans readily
and is determined in their execution; his
close application to business and his excel-
lent management have brought to him the
high degree of prosperity which is today
his. Mr. Songer was one of the brave sons
of the North who offered his services and
his life, if need be, in the suppression of the
great rebellion during the dark days of the
sixties, which render it fitting that he should
be given conspicuous notice in the present
historical work.
A. W. Songer, the well known and popu-
lar president of the First National Bank of
Kinmundy, Illinois, was bom in Clay
county, this state, November 2, 1832, the
son of Frederick and Jane (Helms) Songer,
a sterling pioneer family of that locality.
Grandfather Songer was a native of Vir-
ginia, a fine old southern gentleman. He
286
BRINKERIIOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
devoted his life to agricultural pursuits,
eventually moving to Indiana where he
spent the balance of his days. His marriage
occurred in Virginia and most of his family
were born there. He was called from his
earthly career when about sixty years old.
He was a Lutheran in his religious affilia-
tions. Eight children were born to this
family, one of them having become a soldier
in the Black Hawk war. Grandmother
Songer, a woman of many strong attributes,
survived her husband until she reached the
advanced age of eighty years. Grandfather
Helms was also a native of Virginia, who
moved to Louisville, Kentucky, and from
there to Tennessee, where he worked at his
trade of blacksmith. Charles, one of his
sons, moved to Indiana, where he spent the
remainder of his life, having lived many
years near Indianapolis. The balance of
the family were early settlers in Illinois and
from here scattered to the western states,
principally to Nebraska and Texas. One of
them was a soldier in the Black Hawk war
and another fought in the Mexican war.
The Songer family, represented by the
great-grandmother of our subject, was
from Germany. The great-great-grand-
father of the subject died in Germany, his
widow coming to America shortly after his
death, one of her children dying on the
ocean on the way over. She settled in
Virginia.
The father of the subject remained in
Virginia until he was about twenty-two
years old. He received only such education
as the public schools afforded at that early
day. However, he became a well informed
man. He was a carpenter and builder of
considerable note. He lived for some time
in Indiana, where he was married, later
moving to Illinois about 1821, settling in
Clay county, where he remained until 1835,
when he moved to Marion county, entering
about two hundred acres of land from the
government which he transformed into a
fine farm through his habits of industry and
skill as an agriculturist, living on this until
1872, in which year he moved to Kinmundy,
where he died at the age of seventy-three
years, owning an excellent farm which he
left as an estate. He became a man of
considerable influence in his community.
He was an active and loyal member of the
Methodist church as was also his wife.
He was a Justice of the Peace for a num-
ber of years. For a time he owned and
successfully operated a saw and grist mill.
There were ten children in this family,
seven of whom lived to maturity. A brother
of our subject, Samuel T., was a soldier in
the Civil war, a member of Company G,
Twenty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry,
having served for three years, engaging in
all the campaigns and battles of his regi-
ment up to the date of his discharge which
was at the termination of his enlistment.
He is living in 1908 and is a member of the
Grand Army of the Republic, in which he
takes a just pride. William F., brother of
the subject, was also a soldier, having per-
formed conspicuous service in the Mexican
war. He was at one time State Representa
tive in Oregon, in which state he stil. re-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
2 8 7
sides as also does Samuel T., another
brother of the subject, living at Ashland.
A. W. Songer, our subject, received his
early education in the common schools of
Illinois. Being a diligent student and am-
bitious from the start he has become well
educated. He remained on the home farm
assisting his father with the work about the
place during the months that he was not in
school until he was twenty-one years old.
Learning the carpenter's trade, he followed
this for three years, then in 1861, when he
felt his patriotic zeal inspired as the result
of our national integrity being at stake
when the fierce fires of rebellion were rag-
ing in the Southland, he enlisted in Company
G, Twenty-first Illinois Volunteer Regi-
ment, having been mustered in as second
lieutenant and was soon promoted to first
lieutenant and consequently served as an
officer of that regiment for four years and
five days when he was honorably discharged
at the close of the war in 1865, after having
taking a conspicuous part in the follow-
ing engagements: Perryville, Kentucky;
Stone River, Tennessee; Chickamaugua,
having been captured at this battle and was
taken to Libby prison, where he remained
three months, when he was sent to prison
at Macon, Georgia, later to Charleston,
South Carolina, thence to Columbia, South
Carolina, then to Wilmington, North Caro-
lina, where he was exchanged, after having
been a prisoner seventeen months and eight
days, and thirty days thereafter he was mus-
tered out of the service at St. Louis, Mis-
souri.
After the war Mr. Songer returned to his
home in Illinois and worked at his trade for
a time. He then came to Kinmundy and
entered into the milling business in which he
continued with the most gratifying results
until 1907, becoming known throughout the
locality as one of the leading men in this
line of business. He sold his mill and de-
voted his attention to the banking business
in which he has been eminently successful.
He had been connected with the State Bank
of Kinmundy for some time, becoming
president of the same. It was consolidated
with the First National Bank, becoming the
First National on August 26, 1906, the date
of the consolidation, since which time Mr.
Songer has been president. This is one of
the solidest and most popular institutions
of its kind in this part of the state and its
prestige was greatly strengthened when Mr.
Songer became its head for the public at
once realized that their funds would be en-
tirely safe in his hands owing to his con-
servatism, coupled with his peculiar business
sagacity, and since then the business of the
First National has grown steadily.
The domestic life of our subject dates
from 1868, when he was united in marriage
with Margaret C. Nelm, of Cairo, Illinois,
the daughter of Norflett and Lydia (Dick-
ens) Nelm. Her paternal ancestor, Dick-
ens, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war,
which rendered the wife of our subject
eligible to the Order of Sons and Daughters
of the American Revolution. The grand-
father of the subject's wife was a Bap-
tist minister. Her father was a soldier in
288
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY,, ILLINOIS.
the Black Hawk war. One of her brothers,
N. B. Nelm, was a soldier in the Civil war,
having served until the close of the war.
Three children have been born to the sub-
ject and wife as follows: Mary E., born
December 25, 1871, is the wife of J. T.
Brown, ot Marion county; Frederick is
married and living in Kinmundy. Neither
of them have children of their own. The
third child of the subject and wife died in
infancy.
Mrs. Songer was called to her rest Sep-
tember 9, 1907, after a most happy and har-
monious married life and one that was
beautified by Christian character and many
kind and charitable deeds which made her
beloved by all who knew her. She was a
loyal member of the Methodist church, and
a member of the Daughters of the American
Revolution, of which order Mary E.
( Songer) Brown was also a member.
Mr. Songer, as might be expected, is a
consistent member of the Grand Army of
the Republic, Post 255, known as the Hix
Post. He is now commander of the same.
In politics he is a Republican and is well
grounded in his political beliefs, his influ-
ence always being felt for the good of his
party and in support of the best men pos-
sible for local offices. He has never aspired
to positions of trust and emolument at the
hands of his fellow voters. However, he has
been Alderman of the city of Kinmundy
several times. His efforts have proven of
the greatest benefit to his fellow men of
Marion county as well as to himself.
JAMES F. HOWELL.
Examine into the life records of the self-
made men and it will always be found that
indefatigable industry forms the basis of
their success. True there are other elements
that enter in perseverance of purpose and
keen discrimination which enable one to
recognize business opportunities, but the
foundation of all achievement is earnest, per-
sistest labor. This fact was recognized at
the outset of his career by the worthy gen-
tleman whose name forms the caption of this
article and he did not seek to gain any short
or wondrous method to the goal of prosper-
ity. He began, however, to work earnestly
and diligently in order to advance himself
in the business world, at the same time do-
ing what he could for the welfare of the
community at large, and as a result of his
habits of industry, public spirit, courteous
demeanor and honorable career he enjoys
the esteem and admiration of a host of
friends in Marion county, where he has long
maintained his home and where he is known
as one of the representative citizens of the
great state of Illinois.
James F. Howell was born in Marion
county, this state, March 25, 1840, and he
has elected to spend his entire life on his na-
tive heath, believing that better opportuni-
ties were to be found at home than in other
and distant fields of endeavor. He is the
son of Jackson D. and Agnes (Gray) How-
ell. Grandfather Howell came to Illinois
from Tennessee in 1825, settling in this
BRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
28 9
county, having taken up land from the gov-
ernment, eighty acres at the time of his com-
ing. He afterward bought one hundred and
twenty acres more from the government, a
part of which was timbered and a part was
on the prairie. He cleared the timber land,
this being the part he first purchased, clear-
ing and farming the timbered land first.
There were not any settlements on the prai-
rie at that time, all the settlements there
were then being in the timbered lands. The
first Monday in May each year was wolf
day. All the settlers gathered on that day
and made a general drive, often taking large
numbers of prairie wolves. There were also
large numbers of deer at that time and our
subject has helped kill as many as forty or
fifty at one time. Grandfather Howell lived
on the land he secured from the government
during the rest of his life, being known as
one of the strongest characters of those
pioneer times. He reached the age of
eighty-five years, his wife having been called
to rest at the age of fifty. There were ten
children in this family, all of whom lived to
maturity and reared families of their own.
The subject's grandfather was the fifth in
order of birth. Two of these children lived
to be over eighty years of age. The others
lived to be about seventy.
The subject's father obtained what little
education he could in the district schools of
this county ; however, there was but little op-
portunity for schooling at that time. He
worked on his father's farm until after he
reached maturity, then he pre-empted land,
and lived on it, finally owning three hundred
and sixty acres, mostly prairie land, on
19
which he carried on general farming. He
made his home on this land during the rest
of his life, owning it at the time of his death.
He died while on the road home from Cali-
fornia. His remains were brought to Ki'i-
mundy and laid to rest. He was a man of
fine personal traits and exercised much in-
fluence in the upbuilding of his community.
There were ten children in this family, six
of whom lived to maturity. Mr. Howell's
first wife was called to her rest at the age of
forty-one, and he was again married. To
this union two children were bom, one liv-
ing, in 1908. The mother of the subject was
born in Tennessee and was brought to Illi-
nois by her parents when about six years
old.
James F. Howell, our subject, was born
about one and one-half miles from where
he now lives. The home he owns and oc-
cupies is the fourth one in which he has
lived since leaving his father's old home-
stead. Our subject now owns twenty-six
acres of the original purchase by his father
from the government. He has always de-
voted his time to agricultural pursuits, own-
ing at this writing one hundred and six
acres of as good farming land as may be
found in the county, being kept in a high
state of productiveness, general . farming be-
ing carried on in a manner that stamps the
subject as one of the foremost farmers in
this locality.
Mr. Howell was married in 1858 to Isabel
J. Robb, who was born in the township
where she has always lived, being a repre-
sentative of a well known and highly re-
spected people. Her people came from Ten-
290
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
nessee, being among the earliest settlers in
this county. Mrs. Howell was called to her
reward February 3, 1907, at the age of
sixty-six years, after a harmonious and
beautiful Christian life.
The children born to this union are named
in order of birth as follows: Arminda H.,
born June 18, 1859, is the wife of H. A.
Brown, and the mother of eight children:
Reufinia E., born February 24, 1861, is the
wife of Benjamin Garrett and the mother of
five children; Leander, bom April 24, 1863,
who became the father of four children, is
deceased; Ida M. and Nettie, twins, were
born September 23, 1866, the latter dying
when four years old, the former becoming
the wife of G. C. Warner; Charles H., born
January 24, 1869, is married and has three
children : Samuel E., born January 12, 1871,
is married and has one child; Ellis M., born
January 12, 1875, is married; Eva M., born
November 14. 1877, became the wife of
Lloyd Perrill and is the mother of two chil-
dren: James E., born August 5, 1880, is
married and has one child. He now lives
in Roumania, in the employ of the Standard
Oil Company.
The subject has been twice married, hav-
ing been united in the bonds of wedlock with
his second wife February 20, 1908, his last
wife being Martha Anglin, a native of this
county, her people having come from Ten-
nessee in 1839. The maternal grandfather
of the subject's wife came from Ireland and
her father's people from Scotland, first set-
tling in Alabama, later moving to Tennessee
and then to Illinois, where they spent the
remainder of their lives.
Minerva Howell, an aunt of the subject
by marriage, was born in Tennessee in 1829.
Her people were from old Virginia, who lat-
er came to Illinois when she was one year
old, her father settling in Marion county,
later moving to Williamson county, Illinois,
where he died when about seventy years old.
Mrs. Howell remarried. She became the
mother of eleven children, four of whom
lived to maturity, two of them living in
1908. Her husband died at the age of
seventy-six. He was also born in Tennes-
see.
James F. Howell is a member of the Ma-
sonic fraternity and the Independent Order
of Odd Fellows, and in his political relations
he affiliates with the Democratic party. The
subject's first wife was a member of the
Cumberland Presbyterian church.
In matters pertaining to the welfare of his
township, county and state, Mr. Howell is
deeply interested, and his efforts in behalf of
the general progress have been far-reaching
and beneficial. His name is indelibly asso-
ciated with progress in the county of his
birth, and among those in whose midst he
has always lived he is held in the highest
esteem by reason of an upright life and of
fidelity to principles which in every land and
clime command respect.
WILFRED W. MERZ.
The career of the subject of this review
has been varied and interesting, and the his-
tory of Marion county will be more interest-
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
291
ing if a record of his activities and achieve-
ments are given prominence, and a tribute
to his worth and high character as a business
man, a public-spirited and enterprising,
broad-minded citizen, for although he is yet
a young man he has shown by his persist-
ency and eminently worthy career what can
te accomplished by the young man who has
thrift, energy, tact, force of character and
honesty of purpose, and representing as he
does one of the best and most highly es-
teemed families of the country, whose an-
cestors did so much in the pioneer days to
prepare the country for the enjoyment and
success of succeeding generations, Mr. Merz
is peculiarly entitled to proper mention in
this work along with other leading and hon-
orable citizens of Marion county.
Wilfred \V. Merz, the popular and effi-
cient agent of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois
Railroad Company, also of the Wells, Fargo
& Company Express, at Salem, Marion
county, was born at this place February 13,
1872, being the eldest child of Nicholas
Merz, who is a member of the Council of Al-
dermen of the city of Salem, and an influen-
tial and highly respected citizen who has
lived in Salem practically all his life. Nicho-
las Merz's parents were born in Germany
and migrated to America in early life, and
soon established comfortable homes in the
new world and lived to a ripe old age.
The mother of our subject was known in
"her maidenhood as Elizabeth A. Smith. She
was born at Decatur, Illinois, and died at
Huey. Illinois.
Sarah S. Ritchie, the maternal grand-
mother of our subject, is a native of Giles
county, Virginia, born March 22, 1828, and
at present resides near Shattuc, Illinois, in
her eightieth year. Her first husband was
John H. Smith, who was born September
i, 1831, at Chillicothe, Ohio, and died at
Metropolis, Illinois, October 2, 1888. He
was the father of nine children (the mother
of our subject being the eldest), only one of
whom is living, John Lewis Smith, of Car-
lyle, Illinois.
Nicholas Merz by his first wife is the
father of five children, of whom four are liv-
ing in 1908, and whose births occurred in
the following order: Wilfred W., our sub-
ject; Nellie, the wife of Richard Ellington,
of St. Louis ; John L. , living in Chicago ;
Nona died in Chicago, July 8, 1905 ; Orval
Nicholas living in Salem, Illinois. To Nicho-
las Merz and his second wife one child was
born, Mabel, who is living with her parents
in Salem.
These children received a fairly good
education and are comfortably located, each
giving promise of successful careers.
Wilfred W. Merz was reared in Salem,
having attended the city schools where he
applied himself in a most assiduous manner,
outstripping many less ambitious plodders
until he graduated from the high school as
salutarian with the class of 1900, having
made an excellent record for scholarship.
After leaving school Mr. Merz farmed on
his father's place for two years, making
agriculture a success. He then left the farm
and accepted a clerkship with the mercantile
firm of Cutler & Hays in Salem in whose
292
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
employ he remained for one and one-half
years, giving entire satisfaction as a sales-
man and by reason of his adaptability for
this line of work and his courteous treat-
ment of customers did much to increase the
firm's popularity and trade.
In 1893 Mr. Merz entered the railroad
business with the Baltimore & Ohio, and was
assistant agent at Salem during 1893 and
1894. On. January 16, 1895, he was ap-
pointed agent for the Chicago, Paducah &
Memphis Railroad Company at Kell, Illi-
nois. This road later passed into the control
of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois in 1907,
and after about eight months of acceptable
service at Kell, Mr. Merz was promoted to
the position of agent at Salem for the Chi-
cago & Eastern Illinois road, and he has
since been their faithful employe at this im-
portant post, with the exception of five
months as agent at Tuscola, Illinois, from
January to June, 1904, and as assistant cash-
ier of the Salem State Bank from October,
1904, to October, 1905, which position he
held with honor and resigned the same to
re-enter the railroad service. He is regarded
by the company as one of 'the most conscien-
tious and reliable agents in their service.
Since the division was established at Salem
in 1905, this office has become one of the
most important along the company's line.
Mr. Merz was happily married August
24, 1897, to Nettie Kell, daughter of J. M.
Kell and wife, a well known family of old
Foxville. Mrs. Merz is a representative of
one of the oldest families of Marion county,
and one of a family 'of nine children, seven
of whom are yet living, Maudie and Robert
dying in infancy. Her father and mother
are still living at the time of this
writing, the mother being one of ten
sisters all of whom, are living in 1908,
a most remarkable record. Her father,
John M. Kell, was a soldier in the Union
ranks during the war between the states
and was one of a family of twelve children,
one of his brothers being killed in the last
skirmish of the Civil war after a service of
three years. Mrs. Merz's grandfather, on
her maternal side, was Robert Wham, a
well-to-do pioneer of Marion county who
rendered distinguished services as a soldier
in the Mexican war. He had a brother,
French L., who died in Andersonville
prison. Mr. Wham passed away January
10, 1905, at a very old age.
Mr. and Mrs. Merz are the parents of
three bright and interesting children who
have added cheer to the cozy, modern and
nicely furnished home which is so graciously
presided over with rare dignity and grace
by the subject's wife, the names of their chil-
dren being as follows: Robert W., born
July 6, 1898; Helen Louise, born February
6, 1900; Gladys Roberta, born June 6, 1902.
The fact that the birth of these children all
occurred on the sixth of the month is a
singular coincidence.
Mr. and Mrs. Merz own their own beauti-
ful home on East Main street. Both are
members of the Cumberland Presbyterian
church, and are known as among the best
members of the congregation with which
they have always been popular. The subject
JRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
293
has spent his entire life in Salem where he
is well and favorably known, having gained
and retained undivided respect of all as a
result of his sober, industrious and honor-
able career. He is always to be found on the
right side of all questions looking to the
betterment of his community and may well
be said to represent Marion county's best
citizenship in every particular.
JAMES HENRY KIMBERLIN.
Upon the roll of representative citizens
and prominent and influential business men
of Marion county consistently appears the
name which initiates this paragraph. He
has been a resident of Salem for many years,
during which time he has gradually won his
way into the affections of the people, for
he possesses those sterling qualities of char-
acter which commend themselves to persons
of intelligence and the highest morality, so
it is no cause for wonder that he has
achieved so high a position in the general
estimation of all who have come in touch
with him. For many years he was a pro-
fessional man, gaining wide popularity in
this manner, but he is now rendering effici-
ent service at the Salem post-office.
James Henry Kimberlin was born in
Richland county, Illinois, January 18, 1860,
the son of W. O. Kimberlin, a native of In-
diana, having been born February 2. 1826,
near Scottsburg, Scott county. He left In-
diana and came to Richland county, Illinois,
in 1856, settling on a farm where he be-
came known as one of the progressive agri-
culturists of that community and made a
comfortable living until the year 1884,
when he was called from his earthly labors
by the "grim reaper". His widow, who was
Hannah E. Reed, born near Salem, Wash-
ington county, Indiana, October 31, 1825,
a woman of many praiseworthy traits, is
living on the old homestead there at this
writing (1908), being eighty-three years
old, yet able to do her own house work.
Her long life has been one of self-sacrifice
for the good of her family and others so that
now in her serene old age she can look back
over the years without cause for regret. The
father of our subject was a soldier in the
Union ranks during the great Civil war,
having been a member of Company F,
Forty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He
was with Grant at Vicksburg and was in
many other important battles. He was in
the hospital service for some time, also did
general duty at New Orleans, having re-
mained in the service up to January 12,
1866, when he was discharged at Baton
Rouge, Louisiana, and arrived home Febru-
ary 2d, following which was his fortieth
birthday. He had two brothers killed in
battle during this war. Their names were
Daniel and Jacob. Another brother, Isaac
M., went through the service in the Seventh
and Eleventh Missouri Volunteer Infantry,
having been a member of Company G. Dr.
H. L. Kimberlin, another brother of the
subject's father, who is now living at
Mitchell, Indiana, was a Government Re-
porter on Governor Morton's staff.
294
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
The paternal grandfather of the subject
was Jacob Kimberlin, a native of Pennsyl-
vania, who came to Indiana when a young
man. He devoted his life to farming and
died about 1871. He was well known about
Greenfield, where he operated a toll gate,
subsequent to the war. The subject's ma-
ternal grandfather was Joseph Reed, of
Scotch-English ancestry.
Eight children were born to the parents
of the subject, only two of whom are now
living. George W., the subject's only living
brother, is living at Noble, Richland county,
with his mother on the old farm. Among
the papers held by the Kimberlins is the
original land grant by the government for
their old homestead made to Joseph Reed
and signed by President Franklin Pierce.
James Henry Kimberlin, our subject,
spent his boyhood on the parental farm in
Richland county where he performed his
part of the work about the place from year
to year after he reached the age when he
could be of valuable sen-ice to his father.
He attended the neighboring schools in the
meantime where he applied himself in a
manner which insured a good education.
After leaving school and working at vari-
ous minor employments for several years
he finally accepted a position as commercial
traveler which he followed with marked
success for three and one-half years, giving
entire satisfaction to his employers, when,
much to their regret he was compelled to
tender his resignation on account of tem-
porary ill health. After this our subject
took up the study of ophthalmology, which
he decided should be his life work, conse-
quently he made rapid progress in this work,
having attended the Northern Illinois Col-
lege of Ophthalmology at Chicago, from
which institution he graduated with high
honors with the degree of Fellow of Optics
in 1892. He at once began practice and
his success was instantaneous, having prac-
ticed at Olney, Shelbyville and Salem, hav-
ing established his business in the last named
city in 1900, since which time he has been a
resident of this city. His work in this line
was always considered first class and he
achieved wide popularity in the same.
Mr. Kimberlin was, however, induced to
give up his profession to become deputy
post-master of this city, which position he is
filling to the entire satisfaction of all con-
cerned, showing that he has rare executive
as well professional ability.
Mr. Kimberlin was united in marriage to
Eva Myers, November 19, 1903, the daugh-
ter of the late Theodore Myers, of luka, Illi-
nois, and the accomplished representative of
a well known family. One child, a bright
and interesting lad, bearing the name of
James Henry Kimberlin, Jr., was born to
the subject and wife May 4, 1905.
Mrs. Kimberlin is one of a family of five
children. One child died after reaching ma-
turity. Theodore Myers was a farmer, and
was a soldier in the Civil war.
In his political affiliations our subject is a
strong Republican, and he is a well informed
man on political and all current questions.
He is a Protestant in his religious belief. He
is recognized as a man of sterling integrity
?RINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
295
and of strong convictions as to all matters
affecting the best interests of the community
and is always found on the right side of
every moral issue.
GEORGE COX.
In the field of political life, teaching and
the railroad business in Marion county, Illi-
nois, the subject of this sketch has won dis-
tinction, and today is numbered among the
leading, influential and honored citizens of
Salem. He has figured prominently in pub-
lic affairs, ever lending his influence in the
development of all worthy causes looking to
the development of the locality at large, be-
ing an advocate of progressive measures.
He is now filling the position of Deputy
County Clerk and the promptness and
fidelity with which he discharges his duties
have won for him the favorable criticism of
leading representatives of both political
parties.
George Cox was born in Parke county,
Indiana, July n, 1848, and came to luka,
Illinois, September 4, 1868. His father was
Alfred Cox, a native of Ohio, who migrated
to Indiana when a very small boy. Joshua
Cox, grandfather of George Cox, was a na-
tive of Hamilton county, Ohio, who mi-
grated to Indiana at a very early date and
entered land when the United States land
office was at Vincennes, he being compelled
to go to Vincennes to make his payments,
making the trip on horseback, and it was his
custom to camp and hunt on the way.
Grandfather Cox was a farmer of great
ability for those early times. His widow
survived him several years. George W.
Overpeck, grandfather of the subject on
his mother's .side, was born in Pennsylvania.
His father and mother having died in early
life he drifted to Hamilton county, Ohio,
and died in the spring of 1867, having been
survived several years by his widow. They
spent their lives on a farm.
The father of the subject is now a resi-
dent of Illinois and makes his home among
his children here and at Shattuc, this state.
The mother of the subject was known in her
maidenhood as Mary Overpeck, a native of
Ohio. She passed to her rest in April, 1902,
at Shattuc, Illinois, at the home of her
daughter. Both the father and the mother
of our subject were the oldest representa-
tives of their respective families. Following
children were born to them, seven of whom
are living at this writing, 1908, named in
order of birth as follows r George, our sub-
ject; Mary Jane, wife of P. B. Anderson,
of Shattuc, Illinois ; Sally Ann, wife of H.
C. Brown, of Vandalia, Illinois; John, of
Clinton county, near Huey, Illinois ;
Amanda, deceased ; Perry, of luka township,
this county; Warner, of Decatur, Illinois;
Eva, deceased: Julia is the wife of Milton
Andrews, of Ouray, Colorado; Libby is de-
ceased as are also the last two children born
to this couple.
George Cox was reared on the parental
farm in Parke county, Indiana, and attended
the common schools there, also the graded
schools by working mornings and evenings
2 9 6
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
to pay his tuition, as his parents were poor
and could not defray the expenses of an edu-
cation for our subject, but he was possessed
of an indomitable will and forged ahead
despite obstacles winning definite success in
after life as a result of his energy and per-
sistency. After completing the course of
study laid down in the graded schools he at-
tended school at Rockville for a time, after
which he taught school with great success
for several years, becoming known as one
of the able educators of the county and his
services were in great demand. He con-
tinued teaching until his health failed. He
then went to railroading, locating in luka
September 4, 1868, as indicated before. He
attended school that winter at Xenia, Illi-
nois, passing the examination for teacher's
license. He then took a course in the Wa-
bash Commercial College at Vincennes, In-
diana, after which he returned to railroading
first as brakeman, then a freight conductor,
later as passenger conductor on the old Ohio
& Mississippi Railroad, now the Baltimore
& Ohio, Southwestern Railroad. During
all these years of railroad service he would
at times return to teaching school in both
Indiana and Illinois. In 1880 our subject
moved on a farm in luka township and for
twenty-one consecutive years taught school
during the winter months, farming the re-
mainder of the year. He made a success of
whatever he undertook whether it was farm-
ing, teaching or railroading. In the latter
he won the confidence of his employers who
regarded him as one of their most valuable
employes.
In April, 1908, Mr. Cox became Deputy
County Clerk, which position he is holding
with much credit to his innate ability and
to the entire satisfaction of all concerned.
When teaching school our subject was
principal of the luka schools. He was of-
fered many important positions as a teacher
but declined as he desired to teach near
home and live at home.
Mr. Cox was united in marriage in 1879
to Mary E. Young, the talented and accom-
plished daughter of W. J. Young, of luka
township, . one of the pioneers of Marion
county. Mr. Young was an influential citi-
zen and served as a lieutenant during the
Civil war.
One child was born to the subject and
wife who died in infancy.
Mr. Cox still owns a valuable farm of
eighty acres in which he takes a great inter-
est, having improved it up to a high stand-
ard of Marion county's valuable farms, it
ranking with the best of them. It is located
four and one-half miles southeast of luka.
An excellent residence and several substan-
tial out buildings stand on the place.
Mr. Cox has been a candidate for County
Superintendent of Schools at different times
but was defeated by a few votes. In poli-
tics he is a Democrat. In his fraternal re-
lations he is affiliated with the Masons at
luka and is an honorary member of the
Modern Woodmen. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Cox are members of the Methodist Episco-
pal church and both belong to the Eastern
Star.
WEST HOME.
Kinmundy, Illinois.
C. H. WEST.
^bftftt
'f-UNOJj,
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
297
CHARLES H. WEST.
The early pioneers of Marion county,
Illinois, have about all "crossed the great
divide." Year by year their numbers have
continued to diminish, until of the hundreds
who settled here in the twenties and thirties
only a few of them remain. There are, how-
ever, many men and women now living in
the county, who, though coming here in
what might be properly termed the second
period after the pioneers, have borne well
their part in making this a prosperous re-
gion. They are no less worthy of praise in
the part they bore in the labors and priva-
tions of this early period than are their par-
ents. Among these is the subject of this
sketch, who has spent the major part of his
mature years in the county where he has
become widely known and where his labors
have benefited alike himself and the commu-
nity at large.
Charles H. West was born in Delaware
county, Indiana, October 27, 1845, the son
of George and Elizabeth (Brammer) West.
The father of the subject left Pennsyl-
vania when a young man, and settled in
Delaware county, Indiana, and came to Illi-
nois in 1865, in Jo Daviess county and in
1869 came to Marion county where he re-
mained the balance of his life, having
reached the advanced age of eighty-three
years, after a life of hard work in agri-
cultural pursuits. The subject's mother, a
woman of many fine qualities and a worthy
companion of her noble husband, lived to
be seventy-three years old, and was in her
religious belief a member of the old school
Baptists. There were seven children in this
family, six living to maturity. Samuel, the
oldest brother of the subject, was a soldier
from Indiana in the Union lines and was
killed at Marietta, Georgia, where he was
buried. A brother of the father of our sub-
ject had a son, John T. West, who was also
a soldier in the Civil war, having been in
a Pennsylvania regiment.
Charles H. West, our subject, came with
his father to Marion county in 1869. He
attended the public schools in Delaware
county, Indiana, where he worked on his
father's farm during the summer season,
having remained a member of the family
circle until he was thirty-one years of age.
He then leased his father's farm in this
county for a number of years, and after his
father returned to Illinois he purchased
the same which he has managed with
the greatest success for a period of twenty-
five years, developing it into one of the lead-
ing farms of the community and gathering
from its fertile fields from year to year
bounteous harvests.
Mr. West owns at this writing, 1908,
twelve and one-half acres in Kinmundy in
one section of the city and also a ten-acre
orchard in another section of the city, also
forty acres one-half mile east of the town,
containing a fine orchard, all well located
and good land. He also has excellent prop-
erty in the central part of the town, and
fifty acres of horticultural land, which is
very valuable owing to the large and choice
varieties of trees on it. This property
2 9 8
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
claims much of his attention since Mr. West
delights in horticultural work, being well
versed in its various phases. He owns a
modern, large, nicely furnished and alto-
gether one of the most desirable residences
in Kinmundy or vicinity. All this he has
made himself practically unaided as a result
of his genuine business sagacity, persistency
and honesty.
Mr. West was united in marriage in 1877
to Rose X. Dillon, a native of Marion
county, whose father was from Kentucky;
her mother's people being from Ohio.
Three children have been born to this union,
named in order of birth as follows : Harry
T., who was born in 1878, is married and
has two children; Maud L. is the wife of
A. G. Porter and the mother of one child ;
the third child died in infancy.
Mr. West is a member of the Independent
Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of
Pythias and their auxiliaries. In politics he
is a Republican and is an Alderman in the
City Council of Kinmundy, which position
he fills with great credit.
In township and county affairs Mr. West
takes an active interest and when his judg-
ment approves of any measure that is ad-
vanced he is not hesitant in giving his ap-
proval and active aid. In many ways he has
given his time and service for the general
good. He has a wide acquaintance and the
favorable judgment the public passed upon
him in the early days of his residence here
has been in no degree set aside or modified
as the years have gone by.
WILLIAM C. IXGRAM.
Standing in an eminent position among
the industrial representatives of Marion
county is the subject of this sketch, who
is recognized as one of Kinmundy's lead-
ing citizens, having for many years been
interested in the local flouring mill the repu-
tation of which has spread all over this lo-
cality as a result of his able management.
In this regard he is controlling an exten-
sive and important industry, for the product
of his mill is large and the annual shipment
of flour made to the city markets bring in
return a very desirable income to the stock-
holders of the company. His success has
been won entirely along old and time-tried
maxims, such as "honesty is the best policy"
and "there is no excellence without labor."
William C. Ingram was born in Indiana
in 1848, the son of Samuel and Minerva A.
(Powers) Ingram. Grandfather Ingram is
supposed to have been born in Kentucky and
moved to Warrick county, Indiana, where
he engaged in farming and where he spent
the balance of his days in honest and use-
ful toil ; there raising his family and passing
from his labors into the great beyond, after
reaching a very advanced age. His faithful
life companion also lived to an advanced
age. They reared a large family, all but one
of whom lived to be men and women and
reared families of their own. A number of
their sons were gallant infantrymen in the
Union ranks during the war between the
states. The Ingram lineage is from Eng-
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
299
land, and were early settlers in Kentucky,
having come there in the brave days of
Daniel Boone when the principal tasks of
the pioneers were the clearing of the pri-
meval forests and the banishment of the
wary red men.
Samuel Ingram, the father of the subject,
was reared in Indiana, and was almost
wholly without educational advantages. His
date of birth is recorded as 1824, conse-
quently 'his boyhood was during a time when
schools had scarcely been established in the
Hoosier state. He devoted his life to agri-
cultural pursuits of which he made a suc-
cess being a hard worker. He left Indiana
in 1854 and moved to Edwards county,
Illinois, but came on to Marion county, land-
ing here April 6, 1857, and bought a farm
on which he remained and greatly improved,
living there in comfort until 1866, when he
moved to Kinmundy, still working his farm ;
continuing this for ten years when he sold
out and retired from active work. He is
still hale and active at this writing (1908),
having attained the ripe age of eighty-four.
As a result of his well spent life his old
age is happy, for it is free from want and
worry and pervaded with no unpleasant
memories or regrets and compunctions over
a misspent past, for his life has been one
of honor and industry, most worthily lived.
There were eight children in his family, six
of whom are now living and have families
of their own. The mother of the subject,
a woman of beautiful Christian character,
passed to her rest at the age of seventy-
eight years. This fine old couple were al-
ways devout Methodists.
The great-grandfather Powers of the
subject spent most of his life in Indiana,
living to an old age. He was a Democrat
and a Baptist. Grandmother Powers died
in middle age. One of Mrs. Ingram's
brothers, John Powers, was a soldier in the
Civil war.
William C. Ingram, our subject, was
brought to Illinois by his parents when six
years old and to Marion county three years
later, having been placed at once in the pub-
lic schools here where he received his edu-
cation, and in other similar "schools of
this state. He worked on his father's farm
and for others as a farm hand until he was
twenty-one years old, when he rented a farm
and worked it on his own account for two
years, making a good start in this way. He
then purchased a farm of one hundred and
fifty acres in this county on which he re-
mained for a few years when he went to
carpentry and farming, later purchasing
a saw mill which he successfully operated for
twenty-five years, which he recently sold.
He has also owned two other saw mills, and
has been known as one of the leading mill
men of this locality for many years Some
time ago he came to Kinmundy and pur-
chased an interest in the Songer flouring mill
which has been in operation for forty years,
the subject now owning forty shares in this
mill and is a director in the same, which has
a wide reputation for the excellency of its
products, customers not only coming in per-
son from all parts of the county, but many
orders are constantly pouring in from ad-
joining counties and distant cities. The sub-
ject's son is also a part owner in the mill.
3 oo
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
He also owns and controls thirty shares
of the capital stock.
Our subject has also been a merchant,
and owing to his honesty in business, his
natural ability and his discriminating fore-
sight, he has always made a success at what-
ever he undertook, so that today he is re-
garded as one of the financially substantial
men of the county, every dollar in his pos-
session having been honestly earned by hard
work.
Mr. Ingram was united in marriage in
1869 to Mary R. Gray, a native of this
county, daughter of James H, and Susanna
Jane (Hannah) Gray. They were from
Tennessee and lived on a farm. Her father
was president of the Farmers & Merchants
Bank of Kinmundy at the time of his death,
which occurred at the age of seventy-seven
years. In their family were ten children,
seven of whom lived to maturity, but were
short-lived people.
Six children were born to the subject and
wife as follows : Jane who was born in
1871, died when two and one-half years old;
Charles H., who was born in 1874, is now
living in Oklahoma and is the father of six
children : Nellie A., who was born in 1876,
is the wife of M. E. Huston, who lives at
Maroa, Illinois, and is the mother of one
child; Isaac D. was born in 1879 and is now
associated with his father in the mill, is mar-
ried and has three children ; Robert L., who
was born in 1880, is living in the state of
Washington, is married and has one child;
William G., born in 1882, died at the age of
twenty-one years.
The subject's first wife passed away in
1883. She was a member of the Methodist
Episcopal church, South. Mr. Ingram was
married a second time, the date of his last
wedding occurring in 1888. Nancy I. Gray
(nee Booth), who was then the mother of
two children, was his second choice. W. H.
Gray, a sketch of whose life appears in this
work, is her son. Her other child is dead.
There has been no issue by the subject's last
union. Mr. Ingram is a member of the Ma-
sonic Fraternity and he attends the Metho-
dist church, of which his wife is a faithful
member. In politics he supports the Re-
publican ticket and he takes a keen interest
in public affairs, though he has no ambition
for the honors or emoluments of public of-
fice, preferring to give his attention to his
own business affairs.
W. S. CONANT.
Marion county, Illinois, is characterized
by her full share of the honored and faith-
ful element who have done so much for the
development and upbuilding of the state and
the establishment of the institutions of civ-
ilization in this fertile and well favored sec-
tion. Among these worthy native sons the
name of the subject of this sketch is
properly installed.
W. S. Conant was born in this county,
September 22, 1854, the son of William R.,
and Fannie (Swift) Conant. Grandfather
Conant was a native of Massachusetts, who
BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
3 OI
moved from that state to Georgia and then
to Illinois, settling in Marion county, com-
ing here in an early day and being the first
school teacher in the county. He entered
land here and farmed for some time, having
passed to his rest about 1840, at the age of
about fifty years. His wife died within one
week of her husband. Grandfather Swift
was a native of Tennessee, who moved to
this county about 1830, entering land here
which he developed into a farm and where
he reared his family. He died a short dis-
tance from where he first located, having
moved to the former place, his death occur-
ring about 1870, when he was about sev-
enty years old. His widow survived him
about ten years. She was a Presbyterian.
There were five children in this family, all
of them living to maturity.
The father of the subject was born in
Georgia and came to Illinois with his par-
ents when he was but a boy. His father
being a teacher, he received some education,
but the father of the subject was a hard-
working man and did not take time to prop-
erly improve his education. He was always
a farmer. He entered land which he later
added to by purchase Until he had a valu-
able farm of two hundred acres, which he
left at his death. The mother of the sub-
ject died when she was two years old, in
1856, his father having died at the age of
forty. He was a Democrat in political be-
lief.'
W. S. Conant, our subject, had the ad-
vantage of a common school education, and
having applied himself in a diligent manner
he became fairly well educated, not leaving
the school room until he was nineteen years
old. He worked on his father's farm until
he was twenty, when he went to work on his
own account. He farmed with his brother-
in-law, then rented a farm and so continued
for four years. He then bought a farm in
1 88 1 of three hundred and twenty acres.
It was unimproved prairie land, but the sub-
ject devoted seven years of hard work on
the place and developed a fine and well im-
proved farm. He still owns this place. He
then bought a residence property, and in
time sold that and purchased the farm
where he has since resided, which consists
of twenty-four acres on which there is a
modern and substantial residence together
with convenient out-buildings. The subject
carries on general farming in a most suc-
cessful manner, skillfully rotating his crops
so as to keep the soil in good productive
condition. He also devoted much time to
stock-raising, being a good judge of all
kinds of live stock, especially cattle and
horses. He frequently feeds for the mar-
ket, but is now selling his stock for other
purposes. He raises a good class of horses.
For six years he engaged in buying and sel-
ling live stock in connection with his farm-
ing and made this business a success in
every particular.
Our subject was united in marriage in
November, 1877, to Agnes I. Morgan,
daughter of J. B. and Martha (Doolen)
Morgan, who came to this county at an
early day. There were two of the Doolen
brothers who went through the Civil war,
and are living in 1908.
Six children have been bom to the sub-
3 02
BRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
ject and wife, as follows : Alartha, born in
1880. who died in infancy; Gracie; Flor-
ence, who was bom in 1881, died when
three years old ; William, who was bom
September 22, 1885, died when six years
old; George, who was born July 8, 1887,
is a farmer, married and has one child;
Clarence C. was born July 14, 1894; Lewis
was born in 1897, is single and living at
home.
The subject is a member of the Independ-
ent Order of Odd Fellows, in his fraternal
relations, and also a Modern Woodman, be-
longing also to the Royal Neighbors, having
filled all the chairs in an able manner in
the Woodmen. In his religious affiliations
he subscribes to the Methodist Episcopal
church, South, as does also his wife. Mr.
Conant is a loyal Democrat although he
does not find much time to devote to polit-
ical matters.
SAMUEL D. GRAHAM.
The enterprising citizen whose name
heads this article needs no introduction to
the people of Marion county. He has been
for some time prominently identified with
the financial and industrial interests of the
community where he resides and always
manifesting an active interest in the pub-
lic welfare. His long life has been a most
active and useful one in every respect, and
has resulted in the accumulation of an
ample competence for his closing years as
well as in much good to his fellow men and
the community at large, where he has many
warm friends.
Samuel D. Graham was born in Rush
county, Indiana, in April, 1836, the son of
Hezekiah and Sarah (Smith) Graham.
Grandfather Graham was bom in Scotland
and came to Pennsylvania in the seven-
teenth century. Both he and his brother,
Isaac, came from Scotland and both fought
in the Revolutionary war. Grandfather
was a captain and he had his eyes burned by
the explosion of a gun in the hands of one
of his own soldiers and 'eventually lost his
eyesight from the effects of it, having been
blind for twenty years before his death. He
never drew his pension although it was al-
lowed. It is in the hands of the govern-
ment yet. He was about eighty years old
when he died, leaving eight children living
out of a family of nine, all of whom lived
to maturity, five of whom moved to Ohio,
where they made homes and reared families
and where they died. Grandfather was dea-
con in the Baptist church for forty years,
and he and Grandmother Graham were
Baptists and always lived the Christian life.
Grandfather Smith was a native of Penn-
sylvania, who moved from there to Butler
county, Ohio, after the death of his first
wife. He and our subject's father were
married by the same minister and with the
same ceremony. In Grandfather Smith's
family there were seven children, who lived
to maturity. The youngest daughter by
this marriage, Rebecca McClelland, was the
mother of Gen. George B. McClelland.
There was no issue from the second mar-
BRIXKKKHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
303
riage. Grandfather Smith lived to be well
advanced in years. After his remains had
been buried twelve years, they wfere taken
up for removal and it was found that his
body was petrified. Grandfather Smith was
a Revolutionary soldier and one of his sons-
in-law, Oren Davis, was with him as a sol-
dier, and his son, Charles was in the Black
Hawk w r ar.
The father of the subject left Pennsyl-
vania when twenty years old. He did not
have early school advantages, but in time
became educated and a well read man
through his own persistent efforts, being
particularly well informed on historical mat-
ters and events. He settled in Butler
county, Ohio, buying timbered land which
he cleared and developed into a good farm,
living there for about twelve years, when he
moved to Rush county, Indiana, in 1831,
remaining there until his death, which oc-
curred at the age of seventy-two years, his
date of birth having occurred on August 6,
1799. His wife was born in October, 1800.
He was twice married, his first wife being
the mother of our subject. She died at the
age of thirty-seven years, having given
birth to eleven children, seven of whom
lived to maturity. The father was married
again, there being born to the last union
ten children, all of whom lived to maturity.
The father and mother were Baptists. The
former spent his entire life on a farm,
leaving a farm and a goodly share of money
to his heirs, and also left land in Iowa, all
of which shows that he was a thrifty and
prudent man of affairs.
Hezekiah Graham, father of the subject,
in addition to his own family of eighteen
children took four orphan boys and one
girl and kept them until they reached ma-
turity and in addition to these he was al-
ways hunting and finding homes for other
orphan children, and his own smoke-house
and granary were always open to the poor
and needy. He believed with the great
philosopher, Henry Drummond, that "The
greatest thing a man can do for his
Heavenly Father is to be kind to some of
His children."
Samuel D. Graham, our subject, had but
little opportunity to attend school, having
spent altogether less than six months in the
school room. He worked on his father's
farm until he was twenty-six years old, then
hired out as a farm hand for ten years, dur-
ing which time he saved his earnings and
bought a farm in Fayette county, Indiana.
He lived there for ten years, then sold out
and bought another farm in Union county,
Indiana, and sold this at the end of two
years, when he moved to Illinois, settling
in Marion county, buying a farm of one
hundred and eighty-five acres of improved
land, near Kinmundy in iex> In 1903 he
bought his splendid modern residence and
two acres of ground in Kinmundy, where
he has since resided. He sold his
farm here and bought a farm in
Butler county, Missouri, consisting of one
hundred and sixty acres of improved bottom
land on which his son resides and success-
fully manages. Since coming to Kinmundy
our subject has lived in peaceful and hon-
304
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
orable retirement, conscious of a well spent
life, which has been a very active one and
has resulted in success in an eminent
degree. He always benefited himself in
his land deals and was an unusually good
fanner, keeping his farms well improved
and in a high state of cultivation.
Our subject was married in 1870 to Mrs.
Rhoda E. Prichard, nee Patterson, a native
of Union county, Indiana. Her father,
Alexander Patterson, was born December
7, 1815, and came to Ohio when fifteen
years of age, later to Union county, Indiana,
where his father had purchased an eighty-
acre farm. He lived and died on that farm.
Mrs. Graham became the mother of three
children by her first marriage, all of whom
are deceased. One of the oldest brothers,
James M. Patterson, was a soldier during
the Civil war from Indiana, and was killed
at Winchester, Virginia, in the battle of
September 19, 1864. Her people were of
Scotch-German descent. Her grandparents
on her father's side were married Septem-
ber 6, 1798. Grandfather Patterson was
born April 14, 1769, and Grandmother Pat-
terson was born July 29, 1776.
The following: children have been born
to MrrafiarHire. Graham: Harvey McClel-
land, born August 23, 1871, was accident-
ally killed in 1904; William H., was born
in 1873, is living on a farm in Missouri, is
married, but has no children living: Tillie
Alma, who was born December 15, 1878,
died January 28, 1879; Katie L., born May
6. 1880, is the wife of Melvin Hamilton,
and is living in Indiana. They have two
children living.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Graham are active
members of the Baptist church. Our sub-
ject is a loyal Democrat, but seldom takes
much interest in political affairs, however,
his support is always for the good of the
community in all questions.
Our subject has been a great reader, hav-
ing read the Bible through not less than six
or seven times, besides scores of other good
books and much pure literary matter. He
relates that he has been acquainted with
not less than five hundred of the Grahams
and that he never knew or heard of
one of them who ever used intoxicants of
any kind or character, and but few of them
who ever used tobacco., and about one-half
of them are church people.
WILLIAM R. KELL.
The subject of this life record is one of
the oldest pioneer farmers of Marion coun-
ty, having spent his long and useful life
within the borders of the same and assisted
in its development is every way possible, for
while seeking to advance his own interests
he never lost sight of his obligations to his
neighbors and fellow citizens. His life rec-
ord should be an inspiration to the younger
generation, for it has been one of sterling
worth and led along high planes of honor.
William R. Kell was born in Haines town-
ship, Marion county, Illinois, October 30.
1835, the son of Thomas and Mary L. (Lit-
tle) Kell, both natives of South Carolina.
Thomas Kell came to Illinois in 1822 with
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
35
his parents and they settled first in Rome
township, Jefferson county. Thomas Kell
was the name of the subject's grandfather,
who was also a native of South Carolina, in
which state he married Margaret Gaston. He
got government land is Rome township, Jef-
ferson county, this state, about four hundred
acres in all, in prairie and timber land. He-
died there, but his wife died in Haines town
ship, Marion county. Twelve children, all
of whom are deceased, were born to the
grandparents of our subject, namely : Wil-
liam, Jane, John, Samuel G., Martha, Alex-
ander, Thomas, father of our subject ; James
died in Walnut Hill, Illinois; Eliza, Riley.
Martha, and Matthew Cannon.
Mary L. Little, mother of our subject,
was the daughter of Samuel Little, of South
Carolina. He first married Mary Luke and
his second marriage was to a Miss Ervin.
Two children were born to Samuel Little
and his first wife, and eleven children by the
second wife, all deceased except one. Thorn
as Kell, father of our subject, was reared on
the old home place, remaining at home un-
til he was about twenty years of age. He
received a meagre education in subscription
schools. After his marriage he located in
Haines township, Marion county, becoming
well-to-do, owning about eight hundred
acres of land. He handled much stock, espe-
cially horses and mules. In politics he was
a Whig, later a Republican. He held some
of the minor township offices. He was a
member of the Presbyterian church. He died
July 26, 1892. Twelve children were born
to the parents of our subject, namely: Wil-
liam. <iur subject ; Mary A. lived in Haines
20
township and was the wife of William Tel-
ford; Margaret J., who married James Mor-
ton, is deceased; Samuel W., who was a sol-
dier in Company A, One Hundred and Elev-
enth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, was killed
during a skirmish February 12, 1865, in
North Carolina ; John was a soldier in Com-
pany E, One Hundred and Thirty-Sixth Il-
linois Volunteer Infantry, having enlisted
for three months ; Thomas C. died at the age
of four years ; Martha, who married W. J.
Shook, is deceased ; James C. is deceased ;
Alexander P. lives in Mexico; Charles T.
lives in Haines township; Mathew C. lives
in Haines township; Esther E. is the wife
of John Little, who lives in Monmouth, Illi-
nois.
William R. Kell, our subject, received
only a limited schooling, but he was
ambitious and by home study and close ap-
plication he fitted himself for a teacher, and
taught school while a young man for twen-
ty-two months, teaching one term after his
marriage. He remained at home until he
married, when he came to his present home
is Haines township in section 29, which was
a new place, but the subject has always been
a man of thrift and he soon had the wild
land transformed into an excellent farm,
having brought it up in all modern improve-
ments until it is now equal to any in the
township in this respect. It is highly pro-
ductive and has made the subject a comfort-
able living. He has a very substantial
dwelling, an excellent barn, and his place
not only shows prosperity, but excellent
management.
Mr. Kell married Sarah Keeney on April
3 o6
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
i, 1858. She was born in Haines township,
the daughter of A. W. and Martha (Farris)
Keeney. Her father was a native of In-
diana aod her mother of Tennessee. They
came to Marion county, Illinois, at an early
day and farmed in Haines township, later
moving to Salem, Illinois, where Mr. Kee-
ney engaged in the milling business and
where he and his wife both died.
Eleven children have been born to the sub-
ject and his first wife, namely: Mary, the
wife of W. F. McNeiley, living in Raccoon
township; Sarah Jane, the wife of Finis
Gaston, lives in Haines township, this coun-
ty ; Edward E. lives in Kell and married Ella
McMeans ; Margaret E. is the wife of John
F. Gaskill, living in Kell; Lena Ann is the
wife of Valandingham Brownfield, living in
Kell; George lives in Haines township;
Thomas F. died in infancy; James H. is a
carpenter living in Haines township; Boyd
R. married Maud Williamson and they live
in East St. Louis: William N. died when
ten years old; Arthur W., who married
Mary Jones, is a carpenter living in Cen-
tralia. Mrs. Kell died August 14, 1883. Mr.
Kell chose as his second wife Mary E. Pur-
due, a native of Haines township and the
daughter of William C. and Martha (Keele)
Purdue, natives of Tennessee, who came to
Marion county in 1838. They first settled
in Raccoon township and later moved to
Haines township. Three children have been
born to our subject as a result of his second
marriage, as follows : The first child died
in infancy ; John C. is living at home ; Eliza-
beth L. is also living at home. The above
named children were educated in the home
schools.
Mr. Kell is a loyal Republican, having
first voted for John C. Fremont. He has been
Highway Commissioner and also a member
of the School Board. He is a faithful mem-
ber of the Presbyterian church. In his fra-
ternal relations he belongs to the Independ-
ent Order of Odd Fellows, Romine Lodge,
No. 663, at Kell. He is also a member of
the Modern Woodmen of America, Camp
No. 5284, at Kell.
Mr. Kell has been prosperous owing to
the fact that he has led a busy life and has
been honest in his dealings with his fellow
men. He is held in high favor by all who
know him and has always been influential in
his communitv.
FRED O. GRISSOM.
The subject of this sketch is regarded as
one of the public-spirited and representative
citizens of Kinmundy township, Marion
county, Illinois, who has ever upheld high
trusts in a most worthy manner. He is
essentially a man of the people, a true
American of the period in which he lives
and possessing the esteem of his fellow citi-
zens, it is but just that on the roster of
Marion county's men of ability and worth
his name be given due prominence.
Fred O. Grissom was born March 9, 1876,
in Meacham township, Marion county, the
son of J. W. and M. J. Grissom, natives of
Ohio and Illinois, respectively.
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
307
The father of our subject is a Civil war
veteran who at this writing, 1908, is sixty-
four years old. He located in this county
in the early sixties, residing on a farm for
many years, having improved the same and
made a comfortable living by habits of in-
dustry and economy. About twenty-seven
years ago he moved to Farina, this state,
and engaged in business. The subject's
mother was born in Marion county, the
daughter of Silas Parrill, who was one of
the earliest settlers here. He used to do all
"his marketing at St. Louis. He lived to the
advanced age of eighty-eight years, having
died on the farm which he settled when
quite a young man. The subject's parents
-were married December 20, 1867, and three
children were born to this union, namely:
Charles R, Fred O. and Louis E. The
first born died when six years old.
Fred O. Grissom remained a member of
the family circle until he reached maturity,
"having attended the common schools at
Farina, Illinois, where he diligently applied
himself and received a fairly good education.
The business career of Mr. Grissom began
January i, 1894. He learned the printing
business in the office of The Farina News,
where he worked until August 23, 1898,
when he located in Kinmundy, having pur-
chased The Kinmundy Express, and he has
been engaged in active newspaper work ever
since. Although he met with misfortune
twice, his newspaper plant having been des-
troyed by fire on two different occasions,
nothing daunted, he has forged ahead and is
enjoying a liberal patronage.
Mr. Grissom was married on January 19,
1899, to Jennie A. Bascom, the refined and
accomplished daughter of Rev. S. B. and
C. M. Bascom. She was born in Ramsey,
Illinois, November 25, 1875. Mr. and Mrs.
Grissom's home has not been blessed with
any children.
Mrs. Grissom is a member of the Metho-
dist church, and in his fraternal relations,
our subject is a member of Clipper Lodge
No. 413, Knights of Pythias. In politics he
is a Democrat, but he has never held public
office, being contented to lead a quiet life
and do what he can towards placing right
men in the local offices, but he has never
aspired to positions of honor or emolument
at the hands of his fellow voters. However,
he has the interest of the public at heart and
is known as a man of industry, honesty and
loyalty to right principles.
LEANDER C. MATTHEWS.
The subject has spent his entire life in this
county and he has always had deeply at
heart the well-being and improvement of the
county, using his influence whenever pos-
sible for the promotion of enterprises cal-
culated to be of lasting benefit to his fellow
men, besides taking a leading part in all
movements for the advancement of the com-
munity along social, intellectual and moral
lines.
Leander C. Matthews was bom South of
Salem, in the edge of Jefferson county, May
3 o8
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
25, 1848, the son of Andrew J. and Hulda
(Swafford) Matthews, natives of Tennessee
and Illinois, respectively, and both repre-
sentatives of honorable and well known
families in their own communities.
Our subject remained under his parental
roof until he reached man's estate and at-
tended the district schools in his native com-
munity and in Centralia, where he applied
himself in a careful manner and received a
good education.
Mr. Matthews early decided to devote his
life to a business career and he has bent
every effort to this end with gratifying re-
sults.
He commenced a general business in 1883
at Fairman, Marion county, Illinois, where
he remained ten years with much success at-
tending his efforts. He is at this writing
engaged in the hay, grain and implement
business in Kinmundy, this county, and is
conducting a thriving business, his trade
extending to all parts of the county and
penetrating to adjoining counties, in
fact he is one of the best known
dealers in these lines in this part of the state
and the able manner in which he conducts
his business and his courteous treatment
with those with whom he deals insure him
a liberal income from year to year.
Mr. Matthews was united in marriage Oc-
tober 8, 1873, to S. Elizabeth Lydick, who
was born near Odin, this county, December
24, 1854, the refined and affable daughter
of Isaac and Sarah (Sugg) Lydick, a well
known family of that locality.
The following family has been born to
Mr. and Mrs. Matthews: Lillian, Baby,
Hallie, Hulda, Carl. They have all gone to
their rest except Hulda, who is the wife of
Albert C. Dunlap, of Champaign, Illinois.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Matthews is
a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, of Kinmundy, also of the Knights
of Pythias of this place. In politics he is a
loyal Democrat and takes a vital interest in
his party's affairs, however, he has never
aspired to positions of public trust. Both
he and his wife are members of the Chris-
tian church, and our subject is regarded as
one of the substantial church workers of
Kinmundy, and he has long taken an active
part in all religious affairs. He is a man
of large public spirit and enterprise, and per-
sonally is of the genial and sunny type,
pleasant to meet and makes friends readily.
He likes a good story and enjoys a good
joke, and because of these qualities of com-
mendation and genuine worth Mr. Mat-
thews has won a host of warm friends which
he retains, being popular with all classes in
his community where he maintains a home
that is comfortable, substantial and pleasant
in all its appointments and which is regarded
as a place of generous hospitality and good
cheer.
JOSEPH T. ARNOLD.
The subject of this, review, who is the
owner of a fine landed estate in Marion
county, Illinois, in his successful career as a
husbandman must have clearly demon-
3RINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
309
strated what an enteqirising and industri-
ous man can accomplish when he has good
common sense and honesty of purpose to
control his energy, and as a result of these
praiseworthy qualities he stands today as
one of the substantial citizens of the vicinity
of Kinmundy, where he is well known.
Joseph T. Arnold is a native of this coun-
ty and he has preferred to spend his life
here. The date on which our subject
first saw the light of day was May 12,
1857. He is the son of John W. and Nancy
(Jones) Arnold. His grandfather, John
Arnold, was born in North Carolina in 1795
of English stock. Great-grandfather Ar-
nold was a Methodist Episcopalian, who
preached the gospel in a most able manner
for a period of forty-five years. His
mother was a very pious woman and from
her the subject's grandfather was taught
Christianity. He was brought to Georgia
by his parents when six years old, where
he remained until he was ten years of age.
When about twelve years old he was taken
by his parents to Tennessee. In two years
they moved to Alabama. He saw General
Jackson with his army of some two thou-
sand men pass by his door in 1812 when
living in Huntsville, Alabama. He was in
the army himself for a short time. When
twenty years old he went to school for the
first-time for one month only, but he learned
to read and write; that was the extent of
his school days. When twenty-one years
old he married Elizabeth Webb and moved
to Illinois and after two years here moved
back to Alabama and from there to Louisi-
ana; then returned to Alabama where he
remained for a period of twelve years, after
which he moved to Illinois again. He
reached the remarkable age of ninety-three
years. There were five of his sons in the
Civil war, all in Illinois regiments; one of
these was killed in battle, the others served
their time out and were honorably dis-
charged; one of them was wounded in bat-
tle and was crippled as a result during the
balance of his days. Grandmother Arnold
lived to be about eighty.
Grandfather Jones was a native of Geor-
gia, who came north and settled in Illinois.
Two of his sons, Eli and Machak, were sol-
diers in the war between the states in Illi-
nois regiments. Eli Jones had a leg shot
off. Both the Jones and the Arnold fami-
lies settled in Marion county upon their ar-
rival in this state, where they took up land
and developed farms, both being known as
people of thrift and sterling qualities. Grand-
father Jones died in this county at the age
of seventy-eight years and his good wife
lived to be up in eighty. These worthy peo-
ple reared a large family, all of whom inher-
ited longevity to a marked degree.
John W. Arnold, father of our subject,
was reared largely in Illinois. He had but
scant educational advantages, but he be-
came a well read man, and having devoted
his life to fanning, became one of the lead-
ing agriculturists in his community, having
remained in Marion county, where he
owned five hundred acres of very produc-
tive and valuable land, most of which was
prairie. There were nine children in his
3 io
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
family, seven of whom are living in 1908,
all but one of them living in Marion coun-
ty, and all have families of their own. These
children were given every advantage possi-
ble by their parents, and as a result of the
fine home training which they received they
are all well established in the affairs of life
and have the best reputations possible. The
parents of the subject were faithful mem-
bers of the Methodist church. The father
was a loyal Republican and his influence was
always in support of the principles of this
party. He passed away at the age of sev-
enty-one years, and his faithful life com-
panion lived to be seventy-six, when she,
too, joined the "innumerable caravan".
Joseph T. Arnold, our subject, was edu-
cated in the public schools of his native com-
munity, where he applied himself in a most
diligent manner and received a fairly good
text-book education, which has since been
very greatly supplemented by coming in
contact with the world and by home read-
ing. He worked on his father's farm dur-
ing the crop season until he was twenty
years old, when he went to farming on his
own account, at which he was very success-
ful, having rented a part of the land, the
balance being given to him by his father, and
with the exception of two years he has been
engaged in active farming ever since. For a
period of two years he was engaged in the
mercantile business, owning one-half inter-
est in a general store, which he disposed of
in 1803. One brother and a nephew now
own the old farm on which the family was
reared, it never having passed out of the
hands of the Arnolds.
Our subject is the owner of two hun-
dred acres of highly improved land, on
which he carries on general farming with
the most gratifying results. It is located
about seven miles out fr.om Kinmundy. Al-
though he now resides in Kinmundy, he
oversees the management of his farm, which
has been developed until it is equal to any
in the township, being well fenced and well
drained and otherwise up to the standard of
modem farm properties. A substantial and
commodious residence and several good out-
buildings are to be found on the place.
Mr. Arnold owns a beautiful residence
property in Kinmundy, where he makes his
home.
Our subject was united in marriage the
first time in 1877, to Lizzie Chance, the
daughter of a well known family in Marion
county, and three children were born to this
union, the first, Emery L., having been born
in 1880 and died in Alaska in 1903. He
was a member of the Signal Corps and is
supposed to have been drowned while in ac-
tive service. He was highly commended by
Brigadier General Sully, the commander of
the corps. The second child of the subject
is now living on his farm in Marion and
has one child, Daniel. The third, Edson,
died when four years old. The subject's
first wife was called to her reward in 1897,
and Mr. Arnold was again married, in 1900,
his second wife being Mrs. Hattie Green
(nee Robb), a native of this county, whose
3RINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
parents were also natives of Marion coun-
ty. One child has been born to this union,
Vivian Helen, having been born in 1902.
Our subject is a member of the Masonic
fraternity, the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, the Woodmen and the Rebekahs,
as is also Mrs. Arnoldy. She is a member
of the Eastern Star. He has been Junior
Deacon in the first named order. Mrs. Ar-
nold is an active -worker both in the Eastern
Star and the Rebekahs. They are both
faithful members of the Methodist church.
Our subject has been steward of the same,
also Sunday school superintendent, and both
the church and Sunday school have been
greatly benefited by his able and faithful
services.
Mr. Arnold is a Republican in his po-
litical beliefs and never loses an opportunity
to aid his party in any way possible. He
held the office of Supervisor of the town-
ship two years, being elected in 1904. The
township that he was elected in produces a
strong Democratic majority, which was
overcome by the popular estimate of his fel-
low citizens, and he could have held the of-
fice longer, but declined further honor in
that line.
ERASTUS D. TELFORD.
Only those who come in personal con-
tact with the gentleman whose name appears
above, the popular and well known City At-
torney of Salem, Illinois, can understand
how thoroughly nature and training, habits
of thought and action, have enabled him to
accomplish his life work and made him a fit
representative of the enterprising class of
professional people to which he belongs. He
is a fine type of the sturdy, conscientious
American of today a man who unites a
high order of ability with courage, pa-
triotism, clean morality and sound common
sense, doing thoroughly and well the work
that he finds to do and asking praise of no
man for the performance of what he con-
ceives to be his simple duty.
Erastus D. Telford was born in Raccoon
township, Marion county, April 23, 1874.
J. D. Telford, whose life history is embod-
ied in another part of this volume, who has
long been a well known and influential char-
acter about Salem, is the father of our sub-
ject. Samuel G. Telford, who lives in
Haines township, and who was born in 1827
in this county, and who is still making his
home two and one-half miles west of where
he was born, is the subject's grandfather.
His great-grandfather was James Telford,
a native of South Carolina, who settled in
Marion county in 1822, died in 1856. Our
subject's father was the first Republican
Sheriff of Marion county, having been
elected in 1882. The mother of the subject
was known in her maidenhood as Ann
Wyatt, a native of Tennessee and the rep-
resentative of a fine old southern family.
Her father sold all his possessions in that
state and came to Illinois in 1860, settling
on the farm now owned by J. D. Telford,
father of the subject of this sketch, to whom
and his worthy and faithful life companion
seven children were born, all living at this
3 I2
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
writing, named in order of birth as follows :
Dr. A. T., of Olney, Illinois; Erastus D.,
our subject ; Ula, of the United States Life
Saving Station of Chicago ; Omer. who lives
on a farm three miles west of Salem ; Oran
is living at home; Erma, who is still a
member of the family circle; J. D., Jr.
These children were reared in a wholesome
home atmosphere and were given every ad-
vantage possible by their parents.
E. D. Telford has lived in Salem for
twenty-six years, or since his father moved
here. He worked on the parental farm un-
til he was twenty-one years old, where he
received valuable training in the out door
life of the country, not the least advantage
of which was the acquisition of a robust con-
stitution which is a necessary prerequisite
for the battle of life in any field of endeavor.
He attended the public schools in his neigh-
borhood and later graduated in 1890 from
the Salem high schools where he made a
splendid record, for our subject early de-
termined to secure a good education and fit
himself as best he possibly could for life's
ardent duties.
After leaving school he decided to teach
and consequently followed this line of work
with marked success for a few years, during
which time he became widely known
throughout the county as an able instructor.
But not being satisfied with the education
he already possessed, and with the routine
and somewhat obscure work of the teacher,
he gave up his work and entered McKen-
dree College, a denominational school at
Lebanon, Illinois, from which institution he
graduated with high honors in 1897, with
the degree Bachelor of Science. Having
decided to make the profession of law his
life work, Mr. Telford in the fall of 1898
went to Washington City and entered the
law department of Georgetown University,
where he made a brilliant record and from
which institution he graduated.in 1900. In
the meantime he had been appointed to a po-
sition in the United States Treasury depart-
ment, his unusual talents having attracted
the attention of authorities in this depart-
ment. Mr. Telford remained in the Treas-
ury department, where he gave the greatest
satisfaction to the higher officials and where
his work was very creditably and faithfully
performed until April i, 1906, when he re-
signed and returned to Salem, Illinois, for
the purpose of engaging in the practice of
law, and, useless to say that his success was
instantaneous, and he at once had a large
clientele, his office being sought by clients
with a wide range of cases, and his fame
soon overspread Marion county, extending
to other fields, consequently he was fre-
quently called to other localities on import-
ant cases and his cool, careful, determined
manner in presenting his arguments before
a jury seldom failed in bringing a verdict in
his favor.
Mr. Telford was soon slated for political
preferment, leaders in his party being quick
to detect unusual ability as a public official
in him, consequently in April, 1907, he was
elected City Attorney of Salem, which posi-
tion he now very creditably fills to the satis-
faction of the entire community. At the
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
313
primaries in August, 1908, he was nomi-
nated by the Republicans for State Attorney
for Marion county.
Mr. Telford's domestic life dates from
November i, 1900, when he was united in
marriage with Coral M. Wright, the accom-
plished daughter of William Wright, a well
known and influential citizen of Lincoln,
Nebraska. The following bright and inter-
esting children have come into the cozy and
pleasant home of Mr. and Mrs. Telford,
bringing additional sunshine: Elbridge
Wright Telford, whose day of birth oc-
curred September 29, 1901 ; Dorothy Mar-
garet, who first saw the light of day on
August 1 8, 1905.
Mr. Telford has been a careful business
man as well as a successful attorney, and he
has accumulated rapidly, now being a stock-
holder in the Salem National Bank, also the
Salem Building and Loan Association. He
is the owner of a modem, substantial and
beautiful residence on North Broadway.
In his fraternal relations, our subject is a
member of the ancient and honorable order
of Masons, the Blue Lodge and the Royal
Arch Chapter; also a Modem Woodman.
And both he and his wife are consistent and
faithful members of the Methodist Episco-
pal church. Mr. Telford is one of the sub-
stantial and popular men of Marion county,
and his home which is presided over with
rare grace and dignity by Mrs. Telford, is
the center of a genial hospitality. He is
liberal in his support of all religious and
charitable movements, and no one takes a
greater pride in the progress of his commu-
nity.
GEORGE B. SIMCOX.
The subject stands as the exponent of one
of the extensive noteworthy enterprises
of the city, where he maintains a real
estate business, which is pre-eminent in the
honorable bearing and careful methods em-
ployed, and in the discriminating delicacy of
treatment which the nature of the business
renders expedient, and he has thus retained
as his own the respect and confidence of the
community, even as has his noble father, the
latter having likewise assumed a position of
priority in the business and social life of
Marion county, where he still resides at an
advanced age.
George B. Simcox was born in Kentucky
in 1864, the son of W. K. Simcox, now
living at Patoka, Illinois, a native of Penn-
sylvania, who migrated from the old Key-
stone state to Illinois in 1866, locating at
Patoka, where he has since resided. He was
in the mercantile business of which he made
a success, but he is now living retired, hav-
ing reached the advanced age of eighty-
three, and his good wife that of
seventy-eight. They are held in high esteem
in their neighborhood where their latter
years have been so honorably and happily
spent. Twelve children were born to them,
seven of whom are still living. They are:
Anna M., the widow of Dr. T. N. Livesay,
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
and she makes her home near Patoka ; Rob-
ert A., of Patoka; John L., also of Patoka;
Bettie, the wife of Dr. W. W. Murfin, of
Patoka; Mary A., the wife of A. T. Eaglin,
of Henton, Oklahoma; Joseph W., of Pa-
toka; George B., whose name appears at the
head of this review.
Mr. Simcox spent his boyhood in Patoka,
Illinois, where he received a common school
education, having applied himself closely to
his books. When about eighteen years old
lie went to railroading and was subsequently
in the employ of various roads. Longing
for more varied experiences than could be
gained at home, lie went to the Southwest
and his rise in the railroad business was
rapid there owing to his natural ability,
carefulness and personal address, conse-
quently he soon became conductor on the
Mexican National Railroad in Old Mexico,
holding this responsible position to the satis-
faction of the superior officials when only
twenty-one years old.
After following the railroad business for
ten years he returned to Salem, Illinois, in
1895, ar >d nas been in Marion county ever
since. He first launched in the mercantile
business in Patoka, where he was doing
nicely and building up an excellent trade,
when he lost heavily by fire after two years
in this line. Then he went into the real
estate and newspaper business at Patoka, in
which he made a success and became known
as the moulder of public thought and opin-
ion. Being thus able and popular with his
fellow voters, he was soon slated for local
political offices, and held every township
office in that township. He was appointed
Deputy Sheriff in 1902 and served with
great credit for a period of four years. In-
deed, all his duties in an official capacity
were attended to with the greatest alacrity
and good judgment. He was nominated by
the Democrats in 1906 as a candidate for
sheriff, but was defeated.
In 1906 Mr. Simcox went into the hard-
ware business in Salem, in which he re-
mained for eight months, when he sold out
to C. W. Vensell, and since then he has
been interested in the real estate business,
making a specialty of city lots and booming
special sales, and his efforts have been
crowned with gratifying success, for he has
the confidence of the public and conducts
his business along safe and conservative
lines.
Mr. Simcox was united in marriage May
24, 1896, to Florence Wasem, of Patoka,
the cultured and refined daughter of Jacob
E. Wasem, a well known citizen of Patoka.
Two bright and interesting children have
been born to this union, namely: Maude
Ellen, whose date of birth occurred August
13, 1897, an( l Minnie May, who was born
November 24, 1903.
Our subject in his fraternal relations be-
longs to the Benevolent and Protective
Order of Elks at Centralia Lodge No. 493 ;
also the Marion Lodge No. 525, Knights of
Pythias; also the Modern Woodmen of
America No. 761, of Patoka. He also be-
longs to the Order of Railway Telegraphers.
Our subject has always taken a great in-
terest in political matters and public affairs,
iRIXKERHOFF's HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
315
and he was chairman of the Democratic
Central Committee during two campaigns,
and he is now a member of the County Ex-
ecutive Democratic Committee of Marion
county. In public office he has been found
most loyal to the public good, and in his
business affairs he is ever straight- forward
and trustworthy.
S. A. STORMENT.
The horologe of eternity has marked off
sixty-eight years since the birth of the gen-
tleman whose name appears above, who has
chosen to remain in his native county of
Marion ; where his life has been blessed with
success and reasonable comfort. While our
subject has lived to see great changes, dur-
ing which he was not slow to take advan-
tage of the many and varied opportunities
offered in a business way, thereby laying up
an ample competence through his relations
with agricultural interests, he was always
ready to do what he could in advancing the
general good of the county, whose welfare
he had at heart, and his life has been un-
selfish, honorable and worthily crowned by
success and the esteem of his fellow citizens.
S. A. Storment was bom near Kell, Mar-
ion county, Illinois, January 26, 1840, the
son of John and Margaret ( Kell) Storment,
whose people were natives of South Caro-
lina. John Storment was a farmer and
country merchant, having made a success of
both and won the undivided respect of his
neighbors. He was called from his earthly
career June I, 1849, and his faithful life
companion has been at rest some forty
years at this writing.
Our subject remembers when there were
only three houses on the great Romine Prai-
rie from Carter to Kell. It was in such
times that the father of the subject settled
here, being one of the pioneers of the coun-
ty. He bought land for one dollar and twen-
ty-five cents per acre from the government
and he entered two hundred acres, which he
developed by hard work and careful man-
agement into a very valuable farm, on
which he established a comfortable home.
Ten children were born to the subject's par-
ents, five of whom lived to maturity, the
others having died in infancy; the subject of
this sketch being now the only survivor.
S. A. Storment spent his boyhood and
early manhood on the parental homestead,
which he worked during the summer months
and attended the country schools during the
bad weather of the winter, when farm work
could not be carried on, until he received a
fairly good education, considering the prim-
itive methods of schooling in those days.
When twenty years old he began to farm
for himself and bought a farm near Kell
consisting of eighty acres, and later pur-
chased eighty acres more, on which he lived
for more than twenty years and tilled the
same with the greatest success attending his
efforts. He then sold his farm and bought
three hundred acres in Stevenson township
and resided upon the same about twenty-five
years.
3 i6
BRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Mr. Storment, after laying up consider-
able money from his skillful farming opera-
tions, moved to Salem October 15, 1907,
since which time he has been leading an in-
active life and spending his old age in com-
fort as the result of his earlier years of fru-
gal and economic living. He still owns
eighty acres in Stevenson township, having
sold the balance of his land, a portion of
which is now owned by his children.
Our subject was united in marriage Jan-
uary 26, 1860, to Emily Harriet Mount, a
daughter of William Mount, who came to
this county from Wilson county, Tennessee.
The subject has a family of which any
one might justly be proud. It consisted of
thirteen in number, only one of w T hom is
now in the silent land. They are all com-
fortably situated in reference to this world's
affairs, and all honorable, and have been
given every- advantage possible by their fond
parents, who reared them in a most whole-
some home atmosphere and uplifting influ-
ences, so that they have gone out to bless
humanity by their worthy and useful lives.
Their names, in order of birth are: Abigal
E. is the wife of Preston Watson, living
near Carter, Illinois, and they are the par-
ents of these children, Albert, Estell, John,
Lawrence, Lulu, all living, and Charley,
Walter and Myrtle, all deceased: John C.
Storment lives in Pomona, California, hav-
ing married Mattie Jeffries, of Rockford,
Illinois, and their family consists of Bertha,
Frank, Arthur, Robert, all living, and Edna
and Harold, both deceased ; W. S. Storment
is a successful real estate man in Salem, he
married Mollie Young and they have the
following children : Hershell, Irene. Charles
M. Storment, the fourth child, married Hat-
tie Easley and is living in Salem. Their
children are Otis, deceased; Paul and Edith,
living. Charles M. is proprietor of the East
Main Street Hotel. . Mary, the fifth child
of the subject, is the wife of John W. Har-
rington, of Slapout, Marion county, and the
mother of these children: Elmer, deceased,
and May, living; Albert C. Storment, who
married Maggie Wade, has one child, Lov-
ell, and is living at Salem; Fred A. Stor-
ment, who married Carrie Verner, is living
at Salem. They have one child dead, Fred
V., and one living, Louise; Robert R. Stor-
ment is deceased ; B. F. Storment, who mar-
ried Maggie Kagy, has two children, Lo-
rene and Lucille, is living in St. Louis. Ida
Belle is the wife of L. J.' Bell, living at Til-
den, Illinois, and the mother of two chil-
dren, Grover and Ernest Bell; L. J.
Storment, who married Jessie Glick, has one
child, Eugene G., and is living in Chicago:
Nona is the wife of Frank Gaskell, living
near Salem, Illinois, and the mother of these
children, Gladys, Glen, Fern and Roscoe
Earl ; Orville Storment, who married Ma-
bel Harper and is the father of one infant
child, is living at Tuscola, this state.
Our subject was a school director for fif-
teen years at Old Hickory Hill school near
his farm and of his district in Stevenson
township, and he took an active interest in
educational affairs. He is not a member of
any lodge or church, but is liberal in his
views and no more honest or upright man
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
317
than he could be found within the borders
of Marion county, where he has spent his
long and useful life.
ROBERT MARTIN.
It is signally consonant that in this work
be incorporated at least a brief resume of
the life and labors of Mr. Martin, who has
long been one of the influential citizens of
Marion county, and through whose loyal
efforts the city of Salem and surrounding
locality have reaped lasting benefits, for his
exceptional administrative capacity has been
directed along lines calculated to be for the
general good. A man of forceful individu-
ality and marked initiative power, he has
been well equipped for leadership, while his
probity of character and his genial personal-
ity have gained for him uniform esteem and
friendship in the city where he has so long
made his home, and of which he is regarded
by all classes as one of its most distinguished
citizens in connection with the business
world.
Robert Martin was born in Estilville, now
known as Gate City, Scott county, Virginia,
April u, 1839, the son of John S. Martin,
also a native of Virginia, and a man of rec-
ognized ability, being the representative of
a fine old Southern family, noted for its
high ideals and unqualified hospitality, his
ancestry being Scotch-Irish. John S. Mar-
tin was County Clerk for a period of twenty
years or more, and he held many other
county offices, including a judgeship, and he
won universal praise for the able manner in
which he discharged his every duty to the
public. He was called from his earthly
labors in 1865 while living at Alma, this
county. The mother of the subject was a
Stewart before her marriage, a woman of
rare mental equipoise and culture; she
passed to her rest soon after the family
came to Illinois in 1846.
Our subject spent his early boyhood on
his parental farm at Alma, having been only
five years old when the family came here.
He attended school at Alma and Salem. He
also attended the Southern Illinois Female
College at Salem, which institution ceased
to exist soon after the war. He gained a
liberal education which has stood him in
such good hand during his long and emi-
nently active and successful business career.
Our subject was one of those loyal sons
of the North, who, when the tocsin of war
sounded calling loyal sons to defend the
old flag, offered his services, enlisting in
Company A, One Hundred and Eleventh
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, one of the fa-
mous regiments of the state, which was or-
ganized at Salem. Mr. Martin was then
twenty-one years old. The company left
Salem and went to Columbus, Kentucky,
and from there to Paducah, that state, later
to Pulaski, Tennessee, and from there
marched to Chattanooga, where it united
with Sherman's army and remained with the
same through its historic march to the sea,
and also its strenuous campaigns, having
participated in the battles at Atlanta and
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
many other notable engagements. After re-
maining with him until the close of the war,
he took part in the grand review at Wash-
ington City, after a very commendable ser-
vice of three years. He was mustered out
at Springfield, Illinois, where he came soon
after the review in Washington.
After his career in the army, Mr. Martin
launched in the grocery business at Salem,
in which he remained for one year, when he
sold out and went into the more lucrative
grain and lumber business, in which he has
been engaged for a period of forty-one years
during which time an enormous volume of
business has passed through his hands, and
he has become widely known as one of the
leading men in these lines in Southern Illi-
nois, being recognized by the leading dealers
throughout this and adjoining states as well
as remote parts of the country as a man of
the highest business integrity and acumen.
He is still conducting a large lumber yard,
and carries on a very extensive and thriving
business, numbering his customers by the
thousands, not only from Salem and vicin-
ity, but throughout the county and to remote
parts of the country. He owns a beautiful,
modern and well furnished residence in one
of the most desirable portions of Salem.
Our subject was happily married in 1867
to Alice Scott, a native of Vincennes, In-
diana, a woman of affable personality and
rare refinement, the daughter of a highly
respected and influential family. Three
children have been born to this union, one
of whom has passed away. They are:
Mabel Dora, the wife of W. H. Farsons, of
Salem; C. C. Martin, of Salem, and John
Lewis Martin, formerly of Salem, now de-
ceased.
These children received every possible at-
tention from their parents, being given good
educations and careful home training.
Mr. Martin assisted in the organization
and became one of the first directors and
stockholders in the Salem State Bank. He
is also a director of the Salem Building and
Loan Association, and his sound judgment
and able advice is always carefully weighed
by the other members of these organizations
in their deliberations, for Mr. Martin has a
reputation among local business men for
remarkable foresight into all business propo-
sitions. Having always been interested in
educational affairs, he served as a member
and also as president of the School Board
of Salem for several years, but he is not at
present connected with the board, but during
the time that he was the schools of Salem
were greatly strengthened.
In his fraternal relations Mr. Martin is a
member of the Knights of Pythias and the
Woodmen. He has been a faithful and
consistent member of the Methodist church
since he was thirteen vears old.
GEORGE S. RAINEY, M. D.
Good intellectual training, thorough pro-
fessional knowledge and the possession and
utilization of the qualities and attributes es-
sential to success, have made the subject of
JRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
319
this review eminent in his chosen calling,
and he stands today among the enterprising
and successful physicians in a community
noted for its high order of medical talent,
while at the same time he has won the con-
fidence and esteem of the people of Marion
and adjoining counties for his upright life
and genial disposition.
Dr. George S. Rainey was born in Salem,
Illinois, May 18, 1849, and he is the
son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rainey,
Scotch-Irish people of the best ancestry as
far back as it can be traced. The father was
a Kentuckian, who came to Illinois as early
as 1832, settling in Marion county on a farm
which he transformed from a practically
wild tract to a highly improved and produc-
tive farm. When the doctor was two years
old, his father moved on a farm near Wal-
nut Hill, Marion county. He was a man of
many sterling qualities, like those of most
pioneers, and he became a man of consider-
able influence in this county, being known
as an honest and worthy citizen in every
respect. He was called from his earthly
labors in 1868. The subject's mother, a
woman of praiseworthy character, was
known in her maidenhood as Margaret
Cunningham, and was also a native of Ken-
tucky; her father, a man of unusual forti-
tude and sterling character, moved to Illi-
nois in 1824. Seven children of Mr. and
Mrs. Robert Rainey died in infancy. Their
other children are: Dr. J. K. Rainey, the
oldest child, died in Florida; Matthew was
a surgeon in the One Hundred and Eleventh
Illinois Volunteer Infantry in the Union
Army, and was the first soldier from Marion
county to fall in the Civil war, having lost
his life at the battle of Bellmont while a
member of the Twenty-second Illinois Vol-
unteer Infantry; Dr. A. H. Rainey, of Cen-
tralia, Illinois.
Our subject was a mere lad during the
war between the states, but he felt it his
duty to sever home ties and offer his services
in defense of the flag, consequently he en-
listed in the Thirty-ninth Illinois Volunteer
Infantry when he lacked two months of
being sixteen years old, but his bravery and
gallantry were equal to that of the oldest
veteran in the regiment. He served in the
campaign around Petersburg, Richmond,
and was at the surrender of Lee at Appa-
mattox, thus being in some of the bloodiest
engagements of the war. After receiving
an honorable discharge he returned home
and assisted his father with the farm. work,
attending the neighboring schools, complet-
ing the high school course at Salem, stand-
ing in the front rank of his class, for he
was a diligent student and made the best use
possible of his time. Believing that his tal-
ents lay along medical lines he began study-
ing for a career as a physician. He
graduated in medicine in 1875 at the Louis-
ville Medical College. He at once began
practice in Salem, his success being instan-
taneous, and he has been here ever since,
having always had a very large practice in
this vicinity and throughout the county.
Dr. Rainey has taken a post-graduate
course in the New York Polyclinic Institute
of Physicians and Surgeons, having spent
3 20
BRIXKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
the winter of 1888 in the school just men-
tioned. Dr. Rainey has also taken special
courses in medical colleges in St. Louis and
Chicago, consequently he is today and has
been for many years at the head of his pro-
fession, being so recognized by the eminent
practitioners of medicine in other parts of
Illinois. He has also been connected with
the Baltimore & Ohio and Chicago & East-
ern Illinois railroads as surgeon ever since
he has been in practice.
The subject has been a member of the
United States Pension Board of Salem for
twenty-five years. The doctor is at all
times patriotic and ever ready to serve his
country, consequently when the war with
Spain broke out he offered his services and
was commissioned a surgeon in the United
States army, but the war terminated before
he saw active service.
Doctor Rainey's happy and tranquil do-
mestic life dates from 1878, when he was
married to May McMackin, the cultured
and accomplished daughter of Col. W.
E. McMackin of the Twenty-first Illinois
Volunteer Infantry. Colonel McMackin
was for many years one of the best known
and most influential men in his community.
To doctor and Mrs. Rainey one son has
been born, Warren R., who, in 1908, is a
student in the medical department of the
Northwestern University at Chicago, where
he is making an excellent record.
Doctor Rainey is the owner of a large and
fine fruit farm which is very valuable, and
he takes a great interest in it and horticul-
tural subjects, devoting considerable time
to the culture of fine fruits. He has been in
general practice ever since his graduation,
and as indicated above, not only stands high
in his immediate community but also with
his fellow practitioners at large, being a
member of the County, State and National
Medical Association, also of the American
Railway Surgeons of America.
Fraternally he is a loyal member of the
Masonic Order and carries out its sublime
doctrines in his relations with his fellow
men. He is a Presbyterian in his religious
faith, and in politics he is a stanch advocate
of the principles and policies of the Repub-
lican party, with which he has always been
affiliated. Though never animated with
ambition for political preferment he has ever
lent his aid in furthering the party cause,
and is well fortified in his political convic-
tions, while he is at all times public-spirited
to an extent of loyalty.
JOHN B. CONANT.
This venerable pioneer and representative
agriculturist of Kinmundy township, Ma-
rion county, Illinois, has lived on the farm
which is now his home practically all his life,
and thus he has witnessed and taken part in
the development of this section of the state
from a sylvan wild to its present status as
an opulent agricultural and industrial com-
munity. He early began to contribute to the
work of clearing and improving the land of
its primitive forests, later assisted in estab-
MR. AND MRS. J. B. CONANT.
Of THE
0< .
'NOIS,
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
321
lishing schools and better public improve-
ments and facilities, while his course has
been so directed as to retain for him the un-
qualified approval and esteem of the com-
munity in which he has so long made his
home, until today he is regarded as one of
the most substantial and influential citizens
of the township, deserving of the greatest
credit from the fact that he began life un-
aided and without the tender guidance of
parents, being compelled to go it alone from
early childhood, but such stern discipline,
somewhat unpleasant and regrettable, was
not without its value, for it fostered in the
lad an independent spirit and gave him that
fortitude and courage that has made for sub-
sequent success.
John B. Conant is a native of this county,
having been born here February 17, 1839,
the son of Airs Conant, who came to Mas-
sachusetts from England, there being three
brothers of the Conant family on the ship,
one of whom settled in Baltimore, another
in the North and one, Airs Conant, went to
Georgia and joined the United States army
for the purpose of taking part in the War of
1812, having fought faithfully throughout
the struggle, being wounded in the hand.
After the war he returned to Georgia, where
he settled, and married Polly Pepper, to
which union eleven children were born, John
B. Conant being the youngest son. Airs Co-
nant and wife moved to Marion county, Il-
linois in an early day while the country was
still a wilderness. He partly improved sev-
en different farms, selling each and moved
to Missouri, pre-empting all the land he had
21
from the government. All the members of
this pioneer family have passed away with
the exception of our subject.
The father of our subject also taught
school in Marion county, having been hired
to teach a subscription school four miles
from home, the first term lasting three
months, the second term being of the same
duration; however, he taught only one
month on the second term, when he stopped
to put out a crop of corn. He worked too
hard and drank too much water while over-
heated, which caused his death in less than
a week, leaving a large famaily to struggle
with the wilderness and the clearing of a
new country. The mother of our subject
also passed away one week after her hus-
band's death, leaving John B., then eight
years old, to live with his older brother, Wil-
liam, with whom he remained until he was
fourteen years old, at which time he chose
his own guardian, Mark Cole, who cared
for our subject in a manly and fatherly man-
ner and procured a land warrant for him,
but the land was afterward sold for the lack
of payment of one hundred dollars.
Our subject's early education was limited
to the district schools, his first school having
been taught by his father, but he is well ed-
ucated and he has always been a most suc-
cessful farmer, beginning life with nothing,
as before stated, he wisely applied his energy
and managed his affairs with that foresight
and discrimination that always brings suc-
cess, and his farm properly consists of sev-
en hundred acres of as fine land as is to be
found in this locality. However, it has been
3 22
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
divided up and apportioned among his chil-
dren, there now being ( 1908) one hundred
and ninety-three acres in the home place,
which are kept in a high state of cultiva-
tion and well improved, showing that a man
of thrift and excellent executive ability has
had the management of it. He lives in a
modern, substantial and very comfortable
dwelling, surrounded by convenient out-
buildings, and everything denotes prosperity
about the place.
Our subject was united in marriage to
Mary Atkins on April n, 1861, the daugh-
ter of Mr. and Mrs. John Atkins, natives of
Georgia and Tennessee, respectively, and to
this union the following children have been
born, named in order of birth : Fannie, who
married Isem Lansford and had four chil-
dren, one of whom is living; Ayers married
Maggie Door and has four children, all liv-
ing; Polly married Noble Neeper and is the
mother of eight children, all living ; Mar-
garette married Guy Neeper and has one liv-
ing child ; EH married Vinda Owens and has
six living children; Ida married Mel Gray
and has three living children, one having
died; Martha married Francis Reese and
has one child ; May, Emmet, Hulda and
Ruhe are all deceased; Ira is married to
Hattie Hoovey and has one child.
Politically Mr. Conant is a Democrat and
he has been School Director in his township,
also Road Overseer. In religious matters he
subscribes to the Cumberland Presbyterian
faith, although he was reared a Methodist,
to which creed his father adhered.
Our subject is at this writing sixty-nine
years old and is well preserved, being in
fairly good health. As the architect of his
own fortunes he has builded wisely and well
and the success that crowns his efforts is
well merited. He is broad-minded, liberal,
progressive, public spirited and is well
known and highly respected in the commu-
nity which has been his home for so many
years and where he has done so much faith-
ful work, which has resulted in good not
only to himself and family, but also to his
neighbors and the community at large.
WILLIAM JASPER YOUNG.
The subject of this biographical review
is among the pioneer farmers of luka town-
ship, Marion county, where he has long
maintained his home, being one of the na-
tive sons of the county who have done so
much to develop Marion in all her phases
until she ranks with the leading counties
of the great Prairie state, and now in the
golden evening of his life this venerable
citizen is enjoying the fruits of a well spent
life and the esteem of a wide circle of
friends.
William Jasper Young was born in Mar-
ion county, Illinois, June 21, 1826, in Cen-
tralia township, the son of Edward and
Sarah C. (Duncan) Young, the former a
native of Virginia and the latter of Ten-
nessee. Edward Young grew up in Vir-
ginia, and when he reached maturity he
moved to Kentuckv. later came to Indiana
BRINKERIIOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
323
and prior to 1826 settled in Marion county,
Illinois. He was a plasterer and bricklayer,
and he made his home in several different
places after coming to Illinois, among them
being Alton, St. Louis, Belleville, Centralia
and Salem. Later in life he settled on the
farm. Edward Young was born June 8,
1803, and died June 9, 1876. He was a sol-
dier in the Black Hawk war. He was,
early in life, a Democrat, and he cut down
the first Whig pole ever erected in Salem.
However, he later became a Republican.
These children were bom to Edward Young
and wife, as follows: Lysander Franklin,
William Jasper, our subject; Julia Ann, de-
ceased; Letta Jane, deceased; James, de-
ceased; Harriet, deceased; Edward, living
in Minnesota ; Sarah also lives in Minnesota.
Sarah C. Duncan, mother of the subject,
was born July 22, 1808, and died November
9, 1886. She was a woman of many beau-
tiful traits of character.
The subject of this sketch worked on his
father's farm from the time he was old
enough to work, and he has followed farm-
ing all his life. In 1852 he came to his
present farm in luka township, Marion
county, having bought a part of it from the
government or state. At that time the for-
ests abounded in much wild game, such as
deer, wolves, wild turkey. He has seen
many a herd of deer from his cabin door.
He cleared up the land and now has a model
farm and modern farm buildings, all well
kept, and his home is nicely and comfort-
ably furnished. A glance over his well
tilled and well fenced fields is sufficient to
show that he is a man of thrift and rare
soundness of judgment. He has in all about
three hundred acres, but he now rents out
the land and is practically retired. He han-
dles some good stock of various varieties.
April 13, 1847, Mr. Young was united
in marriage with Sarah J. Songer, who was
born in Washington county, Indiana, Au-
gust 7, 1828, the daughter of Frederick and
Jane (Helm) Songer, natives of Virginia,
but they came to Washington county, In-
diana, when young and married there, and
in 1828 came to Clay county, Illinois, where
they lived for a time. In 1835 they came
to Marion county, settling in Omega town-
ship, where they farmed and where they
died. They were members of the Metho-
dist Episcopal church.
Eleven children have been born to the
subject and wife, namely: Amanda Elmira
died in childhood; Marcus D. married
Sarah Bobbett and they have two children.
Franklin and Ada; Mary E. is the wife of
George Cox, of Salem, Illinois; Emily El-
vina is the wife of William Robinson, a
farmer living in luka township, and she is
the mother of two children, Ernest Roy and
Flo; Eliza Alice, deceased, was the wife of
Perry Cox and she left two children. Wil-
liam Jasper and George; Jennie is the wife
of Grant Bumgarner, who lives in Texas;
Douglas married Irena Buffington and they
have two children, Charles and Ruth ; Paul
married Martha Criffield ; Fred married
Elva Wooden and thev have three children,
324
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Pearl. Winafred and Verl : the tenth and
eleventh children of the subject died un-
named.
Our subject has three great-grandchil-
dren. He and his good wife are now both
more than eighty years old and are remark-
ably bright and active people for their years
and considering the long years of hard work
they both have done. Their happy, pros-
perous and harmonious wedded life extends
over sixty years of time and they have cele-
brated their golden wedding anniversary.
They are among the highly respected and
prominent citizens of the county and greatly
admired and beloved by everyone who
knows them. Our subject is a loyal Demo-
crat. He and his wife are members of the
Methodist Episcopal church at luka. They
have always contributed liberally to church
work, also have helped out school work and
all kinds of public enterprises. Fraternally
Mr. Young has belonged to the Masons
since 1863.
Mr. Young was one of the brave and
patriotic supporters of the Union who of-
fered his services and his life in its
defense during the War of the Re-
bellion, having enlisted in Company
E, One Hundred and Eleventh Illi-
nois Volunteer Infantry, August 8, 1862,
and served in a most gallant manner until
the close of the war. He was mustered in
at Salem, Illinois, and mustered out in
Washington, District of Columbia, and dis-
charged at Springfield, Illinois. He was in
the Second Brigade, . Second Division, Fif-
teenth Army Corps, under General John A.
Logan. He first did post duty at Columbus,
Ohio, awhile, and then, in 1864, joined
Sherman in his campaign about Atlanta,
and wasi in the first battle of Resaca and in
the last battle of Shiloh. He also fought at
Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain and Atlanta; in
fact, he was in all the fighting around At-
lanta. The last hard fight he was in was at
Atlanta, Georgia. He was taken prisoner
in front of Atlanta July 22, 1864, and after
being transferred to various prisons in the
South for a period of seven months, was
finally paroled and later exchanged at Wil-
mington, North Carolina.
Mr. Young has always been a man of in-
dustry and he has honestly made what he
has, having been a hard worker and a good
manager. He has led a life of which no one
might be ashamed in any way, for it has
been one of sobriety and filled with good
deeds.
JUDGE JOHN S. STONECIPHER.
No history of Marion county could be
consistent with itself were there failure to
make specific mention of the honored pio-
neer family of which the subject of this
sketch is a worthy scion, and no better or
rnqre significant evidence as to the long
identification of the name with the annals of
this section of the state can be offered than
implied in the simple statement that the rec-
ord of this interesting and representative
family has been one of highest honor for a
period of sixty-five years to the time of this
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
325
writing. The subject has passed his entire
life in Marion county, and has ably upheld
the high prestige of the honored name which
he bears. He is one of the prominent and
influential representatives of the legal and
industrial world of the county, and it is with
much satisfaction that we offer in this work
a review of his genealogical and personal
history.
Judge John S. Stonecipher, like scores of
our best citizens in every line of endeavor,
was born on a farm, the old homestead be-
ing located about ten miles southeast of
Salem, his birth occurring on July 7, 1868.
His father was Samuel Stonecipher, a Ten-
nesseean who came to Marion county, Illi-
nois, about 1843, having successfully fol-
lowed agricultural pursuits and became a
man of considerable influence in his com-
munity. He here erected a primitive dwell-
ing which was the family domicile for a
number of years. The tales of the pioneer
days have been often told, and it is needless
to here recapitulate the same, for privations,
vicissitudes and strenuous labors of the early
settlers have been so recorded as to make
special mention superfluous, though it is well
in such connection to refer to those who
lived and labored so earnestly in laying the
foundation for the opulent prosperity which
marks this favored section of the state at
the present time. Samuel Stonecipher was
called from his earthly labors in 1898. while
living on a farm in Haines township, two
and one-half miles east of old Foxville. The
mother of our subject was Susan (Ross)
Stonecipher, also a native of Tennessee who
passed to her rest when Judge Stonecipher
was one and one-half years old. Eight chil-
dren were born to the union of Samuel and
Susan Stonecipher, four of whom are living
in 1908. These are, besides the subject of
this sketch, Alexander, a farmer in Haines
township, Marion county; Joseph C, a far-
mer in southeastern Kansas; M. C., a Pres-
byterian minister at Troy Grove, Illinois.
Samuel Stonecipher, father of the subject,
was three times married. His first wife was
a Miss Henderson ; the second a Miss Ross,
mother of the subject; and the third was
Mary Chance, who died three months after
her husband's death.
Grandfather Stonecipher reached almost
the unprecedented age of one hundred and
ten years. He was reared in Knox county,
Tennessee.
Judge Stonecipher was reared on the
parental farm, and after attending the
country schools he entered Ewing College
in Franklin county, Illinois, where he made
a brilliant record for both scholarship and
deportment, taking a two years' general
course. He then attended the Southern Illi-
nois Normal School for two years, and be-
gan teaching school, which he continued for
three successful terms, but believing that his
true life work lay in another channel he be-
gan reading law with Judge John B. Kagy,
of Salem. After reading law for one year
he attended the Valparaiso University, law
department, for one year, in which he made
rapid progress. He was admitted to the
bar at Salem in 1891 and began practice
soon afterward. His success was instanta-
326
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
neous, and his friends were not mistaken in
their prediction that the future held many
honors in store for him. He was early in
life singled out for political preferment and
served as Deputy Sheriff from 1889 to 1890,
while reading law. He has ably served two
terms as City Attorney of Salem, and was
Master in Chancery for four years, from
1896 to 1900, having first been appointed
by Judge Burroughs, and later by Judge
Dwight. In 1906 our subject had attained
such general popularity in the legal world
that he was elected Judge of Marion county
on the Democratic ticket in which capacity
he is still serving in 1908, with entire satis-
faction to his constituents and all concerned.
He was chairman of the Democratic County
Central Committee at the time of his elec-
tion to the judgeship. He was selected as
alternate to the Democratic national conven-
tion held in St. Louis in 1904. Having
become so well known in the political arena
of his native community the judge will
doubtless be honored by many other offices
of public trust by his party in the future.
Judge Stonecipher has been equally suc-
cessful in industrial affairs, being something
of a wizard in organizing, promoting and
carrying to successful issues various lines of
business, and it is due to his clear brain,
well grounded judgment and indomitable
energy that many of Marion county's suc-
cessful industrial institutions owe their ex-
istence. At present he is vice-president of
the Salem State Bank, president of the
Salem Box Company, the leading manufac-
turing enterprise of Salem; he is also trus-
tee of the Sandoval Coal and Mining Com-
pany, now bankrupt, a large and important
trusteeship. He is also a stockholder in the
Salem National Bank and a director of the
Salem Building and Loan Association. He
was chairman of the building committee that
built the new Methodist Episcopal church
in Salem, one of the finest in Illinois, and it
was largely due to his energy and keen busi-
ness sagacity that this handsome structure,
which will ever be a monument to his mem-
ory as well as a pride and splendid adver-
tisement to the city of Salem, assumed
definite form.
Fraternally Judge Stonecipher is a mem-
ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows, the Knights of Pythias and the
Woodmen. He has occupied the chairs in
the Odd Fellows, and his daily life would
indicate that he believes in carrying out the
noble precepts advocated by these praise-
worthy orders.
Judge Stonecipher's domestic life dates
from August 17, 1904, when he was hap-
pily married to Amy Bachman, the refined
and cultured daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A.
H. Bachman, the latter the well known and
influential president of the Salem National
Bank. Mrs. Stonecipher received a good
education, having applied herself diligently
to her educational work and the success of
her worthy life companion is due in no small
measure to the encouragement and sympa-
thy of this most estimable woman, who pre-
sides over her model and harmonious
household with grace and dignity.
Two bright and interesting children have
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
327
blessed the home of Mr. and Mrs. Stone-
cipher with cheer and sunshine. They are:
Frank G., born July 8, 1905, and Maude
Louise, born July 24, 1907.
Judge Stonecipher has been very success-
ful in both his business and political life. He
is regarded as a man of exceptional sound-
ness of judgment, and when his name is
connected with any business institution the
public knows that the same is sound and
does not hesitate to place its funds at his
disposal, whether it be in a banking institu-
tion or manufacturing enterprise.
J. E. CASTLE.
Those who belong to the respectable mid-
dle classes of society, being early taught the
necessity of relying upon their own exer-
tions, will be more apt to acquire that
information and those business habits which
alone can fit them for the discharge of life's
duties, and, indeed, it has long been a no-
ticeable fact that our great men in nearly
all walks of life in America spring from
this class. The subject of this sketch, whose
life history we herewith delineate is a worthy
representative of the class from which the
true noblemen of the Republic spring.
J. E. Castle was born in Gallipolis, Ohio,
in 1845, the son of George W. Castle, also
a native of the Buckeye state, where he was
born in Zanesville in that conspicuous year
in American history, 1812. He came to
Illinois with his family in 1861, settling at
Salem. By profession he was a contractor
and builder, but he was in the drug business
while in Salem, and was also interested in
farming, however, he did some contracting
here, and in all made a success, for he was
a man of much business ability. While a
resident of Ohio he was for some time a
Justice of the Peace, having always taken
considerable interest in political and public
affairs. He was called from his earthly la-
bors in 1872 after an active and useful life.
George Washington Castle was the sub-
ject's grandfather, of Irish ancestry. He
was loyal to the American government and
was a captain of a company in the War of
1812, having met his death while gallantly
leading a battalion of volunteers at Fort
Erie in 1812, the same year the father of
our subject was born, as already indicated.
The original Castle family is related to the
Newtons, a prominent and influential family
of Cincinnati, Ohio. Grandfather Castle's
family consisted of three children, two sons
and one daughter.
The mother of our subject was known in
her maidenhood as Eliza Bing, a native of
Gallia county, Ohio, her people being natives
of the Buckeye state. She was a woman of
many praiseworthy traits, and she was
united in marriage with George W. Castle
about 1832. She was called to her rest in
1858 while living at Gallipolis, Ohio. Six
children constituted the family of this
couple; of whom our subject is the only sur-
vivor. The names of these children follow
in order of their birth : Dr. W. H., who
died in St. Louis in 1882; Captain George
E., who died in Salem, Illinois, in 1887;
328
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Eva M., who died at Tonti, Marion county,
June 30, 1903 ; Dr. Charles E., who died at
Great Bend, Kansas, in 1897; John E. died
at Gallipolis, Ohio, in 1859, when eight
years old; J. E., our subject, was the fourth
in order of birth.
J. E. Castle spent his boyhood in Gal-
lipolis, Ohio, where he attended the public
schools and received in part a good educa-
tion, for he was always an ambitious lad and
applied himself in a commendable manner to
his text-books. He came to Salem, Illinois,
in 1 86 1, and in the spring of 1862, immedi-
ately after the battle of Shiloh, he enlisted
in the Union army, believing that it was the
duty of loyal citizens of the Republic to
sever home ties and do what they could in
saving the nation's integrity. He was in
the Fifteenth Army Corps under John A.
Logan, with General James Stewart Martin
in Company H, One Hundred and Eleventh
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, having been
sergeant of the company of which his
brother, George E. Castle, was captain. He
served with distinction in this regiment, the
operations of which is given in detail in the
sketch of General Martin in this work, until
the close of the war, and he passed in the
grand review in Washington City before
the President and all the generals of the
army. He brought home a Confederate
flag.
On June 27, 1864, the subject was in the
battle of Kenesaw Mountain when the whole
of Sherman's army charged the forces of
General Johnson entrenched on the moun-
tain.
He took part in two months of continuous
fighting about Atlanta, July 22 and 28,
1864, being memorable dates in that city's
history. On the first mentioned date, Gen-
eral McPherson was killed and on this date,
General James S. Martin, of Salem, was
made a brigadier general. On July 28th
was fought a desperate battle lasting all day,
on which day General Martin's line received
seven terrific charges and never moved a
foot. On August 3d another hard battle
was fought in the siege of Atlanta, when
Sherman's army escaped from Hood.
On August 3 ist the subject was in the
capture of Atlanta, after which he went with
Sherman on his march to the sea. On De-
cember 1 4th, following the battle at Fort
McAllister was fought and captured by
Hazen's division, which meant virtually the
capture of Savannah, as Johnson then evacu-
ated this place. The army then went on to
Hitton Head, South Carolina, and then Co-
lumbia, Couth Carolina, was captured. At
Fort McAllister our subject and his brother
captured a Confederate flag and many other
relics which they brought home.
After his career in the army Mr. Castle
returned to Salem and took a course in the
high school, after which he went to Wes-
leyan University at Delaware, Ohio, taking
a three years' course in the sciences and
making a brilliant record in the same. Upon
his return to Salem he went into the hard-
ware business in which he remained until
1878, building up an excellent trade in the
meantime. He then traveled for ten years
for the Champion Harvesting Machine
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
329
Company, giving entire satisfaction to this
company, the patronage of which he caused
to be greatly increased. Then, much to the
regret of his employers, he severed his con-
nection with the Champion people and en-
gaged with his brother, Captain George E.
Castle, in the cattle business in Southwest
Kansas, which enterprise was continued
with the most gratifying results up to the
time of the latter's death. Since then our
subject has been farming. He has an excel-
lent farm property which is kept in a high
state of improvement, and which yields a
comfortable income from year to year
through the skillful management of the sub-
ject. On this farm is to be found an ex-
cellent orchard of thirty acres, Mr. Castle
having been an enthusiastic horticulturist
for several years. He has a substantial
dwelling house and many convenient out
buildings on his farm which he oversees, but
does not live on.
The domestic life of Mr. Castle dates
from 1897 when he was united in marriage
with Arabella Whittaker, the refined and
affable daughter of R. H. Whittaker. The
parents of Mrs. Castle were both born in
Ireland. They came to Salem, Illinois, in
1852, the father of our subject's wife hav-
ing' been one of the civil engineers that sur-
veyed the route for the Baltimore & Ohio
Southwestern Railroad, at that time known
as the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad. R. H.
Whittaker passed away in June, 1889, at
Salem, his life companion having preceded
him to the silent land in 1881.
The subject's wife was the only child of
Mr. and Mrs. R. H. Whittaker. She is a
highly accomplished woman, well educated
and talented. She is an able and noted
teacher of both music and painting, being
the only art teacher in Salem. She is re-
garded by every one who has seen her work
as being a finished and accomplished artist
and she has a beautiful studio in connection
with her home. She reveres the memory of
her parents and likes to tell of the happy
days when R. H. Whittaker was station
agent for the Baltimore & Ohio Southwest-
ern road at Salem, which position he held
for several years. He was also fuel agent
for many years and had a wide acquaint-
ance among railroad men. He quit railroad
business several years before he died, and
engaged in the lumber business in Salem,
which he was engaged in at the time of his
death.
Mr. and Mrs. Castle have no children.
Mr. Castle is a member of the ancient and
honorable order of Masons, also the Knights
Templar and the Grand Army of the Re-
public. And Mr. and Mrs. Castle are both
ardent members of the Episcopal church.
Our subject was a member of the building
committee that erected the handsome new
edifice in Salem, and he takes a special in-
terest in all the affairs of this church.
In the modern, substantial and beautiful
home of Mr. and Mrs. Castle which stands
on Whittaker street in Salem, is to be found
many curios and relics, especially of the
Civil war. The beautiful art treasures of
Mrs. Castle are numerous, the walls being
hung with many excellent pictures, the han-
33
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTS, ILLINOIS.
divvork of Mrs. Castle, and their elegantly
furnished home is regarded as a place where
hospitality is always unstintingly dispensed.
WILLIAM L. DRAPAR.
Mr. Drapar has for many years been an
honored resident of Marion county, whose
interests he has ever had at heart, and who
has, while advancing' his own welfare done
much toward promulgating the civic, in-
dustrial and moral tone of the vicinity. His
career has been one of hard work and in-
tegrity, consequently he is deserving of the
respect in, which he is held by everyone.
\yilliam L. Drapar was bom in Fayette
county, Illinois, October 29, 1850, the son
of John B. Drapar, a native of Tennessee,
who came to Illinois when a mere lad, in
the days when the inhabitants wore buck-
skin breeches and when the forests abounded
in wild game and the hills and prairies were
overrun by the red men. Grandfather Dra-
par was also a native of Tennessee, who
brought his son. father of our subject, to
this state, settling in Fayette county. Grand-
father was a well known lawyer in his day
and served as Judge of Lafayette county.
Vandalia, the county seat, was then the
state capital. Judge Drapar, like most pio-
neer men, was the father of a large family,
he and his faithful life companion becoming
the parents of fifteen children, three pairs
of twins. He was a Jeffersonian Democrat
and a soldier in the Mexican war. He sub-
sequently moved to Salem where he was
called from his earthly labors at the age of
fifty-six years, and he was buried at Xenia,
Clay county.
John B. Drapar moved to Salem in 1856.
He was 1 a blacksmith of extraordinary skill,
and for some time drove a stage-coach on
the old Vandalia line. He enlisted in the
Union army during the Civil war, but never
saw service. He died about 1896.
The mother of the subject of this sketch
was known in her maidenhood as Jeanette
Abel, who was born in Bowling Green,
Kentucky, the representative of a South-
ern family of honorable repute. The
date of her birth occurred February 16,
1828, and she was summoned to join the
"choir invisible" in 1904, while living at
the home of our subject in Salem and she
is buried in the cemetery here. The follow-
ing children were born to Mr. and Mrs.
John B. Drapar: Margaret, widow of Eli-
sha Ledgerwood, who is living in the state
of Washington ; William L., our subject ;
Edwin, who died when four years old ; an
infant girl, deceased.
William L. Drapar, the subject of this
sketch, was reared in Salem where he re-
ceived the customary common school edu-
cation. At an early age he assisted his
father in a blacksmith shop. When twenty-
one he was thrown on his own- resources, but
l>eing a youth of indomitable energy and
courage, he went to work with a will and
has prospered all his subsequent life. He
went into the milling business in 1872 at
Salem and has been thus engaged since that
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
time, becoming known as one of the leading
milling men in this part of the state, having
been eminently successful in this enterprise
from the first. He worked for E. Hull,
father of Senator C. E. Hull, for eighteen
years. Since January, 1890, he has been
associated with Senator Hull in business, op-
erating the Salem Brick Mill, the style of
the firm being Hull & Drapar. The present
building which this firm occupies was
erected in 1860, but has since been remod-
eled into a modem and substantial build-
ing. They do a general milling business
and their products are known not only
throughout Marion county where they have
a very extensive trade, but all over this
part of the state and to remote sections of
this and other states.
Mr. Drapar was united in marriage first
in 1872 with Sarah J. Fair, whose parents
died when she was two years old and she
was reared by a family named Castle who
came to Salem from Ohio at the close of
the war. She was a woman of many com-
mendable traits of character, and to this
union the following interesting family was
born: Ira and Louie, twins, born July u,
1874. The first named is living in Holden-
ville, Oklahoma, where he is Assistant
Cashier of the Second National Bank. He
is also City Recorder of Holdenville. He is
a graduate of the Salem high school in
which he made a splendid record, and he
is also a graduate of the Flora Business
College. For three years he was manager
of a large lumber company in Oklahoma
in which state he is very popular. Louie
lives in Chicago where he has a responsible
position with the Santa Fe Railroad Com-
pany, which regards him as one of their
most faithful and trusted employes. Leslie,
the third child, was born July 28, 1878.
He is also a graduate of the Salem high
school. He is now living in New Mexico
in the employ of the Harvey Dining Service
Company. He has been a dining car con-
ductor for years. He had the distinction of
serving for one year as superintendent of
the dining service at Yale University. He
is an expert at this line of business and
has gained wide notoriety among the peo-
ple of this business. George, the fourth
child, was born November 12, 1882. He
holds the responsible position as cashier
and bookkeeper of the Sherman House in
Chicago. Babel, the winsome and accom-
plished daughter of the subject and wife,
was born March 5, 1890, and she is yet a
member of the family circle, keeping house
for her father.
Mrs. Drapar passed to her eternal rest
on August 15. 1894, after a useful and
beautiful life. Mr. Drapar was again mar-
ried on June 14, 1899, to Isabel Bell, daugh-
ter of Philo Bell, of Sumner. Illinois. Mr.
Bell was a stage driver on the old Vin-
cennes & St. Louis line before the Baltimore
& Ohio Railroad was built. This wife died
without issue May 3, 1907, of a paralytic
stroke. She was a woman of strong char-
acter and had many faithful friends.
Mr. Drapar has always taken consider-
able interest in political affairs. He served
as City Alderman for six years in a most
332
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
creditable manner. He was school director
for five years, during which time the local
schools felt a great impetus. He was tax
collector for one year, refusing to serve
longer, much to the regret of every one con-
cerned.
Fraternally, Mr. Drapar has been a mem-
ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fel-
lows since 1874, occupying all the chairs,
both Subordinate and Encampment. He
has attended the Grand Lodges regularly
for twenty-two years. He met with the
Sovereign Grand Lodge at St. Louis several
years ago. Mr. Drapar has been a mem-
ber of the Presbyterian church since a boy.
He belongs to that class of citizens who
by their support of the moral, political and
social status for the general good, promote
the real welfare of their respective commu-
nities.
HIRAM ORR.
Now that the summertime of life has
ended and the autumn winds of old age
have come, the subject of this review can
look backward over a career that has been
well spent, resulting in good to those whom
it touched and has brought comfort to him-
self.
Hiram Orr was bom in Licking county.
Ohio, December 16, 1828, the son of Zach-
ariah and Mary (Dusthimer) Orr, early
settlers of the Buckeye state, where it is
supposed they were bom. Zachariah was a
farmer, a Democrat, and a member of the
Baptist church. He passed away in Lick-
ing county, Ohio, in 1891, his wife having
died there at an earlier date. Six children
were born to them, namely: Robert, living
in Licking county, Ohio; Hiram, our sub-
ject; Sarah, deceased; John, who is living
in Kansas, a retired farmer; Cyrus, de-
ceased; Eliza, also deceased. Zachariah
was married a second time. When he died
he had accumulated quite a competency,
having been a very successful farmer.
Our subject remained at his parental
home, assisting with the work about the
place and attending the old pioneer schools
in cabins with puncheon floors and seats
and windows where greased paper was used
for panes, until he was twenty-one years
old. He has since added very much to the
rudiments of education he gained there by
systematic home reading and study, and
close observation. When of age Mr. Orr
decided to devote his life work to farming
and consequently bought a farm in his na-
tive county, having managed it in a most
successful manner until October i, 1868,
when he moved to Marion county, Illinois,
believing that still greater advantages ex-
isted here on the less crowded western
prairies than in the East and where land
was much cheaper, having sold his Ohio
farm at good figures.
Mr. Orr purchased two hundred and sev-
enty-four acres of land in Stevenson town-
ship on which he continuously lived, bring-
ing it up to a high state of improvement, in
fact, making it one of the "show" farms of
this locality, the fields being well fenced
JRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
333
and well drained and kept in first class pro-
ductive condition through the careful rota-
tion of crops and the application of home
fertilizers, and on this place may always be
found large numbers of all kinds of live
stock of the best grade, Mr. Orr having
ever taken a great interest in stock of vari-
ous kinds. A modern, substantial and nice-
ly furnished residence is owned by Mr. Orr
and good bams and outbuildings in gen-
eral are found about the place. Mr. Orr at
present rents most of his land, but still over-
sees it, keeping it up to the high standard
of former years.
In 1849 our subject was united in mar-
riage with Mary Basom, who was born in
Perry county, Ohio, about 1830, the
daughter of Joshua and Elizabeth Emery,
natives of New England. Three children
were born to this union, namely: Frances,
who is the wife of Peter M. Mechling, a
farmer living in Perry county, Ohio. They
are the parents of four children, namely:
Hiram Orvil, Bertha, Frank and Fred, the
last two twins; Martha, the second child of
our subject, is the wife of Marion Tolliver
Stevenson, who is living in Alma township,
Marion county, this state, and are the par-
ents of these children, Edgar, Mabel, Orin,
Roy, Edna, Claud and Lloyd. Edith, the
subject's third child, is the wife of John P.
Brubaker, who is also living in Alma town-
ship, being the mother of two children, Ha-
zel and Ada.
These children received all the home
training possible and were given good edu-
cations, each being well situated in life.
Mr. Orr is a staunch Democrat in his
political affiliation, although he has never
taken a very active part in public affairs.
He ably filled the position of School Director
and his support is always to be depended
upon in any issue having for its object
the betterment of the community in any
way. The subject and wife are kind, hos-
pitable and good natured, making all who
enter their home feel like they were among
friends.
JAMES B. PIGG.
Among the early representative farmers
and stock growers of Stevenson township,
Marion county, is the subject of this review,
who is the owner of a highly productive
farm and who is carrying on his business
with that discretion and energy which al-
ways make for definite success. He has
been a hard worker and has gained a sub-
stantial foothold in life not because of help
or influence of others but because he has
worked for it in a most diligent manner,
having overcome many obstacles that lie in
his life path that would have discouraged
the less courageous.
James B. Pigg was born in Lincoln
county, Tennessee, in February, 1835, the
son of James and Eliza (Brent) Pigg, who
were both natives of Virginia, however, they
lived the major portion of their lives in Ten-
nessee where they both died.
Our subject was reared on a farm in the
last named state and there received a meager
334
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
education in the public schools, however, he
has since become a well informed man being
well read on current topics. In 1860 he
came to Illinois, not caring to take part in
the forthcoming conflict between the states
and desiring to avoid it, consequently he
came north, away from the scene of active
hostilities. He first settled in Stevenson
township, and liking the locality so well he
decided to remain here, buying the farm
which he still owns.
His farm consists of forty acres of good
land which he has kept very productive and
well improved. It is well fenced and other-
wise presents the appearance of a well man-
aged place in every particular. He has a
good house, barn and out buildings and en-
joys a comfortable living, the place pro-
ducing excellent returns for the labor ex-
pended on it.
During the latter fifties our subject was
united in marriage with Martha J. Morton,
who is now deceased. Twelve children were
born to this union, namely : Eliza J., Mar-
garet, Robert, William, Henderson, who is
now superintendent of the Marion county
poor farm. He is single, a Democrat and
a prominent young man, bearing an excel-
lent reputation, as, indeed, does the rest of
the family. Elizabeth is the sixth child of
the subject. Thomas, Joseph, Nettie, John,
the other children dying in infancy.
Mr. Pigg was married a second time, his
last wife being Mary Stephens, who was
born in Missouri.
This is a happy family and all work to
each other's interest. They are fairly well
situated in reference to this world's affairs
and all give promise of happy and successful
futures. They have received fairly good
common school educations in their native
community.
Mr. Pigg is a loyal Democrat and he has
always been interested in his party's affairs,
giving his time and influence to promote
the welfare of his community in political,
educational and moral affairs. He has
served very acceptably as school director of
his district. Our subject was at one time
a member of the Independent Order of Odd
Fellows, but now affiliates with no lodge.
NATHANIEL G. HUFF.
The subject of this sketch has long
been identified with the progress and ad-
vancement of this favored section of the
great Prairie state, where he has maintained
his home for more, than the Psalmist's al-
lotted three score years, having been born
within her borders, having spent his long,
active and useful life here and where he
has attained gratifying success in connection
with the development of its resources, being
one of the representative farmers and stock
growers in Stevenson township and having
one of the most productive landed estates in
this part of the county.
Nathaniel G. Huff was born in Stevenson
township, this county, February 6, 1841, the
son of William H., Sr., and Mary A.
(Crane) Huff, the former a native of Vir-
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
335
ginia and the latter of Kentucky. The sub-
ject's grandfather was Samuel Huff, also
a native of Virginia who later removed to
Tennessee and finally came to Marion
county, Illinois, settling among the pioneers
on government land on what is now Rac-
coon township. He later moved to Haines
township, where he cleared land and made
a comfortable home, spending the rest of
his days there. Leonard Huff was the
great-grandfather of the subject. He was
born in Germany and came to America in a
very early day, settling in Pennsylvania
where he spent his life and where he died.
Mary A. Crane, our subject's mother, was
the daughter of William Crane, who was a
native of Virginia, having lived and died in
Kentucky. William Huff, father of oufl
subject, was raised in Tennessee and spent
several years in Mississippi and Alabama.
About April 22, 1840, he came to Marion
county, Illinois, where he married and
where he purchased four hundred acres of
wild land in what is now Stevenson town-
ship, spending the remainder of his useful
and very busy life here, dying March 10,
1863. His widow, a much beloved old lady
of fine Christian character, is still living.
William Huff was regarded as a successful
farmer. He joined the Christian church
sometime prior to his death. He was twice
married, his first wife having been Nancy
Dukes, whom he married in Mississippi.
She died leaving one child, William H., Jr.
He married Mary Crane April 22, 1840.
Eleven children were born to this union,
namely: Nathaniel G., our subject; Benja-
min F., deceased; Andrew J., deceased;
James K. and George M. Dallis, twins, are
both living; Joshua is living in this state
at Jacksonville; Marj J. is the wife of Wil-
liam Brasel; Henderson P. lives in Steven-
son township; Harriet C. is the wife of Wil-
liam Porter Gaston ; Virginia is the wife of
John B. Brasel ; Steven A. is deceased.
The subject of this sketch spent his youth
on his father's farm, having remained under
the parental roof-tree until he reached man-
hood. He was educated in the old subscrip-
tion schools and having applied himself in a
diligent manner received a fairly good edu-
cation. His father gave him a piece of land
in this township which he at once set about
improving, but which he sold in 1868 and
bought his present fine farm of one hun-
dred and seventy-eight acres, which lies in
section 30, Stevenson township, and section
25, Salem township. It was almost all in
the woods when he took possession of it,
but he has been a hard worker and has im-
proved the place up to its present high state
of efficiency, having been enabled from year
to year to reap bounteous harvests from the
same through his skillful manipulation of
crops. He did most of the work in con-
nection with his place himself, and also on
his buildings, having an excellent and well
furnished house and a good barn. Every
thing about the place shows thrift and pros-
perity and his farm is regarded as one of
the most desirable in Stevenson township.
Our subject's first marriage was in 1862
to Julia A. Hill, a native of Marion county,
and eight children were born to this union.
336
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
namely: Thomas, who lives in Stevenson
township, married Orela Cutchin; Viola is
living at Jacksonville, Illinois ; William mar-
ried Frankie Evans and resides in Salem
township; Seymour, who is living in .Salem
township, married Elizabeth Guth ; Mary A.
is deceased; Laura is single and resides in
Jacksonville; Osceola, who is living in
Flora, this state, married Maggie Babb ; Au-
gustus L. married May Stone and lives in
Eureka, Illinois, being a minister of the
Christian church.
The subject's second marriage was
solemnized November 8, 1885, to Martha
E. Mercer, a native of Marion county and
the daughter of Silas and Rebecca Mercer,
early settlers in Marion county. The sub-
ject has sixteen grandchildren and five chil-
dren dead. He has two great-grandchil-
dren. The subject and wife are members of
the Christian church at old Mt. Maria, the
first church organized in Marion county.
The subject is a Jeffersonian Democrat, but
is not a Bryan Democrat, believing that the
old school democracy is preferable to the
new. He filled the office of Justice of the
Peace in a most able manner for a period
of eighteen years.
Mr. Huff has in his possession an old
squirrel rifle over one hundred years old
which belonged to his father. It has killed
over one hundred deer and bear. He also
has the old powder-horn and shot pouch
which his father carried. Mr. Huff has a
note made in payment for a clock which
was given him by his father-in-law. He
also still has the clock. He has among other
relics of the past a spinning-wheel and a
Southern dagger, which was discovered in
a layer of cane.
WILLIAM GILLHAM WILSON.
The subject of this sketch occupies today
a prominent position in the professional
world of Marion and adjoining counties and
he deserves all the more credit for this from
the fact that he started out in life practically
empty handed, therefore has been the archi-
tect of his own fortunes, relying almost sole-
ly upon his own resources for the start
which he had and for the success which he
has achieved. In an analyzation of his char-
acter we find many elements worthy of com -
mendation and emulation. He did not seek
for fortune's favors, but set out to win them
by honest work, and the success which ever
crowns earnest, honest toil is today his, and
he easily stands in the front rank of attor-
neys in this locality, which has long been
noted for its high legal talent, and while yet
a young man, vigorous and in the zenith of
his mental and physical powers, he is rap-
idly winning his way to a position of much
credit and significance in the great common-
wealth which he can claim as his native land ,
and while winning his way gradually up
the steeps to individual success he has not
neglected his duties to his fellow citizens,
but has benefited very materially the com-
munity is which he lives in many ways,
thereby winning and retaining the well mer-
ited esteem of all classes.
''UNO/
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
337
William G. Wilson was born in Madison
county, Illinois, in 1872, the son of John C.
and Elizabeth (Gillham) Wilson. The Wil-
son family has long been prominent and in-
fluential in that part of the state. Grand-
father John Wilson was born in Pennsyl-
vania, but came to Pike county, Ohio, set-
tling on a farm, later coming to Marion
county, Illinois, in 1846, taking up one thou-
sand and eight hundred acres of land on the
prairie, which he developed until it became
very valuable, still holding it at the time of
his death, which occurred when he had
reached the advanced age of eighty-nine.
Both Mr. and Mrs. John Wilson were mem-
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church. The
latter is supposed to have come from Ken-
tucky. They were the parents of a large
family. Mr. Wilson was Justice of the
Peace for some time.
John C. Wilson, father of the subject, was
born in Pike county, Ohio, and there re-
ceived his early education in a log school-
house of pioneer days. Leaving the Buck-
eye state he came to Illinois, settling in Ma-
rion county in 1852, entering land from the
government. He had about seven hundred
acres of good prairie land, which he devel-
oped into a valuable farm and which is now
known as the John C. Wilson farm. Here
our subject's father lived until his death,
which occurred at the age of seventy-seven
years. He was a man of many sterling traits
of character and bore an excellent reputa-
tion. Both he and his faithful life companion
were members of the Methodist Episcopal
church.
22
Grandfather Gillham came from the At-
lantic coast country and settled in Madison
county, Illinois, during the earliest epoch of
the pioneer days, before the state was ad-
mitted to the Union, and when wild beasts
and red men roamed the hills and prairies.
He remained there until his death. In that
locality the subject's mother was reared and
was married there in the early sixties. She
came to Marion county. The father was
twice married, the name of his first wife
being Hults. Eight children were born to
this union. She passed to her rest in the
fifties. The subject's mother was John C.
Wilson's second wife, who bore him seven
children, four of whom lived to maturity.
The mother is living in 1908, at the age of
seventy-four years. She is a woman of many
fine personal traits and beautiful Christian
character.
William G. Wilson, our subject, first at-
tended the district schools in Marion coun-
ty, working on his father's farm in the mean-
time. Being ambitious and a diligent stu-
dent, he received a good common school ed-
ucation. Leaving the public schools when
nineteen years old he entered Austin College
at Effingham, Illinois, where he made a bril-
liant record for scholarship, standing high
in his class.
After leaving school he taught school for
five years, devoting five years also to teach-
ing in Champaign county, this state, where
he became widely known as an able instruc-
tor and where his services were in great de-
mand. But, believing that his true life work
lay along other channels, he began the study
338
iiKIXKKRHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
of law with Schaefer Rhodes, of Cham-
paign, under whose instruction he made
rapid progress. He was then admitted to
practice at Alt. Vernon, Illinois. Mr. Wil-
son then began practice at Kinmundy, be-
ing remarkably successful from the first, and
it was plain to be seen that an attorney of
unusual sagacity and innate ability had risen
to command the attention of that part of the
state. He has remained in practice at this
place since that time with the most gratify-
ing results, having frequently been called to
other localities on important cases. He is
cool and calculating, never erring in his le-
gal proceedings, whether handling a civil or
criminal suit, and he stands high in the esti-
mation not only of the public but the legal
profession throughout this part of Illinois.
Mr. Wilson was happily married April 7,
1896, to Mollie Poole, a native of this
county and the representative of a prominent
and influential family, being the daughter of
Abraham and Martha (Malone) Poole. Mr.
Poole was born and reared in Marion coun-
ty. He was a soldier in the Civil war, being
a member of the One Hundred and Eleventh
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, receiving an
honorable discharge after serving for three
years.
Four bright and interesting children have
been born to our subject and wife as fol-
lows: Basil, born August 7, 1897, who is at-
tending the public schools in 1908; Russell
was born October 22, 1899; Ruth was born
June 14, 1904: Byron first saw the light
January n, 1906.
The beautiful and nicely furnished
home of the subject is presided over with
rare grace and dignity by Mrs. Wilson, a
woman of many commendable attributes,
who delights in giving her children every
care and attention.
Fraternally our subject is affiliated with
the Masonic Order and the Independent Or-
der of Odd Fellows, having passed through
the chairs of the latter lodge. In politics he
is a loyal Republican, and he at one time per-
formed the duties of Police Magistrate, with
much credit to himself and with much satis-
faction to all concerned. He was also Tax
Collector.
Mr. Wilson belongs to the class of citi-
zens whose lives do not show any meteoric
effects, but who by their support of the mor-
al, political and social status for the general
good, promote the real welfare of their re-
spective communities and are therefore de-
serving of honorable mention on the pages
of history.
HAZEL G. GAINES.
Hazel G. Gaines was born in Tennessee,
January 12, 1830, the son of Henry and
Mariah (Bigers) Gaines, natives of Ten-
nessee, who came to Illinois, locating in
Marion county in 1852, where he purchased
new land and made a home and where he
died. The subject's mother was a member
of the Christian church. In their family
were eight children, all now deceased with
the exception of the subject of this sketch,
one brother and two sisters, namely : Henri-
etta, Anna and Zachariah.
Our subject received a common school
5RINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
339
education in Tennessee and Illinois. He
rented land at home and began farming
early in life, having been a young man when
he came to Marion county. He was soon
practically the head of the family, his father
having passed away soon after establishing
himself in the new country, and the subject's
mother did not long survive him; but our
subject early evinced those sterling qualities
of heart and head that always make for
success, and he did well whatever duty fell
to his lot, never complaining at the obstacles
and hardships.
In 1859 Mr. Gaines was united in mar-
riage to Chamila Tracy, the representative
of an excellent family. After a harmonious
married life of over forty years she passed
to her rest in the nineties, after having be-
come the mother of four children, named
in order of birth as follows : Henry, John,
Alice and Mary, all deceased.
Our subject owned the homestead, having
purchased it himself, and he still owns it.
having at present a splendid farm of over
one hundred acres, which he has improved
until it is in fine productive condition. The
fields are well fenced and well drained, and
a comfortable dwelling, surrounded by con-
venient outbuildings are to be found on the
place. The subject handles some good stock
from time to time, preparing them for the
market, feeding much of his corn on the
place and carrying on a general farming
business. He delights to tell of the develop-
ment he has noted in this community since
his family made the trip from Tennessee
here, coming overland by wagon to a coun-
try new and open. He still lives on the old
place, keeping someone there to look after
the household and other affairs.
Mr. Gaines has done much for the public
and the general development of the com-
munity, ever being ready to aid in any way
he could all causes looking to the county's
development whether in a material, civic,
educational or moral way. Although he has
always been a loyal Democrat, he has never
aspired to offices of trust and emolument at
the hands of the public, and now he is spend-
ing the evening of his life in quiet and
plenty, having, by habits of economy and
industry laid up an ample competency for
his old age. His family have all gone to
the other shore and left him alone, but not
necessarily lonely, for he can look forward
to a time of reuniting beyond the grave and
he can look backward on a life well and hon-
orably spent, in which there was no evil or
wanton wickedness, a life of much hard
work, but not by any means devoid of com-
fort and pleasure.
DANIEL S. HOLSTLAW.
It is with a degree of satisfaction that the
biographer has an opportunity at this junc-
ture to write the following biographical
memoir of the well remembered citizen,
whose name appears above, now deceased,
who was for many years prominent in the
affairs of Marion county, for the readers of
this book will doubtless gain inspiration
340
INKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
from perusing these paragraphs to lead
more industrious, kindlier and worthier
lives, seeing what the life of the subject ac-
complished not only individually but gen-
erically, affecting the whole community in
an uplifting manner. He came to this sec-
tion of the state in pioneer times and he
assisted in bringing about the transforma-
tion of the county in the wild condition in
which it was found at the time of his ar-
rival to its later-day progress and improve-
ment.
Daniel S. Holstlaw was born in Barren
county, Kentucky, November 15, 1813, the
son of Richard and Mary (Smith) Hoist-
law, the former a native of Virginia, who
came in an early day to Indiana, settling
in Orange county and later came to Marion
county, Illinois, in 1830. Richard Holtslaw
took up government land and set about
making a farm of his holdings with very
flattering prospects ahead of him, but his
life was brought to a close August 18, 1834,
at the age of forty-six years. Mary, his wife,
continued to live on the farm where she
reared the children and made a comfortable
living, being a woman of many sterling
traits and of indomitable courage. Their
children were eight in number, seven of
whom grew to maturity and named in order
of birth as follows : Henry E., Daniel S., our
subject; Lucinda, John Andrew, Elizabeth
Ann, Malinda H., and Richard V. All of
these children have now joined their parents
in the eternal sleep of the just.
Daniel S. Holstlaw was sixteen years of
age when he came to Illinois and located in
what is now known as Stevenson township,
where he spent the remainder of his long,
busy and useful life, having been called to
his reward by the Shepherd who giveth his
beloved sleep, on December 2, 1905, con-
scious of the fact that his life had not been
lived in vain ; that he had fought a good
fight and kept the faith, as did the great
Apostle, Saint Paul, in the days of our
Saviour, and that there was laid up for him
a reward in the Father's house which was
not made with hands.
Mr. Holstlaw upon coming to this county
bought a claim, having that rare foresight
and sagacity that penetrated into the future
years, bringing them within his horoscope,
and which enabled him to see the great pos-
sibilities that lie ahead. This first pur-
chase was added to from time to time until
he owned a large tract of land, which, un-
der his able management was developed into
one of the best, most productive and most
highly improved farms in 'this locality. He
was a hard worker, and, believing that it
was his duty as well as his privilege to eat
his bread by the sweat of his brow, never
ignored any task that he found awaiting
disposition at his hands. He split the rails
that fenced his land and also put up a log
house, and, infact, did the usual work of the
pioneer. But having prospered by reason
of his indomitable energy and good man-
agement he was soon enabled to erect a
more substantial nine room house, which
was comfortable, cozy and well arranged,
and in which the family now resides.
The subject was a faithful member of
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
34i
the Methodist Episcopal church and a lib-
eral supporter of the same ; he and his
worthy life companion both having- pro-
fessed religion the same night at a camp
meeting held on Tennessee Prairie. In 1862,
when the local Methodist church with
which they were affiliated was divided up-
on the question which precipitated the
Civil war this intensely religious couple
united with the Cumberland Presbyterian
church in which the subject remained an ac-
tive and faithful member until his death.
Our subject was a staunch Democrat and
took considerable interest in political af-
fairs, having had the interest of his commu-
nity at heart and lending his support at all
times to whatever proposition that present-
ed itself looking to the betterment of the
community whether in a political, educa-
tional, religious or moral sense. He was
school director at one time and materially
aided the local public school through his
advice, counsel and influence.
Mr. Holstlaw was united in marriage
with Ruth W. Middleton on June 9, 1836.
She was a native of what later became
Campbell county, Tennessee, and the rep-
resentative of an influential old family,
the date of her birth falling on Janu-
ary 23, 1819, the daughter of Wil-
liam and Sarah J. (Harris) Middleton,
the former a native of Virginia and the
latter of South Carolina. After their mar-
riage they moved to Tennessee and in 1831
came to Marion county. Illinois, locating
three miles east of Itika, in what is now
luka township. They were sterling pio-
neers and made a most comfortable living
in the new country where they became
known as honest, hard-working- people.
Their family consisted of fourteen children,
named in order of birth, as follows:
Thomas L., Lydia P., Harvey, William H.,
Elizabeth, John B., Joel, Martha, Jane, Sa-
rah, James A., Josephus W., Ruth W., the
wife of our subject; Lucy and Dicy E.
Mr. Middleton was a local preacher in
the Methodist Episcopal. church, having be-
come well known as an able expounder of
the Gospel and doing a vast amount of good
in his work here. His wife was also a
faithful worker in this church.
To our subject and wife eleven children
were born, six sons and five daughters,
named in order of birth as follows : Richard
J., who was first married to Mary A. Jag-
ger, and later to Rachel Berry; John H.,
who married Lucy Downing ; Thomas, who
married Aleatha E. Kite; Hattie, who is
living at home; Mary is also a member of
the home circle at this writing, 1908;
Sarah became the wife of Omer Squibb;
Daniel W., married Clara Stevenson; Joel
W., married Lucretia Stevenson; Ruth
Emma is the wife of Daniel Crayton Ste-
venson; Marion C. married Lelian Bru-
baker; Martha A. is single and living at
home: the last two children named are
twins.
The widow of our subject, a gracious old
lady of beautiful Christian character and
praiseworthy attributes, is living 011 the old
homestead, being idolized by her children,
and much admired and loved bv a host of
342
BRINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
friends. Many are the homes in the sur-
rounding country where she has nursed the
sick and brought sunshine and happiness.
She takes a great interest in the lives of her
children, her eighteen grandchildren and
eighteen great-grandchildren. On the old
home place, which is still well kept and in
an excellent productive state, live three of
the daughters with their beloved mother,
the family being well known in Stevenson
township and highly respected by all. In
this home are to be found many old and in-
teresting relics of the pioneer days, such as
spinning wheels and machines for spinning
flax, and many similar things.
MILTON CUTCHIN.
The memory of the worthy subject of
this memorial biography is revered by a
host of friends and acquaintances among
whom he labored and who had occasion to
know of his personal excellencies of char-
acter, having spent his energies through a
long life of endeavor not alone for his own
aggrandizement, but for the good of those
with whom he came in contact as well, oft-
en striving to make people better and hap-
pier even at the neglect of his own com-
forts and well-being. Such a life as that
of our subject is not met with every day,
and it is therefore eminently worthy of em-
ulation, having been singularly free from
all that is deteriorating or paltry.
Milton Cutchin was born in Tennessee,
June i, 1828, the son of Lemuel R., and
Jane (Drenen) Cutchin, the former a na-
tive of Tennessee, who came to Marion
county, Illinois, about 1832, being among
the pioneers of that period who have done
so much for subsequent civilization. His
mother died in Tennessee before her hus-
band, Lemuel R. Cutchin, started for Il-
linois.
The subject's father took up government
land in Marion county which he developed
into a good farm, making a comfortable
living on the same. He was a member of
the Christian church, and a Democrat in
his political belief. He was the father of
three children by his first wife, namely :
Milton, our subject ; Leander, Susan, all
three now deceased. The second wife of
Lemuel R. Cutchin was Mary Waldron, by
whom the following children were born :
William, Jackson, Martin, Mary and Ann.
Milton Cutchin, subject of this sketch,
was only four years of age when the family
came to Marion county, Illinois. The trip
from Tennessee was made in wagons and
there was much difficulty in fording the
unbridged streams and passing through the
woods and along the poorly constructed
roads. Our subject was reared on a farm
where he did his share of the work, in the
meantime attending the district schools,
such as those early times afforded, but he
applied himself in a diligent manner and re-
ceived a fairly good education. He de-
voted his life work to farming at which he
was reasonably successful, making a good
living for his family and leaving a valuable
farm as an estate.
BRIXKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
343
In 1849 Milton Cutchin was married to
Ruth M. Jones, who was born in Bloom-
ington, Indiana, in 1832, the daughter of
Jeremiah S. and Savilla (Marshall) Jones,
the father having been born in North Caro-
lina, and the mother in Kentucky. They
were among the early settlers of Greene
county, Indiana, who came on to Marion
county, Illinois, in 1840, and here the par-
ents of the subject's wife spent the remain-
der of their lives, rearing seven children,
whose names are herewith appended : John,
Susan, David. Elizabeth. Ruth. Sarah and
Hubbard. The Jones family belong to the
Methodist church.
Thirteen children were born to the sub-
ject and wife, six of whom died in infancy.
Those who survived are William, Emmett,
Florida, Florence, Orella, Frank and Fred.
They received fairly good common school
educations and are well started on the high-
way of success and happiness, following as
nearly as they can the worthy example of
the father, who was scrupulously honest, a
man of integrity, industry and kindness in
all his dealings with his fellow men, there-
by winning their loyal friendship.
The widow of Milton Cutchin resides on
the old home farm which consists of eighty
acres of valuable and well tilled land, lo-
cated in Stevenson township. The house,
barn and other buildings on the place are
kept in good condition and are convenient
and comfortable. Our subject was a faith-
ful member of the Christian church, of
which denomination Mrs. Cutchin is also a
member, being a good Christian woman and
highly esteemed in her community for her
many praiseworthy traits of character and
her kindness and hospitality.
Mr. Cutchin was one of the loyal de-
fenders of the Union during the Mexican
war, having been a gallant soldier and
never flinched from his duties on the battle-
field, having made a splendid record.
JACOB BRUBAKER.
It is not the intention of the biographer
to give in this connection a detailed history
of the subject's life, but rather to note inci-
dentally his connection with the various
enterprises with which his name has been
linked and to show the marked influence he
wielded in advancing the interests of Ste-
venson township, Marion county.
Jacob Brubaker was born in Fairfield
county, Ohio, in 1825, the son of Abraham
Brubaker, a native of the Buckeye state as
was also his wife who was known in her
maidenhood as Elizabeth Myers. They
came to Marion county, Illinois, in 1842
and took up government land and remained
here the balance of their lives. Abraham
was a man of influence in his community.
He passed away March 10. 1854, and his
faithful life companion joined him Febru-
ary 3, 1867. The number of children born
to them was six.
Jacob Brubaker, our subject, came to Illi-
nois with his parents when he was sixteen
344
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
years of age and received his education in
the pioneer schools where the advantages
were very limited and the terms lasted only
a few months out of each year, but he ap-
plied himself as best he could and laid the
foundation for a good mental development
which he later received by home reading and
personal observation.
Mr. Brubaker was united in marriage to
Jane Davis, who was born in Virginia.
She was taken to Pennsylvania when two
years of age and reared there, later coming
to Illinois when she had reached maturity,
remaining in this state until her earthly la-
bors closed in 1895. She was a good
woman, kind and gentle of disposition, and
in her religious affiliations was a member
of the Presbyterian church. Ten children
were born to Jacob and Jane Brubaker,
named in order of their birth as follows:
Clifford, who lives in Stevenson township
on a farm ; Lillie is the wife of M. C. Hoist-
law, a farmer of Stevenson township; Ella
is single; John is a farmer living in Alma
township, this county; Walter, who was
born February 7, 1864, lives on a farm in
Stevenson township. He was reared on a
farm and in 1887 went to Colorado, but
returned to this county and married Laura
Rodgers, a native of Marion county. He
has one hundred and forty acres of good
land and he is regarded as an excellent
farmer and neighbor. He is the father of
one child, Blanche. Frank is the name of
the sixth child of our subject, who is liv-
ing on a farm in Stevenson township; Anna
is the wife of Charles Craig, a farmer on
the old Brubaker homestead; Herman is a
farmer in luka township; the ninth and
tenth child died in infancy.
Jacob Brubaker, after an eminently use-
ful and active life, passed to his rest on June
30, 1908, lamented by a host of friends who
regarded him as one of the leading men of
the community and who will greatly miss
him. In politics he was a Democrat and
he served as school director of Stevenson
township. He was known as a loyal citizen
and a good man.
NOAH BRUBAKER.
We now take under review one of the
sterling citizens of Stevenson township,
Marion county, where he has resided for
over a half a century and where his life has
been spent in such a manner as to gain him
an ample competence. Mr. Brubaker is one
of the successful farmers in this community,
where he owns an attractive farm, having so
conducted his business affairs as to bring
success to himself, comfort to his family and
good to the community.
Noah Brubaker was born in Fairneld
county, Ohio, June 26, 1824, the son of
Abraham and Elizabeth (Myers) Brubaker,
the latter a native of Lancaster county,
Pennsylvania, the former a native of Rock-
ingham county, Virginia. They both went
to Ohio early in life, were married there and
in 1842 came to .Marion county, Illinois,
and took up government land, about seven
BRINKERHOFFS HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
345
eighties in all, and at once set about trans-
forming a part of this land into a home.
Useless to say that it gradually grew to be
very valuable property. He was able to
give all his children a farm and a good
home. He passed away in 1854, his widow
having survived him until 1867. She was a
member of the Cumberland Presbyterian
church. Abraham was a stanch Democrat
and a well known and influential man in his
community. In his family were the follow-
ing six children : Eli, deceased ; Lydia, de-
ceased; Noah, our subject; Jacob, deceased;
Susan, deceased ; Amy, deceased ; our sub-
ject being the only one of the six children
now alive.
The subject of this sketch was eighteen
years old when the family came to Illinois,
and he well remembers making the trip in
wagons, having camped out a part of the
way, having difficulty in crossing some of
the streams and passing some of the roads.
They erected a log house after locating here
and began life as the pioneers who had pre-
ceded them to other parts of this locality.
Noah Brubaker was educated in the pio-
neer schools of that time, which he attended
in Ohio and received what education he
could under the primitive conditions. After
coming to Illinois he helped clear up the
land upon which the family settled, having
done a great deal of hard work. He has
spent his entire life on the farm and has
therefore mastered the modern methods of
agriculture. He has been thrifty and always
worked hard, consequently he accumulated
enough to purchase the excellent farm where
lie new resides, which consists of three hun-
dred and ten acres. It is under a high state
of cultivation and has been highly improved
in every respect, the crops having been so
rotated as to preserve the original strength
of the soil and as a result great harvests are
reaped from the fields year after year with
no appreciable weakening of the soil.
He has a good residence, barns and out
buildings, a fine orchard and keeps good
stock of various kinds which form no small
part of his yearly income.
Our subject's married life dates from
1848, when he was united in the bonds of
wedlock with Catherine Hite, who was born
in 1829, in Fairfield county, Ohio, the
daughter of Andrew and Catherine Hite.
Thirteen children have been born to the sub-
ject and wife, three of whom died unnamed.
The others are: Oliver, a farmer living in
Kansas, who married Millie Burris; Alice,
who has been twice married, first to Alfred
Brainard and second to H. A. Whitney, and
she is living at Carbondale, Illinois; Lee
married Malinda Vangelder, living in Ste-
venson township; Leslie, a farmer living in
Florida, married Helen Boyton; Ross, a
farmer living in Oklahoma, married Ida Mc-
Ilwayne; Noah V., a farmer, also living in
Oklahoma, married Stella Crippin; Min-
nie is the wife of W. A. Kniseley,
and is living in Omega township on
a farm; Ruth is the wife of O. D.
Fulton, a salesman, who lives in Phoenix,
Arizona; Arthur, who is living on the old
home farm, married Delia Garner; Andrew,
who is also living on the home farm, mar-
346
3RINKERHOFF'S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
ried Ella \Yhite. The subject of this
sketch has forty-six grandchildren and sev-
enteen great-grandchildren. Following are
subject's grandchildren : Those born to
Minnie (Mrs. Kniseley) are. Noah, LeRoy,
Scott, Ethel. Those born to Ruth (Mrs.
Fulton) are, Lucile and Eugene. Those
born to Arthur and wife are, Opal. Doug-
las. Eli Guy, Grace E. Denby, Lloyd. Those
born to Andrew and wife are, Merl, Cath-
erine. Ernest, Lawrence, Paul and Donald.
Oliver's Fred Brubaker, Roy Brubaker,
Alice Brubaker; Alice's E. A. Brainard, S.
L. Brainard, Alice Brainard-Bowman, Jessie
Brainard-Burkhart ; Lee's children Clar-
ence Brubaker, Grace Brubaker, Noah Bru-
baker, Maud Brubaker-Garges, Bryan Bru-
baker, Nellie Brubaker; Leslie's Oren
Brubaker, Eva Brubaker-Sheahan, Carl
Brubaker, Ona Brubaker, Emma Brubaker,
Emil Brubaker, Carmen Brubaker, Pearl
Brubaker, Ouention Brubaker; Ross' chil-
dren Merl Brubaker, Ralph Brubaker, Or-
ville Brubaker and Charlie Brubaker; Van's
Bruce Brubaker. Pearl B. Brubaker, Bon-
nie Laura Brubaker.
The great-grandchildren are : Roy has one
child; Ernest's Alfred Brainard, Lillian
Brainard, Louise Brainard and Herschel
Brainard ; Pearl's Brainard Bowman,
Alice E. Bowman; Stewart's Alice E.
Brainard ; Clarence's Pauline Brubaker
and Max Brubaker ; Eva's Helen Shea-
han; Bruce's Nellie May Brubaker.
The subject is a member of the Cumber-
land Presbyterian church, while his wife is
a member of the Baptist church. The for-
mer is a Democrat and was an efficient
Justice of the Peace for a period of twelve
years, and served in a most faithful man-
ner as Supervisor for one year, also school
Director and School Trustee. He has always
been anxious to see his county develop along
all lines of improvements.
NOAH R. STEVENSON.
In taking up the review of the life of the
gentleman whose name appears above, who
is one of the honored pioneer farmers of
Stevenson township, Marion county, the
biographer calls attention to one who has
by a life of earnest and consecutive en-
deavor won for himself the respect of all
who have come in contact with him. While
there are no startling incidents in the life
story of Mr. Stevenson as here outlined, it
is the record of a life true to its highest
ideals.
Noah R. Stevenson was born in Fairfield
county, Ohio, April 21, 1835, the son of
Mordica and Elner (Combs) Stevenson,
both natives of Maryland, the former be-
ing the son of Daniel A. Stevenson, a native
of Maryland and a pioneer settler of Fair-
field county. Ohio, where he entered gov-
ernment land comprising two sections.
Elner Combs was the daughter of John A.
Combs, a native of Maryland who settled
in Fairfield county, Ohio, among the pio-
neers. Mordica Stevenson first married Re-
becca Comer, who was the mother of six
children, namely: Daniel, Samuel, Joseph,
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
347
Elizabeth, Belle, Ruth, all now deceased.
The following children were bom to Mor-
dica's union with Elner Combs: Noah, the
subject of this sketch : William, deceased :
Rebecca, deceased ; David, a minister in the
United Brethren church ; Franklin, who is
still living. Prior to her marriage with Mr.
Stevenson, Elner Combs married John
Henthorn, becoming the mother of one son,
John, who is deceased. The parents of the
subject in their religious affiliations were
members of the Hard-Shell Baptist church.
Mordica Stevenson was a Democrat and
took an active interest in political affairs.
He was a man of much native ability and
became well known in his community.
Xoah R. Stevenson, our subject, was
reared on the home farm, where he re-
mained until nineteen years old, having re-
ceived a limited education in the pioneer
schools of the early days. In 1854 he
came to Marion county, Illinois, and pur-
chased new and unimproved land in Steven-
son township and developed a farm on
which he has lived continuously ever since.
He now owns eighty acres of as highly im-
proved and productive land as can be found
in this county. It shows that a man of
modern farming methods and industry has
managed it. The fields are kept clean, well
drained and well fenced, and the dwelling
on the place is modern, substantial and
well furnished. Numerous convenient out-
buildings of a substantial nature are lo-
cated on the place. General fanning is car-
ried on and much good stock of all kinds
is kept on the farm.
Our subject was united in marriage in
1857 with Hannah Kagy, who was bom in
Fairfield county, Ohio, the daughter of
Christian and Anna Kagy, a well known and
influential family, who came to Marion
county in 1847, an d wno are now deceased.
Twelve children have been bom to the
subject and wife, ten of whom are living,
named in order of their birth as follows :
Ida. the wife of Joseph Dozier, of St.
Louis; Eva is single and living at home;
Carrie is the wife of Perry Warner; Mor-
dica lives in Stevenson township, and he
was first married to Catherine Harmon, and
second to Belle Camp; Ethel is the wife of
Frank Boynton ; James, the twin of Ethel,
is now deceased ; Morris is deceased ; Otis
is a teacher, living in Bloomington, Illinois;
Omer is living at home ; Dorothy is the
wife of Lincoln Kell ; Lena is married to
Monta Boynton : Grace is the wife of E.
Steward, living in Hudson, Illinois.
The wife of our subject, who was a
woman of pleasing address and kind dis-
position, passed to her rest October 9, 1904.
Mr. Stevenson carries out the traditions
of his family in adhering to the policies of
the Democratic party, having been more or
less active in the same since maturity. He
has held the office of Assessor of Steven-
son township, also treasurer of the same,
discharging the duties of each with rare
business ability and in a manner that re-
flected much credit upon himself and to the
satisfaction of all concerned.
Mr. Stevenson comes from a highly re-
spected and influential old family, and he
348
BRINKERHOFF S HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
is a pleasant man to meet, honest and always
ready to aid in any cause which has for its
object the betterment of his community.
JOHN F. EDDIXGS.
The climate, soil and general conditions
prevalent in southern Illinois are well
adapted to the purposes of general farming
and stock raising. One of the men who has
shown by their success that they were mas-
ters of the art of farming in luka town-
ship. Marion county, is the subject of this
biography. However, he is at present en-
gaged in other business, having given up
his former life work.
John F. Eddings was born in luka town-
ship, Marion county, Illinois, Feburary 22,
1844. the son of James B. and Rhoda Ann
(West) Eddings, both natives of North
Carolina. They emigrated to Kentucky
and Tennessee when very young, arriving
in the latter state in 1842. They later
came to Marion county, Illinois, and set-
tled in luka township, where they remained
a short time and then returned to Tennes-
see, but returned to Marion county in 1855,
settling again in luka township, where they
remained during the rest of their lives on a
farm. The death of the subject's father oc-
curred February 28, 1901, and his wife
died January 19, 1902. The former was a
member of the Methodist Episcopal church
and after the Civil war he voted the Re-
publican ticket. He was justice of the
peace for two terms. There were nine
children in the family of Mr. and Mrs.
James Eddings, namely: Nancy, who lives
in luka, is the wife of William Nicks ; John
F., our subject, was second in order of
birth; Mary E., deceased, was the wife of
L. L. Jones; Minerva H. is the wife of
William Milburn, living in luka; James T.
is a farmer living in luka township; Jesse
J. lives in St. Louis; Martha Ann is the
wife of William Morgan, living in Alma;
William L. is deceased; Sarah, step-
daughter of the subject's father, is de-
ceased.
John F. Eddings was reared on the home
farm and educated in the common schools
of the county, remaining under the pa-
rental roof until he was seventeen years of
age, when he showed his patriotism by en-
listing in Company I, Fortieth Illinois Vol-
unteer Infantry, serving four years in a
most gallant manner. So efficient was his
service that he was promoted to corporal,
and then to first lieutenant. He served
with Sherman's army, having been in all
his campaigns, with the exception of
when he was wounded at Shiloh, hav-
ing been shot through the shoulder
in that great battle. His throat was
also pierced by a bullet. He remained
in the general hospital for one and one-half
months, after which he received a furlough
home of from forty to fifty days at the ex-
piration of which he rejoined his regiment
and served un 
